Novel11 Chapter 361 : No One to Interfere
Chapter 361 : No One to Interfere
Seeing Chen Beiwu traverse space in a flash of transposition, Zhao Yue showed not the slightest surprise in her eyes.In a head-on confrontation against the Three Firmaments, Chen Beiwu’s probability of victory was zero.
If he wished to reverse the situation, the only way would be to create an environment for a one-on-one duel.
But unfortunately, she would never give him such an opportunity.
“Trying to run? Do you really think you can escape?”
“Stay.”
Before her words had fully fallen, the figures of the Three Firmaments blurred and vanished from where they stood. In the next instant, they appeared soundlessly above Chen Beiwu’s fleeing light.
‘Ice-Soul Cold Radiance!’
Zhao Yue lifted her pale hand and pressed lightly downward. An invisible, intangible Heavenly-Gang True Qi merged with this stretch of heaven and earth, erupting into dazzling white brilliance.
“Crack!”
The fleeing light was extinguished. The celestial phenomena shifted. The entire blazing land suddenly transformed into a vast white ice plain.
Chen Beiwu and the Three-Phase Mystic Flood Dragon were instantly reduced to two striking ice sculptures upon that frozen expanse.
‘Is it over?’
Feeling the heaven-shaking power of that strike at such close range, even though Zhao Qing had not seen her elder sister act for the first time, shock still flashed across her eyes.
This was the strength of a Nascent Soul True Monarch!
For lower-tier cultivators—for instance, a Foundation Establishment cultivator casting a Second-Tier Spiritual Art—the strength of its power depended on the quantity of mana in the cultivator’s qi sea and the grade of their Dao foundation.
The power of the art was limited; it originated from oneself and ended with oneself.
But a Golden Core True Person, using the indestructible golden attribute of the Golden Core as a guide and Earthly Sha True Qi as a bridge, could unleash a Third-Tier Treasure Art that initially touched upon the might of heaven and earth. They could borrow the natural power of the world, and the might of their art would far surpass the upper limit of their own Earthly Sha True Qi.
The price was that the stronger the heavenly might invoked, the more violently the Earthly Sha True Qi would be consumed.
However, upon reaching the level of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, when the Yin Spirit transformed into Yang, the Golden Core shattered to nurture the Nascent Soul, and the infant was forged, the Earthly Sha True Qi within the dantian qi sea transformed into a higher-tier Heavenly-Gang True Qi capable of resonating and communicating with heaven and earth.
Under such circumstances, when a True Monarch cast a Fourth-Tier Profound Art, its source of power was no longer their own mana, but the very spiritual mechanism of heaven and earth itself—one might even say the codified laws of heaven and earth.
Simply put, a True Monarch cultivator only needed to mobilize the power of the Nascent Soul and a thread of incomparably pure Heavenly-Gang True Qi as an initial spark to unleash might beyond the imagination of a Golden Core True Person.
It was precisely for this reason that when a Nascent Soul True Monarch cast a Fourth-Tier Heavenly-Gang Profound Art, a casual strike could alter celestial phenomena—like heaven and earth themselves casting a spell—possessing the power to destroy heaven and extinguish earth.
Thus, the Immortal Alliance Official Website once stated: “Second-Tier Spiritual Arts lie in strength, Third-Tier Treasure Arts lie in borrowing, Fourth-Tier Profound Arts lie in guiding—and, even more so, in controlling!”
This was the divide between immortals and mortals. It was also one of the reasons Nascent Soul cultivators could command a region and be respectfully addressed by countless cultivators as True Monarch.
“It’s not over yet. This is only a Five Qi Transformation Puppet.”
Zhao Yue shook her head slightly, a trace of ridicule flashing through her eyes.
Though Five Qi Transformation Puppet was a Fourth-Tier peerless Heavenly-Gang Profound Ability capable of deceiving a True Monarch’s divine sense, its caster was ultimately only a Third-Realm Beast General—not a Fourth-Realm Beast King.
With such petty tricks, Chen Beiwu could not escape her grasp.
With that thought, Zhao Yue slowly closed her eyes, deciding to use some real force—an ability only a Nascent Soul True Monarch could wield: Eight-Directions Soul Lock!
What were the Eight Directions? Above—heaven. Below—earth. East, west, south, north. The Gate of Life. The Position of Death!
Unlike the Ten-Thousand-Mile Soul Lock possessed by Golden Core True Persons, Eight-Directions Soul Lock had no concept of distance. What it locked onto was no longer merely True Qi aura, but directly the origin of a cultivator’s soul.
Even if a cultivator employed countless methods to conceal their aura or divine sense, they could not escape the lock of Eight-Directions Soul Lock.
“Hum!”
