The mountain crumbled.
As the disintegrated rocks from above were whistling down, Yu Ci was meditating, trying to regain his strength. He had managed to recover somewhat, but it was far from enough. Having previously utilized the "Mysterious Celestial Star Major Refining Technique", he had exhausted all the "Primordial Qi" he had accumulated. What was naturally replenishing in his meridians now was merely ordinary True Breath, significantly inferior to what he had before. In such a state, it would be difficult to even wield the Half-Mountain Mirage Sword Intent. In response to this, Yu Ci tried to use his Yin Spirit to drive the Treasure Mirror, hoping to speed up the refining and transformation process.
It seemed promising. Yu Ci could already feel the transformation of the Primordial Qi within his body. But then came the earth-shattering roar and the triumphant laughter of Jin Huan, and the stones as large as millstones were raining down. Moreover, he also saw Red Yin tumbling down the cliff. Feeling a sense of impending danger, he immediately exerted force on his legs, sliding down the slope on the accumulated snow and ice, moving as swiftly as the wind.
However, this sensation soon vanished completely.
The ground began to heat up, becoming scorching hot!
Yu Ci grunted and leaped to the side without any reason. Just a moment later, a flame tongue burst from the ground where he had just been, shooting up several meters high. The heat wave melted the snow and was searingly hot. Before Yu Ci could even feel relieved, more flame tongues of the same intensity burst out one after another, forming a crisscrossing fire net that covered half a square kilometer. The intense heat could melt metal and bone, scorching the trees and rocks in the mountains.
What was even more terrifying than the fire net was the burning killing intent sweeping down from the top of the mountain. Jin Huan had switched his target to him.
In such a situation, Yu Ci no longer held anything back. The tiny bit of Primordial Qi he had just gathered was released with all his might. Regardless of the fact that he had no sword in hand, he used his body as the sword, transforming himself into a nearly insubstantial mist. He skimmed the spewing flames and slipped away, even managing to dodge a scorching hot airflow shot from afar by Jin Huan.
But this completely drained his strength, not to mention the internal injuries caused by the collision with Jin Huan's True Sha when he broke out of the fire net. As soon as he broke out of the range of the fire net, he could no longer control the sword intent. He could only glide several meters away with the momentum, struggling to land on a steep slope, sliding rapidly down with the melting snow.
At the top of the mountain, Jin Huan missed his attack. With a fierce howl, he launched another attack, completely disregarding Shi Song and Red Yin around him. He directly used the Ten Thousand Rays Piercing the Clouds Bead, intending to turn Yu Ci into ashes. Unfortunately, in such an intense situation, it was too difficult for him to find a second opportunity after missing the first strike.
Shi Song and Hu Dan spread their wings on either side, attacking from both sides. The cliff top, which had already severely cracked and deformed, bore the second wave of impact, making the impending collapse even more evident. At this moment, finally, others were awakened:
"Jin Huan, you colluded with Demons, killing your fellow Daoists, I will never spare you!"
The roar of Jade Ruler Daoist echoed for miles, heard throughout the city. Others might not believe his words, but all the cultivators and civilians on Sky Wing Tower who had been tormented by the shadow web agreed wholeheartedly.
Just now, Tu Du's ruthless methods, treating human lives as if they were worthless, had swiftly slaughtered more than a hundred people upstairs, among whom were over thirty Nature-Connecting Cultivators. In the months-long confrontation with the Demons, the Sheer Cliff City had lost an equivalent number of cultivators, among them were many "foreigners" who had traveled thousands of miles to attend the Treasure Exchange Banquet. Among the survivors, who hadn't experienced the dreadful sensation of the "Shadow Web" absorbing their Divine Soul and triggering their Heart Demon, apart from Zhou Youde and Zhao Zirui?
In that moment, a surge of shared hatred welled up among the people upstairs. Given the circumstances, Zhao Zirui and Zhou Youde, who were more aware of the situation, found it hard to say anything further. Moreover, in the eyes of those in the know, the reputation of the Northern Demon Sect might be even worse than that of the Sky Rift Valley Demons.
