Chapter 422: Against Four Alone

The defensive formation of Lingxiao City is a complex weave of intricate patterns, mist, lightning, aurora, and other forces. Comprising nine layers, each separated by one hundred zhang, it extends from the lowest layer, one hundred zhang above the ground, to the highest, one thousand zhang high, level with the Phoenix Pavilion. This structure divides Lingxiao City into nine distinct formation worlds, providing an impenetrable defense.

At this moment, the group of transcendent beings, led by the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom, were all positioned between the sixth and seventh layers of the formation.

Zen Master Guanyin naturally couldn't truly disregard the lives of the millions of citizens in the city. However, she knew that once constrained here, not only would the city's inhabitants face certain death, but she herself would also perish within the city. Therefore, she would absolutely not allow the enemies on Mount Lin Tai to return to the city below.

"Whoosh!"

Zen Master Guanyin transformed into a beam of red light and shot skyward, passing through layer after layer of formation screens until she appeared at the same level as the group of transcendent beings. Immediately, she made the first move, unleashing a sky full of golden mist with a wave of her palm.

The golden mist permeated hundreds of miles within the defensive formation. It condensed and surged like a vast, overwhelming tide, rushing directly towards the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom, Scarlet Phoenix, Li Longshu, the transcendent being from the Sacred Dark Family, and Madam Ye.

"An Emperor's Art... 'Mist Sea Suppresses the Galaxy'!"

Someone recognized this renowned ultimate skill of Zen Master Guanyin.

Martial cultivators in the Longevity Realm begin to dabble in Emperor's Arts, but their primary focus remains on cultivating Grand Arts. The fourth, fifth, and sixth layers of Grand Arts are each exceedingly difficult to overcome. However, once a layer is surpassed, it often enables one to break through the Longevity Lock and enter a new realm. Only transcendent beings, with their extended lifespans, would spend vast amounts of time researching Emperor's Arts, seeking higher levels of combat power. Given Zen Master Guanyin's martial arts attainments, the level of the Emperor's Art she unleashed was predictably extraordinary.

The transcendent beings standing on the black stone structures of Mount Lin Tai immediately activated their full-body defenses, unleashed Daoist arts, and deployed defensive artifacts. Among them, the swift Scarlet Phoenix transformed into a streak of fiery light and flew to the other side of Mount Lin Tai to evade.

Only the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom remained unfazed and fearless. His figure was as unmoving as a mountain, and his gaze as calm as an ancient well. He firmly believed that if Zen Master Guanyin possessed the combat power of a Martial Emperor, they would not have had the chance to stand on Mount Lin Tai today.

Almost at the same time Zen Master Guanyin unleashed her Emperor's Art, the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom activated the power of four Immortal Gates. The four Immortal Gates, with their four distinct powers, intertwined and converged.

The air beneath his feet violently vibrated as he unleashed an Emperor's Art fist-seal, a Saint's Fist Scripture annotation, cultivated for thousands of years. This collided with the overwhelming tidal wave of golden mist. The golden mist was far from simple; it could disintegrate the physical bodies of transcendent beings, turning them into bloody sand, representing the highest level of Emperor's Art power.

"Boom!"

The Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom's vital energy surged like a divine river within him. His fist-seal caused space to vibrate, and all the golden mist within several miles dispersed. In an instant, the mist re-condensed and surged forward with even greater force.

He spread his arms wide as the light projections of the four Immortal Gates descended before him, overlapping. They flew out with his fist strength, crashing through the golden mist and striking towards Zen Master Guanyin in the distance.

Zen Master Guanyin's figure flickered, moving with the golden mist tide. She appeared above the light projections of the four Immortal Gates, like a golden ocean spreading over them.

"Whoosh—"

Grabbing the sword hilt with one hand, she drew it to the right. The Void-Dweller Sword unsheathed, its humming sound causing piercing pain in the eardrums of all transcendent beings present.

Her gaze was sharp as the sword light horizontally slashed, cleaving directly towards the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom, showing no fear of splitting Mount Lin Tai in two with a single strike. Those who wield swords must never be sloppy, much less hesitate.

The Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom had no intention of dodging. With his thousands of years of martial cultivation experience and discerning eye, he already had a general understanding of Zen Master Guanyin's state and strength. Standing at the pinnacle of transcendence, he would not retreat for anyone, unless an Emperor arrived. Not a single step!

"Cloud Concealment!"

His Ancestral Field vibrated, and the space before him burst open like a bubble. A real, majestic Immortal Gate moved out from his Ancestral Field. Its material, like stone and jade, was heavier than a mountain, and it instantly shattered three layers of the city's defensive formation.

