Chapter 1648: Five-colored Crown

Wuxia Xianxia

“Hiss… hiss…”

The gu insects within the black light shrieked ever more shrilly.

Inside the black light, a faint bloody hue emerged.

As the blood color deepened, the gu insects no longer aimed at the mountain. Instead, their ferocity intensified, and they shrieked at their master, seemingly trying to break free and bite him back.

The Poison King frowned tightly. He probed the black light with two fingers and immediately felt a sharp pain. An unnatural flush appeared on his pale face, and a muffled groan escaped his throat.

Using some unknown secret art, the Poison King gradually weakened the gu insects’ ferocity, and their cries were no longer so shrill.

The Poison King took a deep breath, but his breathing remained chaotic and he couldn't calm down for a long time.

Master Huaiyin observed the Poison King’s actions and, seeing this, sighed, “What a fierce gu!”

The Poison King silently channeled his profound energy, calming the turbulent vital energy within his body, though his voice sounded somewhat airy. “It’s not entirely its fault. This secret art can greatly stimulate the residual ferocity in its instincts.”

“This art should be used with caution,” Master Huaiyin warned.

Inciting the gu insects’ ferocity was simple, but calming it was not so easy. If the same secret art were repeatedly used in a short time, the hidden dangers would undoubtedly accumulate, growing greater with each use, and eventually, there would come a day when they could no longer be suppressed.

Watching the Poison King soothe the gu insects, it was clear it was much harder than last time.

“Thank you for the warning, Master. This King knows his limits. If not for the considerable hidden dangers of this secret art, preventing its continuous use, that scoundrel wouldn’t have gotten away. Fortunately, Heaven has not failed us; this time, he absolutely must not escape!”

The Poison King shook his sleeve, withdrawing the gu insects, then clasped his hands behind his back and gazed at the mountaintop, his tone chilling.

They waited in front of the Jade Gate.

Zhu Wudao and the others were still busy.

The four of them worked together, continuously attacking the Jade Pavilion.

The Jade Pavilion hung suspended in the void, without visible support, swaying from side to side when attacked, appearing as if it could fall at any moment, yet it was far more robust than it seemed.

Zhu Wudao bore the greatest pressure.

While attacking the Jade Pavilion, he also had to analyze the restrictions and guide the others, consuming an enormous amount of mental energy. Yet, he persevered and showed no signs of mental exhaustion.

This made Elder Fan Mo even more wary.

After reuniting with Zhu Wudao, Elder Fan Mo had been silently observing this familiar yet unfamiliar junior brother.

The two were of similar seniority and age in the Heavenly Scourge Tower, and they had frequently interacted and secretly competed since the Qi Refining stage. Zhu Wudao had always been suppressed by him.

When he broke through to the late Nascent Soul stage and firmly secured the position of Grand Elder, he thought their struggle had finally been decided. Who would have expected Zhu Wudao to have been hiding his cultivation all along?

For years, he had shown no flaws before him and the Sect Master!

Just the meticulousness of his mind sent shivers down Elder Fan Mo’s spine.

While attacking the Jade Pavilion, Elder Fan Mo pondered Zhu Wudao’s intentions, always feeling it wasn’t so simple. However, Zhu Wudao’s reasons were compelling; the opportunity for Soul Transformation was indeed worth the risk.

Elder Fan Mo couldn't grasp the key point. While deep in thought, he suddenly heard Mo Xingdao’s warning.

“Be careful!”

A crisp cracking sound echoed from the Jade Pavilion. A new crack suddenly appeared on the door lintel, extending all the way down to the second floor of the Jade Pavilion.

The attack was finally effective!

But what happened next was unexpected even by Zhu Wudao.

The appearance of the first crack was like a signal. Continuous 'crack-crack' sounds rang out, and countless cracks quickly spread like a spiderweb across the entire Jade Pavilion.

“The formation is out of balance!”

Su Zinan scanned his surroundings, identifying the crucial issue.

