Chapter 476 - 449: Tens of Thousands of Miles Away, an Old Acquaintance’s Sword Moves

At Thunder Strike Ridge, under a deluge of furious thunder that seemed to leak from the heavens, Song Ciwan steeled her heart and focused her spirit. With a will to find life within death, she charged the Fourth Layer of the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique.

The Fourth Layer of the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique, Opening the Universe, was a cultivation technique fundamentally about being reborn from death.

If one did not glimpse the mystery of life amidst the ultimate stillness of death, on what grounds could they witness the magnificent world of renewal within a mere human body?

A clap of thunder, and all life begins.

Thunder and fire could bring death, but they could also bring life.

For an instant, Song Ciwan felt her body become a desolate wasteland, a patch of withered grass.

Suddenly, a harsh winter descended, and celestial fire rained down.

A great fire erupted on the wasteland. The raging flames arrived, utterly merciless, burning the endless, already withered grass to countless flecks of ash.

The ashes scattered across the ground, yet they did not vanish. Instead, bit by bit, they merged into the earth, turning to fertile soil for the spring.

In the deep, silent cold, a clap of thunder suddenly split the sky.

The thunder descended, and spring had come!

RUMBLE! Amidst the endless thunder, seeds within the ashes sent forth new sprouts.

There were the tips of tender grass, the delicate saplings of trees, and climbing vines. Dewdrops rolled from blades of grass and into the soil, unlocking a greater, more endless vitality!

Song Ciwan felt as if every cell in her body was cheering, leaping, and racing, each one blossoming into a unique cosmos of its own.

’Opening the Universe... so this is Opening the Universe!’

’Body Refining is no worthless path.’

’Or maybe... this is the true foundation for a mortal to seek the Immortal Dao, for a common person to pursue immortality!’

Under the deluge of thunder, only an instant had passed in the outside world, but within Song Ciwan’s personal world, cataclysmic and infinite changes had already taken place.

On the distant horizon, the cry of "Ye Sheng!" had just faded as the figure within the streak of light rapidly approached.

Meanwhile, at the exact moment Song Ciwan took Ye Sheng’s Golden Core and battled the Celestial Thunder, far away in Yong State’s Pinglan City, within the Bright Moon Grotto Heaven, a figure holding a sword deep within the grotto finally spoke. He said, "The time is now. Extract the Core!"

This figure was young and tall, his hair pulled back in a high ponytail, giving him the appearance of a young man at first glance.

But clearly, this person was no mere youth.

He was the Celestial Immortal Ancestor of Qionghua Pavilion, one of the One Hundred and Eight Upper Sects of the Nine Provinces: the Beichen Sword Immortal!

Standing with him in the depths of the Bright Moon Grotto Heaven, besides Pavilion Master Qionghua, was another tall, middle-aged man with a naturally commanding presence. It was the plainly dressed City God of Pinglan City, Wu Xuanchu.

The Wu City God held a Ruyi, his expression grave. Behind him floated a Red Lantern!

Bright red light shone from the lantern, but once it radiated out about three inches, it seemed to be blocked by something strange, as if the light source itself were being obstructed.

As a result, the red light around the lantern appeared quite hazy and dim.

Faintly, it seemed to carry an unspeakably sinister, distorted quality. One dared not look at it for long; each extra glance felt like it would send a pang of panic through the heart.

This Red Lantern was the very same one that the Wu City God had claimed during the incident in Illusory Nether City!

After ten years of assimilation and ritual refinement, the Wu City God had finally forged it into a true Spiritual Treasure that he could carry and use.

The Red Lantern cast a ghostly glow. There were no pavilions or grand halls deep inside the Bright Moon Grotto Heaven, only a stretch of profound, desolate ground.

A young woman dressed as a disciple of Bright Moon Pavilion lay on the ground, her eyelids half-closed. The one performing the core extraction was none other than Pavilion Master Qionghua, Yu Xuan Fairy.

