Chapter 375
Chapter 375
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 376
Chapter Title: No Chance of Victory
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The moment Qingyang seized the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword, this immortal blade immediately unleashed its divine prestige, with radiant rosy clouds surging forth.
As Qingyang swung the sword, rosy clouds gathered from all directions, arriving in tandem with the glow of the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword!
The rosy clouds blazed in splendor, dancing alongside the sword light. In an instant, they filled the entire Qingyang Palace!
These rosy clouds drifted between the yin and yang realms, weaving and intersecting. Even Blackie Pot in the underworld could see streaks of rainbow-like rosy clouds speeding past it—mysterious, beautiful, and incomparably dangerous!
Chen Shi didn't hesitate and charged toward the palace entrance.
"Stick close to me, Jade Spirit Child. Avoid the rosy clouds," he shouted.
He had long witnessed the terror of these rosy clouds. Even Xiang Fu, the previous sovereign of the Heavenly Pool Ghost Kingdom—a being comparable to the Great Vehicle Realm—had perished beneath them!
Anyone who so much as brushed against the rosy clouds would have half their flesh shaved away. Even a half-immortal like the Heavenly Truth Daoist could not escape death!
As long as the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword struck Jinghong, Jinghong would undoubtedly die!
But staying in Qingyang Palace was equally perilous!
The power of the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword was overwhelming, its rosy clouds spreading everywhere. Though they weren't aimed at them, any sweep across their bodies would spell utter doom!
The might of an immortal sword was inconceivable. Chen Shi had no idea how to resist it—he could only flee, as far away as possible!
Jade Spirit Child didn't understand but knew this was a matter of life and death. He hurriedly followed Chen Shi, shadowing him as they rushed toward the palace exit.
At the same time, Daoist Changying ignored the rosy clouds in the palace and activated the Supreme Truth Jade Art. A brilliant glow erupted behind his head,
like a jade-like lingzhi mushroom emerging from the void, rippling outward in circles—its growth rings, one after another, washing forth.
The lingzhi's roots burrowed into the back of his head, connected to his mind.
This lingzhi was his Void Great Realm.
When cultivated to the pinnacle, the Supreme Truth Jade Art manifested externally just like this.
This technique came from the Ten True Cultivation Scriptures, profound and unfathomable. It was a method exclusive to the sect leader's lineage. Daoist Changying had cultivated it with meteoric progress: breaking through to Void Return in a decade and refining the Great Vehicle. Later, he passed it to Jade Spirit Child, implicitly designating him as the next sect leader.
At the same time, a jade ruyi appeared in his hand—about one foot and eight inches long, identical in shape to the Void Great Realm behind his head.
This treasure was called the Supreme Truth Ruyi, the founding treasure of Taihua Qing Palace. Though not an immortal weapon like the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword, it had been forged by the Three Saints and meshed perfectly with the techniques of successive sect leaders.
Daoist Changying sacrificed the Supreme Truth Ruyi. His lingzhi-formed Void Great Realm immediately fused with it, dramatically amplifying the treasure's power!
As the Supreme Truth Ruyi smashed down, Qingyang Palace had already crumbled to dust under the rampant force!
Above Qingyang Palace, dark clouds gathered densely. Suddenly, a massive section of them凹陷ed, spanning over a hundred li in radius—the work of this treasure's might!
Daoist Changying was Jinghong's disciple and knew the old sect leader's prowess well, so he struck to kill without mercy!
Chen Shi led Jade Spirit Child to the gates of Qingyang Palace, just one step from escape. Daoist Changying's Supreme Truth Ruyi hovered above Jinghong's head, its supreme power on the verge of descending, while Qingyang gripped the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword, its tip wreathed in streams of rosy clouds, arriving before Jinghong.
The drifting rosy clouds halted.
Chen Shi's heart jolted. He abruptly stopped, nearly colliding with the suddenly stationary rosy clouds ahead.
Sensing disaster, he whipped around to look at Qingyang and Daoist Changying.
The Supreme Truth Ruyi Daoist Changying had unleashed hung suspended above Jinghong's head, refusing to fall.
