After the Great Dao Died

He slowly drew his longsword.

Blazing thunder flashed incessantly across the Thunder Radiance Longsword, the streaks resembling tiny lightning dragons coiling around the blade!

Chen Lingxi’s killing intent swept outward like an overwhelming tide, shrouding this stretch of heaven and earth.

”Very well.”

Chen Lingxi raised his head, his gaze sweeping over them all!

The Purple-robed Marquis was wrenching his spear from the rubble, his demonic eyes full of gravity.

Yuan Yuan hovered above the clouds, his robes snapping in the wind. Like Wu Mohe, a bronze mask covered his face, concealing all emotion.

Xi Yu stood upon a willow leaf, the green mark between her brows glowing faintly.

Wu Mohe had somehow retreated to the edge of the battlefield. Beneath his visor, his profound eyes watched Chen Lingxi unblinkingly.

A smile surfaced on Chen Lingxi’s lips.”Now that I wield such mighty power, how could I miss this excellent chance... to kill you all!”

The next moment, Chen Lingxi flipped the Thunder Radiance Treasure Sword in his grip. The lightning upon the blade flared to its absolute limit!

Circulating the Heavenly King Wielding Thunder Sword and riding the Cloud-Soaring Technique, he shot from the Longevity Bridge like a falling comet!

His speed was unimaginably fast. Having gained new enlightenment, his Cloud Soaring Technique had become even more refined.

The cloud qi beneath his feet merged with the thunder, laced with fragmented lightning that pushed his speed to a whole new level.

Like a meteor wreathed in thunder, he tore through the sky, charging straight for the Purple-robed Marquis!

The Purple-robed Marquis looked up.

Chen Lingxi’s terrifying figure reflected in his demonic eyes, his gaze turning incomparably grave.

Taking a deep breath, the vital blood-qi around his body erupted with a boom!

This white-haired Purple-robed Marquis unreservedly pushed his blood-qi to the absolute limit!

His blood-qi had reached the Eleventh Profound Realm, granting him boundless might!

He was easily among the strongest native figures within this Grotto-Heaven!

Yet right now, facing this suddenly overpowering Chen Lingxi, he had no choice but to go all out. Gripping his two-zhang spear with both hands, the blood-qi along the shaft ignited like a roaring fire!

The blood-qi surged and roared around him, coiling like a massive blood dragon!

The Purple-robed Marquis stepped forward and exploded into motion, thrusting his spear out fiercely!

All the blood-qi of his Eleventh Profound Realm condensed upon the spear tip.

The spear shot out like a dragon, tearing through the sky like a blood-red lightning bolt to violently collide with the three-colored meteor in the void.

The instant the sword light clashed with the spear’s blood-qi, terrifying shockwaves and brilliant light erupted!

The radiance was far too intense!

It illuminated half the sky as brightly as day.

The fearsome shockwave howled past like a cataclysmic tornado.

Following the collision, the Purple-robed Marquis let out a muffled groan, his body blasted backward for hundreds of zhang!

He looked down, only to see that the webbing between his thumb and forefinger had split open, fresh blood seeping out continuously.

Microscopic arcs of pale gold lightning crackled within the blood, relentlessly corroding his wound. The Purple-robed Marquis raised his head to stare at Chen Lingxi, his demonic eyes now filled with dread.

But Chen Lingxi gave him no chance to catch his breath!

Pushing the Cloud Soaring Technique once more, the Heavenly King Wielding Thunder Sword in his grip struck like true lightning; every slash carried the might of heavenly thunder!

His sword arts were not complex—just a slash, a chop, an upward sweep, a horizontal wipe—yet every single strike was astonishingly fast!

The four-colored sword aura traced magnificent arcs through the void, forcing the Purple-robed Marquis into a continuous retreat.

Gritting his teeth, the Purple-robed Marquis channeled rolling blood-qi into his spear. Every thrust carried a crushing force!

