Chapter Seventy-Nine
The majestic thunder power simultaneously pierced through A Jiu, the Nine Star Lantern, and Xian Shan and Xian Zhu. The Nine Star Lantern along with Xian Shan and Xian Zhu bore the brunt of the thunder tribulation, their spiritual power absorbed by the divine transformation lightning and entirely channeled into A Jiu’s body.
A flicker of struggle and pain appeared on A Jiu’s face, but it was instantly swallowed again by the demonic qi, leaving only a cold, ruthless expression.
“A Jiu! Stop this now!” Seeing that Xian Shan and Xian Zhu’s immortal power was about to be devoured by A Jiu, Yan Shuang repeatedly charged into the main hall, only to be repelled each time by the thunder power enveloping the chamber.
Outside the main hall, Yan Shuang and the disciples of Great Marsh Mountain could only watch helplessly as Xian Shan and Xian Zhu’s black hair turned white in an instant, revealing the signs of an immortal’s impending death.
“Sect Leader!”
“Uncle Xian Zhu!”
The disciples, fearless of death, rushed toward the main hall. Struck by the thunder tribulation, they coughed up blood and fell to their knees, yet continued to press forward one after another.
Xian Shan and Xian Zhu, who had sealed their five senses within the lightning, were finally awakened. They opened their eyes simultaneously, forming hand seals and casting immortal incantations toward A Jiu.
A Jiu had not expected the two to break free from the heavenly thunder’s restraints. Caught off guard, he took a direct hit, creating a breach in the unified thunder power. Seizing the opening, Xian Shan flew out of the heavenly thunder’s grasp, using one hand to sweep up the Nine Star Lantern with his dust whisk while pulling Xian Zhu out of the thunder with the other.
Forced back by the heavenly thunder as they retreated, the two ended up on the inner side of the main hall, separated from the Great Marsh Mountain disciples by A Jiu.
Seeing Xian Shan and Xian Zhu regain consciousness, the disciples at the hall entrance felt a glimmer of hope and relief.
Xian Shan and Xian Zhu steadied themselves and turned their gaze toward A Jiu. A Jiu, whose thunder tribulation was not yet complete, looked cold and somber, as if he had become a different person.
Noticing the thick, dark demonic qi in his eyes, Xian Shan frowned deeply. He channeled his immortal power into the Nine Star Lantern. Although only eight of its nine stars were lit and much of its divine power had been absorbed by A Jiu, it was still a semi-divine artifact. Once ignited in Xian Shan’s hands, it could barely withstand the might of the heavenly thunder surrounding A Jiu.
Only Xian Zhu noticed the slight tremor in Xian Shan’s hand holding the Nine Star Lantern—his immortal power was nearly depleted.
“Impressive, Sect Leader of Great Marsh Mountain. You old Taoist priest have some skill, managing to break free from my divine transformation thunder tribulation.”
“What manner of demon creature dares to invade my Great Marsh Mountain?” Xian Shan’s gaze was as deep and still as water, completely unlike his usual kind and benevolent demeanor.
“What of Great Marsh Mountain? I’ll slaughter everyone here if I wish!” A Jiu sneered, his demonic qi surging powerfully.
Xian Shan’s expression shifted. Raising the Nine Star Lantern, it erupted with pure divine power, instantly suppressing A Jiu. Xian Shan shouted, “Xian Zhu, take the disciples and leave!”
“Wishful thinking!” A Jiu let out a cold cry. The nine-tailed mark behind him suddenly appeared, drawing all the heavenly thunder into his body. With a deafening roar, a dazzling red light erupted from his body, shooting straight into the sky.
“Not good, he’s about to succeed in ascending to godhood! Leave quickly!” Xian Zhu urgently said, teleporting to the hall entrance to evacuate the injured disciples. However, the divine power from A Jiu’s divine attainment was too overwhelming, firmly pinning all the disciples at the entrance to the ground.
On the Qiankun Pillar thousands of miles away, the name Hong Yi broke through the mist, directly surpassing the Demon Tribe’s High Lord and appearing below Demon Emperor Sen Jian and Celestial Emperor Feng Ran in the High God section.
A Jiu’s position below Sen Jian indicated that although he had attained divinity, he was only a demigod.
Sen Yu, who happened to be passing by the area on his way from Rakshasa Land, saw this scene and felt a surge of joy, quickening his pace toward Great Marsh Mountain.
