World's No. 1 Swordsman-Chapter 688: Lightning Snuffs Out Golden Immortal, News of the Wager
As though summoned, heavenly lightning gathered. The tribulation cloud shuddered.
Wang Sheng, who had transformed into a lightning sword, looked as though he planned to clash with the blood saber head-on. In truth, he only used himself as a guide. Within the tribulation cloud, lightning burst forth in waves as bolt after bolt instantly merged.
The majestic might of heaven! The boundless power of lightning!
In the blink of an eye, it surged down like an army charging across the sky. The torrent of lightning condensed into a brilliant pillar right in front of Wang Sheng, its color changing from deep blue to pale violet, then dark violet!
The pillar crashed down with overwhelming force, instantly drawing the immense reserve of heavenly tribulation power that the tribulation cloud, which now covered a hundred-mile radius, had gathered. Before Wang Sheng, all that power compressed into a bucket-thick divine bolt that seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth.
The lightning descended as the killing blow, yet the blood saber did not shatter on contact. Instead, the bombardment of the dark-violet heavenly lightning gradually cracked it. The towering figure within trembled violently.
A furious roar rang out, followed by a long howl.
The lightning that the blood saber had split apart burst outward in every direction. Hu Chang looked up at the scene, yet all he saw was purple light. As countless lightning bolts rained down from the sky, the shockwaves of heavenly tribulation power forced him to lower his head and shut his eyes. He also turned his back to it, shielding them from the aftermath.
Ling Sheng could only tremble softly in his arms.
She was terrifyingly powerful, capable of driving even Golden Immortals into madness and forcing hundreds of experts to slaughter one another in an instant. However, she was also so fragile. Unable to bear the power of heavenly tribulation, she could only shiver faintly before it. Perhaps this, too, was a manifestation of some balanced Great Dao.
Amid the lightning exploding across the sky, the sharp crack of glass shattering echoed through the entire grand array. The blood saber exploded into fragments. The lightning pillar, more than half of which had already split apart, continued its descent toward Zhang Changfeng.
Moments later, the ground shook, and mountains collapsed.
When the lightning covering the sky finally faded and the tribulation cloud dissolved into drifting gray mist, Hu Chang leaped out from a crack in the rocky peak with Ling Sheng still in his arms. He quickly looked toward where he sensed Wang Sheng's aura.
Wang Sheng stood at the edge of a massive crater. His long hair fell down his back, loosely tied with a simple ribbon. His Daoist robe was in tatters, revealing the golden armor beneath.
He rested his left hand behind his back as he tilted his head slightly downward, watching something below. In his right hand, he held a "space sword" that flickered with lightning. A faint glow also clung to him, contrasting with the dull gray backdrop.
The sight left Hu Chang staring in a daze.
"It's over now," Wang Sheng told his subordinates.
Feeling that the girl was struggling in his arms, Hu Chang quickly released her.
Ling Sheng smiled faintly at him. "Thank you."
She then hurried toward Wang Sheng.
Hu Chang scratched his head and chuckled to himself. He muttered something under his breath before jumping forward. In a moment, he and Ling Sheng reached Wang Sheng and stood at either side of him.
In the deep crater lay the corpse of the Golden Immortal. He was covered in wounds, and his eyes remained wide open, but their blood-colored light had already disappeared.
Frowning, Hu Chang muttered, "You're only at the early stage of Heavenly Immortal Realm, yet you've already killed a Golden Immortal in direct combat? That sounds a little unbelievable, Old Wang."
Wang Sheng breathed out slowly. Taking out the bronze mirror from his robes and looking at its cracks, he couldn't help but look slightly frustrated.
He had truly been careless. From now on, he could not allow something like this to happen again. If the bronze mirror had not saved his life, his enemy would have killed him.
"He was already at the end of his strength," Wang Sheng said. "He only held on with his last bit of immortal power. Finishing him took some effort, but I essentially just delivered the final blow. It cannot really be called a fair victory."
The physical cultivator muttered, "Not even a Golden Immortal at full strength might be able to endure that lightning technique of yours."
"Would a Golden Immortal at full strength give me the chance to gather up such a huge tribulation cloud?" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
His subordinate opened his mouth, yet no words came out.
With a serious expression, he added, "One should not belittle oneself without reason, but arrogance and impatience are even more dangerous. I know exactly how powerful I am; I can only contend with Golden Immortals right now thanks to Ling Sheng. Only after I truly become a Golden Immortal myself will I have the right to claim that I'm strong enough to defeat them in open battle."
Hu Chang shrugged. "Whatever you say, Boss."
"Time to finish them."
Wang Sheng turned and walked toward the remaining Golden Immortals. To avoid any surprises, he had Ling Sheng follow beside him. Only after she had confirmed their condition did he kill them and collect their treasures.
Soon after ending them all, he fell into thought, his eyebrows knitting together.
"The killing intent these people have toward me is far too strong, and it doesn't make sense for many Golden Immortals to charge into the array at the same time. Are they rushing to their deaths?"
Hu Chang grinned. "You slaughtered so many talented cultivators in the divine tree's array. It is only natural that those celestial sects hate you to the bone."
"That's different. Even if you combine the power of everyone I have killed, they still won't be as strong as even ten Golden Immortals."
At that moment, Hu Chang remembered something. "By the way, Old Wang, why did you become the guardian spirit of the divine tree? You kept appearing and disappearing, specifically ambushing anyone who tried to break through."
