A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 157 The Five Elements Destroy the Form, The Five Colors Mend the Sky

On the other side of the mountaintop library, a large centipede, which had been coiled in the shadows of the library, was also disturbed and began to spin and twirl, riding the black mist.

On the centipede's back, Su Mu Dao Ren's upper body materialized, catching a withered yellow leaf that drifted up in the wind. As the black smoke formed a palm and slightly closed, the withered yellow leaf made a crisp sound like a thin piece of iron breaking.

The sound caused Su Mu Dao Ren's expression to change.

"Strange. This isn't just a simple method of infusing internal energy to harden and sharpen matter; it seems to involve a modification to the very nature of matter. Is this person practicing martial arts or magic?"

Because there was very little information about Master Tianfang before, when they were making their calculations, they assumed that this new leader of Laojun Mountain was similar to Abbot Wangsheng of Shaolin Temple—which was a bit of an overestimation in their minds at the time.

However, it now seems that the seemingly "mediocre" leader of Laojun Mountain has deviated significantly from their expectations.

Ye Motian bypassed the library and flashed to Su Mu Daoren's side, producing a cinnabar talisman folded into a triangle shape in his hand.

"Daoist Master, you're the one who uses your extraordinary treasure most effectively. Inform Zhu Linlang that we can prepare for action."

In the past, if such a plan had been brought forward, Su Mu Dao Ren would definitely have expressed his opinion. However, since his original physical body was destroyed, he had become much more reserved. Without asking any questions, he took the yellow talisman, spread it out, and pointed at it.

A small, bean-sized ink mark appeared on the talisman paper, which slowly extended and expanded over time.

In an inn in Luoyang, Zhu Linlang, the Western Envoy of the Fire Luo Path, was drinking and making merry with a group of brothers when the paper talisman he was carrying suddenly felt cold. He noticed it and took it out of his pocket.

That patch of cold, dark ink was gradually expanding.

Everyone saw this strange phenomenon and put down their wine glasses to look at Zhu Linlang.

Zhu Linlang said, "Brothers, each of you check if you have everything you need."

One by one, the plump water sacs were taken out and placed on the table. Some people even opened the stoppers and smelled them to confirm the pungent odor.

The sun was setting, and it was already afternoon. There was no sound coming from the inn, and everyone's expressions grew increasingly serious.

Even the audacious Zhu Linlang, who could sleep soundly amidst the pile of corpses she herself had created, couldn't help but feel a slight sweat on her palms at the thought of what she was about to do.

He placed the talisman aside, weighed it down with chopsticks, sat upright, and quietly waited for the moment when the talisman would completely turn black.

An inexplicable feeling made him unconsciously look up towards Lao Jun Mountain.

………………

Throughout Lao Jun Mountain, everyone was watching that sword strike.

Like the wind and smoke, the sword light and energy, like a soaring divine dragon, silently blew from one mountaintop to another. The farther it flew, the stronger the sword energy became, the brighter the sword light became, and the faster it swept across.

In the blink of an eye, it left a deep and brilliant mark on everyone's eyes, ears, touch, and brain, causing all the onlookers to tremble with a sense of awe, regardless of friend or foe.

It gives one a chilling, suffocating feeling that as long as one is on the opposite side of this sword energy, there is nowhere to hide, no way to stop it, and one can only wait to die.

Master Tianfang's robes fluttered, his gaze unwavering as a rock. With a wave of his hand, dazzling golden light burst forth from his palm, instantly transforming his entire hand into a pure gold with clearly defined patterns, which he then slammed into the tip of the sword energy.

Boom!

The silent sword energy collided with a deafening explosion, followed by an extremely piercing metallic tremor.

That sword energy, as ethereal as mist and rain, exploded into countless trembling sword lights, as thin as silk threads, soaring through the air.

Famous swordsmen from all schools and sects throughout the world know how to practice sword qi. Some have magnificent sword qi, while others have solid sword qi. However, those who can refine their sword qi to be as fine as a strand of hair, yet still have each strand sharp and strong, and whose qi is substantial, are probably fewer than ten in number.

Shao Lingxiao's first move, without even drawing his sword, already reached an unparalleled level that countless swordsmen in the world could never hope to achieve in their entire lives.

The winding, auspicious sword threads disintegrated in front of Master Tianfang's palm, then slid away with a metallic scraping sound, attacking dozens of acupoints between his waist, abdomen, head, and face.

Some of them circled around behind him, spun around, and pierced and cut. When a few long sword threads scraped across the ground, they left messy scraping marks on the floor tiles. The broken tiles could not withstand the pressure and bounced upwards, revealing sharp corners.

