Chapter 504: Stop Now

The sky over the snowy region seemed to crumble, overtaken by brilliant radiance for thousands of zhang.

Countless beams of light encircled Fengya Mountain from all directions, sealing it off completely. The disciples of the Dark King Sect who had not entered the hidden realm in time were killed on the spot.

Most of the Dark King Sect's members had already followed their sect leader into the hidden realm. The sect leader had even used a divine ability to seal the entrance of the hidden realm, blocking the light curtain with a black barrier.

The righteous cultivators bombarded the barrier frenziedly with their divine skills and enchanted tools, but all that did was cause ripples to break out across the barrier.

This barrier, which an eighth-realm Eminent One had conjured, seemed indestructible. But was that really the case?

A vicious and shrill screech echoed in the sky. "

Caaaw!

"

A giant three-legged bird shrouded in flames spiraled upward, spreading its wings to form a blazing sun! It heated up the vast snowfield instantly, melting the large swaths of ice and snow below.

Meanwhile, a glowing crescent-shaped treasure rose high into the sky, radiating bright rays of moonlight.

The sun and moon were both in the sky!

The Yu Dynasty had powerful cultivators under its command, but that was not the only reason the Yu Dynasty held a steady position as the ruling power. It was also because the Yu Dynasty had legendary artifacts for guarding the empire. The top ten artifacts in the Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures were in the hands of the Divine Nine and the Dark King Sect, but the imperial court controlled the three artifacts ranked after the top ten.

The Panyang Ancient Jade was ranked eleventh and an important treasure of the Xia Family. They had used it to establish their empire, and it was not to be used lightly. The Immortals' Talisman of Lunar Radiance and the Golden Crow's Soul Essence were ranked twelfth and thirteenth respectively. Both treasures were enshrined in the Imperial Supervisory Bureau.

The two legendary artifacts soaring into the sky now were the two that the Imperial Supervisory Bureau possessed.

The Immortals' Talisman of Lunar Radiance contained power that was as cold as ice. It could release endless beams of moonlight as swords, turning one sword into a myriad. This was equivalent to magnifying the range of a single sword countless times. When wielded by a master of the Dao of the Sword, the talisman could be used to instantly slash across thousands of li.

One of the three eighth-realm swordsmen in the mortal realm was in the Imperial Supervisory Bureau... and he might even be the best of the three. That person was the Imperial Supervisory Commissioner, Qi Yingxuan.

He was the one wielding the Immortals' Talisman of Lunar Radiance. Once the crescent moon rose to the sky, there would be nothing across the four seas and the nine provinces that he could not cut down. He would become a truly terrifying force.

The Golden Crow's Soul Essence was said to be refined from the souls of nine Golden Crows that had been shot down in ancient times. When the Golden Crow's Soul Essence was used, the power of the ancient Golden Crow would be reactivated for a brief period to conjure a sun to rise in the sky, burning with divine flames!

When these two treasures rose to the sky, they swept away the dense demonic qi on Fengya Mountain!

In the next second, two beams of light shot out simultaneously from the sun and the moon, striking the black barrier.

Boom!

The seemingly indestructible black barrier did not even shatter; it just melted away like the surrounding ice and snow, vanishing into nothingness.

...

Just before that attack, Chu Liang saw a familiar figure behind the black barrier. The person was a stunning woman in red. She was very clearly Enchantress Yi, whom Chu Liang had encountered in the past.

Back when Chu Liang's cultivation power was still weak, he had tricked her with a small ploy. The problem was that Chu Liang was currently dressed the same way as back then. He got caught red-handed.

Chu Liang was now powerful enough that he wouldn't necessarily fear her, but he was in a hurry to find little Jiang Guo and didn't want to get involved in a conflict.

With the barrier between them, Chu Liang couldn't hear how Yi Qiushui was addressing him, so he assumed she was cursing at him. After all, once she reported what happened to her teacher, she would have discovered that she had been tricked. Unless she was a fool, it was impossible she hadn't figured it out by now.

Thus, Chu Liang decided to avoid her and try to break through the barrier from another direction. If that didn't work, he would let Tuntun out to take a couple of bites of the barrier.

Nevertheless, before he could make a move, the two treasures—the sun and moon hanging high in the sky—unleashed their power, melting the barrier in an instant.

With the barrier gone, Chu Liang’s gaze met Yi Qiushui's. Chu Liang's expression showed that he had not prepared for this.

This... How awkward.

Chu Liang's mind raced, thinking about what he should do.

Right then, Yi Qiushui called out, "Esteemed Senior! We meet again."

Huh?

Chu Liang had been ready for her to curse at him, so hearing her call him "Esteemed Senior" was truly unexpected.

Could it be that she still hasn't realized I tricked her? Could she really be that foolish?

Since Yi Qiushui wasn't being hostile, Chu Liang decided not to complicate matters.