Meanwhile, Yu Feng and the others who had come from the Heavenly Palace saw the divine light and grew deeply concerned for Great Marsh Mountain.In the Hall of Eternal Life, A Jiu, having successfully ascended to godhood, emerged from the Divine Light. Clad in crimson demon robes, the sleeves adorned with the illusion of a ten-tailed demon fox, a blood-like flame Divine Seal marked his forehead. His divine majesty was innate, surpassing his previous aura by severalfold.
"I despise you immortals who preach benevolence and righteousness," he declared, gazing down at the injured disciples of Great Marsh Mountain as if surveying mere ants. "If something is detestable, just wipe it out!"
With a casual wave, Divine Power surged from his palm toward the disciples at the hall's entrance. At the critical moment, Xian Shan, holding the Nine Star Lantern, stepped forward to shield them, with Xian Zhu immediately joining to assist.
Exchanging a glance, the two channeled all their Immortal Power into the Nine Star Lantern, finally blocking A Jiu's devastating strike.
"Yan Shuang, take them and go!" Xian Zhu's roar snapped Yan Shuang out of her daze.
Eyes reddening, Yan Shuang regained her senses, pulling the fallen disciples as she flew toward the mountain's exit. Qing Yun, carrying the unconscious Qing Yi on his back, gritted his teeth and followed Yan Shuang.
They had flown barely a hundred meters when a deafening explosion echoed. A sense of foreboding gripped the fleeing disciples of Great Marsh Mountain mid-air, and as they turned to look, they froze in shock.
Two beams of Divine Light collided violently, and the Hall of Eternal Life crumbled into fragments. As the dust settled, Xian Shan and Xian Zhu were revealed seated cross-legged within the ruins.
The Nine Star Lantern in their hands had turned to ashes. Their heads slightly bowed, trails of bloody tears streaked their faces as they gazed toward the direction of the fleeing group. Having exhausted their Immortal Power, they breathed their last.
"Sect Leader!"
"Martial Uncles!"
Grief-stricken cries echoed over Great Marsh Mountain. Amid the ruins of the Hall of Eternal Life, A Jiu glanced at the fleeing disciples but did not pursue. Instead, a cruel smile curled his lips as he approached the bodies of Xian Shan and Xian Zhu.
Mid-air, Qing Yun's expression darkened with fury. "You vile creature, how dare you!"
He handed Qing Yi to Yan Shuang. "Princess Yan Shuang, I entrust Qing Yi to you."
Yan Shuang was taken aback, noticing all the Great Marsh Mountain disciples turning back. She cried out in alarm and anger, "Taoist Qing Yun, no! He's deliberately luring you back!"
"Princess, the disciples of Great Marsh Mountain may die, but we will not be humiliated. That Demon Creature may kill us all, but we cannot stand by and watch our masters' remains be desecrated."
Qing Yun's voice resonated calmly, yet an unshakable fighting spirit ignited in the eyes of the Great Marsh Mountain disciples, who had long lived in seclusion.
"Qing Yun implores you, Princess, to protect Qing Yi and find our Junior Martial Uncle. The legacy of Great Marsh Mountain must not be severed." Qing Yun and the others, bloodstained and battered, bowed deeply to Yan Shuang.
"Princess, that Demon Creature has attained Divine Attainment and will not spare us. Our masters gave their lives to protect us; we must carve a path of blood for our Junior Martial Brother."
"Ten Thousand Marsh Sword Formation!"
With a furious roar, Qing Yun transformed his Dust Whisk into a silver immortal sword.
Behind him, dozens of disciples of the Qing generation followed suit, their Dust Whiskers morphing into immortal swords as they formed a sword formation and charged toward A Jiu, who had already taken to the air.
Not far away, A Jiu curled his lips into a scornful smirk. "Overestimating yourselves."
"Princess, go!"
Amid the white sword formation, the disciples' roars thundered. Yan Shuang wiped her eyes, fiercely brushing away tears that threatened to fall. Clenching her teeth, she flew toward the Heavenly Palace with the unconscious Qing Yi on her back.
In the entire Immortal Realm, only the Immortal Formation conjured by the eleven High Immortals could halt the demonized A Jiu.At this point, she simply could not understand why the once kind-hearted A Jiu had suddenly fallen into demonic ways, becoming utterly ruthless and slaughtering the entire Great Marsh Mountain sect.
