Chapter 632

Hum~

Crimson and black hues interwove in radiant brilliance, engulfing the entire imperial capital; shifting lights and shadows danced in dazzling splendor.

Nie Xianshan and Long Xi felt their hearts pound and flesh tremble amid the spectacle.

The bizarre spectacle above the imperial city was the result of two divine palace-level masters locked in fierce combat; each stray thread of qi that struck the ground carved a terrifying fissure capable of splitting the capital apart.

The imperial city had become a ruin; the famed stargazing terrace had shattered into seven or eight pieces, crushing countless palaces and pavilions.

"Old Pang is truly fierce!"

Li Yuan watched intently, his mind filled with awe.

His perception was sharp, and being at the heart of the battlefield, he clearly sensed the clash between these two divine palace-level masters.

Within the interwoven colors, mountains collapsed, rivers ran dry, and the earth cracked open…

Two figures darted through each other's divine realms like apocalyptic deities, striving to obliterate the other's divine domain.

The Thousand-Eyed Dharma Lord's cloak had long vanished, revealing his colossal spiritual form adorned with a thousand eyes—his techniques ruthless and tyrannical; the thousand-eyed beams shot forth like ten thousand divine swords, cleaving mountains, rivers, and all vegetation in half.

The Thousand-Eyed's full-force assault was infinitely more terrifying than his earlier challenge against Li Yuan at the Eight Directions Temple.

Yet now, this divine spirit's remnant was in absolute disadvantage—its massive spiritual form riddled with gaps, each of its dharma eyes torn out bodily.

Within the adjacent divine realms, Pang Wenlong strode like a dragon, fists and palms wreathed in roaring flames, as if bearing a true sun, tearing through mountains and shattering the earth.

With only one of his three spiritual forms unleashed, he had already pushed the Thousand-Eyed Dharma Lord onto the defensive, even retaining enough strength to shield the still-shaking Yunxiang Ding.

"The Thousand-Eyed's spiritual form is incomplete—it seems he hasn't yet reached the divine palace realm; his qi and everything else are inferior to Elder Pang's…"

"The Thousand-Eyed's spiritual form is indeed less solid than Elder Pang's Great Sun form, yet even in its incomplete state, it withstands Elder Pang's assaults—no wonder it's a divine spirit's remnant."

"Is Elder Pang waiting for the Cloud Demon old devil?"

"Why hasn't that Wan fellow shown himself yet?"

In the ruin-like imperial city, not just Li Yuan, but all the Grand Masters were watching the battle.

As the only non-Grand Master among the spectators, Li Yuan was surrounded on all sides by five Grand Masters, including Tianchan Daoist, Laitou Monk, and Nie Xianshan.

Whenever stray qi threads shot down from above, the five Grand Masters effortlessly deflected them away without his intervention.

Boom!

Suddenly, a detonation echoed from afar.

Li Yuan turned to look and saw the Dragon Dao Master hurtling toward them through swirling clouds; farther off, a strange yet familiar qi surged violently:

"This… is the qi of the Youjing?"

Boom!

Almost simultaneously, a thunderous roar erupted above the imperial city.

The Thousand-Eyed Dharma Lord shattered the scorched earth beneath his feet; his hundreds of eyes simultaneously unleashed blinding beams, converging into a forest of ten thousand swords, meeting Pang Wenlong's fist imprint head-on.

Boom!

Blinding light exploded, engulfing the entire imperial city and even the capital; then, the interwoven two-colored spectacle shattered abruptly.

A stream of black-red light vanished at extreme speed from everyone's sight.

Nie Xianshan instinctively launched his sword to strike—the Thousand-Eyed Dharma Lord, bathed in the light, merely sneered, neither dodging nor blocking, letting the swordlight pierce straight through his body,

then vanished in an instant.

"Elder Pang?"

As the shattered light faded, Pang Wenlong landed with a flick of his sleeve, gazing toward the rising mist beyond the capital's walls and sneered:

"Foolish barbarians—so they performed this ritual after all. Deserving of death. Deserving of slaughter!"

"Elder Pang, that Guidi …"

At that moment, Long Yingchan finally landed.

"That Guidi is none other than the Cloud Demon Guidi that once destroyed the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

Pang Wenlong stared into the distance, answering casually.

"Cloud Demon Guidi?"

Li Yuan's heart jolted.

When he had studied the Long Mo Heart Scripture, he had seen with his own eyes the ruined capital of the Great Zhou after the ritual.

"The Guidi that destroyed the Great Zhou…"

Long Xi and the others exchanged glances, their expressions darkening.

They were all sect masters; each knew something of that history.

"Long ago, the Zhou emperor and ministers sought to perform a ritual at the Eight Directions Temple, but the ritual went awry—they summoned a 'demon' tainted by Youjing qi, one that had broken free from its stupor. The Zhou Dynasty fell because of it."

Pang Wenlong spoke succinctly: "Later, my master, the Long Mo Daoist, drove it back with all his strength…"

He naturally omitted certain details—like why the Zhou emperor and ministers had performed the great ritual at the Eight Directions Temple.

Li Yuan knew the reason, but only muttered inwardly.

"Does Elder Pang have a solution?"

Long Yingchan's expression was grave: "That Guidi is expanding rapidly—if we don't stop it, the capital will be swallowed within at most two hours!"

Pang Wenlong gave no reply—only leapt away.

The Grand Masters exchanged glances and followed swiftly; Li Yuan grabbed Nie the Daoist's sleeve and rushed after them.

"Is this the Guidi?"

Releasing true qi to resist the gale, Li Yuan stared intently: beyond the capital's walls, black mist churned like an ocean, radiating a chilling aura that made one's whole body freeze.