He put on a stern face and asked in a deep voice, "I'm looking for a little girl in a red coat. Have you seen her?"

"Granny Meng appeared just now!" Yi Qiushui replied. "My esteemed teacher and the others have gone after her. There seemed to be a little girl by her side. I'll take you there!"

Chu Liang sincerely said, "Thank you."

At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

As expected, there are still many good people in the diabolical sect.

...

In the center of the hidden realm, there was a cave sealed with Mysterious Ice, and inside the cave was a shadowy figure.

The Whale-Riding Immortal was the first to arrive at the cave. With a wave of his right hand, he deftly carved out a chunk of Mysterious Ice from the sealed cave. There was a black human figure inside the ice! It had vividly detailed features and an intact form, seeming as if it were alive.

It turned out that Granny Meng had placed her son's corpse in this cave, inside the hidden realm opposite Fengya Mountain. She had filled the cave with water, and the water froze into Mysterious Ice in no time, preserving the body for ten thousand years.

Before the Whale-Riding Immortal could extract the corpse from the ice, someone else descended onto the mountain peak. It was the Dark King Sect's leader, clad in a black robe.

He knew that the barrier he had cast wouldn't hold for long, but all he needed was a moment to seize control of the corpse. Yet, someone had beaten him to it.

"It's you again," the Dark King Sect's leader said, his tone filled with concealed anger. He stared at the Whale-Riding Immortal. "Who are you, and why do you repeatedly thwart my plans?"

Whenever a new eighth-realm cultivator attained the Heavenly Origin, other masters of the Heavenly Origin would sense it. In other words, the eighth-realm cultivators in the mortal realm had some awareness of each other.

Yet, the Dark King Sect's leader did not recognize the man standing before him.

When the Dark King Sect raided the Mount Shu Sect, the world saw the sword strike that protected Baize as Chu Liang's doing. However, the dark King Sect's leader knew that the true source of the power behind that strike had been the Whale-Riding Immortal.

The failed raid had been Lu Chengchou's problem, so the Dark King Sect's leader hadn't bothered looking into the matter. But now, this person was once again trying to sabotage his plans. The Dark King Sect's leader would not tolerate it this time.

He formed a hand seal; he was ready to summon the True Form of Ksitigarbha at any moment. The Dark King Sect's leader intended to unleash the power of a Heavenly Origin Terminator, delivering a thunderous strike onto the person before him. He planned to leave swiftly before the righteous immortal sect members entered the hidden realm.

The Whale-Riding Immortal noticed the movements of the Dark King Sect's leader, but he remained unafraid.

He just put on a small smile and replied, "You don't know who I am, but I know who you are. Not only do I know your name, but I also know that you are an incomplete person who cannot find yourself..."

"Nonsense!" the Dark King Sect's leader shouted.

Yin qi surged wildly around him!

Just as a fight was about to erupt between the two masters of the Heavenly Origin, a voice rang out from the distance. "Amitabha..."

This Buddhist chant caused the sect leader of the Dark King Sect to halt abruptly.

Granny Meng and the bald monk accompanying her arrived at the cave. The monk was carrying a little girl in a bright red coat in his arms. This combination made for a rather peculiar sight.

If it wasn't for his monk's robe, they might have looked like grandparents taking their granddaughter shopping for Chinese New Year's goods.

"Lin Poyun, do you recognize him?" Granny Meng yelled, looking at the sect leader of the Dark King Sect.

Lin Poyun, the sect leader of the Dark King Sect, glanced at the kind-looking monk beside Granny Meng. He took a couple of steps back and then asked quietly, "Who is he?"

"Amitabha," the monk said unhurriedly. "I am but a humble monk, Wu'e—a disciple of the Noble Dharma."

"You intend to use him to disturb my Dao heart?" Lin Poyun sneered at Granny Meng. "I have treated you well all these years, yet you're betraying me like this. How am I supposed to tolerate you?"

"You can't even tolerate yourself, so how could you tolerate me?" Granny Meng replied with a cold sneer.

As she spoke, the cold wind atop the peak suddenly grew fierce. It lifted the hood of Lin Poyun's black robe and revealed his young face.

Lin Poyun appeared to be less than thirty years old. He had long hair that was flying about in the wind and delicate brows that made him look rather feminine. Additionally, there was some malevolent qi around him.

This was likely the first time that Lin Poyun—the Dark King Sect's leader whose name shook the world—was revealing his appearance to the outside world.

Strangely, Lin Poyun and Monk Wu'e looked quite alike. One was a young man with smooth, delicate skin and long flowing hair, while the other was a middle-aged man with rough skin and a gleaming bald head. Yet, their facial features were strikingly similar.

Anyone observing them up close would be able to see that there was at least an eighty percent resemblance between them. They looked almost like the same person, just separated by twenty years.

"Sect Leader Lin, listen to my humble advice," Monk Wu'e said with a sigh. "Stop now. Forces from righteous sects have gathered outside."