Chapter 290: Master of the Northern Abyss Hall
Chapter 290: Master of the Northern Abyss Hall
Long before Ling Ao was defeated by Jiang Yuebai, the spy in the Mount Shu Sect, Lu Xun, came to see him and told him that he would only have to take an item with him to the Sword Sheath Peak.
By doing so, he could become the head disciple of the Mount Shu Sect.
"A powerful cultivator would descend from the void and kill all three of them and you will then become the head disciple of the Mount Shu Sect. By then, there will be chaos throughout the entire sect, and no one will know that you helped." Thê sourc𝗲 of this conte/nt n/o/v/(𝒆l)bi((n))
Lu Xun's voice, like the devil's whisper, was full of temptation in Ling Ao's ears.
At this moment, he was holding a piece of black jade in his palm that was engraved, appearing like a ferocious tiny statue.
Chu Liang had seen this item before. Previously, he had obtained a similar Evil Ksitigarbha from the hands of the Southern-Route Guiders. The Evil Ksitigarbha he had seized was more powerful, while the black jade in Ling Ao's hand was merely a marker to guide the immortal art Shattering the Void.
Anyone who could execute the immortal art Shattering of the Void and descend from the void was definitely not a weak person.
Jiang Yuebai stared directly at Ling Ao and questioned, "Why did you do this?"
Ling Ao remained silent.
Then, a figure slowly appeared—a tall man in a black robe, with a dark, cold, and indifferent face. Accompanying his descent was a dense, vast, and icy aura, as if the other end of the void connected to a glacier!
Northern Abyss Hall!
A name appeared in Chu Liang's mind. He had known that the Dark King Sect wanted to make a move against the Mount Shu Sect. When he felt the icy and dark aura, he immediately thought of the Northern Abyss Hall.
The Four Halls of Darkness in the Dark King Sect were the Northern Abyss Hall, the Scarlet-Robe Hall, the White-Bone Hall, and the Vermillion-Azurite Hall. Among them, the Northern Abyss Hall was considered the strongest. They had fewer members than the White-Bone Hall, but their members were more powerful.
This was because the Northern Abyss Hall inherited the most authentic cultivation legacy, the Heavenly Star Unusual Art, from the Dark King Sect. The other three halls, on the other hand, held cultivation legacies from various diabolical sects that joined after the Dark King Sect became known as a diabolical sect. Compared to the authentic practices of the Northern Abyss Hall, these were clearly inferior.
As the man in black descended, he let out a loud and eerie guffaw.
The individuals before him were like the sprouting seeds of the Mount Shu Sect, possessing the potential to cultivate immortality. The fact that they were not yet fully grown meant that killing them would be easy. By doing so, it would also deal a devastating blow to the Mount Shu Sect.
If this group of promising disciples died here, the Mount Shu Sect would never be able to keep its top-ten ranking during the upcoming Assembly of Immortal Sects. If they failed to be in the top ten for five consecutive times, Mount Shu's status in the Divine Nine would be revoked.
And so, the Dark King Sect placed great importance on this operation and even dispatched the Eldest Senior Brother of the Northern Abyss Hall, who was a renowned sixth-realm powerhouse.
As the three youngsters from the Mount Shu Sect felt the overwhelming pressure from the powerful cultivator, their expressions turned very grim.
Although Chu Liang had just completed the master recognition process with the Violet and Azure Twin Swords, he was unable to activate these two legendary artifacts. To wield the swords' full powers, he needed to master a unique sword seal for each, a task as challenging as learning the immortal arts. On top of that, each sword required a different seal.
This was the greatness of legendary swords: each could only be activated with its unique sword seal.
During the master recognition process, the two swords were imparting the key techniques of the sword seal into his body. This was the reason why the Violet and Azure Twin Swords required two separate meridian systems.
This was precisely why the Violet and Azure Twin Swords differed from other legendary artifacts. They could not be activated by adults and could only choose young individuals as their swordmasters. The swords needed to reshape the qi pathways of their wielders, a process that was not possible in the bodies of adults.
Every unusual occurrence has its cause.