His perception was sharp—he could faintly make out shadowy figures within the Guidi, many "human" shapes.

"Without incense, if swept by this Guidi 's qi, one is instantly tainted by Youjing qi…"

On the city wall, the moment he landed, Li Yuan immediately pulled out a fist-sized Yunxiang Ding; the other Grand Masters likewise produced incense.

No one dared underestimate the danger of the Youjing.

Wuuu~

Outside the capital, black mist churned, filled with low, guttural roars—whether human or beast, none could tell.

The roars, carried by the gale, echoed for dozens of li; hearing them sent chills down the spine.

"The Guidi!"

The little female dragon, immersed in repairing her divine realm, was startled awake, lifting her head from Li Yuan's waist, her face filled with shock:

"Is this the qi of a Guimo?!"

The little female dragon was utterly stunned.

The Youjing was perilous beyond measure—anyone without incense would lose their self upon being tainted, sinking into stupor; only a tiny fraction could break free and become a Guimo.

Such undead monsters were rare even in the Tian Shi Yuan; she had only heard of them through the Tongshi Ball—yet here, one existed?

Li Yuan concealed the little female dragon beneath his sleeve, his expression grave as he sensed the surroundings, his mind forming a hypothesis.

Guimo were rare and ferocious; Tian Shi Yuan's explorers often turned pale at the mere mention—but such Guimo were not immortal; destroy their dwelling Guidi, and you could slay the Guimo.

'Perhaps Old Pang intended this all along?'

Li Yuan calmed his mind and focused his perception.

"Playing at gods and demons!"

Pang Wenlong sneered; the red sun outlined behind him soared into the sky, instantly expanding to several mu in size, radiating light and heat that instantly pierced through the black mist beyond the walls.

Wuu~

As the light penetrated the Guidi, a silver glow slowly ignited at its very center.

It was a colossal airship, nine decks high, manned by thousands upon thousands of armored soldiers clad in black armor, faces ashen and grim.

At the very top stood an old man draped in silver armor.

Beside him, Wang Jin, Wu Yingxing, and the Emperor of Gan wore frowns or blank expressions.

"Does this old devil have such a vast fortune?"

Li Yuan was stunned.

He understood the Guidi well.

A fallen cultivator's divine realm, tainted by Youjing qi, became a Guidi; the so-called ' Gui soldiers' and ' Gui beasts' were merely the original divine treasures, dao soldiers, and spiritual forms within that realm.

This Cloud Demon Guidi was half-ruined, yet still contained so many dao soldiers and divine treasures—even within a Guidi, their rank must be high.

"This old devil…"

The Grand Masters all wore grave expressions.

They understood the Guidi less than Li Yuan, yet all felt the immense pressure emanating from the airship—its original rank likely surpassed even the Tian Yun Xuanbing.

Shhh~

A streak of black light flashed—the Thousand-Eyed Dharma Lord landed atop the airship.

"To reach the third layer of the divine palace realm in such a confined world, Pang Wenlong—you're stronger than that Long Mo heretic."

On the ninth deck of the airship, Yun Yeshan's face was likewise covered in deathly gray; his voice was hoarse and distorted, radiating deep deathly qi:

"To drive me to this state—remarkable. Truly remarkable."

Yun Yeshan praised, yet even those beside him—Emperor Gan included—could feel the biting hatred beneath his words.

"Cloud Demon. Thousand-Eyed."

Pang Wenlong stood with hands at his sides, his gaze sweeping calmly over the airship's occupants:

"One's still missing—where's Wan Zhuliu?"

"That old devil…"

On the airship, Wang Jin's heart trembled involuntarily; though the city wall was lower than the airship, that indifferent gaze sweeping over him made him feel as if he were being looked down upon from above.

Even with the Guiyi land outside and Yunye Mountain and the Thousand-Eyed Dharma Lord standing beside him, a chill still rose uncontrollably in his heart.

"Boom!"

The nine-story ship trembled; black mist surged like a tide, gushing forth from the Guiyi land that had paused its expansion, like a great river cascading downward.

On the nine-story ship, armored soldiers screamed and leapt down, charging along the ink-black river.

"Hmph!"

Pang Wenlong swept his sleeves, and dozens of palm-sized incense tripods, wreathed in flickering flames, landed on the city wall. He cast a single glance at Li Yuan and the others, then stepped forward to attack.

Hum~

Crimson-gold blood qi poured from his body like solid matter; as Pang Wenlong leapt forward, it surged like the tide of sea and river, crashing against all sides and raising waves of violent air.

It forcibly held back the ink-black torrent surging from the Guiyi land.

"Fang Xiaozi."

Fang Sanyun frowned and looked over, seeing Pang Wenlong walking through the air, his five fingers extended and clenched into a palm imprint that slammed forward—it was the Crimson Sun Palm.

"Watch closely—this is how you use the Great Sun Crimson Sun Palm!"

Pang Wenlong's voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it rang clearly in every ear present. The instant his palm imprint cleaved the air, it blazed with blinding crimson-gold light.

It looked like a red sun burning fiercely in his palm.

Boom!

The next moment, the Crimson Sun Palm imprint fell like a meteor, carrying a terrifying tide of blood qi, shattering the ink-black torrent as if it were dry grass and rotten wood.

Its momentum did not fade; instead, it grew even more massive as it slammed into the Guiyi land shrouded in black mist.

"Sssss~"

Like cold water poured onto a boiling pot of oil, thick smoke rose with countless screams and wails.

Pang Wenlong's Crimson Sun Palm imprint remained unbroken, like a divine blade severing yin and yang, driving straight into the Guiyi land and striking the gray-black nine-story ship!

(End of Chapter)