Jade Ruler Daoist had just discovered that one of his beloved disciples had been killed in the building. He was so furious that he roared and was the first to charge towards the cliff. Seeing him take action, the remaining Golden Elixir cultivators could no longer hold back and joined the attack.
When Yu Ci looked back during his slide, he saw a scene of encirclement from all directions.
Apart from Zhou Youde and Zhao Zirui, who had their own reasons for not participating, the other four foreign Golden Elixir cultivators had all joined the siege, even those who had previously had some ties with the White Sun Mansion. As these people took action, the situation immediately changed. Their Cultivation Levels were top-tier within the Sheer Cliff City. Jade Ruler Daoist and his ilk were not much inferior to Shi Song. Fueled by their shared hatred, they joined forces with Shi Song and Hu Dan, making the siege more intense than the previous one at Cinnabar Cliff.
Under these circumstances, there was nothing more to say. Led by Shi Song and others, all the magical instruments were deployed in a fierce round of attacks. The small mountaintop was crowded with seven Golden Elixir masters, making it difficult for them to move. The surging Primordial Qi was incredibly dense, causing the mountaintop to deform more severely. The sheer cliff was cracking, and it seemed like it would peel off on a large scale. But it was held together by the powerful force field resulting from the various actions on the cliff top, being ground to dust in the void.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Jin Huan, driving the Ten Thousand Rays Piercing the Clouds Bead, blocked the clear light of Jade Ruler Daoist's treasure ruler and used the Protective True Evil to forcefully intercept a golden orb flying from the diagonal. He was disheveled and bleeding from his mouth and nose, looking extremely pathetic. In terms of Cultivation Level, he was still the undisputed number one in the field, but under such a siege, even if he were made of solid iron, how many nails could he withstand? Not to mention, Monk Yi Xin and Lu Mingyue were chasing from the sky. The fighting sounds from Cinnabar Cliff had also weakened. Without him supporting there, any resistance was quickly quelled.
Jin Huan strained to look up at the sky. The shimmering waves of light in the high heavens were no longer as frequent as before, yet the silhouette he yearned for had yet to appear.
He cursed the young Yu Ci for his ruthless and brutal tactics, launching an offensive before the Treasure Exchange Banquet had even concluded. If only he could delay for half an hour more, until the noble from Sunset Valley whom he had invited arrived, the situation would have undoubtedly changed! But now, it was too late:
"The tide has turned!"
Perhaps, right from the start of the battle, he should not have harbored any hope.
On the crumbling summit, a sharp scream suddenly pierced the air. The golden flame that had been enveloping Jin Huan dimmed in an instant, turning a glowing red. The temperature around him dropped, and his aura seemed to have weakened. However, every cultivator besieging him was experienced and wary, their vigilance only heightened by this change.
But there were some things that could not be swayed by will. As thoughts raced in their minds, a fiery red substance, akin to molten lava, erupted, leaving a twisting red glow in front of everyone.
At this moment, among the six people besieging Jin Huan, three pairs couldn't make out what this thing was. It was Jade Ruler Daoist who yelled out first, feeling his floating Jade Ruler being seared by an extraordinary heat, already damaged. It was then that Zhou Youde, who was observing the battle, shouted:
"Goldstone Flow!"
As the shout rang out, the fluid red light had already brushed past Shi Song, who was at the forefront.
Shi Song was close to Jin Huan. Although he heard Zhou Youde's shout, there was no time for him to react. He could only strengthen the intensity of his True Sha protective shield. But before he could complete the process, a dreadful sensation had already pierced from his shoulder into his mind.
The leader of the Thousands Spirits Sect was stunned, only to realize that his entire left arm, along with half of his shoulder blade, had been turned to ashes, leaving no trace. The change had happened so swiftly that he didn't even feel any pain.
The red light had "devoured" Shi Song's arm in a flash, without any pause, it surged out from the gaping wound. The red light was undoubtedly Jin Huan. Seeing the ferocity of the fire, all the cultivators participating in the siege felt a chill in their hearts. Those who were supposed to step forward couldn't help but hesitate. By this time, some had already recalled the origin of the so-called "Goldstone Flow."
