Chapter 274: Chapter 272: Dotting the Dragon’s Eyes
Beneath the crackling thunder, the primordial Talisman Treasure hovered leisurely.
It drew in countless points of starlight and was wreathed in the divine radiance of numerous shattered treasures.
Its original form, a small silver sword, was gradually expanding into a massive cloud of purple mist.
Within its silhouette, one could vaguely make out the form of a Flood Dragon.
But now, because Fang Yang still hadn’t applied his brush, it was starting to disintegrate.
The ink-wash form of the flood dragon body was fading into nothingness, dissipating with it.
It was failing!
The Heaven and Earth Natural Skill had failed, causing the "joint refinement" to collapse.
Even the primordial Talisman Treasure at the core of the refinement trembled uncontrollably, its cold light scattering as it began to break down.
The situation was growing dire, and Sen Hui couldn’t help but frown.
BOOM...
A colossal clap of thunder echoed once more.
This time, a pillar of purple lightning descended from the heavens, striking the purple mist that was once the primordial Talisman Treasure.
With a resounding BUZZ, the purple mist was blasted apart.
The sheer power of it made the students watching from the sidelines stare with wide-eyed terror.
"Heavens, is this the tribulation one must face when refining a Sacred Artifact?"
"Hiss... Witnessing this makes my blood boil! Damn it, I wish I could jump in there and fight for three hundred rounds!"
"A tribulation? No, a tribulation is also an opportunity. What’s happening there... is most likely not the refining of a Sacred Artifact..."
While the other students gasped and made wild guesses, a more knowledgeable one sighed softly.
This student’s name was Erzhu Guangyao, a top prodigy ranked among the top twenty on the Celestial Ranking.
’If I’m not mistaken, this is someone with a mortal body attempting to wield the power of the Saint Realm!’
’Such a feat... probably only a handful of people known as the Young Great Saints could pull this off.’
’Hei Liwu, Muri Guang Huang, and Minghai Dongli are all not at the Saint Institute; they left for the Daoist Mansion of Eternal Life long ago.’
’In that case, the only ones left are Changkong Senwei and Changkong Fang Yang.’
’Fang Yang? No, his background is too poor, and his foundational heritage is insufficient. He still needs time to overcome his shortcomings. So, it must be Sen Wei!’
At that moment, Erzhu Guangyao made his judgment and was utterly convinced he was correct.
A look of shock filled his eyes, as if he never imagined Sen Wei had been hiding such a powerful trump card.
「Elsewhere.」
Inside Meteor Cliff, lightning flashed, brilliantly illuminating the world.
Fang Yang narrowed his eyes, gazing at the fiercely burning primordial Talisman Treasure.
He sighed to himself.
’Knowing is easy, but doing is hard.’
’Even with the insights I gained from Sen Yue and the others, it doesn’t mean I can just take a shortcut by following in their footsteps.’
’That’s right. At the level of a Saint, or even a Young Venerable, doesn’t everyone have to forge their own path?’
At this thought, his worry turned to joy, and the corners of his lips curled into a slight smile.
And so, he silently activated a skill... The Realm of Mysteries: Open. Powerfully. Wildly!
「The next moment.」
A Thunder Cauldron and a Fire Cauldron suddenly materialized in the void.
The two cauldrons roared, smashing into each other and intertwining frenetically, kicking up violent gales.
In the end, they pulled and stretched, forming an utterly massive Golden Tai Chi Diagram between them.
The cauldrons themselves settled into the two focal points of the Tai Chi Diagram, facing each other from afar.
Now, under Fang Yang’s control, the Golden Tai Chi Diagram swiftly enveloped the purple mist, centering the primordial Talisman Treasure within it.
CRACKLE... SIZZLE...
Purple lightning bombarded it as orange flames burned.
The primordial Talisman Treasure was undergoing a frantic tempering!
As if that weren’t enough, Fang Yang, feeling the tempering still lacked intensity, made the Golden Tai Chi Diagram unleash a Black Kun Illusion, which swallowed the entire roiling ocean of lightning in the sky in a single gulp.
The scene was so outrageously exaggerated that Sen Hui could only stare, the light in her eyes flickering unceasingly.
As for Fang Yang himself, he stood with one hand clasped behind his back, the other holding a brush as if to paint.
At this very moment, his black hair danced wildly, and his Daoist robes rustled in the wind, his form wreathed in purple lightning and orange fire.
Poised with his brush, his eyes were clear, his features heroic, and his posture tall and straight.
The Golden Tai Chi Diagram enveloped him, its brilliant divine light making him appear all the more transcendent, like a banished immortal who had descended to amuse himself in the mortal realm.
Full of confidence! Brimming with vigor!
For a moment, Sen Hui gazed at Fang Yang’s figure. Her focus wavered, and a blush quickly spread across her delicate, pretty face.
