Chapter 482: Chapter 467: Nascent Soul Great Battle!
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion resounding from the battlefield, the worst fear of the cultivators from the Anti-Light Alliance watching the battle came true.
"Cangyuan Wanderer" endured a half-day of arduous battle and, although he managed to heavily wound his opponent and gain the upper hand, he was still unable to prevent the opponent from detonating their Golden Core, resulting in mutual destruction.
Like an azure-green sun exploding on the battlefield, the intense blue-green light transformed the battleground into a sea of azure-green spiritual power. The strong light made Zhouyang’s eyes sting painfully, but he forced himself to focus through the pain and used his "Separation Fire Golden Eye" to look towards the battlefield, hoping to catch a glimpse of the slender old man with a head full of silver hair.
After more than a dozen breaths, the intense light diminished and gradually dispersed, allowing Zhouyang to finally see the situation on the battlefield clearly.
The situation on the battlefield allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
The thing he feared the most did not happen. "Cangyuan Wanderer" Li Cangyuan successfully weathered the opponent’s Golden Core self-detonation, although his current state appeared quite miserable.
The "Cangyuan Wanderer" at this moment had his robes in disarray and torn, his face and body covered in blood and wounds, looking as disheveled as a beggar on a street in the mundane world, incredibly wretched.
"Truly impressive! The self-detonation of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator could injure even some newly-formed Nascent Soul cultivators if they’re not careful. Yet, Li Cangyuan managed to survive without much impairment!"
A voice of admiration sounded beside Zhouyang, making it clear it was Zhao Hao’s voice.
"This Li Cangyuan managed to cultivate to the eighth-layer Golden Core as a loose cultivator and even established a flourishing Immortal City. He is undoubtedly someone with true capabilities. Surviving a Golden Core detonation, though surprising, is not implausible."
Han Xiao, the Sect Leader of the Cyan Origin Sword Sect, looked at the disheveled old man on the battlefield, expressing his view.
He also had the cultivation of an eighth-layer Golden Core, and wielded the inheritance spiritual artifact of the Cyan Origin Sword Sect. In terms of strength, he was confident that he would not be inferior to Li Cangyuan, a loose cultivator. Though the power of the self-detonation was immense, if he were on the battlefield, he was confident he would survive as well.
Of course, even if he could survive, it would definitely not be without damage, as one could see from Li Cangyuan’s current condition.
Given Li Cangyuan’s current state, even if he took the precious Tier Five Healing Elixir, it would take twenty or thirty years of recuperation to fully recover.
Moreover, in order to survive the opponent’s Golden Core self-detonation earlier, both of Li Cangyuan’s Tier Five Defensive Spiritual Artifacts were destroyed in the explosion, so even if he recovers, his strength will surely not match his previous level.
Zhouyang listened to their discussion in silence.
His mood was somewhat complicated at the moment.
Seeing the current state of "Cangyuan Wanderer" Li Cangyuan, it was certain that in the remainder of his life, he would not have the chance to ascend to the Nascent Soul Stage. He might even see a reduction in his already limited lifespan due to this injury, advancing his demise by several years.
If that were the case, the plan Zhou Guangxiang proposed earlier would be extremely tempting.
"Well! Let’s take it one step at a time!"
With a light sigh in his heart, Zhouyang suppressed his complex emotions and stopped thinking about the matter.
Following this, the heavily injured "Cangyuan Wanderer" naturally withdrew, replaced by another Golden Core Stage cultivator from the Anti-Light Alliance to continue the deadly combat.
These deadly battles continued for seven days until the results of the Golden Core Stage level confrontations were fully determined.
The final result was that the Great Brightness Immortal Palace won two fights but lost thirteen Golden Core Stage cultivators, while the Anti-Light Alliance won three fights but also lost eleven Golden Core Stage cultivators, with both sides suffering heavy losses.
However, just when Zhouyang and the other cultivators thought the war would end here, a thunderous shout suddenly erupted from the opposite camp of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace on the battlefield.
"Yu Xuanjin, dare you settle the grudge from Thunder Shock Mountain eight hundred years ago with me today?"
The thunderous shout reverberated across a thousand miles.
When Zhouyang heard this shout, his eardrums suddenly ached to the point of splitting.
Someone as physically strong as him felt this way, so one could imagine how the others were.
Scanning his eyes around in shock, Zhouyang saw that among the Purple Mansion stage cultivators on the Anti-Light Alliance side of the battlefield, over ninety percent of them had their eardrums split, with crimson blood flowing out.
Only those Golden Core Stage cultivators, with generally stronger physical bodies and quick reactions using magical power to protect their ears, avoided injury from this thundering shout.
"Ling Zhengyang, since you wish for death, why should I deny you this?"
While Zhouyang was assessing the situation of the others, a deep and powerful voice slowly emerged from the Anti-Light Alliance’s camp.
Following the sound, Zhouyang saw that the one who spoke was a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator from the Anti-Light Alliance.
If Zhouyang remembered correctly, this person should be a Nascent Soul Stage Supreme Elder from the Supreme Mysterious Sword Sect.
"Is this going to be a Nascent Soul battle?"
Zhouyang looked at Zhao Hao and Han Xiao beside him with astonishment, finding the two of them equally surprised.
Nascent Soul Stage cultivators are usually elusive entities; they are either secluded in their caves, cultivating and comprehending the Dao, or traveling the world, seeking opportunities for advancement. They rarely show their form to outsiders, let alone engage in life-and-death battles.
If these beings engage in a life-and-death battle, it would undoubtedly be an earth-shattering, world-stunning clash.
