Chapter 248: Military Defeat Like a Landslide

On the sea, ten thousand lanterns surrounded the Bright Moon Seven Stars Pavilion, dazzling like a sea of stars.

The Bright Moon Seven Stars Pavilion had only seven stories, but each story was dozens of feet high, making the entire pavilion as grand as a mountain. The top of the tower was hundreds of meters above the ground. With low clouds and strong winds, the moon appeared even larger, illuminating the glazed tiles until they shone brilliantly, like the golden roof of an immortal's dwelling.

"Boom!"

The three figures on the tower's summit moved unpredictably. Spiritual energies collided, and weapons clashed like thunder.

Luan Sheng Lin You, wielding the spiritual energy projections of an Azure Luan and a Qilin, clashed with Zuo Qiu Hong Ting's "Disciples Throughout the World" and "Eight Trigram Seal of Life and Death." The force sent Zuo Qiu Hong Ting staggering backward on the glazed tiles, almost falling into the sea. She was severely injured. Despite taking healing elixirs, her combat strength was greatly diminished, far from her peak condition.

Luan Sheng Lin You intended to defeat Zuo Qiu Hong Ting first, but just as he pursued her for three steps, a prolonged sword cry came from above him. Li Wei Yi, like an otherworldly visitor, dove down with twin swords. A Divine Speed Talisman affixed to his chest gave him speed comparable to Luan Sheng Lin You. His twin swords descended like two divine waterfalls.

"Bang! Bang!"

Luan Sheng Lin You swung his staff to meet the attack, parrying Li Wei Yi's sword momentum.

"Life and Death Slash!"

Directly in front, Zuo Qiu Hong Ting horizontally swung her Dao Ruler, which expanded to dozens of feet long, simultaneously revealing a blue glow and densely packed scriptures.

Luan Sheng Lin You's eyes narrowed. After repelling Li Wei Yi, his silver staff melted into countless droplets. These droplets flew out rapidly, transforming into dozens of sharp silver shuttles as they traveled.

Li Wei Yi, who had been forced airborne, had sharp eyes. He unleashed the Astonishing Feather Sword, and countless feather-shaped sword energies flew from its blade. The Yellow Dragon Sword, meanwhile, blocked defensively. Most of the silver shuttles were blocked, with only a few landing on him. They collided with the over nine hundred scriptures on his skin, unable to penetrate Li Wei Yi's defenses. The Blood Handprint Demonic Armor was a Ninth-Grade Hundred-Character Artifact.

However, the impact force carried by the silver shuttles, like fists striking his body, jolted Li Wei Yi away from the top of the Bright Moon Seven Stars Pavilion, sending him hundreds of meters into the air above the sea. If he were to fall, exiting the battlefield, by the time he returned, Zuo Qiu Hong Ting would likely have been killed. Luan Sheng Lin You's strategy was to defeat them one by one. Facing two opponents, his chances of victory were slim.

"Whoosh!"

As soon as Li Wei Yi was sent flying, the radiant image of a yellow dragon appeared beneath his feet. He then traversed the air, sliding from the dragon's tail to its head, and flew back like lightning. His Yellow Dragon Ascending Heaven footwork had been cultivated to a more profound level, allowing him to move freely and effortlessly. He was on the verge of developing a combat technique intent.

"Bang!"

On the other side, Luan Sheng Lin You struck the Dao Ruler with his palm, and the force from the ruler continuously pushed him backward. Sensing Li Wei Yi attacking from behind, his eyes darkened. He sprang upward, soaring into the sky to escape the perilous pincer attack.

Luan Sheng Lin You ascended straight up, his feet treading on the radiant image of the Azure Luan. Zuo Qiu Hong Ting followed, stepping on a shower of flowers, while Li Wei Yi's feet conjured dragon shadows one after another. The two pursued relentlessly, continuously combining their attacks on Luan Sheng Lin You, as if they intended to fight all the way above the clouds. However, given their cultivation levels, such a fighting style rapidly depleted their spiritual energy. This was precisely Luan Sheng Lin You's strategy of "using his strengths to exploit their weaknesses," noticing that Zuo Qiu Hong Ting's spiritual energy was already depleted, and Li Wei Yi had only recently arrived at the Sixth Sea.

"Lend me spiritual energy."

Li Wei Yi pulled out the Purple Cloud Thunder Seal, and both simultaneously infused spiritual energy into it.

"Rumble!"

