Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 547A – The Beam of Light from the Skies

Qin Yu had made his move and easily killed off the monster beasts in the Endless Sea as if he were butchering chickens or ducks. Among the Holy Nether Guard whose hearts were filled with despair, hope and anticipation began to stir once again at the sight they saw. But when they saw light appear at the edges of the road of Sea Burial, this still greatly impacted their minds.

Because this light…represented freedom and hope! Throughout the long span of 100,000 years, many people were unwilling to resign themselves to their fate and tried to rush through the road of Sea Burial, only to end up buried there instead. Their actions had dyed the stone of opening blood red.

But their deaths hadn’t been wasted. Today, the Lord Commander would walk across the road that had been soaked with their blood and rush through this sea of nightmares, leading the Holy Nether Guard into a brighter future.

Wang Chao’s thoughts surged. He suddenly shouted out, “Lord Commander is invincible! Lord Commander is unparalleled!” This was his true emotions bursting out, as well as a way of washing clean his previous stupid actions that almost ruined everything. He thanked Old Shang once more. If it weren’t for him…Wang Chao felt a cool chill run down his back. He didn’t dare to think of the consequences.

“Lord Commander is invincible! Lord Commander is unparalleled!” Countless people widened their eyes and looked excitedly towards Fu Shan whose eyes were overflowing with hot tears. After a brief moment of shock, they immediately realized that he was no longer able to suppress the raging emotions from the depths of his soul.

“Lord Commander is invincible! Lord Commander is unparalleled!”

“Lord Commander is invincible! Lord Commander is unparalleled!”

“Lord Commander is invincible! Lord Commander is unparalleled!”

Their billowing voices rang through Holy Nether City. It seemed to shake the outside sea, causing it to shiver and for tiny ripples to appear.

Shang Yuntai’s heart stirred. He looked up towards the light and that familiar figure which made one yearn for the light. He suddenly felt as if that figure had grown infinitely tall, as if he could break through the skies, as if no strength could ever suppress him anymore. A great image appeared in his mind. That figure rose up higher and higher until he reached the summit of the world. As for those who followed behind him, they were all basked in the glory of his light.

But at this moment, Shang Yuntai discovered that within that radiant light, a shadow suddenly appeared. One could faintly make out the face of a person in the blurry water. Then, a hand fell down from the clouds. It was so huge, so massive that it seemed to occupy the entire heavens. Endless fear erupted, submerging the mind.

Shang Yuntai had no idea where this great hand came from, but he had a clear intuition: this hand had the strength to thoroughly crush the image that had just taken shape in his mind!

“No!” He roared in fear.

The tiny ripples in the seawater suddenly erupted with a shocking level of strength. The somewhat calm Endless Sea suddenly became the incarnation of death and destruction. Wild waves crashed and pounded Holy Nether City. Even with the city’s protective array formation in full activation, it still fiercely shook beneath the continuous barrage.

No one knew what was happening. But that didn’t stop them from feeling the aura of total annihilation!

…

In the skies above the Endless Sea, many great figures of the Demonic Path had appeared. Even though they had restrained their own auras, their powerful cultivation boundaries still easily twisted and transformed the surrounding world rules. It formed numerous translucent spaces that covered them, making it so that they couldn’t be spied on.

When mighty waves began to rise on the calm surface of the sea, fluctuations appeared from the twisted spaces. Surprise appeared in those dignified eyes watching the scene. These people…they had actually succeeded!

As if to confirm what everyone was thinking, after the first waves appeared, the sea’s surface began to shake more and more. Water tumbled around, producing massive splashes of water as if a powerful fountain had appeared, wanting to break through the barrier of the sea and expose itself to the world.

Everyone understood what was going to happen next. The road of Ascending Heaven that the Holy Nether Guard had attempted numerous times over 100,000 years but had failed each time, was finally being rushed through today! To be more blunt, this had a powerful effect on every influence within the Demonic Path, thus everyone’s thoughts were racing as they tried to figure out how to deal with the following situation.

The eyes of the Mu Family’s new Calamity Immortal lit up, his pupils like two slowly spinning nebulas. He looked up, his gaze piercing through the space distortions to fall upon the body of the Demon Envoy. Although he was calm and quiet, his potent will was fully exposed.

These Holy Nether Guards that managed to rush through the road of Ascending Heaven and regain their freedom would certainly join the ranks of the Mu Family!

The Demon Envoy slightly furrowed his eyebrows before composing himself. He turned his head a little and two pairs of eyes collided in the void.

Strong winds were suddenly whipped up in the skies above the Endless Sea. The space distortion around the Mu Family’s new Calamity Immortal suddenly trembled and wavered, nearly dispersing.

Because the throne of the Holy Monarch was empty, the Holy Palace’s Demon Envoy was unable to muster all of the strength that should be under his jurisdiction. Still, he was an incomparably honored figure. If that older monster from the Mu Family who refused to die had appeared here today, he might be willing to patiently endure a little, but how dare this trivial junior try to be so dissolute in front of him?

Those who were able to sense this confrontation occurring between the two all revealed dignified expressions. Although the internal struggles within the Demonic Path had never ceased, the overall balance could still be maintained.

However, today’s events were of too high a significance. It was impossible for either the Demon Envoy or Mu Family to take a step back and give some concessions. If a frontal conflict were to result from this, even if none of the people watching wished for it, sooner or later they would be dragged into the quagmire.

As heavy thoughts weighed down on everyone’s minds, something suddenly appeared on the edge of their perception. They almost simultaneously looked up towards the skies, unable to cover the shock on their faces.

