Chapter 388: Heaven

"Yu Shixiong, how long do you think they can last in front of the Teacher?"

Su Jing leaned against the window, his gaze piercing through the night toward a direction in Zhishui.

"The Jin Gang of the Buddha Sect, the giant of the Demon Dao, the Heavenly Master of the Dao Sect, plus the Great Senior's Spring and Autumn Haoran Righteous Qi... with such a lineup, how much trouble can they cause the Teacher?"

On the fourth floor of the Invitation Immortal Tower, the lingering fragrance of the Flower Banquet had not yet dissipated.

The Third Senior stood with his hands behind his back by the window, his gaze fixed on the flickering horizon in the distance.

There, the aura churned like a tide, yet a towering aura suppressed all directions like a king in the mountains.

Ordinary people only felt palpitations, not knowing what was happening.

Like looking at flowers in the mist!

"The four of us are considered the people who understand the Teacher best in the world."

The Third Senior frowned and said: "Back then, if it weren't for the Teacher being in the period of corpse-dissection, his strength greatly reduced, and the Second Senior having the Nine Swords... and us having prepared in secret for several years."

Speaking of this!

The Third Senior only thought of that memory, and the wariness in his eyes grew heavier, "Even so, we almost all died."

Su Jing nodded silently.

If there was anyone in this world he feared most, the Master would be at the top of the list.

That unfathomable feeling had run through everything from his youth to the present.

Su Jing also nodded and said, "Those four..."

"I fear they don't even have the qualifications to make the Teacher serious."

"However, I have a different opinion today."

The Third Senior turned his head to look, his tone fluctuating, "Wuxin, do you think those four can hurt the Teacher?"

Su Jing shook his head.

"Impossible."

"The Teacher today has just undergone corpse-dissection, and every corpse-dissection will see his cultivation base soar again."

"Moreover, the Teacher has been plotting for a long time and has long since made perfect preparations."

The Third Senior asked suspiciously: "Then where is the difference?"

Su Jing pointed to the sky: "Man proposes, Heaven disposes. Today's situation might be within the Teacher's calculations, but the cycle of Heavenly Dao... is outside of it."

"How could Heaven and Earth tolerate such a glutton?"

Su Jing tapped the window lattice lightly with his fingertips, and the old man's face he had been hiding revealed his young appearance again, extremely handsome.

His voice also changed into the clear, handsome tone of a youth.

"Only absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, yet feeding corpse energy back into the human world, creating countless demons... running rampant in the world."

He looked toward the churning aura in the distance: "If this Heaven and Earth truly has a hidden Heavenly Will, it will certainly not miss today's opportunity."

The Third Senior's eyes moved: "You mean..."

"It seems the Teacher has calculated all the secrets of heaven," Su Jing's smile deepened, "but he does not know that the net of heaven is vast, and it has long since laid out a trap."

The Third Senior pondered for a moment: "You are so certain that the Great Senior and the others still have a backup plan?"

Su Jing shook his head: "The Great Senior's way of doing things has never asked about success or failure. The four of them are indeed too weak in front of the Teacher; even if we were together, I fear it would be difficult to escape with our lives!"

He looked toward the horizon, "The Great Senior has always been like this, knowing it cannot be done yet doing it anyway."

"Perhaps precisely because he entrusts his feelings to the mountains and rivers, and resonates with heaven and earth."

A chess piece that kept changing between black and white slid from Su Jing's sleeve, and he gently clamped it with two fingers,

"Perhaps precisely because of this... this Heaven and Earth is borrowing his hand to perform the duty of the Heavenly Dao."

The Third Senior's gaze fell on the black and white chess piece held tightly in Su Jing's hand.

This was no ordinary object, but Su Jing's treasure for cultivating his Primordial Spirit, closely linked to his fortune.

Since Su Jing stepped into the Ninth Realm of martial arts and his Primordial Spirit merged with his Yang Spirit, his life-bound was—"Heavenly Inquiry."

It meant seeking answers from Heaven; black is negative, white is positive, one question and one answer, simple and clear, capable of peeking into the secrets of heaven, but the price is extremely heavy.

