https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-370-Enlightenment-Ascends-Natural-Progression-Unveiled-Part-2-/12599493/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-371-370-Plunging-into-the-Underworld-Part-2-/12599495/
Chapter 371: 370. Plunging into the Underworld (Part 1)
Chapter 371: 370. Plunging into the Underworld (Part 1)
Ji Yao departed with the Legion of Souls Banner.
Li Linxue turned to the other Shushan warriors beside her and addressed a middle-aged mystic:
"Changpeng, the Master has temporarily entrusted the Ghost Ship to you. From now on, you will act independently and seek out powerful demons to hunt or capture, collecting their living souls and flesh."
The middle-aged mystic, Lu Changpeng, replied, "Yes, Master."
He had a slender and refined appearance, and although he wore the same simple attire and leather boots as the other Shushan warriors, he looked more like a scholar than a mystic.
However, after the death of Ding Chuan in the Underworld, he was now the fourth most powerful warrior in the Shushan order, possessing the cultivation base of a perfect Eightfold Heaven Warrior.
In the past one or two hundred years, due to numerous gains from the Great Empire, the Shushan order in the Underworld had encountered a golden opportunity for development.
Not only had they successfully refined the Ghost Ship and the Heaven-and-Earth Oracle, but two of their members, Kang An and Tian Lingfeng, had also successively broken through to the Ninefold Heaven Great Vehicle realm.
Moreover, there was even a Shushan elder with a perfect Eightfold Heaven cultivation who had perished while attempting to cross the heavenly tribulation between the Eightfold and Ninefold Heavens.
Despite this, Ding Chuan and Lu Changpeng continued to persevere, accumulating power and preparing to challenge the final tribulation.
Unfortunately, they had suffered great setbacks in the Great Empire.
The Shushan order had suffered heavy losses, including their high-level warriors and those at the Middle Three Heavens level.
Even their Ninefold Heaven warrior, Kang An, and Ding Chuan, who had attained perfection at the Eightfold Heaven, had perished.
Although they had recovered some of their strength and resources from the Great Empire, it had not been enough time to replenish their losses, and their newly recruited warriors were not yet sufficient to make up for the shortage of powerful experts in the Shushan order.
Lu Changpeng had stayed behind in the Underworld previously, but this time he accompanied Ji Yao and Li Linxue to the Great Empire.
"Do not let down your guard," Li Linxue warned. "The truth behind the disturbance in the Underworld remains unclear."
"Yes, Master," Lu Changpeng acknowledged.
With him at the helm, the massive Ghost Ship became invisible, quietly detaching itself from the group of Shushan warriors and setting off on its own.
Li Linxue led the others forward at a steady pace, approaching the Great Empire borders and densely populated areas.
Although she possessed the Golden Sword, she did not rush directly to the Shushan Order's stronghold at Xiaoding.
As the senior elder of the Shushan order, she merely sat quietly at the center of the group, providing support for the other Shushan warriors.
The rest of the group spread out, each searching for human populations.
Li Linxue's presence was like a deliberate display of their intentions, attracting the attention of the Great Empire warriors.
She intended to act as a decoy, drawing attention away from Ji Yao and Lu Changpeng.
Lu Changpeng, with the Ghost Ship, veered away from the Great Empire borders, targeting the powerful demons of the Great Empire.
Although the Heaven-and-Earth Oracle had undergone initial refinement, it required further empowerment to unleash its full potential.
Just as the Legion of Souls Banner stored the evil souls of human warriors, the key to empowering the Heaven-and-Earth Oracle lay in capturing sufficiently powerful demons or spiritual beasts.
In the current Great Empire, the areas outside the Great Empire borders presented more opportunities for the Shushan order.
What had caught the attention of the Shushan order was the mention of the "Ghost King" Zong Han's new ranch and forest farm in the northern borders of the Great Empire, where he was said to be learning foreign techniques to raise a large number of exotic beasts.
However, reaching that location would require them to traverse almost the entire Great Empire territory.
Although Lu Changpeng could maneuver the Ghost Ship with stealth, it still felt risky and did not align with the Shushan order's expectations.
Therefore, Lu Changpeng decided to focus his efforts on the Snowy Plateau or the Southern Wasteland, attempting to hunt or capture the powerful demons in those regions.
In doing so, he would inadvertently be reducing some of the border threats for the Great Empire.
However, the top priority for the Shushan order in the Underworld was to accumulate their own reserves.
By empowering the Heaven-and-Earth Oracle, the Shushan order would gain greater flexibility in their future actions.
