The Azure Dynasty has lasted for hundreds of thousands of years—A long expanse of time.
Throughout this time, countless factions have risen and fallen, and innumerable powerful cultivators have perished. Yet, the Azure Dynasty of the present day is one where imperial authority reigns supreme.
Year after year has gone by. For much of its existence, the Azure Dynasty's central region has enjoyed great prosperity.
The border regions, in stark contrast, have periodically endured great calamities.
Sometimes, figures adept at warfare, such as Grand Tutor Lin Jiu, would lead cultivators on campaigns in external territories.
Yet peace and prosperity frequently breed corruption and a descent into hedonistic complacency.
Now, within the Azure Dynasty, many watchful eyes are fixed upon this Mountain.
A Nascent Soul cultivator breaking through to the Divinity Transformation realm—especially a genius of Ye Xiu's caliber—how could such an event possibly escape their notice?
Some among them might harbor intentions of recruitment, much like Min Youguo.
Others, perhaps, prefer to act as they are now...
It is as if a stage has been erected, and they observe all that transpires on this Mountain as though watching performers. Should a whim strike them, they might well descend like hunters to toy with their quarry!
"Fools. Utter fools."
Cheng Lingwu, clad in his magnificent robes, floated in the distant sky, sensing the great battle unfolding on the Mountain. Gone was the anger he had felt when previously attempting to recruit Ye Xiu; instead, he was filled with a sense of pity.
"With such talent," he mused, "if only he had pledged his loyalty to the Lord Imperial Preceptor, he could have remained safe and sound. Yet, he stubbornly chose to walk a divergent path. As for these cultivators from Azure Cloud Region, by opposing Tian Xing, they are merely courting their own destruction. Why else, even that eminent figure from Azure Mist Mountain dares not confront Tian Xing directly."
Scarcely had his words faded when the great battle on the Mountain erupted!
There, heavenly thunder rolled relentlessly, the lingering might of the Divinity Transformation's tribulation mingling with crashing thunderbolts, fierce winds, and driving rain—what an immense and cataclysmic spectacle it was!
Over three hundred cultivators unleashed their spiritual techniques and treasures in unison, creating a scene of utter chaos yet dazzling splendor; the very air, from the heavens above to the earth below, thrummed with spiritual power and Spirit Qi.
It had to be said, the hundred-odd individuals hailing from Azure Cloud Region were all warriors of exceptional bravery and skill. According to the timeline, their great war against the Wu Clan had already spanned over a century.
Though few in number and comparatively weaker in individual strength, and even if their spiritual techniques and cultivation arts were a notch inferior to those of Venerable Tian Xing's avatars, when coupled with their unyielding determination at this moment to defend this Mountain at all costs, they surprisingly managed to repel many of Tian Xing's numerous avatars.
Ultimately, it was also somewhat laughable: these avatars of Venerable Tian Xing, despite clearly originating from a single entity, were nevertheless mutually suspicious and found it difficult to coordinate effectively.
In contrast, the hundred-odd individuals from Azure Cloud Region, each hailing from different backgrounds and possessing varied experiences, were nonetheless able to unite their hearts and consolidate their strength.
Daoist Shanchen and Qu Yang, both being at the Divinity Transformation realm, were already locked in a battle of techniques high in the vast expanse of the sky.
As for Li Kuanghua and the Heavenly Star Sword Saint, however, their predicament was far from favorable. On the Li family's side, apart from Li Kuanghua herself, the Heavenly Star Sword Saint, and one Feng family Ancestor, plus the Raging Sky Flood Dragon, who had accompanied Li Kuanghua, there were no other Nascent Soul cultivators. Yet, they found themselves facing twelve Nascent Soul experts, among whom was an exceptionally formidable presence like Lai Teng!
"I had long heard that the Li family boasts prodigious talents," Lai Teng remarked, his voice calm.
