Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xihua Sacred Mountain was shrouded in a mood of desperation. Saint Xihua had abandoned the sacred mountain and escaped. They were now surrounded by the Holy Zhi Palace. They were truly at a dead end.
Many people levitated skyward. What the man said was right. There were only two choices before them. They could wait for the other side to launch the attack and hope that with the power of the matrix, they may slaughter more people on the other side. The second choice was to fight their way out before Ye Futian arrived with powerful reinforcements. But the ending would remain the same—they would all perish on Xihua Sacred Mountain. Obviously, the second choice offered a little more chance to survive. To them, it was meaningless to kill anyone from the Holy Zhi Palace for any reason.
All the forces now gathered to form the matrix. Even if they were prepared to flee, they had to do their utmost to increase their chances. Otherwise, like a plate of sand, they would all die with no possibility of survival.
As if the movement upon Xihua Sacred Mountain had been detected, a great pressure descended from heaven and a demonic air permeated into the space. Immense demonic beasts guarded the sky above, preventing them from breaking through. Not only that, but the other four sides of Xihua Sacred Mountain surrounded. They continued to climb upward and appeared on the side in the sky. In case those from Xihua Sacred Mountain chose to escape from the top, they could instantly form a circle and cut them off.
In these four directions, right in front were the cultivators led by Yu Sheng. The battle at the Holy Zhi Palace had left them dreading the power of Yu Sheng, making this route incredibly dangerous.
The other three routes were Yuan Hong’s Heavenly Battle Matrix, guarding one direction, with cultivators who were even more expert at martial arts. After experiencing many Sacred Battles, Yuan Hong’s strength exceeded what it was in the past, and his fighting ability was getting stronger by leaps and bounds. It was enough to rank among the sages on the Sage and Saint Ranking of Nine States.
Besides Yuan Hong, there was also the battle matrix headed by Yun Shang of the Ice Temple, which was good at control. With them assisting the great offensive of the Heavenly Battle Matrix, it was unstoppable.
Sword Saint was also guarding one direction with a group of cultivators, such as Zhuge Qingfeng, You Chi, and others. Now the cultivation of Sword Saint was closer to a top-level sage. Aided by the strength of the demonic blade, his power was even more astounding. Coupled with the support of Zhuge Qingfeng and You Chi, he was well-equipped to guard this position.
The last direction was defended by Yang Xiao and Gu Dongliu, who were both on the sage ranking and possessed equally amazing strength. Those who had experienced the battle at the Holy Zhi Palace knew how Liu Zong died. Gu Dongliu and Bai Luli of Jixia Holy Palace White Palace manned Yang Xiao’s battle matrix, killing Liu Zong. Now Gu Dongliu was already a mid-level sage, whose ability also caused people of Xihua Sacred Mountain to feel uncertain.
Four major directions seemed to have been completely locked down. Which direction was the weakest?
In those days, there were not many people who could really represent the Holy Zhi Palace. Qin Zhuang and the nine were the most well-known. Now, even those who were of the lower planes at the Holy Zhi Palace had risen, like Yu Sheng and Gu Dongliu. They were now able to stand in their own power and call the shots on their own. Even in the absence of Ye Futian and Qin Zhuang, they could still suppress Xihua Sacred Mountain in their own right.
In less than ten year’s time, since the last Nine States Forum, situations had been turned upside down. Back then, in all the holy lands of the Nine States, no one cared much about the cultivators from the Barren States.
“Matrix, prepare for battle,” someone said. Suddenly, on the top of Xihua Sacred Mountain, its mighty army gathered together to form a battle matrix. A tyrannical pressure swept through the sacred mountain. Faraway, the cultivators in Huatian City, who witnessed this scene, felt incredible fear in their hearts. Xihua Sacred Mountain was surrounded and forced deeper into an impossible situation.
“Follow me!” the cultivator called out loudly and clearly, and as his voice fell, he embarked in one direction. It was the location right in front of them, where Yu Sheng was. They had chosen to escape from the front and had concentrated all their forces into this one position, hoping for an opportunity that would allow them to open up a gap in a short time.
Their purpose was not to battle but to fight their way out. Naturally, the best choice was to gather all their power to direct at Yu Sheng. For Yu Sheng, although he was strong, it was only because he was massive.
The army started and a suffocating power coursed in the direction of Yu Sheng and his party, and all the cultivators from the three major directions also stepped forward and headed over.
Yu Sheng’s eyes coldly swept toward the mighty army. His eyes turned into demonic eyes with a blood-red glow, and mighty demonic power came out. The dark golden demonic light darkened the sky, with the demonic power covering the sky. His body increased in size, turning into a demon god. Wherever his eyes passed, they struck fear into the hearts of the cultivators of Xihua Sacred Mountain. They were a pair of terrible demon eyes.
The Battleax of Judgment appeared in his hand, and the magic that poured into it made the ax to release a dark magical light as if it was now incarnated into a demonic battleax. Yu Sheng, after being demonized, had an aura that was closer to a top-level sage.
Behind Yu Sheng, there suddenly appeared many statues of demon gods, and it was the 108 demon gods who stood proudly in the universe, surveying all living creatures. Upon the body of Yu Sheng was a layer of dark gold armor, like the armor of the demon god. Immense and boundless demon wings appeared and flapped in the void.
What was taking place before their eyes was so radiant and beautiful that it was terrifying. The cultivators of Xihua Sacred Mountain regretted to have chosen to try and get past Yu Sheng’s defense.
