Chapter 1814: Unenlightened (II)
Chapter 1814: Unenlightened (II)
Daoist Master Xianyao did not react to the insult about his severed path. But at ‘beggar,’ his expression changed and his eyes darkened.
"The nerve of you... My Lian Family descends from one of Guanzhong’s great families. When our ancestors attained divine abilities and ruled as kings, your Helian Family was still serving others as slaves..."
Before he could finish, a wisp of white qi drifted down and held him in place. Yehui appeared atop purple waters and sighed. "Senior... forgive me!"
With that sigh, a crushing stream of white qi flowed from his lips and coalesced to become an immense mountain shining with white light. The great void congealed around it, leaving the divine abilities caught within as though mired in mud.
Daoist Master Xianyao said nothing. He brought his hands together before his mouth and breathed out a stream of white qi of his own!
As soon as the qi emerged, another mountain rumbled into being within the great void. The two peaks collided, sending white qi tumbling like falling stones and pouring across the sky in vast cascades.
It was the same [Eastern Feather Mountain]! Daoist Master Xianyao had actually cultivated a [Capital Guard] ability to complete his Dao lineage!
Both uncle and nephew of the Helian Family turned to look, plainly surprised. A more complicated expression crossed Helian Wujiang’s face.
Well played, Xianyao... Did someone advise you, or did you truly take a gamble?
Only Yehui was unsurprised. Daoist Master Xianyao’s situation was scarcely better than Changxi’s. He had attained the Dao through [Bestowal of the Crown], but possessed no other part of the lineage. He had finally obtained [Immortal Without Flaw] from Chengyan, only to find himself unable to progress any further.
But the old man was decisive. Judging that he did not have enough years left to cross the Purple Mansion Threshold, he had begun planning early to pursue an alternative route to the threshold and preserve himself. In the end, he had come to Yehui and obtained [Eastern Feather Mountain]!
The two men had a longstanding friendship, but once the fight began, Yehui did not hesitate. He vanished, passed through the white qi cascading from the sky, and appeared behind the old man. His brows lifted sharply!
Fiery colors flickered through his eyes. A mysterious radiance dropped suddenly to strike at the back of Xianyao’s head. Yehui was the one who had given Xianyao [Eastern Feather Mountain]. Naturally, he knew the vulnerable point in Xianyao’s cultivation!
Daoist Master Xianyao’s expression changed. He summoned his spirit artifact with both hands, and the jade mountain he held rapidly expanded.
"[Xuangguan Mountain]!"
The two immense mountains formed from divine abilities collided in the air. Helian Wujiang drifted toward them like a willow catkin on the wind, but a dense gray halo flashed before him. An old man emerged riding Mansion Water, a cold, gleaming sword aimed straight at Helian Wujiang’s face!
Daoist Master Yushui, Chen Yin...
Helian Wujiang’s heart sank slightly. It was not that he feared Chen Yin greatly. Word had long since spread that Western Shu had schemed against the old man, leaving him heavily dependent on the Song court. If Helian Wujiang were Yang Ruiyi, he would make sure to use a capable man like Chen Yin where he mattered most!
Chen Yin’s presence only revealed how determined the Song court was to hold this place!
Helian Wujiang was too careful to let down his guard. He pressed a hand to his waist, and a whip, a blade, and a sword rose together, stirring up endless baleful winds.
Helian Wujiang had been at a disadvantage against Li Zhouwei in the grotto heaven, but he was a formidable opponent for Chen Yin. His whip lashed out and bound Chen Yin’s treasured sword, while the short blade darted about like a ghost. His own sword hovered upright above his palm, ready to guard against any opening.
With the two mid-stage Purple Mansion Realm cultivators both occupied, Helian Wumeng stood amid layer upon layer of Baleful Qi, a cold smile on his face.
Before him stood three figures wreathed in colored light, each wielding water and fire!
The man on the left was powerfully built and carried himself with the bearing of a dragon or phoenix. Dressed as a military officer in green-purple armor, he wore a sword at his waist and shone with golden light, though his face was slightly pale. The handsome man in the middle wore green and white, with a green-purple mark and purple-gold patterns between his brows. The one on the right wore white and purple beneath a black cloud-patterned robe. He held a profound sword at his side, outwardly composed but wary.
Three pairs of golden eyes were reflected in Helian Wumeng’s gray-silver gaze. He burst into wild laughter that shook the entire sea of baleful qi!
The young man continued to laugh uproariously as he exclaimed, "How generous of the Song court! It has delivered his three gifted sons... right into my hands!"
His voice and figure vanished together into the sea of baleful qi.
"Let me see what you Profound Holders can do!"
A faint light appeared between Li Jiangliang’s brows. He raised the profound sword in his hand just as the devil-like man appeared before him. Helian Wumeng’s long-handled blade, part saber and part spear, blazed with black light and struck his sword.
Boom!
Water and fire exploded from Li Jiangliang’s body. He staggered back three steps through the air, his expression changing slightly.
"What a powerful devil cultivator!"
Helian Wumeng was built like a tiger, yet moved with the agility of a venomous snake. He twisted freely in the air, and his blade suddenly sprang up from below Li Jiangliang’s feet, driving viciously toward his throat!
Every hair on Li Jiangliang’s body stood on end, and a chill shot through him. Purple light flared between his brows. His figure shattered with a bang, about to dissolve into surging water and fire.
But Helian Wumeng was too seasoned to let him escape so easily. His eyes had already turned red, and a fierce beam of baleful light shot straight at Li Jiangliang’s face! At the same time, a mysterious pulse surged from his body, throwing Li Jiangliang’s water and fire slightly off course and slowing them for an instant.
