Chapter 819: Afraid You Wouldn't Return It (I)

In contrast, things weren't going so well over at Venerable Wen Yuan's side.

After all, he was in a battle with three opponents. The moment he told them to come at him, he instantly shifted positions with a substitute and moved outside the Boundless Palace instead. This was the Great Dao of Primordial Chaos, which allowed him to manipulate space. No matter how powerful the three Heavenly Origin masters were, they could never hope to catch up to him.

However, Daoist Cangsheng did not even need to try. He simply pressed his arm downward. There was a flicker of light and shadow, and Venerable Wen Yuan was forcibly pulled back to his seat.

Daoist Cangsheng had shrouded this small section of the world with the Great Dao of Infinity, rewinding a breath's worth of time. As a result, Venerable Wen Yuan was dragged right back to where he had been a moment ago!

At the same time, Daoist Cangyun and Daoist Cangqiu launched their attacks in unison!

Daoist Cangyun wielded the Great Dao of Governing Balance, the very same one that the Blue Dragon used to command. It was the Great Dao of Yang Wind, the counterpart to the Great Dao of Yin Wind known as Severed Breath.

Daoist Cangqiu wielded the Great Dao of the Lightning Serpent, also known as the Great Dao of Yin Lightning.

The Yang Lightning's Divine Clouds smote the malevolent and suppressed evil with vast and mighty righteous qi, embodying the thunderstorm aspect of lightning. Meanwhile, the Yin Lightning's Lightning Serpent could penetrate through bone, down to the marrow. It struck with unmatched speed and ruthless precision, embodying the electric aspect of lightning.

In an instant, howling gales and a platinum lightning dragon appeared simultaneously inside the Boundless Palace. The palace could not withstand such an intense clash of forces. Daoist Cangyun's and Daoist Cangqiu's spiritual energy surged violently, nearly collapsing the entire structure.

However, Daoist Cangyun's and Daoist Cangqiu's attacks were suddenly thrown into disarray. Their howling gales and the platinum dragon were cut into multiple pieces. They collided with each other and exploded in midair. It was as if a large invisible net had appeared out of thin air, slicing through everything in its path.

Rumble!

The massive explosion destroyed half of the Boundless Palace. Fortunately, the structures on Mount Shu's Heaven-Reaching Peak had all been specially fortified. The blast would have reduced an ordinary peak to dust.

Numerous Mount Shu Sect disciples shot into the air like startled birds. They were still unaware of what had transpired, but they intended to rush over and engage the enemy.

Nevertheless,with a wave of his sleeve, Venerable Wen Yuan sent the Mount Shu Sect disciples at Heaven-Reaching Peak flying hundreds of zhang away.

The Mount Shu Sect disciples did not truly leave though; it was physically impossible for them to go.

Earlier, when Daoist Cangyun and Daoist Cangqiu started their clash against Venerable Wen Yuan, Daoist Cangsheng raised his hand and summoned the Celestial Cosmic Ring. He used it to isolate the entirety of Mount Shu—except for Red Cotton Peak—into another realm.

Venerable Wen Yuan was quite startled to see the Celestial Cosmic Ring was in perfect condition. Nonetheless, he was relieved that the legendary artifact his opponents had brought was not the East Sea Chrono Wheel. If Daoist Cangsheng were wielding the East Sea Chrono Wheel, even Venerable Wen Yun would not dare to challenge him.

If a cultivator at the pinnacle of the eighth realm were to wield a legendary artifact that matched them perfectly, just how terrifying would their combat prowess be? The late Demon King of the Great Marshlands, whom Daoist Cangsheng had nearly slain with just one palm strike, had known the answer to that all too well.

Despite that, the Penglai Supreme Sect had feared its plans would get disrupted by external parties, so Daoist Cangsheng's group had chosen to bring the Celestial Cosmic Ring. That meant the East Sea Chrono Wheel had most certainly been left behind to protect their sect, preventing Daoist Cangsheng from fighting at full power.

Moreover, Venerable Wen Yuan could sense that Daoist Cangsheng's aura was noticeably weaker. He had likely lost a portion of his cultivation power when he lost his arm, and there was no way he could recover it in such a short time.

Taking advantage of the moment when Daoist Cangsheng summoned the Celestial Cosmic Ring, Venerable Wen Yuan distanced himself from the three men from the Penglai Supreme Sect.

If someone were looking at him from afar, they would see that he was surrounded by an intricate web of fine glowing lines—the manifestation of his Great Dao, the Chessboard of the World. Anything that passed through this chessboard, be it people or objects, would be disassembled and scattered into different spaces.

Safe within the protection of his Chessboard of the World, Venerable Wen Yuan raised his left hand and conjured a blinding ball of golden light.

Whoosh!

As this golden radiance filled the space, the sea of clouds over the thirty-six peaks began to surge. It was the power of the Heaven Authority Token!

Indeed, the object in Venerable Wen Yuan's left hand was the Heaven Authority Token—the very token that had been confiscated from Lu Chengchou.

