svetikya Chapter 242 Fierce Battle
Chapter 242 Fierce Battle
Chapter 242 Fierce Battle
Qingmu Zhenjun took the recording stone and infused a wisp of magic power into his fingertip.
An image immediately appeared on the stone surface: True Monarch Yuelan's spiritual light surged, and her Nascent Soul aura fluctuated violently.
Then her figure suddenly exploded, and the violent energy shockwave instantly engulfed the surrounding fourth-tier sacred beasts and Golden Eagle True Monarch.
In a mushroom cloud of spiritual energy,
Golden Eagle True Monarch's nascent soul left his body and hastily transformed into a streak of light, escaping.
The entire self-destruction process was captured clearly on camera.
After reading it, Aoki Shinjun's heart sank.
With this photographic stone as evidence, the details of the Nascent Soul's self-destruction are now largely clear. Whether or not to conduct an on-site investigation is no longer so important.
He looked up at the Black Serpent True Monarch, who was still advocating for the Star Moon Sect:
"True Monarch Yuelan is not one to provoke others. I believe it was True Monarch Golden Eagle who forced her into this situation first, leaving Fairy Yuelan with no choice but to self-destruct. Otherwise, why would a Nascent Soul cultivator voluntarily self-destruct their Nascent Soul?"
"Elder Qingmu, you are mistaken!" True Monarch Black Serpent immediately retorted, his tone laced with sarcasm.
"My Golden Eagle True Lord only stopped Moon Orchid True Lord with the intention of exchanging magical skills and cultivation experiences with her, and had no intention of fighting to the death."
Unexpectedly, the Moon Orchid Fairy had a fiery temper and was willing to self-destruct at the slightest provocation.
If Golden Eagle True Monarch hadn't been caught off guard, how could he have been forced to the point of abandoning his physical body?
In terms of responsibility for this matter, nine-tenths should be attributed to the Star Moon Sect!
"This..." Aoki Shinjun was speechless for a moment.
He could easily see that Black Serpent True Lord's reasoning was far-fetched, but the scene recorded by the recording stone was indeed like that—the two sides didn't even have a proper fight before Moon Orchid True Lord self-destructed.
He vaguely guessed that Fairy Yuelan might have been in dire straits at the time, and if she hadn't self-destructed in time, she wouldn't even have had the chance to do so.
However, upon further investigation, Yingling Mountain possessed "concrete evidence," and no matter how they tried to explain, they were in the right.
More importantly, Eagle Ridge Mountain had just been expelled from the Star Moon Sect's mountain gate, and it was precisely the time when it needed to be appeased.
Moreover, they still have the intact Nascent Soul cultivator Black Serpent True Monarch, plus the Nascent Soul spirit body of Golden Eagle True Monarch, so their strength has not been greatly diminished.
In contrast, the Star Moon Sect, after this battle, didn't even have a single Nascent Soul cultivator left, and its influence within the cave heavens was far less than before.
Under such circumstances, even if one knows there are hidden reasons, it is not appropriate to be overly critical of Yingling Mountain.
Just as True Monarch Aoki was pondering, True Monarch Black Serpent took out another jade talisman from his storage bag and tossed it over:
"Furthermore, this is Elder Dongtianlin's handwritten order. Elder Qingmu is requested to burn it immediately after reading it, and not to leak the information."
Seeing the hesitation on Qingmu Zhenjun's face, Heishe Zhenjun's eyes flashed, and he flicked out another jade slip from his fingertip.
The jade slip, enveloped in a faint black light, traversed several miles of void before landing steadily in the hand of True Monarch Qingmu.
Qingmu Zhenjun scanned the contents of the jade slip with his divine sense, his expression changed slightly again, and his fingers gripping the jade slip tightened unconsciously. He sighed inwardly:
Alas, it's truly a case of everyone kicking someone when they're down. The Star Moon Sect has lost its Nascent Soul cultivator, and even justice is hard to find.
The jade slip was inscribed with only one line: "Investigations must be conducted in a fair and impartial manner, and one should not show leniency simply because one side is weak."
As experienced and shrewd as Aoki Shinjun was, he instantly grasped the deeper meaning behind his words.
Elder Lin is in charge of the Qingyun Cave Heaven Law Enforcement Hall. He has more than a dozen concubines in his mansion and has always enjoyed collecting female cultivators with outstanding appearances.
Now that Yue Qingqiu is the only remaining peak Golden Core cultivator in the Star Moon Sect, and possesses unparalleled beauty, Elder Lin's words hardly convey "fairness."
