Chapter 1997 - Divine Heaven-Treading Beast

As Liu Wuxie finished inscribing the last of the runes, the barrier's light slowly ebbed, leaving a thin veil of mist above Cloud Mist Manor.

"Young Master Liu, I can never thank you enough for your help," Yun Zhong said, approaching him at once and bowing deeply. Excitement lit his face. No one else understood the power of the Seven-Star Glazed Array as thoroughly as he did.

Through the connection Liu Wuxie had established for him with the spiritual array's core, Yun Zhong could control it with his blood. Liu Wuxie had only built the array, while Yun Zhong held the authority to command it.

"There's no need for such formality, Manor Lord Yun," Liu Wuxie replied, acknowledging his gratitude with a slight bow.

Glances passed among the other cultivators. If the crisis at Cloud Mist Manor had ended, what benefits could they still claim? Liu Wuxie would receive the Cloud Mist Pearl King, and they would return empty-handed.

"Manor Lord Yun, are you sure Liu Wuxie has resolved the problem?" Yan Wuji asked. With his life and those of his two companions hanging in the balance, he could not afford to be careless.

"You saw how restless the Cloud Mist Pearls were earlier. Now they're back in their proper positions," Yun Zhong replied. His explanation addressed everyone present, not just Yan Wuji.

"Calming the Cloud Mist Pearls is all his spiritual array has done. That doesn't prove it can keep them from disappearing," Yu Yan argued.

"For over half a month, the Cloud Mist Pearls have vanished every two hours each night. If we lose none over the next two hours, that will prove Young Master Liu's spiritual array is working," Yun Zhong said.

He knew they would not abandon their plans so readily. At a moment like this, he had to stand firmly behind Liu Wuxie and leave no doubt about his support.

"Then we'll wait," the surrounding cultivators said. They had little desire to linger, but they wanted to witness the outcome themselves.

An end to the disappearances would confirm that Liu Wuxie's array had succeeded. Further losses would mean it had failed.

The light of the six brilliant stars gradually weakened until they faded from sight. The Seven Sirius Stars themselves, however, had not vanished. Liu Wuxie had merely isolated Cloud Mist Manor from them behind a curtain, and they remained visible elsewhere.

More than an hour slipped by quietly after Liu Wuxie established the array. Still, the Cloud Mist Pearls floated peacefully overhead, with no sign of them disappearing.

As his anxiety receded, Yun Zhong conversed with Liu Wuxie, asking for guidance on spiritual arrays.

"It's been two hours, Manor Lord, and there's still no sign of any Cloud Mist Pearls disappearing," several elders of Cloud Mist Manor reported, stepping forward.

Those words lifted an immense weight from Yun Zhong's chest, and the final trace of tension vanished from his face.

"How would the three of you prefer to die?" Liu Wuxie asked, directing his cold gaze toward Yan Wuji and his companions. Since they had come there to kill him, he wouldn't show them mercy.

Yan Wuji sprang toward him with the swiftness of a leopard. "You're a mere Profound Immortal, Liu Wuxie. Do you honestly think you can kill us? Don't make me laugh!"

The experts from the Liang and Wen Clans lunged at the same moment. Yun Zhong was giving instructions to the nearby elders to remove the surrounding fences, and no one had imagined that the three men would attack so openly.

Spectators were delighted. They wanted the three men to kill Liu Wuxie. Now, only Yun Zhong could save him.

Yet more than ten meters separated Yun Zhong from Liu Wuxie. The abrupt assault had taken everyone by surprise.

A cruel smirk touched Liu Wuxie's lips as he confronted the three assailants. Before he could make his move, a figure flashed past him.

"Back off!" Long Yuanxiong struck at once, without the slightest hesitation.

Possessing the Law Enforcement Token placed Liu Wuxie among the Azure Jade Palace’s upper echelons. If any harm came to him here, how could they possibly answer to the sect?

Liu Wuxie had not expected Long Ying to intervene, but his surprise soon gave way to relief.

Explosions cracked in succession as Long Yuanxiong's single punch hurled Yan Wuji and his two companions backward with ease. Though they had reached the high levels of the Golden Immortal Realm, he was at its pinnacle of the Golden Immortal Realm and possessed formidable combat strength.

A terrifying grimness settled over the three men's faces. They knew Long Yuanxiong alone was more powerful than them, and Long Ying stood nearby as well.

"You agreed to the wager. Do you intend to deny your defeat?" Yun Zhong asked coldly, arriving at Liu Wuxie's side. To a Great Golden Immortal such as him, the three men amounted to nothing more than ants.

Although Cloud Mist Manor had fallen to the standing of a third-tier sect, its foundations endured. Its overall strength remained far greater than that of the three clans.

"Yun Zhong, this is between Liu Wuxie and us. It's a personal feud, so keep out of it," Yan Wuji warned. He wanted Yun Zhong to weigh the consequences of turning all three clans into enemies.

"Young Master Liu has rendered Cloud Mist Manor a great service. To kill him, you'll have to get through me first," Yun Zhong said. He unleashed his Great Golden Immortal Realm aura, driving the three men backward.

Their faces darkened at that declaration. With Yun Zhong present, they knew killing Liu Wuxie was impossible.

"I appreciate your kindness, Manor Lord Yun, but this feud is mine to settle. I'll deal with them myself," Liu Wuxie said, taking a step forward to place himself in front of Yun Zhong. He could face his enemies on his own.

