128: Why not fight four against one?

The horizon fell silent for a moment.

Finally, a raspy voice rang out.

"Since Fellow Daoist Taihe saw through it, why didn't you launch a sneak attack on my Junior Brother just now? Why choose those two beasts instead?"

Beside True Monarch Youquan, three more figures appeared.

All six True Monarchs of the Xuan Yin Palace had arrived!

In the center stood a seven-foot-tall middle-aged man wearing an ordinary black robe with an unremarkable appearance, looking across with a smile on his face.

[Xuan Yin Heavenly Lock Spirit-Inheriting True Monarch Chengdao]

The Palace Master of Xuan Yin Palace, a Late Stage Dharma Idol Great True Monarch.

He was also one of the undisputed top titans of the Cangmang Realm, having lived for over two thousand years!

True Monarch Taihe said expressionlessly, "What use would it be to attack them? With a devious fellow like you lurking in the shadows, a single strike wouldn't kill them anyway. It's better to just wipe out these two disgusting things first. Doesn't that suit your wishes perfectly?"

The Xuan Yin Palace Master sneered, "You are still as arrogant as ever. You saw it was a trap, yet you still jumped right in!"

Hearing this, True Monarch Taihe shook his head repeatedly.

"We both know exactly what the other is thinking."

"Since you all dare to leave the Xuan Yin Palace to fight me in the open, why should I be afraid?"

"Furthermore, whether I am arrogant or not isn't for you to decide; it's decided by strength."

"A hundred years ago, you couldn't defeat me. Even with the six of you combined, you were barely my equal. As for now..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood his meaning.

Hearing this, the Xuan Yin Palace Master did not get angry, still maintaining his smiling appearance, because three more auras were rising from the north, south, and west.

Even from a thousand miles away, that massive aura still made True Monarch Taihe frown slightly.

The four True Monarchs from the Tianshu Sect and the Fengming Sword Sect also gathered at this moment, all looking at True Monarch Taihe with worried expressions.

"Fellow Daoist Changkong, Fellow Daoist Fengyue, in a moment, leave the members of the Xuan Yin Palace, as well as the Yingu Cult and Du Yuan Mountain, to yourselves."

"That old fogey Chengdao and these three will be left to me."

True Monarch Changkong seemed to want to say something more, but he was interrupted by True Monarch Taihe's domineering wave of the hand.

"You are outnumbered. Just rely on the zhen yue spirit god to tie them down. Once I defeat the four of them single-handedly, this battle will be over."

The four of them: "..."

It's not that we don't believe you, but shouldn't you take a closer look at who exactly the three newcomers are?

Don't mistake them.

At the western horizon, golden dawn suddenly broke through the haze.

It was as if billions of sharp, needle-like golden rays of light were bursting forth from the Void Realm in the far west.

Wherever the light reached, the heavy Death Qi permeating the Baitu Hills dissipated and was purified as rapidly as boiling water poured on snow. A faint, ethereal sound of sword humming echoed between heaven and earth, cleansing the Divine Soul.

At the core of the golden dawn, a person stepped through the void.

He was tall and slender with a lean, refined face, wearing a set of old green robes with slightly worn cuffs and hems.

A sheathless longsword hung loosely at his waist. The blade was dull and unremarkable, looking like nothing more than stubborn iron.

However, beneath this seemingly ordinary figure's feet, lotuses woven purely from condensed Sword Intent bloomed in the void. As the petals unfurled, they sliced deep trails into the void that lingered for a long time.

This person's name was Lu Qingming.

His honorific title was: [Ten Thousand Swords Bowing to the Immortal, Qingming Spotless True Monarch]

A Dharma Idol Late Stage cultivation!

The undisputed number one person among the Loose Cultivators of the three continents and four seas!

He was also the only Late Stage Dharma Idol Loose Cultivator in the Cangmang Realm.

At the same time.

"Liiiiii——————!!!"

A roc's cry that could pierce through rock and reach the Nine Heavens exploded without warning!

Where the sound passed, clouds collapsed, and spiritual essence surged!

On the southern horizon, the sky full of dark clouds was instantly stained with lightning.

Magnificent purple-gold thunderclouds stacked layer upon layer, stretching for a thousand miles. Lightning snakes danced wildly within the clouds, and thunder dragons appeared faintly as the heavy, majestic sound of rolling thunder continued without end.

At the core of the thunderclouds, a massive shadow slowly descended.

The first to emerge from the clouds was a pair of purple-gold wings, thousands of feet wide, enough to blot out mountains.