The "Goldstone Flow" was a formidable technique from Sunset Valley on the opposite side of Sky Rift Valley. It was said to be a method originally used by Vacuum Walking Cultivators who failed to break through the Thunderbolt Tribulation, used during their Reincarnation through Dissolution of Soldiers. It later evolved into a forbidden technique to perish with the enemy. It involved a Golden Elixir Cultivator igniting their heart-fire, causing the Primordial Qi to enter a boiling state, merging with the True Sha flame, driven by the Yin Spirit, to exert a power far beyond the norm in a short time.
In this state, the caster burns their flesh body to gain power. Although certain death follows, during the process, the flesh body's limitations are gone, completely transformed into a stream of True Sha fire, known as the "Golden Stone Fluid." Even if ordinary Magical Instruments or flying swords were to strike it, they would not cause harm and could even be destroyed by the intense heat of the true fire. It was extremely fierce.
As the crowd stood dumbfounded, the delay allowed the red light to break through the encirclement and charge towards the shady slope of the mountain.
Shi Song, his left arm reduced to ashes and severely wounded, had a deathly pale face but still roared, "Chase after it, Immortal Yu is over there!"
He was yelling at Hu Dan, but his shout woke everyone up. Immediately, some people commanded their artifacts to give chase. However, the speed of the "Golden Stone Fluid" was astonishing. In the time it took for him to utter that sentence, the red light had already plunged off the cliff, drawing a line of fire. In the blink of an eye, it rushed to the midway of the slope, right above Yu Ci's head.
The fiery light was dazzling, turning the icy slope where Yu Ci was sliding into a muddy mess.
Yu Ci's speed decreased dramatically. In fact, even if he had maintained his original speed, he couldn't have avoided the pursuit of the "Golden Stone Fluid".
Without any unnecessary words or pauses, the crimson light descended. Before it even made contact, Yu Ci's hair was already burnt and curled. It seemed that soon, his scalp and brain would suffer the same fate.
At this moment, a mirror flew up.
The mirror reflected the fiery light, coloring the surrounding forest a bloody red. But soon, the mirror's luster dimmed at a visible speed. It no longer reflected any light, and even swallowed the light that shone on it. In an instant, the mirror turned pitch black, not because it was inked, but because it revealed a boundless dark void behind it.
The "Golden Stone Fluid" collided with it. No sound was made, followed by a rapidly expanding ring of fire.
Yu Ci, who was standing under the mirror, was blown away by the turbulent heat wave. Half of his clothes were on fire, but after rolling in the snow and mud, the flames were extinguished. He lay motionless, as if dead.
The Divine Bronze Mirror, which had blocked the "Golden Stone Fluid" head-on, vibrated with a humming sound during the second wave of the fire ring's expansion. Unable to withstand it, it was flung far away.
Jin Huan, whose Divine Soul was constantly tormented by the Heartfire, could hardly think effectively. He let out a scream that was not human-like, intending to pounce again and completely kill the fallen Yu Ci.
However, at this moment, a pleasant and magnetic voice unknowingly seeped into his Divine Soul:
"Do not overstep your bounds!"
As the sound fell, the scorching slope, heated by the "Golden Stone Fluid", was swept clean by a heat wave.
A figure floated in the air, a chill condensing from nothingness to reality, finally transforming into a cold light, cutting through the crimson "Golden Stone Fluid".
Deep in the void, it seemed as if a pair of bright eyes were looking askance.
The divine power was as sharp as a knife!
***********
The battle of the White Sun Mansion was over, but Brother Fishbone's opportunities and trials had just begun. The real contest was triggered by the destruction of the White Sun Mansion. Click, favorite, vote, support, comment and so on. Before Brother Fishbone shows his power, lay the foundation! Thanks for your support!
...
I have also posted the following more chapters [All free] on: https://www.readgates.com/article/74a39e