A look of recollection appeared in Wang Sheng's eyes. "Naturally, I did not want anyone approaching the inner array. My Daoist partner had already entered the palace to seek immortality back then. Had anyone managed to break into the palace, it would have affected her fated opportunity."
The physical cultivator froze. "Ah?"
"It's a little complicated. Emperor Qinghua's Great Dao of Life was bestowed upon my Daoist partner. That array existed only to lure people in and slaughter them, accumulating enough death aura to let His Imperial Majesty attempt to grasp the Great Dao of Death."
Hu Chang's eyes widened. "What?! Are you serious?"
Wang Sheng lowered his voice. "Why wouldn't I be? In the emperor's eyes, the celestial sects of the Eastern Sky Region fall into two kinds: those who helped destroy the Heavenly Court and those who pushed events along from the shadows.
"Since he wants to get revenge for the Heavenly Court, he didn't feel the slightest guilt about killing those who broke into the array. I do feel some pressure about it, but I'm willing to do anything for my Daoist partner."
Hu Chang slapped his forehead and muttered, "So that Heavenly Minister ultimately played everyone. Oh my Dao. It is a blessing we were fast enough to run away back then."
"There's a surviving Heavenly Immortal about a hundred miles west." Wang Sheng tossed a bottle of alchemical pills toward him. "Bring him back to our hideout and question him. I will take Ling Sheng back first and recover."
Hu Chang unhesitatingly replied, "Got it!"
He turned and leaped toward the west. Each jump covered several hundred meters.
Wang Sheng watched his retreating figure for a moment. The information he had just revealed had been given deliberately.
Hu Chang stood by him earlier. Wang Sheng still could not fully understand why, but he had decided to lower his guard slightly and reveal his connection to Qinghua, though only briefly and vaguely. The hint left plenty to Hu Chang's imagination.
Wang Sheng knew little about commanding subordinates. He only felt that if Hu Chang were to truly board this dangerous vessel with him, then offering benefits alone would not be enough. Hu Chang also had to believe that the vessel had a hull strong enough to sail freely across the vast seas ahead.
Before long, Hu Chang returned with the severely wounded Heavenly Immortal. They used several alchemical pills to stabilize his injuries. Ling Sheng also removed the "seed" that had been planted within the middle-aged man.
There was no need for torture. Due to the weathered-wood mask, the Heavenly Immortal looked as though he had just woken from a nightmare as Wang Sheng questioned him about what had happened outside. He mentally collapsed almost immediately.
"So that powerful being set a wager?" Hu Chang gave Wang Sheng a wry smile. "That old senior truly wants you dead."
"That seems to be the case," Wang Sheng replied.
He glanced at the Heavenly Immortal before him and sighed inwardly. Afterward, he thrust his sword into the man, destroying his Primordial Spirit and granting him a swift end.
"Then why did he forbid Taiyi Golden Immortals from joining?" Hu Chang scratched his nose. "That part makes little sense."
Wang Sheng sent the corpse into the lava lake below. "Perhaps he is hesitating as well. Part of him wants to kill me, part of him does not."
"Why?"
"We'll have to ask him ourselves to answer that." Wang Sheng sighed quietly as he closed his eyes. "What concerns me now is how we should respond next. They already sent half of their Golden Immortals into the array, which means they intend to fight me to the death. To make matters worse, they will soon realize that there is a simple way to nullify Ling Sheng's divine ability and destroy us here."
Hu Chang thought for a moment, but he soon frowned. "What way?"
"One person entering the array."
Hu Chang and Ling Sheng looked confused at first, but understanding soon dawned on them. They both grew uneasy.
Though it sounded simple, it was the only way to break the stalemate.
Ling Sheng's divine ability stirred the killing intent and dark thoughts hidden within living beings. It could also temporarily influence cultivators whose state of mind had already been disturbed by killing intent, triggering large-scale mutual slaughter.
However, if only one Golden Immortal entered the array, Ling Sheng could exhaust all her strength, yet she would still only manage to drive them mad and strip away their conscience. She would not be able to kill them herself.
That Golden Immortal would then rampage through the array, unleashing divine abilities and spells in every direction. Before long, the entire array would be plowed through. Once Wang Sheng and the others were forced to show themselves, the enraged immortal would rush at them like a demon and engage them in battle.
Not even Wang Sheng could stand toe-to-toe against a Golden Immortal who was still at full power, especially not one who had been driven into a blood-crazed frenzy.
Hu Chang looked clearly uneasy. "What do we do, then?"
Ling Sheng and Wang Sheng had already begun to consider possible responses.
Wang Sheng breathed out quietly. "No matter what happens, we have to prepare as much as we can. Sitting around and waiting for death is not in my dictionary. Anyone who wishes to kill me, whatever their reason, will never see me surrender quietly. Every one of them is my mortal enemy."
Hu Chang frowned. "Old Wang, why not bow your head to that divine guardian and ask for mercy? From the looks of it, he's on the same side as Emperor Qinghua. Why is he so hostile to you, even though you're both part of the same great faction?"
"He already gave me a choice. If I begged for mercy, I could avoid death, but my Dao foundation would be crippled." Wang Sheng smiled faintly. "My cultivation may not be particularly high, but I built it step by step with my own effort. How could I possibly abandon it that easily? I would rather die here than live as a useless person."
He lowered his gaze to the flying sword in his hand.
"Besides, asking him for mercy would feel worse than death itself. I can't give up now; I still have many things to do in this life."
Wang Sheng took to the skies. He briefly mentioned that he would search the area, then disappeared into the distant horizon.
