World's No. 1 Swordsman-Chapter 487: Battle of the Immortals, the Bloodsaber Asura Appears! (II)
This battle was the first grand conflict between immortals to take place on Earth in over thirteen hundred years.
The Special Warfare Unit could only watch. They were considerably strong, but their manpower was too evenly distributed, and none of them had reached the Grand Immortal-Ascension Realm. They couldn't join a fight of this scale.
The Special Investigation Unit and the Special Affairs Unit played exceptional roles, yet their efforts were limited to preparing arrays, allocating resources, and quickly restraining cultivators.
By the time the battle reached its climax, command was no longer in the hands of the Special Investigation Unit. Xiaomiao, Yaoyun's disciple and Wang Sheng's younger sister, had taken over. With her at the helm, she oversaw the construction of several trap arrays.
Regardless of who was in command, they simply had to wait for the enemy to fall into the array and then issue the order to attack. Aside from the key figures, like Wang Sheng, Lady Meng, Nameless, and Xi Lian, the other cultivators could not contribute much. There was hardly anything for a commander to direct.
If the intruders managed to kill all the cultivators in the array, the only option left would be to risk using technological means. However, such desperate measures would likely prove futile against immortals.
In the "open-air" command room near the edge of the array, Xiaomiao stared at the footage on the monitor. High-speed cameras could barely track the two masses of blood-red light chasing each other. Fortunately, Lady Meng's unexpected burst of power allowed them to worry a little less about her fight.
Xiaomiao's attention soon shifted to the large screen beside it, which showed the lunar surface and the occasional flashes of lightning on it. Due to the lighting conditions, they could only catch glimpses of the two combatants' silhouettes every now and then. On the other hand, the command room accurately captured their immense energy signatures.
But that was what worried Xiaomiao most.
Beside the lunar display, a smaller monitor showed a map resembling a weather satellite image. A "tropical storm" of energy appeared to be rotating nonstop on the Moon, covering most of the screen. It represented an "energy storm," which was created when a peak Primordial Immortal Realm cultivator unleashed their full strength. Its eye glowed deep red, gradually fading toward the edges.
At the border of the screen, a smaller, trembling cluster of energy belonging to Wang Sheng appeared and vanished at various points, its center glowing only faint red.
In terms of pure immortal power, a glance was enough to tell the obvious difference in strength between the two.
Yet before the battle at Mount Dajian had even begun, this screen had shown the same pattern. It remained unchanged even as the fight on Earth reached its climax.
Despite the overwhelming immortal power of one side, the other still hadn't been defeated. There were even moments when the small energy cluster surged straight into the very core of the "tropical storm."
Xiaomiao took two steps back and sat down in a chair, her eyes shifting between the two screens. "Has anyone gone to get Brother Qianzhang yet?"
"Daoist Master Liu of Mount Mao has already set out," a military officer behind her replied.
Xiaomiao simply nodded. Even a clever woman could not cook without rice. Though she possessed great tactical insight, she couldn't find the opportunity to use it here. Right now, she could only do what a younger sister could.
Xiaomiao raised a small fist toward the screen. "Go, Big Brother! You can do it!"
The tense atmosphere in the command room finally eased a little.
***
Fighting a much stronger opponent was no easy feat.
Against the average Primordial Immortal, Wang Sheng could have easily gained the upper hand and killed his opponent using Spiritless, his mastery of many arts, and his Dao of the Sword. However, Ziyun was clearly no ordinary foe.
Though she was an unaffiliated practitioner, her cultivation technique was by no means second-rate. Not only was she at the peak of the Primordial Immortal Realm, but she was also a mere half step away from the True Immortal Realm and a step short of comprehending the law of true spirit indestructibility. Even without fully transcending, a cultivator like her already possessed the power to contend with True Immortals.
Ziyun had revealed fragments of her past in her half-truthful exchanges with Wang Sheng. Unlike the immortals born of sects or great immortal clans, she had to endure endless struggle, survival, and cultivation before she could claw her way out of a desolate region near the ancient battlefield.
Rising from the very depths of the endless space, she had come to understand the cruelty of human nature and the many faces of cultivators. She also learned to use every advantage she had to her benefit.
In the early years of her cultivation, she used her beauty to attach herself to powerful male cultivators, flattering them to secure protection. Once she had grown strong enough, she killed those men while they were gravely wounded from battle. She then took their treasures, setting herself on a path of no return. She knew precisely what she had to do, how to gain advantages, and how to shape an environment favorable to her.
Concepts like propriety and shame were meaningless in the face of survival, especially in this vast ancient battlefield. Countless unaffiliated practitioners searched for fortune and relics here. The kind-hearted had long since become dust in the void. Only those ruthless and cruel enough could survive and, in turn, slowly pursue immortality.
Though chaos bred disorder, but even chaos had its way of life. After more than six thousand years of cultivation, Ziyun had mastered it.
The two immortals who addressed her as "senior" were her subordinates, or perhaps her "claws." The twin-saber immortal was unremarkable in her eyes, but he was easy to command. The elderly immortal, who had just attained immortality, was valuable only because of his golden roc. Its unmatched speed and their teamwork had helped her escape danger more than once.
