ATPnovel #408 - Zhu Xian Sword
#408 - Zhu Xian Sword
Regardless of Zhang Chen's thoughts, the situation had already spiraled beyond his control. All he could do was navigate the various factions, seek survival in the cracks, and strive to make the best of things.
Events did not unfold according to Zhang Chen's wishes. As the number of heads in the mountains increased, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
The entire Five Manor Temple was filled with a sense of impending doom, an indescribable feeling of oppression weighing heavily on the hearts of all its disciples.
In recent years, the Ancestral Master had ceased preaching and instead secluded himself in cultivation, constantly striving to maintain peak condition.
Zhang Chen became increasingly low-key, avoiding leaving his residence whenever possible, trying to remain inconspicuous and avoid attracting attention.
Time flew by, and another year passed. Now, only two years remained until the ten-year agreement with the Innate Peacock. On this day, while Zhang Chen was diligently cultivating in the mountains, the mountains suddenly trembled slightly, the leaves on the trees vibrated, and a rumbling like a thousand horses thundering echoed through the distant mountains.
"What's that?" Zhang Chen subconsciously looked up into the distance, where he saw a vast and mighty demonic aura, like black clouds, soaring into the sky, obscuring the sun and moon, and rushing towards the Five Manor Temple.
It felt as if the Five Manor Temple was a reef in the ocean, and the earth-shattering momentum in the distance was the vast sea, carrying boundless waves, intent on submerging the entire reef.
"The demon army has arrived!" Zhang Chen muttered, his voice hoarse, as he felt the tremors in the mountains and heard the distant wails of ghosts and wolves.
Countless demon soldiers stirred up a bloody storm in the mountains, slaughtering all the disciples at the foot of the mountain, until finally the entire Five Manor Temple was covered by the boundless black cloud.
The demonic aura transformed into black clouds that obscured the sun and moon. Suddenly, nine lion heads emerged from the black clouds, each the size of a small mountain, their eyes gleaming with eerie green light, looking down upon the Azure City Mountains: "Chang Sheng, Nine Spirit Yuansheng of the Taiping Dao is here. Why do you not come out to greet me?"
"You beast, instead of cultivating properly in your animal den, you dare to come to my Azure City Mountain to stir up trouble? Are you tired of living?" Ancestral Master Chang Sheng transformed into a stream of light, standing in the void atop the Five Manor Temple, looking at Nine Spirit Yuansheng with disdain.
"Heh heh, your Azure City Mountain is already struggling to protect itself, yet you dare to spout such nonsense? Today, I will destroy your Azure City Mountain's dragon vein, obliterate the foundation of your enlightenment, and cause your Five Manor Temple lineage to vanish completely, becoming dust in history," Nine Spirit Yuansheng sneered.
"Just you? To be honest, I, your ancestor, look down on you! Where are your two friends? Why don't you come out and meet me together?" Ancestral Master Chang Sheng's voice was full of mockery and disdain.
"Heh heh, if it weren't for your superior numbers, the Azure City Mountains would have long been occupied by us and belonged to my Taiping Dao. Although I don't know what kind of dirty tricks you've been up to, and why the others are nowhere to be seen, today is the best opportunity to destroy your Azure City Mountain's orthodoxy." Nine Spirit Yuansheng chuckled coldly. The next moment, his nine heads spewed out yellow wind, attacking Ancestral Master Chang Sheng like a blanket covering the sky. In an instant, the world turned dark and gloomy, and one could not see one's fingers. Only Nine Spirit Yuansheng's sneering voice echoed through the heavens and earth:
"Chang Sheng, to defeat you, why would I need the assistance of the other two demon kings? Today, I will capture you, hang you in the Great Wilderness to endure the scorching sun and cruel torture, and refine you alive, to answer those who defy my Taiping Dao."
Below, Zhang Chen watched as the black wind in the sky stirred up sand and rocks. Countless decorations within the Five Manor Temple were lifted into the air and swept away by the hurricane, startling him into quickly hiding under the eaves. He secretly activated the Wind-Fixing Pill to stabilize his body, then opened his righteous divine golden light eyes and looked up at the sky. All he could see was darkness. Where could he clearly see the battlefield?
Just then, a brilliant sword light flashed through the black wind, illuminating the endless darkness. Along with that extreme brilliance, an indescribable killing intent sent shivers down one's spine and changed the colors of the world. A great terror surged into his heart. The sword light seemed capable of severing karma and annihilating all living beings. Its killing aura spanned the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity. Under the shock of that killing intent, the souls of all living beings stopped turning. Then, he saw the sword light tear through the darkness, and a miserable scream came from the clouds. Nine Spirit Yuansheng's shrill voice made listeners grieve:
"What kind of sword is this?!"
"Since I obtained this sword, I have always used it as a last resort, not easily showing it to others. Today, you are fortunate enough to become the first person to be sacrificed to my Zhuxian Sword. Your good fortune has arrived," Ancestral Master Chang Sheng's voice was full of triumph. Then, several more sword lights rose into the darkness, slaughtering towards Nine Spirit Yuansheng.
Along with Nine Spirit Yuansheng's screams, angry rebukes came from the black clouds: "Chang Sheng, you dare to kill!"
Then, two extremely powerful auras emerged, actually grabbing a piece of starlight and suppressing it towards Ancestral Master Chang Sheng.
