No matter how Zhang Chen thought about it, the situation had already surpassed his control. All Zhang Chen could do was maneuver among the various major forces, surviving in the crevices and handling matters as best as he could.
Matters did not change according to Zhang Chen's will. As the number of people on the mountain increased, the atmosphere grew more and more tense.
The entire Five Villages Temple was shrouded with a sense of impending storm, an indescribable feeling of oppression filling the hearts of all disciples of the Five Villages Temple.
For the past few years, the Ancestral Master had not lectured on the Dao but instead went into seclusion, ensuring he remained at his peak state at all times.
Zhang Chen became increasingly low-key, avoiding leaving his room whenever possible, trying to stay inconspicuous and not draw attention.
Time flew by, and another year had passed. At this point, only two years remained until the ten-year period agreed upon with the Innate Peacock. One day, while Zhang Chen was engrossed in cultivation in the mountains, the earth began to tremble, leaves shook on the trees, and a stirring of thousands of troops seemed to emerge from the distant mountains.
"What is that?" Zhang Chen instinctively lifted his head to look towards the distance, only to see a majestic demonic aura rising like black clouds, covering the sun and moon in the sky, surging towards the Five Villages Temple.
That sensation was as if the Five Villages Temple were an islet in the vast sea, and the imposing force from afar was a boundless sea, laden with immense waves, threatening to submerge the entire islet.
"The demon army has arrived!" Zhang Chen felt the tremors among the mountains and heard the wailing cries from afar, with a hoarseness in his voice.
Countless demon troops stirred up a bloody storm in the mountains, slaughtering all disciples at the foot of the mountain. Ultimately, the entire Five Villages Temple was covered by the boundless black cloud.
The black cloud transformed by the demonic aura obscured the sun, moon, and heaven and earth. Suddenly, nine lion heads emerged from the black cloud, each as large as a small hill, with eyes shimmering with a ghostly green light as they looked down upon the Qingcheng Mountain Range: "Changsheng, the Nine Spirits Primordial Saint of Taiping Dao is here, why do you not come out to greet me?"
"You wretched beast, instead of cultivating safely in your filthy den, you dare to stir up trouble in my Qingcheng Mountain. Are you tired of living?" The Ancestral Master of Longevity transformed into a stream of light, standing in the void at the peak of the Five Villages Temple, gazing disdainfully at the Nine Spirits Primordial Saint.
"Haha, your Qingcheng Mountain is now struggling to protect itself, yet you dare to boast here? Today, I will destroy your Qingcheng Mountain's Dragon Vein, annihilate your foundation for achieving the Dao, and make your Five Villages Temple lineage vanish completely, becoming dust of history." The Nine Spirits Primordial Saint laughed coldly.
"With just you? To be honest, it is not that I look down on you! Where are those two companions of yours? Why don't you all come out and meet?" The voice of the Ancestral Master of Longevity was filled with mockery and disdain.
"Haha, if it weren't for your numbers, the Qingcheng Mountain Range would have long been occupied by us, belonging to my Taiping Dao. Although I don't know what shady dealings occurred for the others to disappear, today is the best opportunity to destroy your Qingcheng Mountain's Dao lineage." The Nine Spirits Primordial Saint laughed coldly. The next moment, the nine heads spewed yellow wind, sweeping towards the Ancestral Master of Longevity. Suddenly, the heaven and earth became dark, unable to see one's own hand, with only the chilling laughter of the Nine Spirits Primordial Saint echoing:
"Changsheng, to defeat you, there is no need for the other two Demon Kings to assist. Today I will capture you, hang you in the Great Wilderness to endure the scorching punishment, and burn you to death alive, to set an example for those who defy my Taiping Dao."
Below, Zhang Chen watched as the black wind in the sky blew, sending flying sand and stones, and countless setups within the Five Villages Temple rose into the air, swept away by that whirlwind. He hurriedly ducked under the eaves, secretly invoking the Wind Stabilizing Pill to steady himself, then opened his Dharma Eye of True God Golden Light to look up at the firmament. All he saw was a blurry darkness, unable to discern the battlefield clearly.
At that moment, suddenly within the black wind, a brilliant sword light pierced through, illuminating the endless darkness. Along with that extreme brilliance, an indescribable murderous intent startled the heaven and earth, making the sun and moon change color. A terrifying dread surged in his heart; that sword light seemed capable of severing causality and annihilating all beings. Under the intimidation of its killing intent, all souls ceased movement. Then the sword light slashed through the darkness, and cries came from the clouds, the Nine Spirits Primordial Saint's piercing voice eliciting sorrow:
"What treasure sword is that?!
"Since acquiring this sword, I have kept it as a secret weapon, rarely revealing it. Today, you are fortunate to be the first sacrifice to my Immortal Slaying Sword, which is also your fate." The voice of the Ancestral Master of Longevity was full of pride, then several sword lights rose in the darkness, whirling towards the Nine Spirits Primordial Saint to slay.
Amidst the Nine Spirits Primordial Saint's screams, angry shouts emerged from the black cloud: "Changsheng, how dare you strike to kill!"
Then two immensely powerful qi mechanisms appeared, surprisingly capturing a piece of starry sky and pressing it down on the Ancestral Master of Longevity.
Below, Zhang Chen felt a stabbing pain in his eyes when the sword light appeared, tears of blood streaming down his face, and his vision plunged into darkness, unable to open his eyes anymore. Only the sword light, brilliant to the extreme, was deeply imprinted in his mind, seemingly wanting to split apart his soul.
