Chapter 336: Chapter 87: Slaying the Nun
On the South Shore of the Abyssal Marsh, deep beneath the lake, a palace built of white jade stood silently in the dark water.
Deep within the palace, inside a Quiet Chamber, a dozen or so oil lamps were lit. Azure Demon Flames flickered from the lamps, HISSING.
Under the firelight’s glow, the hall was filled with overlapping shadows, resembling a ghostly domain.
A bald-headed nun sat cross-legged on a jade mat, Demonic Light surging around her body as a chilling aura permeated the air.
Her eyes were slightly closed, her expression was icy, and her skin was as white as porcelain, not like that of a living person.
She was barefoot, and strange patterns were inscribed on the tops of her feet, shimmering with a spiritual glow.
This woman was none other than Ren Yan’s senior sister. Years ago, she had joined forces with the Flame God Palace to attack the Yinluo Sect but was thwarted by Sun Fuguo, who used the fourth-rank Magical Artifact, the Bone Daoist Palace.
Afterward, Cai Li and Fang Cheng’s Dream Spirit Incarnation attacked one after another. In particular, the Dream Spirit Incarnation at the Peak of Life Talisman Realm delivered a full-power strike that shattered her Divine Techniques, allowing Sun Fuguo to land a final sword blow that severely wounded her.
She had always prided herself on having talent that surpassed her peers, but she had gained no advantage against a cunning old Sword Cultivator like Sun Fuguo.
Now, after many years of nursing her wounds, she had finally made a full recovery.
But according to the intelligence Ren Yan had gathered, that Sun Fuguo had also broken through to the Life Soul Realm.
’In the end, Master will have to come here personally to retrieve the Demon Lord’s left hand...’
As these thoughts churned in her mind, the desire to leave arose.
’Unfortunately, Master is either in seclusion or plotting some other grand affair. A tiny place like the Yun Country, a mere Land of the Elixir, is beneath his notice.’
Dharma Cultivators had a lifespan of 1,200 years, and it was common for them to enter seclusion for decades at a time to achieve a breakthrough.
When the nun thought of her master, even with her firm Dao Heart, a trace of fear and apprehension could not help but appear, sending ripples through her calm mind.
Meanwhile, in the dark, silent depths of the Abyssal Marsh, two faint glimmers of light appeared without a sound.
Within the light, two paper figures calmly observed the distant white jade palace. A powerful Divine Sense swept over it, discerning the nun’s every movement with perfect clarity.
Yet, the nun did not notice anything amiss.
Both of these Dream Spirits had been cultivated by Fang Cheng to the Peak of Life Soul Realm.
One of the Dream Spirits was the very one Fang Cheng had created when testing the Four Symbols Divine Pill. It cultivated the "True Scripture of Chaotic Thunder" and had attempted to break through to the Dharma Realm using a White Tiger Divine Pill. Although it failed, it was a cut above the other Dream Spirits in terms of strength.
At this moment, the two Dream Spirits looked at the third-tier Defense Array outside the white jade palace. They exchanged a glance, communicating silently.
This Array was clearly much more formidable than the one outside the Southern Mang Demon King’s Pocket World Spiritual Building.
If Sun Fuguo were here, he would likely be unable to shatter this array in a single strike with his third-rank top-grade flying sword.
One of the Dream Spirits, unhurried, made a grasping motion toward the distant white jade palace.
A giant hand formed of Profound Light materialized in the water and, as if pinching a game piece, seized the white jade palace!
Then, with a sudden jerk, the giant hand plucked the white jade palace from its foundation and vanished from the bottom of the Abyssal Marsh’s lake.
This Dream Spirit smiled and made an inviting gesture to the other.
A flash of light emanated from both figures, and they vanished from the water in unison.
High above the vast, misty surface of the water, a Profound Light Hand clutching a white jade palace materialized out of thin air.
Outside the palace, a barrier formed of thick Demonic Light stubbornly blocked the Profound Light Hand. Within the Demonic Light, endless Demonic Runes flowed and dissipated, exuding an aura of indestructibility.
