Chapter 1666: Battlefield Shift (Part Three)
Within the Canopus Big Dipper Array, there was only one final cycle of spiritual energy remaining. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Almost at the exact moment the enemy Nascent Soul cultivator in front of the Thousand-Net Ancient Ape unleashed the pale white fire, the golden spear-tip struck the puppet from behind.
In the next instant, the enemy cultivator watched as the massive ancient ape shuddered violently, its entire body erupting with a brilliant green radiance. As the thunderous boom reached his ears, a flicker of doubt crossed his mind, for he had sensed some sort of attack striking the puppet’s back.
However, there was no time for him to ponder. The giant mouth of the ancient ape suddenly snapped open, and a ball of blazing green light flashed forth, appearing directly before his face.
“Hmph!”
The Nascent Soul cultivator had been keeping a close watch on the puppet’s movements. Although the sudden appearance of the green light at such close range startled him, he did not panic. The light was too fast to dodge, so he tilted his body slightly. While holding the pale white light sphere with one hand, he thrust his other hand forward in a swift, sweeping motion.
He sensed the immense power contained within that green light, but he believed his palm strike could deflect it. Once deflected, his pale white fire would strike home, and he would immediately retreat.
Yet, the moment his palm made contact with the green sphere, his face turned deathly pale. The power within that green light was entirely compressed into its core; before contact, not a shred of its energy had leaked out.
His judgment had been fatal.
At the moment of contact, the energy at the core of the green light exploded. It was a terrifying force capable of annihilating a section of the world—a power that had truly reached the late-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
The final rune Bai Rou had triggered was the strongest strike the Thousand-Net Ancient Ape could muster by condensing every drop of spiritual energy remaining in the Canopus Big Dipper Array. It was a desperate, all-or-nothing blow that exhausted the puppet’s reserves instantly. To ensure a lethal effect, Shuang Qingqing had spent years researching how to prevent enemies from sensing the strike’s power beforehand, and her concealment methods were masterful.
During the previous moments of the fight, Bai Rou had been so fearful of losing that she had embedded nearly eighty high-grade spirit stones into the puppet. Even though the sudden strike from the Spirit Transformation expert had damaged the array, the attack occurred in a single breath. The last cycle of the array was still active, and Bai Rou had managed to condense and fire the vast majority of the spiritual energy from those stones in a single instant!
The Nascent Soul cultivator let out a furious roar, his magical power surging desperately. His protective aura emitted a thunderous grinding sound as it was pulverized. Simultaneously, a thick, heavy black shield appeared before him. However, the distance was too short. The moment the shield materialized, the green and black lights intertwined in a violent clash.
In front of him, the massive ancient ape puppet plummeted toward the ground the moment it spat out the green light. The green radiance on its surface faded at a visible speed, and the puppet’s giant eyes grew dim. Within the ancient ape, Bai Rou collapsed weakly against the inner wall, her arm falling limp as her eyes fluttered shut.
At the same time Bai Rou was struck by the golden spear, Zi Kun’s massive true body shuddered. An unbearable, agonizing pain tore through his soul. In an instant, it felt as though he was being skinned and his tendons pulled out. This pain originated from the deepest depths of his spirit, causing him to tremble uncontrollably.
The surging power within him vanished like a receding tide. He didn’t even have the strength left to retreat. He felt a string within him tightening to the breaking point, ready to snap at any second. The purple glow on his skin flickered unsteadily, like a candle guttering in the wind.
But then, Zi Kun felt a wing suddenly block the space in front of him. His body was thrown backward by a massive force, sent tumbling through the air.
“You… can’t block even this much… still need this Mosquito Master to save you!”
Qianji’s voice rang in his ears. Immediately, a wave of freezing cold seeped into his body, bringing a refreshing chill to Zi Kun’s blurred consciousness and the uncontrollable pain in his soul.
The moment Zi Kun regained clarity, he saw himself flying backward. At his original position, Qianji—now with only one wing—shuddered violently. His face twisted in an expression of excruciating agony. He had intercepted the strange acoustic attack that should have pierced Zi Kun’s soul.
In the next instant, a thick, savage claw swept across from the other side!
“Qianji!”
