Chapter 281 - 266: Birth of the Imperial Soldier
The upheaval struck without warning, shattering the silence!
RUUUUMBLE!!!
It came without warning, without preamble.
A majestic pillar of golden light—its color indescribable, its purity absolute—brazenly erupted from deep within the earth!
The pillar of light was only a few dozen feet wide, yet it was incredibly concentrated.
As it shot skyward, it paid no mind to the deep gray, deathly miasma that perpetually shrouded the Valley of No Life. Like a red-hot poker through butter, it effortlessly pierced and tore the fog asunder!
The golden light shot straight into the highest heavens, utterly shattering the celestial vault that loomed over this forsaken land!
Wherever the golden light passed, space was gilded in eternal gold, and the very flow of time seemed to grow viscous and "expensive."
The fiercely clashing Spiritual Light of Daoist Skills, the surging qi, blood, and Evil Qi, even the two warring Foundation Establishment Realm Heavens belonging to Qi Yun and Li Xuanqing...
Under the radiance of the golden light, everything—like an insect trapped in amber—froze in an instant!
Their radiances dimmed, their flows turned sluggish, and their power was drastically reduced!
The climactic duel between Qi Yun and Li Xuanqing’s World-Suppressing Army—a battle that had captivated all eyes and minds—was brutally... overshadowed by the sudden, tyrannical emergence of this golden light and its overwhelming pressure!
The gazes of the entire Valley of No Life, and indeed the entire Northwest, were locked onto this golden pillar that connected heaven and earth!
"What is... that?!"
"This pressure... it surpasses the Realm of Master!"
"Within the golden light... is the aura of an Imperial Dao!
No, it’s older than any ordinary Imperial Dao—grander, more... majestic and righteous!"
Countless divine senses—filled with shock, horror, ecstasy, and greed—madly intertwined and clashed within the void.
"An Imperial Soldier... has emerged!"
Outside the Valley of No Life, in the skies to the east, south, west, and north, the void rippled violently like the surface of water!
Four figures emerged from the void almost simultaneously, taking a single step to materialize in the celestial vault above the outskirts of the Valley of No Life!
These were none other than the four Great Masters of the Northwest Demon Path’s Four Sects.
These four titans—men so elusive they were rarely ever seen, men who could make the entire Northwest quake with a stomp of their feet—had all personally arrived.
Dao Rhyme flowed naturally around them. For one, it was like a descending Star River; for another, a towering ancient tree; for a third, the turning wheel of Reincarnation; and for the last, the birth and death of a single thought.
Although they did not deliberately release their might, their mere presence caused the laws of Heaven and Earth in the area to faintly revolve around them.
But now, any trace of their usual profound composure was gone from the Great Masters’ faces.
Their gazes, like four red-hot branding irons, were "nailed" to the golden pillar that pierced the heavens!
Deep within their eyes burned a feverish excitement they had suppressed for countless years, now impossible to hide, along with... a sliver of cold-blooded determination!
Evidently, the legendary Golden Tang Dynasty Imperial Soldier had finally manifested. Even with Dao Hearts tempered by centuries, even millennia, of cultivation, they couldn’t stop their own hearts from pounding, unable to contain their emotions!
...
Inside the Valley of No Life, at the heart of the battlefield.
Qi Yun’s Heart and Spirit jolted, shaken by the sudden, world-shaking turn of events.
The vast might and ancient aura of the Imperial Dao contained within the golden light sent a shiver of alarm through even him.
What surprised him even more was the nascent [Peak Essence] deep within his [Daluo Heaven], which had, until moments ago, been slowly growing.
But in the instant the golden light’s pressure washed over everything, its radiance suddenly flared, reaching a state of innate, flawless Perfection in a flash!
Stimulated by the immense presence of the emerging Imperial Soldier, his second [Four Seasons] wonder—the [Peak Essence]—had unexpectedly... reached Perfection!
Celestial Master Chen’s desperate intuition had unintentionally done Qi Yun a massive favor.
"Begone!"
