Chapter 430: Malevolent Sword |
The instant Duanmu Hua sensed something wrong, Xiao Jiuli's brows also locked tightly. Feng Shuofang's fingers gripping the Shadow-Severing Spear suddenly tightened, the spear shaft emitting a low hum.
Luo Zhixian's expression changed slightly.
He felt that from the Meteor Star Spear shaft piercing into Li Qingyu's abdomen, a cold power was transmitting, flowing against the current along the spear shaft, attempting to corrode his palm and meridians.
That wasn't True Origin, but malevolent qi!
"Terrestrial malevolent qi...!"
Luo Zhixian's voice was low, carrying an unbelievable chill.
Li Qingyu's hands, withered and bony like chicken claws, gripped tightly onto the spear shaft embedded in his abdomen.
His five fingers deeply embedded into the True Origin surrounding the spear shaft, fiercely confronting the True Origin Luo Zhixian had poured into it.
Li Qingyu slowly raised his head.
That withered face twisted from extreme pain.
"Luo Zhixian!"
His voice was hoarse and broken, causing everyone in the distance who heard it to feel their hearts chill, "I want you dead!!!"
"Boom...!"
Before his words finished falling, with Li Qingyu as the center, a fierce malevolent qi dense to the point of materialization erupted thunderously!
This malevolent qi was completely different from his original Frost Cold Sword Domain, filled with violence and savagery.
Like a living tide of black water, it instantly swept across dozens of zhang, dyeing even Luo Zhixian's thunder spear domain with a layer of darkness.
Even more horrifying, at Li Qingyu's lower abdomen, that martial Dao Golden Core that had been cracked was now completely covered with black malevolent qi.
Moreover, it began rotating again, emanating a kind of evil pressure. Only this pressure was no longer grand and righteous, but sinister and terrifying.
This power had clearly touched the threshold of some higher realm, a terrifying level above Grandmaster!
"Night Clan?!"
Duanmu Hua said gravely, "He actually refined himself into a half-baleful body, colluding with Night Clan evil methods! Li Qingyu, not only did you kill your master and betray your sect, you even dared to fall into such heretical ways!?"
"Malevolent qi?!"
This scene before his eyes greatly shocked Chen Qing's heart!
Prison Peak's fifth level!
That mysterious prisoner whose entire body was wrapped in chains, whose aura had some similarity to Li Qingyu's current state!
"Could it be... that person is Night Clan? Li Qingyu and him... share the same source? Or, what Li Qingyu obtained from Great Snow Mountain was actually Night Clan inheritance or power?"
Countless thoughts churned madly in Chen Qing's mind. For a moment, he only felt his spine go cold.
If this were true, Li Qingyu's betrayal, Great Snow Mountain's covert support, and even the events from two hundred years ago probably concealed deeper, bone-chilling secrets!
"Since it's come to this, don't blame us for being merciless!"
Duanmu Hua no longer held back the slightest bit. The Purple Firmament True Scripture within his body circulated madly. The purple qi around his body was no longer misty radiance but transformed into fiercely burning purple flames!
Within the flames, the phantom of an ancient massive furnace vaguely floated and sank, emanating heat that could refine all things. It was precisely the true intent manifestation he had obtained from comprehending the Purple Firmament Heaven Refining Furnace in closed-door cultivation!
He pushed out with both palms. The purple flames transformed into two roaring fire dragons, directly burning toward Li Qingyu at the center of the malevolent qi!
Wherever the purple fire passed, the black malevolent qi madly retreated, being evaporated in large swaths.
"Keke keke... Old Duanmu, this old man is your opponent!"
Nine Nether Ghost Lord laughed sinisterly. How could he allow Duanmu Hua to interfere?
His form flickered, transforming into an overwhelming mass of dense ghost shadows. Countless pale ghost claws extended from the black shadows, grabbing toward those two purple fire dragons. Yin cold death qi and Purple Firmament true fire violently collided, erupting with ripples of intertwined light and darkness.
