Chapter 462 77: Sword Duel in the Sea of Clouds

Yang Tianhua cast a Spell at the floor in the center of the grand hall. Instantly, the golden tiles shifted, revealing a square passageway about thirty feet wide.

The passageway was filled with a hazy light and swirling white mist. It was, surprisingly, another Pocket World Spiritual Building.

Yang Tianhua was the first to step into the passageway, his figure disappearing. The others followed one by one, all entering the Grotto Heaven.

The golden tiles that had just moved silently pieced themselves back together, returning to their original state.

Silence fell within the hall. The eight Guardians of Nine Truths Tower walked out, closed the main doors, and then sat down quietly in front of them to defend the hall.

The other Disciples all dispersed, returning to their respective Cave Mansions to get busy.

...

Inside the Pocket World Spiritual Building was a vast, jade-green sea. A great sun made of runes shone brilliantly in the sky. Between the sea and sky, a gentle breeze caressed their faces.

In the middle of the sea floated a snow-white cloud bank a thousand acres in area. Within it, clouds of light roiled and churned, and the silhouettes of ancient towers stood tall, exuding a grand and mighty aura.

The luminous clouds and tower silhouettes seemed both real and illusory, creating a picturesque scene brimming with celestial energy.

This was the Fifth-rank Array passed down through Nine Truths Tower, now being used to suppress that great demon.

Surrounding the Cloud Light Tower Shadow Formation stood nine enormous stone platforms. Each platform was dozens of miles apart, like sky-supporting pillars standing in the sea. They were known as the Demon-Exorcising Platforms.

The nine of them each chose a Demon-Exorcising Platform and took their positions.

The next moment, the entire Grotto Heaven Secret Realm seemed to react. On the sea below, the tides roared. Streams of Water True Light rose along the Demon-Exorcising Platforms, shooting straight into the heavens. High in the sky, the nine streams of Water True Light converged, forming a massive, azure Talisman that hung motionless.

This Talisman was composed purely of Water True Light. Runes flickered across its surface, profoundly mystical and concealing immense power.

The nine of them waited on the Demon-Exorcising Platforms for four hours.

Suddenly, a low murmur, like words spoken in a dream, echoed from within the Cloud Light Tower Shadow Formation. The sound was like a sharp awl piercing their eardrums. The clouds of light inside the array surged, and the tower silhouettes looked as if they were about to collapse.

Seeing this, Fang Cheng quickly circulated his Profound Skill while summoning the Feather Divine Soldiers and flying inside.

The other eight Dharma Cultivators also used their own methods, with phenomena appearing behind them to resist the Demonic Sound.

'It's here!' they all thought.

A moment later, a deep, deafening sound, like the tearing of silk, erupted from within the array.

Then, the clouds of light tore apart, the tower silhouettes crumbled, and an incredibly dense, pitch-black Demonic Qi burst out from within!

A terrifying, immense power forced open a crack in the Cloud Light Tower Shadow Formation, allowing the Demonic Qi to pour out wantonly. Within the Demonic Qi were the countless, densely packed figures of Celestial Demons.

At first, these Celestial Demons were small, but as the Demonic Qi billowed, they rapidly expanded in size upon leaving the Array, returning to their true forms. They surged outward in all directions, truly living up to the name "Demon Tide"!

High in the sky, the azure Talisman bloomed with divine light, echoing the Cloud Light Tower Shadow Formation. It locked into a stalemate with that incomparably tyrannical force, preventing the crack in the Grand Array from widening further.

One had to understand that this Grand Array was suppressing a demon comparable to a Tribulation Realm Great Power. Although the being had sealed part of its own Cultivation and used the Grand Array to imprison itself here before its demonization, its accumulated power would inevitably break through the Cloud Light Tower Shadow Formation's seal every hundred years, releasing a massive number of Celestial Demons.

As long as these Celestial Demons successfully swept across this Secret Realm and destroyed the core of the Grand Array's restrictions, the demon would be able to escape.

A swarm of Celestial Demons shaped like monstrous fish, each a thousand feet long, swam through the air. Layers of purple qi emanated from their bodies, containing strange Demon Flames as they charged toward Fang Cheng.

Tier Three Celestial Demons.

The Feather Divine Soldiers stood tall on the Demon-Exorcising Platform. Its wings spread wide, and nineteen snowflake-shaped Spirit Flames shot from its mouth, bursting with a blinding light.