Inside the palace.
The nun was jolted awake. She opened her eyes and looked outside the palace.
The sky was a clear, boundless blue, the air crisp and fresh. Not a single figure could be seen above the vast Abyssal Marsh.
But to be able to transport the Underground Palace from the lakebed to the sky above the water’s surface without her noticing—such power made her heart sink. She knew she had encountered an expert.
The nun stood up and cast several Spells at the palace. The Demon Light Array outside immediately radiated a blinding brilliance, growing even thicker.
Just then, a heaven-shattering streak of sword light suddenly slashed down from high in the sky!
ZING!
A long, melodious ring of a sword echoed from the highest heavens.
The sound was crisp and clear, and everything between heaven and earth—the waves, the wind, the clouds—seemed to slow down at its call.
Only a single, dazzling streak of sword light, descending from the heavens with graceful agility, circled in mid-air and swept past the white jade palace.
Under this sword light, the extraordinary Demon Light Array outside the palace silently cracked open. The Demonic Light dissolved into countless runes that scattered and dispersed like falling snow.
"Too weak."
The two Dream Spirits had appeared in the sky at some unknown point. One of them shook his head and spoke.
With a flick of the Sword Technique in his hand, the sword light from before, without pausing for an instant, erupted with a brilliance like the blazing sun and slashed down once more.
This strike was even more terrifying than the last. It carried a subtle worldly pressure that caused the dense Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to gently freeze, as if obeying a sovereign’s command.
The sword light passed through a section of the white jade palace as if it were nothing, vanishing in a flash.
The white jade palace crumbled like quicksand and dust, dissolving into a cloud that filled the sky.
Only a slender, barefoot figure remained standing in the sky.
Dressed in white, she stood motionless as a straight line of sword light passed through her from head to toe, splitting her in two.
"Huh?"
However, the two Dream Spirits seemed to have noticed something odd. Their gazes both fell upon the nun’s jade-white feet.
Strange, flickering patterns on her feet appeared both real and illusory, peculiar and mysterious.
The nun’s figure slowly faded away, and in her place, a Golden Lotus imbued with demonic intent and Buddha Light appeared, slowly blooming.
"The Buddhist Sect’s Divine Power Teleportation? No, that doesn’t seem right..."
The Dream Spirit who had wielded the sword had a strange expression. He muttered a few words to himself, then turned to the other Dream Spirit and said, "Daoist Brother, it’s up to you now."
With that, its body dispersed into more than a dozen sheets of pristine Snow Silkworm Paper, which scattered and then spontaneously combusted, turning to ash.
A hundred li away, a Golden Lotus flashed into existence in the sky. Atop the Golden Lotus, a figure in white slowly materialized.
It was, of course, the nun.
She looked back in the direction of the Dream Spirit, her heart still pounding with fear, her eyes filled with shock and confusion.
’Who on earth was that? They shattered the array I prided myself on with a single sword strike. And my own Life Soul cultivation was completely powerless against it. I almost perished under that sword.’
If not for a life-saving Divine Technique her master had left her years ago, she would have already met her end.
Looking at her feet now, the strange patterns had already vanished.
The nun’s eyes flickered. Without a moment’s hesitation, she prepared to channel all her power into her Escape Light and flee into the distant sky.
Suddenly, a tremendous roar echoed from the heavens.
RUMBLE!
Following a sky-shaking thunderclap, a thousand-zhang-long Thunderous Giant Dragon manifested in the air. Peals of thunder rolled forth like an ocean of lightning, instantly flooding the entire sky.
The nun was instantly swept into this ocean of thunder.
Demonic Light surged from her body as she pushed her Magical Power and Divine Techniques to their limits. A chilling aura billowed through the void, and a lifelike frost dragon materialized, coiling around her protectively.
The frost dragon was about a hundred zhang long. Its entire body seemed to be formed of ice crystals and shimmered with a brilliant, dazzling light.
After blocking the boundless Thunder Light, the frost dragon unleashed a sudden breath attack toward the massive dragon in the distant ocean of thunder.
