Chapter 227: The Red Moon Shining

Ku Jiang's combat ability was shocking. He seemed almost invincible when he played the guqin, and easily defended against the assault from even ten corroded Immortal swords. Not only that, he even had the attention to spare to launch sneak attacks on Zhao Tianheng.

The elders relaxed. It looked as though they would be safe!

Zhao Tianheng's back was drenched with sweat. "Ku Jiang, how are you so strong with the guqin?"

If he hadn't defended himself in time, the two blades that Ku Jiang had shot his way might very well have killed him.

"Zhao Tianheng, you're an experienced cultivator who survived the calamity from two centuries ago. How did you end up in such straits? I'll give you one final chance. Surrender now and return to the sect with me to await your sentencing," Ku Jiang repeated.

"My sentencing? Dream on. Either I'll live today, or you'll die! Since we've gotten to this point, there's nothing to discuss any further. All Immortal relics, come to me!" Zhao Tianheng howled, activating the altar.

Beams of light shot through the fog. Another twenty Immortal relics had appeared.

Ten relics formed a barrier that sealed the exterior of the Crystal Hall, while ten revolved protectively around Zhao Tianheng. The remaining thirty Immortal relics, gleaming with light, shot toward the gathered cultivators.

"Be careful, Elder Ku!" the cultivators cried out.

Thirty Immortal relics represented an incredible force.

However, Elder Ku somehow managed to block it all with his guqin.

Ethereal blue swords rained down on the arena, clashing repeatedly against the thirty Immortal relics. The entire arena was buffeted with frightening waves of energy that caused what seemed like the entire world to shake.

Ku Jiang formed more and more blades with his spiritual power that shot toward Zhao Tianheng.

"Impossible!" Zhao Tianheng cried out. Could your spiritual cultivation already have reached the peak of Lunar Deluge?"

"Zhao Tianheng, if you refuse to repent for your ways, then don't blame me for what I'm going to do.

Another wave of swords shot toward Zhao Tianheng, causing the Immortal relics orbiting him to clatter and shake.

Zhao Tianheng began to panic. He knew that his downfall had come, but he wasn't willing to surrender so easily.

He looked toward the altar beside him. His eyes flashed with hesitation, but he quickly made up his mind. He spread his arms wide.

"All you souls, enter my body! The Taiqing Moon shall cleanse all impurities!" Zhao Tianheng shouted.

A surge of ethereal blue power was emitted from the altar and transferred into Zhao Tianheng's body.

"Is The Lacking Taiqing such a strong technique that it can devour souls at will?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"No. No one can do so, not even with The Lacking Taiqing. Having too many soul remnants in your body will pollute your souls with their grudges. The Lacking Taiqing can cleanse a considerable fraction of those impurities, but certainly won't catch them all. Zhao Tianheng may have been able to preserve his rationality for the time being, but it's not a situation that will last. He's going to become crazier and crazier—he really is going to turn into a demon!" Zhao Yuanjiao replied.

"Then why would he do so?"

"Infusing all these souls into his body will allow him to temporarily boost his spiritual power and reach Yin Body," Zhao Yuanjiao explained.

"Yin Body?"

After Zhao Tianheng absorbed all that ethereal blue energy, he suddenly sat cross-legged in meditation. His body shook until a burst of red light emerged from it.

"Immortal relics, seal the void!" Zhao Tianheng proclaimed.

All the Immortal relics shot into the air and merged into the formation connected to the altar, causing the glow that came from it to grow even brighter.

Everything within the formation was sealed.

"What's he doing?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, confused.

"He's isolating this space from the outside. The palace is forbidden to Immortals and deities. Anyone who steps in will be dragged away by the red rope, and this is the only way he can both display his deific prowess without being interrupted midway," Zhao Yuanjiao replied.

Ku Jiang plucked at his guqin, sending a blue sword straight toward Zhao Tianheng.

Zhao Tianheng's eyes were still closed, but a transparent blue palm suddenly emerged from his body and caught the sword. It squeezed, causing the sword to shatter into spiritual fragments.

"What? How could this be? Elder Ku's guqin blades have the strength of Wingform-realm cultivators. How did Zhao Tianheng shatter it so easily?!" an elder exclaimed.

Suddenly, red light burst forth from Zhao Tianheng's body. The light encapsulated the arena, causing everyone to tense up. A red crescent appeared to the back of his head and slowly floated into the air, illuminating what lay within the formation.

"The Taiqing Crescent! His spiritual cultivation has really reached Yin Body..." Zhao Yuanjiao exclaimed.

A blue, transparent figure emerged from the red crescent, taking on Zhao Tianheng's form. The blue Zhao Tianheng stepped down from the crescent moon and entered his physical body.

"This is Zhao Tianheng's spiritual avatar?"

"His spiritual avatar manifested in reality..."