Zhao Yue’s mind sank into the Purple Mansion. Within her sea of consciousness, the slightly illusory Pure Yang Nascent Soul opened its eyes faintly, and an invisible ripple instantly swept in all directions.
In the next moment, the soul origins of Yu Zhaohua and the other three surfaced one after another. Zhao Yue ignored them and continued sensing, finally locking onto a particular soul origin.
“Found you!”
As her voice fell, Zhao Yue flicked her sleeve. A vast surge of Heavenly-Gang True Qi enveloped Zhao Qing and Zhao Yu, and in the next instant, the figures of the three blurred and vanished.
‘They’ve caught up!’
Barely one breath into his escape, Chen Beiwu’s eyes shifted slightly. His expression remained calm.
The environment of the Scarlet Flame Realm was harsh and could weaken and restrict divine sense, but it could not block a Nascent Soul True Monarch’s Eight-Directions Soul Lock—this Chen Beiwu knew well.
After all, Eight-Directions Soul Lock was a special Profound Ability only mastered by Nascent Soul True Monarchs. Only beings at the level of a True Monarch or a Fourth-Realm Beast King could shield or isolate against it.
Though he had forged a Yuanshi Golden Core and stood outside calculation, he was still merely a Golden Core True Person. He could not escape the lock of Eight-Directions Soul Lock.
Moreover, although Golden Egg’s Three Supreme True Gang could shatter space to achieve instantaneous movement, it ultimately could not compare to a Nascent Soul True Monarch who could traverse thousands of miles in a single thought.
In but an instant, the figures of the Three Firmaments appeared before Chen Beiwu.
“This ends here. Seal!”
Zhao Yue gently clenched her right hand. The Fourth-Tier Profound Talisman in her palm shattered abruptly, dissolving into countless specks of light.
As the light faded, a vast and boundless Heavenly-Gang True Qi radiated outward from Zhao Yue as the center, completely sealing the space within a radius of a thousand miles. The very fabric of heaven and earth grew indestructible, forming a cage that bound Chen Beiwu within.
Zhao Yue no longer wished to continue this cat-and-mouse game.
Though the Three-Phase Mystic Flood Dragon’s instantaneous transposition could not match the distance of a True Monarch’s Instantaneous Movement Profound Ability—reaching a thousand miles in a blink—within short-range combat, it was no different from a True Monarch’s teleportation, allowing Chen Beiwu to keep fleeing.
But with space sealed, once deprived of instantaneous movement, Chen Beiwu had no possibility of escaping Zhao Yue’s grasp.
At this moment, the only way for Chen Beiwu to break the deadlock was to unleash a killing move like Myriad Spirits Tribulation Transformation.
‘So it’s the Heaven-Sealing Space-Forbidding Profound Talisman!’ Chen Beiwu’s brows furrowed slightly, yet a hint of delight arose in his heart.
Originally, he had planned to activate the Third-Tier peerless Treasure Formation he had prepared in advance to seal space—seeking only to maintain the spatial lockdown for a single breath. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yue had stabbed herself.
To Chen Beiwu, the most troublesome and hardest-to-handle factor was the near-unsolvable Instantaneous Movement Profound Ability of a Nascent Soul True Monarch.
With such unrestricted teleportation, even if he unleashed the killing move of Myriad Spirits Tribulation Transformation, it would be extremely difficult to defeat Zhao Qing and Zhao Yu under Zhao Yue’s protection. He could not create an opportunity for a one-on-one duel at all.
But now, in order to trap Chen Beiwu, Zhao Yue had used the Fourth-Tier Profound Talisman she obtained from the Innate One Qi Array Eye. In doing so, she had also sealed the Shangqing Three Firmaments inside the same prison where teleportation was impossible.
For Chen Beiwu, this was undoubtedly a disadvantage that outweighed the benefits.
The price was that he had to reveal the trump card of Myriad Spirits Tribulation Transformation. Otherwise, he might be crushed in an instant.
Boom!
Zhao Yue’s figure flashed. Raising her hand once more, she unleashed another strike of Ice-Soul Cold Radiance.
White brilliance flickered. Freezing winds surged. Within a thousand-mile radius, everything was reduced to frost—including Chen Beiwu and his Companion Beast.
“Crack—crack!”
Under the calm gazes of the Three Firmaments, the ice sculpture—capable of completely freezing a Nascent Soul True Monarch—suddenly split with spiderweb-like cracks, then shattered with a thunderous explosion, revealing a drastically transformed Chen Beiwu.
He was clad in Five Qi Armor, holding the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade. Slowly, he raised his head. The vertical eye upon his forehead remained tightly shut.
“Fairy Moonfirmament, it seems you and I can only determine victory and defeat here.”
