Chapter 486: Battle of the Immortals, the Bloodsaber Asura Appears! (I)

Xi Lian was only at the early stage of the Ascended Immortal Realm. Though she cultivated both Buddhist and Daoist paths, she possessed no particularly powerful treasured artifact or divine technique. Even with bursts of immortal power to rely on, she could barely hold the old man and the golden roc off.

The roc spread its wings, shattering the spells that Xi Lian had just unleashed. Meanwhile, the old man on its back lifted a war banner. From it, countless streaks of cyan light condensed into a rain of arrows, filling the sky. The volley then shot straight at her.

Since the arrows could instantly kill the nearby mortal cultivators, Xi Lian immediately flew toward an area with fewer people. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nameless unleashing his full power. He and the longsword he inhabited simultaneously used the Sword-Controlling Art, forcing the twin-saber immortal onto the defensive. The sight brought Xi Lian a slight measure of relief.

On her side of the battle, one exchange was all it took to force her into desperation. Now, all she could do was dodge repeatedly.

Xi Lian had just begun evading when the roc sped up and skimmed along the array barrier as it charged straight at her. She rapidly wove hand signs to summon layers of immortal-power barriers before her, but they only managed to slow the golden roc a little. Fortunately, even though she lacked overwhelming strength, she had spent more than enough years in the Small Immortal Realm to master a huge array of spells.

Moments before the roc reached her, a formation disk appeared beneath her feet. She shimmered with immortal light, vanished, and then reappeared a thousand meters away, barely avoiding a collision with the beast.

However, the roc, a fiendish beast at the Ascended Immortal Realm, had now locked onto Xi Lian as its prey. It wouldn't just let her escape.

Rearing its head, the roc slammed into the light barrier, forcibly halting its charge. The impact made a deep rumble echo through the entire array. However, the hundred cultivators maintaining it had already reinforced the base nodes around Mount Dajian, preventing the barrier from cracking and stabilizing the nearby peaks.

Arrays had always been cultivators' most effective method against those far stronger than them.

The roc continued its relentless pursuit. Xi Lian kept using movement techniques to evade, but since she was not an expert on the Dao of Heaven and Earth, she was quickly depleting her immortal power.

Fortunately, the rest of Earth's immortals had arrived.

The Nether Gate opened, and Lady Meng strode straight into the array. With a swing of her wooden staff, waves of yin qi swept across the air, from which several gray dragons coiled upward and flew toward the roc.

The old man locked onto Lady Meng. "Such pure and powerful ghostly aura!"

He slapped the roc's back and grasped two of its feathers, making it shrink by two-thirds its size. It then transformed into a streak of golden light and shot through the gaps between the ghostly dragons. Lunging straight at Lady Meng, it reached even higher speeds than before.

"

Hmph!

"

Lady Meng lifted her staff and struck down. A spectral diagram of a hundred ghosts appeared under her as darkness fell across the entire array. Around her, a river of countless ghosts seemingly coiled endlessly, howling as they rushed forth.

The River of Forgetfulness had been summoned, and its ten thousand souls had started weaving a web.

A storm of gray figures pounced on the roc. Though the beast was incredibly fast, the ghosts kept multiplying, leaving it nowhere to flee within the confined space.

Xi Lian landed beside Lady Meng, facing the streak of golden light darting toward them. She formed hand signs of Daoist arts, summoning countless lotus platforms and Buddhist swastika symbols that blasted toward the light.

The cultivators who had entered the array earlier found themselves unable to help. They could only evade the countless ghosts and retreat to a corner of the array with the Shu Sword Sect disciples to set up auxiliary arrays. They were ready to assist their immortals at any moment.

Ironically, there wasn't an "actual" immortal from Earth in the array.

Xi Lian was a fox immortal, originally a fiend who had taken the path of cultivation. Lady Meng, or Shen Qianlin, wielded power that she had inherited from generations of Lady Mengs. She had gradually learned to control it after years of cultivation, but she could only use her full might within the Small Nether Realm. She couldn't put a quick end to their fight here, especially not against the roc's speed.

Nameless wasn't an immortal either. He was as strong as one, but his power came from the spiritual power that he had accumulated over countless years, which was a major cause of concern. After all, that meant his reserves were limited, while the immortals could replenish their immortal power using alchemical pills and primal qi.

They had to end the battle quickly, but to do that, Lady Meng and Xi Lian had to subdue the roc and the old man first. Unfortunately, the roc had become their most troublesome foe. Ever since it shrank, it had gotten even faster. It couldn't reach Lady Meng, but it had successfully dragged out the fight.

The erratic and swift golden light flickered constantly within the array, creating shockwaves that made the barrier repeatedly quiver a little. The ghosts trailed far behind it.

The array had sealed off the Nether Gate outside, preventing Lady Meng from summoning it inside. Otherwise, with the power of the Small Nether Realm, she would have had far more ways to deal with the roc.

