Chapter 297 - 281: Foundation Establishment Middle Stage! Success
Hundred Feet Heaven!
Just as the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s finger descended, intending to obliterate both Qi Yun and Huangli Island...
The Deep Blue Daoist Robe on Qi Yun’s body billowed out, transforming in an instant into a boundless sky.
Though as thin as clouds and mist, it seemed to create an entire Celestial Vault of separation, causing the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s strike to hit nothing at all.
"Oh?"
The Crown Prince of Nanyin let out a soft sound of surprise.
He had clearly locked onto the Qi mechanism around Qi Yun, yet the moment his attack touched the cloud-like haze formed by the Deep Blue Daoist Robe, it felt as if he had struck an illusory, empty void.
The force of his finger was like a clay ox sinking into the sea, dissolving into nothingness without causing the slightest ripple.
"Interesting..." With his strike having missed, not a trace of anger or surprise showed on the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s projection. Instead, the intrigued smile on his face deepened.
"To possess so many different legacies, your methods are quite clever.
However, if this is all you have, I’m afraid your path of cultivation ends today."
His tone was level, as if stating a simple fact.
Before his words had even faded, the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s projection retracted his right hand. His left hand, however, had already silently formed a blade and chopped down through the air!
This chop had no dazzling brilliance, but a sharp, piercing will that could sever principles and divide order erupted from it!
Where the edge of his palm passed, the void was plowed open, leaving a perfectly smooth, light-gold "gash" that refused to close.
The golden gash shot straight for Qi Yun’s head, aiming to "sever" his connection to the Spirit Vein beneath him and the surrounding Heaven and Earth!
Qi Yun remained seated cross-legged, maintaining his breakthrough process and using only a part of his Heart and Spirit to face the enemy.
Facing this even more dangerous strike, his right hand remained resting on his knee, stabilizing his Dao Foundation.
His left hand, however, instantly formed an ancient, mountain-shaped Dharma Seal and pressed it lightly toward the ground beneath him.
"Suppress!"
He uttered a single word, his voice like muffled thunder rolling across the ground.
In that instant, with Qi Yun at the center, the Earth Veins of the entire Huangli Island roared to life.
Countless streams of dark gold light from the Earth Veins surged madly from the island’s depths and from beneath the surrounding sea, weaving and constructing themselves around him like awakened dragons.
In a flash, the towering phantom of a heavy, ancient Grand Array that could suppress the eight poles and order the four directions descended with a crash!
The Northern Defense Array!
The Grand Array’s phantom stood like the sturdiest dam, barring the path of the "severing" palm blade.
SHIIIIING—!
The golden gash slashed against the dark gold Array Patterns, emitting a grinding sound that could tear one’s Divine Soul apart.
The Array Patterns flickered violently, deeply dented by the slash as countless fine cracks spread across them. It was clearly unable to completely withstand a blow containing a Venerable’s will.
But the Grand Array still managed to slow, disperse, and exhaust eighty to ninety percent of the severing force.
When the residual power penetrated the array’s phantom and struck at Qi Yun’s body, less than twenty percent of it remained.
Just as the remaining severing force reached his body,
the deep blue tattoo of the Avoiding Tribulation Curse on Qi Yun’s left wrist surfaced on its own once more. Its light flowed as it actively met the incoming force.
The Spell’s characters twisted and flickered, performing some kind of profound evasion against the true meaning of the severing attack.
In the end, the residual force was cleverly deflected by several inches, grazing past Qi Yun’s shoulder.
It silently "sliced" the rock wall behind him into two halves, the cross-section as smooth as a mirror.
Qi Yun himself was completely unharmed.
"Array Dao? Curse Arts?" The interest in the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s projection’s eyes grew even stronger.
His figure didn’t move. He simply opened his mouth and gently "blew" in Qi Yun’s direction.
This was no astral wind.
A wisp of light-gold "breath," seemingly composed of countless miniature Magic Patterns, drifted from his mouth.
This breath was faint at first, but three feet from his lips, it swelled in the air, transforming into the vast and ethereal yet heavy-as-a-Star-River phantom of Emperor Daoist Texts.
Within the texts, every character was a pearl, containing the true intent of edification, etiquette, order, and suppression. Like a Celestial Constitution’s decree, it slowly descended to cover Qi Yun and the phantom of the Northern Defense Array he was in.
This was an attempt to use magnificent, righteous "reason" to forcefully suppress all heresy!
Qi Yun felt the immense power of that "reason"—pervasive and striking directly at his Dao Heart—but his expression remained grave.
