Chapter 714: Mountain in Peril

The Elder of White-Bone Mountain left the world peacefully.

…

Earlier…

When Chu Liang appeared and blocked off the escape route of the Dark King Sect’s forces, the large group of diabolical cultivators under Chen Mingcang's command noticed him. On the other hand, the Elder of White-Bone Mountain did not. He was busy maneuvering his towering skull mountain to obstruct the Mount Shu Sect’s forces pursuing them.

The Mount Shu Sect’s forces were led by the combined strength of Mount Shu’s Four Guardian Elders and the seventh-realm peak masters like Wang Xuanling. Once they caught up to the Dark King Sect’s forces, they were more than capable of easily annihilating all of the diabolical cultivators.

According to the Dark King Sect’s plan, the Elder of White-Bone Mountain would use his gigantic skull mountain to hold off the Mount Shu Sect’s forces while the rest of the diabolical cultivators retreated. The Mount Shu Sect’s forces were charging over from the rest of Mount Shu. That meant there was a considerable distance between them and Red Cotton Peak, making it feasible for the Dark King Sect’s forces to escape.

However, the Dark King Sect’s forces hadn’t anticipated that another threat would appear behind them—Chu Liang.

Normally, one young disciple would not have posed much of a problem. It would have been nothing short of suicidal for him to try and stop hundreds of diabolical cultivators, including the Northern Abyss Hall Master and the Vermillion-Azurite Hall Master, on his own.

Who could have imagined that Chu Liang would unleash such a terrifying burst of power in an instant?

When the swordlight destroyed Chen Mingcang, who was in his Dark King Transcendent Form, everyone present was reminded of the young man who had slain Taowu at the Mount Shu Summit.

Back then, Chu Liang had secretly relied on the Whale-Riding Immortal’s power, but this time, he relied solely on his own power!

Chu Liang’s cultivation level had skyrocketed to the seventh realm, but a seasoned seventh-realm Eminent One like Chen Mingcang wasn’t easy to kill. After all, cultivators at such a high level would have trump cards that would allow them to survive any situation.

This was precisely why powerful cultivators often made covert and calculated moves in battle. If they revealed too many of their skills, their enemies would be able to prepare ways to counter them. In that case, it might be difficult for them to kill their enemies despite being at a much higher cultivation level. Nevertheless, success was attainable with the element of surprise.

That was exactly how Chu Liang did it.

Had Chen Mingcang harbored even a sliver of caution, he might have evaded death. However, he had failed to anticipate Chu Liang’s explosive increase in power. That led him to charge headfirst into a sword strike powered by the Violet and Azure Twin Swords and the Great Dao of Severing the Void. Chen Mingcang was instantly cleaved in two.

The Violet and Azure Twin Swords were ranked seventeenth in the Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures. No one could hope to escape from their blades.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

This incredibly powerful sword strike was like a stone shattering the heavens. It stunned not only the diabolical cultivators but also the Mount Shu Sect’s forces behind the fleeing Dark King Sect’s forces. They all stopped in their tracks, gazing intently to identify whose subordinate general had suddenly appeared and unleashed such might.

Initially, they thought that the person with the most ruthless strikes around was Di Nufeng. It turned out there was actually someone who was even swifter and more decisive in taking action.

How could the diabolical cultivators possibly dare to continue moving forward after seeing how sharp Chu Liang’s swordlight was? But the black hole was still hundreds of zhang away, far out of reach. The diabolical cultivators found themselves trembling fearfully like cicadas in winter. Caught between a ferocious tiger in front and a pack of wolves behind, it seemed like they were doomed to face annihilation.

Nonetheless, Chu Liang did not bother attacking these small fry. Like everyone else, he hadn’t anticipated the overwhelming force of his strike. Still, since it was so powerful, he would naturally make full use of his advantage and target the strongest presence on the battlefield instead—White-Bone Mountain!

This renowned enchanted artifact of the Dark King Sect had always been elusive and difficult to capture. The most damage the righteous cultivators had managed to inflict on it was when Daoist Yan pierced it with a sword in the past.

This time, the Violet and Azure Twin Swords launched a focused strike on it. Just as the White-Bone Mountain turned to face Chu Liang, the Violet and Azure Twin Swords pierced through it!

However, that wasn’t enough. Chu Liang motioned with one finger from each hand, splitting the beam of violet and azure swordlight. A second later, the two beams of swordlight were dancing like fireflies, weaving through the air and darting through White-Bone Mountain. They pierced the skull thousands of times in mere moments! Ŗ𝘼Ꞑô𝖇ƐṨ

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

This diabolical artifact, forged from the skull of unknown materials, was finally destroyed!

Boom!

White-Bone Mountain exploded with a deafening roar, disintegrating completely. A white figure flew out from the destroyed skull. Disguised as a fragment of the skull, the figure attempted to rush into the black hole and escape.

Chu Liang, with his sharp senses, spotted the figure. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Trying to escape?"

Whoosh!

The two beams of swordlight shot toward the figure to make a decisive kill!

Seeing no way to avoid them, the figure quickly turned around and raised a hand, conjuring a white barrier. It creaked and groaned as it blocked the Violet and Azure Twin Swords’ attack.

