Chapter 308 - 292: Dao Position
Black Mountain Master’s voice fell in the vast, empty Taixu Hall.
Qi Yun had already walked to the center of the hall, stopping about ten zhang from the main dais.
He did not bow. He simply raised his head slightly, his calm gaze meeting Black Mountain Master’s eyes, which were as deep and bottomless as a Cold Abyss.
"I appreciate the Vice Sect Leader’s concern."
Qi Yun spoke, his voice as clear as the striking of jade. In this stagnant space, enveloped by Black Mountain Master’s oppressive presence, it sounded exceptionally distinct.
"I entered the hall without announcement. I hope the Vice Sect Leader will forgive me."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over his sect brothers on either side. Their expressions varied—some were shocked, some joyful, some worried. His eyes lingered for a moment on Qian Xin, Chi Yang, Qing Li, and Ming Yu.
Then, he looked back at Black Mountain Master, his tone still even, but every word was sharp and clear.
"Just now, outside the hall, I believe I heard that the Vice Sect Leader was about to dispose of my Dao field?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the already pin-drop-silent hall instantly froze!
Countless gazes darted back and forth between Qi Yun and Black Mountain Master, filled with incredulous shock.
Qi Yun... how dare he so directly and calmly question a Great Master who currently wielded the authority of the Sect?
The faint ripple on Black Mountain Master’s face had already vanished, replaced by an indifference as cold as ancient ice.
He did not answer immediately. He just stared quietly at Qi Yun below, a nearly imperceptible glint of dark light slowly swirling in the depths of his eyes.
His right index finger, resting on the arm of his cloud throne, tapped lightly once more.
TAP.
This time, it was not aimed at the other Masters in the hall.
It was aimed solely and precisely at Qi Yun!
A pressure far more condensed and immense than the one used to suppress Qian Xin Master and the others descended like the intangible phantom of an Ancient Divine Mountain, crashing down from some unseen height directly toward Qi Yun!
This was no simple pressure from Magical Power; it was a display of a Great Master’s Dao Position!
An ordinary Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Master wouldn’t just be unable to resist; they would find it nearly impossible to even remain standing or think clearly. Their Dao Heart would be instantly wounded, and they would be forced to their knees in humiliation!
The Masters in the hall felt their breath catch, their gazes toward Qi Yun filled with worry and horror.
Black Mountain Master was truly enraged. He was going to use his absolute status to directly crush the defiant Qi Yun!
But the next second!
The expressions of everyone, including Black Mountain Master, froze.
Qi Yun was still standing there.
His figure was as straight as a pine, the hem of his deep blue Daoist Robe not even fluttering.
The pressure of the Dao Position, potent enough to crush mountains and freeze space, seemed to hit an invisible, intangible barrier three feet above his head!
SIZZLE...
A sound, so faint it was almost inaudible, like glazed porcelain grinding against hard ice, emanated from the point of the formless clash.
In the thirty-foot radius around where Qi Yun stood, a fine, web-like, light gray pattern that resembled cracks in ice silently appeared in the void.
It was a phenomenon caused by two Dao Positions clashing and grinding against each other.
He... he had actually resisted it!
The hall fell deathly silent.
All the Masters held their breath, their eyes wide as saucers, as if they had seen a ghost.
Qian Xin Master forgot the pressure on his body, Chi Yang Master forgot to struggle, Qing Li Master forgot her shock and anger, Ming Yu Master forgot his worry...
Everyone’s Heart and Spirit was completely captivated by this perception-shattering scene!
A Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator, resisting the Dao Position of a Great Master?
This... how is this possible?!
Even if Qi Yun’s talent was peerless and he had forged the legendary Venerable Dao Foundation.
The gap between the Realm of the Great Master and the Foundation Establishment Early Stage was like that between a stream and a great river, a firefly and the bright moon!
It was not something that could be so easily bridged by talent and foundation alone.
Unless...
"Qi Yun has reached Foundation Establishment Middle Stage?" After the initial shock, Qian Xin Master was the first to react, a trace of joy appearing on his face!
The Venerable Dao Foundation is invincible within its realm! And it can elevate one’s Dao Position by an entire realm!
The only explanation for Qi Yun so easily blocking the pressure of Black Mountain Master’s Dao Position was that he had already reached Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
His Dao Position was equal to that of a Great Master!
"Foundation Establishment Middle Stage... How long has it been since he reached Foundation Establishment? How is that possible..." a Master from the Black Mountain Lineage questioned, but his voice dwindled.
After all, no matter how much they doubted or refuted it.
The truth was right before their eyes!
They had no choice but to believe it!
Black Mountain Master’s cold, indifferent eyes slowly narrowed. From within the long, thin slits, a frigid gleam, like the tangible edge of a blade, pierced the void and locked onto Qi Yun.
"It seems... your year away has been quite fruitful."
Black Mountain Master’s voice was still steady, but it was colder and deeper than before, each word seeming to be chiseled from the depths of an ice cavern.
"No wonder... you dare to act this way."
He slowly rose from his cloud throne.
As he stood, the entire Taixu Hall seemed to tremble with him!
All the Holy Sect Masters in the hall staggered.
In a daze, they seemed to see countless Ancient Demon Peaks that pierced the heavens and sundered the earth, rising from the ground to crush the nine heavens and ten earths, encompassing the four corners and eight directions!
An immense aura, far more terrifying than the pure pressure of the Dao Position from before, slowly awakened from within Black Mountain Master’s body.
He was no longer just suppressing him with presence.
He was truly mobilizing the Dao Realm Cultivation that belonged to a Great Master.
