Chapter 169 - 167: Red Lotus Sin-Slaying Saber, Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow
In the boundless, chaotic turbulence of the Array, Shangguan Jue’s body was torn to shreds in an instant.
The Shangguan Family practiced Cultivation Methods but not Body Refining. Their Martial Artists’ physical bodies were generally average and couldn’t withstand the bombardment of the Array’s turbulence at all.
Normally, Shangguan Jue should have been able to endure one wave.
The power of the Celestial Blood Eye was horrifying, but it wasn’t enough to kill a Primordial Pill Realm Grandmaster in a single blow.
After clashing with the Nine Nether Ice Soul Divine Finger, not much of the Celestial Blood Eye’s power remained. Only a fraction of its force pierced through Shangguan Jue, failing to completely shatter his heart.
As long as Shangguan Jue had some strength left, he could have forcibly sealed the Qi and Blood in his Meridians and still had the power to fight.
However, his surroundings wouldn’t give him that chance. The moment his Protective True Qi dissipated, the Array instantly tore him apart.
Chen Yuan collapsed onto the Array’s core, quickly swallowing a handful of Elixirs to restore his Qi and Blood.
At the same time, he activated the Inner Vision God Observation Method to erase the Celestial Blood Eye’s mark from between his brows.
He was wearing a mask, so no one could see the mark anyway. But Chen Yuan was afraid he might forget about it after taking the mask off, so it was better to erase it now just to be safe.
After recovering some of his strength, Chen Yuan immediately stood up.
He was a man of his word and couldn’t just stand by and watch Huangfu Yi be killed by Xu Wenzhou.
Of course, being a man of his word depended on the situation. As for what that situation was... he reserved the right to the final interpretation.
Besides, if Huangfu Yi really couldn’t hold off Xu Wenzhou, Chen Yuan, in his current state, was in no condition to face another Primordial Pill Realm Martial Arts Grandmaster.
Chen Yuan took out the Celestial Blade and began digging beneath the Array’s core, pulling out a deep blue Crystal Stone covered in runes.
This was one of the power cores of the entire Myriad Phenomena Ninefold Tower. The other three palace halls had them as well.
The moment Chen Yuan pulled out the power core, the Array core beneath his feet began to crumble, and the violent turbulence of the Array instantly enveloped him.
But the runes on the crystal core shone with a faint light, and the moment the Array’s turbulence touched that light, it was repelled.
Chen Yuan leaped out of the hall. Because he had taken the Array’s power core, the Array of the Myriad Phenomena Ninefold Tower had completely collapsed, and the effects were already spreading to the outside.
At this point, Huangfu Yi had been beaten to the brink of death.
Even with the ’Divine Revelation’ Divine Mask and the Divine Descent Technique, he couldn’t withstand a prolonged, head-on battle with a Primordial Pill Realm Martial Arts Grandmaster.
"Get over here!"
Chen Yuan roared. Huangfu Yi ripped off his mask and desperately burned his Qi and Blood as he fled toward Chen Yuan.
Xu Wenzhou was horrified.
’How could Chen Yuan be the one to walk out of that hall? Where’s Shangguan Jue?’
’A Martial Arts Grandmaster like Shangguan Jue, killed by a junior who just entered the Condensing Truth Realm? What kind of joke is this!?’
But the surrounding Array was already beginning to collapse, and a cold glint appeared in Xu Wenzhou’s eyes.
’Since I’ve already heavily injured this Huangfu Family junior, it’s no different from killing him.’
’Shangguan Jue is dead, so be it. If I kill these two juniors, I’ll have an explanation for Jie Yushan’s death when I return to the Forgotten Heaven Pavilion.’
With a flicker of his body, the immense True Qi around Xu Wenzhou surged forward like a mighty river, catching up to Huangfu Yi in an instant.
Just then, Chen Yuan arrived, wreathed in boundless Celestial Fire, and the Heaven-Burning Hand Seal came crashing down.
