“Ah?”
Lin Zhao spun around abruptly and saw the disheveled man with a handsome, tattered cloak fluttering behind him. For a moment, Lin Zhao could hardly believe his eyes. “Tang Guangjun?!”
“Fight first, then talk!”
Tang Guangjun immediately drew his sword, and a wisp of golden soldier’s intent unfolded around him. An incredibly sharp sword descended from the heavens, cleaving directly towards Chen Feng’s head.
At this moment, Chen Feng was already struggling, his two swords on either side barely fending off the assaults of Nu Zhi and Yu Wanling. Farther away, Tong Yu and Zhang Luobai’s flying swords were piercing through the air. In this desperate situation, the golden sword energy from above, locking onto Chen Feng’s vital energy, was just the icing on the cake!
“Well met!”
Chen Feng roared, his massive gray hawk true form appearing behind him. He raised his left hand to the sky, unleashing a surge of the Three Realms’ wind to meet Tang Guangjun’s sword strike. But in the next instant, the Three Realms’ wind was sliced open like tofu. It was Tang Guangjun’s full-power strike, the sword of a soldierly sword saint who held a divine position in the Martial Temple!
The thirteen realms in Ding Muchen’s eyes were not comparable to ordinary thirteen realms in the human world. In his eyes, apart from a select few peak thirteen realms like Lin Wanhua and Su Qingjiu, all other thirteen realms were as fragile as paper! Even Jing Chu, the foremost swordsman in the Confucian literary world, was considered paper-thin!
“Ching!”
The sword light descended, instantly severing one wing of the hawk form behind Chen Feng. A mist of blood spurted from Chen Feng’s left arm, leaving only a bone connected to his body. He howled in pain. Just then, a flash of white light appeared. Yu Wanling ignited a Speed Talisman, and a powerful punch landed on the area where Chen Feng’s arm was still connected by bone.
With a deafening sound, Yu Wanling ripped Chen Feng’s entire left arm off. Simultaneously, Lin Zhao leveled up for the second time, ignited a Speed Talisman, and transformed into a lightning bolt, flashing forward. His sword light rose, and with a Dragon Ascension Slash, he sent Chen Feng’s body flying high into the air.
“Beautiful!”
In the air, Lin Xingchu smiled slightly and thrust out her sword.
Tang Guangjun and Nu Zhi also unleashed several consecutive sword strikes towards Chen Feng’s chest. At this moment, no one could save Chen Feng. After several horrifying wounds were inflicted on his chest, he took another punch from Yu Wanling on his back, spitting blood continuously.
“You wish!”
Covered in blood, his face contorted, he roared with laughter, “Do you think you can kill me, Chen Feng, without paying a price?!”
In an instant, Chen Feng’s mind moved. His three natal flying swords, each carrying a wisp of the Three Realms’ wind, shot out in a triangular formation at unimaginable speed. Suddenly, in front of Nu Zhi, Yu Wanling, and Tang Guangjun, a natal flying sword appeared, its tip vibrating with a hum before exploding. This was an attempt to take away the three pillars of the Snow Region Heavenly Lake with his own cultivation foundation!
However, just as Chen Feng was making his desperate move, Lin Zhao raised his hand and pointed. A stream of golden literary fortune light erupted, transforming into the Dharma form of the Flying Sword Haoran. He instantly activated the Square Inch Divine Ability, drawing all three flying swords into the small Haoran world. The next moment, Lin Zhao swung his arms, hurling the small Haoran world towards the area of the Deer Lake.
In an instant, the entire small Haoran world was relocated above the lake. Following that, with three thunderous roars, the entire Deer Lake trembled violently. The lake’s fortune was blown to smithereens, its bed cracked open, and fissures spread in all directions. Under the countless blazing sword intents that steamed upwards, the entire Deer Lake was almost vaporized.
The power of Chen Feng’s desperate strike was immense!
Unfortunately, it was seen through by Lin Zhao, who dissolved it with his Flying Sword Haoran.
