Chapter 514: Killing Across Cultivation Realms

Shang Xiuchun, a former rogue cultivator, was the City Lord of Imperial Dominion City.

As the City Lord, the conflict between the Sword Pavilion and the Ghost Sacrifice Sect unfolding in the northern region of the fragmented land naturally did not escape his notice.

In truth, he had been quietly observing since the Ghost Sacrifice Sect started pursuing Dong Tianze, but had simply feigned ignorance.

Shang Xiuchun had clawed his way to the middle stage of the Immortal Realm to obtain his position as City Lord and knew it was not easy to reach this point. Offending either the Ghost Sacrifice Sect or the Sword Pavilion was out of the question.

Rogue cultivators like him survived by slipping through the cracks between major factions and were long accustomed to playing dead.

He would gladly remain a coward for life and pretend nothing was happening if given the option.

However, the teleportation array within his city had unexpectedly collapsed.

Without it, the powerhouses from the Sword Pavilion and the Ghost Sacrifice Sect could not instantly appear in the Imperial Dominion.

"I can't keep pretending now." Shang Xiuchun sighed. His immediate priority was not to investigate how the teleportation array had been destroyed but to make a decision. "The Sword Pavilion or the Ghost Sacrifice Sect...

"Pang Jian is in the Nirvana Realm while Xing Heng is in the Immortal Realm."

After some thought, Shang Xiuchun hurriedly sent a message to the Sword Pavilion, informing them that the teleportation array in the Imperial Dominion City had been sabotaged.

Shang Xiuchun did not immediately notify the Ghost Sacrifice Sect because he was certain Xing Heng would not suffer much. Additionally, the Sword Pavilion was clearly the weaker of the two sects, as the Ghost Sacrifice Sect was home to two True Gods.

The weaker side would not typically provoke the strong.

***

In the Cloud Wilderness, the four Immortal Realm elders waiting by the teleportation array simultaneously received Xu Yu's transmission.

They soon learned that the teleportation array in the Imperial Dominion City had been deliberately destroyed.

Great Elder Jiang Ran was the first to rise. "Prepare the Sword Boat!"

The other three elders wordlessly transformed into streaks of light as they shot toward where the Sword Boats were docked.

Seconds later, a Sword Boat carrying the four Immortal Realm elders departed from the Resolute Expanse.

"The teleportation array in the Imperial Dominion has been destroyed!" Qi Qingsong informed the others, gripping his sword token as he watched the Sword Boat sail away.

When he saw Li Yuqing preparing to leave with her sword, he quickly stopped her.

"The Resolute Expanse needs someone to guard it as well! Elder Mu alone may not be enough to protect the three Blessed Lands.

"Besides, if the four of them can't help Pang Jian turn the tide in the Imperial Dominion, your presence won't make a difference either!" Qi Qingsong persuaded Li Yuqing.

"The Ghost Sacrifice Sect has no deep-seated grudge against the Sword Pavilion," Zhuang Yuyan added. "No matter how arrogant Xing Heng may be, he wouldn't dare to harm Pang Jian."

Li Yuqing's tension unwound slightly at their words, but she still felt ill at ease. "Whoever destroyed the teleportation array harbors ill intent. They're clearly hoping to provoke a conflict between the Sword Pavilion and the Ghost Sacrifice Sect."

"Don't worry," Zhuang Yuxin assured. "The four elders are heading there. Nothing will happen."

***

Above the lake in the northern region of the Imperial Dominion, a towering Dark Ghost bearing Xing Heng's likeness clawed at Pang Jian's protective shield.

Snowflakes drifted down like goose feathers, only to sizzle and vanish when they touched the baleful Azure Netherworld Ghostfire surrounding Pang Jian.

Faint strands of icy lightning flickered to life from the melted snowflakes.

At first, the lightning was sparse, neither crackling with overwhelming thunderous force nor carrying the weight of profound Dao.

However, the formless icy lightning gathered and multiplied with each melted snowflake.

By the time the snowflakes ceased to fall, the lightning had grown abundant, weaving through the depths of the Azure Netherworld Ghostfire like crackling serpents, slowly condensing into Lightning Dao Seals.

Thunder roared to life within the Azure Netherworld Ghostfire!

Boom!

The icy lightning transformed. Some became thick bolts of silver, gold, crimson, black, and deep blue lightning, while others coalesced into swirling vortexes and crackling spheres.

Lightning was the bane of ghosts and spectral entities. This lightning storm, born alongside the frigid snowflakes and multiplying without end, carried a vast and sacred power capable of eradicating wicked spirits.

It belonged to the Duke of Thunder and was a manifestation of the Dao of Lightning through which he asserted dominance over all other Thunder Gods.

These unfathomably profound Lightning Dao Seals resided within the Thunder Pool in Pang Jian's dantian.

Although Pang Jian had only just grasped its surface after years of diligent study, even that shallow understanding was enough to extinguish the Dark Ghost's Azure Netherworld Ghostfire!

It was purely a matter of Dao suppression.

The righteous and unyielding Duke of Thunder held nothing but hatred for beings that toyed with the souls of the living, like the Ghost Race and the Ghost Sacrifice Sect.

His Dao of Lightning existed to destroy such sinister techniques!

A revelation stirred within Pang Jian's heart.

The Duke of Thunder's Dao of Lightning exists to slay spectral entities and annihilate demons! It's the bane of all evil!

His towering golden soul descended from his sea of consciousness to the fragmented land in his dantian, coming to rest within the Thunder Pool atop the swirling lightning vortex.

Strands of his divine sense flowed into the intricate Lightning Dao Seals within the Thunder Pool. He felt as though he was watching the aberrations the Duke of Thunder had deemed evil being reduced to ash.

