Chapter 162 - Graceful Phoenix Descends

Thirty kilometers away, the sky above Black Crow Ridge suddenly fractured into thousands of jagged lines as a massive spatial rift tore open, and Sect Master Jun Tianya’s massive Dragon Bone War Ark glided out of the rift.

Sect Master Jun Tianya descended slowly. With a quick sweep of his divine sense, he took in the current state of the valley.

Peak Master Lei quickly flew in front of him and bowed. "Lei Zhenwu greets the Sect Master."

At that exact moment, the destruction of the ninth soul seed sent a sharp soul ripple through the remaining two vessels.

Bound tightly in Lei Zhenwu’s lightning chains, the unconscious Tiger Demon suddenly snapped his eyes open with an agonized roar.

With the Main Body gone once again, one of them had to take over as the new main body.

"Aagghhhhh!!"

As his vision cleared, the Tiger Demon froze in terror. Twenty elders of the Heavenly Cloud Sect, Peak Master Lei Zhenwu, and Sect Master Jun Tianya stood right in front of him.

"What... what is happening?!" The Tiger Demon’s voice trembled in disbelief.

Beside him, Scholar Yan also regained consciousness, coughing blood as the ninth soul seed was destroyed.

With a flick of his finger, Jun Tianya sent a beam of purple lightning crashing into the beast, suppressing the demon instantly.

"Quiet."

The surrounding elders immediately stepped forward. Slapping more golden sealing talismans onto both prisoners, they restrained them in place.

Lei Zhenwu looked at the panicking demonic vessels, a grin spreading across his face.

"Su Ming must have succeeded! He tracked down and destroyed the last vessel!"

Jun Tianya nodded slowly. A distance of thirty kilometers was nothing before his divine sense.

Reaching out across the distance, Jun Tianya contacted Su Ming through a spiritual transmission. After confirming the details and verifying that the final vessel was exterminated, he instructed Su Ming to return to the ridge.

***

As a thunderous sonic boom echoed across the distant sky, Su Ming appeared, carrying a young boy in his arms, and landed gently on the ground.

"Who is this, Su Ming?" the Sect Master asked, and even Peak Master Lei was curious.

"My disciple," Su Ming casually answered.

Su Ming introduced Jiang Chen to them. "This is Jiang Chen. Demonic Ancestor Mo tried to steal his body as his ninth vessel, but I saved him in the nick of time."

"As he possesses good talent, I decided to take him as my disciple." Su Ming nodded to Jiang Chen.

"Jiang Chen, pay your respects to the Sect Master and the Elders."

"This disciple pays respects to the Sect Master and the Elders."

Looking at this young boy in front of him, the Sect Master gave an approving nod.

The Azure Thunder Spirit Root instantly caught his eye.

"Ah! A Thunder element spiritual root! Good. Very good."

"Cultivate well under your master," he said, handing a small bottle of pills to Jiang Chen.

Gradually, two more war arks appeared in the sky as Peak Master Jian Chengyun and Peak Master Yan Qinghai arrived as they promised.

On the ground, realizing all nine vessels were either dead or captured, the Tiger Demon thrashed against the restraints in a frantic plea.

"Wait! Jun Tianya! Spare me! I will become your servant! I will even serve as your mount!"

Beside him, Scholar Yan laughed wildly, falling into madness as the full despair settled in.

"Hahaha!

Centuries of planning, endless sacrifice, it all went down in vain!

Demonic Ancestor Mo was finished!

***

As Peak Master Jian collected Chen Wuhen’s corpse and placed it inside his storage ring, everyone rose into the sky.

The Sect Master stood at the very front, his robes fluttering against the rising gale. The frantic pleas of the Tiger Demon never reached his ears.

With a clasp of his palms, Jun Tianya unleashed his massive Lightning Sovereign Saint Avatar.

At the same instant, the world seemed to have stopped. Heaven and earth froze under an overwhelming sense of command. The gravity shifted, as well as the electricity in the air charged up.

Behind Jun Tianya, a towering figure of violet thunder condensed into solid reality. The hundred-foot Lightning Sovereign Saint Avatar clad in majestic robes stood tall against the clouds. Atop its head rested an imperial crown made of pure lightning runes that pulsed with blinding light. Behind its head spun a massive Saint Halo, casting layered rings of thunder that radiated across the valley.

’So this is a Saint Avatar.’ Su Ming’s eyes widened with awe as he stared at the towering figure. Its presence was overwhelming.

It felt as if an immortal sovereign had stepped down from the heavens to deliver an imperial judgment.

Jun Tianya looked down upon the demonic stronghold with cold eyes.

’Purple Firmament splits the nine heavens, Divine Lightning obeys.’

Just as the words left Jun Tianya’s mouth, the clouds tore open as a celestial cry echoed across the sky. High above the clouds, a colossal phoenix made out of pure Purple Firmament Divine Lightning unfolded its wings of violet plasma, bathing the entire area in a blinding light of purple brilliance.

"Purple Firmament Divine Lightning - Graceful Phoenix!"

The lightning phoenix folded its wings and dived straight into the valley.

A blinding white light engulfed Su Ming’s vision.

Before any sound could follow, the ground shook violently as the entire mountain range began to tremble and collapse.

Jiang Chen’s eyes widened in terror as he hid behind Su Ming.

In front of Su Ming and the other elders, the three Peak Masters raised a defensive barrier.

A second later, the aftershock hit.

Waves of violent air slammed against the barrier with a thunderous roar.

Below in the valley, the celestial phoenix struck the heart of the stronghold.

The black towers, blood altars, and secret pavilions all simply crumbled into dust. The purple lightning turned the earth into plasma, boiling away every trace of demonic miasma until nothing remained but a glassy basin.

Gradually, the thunder faded away as silence returned to the valley.

The Peak Masters lowered their hands, letting the barrier fade into the air.

High above the clouds, Jun Tianya stood alone against the sky. His Lightning Sovereign Saint Avatar slowly dissolved into the air with specks of purple light.

Looking down upon the hollowed earth where the demonic sect once stood, the Sect Master closed his eyes. His lips moved slightly, muttering words too faint for anyone to catch.

Now that Feng Wan’er was finally avenged, the invisible knot binding his dao heart finally loosened. Deep within him, the cultivation bottleneck that had remained stagnant for almost a century quietly loosened.

As the sun slowly sank behind the distant horizon under the dusky skies, Jun Tianya’s blood debt of three hundred years finally settled.