Chapter 1057: A Sword Cultivator; Overlord Stripped Bare (I)
Chapter 1057: A Sword Cultivator; Overlord Stripped Bare (I)
"I actually survived?"
Silent Fate, who had always carried himself with an air of dignity, now stood in tattered robes and disheveled hair and beard, looking utterly bedraggled. For a moment, he could hardly believe it. That black cauldron had clearly been no ordinary treasure; at the very least, it had been a spirit treasure. The power released by its self-destruction should have been far beyond what any Sage could endure. Yet he had survived! Not just him, in fact—every Sage in the Sea of Clouds Plaza had lived through the calamity!
Just as relief began to wash over him, a soft voice drifted into his ears. "Of course you survived. We merely covered you from the cauldron's self-destruction."
Silent Fate stiffened. A graceful woman slowly descended from the sky, her faint smile as calm as it was unreadable. The moment he recognized her, the joy of survival vanished, replaced by bone-deep fear. "Moon Hermit... you..."
Moon Hermit looked at him without the slightest change in her smile. "Don't waste your breath begging. I've heard enough Penglai disciples plead for mercy to last me a lifetime."
The smile on her face remained gentle, but the killing intent in her eyes only deepened. Before she could act, however, Fairy Jadecold stepped forward and placed herself between them.
Moon Hermit looked at her, and the smile on her face slowly faded. "Little sister, what are you doing? I'm avenging you."
Fairy Jadecold bit her lip, but she did not move aside.
Moon Hermit's expression darkened. "Have you forgotten how Penglai abandoned us? Have you forgotten how they left you to become a devil sect elder's cultivation vessel?"
"Sister, please... stop this." Fairy Jadecold's voice was low, but she still held her ground. "He treated me well. He even helped me reach the Nascent Soul Realm. Besides... he's already dead."
Her face turned paler with every word. Even as she stood in front of Silent Fate, her body trembled against her will.
Moon Hermit's expression became even darker. "That man is dead and the devil sect is gone, but the Penglai Sect is still standing. I swore I would kill every last remnant of the devil sect and every Penglai disciple, and by the heavens, I will do exactly that!"
Fairy Jadecold's lips quivered as she slowly raised the scroll in her hand. "I'm sorry. Before we set out, we swore a Great Dao Oath. I can't abandon Senior Brother Silent Fate."
"Very well!" A fierce look flashed across Moon Hermit's face as a scroll rose behind her. Within the painting, ferocious beasts seemed to roar while birds circled overhead.
"If you insist on being this stubborn, I'll kill Silent Fate first. Then I'll take you back and teach you properly!"
***
High in the sky, Luo Chen looked at the quiet streak of gray light and noticed that its aura had dimmed slightly. The artifact spirit found out that I cultivate using Rosycloud's technique, so it defied the Monarch's command and self-destructed just to destroy this wisp of gray light... I really wonder what you are....
He swept his gaze across his surroundings and fell into thought. The Heaven Refiner Cauldron was a Transcendent Spirit Treasure, and no matter how badly damaged it had been, the force released by its self-destruction should have been enough to kill ordinary cultivators and tear the entire place apart. Since the Heaven of Bright Illumination had survived, and so had the cultivators inside it, something else must have intervened at the critical moment.
Now that he thought of it, the scroll behind Moon Hermit was most likely the Myriad Beast Scroll, which would explain how it managed to shield its surroundings from the blast. As for the Light Palace and Darkness Palace, their lingering glow had yet to fade, and the powerful auras within them were only now being slowly suppressed. If Luo Chen's guess was correct, those two palaces housed spirit treasures as well. Maybe they were the two other Transcendent Spirit Treasures the cauldron spirit had mentioned earlier, the Black Devil Jar and the True Yang Crown.
This was the only possible explanation for why the entire place hadn't crumbled altogether: Several artifact spirits had acted together and absorbed most of the explosive force. Unfortunately, that also meant all those troublesome people had survived... including the one now standing before him.
Wind and clouds stirred as a figure leaped onto the Sea of Clouds. The moment he landed, he locked onto Luo Chen with a sharp gaze. "Junior, step aside!"
Luo Chen smiled. "You know that earlier punch of mine was very much on par with a Sage's strike, yet you still call me junior? Fellow Daoist, aren't you looking down on me a little too much?"
Flying Cloud's brow arched, and a hint of caution crept into his eyes. Even so, his gaze soon shifted past Luo Chen to the pale gray light behind him. The pull he felt toward it was impossible to ignore. Back on Weapon Mountain in the Artifact Realm, he had once seen that very streak of gray light through a broken round mirror. It was something Heaven Refiner had personally created. If he could obtain it, it might become the greatest prize of the entire expedition.
"Junior, I'll say this one last time. Move!" Flying Cloud barked the words coldly as a finger-length sword light flickered at his fingertip. Its sharpness was so terrifying that it split the wind and scattered the surrounding clouds.
