# Chapter 1050: They Gathered Around a Campfire
The perfect man is divine.
The Rite Saint treaded upon two talisman mountains, his dharma image suddenly rising at least twice in height. His feet drove the talisman mountains like boots as he walked. The Rite Saint turned sideways, leaving the golden mirror formed by his destiny characters in place—like a soft yet resilient wall that continued blocking the ferry boat's path. Then the Rite Saint used his back to smash against the Barbarian World, while behind him, the River of Registers lay like a newly laid track, forking away from the original Azure Path. The Rite Saint's dharma image leaned backward, lifting his feet one after another, then stomping heavily on the Grand Void. The image tilted further back, gradually shifting the "ferry boat's" course, pushing the entire Barbarian World into that river channel of registers. The back of the Rite Saint's colossal dharma image scraped against the entire Barbarian World, producing an extremely brilliant colored glaze radiance.
The group of ancient great demons who had come to watch the show were now only Ligou and the Nameless One.
The Nameless One couldn't help but take out his wine flask again, taking a hearty gulp. He laughed heartily, "No need to doubt anymore. That truly invincible one from the Jade Capital is no matter how invincible—he definitely can't beat the Little Master."
Ligou said, "What's there to be happy about?"
The Nameless One nodded, "Must be happy! This shows that in ten thousand years, no matter how many so-called geniuses and techniques there were, they still can't compare to the height of our generation's Dao."
Ligou said, "You can't calculate it that way. The Little Master studied an enormous number of techniques during this ten thousand years."
The Nameless One's expression turned strange. He held back for a long time but couldn't resist. He reached out and patted the boy with double pupils on the head. "Do you know why you couldn't get along with that group of Daoist priests and scholars back then?"
Ligou said, "I don't know how to talk."
The short man laughed, "So you did know."
This man without a name, without even a true demon name, had indeed had a fairly good relationship with that Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises back in the day—they could be considered half friends, half drinking buddies.
Probably because of his naturally free-spirited nature, he had few friends and not many enemies either. Unlike Bai Jing's style of immediately eliminating anyone she made enemies with, this short man only acted a few times for friends, such as the one beside him, Ligou, whose killing power was far inferior to his defensive ability.
So the man very much regretted that the sword cultivator Liu Cha hadn't been able to return to the Barbarian World—he could have become a new drinking buddy.
Bai Jing laughed so hard she couldn't close her mouth. Although she hadn't personally witnessed Hu Tu's fate, she had roughly guessed the situation. Then she pretended to be mournful, using a tone of shared sorrow to say loudly, "Heart-wrenching! Truly heart-wrenching! Hu Tu, you were so muddleheaded!"
The man smiled wryly. He raised his hand toward Bai Jing and shook his wine flask.
When did I ever know you liked saying sarcastic things like this, Bai Jing?
Bai Jing rolled her eyes and waved her hand, signaling that they weren't familiar and telling him not to try to get close. Her Xiaomo was very petty.
If Xiaomo misunderstood, I'll cut you down.
But if you're willing to give me that wine flask in your hand, we can call each other sister and brother from now on.
This short man loved listening to the sound of wine sloshing inside the flask while he drank greedily.
The wine flask in his hand was actually one of the "ancestors" of later cun-size storage items. Apart from its commemorative significance, since it was only a semi-finished product, its rank wasn't too high.
Nowadays, almost every earthly immortal had at least one cun-size or chi-size storage item. These items were originally created by Lan Qi, one of the Ten Greats of the World, who first forged and refined such mountain items.
Just the appearance of this type of object had an incalculably profound impact on the entire later mountain world—it even greatly increased the odds of success for that ancient battle when human cultivators ascended to heaven.
The man took a sip of wine and wiped the corner of his mouth. For no reason, he recalled one of his few close friends, Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, and a drunken truth he had spoken back then.
"Let those Daoists who shouldn't be forgotten be remembered by later generations for a long time. Even if a thousand or ten thousand years pass, even if only one person, a few people remember them."
Behind the Rite Saint, Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises finally made his true move.
