Chapter 551 - 499: The Dagger is Revealed

Chapter 551: Chapter 499: The Dagger is Revealed

The blade paid no heed to the Nascent Soul cultivators present. As it swept across the hall in a flurry of crisscrossing strikes, the towering council chamber collapsed with a thunderous roar.

Xu Lingtian vaulted into the air, hovering high in the sky. He gripped his sword and surveyed the area. In the next instant, a rain of sword light descended, shattering the sprawling complex of pavilions and palaces surrounding the council chamber.

Through the billowing dust, the hidden veins of Array Prohibitions began to reveal themselves. Crisscrossing Array Prohibition Inscriptions spread out, appearing to completely envelop the vast central district of the city.

Triggered by Xu Lingtian’s rampage, the previously hidden Array Prohibition Inscriptions shed all pretense of concealment. They burst into full view, completely sealing off the city’s central district.

Despite the billowing dust, it was impossible for the Nascent Soul cultivators present to miss such a commotion!

One after another, the Nascent Soul Great Powers shot into the air, hovering in the sky. Their Divine Thoughts intertwined as they examined the signs of this strange transformation.

What these signs meant was, under the circumstances, painfully clear.

"Overlord Saber, how dare you!"

"Colluding with them to plot against us... you must have a death wish!"

"The Overlord Saber Alliance no longer needs to exist!"

"Chen Jinshen, you deserve death!"

The Nascent Soul cultivators glared, and without a moment’s hesitation, they unleashed a barrage of attacks filled with killing intent, blanketing the Overlord Saber Ancestor and Chen Jinshen.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Amidst a series of world-shaking roars, the sky itself changed color. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged like a tide before exploding violently. Beneath the dazzling display was a terrifying killing intent that swept through the entire city!

"Today, this city will be your grave!"

"You can’t escape!"

Chen Jinshen sneered. He ignored the furious onslaught of attacks, and as his figure flickered, a fissure tore open in the void. Chen Jinshen stepped through it and vanished.

As for the Overlord Saber Ancestor, he had vanished without a trace the moment the hall began to collapse, his whereabouts unknown.

At the same time, the dense network of Array Prohibition veins surrounding the city center shed the last of its disguise.

The veins of the Array Prohibition writhed like the chains of a cage, crisscrossing as they gathered at twelve cardinal positions to entrap the Nascent Soul cultivators.

One Nascent Soul cultivator shouted, spitting a Profound Yin Lock Chain from his mouth. It pulsed with sinister Ghost Qi as countless Resentful Ghosts and Evil Spirits shrieked and slammed it against the Array Prohibition Chains, causing them to ripple violently as if on the verge of breaking.

Seeing this, the other Nascent Soul cultivators attacked in succession. A volley of terrifying attacks rained down. The Array Prohibition groaned, ripples surging across its surface. It was clearly on the verge of shattering.

"Let’s combine our strength and break this array!"

Profound Nether Ancestor roared. The Nascent Soul cultivators exchanged a glance and attacked once more.

Just then, outside the Grand Array, the recently vanished Chen Jinshen and Overlord Saber True Master reappeared. With them were four others.

The terrifying, unconcealed aura of their Cultivation clearly announced their identities: they were all Nascent Soul cultivators.

If Chu Mu had been there, he would have surely recognized these four Nascent Soul cultivators. They were the very same Chen Family Nascent Soul Ancestors who had stood guard over the Demon Suppression Islands for many years.

There was Chen Xuanling, the Array Dao Nascent Soul. A burly, bearded man with Flood Dragon horns sprouting from his head was Chen Shengwu, a Supreme elder from the Chen Family’s Punishment Hall. There was also a woman in white, Chen Shengwu’s Dao Companion and a fellow Chen Family cultivator named Chen Lingyan.

The final figure was the true patriarch of the Chen Family: Fairy Qing Ling’s grandfather, a Late Stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator hailed as the number one cultivator in the entire Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World!

These terrifying figures should have all been stationed at the Demon Suppression Islands, holding the line against the Profound Serpent Race.

Yet now, they had all appeared silently here in Bazhou City.

Their intentions, much like the Grand Array that had trapped the Nascent Soul cultivators, were brutally clear.

When the Chen Family Nascent Soul cultivators appeared, the cultivators trapped within the Grand Array paid them no mind. They continued to unleash their Divine Techniques, relentlessly bombarding the formation that held them captive.

Outside the array, the Chen Family’s cultivators and the Overlord Saber Ancestor also remained silent. They began casting Divine Techniques one after another, throwing out Techniques to reinforce the Grand Array. At the same time, numerous other Techniques sank into the earth and vanished, a clear sign they were preparing even deeper measures.