Ziyun felt so assured of their safety that she didn't even bother to think about them. After all, even if something unexpected occurred, she assumed that the golden roc could just instantly fly away with the two.
But she had made two critical miscalculations.
Unbeknownst to her, Wang Sheng had long detected their intrusion before they even knew of his existence. Moreover, she wasn't aware of how terrifying the origins of this realm truly were. It was not the cave dwelling of some powerful being that they had imagined.
In truth, this place had once served as the temporary residence of a powerful faction. It was the base of the endless space's once strongest force.
Ziyun couldn't have known that the princess of the Heavenly Court, who was once a Heavenly Immortal, had arranged trap arrays strong enough to cage even the golden roc. She also didn't know that it had already caught her two subordinates. Naturally, she wasn't aware of Lady Meng, Nameless, and the others' existence either.
That was her first miscalculation.
Ziyun and her companions were formidable fighters, but their vision was too limited. The two factions' intel on each other was utterly unequal. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
They heard that the most powerful cultivators among the forces around the ancient battlefield were at most at the Heavenly Immortal Realm. Meanwhile, the cultivators of Earth had vast knowledge about the old Heavenly Court and the mighty foreign races that had defeated it.
However, Ziyun's truly fatal mistake was her second miscalculation: the disproportionate power and cultivation realm of "Pi Kachew"!
After a brief clash, Ziyun's expression remained cold, but deep in her heart, waves of shock roared. She had never imagined, encountered, or even heard of a newly ascended cultivator this difficult to handle. Her poisonous needles and toxic vines, which could fell even a Primordial Immortal, had no effect at all.
Wrapped in gray clouds, Wang Sheng pointed a sword finger at her.
The look in his eyes at that moment was unlike any she had ever seen. There was no cruelty or malice like that of her past foes; there was only brightness, battle intent, and unshakable pride.
Soon, Ziyun's focus shifted to the faint gray mist around him. The moment it appeared, she sensed an inexplicable yet oddly familiar danger. She felt as though she had encountered it long ago but couldn't recall when or where.
Regardless, Ziyun knew she couldn't allow him to gain momentum.
Without hesitation, she unleashed dozens of claw phantasms and cast the immortal spells she knew best.
She still wasn't taking Wang Sheng seriously, though. The difference between a newly ascended immortal and a peak Primordial Immortal was simply too vast.
However, right before her eyes, lightning burst around Wang Sheng. He then vanished and reappeared at the tip of one bolt, sending seven arcs of sword radiance at her.
Was that a lightning escape technique? And the Seven-Star Sword Formation? Isn't he a practitioner of lightning arts?
Ziyun released enchanted power to block the seven sword radiances head-on and swiftly launched a counterattack. The Heavenly Ziwei Sword Intent imbued within the seven strikes made her heart sink. She knew she had to treat this man as an actual threat.
Is this the power of a Grand Dao Golden Immortal's Daoist heritage? she wondered as her gaze grew fiercer.
She began fighting at full strength, even summoning three to four immortal treasures. They hovered around her as she launched a furious assault.
Immortal light instantly flooded the sky. A grand seal expanded with the wind and slammed against Wang Sheng. Simultaneously, a jade hairpin that radiated immortal light fired a brilliant beam. Ziyun then waved the tattered palm fan in her hand, sending out countless flying daggers.
However, Wang Sheng's escape technique made him unpredictable. Several bolts of lightning kept striking in different directions, and Wang Sheng merged with one of them. He switched freely between attack and defense with an untraceable rhythm.
Imbued with the Heavenly Tribulation Sword Intent, Spiritless launched a relentless counteroffense as its sword master evaded Ziyun's attacks. Starlight also occasionally cascaded from above. Stars fell alongside lightning bolts, shaking the immortal light of her defensive treasures.
Realizing that her immortal robe could no longer block the cleaving lightning, Ziyun was forced to abandon part of her assault. She swiftly switched stances as she exchanged attacks with Wang Sheng.
In just a short moment, they had already traded over a hundred blows.
Though no one could have imagined that this newly ascended immortal possessed such overwhelming combat power, Ziyun regretted missing the chance to become an ally of such a man. Now, their battle had reached the point of no return.
She couldn't allow "Pi Kachew" to survive. After all, he had the Daoist heritage of a Grand Dao Golden Immortal. If he lived through this, he would become a sword hanging over her head—one that would surely fall someday.
Even now, she still believed victory was in her grasp.
Sword in hand, Wang Sheng flashed out from the end of a lightning bolt. He met her charge head-on with fourteen intersecting sword phantasm arcs.
The female immortal twisted her body to the side, caught an orb, and hurled it at him. However, Wang Sheng had already dissolved into crackling lightning. In her beautiful eyes flickered jealousy, hatred, and a trace of sorrow—not for him, but for the treasure she had just thrown at him.
"Shatter!" Ziyun shouted lowly as she closed her left hand in the air.
The orb exploded in the middle of several lightning bolts, causing a sweeping green light to illuminate half the far side of the Moon.
