Chapter 448: The Heavenly Dao Denied His Efforts
Xu Sanyan understood her confusion but offered no explanation, calmly withdrawing his gaze without the slightest hesitation.
In a daze, Qin Shutong grasped his unwavering resolve, her gaze seeming to pierce through his skin to glimpse the heart that would stop at nothing to achieve its goals.
The festering wound on her arm slowly widened, a wisp of bloody qi drifting skyward. Qin Shutong looked around, countless strands of bloody qi coalescing into crimson threads that hung in the air like countless red ribbons, forming a breathtaking spectacle.
“Heh…”
Qin Shutong forced a bitter smile. She didn’t know why she was smiling, but it seemed to be the only thing she could do.
“Die!!”
Prefect Jiang unleashed his final desperate move, attempting to drag Xu Sanyan down with him. His swollen body lunged forward, his deeply lined face stretched taut and smooth, erasing wrinkles and making him appear unnervingly youthful, though his eyes burned with savage fury.
Boom!
The sky exploded with a thunderous roar, scattering crimson mist across the heavens. Violent currents churned the air, whipping up a tempestuous maelstrom. Prefect Jiang had transformed into a swirling cloud of blood, obscuring the sky like fiery, flowing clouds.
Whoosh—
A putrid wind swept through the air, carrying countless wisps of bloody vapor. The aftershocks of the explosion followed, unleashing its full destructive force. Rows of houses collapsed in succession, pavilions crumbled, and withered trees snapped like twigs. The once-orderly Qianzhou City was instantly reduced to a desolate wasteland.
Those still struggling to survive looked up, a flicker of hope rising in their hearts.
“Is he dead…?”
“He must be dead, right…?”
Qin Shutong also gazed upward. One of her arms had completely vanished, leaving only bare bone dangling from her shoulder. Dark red veins snaked across her once-smooth face, a grim harbinger of impending decay.
Li Wuxing’s hopeful gaze gradually dimmed. He slowly shook his head and sighed. Though the bloody mist still lingered, he could sense the man’s presence remained, its energy barely fluctuating. It was clear Prefect Jiang’s desperate attack had posed little threat to his opponent.
The blood mist that had been Prefect Jiang slowly dissipated. The crimson clouds in the sky parted, revealing the figure everyone dreaded to see. Simultaneously, an eerie chant echoed through the air:
Though my body plunges into the demonic sea, my heart remains unchanged,
Ten thousand crimson threads, like silken vines, converge within the cauldron.
Forged by countless trials, my will remains as unyielding as iron,
To seek immortality and pursue the Dao until the very end.
Qin Shutong felt a deep resonance within her heart as she gazed intently at Xu Sanyan, their eyes meeting. She knew these verses were meant for her, a final declaration of his resolve to pursue the Dao.
Whoosh!
A putrid wind swept past. Qin Shutong slowly closed her eyes, the festering scars on her face blooming like grotesque petals, gradually spreading across her entire body. With a final sigh, her figure vanished completely, leaving behind only a pile of withered bones that clattered to the ground.
Xu Sanyan turned to face Li Wuxing, his voice calm yet resolute. “No one can stop me. No one!”
With these words, his spiritual power surged violently. A thread of condensed spiritual energy shot from his palm, drawing in countless strands of blood qi to coalesce into a crimson dragon’s head that lunged at Li Wuxing.
Li Wuxing had already lost the strength to resist, but he showed no fear of death. Instead, he chuckled, “Heh, having committed such atrocities, the Qian Kingdom will hunt you relentlessly. I’ll take my leave first and wait for you in the underworld.”
Boom!
The dragon’s head engulfed Li Wuxing’s figure, crushing him into dust.
Xu Sanyan narrowed his eyes, dismissing Li Wuxing’s final words. From the moment he decided to activate the Great Formation, he had already resolved to become an enemy of the Qian Kingdom. If he feared their retaliation, he would have abandoned his plan long ago.
He glanced down at the once-bustling city, now utterly silent. Not even a single wail remained, only mountains of bleached bones filling the streets. Empty-socketed skulls stared up at him, as if accusing him of his atrocities.
Within the city, all life had been extinguished. Even the weeds had withered. The same was true outside the walls; within the Great Formation’s range, not a single living creature remained.
Outside the formation, Sun Yingtang felt a crushing despair. He knew what had transpired within the barrier. The towering blood-red aura was boundless, far beyond what a mere handful of individuals could produce. It seemed…
There were no survivors left inside.
Suddenly, Sun Yingtang sensed a shift. He looked up at the sky, where dark clouds had gathered from all directions, obscuring the sun and plunging the world into shadow.
The Old Ancestor of the Jiang Clan frowned deeply, feeling an inexplicable pressure weighing on his heart. He said uncertainly, “Could this be… Heavenly Punishment?”
“Heavenly Punishment?” Jiang Yan asked, hearing the term for the first time. He turned to his grandfather with a questioning gaze.
The Old Ancestor of the Jiang Clan was indeed Jiang Yan’s grandfather, while the Jiang Clan Head was Jiang Yan’s father. Together with Jiang Yu, the four of them represented three generations of the Jiang Family.
The Old Ancestor explained casually, “Heavenly Punishment is used to punish cultivators who disrupt the natural order of the heavenly dao. It’s a self-regulating mechanism of the heavenly dao itself. I never imagined this Great Formation would attract such a thing.”
“What kind of Heavenly Punishment is it?” Jiang Yan asked, even more puzzled. “And why didn’t the calamity at Chaotic Cloud Mountains trigger it? Didn’t more people die there than here?”
The Old Ancestor shook his head. “It’s different. The disaster at Chaotic Cloud Mountains was closer to a natural disaster, while this is a man-made disaster. Natural disasters align with the rules of the heavenly dao, but man-made disasters do not.”
Jiang Yan nodded thoughtfully, then looked back up at the sky.
Dark, churning clouds roiled overhead, as if brewing something ominous. The inexplicable pressure grew heavier, forcing the Old Ancestor to retreat ten miles to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, raindrops began to fall rapidly from the storm clouds, pelting the blood-red barrier with a pitter-patter. The rain surged with frantic intensity, like a mad musician hammering out a chaotic melody, a cacophony of discordant notes.
Jiang Yan’s nostrils twitched, his brow slowly furrowing. He detected a foul, metallic stench, utterly unlike the fresh scent of rain.
“Blood rain…” the Old Ancestor of the Jiang Clan murmured.
“Blood rain from the heavens! A harbinger of great calamity!” Sun Yingtang’s heart chilled. Even at his age of over a thousand years, he had never witnessed such a phenomenon. A sense of awe and dread washed over him.
What kind of power could provoke the heavenly dao to such a response?
Within the formation,
The blood-red barrier above had been dyed a deep crimson, saturated with the essence blood of five cities and a million souls. The pungent, metallic stench filled the air. Xu Sanyan took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then retracted his dao body, his naked form floating in mid-air.
“The moment has come!”
Xu Sanyan abruptly raised his head, his gaze piercing through the blood-red barrier. Each drop of blood rain struck the formation, seemingly carving shallow pits that were immediately repaired by the formation’s self-healing mechanisms.
This blood rain is corroding my formation!
The heavenly dao had rejected his efforts, dousing him with a cold, bitter truth.
“Hmph!”
Xu Sanyan snorted coldly, his heart seething with resentment.
Why?
Why must the heavenly dao destroy my formation?
He had toiled tirelessly, pouring his heart and soul into reaching this point. He would not allow anyone to obstruct his path—not even the heavenly dao itself!
(End of the Chapter)