Chapter 169: Chapter 166: Big Dipper Array
At the edge of Bright Moon Square’s west gate, a great battle unseen by the mortal world was unfolding.
It was an unavoidable confrontation, the battle erupting like a sudden storm, as swift and violent as thunder and lightning.
Soldiers stood guard by the square’s gate, protected by layers of Arrays.
Some people were crowded at the gate, asking the soldiers on duty when they would be allowed to leave Bright Moon Square. But the low-ranking soldiers were only following orders from their superiors; they had no authority to make that decision.
The disaster caused by Princess Chunshui seemed to be over. However, her disappearance had been so abrupt that the definite news hadn’t had time to filter down to the lower ranks.
While the Cultivators on Wangjiang Mountain were busy scheming for the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map, too many people in Bright Moon Square were still buzzing about like headless flies, unsure of where to go.
This confusion and chaos were mirrored in the twilight sky, which was neither fully dark nor light.
But in the Otherworld, Song Ciwan heard a single shout—"Form the Array!"—and in an instant, the dozen or so Cultivators before her began to rotate around her at high speed, like a grinding millstone.
There were no Martial Artists in this group—they were all Cultivators!
Among them, the ones with the highest Cultivation were three at Late-stage Qi Refining. Most of the rest were at Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation, and there were four at Early-Stage Qi Cultivation.
One should not underestimate Early-Stage Qi Cultivation. In this world, most low-level Cultivators are in the Energy-Introducing Stage. Those who can break through the Energy-Introducing Stage to reach Qi Transformation are already considered outstanding. To then break through the Qi Transformation Stage and enter the Qi Cultivation Stage is to be the best of the best, one in a thousand.
Even Song Ciwan, who could slay some Late Stage opponents as easily as slicing vegetables, only had a true Cultivation of Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation.
For her to break through to the Late Stage, there was a threshold that could only be overcome with the right opportunity.
Cultivation doesn’t represent a Cultivator’s entire combat strength, but its importance can never be ignored.
As these dozen or so Qi Cultivation Cultivators revolved around Song Ciwan, seven beams of starlight, like bolts of silk, suddenly shot down from the twilight sky, forming the exact shape of the Big Dipper.
Of the eleven Cultivators, only seven actually stepped into the seven primary positions of the constellation. The remaining four, all at Early-Stage Qi Cultivation, were clearly just substitutes providing support.
This group had clearly come prepared!
The Southern Dipper ordains life, the Big Dipper ordains death. In that instant, their Big Dipper Array condensed its qi, and from within the Array’s vast, baleful energy, the phantom of a giant bear rose up on its hind legs.
The giant bear let out a ferocious roar and charged toward Song Ciwan, raising its foot to stomp.
Song Ciwan’s gaze grew grave. She felt an immense, oppressive pressure as the attack locked onto her.
It was like being in a primeval wilderness at the dawn of creation. Mythical behemoths rampaged through a forest of towering, ancient trees. Sometimes, the giant trees would topple; other times, mountainsides would crumble. Sometimes, their path was blocked by a great, sprawling river.
Then, a terrifying primeval beast would raise its thick limbs and violently topple a nearby mountain.
RUMBLE!
The mountain collapsed, and the heavens seemed to fall.
What terrifying power was this?
How could mortal strength possibly compare to such a mythical monster?
Caught between illusion and reality, Song Ciwan kept her hand on the hilt of her saber. The terrifying beasts bore down, and the colossal bear, like a pillar supporting the heavens, lifted a paw large enough to blot out the sky, about to stomp her into the ground!
The feeling... was honestly terrifying.
Humans are born with an innate sense of insignificance when faced with colossal objects, like a mayfly seeing a Giant Whale, or a frog in a well seeing the vast ocean...
That boundless, endless, incomprehensible vastness could make a person feel so insignificant that their will to live would simply die.
Song Ciwan lifted her head, gazing up at the scene that was both illusory and real, a sight difficult to describe or depict.
In the lake of her heart, her resolve wavered. In her Sea of Consciousness, her Divine Soul trembled.
’Crushed by such a colossus... am I going to die?’
’No, I can’t let that happen.’
In her Sea of Consciousness, Song Ciwan’s Thought wavered for only an instant.
Quickly—in perhaps not even a tenth or a hundredth of a second—she gave herself the answer.
’I can’t!’
’I can’t be crushed by a giant. I can’t be killed by these petty villains. And I certainly can’t let myself be scared to death.’
Within her Dantian, her True Qi surged like ocean waves. A great swell suddenly rolled through, and the Vast Sea Grotto Heaven, floating upon the lake of True Qi, tumbled along with it.
Consequently, in Song Ciwan’s Sea of Consciousness, her Divine Soul experienced a slight tremor at the same moment.
And in that tremor, Song Ciwan’s Divine Eye Opening awakened!
’I can’t die. At the very least, I can’t accept a death like this.’
In that instant, her awakened divine sight pierced through the countless beast phantoms, passed through the primeval, baleful qi, and found the trajectory of the Big Dipper Array on the other side.
And at that exact moment, Song Ciwan struck with her saber.
The attack was deceptively simple—a single downward slash.
But in an instant, that one slash pierced through infinite obstacles.
Time and space, past and present, the power of the Stars, the mysteries of the Array...
None of it mattered.
All Song Ciwan needed was this single strike.
Of course, as she delivered the strike, she simultaneously imbued her Sword Technique with the ’Dao’ Character Technique and the ’Strong’ Character Technique.
My Dao, Illusion Breaker!
If there is any falsehood in a person’s heart, they cannot escape this blade.
SHFFK!
The blade struck home. The sound was so faint it didn’t even have time to reach the ears of the group on the other side.
Then, in the next moment, the movements of the Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivator leading the Big Dipper Array suddenly faltered.
The Big Dipper Array linked the qi of the seven primary casters and the four support members into a single, unified flow.
With one person failing to keep up, the footwork of the others was thrown into chaos, and they all simultaneously suffered a backlash.
Not far away, two people were hiding in a dark corner, watching the battle.
These were the two brothers Song Ciwan had seen earlier, the ones who had been discussing how to stay away from the "Black Heart Demon Saber," insisting that saving their own skins was paramount.
They had indeed put their philosophy of self-preservation into practice. It was just that their luck wasn’t very good. Despite their best efforts to avoid the Black Heart Demon Saber, they never imagined that after changing their route several times and finally reaching the west gate of Bright Moon Square, they would once again run into her from a distance!
One was named Lu Hui, the other Lu Yuan.
The two were clan brothers and got along quite well. At this moment, they were huddled together in the nearby corner, carefully conversing via voice transmission.
Lu Hui said, "The Black Heart Demon Saber looks doomed this time. Those guys from the Seven Star Sect actually brought out the Big Dipper Array. So what if the Black Heart Demon Saber is powerful? The Big Dipper Array allows its casters to fight opponents a whole major realm above them..."
But Lu Yuan cut him off, "Brother Hui, we absolutely cannot underestimate the Black Heart Demon Saber. With how bloodthirsty she is, I don’t think she’ll be constrained by an Array..."
Before they could settle their debate, they saw the man whom Song Ciwan had struck from a distance suddenly open his mouth and spit out a large mouthful of blood.