When the Beichen Sword Immortal uttered those three words, a flicker of pity crossed Pavilion Master Qionghua’s face.

But despite her reluctance, she did not hesitate in the slightest.

She just whispered, "Yingxia, please bear with it for a moment. I..."

’I... I what?’

She never finished the sentence.

Her words caught in her throat. A silver light flashed in her palm, and in the next instant, it circled the disciple’s dantian like flowing water.

The disciple’s name was Fang Yingxia. She was none other than the Chi Hua Fairy, who had disappeared all those years ago!

At that moment, the Chi Hua Fairy’s half-lidded eyes snapped open, and a strangled cry of pain escaped her lips. "Ah!"

A perfectly round Golden Core, borne by the silver light, flew toward Pavilion Master Qionghua and into her waiting palm!

Pavilion Master Qionghua moved with extreme speed. As the Golden Core descended, a specially crafted, open jade box appeared in her hand. The Golden Core was just about to fall into the box when—

Suddenly, the Chi Hua Fairy shuddered violently and spat out a large mouthful of black blood.

Black blood also gushed from her dantian like a fountain, SPLASHING outward.

How much blood could a person’s body even hold? How could anyone withstand such a torrent?

Even though the Chi Hua Fairy was a Cultivator, with a constitution far stronger than a mortal’s, she shouldn’t have been able to withstand such a massive loss of blood.

At that same moment, the Golden Core, just about to fall into the jade box, suddenly leaped up. As if it were the sun itself, or the moon cresting the mountains, it exuded an indescribable aura of majesty and sanctity as it shot toward Pavilion Master Qionghua.

Pavilion Master Qionghua involuntarily opened her mouth!

Just as the Golden Core was about to leap into her mouth, in the nick of time, the sword at the Beichen Sword Immortal’s waist rang out.

In the vast, desolate depths of the Bright Moon Grotto Heaven, the sword’s cry was like a song from the heavens.

A flash of sword light leaped forth. Though it moved second, it arrived first, like a white rainbow piercing the sun!

The Beichen Sword Immortal’s sword... at its most grand, it could connect heaven and earth and move the very stars; at its swiftest, it could shrink time to a single thread, gone in the blink of an eye.

And it could also be as it was now: minute, delicate, and perfect down to the finest detail.

The sword light passed through the Golden Core, gently skewering it upon an infinitesimally fine thread of Sword Intent.

On the ground, black blood gushed even more frantically from the Chi Hua Fairy’s mouth. The hole in her dantian was like a bottomless abyss. Not only did an endless stream of blood pour from her mouth and her wound, but strange, unidentifiable fleshy tumors also came spilling out. SPLAT. SPLAT.

The moment these tumors hit the ground, they began to self-immolate with a SIZZLE.

Though it takes long to describe, everything happened in a single moment.

The Beichen Sword Immortal’s expression was grave. Piercing the Golden Core with his Sword Intent was so taxing that fine beads of sweat appeared on his brow.

He formed a sword seal with his hand, gritted his teeth, and asked, "Old Wu, are you done yet?"

The Wu City God held the Jade Ruyi, its gentle light sweeping over the Chi Hua Fairy’s body.

The Red Lantern floating behind him also seemed to have its seal broken. The red light, once confined to a three-inch radius, suddenly spilled outward, enveloping the entire desolate space deep within the Bright Moon Grotto Heaven.

But even so, outside, in the skies above Pinglan City, layers of clouds had begun to gather like mountains.

Within the bruised, dark clouds, there was the faint impression of brewing thunder.

In Pinglan City, the common folk looked up at the sky. Some shouted, "What’s going on? Is it about to rain? Quick, get under an eave!"

Others took off running. "Oh no! I’ve still got cured meat hanging in the courtyard! Gotta bring it in!"

...

The sky suddenly darkened. The air grew damp and oppressive, and the dark clouds hung low, as if about to fall.