Chapter 1854: The Divine Light Reappears

The Mortal Realm

Seven tapir demons arrayed themselves in an arc, blocking Qin Sang outside the mountain.

Though their appearances differed, their gazes towards Qin Sang were identical, as were their strength and aura.

"Moo!"

The central adult tapir demon let out a cow-like roar, loud and resonant, imbued with strange fluctuations. The eyes of all seven tapir demons turned scarlet, radiating fierce glints.

"Whoosh!"

Qin Sang charged forward.

Before him was a scene difficult to distinguish between real and illusory: clouds swirled, the mountain was lush and green, and a river wound like a jade belt below. Were it not for these ferocious tapir demons, one might have mistaken it for a fairy mountain.

Everything was a manifestation of Dingxiang Hou's dream. Yet, the fierce aura assailed him, and Qin Sang's sensations were remarkably real. Then, streaks of white flashed before his eyes.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!" The seven tapir demons instantly surrounded Qin Sang. Only seven streaks of white light were visible to the naked eye; the forms of the tapir demons themselves were unclear. Qin Sang was enveloped in a shroud of white. The tapir demons seemed to use this to confuse his judgment. The seven streaks of white light moved rapidly, weaving into a white pompom.

Inside the pompom, Qin Sang felt chaotic energy all around him, attacks liable to strike from any direction, making defense impossible. However, to the Tianmu Butterfly, the movement paths of the seven demons were clear, making it impossible to perturb Qin Sang's mind.

Qin Sang snorted coldly and charged forward, ignoring how many tapir demons were ahead or which one. He raised his right palm, activating the power of the Buddha Seal, and a massive golden palm struck out fiercely.

Roars continuously assailed Qin Sang's mind.

All seven tapir demons moved simultaneously. The two on Qin Sang's left and right rushed directly at his vital points, his oblique ribs. The three behind him advanced in unison, all in their demonic forms, their sharp claws almost tearing through his back, aiming for his heart. As for the two directly facing Qin Sang, one was a young tapir demon and the other was in human form. Both looked serious, standing close together, ready to meet the Buddha Palm and delay Qin Sang for a moment. With such close cooperation, the enemy would surely not escape.

Just then, Qin Sang, instead of advancing, retreated abruptly. He suddenly turned, staring coldly at the three tapir demons behind him. The seal turned with his body, and he struck down with a palm!

"Bang!" The three tapir demons were all struck squarely on the forehead, emitting a dull thud, and collapsed simultaneously, turning into three wisps of white smoke that merged into the surrounding clouds. The remaining four tapir demons paused in surprise. The ones on the sides had also lunged at empty air. Seven demons had attacked, yet Qin Sang remained unharmed, while three were instantly annihilated.

The surviving four tapir demons retreated repeatedly, and Qin Sang pressed forward, killing two more demons with a few successive palms.

Inside the mountain, Dingxiang Hou's eyelids twitched slightly but he did not awaken.

The last two tapir demons suddenly stopped struggling and were vanquished under Qin Sang's palm. The path ahead was clear, but Qin Sang did not believe it would be so easy. He charged recklessly through Dingxiang Hou's dream, heading straight for the mountain peak.

At the same time, Qin Sang silently formed a thunder incantation, and within the Talisman Altar, the Divine Firmament Thunder Seal flickered with lightning.

"Crack!" A clear-sky thunderbolt, earth-shattering.

The lightning illuminated the entire dreamscape. A Heavenly Thunder Seal formed, and the sky above was a brilliant silver. Under the might of the thunder, all evil spirits submitted. The misty, cloud-shrouded dreamscape momentarily felt clear and bright. The lightning was extremely intense. A streak of heavenly thunder descended from above, striking the mountaintop. Furthermore, endless bolts of empty thunder fire and lightning rained down, obscuring the sky, their might terrifying, as if they would obliterate Dingxiang Hou's dream.

