Chapter 569 - Pursuit and Attack
Lei Jing naturally understood the significance of the state of Taiyi. It was a mysterious Dao state that even her teacher had yet to achieve. Since the establishment of Xia Kingdom as a nation, only its founder, Si Wenming, proved to achieve it.
She was bewildered, "Would that not be dangerous for uncle?"
Guan Longzi bitterly smiled, "If it is who I think it is, it would no doubt be a very troublesome affair. Ever since the Emperor cultivated the imperishable body, there were few means by which anyone in the world could cause him harm. Coincidentally, the person possesses a treasured item that is the nemesis of the imperishable body. As of now, we can only hope that he will not do anything pertaining to the use of strength to oppress the weak."
Guan Longzi thought about the magic talisman that the person possessed. Guan Longzi's heart was not confident. Furthermore, Guan Longzi was completely at loss as to how Shen Lian and that person in heaven had a connection.
Lei Jing replied, "That will not do. I will go and take a look."
"No. Jing, please do not think of meddling in Xia Kingdom's affairs. If in the near future Xia Kingdom collapses, it is certain that no one would lay a hand on you if you were not involved," Guan Longzi softly told her.
Lei Jing was slightly confused, so she asked, "Why?"
Guan Longzi burst into a severe coughing fit, and strongly tried to control it until it stopped. He then told her, "You should go back first. We will talk about this after today."
...….
The densely packed forest far away was so vast that its borders could not be seen with a mere glance, and its height was ten thousand feet. Even if it were not that tall, it would still be at least a thousand feet. It was not known how much time had passed for this majestic scene to be produced.
Shen Lian's Primordial Spirit appeared on the trunk of one of the thousand-year-old trees there. In a quick flash, he appeared on another tree.
Only the exuberant vitality of the dense forest could conceal his own vital force. Still, he was unable to break free of Emperor Xia's pursuit.
A demon beast that looked very much like a tiger was resting on one of the ancient trees. It looked up and saw Shen Lian, who appeared in the tree bark opposite the beast. Before it could even react, Shen Lian disappeared without a trace.
In the deep forest, every demon beast had its own territory. The territorial concept was etched deeply in the minds of the beasts. This creature was called a Bi'an Tiger and it had dragon blood. In this endless mountainous forest, it had its own patch, where it lived unfettered. The abrupt arrival of a person offending his patch naturally drew outrage and ire from it.
Just as it prepared to use its special sense of smell to seek out Shen Lian's direction, it suddenly noticed somewhere in front of him there was a huge and tall ancient tree that fell down. The speed of the tree's falling was so fast, it was incomparable to the beast's top speed.
At the same time, it picked up the scent of danger. Just before the beast reacted, the Emperor appeared wearing his black and gold imperial robes. His laid his cold eyes on the beast. At that point, the Bi'an Tiger crawled on the ground and felt a Qi of dragon most pure. It was completely unable to form thoughts of resisting.
The Emperor took one step forward and was now beside the beast. He pressed on the beast's head. Immediately the beast remembered his earlier encounter with Shen Lian, and in its heart, it was extremely terrified, but it could not retaliate.
There was only the sound of the Emperor's gentle breath. Other than the giant tree where it made into its home, all the other trees around it had been fallen. It was not known how many of the birds and animals around were shocked by this.
A body of clear water suddenly appeared but disappeared without a trace shortly after. The Emperor also vanished, piercing the void.
Similar occurrences continued to happen in this endless ancient forest. Each and every strong demon beast received word and knew that this endless southern border was welcoming two of the most terrifying powers of the human world. A confrontation unfolded at the hands of these two, so great even the heavens were emotionally moved. It was sad to see that the many trees which had spirituality but yet to shapeshift were reduced to dust and ashes by their actions.
Still more were the many demon beasts and demon birds which could not react in time. Instead, they met their demise through their attainment. Some of the beasts that were able to shapeshift were not spared. After going through the intense and shocking pressure, they reverted to their original shape.
Shen Lian and Emperor Xia were oblivious to this. In the boundless primitive forest, all they cared about was each other.
