Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The Suan Ni Grand Sage breathed out purple smoke, which congregated in the sky like a purple thundercloud. Thunder flashed in the cloud and smoke, illuminating the sky.
That purple thundercloud expanded in all four directions, and it appeared to cover all that could be seen. Then, it descended down onto Inferno Emperor City and the Primordial Fire Grand Formation.
Plumes of smoke started to spread and in those plumes of smoke, one could feel a vast amount of thunder and electricity aura. These then turned into electric arcs and tangled together with the smoke and the clouds.
As these rays of thunder did not appear extremely violent but instead were as immaterial as smoke, they seemed to be formless and fragile, completely unlike other, more shocking forms of thunder.
However, when these smoke-like thunder landed on the Primordial Fire Grand Formation above Inferno Emperor City, the flames started to dance more vigorously. Crackling non-stop, they went off like thunderclaps.
The power of thunder and fire clashed against each other non-stop. Together, they turned the sky above Inferno Emperor City into a flaming, thundery hell.
Normal people, or even cultivators in their Immortal Soul Stage or demons in their Undying Demon Soul stage, would not be able to take being trapped in this thundery inferno for long. This was a kill zone to them.
The thunder, which resembled purple smoke, was the special ability of the Suan Ni Tribe, also known as Purple Smoke Earthen Thunder. It was similar to the Thunder Dragons’ Eight Barrens Divine Lightning.
In all honesty, it was weaker compared to the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder and the Chaos Cave Saint-Slaying Thunderbolt. Naturally, it could not compare to the True Torch of Kṣitigarbha, the Grand Sun Primordial Flame, and the Nanming Primordial Fire in terms of destructiveness.
However, as the Suan Ni Grand Sage operated the Purple Smoke Earthen Thunder, he was able to control it superbly and perfectly.
Long Shenke, who activated the Primordial Fire Grand Formation, did not specialize in fire. At that moment, as the formation was under attack from the Suan Ni Grand Sage’s Purple Smoke Earthen Thunder, the Primordial Fire Grand Formation still operated normally as it destroyed his attack. However, the change between Yin and Yang became visibly slower.
The Yue Cheng Grand Sage revealed his true form and his physical flesh and blood seemed capable of breaking the void. Black fog appeared from his body, making his huge form even more suppressive and even more cruel, shaking the hearts of all who witnessed it.
In that gurgling black fog, a few dots of starlight shone. Those were the stars that the Yue Cheng Grand Sage had cultivated into his demon soul.
He was using all his strength for this blow.
While he ordered the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage and the Suan Ni Grand Sage to attack, he did not save his own energy. The Ancient Ape Demons were led by the Heavenly Demon Ape. They would benefit the most from victory.
Yue Cheng intended to supervise the battle to prevent the other two from holding back. However, when he had to fight, he would treat it seriously.
Brimming with a vast amount of strength, the Yue Cheng Grand Sage leaped down like a celestial mountain and crashed right into the Primordial Fire Grand Formation. At that moment, the vast amount of strength caused the Primordial Fire Grand Formation to tremble violently.
While the fire formation quickly retaliated, causing the Yue Cheng Grand Sage to cloak himself in black smoke to avoid being detected, it was already under quite a lot of pressure from the Suan Ni Grand Sage earlier. With the Yue Cheng Grand Sage’s attack, a hole emerged in the formation.
An endless sea of fire and blaze quickly rushed to fill up the hole. At the same time, they surrounded the Yue Cheng Grand Sage, preventing him from advancing any further.
After resisting the Yue Cheng Grand Sage’s powerful attack, he, who was surrounded by primordial fire, was soon in trouble,
However, just as the opening appeared and before the formation could cover it, the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage’s body flashed.
His body, which was the size of a small mountain, turned into a ray of light. Like an ethereal shadow, he dashed into the hole in the formation, and then descended down onto Inferno Emperor City!
The first attack was to disturb the protective mechanism, the second attack was to create an opening and the third attack sought to take a chance at entry.
While the three Undying Demon Soul Third Level demons rarely cooperated, they were able to come to an agreement at that moment. Together, they came up with a way to break through the fire formation defenses.
The primordial fires were indeed powerful, but the spell formation did not target what was inside it. The moment the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage penetrated it, he went straight for Inferno Emperor City and Long Shenke.
The demons attacked non-stop. The Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage was able to successfully break through the formation, but he did not seek to carry out his task alone. His priority was to bring the Yue Cheng Grand Sage and the Suan Ni Grand Sage inside too.
Near the top of Inferno Emperor City, the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage did not say much. He waved his palm, and his demonic powers surged from it. Once again, he used his Great Spiritual King Hand as he made a grabbing motion toward Long Shenke’s head.
That palm was big enough to cover the sun the sky. Instantly, Inferno Emperor City turned dark as if night had descended.
Long Shenke’s expression did not change. He said to Duan Muhong, who was by his side and said, “You take charge of the formation. Do your best, and don’t overexert.”
With that, his figure shimmered and he ascended into the sky to meet the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage.
In Inferno Emperor City, Duan Muhong had already returned to the main pavilion. In it, there were a group of cultivators from the Inferno Precipice, most of whom were in their Nascent Soul Stage. Duan Muhong said, “Uncles, we are in charge of the formation now.”