But under that immense and unrivaled power, the Celestial Fire was instantly extinguished, and the hand seal exploded.
Chen Yuan himself was knocked back several steps by the force.
Back in the hall, most of Shangguan Jue’s Cultivation had been suppressed by the Array’s turbulence, preventing him from using his full strength except for his final attack.
What Xu Wenzhou was displaying now was the true power of a Primordial Pill Realm Martial Arts Grandmaster, and Chen Yuan instantly felt extreme pressure.
"You do have some skill. No wonder even Shangguan Jue fell to you!"
Xu Wenzhou snorted coldly as the Yin Yang Power around him erupted.
He crossed his hands, yang above and yin below. The two forces merged and intertwined, forming a black and white Seal Technique that came crashing down!
Yin Yang Infinite Seal!
"Go attack the centermost Array! Use your full power! Quickly!"
Chen Yuan roared at Huangfu Yi, who immediately gathered the last of his strength and began to furiously attack the Array.
Chen Yuan’s Qi and Blood were also somewhat depleted, but he had no choice but to gather all his Celestial Fire Power, forming Heaven-Burning Sword Qi around him. However, the amount of Sword Qi was much less than before.
The Heaven-Burning Destruction Sword Qi shot out, surging forward and continuously bombarding the Yin Yang Infinite Seal.
Although most of the Sword Qi was ground away by the Yin Yang Power, it barely managed to block the attack.
"A mantis trying to stop a chariot! You don’t know your own limits!"
Xu Wenzhou strode forward, and a sliver of the Power of Heaven and Earth flowed into his body.
The Forgotten Love Celestial Book was in tune with the heavens and the earth. Although Xu Wenzhou was only at the Primordial Pill Realm, he could barely draw upon a trace of the Power of Heaven and Earth.
But even this single trace was immense. Xu Wenzhou reached out, and this vast power formed into a giant hand over a hundred feet long, grabbing for Chen Yuan as if to blot out the sky!
Just as Chen Yuan was preparing to forcibly burn his Qi and Blood Power, Huangfu Yi finally shattered the centermost Array.
With that, the gradually collapsing Array went completely out of control. It set off a chain reaction and utterly exploded.
Xu Wenzhou’s giant hand was torn apart by the Array’s power. Everything around them began to collapse as the Myriad Phenomena Ninefold Tower crumbled from its lowest level up.
Finding himself in the storm of the Array’s turbulence, a look of horror appeared in Xu Wenzhou’s eyes.
He could no longer be bothered with chasing Chen Yuan and Huangfu Yi.
’If I don’t escape now, I’ll be buried in this Myriad Phenomena Ninefold Tower!’
Xu Wenzhou frantically burned his True Qi and fled desperately upward.
Chen Yuan, however, flickered into motion, instantly appearing beside Huangfu Yi—who had been swept into midair by the Array’s turbulence—and pulled him down.
If Chen Yuan hadn’t saved him then, Huangfu Yi would have been sent flying like a human kite.
The area beneath the central Heart Refining Array had been torn open by the other arrays.
But in the process of the Array’s collapse, three caskets had appeared.
Chen Yuan swept the three caskets into his Qiankun Bag and shouted to Huangfu Yi, "Attack the area beneath the Ninefold Tower with all your might! Burn your Qi and Blood, don’t hold back!"
Huangfu Yi wanted to ask why they weren’t escaping upward like Xu Wenzhou. Why go down?
But he wasn’t wearing his mask, and his personality had reverted to being timid and subservient.
Chen Yuan’s expression was cold and stern. Faced with such a command, Huangfu Yi didn’t dare to question him and could only attack the ground with all his might.
Chen Yuan did the same, and the two of them focused their power, blasting furiously at the ground below.
Meanwhile, the power within the deep blue Crystal Stone that served as the Array core was growing weaker and weaker. It could no longer fully protect them, and the Array’s turbulence was now less than a foot away.