He offered up a stack of talismans—only two kinds of great talismans. Using the Water Character Talisman, he sliced open a River of Time on the Barbarian World's forward path, interrupting the mutual pull between this ferry boat and the original Azure Path trajectory. Then using the Mountain Character Talisman, he erected walls on either side of the Barbarian World and the River of Registers, like building dykes along both banks of a riverbed, so that this ferry boat treading the void could appear to "fall" downward while actually rising uphill.
At the same time, Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises began to display his destiny divine ability, driving the earth and mountains of the Barbarian World.
But he was immediately blocked by that Guike. The mountain ranges commanded to migrate by this "young" cultivator ultimately could only be confined to the areas around the strongholds in the Bright World.
In the region of Ten Thousand Mountains, at the peak of one of the tallest mountains, there was a hunched old man with hollow eyes. At this moment, he didn't even have a watchdog at his feet. This blind old man stood alone at the cliff's edge, rubbing his sunken cheeks as if hesitating about something.
That good disciple of his, who was both the door opener and the door closer, now seemed to be just a worthy man in the academy.
But those bookworms in the Literati Temple were rather single-minded. They had previously said "this once, no next time." It seemed that relying on accumulating a new batch of merits to help his disciple become a gentleman was hanging by a thread.
And what did he himself want with those few entries on the Literati Temple's merit ledger? After thinking about it, the old blind man found it pointless. He turned and walked toward his residence. Passing by Li Huai's room, he stopped, pushed open the door, and saw several flasks of wine and a stack of books on the table—probably intended for his master to read while drinking.
Yu Xuan, besides driving the River of Registers that lay like a mantle spread across the sky, had not been idle. This great cultivator who monopolized the word "talisman" had wild ideas and immense boldness. He actually tried to draw talismans on the path of the River of Registers to twist part of the River of Time, thereby opening a great gate to help the ferry boat move further away from the established Azure Path. Unexpectedly, before the gate could even open, only a threshold formed by layers of talismans had appeared, but it was already scattered by the momentum of that great tide. Yu Xuan had to give up in disappointment. He quickly performed some mental calculations—the approach was correct, but he hadn't prepared enough, too hasty. If he had sufficient time and could refine a massive quantity of talismans, perhaps he really could construct two great gates in the Grand Void outside the heavens. The ferry boat would enter through one gate and instantly exit through the second, like those return-to-void channels connecting the two worlds...
Lü Yan shook his head, smiling, "Friend Yu's idea is good, but very difficult to accomplish."
Yu Xuan chuckled.
If it were any other Daoist lineage, he could talk more, but when discussing talismans with the Pure Yang friend, there really wasn't much to say.
Although the commands for the earth veins were mostly nullified by the Barbarian World's Guike.
Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, besides offering those two great talismans, still had a hidden ultimate technique. He raised both hands as if folding paper.
He directly folded up the River of Time behind the Rite Saint, along with the four directions of heaven and earth, repeatedly, and then lightly placed this "paper kite" upon the River of Registers.
Such a heaven-reaching technique was like tying a knot in a piece of clothing. All the warp and weft threads of that clothing were pulled to varying degrees onto this knot.
Then he took a large section of the Azure Path trajectory behind the Barbarian World and similarly folded it into a paper kite.
Ultimately, the two paper kite talismans came together like two fish traps facing each other, catching a huge fish.
This was the Bamboo Basket Character Talisman—a talisman that had been researched for a very long time but was being used for the first time.
If back then, when Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises visited the Green Emerald City of the Jade Capital, Kou Ming had consulted this senior about talisman studies and ultimately created several great talismans including the Three Mountains Talisman.
Then Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises also gained something from that harmonious Dao discussion—for example, this "Basket" character talisman was specifically designed to suppress, dismantle, and break all kinds of "minor heavens" of great cultivators between heaven and earth.
The Pure Yang Daoist smiled knowingly. The Daoist friend Lu from the Jade Capital must have contributed significantly. Certainly, when Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises sat together with Church Leader Kou in Dao discussion, Friend Lu must have deliberately interjected with jokes.
Those who attained the Dao shed their bodies like a snake sheds its skin, forgetting form and breaking free of shackles. In the matter of cultivation, it was mostly like crossing a river and abandoning the boat, catching a fish and discarding the basket, climbing upstairs and removing the ladder. These actions actually had nothing to do with good or evil, carrying neither derogatory nor complimentary meanings.
