Chapter 569 - 515: Targeted

Chapter 569: Chapter 515: Targeted

CLANG!!

BOOM!!

Up in the sky, Xu Lingtian brandished his Long Sword. In an instant, hundreds of sword gleams transformed into a torrent of Sword Qi.

With his Cultivation at the Middle Stage of Nascent Soul, he actually fought Qing Cang Ancestor, a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, to a standstill without losing any ground.

In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged hundreds of blows. Cyan Wood filled the vast expanse as Sword Qi rained down. The immense Magical Power of the two triggered all sorts of natural phenomena, causing endless, brilliant collisions to erupt and then vanish around them.

The scorching sun hung high, and the sea of clouds shattered. Above Bazhou City, it wasn’t just Xu Lingtian and Qing Cang Ancestor who clashed. More than a dozen Nascent Soul experts from both sides were engaged in a life-or-death Battle, holding nothing back.

At this very moment, without the Grand Array to block and suppress them, they fought head-on with no more reservations. It was a direct, brutal Battle, with all kinds of Divine Power unleashed.

At some unknown point, the Chain Array that enveloped the entire city, which had been on the verge of collapse, finally let out a piercing, crisp shattering sound.

Like shattering glass, hideous cracks appeared across the sky. The fissures spread rapidly, and in just a brief moment, a web of crisscrossing cracks covered the entire celestial dome.

Colorful and yet ghastly.

The next second, it was like a meteor shower falling from the sky.

The Five Elements Yin and Yang, the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams—all were annihilated.

And at that very instant, from the ravaged outskirts of Bazhou City, streaks of Tunneling Light appeared. They shot up from the city’s edge, streaking across the sky as they fled outward.

The Cultivators who had been lucky enough to survive the catastrophe, regardless of their Cultivation level, now had only one thought: escape this place!

Chu Mu was no exception. However, to hide his identity, he didn’t even dare to use too much Magical Power. He relied on a Flying Shuttle he had refined in his spare time, flying away on the Artifact without a single look back!

Just then, up in the sky, a Nascent Soul from the Chen Family suddenly launched an attack. With a flick of his sleeve, a flash of lightning erupted from his hand.

In an instant, the sky was lit up with deep purple lightning. Dark clouds roiled as the thunder and lightning expanded across the heavens. Within the flashes, the faint phantoms of Flood Dragons could be seen. Amidst their roaring cries, the deep purple lightning grew ever more intense, ever more blinding.

As the Chen Family’s Nascent Soul waved his hand, the sky full of thunder and lightning fell like a doomsday Celestial Punishment.

But these countless bolts of lightning didn’t fall toward the Nascent Soul experts he was fighting. Instead, they rained down upon the Cultivators who were trying to escape the city.

Thunder and lightning—a single strike from a Nascent Soul Great Power was, to any Cultivator below the Nascent Soul realm, an undeniable Celestial Punishment!

Streaks of Tunneling Light fled outward from all corners of Bazhou City, pursued by a crisscrossing web of lightning that fell almost indiscriminately.

With every bolt of lightning that fell, a streak of Tunneling Light was extinguished. The Cultivator within would have their Divine Soul utterly destroyed, turning to ash.

Chu Mu was among them, naturally caught within the range of this sky-filling lightning bombardment.

A single bolt of lightning fell, and even from a distance, his Divine Soul Blade began to tremble wildly. A long-forgotten sense of dread suddenly surged through him.

His scalp tingled, and his Heart Spirit trembled!

’Utter terror!’

At this moment, Chu Mu clearly didn’t dare to be the slightest bit careless. With a low shout, the area several hundred meters around him transformed into a raging sea of fire. Nine draconic shadows flickered in and out of existence, and the terrifyingly high temperature intensified as the bolt of lightning approached.

Just as the lightning was about to strike, a gleam of a blade lit up before him.

Immediately after, this gleam of light expanded, splitting into a dense and countless number of blade gleams.

In just an instant, it was as if an immeasurable number of blade gleams rippled out, spreading through the sea of fire around him.

Sword Intent Domain, Nine Dragon Divine Flame!