Even with Su Jing's cultivation, he could only use it three times.

When they joined forces to kill the Master years ago, they had witnessed Su Jing use "Heavenly Inquiry" once.

At that time, the chess piece was white, its light brilliant.

The Third Senior couldn't help but feel suspicious and asked: "Have you used 'Heavenly Inquiry' today?"

Su Jing shook his head, the chess piece flowing in his palm: "There is one last time left, it hasn't reached the critical moment yet."

Hearing this, the Third Senior frowned slightly.

When they joined forces to kill the Master, one time was used, so there should be two chances left.

Why is there only one left now?

When, and for what, did Su Jing use that precious "Heavenly Inquiry"?

Su Jing played with the chess piece in his palm, his smile deepening: "If Yu Shixiong wants to know the answer to that 'Heavenly Inquiry'..."

"It's not impossible; Su Jing is also curious, what is your life-bound, Yu Shixiong?"

"Just like I have never known what the Teacher's life-bound is?"

Su Jing's eyes were earnest; when Su Jing first met this Yu Shixiong, the Third Senior was already a supreme figure at the Ninth Realm of martial arts, his Yang Spirit perfected, his life-bound formed, yet he had never revealed it in front of others.

A life-bound is born based on the individual's cultivated technique and inner spiritual pursuit, and each is different.

The Great Senior's "Free Roaming" was born from traveling the mountains and rivers.

The Second Senior's life-bound "Slaying Immortals" could slay all things.

For so many years, the Third Senior's life-bound had never been mentioned.

It had always been a mystery!

The Third Senior did not answer.

The fourth floor fell into silence; the Flower Banquet was nearing its end, with only Su Shishi yet to take the stage.

The Third Senior asked: "Why let Xie Hong go?"

Just now, Xie Hong pleaded guilty, yet Su Jing did not punish him, which was completely contrary to his usual style.

Su Jing played with the chess piece in his palm: "Yu Shixiong, you underestimate Xie Hong too much."

"In today's situation, how much effort did he put into it?"

"Compared to Xie Ling..." a deep meaning flashed in Su Jing's eyes, "the most terrifying person in the Xie family is him."

"Among the next generation of the Nine Great Surnames, only Xie Hong has truly stepped onto the stage."

People Su Jing could describe with the word "terrifying" could be counted on one hand.

"Xie Hong is still young, but his cultivation speed is already not inferior to the Second Senior of the past."

Su Jing looked toward the third floor, "The Xie family affair back then, he was cultivating his heart in Qingliang Temple; I fear he has already condensed his life-bound."

"If I punish Xie Hong..." the chess piece in his fingertips suddenly stopped, "I don't know how many pairs of eyes are staring from above the third floor; I fear that my first corpse-dissection disaster would have played out in advance at the Invitation Immortal Tower."

The Third Senior remembered the faint killing intent in Xie Hong's chest when he went upstairs.

Xie Hong and the Second Senior were close friends; what was today's action for?

Su Jing had already vaguely guessed the answer, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the broken chess piece in his sleeve:

"It is a fortunate thing for the Second Senior to have such a close friend."

His gaze turned to the Flower Banquet, where the finale, Su Shishi, had already gracefully taken the stage.

She stood before the stage, a white dress whiter than snow, her brows and eyes like a painting.

Her green gauze long skirt danced lightly with the wind, as if a goddess from the nine heavens had descended to the mortal world.

Every gesture was surrounded by a cold aura, as if she were out of place in this dusty world, yet she was breathtakingly beautiful.

One dance was stunning, and the crowd below was already infatuated.

Su Jing leaned against the window, watching Su Shishi's dance, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

"This world should have been this beautiful."

He looked down at the chess piece in his palm, his voice growing cold: "Unfortunately... for the sake of ascension, I don't know how many piles of bones have been buried on this road."

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By the Zhishui River.

The Master stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the four people opposite him.

The Demon Master had already had his arm torn off, bending over and panting heavily, his arm revealing eerie flesh and bone, the meat broken and tendons connected.

