Chapter 1540: All Prodigies Bow Their Heads
Chapter 1540: All Prodigies Bow Their Heads
A scene of pure despair unfolded deep within the Tianyu Dao Palace.
No matter how many times they cut down their enemies, the figures would instantly "revive."
The speed of this regeneration was simply staggering, as if creating twelve peak Dao Integration cultivators at once cost the Taiyuan Rebirth Furnace nothing at all.
Fang Dingge's hands, gripping the Fendao Furnace, trembled uncontrollably, his eyes bloodshot. He desperately wanted to press forward, but it was utterly hopeless.
Even with the immortal artifacts of their various sects in hand, they still couldn't breach the final line of defense.
The only way to truly defeat these twelve figures was to destroy the Taiyuan Rebirth Furnace. Yet, to do that, they first had to overcome the very guardians it created...
A shadow of hopelessness fell over the cultivators of the ten sects.
Just as their strength was about to give out completely, someone finally spoke up: "Sect Master Fang, this is impossible. We must retreat for now!"
Fang Dingge was not an indecisive man.
Despite his overwhelming reluctance, he knew their mission today was a failure.
"Go!" he commanded, his voice laced with bitterness.
The last wisps of milky-white flame from the Fendao Furnace blazed a path for them. They charged out of the Tianyu Dao Palace, which was now completely besieged by the Taiyuan Realm's defending cultivators.
But arriving had been far easier than leaving.
It seemed a kill order had been issued; every cultivator on the Taiyuan battlefield now swarmed toward them.
Like an endless storm cloud, they blotted out the sky. Ignoring their own lives, they swarmed forward, desperate to land a single blow on the retreating party.
Already on the verge of collapse, they now had to carve a bloody path through the encirclement.
Inevitably, sacrifices were made.
When they finally broke through the defensive lines and returned to the last sliver of Xuanhuang territory, the raiding party had been decimated. Even Jiang Yixing, one of the ten sect masters, was swallowed by the endless tide of cultivators.
His fate was unknown.
The Xuanhuang cultivators still fighting on the battlefield saw the ragged state of the returning party.
At first, they assumed the plan to destroy the Taiyuan Rebirth Furnace had succeeded.
But as time passed with no official word, a sense of unease began to creep across the battlefield.
Especially when they watched in horror as the Taiyuan cultivators they had slain rose once more from the depths of hell, launching yet another charge against the Xuanhuang defensive line.
That unease curdled into despair.
If the combined might of the ten sect masters couldn't destroy that Taiyuan Rebirth Furnace, it meant their enemies were truly immortal. What was the point of a war like this? It was nothing more than a senseless slaughter!
A pall of hopelessness grew, spread, and consumed them.
They had been holding on by a thread, and now that thread snapped. Their resistance crumbled in an instant.
"Kill!"
The Taiyuan Realm's cultivators seized the opportunity to launch an all-out assault on the last Xuanhuang stronghold.
Seeing the endless swarm of enemies pouring toward them like locusts, the Xuanhuang cultivators completely broke.
"Run!"
"Get back! I have to get back to the Xuanhuang Realm!"
"Where is everyone else from the Xuanhuang Realm? Why are we the only ones left here to die!"
The Golden Lock Across the Sky, the path back to the Xuanhuang Realm, had been concealed by the ten sects, leaving them with no route of escape. But still, they tried to flee, scattering in a blind panic. In the chaos, not a few ended up turning on each other.
The Taiyuan cultivators, seemingly under a unified command, didn't press the final attack.
Instead, they slowly tightened the encirclement.
It was as if they wanted the trapped Xuanhuang cultivators to stew in the absolute agony of their despair before the end.
"Sect Master Fang..." Situ Yao, his face streaked with blood, watched the surrounding Xuanhuang cultivators collapse and wail, his eyes filled with anguish.
Fang Dingge's lips parted, but he finally spoke with grim resolve. "Though the Golden Lock Across the Sky cannot be severed, the Xuanhuang Realm itself is still protected by its defensive array..."
"The Taiyuan Realm can't break through it in a short time. We must use this opportunity to regroup and plan our next move."
"But..." The others now understood Fang Dingge's meaning, yet they found it hard to accept.
"The defensive array must not be deactivated. Otherwise, it won't just be this battlefield we lose, but the entire Xuanhuang Realm. If there are any vital disciples, retrieve them now. You have ten breaths..."
As Fang Dingge's cold voice echoed, the ethereal image of the Golden Lock Across the Sky slowly solidified.
No one objected further. Their figures flickered through the chaos as they rushed to gather the most important disciples of their sects.
"Let's go."