In the end, she found herself completely captivated, her gaze fixed on Fang Yang, unwilling to look away.
"ROAR—"
A long, piercing cry from a Flood Dragon shattered her reverie, jolting her back to her senses.
But as she gazed at Fang Yang’s form, she still wore a blissful, contented smile.
’Her Mr. Fang... he’s really growing up so fast.’
As the Flood Dragon’s cry echoed out, a profound and dangerous Sword Qi gradually began to manifest.
The Sword Qi, like a streak of silver light, shot out from Meteor Cliff and soared toward the heavens.
The sword light seemed unremarkable, but it caused the expressions of the onlookers to change instantly.
"This aura... it’s Fang Yang? How is that possible!" Erzhu Guangyao’s head snapped up as he sucked in a sharp breath.
Qing Xixi’s mouth fell slightly agape as she stared in a daze. "It’s Fang Yang, not Sen Wei..."
"Yes, it’s Fang Yang," Yu Yiming said from the side, a bitter taste in his mouth.
At that moment, it wasn’t just them; the rest of the crowd was in a similar state of shock.
Instantly, communication tools like messenger sparrows and paper birds flew from their hands, scattering in all directions to report this intelligence.
This was too shocking. Fang Yang was only twenty-three, wasn’t he? How could he have already reached this stage?
They didn’t want to believe it, yet they had no choice but to.
With such an outstanding performance, it was no wonder some believed that, in terms of sheer talent, Fang Yang could be compared to Sen Yue.
「At the same time.」
「Meteor Cliff.」
At that moment, Fang Yang recalled his experience within the bloodline dreamscape, especially the soul of the ancient Sword Flood Dragon that had been captured by the Tiger Flood Dragon Earth Spirit.
Inspiration struck, and a smile touched his lips.
In a flash, the Dream Emperor’s illusion in his second aperture bloomed with divine light, causing a single point of spectral ink to materialize on the Wenshan Pen.
The spectral ink contracted to an infinitesimal point, but when he used it to dot the eye of the starry Sword Flood Dragon’s form, the creature instantly erupted with a heaven-piercing Evil Qi.
Adding the eyes to the dragon!
This was the single stroke that brought the dragon to life!
The starry form of the ancient Sword Flood Dragon, hovering in midair, seemed to spring to life.
It soared freely across the sky, letting out peal after peal of draconic roars to announce its revival.
Not even the confines of Meteor Cliff could contain its roars.
At that moment, Sword Qi, Sword Aura, sword energy, Sword Intent, and sword light all erupted from its body, surging toward the heavens.
This vast, true meaning of the Sword Dao was like the river of stars flowing in reverse, turning Meteor Cliff into a boundless expanse of white as a bone-chilling killing intent shook the four corners of the world.
When falsehood is pushed to the extreme, it becomes truth.
The Saints residing near Meteor Cliff, such as Master Lanwen, Bai Zhi the Medicine Saint, and Layman Shuqing, all wore suddenly tense expressions.
Master Lanwen went so far as to activate his life-bound Sacred Artifact, preparing to seal off Meteor Cliff.
He genuinely thought a desolate beast had trespassed into the Saint Institute!
"Fang Yang..." After seeing the truth, Master Lanwen was simply left dumbfounded.
’Is this for real?’ he thought. ’Given the lingering Dao rhythm of this ancient Sword Flood Dragon, is Fang Yang truly just refining a Talisman Treasure?’
"He actually succeeded." Bai Zhi the Medicine Saint arrived beside Master Lanwen, her beautiful eyes filled with ripples of shocked disbelief.
’No way,’ she thought. ’There can’t really be someone who could reverse-engineer the entire process based on nothing but a few insights on a jade scroll.’
’And not only that, but they could also absorb enough from it to skip the foundational accumulation phase and succeed in a single attempt?’
At that moment, Bai Zhi the Medicine Saint recalled her earlier doubts about Fang Yang.
Even with her many years of experience, she couldn’t help but feel her face grow hot with embarrassment.
And Layman Shuqing, who had just arrived, remarked with feeling:
"It is better to slight a thousand-year-old saint than to underestimate a young man."
"In the Desolate Realm, I once heard of a person who accomplished such a thing. His name was Fang Zhengde."
"Fang Nian, Fang Zhengde, Fang Yang... heh heh... Within Fang Yang, there is a suppressed, demonic spark!"
Within Fang Yang, there is a suppressed, demonic spark.
Startled by these words, Master Lanwen snapped his head around to look at Layman Shuqing.
Because before this, he too had made a similar judgment about Fang Yang.
But he never, ever expected that Layman Shuqing would see Fang Yang in the same light.
It was because of this peculiar, demonic spark that Master Lanwen firmly believed:
————Fang Yang was qualified to be mentioned in the same breath as Sen Wei, and even Sen Yue!
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