Just then, the surrounding scenery suddenly distorted. The mountain peak and all other views vanished into thin air, replaced by a large mass of thunderclouds. Dingxiang Hou's true form was hidden within the thunderclouds, as if he had always been floating in the sky. Within the thunderclouds, thunder rumbled continuously, lightning flashed incessantly, and thunder serpents raced, connecting with the external lightning.

At this moment, the thunderclouds merged with the surrounding lightning and thunder fire. More precisely, Dingxiang Hou actively altered the dreamscape to integrate with the environment, rather than resist it. Because of this, the power of the thunder talisman Qin Sang cast did not diminish, but its destructive effect on the dreamscape was greatly reduced, making it impossible to destroy the dream or harm Dingxiang Hou.

Seeing this, Qin Sang couldn't help but marvel at the profoundness of dream-path divine abilities. As long as imagination was limitless, one could adapt to any attack. No divine ability could be perfect; there must be some limitation. But Qin Sang had no time to slowly unravel Dingxiang Hou's dream.

Amidst the thunder, clusters of cloud energy materialized within the dark clouds. The seven demons reappeared, indistinguishable from before. As expected, no matter how many times the illusory forms were slain, as long as Dingxiang Hou was not exhausted and could continue to evolve the dream, the illusory forms would regenerate.

"Moo!" The seven demons lunged forward, preventing Qin Sang from approaching the thunderclouds. Having learned from their previous experience, their actions were clearly more organized. They did not rush to surround Qin Sang but arrayed themselves in staggered formation before him, subtly aligning with array principles. And because the seven demons were one entity, their coordination was extremely close.

Qin Sang showed no fear. His figure did not pause for a moment as he directly entered the formation.

A strange glint flashed in the eyes of all seven demons. They attacked Qin Sang with a frenzied, almost insane ferocity. For a time, the dreamscape was incredibly chaotic. The battlefield was filled with white light. Qin Sang's and the seven demons' figures were no longer clear, only continuous roars, crashing sounds, and even a shrill buzzing like fingernails scraping armor could be heard.

In just a few breaths, the white light suddenly expanded by nearly double, and the tapir demons' roars became more rapid. Clearly, even with their formation, the seven demons could not trap Qin Sang. In fact, they themselves frequently faced crises and were forced to expand their encirclement.

At this moment, the power of the thunder talisman did not continue to sustain. The lightning and thunder fire in the dreamscape waned, nearing its end. The thunderclouds floated motionlessly. Dingxiang Hou, unharmed within the clouds, his eyelids twitched rapidly twice.

Qin Sang, feeling a disturbance in his mind while in the formation, suddenly looked up at the thunderclouds, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He saw another cluster of white energy gather at the edge of the thundercloud, which then transformed into a new jade pot. The jade pot's appearance was identical to the spirit treasure jade pot, which was currently entangled with the Cloud Roaming Sword.

"Are there two jade pots?" Qin Sang's face was solemn. If it was a manifestation of the dream, could it really conjure a spirit treasure with comparable power?

In a flash, the dream jade pot drifted towards the battlefield, replicating the earlier scene of the spirit treasure jade pot: its spout tilted, pouring out white smoke. The smoke billowed, transforming into a vast river of white mist in the air, rushing forward with a momentum no less impressive than the river poured out by the spirit treasure jade pot.

"What powerful dream-path divine ability!" Qin Sang abandoned his last sliver of hope. With a flick of his sleeve, a point of cold light shot out, revealing the Four-Serpent Seal in mid-air. Four serpents detached from the seal knob, and cold flames surged around them. Their colossal bodies writhed within the cold flames, their fierce eyes fixed on the white mist river, before plunging down.

