Chapter 1818: Crimson Desert (II)
Chapter 1818: Crimson Desert (II)
Tinglan, however, was faring far worse. Her opponents were Gao Fangjing, whose raging flames and spirit artifact were both fearsome, and Changyun of Chengyun Gate, whose command of metal and Baleful Qi were only matched by his mastery of Daoist arts.
In this case, Gao Fangjing was the lesser threat. Though Changyun had begun as a rogue cultivator, he had reached the middle stage of the Purple Mansion Realm, and his divine abilities were formidable!
Tinglan relied on [Boundless Water-Fire] and [Purple Throne Serene Spirit Pavilion] to hold them off, but her wounds kept mounting, and she was nearing exhaustion...
The north has far too many people here! Baixiang and Bianyan... They must have been prepared for this all along!
Her heart sank as she swept her gaze across the battlefield. The ones under the least pressure were the Li Family's three Profound Holders, who were fighting several Merciful Ones at low altitude.
The reason was simple, [Unenlightened Water-Fire] was extraordinarily effective against Buddhist cultivators, especially Merciful Ones serving under a Maha. Whenever this True Essence water and fire, gleaming gold and suffused with purple, touched a Merciful One, its effect was even more terrifying than [Boundless Water-Fire]! [Boundless Water-Fire] burned the surrounding great void, but [Unenlightened Water-Fire] severed the Merciful One's connection to it entirely!
For a Merciful One, the consequences went far beyond losing the ability to travel through the great void. The Buddhist land's guiding light vanished at once, and every Buddhist art linked to that land ceased to work. Even with Zhelu, a Maha Liangli, close by, bringing the Buddhist land nearer than ever, they could neither join forces to form a formation nor summon its light together! Unless Zhelu grew desperate enough to command the Buddhist land of the Emptiness Dao to appear and connect with the present world, these Merciful Ones could not expect the slightest aid from it.
Li Jiangliang and his companions were formidable in their own right. Their command of the light of Cultivation and Martiality grew more practiced with every moment they spent in battle. They brought it down again and again without obstruction, almost as easily as if it came naturally to them.
This greatly eased the pressure on Tinglan and gave her less to worry about behind her. She raised her gaze and once more forced [Purple Throne Serene Spirit Pavilion] down upon Changyun's golden blade. Her face went pale. Before she could quell the shock coursing through her body, she opened her mouth to speak, only for her expression to change abruptly!
A point of yellow light flashed within the blazing True Fire Gao Fangjing as it hurtled toward her!
Swirling dark and yellow qi intertwined, forming a gleaming, razor-sharp halberd. Before it even reached her, a suffocating pressure struck her face. This strike had been prepared in advance, its divine ability gathering power for a blow meant to take her life!
The Tuoba Family!
At that moment, both of Tinglan's spirit artifacts and her Boundless Water-Fire were pinned down elsewhere, while her divine ability was occupied fending off attacks. Her defenses lay wide open. Changyun's eyelid twitched at the sight, and he knew something was wrong!
Just then, bright light burst from the center of Tinglan's brow, and a mirror sprang forth!
The mirror was silver white and radiant, no larger than a palm. It looked exceedingly fragile, yet it met the halberd head-on with astonishing force. Silver light shattered outward, sending a radiance through heaven and earth!
Boom!
Thunder shook heaven and earth. The entire sky changed color as silver light flowed like water, and hundreds of bolts of Divine Thunder poured down like a waterfall.
Clang!
The thunder filling heaven and earth was fearsome. It swept the qi in the sky clean, shattered sinister arts, and dispelled all concealment, revealing everyone suspended overhead!
Tinglan's pupils suddenly widened. She immediately recognized Tuoba Ci, now revealed directly before her, and her heart sank. Quick to grasp what his presence meant, she snapped her gaze toward Li Jiangliang and the other two among the mountains.
A tiny white cicada suddenly dove out of the great void!
It bared its claws and buzzed its wings. Tinglan recognized it at once, and horror seized her.
Guangchan?!
That monk... He’s after the sons of Bright Yang!
"Hahahahaha!"
Almost at the same instant, a deafening roar shook heaven and earth. Golden light surged upward from between the three brothers, and that towering face appeared once more, its nose like a mountain peak and its eyes as vast as palace halls. Its enormous mouth gaped open, its tongue taking the form of a white cicada that thrashed its claws as though grinning savagely.
Guangchan had manifested his golden body without a moment's hesitation! His golden body was immense, casting a vast shadow over the ground. It stopped all three brothers in their tracks and even sent several nearby Merciful Ones tumbling down, terror writ over their faces.
"Guangchan?!"
A chill ran through Li Jiangliang's entire body. The three brothers had struggled to hold their ground against the Merciful Ones, but the tremendous roar shattered the balance and drove them all nine steps back. For an instant, they froze beneath the immense shadow.
Sharp white teeth parted, revealing a white cicada as large as a mountain crouched within. Thousands upon thousands of human eyes within its compound eyes fixed on Li Jiangliang. It pulled its limbs from the boundless darkness and lunged to seize him!
A Fifth Incarnation Maha had lain in wait for him and now struck with all his strength, showing no mercy.
Under the shadow of that enormous maw, Li Jiangliang felt as though he stood amid raging flames. His expression changed. He brought his hands together, formed a hand seal, and reached for the light of Cultivation and Martiality to escape. But the white cicada's red eyes bore straight into him, holding him fast with a divine ability!
Dong!
A long, resonant bell seemed to sound beside his ear.
"Fourth brother!"
Li Jiangxia's furious cry rang through heaven and earth, yet everything before Li Jiangliang seemed to stand still.
At that moment, a ray of golden light emerged from the darkness. It was only the size of a palm, yet seemed as vast as a mountain. Like a tiger springing from its long concealment deep in the forest, it struck the white cicada squarely in the face.
Boom!
Dazzling gold drove away all darkness. Cracks and explosions sounded one after another, then the chanting and bells that had buzzed in Li Jiangliang’s ears vanished. Only stillness remained.
"Aaagh!"
The scenery around him surged backward like a river flowing in reverse, thrown into chaos. A terrible scream echoed through heaven and earth.
Everything before Li Jiangliang faded as an endless gale swept past him. Cries of battle rose on every side in a crimson desert beneath a vast, empty sky.
The world spun around him. The golden setting sun reversed its course and rose from the west at a terrifying speed. A dark golden king's axe was embedded in the cicada's pale shell, and a pair of unseen eyes opened across heaven and earth.
Before that radiant setting sun, immense as a beast crouching in the desert, Li Jiangliang and his two elder brothers bowed their heads together. It was as though the strength had been drawn from their spines. Against the boundless, qilin-like golden radiance, they were nothing but three black specks kneeling in the desert gale.
Four stars flickered between heaven and earth. The long, dark golden axe returned to its master's hand. Light and shadow shifted across Li Jianglong's face. His eyes tightly shut, the eldest brother uttered a single word with a strange mixture of fear and joy.
"Father."