As the battle commenced, the Great Tang Shushan Sect and the Huangquan Li Shushan Sect were longtime foes, and with the presence of Zhang Taegang, the leader of the Shushan Sect, the focus of the Great Tang forces was on Jingxiang Fangzu, the leader of the Jiu Chong Tian tribe, and Fang Jing Sheng, a great Confucian scholar.
Fang Jing Sheng often spoke of guarding against the Huangquan Li Shushan Sect, and now that they had reappeared in the Great Tang, the Jingxiang Fangzu did not hesitate to take action.
Upon receiving the imperial decree from the Tang court in Luoyang, the Jingxiang Fangzu sprang into action.
Led by their leader, Fang Jing Sheng, and accompanied by numerous experts, the tribe demonstrated its strength and influence.
Although the elder, Fang Huansheng, remained in their ancestral land, and the eldest grandson, Fang Zhu, was currently in the imperial capital of Luoyang, the Jingxiang Fangzu still boasted an impressive gathering of experts.
Among them were Fang Shihan, a respected elder of the Fangzu from the same generation as Fang Hezhou, and Ye Yue, the third wife from the Ye tribe of Qingzhou.
Also present were Fang Shan, the third master of the Fangzu; Fang Fei, the most accomplished female Confucian scholar of her generation; and Fang Du, the sixth master.
Together with other elders and the younger generations of the tribe, they followed their leader, Fang Jing Sheng, into battle against the heretical cultivators of Huangquan Li Shushan.
However, the first to capture their attention were not the Li Shushan cultivators but the disciples of the Great Tang Shushan Sect.
A faint golden light flickered before them, exuding pure and positive energy that instantly overwhelmed the gloomy and sinister aura typically associated with the Li Shushan cultivators.
"That is..." Fang Shan, the third master, exchanged a glance with his wife, Ye Yue.
From a distance, they heard the voice of Fang Du, the sixth master: "It should be the pure Yang artifact specifically refined to counter the heretical cultivators of Huangquan, as mentioned in the previous rumors about Shushan receiving assistance from the Celestial Master's Mansion and the Pure Yang Palace."
The Li Shushan cultivators were equally astonished.
Yu Hui, a talented sword cultivator and a direct disciple of the late Elder Ding Chuan of Li Shushan, was surprised to see the display of power.
His flying soul sword, a formidable weapon, had claimed countless souls in battle.
In the past, he had accompanied his master, Ding Chuan, and others to the Great Tang realm.
However, before the final battle, Yu Hui had returned to Huangquan for reasons unknown, missing the decisive battle in Nanzhao that had greatly weakened the Li Shushan sect.
That battle had left a deep impression on the Li Shushan sect, as they witnessed the swift response of the Tang court, which mobilized a large number of experts from various factions.
The resilience of the monks from the Sumeru Vajra Department, despite suffering significant losses within the Great Yin-Yang Nine Palaces Immortal Formation, was not to be underestimated.
The defeat of Kang Andao, the injury inflicted on the White Bone Divine Boat, and the strike against the sect leader, Ji Yao, by Tang Xiaotang, a celestial master from the Talisman Sect, were all notable events.
However, the Li Shushan sect had limited knowledge about this particular branch of the Shushan Sect in the Great Tang realm.
Although the sect possessed treasures like the Purple and Green Twin Swords, Yu Hui's previous encounters with the Shushan Sect disciples during the early stages of the Great War had given him a sense of their capabilities.
While they demonstrated decent overall quality, they struggled to adapt to the oppressive and morbid aura that the Li Shushan sect had cultivated over the years.
Yu Hui himself had once taken advantage of this morbid aura to invade their spiritual souls, using his flying soul sword to strike while they were preoccupied with defending against it.
If not for the timely reinforcement of other Shushan Sect disciples, his flying soul sword would have slain them on the spot.
Now, as Yu Hui faced another Shushan Sect disciple, the artifact they presented emanated a faint golden light, resembling dancing flames.
While ordinary spiritual fires posed no threat to the Li Shushan cultivators, the pale golden flames before them instantly subdued the fierce aura of Yu Hui's flying soul sword, forcing the usually advantageous Huangquan death energy to retreat.
To be precise, Yu Hui was not entirely unfamiliar with this faint golden flame, recognizing it as pure Yang true fire.
However, the Shushan Sect in the Great Tang had never demonstrated such a technique before.
Had they received assistance from other Daoist sects like the Pure Yang Palace? What price had the Shushan Sect paid to acquire such power? As these thoughts raced through Yu Hui's mind, he infused his soul into his sword, merging with his flying soul sword to break free from the golden flames.
