Chapter 250: Nine Dragons

Chapter 250 -246: Nine Dragons

A heavenly curtain instantly materialized.

It shimmered with five colors and bore the images of a True Dragon and a Profound Turtle. The Magical Treasure was a scroll painting, and it unfurled to block the old woman’s path.

“I’m finished!”

The old woman roared and plunged headfirst into the heavenly curtain. Flames immediately erupted mid-air, and by the time they dissipated, she was gone.

So many Immortal Seedlings, all meeting a violent end just like that.

The remaining few Demon Sect Disciples scattered, some fleeing, others dying. The other Half-Step Foundation Establishment Master pursued them with his Flying Sword. The Demon Sect Disciples had no power to resist, and in an instant, only two or three were left struggling for their lives.

To Chen Qingyang, they were all prime Immortal Seedlings. Unfortunately, he could only watch helplessly as they died.

He finally locked onto one at the Essence Condensation Fifth Realm. Just as he was about to give chase, the sky and earth changed color. A thick, black-red miasma swept in from all directions, and someone roared, “You despicable curs! Do you really think my Demon Sect has no one left?!”

A Soul Banner stood between heaven and earth. It had the luster of white jade but emanated a cyan-green light. It was hundreds of feet tall, and a powerful Qi Mechanism radiated from it, blotting out the sun and instantly enveloping the two Half-Step Foundation Establishment Masters from the Daoist Sect.

The two of them unleashed their Xuanji Gang Qi, which shone with a brilliant golden light. But within the black-red miasma, they were like two fireflies, their lives hanging by a thread.

Even Chen Qingyang’s Conscious Fish found it extremely uncomfortable in mid-air and hurriedly fluttered downward to hide beside Li Zheng.

Seeing this, Li Zheng’s expression turned incredibly grim. “This is bad, this is really bad!”

Senior Brother Jie Yi, beside him, was much calmer. “What’s there to panic about? Don’t forget, this isn’t Demon Sect Territory.”

As soon as he finished speaking, starlight suddenly appeared in the sky above. Chen Qingyang looked up and saw countless stars emerge in the heavens. They were connected by lines, sketching out a net-like pattern that covered the entire sky above the city.

The starlight pierced through the darkness and the blood-red color, blasting a beam of light down into the gloom. Chen Qingyang saw a figure plummet from mid-air and crash heavily onto the ground.

He could be certain that although this person had not yet stepped into the Realm of Master, they were an absolutely top-tier existence among Half-Step Foundation Establishment cultivators, capable of fighting one against two.

But with a single, gentle strike from the Circulation of Stars Demon Suppression Array, he was knocked to the ground. No wonder Senior Brother Bai had been so wary at the beginning, avoiding a fight if he could. And then there was Hong Ji, who was killed entirely because of Zhang Jiu.

Before anyone else could react, Chen Qingyang had already crept toward the place where the figure had fallen. ‘If I could get his Immortal Seedling, the harvest would be immense.’

Amidst a patch of ruins, the brocade-robed old man was enveloped in a black mist. A low growl escaped his lips as all four limbs curled up, his flesh and blood being rapidly siphoned away.

‘It’s Zhang Jiu again!’

Sure enough, once the old man had been reduced to a desiccated corpse, Zhang Jiu’s figure was revealed.

Although his Cultivation was still at the Essence Condensation Fifth Realm, Chen Qingyang could sense that he was just a hair’s breadth away from a breakthrough. He could probably reach the Sixth Realm just by finding a place to enter seclusion.

‘Such a great opportunity, snatched away by that bastard!’

“Senior Brother, this is a great tonic for me. For you, it would just be some Sect Merit and nothing more!”

After speaking, he immediately vanished into the ground, not even in the mood to fight Chen Qingyang this time.

Immediately after, Chen Qingyang felt the Qi Mechanism beside him stir. When he looked, a man and a woman had landed nearby. Both were around sixteen years old and wore Vermilion and Purple Attire. They were the two Half-Step Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Daoist Sect.

A single glance at Chen Qingyang was enough for them to know he was also a Daoist Sect Disciple.

“Junior Brother, did you see what just happened?” the woman asked first, facing the dried corpse. She was the one who had just used the scroll painting Magical Treasure.

Chen Qingyang replied, “Senior Sister, just now I saw a black mass envelop this person from the Demon Sect, quickly turning him into a dried corpse. When that black mass coalesced into a human form, it turned out to be a frail-looking youth in white.”

“The youth called himself Zhang Jiuyou and claimed to be from Ten Prisons Peak, serving under Pure Yuan Master. He said he was going to use some Nine Abyss Demon Devouring Technique to refine me alive. Fortunately, you two arrived just in time and scared him off!”

‘On second thought, for Zhang Jiuyou to introduce himself and say so much in such a short time, he would have to be either extremely arrogant or incredibly conceited.’

Perhaps because they considered the eccentric behavior of Demon Sect members, the two didn’t ask any more questions. Both nodded. “To think such a thing exists. Senior Brother, how come I’ve never heard of a technique like this?”

The woman asked the man. He was the one who had been wielding the Flying Sword.

The man nodded lightly. “I’ve never heard of it either, nor have I heard the name Zhang Jiuyou. It seems we’ll have to pay more attention. It would be best if we could capture him alive.”

“Yes,” the woman agreed.

Chen Qingyang was now wishing these two would immediately drag Zhang Jiu out and skin him alive. Or, they could spread the news of Zhang Jiu’s deeds and let the Demon Sect clean its own house.

After that, the woman added a word of advice for Chen Qingyang. “Who did you come here with?”

Chen Qingyang said, “Replying to Senior Sister, I didn’t come with anyone. I just came to retrieve a stalk of Immortal Grass and wandered into this place by mistake.”