Normally, these two swords would never be able to coexist because they required their own meridian system to execute the sword seal. Chu Liang was the only weirdo with two Golden Cores, which was why it was possible to activate these two legendary swords at the same time. However, at this very moment, he couldn't achieve this.
Aside from this, his only trump cards were Old Fei and the Crimson Executioner.
However, Old Fei, a sixth-realm battle soul, was usually only capable of bullying those below the sixth realm.
When fighting against a powerful cultivator at the sixth realm, especially a top-tier one, Old Fei would stand no chance.
As for the Crimson Executioner, it was able to unleash an explosively powerful force. However, while the opponent was still on guard, it would be impossible to land a hit.
If he worked with Jiang Yuebai and Xu Ziyang...
Chu Liang quickly ran through the many scenarios in his mind and eventually came to a conclusion.
In all of the scenarios, they would end up dying.
As Chu Liang's thoughts raced, the man in the black robe had already raised his hand and grasped at the air, as if an invisible weapon existed in his palm.
Chu Liang and his two companions felt a sudden and intense sense of impending doom.
Once this divine ability was unleashed, it would surely result in the death of one of them!
But just then, an unexpected change occurred.
...
Swish—
A bright white light suddenly rose from beneath, and Ling Ao's body swiftly appeared at the entrance of the mountain, several dozen zhang away. In his place stood an elder in a white robe with blue eyes and black hands.
It was the Weapons Master!
He should have been waiting at the entrance of the cave, which was very far from here, yet he arrived in an instant!
Upon seeing the glowing enchanted formation, Chu Liang suddenly realized that the Weapons Master had not rushed over. Instead, the Mount Shu Sect had already set up an enchanted formation! This was a classic trap to lure the enemy in!
He looked at Ling Ao beside him, only to see that Ling Ao remained expressionless.
Pierce!
With his black-iron hand, the Weapons Master pierced through the black-robed individual without hesitation, penetrating from his chest to his back as if his body were made of soggy paper.
In face of death, the black-robed individual remained eerily calm. His gaze seemed to pass through the Weapons Master, settling on Ling Ao, as he murmured, "It was you..."
Ling Ao's gaze looked very cold. "I do want to be the head disciple, but I would never achieve it in a way that would harm the Mount Shu Sect. If you think you can use such tactics to make me betray my sect, you've chosen the wrong person."
"Heh," the black-robed man sneered, "You will regret your choice."
Sensing something amiss, the Weapons Master quickly withdrew his black-iron hand and struck the man, sending him flying through the air!
The black-robed individual flew into the air and suddenly transformed into a black sphere of light, as dark as ink, suspended in midair. From the black sphere, a head and four limbs swiftly popped out, gradually forming a complete human figure.
Then, another one popped out, followed by another one.
Chu Liang stared at this ball of light and suddenly remembered how Feng Chaoyang from the Celestial King Sect had performed the Divine-Light Clone Art, which looked rather similar to the one happening before his eyes.
It seemed that the immortal sects that branched off from the Heavenly Star Divine Cult truly shared the same origin.
When the light faded away, two figures were suspended in mid-air. Besides the black-robed individual, whose body had recovered to its unscathed state, there was another man wearing a tall hat[1]. His expression was so cold and gleaming that it seemed as though he was wearing a mask, and his slanted eyes were filled with chilling malice.
"Chen Mingcang..." the Weapons Master called out.
The moment he sensed something was wrong, he realized that an Eminent One had descended. If it weren't for this person's intervention, the black-robed individual would have already died.
With the death of the White Silver King and the Violet Gold Marquess getting severely injured, only one person within the Dark King Sect, aside from the leader, was powerful enough to fight the Weapons Master.
It was the hall master of the Northern Abyss Hall, Chen Mingcang!
To kill the most promising disciples of the Mount Shu Sect, the Dark King Sect was willing to dispatch such a top-tier powerhouse, a move that the Mount Shu Sect had not expected.
"I once had a brief encounter with the Weapons Master, but we didn't have the chance to fight. It seems like today is the day I can witness your skills," the hall master's voice was eerie and lifeless, hardly sounding human.
