Embers of Sword

Chapter 615 Retreat

One after another, phoenix flames bloomed in the lotus forbidden land.

Within the phoenix fire flower bud lay numerous heads, including men, women, and children, some crying and others laughing, creating an extremely eerie scene…

This is the Holy Empress's "Way of All Living Beings".

During the years she ruled the Great Chu, she secretly manipulated the evil sects of the Southern Frontier to plunder living beings and increase her cultivation of the Great Dao.

"You...you really deserve to die."

Zhao Chunyang looked at this scene with a look of pity in his eyes.

He pitied these innocent people who died like this, at the hands of those who should have protected them.

"The lifespan of an ordinary person is but a mere sixty years."

Standing in the center of the sea of ​​fire, the Holy Empress felt no remorse whatsoever. She calmly said, "It is their good fortune that these people can enter my 'Great Phoenix Grotto Heaven' and become one with the Dao of all living beings. If I attain immortality in the future, they will live forever with me."

The Holy Queen's way of governing all living beings is to devour the spirits of all living beings.

At this moment, many voices rose up within the Great Phoenix Cave Heaven...

The baby cried, the woman screamed, and the old woman wailed.

In an instant, the Great Phoenix Cave Heaven seemed to have transformed into an infernal hell. The immortal tree sprayed out bursts of divine light. After gathering the three dragon veins, the Holy Empress's aura was different from before. The Dao of All Beings and her natal cave heaven were completely integrated. These phoenix flames rose from the ground and smashed towards Zhao Chunyang.

"..."

The old man in the lotus-patterned robe frowned and stepped back.

A warning came from the heart lake: these phoenix flames should not be touched lightly.

If I'm not mistaken, this Phoenix Flame, which contains the "Way of All Beings," also possesses the "Power of Cause and Effect"!
The void shattered, and Zhao Chunyang seemingly took a light step back, but his figure advanced instead, breaking through the void and appearing before the Holy Empress. This entire Lotus Forbidden Land was indeed within the scope of his "Sword Qi Cave Heaven," and he could reach it in an instant with just a wisp of thought. Zhao Chunyang threw another punch at the Holy Empress, but this time the Holy Empress did not use her demonic form to resist... The sea of ​​phoenix fire that bloomed and swirled around her quickly returned, and hundreds of phoenix fire buds with outstretched heads formed a high wall in front of the woman.

With a loud bang!
The inferno shattered, and the high walls collapsed.

This punch, imbued with the essence of swordsmanship, pierced through the "All Beings" Phoenix Flame and landed on the Holy Empress's shoulder.

Then came another muffled groan.

The Empress staggered backward, half of her shoulder a bloody mess, injured by the punch.

But this time...

Zhao Chunyang is no longer "invincible".

The lotus robe rippled with the sound of sword energy. Zhao Chunyang withdrew his fist, frowning as he looked at the palm that had pierced through the phoenix fire. At this moment, the palm was tainted with "the karma of all living beings" and began to be eroded by the phoenix fire... After being attached with "the way of all living beings", the destructive power of this layer of phoenix fire increased by more than one level.

"Is this how you deal with Qin Zu?"

Zhao Chunyang narrowed his eyes, flicked his sleeves, and tried to extinguish the phoenix fire clinging to his palm.

Even as the sword energy swept across the area inch by inch, the phoenix flames were only slightly suppressed, but were not extinguished.

"The higher one's spiritual level, the more one fears cause and effect."

The Holy Empress said softly, "Emperor Qin could not bear the 'karma of all living beings,' and neither can you."

"The one who feeds on all living beings and is most affected by karma is yourself."

Zhao Chunyang said indifferently, "The path of all living beings should be a broad and wide road, but you have forcibly turned it into a heretical path."

In pursuit of higher levels of spiritual cultivation and faster cultivation speed.

Yuanhuang chose to devour human beings.

This kind of spiritual practice... will naturally accumulate a lot of karma.

When one reaches this level of spiritual cultivation, what one fears most is the elusive and intangible concept of "cause and effect."

