Chapter 287 - 271: Ten Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers Map
From the river, countless pale, ghostly hands reached out, wailing as they clawed at the Buddha Light. A spectral Judge even appeared, brandishing its Soul Hook Brush and striking toward the palm of the Buddha’s Hand.
The Yin Yang Reincarnation Power and the Buddha Light Enlightenment Power clashed violently, HISSING as they annihilated each other, creating vast patches of void-like darkness.
Almost simultaneously, the Dragon Slayer Sword Master snorted coldly. The Ancient Sword he held let out a sword cry so clear it threatened to pierce eardrums, and finally, its blade was drawn three inches from its sheath!
Merely three inches, yet a strand of hazy gray Sword Qi, condensed to its absolute limit, ignored the distance and instantly appeared before the God of Wealth. It aimed directly for the most delicate connection point between the tree’s trunk and the seven-layered seal.
’He intended to "fell" both the seal and the Imperial Soldier at once!’
The image of a Star River Reversal in Nan Dou Master’s eyes froze. With a flick of his finger, a condensed point of "Venus" shot out, arriving after but striking first, hitting the side of the hazy gray Sword Qi.
There was no great explosion, only a patch of profound darkness that spread out in an instant, swallowing the Sword Qi and the starlight. It was as if a miniature star system had been born and then extinguished in that very spot.
Jiu Li Master remained motionless, but a branch from the ancient tree behind him suddenly extended. Like an azure dragon crossing the void, a flicker of gray-green light at its tip shot toward the scroll in Huangfu Qianqiu’s hand.
Huangfu Qianqiu’s expression was unchanged. The scroll in his hand turned to a specific page on its own, and he softly uttered a single word:
"Settle!"
A massive, spectral Ancient Seal character for "Settle" flew out, imprinting itself on the void before him.
That patch of space was instantly imbued with the "Principle" of being "eternally unchanging."
The gray-green light plunged into it and its speed dropped drastically, as if it were trapped in amber. Though it didn’t dissipate, it could no longer advance an inch.
San Si Master’s nine phantoms moved in unison. Each one launched a formless, intangible sword shadow that targeted the very Divine Soul Origin of their opponents. They bypassed the main battlefield and struck at the Purple Mansions of the Laughing Buddha Venerable, the Dragon Slayer Sword Master, and Huangfu Qianqiu, attempting to disrupt the foundation of their techniques.
As the seven Great Masters each displayed their heaven-defying abilities, it seemed for a moment as if seven ancient Divine Demons capable of splitting the heavens and sundering the earth were unleashing their awesome power in the core of the Valley of No Life.
The earth shook and the mountains trembled. The rock strata buckled like waves, and the Earth Veins for thousands of miles around cried out as if overburdened. The Spiritual Qi became utterly berserk, forming towering tornadoes of chaotic Spiritual Mechanism.
Under the shockwaves of a clash at this level, the seven-layered seal was already flickering, and faint cracking sounds could be heard.
It was at this precise moment—when the seven were locked in a stalemate, their techniques clashing and their auras entangled at their peak—
—that beneath the Red Dragon Banner, which had been floating silently above the World-Suppressing Army’s Central Army Tent like a mere spectator, the void rippled like the surface of water, spreading out in barely perceptible circles without any warning.
A figure wearing a Profound Cyan Daoist Robe and a Furong Crown, holding a Jade Handle Duster, stepped out from the center of the ripples.
It was none other than the current Sect Leader of the Celestial Secret Sect, Celestial Master Chen!
His timing was exquisite, appearing in that subtle gap when the seven Great Masters had their auras locked, their old force spent, and their new force yet to be generated.
Celestial Master Chen’s face was as impassive as ever, his eyes as tranquil as an old well. After appearing, he didn’t pause for even a moment, not even glancing at the seven Great Masters whose expressions had slightly changed.
He simply took the seemingly ordinary Jade Handle Duster in his hand and gently swept it in the direction of the God of Wealth’s main body.
The movement was slow and graceful, without the slightest hint of worldly effort.
But as the Duster swept past, its three thousand silver strands suddenly burst forth with a hazy, pure light, like that of primordial chaos at the dawn of creation.
Within that pure light, the spectral image of an ancient scroll—made of neither silk nor leather, neither gold nor jade, its edges flowing with the mottled traces of time—unfurled out of thin air.
Upon the scroll, the images of ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers manifested, along with overlapping phantoms of the sacred regalia of the dynasty!
There were mountain ranges and dragon veins coiling like living creatures, rivers and seas flowing endlessly, cities and fields where all living beings propagated, and even the phantom of the Nine Cauldrons bobbing into view!
