Chapter 162: The Purple-Clothed Marquis

Chen Lingxi drew a deep breath, thoroughly astonished.

When he had used Vision Roaming on Lin Suri earlier, he sensed that the Myriad Realms Projection's formation had not yet been fully constructed.

Now that the red-clothed figure had projected down, her combat strength was likely restricted by the incomplete formation, limiting her power.

But even so... she remained incredibly powerful.

'If the formation were fully established and the Under-Dao Academy projected down, I wonder if the avatar would have the strength of peak Qi Circulation.'

Chen Lingxi marveled inwardly, his eyes revealing undisguised pleasant surprise.

"Fellow Daoist actually... has such profound backing?"

He looked Lin Suri up and down. "In that case, didn't my rushing over to rescue you just make me a laughingstock?"

Lin Suri shook his head. "Fellow Daoist remembered our past ties and acted out of sheer goodwill. How could I not recognize that?"

Chen Lingxi laughed heartily, looking thoroughly magnanimous.

Taking the lead, he stepped forward and gazed into the far distance at Wu Mohe.

Wu Mohe's mask remained in place. A vortex of sword intent brewed around him, having already expanded to a radius of several zhang. Sword qi spilled from it in all directions, carrying a chilling killing intent that made the scalp tingle.

Yet Chen Lingxi appeared entirely unafraid. He drew the Thunder Radiance Longsword at his waist.

As the precious sword left its sheath, rolling lightning flared, dyeing the surrounding void azure.

"Excellent!"

Battle intent surged in Chen Lingxi's eyes. "Today, you and I will join forces to slay these scoundrels! Afterward, we can discuss who claims the Cauldron Vessel Fragment."

As he spoke, his spiritual qi roared. The thunder precious qi and dark-edge qi surged outward, making him look like an immortal draped in tri-colored radiance.

His imposing aura was virtually on par with Wu Mohe's.

"I'll kill Wu Mohe! Fellow Daoist Lin, handle those ordinary lackeys for me!"

Chen Lingxi strode forward, supreme confidence in his eyes.

Lin Suri paused before shaking his head. "That Wu Mohe is at the Tenth Floor, and his foundation is incredibly deep... Why don't I kill him instead?"

Chen Lingxi stubbornly shook his head, speaking frankly. "If one wishes to temper their divine abilities and hone their cultivation, they must naturally fight the strong.

If Wu Mohe were any stronger, I naturally wouldn't take the risk. But since he is exactly one floor above me, he makes the perfect whetstone."

His expression grew even more confident. Likely afraid Lin Suri would worry, he added, "There's no need to fret, Fellow Daoist. To be honest, my innate talent was always extraordinary. Now that I have acquired the Mother Qi and formed a spiritual aperture, my spiritual qi absolutely doesn't fear that Wu Mohe!"

The lightning on his blade intensified. "I killed Shi Hong not long ago, and slaying him was immensely beneficial to both my divine abilities and cultivation.

Wu Mohe... will die by my hand!"

Lin Suri considered this. Sensing the numerous spiritual qi auras rushing toward them, he gave a light nod.

By now, Wu Mohe and the others were rapidly closing in from multiple directions.

Bolstered by the Martial Aunt in Red, Lin Suri's divine sense and perception were several times sharper than before.

He gazed toward the distant mountain forests, the Method of Qi Observation slowly circulating in his eyes.

The qi signatures in the distant woods instantly fell into his sight.

Among them, he caught a glimpse of an aura hidden extremely well, yet incredibly extraordinary.

"Que Star Xi Family... Xi Yu."

Lin Suri shook his head. "She is just like Fellow Daoist Lin from earlier, lying low a hundred li from the cauldron vessel. Thinking about it now, she must be waiting to play the fisherman who reaps the spoils."

"Very well. Let Fellow Daoist Chen slay Wu Mohe, while I intercept these hidden arrows for him."

Before they knew it, all the strongest experts vying for the Killing Power Cauldron Vessel had gathered here.

Wu Mohe, Di Gongbo, the three Heavenly Boat women, and two Eighth Floor cultivators seemed to have reached a tacit understanding. They converged on Chen Lingxi, likely intending to first eliminate the one the Credit Peddler had prophesied would claim the cauldron vessel.

Chen Lingxi and Lin Suri stood firmly in place, waiting calmly without the slightest trace of fear in their eyes.

By using Vision Roaming to seize the opportunity, Chen Lingxi had expended the words and put on a show to earn Lin Suri's trust, ensuring he was no longer fighting alone.

However... just as Chen Lingxi prepared to slaughter everyone present...

A sudden change occurred!

A heaven-shaking explosion abruptly erupted from the distant mountain forest!

A swath of forest dozens of zhang in radius was snapped in half by a terrifying force, sending billowing dust and smoke soaring into the sky!

At the same time, an equally dreadful surge of blood-qi rolled in.

