Chapter 571 - 521: Gold Element Path (Part 2)

Chapter 571: Chapter 521: Gold Element Path (Part 2)

The only real solution was to increase the tier of the Array Flying Swords.

The Sword Array itself was the culmination of several centuries of the Star River Star Monarch’s Sword Dao Cultivation and represented the pinnacle of the Taibai Sword Sect’s achievements in Sword Arrays.

With Bai Zichen’s current knowledge, trying to modify and strengthen it was nothing but wishful thinking.

’A uniform set of Tier Four Flying Swords won’t be enough forever. If I could add a Tier Five Flying Sword to the mix, the single-target damage would multiply...’

While watching the fierce, raging battle, Bai Zichen still had the spare mental capacity to let his thoughts wander, considering ways to upgrade the Star River Sword Array.

’That Tier Five Flying Sword Po Jun acquired seems to have deep ties to the Taibai Sword Sect. It won’t be easy to bring it under my command. I’ll see if there’s an opportunity when the Core Secret Realm opens... The Abi Heavenly Prison Demon Sword is a more accessible option. As long as I reach Late-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivation, it will acknowledge me as its master... Wait, there might be another way to increase the Sword Array’s power!’

A sudden inspiration struck him. He instinctively used Sword Light Division, and in the next moment, the Star Sword Light raining down from the starry sky increased tenfold.

There were so many that they converged into twelve pillars of light, sweeping back and forth.

The slightest graze turned things to ash.

The barest touch severed them cleanly.

Though it was called "thousand-legged," it lost hundreds of pairs of legs in the blink of an eye. Two vicious strikes landed on its back, leaving a massive indentation.

"Celestial Pool Opening, Five Metals Unity!"

The Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede grew frenzied. It hadn’t felt its life so gravely threatened in a long time, not since its Desolate Beast Bloodline had mutated.

Facing the vast starry sky and stars that resembled true celestial bodies, it almost felt like it was facing the Red-Eared Ancestor.

And then there was the Dragon Monarch. After the young dragon from the Star Constellation Sea was granted that impossible, Heaven-Defying Treasure by the Ao Family’s Ancestor, the centipede had felt inferior every time they met.

It had once observed that Treasure activate from up close. Heaven and earth dissolved into Chaos, and everything reverted to earth, water, fire, and wind. Just witnessing it was terrifying.

Yet this two-legged beast before it, a mere Mid-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator, was evoking a similar feeling.

’When did the Human Race produce another monstrous talent like this?!’

’If this goes on, my survival is uncertain.’

The Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede spat out its Demon Pill, breathed a mouthful of its Lifebound Demon Essence onto it, and channeled its Gold Element True Intent.

It was widely known that the Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede, by virtue of its Desolate Beast Bloodline, possessed a profound talent for the Path of Void and even had several Divine Techniques related to it.

But few knew that its mastery of the Gold Element Path was actually even deeper.

It was nothing like a Demon Beast; its proficiency was on par with a Great True Monarch who specialized in this path.

The Gold Element True Intent, nurtured within its Demon Pill for a millennium, was incomparably sharp. More importantly, the moment it appeared, it drew all the Power of Gold Element in the surrounding world to converge upon it.

It could even cause all objects related to the Five Metals to spin out of control.

Pure Five Elements Magic was no longer in vogue in the Cultivation Realm, a fact made clear by the declining trajectory of the Five Elements Sect.

However, the Five Elements Path was an extremely domineering and powerful route. Mastering even a single element allowed one to easily manipulate that entire family of Spiritual Power in the world.

Any Magical Treasure made primarily from the Five Metals, or any Gold Element Divine Technique, would be rendered useless before a Cultivator who had truly mastered the Power of Gold Element. They could even be turned against their original wielder.

Even if one didn’t use a Five Metals Treasure, their body would still contain trace amounts of the Five Metals.

The Gold Element True Intent could use this to manipulate the flow of blood within the body.

After taking so many rounds of Star Sword Light, how could the Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede not realize that the Twelve Stars above were formed from twelve Flying Swords?

And in the Cultivation Realm, the primary material for over ninety percent of all Flying Swords was inevitably some form of Five Metals Spirit.

The Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede was confident that it could use this to destabilize the Sword Array and make it impossible for the starry sky to be maintained.

As the Golden Liquid swirled on its Demon Pill, the Twelve Stars began to wobble just as it had predicted, deviating from their normal trajectories.

But the effect was nowhere near enough to cause the Sword Array to collapse and disintegrate.

"How is this possible?!"

The Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede let out a hoarse, desperate scream as its Demon Pill was struck by another thousand rays of Star Sword Light.

This mass of Gold Element True Intent had been nurtured for a millennium and was being activated for the first time. It was infinitely close to the Tier Five level and should have been absolutely irresistible for a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

A single miscalculation meant it not only failed to achieve the desired effect but also left its Demon Pill exposed, suffering another grievous blow.