Their attack on the Jade Pavilion was certainly the cause, but the Imperial Sealing Mountain formation had been sealed for a long time, and the formation itself had undergone changes. The accumulated instability, now triggered, caused the Jade Pavilion to be destroyed so quickly.

This might not be a bad thing, as they intended to destroy the Jade Pavilion anyway.

All four were equally skilled and reacted extremely quickly, immediately stopping their offense and switching to defense.

Zhu Wudao materialized a golden armor and held up a golden phase token, casting golden light everywhere.

Su Zinan raised his hand, spreading a dragon tendon silk net that encircled his body.

Mo Xingdao exhaled profound qi, which transformed into a shield.

Elder Fan Mo turned into a black mist, appearing and disappearing.

Just as the four completed their defenses, the Jade Pavilion could no longer sustain itself. With a thunderous roar, it exploded. A violent shockwave, carrying countless fragments, engulfed the four cultivators.

In an instant, starting from the Jade Pavilion, the entire section of white jade steps collapsed simultaneously. Like a shattered illusion, the mist sea transformed into a chaotic scene, and the world changed!

The four disappeared without a trace.

Inside Imperial Sealing Mountain.

An unknown place.

In the darkness, a ball of light floated, suspended quietly.

As Zhu Wudao and the others moved, the tranquility was broken. Ripples appeared in the light ball, and five-colored divine light intertwined and pulsed rhythmically.

As the Jade Pavilion shattered, the light ball expanded greatly, illuminating the ten directions. At the center of the five-colored divine light, a phantom of a five-colored crown faintly emerged, slowly rotating.

Qin Sang was speeding through the void.

He had lost count of how many times he had probed.

Qin Sang’s mind was connected to the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, and he fully focused on deducing the restrictions in the void. His efforts were effective; he had deduced the most basic patterns and was now progressing to the finer details.

“Whoosh…”

A faint sigh, almost imperceptible, echoed in the darkness, carrying a hint of fatigue.

He had been calculating alone, which was extremely taxing on his mental energy. However, as long as his calculations succeeded, he would be able to reach the other side.

“I wonder if my avatar has obtained the immortal token?”

This thought flashed through Qin Sang’s mind, and he was about to press on to find his way forward.

Just then, an unusual tremor suddenly occurred in the void.

Qin Sang frowned. Such tremors had occurred before, but they were always very slight. This time, it was the most violent.

“Was it caused by me forcing my way in?”

Qin Sang wondered.

Although he had been deducing for a long time, he had only seen the space within this single Jade Pavilion. He could not fully explore the entire Imperial Sealing Mountain formation and did not know what the tremor signified.

Soon, Qin Sang’s expression changed.

Previous tremors were intermittent, but this one never stopped and was intensifying!

‘Swish!’

Qin Sang unhesitatingly activated the Ruyi Pearl.

A protective aura enveloped him, and a layer of demonic flame also coated its surface.

No sooner had he completed these actions than Qin Sang discovered an anomaly in the void. It froze completely as if encased in ice, then shattered with a crash, and the restrictions collapsed!

At this instant, multicolored light burst in, chasing away the darkness.

Qin Sang felt as if he had fallen into a kaleidoscope. Countless shattered mirror fragments drifted around him, tumbling and piecing together to form images, like the interior of a grand hall.

As this thought flashed, Qin Sang felt an immense force strike him. His protective aura was squeezed, and he was swept along by the current.

After a series of light and shadow shifts, he was flung out.

‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’

Qin Sang forcibly stabilized his body, finding himself displaced to an unfamiliar great hall.

In front of another Jade Pavilion.

The two cultivators from the Jade Platform Sect had just used the Fire Phase Token to open the Jade Pavilion's main door and were about to enter when the white-robed Daoist suddenly stopped and halted the female Daoist behind him.

The female Daoist was startled. She saw her senior brother’s eyes darken and his expression grave.

She knew her senior brother’s temperament well; he only displayed such a demeanor when encountering extreme danger. Her heart trembled involuntarily. "Senior brother, here..."

The white-robed Daoist motioned for her to be silent. He stood at the door, silent, staring intently at the Jade Pavilion.