The originally elegant Xu Jiangxian was covered in blood, looking miserable with blood constantly overflowing from his mouth.

"Cough, cough!"

Xu Jiangxian cupped the blood he spat out in his hands and swallowed it again.

Lu Hua leaned on the Three Truths Ten Thousand Dharma Sword, her left leg having been hit with a bloody hole, and she looked at the Demon Master and asked, "Demon Master, are you alright?"

The Demon Master wiped the blood from his mouth, his voice hoarse, "I'm not dead yet!"

The look in his eyes toward the Master was full of gloom.

Just now, the Master had grabbed toward Lu Hua in the air; if he hadn't used the "Heavenly Demon Hand," Lu Hua would have died on the spot.

Unexpected!

The Demon Sect sacred relic "Heavenly Demon Hand" had actually been crushed into fragments by the Master.

The Heavenly Demon Hand not only could refine "Heavenly Demon Blood" and had the effect of bringing the dead back to life, but mainly it contained the complete record of the Demon Sect's supreme technique, the "Heavenly Demon Strategy."

Lu Hua turned to look at Master Lianchi, worried, "Master, are you alright?"

Just now, Lianchi had been pierced through the chest by the Master, his body broken into two halves.

Lu Hua had thought this high Buddhist monk had already entered nirvana, but she didn't expect him to join his two halves in the dark and slam a "Jin Gang Subduing Demon Fist" into the Master's chest.

Unfortunately, the Master hadn't moved a bit.

Lianchi's whole body flowed with golden glazed light, "This old monk can still hold on."

Hearing this, the Demon Master smiled: "Master is quite composed; just now I thought you had gone to the Western Paradise to meditate."

Lianchi's life-bound "Zhangliu Golden Body" could regrow limbs and reshape flesh.

It was precisely by relying on this divine ability that he managed to save his life under the Master's hands.

The old monk grinned, revealing blood-stained teeth: "This old monk's 'Ksitigarbha Vow Sutra' has not yet been fully chanted; the Buddha says this old monk's cultivation is not yet full and refuses to take me."

Lu Hua pointed her sword tip at the ground, a fishy sweetness rising in her throat as she struggled to stand, her gaze cast toward the youth with only the upper half of his body in the air—the Great Senior.

If it weren't for the Great Senior constantly shifting everyone's position with his life-bound "Free Roaming," they would have already had their bodies crushed by the Master.

The Master smiled slightly; he hadn't even used any technique, relying only on the power of his physical body to make the four of them this miserable.

Speed is the only thing that cannot be broken, power is the only thing that overcomes all techniques!

Lu Hua gripped the Three Truths Ten Thousand Dharma Sword tightly, the sword body actually trembling slightly.

She suddenly understood that this sage who had lived for two thousand years had long since cultivated the "Dao" to the extreme.

The Great Senior had been severed below the waist, the cut smooth—that was the result of the Master's hand-blade.

The Great Senior sealed his acupoints.

Dong Cheng looked at the Great Senior's broken body and smiled, "In your state, you won't last long."

"This broken body of yours will last at most another quarter of an hour."

"If you die," his voice was low, "they won't even have a chance to escape."

Xu Xian smiled indifferently: "Since the Teacher is still here, how dare the student die first?"

The Master stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze like water: "Knowing you must die, why bother with futile efforts?"

He turned to the Demon Master: "Demon cultivation values one's own body and treats all things lightly. Is it worth it to fight so hard?"

Xu Jiangxian's blood-stained lips hooked into a smile: "The Demon Sect is indeed like that. But Grandmaster Huang Dao said, life is something you fight for."

"If I didn't come today," a madness flashed in his eyes, "I fear I would have no chance of ascension. I came for myself."

The Master nodded slightly: "The Demon Sect, indeed, are all people who gamble with their lives."

"I have seen the life-bounds of these few people." The Master's gaze was like a torch, "Only yours, I have yet to witness."

Before the words fell, the Master had already appeared beside the Demon Master.

A withered hand grabbed out like an eagle's claw.

