Chapter 395 - 28: Epilogue (Part 4)
Profound Bright Demon City.
The City Defense Array shimmered with a blinding light, illuminating half the sky.
Tens of thousands of Cultivators surrounded the Demon City, attacking with all their might. The brilliance of various Divine Techniques and artifacts rained down upon the Grand Array’s restrictive light, sending out countless ripples.
Above the Demon City, two terrifying, heart-pounding auras clashed in a battle of techniques. The vast radiance of thunder, like the sound of the sky cracking apart, echoed for thousands of miles in every direction.
Faintly, two colossal Feather Divine Soldiers could be seen, each occupying a corner of the sky. They were wreathed in Thunder Light, looking like incarnations of the Thunder God.
Tier Five Feather Divine Soldiers!
When Fang Cheng’s Resentment Celestial Demon Incarnation arrived, the battle between the two Feather Divine Soldiers was already nearing its end.
The Nine Heavens Responding Element Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Celestial Venerable was clearly no match for the other Feather Divine Soldier.
That Feather Divine Soldier was clad in full plate, resembling a burly Armored Warrior. Its appearance was unremarkable, but a terrifyingly vast aura flowed from its body.
Seeing this, Fang Cheng immediately understood.
This had to be the legendary first Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier of the Xuanyu Realm.
The supreme treasure of Marquis Li, the second most powerful person in the realm.
’It seems he had indeed refined this Feather Divine Soldier and obtained combat power sufficient to match a Tribulation Realm Great Power!’
Meanwhile, the other Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier—the one stolen by Yan Shutong—was being piloted by an unknown person and was clearly losing to Marquis Li’s.
Fang Cheng had his Resentment Celestial Demon Incarnation watch from a great distance, not daring to get any closer.
’Perhaps this is the final battle for the Xuanyu Realm. Today will decide which of them, Marquis Li or Marquis Yan, is the true Ancestral King who will rule this realm.’
Just then, a streak of black Demonic Light came rolling in from the distant sky!
The black Demonic Light transformed into a colossal hand, which pressed down domineeringly on the Feather Divine Soldier piloted by Marquis Li.
Countless esoteric Celestial Demon chants resounded, echoing throughout the heavens.
"Insolent son, I have already taken the final step. Will you not surrender?"
A tremendous voice descended, suppressing all other sounds for hundreds of miles around.
’Marquis Yan?!’
Fang Cheng was startled. His Resentment Celestial Demon Incarnation stared at the great black Demon Light Hand, sensing an unprecedentedly terrifying demonic intent.
Marquis Li did not respond. The armor-clad Feather Divine Soldier attacked brazenly, sending thousands of lightning bolts soaring into the sky to battle the black demonic hand.
In the blink of an eye, they exchanged thousands of blows. Every strike from Marquis Li’s Feather Divine Soldier was magnificent and world-shaking.
Marquis Yan’s Demon Light Hand, however, had returned to a state of simplicity. It shifted and moved, carrying an overwhelming momentum that crushed Marquis Li’s attacks time and time again.
The other Feather Divine Soldier took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. Suddenly, Marquis Li found himself fighting two opponents at once and was forced onto the defensive.
"Insolent son, do you still intend to defy me?"
The tremendous voice rang out once more.
But then, a gentle laugh suddenly echoed between heaven and earth. This laugh, as if possessing some profound quality, instantly suppressed Marquis Yan’s voice.
"Marquis Yan, do you know the true purpose for which I refined the Feather Divine Soldiers?"
The voice was refined and gentle. Upon hearing it, one could almost picture the speaker as a handsome, elegant, and cultured middle-aged man.
A cold snort was heard in response.
The black demonic hand struck from afar, filling the world with endless Demonic Light and nearly shattering Marquis Li’s Feather Divine Soldier.
At that exact moment, a sudden change occurred between heaven and earth.
The crimson clouds blanketing the Xuanyu Realm abruptly vanished, and a massive tribulation cloud materialized out of thin air!
Muffled thunder rumbled across the world as the tribulation cloud manifested boundless lightning. A torrential sea of electricity crashed down.
"Celestial Tribulation? You can actually summon a Celestial Tribulation!"
The great black Demon Light Hand flinched, hastily dodging the tribulation’s lightning as if extremely wary of it.
Marquis Li smiled faintly. "Marquis Yan, in the past thousand years, you are not the first to have cultivated to the Tribulation Realm."
The Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier bathed in the Celestial Thunder, completely unharmed. Instead, it began to emanate a profound aura, causing a cloud of chaotic energy to spread around it.
Marquis Li continued, "The true purpose of a Feather Divine Soldier is to transcend a tribulation. You don’t understand the method of tribulation transcendence, so what use was there in stealing my wife’s Feather Divine Soldier?"
His voice was calm and gentle, his words flowing smoothly, yet they carried an undercurrent of cold indifference.
As his voice faded, the boundless Thunder Light suddenly surged, swallowing the other Feather Divine Soldier first.
The aura hidden within that Feather Divine Soldier was merely at the Peak of Dharma Form. Before the world-shaking might of the lightning, it lasted only a few breaths before being annihilated.
The crown-wearing Feather Divine Soldier instantly became a lifeless object, standing motionless amidst the boundless lightning.
Then, the mass of black Demonic Light also fell into the lightning, drawing countless bolts of the Celestial Tribulation upon itself.
"Marquis Yan, you’ve only just entered the Tribulation Realm. I wonder, are you prepared to face your tribulation?" Marquis Li sneered.
At this point, Fang Cheng’s Resentment Celestial Demon Incarnation could no longer see anything.
Between heaven and earth, only endless, flashing lightning remained.
...
「In the Icefield, within a cavern inside the Cang Ling Fruit.」
Fang Cheng sat in a pavilion, his expression complex.
"It’s just as you said. Marquis Yan has been defeated..."
He looked at Ling Yan and said slowly, "This realm is now in your father’s hands."
A smile touched Ling Yan’s lips at his words. "My father passed the First Celestial Tribulation?" she asked happily.
Fang Cheng nodded. "I never imagined Marquis Li had already reached the Tribulation Realm. The rumors that he was refining a Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier were just a diversion."
In the end, his Resentment Celestial Demon Incarnation had only seen Marquis Yan’s mass of black Demonic Light explode within the Celestial Tribulation. An infinite torrent of Demonic Light erupted outward, pushing back the tribulation’s lightning and allowing him to make a pathetic escape.
Marquis Li, on the other hand, had piloted his Feather Divine Soldier and safely passed the First Celestial Tribulation.
After that, the vast tribulation clouds dispersed in an instant, and the sky returned to normal.
Seeing this, the Cultivators besieging Profound Bright Demon City were terrified and fled one after another.
Marquis Li paid them no mind, simply taking the other Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier and returning to the Demon City alone.
But it was predictable that with one rising in power and the other declining, Marquis Yan was no longer a match for Marquis Li.
Next, it was likely just as Ling Yan had said: Marquis Li would sweep through the major Demon Cities of the Xuanyu Realm, gather the power of the entire realm to plug the "sky leak," and foil the schemes of the four great Ancestral Kings of the Mo Luo Realm.
His true opponent had never been Marquis Yan, but the many Tribulation Realm Ancestral Kings of the Mo Luo Realm.
’Before, I might have dared to take Ling Yan away by force, but now... The price of taking the daughter of a Tribulation Realm Great Power from this realm is a bit too high. After all, once someone reaches the Tribulation Realm, they gain the ability to traverse the Outer Void and even travel between different realms. If Marquis Li were to track me down to the Red Profound Realm, I’d be in for more trouble than I could handle.’
In the end, Fang Cheng chose to leave alone.
Although Ling Yan was reluctant to see him go, with her level of Dao Heart cultivation, she was not the type to be troubled by romantic attachments.
Fang Cheng had already made astounding gains on this trip; it was time to return.
’I just wonder what this realm will be like the next time I visit...’
Just as he was about to leave, a strange fluctuation suddenly emanated from his storage pouch.
He took out an object and looked closely. It was the potted Snow Lotus that Yan Shutong had given him before she entered the Mysterious Secret Realm.
A clear light coiled around the Snow Lotus, giving it an extraordinary, mystical appearance as it emitted an astonishing amount of Spiritual Qi.
’Young Master, I obtained this flower long ago in the Mituo Ruins. Please accept it. In the future, when you think of me, you can take out this flower and see it as if you were seeing my face.’
Yan Shutong’s voice seemed to echo in his ears.
Now, a cyan light was gathering on the Snow Lotus, faintly forming a graceful, beautiful silhouette.
...