Respect for the Law Enforcement Token had prompted Long Yuanxiong to intervene, while gratitude for Liu Wuxie's help had moved Yun Zhong to act.

"Young Master Liu, you can't match their strength," Yun Zhong said. He intended no slight. All three opponents had reached the high levels of the Golden Immortal Realm, and even Long Yuanxiong had managed only to drive them back. For Long Yuanxiong, killing them would be no easy matter.

"I can slaughter them as easily as livestock," Liu Wuxie said. His comparison sent Yan Wuji and his companions into a rage.

"Liu Wuxie, you've got courage. I admire that. Let's have a fair fight, then," Yan Wuji said. The words carried not a shred of shame. All three were at the Golden Immortal Realm, while Liu Wuxie was only a Profound Immortal, yet Yan Wuji still had the gall to call their fight fair.

Long Ying held Long Yuanxiong back as he tried to intervene. She was curious to discover how many more secrets Liu Wuxie concealed. The way he had slain Ji Heng and the other two Ji Clan disciples made it clear that he had not used his full strength. He likely had more trump cards.

In reality, Liu Wuxie possessed combat strength that rivaled only that of a first-level Golden Immortal. Against those at the higher levels of the realm, his chances of victory were slim. Nor could he summon Blackie. That trump card had to remain hidden until he had no other choice, allowing him to catch his enemies off guard. Even so, Liu Wuxie was confident he could kill these men without Blackie's help.

Before Yun Zhong could speak, Liu Wuxie stopped him with a raised hand.

"Come and fight me," Liu Wuxie said, his fighting spirit burning fiercely.

The watching cultivators stepped back immediately, leaving the four within a ring. Concern clouded Yun Zhong's gaze as he watched Liu Wuxie, but Long Ying showed none of it. A hint of anticipation even touched her face.

"Give it everything you've got!" Yan Wuji instructed his two companions through a private transmission. Ideally, they would kill Liu Wuxie with a single strike, leaving Yun Zhong no chance to save him.

All three moved at once. Their auras swept the blue slabs off the ground, and a terrifying wave of energy closed in from three directions. Liu Wuxie had nowhere to dodge. Whichever way he moved, their combined assault would land on him.

"Elder Sister, he can't match their strength on his own," Long Yuanxiong said. He could make no sense of her decision to stop him. Hadn’t she stressed the importance of the Law Enforcement Token earlier that day? Why had her attitude changed now?

"He'll come through this alive," Long Ying replied.

She left it at that. Her sixth sense told her Liu Wuxie would survive the battle. At first, she had expected him to call on the Law Enforcement Token. With the Sword of Law to aid him, he would be practically invincible. Yet he made no move to produce the token, which only increased her curiosity about how he would escape this predicament.

Long Yuanxiong said no more and watched the battlefield intently.

"What is that brat up to? Why isn't his weapon out?" the surrounding cultivators asked in confusion. Facing attacks from three sides without a weapon made no sense to them, especially when he seemed unprepared even to retaliate.

"Big words and nothing behind them. Now let's see how that brat dies," Pei Zhongyi sneered. He could already imagine Liu Wuxie's corpse lying sprawled on the ground.

The three surging waves of suppressive force joined into one and swept toward Liu Wuxie. Their sheer power snapped his hair band loose, while ripples of pressure lashed his clothes into violent motion. If he wasn't careful, he would leave no intact corpse behind.

The three men poured their Golden Immortal Realm laws into their artifacts, sending three sword rays down from the sky like a blizzard. All directions around Liu Wuxie lay sealed, the sky included. They meant to deny him even the slightest chance of escape.

"Get ready to die, Liu Wuxie!" the three men roared. Their attacks meshed into a simple formation they had rehearsed repeatedly before their arrival.

The formation's completion put Liu Wuxie beyond even Yun Zhong's help. He would have to rely entirely on himself.

Liu Wuxie snorted, beckoning with his right hand. "Three pieces of trash, and you still dare to boast in front of me?"

A dazzling seal flashed overhead, confounding everyone present. The Seven-Star Glazed Array's ability to block the Seven Sirius Stars' perception was only part of its power. It could also function as a formidable offensive spiritual array.

Since Liu Wuxie had never taught Yun Zhong how to use the array's offensive function, he alone could wield it. Yun Zhong would have been less surprised had he known of that capability.

A terrifying bestial roar suddenly thundered across the sky. To obtain enough blood to water the seven Glazed Trees, Yun Zhong had slaughtered thousands of immortal beasts. Over the years, Cloud Mist Manor had reared most of those beasts, and it had captured some that afternoon.

By channeling the power of all those immortal beasts through the spiritual array, Liu Wuxie could gather it at a single point and form a Divine Heaven-Treading Beast.

The roar struck with deafening force, stunning many cultivators. They pressed their hands over their ears, even wishing they could burrow underground to escape the sound waves. The sound by itself forced some of the weaker Divine Immortals to cough up blood.

The imprints of the dead immortal beasts still lingered within their blood. Using a special method, Liu Wuxie had compressed every one of those imprints together. A single immortal beast offered nothing to fear, but not even an Immortal King would dare face the combined might of over a thousand immortal beasts. At the sight of the beast in the sky, all the Immortal Kings went pale.

No ordinary immortal beast's power was at work here. This was the might of the Divine Heaven-Treading Beast.