After one last look at this heartbreaking place, they prepared to leave.
"Are you all truly going to abandon the passionate sons and daughters of Xuanhuang on this battlefield?"
A voice suddenly rang out, and at its words, everyone froze.
"Though I could survive in disgrace, I refuse to do so."
The speaker was Li Ping, the Dao Integration cultivator from the Verdant Valley whose fame had recently soared.
His eyes filled with contempt as he gazed upon the fleeing sect masters and their elite disciples.
He gave a perfunctory salute, raised his blade, and turned back toward the enemy.
"Where are you going!" Of everyone present, only Jiang Yingshan was somewhat familiar with Li Fan. She knew that returning now was a death sentence; although her question was foolish, she couldn't help but ask it urgently.
Without turning back, Li Fan replied coldly, "To kill the enemy!"
Fang Dingge sighed softly. "A truly righteous man. Let him be."
His figure melted into the Golden Lock, and he was the first to return.
In truth, Fang Dingge's decision was not wrong. As the leaders of the ten sects, they needed to return to the Xuanhuang Realm as quickly as possible, relay what had happened, and prepare for the Taiyuan Realm's inevitable counterattack.
But their act of fleeing the battlefield, abandoning their fellow cultivators, stood in stark contrast to Li Fan's defiant march to his death.
Overwhelmed with shame, they averted their faces and left.
Seeing their elite disciples on the verge of rushing back to fight and die alongside Li Fan, the sect masters sighed and forcibly brought them along before they could make a reckless choice.
"This invasion of the Taiyuan Realm was a grave strategic error on our part. As long as the Taiyuan Rebirth Furnace exists, it's impossible to defeat them on their home ground."
"But the situation is not yet completely out of control. The power of the Taiyuan Rebirth Furnace doesn't work in the Xuanhuang Realm. Though we have withdrawn, they may not dare to invade."
With these words of comfort for their disciples, they passed through the portal and finally returned to their familiar homeland.
The intense pressure of the battlefield was instantly released. The immense strain of dancing with death, coupled with the guilt of their desertion—all these emotions erupted at once.
Many broke down on the spot, weeping uncontrollably.
But their tears did not flow for long. The ragged survivors were all stunned by the strange phenomenon in the sky above.
The Golden Lock Across the Sky, which should have been concealed by the array, had somehow lost control and manifested in its physical form.
It pierced the heavens.
Like a great rift torn across the sky of the Xuanhuang Realm.
And from within this rift, a faint light bloomed.
The image of a battlefield, thick with the stench of blood and slaughter, was projected across the sky.
"Is that... the Taiyuan Realm?"
"Why is it being displayed across the sky of the Xuanhuang Realm?"
The survivors of the ordeal were all too familiar with the scene displayed above, which only deepened their astonishment.
The expressions on Fang Dingge and the other sect masters changed drastically as they desperately tried to control the Golden Lock Across the Sky.
But they found the Floating Starry Sky Grand Formation seemed to have failed.
It was completely unresponsive, leaving them powerless to do anything but watch the scene unfold.
"Is this the work of the Taiyuan Realm?!"
"Are they making a show of power for us..."
Recalling how the Golden Lock had become fixed in the Taiyuan Realm, and now seeing the horrific images of Xuanhuang disciples being surrounded and slaughtered by Taiyuan cultivators displayed for all living beings in the Xuanhuang Realm to see...
The faces of the ten sects' members turned ashen.
They knew this was something they could no longer hide.
As if in retaliation for the Xuanhuang Realm's invasion, the Taiyuan cultivators slowed the pace of their slaughter, almost as if toying with their prey.
The sight of each Xuanhuang cultivator dying in grief and indignation after their futile struggles...
Different emotions began to surface in the two cultivation realms.
In the Xuanhuang Realm.
"What's happening?"
"Ba Hongyi? That's Ba Hongyi! The foremost disciple of my Futu Sect's third generation! How could he..."
"That's Zhang Yufan of my Green Wood Sect!"
"I know that one, too. That's Brother Wan Ruohong of the Taiyan Sect. I met him once. I heard he went to conquer another world to earn eternal merit."
"Aren't they supposed to be killing enemies in the Taiyuan Realm right now..."
Soon, cultivators across the Xuanhuang Realm began to recognize the identities of the fallen.
This only fueled their panic, confusion, and terror.
The Xuanhuang Realm, once thought to be so powerful, seemed utterly helpless before the forces of the Taiyuan Realm.
Toyed with, mocked, and slaughtered to the last man.
Some were enraged, some were heartbroken, others were overcome with grief.
And amid this swirling vortex of emotions, cries of shock began to ring out one after another.