Everyone had been waiting for this moment. They nodded their heads when they heard it and said, “Senior Long Shenke is battling the enemy. We can feel it.”
With that, they did not say any more. They all joined palms and devoted all their powers into the fire formation, including Duan Muhong.
With their support, the fire formation continued to squeeze the Yue Cheng Grand Sage. Yin and Yang could be seen once more and the sea of fire returned to its normal, terrifying state.
However, in the skies above Inferno Emperor City, the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage and Long Shenke stood facing each other.
At that moment, Long Shenke was an Immortal Soul Third Level Martial Way cultivator. While he did not seem as aggressive, his defensive powers were terrifying. He met the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage’s Great Spiritual King Hand.
However, the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage, who was in his Undying Demon Soul Third Level, was at the peak of his physical strength.
He was able to dodge quickly too. Miraculously, his actions were super agile and Long Shenke seemed incapable of catching him.
However, Long Shenke kept calm as he guarded Inferno Emperor City. In particular, he had to defend Duan Muhong and everyone who were in the main pavilion to prevent the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage from affecting them.
If he wanted to break the fire formation and bring the Yue Cheng Grand Sage as well as the Suan Ni Grand Sage in, he had to target Duan Muhong and everyone in the pavilion.
By guarding it tightly, Long Shenke prevented the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage from getting past his defenses with his speed. Now, the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage could only battle him head-on.
In a head-on fight, the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage was much more powerful. When he revealed his true form, Long Shenke may not be able to resist him. However, doing so gave Long Shenke some opportunities to maneuver.
The Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage’s blue eyes shone with light. He wiggled his ears.
This was the Heavenly Eyes and Ears ability of the Extreme Spiritual Divine Monkeys. With his eyes, he could determine reality and illusion. With his ears, he could note the change of everything around him. This was the best ability to differentiate truth and illusion.
It was unlike Zhu Yi’s The Way of Changes, which could sense the changes of everything and all forms of spells. However, it was more sensitive at detecting the change in one’s opponent’s aura.
At the start, Long Shenke may still be able to resist the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage. As time passes, he would feel increasing pressure.
Furthermore, as the pressure on Long Shenke increased, speed would accelerate too. Time seemed to accelerate at every moment.
“Your Mahayana level magic treasure is extraordinary. To destroy you completely, I will have to devote some effort to it. However, if you want to block me, it will be more difficult for you,” said the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage. His figure shimmered and turned into two rays of light. Straightaway, he sought to avoid Long Shenke by going by his sides.
Long Shenke squinted and his senses were unable to detect which one was real and which one was an illusion at that moment All he could do was to depend on his supernatural awareness and pick one. His body moved horizontally as he attacked the one coming from his right.
The wild energy locked the sky and prevented the two forms of the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage from exchanging positions and illusion and reality from swapping again.
The right blue-eyed white monkey’s body trembled as he resisted Long Shenke’s attack.
When his mana clashed with the monkey’s demonic powers, Long Shenke was slightly relieved. “This is the real one…”
Before he could finish his thought, he noticed that the hairy face of the blue-eyed white monkey grinned evilly.
Long Shenke, who had just calmed himself, suddenly felt a wave of panic. He turned his head and noticed that the Extreme Spiritual Divine Monkey on his left was heading straight for Inferno Emperor City!
The Extreme Spiritual Divine Monkey turned into an illusion.
“At one point in time, both were real!” Long Shenke realized that in hindsight. However, the Extreme Spiritual grand Sage had already broken through his defenses and he reached the top of the main pavilion. His wild demonic energy congregated together, and he punched the top of the pavilion.
Above the pavilion, a formation made from fire shone and blocked his attack.
However, with the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage’s attack, the entire pavilion shook slightly and those within it, including Duan Muhong, could all feel it.
The roar of the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage appeared to come from everyone’s hearts, shaking their souls.
Duan Muhong and the rest were all powerful cultivators in their own right, but the disparity in powers between the two sides was much too wide. After being struck by the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage, their operation of the fire formation was naturally affected.
The Yue Cheng Grand Sage, who had been trapped by the fire up till now and was almost on the verge of incineration, suddenly felt the fire retreating and weakening slightly.
The Suan Ni Grand Sage, who had been using his Purple Smoke Earthen Thunder all this while to alleviate the pressure on the Yue Cheng Grand Sage, roared loudly at this moment.
The purple clouds, which appeared ethereal, suddenly concentrated quickly and turned into a purple ball of gas, which looked black.
In that ball of gas, one could see starlight shimmering. However, what was even more eye-catching were the black snakes formed from thunder from the ball of gas. All of them gave off a powerful and violent energy.
While this ball of gas appeared to be weak and formless, its powers could be felt.
The ball of gas exploded above the fire formation. Taking advantage of the split second when the Primordial Fire Grand Formation slowed because of a tear, it exploded once again at the location of the tear.
The Yue Cheng Grand Sage roared into the sky. Following tightly behind the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage, he broke through the barrier of the Primordial Fire Grand Formation and descended onto Inferno Emperor City.
