Chapter 682: Whether you live or die is not up to you!
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Inside the Celestial Small World, lightning and fire were spewing forth continuously from a deep abyss. At the edge of the abyss, a resplendent multicoloured pillar of light shot up to the heavens.
It was the secret Great Tao Spiritual Penetration of the Samsara Sect – the Immortal Heavenly Divine Light!
Among the myriad of secret spells honed within the Samsara Sect, the Immortal Heavenly Divine Light was one of the most formidable elite spells, encompassing the concepts of the Samsara of Reincarnation and Unlimited Immortality.
But this radiant ray of light was being suppressed by clouds of black light, being continuously gnawed at and eroded. Zhou Yucong’s Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit was ravaging to the extreme, burning everything before it to the ground. Even a grand Abhijina like the Immortal Heavenly Divine Light had to retreat in the face of its overbearing strength. Furthermore, just like the Red Lotus Fire, Yang Likun could clearly sense the foundations of his Immortal Heavenly Divine Light swaying vigorously, on the verge of collapsing. If this continues, this particular Abhijina would also be nullified by the Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit.
Back in the Dharma Hall, all the spectating cultivators held their breath. Even the Nascent Soul Grandmasters looked at Zhou Yuncong with utmost seriousness. Since he was only in the Foundation Establishment Stage, he was of no threat to them. As magnificent and ferocious his Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit was, it still had a certain limit which could only be raised along with Zhou Yuncong’s present mastery level. That being said, how would Zhou Yuncong turn out once he forms his Aurous Core and eventually his Nascent Soul? Just thinking about those prospects sent goosebumps over everyone’s heads.
Inside the Grand Heavens Pavilion, the various Immortal Soul powerhouses also watched the scene unfold with keen interest. The Azure Pulse Swordmaster turned to the Patriarch of the Lei Family, “Most cultivators with the same mastery level as Zhou Yuncong and who specialize primarily in cultivating Yang Energy would definitely not bode well against him.”
Lei Lie nodded, “The destructive capabilities of the Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit are truly overpowering and ruthless, sinister to the extreme.”
Yue Mingyue turned to Lin Daohan and smiled, “When I go back, I must inform Teacher Kuang and the rest that since Runfeng does not exceed Zhou Yuncong by an entire mastery level, he must not stir up a conflict with Zhou Yuncong.”
Among the young talent nurtured by the Radical Faction of the Great Void Sect, there was a man named Ding Runfeng. When he was in Xiling City, he once banded with Bai Xiqian to start an scuffle with Yue Hongyan, Li Yuanfang, Ge Qingwu, and other disciples from the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
He was born with the Pure Yang Being, and had cultivated the Pure Yang Righteous Heart Mantra. Such a complementary mantra harnessed his natural advantages to the maximum, with his Abhijina and mana far surpassing those of ordinary cultivators. Even in a place like the Great Void Sect where great talent congregated, he was still an elite amongst his peers.
But unfortunately for him, Zhou Yuncong’s Yang-Incinerating Body and Vital Spirit were the exact counter to Ding Runfeng. Being at the same mastery level, Zhou Yuncong would score an easier victory against him than Yang Likun.
Lin Daohan said calmly, “After the incident at Xiling City, Junior Ding has grown to be much more mature and composed.”
Yan Mingyue smiled and turned to look at Yang Qing at the Celestial Sect of Wonders’ delegation. She withdrew her smile and said earnestly, “You are indeed a wonderful teacher. Under your mentorship, Zhou Yuncong has unearthed his natural talents beautifully without a tinge of wastage.”
Yang Qing joined his hands together to return the compliment. “Lady Yan, you flatter me. Yuncong owes more to his own hard work and perseverance for his achievements today. I wouldn’t dare to claim the credit.”
Amidst the buzzing commotion in the crowd, back in the Celestial Small World, Zhou Yuncong’s Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit was about to obliterate Yang Likun’s Immortal Heavenly Divine Light.
