Chapter 710: Facing the Mystic Maiden
The seven-colored golden light completely enveloped the entirety of Du Cang Mountain.
The vast golden radiance scattering down from the rift in the heavens was ten thousand times more dazzling than the thunder and blazing fire that had encircled Lou Ye when he soared into the sky not long ago.
It was as if, in an instant, the "Eternal Night" had been completely dispelled.
Leaving behind only an incomparably brilliant "daylight."
The Guardians of the Dao on Du Cang Mountain emerged from their dwellings one after another, staring blankly at the magnificent, resplendent seven-colored golden light above the heavens.
"This is..."
A young disciple staggered, craning his neck to gaze directly at that radiance from beyond the sky, the expression on his face gradually shifting from initial panic to yearning and longing.
The end was approaching.
Ever since the Great Chaos of the Immortals ended, those four words had constantly loomed over the heart of every cultivator on Chenping Continent.
No one knew when the end would arrive. The only certainty was that its arrival was indeed drawing ever closer.
The Guardians of the Dao of Du Cang Mountain in particular, while enjoying the most advantageous cultivation resources on all of Chenping Continent, also had to bear a greater pressure.
When they finally beheld the seven-colored golden light blooming from the heavens, that string which had been taut deep within their hearts finally found release.
Within the enormous gap in the heavens, the Mystic Maiden Statue, thousands of zhang tall, slowly emerged from within.
The statue's eyes were gently closed, its expression seeming to smile yet not smile, exuding an extremely profound and solemn aura.
"So beautiful..."
Some of the young disciples on Du Cang Mountain couldn't help but sigh softly.
Surrounded by the magnificent and resplendent seven-colored golden light, standing nearly as tall and vast as Du Cang Mountain, the number one peak of Chenping Continent, the goddess statue that seemed like a miracle appeared between the heavens alongside a bell chime that resounded across the sky.
This was everything that these young Guardians of the Dao of Du Cang Mountain witnessed before their eyes.
As a cultivator of the Immortal Ascension Realm, Chen Yan's spiritual sense could naturally capture every subtle movement on Du Cang Mountain with complete ease.
Therefore, he had, as a matter of course, noticed those young cultivators who had emerged from their dwellings one after another, lifting their heads to gaze up at the Mystic Maiden Statue that had appeared in the heavens.
This scene felt familiar.
Chen Yan gradually overlaid the scenes before him with those from over sixty thousand years ago, before Heavenly Summit Mountain was destroyed.
Then, Chen Yan watched as the Mystic Maiden Statue in the sky, thousands of zhang tall, began to slowly move its hands.
First extending outward to both sides, then raising above its head, finally beginning to press together toward its chest-
No!
Chen Yan's pupils contracted. He knew all too well what would happen if the Mystic Maiden Statue brought its hands together.
Yet he had no way to stop it.
The only thing Chen Yan could do was one thing.
"Halt!"
Chen Yan bellowed, his single hand forming a seal as he placed his right hand over his chest. In the very instant his shout rang out, countless tiny black cracks emerged in the space around him.
In the moment the Mystic Maiden Statue pressed its hands together, bell chimes resonated across heaven and earth.
Between the Mystic Maiden Statue suspended high in the sky and Du Cang Mountain, an extremely peculiar distortion arose in the space between them.
But in the end, nothing happened at all.
Chen Yan gazed gravely at the Mystic Maiden Statue in the sky with its hands pressed together, then let out a long breath.
Emptiness Annihilation Art.
Just moments ago, Chen Yan had employed the Emptiness Annihilation Art to sever all karmic ties between the Mystic Maiden Statue in the sky and Chenping Continent.
Yet the destructive aura that erupted in the instant the Mystic Maiden Statue pressed its hands together was so terrifying that it still exerted a slight influence upon this realm's heavens.
Only Chen Yan, who had relied on the Emptiness Annihilation Art to withstand that destructive aura, knew exactly how terrifying that single clasp of the Mystic Maiden Statue's hands had been.
Thanks to Chen Yan's masterful grasp and understanding of the Hidden Immortal Art, even though he had forcibly broken past the limits of the laws of heaven and earth when casting the Emptiness Annihilation Art and caused black cracks to appear, it had not caused any significant backlash to his Dao Basis.
Consequently, the depletion of his dao rhyme was naturally negligible as well.
The other seven Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators on the Myriad Laws Platform were all briefly stunned, but they clearly understood what had just occurred.
And the deathly silence upon the Myriad Laws Platform lasted only for an extremely brief instant.
Because the Mystic Maiden Statue in the sky, wrapped in seven-colored golden light, after Chen Yan used the Emptiness Annihilation Art to withstand the terrifying destructive aura released by that single clasp of its hands, unexpectedly curved its lips into an extremely eerie smile.
And those eyes that had been gently closed also began to slowly open.
Or rather, it merely lifted its eyelids just a tiny crack.
"Fellow True Persons, why do you not yet act!"
Mr. You bellowed.
A glassy radiance soared into the sky. The first to strike toward the Mystic Maiden Statue wrapped in seven-colored golden light in the sky was the tenth-generation Ascended Steward of Heavenly Summit Mountain, Pure Dust True Person, Qiu Siruo.
Qiu Siruo of approximately eighty thousand years ago had been renowned throughout the cultivation world of Chenping Continent for her cold and elegant beauty.
Yet at the same time, she had also been famous for her fiery temper.
Her cold and elegant appearance stood in complete opposition to her temper that ignited at the slightest spark, and now her reincarnated body, that somewhat pampered and willful cute face of Si Youyou, actually suited her personality far better.
The sleeve of the moon-white daoist robes Qiu Siruo wore shook slightly, and then a long sword appeared in her hand.
Immediately after, this tenth-generation Ascended Steward of Heavenly Summit Mountain spun once in the air, brandishing the long sword in her hand with all her might. A terrifying glassy sword qi, ten thousand zhang in length, cleaved toward the Mystic Maiden Statue above Qiu Siruo.
In the sky through which that glassy sword qi swept, space itself began to distort in an utterly exaggerated manner.
At the same time, the eighth-generation Ascended Steward of Heavenly Summit Mountain, Gu Jing, standing upon the Myriad Laws Platform on Du Cang Mountain, lightly tapped the tip of his foot and floated into the air.
Compared to Qiu Siruo who had unleashed the glassy sword qi, Realman Lingxuan held nothing back.
He raised his right hand and directly used his dao rhyme to activate his natal divine ability-
Dao of Withering and Flourishing!
For the vast majority of Divine Ability Realm or Dao Union Realm cultivators in this world, the natal divine ability provided no particularly significant enhancement.
But for Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators, it was different.
Because after a cultivator stepped into the Immortal Ascension Realm, in the process of attempting to break through to an even higher realm, they inevitably had to try to comprehend what the "true self" was.
The natal divine ability was itself a unique technique manifested from the entirety of a cultivator's past experiences and the very essence of their life.
Therefore, for cultivators at the Immortal Ascension Realm and above, the comprehension and utilization of the natal divine ability operated on an entirely different level.