His free right hand finally rose. He put his index and middle fingers together, and their tips suddenly lit up with a speck of reddish-white golden light—so pure it could incinerate all illusions and evils in the world!
The true intent of the Nanming Li Fire Sword Technique!
He condensed a wisp of the most refined Li Fire Sword Intent at his fingertips and lightly "slashed" at the descending phantom of the Emperor Daoist Texts!
RIIIIIP—!
It was like the sharpest scissors slicing through heavy brocade.
Where the reddish-white golden light passed, a long, narrow gap was forcibly "slashed" open in the light-gold phantom of the Emperor Daoist Texts.
The extreme attribute within the Li Fire Sword Intent—"to incinerate all evil" and "break illusions to seek truth"—clashed violently with the "edifying order" of the Emperor Daoist Texts, and they annihilated each other.
The descending momentum of the texts faltered. Although not completely broken, they were temporarily halted.
The golden light on Qi Yun’s fingertips dimmed, a clear sign that this wisp of pure Sword Intent had consumed a great deal of energy.
But he had achieved his goal, buying himself a moment’s respite.
"Your Sword Intent is pure. You’ve already attained the Li Fire Samadhi."
The Crown Prince of Nanyin’s projection nodded slightly, as if offering a critique, but his eyes were devoid of emotion.
"A pity. You’re dividing your Heart and Spirit, and your Dao Foundation is unstable. How long can you last?"
He had already seen through Qi Yun’s condition and had no desire to dally further.
He slowly brought his hands together in front of his chest, and a terrifying Qi mechanism, far more vast and condensed than before, began to brew.
The phantom of the Emperor’s Extreme Creation Heaven behind him sharpened, the images of mountains, rivers, and state altars within it spinning faster. A destructive Daoist Intent—one that preached annihilation as the end point of Creation and deprivation as the result of ultimate dominion—began to spread.
The Crown Prince of Nanyin was launching his final strike to end this Magical Combat and erase this potential Venerable-level foe!
As the crisis descended, Qi Yun’s eyes turned ice-cold.
If he were to abandon his breakthrough and attack with his full strength, he could suppress this projection in an instant.
But if he did, the four wondrous items he had painstakingly acquired would turn to dust, and he would have to find new ones to attempt another breakthrough.
Just as Qi Yun was about to make his decision, a message from the God of Wealth Cai Shen’s Spiritual Sense arrived:
"Kid, use that Military Preparation Gold!
Use my Spiritual Light as a catalyst, and you can temporarily summon a Great Tang Army!"
His gaze focused instantly. Without a shred of hesitation, Qi Yun flipped his left hand over, and the Innate Treasure Gold Coin, inscribed with the Ancient Seal characters for "Permanent Military Preparedness," was already in his palm.
At the same time, a speck of Dark Gold Spiritual Light flew from the void and sank into the Gold Coin.
BZZZZ—!
In that instant!
The Military Preparation Gold erupted with an unprecedentedly brilliant golden light!
Within the Gold Coin, a gate leading to an ancient era of battle formations seemed to have been thrown open with a crash!
"All barbarians, within and without, who dare to raise arms! Shall be slain!"
A low, powerful, and perfectly synchronized roar, accompanied by the phantom sounds of scraping armor and clanging weapons, soared out from the golden light!
Where the golden light spread, phantoms of tall warriors emerged. Clad in Profound Armor, holding Mo Blade Long Halberds, with Strong Bows at their waists and their faces hidden by masks, they appeared in a perfectly ordered battle formation, descending with a roar as they stepped through invisible ripples of space-time!
Their armor was stained with dust, their Evil Qi pierced the heavens.
Silent and still, their will to fight was like iron.
Banners unfurled, on which a giant character for "Tang" could be faintly seen, along with smaller characters to the side—"Longwu"!
The elite of the Great Tang Imperial Guard—the Longwu Army!
The brutal, slaughterous air of a force that had weathered a hundred battles, protected imperial power, and cleansed the eight wildernesses, combined with the will of a stern and disciplined military formation, instantly filled the entire cavern.
It even faintly suppressed the imperial might radiating from the Crown Prince’s projection!
"Hm?! What is this...?" For the first time, the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s projection’s expression shifted, and a hint of gravity flashed in his eyes.
"Now!" Cai Shen shouted.
Understanding dawned on Qi Yun. Ignoring the cost, he forcefully split off a strand of his dominant consciousness to imitate the flow of Qi and the true intent of the battle formation he had witnessed in the Valley of No Life: the Nanyin’s Emperor’s Extreme Slaughter Array.
He poured his will into the souls of these thousands of Longwu Army soldiers!