Seeing something unknown, the white-robed Daoist’s expression suddenly changed. He cried out in alarm, grabbed the female Daoist’s soft hand, and retreated swiftly.

The female Daoist nearly stumbled.

Fortunately, the siblings shared a deep understanding. The female Daoist immediately used their sect’s true transmission movement technique, watching as the Jade Pavilion receded further and further from them.

The Jade Pavilion’s main door was wide open, and within the dark entrance, something terrifying seemed to reside.

The female Daoist was full of doubts, and then she saw the Jade Pavilion suddenly shake violently.

The white-robed Daoist did not stop, retreating rapidly along the white jade steps back the way they came, even abandoning the Fire Phase Token. Finally, he remembered to explain, “Someone wants to destroy the Jade Pavilion!”

“Who?”

There was clearly no one around the Jade Pavilion!

The female Daoist paused, then remembered her senior brother had mentioned there were five such tokens in total, and thus there must be five corresponding Jade Pavilions. There were other people on the mountain.

She had personally witnessed how her senior brother opened the Jade Pavilion and knew how sturdy it was. She and her senior brother could absolutely not destroy it.

Even two Grand Cultivators probably couldn't do it!

What did those Grand Cultivators intend by destroying the Jade Pavilion?

“They didn’t go to the Immortal Palace?”

The female Daoist gasped in surprise.

This was precisely what puzzled and wary the white-robed Daoist. No matter how good the Boundless Immortal Gate was, how could it compare to the opportunities in the Immortal Palace? Why were those Grand Cultivators chasing trifles over essentials?

No one could explain it to them.

Before they had retreated much further, a muffled explosion suddenly came from deep within the mist sea. A surging, powerful wave erupted from ahead.

Amidst the rolling waves, a crimson halo swept forth with the fluctuation, its source being the Jade Pavilion directly in front of them. What was peculiar was that the halo contained not a force of impact, but suction.

‘Swish!’

The halo enveloped them.

The two figures suddenly paused, feeling an immense suction trying to pull them towards an unknown place.

“Junior sister, be careful, you must not be pulled in! The Grand Formation is changing, shifting mountains and altering forms, triggering a second level of transformation. All five elemental directions will be moved to one place!”

The white-robed Daoist roared, his robes billowing. His crimson flame sword swept around him, generating rings of sword light that forcibly severed the suction.

Hearing this, the female Daoist finally understood what her senior brother feared. There were countless Grand Cultivators in the mountain. Being pulled into the midst of those Grand Cultivators would put them in an extremely dangerous situation.

The female Daoist’s heart was burning with anxiety, and she hastily summoned her innate magic treasure, coordinating with the crimson flame sword to continuously attack.

Fortunately, the white-robed Daoist had some understanding of the Imperial Sealing Mountain formation and had retreated early. The suction force around them was much weaker than near the Jade Pavilion, allowing them to resist.

The suction was like invisible shackles.

They struggled to sever the shackles, and after a difficult effort, the suction vanished without warning. Immediately, the ground shook violently. Before they could react, they were flung away by an immense force.

‘Bang! Bang!’

The two crashed against the mountain wall.

Fortunately, their cultivation was profound, and their protective spiritual energy activated automatically, so they were not injured, though they inevitably appeared disheveled.

The white-robed Daoist rolled over and stood up, seeing only a vast expanse of white around him, still within the mist sea. Beneath his feet was a wide mountain path leading upwards.

The female Daoist tidied her clothes and approached. “Senior brother, where have we been moved to?”

The white-robed Daoist confirmed that there was no one else around, relaxed, and pondered for a moment. Understanding their situation, his eyes lit up. “Still within the formation…”

Although not directly moved in like those Grand Cultivators, it was better than being caught in the thick of it, and they had avoided a disaster.

They still had the upper hand.

“To the mountain!”

The white-robed Daoist made a decisive decision.

Knowing the truth, the female Daoist calmed her shock and quickly followed.

The Jade Pavilion shattered, and the formation underwent a massive change.

In front of the mountain gate, Qin Sang’s avatar and the Poison King both sensed something, rose abruptly, and stared intently into the depths of the Jade Gate.