An endless chill erupted. Layers of ice crystals materialized within the sea of lightning, and a surging cold, carrying a destructive intent that could freeze all creation, spread through the area.
Furthermore, a vast beam of azure ice, like a great river, shot toward the Thunderous Giant Dragon at the center of the lightning sea.
BOOM!
The Thunder Light and the beam of ice collided. Countless icicles bloomed in the void, and a majestic iceberg instantly rose up, appearing in the sky.
Within the ocean of thunder, the Thunderous Giant Dragon slowly coiled upward. At its center, a massive, mountain-like Thunder Seal appeared. It was covered in dense runes, as if it held dominion over all the Celestial Thunder in the world, its aura spreading for a thousand li.
A foot-tall paper figure stood beneath the Thunder Seal and the dragon, as tiny as a speck of dust.
The paper figure pointed expressionlessly at the frost dragon and the nun behind the iceberg.
In an instant, the Thunderous Giant Dragon raised its head and let out a long cry. It coiled around the Thunder Seal, soared into the sky, and then plunged down heavily toward the frost dragon and the nun.
Electricity danced around the Thunder Seal as hundreds of thunderbolts burst forth from the void, sweeping across the sky in all directions.
The Thunder Light surged like a tide, washing over the heavens.
The vast, majestic iceberg instantly disintegrated, and the frost dragon behind it was blasted into ash by the Thunder Light.
After a long moment, the Thunder Light dissipated. Only the nun remained standing in the void. She stared at the Dream Spirit with a vacant gaze, and then her body suddenly shattered like broken porcelain, splintering into countless pieces!
Only her storage pouch was preserved, completely unharmed.
This showed that the Dream Spirit’s control over lightning techniques had already reached a divine, microscopic level of precision.
The Dream Spirit stood with his hands behind his back, his body already beginning to dissolve. He cast a last, lingering look at the world around him before flicking a finger at the nun’s storage pouch.
A streak of Thunder Light flashed out, landed on the storage pouch, and transformed into a small lightning array. With another flash, both the array and the pouch vanished.
Only after doing this did the Dream Spirit’s body completely disperse into white paper and burn away.
...
「Demon Lion Peak, Canglan Cave.」
Inside the Quiet Chamber, a ten-foot-wide lightning array materialized from thin air. Within the array was a storage pouch.
At that moment, Fang Cheng had just finished receiving nine Inner Sect Elders from Celestial City Peak and returned to his Quiet Chamber.
The delegation from Celestial City Peak had come bearing Talisman Decrees from Su Miao and Sun Fuguo, along with the Yinluo Sect’s Peak Master Token, a Magical Robe, and other items to officially grant Fang Cheng his authority.
When discussing the inauguration ceremony for his position as Peak Master, Fang Cheng instructed that everything be kept simple.
Afterward, they briefly settled on a date for the ceremony and then took their leave.
In the Quiet Chamber, Fang Cheng sat down leisurely. He drew the nun’s storage pouch into his hand and examined it briefly, knowing then that his two Dream Spirits had successfully completed their task.
The nun was a Demon Buddha Inheritor. Considering that even Ren Yan, who was only at the Life Talisman Realm, possessed strange life-saving Divine Techniques, he had naturally been extremely cautious in dealing with this Life Soul Cultivator, sending two Dream Spirits at once.
With this, the hidden threat around the Abyssal Marsh was temporarily eliminated.
’After the ceremony to become Peak Master, I should probably go take a look deep within the Earth Abyss.’
Fang Cheng wiped the restriction from the nun’s storage pouch and was about to inspect its contents when two Golden Sword Communications appeared outside his Cave Mansion.
He reached out and beckoned the Golden Sword Communications inside. They were from Su Miao and Sun Fuguo.
Both were asking if the astonishing aura fluctuations that had just come from near the South Shore of the Abyssal Marsh were related to him.
Fang Cheng calmly replied to both of them, sending out his own Golden Swords, and then paid no more mind to external affairs.
...
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