Chapter 513: As Long As We Live, The Heavenly Court Prevails!

So this is how strong immortals who have attained true immortality are, huh? Despite being the mere residue of a spiritual consciousness, it still holds so much power. How terrifying was General Li when he was still alive?

Leaping out of the Lightning Flash, Wang Sheng immediately stilled himself. Blood mist curled around him, yet his eyes remained fixed on the other severed section of the blood mine that was slowly drifting farther away.

Red lines filled his eyes. For a moment, his heart nearly stopped beating.

Only when he sensed fierce waves of enchanted power surging from afar did he raise a hand to wipe the cold sweat on his brow. The Golden Immortal was fortunately no longer chasing him, but he couldn't move at all now.

Wang Sheng lowered his head and looked at his ankles. The black flames were still flickering softly, and at some point, the soles of his feet had cracked open, leaking a thin stream of blood.

He had never been so disheveled. Having been trapped in here for years, his clothes had become ragged and his hair unkempt. His mental state was on the verge of collapse, too.

"Good thing Senior Sister can't see me right now," Wang Sheng muttered under his breath, then exhaled deeply. His spiritual perception spread upward, revealing the fierce battle raging above the blood mine.

The two Heavenly Immortals barely held off the powerful skeleton. They clearly planned to deplete its spiritual consciousness residue, then seize its greatsword and armor.

How am I supposed to escape?

Wang Sheng considered his options. He naturally wished to get the general's remains if possible. If it slew the Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals here, then exhausted its power afterward, he would certainly step out. Right now, though, he couldn't even get close.

The spiritual consciousness residue of the Golden Immortal was overwhelmingly fierce, and its unwavering obsession was awe-inspiring. Under these circumstances, retrieving it had become nearly impossible.

The Golden Immortal's remaining strength would likely be spent fighting the two Heavenly Immortals, who would then seize the treasures and destroy the corpse. The two weren't exactly holding the skeleton at bay, though. On the contrary, they couldn't even make the tide of the battle turn in their favor. They were on the defensive far more frequently than they were on the offensive.

The skeleton targeted Elder Long, swinging its greatsword at him relentlessly. With a whip in his left hand and a long saber in his right, Elder Long unleashed his full power. He blocked strike after strike, yet he was suppressed so heavily that he couldn't even counterattack.

Ji Li, the middle-aged vice sect master of the Celestial Wind Sect, hovered in the air, repeatedly chanting spells and directing treasured artifacts to bombard the skeleton.

Due to the lack of primal qi here, spells and talismans lost much of their power. Cultivators who fought often and survived long battles were used to crushing enemies with treasured artifacts and immortal power. Such a strategy lacked finesse, but it allowed them to unleash far more strength than their limits.

Realistically speaking, once one reached the True Immortal Realm, using artifacts to annihilate opponents became the safest way to fight. Sword cultivators who charged in headfirst were rare since it usually put them at a disadvantage. Why else would the Wenqu Star have created the Sword-Controlling Art back then?

As the two Heavenly Immortals barely stopped the skeleton, the Celestial Wind Sect's True Immortals and celestial soldiers near the edge of the array began retreating past it.

They had seen firsthand Ji Li and Elder Long soar from the mine, then the entire blood mine being cut apart. A storm of colossal sword radiance swept through, slicing the place into more than a dozen pieces.

The turbulent mix of black, red, and gold auras then rushed out and condensed into a towering white skeleton clad in immortal armor and wielding a greatsword. It radiated enough rage to destroy the heavens.

The fiendish devil had destroyed the enormous blood mine in an instant. It then caught up to the two Heavenly Immortals, forcing them to counterattack. However, even together, they were losing ground to it.

Ji Li seemed to be on the offensive, but the armor blocked all his treasured artifacts and divine abilities. The fiendish devil did not even look at him; it focused solely on the Celestial Wind Sect's strongest fighter.

Elder Long, the most senior member of the sect, seemed to be holding his own against the onslaught, but anyone could see that he was being forced back little by little. In such a situation, how could the Celestial Wind Sect's True Immortals and celestial soldiers dare remain inside the array?

A few slipped out first, opening gaps in the array. More followed. Heeding the True Immortals' instructions, the celestial soldiers slipped through the openings. Soon, only a third of the soldiers remained, still frozen stupidly and waiting for orders.

They were afraid to flee farther. Fortunately, they felt safer outside the array. Sword radiance had struck the barrier several times earlier. Though it shook, it managed to hold.

