Chapter 466: Heaven Crumbles, Earth Splits

Crack!

A bolt of lightning tore across the long sky, and heavy rain followed, the mountain ranges at once shrouded in mist!

"What a downpour!"

Beneath the eaves of a small courtyard in a grand estate, Yu Yu Banzhou looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds massed, lightning flashing and thunder rolling, sheets of rain pouring down, visibility very low!

This grand estate was built within a mountain valley, the upper half being a cluster of buildings,

Yu Yu Banzhou pushed open the door of the neighboring house and happened to see several cult members emerge from an underground passage; in the middle was a small child with a blank expression!

This was a Spirit Child, a child with cultivation talent who had been refined through Yi Mi Fa; because of the secret method's boiling, the innate talent and bone structure were extremely good, yet the soul was exceedingly weak!

Paired with a Living Person Stele, a Dead Person Statue, and Visualization Method, even if the body died, one could revive anew through the Spirit Child!

This was an untransmitted secret of the cult; only high-ranking members at the helmsman level and above were qualified to cultivate Spirit Children!

Only…

A person revived in this way—is he still the same person? Yu Yu Banzhou's heart chilled slightly; compared to the many in the cult who believed, there were also some, like him, who did not trust it!

"Hall Master Yu!"

A group of cultists bowed in unison; only that small child stood blankly!

"Hall Master Yu, this is Master Master Baili; he had only just awakened last time when he suffered another catastrophe, he, he didn't manage to fully awaken…" a cultist pointed at the small child!

"Master Baili Lei Jingchuan?"

Yu Yu Banzhou nodded, dismissed those cultists, and looked at the small child: "Brother Master Baili, do you still remember me?"

The small child fixed his gaze on Yu Yu Banzhou, opened his mouth as if to speak, but only let out "Aba, aba" sounds, like a mute!

As if he had even forgotten how to make a sound!

"Completely dead!"

Yu Yu Banzhou felt a pang of sorrow; he had seen similar things many times, and this was why, even though the cult possessed the Ti Si Fa, he still felt dread and unease, unwilling to risk his own body!

This was no cleaner than death. Huh— suddenly, Yu Yu Banzhou's body trembled, a wisp of mist rose from within him, and in a single turn, transformed into an old monk whose face and form were both very indistinct!

"You…"

Yu Yu Banzhou hurriedly lowered his head!

The old monk formed of mist suddenly raised his hand and grabbed at the small child, a wisp of qi mechanism invisible to the naked eye forcibly dragged out by him!

Soul-chasing, spirit-seizing…

Seeing this scene, Yu Yu Banzhou felt his heart and spirit tremble; this old monk must have been plotting for a long time, this technique was clearly prepared for them!

"What kind of Ti Si Fa is this?"

Casually pinching out that qi mechanism, Long Long Yingchan gave a cold laugh: "Even if this one lives, it will only be a twisted-minded fake person, carrying a fraction of Master Baili Lei Jingchuan's memories and aura!"

After that qi mechanism left the body, a flash of terror suddenly crossed the small child's face, but before he could cry out, he was pointed down to the ground with a single finger!

"Enter the underground palace!"

Long Long Yingchan glanced at Yu Yu Banzhou, whose face was very unsightly: "L-Long Dao Master, you promised, as long as I bring you to the entrance of the underground palace, you, you'll let me go!"

"You still want to turn back?"

Long Long Yingchan was dumbfounded: "You guess—if this old man returns empty-handed this time, can those old ghosts ferret you out or not?"

"I…"

Yu Yu Banzhou sweated like pulp, his face bitter, nearly collapsing to the ground: "But, but those Revered Gods… where the old ghosts' shrines are, I, I truly don't know, and once discovered…"

"They won't notice you!"

The old monk formed of cloud and mist raised his hand and pushed open the window; Yu Yu Banzhou seemed to sense something, looked up, and was instantly horrified!

He saw, within the curtain of rain and night sky, a blaze of firelight suddenly blaze forth, dazzling to the extreme, the firelight Xiong Xiong, as if to ignite Feng Feng Mantian's heavy rain!

Crimson as a flood, rolling down!

"Huo San Mei Yin."

Yu Yu Banzhou's pupils contracted violently; he saw the great seal pressing down like a mountain, and the figure standing atop the great seal, like a god or demon!

San Mei Cave Master, Fang Fang Sanyun.

A Grand Master, bearing Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, had come—no, not just one person.

Boom.

The sound wave exploded, spreading outward in tangible layers, enveloping the mountain ranges!

At this moment, no one knew how many Xieshen Sect experts were startled awake, only to see the Huo San Mei Yin arrive across the sky, closely followed by a massive alchemy furnace with a tiger crouching and dragon coiling upon it!

"Dragon-Tiger Nourishing Furnace."

"Roar."

The two Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing shone in concert, an azure dragon poked its head out from the thunderclouds, and two faintly visible human figures could be glimpsed!

"Fang Fang Sanyun, Long Long Yingchan."

"Tian Tian Shezi—no, that's not right, there's also Monk Master Dading."