This is clearly an implication that he should not show favoritism and should allow Yue Qingqiu to fall into danger.
Ideally, she should fall into the hands of Eagle Ridge Mountain. Then Elder Lin can intervene under the pretext of "upholding justice," which will not only save her but also allow him to take this lonely and helpless female cultivator into his possession.
"Elder Aoki, now that the evidence is irrefutable, what is your decision?"
Black Serpent True Lord revealed a smug smile.
Although he didn't see the contents of the jade slip, he guessed the outcome from the change in Qingmu Zhenjun's expression.
The filial piety that Yingling Mountain has shown to Elder Lin over the years has finally paid off.
After a moment of silence, True Monarch Qingmu slowly put away the jade slip, his tone tinged with helplessness:
"Enough. I came here to investigate the cause of death of the Nascent Soul True Monarch who self-destructed."
Now that we have this photographic stone as evidence, the truth is clear, and whether or not there is further on-site investigation is irrelevant.
As for the battle between those Core Formation cultivators thousands of miles away, it's not within the scope of the cave heaven's rules, so I won't interfere further.
He had already decided not to get involved in this mess. As for Yue Qingqiu's fate, although he felt pity for her, he was powerless to interfere any further.
He dared not disobey the wishes of the sect's higher-ups, and the current situation at Eagle Ridge Mountain also needed to be appeased.
Moreover, the Star Moon Sect is now truly in decline.
Upon hearing this, Black Serpent True Monarch's smile grew even brighter. Just as he was about to express his gratitude, Green Wood True Monarch changed the subject:
"By the way, Fellow Daoist Black Snake."
When you return to Qingyun Cave to report back, you, as the witness who submitted the evidence, must return with me.
"As a Nascent Soul True Monarch, I presume you wouldn't violate the rules of the cave heaven by attacking a Core Formation cultivator with your Nascent Soul body, right?"
The smile on Black Serpent True Monarch's face froze instantly, and a look of astonishment flashed in his eyes.
His original plan was to get rid of Aoki Shinjun so he could take the opportunity to clean up the mess.
He was able to win over Yue Qingqiu and also bring that third-tier spirit chef under his command, but unexpectedly, True Monarch Qingmu wanted to take him away as well.
He gave Aoki Shinjun a deep look, his gaze filled with resentment.
However, he ultimately couldn't completely disobey the elder's arrangements, so he could only suppress his inner scheming and bow in response:
"Of course not. It is my honor to be able to return to Qingyun Cave with Elder Qingmu to report and help my Eagle Ridge Mountain seek justice."
He sneered inwardly: So what if you want to favor the Star Moon Sect?
Even if the Nascent Soul cultivators don't interfere, the Core Formation cultivators of Eagle Ridge Mountain can still take down that girl!
Although he couldn't take action personally, he had already secretly sent a message to Kumamoto and Hongying, along with powerful covert methods, enough to capture an injured Golden Core peak cultivator.
As for Chen Yi, he didn't care at all.
Seeing the Black Serpent True Lord's restrained demeanor, True Lord Aoki sighed inwardly.
He had a long-standing relationship with the lineage of True Monarch Yu Chen of the sect. Before coming here, he was secretly entrusted by the chief disciple, True Man Yun Tian, to take care of the remaining members of the Star Moon Sect as much as possible.
All he can do now is take Black Serpent True Monarch, a Nascent Soul cultivator, away to buy Yue Qingqiu and Chen Yi a chance to survive. As for what happens next, that will depend on their own fate.
On the battlefield, the situation has changed once again.
As Yue Qingqiu watched the two Nascent Soul-level lights disappear into the distance, the anxiety she had been suppressing finally surged into her heart.
She instantly understood that the Nascent Soul cultivators of Eagle Ridge Mountain and the law enforcement cultivators of Azure Cloud Cave Heaven must have reached some kind of deal to leave so readily, abandoning their situation.
If they drag this out any longer, not only will they not receive reinforcements, but their magical energy will also be depleted, making the situation increasingly unfavorable for them.
Yue Qingqiu took a deep breath, suppressing the bitterness in her heart, and used her divine sense to send a final telepathic message to Chen Yi, who was dozens of miles away:
"Junior brother, the situation has changed. There will be no more reinforcements. We can only rely on ourselves from now on."
I will try my best to create opportunities for you, but if I can't hold out for a while, you must find a way to escape immediately.
Your contract with the Star Moon Sect ends here.
This time, the sect has implicated you. If you can escape, the eagle bone and the great pill you obtained before will be considered compensation from the sect.
