Chapter 300: Chapter 298: Tier 3 Ban Breaking Talisman
A silver, shuttle-like streak appeared on the western horizon, landing before Ten Thousand Ghosts Creek in the blink of an eye.
A thin, gaunt Cultivator emerged from the Spirit Ship. A large group of Black Mountain Cultivators prostrated themselves, shouting in unison, "Ancestor Ge!"
"I watched the Joyful Union Sect withdraw from Hejian County. I was considering whether to just keep Fairy Lianyu here... but unexpectedly, Master Suihan appeared and pleaded on her behalf. So, I gave him face and let the Joyful Union Sect disciples go."
Bai Zichen put away the Seeking Truth Ship and flew toward Master Ge Cang. Hearing this, he asked in surprise, "You mean Master Suihan, the Venerable Master of the Ice Soul Palace?"
"The very same. Master Suihan and Senior Brother Yangg are Cultivators from the same era. I met him once when I was still a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, accompanying Senior Brother Yangg."
After entering Hejian County, the three of them had divided their tasks. Master Ge Cang’s mission was to ensure that no Core Formation Level powers within the county would interfere with the Qingfeng Sect’s subsequent campaign to conquer the other Sects.
"This Master Suihan... he’s really old but not out of the game. I’ve never heard of this old man being among Fairy Lianyu’s famous paramours."
Bai Zichen said this playfully, his tone full of teasing.
Master Suihan was a famously long-lived Cultivator in the Liang Country Cultivation Realm, nearing five hundred years of age.
However, Ice Soul Palace Cultivators had always enjoyed longer lifespans than others, reputedly because their Cultivation Technique had the miraculous effect of prolonging life.
Furthermore, he had mistakenly consumed a Spirit Grass radiating with auspicious energy in his youth, extending his life by another hundred years.
He had spent over two hundred years Cultivating to the Perfect Core Formation Realm, making him and Fang Tiancheng of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect the two most senior Core Formation True Men in Liang Country.
However, Master Suihan had few recorded battles, and the Ice Soul Palace, much like the Qingfeng Sect, kept to itself in a remote corner and rarely interacted with other powers.
His true strength was a complete mystery.
"Master Suihan doesn’t seem like the type to indulge in debauchery or be easily seduced. There might be another reason he stepped in to plead for her."
Master Ge Cang was unwilling to discuss a senior Cultivator any further and steered the conversation back to the situation at hand.
"Junior Brother Bai, you’ve been guarding this place for several days. I doubt that even one percent of the disciples in the Ghost Spirit Sect still have the will to fight and die with their Sect... Why don’t we strike now and break this Ten Thousand Ghosts Fierce Soul Formation?"
"That is my wish as well, Brother Ge... It’s just that I lack the strength to break a Tier Three Array on my own."
Bai Zichen patted the White Bone Cold Light Sword in his hand and said with a light chuckle.
"The Ten Thousand Ghosts Fierce Soul Formation is a Tier Three Top-Grade array. Do you have a surefire plan, Senior Brother? Let’s not give anyone a reason to laugh at our methods."
"With this talisman, this array is nothing more than a clay chicken or a pottery dog to us."
Master Ge Cang held a Profound Ink Talisman between his fingers. It was dim and lusterless, and even seemed to devour all the light around it.
"A Tier Three Ban Breaking Talisman!"
Bai Zichen’s heart leaped as he felt the dangerous aura emanating from the small talisman, and he instantly knew what it was.
The Ban Breaking Talisman was a true Big Killing Artifact against all sorts of Arrays and Forbidden restrictions. Unlike ordinary array-breaking methods, it didn’t bother with the logic of the Array Dao.
It worked by shaking the Earth Vein and tearing apart the nature’s spiritual energy, using the most violent and direct means to create flaws and openings in an Array.
In terms of refining difficulty, the Ban Breaking Talisman ranked first among talismans of the same tier.
In any case, an ordinary Tier Three Talisman Master might not succeed in drawing a single Tier Three Ban Breaking Talisman even after thousands of attempts.
The Ten Thousand Ghosts Fierce Soul Formation was a Tier Three Top-Grade array, after all. A single Tier Three Ban Breaking Talisman could, at most, disrupt the Array and cause it to run sluggishly for a few dozen breaths.
Hoping to destroy the Array completely and make it fall apart was impossible.