This middle-aged Daoist's body trembled. In a hoarse voice, he said,
"I've seen it. I've seen the feathered transformation and ascension. Master didn't lie to me..."
Qingyang's claw gripping the sword shook.
He had seen it too.
He had witnessed ascension, the immortal realm, the wonders of shedding and metamorphosis!
He couldn't help but burst into joyful laughter.
"Little Ten, I've comprehended it! I've grasped the Transformation and Eternal Rebirth Divine Art! So wondrous!"
"Pa!"
A sound like sheepskin bursting came from the back of his neck. He was molting, eager to shed this sheepskin.
"I've followed Chen Yindu for so long, scouring everywhere for lost techniques, seeking forgotten divine arts, piecing together the history of the old world. Yet I never reached the immortal path. Who would have thought that today, I could become an immortal!" he declared.
Chen Shi shouted,
"Uncle Qingyang, this isn't ascension to immortality! It's just an illusion from the evil transformation!"
Tears streamed from Qingyang's eyes as he bellowed,
"Little Ten, I don't want to wait anymore! I don't want to see off generation after generation! I don't want to bury your grandpa and then have to bury you too! The Golden Cicada Shedding Heavenly Immortal Diagram is true immortal magic—it leads to ascension!"
Chen Shi was about to speak when Jade Spirit Child suddenly said,
"True King Chen, this isn't an illusion."
Chen Shi felt his blood run cold and turned urgently to Jade Spirit Child beside him. The young Daoist's eyes had turned gray-white—the precursor to transformation!
Jade Spirit Child's neck itched unbearably, his skin cracking open bit by bit. Yet he smiled.
"This is the true immortal path. Though different from raising rosy clouds for ascension, it is still ascension. Sect Leader Jinghong will lead us all—our entire sect—to ascend to the immortal realm!"
"Pa!"
The skin on the back of his neck split completely.
He hadn't mastered the Yin-Yang Tempering Art, and relying on Chen Shi's version couldn't withstand Jinghong's influence at such close range.
Chen Shi felt his own neck itching too. He reached back to touch it, but found only smooth skin,
with no sign of splitting.
Jinghong laughed.
"Everyone else can ascend—except you. Now, as I lead our sect in ascension, how can there be no witness? You're Chen Yindu's grandson. Your grandpa offended me, so I'll leave you behind. Witness me taking all of Taihua Qing Palace's disciples to immortality, just like me! Spread word of today's grand feat!"
He threw his head back and laughed.
"Junior Sister Qiongyang, I know you're hiding up there! Come down and join us. This ascension can't be without you! Let's ascend to the immortal realm together!"
The dark clouds in the sky grew thicker and heavier.
Jinghong paid it no mind and chuckled.
"Qiongyang, it's no use. You can't stop me."
Chen Shi suddenly relaxed and said solemnly,
"Senior Jinghong, to be frank, I am the current top scholar, well-versed in the classics of ancient sages. I've read of raising rosy clouds for ascension and tribulation transcendence, but never witnessed it. If I can bear witness today,
it won't be a wasted life."
Jinghong's gaze fell on him, and he smiled.
"You're much more pleasing than your grandpa."
Chen Shi smiled.
"Though Senior lost to my grandpa, your talent remains extraordinary."
As they spoke, Qingyang had wriggled halfway out of his body. He stood up from the sheepskin, and with a clank, the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword fell from his hand.
He was covered in blood, skinless.
Jinghong laughed.
"After a few more transformations, Ancestor Qingyang will be left with only an immortal body!"
Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed around them. The thunderclouds thickened, blotting out the moon. Bolts occasionally struck the trees on the mountainside, splitting towering ancients with a crack.
These dark clouds and thunder didn't seem natural.
At that moment, Jinghong spotted a Daoist shrunk to the size of a palm from transformation. It molted again, but this time, nothing emerged from the split skin shell.
"Little fellow, your immortal karma isn't sufficient."
He strode outward. Chen Shi's eyes flickered as he summoned the Western King Jade Seal and, without a word, stamped it onto the struggling Qingyang.