Pang Jian immersed himself in the Duke of Thunder's Dao of Lightning until it felt like he had become the Duke of Thunder himself.

Submerged in the Thunder Pool, he saw the Ghost Race's Outer Gods and the Demon Races' Demon Gods instructing their followers to spread chaos across the starry skies and bring ruin to once-prosperous civilizations and kingdoms.

The Ghost Race devoured the souls of the dead.

When civilizations collapsed, they gave rise to a cataclysm of unimaginable horror, birthing endless malice within the hearts of survivors.

That malice became the nourishment of the Demon Gods, feeding and strengthening their power.

The Duke of Thunder harbored a deep hatred for the atrocities the Ghost Race and Demon Races committed.

He once vowed to purge the evil that plagued these worlds, obliterating the Ghost Race's Outer Gods and the Demon Races' Demon Gods in the process.

His ideals and boundless will were woven into the Divine Court of Thunder and imprinted into the Thunder Pool.

Even after tens of millions of years, these imprints had not faded!

Pang Jian's divine soul settled within the Thunder Pool, divine sense threading through the Lightning Dao Seals.

This was the first time he had actually felt the Duke of Thunder's grand ambitions.

Wanting to eradicate the Ghost Race and Demon Races, including their followers, was an extreme ideal.

The starry skies were vast, and many of these two races were scattered across them.

Could the Duke of Thunder truly justify wiping out the entire Ghost and Demon Races, erasing two ancient, intelligent lineages from the starry skies forever?

Was the Duke of Thunder, in his relentless pursuit, not another kind of "demon?"

At that thought, Pang Jian shuddered and snapped back to clarity, removing his divine soul from the Thunder Pool.

A wave of fear washed over him.

For a fleeting moment, Pang Jian felt the Duke of Thunder's grand ambition tainting his will. A stubborn desire to purge the Ghost and Demon Races from existence had briefly taken root within him.

His mastery of the Dao of Lightning would undoubtedly soar with such unyielding resolve, but it would only result in him becoming another Duke of Thunder—another Thunder Demon!

The Abyssal Demon's voice pierced Pang Jian's mind like a blade of enlightenment.

You could resist the toxic influence of the Duke of Thunder's ideology because you've already faced the Primordial Demon and cultivated the Primeval Demon Fusion Art. You've already resisted that corruption before and came out on the other side unharmed.

Pang Jian, demons are ever-changing. Not all demons are born from the Demon Races.

All beings can become demons. Anyone can ascend as a Demon God!

An extreme belief, a single thought that strays from one's true heart, will bear the fruit of corruption once it takes root and matures. That is what makes a demon!

the Abyssal Demon revealed.

The Duke of Thunder's desire to eradicate the Ghost Race and Demon Races across the starry skies had unwittingly turned him into a demon himself.

Pang Jian had successfully pulled himself back before he could fall deeper along the demonic path the Duke of Thunder had unknowingly paved.

Still, even this fleeting moment was enough for Pang Jian to extinguish the Azure Netherworld Ghostfire and destroy the towering Dark Ghost.

Pang Jian's divine soul locked onto the hundred-zhang-tall Dark Ghost. Massive lightning bolts and clusters of lightning spheres descended from the sky and enveloped the Dark Ghost.

These lightning bolts and spheres were all Pang Jian's sword light!

A sea of lightning formed around Pang Jian, and the Abyssal Demon Sword transformed into a divine blade of lightning, filled with an unwavering intent to annihilate the Dark Ghost.

The lightning descended and obliterated the Dark Ghost on the spot!

The Dark Ghost disintegrated into ash and smoke. Meanwhile, Pang Jian's comprehension of the Dao of Lightning had surged forward by leaps and bounds.

"Xing Heng, take this strike!" Pang Jian swung his sword toward Xing Heng in the distance.

Whoosh!

A sword light, writhing with arcs of lightning, radiated icy precision as it slashed toward Xing Heng. The strike destroyed the gray stone altar beneath him.

As the altar crumbled, Xing Heng swiftly pulled up the four torn fragments of the Witchghost Flag, weaving them into a barrier to block Pang Jian's sword light.

Boom!

A curtain of greenish-black darkness unfurled across the open sky.

At its center, demonic energy surged like dense liquid, and the six demonic realms materialized from within the Abyssal Demon Sword.

There were realms where bones and flesh drifted, a sea of blood burning with endless flames, a dominion where demon generals and demonesses reigned side by side, and scenes of followers exalting the Great Demon Gods.

These manifestations merged into a torrent of sinister spiritual force that crashed against Xing Heng's divine soul.

The powerhouse of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect briefly wavered as his will sank into temptation.

A moment was all it took.

Pang Jian's sword light, infused with cold energy and lightning, tore through the darkness of the greenish-black Heaven-Encompassing Demonic Array and pierced between Xing Heng's brows.

Crackle!

There was no earth-shattering explosion nor any ear-piercing screams. Xing Heng's sea of consciousness was reduced to ashes in an instant.

A Nirvana Realm cultivator had effortlessly bridged the gap of a cultivation realm to slay an Immortal Realm cultivator.

Silence blanketed the northern region of the Imperial Dominion.

The spectating rogue cultivators, Qian Bo, Yang Ronghao, and the ever-calm Dong Tianze, stared at Pang Jian in stunned silence.

Unlike the others, Dong Tianze had always believed that Pang Jian had the power to kill Xing Heng.

What surprised him was that Pang Jian had chosen to leave no room for retreat, even though he clearly could have.

Dong Tianze had no ties, family, or sect to hold him back, which allowed him to act recklessly without concern.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian had the Sword Pavilion, in addition to Pang Lin and a circle of close friends.

Dong Tianze did not understand how Pang Jian dared to kill an Immortal Realm protector of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect when the Sword Pavilion was already at its weakest.