Chapter 168 — Sorcery

Standing atop the enormous skull of the White Bone Demon, the Beast Sovereign's bright silk robes stirred lightly in the wind; his face looked like a youth's, but his eyes held a gaze that had weathered more storms than could be told, and he too was watching the vast sword formation slowly taking shape in the sky.

Majestic purple vapor first rose from the rear mountain of Jietian Peak in the Canglan range—swift as lightning, matchless in force—soaring skyward like a colossal purple pillar propping up heaven and earth, suddenly manifest in this boundless world. Then the purple vapor steamed and surged, rushing through the air, and at last fell upon that immortal-slaying ancient sword that seemed stone and yet was not stone.

The next moment, the Immortal-Slaying Ancient Sword lit up; even at a great distance, countless human beings could still feel that high in the sky, within that ancient sword, something had stirred—slowly waking from an age-long slumber.

Upon the Immortal-Slaying Ancient Sword, brilliant light bloomed, illuminating the face of Dao Yan Zhenren.

His dark green Daoist robes billowed without wind, snapping loudly; his right hand held the sword, his face was stern, his left hand gripped the sword-sign. Between heaven and earth came his low voice, like Sanskrit chanting, like some strange incantation, echoing far and long. Then suddenly his left hand's sword-sign swept out, thrusting straight at the sky—and almost at the same instant, from the other six towering peaks of the Canglan range, six-colored radiance rose together, like rainbows piercing the heavens, hurtling through the air, tracing long arcs across the vault of sky, and at last all of it too fell upon that Immortal-Slaying Ancient Sword.

In an instant the Immortal-Slaying Ancient Sword was swallowed in blinding radiance, like the rising sun fallen to earth, impossible to look upon; brilliant light burst from the ancient sword and at once scattered the black vapor that had coiled at one end of the sky, until no trace of it remained.

Within the intense light, the seven colors merged into one, rising within that dazzling white blaze, and in the sky took shape as a gigantic seven-colored sword, streaming with wondrous hues, rainbows flickering. Then that great colored master-sword, fed without cease by the spiritual energy of the seven peaks, began to grow ever larger, and as it grew it separated out smaller single-colored swords of every hue, more and more of them, until they densely filled the sky.

On the ground, among the watching crowds, a cheer erupted; countless young disciples, whether of the Canglan sect or not, wore looks of reverence and awe as they gazed up at that majestic sword formation, almost like something out of myth.

And many of those who had lived through the Qingyun upheaval ten years before now seemed to feel something complex—some joyful, some silent.

Among the crowd, amid the young disciples all beaming with delight, Lu Xueling quietly lifted her head to watch that radiant, magnificent Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation; rays of colored light were even reflected down from the sky, enfolding all the people there, herself included, and lighting her cheeks. Yet on her cold, beautiful face there was no expression at all; only in her bright eyes, mirroring the seven-colored light, stirred something strange and dark—and in the end no one could see into the depths of her heart.

Ten years—so they had slipped by, all unnoticed. Who still remembered that heart-rending scream upon the Canglan peak? Who still remembered that young man in his despair?

Lu Xueling's body trembled slightly, as if she had suddenly thought of something she could not bear, something that shook her; even her face darkened. Only by instinct did she grip the Tianxuan Divine Sword in her hand more tightly.

The sword-shadows filling the sky grew denser and denser; boundless radiance covered the whole vault of heaven.

In the Beast Sovereign's pupils was mirrored the endless sword-shadows of the entire sky. He watched for a long while, then nodded, his face grave, and sighed: "Truly the work of gods. I never thought the Central Plains could produce such a peerless figure, one who could gather the spiritual energy of the mountains and create such a matchless sword formation. Truly remarkable!"

He clapped his hands in admiration, saying three times: "Remarkable!"

"Remarkable!"

"Remarkable!"

Such was his praise, yet there was not a trace of fear on his face—or perhaps no one could say whether a thing like him, half man and half not, half ghost and half demon, could still feel fear at all.

Amid wind and cloud, the gigantic White Bone Demon gave a low roar and rose slowly, standing in midair, facing the water-kirin that clawed and brandished before it, and Dao Yan Zhenren standing upon the kirin's back.

A wild wind swept past; the horizon fell silent.

The clamor of the crowds and beasts below seemed suddenly to grow distant; only the two of them remained, facing each other, the world vast and open, yet seeming too narrow to hold them both.

The two looked at each other.

Dao Yan Zhenren said coldly: "Beneath the Immortal-Slaying Sword, no demon or evil spirit has ever escaped alive. If you are wise, surrender now and shut yourself away in the Canglan Mountains for the rest of your life, and I may spare you."

The Beast Sovereign was taken aback, then laughed despite himself, and paid it no heed at all, only shaking his head slightly, a hint of mockery still on his face. Seeing this, Dao Yan Zhenren said no more; he drew a deep breath, gripped the Immortal-Slaying Ancient Sword in his right hand, and suddenly beckoned with his left. From the countless drifting swords of qi in the sky, an orange sword of qi broke from the formation with a shrill scream through the air and shot toward the Beast Sovereign.

The Beast Sovereign's face was indifferent, but his eyes were fixed on that flying sword of qi. The little orange sword came like a flash of lightning, and in an instant was less than a zhang from him. Suddenly the Beast Sovereign raised his left hand, fingers spread flat toward the direction the sword came from.

In midair, black vapor sprang up out of nothing; within a few feet before the Beast Sovereign it instantly condensed into a black shield-wall, square above and pointed below, blocking the orange sword squarely.

A moment later, the orange sword of qi struck the black shield!

For one instant, heaven and earth were still silent.

"Boom!"

Then, like the rising sun leaping from the water, like the thunderclap of creation's first dawn, a tremendous roar burst forth in an instant, almost like thunder; and within the black vapor and orange light, several bolts of lightning flickered and flashed before slowly fading away.

These two things, both of them formless qi, clashed against each other like the hardest treasures in the world; the whole vault of heaven and earth was shrouded in the tremendous roar.

Invisible sound waves swept past with the fierce wind; on the Canglan peaks, everyone's ears rang with strange hums and every face paled. Though all knew these two were masters of the highest arts, still, at their first exchange—what looked like an ordinary probing of each other—the power was so immense that it surpassed all expectation; and at the same time, the final outcome of this contest became all the more impossible to predict.

Some had even begun to think, faintly, what Canglan Mountain would look like after this calamity had passed, beneath such violent spellcraft.

********

In midair, Dao Yan Zhenren and the Beast Sovereign looked at each other, both expressionless, no trace of surprise or shock to be seen. Beneath the brilliant colored swords of qi filling the sky, the ball of black vapor shrouding the Beast Sovereign looked especially glaring.