A vast, heavy, and majestic aura of destiny—one that carried civilization and commanded the eight wildernesses—and the Dao of the Dynasty erupted forth!
"The Ten Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers Map?!" Nan Dou Master’s brow furrowed sharply.
"Chen Tianji! You dare!"
Reincarnation Master roared, trying to channel the Power of the Yellow Springs to stop him, but he was a step too slow, pinned down by the Buddha’s Hand and the Sword Qi.
Celestial Master Chen ignored all the shouts, guiding his Duster once more.
The unfurled phantom of the Ten Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers Map gently rolled up.
Like a sleeve that could contain Heaven and Earth, the pure light at the scroll’s edge closed like a curtain. It treated the seven-layered, dilapidated seal and the entangled Dao Rhymes as if they were nothing, gently but irresistibly rolling the God of Wealth’s main body up within it!
The scroll closed, transforming into a single point of chaotic Spiritual Light.
Celestial Master Chen flicked his sleeve, and the point of light vanished into it, disappearing from sight.
From his appearance to the sweeping of the Duster, the unfurling of the scroll to collect the treasure, and the light disappearing into his sleeve—
—the entire process was as smooth as flowing water, so fast it surpassed the limits of thought, lasting but the blink of an eye.
Only after the Imperial Soldier’s main body had vanished did the violent backlash of Spiritual Mechanism and the disturbance of causality from the treasure being stolen finally erupt, blasting the seven deadlocked powers apart!
BOOM!!!
The heavens trembled and the earth shook. A chaotic sun exploded in the sky above the Valley of No Life, and destructive ripples swept out in all directions, causing the seven Great Masters to sway and their auras to churn.
But in the instant after taking the Imperial Soldier’s main body, Celestial Master Chen’s figure, like ink dissolving in water, had already faded into the light and shadow of the chaotic explosion. He, along with the aura of the Central Army Tent under the Red Dragon Banner and the entire World-Suppressing Army, vanished without a trace.
All that remained was the devastated Valley of No Life and seven of the world’s most powerful figures, their faces ashen, their auras unstable, and their eyes a mixture of fury and disbelief.
The Imperial Soldier, right under the noses of seven Great Masters...
...had been stolen!
"Go on, keep fighting over it.
Never expected it, did you? Turns out there are bad guys in the Righteous Dao, too."
Seeing the Imperial Soldier snatched away by the Nanyin Dynasty, Reincarnation Master looked at the three ashen-faced Great Masters of the Righteous Dao and jeered with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
"You’re courting death—!"
"CLANG!"
The coldness in the Dragon Slayer Sword Master’s eyes instantly transformed into a heaven-scorching rage. The Ancient Sword in his arms let out a violent dragon’s roar that could pierce metal and shatter stone, and its blade shot out half a foot on its own!
The Celestial Vault was sliced open by an invisible Sword Intent, leaving a bottomless black scar that refused to heal, emanating a destructive aura that could freeze one’s very Divine Soul.
"Sword Master!"
The Confucian King Huangfu Qianqiu’s voice was still calm. With what seemed like a casual flick of his sleeve, he made the violent Sword Intent feel as if it had crashed into an endless, pliant mass of principles.
Huangfu Qianqiu’s gaze went past Reincarnation Master’s provocative face, settling deeply on the three silent titans of the Demon Dao: Nan Dou, San Si, and Jiu Li.
His eyes were still gentle, yet as profound as an old well, as if trying to see through to the true intentions of the leaders of the Northwest Four Sects.
"We’re leaving."
The word came out flat and emotionless, yet it carried the decisive power to end the current standoff.
Huangfu Qianqiu said no more. His wide sleeves met the chaotic, raging winds in the valley and, with a sudden sweep—
A faint halo of light flashed. The next moment, all the Righteous Cultivators in the Valley of No Life faded away from where they stood, like an Illusory Bubble.
In the sky above the valley, only the four Great Masters of the Northwest Demon Sect remained, along with a shattered, devastated landscape.
Nan Dou Master stood at the forefront with his hands behind his back, his aura as deep and unfathomable as an abyss. He stared silently in the direction where Huangfu Qianqiu and the others had disappeared.
Only when he could no longer sense any trace of the Righteous Dao’s presence...
...did his constantly furrowed brow slowly relax.
In its place, a faint smile appeared.
Turning to the other three Great Masters, Nan Dou Master cupped his hands in a slight bow.
"Fellow Daoists, our little show...
...is finally over."
The other three, now wearing identical smiles, slowly nodded. A silent, unspoken understanding and the relief of a successful scheme flowed quietly beneath the shattered Celestial Vault.
...