Under the protection of the Immortal Heavenly Divine Light, Yang Likun could finally catch his breath, but seeing that the Divine Light was on the brink of shattering, Yang Likun seemed to be hopelessly awaiting his impending doom. His chubby face crumpled in reluctance and after a brief moment of hesitation, he made up his mind as his beady eyes gleamed menacingly.
“How dare you try to destroy me completely, I won’t let you get what you want!” Yang Likun bellowed, “I really want to thank the Celestial Sect of Wonders’ Mana Defence Restriction over the Dharma Hall. In the beginning, I was feeling really restricted when I thought that I couldn’t actually kill someone, but this is now a great help for me! You brat, this isn’t over yet. You better pray that I don’t see you after we leave Mount Kunlun, or else I’ll make you suffer a worse fate than death once I regain my Aurous Core mastery!”
With that, Yang Likun flipped out his palm and gathered his mana, then charged straight towards his Heaven Spiritual Cover!
He was actually trying to commit suicide; he wanted to activate the Dharma Hall’s Defence Restrictions and eliminate himself from the Spiritual Conference, which would send him out of the Celestial Small World and hence terminate the continuous erosion of his Abhijina and mana by Zhou Yuncong’s Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit.
Yang Likun was equally brutal both to others and to himself. Putting the certainty of elimination aside, taking one’s life still required a considerable amount of courage and decisiveness even with the mana restrictions in place.
Upon realizing what Yang Likun was trying to do, Zhou Yuncong’s gaze turned frigid. He grabbed Yang Likun with his right hand and clenched his left fist, gathering boundless amounts of black light rapidly which morphed into a giant ball of black light.
This ball of black light continued to compress and condense the savage powers of the Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit, faintly producing a terrifying foreboding of an imminent explosion, like a meteor about to crash down.
The Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit, Everlasting Heavenly Yang Explosion!
Yang Likun watched this frightening sight unfold with wide eyes. In the face of such a remarkable opponent, forget about wanting to live, even wanting to die cannot be up to him to decide.
The terrifying ball of black light collided against the crumbling Immortal Heavenly Divine Light and instantly blew the pillar of light into smithereens. Infinite amounts of black light burst forth and struck Yang Likun’s body as rays after rays of the Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit ignited and exploded all the Yang Energy contained inside.
Yang Likun let out a blood-curdling scream. He could not gather even a single ounce of mana in his palm, with all of it already burnt down by the Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit.
Zhou Yuncong’s final blow not only incinerated all of Yang Likun’s Yang Energy mana, but also activated the Dharma Hall’s mana restrictions, leaving him with his dear life but permanently crippling his mastery level.
There was complete silence in the Dharma Hall. After a while, cultivators from all mastery levels burst in commotion like a sizzling pot that just popped open.
“Zhou Yuncong has such amazing mastery, his spells are so brutal!”
The horde of disciples from the Celestial Sect of Wonders rejoiced in unison. “Amazing! You should give that vicious, evil man a taste of his own medicine!”
The Successive Disciples looked at each other and uttered, “I never knew that Junior Zhou was this strong! He is truly an unassuming yet exceptional talent.”
Compared to the bustling activity inside the Dharma Hall and the Central Hall on Yun Peak, the Grand Heavens Pavilion was far quieter.
Shen Qifeng gazed calmly at the light illusion, and finally heaved a sigh after a good long while. “This must be fate.”
The atmosphere in the Grand Heavens Pavilion turned slightly unsettling. Everyone’s gazes landed on Lin Feng, who in turn looked at Shen Qifeng ever so calmly and thought to himself, “Is this the end result you wanted?”
Lin Feng chuckled to himself, “Interesting. I’m getting more and more intrigued by this.”
Yang Likun’s life was spared by the Dharma Hall’s mana restrictions, but all his mastery up till now has been thoroughly nullified. His Aurous Core turned dark and shrivelled with a dense network of cracks, almost like a spiderweb.