"unimportant."

The Holy Empress sneered and raised her sleeves: "No matter what the path is... as long as it helps me reach the top, it's a good path!"

Wow!
The Phoenix Fire Cave Heaven was in complete uproar!

The Lotus Forbidden Land was shrouded in a golden sea of ​​fire, and countless fiery heads swarmed in, transforming into an impenetrable tidal wave of cause and effect that crashed towards Zhao Chunyang.

……

……

Above the Da Sui Jian Palace, the Ren Shou Xian Palace was shrouded in swirling clouds and mist.

A sharp, golden sword light slashed through the thick fog, sending countless paper snowflakes flying.

The golden light finally gathered and hovered above the palm of the Tongtian Palm Law again—it was the "Golden Turtle Peak" that had condensed into the shape of a sword!
"Fellow Daoist Tongtian, your swordsmanship is truly superb."

A sigh of praise rang out from the end of the paper snow.

The praise sounded very sincere... but it also felt ironic.

After the sword energy conjured by Jin'ao Peak slashed through the paper snow, which appeared to be torn to pieces, it was actually completely unharmed.

Lu Yu calmly and collectedly received all the sword strikes from "Golden Turtle Peak".

He offered no resistance, allowing the sword energy to tear him apart and then reform him...

Seeing this, Zhao Tongtian's expression became very serious.

These sword energies condensed all of his Dao intent.

He wasn't careless at all in that attack, nor did he hold back...

That's why this scene happened.

There is only one possibility.

Lu Yuzhen's understanding of the "Great Dao and Dao Intent" far surpasses that of myself!
"Seventh Realm of Yang Shen?"

Zhao Tongtian stared coldly at the paper figure Daoist Master before him.

Do not……

It may not be just the seventh realm.

After drawing out "Golden Turtle Peak" and solidifying it into a sword shape, Zhao Tongtian's combat power had reached the sixth level of the Yang God realm.

But at this moment, facing Lu Yuzhen, he felt powerless.

The gap between the two.

There may be more than one level.

"Level of attainment is not important."

Lu Yuzhen stood with her hands behind her back and sighed, "The important thing is... we have no life-or-death enmity, so why fight this life-or-death struggle?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tongtian stared even colder at the paper effigy in front of him.

"You joined forces with the Demon Queen to trample on the Great Sui Sword Palace. Isn't that a blood feud?"

"Naturally... that doesn't count."

"If the Holy Empress wants to take the Dragon Vein, and the Great Sui Sword Palace gives it to her, where will there be any life-or-death struggles or life-or-death feuds? For example, the Daoist sect will be peaceful and nothing will happen."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuzhen smiled and said, "Many things in this world are predetermined by cause and effect. No matter how hard you struggle, the final outcome will not change. In my opinion, for the sake of the lives of these young disciples of the Great Sui Sword Palace, taking a step back at this moment is the best solution."

Lu Yuzhen looked down at herself.

Clouds and mist surged, and sacred clouds billowed across the sky.

The Great Chu Treasure Ships pressed down, and after several bombardments, the Great Sui Sword Palace's mountain-suppressing formation was on the verge of collapse!
Although Qi Lie, Huang Su, and these other young mountain lords have good aptitude, they are still too young and have not yet reached their full potential.

Even if they all exert their strength at this moment and inject energy into the formation flag, it is only a matter of time before they are defeated.

"Fellow Daoist Tongtian, take a step back, and the world will be vast and boundless..."

Lu Yuzhen smiled and said, "Why not give it a try?"

"..."

Zhao Tongtian also noticed what was beneath him.

This should be the most brutal battle since the founding of the Great Sword Palace.

After the destruction of the mountain-suppressing formation, what fate awaits the Great Eagle Sword Palace?
Zhao Tongtian didn't know.

All he knew was that he had to make some decisions.

……

……

"withstand!"

"kill!!"

The Mountain-Suppressing Array, under the influence of the array flags of the four mountain lords, connects the minds of every disciple of the Great Sui Sword Palace.