Above the firmament, thunder roared and lightning flashed. From the seal, a dozen bright purple lightning bolts burst forth, shattering the radiant image of the Azure Luan combat technique intent beneath Luan Sheng Lin You's feet. Several of these lightning bolts struck him.

Deprived of the Azure Luan combat technique intent and struck by lightning, with his internal spiritual energy disrupted, Luan Sheng Lin You plunged straight down hundreds of meters towards the sea surface. Just as he was about to hit the water... with a "whoosh," a pair of enormous azure wings unfurled on his back. They were real, fleshy wings, dozens of feet long, burning with azure flames. Where they flew, they stirred up waves several meters high. Along with the azure wings, a vast demonic cloud erupted. Qilin horns grew on Luan Sheng Lin You's forehead. His demonic side finally revealed itself, and his power became even more terrifying.

The jade chariot pulled by five snow dragon-pythons came to a halt. Tang Wan Qiu jumped out of the chariot, gazing at the flashing purple lightning and figures in the southern sky, her heart filled with longing. A moment later, the sound of thunder arrived belatedly.

Inside the chariot, Tang Wan Zhou's voice spoke: "You've already lost the qualification to enter the venue. Even if you go and win, you won't receive any rewards or become a Hidden Dragon. Instead, you risk dying on the battlefield, which isn't worth it."

Tang Wan Qiu replied, "By refining the Thousand-Year Snow Marrow, my injuries have recovered 30% in a short time. I can maintain peak condition for six or seven moves, which I believe is enough! I'm not going to contend for Hidden Dragon; I'm only going for revenge."

"With such resolve, how could I not assist you? Take my Divine Snow Sword and use the blood of the Dragon Palace to cleanse the frost it brought from the Northern Realm."

From within the jade chariot, a hand as white as congealed fat formed a sword-finger gesture and pointed forward.

"Zing!"

The Divine Snow Sword flew from its sheath, burst through the chariot curtain, and plunged into the center of the street ten feet away, its resonant hum piercingly echoing throughout the city. Starting from the sword tip, the entire street became covered in white frost.

"As long as I live, the sword will not be lost."

Tang Wan Qiu picked up the long sword, leaped, and traced an arc in the air, heading towards the luminous Bright Moon Seven Stars Pavilion.

Li Wei Yi and Zuo Qiu Hong Ting exchanged glances. No longer letting Luan Sheng Lin You lead them, they transformed into two afterimages and rushed towards the coastline where Ge Xian Tong was trapped. Indeed. Luan Sheng Lin You no longer led them to fight in the sky but instead dove towards the coastline to intercept them.

On the other side, Yin Shi Yi only felt a bit more confident after activating his Ghost Flag, from which a ten-foot-tall ghost general emerged. He then challenged, "Who dares to fight me?"

Ming Nian Sheng glanced at the ghost general: "Ten feet tall means it's at the Dao Seed Realm level. Is that really not against the rules?"

"What do you know? If I had Dao Seed Realm cultivation, the ghost general I summoned wouldn't be ten feet tall! It would be twenty, thirty feet..."

Yin Shi Yi waved the Ghost Flag. The ten-foot-tall ghost general let out a long howl and charged towards the enemy ranks, spewing cold Turin flames from its mouth.

Dan Tai Jing, holding a staff, stood at the center of a hundred-meter-diameter formation disk, suspended in mid-air. With her mental power, she issued an order to fourteen of the twenty-eight Calamity Fire Realm Grand Mind Masters. The twenty-eight Calamity Fire Realm Grand Mind Masters, each a peak expert below a Spirit Mind Master, stood in a circle around the formation disk.

Facing the ten-foot-tall ghost general, fourteen of the Grand Mind Masters stepped forward. A beam of light shot from each of their foreheads, intertwining to form a formation seal that blocked the cold Turin flames. The ghost general changed its combat method, swinging its war halberd. From the foreheads of the fourteen Grand Mind Masters, dense runes flew out, directly attacking the ghost general's true body.

It was Yin Shi Yi's first time facing fourteen Calamity Fire Realm Grand Mind Masters simultaneously. Though they came from different factions and their coordination wasn't perfect, they already possessed the strength to restrain Dao Seed Realm experts.

"Fourteen of them are this powerful... Just how strong is Ge Xian Tong?" Yin Shi Yi was inwardly stunned, unable to imagine such an existence in the Five Seas Realm. Dan Tai Jing and Ming Nian Sheng also wondered the same thing. They had initially believed that such a lineup could instantly suppress and kill Ge Xian Tong.