"Slaughtering steeds, protect my lands! Array, rise!"
Amidst the roar of Heaven and Earth, Qi Yun used the commanding power of his Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation.
He forcefully deployed this unique, Tang-style—Dragon Martial Slaughter Array!
The thousands of army souls roared in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized. Their long halberds pointed forward, their bowstrings drawn taut on phantom bows.
A torrent of dark gold power, incomparably condensed and mixed with the unique majestic tyranny of the Golden Tang Dynasty, surged forward like an iron cavalry charge from the river of history.
It charged fearlessly toward the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s projection!
This strike had already transcended the realm of ordinary Magic. It was a stroke of genius born from Qi Yun’s desperation.
The Crown Prince of Nanyin’s eyes flickered. He pushed his palms forward, meeting the dark gold torrent of army souls.
From the Emperor’s Extreme Creation Heaven behind him, an enormous Jade Seal representing the "Mountain and River Seal" flew out. Carrying the dual true intents of Creation and annihilation, it smashed viciously into the torrent.
BOOM—!!!!!
An indescribable explosion erupted within the cavern!
The two colossal forces were evenly matched!
For a moment, neither could gain the upper hand, and they were locked in a stalemate.
A sharp light flared in Qi Yun’s eyes. His right hand, which had been stabilizing his Dao Foundation, finally moved!
He steadily tapped the point between his eyebrows, where the Daoist Foundation Origin of his Daluo Heaven was seething and rising.
He took the pervasive "Venerable Qi Mechanism" and "Emperor’s Will" from the enemy—which had been constantly pressuring and stimulating his Dao Foundation during his fierce battle with the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s projection—and ruthlessly slammed them into the crucial point of his own Dao Foundation’s transformation!
"Break... for me!!!"
A long cry erupted from the depths of his Divine Soul!
His Daluo Heaven, which had already reached a tipping point but had become sluggish due to external interference, was now subjected to the ultimate pressure and stimulation from another Venerable’s Qi mechanism. As if a final fire had been lit, it exploded forth.
’One era, one epoch, cannot contain two Venerables!’
BZZZZ—!!!
The Qi mechanism around Qi Yun’s body changed abruptly!
The originally illusory and unstable thirty-zhang Chaos Realm Heaven suddenly solidified, stabilized, collapsed inward, and then violently expanded, finally settling at a full one hundred zhang in circumference.
Within the Realm Heaven, a complete Dao Domain Law—one that encompassed all existence, commanded all laws, and was utterly unique—clearly manifested.
The halo of chaos at the edge of the Realm Heaven solidified into a tangible barrier, circulating with an indescribable Dao Rhyme.
Foundation Establishment Middle Stage—Merit and Virtue Perfection!
And in the very same instant that Qi Yun successfully broke through and his Realm Heaven stabilized,
the Mountain and River Seal Rune and the Dragon Martial Array were both completely annihilated.
The Crown Prince of Nanyin’s projection watched Qi Yun, whose aura had been completely transformed and whose Realm Heaven was now stable and vast. The intrigued and calmly appraising look he had maintained finally showed its first obvious fluctuation.
It was the cold severity of a plan disrupted, of prey escaping one’s grasp.
After a moment of silence, the Crown Prince of Nanyin’s projection began to slowly fade, returning to nothingness.
"Very good..." Looking at Qi Yun, the Crown Prince of the Dynasty’s voice remained steady.
"This lonely one will remember you.
Don’t be hasty. The game between us... has only just begun.
Next time, this lonely one will end you completely!"
As his voice fell, the projection completely disintegrated, turning into specks of light-gold dust that vanished into the distorted void.
Qi Yun slowly withdrew his right hand. His face was still pale, but his eyes were as bright as morning stars, filled with a completely different kind of gravity and vastness.
Gazing in the direction where the projection had vanished, his eyes held neither joy nor sorrow, only a bottomless calm.
"Next time?"
"Heh, Qi can’t wait until next time!"
Before his words faded, the Daluo Realm of Ten Thousand Laws behind Qi Yun unfurled with a roar. With its infinite stars and vast Ten Thousand Laws, it instantly captured the lingering wisp of the Venerable Qi Mechanism left in the cavern.
’Patience brings peace, but the more I think about backing down, the angrier I get!’
’I’m already at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!’
’Why should I wait until tomorrow for revenge?’
The next instant!
An immensely vast and tyrannical Venerable’s intent erupted. A tide of pressure radiated from Qi Yun, rainbow light surged in his eyes, and with a wave of his large hand, he grasped the threads of karma in his palm.
Reverse-engineering the origin!
This time, it was his turn to attack!
...