The Feather Divine Soldiers raised a hand and pointed. In an instant, a bolt of Thunder Light shot into the sky. Startling thunderclaps filled the air, spreading for hundreds of miles.

A massive seal, the size of a mountain and formed entirely of condensed lightning, materialized.

The Nine Heavens Jade Qing Great Brahma Purple Star Xuan Du Jade Talisman's Thunderfire World-Ending Seal!

This was the core Divine Technique of the Feather Divine Soldiers, a peak-level lightning technique.

The moment this seal appeared, even the other eight Dharma Cultivators couldn't help but glance over, taking a second look.

Between the sea and sky, lightning danced. Dazzling flashes of light flickered, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow upon the sea.

Hundreds of lightning bolts struck down from around the Thunder Seal, as if the heavens were collapsing and the earth was tearing asunder, crashing down among the swarm of Celestial Demons.

How could ordinary Tier Three Celestial Demons withstand such terrifying lightning? Many were instantly struck and blasted into ash.

The endless demonic creatures were swept clean in an instant.

Fang Cheng sat calmly within the Ancestral Acupoint between the brows of the Feather Divine Soldiers, composedly observing the methods the other eight used to sweep away the Demon Tide.

Elder Yingya, needless to say, was devastating. The Spiritual Ape's qi-form from his Primordial Image Cauldron was incredibly fierce, slaughtering everything in its path.

Qiushui Yue, the mistress of Miaoxiang Tower, sat cross-legged in the void, her pale hands stroking a zither. Waves of sound spread out, and wherever they passed, the Celestial Demons were shattered.

The Celestial Desire Demon Monarch of the Great Chi Demon Sect controlled a brilliant streak of sword light that swept back and forth. Wherever the sword light passed, not a single Celestial Demon was lucky enough to survive.

But the person Fang Cheng was paying the most attention to was the Shengshou Scholar!

He suspected this person was the master or martial uncle of Ren Yan and that Nun, but it didn't quite match the memories in Ren Yan's soul...

「At this moment.」

The Shengshou Scholar controlled an Ancient Bronze Book. Countless warriors clad in Bronze Armor marched out from it, forming a bronze torrent that clashed with the Celestial Demons, cutting them down like melons and vegetables and slaughtering all those nearby.

The scholar sat leisurely on the Demon-Exorcising Platform like a great general devising strategies and commanding the battlefield from afar.

'Could I have guessed wrong?'

Fang Cheng frowned.

Based on his Divine Techniques alone, there was no trace of the Demon Buddha Lineage. However, Fang Cheng remained vigilant and secretly kept an eye on him.

In the blink of an eye, more Celestial Demons poured out of the crack in the Grand Array. The bodies of the hideous, monstrous fish grew larger and larger, and soon, Tier Four Celestial Demons began to appear!

A vast, tide-like wave of purple Demon Flame surged toward the Demon-Exorcising Platform. Fang Cheng urged the Feather Divine Soldiers into action, its Thunder Light forming a prison as it engaged in a vicious battle with the endless Celestial Demons.

Looking down from high above, one could see the nine Demon-Exorcising Platforms radiating immense spiritual light, standing as firm as mountains, completely blocking the Demon Tide.

The other eight Dharma Cultivators, with the exception of Elder Yingya, were all secretly astonished by the tyrannical methods Fang Cheng was displaying.

It wasn't unheard of for a Life Soul Cultivator to possess the combat strength to match a Dharma Realm cultivator by relying on external objects, but to be able to hold on for so long, and with such composure, was truly astounding.

The Feather Divine Soldiers stood proudly. In the sky directly before it, the Thunderfire World-Ending Seal gathered endless Thunder Light, weaving it into a prison. Within the rampaging, all-destroying lightning, an artistic conception of eternal, undying life gradually emerged.

The Celestial Demons filling the sky plunged into the lightning, only to have their life force instantly obliterated before falling silently into the sea below.

The Celestial Demons came wave after wave, like moths to a flame, charging forward with a do-or-die attitude, relentlessly and without end.

But in the face of the Feather Divine Soldiers' thunderous might, they were ultimately overshadowed!

Fang Cheng ignored the ordinary Tier Three Celestial Demons and focused on hunting a few Tier Four Celestial Demons. After taking their Celestial Demon Relics, he discovered that the massive bodies of some of the monstrous fish-like Celestial Demons indeed contained many items from the Outer Void.

Most were things like Profound Iron Crystal Ore from the Outer Void, but for Elder Yingya, who was obsessed with Artifact Refining, it was nothing short of a feast.