Before his words fully settled, Chen Beiwu’s aura surged like a dormant volcano erupting. In a single breath, he broke through the Golden Core barrier and stepped into the peak of mid-stage Nascent Soul.
Myriad Spirits Tribulation Transformation, activate!
“Hiss!” Yan blinked, casting Chen Beiwu an incredulous glance.
What in the world?
A Golden Core True Person actually using a secret art to unleash battle power comparable to a mid-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch?
Good heavens, had it been asleep too long and muddled its own mind?
With that thought, Yan closed and reopened its eyes, confirming it had not misperceived.
With the aid of the power of the Three Heavenly-Gang and a supreme Immortal Art, Chen Beiwu indeed now possessed the strength to suppress an ordinary mid-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch.
‘Excellent. With my assistance, this boy may not be unable to prove the Dao and step into Void-Refining in the future!’ Yan rejoiced inwardly, growing ever more pleased with its own discerning eye.
At the same time, a grave expression flashed across Zhao Yue’s eyes.
Very good. Everything was unfolding exactly as she had anticipated.
Zhao Yue was well aware of the drawbacks of using the Heaven-Sealing Space-Forbidding Profound Talisman. But she knew one thing even more clearly—so long as she forced Chen Beiwu to reveal Myriad Spirits Tribulation Transformation, victory in this Struggle Realm confrontation would tilt toward the Shangqing Immortal Sect.
Zhao Qing and Zhao Yu exchanged a glance and decisively retreated behind Zhao Yue.
“Rain Convergence!”
“Clear Sky Rising!”
“Moon Descends!”
With a single thought from the Shangqing Three Firmaments, three vast and boundless auras fused together, sweeping across heaven and earth.
One hundred zhang!
One thousand zhang!
Ten thousand zhang!
When three towering ten-thousand-zhang Dharma Aspects stood between heaven and earth, radiating resplendent divine might and forming the Three Purities Unified Domain, the entire world fell silent.
‘Well now, these three little girls are no simple opponents!’ Yan marveled inwardly.
These three heaven-piercing Heavenly-Gang Dharma Aspects represented the ultimate power of Nascent Soul True Monarchs, and were manifestations of portions of the laws of heaven and earth.
If it did not reveal its true body, this mere incarnation of its could not possibly shake such pure and absolute Dharma Aspect power.
Boom!
Without any flourish, the three Heavenly-Gang Dharma Aspects simultaneously raised their colossal palms—vast enough to blanket mountains—and pressed down upon Chen Beiwu.
Before the giant palms even descended, a terrifying, boundless aura completely locked onto Chen Beiwu. His body suddenly sank. The ice plain within several hundred li collapsed downward, revealing three unfathomably deep palm imprints.
Facing this strike, Chen Beiwu neither dodged nor retreated. Forcing himself against the pressure of the three Heavenly-Gang Dharma Aspects, he swung his blade toward the sky-obscuring shadow—though his figure appeared incomparably small beneath the ten-thousand-zhang forms.
Rumble!
Blade and palm clashed for a brief moment. Chen Beiwu’s figure was blasted backward, and the three giant palms descended in unison, carrying the might to end all things, slamming him heavily into the earth—his life or death unknown.
Seeing this, Zhao Yue’s eyes flickered. She keenly sensed something was amiss. Based on the battle power Chen Beiwu had displayed previously, he should not have been unable to withstand even a single Dharma Aspect strike.
Hum!
An extremely deep vibration suddenly resounded, causing the earth to roar.
“Earth Vein Profound Talisman! When did he—?”
Zhao Yue extended her divine sense, surprise flashing across her eyes.
The Earth Vein Profound Talisman activated extremely slowly and had obvious signs. With her True Monarch-level divine sense, she should have detected fluctuations before the earth veins erupted.
Wait—she had fallen into a trap!
Zhao Yue’s mind stirred as she suddenly recalled the Third-Tier peerless Treasure Formation Chen Beiwu had deployed at the beginning—the Earth-Lung Molten Abyss Grand Sha-Gathering Formation.
This Third-Tier formation was not only a killing array, but also possessed the effects of “grand gathering” and “vein drawing,” thus masking the tremors caused by the activation of the Earth Vein Profound Talisman.
Yet there was one thing she could not comprehend. The concealment effect of the Earth-Lung Molten Abyss Grand Sha-Gathering Formation was limited—how had Chen Beiwu hidden himself now?
“Elder Sister.”
Realizing they could not evade in time, Zhao Qing and Zhao Yu looked to Zhao Yue.
‘No need for concern. A mere Fourth-Tier talisman—what can it do to us?’
Zhao Yue brought her hands together. Behind her, the majestic Dharma Aspect slowly raised its lower right arm, revealing in its palm a pitch-black Extreme Yin Cauldron.
