On the route from Heavenly Light Sect towards the Mountain.
Wang Jinhu stood like a great mountain, trembling with suppressed fury. A heavy snow had begun to fall, lending a frosty chill to his expression.
"Sect Master," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "I hold the position of a General of the Azure Dynasty. What is the meaning of you blocking my path now?"
The sky above was blue and filled with white clouds, while in the distance lay a land blanketed by roiling thunderclouds. Yet, someone was now blocking Wang Jinhu's path—it was the Sect Master of Heavenly Light Sect, Daoist Mingkong!
This Daoist was dressed in a full set of Daoist robes; he was somewhat stocky, and the slight roundness of his face gave him an honest and sincere appearance.
At this moment, he rubbed his face and gave Wang Jinhu a wry smile. "Naturally, I am here to prevent you from going any further," he said. "Jinhu, ah, tell me, why must you insist on joining in on all this excitement? Back then, your defiance of the imperial edict to defend Azure Cloud already caused me no small amount of trouble. And now, you..."
"Sigh..."
Daoist Mingkong sighed with a sense of helplessness. "There are many matters in this world, Jinhu, that you and I should not—and indeed, ought not—meddle in. If you forge too many karmic bonds, the one who ultimately suffers the consequences will be yourself."
"Grand Ancestor told me long ago that you associate far too closely with those powerful nobles," Wang Jinhu retorted. "You lecture me about forging karmic bonds? In my eyes, it is the karmic debts you've accrued that are truly numerous!"
Wang Jinhu let out a cold scoff, his voice turning frigid. "I will count to three. If you are still in my way, then we'll just have to see what sort of progress you've made from all your association with those court nobles!"
Daoist Mingkong was suddenly exasperated. "Jinhu, why must you be so unwilling to listen to good advice?! Do you really think you're the only one who wants to go and help Ye Xiu? Many from the Grand Tutor's own faction wanted to lend their aid, but they have all been intercepted! And despite all that, you still insist on wading into these muddy waters..."
"One."
"Jinhu..."
"Two!"
Scarcely had the word 'Two!' left his lips when Daoist Mingkong's expression changed dramatically. Wang Jinhu's Bronze Hammer flashed into existence, he was showing absolutely no regard for their past relationship!
"You, Wang Jinhu, you've really done it now! After all that time you spent in the Azure Cloud Region, you've learned nothing except becoming a brute!"
...
Wang Jinhu, his path blocked, began a great battle with Daoist Mingkong.
Back at the Mountain, amidst the roiling thunder, the two opposing forces clashed once more, again bombarding the final defensive formation that the Azure Cloud group had erected!
Lai Teng had not wanted to fight, yet now, he had no choice but to engage.
Cheng Lingwu had not only cut off the Li family's potential savior, but he had also sealed off Lai Teng's own path of retreat.
In the eyes of a man like Cheng Lingwu, Lai Teng was simply a Tian Xing avatar; Cheng Lingwu couldn't care less which of them would ultimately become the final, true vessel!
"Hahaha!"
High in the air, Cheng Lingwu watched as the two opposing forces clashed below.
He laughed boisterously, reveling in this moment of absolute power and control. "This Venerable Tian Xing, what a formidable figure he is supposed to be!" he thought with relish. "And yet, do his avatars not still move according to my commands?"
He then shouted down towards Li Kuanghua, who, despite her battered body not having yet fully recovered, was already poised to charge out from the formation's barrier at a moment's notice to engage Lai Teng in battle.
"What a pity!" he called out. "You all chose the wrong side! Otherwise, how could you have possibly ended up in this state today? Ye Xiu is a fool, and so are all of you! If you had just submitted to the command of the Lord Imperial Preceptor earlier, how could you possibly have come to this?!"
"Today, you are all nothing but pitiful sacrificial pawns!"
He rejoiced inwardly.
Yet, the two warring factions, neither Li Kuanghua and her Azure Cloud group, nor Lai Teng and the Tian Xing avatars, paid this Cheng Lingwu any mind whatsoever.
They were simply focused on fighting for their lives.
Yet Cheng Lingwu's high and mighty arrogance only caused the flames of fury to surge higher in their hearts.
This bastard was nothing more than a dog at the Imperial Preceptor's side!
However, just as the members of the Azure Cloud group braced themselves to once again fight to the death, fully prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice...
"BOOM!"
An unknown object crashed down violently upon the battlefield, causing the numerous avatars of Venerable Tian Xing to halt in their tracks once more!
Everyone stared in terror at the cloud of dust and smoke that billowed up from the center of the battlefield.
In an instant, from within that cloud of dust, came shrieks so piercing they made the ears ring. A moment later, shadowy forms began to materialize from within the smoke and dust. They were... dispersing ghosts!
These ghosts spread out in all directions at a speed visible to the naked eye. Wherever they passed, a vast, black array took form upon the ground.
From within the array's confines, streams of deathly Qi shot up from beneath the earth, soaring straight towards the heavens.
This caused the sky, already somber from the lightning tribulation, to grow even more dim and dark, until it was filled with layer upon layer of ghostly phantoms!