Qi Yun snorted, flicking his wide sleeve with a great flourish.
Although the power of his [Daluo Myriad Skills Realm] had been significantly weakened by the golden light’s pressure, Qi Yun’s personal might remained immense.
A torrential gale mixed with the Daoist Intent of [Mastering All Skills] slammed viciously into the faltering Military Dao Divine Demon and the [Blood Conquest and Slaughter Realm]!
Li Xuanqing grunted, and his towering Divine Demon Dharma Aspect staggered backward, nearly half of it dissipating.
The [Blood Conquest and Slaughter Realm] also contracted and dimmed, momentarily disengaging from Qi Yun’s Realm Heaven.
Qi Yun paid him no more mind. With a flicker, his form reappeared atop a higher, gray-white stone peak hundreds of yards away. Like the many other startled cultivators, his gaze was now locked on the source of the heaven-piercing golden light.
The golden pillar connecting Heaven and Earth had now reached its zenith and was beginning to slowly retract, condensing inward upon itself.
The light was no longer blinding. Instead, it grew gentle and weighty, like flowing, molten gold.
At the core of the light, a vast, boundless figure of unimaginable size began to solidify, shifting from illusion to reality and gradually growing distinct.
It was shaped neither like a person nor a weapon.
It was... a tree!
A phantasmal image of an ancient Divine Tree, so vast it was beyond imagination, holding up the entire Celestial Vault!
The Divine Tree exuded a supreme majesty—one of tranquility and stability, one that connected all things and measured Heaven and Earth.
Its trunk, as stout as a mountain’s dragon vein, shot straight upward and disappeared into the pinnacle of the golden light, seeming to truly connect Heaven and Earth.
Its bark bore no resemblance to that of an ordinary tree. It was covered in deep fissures from which flowed a brilliant, molten-gold luster. Within these fissures, ancient seal characters—looking as if they were both naturally formed and carved by the Great Dao itself—bobbed and flickered.
The characters were faintly discernible.
They formed an eight-word inscription, ancient and profound, carrying supreme authority and a fervent prayer!
Kaiyuan Tongbao, eternal prosperity for ten thousand generations.
...
Within the Central Army Tent of the World-Suppressing Army.
Seeing the Imperial Soldier manifest, Celestial Master Chen lightly flicked his duster. A boundless divine light bloomed in his eyes as he spoke softly:
"The seventh of the Twenty-four Imperial Soldiers of the Golden Tang Dynasty: [God of Wealth]."
At the utterance of these three words, the boundless golden light filling Heaven and Earth seemed to shine all the more brilliantly.
Countless gazes—greedy, shocked, fanatical, or wary—were fixed dead upon that [God of Wealth].
"Since the Imperial Soldier has revealed itself, why do you still hide?"
A voice rang out, as aloof as the eternal, descending night sky.
The Northwest Four Sects. Four leaders. Four Great Masters, each just one step away from becoming a True Monarch.
And now, they all appeared at once, making a powerful entrance!
BOOM—!!!
Though the four Great Masters did not intentionally combine their might, the moment they all cast their gaze upon the Valley of No Life, a terrifying pressure—as if the Celestial Vault were collapsing and the continent sinking—swept through the valley like a physical tsunami!
CRACK!
CRACK!
Under this invisible, crushing pressure, the gray-white stone peaks of the valley—already ravaged by the prior battle—disintegrated silently, collapsing into swathes of fine dust.
Every cultivator in the valley below the Foundation Establishment Realm, whether of the Righteous or Demon Dao, turned deathly pale. As if carrying mountains on their backs, their bones groaned under the unbearable weight. Their qi and blood stagnated, their Magical Power ground to a halt, and it felt as if they would be crushed into paste at any second!
Even the Foundation Establishment Masters were breathing with difficulty, their Divine Souls wavering.
They had to operate their Cultivation Skills at full power, condensing their Daoist Intent to barely keep their footing under the overwhelming demonic might, but their faces were grim.
The gazes of the four Great Masters were like four invisible Divine Mountains, pressing down heavily on everyone’s heart.
