The Modern Martial Immortal

”They’ve come, at last,” Yaoguang said.

Yaoguang wasn’t surprised by the news. If anything, he had long awaited the attack. He glanced toward the Heavenly Ruin Battle Hall.

Qi Sha’s breakthrough to the Void-Refining Realm must’ve pushed them into making a decision and taking action. Right now, he has only just broken through and hasn’t yet stabilized his realm. But once he does, with the might of his Great Dao of destruction paired with the Annihilation Sword, he’ll be among the finest of all Void-Refining Realm cultivators, as well as an extra variable in any battle.

Of course, the news from the Heavenly Dao Sect plays a part too. The sect master is away, and four Void-Shattering supreme elders had no choice but to go beyond the starry sky to support Zong Wenxian. The Heavenly Dao Sect’s strength is basically depleted. This is nothing short of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord to make a move.

As he mused, he asked back at once through the jade talisman. ”Do we know how many the Yin Lunar Sect has sent?”

”I can’t tell. My surveillance posts only detected a mass of fiendish qi sweeping past the Wu state at extreme speed, racing toward the southern domain. The fiendish qi is enormous, so their numbers must be considerable, but they’re moving with great secrecy and seem to have used Dao Artifacts to mask their traces. I was only able to catch that fleeting glimpse, so it’s hard for me to estimate a number.” Mo Ye answered quickly.

”Masking their traces by using Dao Artifacts...” Yaoguang understood that the Yin Lunar Sect’s fiendish cultivators also feared tipping their hand.

If they exposed themselves too early, whether Yaoguang appealed to the Heavenly Dao Sect for aid first or simply abandoned the southern domain and fled back into the Heavenly Dao Sect, their plan would be ruined just before succeeding. Given the circumstances, secrecy was only natural. And yet Mo Ye had still detected them.

Hold on! A Void-Shattering cultivator who has plotted this for so long shouldn’t, by rights, be detected by Mo Ye. And if the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord really made up his mind to attack the southern domain only because Qi Sha broke through to the Void-Refining Realm, then he’d have acted before that breakthrough was complete. In other words... Yaoguang’s head snapped up.

There, outside the domain lord’s residence, another aura welled up. Though it was masked by an array, a little of it still leaked out, letting one clearly see an azure star’s phantom shrouding the heavens.

Someone was breaking through to the Azure Golden Core Realm! This was the attack signal the Jing family had agreed upon with the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord!

Which means Mo Ye’s sighting was an attempt to lure the snake from its hole. They hoped that they could draw me out, like back when Crimson Malevolence showed himself. If I were to leave the Southern Capital, everything would be easier for the Yin Lunar Sect experts led by the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord. Even with the Jing family’s promise to disrupt the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array’s operation, they still felt uneasy, unwilling to pin their hopes on others. Yaoguang only needed an instant to grasp the situation.

With a single thought, he swiftly relayed the message to everyone. ”The Yin Lunar Sect’s revenge is upon us! By my command, raise the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array! Be on full guard against this great enemy’s invasion!”

Even Qi Sha, who had only just broken through to the Void-Refining Realm, was roused.

”Watch Wu Changfeng for me. If he makes any rash move, don’t kill him, but keep him busy with everything you have!” Yaoguang’s psychic thought reached Qi Sha in an instant.

”Yes.” Qi Sha answered, his mind coldly composed.

Though Wu Changfeng had conducted himself diligently over these years, in the end, there was not enough trust between the two sides; Qi Sha wasn’t at all surprised by Yaoguang’s order.

Having received their orders, Chi Yu, Ling Ruogu, Li Hanqiu, Wan Liugui, and the rest set off one after another, each taking up their positions.

Some led elite forces straight into the skies, others went to maintain order across the city, ensuring the Southern Capital did not fall into chaos.

And the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array, radiant light swirling through it, was on the verge of activation.

Yet just as the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array was about to open fully, one of its nodes seemed to malfunction. The one sabotaging that position was none other than a Void-Piercing battle immortal whom the Jing family had left in the Southern Capital to handle their affairs.

”Insolence!” Yaoguang, who had been watching these changes at every moment, barked out at once.

But fast as his reaction was, another moved faster still. It was Wu Changfeng. This Void-Refining cultivator seemed to have been keeping watch on every flaw in the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array at all times. The instant he sensed someone making trouble, he appeared and swept down to seize and slay the Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal.

But the battle immortal himself seemed already to have reached the point of being unable to control the Primordial Void within him. Facing the strike of a Void-Refining Realm cultivator like Wu Changfeng, he didn’t hesitate to self-detonate, releasing all of the Primordial Void’s power.

In an instant, a frightening amount of energy started spreading with the battle immortal at its center. He seemed bent on using this to thoroughly destroy the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array’s node and delay the array’s activation.

”Crap!” Wu Changfeng shouted.

Against a Void-Piercing battle immortal’s self-detonation, even Wu Changfeng, a Void-Refining Realm cultivator, would be gravely wounded if he tried to take it head-on. Yet in that moment he didn’t hesitate at all.

Had he done so, not only would this key node of the array be heavily damaged, but the surrounding five hundred kilometers would likely have been leveled by the battle immortal’s self-detonation.

To avert such a tragedy, Wu Changfeng swiftly spread his grotto-heaven, turning it into a Primordial Void, and brought it down to engulf the energy released by the battle immortal’s self-detonation.

But just as he acted, the power of another grotto-heaven followed close behind.

That second grotto-heaven, sturdier than Wu Changfeng’s own by who knew how many times, swiftly swept away most of the energy of the exploding Primordial Void, then pressed down ever so slightly.