However, the golden light blazed even brighter, forming a celestial net that enveloped the flying soul sword from all sides.
"Hu..."
A young elder of the Shushan Sect, Qin Baisheng, breathed a sigh of relief.
He had recently broken through to the Sixth Heaven realm, and the Pure Yang Seven Treasures Hood artifact he wielded was his newly refined natal artifact, crafted upon reaching the Sixth Heaven.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been confident in restraining the fierce flying sword of the Li Shushan cultivator.
As strands of pure Yang true fire filled the air, successfully suppressing the opponent's Huangquan death energy, the flying sword remained sharp and aggressive, darting left and right within the golden net, guided by Yu Hui's soul.
Qin Baisheng didn't relax; instead, he became even more focused.
While the Pure Yang Seven Treasures Hood was his natal artifact, he couldn't merge his soul with it like Yu Hui had done with his sword.
Artificers' souls were agile and graceful, but they weren't as robust as those of pill refiners.
Imbuing his soul into the artifact refined with pure Yang true fire wouldn't burn him, but it was still a challenge.
Thus, Qin Baisheng concentrated all his attention on controlling the Pure Yang Seven Treasures Hood to the best of his ability, suppressing the flying soul sword.
Naturally, as the Pure Yang Seven Treasures Hood contracted, the faint golden flames also began to assail the flying soul sword itself, causing it to tremble and even pause during its flight.
On the outskirts of the battlefield, the pure Yang artifacts crafted by the Sixth Heaven cultivators of the Shushan Sect were already causing discomfort to the Huangquan heretics.
Closer to the center of the battle, the scene was even more astonishing.
A ball of light, flickering with faint golden radiance, hung in the air, its brilliance too intense for most Li Shushan cultivators to look directly at.
Under the dazzling golden light, Elder Fei Mo of the Azure Peak Sect, who had cultivated to the Eighth Celestial Realm, almost subconsciously raised his hand to shield his face.
He was versatile and had killed countless enemies with his signature treasure, the Nine Lotus Soul Cage. As he fled, the Soul Cage, which was originally nearly invisible, seemed to appear and disappear without a trace.
As long as the Soul Cage quietly approached an enemy, they had the opportunity to directly absorb their opponent's soul.
However, at this moment, several shadows were not only illuminated by the golden light but also immobilized in mid-air, trembling and struggling to advance or retreat.
The source of the golden light was a delicately crafted, small talisman.
Faint golden flames seemed to burn around the talisman.
The flames were pure Yang energy.
The treasure was known as the Pure Yang Emblem.
It was the second signature treasure of Zhang Taegang, the current leader of the Golden Dragon Sect, who had cultivated to the Eighth Celestial Realm for several years and finally refined it in recent times.
His first signature treasure, the Golden Dragon Seal, was also flying in the air at this moment.
Compared to the small Pure Yang Emblem, the Golden Dragon Seal seemed to grow larger as it descended from the sky, turning into the size of a mountain and pressing down towards Fei Mo.
Fei Mo saw the Pure Yang Emblem and noticed that in many places around it, sparse wisps of golden light were shining.
Like Yu Hui, he felt a slight heaviness in his heart.
However, Fei Mo was quick to react and summoned another signature treasure of his, the Emerald Lotus Banner.
As the banner fluttered, nine illusory emerald lotuses suddenly appeared and drifted in the air.
Streams of the River of Oblivion flowed between the lotuses, winding and twisting.
When fully unfolded, it resembled a beautiful yet cold painting, helping Fei Mo block the Golden Dragon Seal descending from above.
He combined his two signature treasures, one for offense and one for defense, and the Soul Cage hid within the River of Oblivion and the emerald lotuses, becoming even more concealed and inflicting damage imperceptibly.
However, at this moment, the Pure Yang Emblem's flames illuminated the black lotus seeds, causing them to become visible and unable to hide within the emerald lotuses any longer.
There were many Azure Peak cultivators in more perilous situations than Fei Mo.
This was because the Twin Dragon Swords had also left the mountain with Zhang Taegang and the others.
Although they were respectively in the hands of Ji Chuan and Xie Yiying, two Seventh Celestial Swordsmen.
But for those below the Ninth Celestial Realm, especially those who had not yet cultivated to the third layer of the Eighth Celestial Realm, the Azure Peak cultivators still found the Twin Dragon Swords extremely powerful, and they avoided them as much as possible.
(End of Chapter)
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