Translator: Jon
Editor: Silavin
As the flames of war spread, the peace that had been sustained for years in Xue Zhou was mercilessly shattered.
Although the Heavenly Gully Cult had occupied Xue Zhou for many years, which made them the most powerful great force in this area, they couldn’t possibly go against the entire martial world of the Soaring Dragon Boundary.
As soon as both parties clashed, those from the Heavenly Gully Cult were destroyed. Their defence was shattered, and their cultivators were killed.
At this point, it was too late for those from the Cult to run away.
The entire headquarters of the Cult was surrounded by cultivators from the allied forces.
Wei Zhongze appeared flustered as he regretted joining the Cult and believing what his higher-ups had said. Now, he had nowhere to go and could only wait for death.
He came from the Yellow Maple Sect in Zhang Zhou and was the Sect Master’s favourite disciple. Initially, he had the chance to take over the position from the Sect Master and make the Sect flourish.
However, when his dearest Master discovered that he had an affair with his mistress, everything changed.
He was hunted down by the cultivators from the Sect. Left with no choice, he decided to join Heavenly Gully Cult.
Over the past two years, he had been thinking that if he had apologised to his Master when the affair was discovered, his Master would’ve reprimanded him instead of trying to kill him, considering his temperament.
Nevertheless, he was anxious at that time, so he instinctively attacked his Master with his sword.
It was said that after he ran away, his Master, who treated him like his own Son, came down with an illness and was no longer as energetic as before.
Presently, all he could hear was the noise of the fights as fluctuations of Spiritual Powers clashed with one another. He had no idea why he had fallen into his wild thoughts at such a critical moment.
Suddenly, a figure descended from the sky. The person had tanned skin and bulging muscles. He was also full of vitality and had a bald head. While charging towards Wei Zhongze, he yelled, “Where do you think you’re going?”
[He’s a monk from Vajra Temple!] Wei Zhongze felt his eyelids twitching as a great sense of danger swept over him. Instinctively, he extended his sword towards the monk.
“Go to Hell!” the monk bellowed and pushed out his fist towards Wei Zhongze as his vitality surged.
The fight ended a moment later. Wei Zhongze was lying on the ground with widened eyes. In the last moment of his life, there was only one thought in his mind.
[Monks from Vajra Temple are indeed incredible. Their physiques are as robust as monsters…]
In a dazed state, he felt that the blood streaming out of his body penetrated the ground and was connected to a mysterious being.
Many people had the same feeling, and they were all in the last moments of their lives.
Both Heavenly Gully Cult and the allied forces suffered some losses.
When two beasts were trapped in the same place, they would fight until one of them was killed, not to mention these successful cultivators. Faced with the ferocious allied forces, those from the Cult had to go all out if they wanted to survive.
Nevertheless, everyone knew that once Heavenly Gully Cult was destroyed, there would never be such an evil force again.
“We can’t hold on any longer, Cult Master!” A blood-soaked Xing Mo approached the Heavenly Sage with a sorrowful expression. “Please save all of us!”
Even at this point, the Heavenly Sage remained calm and collected, which gave Xing Mo some confidence. If the Heavenly Sage was as flustered as everyone else, there would never be a turning point.
Although he had no idea what the Cult Master was trying to do, the latter must have a solution, considering how confident he looked.
He had spent the longest time with the Cult Master, so he was fully aware of his temperament. Even though the Heavenly Sage appeared arrogant, he was very cautious, which could be proven by how he had been secretly preparing for his plan over the years. Only when everything was ready would he execute his plan.
Cheng Henfeng, a Sword Cultivator, also came over. One of his arms was missing, and his face was pale, which suggested that he was badly injured.
Only around twenty per cent of the Cult members were still alive as most of them had been killed. Even the surviving ones wouldn’t have a chance to see the Sun the next day.
“It’s about time!” the Heavenly Sage said and finally made a move.
He took a step forward and hovered in the air. There seemed to be an invisible ladder in the Void that allowed him to move forward.
His destination was the nearby altar, which was around three hundred metres tall.
For every step he took, a muffled sound of drumbeat was heard. It was as though he was connected to a mysterious power.
All the noise in the world died down, and every cultivator on the battlefield fell silent. Their attention was uncontrollably attracted to the Heavenly Sage as they looked up at him.
Although the Heavenly Sage appeared to be moving slowly, he arrived at the altar in just two breaths of time. Then, he gently swung the hem of his robe and sat down with his legs crossed. As he swept a glance over everyone, an almost imperceptible smile formed on his face. Then, he said gently, “Thanks for coming here. All of you must be exhausted.”
His voice was small, but with the help of his Spiritual Power, everyone on the battlefield could hear him. At that moment, the altar seemed to be the centre of this world.
“I also have to thank you for bringing enough blood sacrifice to this place so that I can finally activate the Grand Ward. I and everyone else in Soaring Dragon Boundary will never forget about your contributions. I shall end my speech here and get it started. It’s the path I’ve spent years finding for all of you!”
“Go to Hell, you bugger!” Someone was heard growling, and at the same time, a Sword Light was seen charging towards him.