’The Gold Element Path... That was a close call. Luckily, I’m different from other Sword Cultivators. I don’t have a high proportion of Five Metals Flying Swords.’

Bai Zichen’s hair stood on end. The Star River Sword Array had briefly slipped from his control, and he had almost been forced to use his trump card, the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword.

Fortunately, the fully formed Sword Array was suffused with Starry Sky Sword Intent, making it seem like a real cosmos of stars. Despite the violent shaking, it held its form.

Of course, this was also because not many of the Array Flying Swords had been affected.

Of the twelve Flying Swords, the three most important were unique. The Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword’s form was a bolt of Thunder Radiance—gentle and flowing when still, but unleashing cataclysmic thunder when in motion.

In any case, it had no connection to the Five Metals Spirit.

The Moon Xuan Sword was a lustrous white and also lacked a fixed form, likely refined from a Spiritual Material like the Taiyin Spirit.

The Splendid Youth Sword had a pale blade made from Splendid Youth Crystal, and its crimson hilt was crafted from Red Face Stone.

Since these three Tier Four Flying Swords were unrelated to the Five Metals Spirit, the foundation of the Sword Array would not be shaken.

Among the remaining Flying Swords, there were four wood-aspected Thunder Sound Swords and the Snow Forged Sword, which was condensed from the essence of ice and snow. None of them were affected by the Power of Gold Element.

Although the other four Flying Swords wobbled and spun out of control, they were quickly corrected within the framework of the Star River Sword Array.

’A Demon Beast that has actually comprehended Dual True Intent. That was a close one... It’s true that any famous figure who has stood the test of time has real skills. I must never underestimate them!’

This also served as a reminder for Bai Zichen: if his Flying Swords were all of the same attribute, they would be easily countered.

The Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede’s failed counterattack only hastened its demise.

Originally, relying on its Immortal Body, it could have held out for several days at least. But with its Demon Pill damaged, its regeneration speed clearly couldn’t keep up.

It launched several more grandiose-looking counterattacks, but they were all more bark than bite.

The Star River Sword Array was like a true cosmic expanse. Against the deep backdrop of the Twelve Stars, more and more points of starlight appeared, as if the Milky Way itself had been torn from the heavens by a Celestial Immortal.

The starry sky grew ever more vast and boundless, containing the infinite. As it expanded without pause, the accumulating Starry Sky Sword Intent riddled the Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede with countless wounds.

As the Twelve Stars themselves descended, a celestial body of pure Thunderbolt smashed down, blasting the Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede directly in two.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Fortunately, the Star River Sword Array formed its own self-contained world; otherwise, the land for a hundred miles around would have been sundered, turned into a scorched wasteland.

The most terrifying prospect was the Jishui River bursting its banks, unleashing a torrent that would inundate the plains on both sides. Millions of lives would likely be affected, displaced and left homeless.

The Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede’s body was now like a pile of sludge, completely devoid of life. A miniature golden centipede, shrunk countless times over, flew out from it.

Unfortunately, trapped within the Sword Array, even its Essence Spirit God had nowhere to flee.

"Bind!"

The Star River Sword Array whirled, quickly forcing the golden centipede’s Essence into a narrow space and capturing it with ease.

However, he didn’t have a suitable vessel to seal an Essence, so he could only divert a portion of his True Essence to suppress it within his own Realm.

A Tier Four Great Demon Essence had limitless applications, to say nothing of one that was Tier Four Top Grade.

If a Cultivator was in desperate need, such as a Tier Four Puppet Master, it could easily fetch a sky-high price at auction.

After all, while there were quite a few Cultivators in the Cultivation Realm capable of Refining Tier Four Puppets, there were even more High-Tier Puppets that had been passed down through the generations in the Major Sects.

In comparison, the Tier Four Great Demon Essence required as a Puppet’s core was what was truly scarce.

Bai Zichen withdrew the Star River Sword Array. The sky brightened, shifting from a boundless starry expanse back to a clear day with white clouds.

The massive, ruined corpse of the Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede fell from the sky, crashing heavily onto the ochre earth and kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

A thought stirred in Bai Zichen’s mind. He glanced downstream along the Jishui River, and before long, three streaks of Escape Light appeared.

It was none other than Kong Bai and his two companions, who had been following the trail.

A mysterious Cultivator wearing a Ziwei Star God Mask stood in the air, hands clasped behind his back. Behind him lay the scattered, mangled Demon Body of the Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede.

When the three of them finally arrived, this was the incredibly impactful scene that greeted them.

"The Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede... it’s... it’s been slain..."

A dignified True Monarch, the Yellow-Faced Nascent Soul Cultivator was actually trembling as he spoke, his words stuttering.

How much time had even passed? The Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede, whose strength surpassed that of many a Great True Monarch, had been killed just like that?