Facing the crashing waves, the four serpents did not retreat or evade. They commanded endless cold flames, moving abreast, and plunged headfirst into the heart of the river.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The river's heart rumbled, deafeningly. The mist trembled wildly, colossal waves rose, and the shadows of the serpents could faintly be seen floating in the river depths. The waves contained a mixture of white energy and cold flames, and the collision of these two forces was earth-shattering. In an instant, giant waves exploded in the air, making even the heavenly thunder pale in comparison.

At the same time, the four serpents swayed their bodies, stepping on the waves, carrying cold flames upstream. Wherever they passed, the great river collapsed, the scattered white energy like a bursting dam. This scene truly resembled the legendary dragon walking through water!

The dream jade pot continued to tilt, pouring forth a continuous stream into the great river, resisting the serpents and the cold flames. Dingxiang Hou's eyelids twitched even more rapidly. Qin Sang was amazed by Dingxiang Hou's divine ability, but how could Dingxiang Hou not be surprised? Not only was the opponent far superior in the way of manifestations, but he could casually produce two spirit treasures, and who knew how many more tricks he had hidden.

"Fortunately, the dream manifestation is ultimately not as good as a true spirit treasure. The Four-Serpent Seal and I are not fully compatible, and my cultivation is not as high as this demon's, yet we can still fight to a draw..."

Qin Sang nodded secretly, then felt several ill winds approaching. His eyes glinted with cold light, he fiercely flapped his phoenix wings once, and simultaneously struck out with a full-force punch. The next moment, his figure suddenly appeared before a young tapir demon. This tapir demon, like a living creature, showed a human-like surprise and hastily dodged.

At the same time, the surrounding tapir demons rushed to reinforce. Under the enhancement of the formation, they should have been able to instantly change their formation to rescue the young tapir demon, but unexpectedly, after the formation changed, it felt very awkward. This feeling came from Qin Sang. Qin Sang merely took a simple step to the side at the right moment, standing exactly on the core point of the formation, causing the formation to momentarily stagnate.

It was too late to compensate. Qin Sang's figure flickered, and he rushed directly at the tapir demon closest to him. With one palm strike, the sword in his palm immediately pierced into its brain. The light in the tapir demon's eyes rapidly disappeared, and it turned into white mist, just like before.

With one tapir demon slain, the formation crumbled on its own. The defeat of the remaining six was only a matter of time. However, these tapir demons did not give Qin Sang a chance to defeat them one by one. The moment the formation was broken, they retreated together, lining up in a single file before Qin Sang.

Amidst roars, the six tapir demons' eyes became even fiercer. They suddenly charged at each other, as if to kill one another, and in the blink of an eye, they merged into one. Simultaneously, a wisp of white energy, imperceptible to the naked eye, also merged into them.

The seven demons merged into one, becoming a burly adult tapir demon! At the same time, a larger illusory shadow of a tapir demon appeared behind it, clearly Dingxiang Hou's manifestation. It was unclear whether the manifestation entered the dream, or if the power of a manifestation could be conjured within a dream. The manifestation flashed and merged into the tapir demon's body.

"Moo!" With an earth-shattering roar, the tapir demon vanished from its spot.

"Bang!" The two figures touched and then separated.

Qin Sang retreated several steps, his face grim. Dingxiang Hou was far more difficult to deal with than expected. After the dream tapir demon merged with the manifestation, its strength was almost comparable to the true form. He was indeed the foremost demon marquis under King Lingyou. The tapir demon, however, flew directly backward. Although it appeared much more disheveled than Qin Sang, it was unharmed. It tilted its head and shook its trunk, then charged fearlessly at Qin Sang again.

The man and demon instantly became locked in battle. The life-and-death struggle between two Nascent Soul stage cultivators became a pure melee, a return to basics. Gradually, Qin Sang began to see some clues. This tapir demon could be considered Dingxiang Hou's true form. It was certainly not easy for Dingxiang Hou to manifest this tapir demon in his dream. If Qin Sang could destroy this demon, even if Dingxiang Hou's true form would not be implicated, it was likely no new tapir demons would appear.