Below, when the sword light appeared, Zhang Chen felt a pain in his eyes, and blood and tears flowed from his eyes. His vision plunged into darkness, and he could no longer open them. Only the extremely brilliant sword light was deeply imprinted in his mind, as if it were about to shatter his soul.
"Pfft!"
Zhang Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, his heart filled with extreme horror: "What was that sword light? I only glanced at it, and I was already severely injured, almost shattered to pieces? How can there be such an incredible divine power in the world?"
Zhang Chen couldn't believe it. He thought he should be considered an expert, right? But facing Ancestral Master Chang Sheng's sword light, he didn't even have the qualification to take a look.
"If the thief Chang Sheng has such means, even if I exhaust my mind and scheme, I'm afraid it will be difficult to match him," Zhang Chen felt grief in his heart, and despair at the same time.
The power of his bloodline circulated, and the power of rebirth rapidly repaired his damaged pupils. However, the wounds in his pupils seemed to contain an extremely sharp aura, constantly hindering and destroying the power of rebirth within his bloodline. Fortunately, the corrosive power flowed out of Zhang Chen's crystal core, eroding and erasing that sharp aura, allowing Zhang Chen's wounds to heal quickly.
"Incredible! What's the name of the treasure sword in Ancestral Master Chang Sheng's hand?" Zhang Chen was anxious. That sword exceeded his expectations.
"What are you afraid of!" Just as Zhang Chen was flustered, the voice of the Great自在Heavenly Demon rang out: "Your Five-Colored Divine Light can absorb all treasures within the five elements. Although that sword is powerful, it is also within the five elements. With the Five-Colored Divine Light in your hand, as long as you find an opportunity, you can take that sword."
Hearing the words of the Great自在Heavenly Demon, Zhang Chen was overjoyed: "Can my Five-Colored Divine Light really take that sword?"
The Great自在Heavenly Demon nodded: "Of course! It's just that your cultivation is too far from the thief Chang Sheng's, so it will be difficult to take it. However, if you lend the Five-Colored Divine Light to the Innate Peacock, it will be easy for the Innate Peacock to take that sword. So you don't need to worry. Although Chang Sheng is powerful, it's not like there's no way to deal with him. Your Five-Colored Divine Light is originally the essence of heaven and earth, no worse than that sword. Not to mention the Five-Colored Divine Light, even the Golden Scissors in your hand, if in its peak state, would not be inferior to that sword at all."
Hearing this, Zhang Chen felt a little relieved. As long as the opponent wasn't so strong as to be overwhelming and invincible, the fighting spirit in his heart would not be worn away.
At this time, his eyes had recovered, but he kept his eyes closed, not daring to look at the sword light outside. He just listened to the roars and reprimands in the clouds, waiting for the end of the battle.
He didn't know how long it had passed when suddenly a scream rang out. Along with the roars of the other two demon kings, the black clouds gradually dissipated, and the rippling sword light also disappeared without a trace.
"Chang Sheng, you dare to kill my virtuous brother, I'm not done with you! When we get the treasure, we'll fight again!"
A demon king's roar came, and then the sky returned to clear. The demon wind dissipated, and Zhang Chen opened his eyes and looked up. He saw the sky was blue, only the Ancestral Master stood in the void with his hands in his sleeves, silent and unmoving. His back was as straight as a sword, as if he could even cut off the sky.
And in the mountains outside the Five Manor Temple, a lion with a body length of ten miles lay dead among the mountains.
"That's the corpse of a demon king. Is Nine Spirit Yuansheng dead?" Zhang Chen looked at the lion's body lying motionless on the ground, his heart secretly shocked.
Ancestral Master Chang Sheng didn't say much. He didn't even look at the body of Nine Spirit Yuansheng, but turned back to the Five Manor Temple and rang the bell to summon the disciples to discuss matters.
Zhang Chen quickly went to find Xu Erniu. He saw Xu Erniu crawling out of a pill furnace, her face covered in dust, and said with lingering fear: "That demon wind was really powerful, it almost blew me away! If I hadn't had a flash of inspiration and jumped directly into the cauldron, I'm afraid I would have been blown away."
Xu Erniu's eyes were not injured. Not only were Xu Erniu's eyes not injured, but none of the disciples in the Five Manor Temple's eyes were injured. After all, everyone didn't have Zhang Chen's Dharma eyes and couldn't see the sword light in the black clouds.
"Good, good! It's good that you're safe and sound. The Ancestral Master has killed that demon king and summoned us to discuss matters, let's go quickly!" Zhang Chen quickly pulled Xu Erniu out of the cauldron, and then the two of them walked towards the front yard, their faces covered in dust.
Along the way, he saw countless palaces in the Five Manor Temple collapsed, as if they had been crushed. They were tattered and unrecognizable from their previous prosperity, adding a bit of desolation out of thin air.
The two of them came all the way to the main hall, where they saw the disciples gathered together. Then, the Ancestral Master walked out and ascended the high platform. Zhang Chen looked at the Ancestral Master and saw that the Ancestral Master's face was pale, his energy was weak, and he didn't seem as calm and serene as he looked.
Unfortunately, Zhang Chen didn't dare to open his Dharma eyes to see the Ancestral Master's details, otherwise, he could have taken the opportunity to see a few clues.
However, Zhang Chen still noticed that the Ancestral Master's fair and youthful face now had a few more wrinkles, making him look like he was ten years older, but because there was mana flowing, outsiders didn't see it clearly.
"Ancestral Master Chang Sheng seems to have also suffered injuries and paid a considerable price," Zhang Chen thought to himself.