132: Chasing them for a million miles
Just as the Palace Master of Xuan Yin Palace was struck down from the sky.
Dustless Sword Intent, Myriad Swords as One!
Spotless did not give up; his surging Sword Intent transformed into a faint sword shadow, a hundred times more condensed than before, as if it did not exist in this time and space.
"Buzz~"
This sword shadow was only a few feet in size and semi-transparent.
But this strike was the pinnacle of his lifelong cultivation in the Dao of the Sword!
Casting aside all external forms, only the purest essence of the sword remained. In an instant, it pierced through thousands of miles of void, aiming straight for the center of True Monarch Taihe's physical forehead!
This strike did not target the Dharma Image, nor the Physical Body.
It pointed directly at the Divine Soul!
If it hit, any being below the Late Dharma Image Stage would have their Divine Soul shattered and die.
Even for experts at or above the Late Dharma Image Stage, if they were caught off guard, their Divine Souls would be heavily injured, losing their combat power, or they might even perish directly!
However, True Monarch Taihe reacted quickly, immediately taking out a Tier 4 Medium Grade Magic Treasure shield and placing it in front of him.
"Screech—"
The semi-transparent sword shadow paused for only a brief moment before cleanly piercing through the Magic Treasure shield.
But in that single instant, True Monarch Taihe's Physical Body had already vanished from the spot.
In its place was a Three-legged Smelting Furnace.
This strike, upon which Spotless had pinned high hopes, missed!
Furthermore, this Sword Intent fell into the furnace, unable to escape no matter how it struggled.
Spotless felt as if he had pierced into a Chaos that had no beginning or end, constantly evolving and changing; his surging Sword Intent was enveloped, decomposed, and melted by an infinite, ceaseless, and majestic power.
Until it turned to ashes!
"Pfft!"
Spotless's face turned pale, and he spat out a mouthful of pale gold blood containing peerless Sword Intent.
"It's only polite to return the favor!"
True Monarch Taihe's voice descended from above, and scorching mirror light shone from all directions, like a hundred-mile cage, tightly imprisoning his Dharma Image body.
Starting from his right arm holding the sword, countless fine cracks appeared. No blood flowed from the cracks; instead, pure specks of Sword Intent light dissipated.
The Dharma Image... had already begun to collapse!
He could lose his Physical Body, but the Dharma Image had to be preserved.
Otherwise, a Physical Body without a Dharma Image would not even be able to activate its Lifebound Treasure, and its strength would not be much stronger than an ordinary Xuantai True Person.
Given that he had enemies all over the world, he would likely fall into a situation where everyone would hunt him down, and he would meet his end sooner or later.
"Damn it!!"
A look of horror and determination flashed in his eyes. Without any hesitation, he pressed his left fingers together like a sword and struck his own forehead!
"Sword Heart Clarity, Sacrifice Body to Become a Rainbow!"
In an instant!
His Physical Body exploded, turning into hundreds of millions of pure sword lights. Like a reverse Milky Way, it carried the shrunken Dharma Image Origin and Divine Soul consciousness, fleeing frantically toward the west!
Its speed was so fast that it was not inferior to the Nine-Tailed Thunder Roc's Nine Heavens Thunder Escape.
In the blink of an eye, it had fled thousands of miles and disappeared into the distant horizon.
Only a faint but clear transmission echoed across the battlefield: "Fellow Daoist Taihe's Divine Ability is indeed astonishing. This time... I am thoroughly convinced. I have learned my lesson!"
Spotless's Physical Body was destroyed, leaving only the Dharma Image Origin to flee with the Divine Soul Sword Intent, a heavy loss.
Afterward, he could only possess another's body and spend hundreds of years of bitter cultivation along with a large number of top-tier Heaven And Earth Treasures to re-cultivate; even then, it would be difficult to return to his Peak.
And considering his remaining Lifespan, it could be said that he had lost the chance to charge into the Primordial Spirit Realm in this life!
This battle had directly extinguished his future!
True Monarch Taihe sneered and did not pursue. Instead, he turned to look at the grim-faced True Monarch Haoran and Palace Master Xuan Yin.
In just a few breaths.
The Nine-Tailed Thunder Roc's Physical Body was heavily damaged, and it fled directly.
Spotless was even more miserable; his Physical Body was completely shattered, leaving only a half-ruined Dharma Image Origin to run away, and it was unknown how many hundreds of years it would take for him to recover.
"Gentlemen, it's your turn—"
Before he could finish, the two looked at each other.
No words were needed!
"Go!"
The same thought occurred to both of them almost simultaneously.
At this moment, they couldn't care less about their reputation. Facing True Monarch Taihe, who had just broken through and had a surging Aura, they were definitely not a match for him!
Palace Master Xuan Yin was the most decisive. He spat out a large mouthful of essence blood, and his massive, dark Dharma Image was instantly enveloped in a mist of blood.