Not even a quarter of an hour after she flew away, a blinding white light clashed with a sinister divine power above Great Marsh Mountain. The entire mountain gate shook violently under this cataclysmic blow, and in that single moment, nine out of ten halls and pavilions were destroyed.
Disciples from the sword formation fell one after another toward the direction of the Hall of Eternal Life, until finally, only Qing Yun remained.
Mid-air, his body was covered in blood, his long sword broken. With his last ounce of strength, he cast a final glance at Great Marsh Mountain.
As he hit the ground, he closed his eyes, filled with helplessness and regret.
Great Marsh Mountain... was destroyed.
These six words were etched into the hearts of all the Great Marsh Mountain disciples who perished in this battle.
From this day onward, the ancient Immortal Sect of Great Marsh Mountain, which had stood proudly at the pinnacle of the Immortal Realm for over sixty thousand years, was left with only Gu Jin and Qing Yi.
Meanwhile, in a side courtyard of the Purple Moon Hall.
Gu Jin, who was waiting for San Huo to emerge from the Nine Nether Purgatory, suddenly felt a sharp pang in his heart. A vacant look flashed in his eyes, quickly replaced by overwhelming sorrow and panic, so intense that he half-knelt on the ground, overcome with agony.
Bi Bo was startled and rushed over to help him up. "A Jin! What's wrong?"
Gu Jin looked up blankly and shook his head. "I don't know, Bi Bo. I just feel like something terrible has happened, but I don't know what..."
Before he could finish, a furious roar echoed from the sealed Nine Nether Purgatory.
Bi Bo immediately jumped up in alarm. "It's San Huo! He's in trouble, he's in trouble! What do we do? What do we do?"
High above Great Marsh Mountain, A Jiu stood aloof. After two great battles, he had lost only a sliver of his divine power and torn half a sleeve.
He gazed coldly at the shattered landscape of Great Marsh Mountain, a mocking smile suddenly curling at the corner of his lips.
"What's wrong? Does it hurt?" He brushed off his sleeve, seemingly displeased with the tear made by the immortal sword, and simply ripped it off. "I almost forgot, these people once took care of you. I should have been gentler just now. Tsk tsk, they all died so miserably."
"Don't worry. Once this venerable one is done with you, I'll naturally let you join them."
The Demon Venerable looked toward the direction where Yan Shuang had disappeared, a deep malice flickering in his eyes.
"Yu Feng and Sen Yu should be on their way now. Lan Feng alone wasn't enough to ignite a war between immortals and demons, but with Great Marsh Mountain added to the mix, the weight should be sufficient. This venerable one has schemed for over a hundred years. The day of chaos in the Three Realms has finally arrived."
The Demon Venerable's voice faded into the sky above Great Marsh Mountain. With a smirk, he chased after the direction where Yan Shuang and Qing Yi had vanished.
On this day in the Ancient Divine Realm, however, the sun shone brightly.
In the Great Marsh Garden, the prayer beads in Dong Hua's hands, who was meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly snapped and scattered across the ground.
He stared at the beads rolling everywhere, his hand trembling slightly as he let out a long sigh.
A calamity every sixty thousand years—Great Marsh Mountain was destined for this tribulation. No one could reverse the will of fate.
Just then, a deep, resonant bell tolled, echoing throughout the entire Ancient Divine Realm.
All the gods turned toward the source of the bell, their faces filled with disbelief.
This was the first time the Cosmic Altar had opened since True God Bai Jue sacrificed himself over a hundred years ago. Could it be that a new True God was about to descend? Or was True God Bai Jue returning?
Without waiting to speculate, the gods eagerly flew toward the Cosmic Altar. Along the way, even these seasoned deities, who had witnessed countless events, were too nervous to guess recklessly, hurrying instead toward the Cosmic Altar with single-minded focus.In the Peach Abyss Forest, Shang Gu, who had been waiting for over a hundred years, heard the report from a minor deity and overturned a cup of flowerless wine on the table.
The long-silent Ancient Divine Realm could be said to have experienced its most chaotic day in hundreds of thousands of years.
Aside from Dong Hua, no one knew that on this day, a place called Great Marsh Mountain had been destroyed.
Even if someone knew, what did it matter?
It was merely one Immortal Sect among the countless beings of the Lower Three Realms, a mere speck in the vast changes of hundreds of thousands of years.
All beings have their fate—whether god, immortal, demon, or monster.
That Immortal Sect called Great Marsh Mountain was no exception.
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