They saw the mist sea churning, endless clouds surging, pushed upwards by an unknown force. Soon, they rose above the summit of Imperial Sealing Mountain.

The already vague mountain peak was completely submerged by the clouds.

The mist tide did not stop, continuing to rush higher into the sky. Its momentum suggested it aimed to break through this secret realm.

The higher it went, the thinner the clouds became.

Gradually, a strange scene emerged within the clouds: another divine mountain!

A new divine mountain had grown atop Imperial Sealing Mountain. To be precise, this was the true Imperial Sealing Mountain; its upper half had been concealed by the grand formation and was now revealing its true form.

The divine mountain was ten thousand feet tall, making even the first peak of Central Continent incomparable.

A jade path led directly to the summit, extraordinarily wide. The white jade steps before them were connected to this jade path.

The Poison King and his companion saw Elder Fan Mo’s secret mark, knowing that this was a mountain-shifting and form-altering phenomenon. It seemed Elder Fan Mo had not deceived them. They exchanged a glance and, without further hesitation, stepped through the Jade Gate.

Qin Sang’s avatar, unaware of the cause, frowned at the scene.

His main body was inside; he wondered if the anomaly had anything to do with him.

Just then, the avatar noticed that the changes in the Grand Formation were far from over. The fluctuations within the mist waves grew increasingly violent, and the jade steps behind the mountain gate began to collapse.

If he didn't seize the current opportunity to enter, other variables might arise, making entry much more difficult later.

The avatar did not perceive any premonition of danger. After some thought, he stepped through the Jade Gate.

The divine mountain emerged.

From any corner of the Boundless Immortal Gate, this astonishing change could be witnessed.

East of Imperial Sealing Mountain.

The nuns of Hidden Moon Temple had just arrived near the Golden Phase Hall. They looked up at the sky, surprised to see the divine mountain deep within the clouds, then collectively looked at the old nun, awaiting her decision.

Further east.

The Earth Phase Hall was far larger than the other four halls.

The main hall occupied dozens of mountain ranges, and even more astonishingly, the Earth Phase Hall had mobilized the earth energy of these mountain ranges, transforming a vast area into a unified grand formation.

At this moment, a figure moved back and forth within the Earth Phase Hall; it was Yue Lingtian.

Changes in the Immortal Palace had caused a rift between Yue Lingtian and the Daoist Sect. He had come to the Earth Phase Hall alone, partly to observe, and partly because he greatly valued the Earth Phase inheritance.

However, he unexpectedly found that even with his cultivation, he encountered obstacles at every step after entering the Earth Phase Hall.

Little did he know, when the Boundless Immortal Gate drew upon earth energy to establish the Grand Formation to seal the ancient demon and avert the demonic calamity, the master of the Earth Phase Hall was the primary orchestrator. The complexity of the Earth Phase Hall’s Grand Formation far surpassed that of the other four halls, and it was also the best preserved during the great war.

‘Boom!’

Yue Lingtian stomped heavily, sending waves of earth flying in all directions. A puppet that was about to form was instantly pulverized.

The next moment, the surrounding mountains shifted position.

Yue Lingtian had already determined the location of the Earth Phase Hall’s inheritance chamber. He snorted coldly, about to break the formation, when he paused, turning his head to look west, seeing the divine mountain emerge.

“They’ve already entered?”

His pupils contracted slightly, he murmured to himself, and after a moment of hesitation, decided to secure the Earth Phase Hall inheritance first.

At the entrance to the Boundless Immortal Gate.

Outside the stone beach.

Two groups of Nascent Soul cultivators were in a standoff: the Daoist Sect and the descendants of the Boundless Immortal Gate.

They had entered the Boundless Immortal Gate one after another and met at the stone beach, where they had already fought a battle, with the Boundless Immortal Gate descendants slightly at a disadvantage.

Just then, the divine mountain emerged from the direction of Imperial Sealing Mountain.

Seeing this from afar, everyone lost the will to confront each other and hurried towards Imperial Sealing Mountain.