"Li Qingyu! Accept death!" Feng Shuofang's hair and beard stood on end, fierce light surging in his eyes.
The Shadow-Severing Spear burst forth with shocking blood radiance. He thrust out one spear. The spear shadow transformed into blood-colored lightning tearing through the sky, directly taking Li Qingyu's head!
This spear was sent forth in anger, brimming with killing intent, holding nothing back!
"Old Feng!"
The purple markings on Di Cang's forehead blazed with great light.
How could he allow Feng Shuofang to succeed?
The Ash Wolf Howling Moon Seal condensed again, but even larger and more solid than before. The wolf head was lifelike, carrying savage and fierce qi, ruthlessly ramming toward that blood-colored spear ray!
"Boom!"
Spear and seal collided. Blood-colored and ash-white radiance exploded madly. Both figures simultaneously shook violently. The ground beneath their feet collapsed again as they fought together.
Chi Lie also took advantage to charge toward the Tianbao Upper Sect members again, blade light churning like a sea of blood, but was firmly intercepted by Li Yujun who returned to defend in time.
Jade Water Sword light transformed into a dense sword net, fiercely strangling with the crimson blade shadows.
High in the sky, the confrontation between Xue Li and Xiao Jiuli was also completely broken.
"Xiao Jiuli!"
The cold qi around Xue Li had transformed into substantial ice-blue armor. In her hand at some unknown point appeared a long sword condensed from black ice, the sword tip pointing directly at Xiao Jiuli, her tone icy to the bone.
Xiao Jiuli slowly drew the long sword from his back. The instant the sword body left its sheath, there was no earth-shaking sword cry, only a kind of extreme stillness.
As if the wind, sand, sound, and even the flowing elemental qi within a hundred zhang radius had all been frozen by this sword's intent.
His sword tip pointed diagonally, his gaze calmly looking at Xue Li, "Do you want to die?"
"I want to see whether your Jiuli Sword Lord's sword is truly as the rumors say!"
Xue Li shouted sharply. The black ice long sword in her hand swung. An ice-blue sword qi reaching from heaven to earth, carrying extreme cold, slashed toward Xiao Jiuli!
This sword had employed her true strength as a Great Snow Mountain Emissary, far beyond the previous probing.
Xiao Jiuli's eyes condensed slightly. The long sword in his hand lightly pointed forward.
"Ding!"
A crisp collision.
The ice-blue sword qi contacted that seemingly unremarkable sword, instantly manifesting countless cracks, then exploded and shattered into a sky full of ice crystals!
Yet Xiao Jiuli's form merely swayed slightly, the void beneath his feet rippling with fine waves.
Xue Li's pupils constricted sharply, her face showing an extremely grave expression for the first time.
Just as the various Grandmasters fell into chaotic battle again due to Li Qingyu's transformation, at the battlefield's very center, where the malevolent qi was most concentrated, the mutation had reached its peak!
"..."
Black qi swirled around Li Qingyu's hand gripping the Meteor Star Spear. His other hand suddenly struck toward his own shattered evil Golden Core!
"Bang!"
A muffled sound. The Golden Core didn't completely explode, but rather all the power mixed with his lifetime of cultivation, Frost Cold Sword Domain, and that malevolent qi was completely released and forcibly merged by this palm strike!
"Sword... Baleful... Returns... to... Ruins!"
He roared. The scattered remnant radiance of the sword formation, together with the surging malevolent qi around his body, madly gathered at this moment!
No longer a sword, and no longer pure malevolent qi.
But a malevolent qi long sword!
The sword body was black as ink, constantly rolling and squirming.
Where the sword edge pointed, space rippled with water-like wrinkles. Faint small black cracks appeared and disappeared, emanating a terrifying aura!