Zi Kun’s eyes instantly turned a brilliant golden-purple. Ignoring the lingering pain in his soul, he endured the tearing sensation and frantically circulated every ounce of power in his body. He tried to stop his backward momentum and throw himself forward, but it was too late. Amidst his roars and the explosions echoing across the sky, a world-shaking boom erupted from Qianji’s position.
Boom!
A ball of blinding white light centered on that spot. The light shrank for a split second before violently exploding outward. Within that white light, Qianji’s body was instantly reduced to nothingness. Not even a Nascent Soul managed to escape.
After striking the ancient ape puppet and sending it falling toward the mortal world, the Spirit Transformation cultivator saw that his Immortal-Binding Rope had failed to pierce the puppet’s body. Instead, its energy was exhausted, and its golden light quickly grew dim. He was momentarily stunned.
He was a Spirit Transformation master. Even if he hadn’t attacked with full strength, such a result was unthinkable.
‘What in the hell is this thing made of?’
The initial-stage Spirit Transformation master grew red-eyed with greed. Why was it that every cultivator appearing here possessed such exquisite artifacts? He couldn’t kill a single person with a single blow. The confidence he had built over years in the minor realms began to waver. Was he still a powerful Spirit Transformation cultivator? Why didn’t he have such opportunities?
He moved to drive the Immortal-Binding Rope again, intending to wrap it around the falling puppet and seize it for himself.
Thud!
A muffled boom echoed as the green shell below suddenly shattered into countless fragments. Zhao Min’s long hair fluttered wildly as the aura on her body surged upward. Whether on her neck or her arms, the demon flowers on her snow-white skin became incredibly vivid, as if carved into her very flesh. Yet, they still gave off a blurred, swaying sensation.
The Spirit Transformation cultivator’s movements slowed. The brief delay caused by his attack on the puppet allowed Wei Zhongran, Gong Chenying, and Mo Qing to surround him once more.
In another area, Li Wuyi’s battle group launched a suicide-style attack.
“Where did you bastards come from!”
As Li Wuyi and the others attacked with everything they had, Wei Chituo let out a furious curse and threw his entire body into the fray…
The events in these battle groups all occurred simultaneously. By this time, only eleven and a half seconds had passed since the fighting began.
“Master!”
Li Zhaoyan, who had been pushed back into the sect, had just regained her footing when she saw the ancient ape puppet plummeting from the sky, the light in its eyes extinguished. She let out a cry of anguish, tears streaming down her face, and tried to rush out. She hadn’t expected that her single glance upward before entering the gate would lead to such a disaster. This was her fatal lack of battlefield awareness; in a fight between cultivators, things changed in an instant, and there was no room for the slightest negligence.
“Junior Sister!”
“Senior Sister Li!”
“Zhaoyan, don’t!”
Voices rang out around her as several streaks of magical power locked her firmly in place. They were the Golden Core disciples closest to her. Their faces were filled with anxiety. They could go out to rescue people, but only during a lull in the battle. Right now, the puppet was clearly targeted by a Spirit Transformation master. Rushing out to compete with him was a death sentence. Especially for Li Zhaoyan—that golden light earlier had clearly been aimed at her. The group held her back by force.
The enemy Nascent Soul cultivator, who had transformed into a monster, let out a cruel laugh as he looked at Zi Kun after killing the ice-cold giant mosquito. He no longer cared about subduing these beasts. One more second and he would finish the purple elephant. The temporary balance of the battlefield would be broken first by his hands.
But just as the monster-like cultivator was about to deliver the killing blow to Zi Kun, a look of shock suddenly appeared in his eyes. The Purple-Divine Dragon Elephant, whose soul should have been injured, erupted with purple flames ten yards high the moment the giant mosquito was shattered.
“Roar!”
Purple flames shot from Zi Kun’s eyes. He threw his head back and let out a roar that sounded like both a dragon and an elephant, and he charged forward instantly.
“The late… late-stage of the fourth rank?”
The monster-like cultivator was shocked to sense that the dragon-elephant seemed to have broken through in this moment. The rising purple flames detached from his body as he charged, turning into four small purple dragons that clung to his sides, charging against the wind. The four dragons roared at the monster-like cultivator, their voices filled with endless, savage rage!
One dragon and four elephants, like wind feeding fire and fire aiding the wind, dragged four long streaks of purple flame through the sky…
“You’ll die all the same!”
“You die!”
The monster-like cultivator slammed his thick, giant claw forward. With a roar, his dangling tongue vibrated violently again, sending waves of invisible acoustic energy toward Zi Kun.
