An unprecedented, overwhelming demonic aura howled with the hurricane, and the legendary, elusive Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly appeared before everyone without warning. Many immortals were witnessing it for the first time in their lives. Its snow-white, luxuriant fur and nine gracefully swaying long tails were utterly different from the ugly, ferocious demons in their minds. It even had a sort of dreamlike, bewitching charm.
Blood-red demonic energy danced like flames on its nine long tails. Several founders of the Academy who had suffered at the hands of the Nine-Tailed Fox before cried out in alarm, “Quickly, erect the thunder and fire barrier! Hurry!”
A bright thunder and fire barrier was instantly erected several meters high. The demonic fire from the fox’s tails also rose in clusters. It opened its mouth and exhaled a white mist. The mist intertwined with the demonic fire, rapidly spreading into a red cloud layer. A drizzle of demonic rain enveloped a range of nearly a hundred li in the sky above the East Sea.
The transparent raindrops fell on the thunder and fire barrier, like sparks falling on thin ice, instantly melting them away. The immortals drenched by the demonic rain let out terrified screams. Wherever the rain touched their skin and hair, a layer of bright red spots appeared. As the spots spread, their bodies began to lose sensation, and they could no longer control the flow of spiritual energy within. In the blink of an eye, dozens of elder immortals had already fallen from the clouds, plunging into the surging seawater below.
Ri Yan laughed loudly, “Thunder and fire barrier? Over a hundred years have passed, and you still only use these old tricks against me? Hmph, all of you here combined aren’t worth one of Qingcheng’s fingers! Let alone this little girl! How ugly! A flying dragon has fallen to the ground, about to be killed by you insects!”
He roared as he charged into the crowd, his nine long tails violently flinging countless immortals aside. Dazzling lights of immortal techniques crashed down on him from all directions, but they seemed to be blocked and pushed away by an invisible hand, unable to harm him in the slightest.
Jun Beiyue, on his back, suddenly called out to him, “Ri Yan.”
Ri Yan angrily replied, “I don’t want to hear your nonsense! Who cares about the sea calamity or heavenly disaster? Who cares what Qingcheng thinks? Who cares about your righteousness and reason? I’m not happy, so I want to kill! If Qingcheng doesn’t like it, let her jump out of the underworld and argue with me!”
He had endured for a long time, always feeling indignant about Qingcheng’s wrongful death. But he had watched Jun Beiyue grow up, and whether he liked it or not, he had developed feelings for this child. She treated him like family, like an elder, and over time, he truly felt like her elder.
He wanted her to become strong, to avoid danger. If she wanted to be ordinary, he let her be. Children grow up and have their ideas; he couldn’t interfere too much. She respected Qingcheng’s wishes and valued emotions, unwilling to kill the immortals of the Central Plains, so he had to let her be.
But what did he see? These insect-like, pig-dog creatures not only didn’t appreciate her for swallowing the sea of heavenly thunder and fire, but they even tried to capture her in the chaos! He wasn’t human; he had never understood their complex and intricate thoughts, nor did he want to. Now he only had a belly full of fire to vent, and no one could stop him.
Jun Beiyue said softly, “Hold on for a while, just a quarter of an hour is enough.”
To ask him to hold on for just a quarter of an hour? Ri Yan’s anger grew. She thought him so weak! If he couldn’t even hold on for a quarter of an hour, what kind of Nine-Tailed Fox would he be?
A sharp wind whistled behind his head. Ri Yan nimbly dodged to the side, only to see several huge, brilliantly golden spears shooting towards him like meteors. The wind flow beneath his feet was very strange, and the spiritual energy fluctuations were unusually complex. He leaped up, making a beautiful spin. The place he had just passed through was already glowing with golden light, like a golden river suspended in the air. Countless soft, boneless golden hands emerged from it, embracing and entangling his huge, snow-white body. No matter how he struggled and thrashed, he couldn’t break free.
Golden element immortal techniques were mostly fierce and sharp, rarely seen as soft and tenacious as this. Ri Yan was not unfamiliar with this immortal technique. Nearly a hundred years ago, when pursued by the Academy founders, he had fallen victim to this very technique, almost losing his life. He never expected to be trapped by the same move a hundred years later.
Seeing countless immortal techniques being fiercely released toward him, Ri Yan suddenly opened his mouth and let out a wild roar. Blood-red demonic energy shot straight into the sky. The sound waves and demonic energy shattered the immortal techniques crashing towards him, and those soft, tenacious little golden hands restraining him also scattered into pieces.
How formidable! A kind of formidability utterly different from the Qiongqi that had once wreaked havoc in the East Sea. Although the Nine-Tailed Fox was a demon, it was innately different from ordinary demons. The most peculiar aspect was their ability to harness spiritual energy, which was like poison to ordinary demons. It was precisely because of this peculiarity that in the sea faction, it was not regarded as a demon, but revered as a spirit fox.