Now that the Imperial Soldier had appeared, they had no intention of feigning civility. They would use their absolute power and the advantage of being first to forcibly seize control of the situation, and even...
Clear the field!
However, the Nanyin Dynasty had plotted for centuries, uniting with several great Orthodox Sacred Lands for this northern expedition. How could they possibly be unprepared?
Just as the might of the Four Sects’ Great Masters blanketed the Valley of No Life in their bid to control everything—
"Amitabha Buddha..."
A Buddhist chant, melodious and serene, capable of soothing all agitation and killing intent, drifted from the southern sky like the sound of a temple’s morning bell and evening drum.
The chant wasn’t loud, yet it miraculously pierced through the terrifying pressure naturally emanating from the four Great Masters, resonating clearly in the ears and heart of every person present.
A faint golden light flashed. A monk appeared from thin air, already standing with a smile in the sky south of the Valley of No Life. He was plump and round, clad in a bright yellow kasaya. Around his neck hung a string of peculiar Buddha Beads, each one as crimson as blood, with faint traces of Sanskrit flowing across their surfaces.
His face was like a full moon, his earlobes drooped to his shoulders, and his smile was utterly disarming. He looked for all the world like Maitreya descended to the mortal realm, radiating a peaceful Buddha Light of warmth, Compassion, and tolerance.
The moment it appeared, this seemingly benevolent smile and its accompanying Buddha Light caused the suffocating, overwhelming demonic might blanketing the valley to... silently dissipate by a full thirty percent, like snow under a warm sun!
The cultivators in the valley felt the pressure on them lighten at once, finally able to take a ragged breath.
"My Buddha is compassionate."
The portly monk placed his palms together. He smiled amiably at the four demonic titans in the sky, his voice gentle but laced with an unshakeable resolve.
"It seems this humble monk came at the right time.
With such great hostility, I fear you four benefactors will disturb the Imperial Soldier’s spiritual nature and harm the countless lives within this valley.
Why not hold your hands for now and discuss to whom the treasure will belong? How about it?"
"Great Compassion Temple, Laughing Buddha Venerable."
Master Nan Dou’s eyes narrowed. He recognized the newcomer.
This seemingly gentle, fat monk was one of the old recluses from the southern Buddhist Sacred Land, Little Sumeru Mountain—a true monster who rarely emerged into the world.
"Hmph!"
The Laughing Buddha Venerable had barely finished speaking when a snort—as cold and sharp as an unsheathed, peerless sword—cut through the air!
To the east of the Valley of No Life, the void was torn asunder by an invisible Sword Intent, and a figure stepped forth.
The newcomer was a middle-aged man with graying temples and a face as hard and cold as Ten Thousand Years Profound Ice.
He cradled an un-sheathed longsword of ancient design. The blade was dull, appearing like common iron, but a closer look revealed that the very space around its edge was subtly distorting and tearing.
This was none other than the current Pavilion Master of the Sword Pavilion, a man renowned for his ruthlessness in battle and his obsession with the Sword Dao.
He who once charged into the East Sea alone with his sword. Though he returned heavily wounded, he left behind the fearsome moniker of "Dragon Slayer"—the Dragon Slayer Sword Master!
"Pray, hold your arguments, fellow Daoists."
Another voice spoke, this one calm and placid, like that of a patient teacher in a private study, gently guiding his students.
A middle-aged scholar strolled out of the void. He wore a faded blue robe and a square scholar’s cap, his face gentle and refined. In his hand, he held a scroll of yellowed bamboo slips.
No powerful aura emanated from him. His gait was unhurried, as though he were merely a tourist passing through to admire the scenery.
Yet, the very moment he appeared...
For the first time, a distinct change crossed the faces of the four Great Masters: Nan Dou, San Si, Jiu Li, and Reincarnation.
Because the newcomer was from the Vast Sacred Land. Second only to the current Saint Master, he was the one whose status was most transcendent, whose cultivation was most unfathomable—the Second Master.
The Confucian King, Huangfu Qianqiu!
...