The unaffiliated practitioners, miners, and wall diggers trapped inside the array could only hide hopelessly along its walls, anxiously wondering who'd be the one to take their lives. To them, the fiendish devil and the Celestial Wind Sect were equally frightening.

As the battle continued, the skeleton's assaults grew fiercer. Immortal power surged wildly, and the shockwaves from the collision of weapons turned into gales ripping through the array.

Blood waves rolled. Roars echoed. Dragon cries rumbled without end.

The skeleton's attacks burned like fire. The giant sword in its grip seemed lighter than a feather, showing no hint of weight, yet every swing of it had enough force to shatter heaven and earth.

Watching it through his spiritual perception, Wang Sheng realized its techniques resembled those of the legendary "wood-chopping" sword art. They looked crude and seemingly relied completely on brute force, yet their sheer power overwhelmed the skeleton's foes. Even Elder Long could barely defend against it.

The skeleton leaped and lifted its greatsword, which was wreathed in black-red flames. It then swung the sword down vertically.

With no time to dodge, Elder Long braced himself with immortal power. As soon as the sword hit him, layers of his immortal power barriers shattered. He wrapped his whip around the skeleton's leg and then swung his long saber up to meet the sword. Light burst as immortal power and fiend-blood energy scattered wildly.

Wang Sheng's spiritual perception was torn apart. When he re-extended it, he saw the skeleton still chasing Elder Long mercilessly. Elder Long's sleeve had been cut open. His movements were ragged, but he had not suffered any serious injuries.

The old dragon was truly talented.

Elder Long roared, "Why are spiritual consciousness residues so strong?"

Ji Li shouted back, "Should we retreat first?"

Elder Long's face flushed red. "To hell with that! I may be old, but I can still hold on."

He discarded his whip and made a triangular dragon scale appear in his palm. Its light expanded into a shield, which he gripped with his left hand.

The skeleton swung its greatsword down again. The shield met the blow, making heaven and earth tremble.

Wang Sheng's perception was shredded again, but not before he heard Elder Long furiously shout, "How are we supposed to escape?! It locked our divine soul imprint! Make those idiots out there send a request for reinforcements immediately!"

Reinforcements...

Wang Sheng frowned and stared at the black flames burning on his ankles, unsure how to break through the situation.

"

Outside the array,

" Yaoyun telepathically warned.

Wang Sheng raised his head and saw the celestial soldiers outside the array staring straight at him, along with a middle-aged scholar. His position had been exposed at the worst possible time.

Running now meant certain death. He could even end up drawing the attention of the Golden Immortal's spiritual consciousness residue, which would give the Celestial Wind Sect experts a chance to recover.

If he did not run, he would remain trapped inside the grand array. Since the skeleton had already cleaved the blood mine apart, he no longer had anywhere to hide. He would die regardless, either when the Celestial Wind Sect reinforcements arrived or when the skeleton ran out of strength.

A shackle carved with the word "death" hung around his neck. It fit perfectly, leaving him just enough room to breathe.

Wang Sheng sighed slightly as a faint sense of defeat welled up, suddenly making him feel as if all his strength had been drained away. Having struggled in this blood mine for so long, he truly was exhausted now. What meaning was there in dragging this out? It wasn't like he hadn't considered this situation before.

Eighty percent of his confidence came from the belief that he could continue cultivating in this environment. In reality, though, he had been stuck at a bottleneck for decades, unable to make even the slightest progress.

All this time, he had walked with his sword on his back without ever feeling ashamed. His short cultivation journey could be considered complete.

Wang Sheng slowly exhaled, and the light in his eyes dimmed.

Senior Sister... Senior Sister is still waiting for me to return!

He bit the tip of his tongue, forcing his spirits to rise. A bit of fighting intent rose in his eyes as he clenched his fists and stood up.

I have to find a way to break out of this situation. I have to get back home alive.

If he could not escape, he would at least kill as many of the Celestial Wind Sect's True Immortals as he could. This would clear a few obstacles for the first steps that Earth's cultivation world would take into the endless space.

Only then would he be worthy of being called one of Earth's cultivators.

What kind of man would he be if he just waited here to die?

Wang Sheng had no chance of winning against Heavenly Immortals, the massive azure dragon, or the Golden Immortal's spiritual consciousness residue. Still, even if the road ahead was a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, he would break apart the blades and tear open the flames. He would demand the vast cosmos, the master of destiny, and the Great Dao itself that he be allowed to live!