"Qingyang, today I enfeoff you as the Taihua Mountain Lord, ruler of the Taihua mountains and the Eighty-Eight Demonic Peaks, master of all Taihua's gods! Vast divine power, converge in one body!"
Chen Shi roared, activating the Western King Jade Seal. Instantly, all the mountain spirits and divine aspects he had enfeoffed across Taihua's twenty-eight peaks,
unleashed their unique powers, howling as they surged into Qingyang's body!
These mountain gods also commanded the various spirits and aspects within Taihua Mountain. Vast divine power rolled in, making Qingyang radiate brilliant divine light, dazzling beyond measure!
Jinghong whirled around, shocked and furious.
"Chen Shi, you've ruined my plans!"
Chen Shi bowed deeply. The True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword on the ground whistled forth, stabbing toward Jinghong!
But though the sword light was swift, the cultivation gap was too vast. The True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword halted midair, unable to advance another inch.
Just as Jinghong pinned the sword, Qingyang's cultivation exploded upward, shattering his influence. His mind cleared, and his body shrank, slipping back into his sheepskin. He stepped forward and seized the sword hilt!
With one thrust, he unleashed the sword—whistling rosy clouds swirled, surging toward Jinghong!
Suddenly, countless thunderbolts erupted in the sky, cascading down and converging into a torrent of lightning that轰ed toward Jinghong!
Ancestor Qiongyang stood amid the thunderclouds, her body towering a thousand zhang as a goddess. She wielded heavenly thunder and bellowed,
"Want to ascend? Pass the tribulation first! Senior Brother Jinghong, have you survived the heavenly tribulation?"
Chen Shi's eyes lit up.
"Grandma Qiongyang cultivates the Thunderclap Great Majestic Divine Mantra! No wonder her temper is so fierce!"
Jinghong retreated at top speed. Suddenly, rapid wingbeats sounded—he had sprouted cicada wings on his back, vibrating furiously.
His speed was blinding. He darted up, down, left, and right, dodging the rosy clouds and plummeting thunderbolts, breaking free from this killing blow!
Qingyang roared in fury and charged ahead, his flesh bulging section by section. He rampaged through the air like a raging ram in full sprint!
Ancestor Qiongyang hovered in the thunderclouds. With one hand, she slapped downward, gathering countless thunderbolts to轰 the rapidly moving Jinghong. With the other, she yanked bolts from the clouds and punched out—thunder surged, forming streams that smashed elsewhere!
She was like a goddess commanding the heavenly tribulation, striking wherever she pointed. Thunder pillars relentlessly descended!
Qingyang pursued madly from behind, wielding the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword. Its light accelerated in the air—now up, now down, left then right, or abruptly veering—with captivating rosy clouds assaulting Sect Leader Jinghong.
Yet Jinghong's speed was inconceivable. He flickered between peaks like a true immortal, too fast for Qingyang and Ancestor Qiongyang to lock on!
All their attacks missed Sect Leader Jinghong!
"Is the Golden Cicada Shedding Heavenly Immortal Diagram really this powerful?" Chen Shi couldn't help but be stunned.
The Golden Cicada Shedding Heavenly Immortal Diagram was a technique his grandpa had discarded, calling it a fake immortal path. Yet Jinghong's displayed strength was overwhelmingly dominant—unprecedented in Chen Shi's eyes!
Suddenly, Jinghong became a streak of light in the air, charging into the thunderclouds the next instant!
Qingyang rushed forward to rescue her, only to hear Ancestor Qiongyang grunt dully. Her colossal form plummeted from the sky,
shrinking rapidly before crashing heavily before the powdered ruins of Qingyang Palace.
Chen Shi reached Ancestor Qiongyang's side. She wore a bizarre smile, rigid as if beholding the long-craved ascension.
"Little Ten, no need to dissuade me."
Ancestor Qiongyang raised a hand and smiled.
"After I ascend, perhaps I can save your grandpa from his suffering."
"Pa."
Her neck skin split, on the verge of transformation.