The spear aura shattered the air with the crack of explosive thunder!

Yet the longer he fought, the more his heart pounded and his courage withered.

Chen Lingxi’s sword light was far too intense.

His sword momentum seemed endless.

The spiritual qi upon it surged like the tide, each wave higher and stronger than the last, threatening to completely drown him in a boundless sea of sword light!

It was then that Yuan Yuan finally struck! His wide black sleeves snapped open in the wind as he swooped down from the clouds like an owl spreading its wings!

Before he even arrived, his palms had already struck. He clapped his hands together in the void, sending a maddened tide of blood-qi surging toward Chen Lingxi.

The blood-qi was intensely scorching, boiling the surrounding clouds into nothingness as it rolled forward.

Simultaneously, Yuan Yuan executed three profound blood-qi martial arts in the blink of an eye.

The first martial art formed a long blood-qi blade that cleaved down toward Chen Lingxi’s head!

The second martial art unspooled into countless fine blood-qi threads that sought to bind him from all directions!

The third martial art solidified into an incomparably thick blood-qi bastion, shielding the Purple-robed Marquis!

Unleashing three martial arts at once fully laid bare Yuan Yuan’s unfathomable, ocean-deep cultivation.

But in this moment, Chen Lingxi was simply far too tyrannical.

Without even turning his head, he ruthlessly activated the Heaven-Seizing Seal.

The worldly spiritual essence within a radius of hundreds of zhang was forcefully plundered by this divine power, abruptly materializing into three massive palm seals in the void.

Spanning over a dozen zhang each, the giant hands were wreathed in three-colored radiance between their fingers. The three massive hand seals crashed down in rapid succession!

All three profound martial arts were completely shattered by the three Heaven-Seizing Seals.

Yuan Yuan’s expression changed instantly. Drifting backward a few zhang, a trace of gravity surfaced in his ink-jade eyes for the very first time.

He had originally assumed that no matter how strong Chen Lingxi was, he was merely relying on some external power. With an unstable foundation, combining forces with the Purple-robed Marquis should have been enough to suppress him.

”Very well, I’ll kill the helper first.”

A faint smile touched the corners of Chen Lingxi’s lips.

The Purple-robed Marquis was an arrow at the end of its flight; he wouldn’t last much longer.

Yuan Yuan was clearly stronger than the Purple-robed Marquis!

At that exact moment, Chen Lingxi shifted his trajectory like a bolt of human-shaped lightning, flashing straight toward Yuan Yuan in the void!

The Cloud Soaring Technique had practically undergone a metamorphosis thanks to his profound enlightenment. Within the cyan clouds, several microscopic pale gold electric arcs were mixed in. It was fast to the extreme, ripping through the sky like genuine thunder.

Yuan Yuan’s pupils shrank as he loosely brought his palms together in front of him.

His blood-qi churned like a vast ocean birthing new tidal waves! But Chen Lingxi’s sword light flashed past!

”Twelve Chimes of the Heavenly Drum!”

The Twelve Chimes of the Heavenly Drum erupted with a deafening ring as twelve streaks of sword light plummeted from the sky!

With a muffled groan, Yuan Yuan drifted backward for hundreds of zhang.

He raised his head, the ink-jade eyes beneath his mask now overflowing with gravity.

However, Chen Lingxi didn’t hesitate in the slightest.

Raising his longsword high, the multitude of brilliant lights upon the blade shone to their absolute limit.

The radiance was simply overwhelming, as if a Heavenly King were brandishing thunder itself!

The Thunder-Wielding Heavenly King Sword activated, transforming into an even more terrifying bolt of lightning.

The Purple-robed Marquis had already recovered some of his blood-qi. Hurling his spear forward, he leapt into the air and landed upon the two-zhang shaft, rushing to Yuan Yuan’s rescue.

The great battle between the three shook the heavens and the earth.

Not far away, Wu Mohe stared at Chen Lingxi and the white-haired Purple-robed Marquis. His heart trembled in fear.