The situation had reached a point where both sides clearly understood that words were useless.

Only by eliminating the other side could they... prevent future disaster!

"Father."

Just then, Xu Changqing suddenly spoke, his voice entering Xu Lingtian’s ear via a transmission.

Upon hearing this, Xu Lingtian’s grim expression seemed to soften considerably.

Xu Lingtian did not use a transmission, asking aloud, "Where is he now?"

Xu Changqing gave a wry smile. "I don’t know. With his personality, once he sensed something was wrong, he would have already left the city if he could. If he couldn’t get out, he’s probably gone into hiding."

After a pause, Xu Changqing added with certainty, "But his judgment must have been correct."

Hearing the exchange between Xu Lingtian and his son, the gazes of the other Nascent Soul cultivators within the array converged on them.

After all, no one else had detected the Chen Family’s scheme. The first sign of trouble had only come when Xu Changqing forced his way through the formation to warn Xu Lingtian.

"Rest assured, everyone. I still have a card up my sleeve. The Chen Family’s plot will not succeed."

"First, we combine our strength to break the array! The Chen Family’s scheme is not yet complete. We cannot allow them to see it through!"

Without waiting for the others to react, Xu Lingtian raised his hand and flung out a streak of sword light. It slashed across the Array Prohibition Chains enveloping them, causing them to ripple violently once more, as if on the verge of collapse.

Though the other Nascent Soul cultivators wanted to question him further, they knew there was no time for discussion.

Following the Sword Dao Nascent Soul’s lead, the other Nascent Soul Great Powers once again unleashed their Divine Techniques. One summoned a pillar of light that shot skyward, forming a separate four-sided array in an attempt to break the formation from within. Another released a tide of sinister Ghost Qi, from which endless Resentful Ghosts and Evil Spirits shrieked and roared, relentlessly battering the teetering Grand Array.

As the Nascent Soul cultivators attacked in concert, each blow stirred the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, causing it to surge like a tide. The sky filled with a dazzling spectacle, so brilliant that the world itself seemed to lose its color.

World-shaking roars and rolling tides of Spiritual Qi thundered throughout the city. Even with the Grand Array’s isolation, the slivers of terrifying pressure that leaked out were enough to feel like the apocalypse to any cultivator below the Nascent Soul realm!

Bazhou City, which moments before had been in an uproar over the auction’s priceless treasures and the so-called wanted fugitive, was now plunged into a deathly, city-wide silence, gripped by terror.

All eyes were fixed on the terrifying, brilliant spectacle in the sky, filled with fear, confusion, and bewildered suspicion...

Just then, the surging, brilliant spectacle in the sky began to transform.

As the teetering Array Prohibition Chains intertwined, the ground suddenly split apart. Vicious cracks, like gaping wounds upon the earth, spread open, and crimson wisps began to seep from its depths.

This bizarre transformation lasted only a moment. Then, at the twelve cardinal positions, towering figures, like gods or demons returning from Hell, began to rise from the depths of the fractured earth.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!

A dull thrumming, like a colossal heartbeat, boomed from deep underground. Under this oppressive rhythm, the countless cultivators from all over the world within a few miles of the city center—still stunned and bewildered by the scene—all swelled like overinflated balloons. In a moment of helpless despair, tens of thousands of cultivators violently exploded!

Severed limbs and broken bodies filled the air. In a single instant, the central district was stained a mottled crimson.

The ground continued to crack, the fissures spreading from the city center to every blood-stained patch of earth. Each crack was like a bloodthirsty Demon Pattern, greedily devouring the crimson mist.

In just a few breaths, the mottled blood, severed limbs, and broken bodies were devoured completely, leaving not a single trace behind.

If not for the lingering cracks in the earth, the scene of tens of thousands of cultivators exploding just moments ago would have seemed like a mere illusion.

Now, seemingly nourished by sufficient Blood Qi, the twelve towering, god-and-demon-like figures at the twelve cardinal positions fully emerged from the ground.

They were twelve hundred-zhang-tall Soldier Puppets, looking just as they had after Chu Mu had overseen their repairs. But now, all twelve Soldier Puppets were stained with a layer of mottled blood, as if clad in crimson armor.

The moment these twelve hundred-zhang-tall Soldier Puppets appeared, the Grand Array, which had been on the verge of collapse, seemed to receive some unknown reinforcement. The mottled blood seeped into the formation, and what was once teetering instantly became as solid as a boulder.

Even with the combined might of the Nascent Soul cultivators, their great power now seemed unable to shake the array in the slightest...

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