The figure hovering in midair was short and entirely white. It turned out to be a skeleton! Yet, the flickering flames of life within its eye sockets revealed that this was, in fact, a living being.

It turned out that the Elder of White-Bone Mountain had stumbled upon an ancient hidden realm in his youth. That was where he had acquired the diabolical artifact White-Bone Mountain and also where he had fallen victim to a malicious curse, losing all his flesh and blood forever. He wasn’t a ghost, but he had been forced to live as a skeleton ever since.

This was why he had fallen to the diabolical path, never revealing his true form and relying on an army of subordinates to do his bidding. Unfortunately, with White-Bone Mountain destroyed, he had no choice but to reveal the stark reality of his skeleton form in front of everyone.

The white barrier, a shield of bones he had conjured, was cracking inch by inch under the relentless pressure of the Violet and Azure Twin Swords. It was on the verge of shattering, and his life hung on by a thread.

At that moment, the air suddenly seemed to freeze.

It felt as though an invisible hand had gripped the hearts of all the people present, causing their pulse to falter for an instant as the sky turned ominously dark.

This sensation...

Finding the sensation eerily familiar, Chu Liang quickly leaped backward.

It was just as Chu Liang expected.

At the next moment, a hand emerged from the black hole and grabbed the Elder of White-Bone Mountain, pulling him out from under the Violet and Azure Twin Swords’ deadly blades.

Whoosh!

The Violet and Azure Twin Swords hovered in midair, hesitating to advance further.

That was because a figure had emerged from the black hole, clad in flowing black robes with his hair flying about wildly in the wind. He was none other than the leader of the Dark King Sect—Lin Poyun!

The last time he appeared in public had been at Fengya Mountain. Monk Wu’e, the manifestation of the good parts of Lin Poyun’s soul, had shown up to disrupt his Dao heart. Since escaping from that situation, Lin Poyun had vanished without a trace.

Even the disciples of the Dark King Sect had no idea that their sect leader would arrive today. The sight of him ignited hope in the eyes of the diabolical cultivators who had nearly succumbed to despair.

With no eighth-realm cultivator at Mount Shu, Lin Poyun was an unstoppable force. Nevertheless, it didn’t matter even if there was an eighth-realm presence there. As long as he activated the True Form of Ksitigarbha, he could still raze the Mount Shu Sect to the ground!

Things were playing out just as the diabolical cultivators had hoped.

Lin Poyun had arrived, and he rescued the Elder of White-Bone Mountain with one hand. His cold gaze swept across the battlefield, assessing the situation in a single breath. Then the corners of his lips raised into a cold smile.

With his other hand, he pressed down a mass of black clouds, spreading them across Mount Shu!

Anyone that came into contact with the clouds would lose their soul and die. Any peak that the clouds passed over would collapse into ruins. Taking advantage of Venerable Wen Yuan’s absence, Lin Poyun intended to completely destroy Mount Shu!

The black clouds expanded rapidly, leaving no one with a chance of escape. They were all about to be corroded, rendered down to nothing but bone!

"Fall back!" someone shouted from among the Mount Shu Sect’s forces.

It was Wang Xuanling. He stepped forward, holding his sword with one hand. With a single sword strike, he created a gap in the black clouds, temporarily halting their advance. Yet, a few seconds later, the clouds floated back into the gap.

It was far too difficult for him to stop Lin Poyun alone.

Wang Xuanling raised a golden token. He summoned spiritual qi from all of Mount Shu’s peaks and activated a shrouding mist of multicolored light.

It was the Grand Mountain-Protecting Formation of Mount Shu!

Whenever Venerable Wen Yuan was absent from Mount Shu, the Heaven Authority Token they had reclaimed was entrusted to Wang Xuanling, the grand peak master. This was why he had not accompanied Venerable Wen Yuan’s group to the Far West.

Using the power of the Grand Mountain-Protecting Formation, the dense black clouds were temporarily held back. However, the colorful mist soon showed signs of an impending collapse.

All enchanted formations needed cultivation power to run. If the caster did not have enough cultivation power, then the formation would collapse. The disparity in cultivation power between Wang Xuanling and Lin Poyun could not be bridged by the support of Mount Shu’s spiritual qi alone.

Ultimately, Wang Xuanling shouted, “Disciples of Mount Shu, retreat immediately!”

At that moment, the eyes of the Mount Shu Sect disciples turned bloodshot with rage and despair.

They understood that Wang Xuanling had decided to abandon Mount Shu so that they could survive. As long as the disciples survived, the Mount Shu Sect could rise again. However, that meant the Mount Shu Sect’s several thousand years of legacy would be destroyed in an instant!

Chu Liang felt the same pain.

The peak closest to the black clouds was Red Cotton Peak. If it were engulfed by the black clouds, even the Feng-grade buildings might not be able to withstand the corrosive assault for long.

With the Violet and Azure Twin Swords, Chu Liang had the power to kill Chen Mingcang and the Elder of White-Bone Mountain, but he was powerless against a formidable cultivator like Lin Poyun.

Chu Liang knew full well that with the power he had, it was pretty much impossible for him to stop Lin Poyun. Therefore, saving the lives of his fellow disciples at the cost of Mount Shu was the best possible outcome.

It was right at this moment that a dazzling white light blasted out from Guardian Peak!

Boom!

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: LD