Chapter 1354: Unity of Heaven and Earth

Chapter 1354: Chapter 1354: Unity of Heaven and Earth

"Junior Brother, don’t let his words provoke you. He is already at the end of his rope, just a dying man. Be careful of his desperate struggle delivering a fatal strike." Mo Baiqi saw that even at this moment, Shan Cai Chen dared to act arrogantly and provoke Liu Xuanji with his seniority. Worried that his junior brother might impulsively fall into the trap, he reminded him.

"Rest assured, Senior Brother. At this point, all he thinks about is exchanging life for life! How could I fall for his trick?" Liu Xuanji understood his senior brother’s concerns. Though his words were light-hearted, he closely observed Shan Cai Chen’s every move, remaining vigilant and ready to unleash a prepared sequence of spells to control the opponent’s actions and thereby retreat wisely.

"Hehehe! Against a relic on the verge of collapse, you still act like you’re facing a great enemy. The Hongjun Sword Furnace has indeed declined with each generation. In my view, instead of passing it on to you, it would be better to give it to Jue Liunian, that illegitimate child. Your mother, blinded by jealousy, completely destroyed the sect’s future." Facing imminent doom, Shan Cai Chen seemed more carefree. Despite being besieged by their attacks, he opened his arms as if embracing them and taunted them with scathing words.

"Junior Brother!" As the saying goes, never hit a man in the face or reveal his secrets. Shan Cai Chen’s words struck at the very core of their concerns. Coupled with his disrespect toward the family elders, Mo Baiqi could feel his junior brother’s uncontainable anger. He loudly reminded him while launching an attack at Shan Cai Chen’s vital point, aiming to resolve the issue before Shan Cai Chen could act.

"Old geezer!" Liu Xuanji indeed felt angered, yet he maintained his basic composure. However, he pressed the sword a bit harder, infusing it with more Sword Qi. Yet, this slight force nearly caused a calamity.

Thud!

With a hollow sound, Liu Xuanji’s body involuntarily tilted forward. To his shock, the chest of Shan Cai Chen, where he had pierced, turned into a neatly cut round hole. The part connected to the wooden sword was missing, and within this hole—which could see through his entire chest—an inexplicable suction emerged. If not for Liu Xuanji tightly gripping the wooden sword, it might have slipped from his hands and been sucked in.

Not good! Liu Xuanji silently thought, immediately casting the prepared control magic on Shan Cai Chen, readying himself to withdraw. Yet, Shan Cai Chen’s subsequent actions were even more unexpected. Rather than pursuing them, he ignored the accumulated spells within him and even endured Mo Baiqi’s longsword piercing his neck, allowing it to leave a shocking wound. He then tilted his head to firmly clamp the sword blade between his head and collarbone.

"Cough, cough, cough! Unity of Man and God! Heaven and Earth Return to Origin!" Shan Cai Chen coughed blood continuously, his voice rough and leaking air as he shouted aggressively.

In an instant, Liu Xuanji, Mo Baiqi, and Shan Cai Chen merged with the surrounding Heaven and Earth source energy. Experiencing this sudden change, Mo and Liu were initially startled but soon regained their composure.

"Shan Cai Chen, I thought you would have some sort of trick! Hahaha! It seems you are truly senile! But, indeed, there’s nothing else you can do now but delay time! But is it useful? Even if you restrain us, others can still annihilate your White Deer Institute!" A calm Liu Xuanji tauntingly said to the dying Shan Cai Chen. The Heaven and Earth Return to Origin technique is a more domineering confinement method than the Heaven and Earth Cage. The latter only anchors people in place using the source energy of a Heavenly Dao Strong Person. Most, including cultivators of the same level, find it difficult to escape once captured by this technique.

However, for someone like Liu Xuanji, who has reached the pinnacle of the Heavenly Dao and touched the Rules of Heaven and Earth, or someone like Pei Yan, a Child of Origin with flexible control over various source energies, breaking through the confinement of the Heaven and Earth Prison is much simpler.

Shan Cai Chen, aware of this, wouldn’t foolishly resort to such a method. The current technique, Heaven and Earth Return to Origin, is not so much confinement as a sacrificial ritual. It merges himself, his enemies, and Heaven and Earth into one for a collective offering. During the spell’s maintenance, the three of them cannot move a fraction, and upon completion, they will transform into stone statues, their source energy returning to nature.

This technique indeed serves as a final mutual destruction method for top-tier Heavenly Dao experts, but Mo Baiqi and Liu Xuanji are not worried. Shan Cai Chen’s source energy, depleting while fighting against them, certainly won’t last until the sacrificial ritual completes. Once exhausted, the sacrifice will automatically end, his soul and life suffering backlash. There would be no need for the two to act; he would perish naturally, freeing them.

"Shan Cai Chen, this is your tragedy. If you only targeted one of us with this method, you might succeed. But with both of us, your source energy is inadequate!" Liu Xuanji mocked, releasing source energy with Mo Baiqi to wear down Shan Cai Chen’s bind, seeking an early resolution.

"Indeed! Shan Cai Chen, not to mention whether holding us can aid your White Deer Institute disciples, our life and death are now dependent on external forces. Any expert of Heavenly Dao level could penetrate this Heaven and Earth Origin Realm and kill you or us, breaking the stalemate. Given the situation, Elder Shang, which side do you think will have reinforcement arrive first?" Mo Baiqi continued to undermine Shan Cai Chen’s will, saying, "Elder Shang, I still address you respectfully as senior, recalling your regard for my father. Surrender, and we can still save you! Reveal everything to His Majesty the Spirit Emperor. Xuanji and I will plead for your life, erase your memory, extract a fragment of your spirit to reincarnate anew, and you may yet embark on the path of immortality again."

"Hehehe! I appreciate your concern even at this point for a dying man like me. To tread the path of immortality anew? Climb the great avenue again? If I had that intent, I wouldn’t have shown myself. In one night’s time, if I wanted to flee, what could you do? My death today was already fated. My only regret is not killing that Pei youngling in vengeance for the disciples he slaughtered from my sect. But taking the Hongjun Sword Furnace’s Sect Leader and elders with me in death, it’s a worthy culmination of my learnings and life." Shan Cai Chen uttered his response intermittently with drooped eyelids.

"Hmph! You speak with such difficulty! Taking us to death with you? What gives you that right?"

"Because of me!"

Before Liu Xuanji’s mocking words faded, an unexpected voice echoed from outside the circle. Hearing a slightly familiar response, Mo Baiqi and Liu Xuanji were shocked, their expressions changing drastically.