Chapter 454 - 233: Breaking the Formation! Spare No One

Chapter 454: Chapter 233: Breaking the Formation! Spare No One

His gaze finally landed on Chen Sheng. He spoke in a deep voice that rumbled with the power of thunder:

"Fellow Daoist Nie, Fellow Daoist Li, Fellow Daoist Chen! The Government Office has brought a great army to surround Golden Spring Temple. What is the meaning of this? Golden Spring Temple is a pure land of the Buddhist Sect and has always abided by the law. What crime have we committed to deserve this?

Has the court’s King’s Law become nothing but empty words in Ning’an?!"

"When has the Government Office ever needed to explain its actions to you?"

Chen Sheng glanced at him, his tone flat, yet carrying a cold indifference that kept everyone at arm’s length.

He didn’t harbor the same bone-deep hatred for Qingfeng Temple as he did for Golden Spring Temple. He had even shown them leniency during the battle on Wushan Mountain.

Unfortunately, they had chosen to advance and retreat as one with Golden Spring Temple.

Since their positions were set, only blades could settle the matter now.

Daoist Qingxu’s brow furrowed. Chen Sheng’s attitude dimmed the hope of mediation in his heart.

He immediately brandished his Duster, his tone turning severe:

"Qingfeng Temple is also a member of the Ning’an Martial World. For hundreds of years, Ning’an has been co-governed by the Government Office and the Jianghu, which is how we have achieved the peace of today. If the Government Office insists on recklessly resorting to arms and destroying this balance...

...then though this humble Daoist may be weak, I will have no choice but to use the Duster in my hand to demand an accounting for the sake of justice! When Ning’an descends into chaos and disaster befalls the common people, who among you will bear this monstrous sin?

And can you so easily dismiss the reckoning that will come from Celestial Dragon Temple and Dragon Tiger Mountain?!"

"Co-governed?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Sheng let out a soft laugh. But his laugh held not a shred of warmth, only a bone-chilling decisiveness.

"Those were the old rules. From this day forward, there will be only one voice in Ning’an, and that is the voice of the Government Office! Those who defy it, die! Golden Spring Temple is no exception, and as for Qingfeng Temple...

...you are no exception either!"

"Fellow Daoist Chen!"

Daoist Qingxu’s hair and beard fluttered as the immense aura of a late-stage Profound Mastery expert began to leak out.

"If you move against Golden Spring Temple, you make an enemy of my Qingfeng Temple! Have you thought through the consequences of this?!"

"Then I truly must thank you, Fellow Daoist Qingxu."

The corner of Chen Sheng’s mouth curved into an icy arc.

"I was just worrying about not having a valid pretext to move against Qingfeng Temple. Your words have just given me the perfect reason."

Daoist Qingxu’s heart sank. Just as he was about to speak again...

"Attack!"

Chen Sheng’s single word, like the sudden fall of a guillotine, sliced through all hesitation.

And at the very same instant he uttered that word, a sudden change occurred.

「Inside the Golden Bell Grand Array.」

Chu Kuangfeng, who had been standing silently and respectfully beside Monk Xuanming, suddenly had an almost frenzied hatred and brutality—suppressed for years—erupt in his eyes.

The next moment, he moved without any warning.

His figure moved as fast as a phantom. A short blade, which had slid into his palm at some unknown moment, carried the entirety of his life’s cultivation and a heart full of fury as it transformed into a peerlessly grim, dark gleam of saber light.

From an unbelievable angle and at an incredible speed, it viciously stabbed toward the back of Monk Xuanming’s heart. The monk was right beside him, his attention mostly drawn to the standoff outside.

"PSHFFT!"

The sharp blade pierced flesh, and Gang Qi burst forth.

Monk Xuanming’s body shook violently, the expression of shock, fury, and disbelief on his face instantly freezing.

With great difficulty, he turned his head to look at the familiar yet alien face behind him, a face twisted with savage killing intent.

"Xuanxin... You... How could you..."

"Xuanxin? HAHAHAHA!"

Chu Kuangfeng burst into wild laughter, a sound filled with endless venom and glee. His five fingers became like hooks, seizing Xuanming’s bald head in a flash. A violent surge of Gang Qi, like countless venomous snakes, instantly poured into the monk’s body, tearing his Meridians—and even his Dantian—apart inch by inch.

"Look closely, you old bastard! I’m Chu Kuangfeng! Chu Kuangfeng!"

"You vile spawn! Die!!!"

It all happened too fast. Only when Xuanming’s aura suddenly weakened did Monk Kongxu snap out of his utter shock, letting out a roar of absolute fury.

He immediately struck out with a palm filled with rage. A golden Buddhist palm, carrying the power to crush everything, blasted toward Chu Kuangfeng.

Kongjian and Xuan Ku also attacked at the same time. A gale of Gang Qi howled as their killing blows arrived in unison.

The savage grin on Chu Kuangfeng’s face did not fade. With his other hand, he violently crushed a Restriction Token he had just ripped from Xuanming’s body.

"CRACK!"

The crisp sound of the token shattering was like a death knell, signaling that some kind of balance had been broken.

VMMMM—!

The colossal golden bell projection covering the entire temple trembled violently and let out a mournful cry, as if overwhelmed.

In the southeast, the Array’s radiance flickered rapidly. Large swathes of the flowing Sanskrit characters fell into disarray and stagnated. On what was once a perfectly unified Golden Light shield, fine yet fatal cracks appeared.

A connection to the earth’s veins had been forcibly severed.

In the spark of a moment while the Grand Array wavered, Chen Sheng’s gaze sharpened outside.

A longan-sized Array-Breaking Pearl with a chaotic luster, which he had already been holding in his sleeve, was activated with his True Essence. It transformed into a streak of light, shooting with unerring precision toward the area where the Grand Array’s radiance was most chaotic and the cracks were densest.

"VMMMM—BOOM!!!"

The instant the Treasure Pearl touched the light shield, there was first a low thrum, as if originating from the depths of the earth.

Immediately after, an orange-yellow Breaking Technique Radiance erupted like a volcano.

This light carried a strange, dissolving power, frantically clashing with, eroding, and annihilating the violently fluctuating light of the Golden Bell Array!

The heavens shook and the earth quaked! The void trembled!

A terrifying maelstrom of Primordial Qi swept out in all directions, causing the flags and banners of the army formation below the mountain to whip and snap. Those with weaker cultivation could barely keep their footing.

"DOOOOONG—!!!"

A toll far grander than any of the previous chimes erupted from the peak of Golden Spring Mountain, the sound traveling for dozens of miles.

Countless monks and Martial Artists with lower cultivation were struck by the toll, which contained the backlash from the collapsing array. Their qi and blood roiled, and blood seeped from their ears and noses.

Before the toll had even faded, it was followed by a series of ear-piercing, soul-shattering sounds, like shattering glass.

"CRACK... BOOM!!!"

The Golden Bell Heaven-Covering Array, which had guarded Golden Spring Temple for countless years and was seen as its final bastion, finally reached its breaking point under the dual assault of a destroyed internal hub and the fierce external attack of the Array-Breaking Pearl.