Even if Emperor Xia was insufferably arrogant in his powers, he still had no way of keeping Shen Lian behind so that they could fight their last battle. At the same time, Shen Lian could not use his Primordial Spirit and its constant permutations to seek out Emperor Xia's weaknesses.
Never before had Shen Lian encountered an opponent with the likes of Emperor Xia. With solely a surge of vitality, the emperor could produce a grand and hard to withstand the killer blow and was able to cultivate to the peak of his mortal body. Any strong attack that landed on Emperor Xia would be ineffectual, just like a mere scratch.
In other words, both parties represented a different field of cultivation in this confrontation.
Shen Lian's cultivation was that of the primordial spirit and Celestialism, in the end, it was all emphasis on the mortal body. What more, as of that day, Shen Lian's mortal body no longer existed. Only his Primordial Spirit was left.
On the other hand, Emperor Xia was close to perfecting the union of spirit and flesh as one. He cultivated his mortal body to the point where its imperishable state was stronger than a Buddhist Sect's Vajra. The mere raising of a hand or a foot was enough to display the Great Way's charm. If Shen Lian was not enough of a match for him, other people would be annihilated without even needing to break a sweat.
Emperor Xia glanced far ahead at a clear stream of water that not only looked like a flowing dragon but seemed as though it was ready to rocket to the sky. He whistled loudly, and immediately the earth and sky shook. An enormous Qi energy engulfed the forest, uprooting the trees around, trembling the heavens and earth as it smashed towards the water.
The water that Shen Lian transformed into, clearly felt the marvel by which Emperor Xia cut through the empty space. It was clearly heading towards him, and yet there were two strengths – one at the front and one at the back. The vitality, violent like the waves of the sea, bound up everything in its way.
Immediately, Shen Lian used a bit of his earth-shattering strength to cut the power at its core. The essence of his Primordial Spirit's nucleus was silent and unmoving as if dissolving into the boundless void.
The clear water abruptly moved and transformed into an unceasing Milky Way. Surprisingly it was like the Nine Heaven Milky Way, flying down and heading towards the direction of Emperor Xia.
Even if Shen Lian's great attainment of the Milky Way Swordsmanship was just comparable to back when Milky Way founding master was reborn, the Milky Way that came engulfing contained an endless sword aura. In an instant, the giant trees were destroyed and reduced to dust.
Just when the Milky Way was about to reach in front of Emperor Xia, suddenly folded upwards to the sky. The surging mighty force that was originally chasing and pursuing behind the Milky Way, was then headed to Emperor Xia's direction.
However, the Emperor did not even move in the slightest. The mighty power was absorbed into his body, and below his feet, the numerous Qi energy of a perilous situation wildly bubbled up. Deep prints appeared in the ground below. Emperor Xia borrowed this terrifying quaking strength and transformed into a prehistoric giant dragon. With the roaring of a massive wave, he dashed to the Milky Way.
Emperor Xia's terror stemmed from the fact that once he made his move, he did not require any time to condense his strength. Almost immediately, he could use all of the strength in his body to attack his opponent.
Furthermore, he had great control over the release or suppression of his power. He abandoned the use of flashy yet empty techniques. Simplicity that derived from complicatedness. His Qi dynamic had countless changes in spiritual response, enough to teach any opponent. Those who fought him were fearful of his extremely terrifying strength and dreaded the attacks that were closely associated with that strength.
Faced with Emperor Xia's direct attack, Shen Lian dared not to lower his guard. The Milky Way that originally condensed now abruptly dispersed like wind and rain in all directions.
At that point, the endlessly torrential Milky Way became the finest droplets of drizzle. From something tough and strong, it had now transformed into something supple and soft. It happened almost immediately – a wisp of light breeze and a drop of fine rain – and it was able to whittle away Emperor Xia's frightening attack.
The wind and rain were like a thin yet endless large net. It continuously wrapped around, showing no signs of stopping.
It did not matter that Emperor Xia could break through the many-layered waves. He still had no way of thoroughly destroying all the wind and rain. And it was likely possible that the natural instincts of Shen Lian's Primordial Spirit could conceal itself within the tiniest drop of rain or the tiniest breeze. If he could just eliminate Emperor Xia's slight flow of his Qi dynamic, he would experience a sword technique that would kill the unprepared.