He shook his sleeve, and his large outer garment immediately fell off, dancing and flying up, merging into the azure sky. The next moment, the garment suddenly unfolded, expanding countless times. Lord Sang Hua’s palm glowed with a faint green light, as if about to drip, which he casually smeared onto the garment. The overwhelming spiritual energy spread like ink, lush and verdant, resembling tree shadows.
Seeing this move, countless immortals respectfully retreated. As the tree shadows gradually spread across the garment, Lord Zhongnan also leaped into the air, sprinkling ochre-colored earth element spiritual energy onto the tree shadows. The other Academy founders followed closely behind. In an instant, the sky was filled with endless mountains, dense tree shadows, a profusion of flowers, and numerous pavilions and towers, dazzling to the eye.
Ri Yan had never seen such a strange immortal technique before and dared not underestimate it. He saw that within the green mountains, spiritual mists swirled, and the mountain gates were tightly shut. A deep, long-lasting bell rang out from within the mist. His vision suddenly blurred, as if he had been instantly transported into this fantasy world, unable to find even a crack to escape.
He inwardly cried out in alarm as the demonic energy around him began to gather. Suddenly, the tightly shut mountain gates opened wide, with a dazzling inner light too bright to look at directly. Ri Yan felt his body being involuntarily drawn into this gate. This was a realm entirely different from the immortals’ small thousand worlds. He could sense the overwhelming and sharp various spiritual energies behind the gate. If he entered, he would likely be torn to pieces.
Ri Yan roared in anger, struggling to flee outwards, but the suction from within the gate grew stronger and stronger, utterly impossible to resist. The rules of this fantasy were set by the immortals; if they wanted him unable to escape, then he certainly wouldn’t be able to escape. The little girl on his back was doing something unknown, still motionless. He had promised her to hold on for a quarter of an hour. As an elder, how could he break his word?
With half his body about to be drawn into the gate, Ri Yan gritted his teeth and turned his body, forcibly severing several long tails that had been sucked into the gate. In the instant that blood splattered, the excruciating pain also allowed him to struggle and generate a great force. The demonic energy violently surged, crashing against this illusion. A huge tearing sound rang out overhead. In an instant, mountains and waters, flowers and mists all turned to nothingness. Only a torn outer garment floated down from the sky, tightly grasped in the hand of the exhausted-looking Lord Sang Hua.
The Nine-Tailed Fox once again fell into everyone’s sight, its back drenched in blood, four long tails severed, with only five tails left swaying angrily. Even the Academy founders’ Diancang Mountain and Water Technique couldn’t subdue it, only cutting off a few tails. The immortals immediately felt at a loss.
They heard its angry howl again, the force shocking. Various protective immortal techniques were shattered one after another. The next moment, this Nine-Tailed Fox turned around and flew swiftly towards the overseas lands, attempting to escape.
If they let them escape, all this hard work and sacrifice would be in vain. The immortals hurriedly gave chase, once again casting various restraining immortal techniques in an attempt to block them. Suddenly, they heard Immortal Cui Xuan say coldly from behind, “It’s because you’re unwilling to deliver the killing blow that you’re in such difficulty! Leave Jun Beiyue behind!”
A myriad of clear lights flickered in the sky, then changed into verdant green lights. The various colors of the five elements’ spiritual energy changed unpredictably, captivating the mind with their mysteriousness.
Ri Yan urgently said, “Not good! This scum knows the Senluo Great Technique!”
Once the Senluo Great Technique was initiated, there was no possibility of escape. This was the most nearly perfect and almost flawless immortal technique created by Qingcheng, demonstrating a profound understanding and subtle control of the five elements’ spiritual energy, approaching the ultimate pursuit of cultivators. For that ugly, inconspicuous old thing to be able to pass down the Senluo Great Technique was truly remarkable.
Jun Beiyue, who had been silent on his back all this time, suddenly spoke, her voice somewhat weak, “Tell me the spiritual energy composition of the Senluo Great Technique, quickly.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a tremendous suction force emanated from her body. The myriad lights of the five elements’ spiritual energy in the sky were instantly distorted. The countless, ever-changing spiritual energies of the Senluo Great Technique were mercilessly absorbed into her body.
Immortal Cui Xuan was shocked. She could still absorb spiritual energy! Wasn’t she supposed to be severely injured?!
Before the immortals could react, suddenly, countless lights of the five elements’ spiritual energy began to flicker again. Their transformations and undulations, sometimes rapid, sometimes slow, were much more intense and fluid than those released by Immortal Cui Xuan, even surpassing the Qingcheng Immortal from five hundred years ago by far.
The most perfect Senluo Great Technique, in an unexpected moment, manifested before everyone’s eyes.