Lady Meng shot into the air, her wooden staff glowing brilliantly. Behind her appeared dozens of fading phantasms of women dressed in white, their long hair flowing and their aura bursting out of them. In unison, they unleashed hundreds of streams of light that formed a net across the air, sealing off the roc's every escape route.

Xi Lian darted forward from the flank at her top speed, chasing after the large net. Immortal light shrouded her as she transformed into a massive, hundred-meter-long snow-white fox. With a piercing howl, she raced ahead.

"Chi Lian!" the old man on the roc's back growled lowly. In his hand were six long spikes shaped like jade hairpins.

In response, his beast's eyes burned crimson. Facing the incoming net, it fixed its gaze on the enormous fox and shrieked deeply. Meanwhile, the old man formed a series of hand signs. The six jade hairpins shot forward, piercing into its skull, neck, wings, and tail.

The roc let out a shrill scream that tore through the sky. Meanwhile, the old man stowed away his banner and sent beams of blood light into the jade hairpins.

Everything that transpired after the net was formed happened in an instant. By the time he cast the spikes and the roc was engulfed in blood light, the vast net had already been descending before it.

With a trace of tension and urgency, Lady Meng shouted from behind, "Xi Lian!"

As her call echoed into every corner of the array, the aura of the old man, an early-stage Ascended Immortal, vanished instantly. Meanwhile, the roc's aura surged violently.

Blood light enveloped it in the blink of an eye. With a terrifying burst of speed, it rammed straight through the net, tearing open a bloody hole and leaving behind a long trail of red.

Having pierced through Lady Meng's assault like a spear, the roc shot straight toward the snow fox. The fox twisted her body just in time to avoid a fatal blow, but it still tore through her left shoulder and burst out from her back, scattering blood into the air. Her anguished cry echoed across the array.

The blood-soaked roc then swooped toward Lady Meng, seizing the moment of chaos to try to kill her.

Lady Meng's expression showed a rare flash of anger. "Wretched beast!"

She released her wooden staff, letting the phantasms behind her dissolve into streaks of light and return to her body. Right after, she formed an unusual hand sign, instantly turning her coiled gray hair into a cascade of three thousand dark strands. At that moment, she seemingly shed her identity as Lady Meng, becoming once again the woman who once had no desire for immortality.

But that time was long gone.

Floating in the air, the phantasm of a female Asura clad in armor appeared behind her. She joined her palms together like one would when bowing before a Buddha, then drew them apart. Blood light condensed into a long saber, which she gripped in reverse. With a sweeping motion, she slashed forward.

A blood-red arc tore through the skies. Now less than a hundred meters away, the roc had no time to evade. Crashing headfirst into the strike, it was cleaved apart and hurled backward.

Golden feathers scattered across the sky. It had sustained a gaping wound on its chest, but as blood light surged again, the wound began to knit itself back together.

Lady Meng was created to maintain order within the Small Nether Realm. Before the Heavenly Court's counteroffensive, King Yama had decreed that she was forbidden to kill or interfere with the affairs of the Daoist sects.

However, even rules could be bent.

Shen Qianlin, who was bound as the Small Nether Realm immortal, had cultivated day and night. Though she could not break through the shackles of her station, she had long since mastered most of her power.

Hence, despite King Yama's decree, she still possessed the power to kill.

The Asura phantasm behind her was from the Six-Path Asuras, a warrior race that had been imprisoned deep in the Nether Realm since the Primal Era. They had long since ruled the Blood Sea. With its manifestation, the woman became more than just a mere Small Nether Realm immortal; she had become Shen Qianlin.

Her long dark hair streamed behind her as her ancient robes billowed. Grasping her long saber in a reverse grip, she charged straight at the roc. She matched the speed of the beast, which had already pushed its own power to the limit.

Meanwhile, Xi Lian crashed to the ground, her immortal light rippling as she reverted to human form. She clutched the wound on her shoulder, pulled a jade vial from her robes, and swallowed a celestial pill.

Looking up, she saw two spheres of blood light clashing and intertwining in the sky. She could no longer offer any aid in that battle. After drawing in a deep breath and channeling the power of the celestial pill, she flew to another corner of the battlefield where fierce combat raged.

This fight had finally made her realize that Santong and Qinglin had never taught her any truly powerful combat techniques.

Outside the array, streaks of light from allies converged toward the battlefield, though it would still take them some time to arrive. The closest among those coming from the other array sites was Mu Wanxuan, whose cultivation was relatively higher than most.

Though she hadn't practiced Soaring Red Feathers, Wang Sheng had found an excellent method of travel for her: the Rainbow Light Transformation.

Behind her were Rebirth Realm cultivators Qing Yanzi and the Celestial Master, who had already left most far behind. With them was a young monk with serene features.

Wrapped in Buddhist light, Huai Jing of the Heavenly Dragon Temple flew almost side by side with the Celestial Master.