"All Anti-Light Alliance cultivators, return to the Immortal City immediately and await further orders."
Before Zhouyang could recover from the shocking news of the Nascent Soul battle, Lei Wanpeng, the overall commander of the Anti-Light Alliance, had already ordered all cultivators to retreat and return.
At the same time, the Great Brightness Immortal Palace issued the same command.
Upon hearing this voice, Zhouyang and the other cultivators knew very well that both commanding parties had agreed to conduct a Nascent Soul battle and were beginning the clearing of the area before the great battle.
The destructive power of a life-and-death battle between Nascent Soul Stage cultivators is indeed too great. Any cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage within a thousand miles could be caught in the crossfire.
Moreover, as the pinnacle existence in the cultivation realm, Nascent Soul Stage cultivators would not tolerate juniors loitering around during their life-and-death duels.
Do you not see that even when the two big camps hold a deadly fight, not a single cultivator below the Purple Mansion Stage can spectate?
So, although Zhouyang and others who had never witnessed magical combat between Nascent Soul cultivators were eager to broaden their horizons, they had no choice but to obey orders, retreat, and wait at the Immortal City station for the results.
And this wait lasted for ten days and nights!
During these ten days, even though they were thousands of miles apart, Zhouyang and other high-tier cultivators in the Immortal City could still sense the massive spiritual Qi fluctuations from far away.
Even when they flew to the high skies and used pupil technique divine techniques to observe, they could vaguely see various colors of magic spiritual lights and artifact lights in the distant sky.
After ten days, with an earth-shattering loud noise sounding from the far distance, Zhouyang and other cultivators in the Immortal City finally lost their connection to the spiritual Qi fluctuations from the distant battlefield.
Then, less than half an hour passed before the battle results came out.
The results left people at a loss for words.
Because in this battle, there was no victor.
The two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators in the duel ended up perishing together.
Regarding the process of the battle, not a single word was conveyed by Nascent Soul Stage cultivators. High-tier cultivators privately judged based on the loud noise that one side likely chose to self-destruct their Nascent Soul to drag the other side to perish with them upon not being able to resist.
Zhouyang himself arrived at a similar judgment.
He knew that Nascent Soul Stage cultivators could easily perform the "instantly teleport" divine technique by abandoning their physical bodies as long as they were willing to release the Nascent Soul from their physical bodies.
In such a case, if a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator harbored a death wish, they could teleport instantly to the enemy’s side using the "instantly teleport" divine technique and self-destruct their Nascent Soul, giving not many cultivators the time to dodge.
The fall of these two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators drew a perfect end to a war that had lasted for nearly twenty years.
With the ceasefire agreement officially taking effect, the cultivators drafted to the front line began to return to their sects and clans one by one.
The merits gained on the battlefield had been registered by the Anti-Light Alliance, and rewards would be gradually issued after returning.
After these rewards are given, the Anti-Light Alliance is expected to have a batch of new Golden Core Stage and Purple Mansion Stage cultivators filling the void left by the fallen in upcoming decades.
Post-war, Zhouyang successfully obtained the "Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill" and a Tier Five Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact "C Fire Thunder Bottle" from Han Xiao.
As for the "Jade Liquid Golden Pill" promised by the Cyan Origin Sword Sect, it would only be handed to him twenty years later.
Due to the constraints of the "Nether Blood Contract," Zhouyang was also not worried about the Cyan Origin Sword Sect reneging on their debt.
To avoid unnecessary troubles, Zhouyang chose to travel back to Jinyang Country with the Cyan Origin Sword Sect group.
Moreover, whether intentionally or temporarily forgotten, he did not actively bring up nullifying his role as Guest Elder for the Cyan Origin Sword Sect.
Since he did not mention it, Han Xiao and Zhao Hao certainly did not bring it up either.
Zhouyang’s three consecutive victories in the deadly duel on behalf of the Cyan Origin Sword Sect were a significant gain both in terms of prestige and substance for the sect. They were obviously more than happy for the cultivators from the Land of the Far West to mention the "Cyan Origin Sword Sect’s Zhouyang" when discussing this event in the future.
So even knowing that Zhouyang was traveling with their group to fend off some ill-intentioned people using the power of the Cyan Origin Sword Sect, they were happy to take him along the journey.
Even after entering Jinyang Country, Zhao Hao took the initiative to offer to accompany Zhouyang further.
It was only after escorting Zhouyang to the outskirts of Haoyang Immortal City that Zhao Hao descended on a cloud and cupped his hands to Zhouyang, saying, "This time, we really have to thank Fellow Daoist Zhou for your help, allowing our Cyan Origin Sword Sect to keep our disciples’ lives and receive rewards from the alliance’s seniors."
"This debt of gratitude, Zhao and Senior Brother Han have kept in mind. If Friend Zhou ever needs help from Zhao or the Cyan Origin Sword Sect, feel free to find Zhao at Cyan Origin Mountain. As long as I can be of help, I will certainly not refuse!"
Upon hearing Zhao Hao’s words, a strange feeling rose in Zhouyang’s heart.
Originally, when he and Zhao Hao first met and joined forces in battle, the latter had used favor as leverage to request his assistance.
Later, when things changed, the favor promised was reneged, and he could only use it to receive an unimportant letter of introduction.
Unexpectedly, after these rounds and rounds after decades, Zhao Hao again promised him a favor.
"This time, he shouldn’t go back on his word, right?"
Looking at Zhao Hao’s earnest expression staring at him, Zhouyang felt unsure in his heart.