“…”
The self-detonation of the three flying swords caused Chen Feng’s cultivation foundation to waver, instantly dropping him to the early stage of the thirteen realms. His expression turned grim. If he had managed to severely injure Nu Zhi, Yu Wanling, and Tang Guangjun, he would have had a slim chance of escape. Now, that chance was gone. Facing two thirteen-realm great sword cultivators and a reborn female war god, escaping was incredibly difficult!
“You may depart.”
A massive golden divine statue appeared behind Tang Guangjun, the very statue worshipped in the Martial Temple of the Soldier’s Ancestral Court. Drawing upon the statue’s power, he swung his sword, his sword light carrying the surging might of warfare. With one strike, it was as if a legion of heavenly soldiers riding celestial horses, brandishing long spears, were attacking in the sky. The sword light swept down, heading directly for Chen Feng’s head.
At this moment, Chen Feng’s body was completely locked down by the vital energies of the three top experts. Escape was now impossible. He could only swing his sword to forcefully condense his sword aura, lasting as long as possible until the reinforcements from the five top-tier demon races from Ancestral Mountain arrived, perhaps giving him a sliver of hope.
However, Nu Zhi and Yu Wanling would not allow such a thing to happen. Ten demonic soul swords shot out fiercely. Just as Chen Feng raised his sword to parry Tang Guangjun’s attack, all ten demonic soul swords pierced through Chen Feng’s abdomen and chest. Immediately after, Yu Wanling’s powerful punch landed on Chen Feng’s chest, shattering the hawk form behind him.
“Pfft—”
Chen Feng spat out a mouthful of blood, his face incredibly pale. At this moment, he finally accepted his fate. He couldn’t wait any longer. Ancestral Mountain was tens of thousands of miles away from Deer Forest, and how could those great demons arrive in mere moments?
“Die together!”
His gaze turned fierce. The next moment, an immortal-grade sword heart hummed, and holding his long sword, he continuously condensed his sword aura to resist the onslaught of everyone, determined to turn the entire Deer Forest into nothingness.
“Careful!”
Lin Zhao, with white energy vortexes swirling around his body in his transformed state, arrived with the Zhanlu Sword in hand. With his left hand, he quickly ignited four Heavenly Thunder Talismans. With a fierce drag, thick bolts of lightning rained down, exploding “bang bang bang” on Chen Feng’s forehead, momentarily dazing the already severely wounded Chen Feng. But the next moment, the sword intent from the Eternal Sword Scripture within Lin Zhao erupted rapidly, and he unleashed a mighty sword strike – the Horizontal Sword Style!
“Bang!”
With a deafening crash, Chen Feng was forced back several steps in the air. The moment he was repelled by the Horizontal Sword Style, he fell into a brief state of dizziness. However, this dizziness directly halted his self-detonation of his sword heart. The next moment, Nu Zhi and Tang Guangjun unleashed dozens of sword strikes, tearing Chen Feng’s body apart until it was bloody and mangled.
Amidst a surge of bloody mist, Yu Wanling, enveloped in a powerful martial aura, with a divine courage bead humming, suddenly appeared behind Chen Feng. She clasped her hands together, locking Chen Feng’s head, and her slender, fair jade legs braced against Chen Feng’s shoulders. Then, Yu Wanling let out a hoarse, desperate cry.
The next moment, Chen Feng’s consciousness began to stagnate. Yu Wanling forcefully “plucked” his head from his body, along with a section of bloody spine and nerves, fresh blood gushing downwards.
The scene was truly gruesome. The blood-soaked Yu Wanling, like a female god of slaughter, held Chen Feng’s head aloft, looking down at his fallen corpse. Her beautiful eyes were devoid of any emotion.
Chen Feng was a key figure in the recent downfall of the divine mountain, and the primary culprit responsible for killing and injuring numerous cultivators at the Summit Villa. Not only Lin Zhao, but Yu Wanling, Nu Zhi, Tang Guangjun, and others all harbored deep hatred for this peak thirteen-realm demon king. Now, having avenged her blood feud, Yu Wanling couldn’t be happier.