He was going to use absolute power to completely suppress this insolent junior who repeatedly provoked his authority!
The air in the great hall solidified into a gel, and all the Masters felt a suffocation that originated from the depths of their souls.
And just as Black Mountain Master’s aura peaked, his eyes as cold as daggers, at the very moment he was about to strike—
RUMBLE—!!!
A thunderously deep and muffled roar exploded from outside Taixu Hall, from high above the Holy Sect Mountain Gate!
This thunder was not a fleeting crack but a continuous, deep, and powerful roar, as if a hundred million ancient war drums were being beaten simultaneously above the clouds.
The vibrations caused the pillars and walls of the entire great hall to tremble, letting out a low hum!
Outside the hall, the originally clear sky darkened at a visible rate.
Endless, heavy leaden clouds surged forth from the void, layer upon layer, hanging so low they threatened to press down upon the high, soaring eaves of Taixu Hall. They shrouded the hall and several surrounding mountain peaks in a strange, heart-pounding dim light, creating an atmosphere of extreme oppression.
Within the clouds, no serpentine lightning could be seen, but a more suppressive, more violent power was brewing and churning—a power that felt as if it could tear the sky apart at any moment!
Caught off guard, the Masters in the hall were stunned by the sudden celestial phenomenon and the continuous thunder that pierced their Divine Souls. Looks of shock and bewilderment on their faces, they couldn’t help but look outside at the sky, which had abruptly taken on an apocalyptic appearance.
"What is... this?!"
"A celestial anomaly?!"
"No! This aura... this is not a natural act of heavenly might!"
Just as everyone was filled with suspicion and uncertainty—
CRACKLE—!!!
A brilliant and domineering streak of incandescent white lightning, like the first divine punishment at the dawn of creation, brazenly tore through the thick cover of leaden clouds.
From the supreme height of the dim Celestial Vault, it descended straight down!
The intense light momentarily blinded everyone in the hall, their ears filled with nothing but the deafening, world-destroying roar of the thunder!
When the incandescent light receded slightly and the crowd managed to regain their vision, they looked on in horror.
Qi Yun was still standing in the same spot, his silhouette blurred by the fine, lingering arcs of electricity.
The incandescent lightning and the dim sky outside intertwined, shrouding most of his face in flickering shadows.
Only his eyes remained calm, though a few wisps of golden lightning seemed to be flashing in their depths.
Inside the hall, there was a deathly silence.
There was only the low-hanging leaden clouds outside, the faint rumble of thunder, and the nearly halted breathing of the crowd.
After a long time, someone, trembling, uttered the earth-shattering guess:
"This... this is..."
"Thun... Thunder Skill?!"
If Qi Yun reaching Foundation Establishment Middle Stage in just a few decades was a shock to the Holy Sect Masters in the hall...
Then the incandescent lightning that tore open the dim Celestial Vault and the terrifying, lingering thunder brought with them utter dread!
A Venerable Dao Foundation, while rare and one in ten thousand, was not without precedent. Ancient records contained scattered accounts of exceptionally brilliant figures who had forged such a foundation.
But the Thunder Skill...
Which of these Holy Sect Masters, who had cultivated for at least several hundred years, was not experienced and well-read in ancient texts?
They knew all too well what the two words "Thunder Skill" meant in the records of the modern Cultivation Realm!
No one had ever truly mastered it!
Not a single one!
And now...
It was unclear who moved first.
On both sides of the hall, the Masters who had been standing according to their rank began to slowly retreat in unison.
The crowd parted like a tide pushed aside by an unseen force, withdrawing toward the sides of the hall.
They cleared a wider, empty zone between Qi Yun and the dais where Black Mountain Master stood.
As they retreated, their gazes remained locked on the two opponents in the center.
Their expressions were incredibly complex, but deep within... a scorching curiosity was rising uncontrollably.
The unrivaled sovereign of the Ten Thousand Laws since ancient times—the Thunder Skill!
The acknowledged strongest existence below a True Monarch—a Great Master!
Before their very eyes, in Taixu Hall, the heart of the Holy Sect’s power, these two forces had formed a standoff so tense it was ready to erupt at any moment.
All the Masters held their breath, subconsciously slowing the circulation of their Magical Power to an absolute minimum, afraid that the slightest disturbance would become the final spark to ignite this terrifying balance.
Upon the high platform.
Black Mountain Master still stood there, his profound black robes hanging motionless.
The calm on his face, like an ancient, frozen pool, was even deeper and more inscrutable than before.
It was as if the Thunder Skill phenomenon that had shaken the souls of the others was, to him, nothing more than a slightly biting chill in the wind.
And behind him, the Ten Thousand Layers of Demon Mountain, which had previously been just a faint illusion, was now undergoing a visible transformation.
The phantom image was solidifying at an astonishing speed!
The jagged rocks, sheer cliffs, bottomless chasms, and even the Ten Thousand Years Profound Ice coating the ridges and the grim Demonic Qi that permeated the air.
The texture of every mountain peak became clear. A heavy, cold will to suppress everything spread out in tangible waves, layer upon layer.
It silently collided and pressed against the destructive aura of thunder still lingering around Qi Yun below!
This pressure was no longer aimed solely at Qi Yun.
Instead, like a slumbering behemoth fully stretching its body, it slowly enveloped the entire Taixu Hall with a vast and tyrannical power that sought to dominate all.
At this moment, Black Mountain Master had completely and unreservedly unleashed the terrifying Cultivation and supreme majesty of a Great Master Peak!
The Holy Sect Masters who had retreated to the sides stared with wide eyes, not daring to miss a single detail.
...