From within that thick dust, a white-haired figure streaked through the air, standing with his hands behind his back upon the shaft of a spear. It was an incredibly long Two-Zhang Great Spear! Its shaft was as thick as a woman's arm, and its tip pulsed with unfathomably astonishing blood-qi!

Chen Lingxi's pupils instantly contracted at the sight of this white-haired figure.

He had already seen this man when he used Vision Roaming on Emperor Daye.

It was that white-haired Purple-Clothed Marquis!

At this moment, the great spear seemed to have been violently hurled. It roared as it shot forward, as fast as a falling meteor!

The heavy blood-qi dragged out a long halo of light as it crashed toward them.

Along its path, several unlucky Qi Circulation cultivators never expected such a terrifying blood-qi cultivator to plow right into them.

Wherever the great spear passed, its killing power reached an absolute peak.

Those unlucky figures let out muffled groans almost simultaneously, coughing up blood before passing out cold.

Yet the white-haired Purple-Clothed Marquis continued to stand upon the spear shaft with his hands clasped behind his back. His robes fluttered, his white hair whipping in the wind.

Fearsome blood-qi skyrocketed from his body like rolling wolf-smoke, dyeing the sea of clouds above a dark, bloody red!

Chen Lingxi's heart sank. He was just about to speak to Lin Suri when an even more shocking scene unfolded. All around them, amid the mountains in every direction, Eight Large Banners were suddenly erected.

These banners were incredibly tall and massive. Their surfaces were dark red, inscribed with numerous profound and mystical patterns.

These patterns slowly flowed across the fabric. Spiritual qi drifted within them, pulsing with immensely thick, bloody light.

And this bloody light...

...originated from the blood-qi cultivators standing beneath the banners!

Eight Large Banners! Beneath each banner stood a thousand Silver Bone cultivators, with a Nine Revolutions blood-qi martial cultivator holding the line.

A thousand Silver Bone experts paired with a Nine Revolutions blood-qi martial cultivator—their combined blood-qi was already astonishing on its own.

But the giant banners also contained a bizarre formation that linked the blood-qi of all one thousand and one martial artists, amplifying each other!

In an instant, their blood-qi flared even more intensely!

Shrouded by the giant banner, the Nine Revolutions blood-qi martial cultivator standing there emanated an aura even more tyrannical than the Entering Profound puppet Xi Yu had previously sent to kill Chen Lingxi.

It was practically on par with Zhang Mozhu!

And Zhang Mozhu was the third-ranked rebel king in the world, his blood-qi cultivation renowned throughout the lands! 'This Emperor Daye is truly unfathomable. These banners, these formations, these combined blood-qi assault techniques—he must have created them all.'

Chen Lingxi's gaze swept across the battlefield.

Eight Large Banners in total meant the Eight Divisions Military Force was present, which in turn meant eight experts at the Entering Profound tier had arrived.

What shocked Chen Lingxi even more was...

Despite the vast distances separating them, the Eight Large Banners seemed imperceptibly connected. They saturated the area with blood-qi, linking this hundred-li expanse into a heaven-and-earth prison.

Within this prison, the combat strength of the eight thousand and eight blood-qi martial artists was elevated to an unimaginable level.

The white-haired Purple-Clothed Marquis's eyes burned bright, flashing with radiance.

He did not speak, yet monstrous blood-qi continually battered the void.

The sound of those blood-qi waves crashing against the void acted as his voice, morphing into deep, majestic human speech that echoed ceaselessly across the world enveloped by the eight banners!

"Extraterrestrial demons... you shall all fall into my grasp!"

With a grand wave of the Purple-Clothed Marquis's hand, the numerous experts mobilized in full force!

The eight Nine Revolutions martial artists presiding over the banners opened their eyes simultaneously! Their blood-qi rose like eight pillars of smoke, sweeping up the majestic torrents of blood-qi pooled from the thousands of Silver Bone martial artists as they swarmed the valley!

The sheer momentum was like a massive army sweeping across a battlefield, intent on grinding all the cauldron contenders here into dust.

Chen Lingxi instantly understood...

'The Imperial Court has made its move. They want to use this battle over the cauldron vessel to capture Wu Mohe, Xi Yu, and the remaining dozen or so people, dragging them all into the palace.'

'What a grand scheme!'

The great battle erupted instantly!

The first sound to ring out from the distant forest was the sharp, ear-piercing twang of a bowstring!

Immediately after, a dark gold arrow tore through the air from the mountain. Boiling-hot blood-qi surged across the shaft as it shot straight toward a cultivator.

The one who fired the shot was Di Gongbo.

That cultivator couldn't even react before the blood-qi arrow pierced his neck, pinning his entire body to a distant peak.

At the same time, several shadows materialized from the void, seized the not-yet-dead cultivator, and silently vanished.

