Chapter 1049 - Arrival

A grand battle raged in Profound Sky Academy.

The sound of scriptures read aloud reverberated throughout heaven and earth, like the sound of the Grand Dao. It was full of holy power.

The sound of reading emanated from within a ritual ground. The thousand feet of the ritual grounds were now enveloped in a radiant curtain of the light of the Grand Dao.

As the curtain of light flowed, beautiful writing appeared, like countless classic texts of the greatest of Confucian scholars.

Every word and every character shone with radiant light and profound, inscrutable power, like gleaming pearls!

A group of Profound Sky Academy’s Confucian cultivators stood in the ritual grounds under the leadership of their dean, Yu Changming. All of them circulated their cultivation bases and directed the curtain of the light of the Grand Dao enveloping the ritual grounds.

Boom! Boom!

Streaks of golden lightning, each as thick as a water barrel, slammed ruthlessly into the curtain of light on all sides. Rumbling rang out non-stop, scattering countless dazzling electric sparks.

The curtain of the light of the Grand Dao trembled violently.

Yu Changming and the others taking refuge within the curtain of light all felt immense pressure, and each looked grimmer than the one before.

Outside the ritual grounds, a man in dark robes gripped a golden bamboo staff. As he swung it about, countless streaks of golden lightning descended from the heavens with endlessly terrifying power.

The golden bamboo staff was only about as thick as a thumb. It was four feet long, and its surface was crystalline and transparent. Lightning surged within it, and it emanated shocking destructive energy fluctuations.

The Profound Lightning Golden Bamboo Staff!

A Xiantian Divine Lifeform born of a chaos source!

The man in dark robes was called Wang Tianyun, and he was a high elder of the Levitating Sword Hall. His cultivation was in the mid-stage Profound Serenity Realm.

As he swung the Profound Lightning Golden Bamboo Staff, his power was terrifying beyond imagination.

And a whole group stood behind him. These were experts of the Levitating Sword Hall—three Profound Illumination Emperors and five Spiritual Revolution cultivators—as well as an old man in hemp clothing. He was seated on a boulder beneath the shade of a tree.

The old man was thin, with a serene, leisurely look on his face. He watched the raging battle calmly, without the slightest ripple of emotion.

But the surrounding area was a vision of carnage. One corpse after another lay strewn about in pools of blood.

The dead were all brutalized cultivators of Profound Sky Academy!

There was also a group of captives, forced to kneel like lambs awaiting slaughter. All of them looked despondent, and their faces were ashen with grief, indignation, and despair.

A grand battle raged on.

Anyone would have realized that so long as the formation surrounding the ritual grounds broke, Profound Sky Academy would have no way of turning this around!

Beneath the shade of a tree, the old man in hemp clothing said slowly, “Since last night, two of Profound Sky Academy’s three academic supervisors have fallen, and they’ve lost five of their nine professors. Of their three hundred and fifteen disciples, more than two hundred have died.”

His voice was raspy, and it boomed throughout heaven and earth like the low rumble of thunder.

“We’ve captured thirty-three disciples of Profound Sky Academy alive. Yu Changming, do you plan to just watch as we slaughter them like livestock one by one?”

Within the ritual grounds, Yu Changming and the others’ faces were ashen. They were overcome with grief and panic.

This grand battle had begun last night, but Profound Sky Academy had already lost more than half its numbers.

Meanwhile, their foes had yet to suffer any casualties.

This was because the old man in hemp, the one the Levitating Sword Hall experts called Elder Feng, was just too strong!

With his seemingly all-encompassing abilities, he effortlessly broke the formation protecting Phoenix Perch Mountain, then placed a mysterious formation of his own, sealing the academy off completely. This left them with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Just like that, disaster befell them.

Even more terrifyingly, Elder Feng’s combat prowess was extraordinarily mighty. He’d mastered an utterly terrifying Law of the Grand Dao, and he could effortlessly suppress and kill even Profound Serenity Emperors!

With Elder Feng leading the charge, the Levitating Sword Hall crushed Profound Sky Academy with ease!

At a critical juncture, Yu Changming and several other higher-ups of Profound Sky Academy joined forces to circulate the grand formation within the ritual grounds. Only then did they just barely manage to fend off their assailants.

But the formation that prior generations of Profound Sky Academy scholars had worked together to place looked like it wouldn’t last much longer.

Yu Changming and the others’ hearts were heavy.

What really infuriated them was that their captured disciples were now being used as leverage to force them to lower their heads!

Yu Changming and his allies naturally wouldn’t just submit, but it was easy to imagine how enraged and grief-stricken they were watching their disciples captured alive, only to be brutally tortured and executed.

“I told you that so long as you lower your head and obediently offer up the Dark and Gold Ruler, we’ll leave immediately,” the old man in hemp said coolly. “But if you insist on being stubborn, I’m afraid Profound Sky Academy will disappear from the face of the planet before the day is through.”

He then grabbed a handful of peanuts, stuffed them in his mouth one at a time, and chewed. From time to time, he took a sip of wine. He seemed leisurely and relaxed.

“Ah——!” someone shrieked, and a Profound Sky Academy disciple’s head rolled to the ground, leaving a trail of blood.

The tall, gray-robed Levitating Sword Hall expert wiped the blood from his saber and laughed. “Your desperate screams are music to my ears.”

The captive disciples were all visibly enraged, and their eyes seemed like they might well pop.

But the man in gray didn’t care. He laughed with unrestrained delight. His companions didn’t seem concerned either; their eyelids didn’t even twitch.