’How did this person... become so tyrannical?’ Wu Mohe’s mind spun rapidly. ’By exposing the Credit Peddler’s divination, I’ve definitely offended Chen Lingxi. Once he kills those two, he will undoubtedly come to kill me!’

He could not help but shudder.

Reaching this conclusion, Wu Mohe made his decision.

’I can’t save my trump cards anymore. Forget about the Killing Power Cauldron Vessel—I’ll be lucky if my head isn’t chopped off by Chen Lingxi!’

The sword intent vortex swirling around Wu Mohe abruptly expanded to its limit.

Countless incandescent white sword gleams shot out from the vortex, cascading toward the two Nine Revolutions Realm blood-qi martial cultivators in front of him like an inverted waterfall of sword qi.

Wherever the sword gleams swept, the two blood-qi cultivators were forced into a continuous retreat, left with no choice but to temporarily evade the sharp edge.

Seizing this opening, Wu Mohe tossed out a dharma treasure from his Vast Void Pouch.

It was a wisp of cloud qi, as light and airy as a ball of morning mist trapped in his palm, completely unremarkable in appearance.

But with a flick of Wu Mohe’s finger, he activated it. The cloud qi swelled in the wind, transforming into a galloping horse in the blink of an eye.

The horse’s entire body was condensed from mist and clouds, and the faint sound of wind and thunder accompanied the churning of its four hooves. Wu Mohe vaulted onto its back, and the cloud steed galloped away at an astonishing speed, shaking off the two Imperial Court generals in an instant.

’To waste a life-saving dharma treasure here without gaining anything at all... the loss truly outweighs the gain,’ Wu Mohe thought bitterly.

Carrying him upon its back, the cloud horse sped along like a streak of white light. It was on the verge of rushing out of the region enveloped by the Eight Large Banners.

Yet right at that moment, Wu Mohe’s expression changed drastically. Ahead of him, three massive, dark red banners were silently closing in from nowhere.

These three banners were incredibly tall and large, each standing at least ten zhang high. Upon them, the rolling blood-qi of numerous martial cultivators flowed, exhaling an unimaginably dense spiritual qi.

Blood-qi martial cultivators driving spiritual qi banners was a truly bizarre sight.

Yet against all odds, the three banners resonated with each other, faintly forming a highly complex cooperative strike formation.

Where the banners merged, spiritual light locked down the surrounding hundred zhang of the void like an inverted cage.

’With this formation here, I’m afraid I won’t be able to escape!’

Wu Mohe’s eyes darted around. ’I might as well borrow Chen Lingxi’s strength.’

He immediately took out a Jade Precept Book from his Vast Void Pouch and poured his spiritual sense into it.

”Fellow Daoist Chen, please lend a hand and cleave this grand formation apart!” A moment later, a profound sword light suddenly arrived.

The sword light came impossibly fast, heavily layered with crackling thunder.

The lightning resembled a ribbon of heavenly thunder stretching across the sky, tearing through all resistance as it cleaved straight into one of the military squadrons!

Rumble!

The instant the sword light plunged into the ranks, hundreds of Silver Bone martial cultivators were swallowed whole by the terrifying thunder before they could even scream!

Along with the dark red spiritual light radiating from the great banner and the Nine Revolutions blood-qi general overseeing it, everything was reduced to fine ash within the blinding lightning!

The sword light ripped a massive gash into the grand formation, causing the previously seamless banner cage to completely crumble under a single strike!

Wu Mohe was dumbfounded.

Then, wild joy seized him.

He hurriedly spurred the cloud horse on, galloping out through the rift.

With a pulse of the spiritual qi in his body, the cloud horse’s speed increased further, crossing hundreds of zhang in the blink of an eye.

’Even though I lost that life-saving wisp of cloud qi, I at least managed to keep my life. It’s not a total loss,’ he thought. ’As for the Killing Power Cauldron Vessel, I’ll let Chen Lingxi and the Imperial Court’s people fight it out for now. Once they both suffer heavy casualties...’

