Chapter 90: Chapter 63: He Transforms the Julu Form
Just a few mountain ridges away was another bizarre vista. The land was cracked and barren, with steam rising everywhere, like a volcanic landscape.
Inside a Treasure Hall on the mountainside, Tantai Jing’s expression suddenly changed. He violently flung his sleeve, striking the Incense Burner beside him and knocking it to the floor. Grinding his teeth, he grimly spat out a single name: "Xuzhuang!"
Hearing the commotion, a Daoist in a Lotus Crown emerged slowly from a side hall. "Fellow Daoist Tantai," he said calmly, "what is the cause of this anger?"
Seeing this person emerge, Tantai Jing made no attempt to restrain his emotions. Instead, his fury only intensified. "Si Xuan," he roared, "what kind of pigs are you commanding?"
Si Xuan’s brow furrowed. "Fellow Daoist Tantai," he replied, "losing your temper at me for no reason will solve nothing. You might as well tell me the details, lest you leave me completely in the dark."
At these words, Tantai Jing seemed to calm down instantly, but a deep malice still flashed in his eyes. "Si Xuan," he said coolly, "your subordinate was retrieving a treasure with my White Bone Dharma Body when they encountered Xuzhuang, that newly promoted true disciple of the Tai Su Sect. Why did he suddenly flee and abandon my Dharma Body? It cost me a White Bone Dharma Body for nothing."
"That, I do not know." A hint of confusion also appeared on Si Xuan’s face. He then asked, "Your White Bone Dharma Body... isn’t it said to be meticulously refined, with each one possessing the power to fight a Top-grade Golden Core cultivator? Could it be that it was no match for this Xuzhuang?"
Tantai Jing’s face twitched. "That Xuzhuang’s Divine Techniques are far from pig-like," he said grimly. "He exploited a weakness. I was careless for a moment and allowed him to secure a narrow victory."
"Oh?" Si Xuan formed a fist, half-covering his nose and mouth. "What a terrible shame," he said. "Where is this Xuzhuang now? Why don’t you and I, Fellow Daoist Tantai, go kill him this instant and avenge this loss?"
Tantai Jing immediately saw the blatant hint of a smile Si Xuan failed to conceal behind his fist. Killing intent surged within him, but he forcibly suppressed it in the next instant. With a cold snort, he growled, "There will be other chances to deal with him," then flung his sleeve and stormed out of the hall.
As Tantai Jing left the hall, a look of contempt appeared in Si Xuan’s eyes. ’He runs his mouth all day calling people pigs, yet he wants to challenge Zhong Shenxiu?’ he thought. ’He’s all talk. If it weren’t for the one surnamed Wei, would I really be taking orders from you?’
Just then, a thunderous BOOM suddenly echoed from the horizon. The entire hall shook violently, and the toppled Incense Burner on the floor rolled several times.
Si Xuan’s brow twitched. He strode out of the hall to find Tantai Jing gazing up at the Celestial Vault. Si Xuan followed his gaze, and a look of shock flashed in his eyes.
In the mountains not far away, astonishing streams of Sword Qi shot into the sky, rushing toward the Celestial Vault. They slammed against the flight-restricting wards, triggering a deafening, rumbling thunder. Countless bolts of lightning and fire rained down, yet the Sword Qi’s momentum didn’t diminish in the slightest. It tore through layer after layer of the restrictions and, in an instant, sliced dozens of miles into the distance.
Countless streams of Sword Qi shot out in all directions, trailing blazing light and roiling thunderfire. The entire sky turned the color of a raging inferno, as if the Sword Qi had shattered the Celestial Vault itself, triggering an apocalypse that would return all to primordial chaos.
"This is..." Si Xuan was visibly moved. "Tai Su Sword Qi?"
"Is that Yue Junlan? Who is he fighting?" Tantai Jing murmured. Then, his spirits suddenly lifted, and he shouted, "Let’s go! We’ll get a closer look!" Without waiting for Si Xuan’s reply, he leaped down into the forested mountains below.
A glint appeared in Si Xuan’s eyes. He too leaped, drifting along the mountain’s contours in pursuit.
The cataclysmic battle was far too conspicuous, and it didn’t take long for Tantai Jing and Si Xuan to follow the trail. As they drew near, a stream of Sword Qi suddenly shot past them, barely ten feet away, shearing through a swath of forest before whistling into the distance.
The two exchanged a glance, formed a spell, and concealed their figures as they crept cautiously forward. In the forest ahead, they saw a flash of sword light erupt toward the sky, forcing a man to fly diagonally backward into the air.
This man had an extraordinary bearing; even his forced retreat was exceptionally graceful. One hand was clasped behind his back, his palm trapping a golden light that thrashed and struggled but could not escape. His other hand formed a Sword Technique before his chest, and with a gentle point of his finger...
...rippling sword lights immediately rose up all around. A quick count revealed thirty-two of them, all spinning and dancing through the air.
Si Xuan looked closely and saw the different paths traced by each stream of sword light. One seemed to be drawing a star chart; another moved with the agility of a swimming dragon; another drew upon the dense wood qi; one’s radiance was blinding; another billowed with flames at the slightest movement...
The thirty-two streams of sword light were each demonstrating a different style of Swordsmanship. As he wielded them, the techniques blended harmoniously, coordinating perfectly with no risk of interfering with one another. One stream would execute a "North Star Guides the Way" strike, and if it failed to connect, two other streams would immediately follow up with a "Yin-Yang Pincer." The assault was relentless. Although the opposing sword light showed no fear, it struggled to break through the encirclement.
"It’s Zhong Shenxiu!" Si Xuan’s gaze turned serious. ’I’ve always heard his Daoist arts were formidable,’ he thought, ’but I never expected his Swordsmanship to be this extraordinary.’
Wielding thirty-two streams of light and effortlessly employing a dozen different sword styles, Zhong Shenxiu calmly parried the assault. "Brother Yue," he asked with a smile, "what do you think of my Swordsmanship?" Then, with a shift in his Sword Technique, he pressed his attack, launching a counteroffensive.
Si Xuan discreetly used a mystic eye technique to peer into the forest. In a clearing that looked as if it had been ravaged by a hurricane, the white-haired, black-robed Yue Junlan stood perfectly straight. He said nothing, simply joining two fingers and pointing.
Yue Junlan’s sword light spun in the air, revealing a shimmering sword pellet. With another flicker, it transformed into a halo of light. It spun once more before exploding into a boundless storm of Sword Qi. Without any complex maneuvers, the qi shot out like a reverse downpour, clashing against the thirty-two opposing streams of light. The impacts rang out like metal striking stone, forcing every single one of them back.
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