As for Wang Tianyun and the old man in hemp? They directly disregarded this bloody scene in a display of utter cruelty and indifference.

“My son!!” An old man cried out in grief, his eyes bloodshot.

The academy disciple who’d just been killed was his son! As a father, he’d just watched helplessly as his son was slaughtered like livestock. It was obvious how agonizing that was.

This stoked the flames of the others’ rage, and they gnashed their teeth so hard they almost shattered.

“Dean, let’s fight them with everything we’ve got!” Someone’s hair and beard bristled with fury as he rasped.

The others all looked at Yu Changming.

Yu Changming fell silent. Were the founder still here, how could such a disaster have befallen us?

If Profound Sky Academy is destroyed under my leadership, how disappointed will the founder be upon his return?

But we’re really out of options…

Yu Changming silently clenched his fists.

Boom!

Suddenly, the massive formation surrounding the ritual grounds shook. It obviously wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

Practically simultaneously, the old man in hemp seated in the shade got up and laughed. “Want to go all out? It’s too late for that.”

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and pressed down on the air.

The power of a formation suddenly surged above Profound Sky Academy, transforming into a massive serpent. It was as large as a mountain range. The snake raised its head and swung its tail. Black lightning crackled around it as it charged at the ritual grounds.

Bang!!!

The formation protecting the ritual grounds instantly shattered. Light scattered like rain as the serpent slammed its massive tail with the force of a mountain falling from the heavens.

That terrifying destructive power sent one of Profound Sky Academy’s Profound Serenity Emperors flying and repeatedly hacking up blood.

When the distant old man in hemp and Wang Tianyun saw this, they couldn’t help but laugh. Profound Sky Academy’s time has already passed!

“Die!” Yu Changming soared into the air and fought the flying serpent.

But just a few snaps of the fingers later, he was sent flying, his body battered and bloodied.

“Dean!”

The experts of Profound Sky Academy cried out and rushed to his aid.

But all of them were sent flying a moment later, and they lay strewn across the ground.

The flying serpent manifested of the formation’s power was far too terrifying. It was powerful beyond measure, and it could suppress even Profound Serenity Emperors!

Boom!

The flying serpent took to the skies, stirring up explosive black lightning as it attacked once more.

When the already severely injured Yu Changming saw this, his expression filled with despair.

But then, something entirely unexpected happened.

The mountain-sized flying serpent was still mid-charge when it suddenly stiffened, then exploded with a bang. It transformed back into the surging power of the formation and dissipated.

“Huh…?” Yu Changming and the others had only just narrowly escaped a brush with death, and they found it hard to believe.

“How is this possible?” Wang Tianyun was stunned, and he instinctively looked toward the old man in hemp clothing.

The old man in hemp was caught off guard too. He looked completely stunned. Someone broke the power of the Flying Serpent Heaven-Sealing Formation just like that!?

It was then that everyone noticed a young man in blue drifting over from afar. He seemed calm and detached, like a banished immortal.

This was none other than Su Yi!

“So, someone really did break my Flying Serpent Heaven-Sealing Formation!” The old man in hemp scowled.

“A… teenager?” Wang Tianyun was flabbergasted. And here he’d thought someone capable of barging into the academy had to be an impressive expert. Who’d have thought this new arrival was just an unfamiliar youth?

Yu Changming and the others saw Su Yi too, but all of them were incomparably confused. They didn’t recognize Su Yi either, and none of them knew what to make of this.

Su Yi’s gaze was distant and utterly calm.

He’d already taken in everything that had happened here, especially the brutalized Profound Sky Academy scholars. Irrepressible murderous intent had already risen within his heart.

Never mind the rest; if only because of his bond with the old glutton, he couldn’t possibly remain a bystander.

“Who are you? How dare you barge in here?” an Emperor of the Levitating Sword Hall bellowed, his expression decidedly unfriendly.

Su Yi didn’t even look at him. He just raised his hand and tapped.

Splurt!

A streak of sword qi exploded into being, effortlessly cleaving through the Emperor’s skull, right between the eyes. He died on this spot.

This tyrannical scene startled everyone present.

So strong!!

One light, airy gesture, and he’d killed a Profound Illumination Emperor. Who wouldn’t have been startled?

The old man in hemp furrowed his brow. “Fellow Daoist Wang, you go deal with our uninvited guest.”

“Yes, sir!” Wang Tianyun blurred as he charged at Su Yi.

This high elder of the Levitating Sword Hall activated the Profound Lightning Golden Bamboo Staff right off the bat. Golden lightning filled the skies and descended upon Su Yi.

“The Profound Lightning Golden Bamboo Staff….” The murderous intent in Su Yi’s heart intensified.

Because this staff was once one of the supreme Xiantian treasures of his collection!

There was no doubt about it. Five hundred years ago, following his reincarnation, the Levitating Sword Hall had charged into the Grotto of Abstruse Force alongside Pi Mo and seized the opportunity to run off with this treasure.

“You don’t know how to treasure your life.” Su Yi snorted coldly, formed a hand seal, reached out, and grabbed from afar.

Boom!

The golden lightning filling the air scattered.

Immediately afterward, Wang Tianyun felt a rending pain in his right hand as the Profound Lightning Golden Bamboo Staff broke free from his grip, blurred into a beam of light, and landed in Su Yi’s outstretched palm.

The connection between Wang Tianyun and the Profound Lightning Golden Bamboo Staff had been completely severed, and his soul suffered the resulting backlash. Everything went black, and he almost coughed up blood.

One attack, and Su Yi had seized a treasure from a Profound Serenity Emperor!

This unbelievable scene immediately astonished everyone present.