The area above Lingxiao City immediately experienced chaotic formation power as destructive energy shook the three-thousand-mile Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain. The Cloud Concealment Immortal Gate blocked the sword light of the Void-Dweller Sword.

The Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom flew to the top of the Cloud Concealment Immortal Gate and formed a hand seal, exclaiming, "Wind and Thunder!" The second Immortal Gate flew out from his Ancestral Field, and the sound of wind and thunder echoed for ten thousand miles, faintly audible even from the Peach and Plum Mountain in Zuoqiu Ancestral Hall, a distant city in Qiuzhou.

Martial cultivators across the world could perceive the terrifying power of the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom's cultivation, which virtually dominated the entire Lingxiao Life Realm. Some grand figures and transcendent beings who intended to rush to the Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain for rescue were deterred and stopped at this moment.

"Stars!"

The third Immortal Gate flew out, transforming the three-thousand-mile Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain into a sea of stars, with stellar radiance that sought to penetrate all formations. In the city below, martial cultivators below the Dao Seed Realm found it difficult to activate their spiritual energy, suppressed by the power of the three Immortal Gates. Looking up, it was as if three gates to the immortal realm had opened, and the three released energies threatened to overwhelm the city's defensive formation.

All the formation light veils in the city's various districts were fully activated. Above each district, a prefectural governor's seal floated into the air, wielded by experts of the Mist Shadow Army and activated jointly by Dao Seed Realm and Five Seas Realm martial cultivators within the district.

Ge Xiantong ran rapidly along the district path, shouting loudly, "Spirit Mind Masters and Dao Seed Realm martial cultivators in the city, those unafraid of death, follow me to Mount Lin Tai to control the formations!"

"If Lingxiao City cannot be defended, death is inevitable anyway. Count me in."

"Even if that damn Crown Prince is an invincible demon god, we must still fight."

"Let us fight the great enemy from beyond the borders, alongside Emperor Wu!"

Figures rushed out from every district, like those going to their deaths, hurrying towards Mount Lin Tai. The return of Emperor Wu gave them a new banner, and they were no longer filled with the disappointment and hatred they once held for the imperial court. Although they all knew that under the power of the transcendent beings, they would very likely be annihilated in an instant, someone had to restart the formation foundations of Mount Lin Tai and assist His Excellency Taishi and the Three Palace Masters. Only by relying on the city's defensive formation and the Nine Heavens Beyond formation could the entire city be protected, and only then could the enemies potentially be suppressed and slain within the city. If one group perished, another would naturally follow.

The battles to clear internal threats within the city gradually ended, and the chaos was subsiding.

The thirty-six Earth Vein Towers were connected to the thirty-six earth veins beneath the ground. The tops of the towers simultaneously emitted beams of light, and these thirty-six beams intertwined with the nine-layered city defensive formation. The power of the city's formations instantly doubled.

Zen Master Guanyin, holding her sword, stared at the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom, who was positioned between the three Immortal Gates, asking, "Where is the fourth Immortal Gate, Heavenly Revelation?"

"Emperor Wu dares not engage in close combat, which shows your physical body is fragile," the Crown Prince stated. "You dare not use an Emperor's will, which means you have no will at all. A faint aura of death, interwoven with vital energy, has always enveloped you, suggesting you've cultivated after death. In your current weakened state, I believe I can kill you without even needing Heavenly Revelation."

Between the eighth and ninth layers of the formation, Lord Lan was enveloped by His Excellency Taishi's defensive city formation. Lord Lan did not immediately wish to break free from it, instead secretly observing to determine the combat power state of Zen Master Guanyin upon her return after a thousand years. If things went awry, he would certainly flee immediately.

Madam Ye, meanwhile, took out an ancient zither and played an elegant melody. The zither's sound transcended all material and energy barriers, attacking the Three Palace Masters' mental power and soul, thereby preventing her from activating the Nine Heavens Beyond formation.

Scarlet Phoenix and Li Longshu were both ancient beings who had cultivated for two to three thousand years. They were no ordinary transcendent beings, incomparable to the Forbidden One from Coffin Mountain. The Forbidden One from Coffin Mountain was the strongest being to have revived seven times from the monastic remains in the underground immortal manor, having reached the transcendent level only about two hundred years ago. It should be noted that the lifespan of a Great Longevity cultivator is only five to six hundred years. The two of them had been able to cultivate in the transcendent realm for two to three thousand years, meaning they had progressed very far in this realm. Li Longshu possessed the power to establish millions of sects; this was not an exaggeration by the people of the world, and he held a very high position even in the Demon Kingdom.

"So it was a bluff!" Scarlet Phoenix declared. "Since that's the case, today we shall witness the demise of an Emperor and the complete end of a legend."