"For those who faced the Nine-Nine Lightning Tribulation, there were Li Dalong and Li Yaoqing. Then, from within Tian Xing cave abode, another emerged—Li Yunlin. And now, quite unexpectedly, near this very Mountain, I encounter yet another young lass like yourself, also destined for the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!"
Lai Teng gazed upon the Li Kuanghua before him, his voice disarmingly calm.
"It is a pity, however," he continued, "that you are merely at the initial stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Were you at the peak of Nascent Soul, and with that 'Extreme Dao physique' you possess, I suspect you might genuinely be able to contend with me. A pity indeed..."
This Lai Teng was truly extraordinary!
He stood 7 feet tall (two meters tall), and his very countenance was that of a battlefield general.
This was especially true now, clad as he was in a suit of silver armor intricately etched with all manner of inscriptions, making him appear even more majestic and awe-inspiring.
This suit of armor was particularly extraordinary; it shielded his entire physique. Even Li Kuanghua's fists—the very same that had instilled such profound wariness in the eighteenth-ranked expert on the Nascent Divinity List, could not so much as leave a dent upon it.
On the contrary, whenever she engaged him at close quarters, phantom images would lash out from the armor, proving impossible to guard against effectively.
The long spear he wielded was likewise no mundane artifact. This spear was colossal, a full three meters in length, and its head was entirely covered in grooves.
When he brandished it, though the spear itself was clearly visible to the naked eye, its attacks seemed capable of tearing through space, striking unpredictably from different directions.
The long spear possessed its own spirit; a phoenix phantom manifested to shield his body, and the searing heat of its fierce flames was truly extraordinary.
Furthermore, 3 feet above his head, a golden pearl offered its protection. Seven points of light coalesced in mid-air, forming a Dharma array from which a pyramid-shaped barrier had already taken form. Within this barrier, Li Kuanghua now had no escape.
Furthermore, he possessed the Phoenix Blood Physique; a silver phoenix phantom shrieked fiercely, granting him extraordinary offensive might, rendering him seemingly capable of shattering any defense, and his spiritual power appeared inexhaustible!
"So strong!"
Li Kuanghua had already been forced into a corner of the array formation. Gazing intently at Lai Teng, she acknowledged that he was indeed worthy of his third-place ranking on the Nascent Divinity List; he was more than ten times stronger than the eighteenth-ranked opponent she had previously confronted!
And at this very moment, Li Kuanghua herself had long since assumed an inhuman form. After twenty years of cultivation, although she remained at the initial stage of the Nascent Soul realm, she too was far from ordinary!
Her physique, once five meters tall, had paradoxically shrunk to four. The areas left exposed by her vest-like leather armor revealed solid, powerful muscles and fiercely bulging blue veins.
She was completely unarmed; her most formidable weapons were, without a doubt, her own two fists.
She had long since unleashed her full strength; the "Extreme Dao Overlord Body" and the "Lightning Punishment Body" rendered the power coursing through her physique incomparably formidable. An ordinary cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm would not even dare to receive a single one of her punches.
At this moment, her eyes were a startling contrast—one black, one gold.
This was the result of her unleashing the full power of the Rank 6 "Buddha-Demon Disc", causing her entire form to become wreathed in dense arcs of lightning, and her overall strength was also escalating dramatically!
This was especially evident behind her.
Ferocious tentacles, one after another, materialized, each one crackling and flickering with raw lightning. They swayed in the air, much like the tendrils of a great sea jellyfish.
Upon her forehead, a single vertical eye had opened, capable of perceiving her opponent's every slightest movement.
Yet, even so...
One of her hands hung limply; numerous wounds, pierced through by the long spear, were clearly visible upon her bulging muscles.
Fortunately, her "Extreme Dao Body" possessed exceptionally potent regenerative abilities: her very bones were emitting "kaka" sounds of mending, and within the ghastly, shocking wounds on her body, flesh and blood could be seen writhing as they healed at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"He still hasn't used his full strength."
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