I'm sorry...
As soon as the telepathic message was sent, she held nothing back. Her magical power surged dramatically, and her originally cold aura became sharp as a knife.
She poured all her cultivation into the Moon Blade spell, and one after another, peak third-tier Moon Blades condensed and took shape.
A dense, rain-like barrage of attacks rained down on Elder Kumamoto's combined human and bear form.
Each moon blade carried an aura of determination, clearly a desperate counterattack.
Upon seeing this, Elder Kumamoto's eyes flashed with understanding.
He could naturally see that Yue Qingqiu was struggling before her death, but he did not rashly retaliate. Instead, he slightly separated his feet, stood up with his huge bear body upright, and gripped the giant hammer magic weapon with his huge fists covered in flames and demonic energy, and began to swing them.
The giant hammer felt surprisingly light in his hands. Each swing precisely blocked a moon blade, and the clanging sounds of the hammer colliding with the moon blade were incessant. He defended the area in front of him so thoroughly that it was impenetrable and watertight.
It's hard to imagine that such a huge and clumsy bear demon body could wield such exquisite and superb giant hammer techniques.
As he parried with his hammer, two faint black lights quietly appeared in his palms.
Those were two special snake tail scales, releasing fluctuations at a frequency imperceptible to ordinary people.
A soul-shaking sound, perceptible only to the divine soul, quietly spread with the rhythm of the giant hammer's swing, initially just a faint tremor.
As time went on, the frequency of the tremors increased and the force became stronger, enveloping Yue Qingqiu like a tidal wave.
The serpentine, soul-shaking sound, mixed with the sound of the giant hammer striking the moon blade, was initially extremely difficult to detect. However, once one was drawn into its rhythm, allowing the tremors to accumulate in the soul, it would eventually leave indelible and permanent damage in the sea of consciousness.
Elder Kumamoto clearly intended to take advantage of Yue Qingqiu's full concentration of magic and soul to secretly and severely injure her with this insidious method.
Dozens of miles away in the mountains and forests, Chen Yi also sensed the two Nascent Soul escape lights disappearing into the distance.
With his near-Nascent Soul level divine sense, he even sensed the movement earlier than Yue Qingqiu.
When Yue Qingqiu's farewell-inducing voice transmission entered his mind, and after hearing Elder Kumamoto's conversation with Yue Qingqiu, Chen Yi silently stopped setting up the array.
His divine sense spread out, using the power of heaven and earth to deduce the trajectory of the residual spiritual energy of the Nascent Soul cultivator on the horizon, and finally confirmed one thing:
The Nascent Soul cultivators from Qingyun Cave Heaven will not be coming back.
The good news is that the Nascent Soul cultivator from Eagle Ridge Mountain will not be coming either.
In this way, the current situation is not difficult to resolve, but...
Chen Yi sighed softly to himself.
Sigh, looks like I can't go back to swimming.
Well, it's time to take action.
If we can save Yue Qingqiu and thus gain complete ownership of the eagle bone and the Essence Pill, it won't be a complete loss.
Once the mind was made up, the scenery between the mountains and the cold pool suddenly changed.
Previously, the purple lightning shadow, which had been chased by the Red Eagle Demon and seemed to be exhausted, suddenly unleashed a new speed.
The lightning surged, and the Shadow Step, like a purple lightning bolt, swept across the mountains, forests, miasma valleys, and icy pools at a speed approaching the peak of the third rank. Wherever it passed, the array material nodes on the ground quietly lit up with a faint light.
Upon seeing this, a hint of joy flashed in the eyes of the Red Eagle Demon, who thought to himself:
"Finally, he can't hold on any longer and is going to fight desperately? Looks like this kid's magic power is almost depleted!"
He assumed that Chen Yi and Yue Qingqiu were at their limit, and could only rely on bursts of speed to make a final struggle.
However, as Chen Yi's escape light darted between several terrains, the Red Eagle Demon gradually realized that something was wrong.
He didn't know when it started, but the environment around him began to subtly change.
The once steep mountain walls became blurred in the field of vision, the biting cold of the cold pool gradually dissipated, and the deep miasma valley lost its previous treacherousness, replaced by wisps of pale green spiritual energy.
These wisps of spiritual energy slowly rose and spread like a thin mist, filling the space within a radius of several miles in the blink of an eye.
"Hmm? This is... a third-tier illusion array? When did he set it up?"