"No, it's his yin body! He temporarily reached Yin Body and manifested a yin body of his own!"

The elders murmured to each other in shock.

"Is this what a yin body feels like? Ha, haha! What an amazing feeling. Whoever dares stop me shall die!" Zhao Tianheng's eyes glowed red as he howled.

He seemed to have lost his mind. All that remained of him was a furious desire to kill, to slaughter. Even from afar, his killing intent surged forth in a wave.

Elder Ku immediately began to play in earnest, sending dozens of blue swords at Zhao Tianheng.

The ethereal form of Zhao Tianheng swiped at the swords with a careless flick of his arm, blocking them all and sending a gust of energy back at the elders. Many were sent flying from the impact.

The strength of a yin body was beyond compare. Many of the elders began to despair once more.

"Why haven't I been affected?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

Even Zhao Yuanjiao had been sent flying, but he felt just fine.

Where the crescent moon shines lies the intersection of reality and illusion. In this liminal space, spiritual power blossoms in strength. You've reached Lunar Deluge and are stronger than the others, so you could block the attack," Ku Jiang explained.

Xiao Nanfeng gaped at the red crescent above him. "In other words, the strength of the Yin Body stage lies in being able to manifest the moon in your mindscape in physical reality? Where the moon shines is where the real and the illusory intersect—so a yin body can display the might of a spiritual avatar in an illusory realm?"

"Quite so. The apex of spiritual cultivation is deific manifestation. Your domain extends as far as the moon shines; within your domain, you shall be as a deity."

"I'll kill you. I'll kill you all!" Zhao Tianheng roared.

"And though a deity Zhao Tianheng may now be, he has lost his spirit and self. He will be nothing more than a demon of slaughter, controlled by unslakable greed. Xiao Nanfeng, Zhao Yuanjiao, you are not to follow in these footsteps," Ku Jiang lectured.

"Understood!" the two cultivators replied.

"Elder Ku, he's coming! He's coming!" the elders cried out in shock.

Zhao Tianheng was rapidly approaching. He sent a palm slamming down, one so strong all the elders felt as though they were about to be crushed. They trembled in fear.

Just then, Ku Jiang swiped at the palm with his own. To everyone's surprise, Elder Ku's palm managed to block Zhao Tianheng's attack.

"Elder Ku, y-your palm!" the elders exclaimed.

Elder Ku was seated cross-legged in meditation. His palm was an ethereal palm that had emerged from his body.

Subsequently, a blue, transparent figure emerged from Elder Ku's physical body.

"Another yin body?"

"Elder Ku's reached a spiritual cultivation of Yin Body? He's become a deity!"

"So Elder Ku was this strong..."

The gathered cultivators all cried out in surprise.

Behind Elder Ku's ethereal form was a red moon—but rather than a crescent, it was a full moon.

The red moon looked very much like Xiao Nanfeng's own, but it was even stronger and gave off more intense crimson light.

The surroundings grew bright from the light radiating off the red moon.

Ku Jiang's yin body wasn't blind. When he opened his eyes, overwhelming light shone from them, shocking the elders. He stepped forward and threw a punch, one which Zhao Tianheng's yin body mirrored.

The two fists expanded to the size of mountains and crashed into each other as howling gales were released from the point of impact. Everyone was sent flying, even Xiao Nanfeng.

Ku Jiang's punch was so strong that Zhao Tianheng's yin body was rapidly splintering. It seemed as though there were countless black, ghastly figures screaming within his yin body, which were expelled from it with Ku Jiang's punch. The black figures dispersed into the air as they were released from Zhao Tianheng's grip.

Zhao Tianheng screeched in pain. He was sent flying. A huge cavity had formed on the chest of his yin body where Ku Jiang's fist had struck him. At the same time, finger-sized black, ghostly heads emerged from the cracks in his yin body, screaming and biting on Zhao Tianheng's body in torturous bursts of pain.

"What are those ghostly heads?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"The grudges that linger in others' souls. Zhao Tianheng forcibly absorbed their soul fragments and inherited these grudges. He believed himself capable of suppressing their basal instincts, but it was only ever a stopgap. As his power wanes, those grudges will strike at him with a vengeance, a fate worse than death," Ku Jiang's yin body replied.

Ku Jiang's yin body slowly returned into his physical body, along with the red moon.

Meanwhile, Zhao Tianheng's yin body was still screaming. He had clearly been defeated after just a single blow.

"He looked strong, but was that all just a guise? How could a single hit have taken him down?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"He lost not to me, but to the backlash from the soul fragments he absorbed. If he had reached Yin Body under ordinary circumstances, he would naturally be able to fight with me for far longer. Unfortunately, his stopgap measure is too weak to be of any relevance. Such is the nature of shortcuts in the path of cultivation," Elder Ku explained.