Boom! The collision was akin to two planets crashing into each other, brilliant enough to blind mortals.
The two Dark Earth Nine Swords Arrays shone with dazzling light as Wu Yuan pushed the sword arrays to their limit.
A low rumble filled the air as the outer sword array showed signs of strain, yet managed to withstand the force of the fearsome pillar of light. In contrast, the second sword array, composed of eight lifebound flying swords and a single ordinary flying sword, remained steady and unwavering.
This attack is equivalent to a full strike from a fourth-stage Golden Core cultivator with a sixth-degree immortal root, as well as grasped the Domain stage. Wu Yuan estimated. This strike was not weak at all.
Unfortunately for his opponents, as long as Wu Yuan could react in time to form a sword array, the attack wouldn’t be a lethal one.
Despite his weaker mana reserves, his soul made up for it. Even though his qi refiner self had a weak soul relative to his body refiner self, it was still stronger than when he killed Jin Quan more than ten years ago.
But most crucially, his level of Dao comprehension reached the Domain stage! For the past fifteen years, Wu Yuan had traveled all across the Middle Land. His understanding of the profundity of the Land now reached an even deeper level than before.
Reassemble! Wu Yuan gave a mental order. The once faltering outer sword array regrouped with renewed vigor, merging with his Domain to unleash a formidable sword qi that sent shivers down the spines of the raiders.
“What?”
Out of the two sword arrays protecting him, the Ethercrystal Heavenly Thunder Array isn’t even able to shatter one? Unbelievable! The burly man with black hair and the silver-robed youth felt as though someone poured a bucket of ice-cold water on their heads.
At this moment, they truly understood the strength of their target.
“Run!” Without any hesitation, the black-haired burly man shot into the distance in a desperate bid to escape.
“Run?” Wu Yuan’s cold gaze locked onto him, unleashing his essentia. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
A soft hum filled the air as the nine lifebound flying swords converged, melding into an earthy-yellow divine light in the blink of an eye.
The second step of the Dark Earth Sword Array: Nine Swords Of Light!
With a resounding boom, the divine light tore through the sky, matching the speed of the heavenly lightning pillar that was unleashed by the battleship.
The divine light sliced through the air, piercing through ten li and shattering several of the black-haired man’s flying sword artifacts. In a swift motion, it passed over his form with a deafening bang, evaporating flesh and blood in its wake.
The Golden Core cultivator was dead!
…
Escape! The silver-robed young man and the woman in purple felt their hearts in their throats as they scrambled to steer the battleship away.
With a resounding boom, Wu Yuan streaked toward them. The earthy-yellow qi streams around his body wrapped around the battleship. As though submerged in mud, the battleship’s speed slowed dramatically, unable to break free.
“Die!” Wu Yuan conjured two massive palms of swirling earthy-yellow qi streams, each palm positioned on either side of the black flying boat. Then, he clapped them together.
Bang! The battleship quaked violently, its occupants struggling to maintain their footing.
“We cannot endure much longer, the flying boat is already taking damage,” the woman in purple trembled in horror. “A sixth-grade spirit flying boat may look grand and expensive, but its structural integrity is no match for the sustained assault of a late-stage Golden Core expert.”
In her mind, Wu Yuan’s strength had already reached that level.
As the silver-robed young man hesitated, the two colossal palms formed by a combination of Domain and essentia hammered down upon the flying boat, causing it to deform and crack under the relentless assault.
It was a single, tiny crack. But that was more than enough.
Swoosh! Like a swift and deadly snake, a flying sword slithered through the crack. Just two seconds later, the trembling flying boat was brought to an abrupt halt.
With a metallic clang, the cabin door swung open, revealing two lifeless bodies with heads impaled by the flying sword. An unseen force lifted them out.
…
In a matter of breaths, the raiding party, consisting of one first-stage Golden Core cultivator, one ninth-stage Communion cultivator, and two ninth-stage Qi Sea cultivators armed with an ethercrystal weapon, was completely annihilated by Wu Yuan.
“Strip the battleship of anything that can be transported,” Wu Yuan ordered. With a mental command, he deftly kept the storage artifacts, flying swords, armor, and other possessions from the dead cultivators.
“No problemo!” Qiong Sea King chirped eagerly, darting into the flying boat. Just breaths later, he emerged with barely contained excitement. “Master, the battleship is laden with treasures, including hundreds of catties of ethercrystal.”
“Mm, keep them for now,” Wu Yuan replied nonchalantly, engrossed in the assessment of his spoils from the raiders’ storage artifacts.
Artifacts? Ethercrystal? Such trifles held little interest for Wu Yuan, who had received a million catties of ethercrystal from the realm master. One could even say that Wu Yuan was no longer enticed by most normal treasures.
The strongest of the four robbers was only a first-stage Golden Core cultivator. Moreover, he was the most ordinary kind that had yet to comprehend a Domain. He didn’t even come close to Jin Quan’s strength. What kind of noteworthy treasures could he possibly have?
Ah, I’ve finally found it. Wu Yuan’s eyes lit up as his gaze fell on a cluster of immortal slips in a ring storage artifact. Knowledge is still the most important. After reading these, I’ll be able to understand this region better.
Continuing his search, Wu Yuan’s hand closed around a peculiar crystal stone. Releasing his grip, it floated in the air. It was crystal-clear, with a surface that shone with silver light. On the back, a waning moon was faintly engraved.
A Redmoon voidrealm jade. With this, I can access the Redmoon Immortal Realm. A smile spread across Wu Yuan’s features. This was exactly what he wanted the most.
“Qiong Sea, we’re leaving,” Wu Yuan declared.
“Master, what about this flying boat?” Qiong Sea King was taken aback.
“The flying boat is already damaged.” Wu Yuan said indifferently. “Moreover, we don’t have a storage artifact large enough to hold it. It’s too inconvenient to carry along.”
“Understood.” Qiong Sea King nodded.
Whoosh! Whoosh! The man and beast quickly returned to their purple flying boat and headed towards Fengchuan City.
With a rumble, the huge black battleship plummeted.
Not long after, a mortal cultivator stumbled upon the deserted battlefield. Soon, the news spread, quickly attracting a swarm of martial artists and even some Qi Sea cultivators in the area. A frenzy erupted as everyone began vying for the scraps of the battleship and shattered treasures left behind.
This was the norm. What were mere trinkets to the elite were treasures worth fighting for to the lower-level cultivators. Many objects that were considered no better than mud in the eyes of cultivators, were considered natural treasures in the eyes of martial artists.
…
The flying boat sailed through the sky, with Wu Yuan now more alert than ever after this encounter. It was only when they traveled tens of thousands of li without further trouble that his tension eased.
Finally, I’ve regained some calm. Redmoon voidrealm jade? Wu Yuan played with the crystal stone in his hand.
There was only one piece, found in the storage artifact of that Golden Core cultivator.
Let’s give it a try. Wu Yuan sent a thread of consciousness into the crystal stone.
Soon, Wu Yuan felt his consciousness enter a mysterious place. It seemed endlessly far away, yet all-encompassing at the same time.