Without the mana-suppressive effects of the Dharma Hall, he could have recharged his mana by activating his own Aurous Core. But not only did Zhou Yuncong’s attack incinerate his mana and Aurous Core, it also wrecked all the Yang Energy inside his body, completely upheaving the balance of Yin and Yang in his body. He could not even summon his Aurous Core no matter how hard he tried.
All the years of cultivating the secret spells passed by the Samsara Sect’s Heavenly Way and being hailed as a promising young prodigy have all gone to waste. Any sliver of hope for recovery was almost abyssmal.
This was also the worst disaster since the start of the Spiritual Conference, with even more severe consequences than how Yang Likun used the Red Lotus Fire to torture Liu Hang. Since Li Xingfei interfered in Liu Hang’s match, Liu Hang’s soul still has a sufficient chance of recovery after adequate recuperation despite being severely damaged. Yang Likun, on the other hand, was in a far worse plight.
The atmosphere in the Grand Heavens Pavilion became a little strange. Theoretically speaking, if the Celestial Sect of Wonders hosts a Spiritual Conference aimed at mutual interaction and friendly competition, the general mood should be quite friendly and amicable. Furthermore, such an unfortunate incident should have been swiftly prevented from happening.
However, the Heavenly Cloud Holy Man Shen Qifeng has no intention of pursuing the matter as the victim. Yang Likun may have been courting trouble himself, but Shen Qifeng’s composed exterior was certainly unexpected, since Yang Likun was still his Immediate Disciple after all.
The Samsara Sect, especially the sect’s Heavenly Way, has always been concealing its weaknesses and flaunting its strengths, not even bothering to curry favours for the Great Void Sect or the Mount Shu Sword Sect.
Furthermore, having caused such a serious incident, disqualifying Zhou Yuncong would be the most obvious and basic penalty. Yet, what was even more dumbfounding was, the entire Celestial Sect of Wonders seemed to be keeping mum about this issue, as if the incident had never occurred, adopting a stance of blissful ignorance.
Yan Mingyue’s gaze shifted between Lin Feng and Shen Qifeng. “Judging by Lin Feng’s behaviour since he began cultivation, he may have been overbearing and ruthless, but he has rarely been deliberating stirring trouble. Aside from the battle on Mount Kunlun where he schemed against the Golden Crow Grand Sage and the Aeolus Sect, Lin Feng’s actions were upright and justifiable at all times. This move, however, is certainly perplexing.”
Yan Mingyue looked at Lin Feng and Shen Qifeng and commented, “These two seem to have made a certain tacit agreement …”
As she pondered over this, she turned to her senior Lin Daohan and noticed a rare glint in his eyes.
“Big Senior?” Yan Mingyue was slightly startled. Upon noticing her gaze, Lin Daohan turned around and used his Mana Voice Projection to convey a soft message. “There may be great upheavals in the Samsara Sect very shortly. Do be careful.”
Yan Mingyue mulled over Lin Daohan’s words and nodded gently.
Lin Feng refocused his attention on the light illusion. There, on a hill relatively further away from the abyss where Zhou Yuncong and Yang Likun were battling, stood a young man in black robes, having observed the entire duel between the two from afar.
It was Chu Yang.
“With such formidable and incisive Abhijina, the Celestial Sect of Wonders is certainly full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons, with every generation producing exceptional talent.” Chu Yang nodded in awe. “However, this Abhijina should have its downsides as well. What a pity that the obese brat from the Samsara Sect lost so quickly, now I can’t observe anything else. Besides having a limited attacking range, being only able to attack after closing in on the enemy, I wonder what other flaws does the black light Abhijina have.”
Chu Yang noticed three golden rings left on the floor after Yang Likun vanished by activating the mana restriction. Those were the rings that Yang Likun used to hunt the Qiong Qi.
“If a cultivator is eliminated with a golden ring on hand, would it be left at the spot he ‘died’?” Chu Yang stroked his chin, pondering the question as he fiddled with a golden ring in his hand.