"Who is that? Surrounded by so many, and he's still fighting!"
"He's covered in wounds, but he's not losing ground!"
Compared to the other Xuanhuang cultivators being massacred, one figure, like a god of war, stood out from the rest.
Even surrounded, he had not given up hope.
With every surge of his sword light, he claimed the lives of dozens of Taiyuan cultivators.
For the suffocating inhabitants of the Xuanhuang Realm, it was a sight to behold, and they cheered for him in their hearts.
"It's a shame. He can't last much longer."
At the same time, their hearts sank.
"The Ten Great Immortal Sects... they actually retreated. Why didn't they save him? Why?!"
All across the land, people felt a profound injustice for this warrior who still fought to the death.
The ones watching the sky included not only the previously uninformed, but also the cultivators who had just fled the Taiyuan Realm. Now, seeing Li Fan's fighting form, their faces burned with a shame so hot it felt like a physical blow.
They wished for nothing more than to charge back into the Taiyuan Realm and fight shoulder to shoulder with Li Fan.
But a wish was just a wish.
The thought of the inexhaustible Taiyuan army filled them with a sense of powerlessness, and their feet felt as if they were cast in lead, unable to move a single step.
After all, those with true courage and conviction were already buried on that battlefield.
They could only watch in silence, bearing witness to the final moments of this Xuanhuang hero.
They thought he wouldn't last much longer.
The sheer number of Taiyuan cultivators was overwhelming.
But to their surprise, after half a day, Li Fan was still alive.
Still fighting.
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances and began to observe more closely.
"I clearly saw countless techniques, spells, and even artifact attacks strike him. Why does he seem completely unharmed?"
"Could it be an illusion caused by the projection across realms?"
"No. Wait..."
The disciples of the Great Dao Sect seemed to realize something and exclaimed in unison, "Its Dao as Me?"
"And look at that searing sword light he unleashes! It's so powerful that even Dao Integration cultivators can't withstand its edge! It looks like it could slice the sky in two!"
"You're right, that has shades of our Heavenly Sword Sect's [Shatter Heaven Single Sword]!"
"And his divine movement technique is uncanny. Even completely surrounded, he moves with an effortless grace..."
"That's our Wuding Prison's [Fleeting Divine Movement]!"
...
The techniques Li Fan was using to dominate the battlefield were, shockingly, almost all the signature arts of the Ten Great Immortal Sects.
How could they not be astounded?
Moreover, the way Li Fan executed these divine arts seemed even more potent than the originals.
"Sect Master Fang, what are your thoughts?"
The shock among the sect leaders was, in truth, no less than that of their disciples.
Fang Dingge squinted, studying the battle in the sky, and sighed.
"I had heard before that this man achieves breakthroughs in the midst of life-and-death battles, that he possesses a natural physique for conquest. I didn't quite believe it, thinking it an exaggeration. Now, I see it's true."
"In such a short time, not only has he completely mastered the ultimate techniques we imparted, but he has also deduced how to take them a step further? What kind of talent is this?"
The leaders of the ten sects were all aghast.
Their minds went blank, and they fell into a stunned silence.
After a long while, someone finally sighed, "Such a genius... It's a tragedy that he must fall on that battlefield."
"If he just had more time, he might have..."
"Perhaps we can organize a force to rescue him? A true prodigy like this is worth dozens of Dao Integration cultivators!"
"But we already intended to bring him back. He himself was unwilling," Fang Dingge's words silenced them.
No one could find anything more to say. They could only watch the final performance playing out across the sky.
But no matter how brilliant the performance, the curtain must eventually fall.
Li Ping was strong, but the Taiyuan cultivators were endless.
No matter how many he slaughtered, more would soon arrive from the depths of the Taiyuan Realm.
After three days and three nights of desperate, ceaseless battle, Li Ping finally seemed to reach his limit.
His figure was no longer nimble, and his sword light had lost its edge.
His movements grew more and more sluggish.
Even the absorptive properties of Its Dao as Me began to fail.
Wounds started appearing on his body, blood gushing forth.
This god of war of the Xuanhuang Realm, under the watchful eyes of countless beings from two worlds, finally began to stiffen.
Yet he did not fall. His body remained ramrod straight.
One man, facing an infinite army.
The Taiyuan Realm forces showed their respect for this mighty warrior.
They did not press their attack, but waited in silence for his death.
Li Fan's body remained motionless for a long time.
Just as everyone believed he had finally perished, his soul scattered.
He suddenly lifted his head once more.
A strange aura began to emanate from his body.
And because of it, the projection on the sky of the Xuanhuang Realm began to ripple and distort.
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