Venerable Wen Yuan had activated Mount Shu's Grand Mountain-Protecting Formation, causing the spiritual qi in the vast sea of clouds to surge and condense!

With Venerable Wen Yuan commanding the Grand Mountain-Protecting Formation, its power was far greater than before. The dense spiritual qi from the sea of clouds gathered with him as the center point. It manifested as a beam of rainbow-colored light that was sharp like a sword!

Daoist Cangqiu and Daoist Cangyun launched a simultaneous assault from the left and right, striking Venerable Wen Yuan just as he activated the Grand Mountain-Protecting Formation!

Daoist Cangyun summoned raging gales that shook the peaks, pushing the spiritual qi away into the distance in an attempt to prevent the Grand Mountain-Protecting Formation from reaching its full form.

Meanwhile, Daoist Cangqiu raised his hand and unleashed ten thousand silver lightning serpents from his palm, hurling them straight into Venerable Wen Yuan's Chessboard of the World!

Sizzle...

The chessboard's net instantly sliced the lightning serpents apart, but the Great Dao of the Lightning Serpent's power managed to enter the net, momentarily disrupting the flow of spiritual qi into the net.

The Chessboard of the World was affected too. As the brilliant streaks of lightning flashed across the sky, the chessboard's net faltered for a split second.

Daoist Cangqiu transformed into a streak of lightning and charged in without hesitation.

However, by that time, Venerable Wen Yuan had already fully activated the Grand Mountain-Protecting Formation. Countless rays of rainbow-colored lights surrounded him, and with a single palm strike, they condensed into a sword-like beam of rainbow radiance!

Boom!

The massive rainbow sword clashed with Daoist Cangqiu's lightning form, resulting in an earth-shattering explosion. Waves of Dao essence and spiritual qi scattered wildly. The buildings on Heaven-Reaching Peak were reduced to ash, leaving the peak several chi shorter.

With the Heaven Authority Token, Venerable Wen Yuan had Mount Shu's spiritual qi under his control. He could fight two opponents at the same time without being in a disadvantageous position.

As for Daoist Cangsheng, it wasn't out of choice that he did not join the battle. Someone was blocking his way.

That person had silver hair and was draped in long white robes embroidered with gold. She stood before him like a deity that had descended from the heavens.

"Baize..." Daoist Cangsheng uttered as he gazed at Mount Shu's guardian celestial beast in shock.

He had not even considered the possibility that his senior uncle, the Elder of Mount Lu, would fail to stall Baize for even a quarter of an hour.

Nevertheless, it didn't matter.

Daoist Cangsheng raised his arm and summoned the Celestial Cosmic Ring again.

Rumble!

The massive white ring of light had enveloped Mount Shu and isolated it into a hidden realm, but it had yet to finish its job. Under Daoist Cangsheng's command, the Celestial Cosmic Ring began to contract!

Everything in its path was reduced to nothingness.

The mountains and buildings that touched the edge of the Celestial Cosmic Ring were not merely crushed into dust. Instead, they were shattered into countless microscopic fragments and scattered across different dimensions, vanishing completely from existence.

If the Celestial Cosmic Ring were left to contract for even just one incense stick's worth of time, it would shrink down to the size of a bracelet and erase the entirety of Mount Shu within the hidden realm.

This was the incredible power of a legendary artifact.

Nothing could stop it except another legendary artifact.

Baize frowned. "If Mount Shu perishes today, then there will be no hope left for the three islands of Penglai."

"That is a matter for the future," Daoist Cangsheng said coldly. "No matter what happens, no one can save Mount Shu unless you hand over Chu Liang today!"

His tremendous resolve was not due to his past grudges.

At his high cultivation level, personal grudges no longer affected decisions. Chu Liang had killed Qi Lin'er and destroyed their hopes of reviving Hallowed Yang, but Daoist Cangsheng could attribute those to fate. Seeking revenge against Chu Liang risked harming Penglai's interests, so he had no intention of acting on it—until he received Yang Buwei's warning.

Yang Buwei resided in the Divine Ruins Monastery, where its members could see things that others could not. However, the Divine Ruins Monastery had strict prohibitions that forbade them from interfering in worldly affairs. If it had not been a sect-destroying calamity, Yang Buwei would never have taken the risk of issuing a warning.

Yang Buwei's final warning hinted at one thing—Daoist Cangsheng had to kill Chu Liang.

The future of the Penglai Supreme Sect might one day be destroyed by this young man, and that was the only reason that mattered.

The thing that solidified Daoist Cangsheng's determination even further was the fact that Chu Liang truly seemed capable of it. His growth rate and the changes he had brought to Mount Shu were astonishing.

That made Daoist Cangsheng quite afraid. If Chu Liang were given just a few more years, could he perhaps bridge the gap between having a legendary artifact and not having one? Could he allow the Mount Shu Sect to reclaim its past status as a top immortal sect?

To eliminate that possibility entirely, Chu Liang had to die.

Even if Chu Liang remained hidden within Mount Shu, the Penglai Sect was willing to risk waging an all-out war with the Mount Shu Sect to hunt him down.