In the Ashy Region, Ge Xian Tong desperately maintained his White Mist World, with a sun and a moon endlessly revolving above his head, neutralizing the attack forces coming from all directions. His Sun-Moon Combat Technique Intent grew stronger with stronger opponents, allowing him to divert attack forces and use an opponent's strength against them, unfazed by encirclement. Of course, even the strongest defense had its limits. Ge Xian Tong had already sustained many injuries, his skin cracking like ceramic; even his Dao physique couldn't withstand it.

Just then, he sensed the formation weakening and naturally seized the opportunity. His eyes suddenly opened wide, his pupils like a sun and a moon, shooting two brilliant beams of light that struck the formation disk above his head. From the Ancestral Field below his navel, five golden lights flew out consecutively.

"Bang! Bang!"

Each golden light contained a foot-long, rhomboid golden pillar, flying in five directions and striking the five beast-headed spirit-realm powerhouses from the Realm of the Departed Dead, sending them flying out of the formation area. The five golden lights flew back into his hand, combining to form a five-foot-long golden whip. Densely packed tiny scriptures appeared on the golden whip, its radiance reaching an extreme, its power shaking the formation disk incessantly.

"No good, he wields the Arrogant Dragon Whip..." Dan Tai Jing cried out in alarm.

Ge Xian Tong raised his whip, his body enveloped in golden light, and shot straight up. After piercing through the formation disk with one strike, he then angrily plunged downward. Dan Tai Jing quickly swung her staff, conjuring a formation seal.

"Bang!"

The formation seal was shattered by the golden whip as if it were made of paper. In an instant, the second whip thrust out, and Dan Tai Jing's head exploded, her body becoming a headless corpse that fell into the small Ashy Region below.

Ge Xian Tong looked at his skin, which was covered in cracks and blood. His gaze swept over the panicked Grand Mind Masters, and finally, his eyes landed on Yin Shi Yi: "I remember your assistance! If you and Li Wei Yi have a chance to come to Lingxiao City, I'll treat you."

"Boom!"

Ge Xian Tong's gaze fell upon Ming Nian Sheng, who was sustaining his combat technique intent. Instantly, his rage blazed. He stomped a large crater into the ground, his body moving like lightning, rushing to Ming Nian Sheng's head, and lashed out with his whip. Ming Nian Sheng summoned hundreds of departed spirit phantoms, forming a ghost cloud, but with a mighty crash, the ghost cloud was shattered by a single whip strike.

Moments later. With a "thud," Ming Nian Sheng's body was severed by a whip strike, turning into two mangled pieces.

"Do you all think you're Li Wei Yi? Am I so easily provoked?"

Ge Xian Tong couldn't be bothered with the remaining Grand Mind Masters and the five ghosts who had fled out of sight. He raised his whip, stepped on the waves, and charged towards the battlefield of Luan Sheng Lin You, Li Wei Yi, and Zuo Qiu Hong Ting. Among the younger generation, only those three could capture his interest.

"Dragon Palace, endure a sword strike condensed from the grievances and vengeful spirits of hundreds of Five Seas Realm cultivators from my Snow Sword Tang Court."

Tang Wan Qiu, holding the Divine Snow Sword, descended from a height of dozens of feet, accompanied by frost and flying snow, and unleashed a divine sword aura. Dragon Palace had just broken out of the Thirty-Six Thunderstrike Array when he felt the bone-chilling cold from Tang Wan Qiu's sword blade, and the pain of frostbite on his cheeks. He immediately swung his halberd to block.

"Boom!"

The ground beneath his feet collapsed into a deep crater. Pain shot through Dragon Palace's chest. He looked down to see his golden armor cracked, with blood seeping from the fissures. The twelve-thousand-pound bronze war spear in his hand was severed into two pieces by a single sword strike. The entire street behind him turned white, covered in a thick layer of frost.

"Divine Snow... Sword..."

Dragon Palace gritted his teeth. Spatial energy burst from his Ancestral Field, and his body shot backward like a catapult, creating distance between himself, Tang Wan Qiu, and Lu Cang Sheng. His gaze swept across the battlefield. He saw the Heartless Golden Ape and Hidden Embers fall one after another, their bodies gnawed by swarms of insects. Martial cultivators from the Far West Ashy Region faction showed signs of fleeing in disarray. The phrase "a rout like a collapsing mountain" probably described the current situation.

Just half an hour ago, it had been a one-sided favorable situation, a guaranteed victory for the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival. Why had a Li Wei Yi suddenly emerged?