Li Qingyu and the sword seemed to merge into one, transforming into a torrent of pitch-black malevolent qi tearing through heaven and earth, thunderously slashing down toward Luo Zhixian who was close at hand!
This strike drained all his remaining power, including the last origin of that evil Golden Core.
Facing this desperate strike beyond expectations, there was no fear in Luo Zhixian's eyes.
Instead, he gripped the spear shaft with both hands, recklessly pouring his remaining True Origin and spear intent into it!
Simultaneously, he completely released the restraint on his martial Dao Golden Core!
That brilliant Golden Core suspended within his dantian qi sea suddenly blazed with radiance. Countless fine thunder Dao patterns appeared, madly extracting the heaven and earth elemental qi within several hundred zhang radius that hadn't been completely invaded by malevolent qi!
"Boom crack...!!!"
This was Luo Zhixian's hundred years of spear sharpening, the manifestation of comprehending the extreme of spear Dao!
With him as the center, that Fourth Layer Spear Domain originally invaded by malevolent qi underwent a thunderous transformation!
The spear domain transformed into a boiling thunder furnace!
All the thunder patterns on the Meteor Star Spear shaft lit up. At the spear tip, a point of thunder light rapidly expanded!
Luo Zhixian, facing that slashing pitch-black malevolent qi long sword, resolutely thrust out!
Spear out, thunder light erupted!
No longer a spear ray, but a thunder pillar of light, illuminating the dusky heaven and earth shrouded by malevolent qi, violently colliding with that malevolent qi long sword!
A blood-colored rainbow shot out from the center, streaking across the sky, finally heavily crashing onto a sand dune several li away, splashing up sand and dust everywhere.
The blood rainbow dispersed, revealing the figure within.
It was Luo Zhixian.
He knelt on one knee, supporting his body with the Meteor Star Spear, barely keeping from completely collapsing.
Each breath was accompanied by a burning pain in his chest and a fishy sweetness surging up his throat.
He lowered his head and saw a hideous wound on his chest deep enough to see bone, slashing diagonally from his left shoulder to his right abdomen. The edges of the wound had flesh curling up. More importantly, wisps of malevolent qi were madly drilling into his body, corroding his martial Dao Golden Core and Will Sea!
Not only that, the qi sea within Luo Zhixian's body was nearly depleted, his meridians damaged in multiple places, suffering severe backlash. His entire physique was on the verge of collapse. Who knew how many bones were broken, held together only by sheer willpower.
"Pah!"
He ultimately couldn't suppress it. A mouthful of black blood arrow sprayed wildly out, spilling onto the crimson sand ground, shocking to behold.
At the other end of the center.
Li Qingyu's figure was violently thrown away, crashing into a pile of raised rocks, stirring up clouds of dust.
He was in even worse condition than Luo Zhixian.
That malevolent qi long sword had completely shattered and backlashed. The evil Golden Core he had forcibly condensed completely exploded in the final collision. Even more serious was the backlash of that Night Clan malevolent qi, madly devouring his remaining life force.
He lay paralyzed among the rubble, his aura faint, eyes unfocused, with only that blood color not yet completely faded from his eyes.
Since there was already no way to survive, then no one should think of having it easy!
On the road to the Yellow Springs, how could one walk alone?
"All of you today, with me... fall together into the endless abyss!!!"
Li Qingyu's murmur thunderously exploded in everyone's ears.
The instant his words fell, the evil Golden Core within his broken body already covered with cracks suddenly burst forth with black light!
"Buzz... Boom!!!"
Heaven and earth first fell into silence, as if all sound had been sucked away.
Immediately following, an indescribable power erupted from where Li Qingyu was!
This wasn't a simple explosion. The malevolent qi within his body, the shattered martial Dao Golden Core... everything, at this moment was ignited, transforming into the purest torrent of destruction!
With him as the center, the space within a hundred zhang radius had already twisted!
The ground no longer just cracked, but directly turned to powder. The violent aura swept toward the high sky.