Douzhan glanced at Yu Sheng. After breaking through the Sage Plane, Yu Sheng had become more powerful, tapping directly into the secret arts to motivate the strongest of all demonic magic and further integrated the technique of Buddhism into demonic magic, thus releasing the strongest fighting form. This was intended to entrap every single person of Xihua Sacred Mountain. Presumably, that first battle had not only infuriated Ye Futian, but also Yu Sheng.
Douzhan looked again at the battle matrix behind Yu Sheng. At the center of the battle matrix was Huang Jiuge. At this time, he had gathered the power of everyone to allow his own power to climb to the epitome of the sage. The magnificent Renhuang Will bloomed out, its golden brilliance soaring to the sky in unspeakable radiance. The Renhuang Bow that had melted into the life spirit of the imperial implement now pulled back the bowstring. Suddenly, with his body as the center, there were thousands of shadows of the arrows that released a power that could penetrate everything. It locked onto all the cultivators of Xihua Sacred Mountain.
Was it not the same with Huang Jiuge? What was the reason for the seven holy lands to join forces together to invade the Holy Zhi Palace?
The inheritance of Renhuang.
Ye Futian once claimed that if he could not protect Huang Jiuge, he was not qualified to protect the Holy Zhi Palace. Such reasoning had carried with it an incredible price. Once at the Renhuang Ruins and once at the battle in the Holy Zhi Place was enough for him to entrust his life to Ye Futian.
Boom! Like a demon god, Yu Sheng took a single step and the demonic wings flashed, descending in front of the crowd that was rushing at him. Using his own power, he had cut through in the midst of the army of Xihua Sacred Mountain.
“Kill!” the cultivators of Xihua Sacred Mountain let out a roar. Suddenly, countless launched their attacks at Yu Sheng. The pressure seemed to be able to kill everything. Even the people of the Holy Zhi Palace felt fear in their hearts, concerned for Yu Sheng.
But Yu Sheng seemed to not have felt it at all. The Battleax of Judgment came down from the sky and opened heaven and earth with a fissure. The giant mountains that had been smashed forward were shattered and pulverized from the middle, and the Battleax of Judgment was unstoppable. As it chopped from the sky, there was a dark demonic light of magic.
In an instant, the battle matrix in front of him collapsed, and countless cultivators were split open by the ax. Blood stained the sky, but there were still countless attacks coming from the side and blasting on his demon god-like body. With all 108 illusions of demon gods protecting him with their magnificent demonic power, Yu Sheng did not budge at all. The Battleax of Judgment in his hand struck down. As the ax fell, another straight, dark magical light appeared, widening the scope of its attack further this time.
The cultivators of Xihua Sacred Mountain condensed the strongest of their defensive power but the battle matrix was still insanely collapsing. One strong man charged. None could stop him.
“Go.” The great army now tried to flee in different directions. However, many people felt that they were being locked down, and in the next moment, the Renhuang bow shot out brilliant arrows, slashing through the sky.
Psst! The golden arrow pierced through a head, which replayed itself again and again in many places, and they were all sages. The cultivators of Xihua Sacred Mountain had lost any will to remain in the battle matrix and continue fighting. Now, they were looking for any opening for an escape, and regardless of the cost, they were trying to break out in all directions. They knew they could ill afford the time, as the other three forces would soon be upon them.
After Yu Sheng struck one more time with the ax, he levitated. Above the firmament, the power of destruction gathered into a demonic halberd, its power seemed to be without end.
“Kill!” Yu Sheng shouted. The endless demonic halberd fell from the sky, intending to completely close off this space, but there were still individuals rushing out, attempting to escape.
One of the top-level sages moved with insanely fast speed. It was someone who was an expert at the rules of the wind. It was like a hurricane. But at this moment, the same hurricane swept through. He looked up and saw a huge condor coming at him. Although it was technically a condor, it was more terrifying than the Roc. Its sharp claws and wings were shining with the luster of black gold.
This top sage had set off a terrible hurricane storm and it attacked the Black Wind Condor. However, the eyes of the Black Wind Condor were full of scorn, its sharp claws came down, penetrating the hurricane storm, and the void seemed to be on the verge of being split in two. With a loud bang, the body of that cultivator was pulled apart, and the sharp claws of the Black Wind Condor tossed it out. With a flash of its wings, it continued to hunt cultivators in the other directions.
This short time was enough for the cultivators to join the fight from the other three positions. The sword of Sword Saint struck from the rear, while the Infinite Ruler of Yuan Hong slammed down from the sky. They were also surrounded by the halo of the nine characters. The characters fell down from the sky and annihilated everything. They still had a number of cultivators guarding the other three major positions to prevent sneaky attacks from these three positions.
There were indeed many in Xihua Sacred Mountain who had such thoughts. After seeing the army had launched its offensive, they were waiting for an opportunity to escape. But when they saw that all three positions were heavily guarded, they looked at the slaughter on the battlefield. It was clearly a one-sided massacre.
The cultivators at Xihua Sacred Mountain were all just focused on escaping. There was no strong intent to fight this war. In addition, they had already lost several top fighters before, so it was impossible for them to stop the Holy Zhi Palace in its prime. Their only thought was to escape, but the Holy Zhi Palace seemed to not want any of them to slip through their fingers.
Outside Xihua Sacred Mountain, some of the cultivators in Huatian City observed the battlefield from a distance and when they saw that no one had escaped, there were great emotions in their hearts. This sacred mountain, the holy land of Eastern State, would soon be a thing of history!