…
Snow Region Heavenly Lake, North.
Figures broke through the air, arriving one after another. The numerous five top-tier demon races, realizing they had fallen for Lin Zhao’s second “feint,” were filled with regret. The fourteen-realm great demon, Jian Chen, leading Nan Qingfeng, Long Zheng, Jiubei, and others, rushed from Ancestral Mountain. However, upon reaching the vicinity of Wuwang Mountain, they discovered that Chen Feng’s life force had already been extinguished, having been killed by Nu Zhi, Yu Wanling, Tang Guangjun, and the others.
At that moment, Jian Chen became even more enraged. He transformed into his true form, roaring, and became a giant fire dragon hundreds of miles long. Its body stretched across the sky, unleashing countless seas of fire towards the Snow Region Heavenly Lake.
Chen Feng was the beloved disciple of the Kunpeng Demon Ancestor. In truth, half of Jian Chen’s mission in descending to this realm was to maintain the situation at Ancestral Mountain and Wuwang Mountain, and the other half was to bring Chen Feng back to the upper realm alive. Now that Chen Feng had been killed, Jian Chen would not fare well upon returning to the upper realm. Thus, he vented his anger on the Snow Region Heavenly Lake, intending to burn everything within it to ashes.
However, at this very moment, a massive figure rose from the Snow Region Heavenly Lake – Gu Lingyu’s Dharma form, tens of thousands of feet tall. This elegant and handsome scholar held a bamboo slip, and with a gentle wave of his hand, a white tree ascended, shining brilliantly like a mountain-protecting formation, shielding the entire Snow Region Heavenly Lake and blocking all of Jian Chen’s flames.
Although Gu Lingyu had transformed into a white tree, in the Snow Region Heavenly Lake, he possessed the power of a peak thirteen-realm cultivator. Coupled with his profound scholarly foundation, he was not afraid of Jian Chen even in a one-on-one battle.
“It’s too late!”
Nan Qingfeng gritted his teeth and said, “Let’s go! If we don’t leave now, we might not be able to!”
“Go!”
Jian Chen roared, shielding the demon race members as they retreated.
Among the crowd, Long Zheng, holding the Deer Seeking Sword, looked back, her eyes filled with hatred towards the direction of Deer Forest. Among the five top-tier great demons, Long Zheng’s competitive spirit was the strongest, and her temper the most violent. Since reaching the thirteen realms, her arrogance in the demon race’s Ancestral Mountain had grown, often leading her to kill or injure any demon cultivators she disliked. Although she had fallen back to the twelve realms, holding the Deer Seeking Sword, she desperately wished to charge forward and utterly destroy Lin Zhao, Nu Zhi, and the others!
…
Snow Region Heavenly Lake.
Lin Zhao led his group back to the Summit Villa. He cupped his fists in the air towards Gu Lingyu, thanking him for his protection. Gu Lingyu returned the gesture with a cupped fist, then withdrew his Dharma body and continued reading under the white tree.
In front of the Tian Ran Ju, Lin Zhao turned and looked at Tang Guangjun.
Tang Guangjun immediately knelt on one knee, cupped his fists, and said, “Tang Guangjun, the gatekeeper of the Snow Region Heavenly Lake, has arrived late! Tang Guangjun, pays respects to the Mountain Lord!”
“Good, good!”
Lin Zhao said two "good"s in succession. “Get up, and tell me how you’re still alive.”
“That’s a long story.”
Tang Guangjun took a deep breath and smiled. “We’ll need to drink and tell it slowly.”
Lin Zhao waved his hand. “Dongcang, Liying, prepare dishes and warm wine! Let’s hold a banquet to celebrate Tang Guangjun’s return!”
The disheveled man was overjoyed. This way, he wouldn’t have to squat in the corner. Perhaps he could even sit opposite the door with the Mountain Lord. What a moment of glory this was!