The Red Eagle Demon's expression changed slightly. His human-eagle hybrid body circled once in the air, and with a flick of his claws, several eagle feathers carrying demonic fire bombarded in different directions.
However, when those eagle feathers fell into the misty spiritual energy, they only stirred up a tiny ripple, not even touching the edge of the formation.
He tried to charge in several directions, but each time he was about to break out of the misty area, he somehow ended up circling back.
Only then did the Red Eagle Demon truly frown.
Within this vast, misty array, his senses were clouded, and he could no longer find his proper location or any reference point in reality.
Although Chen Yi's lightning escape speed was noticeably slower in his divine sense, he was always able to conceal his tracks under the cover of the misty fog.
Sometimes it appears in the east, sometimes in the west, like a dragon whose head is seen but not its tail, so small that even the hem of its clothes is hard to catch a glimpse.
From the outside, the area was completely shrouded in mist, and Yue Qingqiu and Elder Kumamoto, dozens of miles away, could not see what was happening inside.
Seeing that the Red Eagle Demon had not made a move, Elder Kumamoto grew impatient and immediately gathered his magic power, sending a hurried telepathic message towards the direction of the mist:
"Red Eagle! What are you doing? Quickly take care of that kid, and remember to leave him alive!"
However, the attempt to send a message was like throwing a stone into the sea, receiving no response.
The mist still lingered, and it was eerily quiet inside, as if the Red Eagle Demon had long since vanished into the fog.
Elder Kumamoto frowned deeply as he gazed at the area completely shrouded in mist.
He tried to probe with his divine sense, but the misty spiritual energy was like thick ink, firmly blocking his divine sense outside the formation. He couldn't even perceive the fluctuations of spiritual power inside, let alone judge the situation of the Red Eagle Demon.
Within the illusionary array of heaven and earth, the true scene is completely different from what is seen from the outside.
The Red Eagle Demon, in his human-faced, eagle-bodied form, was pacing anxiously between the mountains and lakes.
With a flap of his wings, he spewed forth a raging torrent of demonic fire, which cascaded down like a waterfall, instantly dispersing the misty fog that surrounded him for hundreds of feet.
But just as the fog was cleared, a wave of spiritual mist surged in from afar, instantly enveloping the area once more.
The Red Eagle Demon was unwilling to give up. Every time it blew away a small patch of space, it would immediately flap its wings and fly rapidly towards the outer edge, trying to find the exit of the illusion array.
From Chen Yi's and the treasure-hunting rat's perspective, however, he kept circling repeatedly within that one-mile radius.
It appears to be flying in one direction, but in reality, guided by the formation, it keeps repeating the same trajectory and never really gets close to the edge of the formation.
Chen Yi was not idle at this time either.
He hovered at the core of the illusion array, his azure magical power flowing from his body like a stream, pouring into the array base beneath his feet.
Maintaining such a large-scale illusion array is already extremely taxing, and the need to precisely control the Red Eagle Demon's spiritual perception further causes his magical power to drain away at a visible rate.
The treasure-hunting rats had already burrowed underground, reinforcing the array's foundation nodes according to Chen Yi's instructions;
The Crimson Soul Sparrow concealed its aura and perched on the branch of an ancient tree, its sharp eyes fixed on the movements of the Red Eagle Demon.
The three attacking puppets were hidden behind three concealed rocks. The attack runes on the puppets' bodies were already lit up, waiting for Chen Yi's command to launch a surprise attack.
Chen Yi took a moment to scan the battlefield dozens of miles away with his divine sense, and Yue Qingqiu's condition made his heart sink.
She was already at her limit. Every time she activated Moonlight Escape to change her position, her figure would sway slightly in the air, clearly indicating that she was having great difficulty even maintaining the continuity of the escape technique.
Chen Yi carefully sensed the spiritual energy fluctuations over there and quickly discovered the anomaly.
Between swings of his giant hammer, Elder Kumamoto would unconsciously rub two dark scales against the handle of the hammer with his palm.
As the scales rubbed together, an extremely subtle sound wave quietly spread out. The sound wave was like an invisible thread, seemingly weak, yet it had extremely strong penetrability. It was actually a complete set of soul-soothing sound wave attacks.
This attack goes unnoticed in the early stages, but once the sound waves take root in the mind, they become as difficult to eradicate as a malignant tumor.
Chen Yi's expression changed slightly.
He knew very well that Yue Qingqiu had been injured before the battle and had repeatedly forced herself to fight, which had already greatly depleted her energy. Now, having been hit by such a vicious attack, she probably wouldn't last much longer.