Just as its power was about to run out, they finally blasted a huge hole in the ground, revealing what looked like an open space below.
Chen Yuan pulled Huangfu Yi and leaped in. Below them was an underground river.
As they plunged into the river, the Array above them exploded completely, sending a constant rain of Bronze fragments and massive rocks crashing down into the water.
But now that they were free of the Array’s turbulence, they were temporarily safe.
The two swam along the underground river for over ten li before finally emerging from a pool in a mountain forest.
Huangfu Yi struggled onto the bank, feeling as if his whole body was broken. He collapsed onto his back in a spread-eagle position.
Ever since he had obtained the Divine Mask, he had never pushed himself to such a severe state of exhaustion.
His body’s Qi and Blood were now almost completely depleted, and he had even overdrawn several years of his lifespan.
Still, the experience had been incredibly thrilling. In all his years of wandering the Jianghu since leaving Ming God City, he had never experienced a day as exciting as this one.
Chen Yuan was also greatly depleted, but his physical body was an Innate Dao Body that had reached Minor Achievement. Coupled with the Blood Spirit Scripture and the Inner Vision God Observation Method, his Qi and Blood recovered extremely quickly.
Just from drifting in the underground river for that long, Chen Yuan had already recovered twenty percent of his Qi and Blood Power.
Chen Yuan took out the three caskets he had obtained from the Myriad Phenomena Ninefold Tower and opened them one by one.
Huangfu Yi watched from the side with eager eyes, but he didn’t dare say a word.
He was struggling to even get up. He could only hope that Chen Yuan would keep his promise and give him the Cultivation Technique.
’Of course, it would be fine if he didn’t, too. As long as Chen Yuan doesn’t backstab and kill me right now, I’d consider him honorable enough.’
’Thinking back on it, I was far too reckless before.’
’Tempted by the Cultivation Technique, I couldn’t control my greed and rashly agreed to team up with Chen Yuan, even revealing all my trump cards.’
’Now, in this state, I’m just a fish on the chopping block. I can only gamble on Chen Yuan being a man of his word.’
’Still, according to the Huangfu Family’s records, while the Great Brightness Sect of five hundred years ago was domineering, they never seemed to do things like break their promises or backstab their allies. In fact, they were the ones who were backstabbed by the Great Xia Court.’
Chen Yuan, of course, had no idea so many thoughts were racing through Huangfu Yi’s mind. His attention was focused on the Cultivation Techniques.
All three caskets contained Spiritual Jade, each holding a top-tier inheritance from the former Palace of Myriad Phenomena.
There was one Celestial Level Middle Grade Cultivation Technique and two Celestial Level Upper Grade Martial Arts Secret Techniques.
The Celestial Level Middle Grade technique was the Innate Qi Dao Body, which was for Huangfu Yi. The two Secret Techniques were both from the Buddhist Sect.
One was called the Red Lotus Sin-Slaying Saber, and the other was the Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow.
The Red Lotus Sin-Slaying Saber condensed the Karma Fire Red Lotus to slay supreme evil karma. The stronger the opponent, the more powerful the Power of Karmic Fire Red Lotus became, making it the ultimate Attack Against Attack killing move.
However, it had some side effects. The user would also suffer the burning of Karmic Fire, which consumed Qi and Blood.
Therefore, this technique was normally meant to be used in conjunction with a Buddhist Body Refining Technique to strengthen one’s Qi and Blood, enabling them to withstand the burning of the Karmic Flame.
But for Chen Yuan, this wasn’t much of a side effect.
His physical body was already nigh-perfect, and with the Blood Spirit Scripture, his Qi and Blood were exceptionally abundant and powerful, more than enough to withstand such consumption.
Furthermore, the Attribute of his Heart-Burning Karmic Flame was somewhat similar to this Red Lotus Sin-Slaying Saber, and could even amplify its power to a certain extent.