Facing this attack from a Nascent Soul expert, even if it was just a single part of the overall assault, he didn’t dare hold anything back and used all his techniques.

The lightning bolt advanced with unstoppable force, breaking through the sea of fire and the Sword Domain. Yet, it seemed to be suppressed by some immense and terrifying pressure, its speed slowing until it finally froze less than a meter in front of Chu Mu.

The deep purple lightning, the crimson sea of fire, and the brilliant white blade gleams intertwined in a dazzling stalemate before him.

"Break!"

Chu Mu slowly extended his index finger and tapped the bolt of lightning.

BUZZ!!

Instantly, the countless flames and blade gleams before and behind him merged into one. A sky-filling crimson torrent of Sword Intent enveloped the bolt of lightning from all directions.

Under such terrifying suppression, the bolt of lightning lasted for less than a moment before visibly dimming. Finally, like a final flare of life, the lightning suddenly brightened as a terrifying aura erupted from it.

At this, the fiery light surged even more fiercely. The erupting lightning was visibly compressed and imprisoned, finally forming a completely crimson sphere in front of Chu Mu.

The sphere was about the size of a human head. It was entirely crimson, and at its center, wisps of blade light circled around a single point of lightning.

Although the situation seemed to be in his favor, Chu Mu was not as relaxed as he appeared. He was clearly under immense pressure.

Veins bulged on his forehead. With another low shout, he pushed forward forcefully, and the crimson sphere shot out like an arrow released from a bowstring.

But in mid-air, the sphere seemed unable to contain the surging lightning any longer. The Power of Imprisonment shattered with a boom!

The lightning erupted. The deep purple light instantly overwhelmed the crimson and white, sweeping across an area of several hundred meters in a flash.

BOOM!

After a world-shaking roar, the city wall collapsed, revealing a massive, scorched crater hundreds of meters wide.

And at this moment, amidst the utter annihilation, there was almost only one survivor.

A figure in green robes, a mere Golden Core Cultivator, once again entered the vision of the Nascent Soul experts.

"What impressive methods. You can even alter your Divine Soul Aura. The death of the Profound Serpent Race’s Young Master back then must have something to do with him, and with your Longevity Sect, right?"

At this moment, Qing Cang Ancestor spoke softly. Though his voice was still calm, the chill within it was extremely clear.

"Hahaha, what? Does your Chen Family not have the guts to admit what it’s done?"

Xu Lingtian laughed wantonly, mocking him without restraint. "The evidence is conclusive, yet you still want to pin the blame on my sect. Only your Chen Family is shameless enough to pull something like this!"

"Hmph!"

Qing Cang Ancestor snorted coldly and didn’t argue further. Instead, he suddenly reached a hand out toward Chu Mu. In the void, a pale cyan hand formed from the Power of Heaven and Earth abruptly appeared.

In that instant, all the dazzling lights of the Nascent Soul Battle seemed to vanish. The entire sky was filled with only the giant, world-blotting hand.

As the target of the giant hand, Chu Mu felt his very thoughts freeze under this majestic celestial might. He was like a man trapped in quicksand. His thoughts, Magical Power, Divine Sense—stirring any of them in the slightest was as difficult as ascending to heaven under this absolute suppression of power.

He could only watch helplessly as the world-blotting hand descended, feeling his physical body and Divine Soul begin to crack under its majestic might.

"Hmph!"

Fortunately, just as the giant hand was about to reach him, a cold snort sounded. A flash of sword light appeared, and the terrifying imprisonment, like a majestic celestial might, seemed to be broken ever so slightly.

Chu Mu didn’t hesitate for a second. Achieving Man-Sword Unity, he seized the critical moment to execute a Flying Escape through that tiny crack in the suppression.

BOOM!

Almost at the exact instant he barely managed to fly out of the giant hand’s range, a world-shaking roar erupted.

Immediately, an aura far more terrifying than that bolt of lightning exploded right behind him!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Amidst the unending roars, a towering shockwave surged. Inside and outside the city, an area several thousand meters wide was annihilated in that flash of cyan-gray light.

Caught in the raging shockwave, Chu Mu, who had just escaped, couldn’t bear the force. Like a kite with a broken string, his blade light shattered, and he fell from the sky.