In the next moment, it suddenly collapsed toward the center, turning into an imperceptible Nether Escape Line, shooting straight toward the direction of Xuan Yin Palace.
"Boom!!"
True Monarch Haoran followed closely behind. The phantom of the myriad transformation return to origin bell suddenly covered him. The bell's body rotated rapidly, emitting a thick Black and Yellow Origin Returning Qi, tearing through the void to escape.
They were heading in the same direction.
They had agreed; both were heading toward Xuan Yin Palace.
Right now, only by fleeing back to Xuan Yin Palace and relying on its Tier 4 High Grade Mountain Protecting Grand Formation, as well as the trump cards left by Dao Lord Jintuo before his Ascension, could the two of them be kept safe!
If they fled separately, even True Monarch Haoran could not guarantee that he could return to Kunwu Continent alive.
"You want to leave now? Isn't it a bit too late?"
True Monarch Taihe's cold voice rang out as he chased after them.
"Suppress!"
The majestic tai he precious mountain in his hand suddenly enlarged, as if carrying the weight of a world and infinite suppressing power, looming over the head of True Monarch Haoran, who was bringing up the rear... From the Baitu Hills to the gates of Xuan Yin Palace, they were separated by hundreds of thousands of miles, with countless small sects in between.
Cangwu Sect was one such small sect.
The entire sect was located on a Tier 2 Low Grade Spiritual Vein called "Qixia Ridge." It had a total of three thousand-foot-high Peaks; the main Peak was Cangwu Peak, and the two side Peaks made up its entire territory.
The Sect Leader was an old Cultivator in the Mid Dao Foundation Realm. There were over two hundred Cultivators in the sect, with only two or three Early Dao Foundation Stage Elders, and the rest were Qi Refinement Stage Disciples.
Their sphere of influence was only a few hundred miles in the mortal world. Their cultivation life was poor but stable.
The earth-shattering battles between giants like Xuan Yin Palace and Taihe Sect were nothing more than stories told over tea and meals, as distant as legends to them.
After all, a small sect like Cangwu Sect didn't even have the qualifications to be used as cannon fodder.
Just then—
An unspeakable great terror, originating from biological instinct, seized the minds of every living being on Cangwu Peak without warning!
Birds fell to the ground in panic, and beasts collapsed with mournful cries.
More than half of the Qi Refinement Stage Disciples fainted directly, and the Dao Foundation Cultivators all turned pale, their blood and Qi flowing backward.
The old Sect Leader suddenly looked up. His Divine Sense pierced through the roof of his cave dwelling, and he saw a sight he would never forget—the final moment of his life.
The sky... had a hole.
It wasn't dark clouds, nor was it a rainstorm.
Deep in the extremely high and distant sky, a speck of crimson light silently tore through the grey-white sky, falling toward Qixia Ridge.
The arc of its long trailing flame looked as if it were just a spark of ember struck out and scattered by some unimaginable existence!
The light has not yet arrived, Intimidation comes first.
Like an invisible giant palm, it slammed heavily onto Qixia Ridge's Mountain Protecting Grand Formation!
"Buzz—Crack!"
The Mountain Protecting Grand Formation's light screen, which had been passed down for over four hundred years and reinforced by several generations of Sect Leaders, couldn't even hold out for a ten-thousandth of an instant before it shattered completely like glass struck by a heavy hammer!
The moment the light screen shattered, the old Sect Leader felt his entire body being pierced and torn apart by a force that was arrogant to the extreme.
He slumped to the ground with blood flowing from his seven orifices, and his vision began to blur and turn red.
In his blurred red vision, the last thing he saw was:
That terrifying speck of crimson light accurately hit the sect gate. The rocky mountain Peak, which had weathered tens of thousands of years of wind and rain, instantly turned into a bright red and white boiling lava!
The thousand-foot-high Cangwu Peak was ignited, melted, and forcibly erased by its upper half in less than a single breath!
In its place was a huge, bottomless lava lake with thick, glowing lava flowing at its edges, sending up a mushroom-shaped cloud of lethal toxic smoke and ash that shot straight into the sky.
The emerald green mountain forest instantly turned into a soaring sea of fire. The surface of the mountain rocks vitrified and crackled. All the buildings, pavilions, and cave dwellings of Cangwu Sect dissolved like they were made of paper.
Cangwu Sect was gone!
Hundreds of Cultivators and the lush spiritual mountain were all gone.
Thousands of miles up in the sky, two blurred figures of light, intertwined with black and yellow spiritual light and nether Death Qi, were fleeing for their lives.
The crimson light ball chasing from behind was precisely True Monarch Taihe.
What destroyed Cangwu Sect was just a tiny spark struck off True Monarch Taihe's furnace Magic Treasure by the myriad transformation return to origin bell.
That was all.
And such situations were not uncommon during their pursuit over hundreds of thousands of miles.
Except for those who were already dead, who else would care?
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No update on January 25th. The author has the flu; it's a bit serious, and I need to go to the hospital.
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