Chapter 1033: Double Towers

Wind Rain Lake

When the golden scroll burst forth, Xi Jing and Clan Leader Bian Chang's expressions both turned grim. It was clear that Grand Elder Wan Zu, the mastermind, was behind it all, and his purpose was simple: to destroy the Tianyuan Region.

"For a Grand Elder, this is truly despicable!" Xi Jing's voice was icy. According to the rules, Grand Elder Wan Zu should not have interfered in this war. Yet, this Grand Elder shamelessly disregarded all decorum. He not only incited the five great alliances from behind the scenes but also repeatedly employed various schemes.

Examples included the Sacred Flame of Old Devil Long Gu, the plots against the Tianyuan Region, and now this golden decree before them.

Grand Elder Wan Zu had done almost everything possible, short of personally intervening.

"Hmph!" Xi Jing let out a cold snort. An azure light condensed on her fingertip, eventually forming an azure bead wreathed in a green wind.

"Wind God Pearl!" With a flick of her finger, the Wind God Pearl transformed into a beam of azure light and shot through the air. Its momentum wasn't particularly earth-shattering, but wherever the azure light passed, countless fierce winds and torrential rains were instantly evaporated. Even the void collapsed, leaving dark traces.

The azure light aimed directly at the golden decree. As it descended, the golden decree gently swayed, and sacred flames blazed fiercely upon it. It was the Sacred Flame!

The Sacred Flame rose, forming a giant hand of fire that lightly slapped down towards the Wind God Pearl.

When the two collided, the void at the point of impact seemed to form a black hole. The surrounding Genesis Qi was forcefully annihilated, creating a vacuum—an aura of annihilation.

The azure light on the Wind God Pearl rapidly dimmed. With a final flicker, it shot back and re-entered Xi Jing's body. Xi Jing's body trembled slightly, and a trace of blood appeared at the corner of her lips. Clearly, she had sustained some injuries in the direct confrontation with the golden decree; she had, after all, underestimated its power.

After repelling Xi Jing's Wind God Pearl, the golden decree began to slowly ascend, then gradually unfurled above Wind Rain Lake.

Buzz! The next instant, overwhelming sacred flames descended from the sky, directly forming an even larger Sacred Flame hand. This hand reached for Wind Rain Lake, incinerating everything in its path, including the Genesis Qi.

The fierce winds and torrential rains over Wind Rain Lake seemed to intensify at this moment.

From the depths of Wind Rain Lake, faint auras of dread emerged. It must have been the wondrous object hidden deep within the lake.

Xi Jing and Bian Chang watched the scene with grim expressions. Facing the Grand Elder's power, they truly felt helpless. The might of the sacred flame was too immense; even with her Dharma Domain treasure, Xi Jing found it difficult to resist.

Xi Jing bit her lip hard, the blood at the corner of her mouth looking particularly striking. She found herself able only to watch helplessly as her opponent moved to seize the wondrous object from the depths of Wind Rain Lake.

Xi Jing's usually spirited and beautiful face was now somewhat pale. She slowly closed her eyes in despair, unable to bear witnessing the scene. Bian Chang, beside her, also sighed softly.

The Sacred Flame hand slowly descended.

However, at that very moment, a massive whirlpool suddenly formed on the surface of Wind Rain Lake, and an equally enormous hand of lake water stretched out from it. The two massive hands collided in the void. In that instant, heaven and earth seemed to tip over, and the sun and moon appeared to lose their light.

This sudden turn of events greatly startled both Xi Jing and Bian Chang, for they discovered that the Sacred Flame hand had been stopped!

"What kind of power is this?!" Bian Chang exclaimed in shock. Could that giant hand of lake water actually resist the power of a Saint?

Xi Jing's eyes flickered. She stared intently at the hand of lake water and said, "No, that's not a hand made of lake water; that's also a Sacred Flame hand!"

Deep within the hand of lake water, sacred flames were clearly rising. Moreover, that power felt vaguely familiar to Xi Jing.

"It's Master's power!" Xi Jing's pupils widened, and she exclaimed joyfully.

Bian Chang also showed extreme delight, saying, "The Grand Elder has returned?!"

Xi Jing shook her head, saying, "Master hasn't returned; he left behind a contingency here! Perhaps he anticipated this day."

In the void above, the golden decree gently floated. As sacred flames rose, a pair of indifferent eyes faintly appeared within them. "Cang Yuan..." A whisper seemed to emanate.

Splashing! Wind Rain Lake began to churn violently, its water stirring into tumultuous waves. Something seemed to be slowly rising from its depths. Xi Jing and Bian Chang watched with astonished expressions.

Finally, the colossal object broke through the water — a dark, five-story iron pagoda. It was inscribed with ancient light patterns, and when it appeared, this part of heaven and earth immediately darkened.

At the very top of the pagoda, a strange light faintly surged. "It's that wondrous object!" Xi Jing exclaimed in surprise. One of the three wondrous objects that formed the "Source Guiding Array" of the Tianyuan Region was at the very top of the pagoda!

However, Xi Jing and Bian Chang also noticed that the mysterious iron pagoda seemed to be its own self-contained space and possessed some kind of power of rules, as their own power could not penetrate it.

In the void above, the indifferent eyes within the golden decree grew even colder. Overwhelming sacred flames swept down, attempting to incinerate the iron pagoda. But this time, the sacred flames that had caused Xi Jing and the other Dharma Domain experts such trouble had no effect whatsoever. The flames quietly extinguished upon approaching the iron pagoda.

"Wan Zu..." A faint, ethereal voice emanated from the iron pagoda: "In this old man's domain, you still have to follow this old man's rules."

As the voice faded, characters suddenly appeared on the iron pagoda. They spelled "Tianyang." "This pagoda can only be entered by those in the Heavenly Sun Stage."

In the void above, the indifferent eyes within the golden decree watched this scene. Eventually, the eyes gradually disappeared, and the golden decree also vanished into the void.

This place was a contingency left behind by Cang Yuan. It was impossible to break through with just a decree, unless Grand Elder Wan Zu's true body personally arrived, which was highly unlikely. What he had done to the Tianyuan Region was already pushing the limits. If he went too far, the other Grand Elders would likely not stand idly by, and new complications would inevitably arise.

Since that was the case, they would just follow the rules. *Cang Yuan, the struggle between us is far from over.*

Simultaneously, at the southern border of the Tianyuan Region, within a golden-hued, raging abyss, Sect Master Xuankun and Clan Leader Bai Ye also watched with astonishment as a dark iron pagoda slowly rose from the abyss. The power of the golden decree in the void was fully resisted by the dark iron pagoda.

On this pagoda, two characters also slowly appeared: "Origin Infant!"