"True King Chen, I'm so joyful!" Jade Spirit Child had successfully molted, covered in blood, crying out happily.
Daoist Changying had also crawled from his skin shell. This steady Daoist now acted deranged,
laughing maniacally,
"Abandon the self, shed the shell, and ascend!"
In the sky, Qingyang madly urged the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword onward, yet it never touched Jinghong in the slightest.
His swordsmanship wasn't profound. Though the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword was a mighty immortal treasure, he couldn't unleash its full power.
Qingyang flew into a rage and suddenly hurled the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword away. The immortal blade slid down, trailing rosy clouds into the valley.
Qingyang yanked out his two horns, wielding them like blades—one forward, one back. He crouched low and roared skyward,
"Jinghong, come at me! Fight the ancestor and let me see this so-called immortal body of yours!"
The dancing lights in the air halted abruptly. Jinghong's cicada wings buzzed, accelerating as he charged!
"Please instruct me, Ancestor!"
Qingyang bellowed, his twin blades whirling. He rampaged through the air toward Jinghong!
"Boom!"
In the uncontrolled thunderclouds, lightning flashed and thunder boomed, illuminating two figures—one large, one small. Qingyang and Jinghong clashed beneath the clouds—blade light cleaved the thick thunderheads, moonlight spilling through before being swallowed again!
"Crack!" "Crack!"
Lightning fell, and torrential rain poured over the mountains.
Chen Shi looked up, tense as he followed the battle. Suddenly, the rain turned crimson—blood mixed with rainwater splashing down.
Beneath the thunderclouds, the robust blurring form and elusive figure made it impossible to tell who was wounded!
Standing in the blood rain, Chen Shi abruptly realized his surroundings were filled with people undergoing transformation!
Lightning flashed, illuminating Taihua Mountain.
Everywhere on the mountain lay their shed skins!
Chen Shi called loudly,
"Blackie Pot! Blackie Pot!"
But Blackie Pot didn't respond.
The big black dog hadn't emerged from the underworld in a long time.
Chen Shi's eyes shot forth mystic light, piercing yin and yang. He saw Blackie Pot.
One Blackie Pot after another.
Black pots of all sizes stood at the foot of Taihua Mountain in the underworld.
Those were Blackie Pot's skins from repeated moltings.
Even Blackie Pot hadn't escaped Sect Leader Jinghong's influence!
Chen Shi gritted his teeth and dashed toward where the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword had fallen.
He had to find this immortal sword!
He had to retrieve it!
He lacked the power to slay Jinghong and save everyone, but the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword had it!
He remembered the direction Qingyang had thrown the immortal sword.
Chen Shi raced straight for the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword. He was almost upon it when a massive boom echoed—
Qingyang's mighty frame bore down on Sect Leader Jinghong, plummeting from the sky. His left horn pierced Jinghong's chest, crashing into a nearby valley!
Qingyang's right horn swung back, slicing off Jinghong's hoary head with a whoosh.
He roared to the heavens, his body covered in grievous wounds—flayed flesh everywhere, injuries beyond imagination.
Chen Shi was shocked and elated. Victory!
Qingyang had won in close-quarters combat against Jinghong!
"Uncle Qingyang is still so strong!"
He rejoiced inwardly. If Uncle Qingyang weren't already dead, transformed into an evil spirit, he surely would have slain Jinghong even faster!
Qingyang's form sagged to its knees, propped on his horns to avoid collapsing. A smile crept across his face.
"Little bull-nose, your Sheep Grandpa watched you grow up—how could I not handle you?" He exhaled heavily,
finally relaxing.
At that moment, whistling air-tearing sounds rang out. From the back of Jinghong's headless corpse, bloody tendrils of flesh erupted, stabbing into the void and hoisting the body aloft.
Chen Shi and Qingyang's hearts clenched. Then came the numbing sound of skin cracking.
"Thanks to Ancestor, this disciple can molt once more."
Jinghong's voice emanated from the corpse's back. A brand-new Jinghong slowly extracted his head from the chest cavity—skinless—staring at them.
"I'm one step closer to true immortality!"