Master Tianfang didn't care at all and rammed his whole body forward.

The dangerous sword energy, still carrying a piercing, trembling sound, seemed to transform into soft cotton threads and silkworm silk with that single step, clinging to the surface of his clothes and drifting backward the instant his body accelerated, without causing him any harm.

It is not a rigid defense of brute force, but a spirit that encompasses wind and smoke, light and shadow, and draws the enemy's weapons to one's own side.

No matter how sharp or delicate the sword energy was, it all submitted willingly to such a powerful aura, transforming into a gentle, yielding force that became an embellishment to Master Tianfang's unwavering advance.

When the Fire Luo Path protectors who were lurking nearby saw this scene, their bodies trembled slightly.

They were horrified to discover that they had almost followed in the footsteps of Master Tianfang, rushing out without any regard for their balance.

When the Celestial Immortal crossed the long bridge spanning the two peaks, the bridge, which should have been sturdy and undeformable, seemed to have turned into a huge, still-wet dough sculpture. Suddenly, it shook, twisted, bloated, squeezed, and deformed beyond recognition.

Shao Lingxiao stood at the other end of the long bridge, facing the deformed bridge structure, the cliffs, the deep valleys, and the sea of ​​clouds and mist, all of which combined to create a fierce and oppressive force. The sheathed longsword in his hand changed its angle.

It was like leisurely plucking the strings of a harp beneath a thousand heavy, precarious blades.

The change in this sword strike was simple and clear, yet incredibly ingenious, striking precisely the palm of the palm that Master Tianfang had pushed out.

Shao Lingxiao slid back a foot.

The figure of Master Tianfang suddenly stopped in mid-air, his long robe billowing and flying, and the sword threads that were attached to his body shattered and dissipated.

The residual force from their clash expanded vertically to the ground, the edges of the air ripples resembling an indestructible blade, severing the connection between the long bridge and the cliff, sending debris flying.

The already deformed bridge collapsed halfway down from the point of fracture after suffering another severe blow, with large chunks of bridge debris falling into the misty valley.

The sounds of collapse and the lingering thuds from the depths of the valley echoed together with Shao Lingxiao's words.

"I heard you only entered the Grandmaster realm nine years ago, and you've already reached this level. Yu Tu is truly lucky."

"The cycle of the sun and moon takes only a day and a night, and the granaries of the people take only a spring and a autumn. Nine or ten years is already a very long time. In this world, no one will wait for you ten years in advance!"

Master Tianfang didn't care at all about losing his foothold directly below.

He spun around, maintaining his original height in the air, circled a semicircle, and reached the top of the cliff, where he struck Shao Lingxiao with a palm strike from the side.

Shao Lingxiao suddenly drew his sword.

The ancient and elegant black scabbard, exuding a subtle sandalwood scent, remained suspended in mid-air without being held by hand. When the sword was drawn, the scabbard was still in its original position, without moving or shaking at all.

The speed and fluidity of the sword's withdrawal were astonishing, as if it had not been drawn from a physical scabbard, but rather emerged from the void, from a dark cave, as a streak of light.

He was dressed in black and carried a sword; he arrived first despite being behind.

The tiny glimmer at the tip of the sword reached Tianfang Zhenren's heart before Tianfang Zhenren's palm strike even arrived.

The air around Master Tianfang expanded, and his figure split in two.

The sword tip pierced between the two blurry figures without harming either of them.

Ignoring the two blurry figures that were simultaneously attacking with their palms, Shao Lingxiao raised his sword.

The surrounding airflow, which was intensely heated and expanding, was restrained by the cold light brought up by the upward thrust of the sword, and all converged towards the trajectory of the sword.

The two illusory forms of qi created by the heat were stretched into long strips and entered Shao Lingxiao's sword, which actually amplified the power of the sword as it hurtled upwards.

The illusion was shattered, and the true form of Master Tianfang was revealed in the air. His earth-elemental palm strike, delivered from a high vantage point, exuded a power as overwhelming as Mount Tai pressing down.

But Shao Lingxiao's upward thrust was even more destructive, capable of piercing through stone and splitting mountains.

After colliding with that palm force, he only paused slightly before Shao Lingxiao stomped his left foot and flew into the air, his sword light cleaving through the palm forces with unstoppable force.

Master Tianfang spun around in mid-air to dodge, the shadow of the Flying Light Sword grazed his shoulder, cutting off a piece of his clothing.

The earthy yellow light condensed into gold, suddenly gathering from all directions onto Tianfang Zhenren's right palm. As he dodged the sword blade, his right palm slashed along the spine of the sword.