The clouds in the sky were brutally torn open, revealing a patch of dark red firmament.
And this torrent of destruction's main target fiercely pounced toward the direction where the Tianbao Upper Sect members were located!
More precisely, that killing intent condensed to the extreme firmly locked onto Chen Qing and Nan Zhuoran!
Chen Qing! Nan Zhuoran!
Li Qingyu's turbid blood-colored eyes stared fixedly at those two young figures.
He couldn't determine exactly who that figure in Tianbao Tower was, but that no longer mattered.
Since he couldn't determine it, then let these two accompany him in death together!
"Not good!"
Li Yujun, bearing the brunt, felt that crisis capable of making Grandmasters tremble rushing toward her. Her face instantly turned deathly pale.
She let out a low shout. The azure sword light around her body surged to the extreme.
Simultaneously, her left hand shot out like lightning. True Origin transformed into an invisible giant palm, grabbing Nan Zhuoran who was closest to her, firmly protecting him behind the sword curtain's most core position.
"Mad! Completely mad!" Nine Nether Ghost Lord shrieked sharply.
He understood better than anyone Li Qingyu's current state and the power of this strike.
That was essentially a method of dragging everyone down to hell together!
Even though he was the Ghost Gate's "Lamp Guardian," with profound cultivation and mysterious ghost domain, if he were caught in this self-detonation's core, he wouldn't die but would shed a layer of skin. Damage to his origin and realm falling were almost inevitable!
What Jinting promises, what sect interests, before life and death were all empty illusions.
Nine Nether Ghost Lord no longer dared hesitate the slightest. The ghost qi around his body erupted thunderously, transforming into thousands of twisted black shadows, fleeing in the direction opposite the explosion's center.
"Want to leave? Leave something behind!"
Purple light flashed in Duanmu Hua's eyes. How could he let such a good opportunity pass?
If the Ghost Witch Sect's "Lamp Guardian" perished here, it would be a heavy blow to the Ghost Witch Sect. Lingxiao Upper Sect's pressure in the northwest would sharply decrease.
Purple Firmament true fire burned fiercely around his body. No longer holding back, his form transformed into a purple rainbow, closely pursuing Nine Nether Ghost Lord, striking out with a palm from afar.
Sword Lord Xiao Jiuli's brows locked tightly. Ripples appeared in those eyes calm as an ancient well.
He wasn't afraid of this self-detonation's aftershock. With his cultivation and sword realm, he was sufficient to protect himself.
But what he focused on was Li Qingyu himself.
His form floated backward like willow catkins. Simultaneously, his fingers formed a sword gesture, tracing several lines in the air before him. Strand after strand of snow-bright sword qi condensed like substance interweaved into a net, protecting his entire body.
"Li Qingyu! You... bastard!"
Emissary Xue Li's face was covered with frost, fury in her eyes almost ready to spew forth.
She never imagined Li Qingyu would dare act this way. This torrent of destruction wouldn't distinguish between friend and foe, enveloping even her within it!
Although the power at the edge wasn't enough to severely wound her, being set up this way, where was her dignity?
Di Cang and Chi Lie's expressions also changed drastically, cursing Li Qingyu in their hearts as an uncontrollable madman.
The two didn't dare delay, defending against the aftershock while rapidly retreating, instantly pulling an even greater distance from Taiyi Upper Sect, Tianbao Upper Sect, and others.
"This Li Qingyu... truly resolute!"
Feng Shuofang held the Shadow-Severing Spear horizontally before his chest. Blood-colored spear radiance surged out like a tide, forming a sheet of blood-colored ripples before him, dissipating the attacking chaotic aura layer by layer.
"Go!"
Just at this critical moment, a low shout transmitted into the Tianbao Upper Sect disciples' ears.
It was Luo Zhixian's voice!