However, although he held the upper hand in the fierce battle due to the suppression of heavenly might, he could not hope to kill the tapir demon in a short time.

"Crack!" With a crisp sound, Qin Sang seized an opening, pressing his palm onto the tapir demon's chest. His five fingers tightly gripped the tapir demon's breastbone. His fingers, like sharp knives, pierced through the tapir demon's fur, and he pulled downwards with force.

The tapir demon roared in fury, stamping its front hooves heavily towards Qin Sang's head. Qin Sang had anticipated this, and horizontally raised his other arm to block the tapir demon's front hooves. Simultaneously, he twisted his waist, instantly erupting with astonishing power, actually flipping the tapir demon's body over. As it scrambled to right itself, he raised both fists high and slammed them into the tapir demon's abdomen.

The tapir demon remained calm in the face of danger. Its body twisted bizarrely, and its four hooves rose, blocking the fatal blow at the last possible second. However, the powerful impact still penetrated its internal organs, causing its entire body to shake violently as it flew backward.

"Cough, cough, cough..." The coughing was heartbreaking. The tapir demon's breathing was ragged. Then, it felt a sudden dimming of vision as Qin Sang, pressing his advantage, struck again with a heavy punch. In haste, the tapir demon rapidly flung its long nose, and rolling white mist enveloped its entire body. Its body also curled into a ball, as if shrinking into an eggshell, preparing to endure the punch head-on.

Qin Sang's eyes flashed. Suddenly, his fist turned into a palm, firmly pressing the tapir demon down. Noticing Qin Sang's expression, Dingxiang Hou's eyelids trembled violently. For some reason, he felt an inexplicable unease. Sensing something, the tapir demon in the dream was about to abandon its defensive stance and break free from the suppression.

Suddenly, golden light blazed! Qin Sang pressed the tapir demon down, but his eyes were fixed on the dark clouds in the distance. Behind him, a golden sun slowly rose, illuminating the world. The dreamscape, shrouded in dark clouds and murky, was instantly filled with golden light, sweeping away all darkness!

Sun Wheel Seal!

After obtaining this Buddhist seal, Qin Sang had occasionally communicated with the eminent monks of Jingtai Temple. Although he hadn't fully comprehended it yet, he could now barely summon a golden sun. At this moment, Qin Sang's blood and true essence simultaneously stirred within him, surging out. Both forces flowed towards the golden sun, converging within its golden disk. This technique was not only cast upon the foundation of the Great Vajra Wheel Seal but also integrated his true essence and physical strength cultivation, erupting instantaneously with a power far beyond what ordinary people could imagine!

The golden sun hung illuminating. The golden light grew increasingly dazzling. Qin Sang stood beneath the golden sun, just like a Buddha with a halo above his head, majestic and supreme. The entirely snow-white tapir demon was dyed golden, and other areas too were bathed in brilliant gold, including the mass of dark clouds where Dingxiang Hou was hidden.

Dingxiang Hou's body trembled. In his sleep, he showed a look of shock, his eyes tightly shut, seemingly fighting against awakening. The scenes within the dream constantly shifted: mountains and rivers, magma deserts, dark cloudy nights, even a sun appeared to counter the golden sun.

All to no avail! The golden light pierced through the heavens and earth, carrying a terrifying power that could melt everything, sweeping across the entire dreamscape. For a time, the scenes in the dream melted like ice and snow under a blazing sun. Even the mass of dark clouds showed signs of dispersing.

At this moment, the Cloud Roaming Sword and the spirit treasure jade pot were locked in battle around the battlefield, and a change occurred at the exact same time. Seizing an opportunity, the spirit sword broke through the smoke and clouds, rushing near the spirit treasure jade pot. Its blade, without warning, turned into a crimson blood sword.

"Whoosh!" A beam of blood light shot from the sword, directly striking the jade pot. Simultaneously, the sword tip turned, pointing directly at Dingxiang Hou!