Chapter 1150: Profound Method (II)

Having suffered two setbacks, Li Ximing quickly adapted. Changxiao’s mind was deep and calculating. He was once a cultivator who, like Tulong Jian, had fought his way through the ranks of countless Purple Mansion Realm cultivators. How could such a man willingly serve as another’s whetstone?

A chill ran down his spine, and thunder cracked beside his ear. Amid the din, he faintly heard the chant of a spell, “Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method.”

A streak of deep black light burst from the great void, moving with astonishing speed. Li Ximing refused to flee aimlessly. He summoned his escape light as well and darted away, knowing he could not hide within the great void again. Gritting his teeth, he flew straight ahead, but the black radiance was gaining on him with every breath.

If I hadn’t taken those heavy losses earlier, I wouldn’t be in such a miserable state now!

The pursuit had spanned some time, but the torrential rain still showed no sign of easing. Silver lights intertwined ahead, and three silver bottles shot through the air. It was the Treasure Bottle Merging Profound Method again. He had already suffered from it once, so Li Ximing wasted no time searching for its caster. He activated Stable Earth Spirit Containment, summoning a bright white heavenly gate engraved with complex patterns that rose amid the storm, suppressing all dharmas beneath its power.

He struck with full force, yet he only barely held down the three silver bottles. But his pupils were immediately filled with a sea of blazing True Fire. The twelve-cornered lantern had pierced through the great void once again. Li Ximing made his decision in an instant,

Stable Earth Spirit Containment cannot block True Fire!

He had no choice but to summon Heavenly Radiance, Hidden Light, and the Bright Yang purple flame to suppress the opponent’s spirit artifact. At that moment, the pitch-black Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method struck his body, erupting in a burst of blinding light.

In the next instant, his body vanished from the mortal world and slipped back into the great void.

Changxiao, however, smiled faintly,

The deed is done.

Both the Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method and the Treasure Bottle Merging Profound Method belonged to his Douxuan Dao lineage. The former was even older; it was neither dharma light nor spirit light, but derived from certain immortal arts. It emphasized three stages: within sight, within hearing, and within descent.

Li Ximing had just seen the spell art with his own eyes, heard its name clearly, and in the end, had been struck by it. Having fulfilled all three conditions, he had taken the spell’s full force. Its effect was far beyond that of the Treasure Bottle Merging Profound Method.

Changxiao had never been fully certain from the Shallow Sea to the Unison Sea that he could capture and kill Li Ximing. Though his opponent had been reduced to a wretched state, he had never suffered a fatal injury and had even managed to strike back for a time. If the chase dragged on, Hengzhu Dao Gate would inevitably intervene.

Yet Changxiao had meticulously planned it out. He had first tested Mount Luoxia’s stance, then probed the attitude of the Dragon Clan. Only after ensuring everything was certain had he finally unleashed his prized divine ability, the Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method, upon his foe. Only now was he confident in the outcome.

Mount Luoxia shows no intention of offering protection... and I’ve already passed beyond the Dragon Clan’s territory. I deliberately sent my thunderous voice into the sea, yet no dragon came to intervene. That means they won’t interfere.

Li Zhouwei may once have been invited by the Dragon Son, but that doesn’t mean the Dragon Clan has truly befriended him. It seems that even if there was goodwill, it was only toward him alone. The Li family itself is not under their protection.

Even if the Dragon Clan does decide to interfere, only the Purple Mansion Realm demonic creatures in the Eastern Sea can block me, and that would hardly cost me much. If I let him escape, Mount Luoxia would no longer stand aloof, and that might very well serve as proof that the Dragon Clan has its eyes set on Bright Yang.

Changxiao never struck without calculation. As he stirred the gray mist, thunder rolled violently, shaking heaven and sea alike. He faintly sensed several Purple Mansion Realm demonic creatures from the Eastern Sea stepping through the great void to observe from afar, which eased his mind a little,

Even if, by a one-in-ten-thousand chance, Li Zhouwei was secretly a pawn of the Bright Radiant Yang Imperial Union Emperor, none would dare save him now. Now that so many Purple Mansion Realm cultivators are watching, would that not openly expose Li Qianyuan’s hidden will?

Though this commotion will surely draw Purple Smoke Gate and Hengzhu Dao Gate here, it will already be too late!

The man tilted his head, listening intently. Then he cast the lantern into the great void, letting the spirit artifact hunt on its own, before stepping across the boundary into the mortal world. He flew into the storm, counting his steps as he went, fingers moving in silent calculation.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Li Zhouwei was likely tied to Mount Luoxia, and perhaps even to Li Qianyuan himself. Though Li Ximing seemed unremarkable, his earlier resistance had been strange. Something within his spiritual sense had shielded his clarity. That might well be a secret treasure, or perhaps even a gift from the Wei Emperor. Changxiao would never allow his opponent a chance to turn the tide.

Leaving aside the question of life and death, he calculated purely based on the fluctuations of the great void. Sure enough, he sensed the platinum-robed Li Ximing about to emerge not far ahead. Seals formed in Li Ximing’s hands, and the silver disk behind him pulsed and rose as gray mist and thunder rolled. Changxiao raised an eyebrow slightly.

Boom!

Rain poured down in sheets as thunder roared through heaven and earth. The distant fluctuations of the great void betrayed Li Ximing as he broke through at last, his dharma body wreathed in black qi. The Stable Tiger beneath him had noticeably slowed.

Black qi coiled around his body as he struggled with the Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method that had struck him. Flames burst forth from head to toe, crackling as they burned. A dull pain throbbed within his Juque Court, where waves of dark fire seemed to be emerging.

Fortunately, the Heaven-Venerating Gate itself nurtured flame within the Juque Court, and the Bright Yang purple fire was suppressing it. Its condition did not seem critical for the moment. Li Ximing secretly gripped his spirit artifact in his palm and dove headlong into the darkness of the storm.

Daoist Master Changxiao recalled his lantern and strode forward, but then paused, his hand freezing mid-motion.

He lifted his gaze to the sky.

The downpour fell in torrents. Each raindrop struck the sea with a resounding splash, sending ripples through the towering waves that reached toward the heavens. Lightning slithered through the sky like dragons, silver fissures spreading across the pitch-black night.

The thunder in the sky no longer obeyed his command. Instead, it gathered before him of its own accord. Purple and white currents intertwined like a river of liquid lightning, spiraling downward with deafening roars.

The cascading purple and white light filled Changxiao’s eyes. His cold and unwavering gaze remained locked upon the lightning above. The silver disk of Supreme Yin nature circled clockwise around his body, slowly drifting to rest before his face.

Boom!

A bolt of silver-white lightning crashed down from the heavens, striking the silver disk with a resonant hum. The lightning raged and coiled into a form just a meter away from the disk. It then lashed forward to burn the disk until black smoke rose in curls.

The first seventeen centimeters of the thunderbolt were sharp-edged like a prism, flattened like a grain of buckwheat, and buzzed where it pierced the spirit artifact. Its rear extended about two meters long, the flowing lightning gradually reversing course and turning back into streams of purple-white electricity that climbed toward the heavens.

Changxiao slowly raised his twelve-cornered lantern, dispersing the storm that clouded his vision. Only then did the thunder before him take clear shape. A silver-white spear, covered in intricate patterns, was pointed straight at him.