Zhou Zhiren, Qi Lie, Huang Su, and Si Qi were each assigned to guard a different direction.

The sun blazed high in the sky. The Great Chu Treasure Ship projected beams of divine light, and the Spirit-Refining Arrows forged by the Refining Department rained down like rain, interspersed with bombardments from Yuan Cannons. Cracks had already appeared on this seemingly impregnable mountain-suppressing formation. But even more so than these attacks, the greatest pressure came from the "Vermilion Demon" directly above the formation.

Tongtian Zhanglu was restrained by Lu Yuzhen.

The sect leader fought the Holy Empress in the Lotus Forbidden Land.

Zhu Yan was virtually unaffected on the main battlefield. He arrived above the great formation, not in a hurry to break it, but instead sat down and once again unleashed his demonic art, "Disaster of War." His black robes billowed, transforming into dark clouds, and hundreds of snow-white demonic ape figures descended, pounding on the great formation. This great demon of the Yang God seemed to enjoy the thrill of "slaughter." With arrows and cannons raining down, coupled with the "Disaster of War" pounding, dense, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the top of the mountain-suppressing great formation.

He is the one with the highest cultivation level among all the mountain lords.

Zhou Zhiren took the initiative to shoulder the pressure of confronting the "war calamity." His body ignited with life force, and wielding the Xiaochun Mountain formation flag, he relied on the power of the grand formation to engage in a battle of attrition with Zhu Yan... This was a contest of strength with no suspense; the outcome had already been decided. The only glimmer of hope was that he could successfully advance to the Yang God realm in this battle, but even then, the outcome would not change much.

But not everyone in this world is like Xuan Zhi, Tang Fengshu.

Breaking through in the heat of battle is incredibly difficult.
Zhou Zhiren spent nearly sixty years in quiet meditation at Xiaochun Mountain.

For so many years.

He was always stuck at the "half-step Yang Shen" stage.

In the cultivation of the Great Dao, a single step can separate one from an entire insurmountable chasm. The more the life-fire burns, the weaker it grows, until it is on the verge of being extinguished.

Clearly, if the fighting continues... this raging inferno will engulf Zhou Zhiren.

Let alone a promotion.

It was extremely difficult to even save one's life.

"Elder brother..."

Qi Lie gritted his teeth as he watched this scene.

He desperately wanted to lend a helping hand, but his cultivation level was insufficient, and he was unable to spare the time. He was simultaneously wielding the array flags of Jade Screen Peak and Golden Turtle Peak, bearing the pressure of two small battlefields. At this moment, he was barely able to hold on, having already exhausted all his strength.

Huang Su and Si Qi were the same.

Just then, a deep, resonant voice echoed in the heart lake.

"Retreat."

The voice came from the sky; though it consisted of only two words, it was extremely deep.

It was the sound transmitted from the heart lake that controlled the law.

"Master?!"

Qi Lie looked up in disbelief. The blazing sun hung high in the sky, while the battlefield of the Yang God where the Law Master was located was shrouded in the mist of the Immortal Palace, making it impossible for divine sense to penetrate.

"The mountain-suppressing formation can still hold for another hundred breaths."

The voice transmissions from the Master of Laws arrived one after another: "Zhu Yan has not yet exerted its power, so there is still time to retreat."

This message was sent only to the four people in question.

Zhou Zhiren, Qi Lie, Huang Su, Si Qi.

"Master... how can we back down now?!"

Qi Lie's hand, which was tightly gripping the array flag, bled slightly from the excessive force. For the first time in his life, he spoke out against his master.

All the disciples of the Great Eagle Sword Palace are fighting desperately at this moment.

Everyone wanted to protect the mountain-suppressing formation.

If we retreat now... what should we do next?
"After retreating from the formation, lead all the Sword Palace disciples back to the Sword Forest in the back mountain."