Seeing that the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom possessed the power to resist, Scarlet Phoenix felt relieved. She spread a pair of wide wings and spat out tens of thousands of artifacts, transforming them into an ocean of artifacts that spun and danced within the fire cloud above her head.

Li Longshu summoned his forty-meter-tall Seven Treasures Miraculous Tree, standing beneath it, enveloped in rainbow light. "The spiritual energy on Emperor Wu indeed belongs to the Grand Palace Master," he remarked, "which shows you are cultivating a second life, and you haven't even cultivated the Heavenly Elixir of the Other Shore yet. You shouldn't have appeared. Had you hidden in the shadows and diligently cultivated for a thousand years, you might have regained your former glory."

Zen Master Guanyin did not want to speak further with them. She raised the Void-Dweller Sword above her head, exclaiming, "Earth Vein Awaken Armament!" In Lingxiao City below, thirty-six earth veins rapidly flowed, surging out thirty-six long rivers of spiritual energy that rushed skyward, converging towards the Void-Dweller Sword. The sword's body vibrated, and countless tiny scriptures emerged on its surface.

To awaken the full power of a supreme artifact was no easy task; it required an immense amount of spiritual energy and a considerable amount of time. But once awakened, its formidable power could easily suppress and slay transcendent beings. Zen Master Guanyin intended to leverage the thirty-six earth veins to most rapidly revive all the supreme scriptures within the Void-Dweller Sword. This was her geographical advantage!

For the first time, a hint of solemnity appeared in the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom's eyes; he sensed something was wrong. Without a transcendent being presiding over them, the thirty-six earth veins could not possibly unleash such immense power. Zen Master Guanyin must have secretly summoned other transcendent beings into the city. There were more than just His Excellency Taishi and the Three Palace Masters in the city.

"Act!"

The Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom activated the power of the three Immortal Gates: Cloud Concealment, Wind and Thunder, and Stars — three ancient forces — entwined around him. His steps were steady, and with one stride, he appeared before Zen Master Guanyin, unleashing a Saint's Fist to deny her the chance to activate the supreme artifact's full power. At the same time, Li Longshu, Scarlet Phoenix, and the transcendent being from the Sacred Dark Family attacked from three other directions, each with a surging aura that shook heaven and earth. With someone taking the lead attack, they were fearless. As long as they could land a solid hit on Zen Master Guanyin once, they could naturally gauge her true state.

Zen Master Guanyin's physical body was fragile, so she used spatial evasion to retreat, covering a hundred miles with each step. The Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom followed like a shadow, also covering a hundred miles with each step. The power of Cloud Concealment entwined around her, Wind and Thunder converged from all directions, while the power of Stars erupted with his fist strength.

Zen Master Guanyin formed a palm with her left hand, directly clashing with the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom's Saint's Fist. Instantly, the skin on her entire arm cracked, and blood splattered. The Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom's guess was correct. Her entire body of flesh and blood had only been re-formed for two to three years, creating a gap even compared to ordinary transcendent beings. How could she compare to these transcendent beings who had cultivated their physical bodies for thousands of years?

"Emperor Wu's physical body is indeed..." The Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom's words were cut short, and his confident smirk immediately faded. Zen Master Guanyin's bloody fingers had tightly gripped his fist, making it impossible for him to break free. With such gripping power, how could her physical body be fragile? Moreover, when Zen Master Guanyin's arm flesh shattered earlier, he hadn't seen any trace veins. It was too bizarre!

The Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom remained composed. He used void-stepping techniques, shifting his body to avoid Zen Master Guanyin's sword that could descend at any moment. Then he spun and struck out with a palm, causing space to distort with the palm print, aiming to completely destroy her physical body and uncover the truth. The palm struck empty air!

Zen Master Guanyin gripped his fist and flung him straight away. Then, her arm suddenly dropped, and she brandished the Void-Dweller Sword, which had activated some of its supreme power, slashing diagonally through the air. The sword energy pursued the Crown Prince of the Demon Kingdom. The air on both sides of the sword energy vibrated relentlessly, producing continuous explosive sounds.

Li Longshu seized this excellent window of opportunity, descending from the sky with his Seven Treasures Miraculous Tree in hand. Seven ancient artifacts hung from the tree, stirring up the sea of clouds and breaking through Zen Master Guanyin's protective spiritual energy. On the other side, Scarlet Phoenix stood in the distance, controlling tens of thousands of artifacts, forming a long river of artifacts to attack from the front, thereby creating an opportunity for Li Longshu's most powerful strike. The transcendent being from the Sacred Dark Family released a dark domain, attacking Zen Master Guanyin's fragile soul and consciousness, aiming to extinguish her awareness.