Coinciding with this disturbance, a streak of brilliant light shot towards the very spot where Ye Xiu was undergoing his tribulation!
"Such dense ghostly Qi! What in the world is that?!!"
Cheng Lingwu's face drained of color. He was certain the Imperial Preceptor would not have dispatched anyone, which meant these were reinforcements for the Li family.
"No, that's not right," he thought frantically, "The Grand Tutor's entire faction has been blocked. How could there be any other Li family allies left to help? This ghostly Qi... Li Dalong?!!"
This familiar ghostly Qi, however, caused Li Kuanghua and the rest of the Azure Cloud group to be overjoyed. They recognized this aura—it was the very same aura that had surrounded Li Dalong during his battle at the Azure Cloud Region border city, all those years ago.
It was this very same ghostly Qi that had once so terrified the members of the Wu Clan that they had not dared to set a single foot inside Azure Cloud Region!
In the very next instant, however, they were all left completely stupefied.
From within that miasma of heaven-billowing ghostly Qi, a crisp, clear sound suddenly rang out.
Tinkle, tinkle... tinkle, tinkle...
It was the crisp, clear sound of a small bell!
A petite figure emerged from the black mist. It was...
"Xuan Tianzi?!!"
Upon seeing Xuan Tianzi's figure, Li Kuanghua couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
This was Li Dalong's single most powerful Heavenly Zombie. Although Xuan Tianzi's appearances had been few, there was no one in the Li family who was unaware of this "fellow" who was constantly, slowly growing.
Li Dalong had once said... that ever since swallowing the 'spirit object' and becoming the innermost foundation of the "Four Symbols Death Spirit Formation," Xuan Tianzi had become a truly unique existence.
The "Heaven Piercing Coffin" could trap his other Heavenly Zombie, but it could not confine the one who was now so special, her!
"My apologies, everyone," a voice said. "I hadn't expected my destination to be so troublesome; I've arrived a little late."
The Xuan Tianzi of today, to their astonishment, apart from her somewhat pale complexion, already looked no different from an ordinary person!
Her doll-like face crinkled into a smile, which even produced small dimples.
However, it was clear that this smile was a deliberate imitation, devoid of any genuine emotion.
Tilting her head towards the Azure Cloud group, her voice rang out. "I do hope not too many of you die," she said, "or else my Master will surely find fault with me. However, if you should wish for them to be turned into Heavenly Zombies to remain by your sides, I can certainly help with that."
...
Although reinforcements had arrived, the eyelids of the Azure Cloud group drooped with weariness. They couldn't help but feel that this particular Heavenly Zombie really ought to learn how to speak like a normal person.
"A Zombie... a Heavenly Zombie!"
When Xuan Tianzi had first arrived, her imposing aura had been immense. But after truly perceiving her actual level of power, Cheng Lingwu's expression turned peculiar. "Excellent, excellent! Come on, then! The more the merrier!"
Only Lai Teng kept a deep frown upon his brow. He did not believe for a moment that the Li family would dispatch a Heavenly Zombie merely to be slaughtered.
"Just me," she said simply.
Xuan Tianzi was still smiling, her eyes crinkling. The ghosts that had been drifting aimlessly between heaven and earth since her arrival now began to condense around her, forming a colossal two-handed saber that was a full three times longer than her own body! The blade of the saber was as long as its hilt, and one could see it was immensely heavy. Paired with her petite frame, the sight was filled with a jarring sense of incongruity!
She turned her gaze towards Cheng Lingwu, and the smile on her face turned sinister and cold.
"Your words are unpleasant," she stated. "But rest assured, I will not kill you. I only require your tongue."
However, no one was paying her any mind any longer.
For with Xuan Tianzi's appearance, they had all sensed it.
Back at the site of Ye Xiu's tribulation on Mountain, his Nascent Soul, which, from enduring the fourth-grade Divinity Transformation tribulation, had been on the very brink of collapse, was now gradually growing more condensed and solid!
The avatars of Tian Xing were gripped by fear; even Qu Yang, who was locked in a battle of techniques with Daoist Shanchen high in the vast sky, was seized by a sudden panic.
They could all sense it.
Ye Xiu was on the verge of successfully completing his breakthrough!
"What have you done?!!"
Lai Teng glared at the abruptly appearing Xuan Tianzi, his rage utterly uncontrollable. His mind flashed back to the streak of light he had dismissed just moments before, the one that had shot towards the site of Ye Xiu's tribulation!
"Oh, it was nothing much," Xuan Tianzi replied, her voice still like tinkling bells. "I simply slaughtered the entire family of a corrupt official, and from within his treasure vault, I happened to find some of the precious materials required for a Nascent Soul cultivator to transcend their tribulation. That is all."
Xuan Tianzi was still smiling. The ground rumbled as dust billowed up once more. With a single leap, she shot upwards, instantly appearing face-to-face with Cheng Lingwu, who was ashen-faced and drenched in a cold sweat.
Her own face, which just moments before had seemed so gentle, in a split second became sinister and savage. "Wouldn't you agree?"
"Hand over your tongue!"
---
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