Chapter 165 — Dust of the Mortal World

Like a lightning bolt tearing through the black night and falling to the mortal world, that pillar of light, gathered from the great power of true dharma, suddenly descended from the heavens, striking from directly above the White Bone Snake Demon and piercing straight down through the crown of its head. In an instant, a tremendous force burst forth from that vast body, and the several Qingyun disciples who had been harrying it from the flanks were all propelled far away by the invisible yet substantial current of air.

The White Bone Snake Demon raised its head and let out a long, piercing cry. The enormous skeleton that supported its body, from top to bottom, suddenly began to emit a strange radiance; moments later, tiny cracking sounds issued from countless places, and rays of light shot out from within its bones. Then, with a thunderous crash, the colossal body toppled, smashing a great deep crater into the hard white jade slabs beneath it. After thrashing a few times on the ground, it finally ceased to quiver.

The dazzling pillar of light slowly dissipated, revealing the figures of the seven elders and Lu Xueling, Xiao Yichen, and the others floating in the sky. Beneath them, beside the body of that gigantic demon, corpses lay strewn across the field—among them the bodies of four Qingyun elders, fallen forever. Of those still living, even more were wounded. Among the younger generation, Lu Xueling's face was cold as frost, but more than half her garments were stained red; Xiao Yichen was relatively well off and appeared largely unharmed; only Zeng Shuyan was holding himself up by sheer will. Just as he let out a breath of relief at seeing the great demon finally dead, his head suddenly lolled to one side, and he plummeted down insensate.

Everyone was startled, but fortunately Xiao Yichen was right beside Zeng Shuyan. He caught him, examined him carefully, and then, relieved, signaled to the others that there was no grave danger. Only then did the rest set their minds at ease, and they threw themselves once more into the remaining battles.

From the moment several dozen senior elders of the righteous path joined the fray, the tide of this catastrophic battle turned in favor of the righteous for the first time. The cultivation and dharma power of these venerable masters far surpassed that of ordinary disciples; though they were few in number by comparison, their impact was immense. Under the combined assault of more than a dozen elders and young disciples such as Xiao Yichen, Lu Xueling, and Zeng Shuyan, those few gigantic beasts—fearsome as their demonic power was—were suppressed, and in the end slain by the concerted effort of all. Yet such demons were vicious after all, and they exacted a grievous price from the righteous path.

But amid such blood and carnage, who still remembered the fallen companions?

At the moment the White Bone Snake Demon's colossal body crashed down, the people floating high in the sky had already turned and, expressionless, were hurling themselves at the next battleground, continuing the slaughter and strife. Xiao Yichen flew to the rear and set Zeng Shuyan down in a quiet spot, then hurried back—but in the blink of an eye, from the corner of his eye he glimpsed Lu Xueling, back where they had been, seemingly dazed, staring blankly at the demon's carcass, her face deathly pale.

Puzzled, Xiao Yichen called out, "Sister Lu, what's wrong?"

Lu Xueling's body gave a start, as though she had been startled from a dream. She turned to look, her lips parting slightly as if about to speak—but when she saw it was Xiao Yichen, she suddenly closed her mouth again, drew a deep breath, and then flew off on her sword, rejoining the battle. Xiao Yichen was baffled; he could not shake the feeling that Lu Xueling was greatly strange today. But then he recalled that this fellow disciple of his, who seemed like a celestial immortal, had always been cold and solitary by nature—and at this critical juncture of the battle, he thought for a moment, then put such thoughts behind him and charged back into the fight.

The black clouds in the sky rolled in, churning without cease. Beneath them, the beasts and the humans alike fought with equal ferocity. Yet the tide of battle, in the end, was turning ever more favorable—and reflected on the faces of the three righteous leaders standing on the heights, even their originally taut expressions were finally beginning to relax.

Despite the grievous cost, once several dozen elders joined the fight, the momentum of the six gigantic beasts—previously unstoppable—was immediately checked, then gradually beaten back; and through the concerted efforts of all, first the White Bone Snake Demon, and then two other great beasts, were slain one after another.

Though in killing these gigantic demons the righteous path—elders included—suffered heavy casualties, the momentum of the battle was, bit by bit, wrested back. The ordinary beast-demons, though still numbering countless in a black mass, had their ferocity sharply diminished by the deaths of the great beasts. Moreover, though ordinary Qingyun disciples might not match the finest in dharma, they were more than a match for these common beast-demons; and with everyone linked together, the curtain of light grew all the more impregnable.

With half the great beasts dealt with, more masters converged upon the remaining three. Anyone could see that these gigantic demons were the very war-souls of the beast horde. Under the assault of these deeply cultivated righteous elders and the finest of the younger generation, amid the blazing brilliance filling the sky and the sharp rays of countless rare treasures, the last three great beasts could hold out no longer, and one by one they fell, amid shrill, furious, anguished howls.

The beast horde fell into utter chaos; clearly even these mindless beasts had an instinctive sense that things had gone badly. The righteous side, by contrast, was greatly heartened, their will to fight surging at last. The radiant curtain of light blazed brighter and pressed outward, and amid a spray of beast blood and flying flesh, drove the horde back.

Amid a chaos of panicked howls, countless beasts bayed at the heavens, their cries mournful and shrill—and the merciless curtain of light came crashing down upon them. What splashes of blood and desolation did it scatter?

And amid that countless howling, in the vault of heaven, the rolling black clouds suddenly froze—as if the world itself had abruptly congealed. And then, a faint glimmer of light pierced through the dark, silent storm clouds!

White—a tiny, faint white glimmer!

In an instant, the black clouds burst apart with a roar, like a gale sweeping heaven and earth, blowing across the wind and rain of the whole sky. From the deepest heart of those clouds, a vast vortex suddenly spun outward at furious speed, countless threads of black cloud-vapor drawn into it and then scattered, leaving no trace behind.

A youth's figure emerged, gazing expressionlessly at the war-torn mountain and the blood-soaked world below—looking down from on high like a deity of legend. His black hair drifted in the wind, and behind him a strange black beast, now large and now small, shifted restlessly, giving low growls.

And at the very moment he appeared, all the beast-demons suddenly halted and raised their heads to the sky, howling long and loud toward that figure!

Ten thousand beasts howling at heaven, the black clouds retreating—as if a baleful aura were surging skyward, seeking to reach the ninth heaven.

Every face among the righteous path changed. Dao Yan Zhenren stood outside the Yuheng Hall, brows tightly knit, and murmured in a low voice, "So this is the Beast Sovereign?"

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The Illusory Moon Grotto-Heaven.

That dreamlike, illusory realm of the mortal world!