With a swift, sharp sound, it was about to sever Shao Lingxiao's fingers and wrists, and then plunge the blade into his heart.

Fire generates earth, earth generates metal; the five elements generate each other, and this is the principle.

During the fight, Shao Lingxiao naturally recalled the "Five Elements Annihilation Manual" he had browsed, and saw through all of Tianfang Zhenren's series of moves.

His left-hand sword finger had already calculated the direction and was aimed at the acupoint on Tianfang Zhenren's right elbow. With this finger, he would definitely cut off the flow of true qi in Tianfang Zhenren's right hand meridian and break the state of metal condensation.

The Flying Light Sword then slashed horizontally, and even if it couldn't behead Master Tianfang on the spot, it would certainly severely injure him.

Just as Shao Lingxiao unleashed his sword finger, a sudden inspiration struck him, severing his blind faith in the manual. He changed his left hand from a finger to a palm, placing it against his heart.

In the blink of an eye, Master Tianfang's palm force seemed to be propelled by unparalleled heat, suddenly accelerating. When the palm struck, it was no longer the orderly and condensed metal palm force that could be cut off, but rather a raging, chaotic, and wild fire true energy.

Moreover, the power of this palm strike was a level higher than all his previous palm strikes. The moment the palm strike landed, a golden-red cloud of flames exploded in the air, engulfing the figures of the two people.

Boom—

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!

The surging clouds that exploded one after another, carrying a magnificent golden-red light, indicated that those inside were still unleashing their attacks.

The cloud, which was originally in a near-spherical shape, suddenly expanded and grew in multiple directions, increasing in volume several times over.

The light ball touched the ground below, and its height had exceeded ten meters. The rapidly expanding heat caused the stone slabs on the ground next to the ball of light, which had not yet been covered by the explosion, to sizzle and emit blue smoke.

The sky was dark, making it difficult to see the original sunlight. At this moment, it seemed as if a strangely shaped sun was slowly rising next to the library, its light growing stronger and stronger.

The repeated explosions were like heavy hammer blows to the hearts of everyone on and off the mountain.

Xu Hongmei's eyelids twitched as she watched, and she gasped softly as she backed away. Her bloodline as a half-demon leech made her fearless of ordinary water and fire, but the fire-elemental true energy that was still expanding was her nemesis, causing even her instinctive demonic nature to tremble.

Both Ye Motian and Su Mu Daoren had solemn expressions.

Daoist Su Mu couldn't help but speak up, "It seems that Sect Leader Lingxiao has completely fallen into a disadvantageous position. Should we..."

"My senior brother has already reached the limit of progress. If his opponent is only one person, he has no chance of losing."

Yamo Ten's eyes showed fine blue veins, which were slightly taut. "But this Tianfang... can actually reach this level."

He let out a heavy sigh with some resentment, but still said, "We just need to be wary of others."

The soul-summoning banner rose behind Su Mu Dao Ren, and his palms secretly gripped the Five Yin Bag, the Six Paths Black Lock, and other magical treasures.

Shao Lingxiao may not be weaker than his opponent in terms of cultivation level and strength, but he clearly miscalculated just now and was unable to react in time. Now the scene is completely dominated by the opponent's fire-type true energy, and the situation inside may have reached an extremely dangerous level.

Su Mu couldn't figure out how Shao Lingxiao would turn the tables. Unlike Ye Motian, he didn't blindly trust him and was already preparing to take action.

But as soon as he had a thought, he suddenly heard the sound of a sword.

Su Mu turned his head and saw that the sound of a sword was coming from the scabbard that was floating outside the cliff.

Inside the empty scabbard, at this very moment, one after another, shimmering sword shadows, connected end to end, shot out continuously.

At first, they were just connected in a line, but in the blink of an eye, they split into hundreds and thousands, turning into a torrent of sword streams, carrying the sword roar of distant giant waves, and rushed into the golden-red fire cloud.

Countless sword energies and shadows, once they enter it, immediately swirl and swim like a school of fish.

The abnormally expanding fire elemental energy was quickly stirred by the densely crisscrossing sword energy into a fiery whirlwind that rose higher and higher, stretched longer and longer, and soared straight into the sky.

Shao Lingxiao's heart meridian was pierced by the Wuwei Divine Sword. Later, the divine sword entangled itself in his body, enveloping his internal organs and penetrating deep into his bone marrow. The divine sword intent of the Wuwei True Scripture disturbed him day and night, often for more than half a month, preventing him from falling asleep.

