172: bizarre stalemate

"That is only natural."

Immortal Venerable Xuanji stroked his long beard and nodded in agreement.

"Very well."

Immortal Venerable Mochen nodded in response, a hint of exhaustion on his face, "Once we have finished resting, we will immediately come to replace the four of you, giving you a chance to catch your breath."

In the siege against the Void-Rending Monarch, who was comparable to a Peak Golden Immortal, the six Immortal Venerables who participated in the battle had all suffered varying degrees of injury.

His and Immortal Venerable Yichen's Flying Swords had been damaged, Immortal Venerable Qimeng's Divine Soul was severely depleted, and Shenwu Immortal Emperor had suffered great loss of Qi and blood during close-quarters combat...

As the main force for confinement and one who had mastered the Law of Space, Immortal Venerable Qinglian had clashed the most with the Void-Rending Monarch's Law of Space.

She had already sustained some Dao injuries and urgently needed to enter seclusion to recuperate.

Only Immortal Venerable Xuanji had merely lost a set of formation Immortal Artifacts, and his own state remained relatively intact.

"Then it is settled."

Shenwu Immortal Emperor nodded slightly and added, "I have already informed Brother Jingtao and Brother Jianchen of the changes here. In ten years at most, they will arrive here to join you and jointly guard the rift."

"With Brother Jingtao and Brother Jianchen coming, we have nothing to worry about!"

The four from Lieyang felt a flash of wild joy in their eyes upon hearing this.

After exchanging a glance, they nodded in unison, and the pressure in their hearts instantly lessened by more than half.

Immortal Venerable Jingtao was the founding Ancestral Master of the Bitao Sect. His cultivation had reached the Peak Golden Immortal stage tens of thousands of years ago, his comprehension of the Water Law was nearly at Major Achievement, and his strength was unfathomable.

As for Immortal Venerable Jianchen, he was the number one Sword Immortal of the Qingming Sword Sect, and the only Golden Immortal powerhouse in the entire Canglang Plane to have touched the Taiyi Realm, his reputation far and wide.

With these two top-tier great experts presiding, even if Void Decay Creatures truly broke through the boundary, they would have enough confidence to deal with it!

With the tone set, the four from Lieyang flew straight into the Evil-Suppressing Formation, taking their seats at the four corners in a posture of mutual vigilance.

The remaining Immortal Venerables cupped their hands to the four, and then flew towards the direction of the Nether Prison Plane.

...

Meanwhile, above the Wuwang Bone Forest, Sword Qi crisscrossed, and waves of souls surged.

A fierce battle had been going on for nearly five hours, yet neither side had claimed victory.

The figures of Lu Tao and Luo Qianjie weaved through the clouds, the roar of their colliding sword lights causing the bone trees below to rustle.

Both were Sword Cultivators, and both practiced top-tier sword arts; their comprehensive strength was evenly matched.

Luo Qianjie's Flying Sword had reached the level of a supreme grade Magic Treasure, its sword light as condensed as cold jade, and every strike carried an eerie aura of disaster.

Although Lu Tao's Flying Sword was slightly inferior, the Immortal Golden Body Art he had painstakingly cultivated for many years was already approaching Major Achievement; his Physical Body was as hard as profound iron, and his defensive power far exceeded that of ordinary Sword Cultivators.

Throughout the battle, Lu Tao completely disregarded his own defense, using offense to replace defense. His sword light poured down like a rainstorm, every sword strike carrying a desperate stance of trading injury for injury.

With such a fearless fighting style, even Luo Qianjie, despite his exquisite sword techniques, had to respond with caution, fearing that Lu Tao would seize a flaw and get close.

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see that if this battle continued, the one most likely to eventually lose would be Lu Tao.

After all, Luo Qianjie had been immersed in the Dao of the sword for a hundred years; his Sword Heart was stable, and his sword moves were seamless.

Lu Tao's career as a Sword Cultivator was only a few decades long. Although he had managed to level the gap by relying on the Immortal Golden Body Art, under prolonged combat, the flaws in his sword moves and the consumption of his magic power would eventually become his fatal weakness.

On the other side of the battlefield, Qi Yunling rode on the back of the Swift Wind Golden Pupil Falcon, forming hand seals to command the Crimson Flame Demonic Ape to entangle with Su Wangchen.

Su Wangchen's Flying Sword was extremely fast, weaving through the storm like a streak of cyan lightning, frequently dodging the Golden Pupil Falcon's sharp claws and the Demonic Ape's flames, while counter-attacking and leaving both Yao Beast pets covered in wounds.

