HSSB643: A resounding slap
The layers of starlight were extinguished, the infinite stars of the night sky seemingly shattering all at once.
Nong Yuxuan looked bemusedly at the dark green bamboo cane in Yan Zhaoge’s hand that had taken him completely unawares, that he was completely unable to get his head around.
It possessed no powerful aura.
It possessed no mighty spiritual qi fluctuations.
It possessed no profound, abstruse concept.
No matter how one looked at it, this was a bamboo cane that really couldn’t be any more ordinary, as if it had been casually pulled out of just any random bamboo forest.
However, a blow from this perfectly innocuous-looking bamboo cane had caused the radiance of the low-grade Sacred Artifact, the Heavenly Starlight Armour, to grow dim.
Nong Yuxuan could even feel that the connection between him and the Heavenly Starlight Armour had grown much weaker as a result.
The Heavenly Starlight Armour was completely unable to operate at all, with Nong Yuxuan himself struggling in the face of cultivation deviation as Yan Zhaoge’s Reverse Scale Cold had murderously arrived right before him!
The true dragons formed of Yan Zhaoge’s true martial avatar slammed into Nong Yuxuan’s chest, causing this most outstanding expert of the Radiant Light Sect’s senior generation to fly backwards!
Specks of light scattered as Nong Yuxuan spat out yet another mouthful of blood, being heavily wounded once more.
Yan Zhaoge strode forward, pressuring closer towards Nong Yuxuan.
Being heavily injured both internally and externally, Nong Yuxuan looked rather unresignedly at Yan Zhaoge before gazing at the gradually calming Myriad Dragon Palace up within the sky.
“The Rahu Sabre-Could there be a remnant shell of it that still exists? Actually having been obtained by this person?”
Nong Yuxuan saw stars. As compared to the injuries that he had sustained, the fact that he had actually been defeated by a Martial Grandmaster from the lower worlds caused him to feel even more stifled to the point of wanting to vomit blood.
Especially with this defeat having been brought about by he himself.
Back then, he had refined the Rahu’s power of eclipse and combined it with the supreme martial arts that he cultivated in, his strength that had already been outstanding growing yet further as he had presided over all others of the same cultivation level. How incomparably glorious that had been.
Yet today, it was precisely because of the corrosive power of the Rahu Star that he had refined that he had suffered a major defeat, especially having been slapped till not knowing north from south and east from west right when he had been at the peak of his glory.
The one who had slapped him was still the unexpected Yan Zhaoge!
The Radiant Light Sect was helpless in that when sending Martial Saints to the World beyond Worlds, their cultivation bases would be restricted to beneath the fourth level of the Martial Saint realm.
The Radiant Light Sect was helpless in that most of their attention had to be focused on the Grand Xuan Dynasty and the Dim Darkness Sect.
The Radiant Light Sect was helpless in that a mere Martial Grandmaster like Yan Zhaoge could wield a miraculous weapon like the Extreme Yang Seal.
However, no expert of the Radiant Light Sect, Nong Yuxuan included, would have thought that they would actually still suffer a great setback at Yan Zhaoge’s hands up in the World beyond Worlds.
Yan Zhaoge and those of Broad Creed Mountain might find a way to ‘ascend’ to the World beyond Worlds, seeking a way to get the support of one of their enemies. Those of the Radiant Light Sect had indeed considered this possibility.
However, in Nong Yuxuan’s predictions, Yan Zhaoge would only be able to live whilst hiding his tail between his legs having come to the World beyond Worlds. Yet, he had instead been given a resounding slap by him, causing him to be unable to come to terms with it for a time.
It was just that there was already no chance for him to find back his face in this current situation.
If they continued battling, even without Yan Zhaoge having to act, there would already be a chance of him perishing due to cultivation deviation.
With just that slight bit of hesitation, the Dim Darkness Sect martial practitioner and that descendant of the Time Flowing Sword, Kang Jinyuan, would probably already have set their eyes on him.
Yan Zhaoge having raised his hand, he actually injured Nong Yuxuan who was at the third level of the Martial Saint realm, the late Merging Avatar stage. Kang Jinyuan and the other were shocked by this as well.
Still, the two of them quickly saw through the fact that for some reason, a problem had cropped up with Nong Yuxuan himself.
Kang Jinyuan was arrogant and reckless, wanting to avenge every slight. Having met a setback at Nong Yuxuan’s hands just now, he switched his target now as he instead pursued Nong Yuxuan.
That Dim Darkness Sect Elder instead had doubt within his gaze as he looked towards Yan Zhaoge.