"Pfft~"
Zhang Chen spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his heart filled with extreme horror: "What kind of sword light was that? I just glanced at it and was critically injured, almost being shattered to pieces? How can such incredible divine techniques exist in this world?"
Zhang Chen was somewhat in disbelief. Didn't he consider himself a master in his own right? Yet, facing the sword light of the Ancestral Master of Longevity, he didn't even have the qualification to take a glance.
"The Longevity Thief Dao has such methods. Even if I exhaust all my thoughts and strategies, I'm afraid I would find it difficult to match." Zhang Chen felt both indignation and despair in his heart.
The bloodline power within him circulated, the rebirth force rapidly repairing his damaged pupils, although the wounds in his eyes seemed to contain a sharp aura that constantly hindered and damaged the rebirth force within the bloodline. Fortunately, the corrosion power flowed out from Zhang Chen's crystal core, erasing the sharp aura, allowing Zhang Chen's wounds to heal swiftly.
"Unbelievable! What is the name of the treasure sword in the Hands of the Ancestral Master of Longevity?" Zhang Chen was anxious, as that treasure sword had taken him by surprise.
"What are you afraid of!" Just as Zhang Chen was panicking, the voice of the Great Freedom Celestial Demon sounded: "Your Five-Colored Divine Light can accommodate all treasures within the Five Elements. Although that sword is formidable, it is still within the Five Elements. As long as you find an opportunity, you can capture that sword with the Five-Colored Divine Light in your hand."
Zhang Chen was overjoyed upon hearing the words of the Great Freedom Celestial Demon: "Can my Five-Colored Divine Light really capture that sword?"
The Great Freedom Celestial Demon nodded: "Naturally! However, your cultivation is vastly inferior to the Longevity Thief Dao, making it somewhat challenging to capture it. But if you lend the Five-Colored Divine Light to the Innate Peacock, capturing that sword would be a breeze for the Innate Peacock. So you need not worry. Although Changsheng is powerful, it is not without means to deal with. Your Five-Colored Divine Light is originally the essence nurtured by heaven and earth, no less than that treasure sword. Not to mention the Five-Colored Divine Light, even your Golden Scissors, in its peak state, would not be inferior to that treasure sword by the slightest.
Zhang Chen felt slightly reassured after hearing this, as long as his opponent was not overwhelmingly invincible, his fighting spirit would not wane.
At this time, his eyes had recovered, but he kept his eyes tightly closed, not daring to look at the sword light outside, only listening to the roars and scoldings in the clouds, waiting for the battle to end.
After an unknown amount of time, suddenly a scream echoed, accompanied by the roars of two other demon kings, the pervasive black clouds gradually dispersed, and the rippling sword light vanished without a trace.
"Changsheng, you dare to kill my virtuous brother, I will not have done with you! Once we obtain the supreme treasure, we shall fight again!"
An angry roar from a demon king was heard, then the sky cleared up, the pervasive demon wind dissipated, Zhang Chen opened his eyes and looked, seeing the sky was a vast blue, with only the ancestral master standing in silence in the void with hands in sleeves, his back straight like a treasure sword, seemingly capable of cutting through the firmament.
Meanwhile, in the mountains outside the Five Villages Temple, a lion over ten miles long lay dead among the mountains.
"That is the corpse of a demon king, has the Nine Spirits Primordial Saint died?" Zhang Chen looked at the lion's unmoving body on the ground, secretly alarmed.
The Longevity Ancestor didn't say much about the Nine Spirits Primordial Saint's body, not even glancing at it, merely turned back to the Five Villages Temple, ringing the bell to summon the disciples for a meeting.
Zhang Chen hurried to find Xu Erniu, seeing Xu Erniu crawling out from an alchemy furnace with a face full of dust, said with lingering fear: "That demon wind was truly fierce, almost blew me away! If not for my quick wit jumping into the tripod cauldron, I might have been blown away already."
Xu Erniu's eyes were not injured, not only Xu Erniu's, but the eyes of the disciples within the Five Villages Temple were also unscathed, after all, they didn't have Zhang Chen's Dharma Eye, unable to see the sword light in the black clouds.
"Good, good! It's fortunate you're unharmed, the ancestral master has slain that demon king and is summoning us for a meeting, let's hurry!" Zhang Chen quickly pulled Xu Erniu out of the tripod cauldron, and the two of them, faces full of dust, headed towards the front courtyard.
As they walked along, they saw the palace walls within the Five Villages Temple had collapsed in great numbers, as if crushed, looking dilapidated, losing the prosperity of the past and adding a desolate air.
The two of them arrived at the main hall to see all the disciples gathered, then the ancestral master stepped out onto the high platform, Zhang Chen looked towards the ancestral master, only to see his pale face, withered essence, qi, and spirit, seemingly not as calm as he appeared.
Unfortunately, Zhang Chen didn't dare to open his Dharma Eye to see the ancestral master's details, otherwise, he might have caught a glimpse of some clues.
However, Zhang Chen still noticed that the ancestral master's once youthful face now had a few more wrinkles, looking as if he had aged several tens of years, only because of the circulation of magical power, appeared not apparent to outsiders.
"It seems the Ancestral Master of Longevity has also suffered injuries, paying no small price." Zhang Chen thought to himself.