Chapter 151 Heavenly Maiden Ba

This sword could topple the heavens; it was no longer an exaggerated figure of speech.

The sword light was like a pillar of heaven, capable of supporting the earth below and splitting the sky above.

Tian Tui's expression was one of panic; he knew deeply how formidable Jiang Chen's swordsmanship was. The last person to be struck by this sword had been Cui Wei.

Before the sword light even arrived, his heart was already damaged. Thus, he immediately averted his gaze and dodged to the side, choosing to temporarily avoid its sharp edge.

But the next instant, or rather, at the very same moment, his vision was already filled with crimson-gold sword light.

Before Tian Tui could even react with shock, he felt a massive Sword Intent surging into his internal organs, tearing wildly within him.

"Pfft!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood, but it wasn't over yet.

Outside, the substantive sword light slashed out by Jiang Chen had also arrived. Its momentum was ethereal, origin unknown, destination unknown, as if separated from Karma itself.

Consequently, when Tian Tui attempted to dodge or parry, he found himself completely unable to do anything against this beam of sword light.

"Ten Thousand Layers of Mountain Passes!"

He shouted these words using almost all his strength. In an instant, endless power of the earth veins was summoned by him, piling up layer by layer before him.

It truly felt as though mountains were standing between the sword light and Tian Tui, separating the two by hundreds of millions of miles. Neither the sun nor the moon could be seen, nor could one see their loved ones; the mountain passes were hard to cross, and the sun and moon were hard to reach.

But this sword had a will, and it could not be turned aside. A single sword stroke could carry mountains, and ten thousand ravines could not be filled!

Even with these ten thousand layers of mountain passes, they could not fill the bottomless chasm.

One after another, the mountains gathered from the power of the earth veins were like paper under this crimson-gold sword light, being torn apart one by one without causing the slightest obstruction to the sword light.

Flowing like clouds and water, completed in one breath, it broke through the obstacles in the blink of an eye and arrived before Tian Tui.

Despair appeared in Tian Tui's eyes. He only had time to detonate the remaining power of the earth veins. He wanted to say something but couldn't get it out before the boundless sword light pierced through his body!

Blood began to seep from the densely packed torn wounds. The light in his eyes gradually dimmed, and his corpse fell straight down from the air.

With Tian Tui's death, the power of the earth veins in this place erupted completely. Everyone trapped in the Formation felt their Meridians being impacted by the power of the earth veins, with that power rampaging through their internal organs.

If it hadn't been for Tian Tui drawing away a vast majority of the earth vein power to counter Jiang Chen's swordsmanship just moments ago to save his own life, they would likely all have been severely injured by now.

"Everyone, seal your acupoints and guard your minds. You must go along with the power of the earth veins; do not resist it!" Shen Tai reminded them.

Vajrabodhi, meanwhile, directly began to seek help: "Fellow Daoist Jiang, please lend us a hand. This monk once gave you a string of Buddhist prayer beads, after all."

Jiang Chen ignored him. The current power of the earth veins might cause them some injuries, but it wouldn't be fatal.

Furthermore, to say nothing of anything else, those trapped in the Formation were either not good people or had grudges against him. Jiang Chen did not have enough benevolence to save a group of people who were at odds with him.

He now turned his gaze to Nvba, who had been watching the spectacle all along.

Nvba had somehow swiped two grilled fish from somewhere and was currently devouring them with gusto. Seeing Jiang Chen look over, she was momentarily at a loss.

"I remember you, you are... I've slept for too long, I can't quite recall."

Jiang Chen looked at the grilled fish in her hands, feeling his mental image of an imperial princess collapsing.

Nvba devoured another bite of the grilled fish. Seeing Jiang Chen staring at the fish in her hands, she was somewhat reluctant, but steeling herself, she handed forward the fish skeleton—the meat already picked clean, leaving only the fish head.

"Here, do you want to eat this? You can have it, don't be polite. The fish head is very nourishing."

Jiang Chen: "..."

"No need, thank you."

What he most wanted to know now was how it was that Nvba said she knew him.

But looking at Nvba like this, he feared he wouldn't get any answers.

"Your Excellency calls yourself Nvba. As far as I know, Nvba once performed great meritorious service for the Human Race. Now that you have appeared in the world, you have caused a great drought in the two Dao regions, leaving millions of commoners displaced. Why is this?"

Jiang Chen stared into Nvba's eyes, ready to react immediately if anything went wrong.

However, Nvba showed no signs of becoming angry or embarrassed. Her big, cute eyes rolled around, her small head tilted slightly, and a strand of fiery red hair slid down from her forehead.

"Great meritorious service... does that mean if you achieve merit, you get to eat a horse?"

"..."

Jiang Chen decided it was better not to use too many idioms; ancient antiques might not necessarily understand them.

Unexpectedly, Nvba's originally bright little face suddenly fell, and she glared at Jiang Chen, puffed up with anger.

"You were talking about me in your heart just now!"

Jiang Chen was stunned and reflexively retorted, "I did not!"

"You did! When Uncle Feng Hou used to talk about me in his heart, he had that exact same look!"

Jiang Chen was dumbfounded. How did she know psychology?

"In that case, this Daoist apologizes to you."

"But regarding why Your Excellency caused the great drought in the two Dao regions previously, I ask that the Celestial Lady inform me."

Nvba's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she let out a soft harrumph from her dainty nose.

"Hmph, I get angry just thinking about it. I was sleeping perfectly fine when I don't know who woke me up and chased me, trying to beat me. As for this drought..."

Speaking of this, a trace of guilt and anger appeared on Nvba's face.

"That is a curse I was born with. I was sleeping at home precisely to suppress the development of the curse, but after being woken up by someone, coupled with the consumption of too much Divine Power, the curse became somewhat uncontrollable."

Nvba's voice became quieter and quieter as she spoke, and her head sank lower and lower, just like a little girl who had done something wrong. By the end, one could only see her fiery red hair.

Jiang Chen was thoughtful. According to this, the source of this natural disaster was actually the person who had woken Nvba up and chased her.

But this person had chased Nvba all the way to the shores of the East Sea and then stopped. The purpose behind this was truly thought-provoking.

Moreover, Nvba's strength was at least the Heavenly Bridge Realm, yet that person could suppress Nvba and fight her, with their attacks landing just right; their strength was likely at least the high-level Heavenly Bridge Realm.

"Does the Celestial Lady know what the background of that person is?"

"I don't know. The face she revealed was that of an old woman, but it didn't seem like her true appearance."

"An old woman..." Jiang Chen instantly thought of The Unborn Venerable Mother.

There was no helping it; at this time node and with this event, The Unborn Venerable Mother's appearance was too coincidental. Moreover, judging by the name, it also perfectly fit the image of an old woman.

The goal was not really to kill Nvba, but to drive her to the East Sea, causing a great drought in the two Dao regions along the way.

As it stood, the beneficiaries, besides the Daoist and Buddhist schools that could take this opportunity to recruit believers, were only the Wusheng Sect.

It could even be said that the Wusheng Sect was the greatest beneficiary; Emperor Xuanzong of Tang tacitly consented, and the princess served as the Saintess.

Preaching in three prefectures—this was likely just the beginning.

(Bonus chapter...)