Besides that, a spell that looked like a majestic Dragon was cast on the Heavenly Sage.
There was also a monk who dashed forward as his vitality surged. He activated his Spiritual Power and lifted his Demon Slaying Sceptre before bringing it down on the Heavenly Sage.
The Deputy Sect Master of the Imperial Sect Kui Yuanshan, the current Director of Grandeur Academy Yuan Changcun, and the Abbot of Vajra Temple Guang Jing had made a move simultaneously.
Li Sa, Fa Hua, and Liu Tianyi had passed away while Huang Liang was badly injured. As such, the three people, who had just made a move, were the strongest cultivators of the allied forces as well as in the entire Soaring Dragon Boundary.
Since the three of them had joined forces, no one in the world was able to fend them off.
Countless cultivators were attracted to these three figures. It was as though they could already envision the Heavenly Sage coming apart after he was struck.
However, the Heavenly Sage, who was seated on the altar, only put on a smile, which looked eerie to all of them.
Faced with the joint attack of three powerful cultivators, he didn’t even have the intention of dodging it.
A layer of blood light appeared around him all of a sudden. The blood appeared so thick that it was as if he had put on a layer of blood clothes.
The Sword Light crashed into the blood light but couldn’t damage it one bit. The Dragon-like spell also struck the blood light, but not even a ripple was formed.
Guang Jing also arrived with his Demon Slaying Sceptre.
He was a Ninth-Order Cloud River Realm Master, and his physique was one of the most robust in the world. His attack was so powerful that even the Void looked contorted. Even if the person before him was made of steel, he could still break him into pieces.
However, after the Heavenly Sage was struck by the weapon, he was still alive and kicking. The formidable attack didn’t even make any noise.
Only a slight layer of ripple was spread across the blood light around him.
“No way!”
All the cultivators were rooted to the spot as they couldn’t believe their eyes. They felt that they must be hallucinating.
How was it possible that someone like the Heavenly Sage even existed?
Although it was said that the Heavenly Sage was unimaginably powerful, he couldn’t possibly ward off the joint attack of these three cultivators.
Anyway, many people realised the crux of the problem, especially the three people who had made a move.
Naturally, the Heavenly Sage didn’t have the power to fend off the three of them. It was the layer of blood light around him that had saved him.
Guang Jing, who came into close contact with the Heavenly Sage to fight him, could detect an anomaly.
The blood river around a radius of a hundred kilometres was surging and howling. The altar was where the Ward Node was located. As such, the entire Grand Ward’s power gathered around the Heavenly Sage.
No one noticed when he even activated the power of such a mysterious Grand Ward.
The sound of the river surging was heard, and an aura made everyone’s heart flutter.
“What kind of evil ward is this?” Guang Jing widened his eyes in fury.
The Heavenly Sage replied with a smile, “It’s a ward granted by the Heavens. How is a monk like you supposed to figure out the secrets behind it?”
He wasn’t lying as he had never learned the Way of Wards before. He had indeed learned how to build the ward by observing the Heavenly Gully.
As for whether the Grand Ward was indeed granted by the Heavens, only he knew the answer.
“How dare an evildoer like you claim to have received anything from the Heavens!?” Guang Jing roared and lifted his sceptre again before bringing it down.
“Stop making a fool out of yourself in front of my Lord.” The Heavenly Sage snorted and flicked, after which a ray of blood light shot forward and crashed into Guang Jing’s chest.
There didn’t seem to be anything special about the blood light, but as soon as it came into contact with Guang Jing, he felt as if a mountain had crashed into him. His burly figure was sent flying away as he sprayed out a mouthful of blood in mid-air. His face turned pale, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
“Master Guang Jing!” Yuan Changcun, who was from Grandeur Academy, flew over and got hold of Guang Jing. The two of them rolled away for more than hundreds of metres before they managed to stabilise themselves.
However, Guang Jing was in a horrible state. His chest was ruined with a layer of blood light hovering over it. The blood light seemed corrosive as a sizzling sound was heard.
His physique was extremely robust, and he had been cultivating Protective Golden Shield all his life. Nonetheless, he was easily injured by the blood light.
Everyone who was present fell silent.
The moment the Heavenly Sage cast Guang Jing away with only a flick, all of their expressions changed.
The surviving cultivators from Heavenly Gully Cult were excited while those from the allied forces were horrified.
[Has he really ascended to the next Realm?]
At that moment, such an inconceivable thought formed in many of their minds.
Both parties were Ninth-Order Cloud River Realm Masters. Regardless of how powerful the Heavenly Sage was, he couldn’t possibly cast Guang Jing away with ease.
However, he had achieved that, and there was only one explanation.
The Heavenly Sage had shattered the shackles of the Cloud River Realm and ascended to a higher Realm, which was the dream that every cultivator in Soaring Dragon Boundary had been pursuing over the years.
Presently, the Heavenly Sage was covered in a thick layer of Blood Qi, so no one could see through his power.
Therefore, no one knew if he was still a Cloud River Realm Master.