Chapter 681: Remove the sanction, release the beast!
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Inside the Grand Heavens Pavilion, Shen Qifeng appeared at ease as he heaved a sigh, “That unruly disciple of mine had the gall to band with the Qiong Qi Demon Tribe to attack a prized disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders. Such a wicked act has transgressed too many rules. We are really apologetic for failing to educate our disciples well. Our sect shall immediately disqualify this young disciple as his due punishment, but I will discipline him even more when I bring him back.”
Wang Lin remained silent and cold, his white hair flowing in the wind behind him as he looked straight at Shen Qifeng. As the Immortal Soul powerhouses within the pavilion witnessed this sight, they all thought to themselves, “Even though he’s only in the Middle Nascent Soul Stage, this man’s thirst for blood and sheer hostility are really intense.”
Lin Feng sat on his throne as calm as ever. He gently tapped his fingers on his armrest, which concentrated the attention of everyone in the room on him.
“There’s no need for that.” Lin Feng replied collectedly, “The second part of the assessment is supposed to test these youngsters on their ability to adapt to change independently. Since this is an assessment, any type of situation has the possibility of occurring, and the purpose of this test is indeed to react to these sudden, unexpected situations.”
All the Immortal Soul cultivators nodded in unison. “The Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders is truly magnanimous.”
What Lin Feng said may be true, but the second stage of the Spiritual Conference was geared more towards allowing cultivators to pit their skills against each other while vying for the prize. Hence, although teaming up with the Qiong Qi Demon Tribe to battle other cultivators was not explicitly prohibited officially, the others participating in this Spiritual Conference seemed to have tacitly agreed not to do so.
“The Leader of the Celestial Sect may be magnanimous, but your disciple’s actions are nonetheless improper,” Lin Daohan exclaimed.
“No worries.” Lin Feng smiled gently and looked at Shen Qifeng. “Your disciple shall continue to participate in the Spiritual Conference until he is eliminated under the normal rules. If he does overcome this assessment and emerge as the top winner, the stated rewards shall be accorded without exception. The Celestial Sect of Wonders shall not disqualify him.”
Upon hearing this, not only did Shen Qifeng not feel relieved, he instead turned somber and nodded in guilt. “Thank you very much.”
He turned to look at the light illusion and sighed.
Inside the Dharma Hall, within the Celestial Small World constructed to capture the Qiong Qi, Yang Likun glared viciously at Zhou Yuncong and Li Xingfei in front of him.
He had intended to suppress the injuries Li Xingfei inflicted on him but realized that it was not as easy as it seemed. Columns of dark aura flanked the River Styx Primordial Water, eroding his life energy and mana continuously, which was particularly agonizing for Yang Likun who had mastered the secret techniques of the Samsara Sect.
The Extreme Finger of Styx is a formidable offensive spell created after Wang Lin established his own line of mantras inside the Heavenly Extreme Path Sutra for his Forest Abode, derived solely from the Heavenly Extreme Path Sutra. Even though it still pales in comparison to the Celestial Finger of Styx derived from Wang Lin’s internalization of the Great Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams, its power was nonetheless extraordinary, surpassing the Finger of Styx Abhijina derived from the River Styx Nirvana Mantra in strength.
The Extreme Finger of Styx could be considered as a simplified version of the Finger of Destruction in the Celestial Finger of Styx. Although it is incapable of traversing space to construct a Dimension of Death to obliterate opponents, it bears frightening destructive potential by combining its death aura with the River Styx Primordial Water.
It concentrates its power and punctures the opponent through a single point. Even though the opponent may not be in immediate danger of dying after being penetrated by the Extreme Finger of Styx, he would still be continuously worn down by the immense aftereffects of its formidable death aura and the River Styx Primordial Water.
Yang Likun was just like this. After being pierced by Li Xingfei’s finger, he seemed to have been reduced to a similarly pathetic state with grievous injuries, losing his will to fight.
However, he was still a rising star among the Samsara Sect’s younger generation of disciples, having mastered a plethora of secret techniques passed down by the sect. He pointed his finger at the center of his eyebrows. His head flashed with a brilliant spiritual light as a gigantic Spiritual Formation of runes suspended above him in mid-air, cloaking him in rays upon rays of white light.