Ignoring Qi Lie's protest, the law master lowered his voice and issued a second order, which brooked no refusal.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously looked in the direction of "Golden Turtle Peak"... This mountain, which was originally the most isolated and independent, was removed by the Law Master, leaving only an empty dense forest. Behind the dense forest was the back mountain where Zhao Tongtian often secluded himself for cultivation, which was also the location of the secret formation hidden by Golden Turtle Peak.

Sword Forest is one of the most mysterious places in the Great Eagle Sword Palace.

The Lotus Forbidden Land can only be controlled by successive sect leaders.

And the Sword Forest... is only accessible to those who hold the power of law.

"This sword energy dragon vein, which lies dormant beneath the Great Sui Sword Palace, originates at Golden Turtle Peak, extends through Jade Screen, bypasses Little Spring and True Hidden, and finally rests on Lotus Flower."

Zhao Tongtian's voice was hoarse: "The Sword Forest is a perfect grotto-heaven born from the dragon vein's fortune."

There was a brief pause.

Zhao Tongtian sighed, "The first generation of law makers forged this place to deal with the great calamity... Now, it is time to use the 'Sword Forest'."

Qi Lie vaguely understood his master's meaning.

If the fighting continues...

Once the mountain-suppressing formation is broken, many disciples will die.

Sending him to the Sword Forest would save his life.

A sense of sorrow welled up in his heart.

Making this decision actually means that Master no longer has high hopes for this battle... In the great battle at the summit, Master was most likely at a disadvantage. As for the Lotus Forbidden Land, not a single word of the duel between the two supreme experts has escaped, and no one knows what is going on.

"Qi Lie, after retreating to the Sword Forest, use the 'Thunder Reveal' sword formation to unleash the Profound Thunder Sword Dao."

The next moment, Zhao Tongtian changed the subject.

This message was not leaked to the other three people.

He only spoke to Qi Lie.

Upon hearing this, Qi Lie was immediately stunned.

Revealing the bomb...

This is a flying sword array that my master gave me not long ago. It was delivered to me through a senior brother in black disguised as "Xie Zhen".

Master is not good at expressing appreciation and affection.

But Qi Lie knew...

My master loves me very much.

This set of flying swords is quite remarkable!

Senior Brother Xuanyi told him that Master had spent a lot of time in the Sword Forest polishing this flying sword, forging it repeatedly until it was perfect.

Qi Lie was very fond of "Jie Lei".

But it was only at this moment that he understood the true meaning of the sword formation that his master had given him.

"Sword Forest" is a perfect grotto-heaven nurtured by the dragon vein's fortune of the Great Eagle Sword Palace. This set of flying swords was forged within Sword Forest...

If I'm not mistaken.

The unveiling of the thunder likely corresponds to the control of "Sword Forest".

Thinking of this, Qi Lie looked up at the sky with a complicated expression.

He had already understood the meaning behind his master's words.

This mountain-suppressing formation alone is no longer enough to defend the Great Sui Sword Palace. To reverse this battle, we must rely on the power of the "Sword Qi Dragon Vein".

Therefore... this so-called "retreat" does not mean surrender.

……

……

Countless streams of sword energy collided with the blazing arrows.

A burst of dazzling light and fire exploded from the sky.

Zhu Yan sat cross-legged beneath the blazing sky, enjoying the spectacle of the great battle. Under the repeated hammering of the Divine Power of War Disaster, the Mountain-Suppressing Array was riddled with cracks and emitted continuous sounds of shattering!
"Ok?"

Zhu Yan raised an eyebrow.

He had assumed the fighting would continue.

But unexpectedly... the senior brother from the Sword Palace who was fighting against him suddenly withdrew his energy.

Under the cover of the great formation.

The streams of sword energy ceased their resistance and retreated.

This means... they've retreated?

The Great Sword Palace, known for its toughest constitution, just gave up resisting like that?
Zhu Yan revealed a bored expression.

Congratulations, you made the right choice.

From the top of the sky, Lu Yuzhen looked down at this scene.

He showed a relieved expression and sighed softly, "Fellow Daoist Tongtian, if you had taken a step back earlier... why did things have to come to this?"

(End of this chapter)