"By wreaking havoc on Mount Shu, you have decided to stay here forever," the Weapons Master declared.
With his reputation well-established over the years, the Weapons Master showed no fear of the hall master of the Northern Abyss Hall.
"Heh... well... there's no telling if Mount Shu will still exist after this fight," the hall master of the Northern Abyss Hall responded with a cold laugh.
As the qi between these two powerful cultivators clashed at such close proximity, the wave of pressure caused immense pain to the nearby disciples.
With a wave of his left hand, the Weapons Master caused the light of the enchanted formation to flicker, instantly sending the three disciples to the edge of the cave.
"Hei Shui, go... Kill them," the master of the Northern Abyss Hall said in an indifferent tone.
"At your command," the black-robed man who had initially descended immediately responded and flew after them!
The Weapons Master cast a cold glance, a flicker of light flashing in his blue-gold right eye.
Boom!
Before the black-robed man could make a sound, his entire body exploded!
The top-tier cultivator at the sixth realm, whom Chu Liang and the others couldn't defeat, was like a bug to the Weapons Master. That guy was unable to withstand the power that a single glance had unleashed!
However, as the hall master of the Northern Abyss Hall waved his hand, a black light emanated from the fragments of shattered flesh, causing them to reconnect and transform back into the complete form of a human.
As the light faded, the black-robed man floated once again in mid-air, completely intact.
This technique was nothing short of miraculous!
This was like the legendary technique, the Last Drop of Blood, but it seemed to have even more powerful effects.
"Weapons Master, I am your opponent," the master of the Northern Abyss Hall said in an indifferent tone.
Suddenly, he opened his mouth and emitted a piercing scream. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh—"
Boom!
With his sharp cry, everyone in the cavern felt their souls tremble. If this continued for a few more moments, Chu Liang and the others would have their souls shattered!
Seeing this, the Weapons Master waved his hand, causing the enchanted formation to shift once more. A glowing light ascended, forming a barrier that contained the destructive power of the hall master's scream within the enchanted formation. As a result, the Weapons Master bore the brunt of the suffering alone.
Due to the barrier, the power of the enchanted formation waned, and the Weapons Master could no longer protect everyone.
The Weapons Master locked down the master of the Northern Abyss Hall with one hand. He couldn't bother to deal with the black-robed man at this moment and instead moved forward, throwing a punch.
The black-robed man seemed poised to fly towards Chu Liang, but it turned out to be a fake move as he suddenly pivoted and headed towards Ling Ao instead.
Ling Ao was about to dodge, but he found himself locked in a gaze with the black-robed individual.
Bam!
Ling Ao suddenly felt his entire body freeze, unable to move at all.
Just as the black-robed man was about to capture Ling Ao, a voice called out from the side.
"Halt!"
It was Jiang Yuebai!
She extended a finger from a distance, pointing at the black-robed man.
An immobilization spell!
Although this wasn't an immortal art, its usefulness in certain situations surpassed that of immortal arts.
Once again, Chu Liang marveled at Jiang Yuebai's mastery of so many divine abilities. Despite having shown so many techniques during the competition, she had not revealed all her techniques and skills. However, at this critical moment, he had no time to think about it.
Even before she pointed at the black-robed man, Chu Liang had already drawn the Crimson Executioner and launched an attack!
Boom!
Though Jiang Yuebai's immobilization spell had little effect on the black-robed man, causing only a brief pause that wasn't even perceivable, it was enough.
The moment the black-robed man appeared, the Crimson Executioner had already been feeling agitated. Now, fueled by deep-seated anger, it transformed into a massive crimson sword light, slicing through the cavern!
Compared to the usual Heavenly Sword Seal unleashed by Chu Liang under normal circumstances, the Heavenly Sword Seal executed with the Crimson Executioner released sword qi with power several times stronger. Enveloped in crimson karmic flames, the sword of justice burned with righteous anger.
The crimson flames erupted into a blazing inferno, poised to slay all evil!
1. Refer to image in Translator's thought for what this looks like. ☜