Chapter 895: The Secret Arts of the Xuantian Immortals
The eruption of azure light didn't just blind the eye; it scrambled their spiritual senses, severing their lock on the target.
In that disorienting flash, everyone present lost their fix on the Xuantian Sect's Law King.
"So it's true," the young man thought, his mind racing. "Besides the Heavenly Venerate, only the Xuantian Sect can influence and manipulate the Heavenly Profound Mirror!"
The thought flashed through his mind.
His gaze swept across the area, but he found no trace of his quarry. The young man's heart sank, and he was just about to order a pursuit.
But something suddenly felt wrong.
"Hmm?"
"I laid the Nine Heavens, Ten Earths Array here myself. Unless that formation is broken, escape is impossible."
"Which means... he's still here?!"
Much to his astonishment, they found no trace of the vanished Xuantian Sect Law King.
The young Dharma Transmitter's expression darkened.
"The Xuantian Sect..."
"Truly a difficult bunch to handle. No wonder they managed to cling to life even after the Ten Great Immortal Sects united to exterminate them."
The young man's eyes darted around, ceaselessly scanning the space.
"Where could you possibly be hiding?"
Suddenly, his gaze froze.
It fell upon the squad of black-robed cultivators under his command.
A faint sense of unease crept over the young man.
"How many men did I bring with me?"
The question surfaced in his mind, unbidden.
What sent a chill down his spine, however, was that for such a simple, elementary question...
...he couldn't recall the answer.
He had achieved Dao Integration countless years ago; for something like this to happen to him was simply inconceivable.
"So this is the insidious nature of the Xuantian Sect's arts..."
The young man narrowed his eyes as rumors about the ancient Xuantian Sect flooded his memory.
Certain now that his quarry was hiding among his own men, the young man ordered the black-robed cultivators to verify one another's identities.
Although the young man himself was not familiar with most of them...
...the cultivators themselves knew each other intimately.
And yet, to the young man's utter disbelief, after they had all cross-checked their identities...
...they found no one out of place.
Every single person's credentials were flawless.
They even shared vivid, detailed memories of their past interactions with one another.
...
Now, the young man's expression turned exceptionally grim.
At this point, however reluctant he was, he had to admit it.
He had been far too arrogant this time.
As one of the first Dharma Transmitters to follow the Dharma-Spreading Heavenly Venerate in overthrowing the Ten Great Immortal Sects...
...the young man had never taken this so-called Law King of the Xuantian Sect seriously.
After all, the very sects that had once toppled the Xuantian Sect were nothing but vanquished foes to him and his kind.
How formidable could the Xuantian Sect possibly be?
Driven by the desire to claim this extraordinary art for himself, he had come alone, without notifying any of the other Dharma Transmitters.
He had never imagined he would find himself in such a bind.
A cascade of emotions flickered across the young man's face.
He now faced two choices. The first was to contact the Immortal Alliance headquarters and request the roster of the black-robed cultivators assigned to this mission.
A simple comparison would immediately expose the hidden Law King.
But that would inevitably alert the other Dharma Transmitters to his predicament.
Worse, it might even invite their ridicule.
After a moment's deliberation, the young man made a different choice.
He pointed casually at one of the black-robed cultivators. "You," he commanded in a frigid tone, "take your own life."
Hearing the utterly ruthless command, the designated cultivator showed not a flicker of hesitation.
He brought his palms crashing against his temples. In an instant, his aura dissipated.
His body crumbled into motes of dust, dissolving into the air as if it had never been.
Only a single streak of azure light, enveloping some unseen object, shot through the air and vanished.
The young man's expression remained impassive as his gaze shifted to the next black-robed cultivator.
Under the young man's deadly stare, the black-robed cultivators ended their lives, one after another.
But eerily, the celestial phenomenon that should have marked the fall of a cultivator never once appeared in the sky.
He had arrived with thirty-five black-robed cultivators in his retinue.
Twenty-six of them had now taken their own lives, yet the hidden Law King of the Xuantian Sect remained undiscovered.
"Could my luck truly be this rotten?"
"Or was my judgment flawed from the start?"
The young man's face was a mask of grim fury.
But he was past the point of no return.
Steeling his heart, like a gambler who had bet everything and lost, he continued to issue the fatal commands without pause.
Until...
Only a single black-robed cultivator remained.
Like all the others before him, he raised his hands and brought them down upon his own head.
But he stopped, his palms hovering just an inch from shattering his skull.
Slowly, he lowered his hands. A scornful smile touched his lips as he looked at the young Dharma Transmitter. "So this is the great organization that now rules the world of cultivation?"
"Treating your own men as disposable fodder..."
"Everyone calls our Xuantian Sect tyrannical and cruel," he continued, his voice laced with contempt. "But from what I see, we can't hold a candle to you."
The young man was not provoked by Li Chen's words.
In his eyes, those black-robed cultivators were nothing more than replaceable assets.
The death of a few dozen was nothing.
He wouldn't have felt a twinge of remorse even if hundreds, or thousands, had perished.
"What is this vile art you're using?"
The young man refused to believe it was mere luck that had left the Law King for last.
It had to be the influence of his enemy's insidious arts.
And as he suspected, Li Chen didn't deny it.
"Vile art?"
Li Chen scoffed. "This is the art of a supreme lineage, an orthodox immortal path! How could the likes of you ever hope to comprehend it!"
The young man's status was beyond noble.
In thousands of years, no one had ever dared to speak to him with such insolence.
The deep, genuine contempt shimmering in his opponent's eyes, in particular, ignited a rage the young man could no longer contain.
"Now it's just the two of us," he snarled. "Let's see what tricks you have left!"
Killing intent dripped from his voice, and his robes stirred as if in an unseen wind.
Within the space sealed by the Nine Heavens, Ten Earths Array, pinpricks of starlight suddenly materialized.
Then, as if night had instantly fallen, the void filled with a sea of glittering stars.
Countless beams of starlight shot forth, converging like a volley of razor-sharp arrows aimed to perforate the Law King.
Faced with the young man's sudden, violent assault, Li Chen stood perfectly still, as if paralyzed by fear.
Just as the myriad rays of starlight were about to converge upon him, threatening to pierce him through...
...the young man felt a sudden, sharp pang of wrongness.
But it was too late.
The next instant, countless tiny holes erupted all over the young man's body.
Blood sprayed from the wounds as his own starlight pierced him through and through.
Under the torrent of starlight, the young man's body dissolved into a heap of gore.
A moment later, with a grotesque squirming...
...a new, unblemished body emerged from the void.
"You..."
The young man stared at the black-robed figure before him, a genuine tendril of fear finally coiling in his heart.
It was an emotion he had not tasted in a very long time.
"Me?"
"But aren't I you?"
The black-robed cultivator looked at the young man and offered a chilling, uncanny smile.
The young man's vision swam.
His opponent's face had morphed, becoming an identical copy of his own.
(End of Chapter)
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