“Suppress!”
Zhao Yue’s crimson lips parted, uttering a single-word true command. The Extreme Yin Cauldron floated into the sky, growing with the wind, instantly expanding into a hundred-zhang giant cauldron, aimed at the countless earth-vein Sha Qi erupting skyward.
“Crack—crack!”
In the blink of an eye, the roaring faded. The rampaging earth veins returned to calm, completely suppressed by the Extreme Yin Cauldron.
This was the moment Chen Beiwu had been waiting for.
Seizing the aftershock of Zhao Yue’s casting, the Yuanshi True Qi within him surged wildly. The ancient mirror suspended above his head suddenly shone with brilliance.
Hum!
At the sight of the mirror, Zhao Yue’s expression darkened.
This mirror was named the Lesser Void Mirror, a one-use spatial Profound Treasure that could appear with low probability at the Innate One Qi Array Eye.
When activated, it could reflect void traces, shatter spatial lockdown, and forcibly open a stable void passage for long-distance transposition.
“Do not think of escaping!”
With a thought from Zhao Yue, the Heavenly-Gang Dharma Aspect behind her spread its five fingers toward Chen Beiwu.
“Too late!”
Chen Beiwu’s figure suddenly vanished.
At this sight, Zhao Yue’s Purple Mansion Spirit Platform sounded a warning, a trace of ominous premonition arising.
‘No—that was illusion! Chen Beiwu never fled!’
Realizing this, Zhao Yue’s pupils contracted. She struck backward with a palm.
But she was one step too late.
Chen Beiwu had already appeared behind Zhao Yu.
As the Lesser Void Mirror radiated light, a gentle force of void instantly enveloped Zhao Yu. She vanished completely.
Zhao Yue’s expression shifted. Raising her gaze toward the heavens, vast Heavenly-Gang True Qi surged from her body in full force as she attempted to sustain the Heavenly-Gang Dharma Aspect.
But with one of the Three Firmaments gone, the balance among the three Dharma Aspects was already shattered. The Myriad-Wave Dharma Aspect collapsed with a thunderous crash, revealing the true form of Raincloud Sovereign.
Zhao Qing’s aura also faltered as she suffered backlash, blood spraying from her mouth. Even the Heavenly-Gang Dharma Aspect linked to her True Qi rapidly shrank to one hundred and twenty zhang before exploding apart, revealing the Gilded Flame Chi Dragon.
The opportunity was rare.
Chen Beiwu did not hesitate in the slightest. The Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade slashed toward the severely weakened Zhao Qing.
“Second Sister, retreat!”
Disregarding concern for her Third Sister’s safety, Zhao Yue dispelled the spatial lockdown of the Heaven-Sealing Space-Forbidding Profound Talisman, activated her Profound Ability, and flicked a finger against the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, forcing Chen Beiwu back.
She and her two sisters had joined forces to secure Chen Beiwu steadily and avoid excessive expenditure—not because she could not win in a one-on-one duel.
Hearing this, Zhao Qing instinctively retreated at high speed, activating her escape art and transforming into a spark that shot toward the Gilded Flame Chi Dragon. At the same time, she circulated her True Qi to suppress the backlash of Three Pure Ones Evolving the Heavens, Unified Qi Harmonizing Immortal Art.
Clang!
Though his slash had not achieved full success, Chen Beiwu raised the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade and hurled it fiercely toward Zhao Qing’s fleeing direction.
“Do not even think of it!”
Zhao Yue’s eyelids twitched. The Northern Yin Dharma Aspect behind her erupted with white radiance, shining upon the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade and freezing it in suppression.
The Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, formed by Golden Egg, naturally would not yield. The blade body invoked the fourth realm of Mirror Flower, Water Moon—“A fleeting moment turns the seas, a finger-snap shifts the mulberry fields.”
Zhao Qing’s body stiffened.
The world before her abruptly changed. No longer was it the freezing winds and intertwining ice and fire of the Scarlet Flame Realm, but the Shangqing Immortal Sect where she had cultivated since childhood.
‘Illusion?’
Zhao Qing reacted immediately, erupting with True Qi, yet she could not break free from the bindings of Mirror Flower, Water Moon.
Seizing the moment, Chen Beiwu activated the Three Supreme True Gang and flashed forward—only to discover Zhao Qing already trapped within illusion, crushing her Jade Plaque.
“Fairy Moonfirmament, the troublesome ones have exited the stage.”
Chen Beiwu raised his head and lightly brushed nonexistent dust from his Five Qi Armor, his gaze settling upon Zhao Yue.
“You and I shall fight. There will be no one left to interfere.”
“Please!”
As his words fell, Chen Beiwu clenched his right hand. The Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade shattered its icy seal and returned to his grasp.