The Secret Abhijina of the Samsara Sect – the Great Samsara Curse of the Nine Deaths!
Even if Aurous Core cultivators repress their mastery levels and compete with Foundation Establishment cultivators on the same battlefield, the former group still stands at a considerable advantage. Not only do they have more experience and knowledge, they have mastered many secret Abhijina techniques which were previously incomprehensible during their Foundation Establishment Stage only when they advanced to the Aurous Core Stage. Their mastery levels may have been suppressed back to Foundation Establishment levels, but they can still summon many of their profound Abhijina spells if their mana conditions allow them to do so.
The Great Samsara Curse of the Nine Deaths is an extremely powerful spell from the Samsara Sect. Basking in the blinding white light, Yang Likun’s injuries healed rapidly. The surging death aura within his body has also been cleansed away, while the effects of the River Styx Primordial Water has also been sufficiently subdued.
Yang Likun’s face flushed with a strange hue of bold red. He stared at Zhou Yuncong and Li Xingfei, and laughed gloatingly, “Even though this wouldn’t last long, it’s enough to deal with you two.”
Back in the Grand Heavens Pavilion, the Peach Blossom Elder Yi Longbin, the Immortal Soul cultivator on the Path of Humanity from the Samsara Sect, whispered faintly, “The Great Samsara Curse of the Nine Deaths, haha, the Great Samsara Curse of the Nine Deaths!”
This Abhijina is a secret technique passed down within the Samsara Sect. After the Six Paths of the Samsara split up, currently only Samsara Sect cultivators in the Heavenly Way know this spell. It is the ultimate technique for guarding one’s life for Samsara Sect cultivators.
As long as the user has yet to perish, once this spell is activated, even the most severe injuries will recover rapidly, healing over half of the wounds sustained. Even the user’s mana is restored to its peak condition, albeit only for a limited amount of time.
After this short period of time, the user is reduced back to the brink of death, where he only has two options for survival: either he consumes the secret elixir of the Samsara Sect, the Single Life Elixir, or another cultivator in the sect with a higher mastery level heals him personally. Regardless of which option the user takes, he would be restricted to a prolonged state of frailness even though he keeps his dear life.
This spell exists purely to aid Samsara Sect cultivators in extricating themselves from life-threatening situations, be it to dispatch a foe or to gain enough energy to escape.
Yang Qing stared at Yang Likun inside the light illusion for a moment before turning to Lin Feng. Lin Feng met his gaze and smiled without saying anything.
Yang Qing took the cue and looked towards Zhou Yuncong, and called out, “Yuncong?”
The mana restrictions of the Dharma Hall have been adjusted. Shi Qifeng and the others must obtain Lin Feng’s prior approval to project their voices into the hall, while Xiao Yan and Yang Qing can do so at will.
When Zhou Yuncong heard Yang Qing’s voice, he titled his head to one side.
“I’ll allow you to use the Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit for this battle.”
Upon hearing Yang Qing’s voice, Zhou Yuncong held his breath before regaining his composure, but his gaze at Yang Likun turned even colder.
Yang Qing did not hide his voice projection from others, and all the Immortal Soul powerhouses looked at him curiously. The ominous sensation tugging at Shen Qifeng’s heart grew even stronger, and the next moment, Zhou Yuncong advanced!
His body burst with a resplendent golden radiance, as though he had transformed into a scorching golden sun, and pounced towards Yang Likun.
“The Grand Sun Primordial Flame?” Yang Likun smirked and clapped his hands, producing a magnificent Red Lotus Fire to take on Zhou Yuncong.
In the next moment, the flabs on Yang Likun’s fatty cheeks convulsed violently. He immediately realized that the golden Grand Sun Primordial Flame shrouding Zhou Yuncong’s body had all been obliterated, vanishing into thin air and being replaced by puffs of black smoke. It was as though the blazing midday sun had plunged into a solar eclipse, dark and sinister!
What was even more terrifying for Yang Likun, the black smoke surrounding Zhou Yuncong’s body grew thicker and denser until it became pitch-black like ink. The original gaseous state of the smog gradually condensed into black rays of radiance.