Boom!
Fortunately, Li Jiangxia arrived in the nick of time. The water and fire in his hands flowed together and formed a spear. It flickered through the rolling Baleful Qi, deflecting the divine ability as it drove toward Helian Wumeng’s throat!
Helian Wumeng paid it no mind. He even had time to turn his head and cast Li Jiangxia a contemptuous look.
Skill with a weapon, but too little power in his divine ability... His injuries have not even healed, and he still dares challenge me!
The spear thrust through Helian Wumeng without resistance, as though piercing a cloud of Baleful Qi. It passed clean through his throat, leaving no wound. The place it struck was insubstantial.
[Thousandfold Body]!
Li Jiangliang gave a muffled grunt and retreated in a rush of water and fire.
Helian Wumeng raised his long arm and swung the blade down toward Li Jiangxia. But before the spirit artifact reached him, Baleful Essence crashed down like a towering mountain!
A blurred speck of golden light leaped from his baleful eyes and pinned Li Jiangxia in place. Unable to dodge, Li Jiangxia took the full force of the blow and shot down like an arrow, striking the ground with a heavy thud.
[Great Peace Calamity-Quelling Light]!
But that brief delay was enough. The light Li Jianglong had drawn down from the stars finally struck Helian Wumeng’s back!
Though the three were only Profound Holders, the light they had drawn down through the Star of Cultivation and Martiality was no ordinary strike. Helian Wumeng froze in place as dense currents of water and fire in many colors burst from his body. Li Jianglong’s face went pale. Bound to Helian Wumeng by some connection, he too was rooted to the spot, unable to move, while his aura rapidly weakened.
Li Jiangxia had already risen from the ground as a streak of white light. A Golden Dao seal hovered over his head, and he appeared largely unharmed. With a flick of his hand, he produced a golden chain that fastened itself around Helian Wumeng.
"Fourth brother!"
The three had known well in advance that they would be fighting their way north with the others. Of course they had prepared. They had obtained a spirit artifact from the Song Emperor, and deliberately chosen arts to cultivate for precisely this moment!
Li Jianglong and Li Jiangxia might not get along, but in a fight like this, they worked together faster than anyone. There was no trace of mistrust between them. Their coordination was so seamless that Li Jiangliang was startled and nearly lost his rhythm!
He had no time to dwell on it. He shut his eyes, and the color between his brows deepened. A spark of light leaped out from between his brows. It shone brilliant gold and vivid purple. At times, it flickered like fire; at others, it flowed like water. It lit its surroundings as it advanced, its gold evoking a profound scripture and the Great Dao, its purple a hundred cultivators chanting amid a rain of immortal light. It seemed to move slowly, yet struck Helian Wumeng in an instant.
It was the true trump card the three had specially obtained for this journey, [Unenlightened Water-Fire]!
Boom!
A pillar of dazzling immortal light shot into the sky. The entire sea of Baleful Qi trembled, and billows of black smoke rose from it. Li Jianglong, who had cast the art, was the first to stagger back three steps. The thread of white light, as fine as a string, snapped at once. He coughed up blood and could barely keep himself upright.
The golden chain shattered with a bang. A broad sweep of white light tore across the sky at terrifying speed, striking Li Jianglong so hard that he spewed blood and nearly fell to the ground. Li Jiangliang shifted away through the light once more. Li Jiangxia, at the center of the storm, was untouched by the sweep, but eighteen glazed beads had appeared above his head without warning, locking him firmly in place!
[Western Subjugation Glazed Stars]!
Helian Wumeng had deliberately put himself in danger to draw Li Jiangxia close. He simply had not expected the three of them to produce such a powerful treasure!
Yet his will was so firm, and his divine ability so steady, that even as the water and fire ravaged him, he wielded his spirit artifact without the slightest tremor. He trapped Li Jiangxia beside him even as he gradually emerged, flames and water still burning around him!
Most of Helian Wumeng’s body, from his left hand outward, burned with fierce [Unenlightened Water-Fire]. In several places, spiritual flames rose from within his flesh, clearly injuring his true body. Yet he seemed utterly unconcerned. He stood in midair, looking faintly surprised.
"The great void..."
In his perception, the great void that had always been present was suddenly cut off from him completely!
[Unenlightened Water-Fire] also affected the great void. Unlike [Boundless Water-Fire], however, it did not sever the void itself. It made the great void reject Helian Wumeng alone!
Until he extinguished the spiritual flames on his body, he would lose almost every mystic he had involving the great void. The three Profound Holders, meanwhile, could still move in and out of it and easily evade his attacks! If the battle turned against him, he might not even be able to escape!
It should have been a perilous situation. Yet the armored man showed no alarm. Instead, he looked intrigued and smiled. "Good!"
At his shout, the boundless sea of Baleful Qi surged back, and layer upon layer of peaks rose once more.
His chilling voice sounded again. "Now see what I can do!"
...What...
The white light descending from the sky was wiped away. Li Jiangliang was knocked out of it just ten paces away, baleful light coiling around him. His face was white as paper as his eyes were filled by a long-handled blade wreathed in Baleful Qi and a pair of demonic eyes!
Helian Wumeng had predicted where he would emerge, as though he had seen the future!
A frisson of danger swept through Li Jiangliang, breaking him out in a cold sweat. He had seldom left the palace, but he was no stranger to battle. In recent years, he had fought Merciful One and even crossed hands with Kong Tingyun. Yet the pressure Helian Wumeng applied was on an entirely different level!
No wonder father, for all his power and standing, failed to defeat him when he broke through from the Eastern Sea and fought him on the northern shore... This man is truly a monster!
This is what a genius of the northern Dao lineages looks like!