“In that case, you shouldn’t wander around. Just stay inside Ci Yun Temple.”

Chen Qingyang bowed. “Thank you, Senior Brother, Senior Sister.”

The two figures vanished again, and Chen Qingyang also left the area. In two clashes between the Demon Sect and the Daoist Sect, the Demon Sect had been outmaneuvered both times and lost many Disciples.

Chen Qingyang calculated that the Immortal Seedlings he had obtained were far fewer than expected, so he continued to roam the area.

For a full day and night, he didn’t rest at all. By now, it was hard to find a living person in the city. A blood-red sun hung in the west, looking like it was about to set.

Since last night, the atmosphere had grown increasingly heavy. Even without taking a breath, one could smell the thick stench of blood. The city had been reduced to ruins, and the world had turned into a Purgatory.

Chen Qingyang had a gut feeling that the Array Venerable Meng had been brewing for so long was about to be completed, right after the sun set.

In a small courtyard in the upper levels of the Imperial Palace, the two Daoist Sect Half-Step Foundation Establishment Masters, one Ninth Realm cultivator, and the remaining dozen or so Disciples were standing guard. According to their strategy, if any of the Demon Crowd dared to show up, they would make sure some of them wouldn’t leave.

Chen Qingyang took one last look at the setting sun. The world had become extremely dim. Half the city was on fire, and the flames were still spreading.

The outlines of the distant mountains gradually blurred, until they looked like no more than a smudge of ink bleeding across rice paper. He still remembered his first time in this city; the common people lived in peace and contentment, and no one would pocket anything they found on the road. Today, all of it was destroyed.

RUSTLE…

In the moment the sun completely set, as he lay in wait amidst the ruins, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps dragging across the ground.

It sounded like one person turning into many, accompanied by an incessant CLANKING and CLATTERING. His Conscious Fish flew over a wall, and he saw them—the dead bodies, all rising as if they were string puppets, brought back to life.

Their eyes were wide open, but their eyeballs couldn’t move an inch. They took steps, but their knees were too stiff to bend. They swung their arms like machines. Only the faint smile on their lips made them seem alive.

But in this atmosphere, even that became extremely bizarre.

They gathered together and marched toward the four corners of the city, moving with extreme regularity as if they were soldiers in formation.

Chen Qingyang had seen this scene in that book before. It was just like the sight of souls walking toward the palace of “Venerable’s Dream.”

Perhaps these people had felt joy before they died, which was why they wore such smiles. Within the blood-red mist, they were densely packed like ants, each marching on its own.

Even those with missing arms and legs would crawl, dragging long bloody trails behind them on the ground.

He didn’t stay there any longer. Changing positions again, his Conscious Fish drifted to the Imperial Palace. The dozen or so people from the Daoist Sect had also noticed the change and were looking toward the heavens.

The world was changing again.

The vault of the sky was like a canopy. Nine blood-colored pillars, as thick as dragons and with ferocious expressions, rose from nine directions and began to converge toward the center.

Within the blood color was more blood color, dark, thick, and viscous like a fluid.

“It’s starting!” The one who spoke was Senior Brother Jie Yi. Perhaps due to the restorative effects of an Elixir, he looked much better now.

Li Zheng was still the most talkative. “An Array formed by sacrificing the flesh, blood, and souls of tens of millions of people… it’s so incredible. It might actually be able to block the Circulation of Stars Demon Suppression Array for a moment…”

After he finished, the female Half-Step Foundation Establishment Master spoke up. “The Demon Sect has always excelled at these flesh and blood sacrifices. Once they acquire such power, its might increases exponentially. Blocking the Demon Suppression Array is a given. We are in for a bloody battle.”

The other male Half-Step Foundation Establishment Master had a grim expression but said nothing.

The woman seemed to know what he was thinking. “Senior Brother, are you worried that if the Daoist and Demon Sects continue fighting like this, it will eventually evolve into a catastrophe for the entire Cyan Nether State? By then, even you and I will have to…”

The man nodded. “Never mind you and me. Even Foundation Establishment Masters and Golden Core True Monarchs will have to throw their lives onto this battlefield!”

…

Everyone was filled with emotion. The air was thick with the tension before a great battle. Chen Qingyang also heard from their conversation that this Array was called the Nine Dragon Dream Array. It was created by the Demon Sect’s Venerable Meng using the Path of Dream Entering. Throughout the entire Cyan Nether State, this Venerable Meng was one of the absolute top-tier existences.

The Conscious Fish went out again, covering hundreds of miles in one go. At some point, deep pits had split open in the earth. Whether in the Imperial Capital or in the surrounding cities, the reanimated corpses were all quietly jumping into them.

The deep pits were shrouded in a bloody mist, and his vision couldn’t penetrate it at all. As more and more corpses poured in, the Blood Dragons in the sky above became even more ferocious and were about to converge.

He also noticed that under some ruins and in some corners, one or two living people were hiding, trembling as they watched everything unfold.

In the space of about an hour, the Nine Dragons began to meet in the sky. The blood color became a river, rippling above everyone’s heads. Then, it began to flow outward from the center, like fresh blood poured over an oval glass dome.

Finally, it flowed down to the earth, spreading out in all directions and completely enveloping the area.

Outside this flow of blood, the Circulation of Stars Array shone with an even more brilliant light. Its various Star Maps continuously shot out beams of starlight, which slammed against the bloody dome.

But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t break through the defense.

Li Zheng hadn’t been wrong. The power condensed from the flesh, blood, and souls of tens of millions of people was not so easily broken.

At this moment, almost all the Demon Sect Disciples began to move. Countless figures came riding the wind from all directions, heading straight for the Imperial Palace.