"I need to hurry..." Chen Yi thought to himself, his azure magic power flowing faster at his fingertips.
The next moment, the Red Eagle Demon's eyes suddenly lit up in the mist.
His divine sense detected a pale purple streak of lightning flashing through the nearby forest.
"Gotcha! Kid, you really thought you could hide forever with a lousy illusion array?"
A sinister grin spread across the face of the Red Eagle Demon.
This was the opportunity he had been waiting for, and in that instant, his magical and demonic power erupted without reservation.
A raging fire erupted from his body, making him resemble a burning eagle of fire. The terrifying heat spread out, instantly evaporating the misty fog within a hundred feet around him.
The next moment, the flames around the Red Eagle Demon suddenly surged, and with a terrifying burst speed reaching the peak of the third rank, it chased after the lightning shadow that had flashed by earlier.
Its speed was astonishing; the air around it crackled and popped as it burned, and wherever it passed, the fallen leaves on the ground instantly turned to ashes, even igniting the spiritual energy in the mountains and forests, forming a long trail of fire.
Chen Yi, who was hiding in the dense forest not far away, was secretly surprised by what he saw:
"After transforming into a human-demon hybrid, it can still transform into a fire spirit demon body, increasing its speed and fire power to such an extent. It seems that the beast-taming lineage of Eagle Ridge Mountain has some trump cards up its sleeve."
Then, they saw the harpy-bodied demon, its body engulfed in flames, chasing straight after a pale purple bolt of lightning.
That wasn't some kind of lightning shadow; it was clearly a lightning crystal core that Chen Yi flicked with his finger.
Unaware of what was happening, the Red Eagle Demon plunged headfirst into the icy pool ahead.
"Sizzle—"
A piercing sound exploded instantly, and the cold water in the icy pool boiled wildly the moment it came into contact with the flames, as if a red-hot iron block had been thrown in, sending up thick white steam.
The burning body of the Red Eagle Demon plunged straight into the water hundreds of feet below. Even after being soaked in the icy spiritual water, the power of the flames around him was only halved, and he still maintained a terrifying temperature close to the late stage of the third rank, baking the surrounding pool water until it bubbled with a lot of steam.
"Tsk tsk... This old man Red Eagle is quite something; his strength is not bad for someone in the late stage of Core Formation."
Chen Yi hid behind the tree and nodded secretly.
He knew very well that if he were to be hit head-on by that burning fiery body, even with his current body-refining cultivation, he would probably be burned and suffer pain for a while, and at least have some flesh wounds.
In the center of the entire cold pool, a column of boiling steam rose dozens of feet high, and the steam enveloped the surrounding mountains and forests in a white mist.
At the bottom of the pool beneath the column of water vapor, a lightning crystal core was flashing with pale purple lightning energy as it rapidly sank into the depths of the pool.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
The Red Eagle Demon opened its eyes in the water, its gaze filled with ferocity.
In his vision, the "lightning" was clearly Chen Yi transforming into lightning, trying to burrow into the mud at the bottom of the water and escape using earth magic.
He waited so long to seize this opportunity, how could he let it go so easily?
At that moment, the Red Eagle Demon Man unleashed his magic power once more, and the flames around his body suddenly surged, steaming up all the cold water within dozens of feet around his location. Even the silt at the bottom of the water was burned into charred crystals by the high temperature.
Beneath the crack in the crystal, a faint purple lightning flashed intermittently, as if it were fleeing in panic.
Seeing this, the Red Eagle Demon revealed a cold smile:
"You think you can escape by hiding in the dirt? Today I'll capture you and skin you alive!"
He held back no longer, pushing the flames around him to their limit, ignoring the suppression of the flames by the cold water and soil, and charged directly towards the direction where the lightning was.
next moment,
"boom--"
A deafening explosion resounded from the bottom of the pool.
The lightning struck the earth, and the lightning crystal core exploded instantly under Chen Yi's control.
An explosive force, faintly exceeding the peak of the third rank, spread out, instantly shattering the crystals at the bottom of the pool. The icy pool water was stirred up by the shockwave, forming a huge water column that shot into the air.
The fiery eagle body of the Red Eagle Demon was instantly shattered by the explosive force, and the pale purple lightning, carrying a paralyzing power, spread wildly along his meridians.
At the same time, the burning sensation from the intertwined lightning and fire caused him unbearable pain, with many of his meridians being shattered.
Even half of the harpy beast's body was blown away by the shockwave of the explosion, its bloody flesh scattered in the pool, staining a patch of water red.
(End of this chapter)