Each feather seemed to be woven from highly compressed and condensed Nine Heavens lightning, with a luster like liquid thunder paste flowing along the edges.

With a gentle flap of its wings, a sky full of fine lightning sparks scattered, illuminating the hundred miles of mountains and rivers below.

The body beneath the wings was faintly visible in the churning thunderclouds. Once its full form was revealed, it was a magnificent and majestic lightning roc.

Its streamlined body was covered in purple-gold thunder-patterned feathers, and its head bore a pale gold crest as translucent as jade. Beside its beak, sharp as a divine hook, small sparks of electricity constantly flickered in and out of existence.

Its tail feathers, even larger than its body, consisted of nine thunderous tails of incredible length and varying forms. As they swayed, they drew the thunder of the eight directions into a roar.

It was the hegemon that dominated the South Sea islands and the endless ocean, the sovereign revered by all monsters—the Nine-Tailed Thunder Roc!

A Tier 4 Late Stage Great Demon Emperor!

At almost the same moment.

From the northern horizon came a completely different bell sound.

Desolate, ancient, and heavy.

"Dong— Dong— Dong—!!!"

As the bell tolled, the northern sky was lit up by a warm, mellow, and almost tangible Black-Yellow spiritual light, spreading for a thousand miles.

Within the light, one could vaguely see the shifting shadows of countless pavilions, immortal mountains, and floating islands, with thousands of Dao sounds resonating in harmony.

At the brightest point of the spiritual light, a figure solidified from the void and gradually approached.

The newcomer wore a Seven-Star World-Shining Crown and a Black-Yellow Daoist robe. The robe was embroidered with dark gold thread depicting the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and all living creatures, as if he were wearing a miniature universe on his body.

His face's specific age was impossible to discern; it possessed the handsomeness of a youth, the majesty of a middle-aged man, and the seasoned wisdom of an elder, all three qualities perfectly blended into one.

His left hand held aloft a small, ancient bell floating above his palm. The bell's body was the color of Chaos, its surface engraved with ancient patterns of birds, beasts, insects, fish, ancestral sacrifices, and the movement of the sun and moon.

The bell sound that had just resonated through the Divine Soul was emitted by this very bell.

Its name was: [myriad transformation return to origin bell]

It was a Tier 4 supreme-grade Magic Treasure (Pseudo-Spirit Treasure).

And this person was the titan from the core region of the Cangmang Realm, the Kunwu Continent's Cultivation World, the current Sect Master of the orthodox Xuan Gate's Wuji Sect, Zhong Haoran!

His honorific title was: [Black-Yellow Wuji Dharma Source True Monarch Haoran]

His cultivation level... Peak Dharma Idol Realm!

This was a True Monarch who had truly reached Perfection in the Dharma Idol Realm!

He was only one step away from breaking through the realm and achieving Ascension!

Among the human and Yao Races of the entire Cangmang Realm, True Monarch Haoran was also a top-three existence!

The reason he wasn't the number one person in the Cangmang Realm was that among the only three current Tier 4 Peak existences, they had never publicly fought each other.

Therefore, it was impossible to say who was stronger or weaker.

One could also say that all three of them were number one in the Cangmang Realm!

It could truly be said:

The Spotless Sword Intent purifies the world, the Thunder Roc's Divine Might covers the heavens;

The Black-Yellow spiritual light fills the fields, the Dao Bell's sound shakes the universe.

Looking at such a display, even True Monarch Taihe couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

He had considered that this was a trap.

He had also considered that Xuan Yin Palace would call for reinforcements.

But what he hadn't expected was that Xuan Yin Palace would actually invite three at once!

The world's number one Loose Cultivator, Spotless True Monarch!

The hegemon of the South Sea Yao Race, the Nine-Tailed Thunder Roc!

And the one he dreaded the most... True Monarch Haoran!

He didn't know what price Xuan Yin Palace had paid for this.

"But taking on four alone!"

The light in True Monarch Taihe's eyes grew increasingly fervent.

He felt his blood and magic power burning within his body!

"A thousand miles high in the sky, come and fight!"

A heroic laugh vibrated through the clouds.

A towering giant shadow, five thousand feet tall, rose slowly, following True Monarch Taihe's figure as he charged toward the apex of the firmament.

The majestic Taihe Mountain suddenly transformed into a ten-thousand-foot giant, carrying the power to shatter heaven and earth as it smashed down fiercely toward the flying Nine-Tailed Thunder Roc!