All the Immortal Soul cultivators inside the Grand Heavens Pavilion wavered their gaze.
The black smoke was the Yang-Incinerating Clouds formed after Zhou Yuncong’s Grand Sun Primordial Flame burnt down to cinders, possessing frightening destructive powers, while the black light was the result of a further alteration of the Yang-Incinerating Clouds.
The Yang-Incineration Vital Spirit!
With a wave of Zhou Yuncong’s hand, the black light swept through and instantly extinguished Yang Likun’s Red Lotus Fire which dissipated into grey ash! Multiple crimson-red fire lotuses withered like fallen flowers pelted by rains and storms, reducing to dust.
Yang Likun’s pudgy face turned pale, anxious and furious at the same time. “You …. What have you done?!”
Yang Likun’s pair of beady eyes glared so intensely that it was on the verge of popping out. He shockingly realized that, not only did Zhou Yuncong’s Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit disintegrate the Red Lotus Fires he conjured, it even damaged his inner Abhijina!
The Red Lotus Fires that were destroyed had been thoroughly extinguished. Whatever amount of it destroyed also signified the same amount of tedious effort invested by Yang Likun to cultivate these Red Lotus Fires that has been wasted. All the years of hard work have now gone to ruin thanks to Zhou Yuncong!
The Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit have reduced Yang Likun’s Red Lotus Fires to ashes. Yang Likun’s lips shivered so much that he could not even speak. The Red Lotus Fire Abhijina that he so painstakingly cultivated has been destroyed by Zhou Yuncong!
From today onwards, even if Yang Likun survives, he would have to begin cultivating his Red Lotus Fire again from scratch if he wishes to master the spell again. All those years of toiling have been wasted in a single day!
“How is this possible?” Yang Likun shuddered violently, unable to comprehend how Zhou Yuncong’s Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit could be this formidable, able to bypass his external Red Lotus Fire and completely annihilate his Abhijina.
What was even more frightening was, Zhou Yuncong did not stop after decimating Yang Likun’s Red Lotus Fire. Having already closed in on Yang Likun, Zhou Yuncong stretched out his right hand and with a swirl of black radiance, he grabbed Yang Likun’s flabby neck and yanked him from the ground up into the air.
As he unleashed the terrifying powers of the Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit, Yang Likun instantly felt his internal organs burning. The Abhijina and mana throughout his entire body was being incinerated by the black radiance.
“Stop!” Yang Likun shrieked in rage and agony. To his sheer astonishment, not only was his mana being eroded by the black radiance, the Positive Yang Energy inside his body was also being burnt down by the Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit.
With the Yang Energy drained away, the balance of Yin and Yang within his body has completely collapsed. Not only was Yang Likun’s mastery being nullified, the strength and sensitivity of his soul was also deteriorating, his energy vessels were contracting, his physical vitality was weakening, and his connection with the heavens and lands were getting impeded …
With these and many other implications, it would be incredibly difficult and painful to cultivate his spells again in the future.
He was still considered an outstanding and talented individual among those in the Heavenly Way of the Samsara Sect. Yet, after the effects of the Yang-Incinerating Vital Spirit, his innate abilities were as good as none.
Yang Likun’s heart turned numb as he looked towards Zhou Yuncong in trepidation, feeling as if he had fallen through a crack in a glacier.
The surrounding black radiance shrouded Zhou Yuncong’s body, concealing everything except his eyes which could still be seen clearly in the darkness.
Yang Likun shivered. How sort of eyes are those?
His pair of eyes were as frigid and menacing as a calamitous cloud falling from the sky, yet also burning like a grand fire!
“I … Just what sort of evil spirit have I provoked? This freak is not human, he’s a beast that has just emerged from his cage!”
At this critical moment between life and death, Yang Likun unleashed all of his innate potential and bellowed irately, “Samsara of Reincarnation, the Immortal Heavenly Way!”
His body instantly exuded an aura of immortality and purity as his remaining mana and spiritual energy burst forth, even his soul was seemingly ignited. His lifetime’s worth of mastery concentrated together and condensed into a ray of divine light to protect himself.