Di Gongbo remained expressionless, turning his gaze toward Chen Lingxi and Lin Suri. High in the void, Wu Mohe furrowed his brow; acutely aware that their surroundings had become a cage, he knew their only chance at survival was to fight their way out.

"Fellow Daoist Xi, Fellow Daoist Chen, Fellow Daoist Lin... if we do not cooperate in earnest, I fear we will all die at the hands of these natives!"

His divine sense boomed.

By now, the Two-Zhang Great Spear beneath the white-haired Purple-Clothed Marquis's feet had already violently plunged from the void!

The spear tip pierced a mountain peak, driving deep into the rock and leaving only half its shaft exposed.

The Purple-Clothed Marquis still stood upon that shaft, hands clasped behind his back.

He stood amid the rubble and dust, his white hair whipping fiercely in the gale, the terrifying blood-qi pressure around him growing stronger by the second.

His calm eyes coldly swept across every cauldron contender on the battlefield.

That gaze no longer held a shred of the humble subservience he showed when facing Emperor Daye; instead, it brimmed with naked killing intent and absolute condescension!

The banners waved!

The eight dark red banners snapped in the void simultaneously!

The flowing patterns on their surfaces lit up entirely, like eight bolts of bloody lightning striking the world at once. The eight thousand Silver Bone cultivators beneath the banners let out a heaven-shaking war cry in unison. Their roars merged into a formless tidal wave that swept in all directions, causing mountains to tremble and rivers to flow backward wherever it passed.

The eight thousand Silver Bone experts began their charge, flanked by the Entering Profound martial artists commanding the banners.

Their blood-qi resembled eight bloody torrents, harboring unimaginable power as they spearheaded the assault toward Wu Mohe, Xi Yu, and the others!

Just then, Lin Suri and Chen Lingxi sensed something almost at the exact same moment. They couldn't help but circulate the Method of Qi Observation and look to the sky.

Spiritual light flared in both their eyes simultaneously, piercing the thick clouds to gaze at the seemingly tranquil sea of clouds in the extreme heights.

"There's another expert eyeing the prize up there!"

Chen Lingxi was deeply astonished.

'Aside from Wu Mohe, Xi Yu, and myself, only Lin Suri paired with that red-clothed avatar is somewhat stronger.'

'It's one thing for the Purple-Clothed Marquis to come in person, but for there to be another expert hiding above the clouds!'

'This is far too strange.'

Just then, a light breeze blew past, scattering the fog to faintly reveal a black robe.

The black robe hovered above the clouds, its hem perfectly still in the wind, entirely out of place amid the churning sea of clouds. Chen Lingxi's pupils shrank...

'Yuan Yuan?'

He recognized the man. This was none other than Yuan Yuan, the person capable of clashing with Xiao Changlv!

Xi Yu had originally been lying low a hundred li from the Killing Power Cauldron Vessel, planning to reveal herself only after Wu Mohe and the others killed Chen Lingxi.

She hadn't expected this sudden change of events; a military division had also unfurled its banners behind her.

She had wanted to use the willow leaf to flee far away, but she too sensed the terrifying entity above the clouds.

So she could only land on the ground, hoping to break through the encirclement.

Within the shadows behind her, another Entering Profound puppet flickered in and out of sight. She unleashed numerous profound runes and techniques, roaring through the void.

Wu Mohe also made his move!

The vortex of sword intent around him expanded once more. Countless blazing sword rays shot from the vortex, pouring toward a division of Silver Bone cultivators like a torrential rain of inverted sword qi.

Wherever the sword rays passed, silver armor shattered and flesh flew. Dozens of Silver Bone experts were shredded to pieces by the storm of sword qi.

But the bloody patterns on the Eight Large Banners only glowed faintly, instantly devouring the spilling blood-qi of those Silver Bone martial artists. The Nine Revolutions figure actually grew stronger! At this moment, Chen Lingxi made another discovery.

Standing on the Longevity Bridge, he realized that out of the Eight Divisions Military Force, not a single one had come to besiege him.

Wu Mohe, Xi Yu, and Lin Suri were all locked in bitter combat.

Yet the stretch of void where Chen Lingxi stood was completely empty, as if no one cared about him.

'Hm? Just as I thought, the Imperial Court is still unwilling to move against me.'

Chen Lingxi rapidly calculated in his heart.

He recalled that when he used Vision Roaming on Emperor Daye, the white-haired Purple-Clothed Marquis had mentioned his name before the Emperor.

'Emperor Daye seems to want me to ascend to the Tenth Floor on my own.'

Chen Lingxi narrowed his eyes, a few more guesses surfacing in his mind. 'In that case, I can safely retreat for now.'

He turned around, just about to cast the Cloud-Soaring Technique to fly out of the heaven-and-earth prison.

Right at that moment, Chen Lingxi suddenly sensed a disturbance within his Vast Void Pouch.

His expression changed slightly, and he sent a wisp of divine sense into the Vast Void Pouch. 'Hm? It's actually this great banner?'