It wasn't until recently that, with the help of Su Mu and Fu Kesi, he temporarily sealed the Wuwei Divine Sword.

But at that time, these two reincarnators were only three-star level, so how could they possibly completely seal the divine weapon that contained Yu Tu's life's cultivation?

The true meaning of non-action still circulates within him, like a stubborn impurity, preventing him from returning to his peak.

After some thought, Shao Lingxiao took a different approach, separating a portion of his sword intent and storing it in the scabbard. If the scabbard were to be damaged, or if he were to actively absorb it, the sword intent that had accumulated over time would instantly return.

The firelight veiled the dim clouds, and the purest and thickest true energy, guided by this whirlwind, poured out into the sky, temporarily gilding the leaden clouds with a layer of golden-red edges.

The figure of Master Tianfang flew out and landed on the broken bridge. His clothes were slightly torn, and his eyes reflected the black-robed man who was surrounded by thousands of hazy sword shadows.

At this moment, Shao Lingxiao is truly like the Demonic Sect Leader at his peak ten years ago.

Even so, a piece of clothing on his chest slowly melted away, forming a palm print.

"This is no longer the Five Elements Annihilation Palm."

Shao Lingxiao held his sword, his expression seemingly savoring the memory.

Having read those twelve manuals, he naturally knew that the original meaning of the Five Elements Annihilation Divine Palm was to "carefully study the five elements, eliminate the contradictions between them, and enable one to operate within them like a god, controlling them freely."

The highest level pursued by all the masters of the Five Elements Extinction Palm in the past at Laojun Mountain was simply the ability to operate the Five Elements without regard to order and to use them at will.

However, Tianfang Daoren's mastery of the Five Elements Annihilation Palm had reached the point of reversing the principles of the Five Elements' mutual generation and restraint.

His palm techniques do not follow the usual cycle of metal generating water, water generating wood, wood generating fire, fire generating earth, and earth generating metal.

Instead, when the water recedes, the soil replenishes it; when the soil disperses, the wood replenishes it; when the wood rots, the metal replenishes it; and when the metal becomes brittle, the fire replenishes it.

It may seem like using something that counteracts another thing to attack or replace the former, but it is actually another perspective on the laws of nature.

—After the water recedes, the soil and rocks on the ground will be exposed. To prevent soil erosion, more trees should be planted to consolidate the soil. Easily decaying wood must be transformed into minerals to survive the long passage of time. Since mineral raw materials are fragile and not durable, they must be quenched, purified, and synthesized by intense fire.

The biggest difference between the latter and the former is that the former only focuses on the macroscopic generation and restraint of the five elements, observing the laws of nature from an outsider's perspective, while the latter incorporates the influence of human beings, allowing people to observe, supplement, and operate.

"If I'm not mistaken, this method of reversal, across the five elements and five levels, allows one's power to increase with each reversal. If the reversal reaches its peak across all five levels, your power will become so profound that..."

Shao Lingxiao pondered for a moment, carefully considering how to describe it, then laughed and said, "If Xu Miyuan were still alive, you could stand there and let him hit you, and he wouldn't be able to break through your protective aura in that state!"

"This should no longer be called the Five Elements Annihilation Palm. How about we rename it the Five Colors Mending the Heavens Technique?"

After Tianfang Zhenren finished speaking, his aura changed, transforming from scorching fire-type true energy into a sea-blue radiance. The misty sea surrounding the broken bridge was dyed this color, undulating like real ocean waves, so deep as to be almost black.

But then, the dim yellow light drove away the dark blue light, and particles like soil condensed in the mist. The particles melted and, like green roots, intertwined and moved together, finally gathering layer by layer and adding to Tianfang Zhenren's body.

Golden light emanated from its body, eventually turning into pure white.

When he raised his palm again, everyone whose eyes met his body felt the pain of his skin being cut open and involuntarily backed away.

Ye Motian's heart pounded wildly; for the first time, he felt his confidence in Shao Lingxiao wavering.

Guan Luoyang gazed thoughtfully at the figure, his eyes stinging slightly, but he remained unmoved.

The words of Master Tianfang echoed far and wide between the broken bridge and the deep valley: "Your guess is good, and your sword is good too, but unfortunately... I will ask my master for a name for my martial arts after you die."

"You're saying I'll die?"

Shao Lingxiao stared at him for a while, then burst into laughter, raising his sword and pointing it directly at him, "You're already stronger than Yu Tu, why are you still thinking about him? As for the matter of life and death..."

He said, "Within five moves, I will make sure you leave this world forever!"

(End of this chapter)