The Demonic Ape's left arm had a wound deep enough to see bone, and the Golden Pupil Falcon's right wing had also been slashed open, fresh blood dripping onto the bone forest below, instantly devoured by the Yin Qi on the ground.

Fortunately, Qi Yunling was well-prepared; Medicinal Pills for healing would fly out from the Storage Pouch at his waist from time to time, landing precisely in the Yao Beast pets' mouths.

The two Yao Beasts were naturally robust in their Physical Bodies. Nourished by the Medicinal Pills, their wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and they continued to pounce on Su Wangchen with full vigor, tightly entangling this Qingming Sword Cultivator and preventing him from supporting other battlefields.

Luo Xuanxiao, on the other hand, was locked in a stalemate of close-quarters combat with Jiang Wushe.

His body was wrapped in Purple Sky thunder light, every punch and claw carrying the sound of thunder. As the thunder light erupted, it forced Jiang Wushe to constantly retreat, his Flying Sword carving out arcs of sword light in passive defense.

Jiang Wushe was originally adept at long-range sword strikes, but now suppressed by Luo Xuanxiao in close quarters, he could not unleash his sword moves. Before long, his arm was scorched by the thunder light, his aura became chaotic, and he had clearly fallen into a disadvantage.

Qin Jueying, Lu Chenzhou, and Chen Miaoyin had formed a temporary alliance, the three of them joining forces to entangle two Qingming Sword Cultivators.

Qin Jueying hid in the shadows of the clouds, occasionally firing dark-attribute shadow spikes to attack the opponents' vital points.

Lu Chenzhou transformed into a human shield, pushing his "Vajra Indestructible Body" to the limit to withstand the Flying Sword attacks, buying time for Chen Miaoyin to cast spells.

Chen Miaoyin's pink silk ribbons intertwined in the air, sometimes binding the opponents, sometimes releasing spiritual light illusions.

The three coordinated tacitly; although they did not hold an absolute advantage, they firmly held their ground.

The battles of the other Cultivators also had their own victories and defeats. Although it was inevitable that some were injured, no one had yet perished, and the battle situation had fallen into a deadlock.

Throughout the entire battle, the most dangerous confrontation was none other than that between Su Ling and Qiu Xuetong.

Qiu Xuetong hovered in mid-air, dark green poisonous flames dancing on her fingertips, transforming into winding, slithering poisonous snakes that attacked Su Ling from all directions.

The Nascent Soul remnant souls beside her manipulated countless remnant souls to form a soul tide, which swept towards Su Ling, attempting to drown him in a sea of souls.

From time to time, she also released spike-shaped Divine Soul attacks, forcing Su Ling into a desperate situation several times.

Fortunately, Su Ling had been prepared.

His body was surrounded by Nether Abyss Ice Flame. Wherever the ice flame passed, the poisonous flames were instantly frozen, and the remnant souls were also frozen into ice crystals and shattered.

At the same time, he activated the Azure Heaven Thunder Method, purple thunder light spreading out like a spider web. The thunder light had a natural restraint against Yin Souls and could easily defeat the remnant souls summoned by Qiu Xuetong.

Facing the Soul-Shaking Shriek jointly unleashed by the Soul-Devouring Spider Mother and tens of thousands of remnant souls, the low-level remnant souls were directly shaken until they were Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and the waves of soul tides were thus dissipated into nothingness.

Relying on these means, Su Ling repeatedly turned danger into safety, and could even seize the gaps to condense a large number of ghost soul arrows to counterattack against Qiu Xuetong.

Everyone present, whether it was the Nascent Soul Cultivators in fierce battle or the Core Formation Cultivators watching from afar, dared not look down on Su Ling in the slightest.

On the contrary, as the battle progressed, everyone admired his strength all the more.

Qiu Xuetong's soul-control techniques had long been famous among Nascent Soul Cultivators.

Yet Su Ling, only at the Core Formation Mid-stage, could contend with her single-handedly, even showing faint signs of being able to counterattack.

This level of strength was enough to make many veteran Nascent Soul Cultivators take notice.

And in Qiu Xuetong's heart, her wariness of Su Ling grew deeper and deeper.

Although she could easily block Su Ling's ghost soul arrows, for some reason, a lingering sense of threat always haunted the bottom of her heart.

It was as if an invisible sword was hanging over her head, ready to fall at any moment.

This unease made her increasingly cautious. Even though she coveted Su Ling's exquisite soul-control method, she dared not press him step by step, fearing that she might fall into a trap set by him.

For a time, neither side could break the stalemate first, and the entire battlefield fell into an eerie balance.