These precious materials had survived the winds of stillness and chaotic currents of the Outer Void before being swallowed by Celestial Demons. Their durability was at least high enough to be used as materials for Fourth-rank Magical Artifacts.

Just then, another Tier Four Celestial Demon flew over from the distance. It opened its mouth and spat out a purple fireball a hundred feet wide, wreathed in raging Demon Flame, and blasted it toward the Feather Divine Soldiers.

The Thunder Seal in the sky trembled, and a heaven-shaking bolt of lightning crashed down, striking the purple fireball and instantly shattering it.

The purple Demon Flame scattered across the sky. The monstrous fish shook its head and tail and charged out. On its head, it was actually balancing a bizarrely shaped Crimson Spirit Tree. Three Dark Gold Fruits hung from the tree, shimmering with a halo of light. A single glance was enough to tell they were no ordinary items.

Just as Fang Cheng was about to strike and kill this Celestial Demon to take the Spirit Tree, a sword light as sharp as lightning suddenly slashed over from the distance. With a single strike, it cleaved the Tier Four Celestial Demon in two, starting from its tail!

「The next moment.」

The sword light wrapped around the Crimson Spirit Tree and was about to leave.

The one who had snatched the tree was none other than the Celestial Desire Demon Monarch.

This woman was clad in Cyan-Black Profound Scale Armor. She was cold, arrogant, and domineering, her Sword Intent piercing the heavens. Her entire being was like a sharp sword presiding over the sky above her Demon-Exorcising Platform. For several miles around her, sword light surged, leaving no trace of life.

Now, she had set her sights on this Crimson Spirit Tree and had acted decisively to seize it.

The Feather Divine Soldiers waved a hand casually. A bolt of lightning struck the sword light with pinpoint accuracy, stopping it in its tracks. The Crimson Spirit Tree hung quietly in the void, emitting a soft glow, looking as if it could take root even in empty space.

The Celestial Desire Demon Monarch looked coldly at the Feather Divine Soldiers and said in a hostile tone, "I'm taking this tree."

With that, her sword light flared. It moved with fluid grace, instantly wrapping around the Crimson Spirit Tree again and flying back toward her.

The prison of Thunder Light filling the sky, laid down by the Thunder Seal, was actually unable to hinder it in the slightest.

Fang Cheng sneered, "Don't forget, I am also a Sword Cultivator."

A brilliant streak of sword light instantly shot out from the Feather Divine Soldiers!

CLANG!

A white and a cyan streak of sword light suddenly clashed in the void, immediately engaging in a fierce battle.

The moment their sword lights met, they exchanged hundreds of moves in the blink of an eye. The two streaks of light darted about, and wherever they passed, countless "innocent" Celestial Demons were caught in the crossfire and slain.

This was the first time in his life that Fang Cheng had fought someone to a standstill in a sword duel.

This Celestial Desire Demon Monarch's Sword Technique was tempered through a thousand trials, honed to perfection, bordering on the Dao itself!

The Sword Technique he had enhanced with the Creation Golden Talisman actually held no advantage against this true genius of the Sword Dao.

Their sword lights were incredibly fast, their duel growing more frantic by the second. The variety of profound Swordsmanship techniques was dazzling and overwhelming to watch.

While Fang Cheng was secretly surprised, the Celestial Desire Demon Monarch was just as astonished.

She had always believed that in terms of Sword Technique alone, she was invincible, not just in the Jin Country but in the entire East Cyan Domain.

This confidence was built upon the foundation of countless victories.

Her sword light had slain too many powerful enemies. Countless duels had tempered her skills, granting her this peak Divine Technique that could seemingly shatter all other methods with a single sword strike.

Just now, as she was about to focus her mind to counter Fang Cheng's sword light, she sensed a tyrannical bolt of lightning descending through her Flying Sword, which forcefully shattered her Sword Intent.

Immediately after, the white sword light flashed brilliantly, circled through the air, and viciously struck her Flying Sword.

CRACK!

In the end, the Tier Four Flying Sword was no match for the Mountain-Slaying Sword and was directly severed by Fang Cheng.

A golden light flashed in the void. A golden rope flew out, wrapped around the Crimson Spirit Tree, and swiftly flew back, where it was collected by the Feather Divine Soldiers.

The Celestial Desire Demon Monarch's face paled. A sharp pain shot through her soul—her Lifebound Flying Sword had been broken, wounding her very foundation.

...