Like stamping out a firecracker, the power of the Primordial Void vanished without a trace. With most of the energy suppressed by that grotto-heaven’s strength, the remaining portion was easily shouldered by Wu Changfeng.

”Deputy Sect Master.” Wu Changfeng saw the figure that had suddenly appeared and hurriedly greeted him, then added with some urgency, ”Deputy Sect Master, didn’t I tell you where the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array’s weaknesses lay? Why...”

”I know what I’m doing,” Yaoguang answered calmly. ”Can you still fight?”

Wu Changfeng quickly composed himself. Feeling the towering fiendish flames that had already appeared at the edge of the heavens and were swiftly moving toward them, he understood in his heart that now was not the time to argue.

”I can fight!” Wu Changfeng answered in a low voice, glancing at the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array. ”But the city-protecting grand array will likely need over a hundred breaths to reactivate. The Yin Lunar Sect comes on fierce and fast, and they may not give us that much time.”

”Doesn’t matter.” Yaoguang put away a Recording Stone in his hand.

What it had recorded was none other than footage of the Jing family’s Void-Piercing battle immortal sabotaging the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array. This was evidence.

He then took out his deputy sect master’s command token and connected directly to the Supreme Elder Council.

”What is it?” Soon, a psychic thought came through.

Yaoguang sensed it briefly and quickly made out the person’s identity. How very convenient.

”Supreme Elder Jing Yuntian? Are you the one on duty this year?” Yaoguang said calmly.

”Correct. You used the highest communication channel to reach me. What happened?”

”The Yin Lunar Sect is attacking...” Yaoguang answered as though filing a report, glancing at the surging fiendish cloud rolling in.

A single beam of True Spirit Light, and the auras hidden within the cloud were laid clearly bare.

”At their head is the Yin Lunar Sect’s supreme elder, the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord. Judging by the level of fiendish flames, there’s another Void-Shattering fiendish cultivator as well, along with as many as five Void-Refining fiendish cultivators. I request that the sect open the teleportation array to relieve the Southern Capital.”

”What?! Such a thing has happened?! The Yin Lunar Sect is bold! Hold out a while. I’ll convene the Supreme Elder Council at once and gather all the supreme elders to discuss sending reinforcements to the Southern Capital!” On receiving the news, Jing Yuntian flew into a rage.

With that, he cut off the communication.

Yaoguang’s expression betrayed nothing unusual.

Everyone was merely going through the motions. As to whether these motions would amount to anything, both Yaoguang and Jing Yuntian knew perfectly well.

It was Wu Changfeng beside him who, hearing the exchange between Yaoguang and Jing Yuntian, had eyes full of shock. ”Two Void-Shattering fiendish cultivators and five Void-Refining fiendish cultivators?!”

”To be precise, two Void-Shattering fiendish cultivators and at least six Void-Refining fiendish cultivators, with another batch of fiendish cultivators making a show of force at the border to try to draw us out.” Yaoguang watched the fiendish flames rolling in ever thicker. ”Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. I have killed two Void-Refining fiendish cultivators one after another, Evil Eye and Crimson Malevolence, and displayed the combat power of a peak Void-Refining cultivator.

”I attained my Dao through a void Dao Seed, and my life-bound technique is an extremely nimble movement art. Even acting in person, the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord might not be able to bring me down. This time they’re striking directly at our home base, the Southern Capital. On his own, where would he find the confidence? The fact he decided to bring another Void-Shattering supreme elder and five Void-Refining fiendish cultivators doesn’t surprise me in the least.”

Watching Yaoguang’s unhurried composure, Wu Changfeng had no idea where his confidence came from.

After a moment, something seemed to occur to him, and he asked with a trace of unease, ”Could it be that the discord between you and Sect Master Zong Wenxian is a pretense, a grand drama the two of you staged together, all to lure the Yin Lunar Sect’s fiendish cultivators into the Southern Capital and deal with all of them in a single sweep? Could it be that supreme elders have been lying in ambush in the Southern Capital?”

Yaoguang gave him a strange look. ”No. The only Void-Refining cultivators in the Southern Capital are the few of us, and not a single Void-Shattering cultivator.”

Wu Changfeng’s heart sank at once.

In the instant the two spoke, the towering mass of fiendish qi had already rolled over the Southern Capital, rumbling loudly as it covered the sky.

One of the two leading the enemies was none other than the Yin Lunar Sect’s supreme elder, the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord. The second one was another supreme elder, who called himself the Dark Fiend Lord.

”Eight Desolations, as agreed, the spoils on this human are mine!” Amid the fiendish flames, the Dark Fiend Lord’s psychic thought communicated with the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord.

”I’m only interested in his corpse and his soul. The four billion in profit, including the Dao Artifacts on him, are all yours!” the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord answered, his decisiveness in action beyond compare. ”But now isn’t the time to talk. Everyone, make your move. Waste no words with him, give him no chance to catch his breath. Take advantage of the time the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array isn’t active, kill him with overwhelming, crushing force and leave immediately.”

As he spoke, the fiendish flames behind him seemed to form the vast phantom of a world. This was none other than his void-type life-bound Dao Technique, the Eight Desolations Purgatory!

Seeing the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord act, the Dark Fiend Lord wasted no time either. Within the fiendish flames behind him, six eyes seemed to surface and slowly open.

”Six-Sense Deprivation!” he muttered.

Not a word, not an exchange. The two sides hadn’t even made direct contact, yet the battle had already erupted in full, in its most ferocious form.