"Not good…"

The location of the Xieshen Sect's main altar had guards that could not be called lax, but at this moment, no matter how strict the guards, they were meaningless!

In an instant, the light of the Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing was dazzling to the extreme, illuminating the night sky, but in the eyes of the many Xieshen Sect experts, the sky suddenly darkened, as if a massive shadow had completely enveloped them!

"Enemy attack!"

Someone cried out at the top of their lungs!

More people, without a word, fled wildly toward the depths of the underground passage: "Run, run!"

Four Grand Masters, bearing three Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, had come!

Without any verbal parley, they gazed on indifferently, until the moment the thunder exploded, they drove their power to the utmost and brought them crashing down!

After the momentary brilliance bloomed, mountains crumbled and the earth split apart!

Hum—across a thousand mountains and ten thousand waters, guided by some unseen hand, Li Yuan saw this scene!

In that instant, he felt it more clearly than anyone else; he could sense the surging true qi of Daoist Long pouring in like a spark of fire, igniting the Dragon Tiger Nourishing Furnace!

That overwhelming force, separated by some unfathomable distance, made Li Yuan's hair stand on end!

Hum—the next instant, the three Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing crashed down with a thunderous roar, then erupted.

Like a supernova explosion, within Li Yuan's perception, the world between heaven and earth was a sheet of blinding white; the night curtain and the pouring rain were utterly torn apart!

Thunder and lightning had all vanished at this moment!

The earth was trembling, groaning, and then, beneath Li Yuan's perception, three mushroom clouds rose from three points among the mountains!

Boom.

Terrifying light and heat shot straight into the clouds!

Tens of meters, hundreds of meters, over a thousand meters, even higher—Feng Feng Mantian's bird clouds were torn apart in an instant.

"This fierce?"

Li Yuan's eyes went wide, horrified!

This was his first time seeing a Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing unleashed at full power!

This was the earth-shaking technique unleashed by four Grandmasters, employing the methods left behind by their ancestors!

In that instant, his perception warped and distorted; he felt only the earth and mountains trembling, and beneath those rising mushroom clouds, it was as if craters of volcanoes were erupting!

Not to mention ten li, even a hundred li away it would be clearly visible.

Hum—Li Yuan saw wind, or rather, a wave!

It was the high temperature and violent shockwave produced by the intense collision and friction, exploding outward, compressing the surrounding air to form a high-pressure air wave!

It spread outward at supersonic speed, rampantly diffusing in all directions!

Like lotus blossoms blooming one after another!

Wherever the air wave passed, the earth split open, Gaoshan collapsed, countless plants and mud vanished in an instant—whether vaporized or blown beyond the nine heavens!

And this was merely the leakage of force from the collision of three Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing with the earth; the three Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing themselves, driven by the three Grandmasters, were like three awls, plunging deep into the earth, piercing straight through the labyrinth of interconnected, intricate tunnels, as if to truly reach the crust and the core.

"Holy—holy shit…"

Inside the small hut, Li Yuan's eyelids snapped open; that violently distorted, topsy-turvy scene left his spirit in intense discomfort!

But more than that, it was sheer terror and shock!

Such destructive power was simply beyond his imagination; if his full-force strike carried ten thousand jun, how much would these three full-force strikes carry?

The figures ran into the hundreds of millions—Li Yuan couldn't even begin to calculate, wave after wave of trembling welling up in his heart!

"This… this is just too savage…"

Li Yuan was somewhat trembling—literally trembling!

He stood up and paced back and forth in the room, his body hair standing on end as if startled, like steel needles!

The impact this scene had on him was simply too immense!

"If this isn't an immortal, what is?"

Inside the room, Li Yuan paced back and forth for quite a while before finally suppressing the shock in his heart, yet the bottom of his eyes and the depths of his mind could not help but replay that scene!

The weight of a Grandmaster, the weight of a Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, the great empire and the Daoist sects ruling the world together…

All his previous doubts seemed to find their answers in an instant!

This was far, far more vivid than any record in books or any words from others!

And this was not even the full state of the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing—at least the Dragon Tiger Nourishing Furnace wasn't; Daoist Long had descended the mountain, yet had not taken the Nourishing Mi Jing with him!

This was something only achievable by completely mastering the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing!

"A sect's foundation, a terrestrial immortal."

Li Yuan no longer had the slightest trace of sleepiness; he pushed open the window, the horizon already faintly pale, and four bright moons could be dimly seen hanging high!

He performed several sets of the Dragon Tiger Grand Stance before finally calming his emotions completely!

Only then could he settle his mind to recall and review the scene he had just witnessed, as well as the impact it might bring!

◆c〇

"Daoist Long activated the Nourishing Furnace using his own true qi as the kindling, drawing upon the will left behind by those two ancestors—seems like there's also incense offerings?"

Li Yuan sat cross-legged in quiet meditation, recalling in his heart!

As the master of the Nourishing Furnace, he felt it very clearly in that instant; every step of Daoist Long's activation of the Nourishing Furnace was crystal clear to him!

"Only by fully recognizing a master, and cultivating to the He Yi Jing, can one drive the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing to this extent—both are indispensable… at least Grand Master Master Dading couldn't!"