Qing Ruhong’s complexion changed. She took a step forward but halted, because she knew she could no longer stop it. A bit of sorrow and sadness rose in her heart.

This is the choice you made? Even if you completely destroy yourself, you still want to drag them down with you? She sighed, asking herself ‘why’ in her heart. But when she thought about what she would do if she faced a similar situation, she feared she would also make the same choice.

Qing Ruhong slightly closed her eyes. She knew that after today she would need to give everyone an explanation. But, she didn’t want to think about this right now.

Over the span of 100,000 years, the Endless Sea Great Array had developed its own consciousness. As the overseer of the Sky Hub Division, she had discovered this long ago. She had an obligation to erase this consciousness to prevent it from harming the revolution of the great array. However, Qing Ruhong was first and foremost a grandmaster of array formations with incredible skills before she was the overseer of the Sky Hub Division. She hesitated for a long, long time, before eventually coming to an agreement with the great array’s consciousness.

The great array’s consciousness would not act recklessly. In return, Qing Ruhong would also be rewarded for her tolerance. With the help of the great array’s consciousness, she was able to perceive more insights during her meditation.

Reality proved that her arrangement had been correct. Her exchanges with the great array’s consciousness were highly beneficial to her. Many cultivation bottlenecks became as clear as day and her cultivation marched forward.

As for the great array’s consciousness, it also abided by its end of the bargain. It went into perfect hiding, only observing the outside world and not doing anything out of the ordinary.

After a long time passed, Qing Ruhong and the great array’s consciousness became something akin to friends, but with a connection much more intimate than normal friends. They both believed that this method of living with each other would be able to continue for a long, long time, until they both reached their natural ends.

But accidents always happened quickly. When Qing Ruhong received the signaling jade slip and left seclusion only to see fierce fluctuations occurring within the Endless Sea Great Array, while she did feel anxious about it, she perfectly fulfilled her duties.

Still, Qing Ruhong never expected that things would come this far. The road of Ascending Heaven was a final ray of hope left to the Holy Nether Guard by the Holy Palace. It was a warning for them to not challenge their destiny. Also, it served as a way to temper the Endless Sea Great Array, forcing it to evolve and become constantly stronger.

It was heard long ago that the Holy Nether Guard called the road of Ascending Heaven the road of Sea Burial. To succeed was to bury the sea; to fail was to be buried in the sea. In truth, these words were already extremely close to the truth. Both sides were indeed locked in a perpetual life or death battle, with no room for leeway between them.

If the Holy Nether Guard failed they would be buried in the sea without even their bones left; there wasn’t much to say about this. But if they succeeded, the Endless Sea Great Array would self-destruct and restart, becoming even more perfect in its new life after destruction. After another period of years, it would eventually become even more formidable.

Strictly speaking, the Endless Sea Great Array wouldn’t truly be destroyed. But once it was self-destructed and restarted, the great array’s consciousness would vanish forever – to it this was no different than death.

So in front of the hopelessness of death, the great array’s consciousness decided to make one final counterattack. At the expense of breaking the rules and thoroughly ruining the great array, it would drag these people to die with it.

The Holy Nether Guard had been stranded in the Endless Sea for 100,000 years and were constantly pursuing their freedom and future. As for the consciousness of the Endless Sea Great Array, it wasn’t resigned to die here because of that. There was no absolute right or wrong on this; both sides had their own respective positions.

Qing Ruhong looked up towards the face that floated in the skies above. Although it was far, far too large, she could still make out some familiar traces. A bitter taste grew in her heart.

Throughout the long span of years, she had exchanged words with the array formation’s consciousness more than once. If it were a real living person, what would its appearance be like? Qing Ruhong had given it many suggestions, smiling at the time thinking it was just a joke. But now, it seemed that it really had remembered every word she said.

The giant face that filled the skies wryly smiled. Then, it sighed with unwillingness as well as guilt. It lifted a hand and pushed down.

This was the first time and also last time it would betray the promise it made to her. With the alternative being to not do anything and simply die like this without fighting back, it just wasn’t willing to resign itself to such a dismal fate.

As the hand came down, all of the fluctuations occurring on the surface of the Endless Sea suddenly came to a halt, as if the entire sea had become a massive block of ice. But, everyone could feel just what sort of terrifying strength was erupting beneath the surface.

The Mu Family’s new Calamity Immortal instantly paled. All of his hopes and expectations suddenly vanished into nothingness. His eyes looked coldly towards Qing Ruhong. But facing this formidable character whose true strength could be ranked in the top ten of the Demonic Path, no matter how angry he was he could only patiently bear with it.

The Demon Envoy sighed, filled with regret and helplessness. But, this wasn’t just from his closeness and sympathy towards the Holy Nether Guard, but also because of the plans he had prepared beforehand. He had placed Yao Bin in the Endless Sea, giving him the status of the Holy Nether Guard’s Commander. If the Holy Nether Guard had truly managed to cross the road of Ascending Heaven, there would have been more room for movement in the future.

What a pity, all of this would be destroyed by the spirit of the Endless Sea Great Array.

No one doubted this. It had to be known that if the great array’s spirit was recklessly summoning all the strength of the Endless Sea Great Array without any hesitation and erupting at once, not even a Calamity Immortal would be able to safely retreat.

This would be a battle to the death with no victors!

After the giant face in the sky sent out its attack, it had reached the end of its life. No matter what thoughts it had in its mind, it welcomed an irreversible disappearance from existence. But at this moment, it furrowed its eyebrows together. The formidable intuition it had as it stood on the precipice of death made it sense the arrival of some strength that surpassed its imagination.

What was this…?