Luo Chen was about to answer when a shrill voice suddenly cut in. "Devil Lord Azure Yang, I'll kill you!"
He turned and saw a woman charging straight toward him, her wrinkled face twisted with hatred. "Ah, Fellow Daoist Seagon Matriarch! Good to see you're doing fine."
Luo Chen's smile did not change, and when Flying Cloud saw his calm demeanor, his frown only deepened. With two Sage-level opponents closing in on him, this man still showed no fear. That confidence could not be baseless.
He did not need to wonder long; the answer came in the next moment. A black-robed figure stepped forward and blocked the Seagon Matriarch's path.
"So you have someone backing you up. No wonder you're so fearless!"
Luo Chen only glanced at Han Zhan before looking away. He did not know where Han Zhan had found a Sage-level puppet to use as a temporary body, but the timing of his arrival could not have been better.
With the Seagon Matriarch dealt with, Luo Chen no longer needed to split his attention. His focus returned fully to the man before him. "Who were you again?"
"A dead man doesn't need to know my name!"
Before the echo of his words had fully faded, Flying Cloud struck. The sword light at his fingertip burst into countless strands of sword energy. They were invisible and formless, revealing themselves only when they tore through the wind and clouds.
Confronted with that overwhelming sword intent, Luo Chen remained unflinching. Rather than retreat, he charged forward and thrust out a palm. The Azure Yang Great Handprint materialized once more as it rumbled through the sky under the force of his mana.
Yet the moment he unleashed it, he frowned. My mana reserves... They've almost bottomed out! Did the Nirvana of the Body really consume that much?
He was only now realizing the state he was in. His Nascent Core had been turned to stardust; only his Golden Core remained suspended within his reconstructed sea of qi, and his mana had fallen far below its peak. Because of that, the Azure Yang Great Handprint retained only its shape, not its former might. The instant it collided with the invisible sword energy, it shattered apart.
In the blink of an eye, terrifying sword energy rained down upon Luo Chen. Even then, he remained perfectly composed and activated his Profound Dust Armor. The qi barrier spread outward. Yet before the invisible sword energy, that defense collapsed almost as soon as it formed.
Sword energy that can break through qi armors? Is this man a true sword cultivator?
The thought flashed through Luo Chen's mind, but his movements did not slow. He formed a seal with one hand, and his body began expanding at an astonishing rate. Vitality surged through him in an unstoppable torrent, driving his bones to lengthen and his flesh to swell. Thick muscles coiled over his body like the roots of ancient trees, while skin layers spread across the jade-like flesh beneath. His hands and feet enlarged in proportion; their lines carried the rough, powerful texture of an ancient giant. The black armor expanded with him, completely covering his transformed body.
Whoosh!
A pair of crimson wings unfurled from Luo Chen's shoulder blades, spreading wide enough to blot out the sky. In the span of a single breath, his body had reached nine zhang in height, and he towered above the Sea of Clouds Plaza like a god looking down from the heavens. Invisible sword energy poured down on him like a storm, but when it struck his transformed body, it only stirred faint ripples across his skin before fading away.
The sight was so astonishing that it drew the attention of the cultivators nearby.
Beneath the black robes, Han Zhan's heart trembled at the sight. Luo Chen's physique had transformed again during the decades they'd spent apart, and it had grown far more terrifying than before.
Meanwhile, Blood Hermit, who had been pursuing the fleeing Blood Nightmare, briefly paused and narrowed his eyes at Luo Chen. Damn, what a body! It's entirely wasted on that brat. It would make excellent material for refining a Blood God Clone!
Even Moon Hermit, who was easily suppressing Fairy Jadecold and Silent Fate by herself, could not help casting another glance in Luo Chen's direction. Interest flickered through her eyes as her thoughts quickly turned. He came out of the Alchemy Palace, so he must have inherited Heaven Refiner's alchemy inheritance. But why did the Heaven Refiner Cauldron self-destruct? If he truly passed the trial, it should have acknowledged him as its master, just like my scroll did. This is really weird... Still, he inherited the Monarch's alchemy inheritance. If I can make use of him, he may be my best chance of reaching the Divine Transformation Realm. I need to finish off Silent Fate quickly, then take him before Blood Hermit gets to him.
Ever the perceptive one, Moon Hermit had naturally caught the greed in Blood Hermit's gaze upon Luo Chen. She was aware that three of his four Blood God Clones had already been destroyed, leaving him with only one. At a time like this, he was most likely considering refining Luo Chen into a new Blood God Clone. Such an outstanding talent would truly be wasted if he was turned into one of those mindless clones.
Aside from those three, no one else had the leisure to pay attention to Luo Chen. Each of them was already being overwhelmed by the enemy before them and could not spare any thought for another battlefield. Flying Cloud, however, was standing directly in front of him.
"So this is what you're relying on?"