Li Yuan was recalling!

Although the vast majority of his attention had been drawn by that earth-shaking collision, he had also glimpsed the others in passing!

If one does not move, then upon moving, one must kill!

Otherwise it cannot be called revenge; these Daoist masters clearly understood this principle well!

Their strikes were all very deliberate; the three Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing fell on three sides of the mountains, ensuring that the might unleashed by each would not overlap, thereby achieving the maximum area of "bombing"!

And compared to these three, the envy and longing on Grand Master Master Dading's face were also fresh in his memory; clearly, if this one had the ability to activate the Divine Dragon Mustache Staff, he certainly would not have let this opportunity pass!

Not taking it can only mean—he couldn't!

"Can the imperial court manage it?"

Such a thought flashed through Li Yuan's mind, and was immediately dismissed!

Whether Wan Wan Zhuliu had fully mastered the Demon-Slaying Dragon God Blade and the Sea-Suppressing Shan Xuan Tortoise Shell was still uncertain, but that day's Jin Lin Bell and Dun Tian Zhou were left behind by Pang Pang Wenlong!

What the ancestors of the Wudadao Sect could do, Pang Pang Wenlong naturally could as well—unless this great empire's founding emperor had a grudge against his own descendants!

"Before Wan Wan Zhuliu rose to prominence, the imperial court only had these two Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing; no wonder they had to share the rule of the world with the Daoist sects…"

Li Yuan pondered for quite a while before once again sensing the Dragon Tiger Nourishing Furnace!

It wasn't he who severed the connection just now — that scene was too violent, and the distance seemed very far; the connection broke off abruptly!

Hum— Li Yuan focused his spirit; faintly, he could sense the traces of the Yangsheng Furnace, but the tremors on that end were so violent that what he perceived was very vague!

He could only dimly perceive that the clash on the other side was no longer as fierce as before!

After a moment, Li Yuan gave up helplessly, but his heart eased: "The Xieshen Sect certainly can't withstand three Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, but if these hairy old ghosts want to kill, I'm afraid it will be very hard too!"

The Xieshen Sect gathers all those whose lifespans were nearing their end over the past several thousand years yet who craved longevity — their life-preserving methods are truly number one under heaven!

To completely exterminate them, I'm afraid, won't work!

But it's only the difference between a complete victory and a great victory!

Li Yuan was considerably reassured. Even though those hairy gods' shrines were hard to find and hard to destroy, after this time, no matter what, they'd have to lie low for some years. "Once Daoist Li fully masters..."

"... the Yu Xuanjing Hammer and the Yangsheng Furnace..."

Recalling what he had just witnessed, Li Yuan couldn't help the throbbing in his heart — he wasn't far from fully mastering these two Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing either!

Moreover, he wasn't like these few Dao Lords, who still had to actuate the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing indirectly through the Ancestral Master's will!

"Xieshen Sect..."

Li Yuan closed his eyes slightly, and had already arrived at the Yu Xuanjing Mi Jing, before the gates of Yu Xuanjing Mountain!

He released the Yu Xuanjing Spirit he hadn't seen in many days; this little fellow's spirituality had grown even more abundant, and it cried out in grievance!

Li Yuan soothed it briefly, then sent it off. With a shift of his mind, the Qi of Yu Xuanjing came rolling in!

Clang— Following his thought, the Qi of Yu Xuanjing transformed into a divine edge, its patterns upon it unmistakably being the style of Nie Xianshan's Pure Yang Dragon-Tiger Sword!

What he had just witnessed had impacted him greatly!

Li Yuan wanted to try, using the Pure Yang Sword form, first making a small patch of "Soldier-Nurturing Ground" to test the feasibility of cultivating the Soldier-Nurturing Scripture!

Mm, that also includes the Pill-Nurturing Scripture!

This battle ended earlier than Li Yuan had anticipated!

By noon the next day, he perceived that the tremors on that end were no longer so violent!

He focused his spirit to sense the Yangsheng Furnace; the great battle on that end seemed to have subsided, and Dao Lord Long was roaming through the miasma, sweeping across the mountain ranges!

From the image, Li Yuan could clearly perceive Dao Lord Long's determination to cut the weeds and dig up the roots, as well as the mountains and forests scarred and battered everywhere!

Last night's battle hadn't lasted very long, but its intensity must have been very, very high...

For many days afterward, Dao Lord Long was still searching the mountain ranges. Li Yuan glanced over from time to time, but his heart had calmed down!

A few days later, a heavy rain fell in the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Range!

Abbess Fojing came out of seclusion. Counting her own, the Yi Bai Xing Dan had come out of the furnace six times in total — two succeeded, four failed, yielding only six pills!

Li Yuan took the four pills that didn't conflict with the previous four, then went to the Hundred Herbs Helm and drew next year's spiritual pill quota!

Although Qin Yun and that Star-Picking Tower Master never showed themselves again, he knew these two were also waiting for the result of Dao Lord Long's extermination of the Xieshen Sect!

Only, the news they received clearly wasn't as well-informed as his!