The Demon Master's pupils shrank, his whole body's demonic energy boiling.

He knew too well the power of this grab—just now, Lianchi's golden body had been torn apart just as lightly!

Lianchi's whole body's golden light flourished, the glazed Buddha light of the "Zhangliu Golden Body" pouring down, enveloping the Demon Master.

Lu Hua bit the tip of her tongue, the Three Truths Ten Thousand Dharma Sword igniting her life-bound essence and blood, slashing out several zhang of sword energy in the air.

The Great Senior spat out, a hundred "Spring and Autumn Brush" sword energies like a torrential rain, sweeping over.

The Demon Master's figure swayed, "Blood Shadow Escape" activated, transforming into two blood-colored clones.

The Master, however, merely flicked his finger lightly, and Lu Hua's sword energy was scattered.

He rolled his sleeves, and the Great Senior's "Spring and Autumn Brush" was actually taken into his sleeve.

Lianchi's Jin Gang fist seal slammed into his back, but it was like a great bell ringing, and Lianchi was instead shaken back several steps.

The Master ignored this and looked at the Demon Master.

"Caught you."

The Master's withered hand hooked onto the Demon Master's crown.

At the critical moment.

The moment of death!

Blood light flourished in the Demon Master's eyes, his life-bound "Heart Demon Guide" activated!

The Master's figure paused, a look of confusion appearing on his face.

The force in his hand loosened slightly.

The Demon Master took the opportunity to transform into a blood shadow and escape.

"Heart Demon Guide"—can force others to generate a second consciousness within a certain distance, losing their true self.

"Interesting."

The Master's voice followed like a shadow.

The Demon Master's pupils shrank; how could he have broken free from the Heart Demon Guide so quickly?

The Master had already appeared behind him, his withered hand resting on his shoulder: "If it were before the second corpse-dissection, I might have fallen for it. Unfortunately..." his voice was indifferent.

"I have long since cut off the three corpses; the so-called false self and true self are all the true self."

Lu Hua and the other two joined forces to save him.

The Demon Master, however, felt his cultivation base sealed, unable to move.

Fierce light flashed in his eyes, and his body suddenly fell apart, turning into seven or eight pieces of hands and feet to escape.

"Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Art?"

The Master raised his eyebrows slightly; Lu Hua and the other two's fist seals and sword energy were already before his eyes.

His gaze was like water, as if admiring flowers in a courtyard or watching fish in a lake; every gesture was full of leisure.

Lu Chen watched this battle of disparate strength from afar—the four joined forces, yet they didn't even have the qualifications to make the Master serious!

The Master seemed to sense Lu Chen's gaze, looked up at the God-Startling Array in the sky, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth:

"Alright, it's time to end this."

As the words fell, the world suddenly fell silent.

Lu Hua only felt a giant mountain suddenly pressing down on her back, the Ten Thousand Dharma Sword in her hand inserting into the ground with a "clang," the sword body bending like a full moon.

Her knees trembled, but she stubbornly refused to kneel.

Lianchi supported the sky with both hands, the Zhangliu Golden Body blooming with glazed Buddha light, yet he was still pressed to one knee.

The bluestone beneath his feet shattered inch by inch, the phantom of a Luo Han appearing in the Buddha light, yet it was hard to resist this power of heaven and earth.

The Great Senior had been pressed to the ground, unable to rise, the Spring and Autumn Brush sword energy circulating around his body, yet he struggled like a trapped beast.

The blood mist transformed by the Demon Master condensed in mid-air, only using the "Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Art" to piece together half a body, as if frozen, leaving only his eyeballs to turn.

The Master's gaze swept indifferently over the four.

"This way of dying will not cause you pain."

He stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes looking at Lu Chen.

"I have long been invincible in this world; you, now."

"Do you still have a backup plan?"

The great cauldron in Lu Chen's heart-sea suddenly rang out!

The bell sound crossed time and space, sounding as if it were ringing from the ancient past, and also as if it were echoing in the future.

Lu Chen smiled lightly, "Invincible in this world, is it?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 389 =====