"

Yaoyun!

"

With her emotions stirred by Wang Sheng's resolve, Yaoyun firmly answered, "

I'm here. Fight with all you have. Until I breathe my very last, I will stay with you.

"

"

Thank you.

" Smiling, Wang Sheng paced back and forth. Soon, as if by instinct, he asked, "

Do the immortals of the Heavenly Court have any way to recognize each other's identities?

"

The sword spirit answered, "

There is no specific method.

"

The sword master blinked. "

Huh? What was my question again?

"

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"

You—

"

At that moment, Wang Sheng's eyes lit up. "

That's it!

Yaoyun, think. Is there anything widely spread in the Heavenly Court that General Li would surely know? Poems, songs, slogans, especially those that Emperor Ziwei made himself.

"

"What are you planning to do? There are poems; Emperor Ziwei had great talent, but I do not remember them very clearly. I do remember the words he said before the counteroffensive."

"

That'll do. Recite it to me, word for word, and mimic his tone as closely as possible. Also, give me that Star Deity's full name and a low military officer rank in the Heavenly Court.

"

Yaoyun immediately gave him all the details he requested. Wang Sheng inhaled deeply and took two steps to the side, his spiritual perception sensing the battle raging nearby.

"

Screw it! Let's do this!

"

He gritted his teeth and prepared to use Soaring Red Feathers. Just as he bent his knees to leap, he heard another female's telepathy.

"

Wang Sheng! This is the perfect opportunity. You and I can work together to restrain one True Immortal, interrogate him on how to break the restriction, and break out from the side.

"

Wang Sheng turned and saw Lan Huilin standing opposite him, watching him with a faint look of hope.

When the skeleton had split open the bottom of the blood mine, Lan Huilin's hiding spot had been blasted quite a distance away from the top half.

Wang Sheng turned his back to her, revealing the black flames around his ankles. "

Find a way to escape instead.

I doubt I will make it out of here today. I'm sorry, but I have to break my promise.

"

Lan Huilin frowned slightly. "

Can't it be removed?

"

"

It's impossible.

"

"

Take care, Daoist Friend.

"

Lan Huilin was decisive. Though a trace of reluctance passed through her eyes as she cupped her hands toward him, she slowly retreated and slipped into the tunnel below.

Wang Sheng waited a moment until he could no longer sense Lan Huilin's aura. Only then did he summon his immortal power and full spiritual perception. Right after, he made his Primordial Spirit exit his body just so he could use it to shout an ancient speech.

"We could have lingered in this realm for a lifetime, waiting for calmer times before stepping out again! But just because we can wait, doesn't mean the Heavenly Court, our brothers and sisters scattered across the realms, and the countless beings who worship the Heavenly Court can! The Immortal Emperor is gone, but we still live! As long as we live, the Heavenly Court prevails!"

His words rippled through the air. The skeleton stopped, silently taking blow after blow of light. The black flames enveloping it trembled.

As long as we live, the Heavenly Court prevails... As long as we live, the Heavenly Court prevails... Immortal Emperor...

The skeleton telepathically shouted, "

Who goes there?!

"

Black flames surged violently around the skeleton, but the ones along the bridge of its nose faded, replaced by a faint immortal light.

"Who was that?!" Elder Long roared down. "If you dare talk, then keep going, you bastard!"

A ball of flame rose within the blood mine, reflected in the eyes of the cultivators hiding within and outside the array walls. The skeleton turned and locked its gaze on it. A surge of wild immortal perception swept toward it.

"

Who goes there?! Who are you?!

" it questioned.

Wang Sheng leaped out of the flames. Shooting upward, he shouted, "I am the deputy commander of the Heavenly Gate Patrol and a subordinate of the Yangming Tanlang Star Deity! I've been sent to assist the Eastern Kang Star Deity in breaking free!"

The skeleton lifted its sword and laughed. "

Hahaha! Good, good! Good!

"

Two streaks of light shot toward Wang Sheng. Ji Li was already trying to kill him.

Before the lights reached him, the skeleton swept its left hand and grabbed them from afar. A seal and a blue cauldron momentarily hovered in front of it before it shattered them with its greatsword.

It slowly raised its head, and the black flames around it surged again like rising smoke. "

How dare you try to harm a soldier of the Heavenly Court! You are seeking death!

"