As long as the Core Formation True Man defending the Array maintained its core and used their own True Essence to reconnect with the Earth Vein, an endless supply of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi would allow the Grand Array to function again.
But with two Gods of Slaughter waiting outside the Array, such hopes were nothing but a pipe dream.
After ordering all the Black Mountain Cultivators to retreat thirty li, Master Ge Cang’s eyes flashed like lightning as he scanned the Ten Thousand Ghosts Fierce Soul Formation. He then slapped the Profound Ink Talisman onto one of the array’s eyes.
As the Ban Breaking Talisman activated, silent ripples spread across the light barrier, which then instantly turned into raging waves.
The Grand Array let out a mournful cry, and the entire Ten Thousand Ghosts Creek seemed to tremble as if an earth dragon were turning over in its sleep.
Inky light shot to the sky. Massive quantities of ghostly creatures and Yin Souls were annihilated, so numerous they were impossible to count.
With each tremor, another layer of the bottomlessly deep Profound Yin Ghost Qi swirling around Ten Thousand Ghosts Creek dispersed, growing a little thinner.
Master Ge Cang’s expression was grim. He pointed to the sky with both hands, and the Thunderstruck Wood Staff floated in the air, guiding the Thunderbolt Power to converge.
A thundercloud several acres wide took shape, with endless bolts of lightning and thunder-serpents darting in and out. In an instant, its size expanded several dozen times over.
Streaks of Divine Thunder descended. Wherever the deep-cyan thunderbolts struck, nothing could withstand them.
Wherever the immense pressure fell, its world-ending power annihilated everything.
The Tier Three Array that had guarded the Ghost Spirit Sect for thousands of years was now showing signs of failing. A huge patch of Profound Yin Ghost Qi dissipated completely, revealing the scene within the Array.
This endless Thunderbolt Ocean of thousands of Divine Thunders seemed inexhaustible, displaying Master Ge Cang’s true mastery of the Thunder Skill to its fullest.
Back on Xiaoluo Mountain, his Thunder Sea had been devoured by the Thunder-Devouring Whale transformed from White Bone True Man’s Secret Treasure.
Then, Yanx Rulong had burned a Nascent Soul True Monarch’s Secret Treasure to create an effect akin to Words Become Law, preventing him from using his Thunder Skill.
He had never truly been able to display the full realm of his Thunder Skill—sentient, with Yin and Yang Complementing Each Other, eternally living and undying.
Now, facing a Tier Three Top-Grade array alone, he finally had the perfect stage to display its power.
"A wager made, a Divine Sword flown, to shatter Zhongnan’s highest stone."
Bai Zichen recited the classic verse passed down ten thousand years ago by a Divinity Transformation Sword Cultivator from the Taibai Sword Sect as two beams of Sword Light flew from his Sword Box.
The Ghost Spirit Sect Cultivators must have invested a huge amount of Top-Grade Spirit Stones, allowing the Ten Thousand Ghosts Fierce Soul Formation to reconnect with the Earth Vein so quickly after being heavily damaged by the Tier Three Ban Breaking Talisman.
Just as the Array was about to recover and the effect of the Ban Breaking Talisman was fading, Bai Zichen made his move.
One was like liquid moonlight, bathing a hundred li in its glow.
The other exuded a ghastly Cold Qi, its Sword Light lingering.
Attacking with dual swords usually involved coordinating two Flying Swords of the same tier. This was his first time combining a Tier Three Flying Sword and a Tier Four Flying Sword.
Even before he struck, he could feel a sense of chaotic imbalance between them. They couldn’t merge perfectly, failing to even achieve an effect of one plus one.
’The gap between a Tier Three Flying Sword and a Tier Four Flying Sword is too great. I must establish a primary and secondary to unleash their maximum power...’
As the thought crossed his mind, Bai Zichen’s body merged with the Sword Light. A bolt of Moonlight shot toward the heavens, washing over a thousand zhang.
At the same time, the White Bone Sword Light followed in its wake, bringing with it an aura of slaughter and decay.
He unleashed the full power of both Flying Swords without reservation, wanting to see what he was capable of at his absolute limit.
In the heat of the moment, the Moonlight accelerated again, transforming into hundreds of silk-like strands of Sword Light that pierced innumerable holes in the Grand Array, which had already been blasted to near transparency by the Divine Thunder.