"The number one Cultivator of the Vast Sea, attacking a junior of the Golden Core realm. Qing Cang Ancestor, it seems the longer you live, the more you regress!"

Xu Lingtian glanced at the falling Chu Mu, then held his sword horizontally in the air, blocking Qing Cang Ancestor’s path.

"Do I need to explain my actions to you?"

Qing Cang Ancestor remained unfazed. He raised his hand for another strike, but this time, Sword Qi crisscrossed the air, directly shattering the newly formed giant hand.

In the next instant, Qing Cang Ancestor’s figure flickered and vanished. When he reappeared, he was already outside the city, merely a few dozen zhang away from Chu Mu.

BOOM!

At this moment, under the terrifying aura of a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, Chu Mu, who had just barely recovered from the previous shockwave, felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He staggered and spat out a mouthful of blood. A dignified Golden Core Cultivator, yet he couldn’t even stand firm.

He struggled to raise his head, only to be met with Qing Cang Ancestor’s indifferent gaze, as if he were looking down at an ant.

"You are a menace. I cannot let you live!"

A cold voice entered his ears as Qing Cang Ancestor slowly raised his hand, then slowly pressed it down.

BOOM!

Just a sliver of the terrifying aura leaked out, and Chu Mu, who was staggering and barely holding himself up, spat out another mouthful of murky blood. Under the pressure of the aura alone, his formidable body, a source of his pride, began to visibly crack apart.

His Sword Intent Divine Protection began to creak. Its supposedly all-severing edge was fierce, true, but now all that remained was a ceaseless tremor from the depths of his soul!

And this, it seemed, was only the beginning.

The palm descended. Its power seemed to move slowly, yet in the instant it fell, it expanded rapidly. Once again blotting out the sky, it was now just a hair’s breadth from Chu Mu. The aura of death, after so many years, once again coiled around him.

"Sever!"

Xu Lingtian was enraged. With a furious roar, his Sword Intent pierced the heavens as a colossal Giant Sword fell without hesitation. But in the end, it was too late.

The giant hand slammed down. A terrifying, destructive aura surged, and in an instant, an area several thousand meters wide was completely covered... and completely... annihilated.

"Qing Cang, you’re courting death!"

Xu Lingtian’s killing intent boiled over. His Sword Intent crisscrossed the air, blanketing Qing Cang Ancestor entirely.

As for Chu Mu, no one believed he could possibly... survive a deliberate strike from a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator!

"If you had reached the Late Stage of Nascent Soul, I might have been a bit wary. But a mere Middle Stage of Nascent Soul... do you really think I fear you!"

Qing Cang Ancestor seemed somewhat angered as well. He raised a hand and blocked the incoming sword light, his gaze, now tinged with anger and coldness, instantly locking onto Xu Lingtian.

But just then, as if sensing something, Qing Cang Ancestor seemed stunned. He whipped his head around to look at the ravaged land where the deep crater had appeared, where shockwaves and dust still churned.

In the crater, the Corpse Puppet was half-squatting on the ground. More than half of its body was mangled. Its physical form, nearly unparalleled below the Nascent Soul realm, was now just scattered flesh and blood, with ghastly white bones clearly visible.

Amidst the billowing Corpse Qi, the aura of a living being was nevertheless extremely clear to the senses of the present Nascent Soul experts.

Sheltered by the Corpse Puppet at the bottom of the crater, Chu Mu staggered to his feet. Though his body was riddled with holes and covered in wounds, there was no doubt that he had... survived the attack of a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator!

"Good!"

Xu Lingtian’s anger turned to joy. He waved his hand, and a streak of sword light shot toward the crater, instantly sweeping up Chu Mu and the shattered Corpse Puppet.

The next moment, the sword light streaked across the sky and plunged straight into the Cloud Realm. In the blink of an eye, it vanished from the sight of the Nascent Soul experts present.

Then, as sword light flowed around him, Xu Lingtian turned back to Qing Cang Ancestor. As if to prevent any further mishaps, a web of crisscrossing sword light formed a great prison and descended upon Qing Cang Ancestor without the slightest hesitation...

...