Chapter 1765: Earthfall (I)
Chapter 1765: Earthfall (I)
The great void trembled as green and black light intertwined.
Ever since Great Primordial Hidden Radiance Mountain won the favor of the cultivators of [Dayang Mountain], it had been utterly transformed. Countless temples now filled its slopes, while the famed Tangdao Peak, which jutted toward the heavens like a blade, had been carved with innumerable Maha and Dharma Masters that looked down coldly upon the earth from on high.
Countless monks in meditation robes stood across the mountain with palms pressed together in worship, their expressions solemn and dignified. Several enormous golden figures had also gathered together, whispering among themselves.
"I heard Yang Ruiyi has already fought his way into the heartland of the Capital Immortal Dao..."
"Isn't Lord Guangchan there to stop him?"
The speaker was a white-skinned Merciful One as large as a house. He looked fierce, and his aura was profound.
Another Merciful One nearby laughed. "You overestimate him and underestimate Banished Essence. I don't think he'll necessarily be able to stop Yang Ruiyi."
"That's assuming he even truly intends to stop him!"
The group continued whispering among themselves. They clearly knew something of the situation, as fear lingered in their voices.
"Would he still dare? Five-Eyed continues to boil in Dayang Mountain's bronze cauldron even now... Dayang Mountain's resolve this time is not something anyone can afford to take lightly!"
As they murmured among themselves, the radiance overhead suddenly dimmed. The Merciful One looked up in alarm and froze where he stood.
Green-black radiance surged wildly through the sky, tearing open a pitch-black expanse of the great void. An enormous bronze imperial carriage moved through the air, seemingly accompanied by ten thousand ghosts, filling the heavens with an eerie chill.
The palace was no larger than any of the golden bodies below, yet its presence drained the color from heaven and earth and shook every Buddhist cultivator on the mountain. Its pitch-black curtain slowly lifted, and a man dressed in black descended the steps, silently gazing down on them all.
It was none other than the missing Yang Ruiyi!
He stood with his arms folded, carefully sensing the changes within the great void. After making a calculation on his fingers, everything became clear to him.
Those from Lotus Temple followed the master of Lotus World First Aspect in harboring divided loyalties; they refused to serve Dayang Mountain. Zhang Yun is just as duplicitous. None of them will interfere with my plans. It's all over now.
At the same time, he did not let his guard down for even a moment. He led something out from within the palace. The small calf, with not a trace of fur on its body and fashioned entirely from clay, stumbled along behind him as though alive, its legs trembling.
"Ch'i Lanyan may be a petty coward, but he obtained an opportunity from the Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture. By following the course of events and drawing his conclusions from the situation, there is no way he could fail to see what is happening. But how could he know that even the Heavenly Plain Scripture cannot calculate everything accurately? Even the Scripture itself fell within Banished Essence, so what could those who received its opportunities possibly accomplish?"
His brows lowered, a trace of coldness entering his expression as he abruptly set foot upon the mountain range!
"Even if they calculate everything correctly, how much ability or resolve do they have to change anything?"
He suddenly released the rope in his hand. The clay ox immediately plummeted toward the mountains like a bird with broken wings, stirring up countless raging winds as it drifted downward.
The winds were gray-white, twisting and entwining with one another as though blowing from a bottomless abyss. They were as heavy as snow, causing the great void itself to heave and buckle until it gradually fractured and became cut off. The few Merciful Ones who had just entered the great void were forced out and came tumbling down with it.
It's over!
Pale pink radiance suddenly flared across the mountain. It was none other than the mountain-protecting formation! Yet the terrified cultivators could only watch the solitary black object falling from above meet no resistance whatsoever as it continued drifting downward.
The pink radiance was so feeble it was almost laughable. Rather than saying it was as flimsy as paper over a window, it would be more accurate to say it might as well not have existed at all.
Buddhist cultivators normally hid away in Buddhist lands to cultivate, so they had neither the need nor the ability to establish formations. They knew a thing or two about joining together in formations to draw upon a Buddhist land, but when it came to actually establishing formations, they were utterly clueless. How could they compare to immortal cultivators, who could leave behind divine abilities to protect the Dao lineages of Purple Mansion Realm cultivators?
The Merciful Ones looked as though they had seen a ghost. Not a single one dared to resist. They fled at full speed in every direction, desperately trying to escape, but the great void rustled and trembled as a crisp sound rang clearly in everyone's ears.
Dong!
A long, resonant bellow rolled across the heavens. A speck of brownish-yellow light first appeared where the clay ox landed, then swept across the entire mountain range like a storm!
The sacred figures carved in relief across the mountains rapidly crumbled into torrents of soil. Every building turned into earthen-yellow brick and mud, while the Buddhist cultivators who were running, kneeling, and wailing froze where they stood. One after another, they became clay statues, only for their bodies to swiftly blur and collapse into rich, fertile earth.
Amid the chaos and collapse, the white-bodied Merciful One sensed the terrifying aura behind him and was utterly bewildered. Whatever kind of spirit item had fallen from above, it had paralyzed him while simultaneously cutting off the great void... Even if this ability alone could not easily kill him, once Yang Ruiyi descended, he would almost certainly die.
The Merciful One stood frozen, his mind going completely blank.
How could Yang Ruiyi possibly be here?!
And what reason could he possibly have to be here?!
He truly could not understand the Grand General of Song's actions. The Great Primordial Hidden Radiance Mountain was indeed practically undefended at the moment, but so what? Had Yang Ruiyi come merely to vent his anger by killing the two or three Merciful Ones stationed here and a group of monks who barely possessed any cultivation?
The Great Song's many Daoist Masters are all in Shanji. Once he finishes killing us, then what? The people of Western Shu are all in Longdi, while the Golden Feather Sect is leaning toward Shu and sitting back to watch the two sides fight. When the many Maha and even the cultivators of Profound Order return, how is he supposed to hold this place by himself? With the likes of Li Ximing, whom Guangchan alone is enough to hold back? Won't he still have to withdraw empty-handed in the end?
Could he really be doing all this just to vent his anger?!
Rumble!
But the Merciful One had no time to think further. The long-suffering spirit mountain violently trembled as it slowly began to rise. Its formerly low-lying stretches swelled upward into hills, while the boundless energy of Prime Magnetism that had always flowed through the mountains suddenly came to a halt.
The entire mountain dimmed, and the Prime Magnetism within every inch of its earth veins began to tremble. As surging currents of air swept through, streams of Baleful Metal Qi actually began seeping out from the cracks between the rocks.
The surging Baleful Metal Qi rushed into the sky and transformed into ethereal white mist. Yang Ruiyi still stood before the bronze imperial carriage, his back turned to Great Primordial Hidden Radiance Mountain, which had become a living hell.
The Grand General of Great Song did not descend to finish off the Merciful Ones immobilized within the light of Manifest Earth. Instead, he stood quietly atop the palace, placed both hands against the bronze doors, and gently pushed.
Creak...
The ancient doors swung open at once. The white mist floating between heaven and earth poured desperately into the great hall, forming a terrifying vortex across the sky. White dew condensed from Baleful Metal Qi rapidly trickled down the bronze surfaces of the palace, while Yang Ruiyi stood silently before the entrance, his expression unreadable.