Yan Zhaoge laughed, “I am surnamed Yan, Yan Zhaoge. I wonder if Elder Wu, Wu Zixiu and Elder Nie, Nie Sheng have mentioned me to the main altar from your sect’s branch altar in the Flourishing Peace Region?”
This Dim Darkness Sect Elder was taken aback, “You are Yan Zhaoge? But you should be in the Flourishing Peace Region.”
Yan Zhaoge spread his palms apart, “It is a shameful thing, but this Yan was careless and got swept into the circulation of your sect’s ritual. I fortunately managed to remain alive. When I regained my wits, I had already arrived in your sect’s main altar, even being enveloped by the reversed power of sun and moon.”
“Afterwards, I somehow muddled along until I ended up here. Just now, I was nearly blown to smithereens by an explosion of that reversed power of sun and moon. It was truly a close shave.”
That Dim Darkness Sect Elder was slightly stunned by Yan Zhaoge’s words as he looked dazedly at him, “Having been swept into the Dim Sun Cold Moon Ritual, you should already have been crushed by the power of the ritual over at the Flourishing Peace Region. Even if you managed to survive, it also doesn’t make sense that you would have been sent over to this main altar.”
Appraising Yan Zhaoge all over, he was shocked, “It really is as Elder Wu and the others said! This person’s true age has really yet to reach thirty!”
He possessed such a high cultivation base at such a young age, his strength even all-encompassing as it was connected to the heavens and the earth.
While Nong Yuxuan had only been defeated due to having fallen into cultivation deviation earlier, this Dim Darkness Sect Elder had seen Yan Zhaoge’s actions as well as his heart beat madly at them.
Especially with Yan Zhaoge having been able to alleviate the explosion of the cold sun and the dim moon-such methods were truly extraordinary, shocking the world.
While this Dim Darkness Sect Elder was not clear on the specifics, he also suspected that it might precisely have been Yan Zhaoge who had caused Nong Yuxuan to descend into cultivation deviation!
Such talent, such strength, such strange, tyrannical methods really could not help but leave him shocked.
As he pondered on how he should respond, the distant heavens and earth suddenly shook, multiple wild tides sweeping the surrounding area as it instantly affected the heavens and earth they were in.
As Yan Zhaoge looked over, he saw infinite, boundless radiance illuminating the heavens and the earth completely bright and white as no scenes could be seen within at all.
The spiritual qi of the World beyond Worlds was dense, its heavens and earth clean and beautiful and its dimensional boundaries stable to a point that far exceeded the likes of the Eight Extremities World, the Flame Devil World, the Vast Ocean World and the Floating Life World.
Much greater power would be required for martial practitioners to influence this local environment.
Here, for grand, majestic phenomena to manifest, there were even very few Seeing Divinity Martial Saints who could do it.
Such majestic radiance that was vast as an ocean of smoke as it enveloped the entire vast sky was a rare thing indeed in this Royal Reed Sea.
“Luo Zhitao!” That Dim Darkness Sect Elder blurted out.
Yan Zhaoge nodded slightly.
The Chief of the Radiant Light Sect, “Light Illuminating the Nine Heavens’ Luo Zhitao.
However, amidst the infinite radiance, there was clearly a long, indistinct river that was flowing, resembling the flowing of time as it caused the ocean of radiance to be split into two.
A decrepit, ageing old man strode atop the river of time.
While he appeared extremely ancient, the glow within his eyes was exceptionally young and acute, resembling a young infant who had just been born not long ago.
With a sword in hand, the old man’s sword-light was like water as time as well as space seemed to simultaneously grow slow wherever it passed.
It was shockingly also the Time Flowing Sword.
He was battling the Chief of the Radiant Light Sect, Luo Zhitao, while the Chief of the Dim Darkness Sect, Zhou Haosheng also battled King Xuanmu in the distance. There were other peak experts similarly battling it out as well.
Having found the main altar of the Dim Darkness Sect, the Grand Xuan Dynasty would definitely go all out, investing their full abilities. Virtually all the peak experts within the Royal Reed Sea had been swept amidst this great battle now.
Yan Zhaoge entered the Myriad Dragon Palace, the palace descending as it sunk straight into the great sea lest they be affected by the aftershocks of the great battle between those Martial Saints.
However, as compared to his current hated enemy, the Radiant Light Sect, Yan Zhaoge’s mind was currently occupied more by that sword-light of earlier that resembled flowing water as well as time.
“Time what time, flowing what flowing, sword what sword…” Yan Zhaoge narrowed his eyes into slits, “That is clearly a martial art born of the Aeon Light Heavenly Scripture.”