Chen Qing had already circulated the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Vajra Body to the extreme. Golden radiance faintly appeared around his body. His muscles bulged like steel poured and iron cast, preparing to hard block that terrifying aftershock capable of tearing apart True Origin realm peak.
However, the next moment, he felt his body lighten, already enveloped by a familiar aura.
"Master!"
Chen Qing's heart trembled. He turned his head and saw fresh blood gurgling from Luo Zhixian's mouth corners. That hideous wound on his chest was even more swirled with black qi, as if he couldn't spare attention even to suppress the malevolent qi invasion.
He gripped Chen Qing's back collar. Beneath his feet, as if treading invisible steps, with one stride his form already blurred. When he appeared again, he was already dozens of zhang away!
His speed was so fast it actually seemed faster than the torrent of destruction's spread by a thread!
This wasn't Luo Zhixian at his peak. This was burning his last life origin, dragging his near-death body to display his remaining strength!
Li Yujun, having received Luo Zhixian's transmitted reminder, had already brought Nan Zhuoran, transforming into an azure startled swan, heading toward the southeast direction at extreme speed.
Luo Ping, Huo Qiushui, Zhang Baicheng, and other surviving steward disciples at this moment were even more scared out of their wits. How would they dare hold back the slightest?
One by one, they pushed their movement techniques to the limit, True Origin burning recklessly, fleeing madly like madmen toward directions away from Crimson Sand Town.
Fortunately, they had originally been at the battlefield's edge, relatively far from the explosion's center.
"Boom boom boom boom...!!!"
Deafening explosions tore through the sky, the momentum terrifying.
Blinding gray-black radiance wrapped with blood-colored turbulent flow shot skyward, instantly expanding into a terrifying light sphere over a hundred zhang in diameter, completely swallowing the remaining ruins of Crimson Sand Town.
Towering sand and dust were lifted by the shockwave, forming a murky curtain that blotted out the sky.
However, if an expert examined carefully, they would notice something strange. This explosion seemed to destroy heaven and earth, but was actually strong on the outside while hollow within.
Although the light sphere expanded rapidly, it lacked follow-through force. The core's destructive fluctuation was far from as terrifying as a peak Grandmaster's self-detonation.
Those deafening explosions and blinding radiance were more like carefully crafted momentum, maximally obscuring vision and interfering with divine sense.
Although the sweeping sandstorm was fierce, the truly spreading range was much smaller than anticipated.
And just under this destruction scene realistic enough to deceive, a blood shadow flashed from the explosion's rear side, staggering toward the north in flight, disappearing behind the wind and sand in the blink of an eye.
"Hmm? That is...!"
Emissary Xue Li was the first to sense the abnormality.
She immediately realized, the self-detonation was fake, using the opportunity to escape was real!
Li Qingyu, this madman, had actually used this method to create chaos, covering his true escape route!
"This Li Qingyu is truly cunning!" Xue Li cursed darkly.
She could no longer care about anything else. Her body transformed into an ice-blue flowing light, unhesitatingly giving chase in the direction that blood light had disappeared!
Li Qingyu's body involved Great Snow Mountain's deeper secrets. Absolutely couldn't let him fall into others' hands!
Di Cang and Chi Lie also noticed subsequently. The two exchanged glances.
"Go!"
Di Cang let out a low shout. He and Chi Lie simultaneously took to the air, closely pursuing Xue Li.
On the other side, Sword Lord Xiao Jiuli, who had been paying divided attention to Li Qingyu's aura, the instant the blood light fled, a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.
His form didn't move, but the seemingly ordinary long sword in his hand slightly raised, the sword tip pointing remotely toward the north.
The next moment, his person and sword seemed to transform into a hazy sword shadow, merging into the wind and sand filling the sky, the speed inconceivably fast, similarly pursuing north.
With several top Grandmasters successively leaving or pursuing, above the original site of Crimson Sand Town, only the sandstorm sweeping heaven and earth remained.