’...I might just have a chance to fish in troubled waters.’

Right then, he suddenly heard a voice beside his ear...

”Fellow Daoist, the karma between us has yet to be settled. Where... do you think you’re going?”

The voice was calm, yet contained an absolutely horrifying pressure.

Like the beating of a heavenly drum, it sent violent tremors through Wu Mohe’s heart!

Wu Mohe’s breath abruptly caught in his throat!

He violently snapped his head around. His flowing spiritual sense detected a grand bridge of spiritual light viciously smashing toward him from behind!

It was exactly the Longevity Bridge!

Only this Longevity Bridge was far more profound than before.

...Another Wondrous State technique!

Somehow, Chen Lingxi had shaken off the Purple-robed Marquis and Yuan Yuan. He stood upon the head of the Longevity Bridge with his hands clasped behind his back.

The Myriad Marvels Dharmic Robe fluttered around his frame, making him look like an immortal who had just descended from the clouds.

Wu Mohe’s expression finally cracked.

In the exact instant he saw the Longevity Bridge, he unleashed the absolute maximum power of the cloud horse.

The cloud steed let out a loud neigh. Its hooves churned several times faster, accelerating into a white bolt of lightning streaking across the horizon.

But the Wondrous State Longevity Bridge was simply too fast!

At this moment, the Longevity Bridge spanned the vast sky. Not only was its speed terrifying, but as the runes along its body circulated, they faintly manifested incredibly profound traces of Dao rhythm.

Layer upon layer of this Dao rhythm acted like physical shackles, completely locking down the void surrounding the cloud horse.

To his horror, Wu Mohe realized that no matter how hard he spurred the cloud horse, its speed was rapidly decreasing.

And that Longevity Bridge had already crashed into his back.

With an explosive boom, the Longevity Bridge ruthlessly smashed into Wu Mohe!

Wu Mohe felt an unimaginably massive force slam into his back, crushing him heavily amidst the dispersing mist of the cloud horse. The spiritual qi fluctuations across his body fell into absolute chaos! Struggling to raise his head, the eyes behind his mask stared at the dark-robed young man stepping down from the Longevity Bridge, filled with sheer disbelief.

”Chen Lingxi... you...”

Chen Lingxi wasted no time on idle chatter.

A streak of sword light flashed by, and Wu Mohe’s head rolled off his neck.

This rebel king who called himself a Human Immortal, an expert at the Qi Circulation Tenth Floor, died just like that!

It all happened far too quickly.

Without even sheathing his sword, Chen Lingxi silently activated the Cloud Soaring Technique beneath his feet.

Amidst the shimmering sword light, he transformed into a streak of lightning and shot straight into the clouds.

Hidden within the clouds were three faintly discernible Heavenly Boats.

The three Heavenly Boat women hurriedly channeled their formations, linking the three Heavenly Boats together. Three streams of spiritual qi continuously swelled, turning into pillars of light that came crushing down toward Chen Lingxi.

Faced with such a formation, even a cultivator at the peak of the Qi Circulation Ninth Floor would have to temporarily retreat.

However, an attack like this... meant absolutely nothing to the current Chen Lingxi. Without dodging or evading, the Thunder Garment Technique automatically lit up around his body.

The pillars of light slammed against the thunder garment and instantly dissipated into nothingness.

Chen Lingxi plowed right into the sky filled with light pillars. Lightning flickered around him, and wherever he passed, the pillars of light shattered and their spiritual qi dispersed!

In a fleeting instant, his sword light flashed.

A beautiful head flew from its neck.

Seeing this, a look of utter despair surfaced in the eyes of the other two women simultaneously.

Chen Lingxi’s momentum didn’t pause for a second. With two more strikes, he cut down both of those women as well.

With that, all three Heavenly Boat women were dead.