369: Chapter 369 The Four Divine Powers Battle Chu Sheng

Chu Sheng's Zhu Xian Sword Formation had fully unfolded the moment the four of them stepped into its range.

Dark golden Sword Qi surged out like a tide, slicing the entire cloud layer into countless fine fragments and enveloping the four figures all at once.

But the four of them did not stop their steps.

Elder Xuesong looked up at the closing curtain of swords, his tone remaining steady: "It is rumored that the four swords of zhuxian cannot be broken without four Divine Abilities."

He paused, as if confirming the accuracy of this statement: "We happen to have gathered four people today."

The Great Immortal Red Sword had already drawn his sword. The moment the blade left its sheath, the surrounding clouds were forced back by a scorching aura, as if pushed away by some invisible force.

His voice carried the certainty of someone who had been waiting for this moment for a long time: "That suits me perfectly."

Liaoyuan kept his hands pressed together, but the Qi around him was no longer as relaxed as before; it was like a flame slowly being ignited, steadily rising in temperature.

Liaochen did not speak, simply taking his first step, landing precisely on one of the four corners of the sword formation.

Chu Sheng stood where he was, able to feel four auras simultaneously exerting pressure on his sword formation.

He had already crossed the threshold of Profound Mastery; the way his spiritual power circulated within him was completely different from before, a feeling like stepping out of a cramped room into an open wilderness.

But the four auras opposite him were equally powerful, each one feeling as if it had been walking in this wilderness for many years, familiar with the direction of every path.

Their coordination required almost no words, as if they were already accustomed to this way of working together.

The battle lasted for several days; the sky above the clouds brightened and darkened, then darkened and brightened again.

By the ninth day, a breach at one of the sword corners had expanded to a critical point.

Elder Xuesong seized that gap, reached into the curtain of swords, and pulled one of the swords out of its position in the formation.

Chu Sheng felt the sword momentum at that corner vanish instantly, like a bridge that had just had one of its pillars removed.

At that moment, his spiritual power suffered a noticeable tremor, as if its balance had been torn apart by an irresistible force.

He heard his own breathing skip a beat.

He did not try to fill that gap again, because he knew it was already too late.

Taking advantage of the brief gap, he split off a sliver of his mind to cast a hexagram.

This time, he did not hesitate at all, directly sacrificing five years of his lifespan.

The hexagram settled.

Great ominousness.

He did not look at the hexagram again, nor did he give himself time to hesitate, making a decision immediately.

He severed his direct connection with the four swords, letting them disperse into four independent rays of sword light, each flying off in a different direction.

At the same time, he took the shard of the glazed bowl from his sleeve and threw it along with the four rays of sword light in five different directions.

The shard traced a long, thin arc in mid-air, splitting into several pieces.

Those fragments had no fixed landing points; like seeds deliberately scattered, they fell into the gaps between different cloud layers.

Liaoyuan's gaze shifted the moment the fragments flew out, and his figure darted in pursuit of the brightest point of light among them.

Liaochen did not hesitate; he moved in the opposite direction, with extreme speed.

The Great Immortal Red Sword also pursued the third fragment; his sword light intersected with the fragment on almost the same horizontal line before quickly separating again.

Chu Sheng did not turn back to look at the direction in which the fragments had flown.

Taking advantage of this gap, he turned and darted toward the golden cymbals where Jiuer was trapped. Under the impact of several consecutive days, the light barrier of the golden cymbals had developed a clear crack, like the surface of porcelain that had been repeatedly struck.

He pressed a palm against the crack, injecting spiritual power to pry it open into a gap large enough for one person to pass through.

Jiuer darted out from within, her state clearly showing significant exhaustion.

She did not ask any questions, simply landing beside Chu Sheng and deftly condensing a layer of protective spiritual light once more.

Chu Sheng did not turn back, but before his feet could touch the ground, his peripheral vision caught a sight that made his back instantly tense up.

Elder Xuesong had not gone after the fragments.

He was still standing in place, that sleeve slowly rising like a door being pushed open.

His tone carried a calm, unhurried composure: "Thinking of leaving already?"

The moment the sleeve unfurled, the surrounding air began to contract toward that direction.

Chu Sheng felt his body being held back by an irresistible suction force, like someone being dragged by an invisible hand toward that widening door gap.

He recalled the feeling of being captured by the Universe in the Sleeve on the Ten Thousand Mile Snowfield last time.

At that time, he had been sucked in and was completely unable to break free.

But this time, he found that while he still could not completely shake off the suction, he had at least steadied his figure better than last time and was not immediately swept into it.

Standing at the edge of that suction, he could feel the force slowly intensifying.

He took a deep breath, sinking his spiritual power, and at the same time turned his head to whisper to Jiuer: "Go first."

Jiuer did not hesitate, darting into the distance without looking back.

Chu Sheng turned around, facing the slowly widening sleeve, feeling his body being dragged in that direction, while simultaneously hearing a sound coming from the wind that was no longer very clear.

It sounded like a voice pulled away by the wind, carrying a certain sense of familiarity that he wasn't even sure was an illusion.

He did not look at the approaching sleeve again, but instead turned his head to look in the direction where the fragments had scattered.

It was already empty there.

As if no one had ever stayed there.

The wind was still blowing, pressed almost to a standstill by the airflow contracting into the sleeve.

A faint vibration came from the distance, as if someone had dropped something further away.

Chu Sheng stood at the edge of the suction, neither advancing nor retreating.

His gaze fell upon the slowly rising sleeve, as if trying to memorize its outline.

The sleeve was still expanding, seemingly intent on encompassing the entire sky.