It was common knowledge in the Cultivation Realm that a Tier Three Array, when paired with a Core Formation True Man, was impregnable to any opponent below the Nascent Soul True Monarch realm.
But today was an exception!
The Tier Three Array melted away like snow in a fire, setting off an instantaneous chain reaction. What began as a hole several zhang wide collapsed several array eyes, exposing a quarter of Ten Thousand Ghosts Creek to the Black Mountain Cultivators.
The Moonlight’s remaining power didn’t diminish as it shot straight through Ten Thousand Ghosts Creek, piercing the entire Ten Thousand Ghosts Fierce Soul Formation from one side to the other.
Below the Core Formation Stage, anyone swept by the White Bone Sword Light was left standing frozen like a wooden chicken. At least twenty Foundation Establishment Cultivators died under the White Bone Cold Light Sword.
The number of Qi Refining Disciples was even greater, beyond counting.
’By borrowing the Moon Xuan Sword’s Origin Power and attacking with all my might, I’m only a hair’s breadth away from the realm of One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws... But it’s like someone used to fine grains being unable to stomach coarse chaff. For someone like me, who started using a Tier Four Flying Sword right after reaching Core Formation, a Tier Three Flying Sword really doesn’t cut it anymore.’
Bai Zichen winced as he sent the Moon Xuan Sword back into the Sword Box to recuperate, leaving only the White Bone Cold Light Sword in his hand.
In that instant, he had experienced a sudden epiphany. Every object in his vision had a clear and distinct flaw.
Even the Tier Three Array was no exception, which was why he was able to break the Ten Thousand Ghosts Fierce Soul Formation in an instant with hundreds of Sword Silks.
This was infinitely close to One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws, and faintly contained a hint of Destructive True Intent.
Looking back, the White Bone Cold Light Sword had purely been an accessory. It was quite useful for bullying lower-realm Cultivators, though.
A blast of a Tier Four Great Demon’s resentment could slightly daze even a Mid-Stage Core Formation Cultivator, while the Sea of Consciousness of anyone below the Core Formation Realm would be thrown into Chaos for a long time, leaving them helpless.
But when dealing with such Cultivators, using the Moon Xuan Sword was far more efficient for securing victory.
’It seems that until I master the Star River Sword Array and have enough True Essence to wield twelve swords at once, the White Bone Cold Light Sword’s role will be limited to being a substitute Flying Sword for when the Moon Xuan Sword has used its Origin Power and needs to rest and recover.’
Bai Zichen gave a wry smile. It was also a vexing problem when one’s strength improved so quickly that their Flying Sword Treasures couldn’t keep up with their cultivation progress.
With the Ten Thousand Ghosts Fierce Soul Formation, their final bastion, broken, even the most resolute Ghost Spirit Sect Cultivators now collapsed mentally.
The quick-witted ones abandoned their posts and fled toward the back mountain.
The Black Mountain Cultivators were less than a third of the number of the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples. With a bit of luck, there was still a chance to escape.
For those who reacted a beat too slow, the Black Mountain Cultivators were already upon them, and they could only kneel and beg for mercy.
There was even the strange sight of a single Qingfeng Sect Qi Refining Disciple casually guarding several Foundation Establishment Cultivators and over a hundred other Qi Refining Disciples.
Only a few core members still had the courage to fight the Black Mountain Cultivators, hoping to carve out a path to survival.
Of course, Bai Zichen and Master Ge Cang’s attention wasn’t on these Ghost Spirit Sect disciples. Their Divine Sense had long since locked onto the only remaining Core Formation True Man.
"True Men, why not grant a humble girl a chance to live...? This storage bag of mine contains the culmination of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s thousands of years of accumulation—Tier Four Spiritual Materials, Top-Grade Magical Treasures, and even two Top-Grade Spirit Stones."
Fairy Taohua stood in the air, trapped between the two men. She looked pitiful and fragile, on the verge of tears, as if she didn’t have a single bone in her body.
"I have also refined a Tier Four Yin Thunder and connected my Divine Sense to it. If the connection is severed, it will detonate automatically... It would be impossible to harm you two True Men, of course, but this storage bag, worth tens of millions, will certainly be annihilated in the void."
"Then you can take that gamble. See if my Flying Sword is faster, or if your Yin Thunder explodes faster."
A smile played on Bai Zichen’s lips as he marveled inwardly at how the Ghost Spirit Sect seemed much wealthier than his own Sect.