To his horror, the moment those waves entered the purple flames, they were swallowed whole by the four small purple dragons. However, he could clearly see that Zi Kun’s expression was still twisted in pain, meaning his attack was still effective. But the beast had gone mad, ignoring everything to charge him!
Zi Kun was incredibly fast. Just as the opponent raised his thick arm, Zi Kun turned into a purple blur and crashed into the white light where Qianji had exploded. The two forces collided.
In that instant, the purple light in Zi Kun’s eyes flickered rapidly. His long trunk suddenly took a deep breath, sucking in the dispersing white light completely. A thick, savage claw slammed down at the same time.
Zi Kun let out a roar, and his two purple-red tusks—now glowing with a jade-like luster—thrust upward. He chose a direct, brutal clash of strength.
“Awooo!”
A scream of agony pierced the heavens. The arm that could tear the sky apart was pierced through the palm and the elbow by the two tusks. A heart-tearing pain surged into the monster cultivator’s consciousness. He could no longer endure it and screamed at the top of his lungs.
Zi Kun’s massive head didn’t care at all; he shook it violently, sending the enemy’s body flying into the air. With the entire weight of the beast focused on the two pierced wounds, the pain became even more unbearable. The screams reached a sharp, high pitch.
Savage light flickered in Zi Kun’s eyes as he gored the Nascent Soul cultivator, his massive body turning into a blur as he charged forward like a gale. The Ghost-Severing Sect was located within the Myriad Mountains, where giant peaks rose everywhere.
Boom!
Amidst the tremors, a rain of massive boulders fell as Zi Kun crashed head-first into a mountain. A giant hole appeared in the middle of the peak. The upper half of the mountain shook violently and snapped with a series of thunderous cracks, plummeting toward the earth.
Rumble! Rumble!
A series of explosions continued as Zi Kun burst through the other side of the first mountain, still carrying the Nascent Soul cultivator. His blur of a figure flashed and crashed into a second mountain…
In the next moment, he burst through the second peak, his figure a straight line as he slammed into a third…
The poor Nascent Soul cultivator had intended to cast a spell or sever his own arm to escape the moment he was pierced. But Zi Kun’s current strength and speed were so great that even Li Yan would have been shocked. Not only did he suppress a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator with pure physical strength, but his short-range speed was no slower than Li Yan’s Phoenix Soaring the Heavens.
The cultivator didn’t even have a chance to sever his arm. He had already been battered until his magical power dissipated and his consciousness became a mess. Even the golden Nascent Soul within him was dazed; there was no time to escape.
When Zi Kun finally burst out of the last mountain, he left behind a string of straight, transparent holes through the peaks! The Nascent Soul cultivator he was goring had long ago turned into a tattered sack of flesh. His magical power had eventually failed to hold, and he could no longer protect his body. However, the body of a Nascent Soul cultivator remains incredibly tough even without magical power; it still resembled a human shape.
Thud!
The mangled body was tossed onto a pile of rubble on the side of a mountain. Zi Kun’s massive body landed at the same time, one giant foot stepping directly onto the opponent.
Boom!
Amidst the flying stones, the monster’s body was crushed into the giant rock. The boulders around his foot were reduced to fine stone rain, spraying in all directions.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In a series of earth-shaking thuds, Zi Kun seemed to have gone mad, spinning his massive body and trampling everything with his four legs. The mountain shook violently as the upper half collapsed, and the lower half sank into the ground at a visible speed, as if high-piled snow were melting. It was being trampled into flat ground by Zi Kun. Soon, it became a giant pit in the earth, and the pit continued to deepen.
Only when Zi Kun realized he could no longer find a single trace of that Nascent Soul cultivator did he look to the heavens and let out another roar that sounded like both a dragon and an elephant…
The Nascent Soul cultivator being besieged by the Ghost-Severing Sect disciples had his body blown apart within a second and a half. To prevent him from using his Nascent Soul to teleport away, Li Wuyi and the others blocked him with everything they had. Wei Chituo had a transparent hole in his chest and back, nearly severing him at the waist. His Nascent Soul was exposed, its surface covered in cracks. He didn’t even have the strength to speak as he plummeted toward the ground. He was still breathing, making him the only one confirmed to be alive despite his heavy injuries.