Translator: CinderTL
Boom!
With a deafening roar, the thousand-zhang demon beast swung its massive fist, slamming into the sword qi protective shield.
The shield buckled again, crashing into the earth like a meteor.
Waves of earth surged, and shattered rocks flew in all directions.
The shield sank deep into the ground, surrounded by radiating cracks that formed a terrifying crater dozens of kilometers in diameter.
The two giant demonic beasts showed no signs of relenting, continuing their pursuit of the sword qi protective shield.
Inside the spherical shield, Yuanrong's handsome face flushed an unnatural crimson, veins bulging on his forehead.
His spiritual power surged wildly, pouring out like a tidal wave as he desperately maintained the shield.
"Ancestor Yuanrong," Shangguan Ren suddenly spoke up, "we're holding you back. Perhaps... you should leave alone."
Yuanrong's willow-like eyebrows furrowed slightly at the suggestion.
Indeed, with his movement technique, escaping alone would be no difficult feat. Once he had gained some distance, he could even maneuver his flying sword to slowly whittle down the thousand-zhang demon beasts, eventually slaying them all.
However, if he did so, Shangguan Ren and the other three would certainly perish.
"Hah!"
Yuanrong let out a cold laugh, as if he had heard a particularly absurd joke.
"This venerable one has cultivated for over ten thousand years, and I've never been forced by beasts to abandon my disciples and flee!"
Boom! Boom!
Another series of thunderous roars echoed through the cavern.
Two thousand-zhang demon beasts had closed in, their massive fists pounding against the sword qi protective shield.
The shield's spiritual light flickered violently, as if it were about to shatter at any moment.
Moreover, the combined force of the two beasts continued to drive the shield deeper into the earth.
Yuanrong's expression sharpened. While maintaining the shield with all his might, he turned his gaze toward Daoist Monarch Yongcheng.
"Fellow Daoist Yongcheng, you must be recovered by now. Why not lend a hand in holding off these two thousand-zhang demon beasts while I lead us to safety?"
"Very well," Daoist Monarch Yongcheng nodded. "I owe you for your earlier assistance."
Earlier, due to a moment's carelessness, his natal magic treasure—the Wind God Banner—had been struck by the combined, mountain-shattering force of three thousand-zhang demon beasts. The impact had shattered the spiritual power binding him to the banner, rendering it temporarily powerless.
The backlash had shaken his Qi and Blood, disrupting his spiritual power.
Yuanrong's intervention had come at his most critical moment.
Of course, even without Yuanrong's help, he wouldn't necessarily have died, but he would have suffered greatly and wasted some of his trump cards.
Now, his spiritual power had stabilized.
"I will repay this debt now," Daoist Monarch Yongcheng declared, summoning the Wind God Banner once more.
Seeing this, Yuanrong subtly altered the magic seal in his hand.
A foot-long crack suddenly appeared at the base of the sword qi protective shield.
The two thousand-zhang demon beasts continued to bombard the shield relentlessly. The crack at the base made the shield teeter on the brink of collapse.
"Fellow Daoist Yongcheng, act now!" Yuanrong shouted urgently.
Daoist Monarch Yongcheng didn't hesitate. The Wind God Banner abruptly shrank, then shot through the crack at the base of the spherical shield.
"Vile beasts, meet your end!" Daoist Monarch Yongcheng roared.
The Wind God Banner, now free of the sword qi protective shield, expanded to a height of thirty feet. Simultaneously, a faint black mist surged from the banner.
The black mist drifted like a gentle spring breeze, slowly brushing against the massive bodies of the two thousand-zhang demon beasts.
Yet, the demon beasts' bodies suddenly began to decay. The spider-bodied, human-headed demon beasts' outer layers rapidly decomposed into black, rotting flesh that dissolved into the wind.
The thousand-zhang demon beasts visibly withered away at an alarming rate.
"Tsk tsk... the Annihilation Heavenly Wind truly lives up to its reputation," Yuanrong remarked.
"A pity there's so little of it. Otherwise, we could obliterate these beasts with a mere wave of our hands," Daoist Monarch Yongcheng replied.
Yuanrong didn't respond. Instead, he formed a hand seal to manipulate the sword qi protective shield, causing it to spin rapidly and bore through the subterranean rock.
After tunneling dozens of miles underground, the sword qi protective shield suddenly burst through the surface. Soaring into the air, it quickly outpaced the two relentlessly pursuing thousand-zhang demon beasts, leaving them far behind as it fled into the distance.
After fleeing over 150,000 miles and confirming that the giant demonic beasts were no longer pursuing them, Yuanrong dispersed his sword qi protective shield. After briefly orienting himself, he led his group onward.
Another two million miles later, Yuanrong's party of six arrived at the summit of a towering mountain peak.
The twenty-five individuals who had escaped ahead of them, including Song Wen, were already gathered on the mountain.
However, there were twenty-six figures on the peak.
Daoist Monarch Yongcheng's expression was grim as his icy gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on a woman with bloodstains on her chest.
This woman was Tian Ming, who had greeted Song Wen and his group at the entrance to the cave housing the teleportation array in Crimson Cloud Province.
Tian Ming was severely injured; her entire right arm was missing, leaving behind a gruesome display of exposed flesh and bone. She sat cross-legged on the ground, her eyes tightly closed, clearly channeling her energy to heal her wounds.
As if sensing something, she abruptly opened her eyes and looked toward Daoist Monarch Yongcheng.
The indifference in her eyes instantly transformed into joy as she moved swiftly to stand before him.
"Greetings, Ancestor Yongcheng," Tian Ming bowed respectfully.
"Are you the only survivor? Where are the others?" Daoist Monarch Yongcheng demanded coldly.
Tian Ming's expression darkened, a flicker of sorrow crossing her eyes.
"I was the only one who managed to escape. The others all perished at the hands of the demonic beasts."
Daoist Monarch Yongcheng's fists clenched gradually, and an icy, oppressive aura radiated from his body.
His gaze was as sharp as a blade as he glared coldly at the twenty-five figures on the mountain peak.
"You juniors sure know how to flee! You used my Azure Flame Sect and the Myriad Swords Pavilion to stall the demon beasts while you escaped unscathed. My Azure Flame Sect lost eight disciples, and our fellow daoists from the Myriad Swords Pavilion barely escaped with their lives—yet you emerged unscathed!"
The teleportation array had been discovered by the Azure Flame Sect, and they had contributed the most effort to its restoration. As a result, the sect had always considered the array their own.
When allocating teleportation slots, the Azure Flame Sect received the largest share, with ten slots compared to the five granted to other sects.
Yet upon arriving here, eight of their ten disciples had perished, leaving only Daoist Monarch Yongcheng and Tian Ming.
How could Daoist Monarch Yongcheng not be furious?
The twenty-five figures on the mountain peak lowered their gazes, their eyes fixed on the ground, their minds silent.
Everyone knew that the Azure Flame Sect's heavy losses and the Myriad Swords Pavilion's narrow escape were due to Daoist Monarch Yongcheng and Yuanrong's arrogance. No one else was to blame.
Had the two leaders ordered their disciples to retreat earlier, leaving only themselves to face the four thousand-zhang giant demonic beasts, they could have withdrawn without difficulty, even if they couldn't defeat the creatures.
Though the crowd harbored such thoughts, no one dared voice them aloud.
Daoist Monarch Yongcheng's fury was at its peak. Any rash action could invite fatal consequences.
(End of the Chapter)
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