But the fundamental Dao intent of Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises' great talisman was unprecedented. It was like an elder reminding later-generation Dao seekers not to forget their roots. Or perhaps it was simply piercing through a layer of window paper, directly telling those so-called mountain-peak cultivators that the so-called Dao attainers of today were still far from truly proving the Great Dao.
Yu Xuan's eyes widened. Talismans could be played like this?
Whether it was the world's grand arrays or minor heavens, facing this talisman, wouldn't they all be nonexistent without exception?
After Lü Yan saw this scene, he carefully observed it and seemed to gain some insight, benefiting his own sword technique.
Beside Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises appeared a woman in colorful clothes, her garments fluttering. Her enormous body was as large as a moon suspended in the void, with golden eyes. But unlike the coldness of deities, her gaze, expression, and attitude were all gentle and soft, extremely human-like.
The true spirit of the world's talismans—her status and identity in the Dao of talismans were like the "ancestor coins" among those divine money.
This was probably the root reason why Yu Xuan, relying solely on physical talismans, could not merge with the Dao in the fourteenth realm.
Not to mention refining tens of millions of talismans; even if the number were greater, Yu Xuan could not prove the Dao through this.
Only because on this path, a former worthy had already sat at the broken end. For a flying ascent realm cultivator wanting to enter the fourteenth realm, the most feared thing was walking a single-plank bridge where someone was already standing on the other side.
For example, with Bai Ye present, Su Zi and Liu Qi could not merge with the Dao through literary fortune into the fourteenth realm. With Sun Huaizhong of the Xuan Du Temple, Xiaomo was one step late. With Wu Zhou present, Ligou had to change paths.
This talisman true spirit born from the manifestation of the Great Dao stood at the end of the River of Registers' riverbed, her colossal dharma image facing toward the Rite Saint and Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises.
The talisman spirit in female form walked backward like planting rice seedlings.
Every "green seedling" she planted in the paddy field was an incalculable number of talismans she scattered into the Grand Void outside the heavens.
Obviously, she was laying out a brand new "Azure Path" so that the ferry boat of the Barbarian World could follow this trajectory, gradually moving away from the Bright World.
But Zheng Juzhong shook his head.
Li Xisheng inquired with heart voice, "Mr. Zheng, what is wrong?"
Zheng Juzhong smiled and said, "Even if the entire established Azure Path is changed, as long as no new trajectory that truly fits the Great Dao is created, it is still futile. Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises' Dao techniques may be high, able to replicate all methods with talisman arts and encompass all phenomena, but they are still insufficient to support the Dao cycle of an entire world. Moreover, this senior doesn't seem to frequently set foot in the Barbarian Lands, so this path, although slightly superior in rank to the great demon's initial rise, is actually somewhat inferior in firmness."
"Furthermore, assuming Zhou Mi has no backup plans, don't forget that the new Heavenly Court now contains more than just Zhou Mi. So even if there is a roughly rule-abiding new path, it cannot be considered foolproof."
Li Xisheng continued to ask, "If it were Mr. Zheng, what would you do?"
According to Zheng Juzhong's analysis, even with the Rite Saint and Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises joining forces, plus their layered formation, it seemed there was still no perfect plan.
Zheng Juzhong shook his head and smiled, "It can't be me."
While a layered formation had not yet truly touched the Barbarian World, Chen Ping'an tried to copy this temporarily unnamed great talisman in his heart lake, without success.
He could get only the form but not the spirit. Once the talisman's framework was raised, it would soon totter and collapse in an instant. After several attempts, this was always the dismal result.
It was like having too thin a foundation, trying to use a most crude yellow talisman paper to carry the true intent of a superior Daoist scripture—of course it wouldn't work.
Also, Chen Ping'an's Moon in the Well, having added six hundred gold essence copper coins, had its rank raised. It could probably now be called "Moon at the Wellmouth." Unfortunately, the seventy-plus thousand flying swords that had been split off were all used in the formation, so he couldn't spare any... to cook a small meal.
Chen Ping'an immediately asked with heart voice, "Xiaomo, if I build the framework of this talisman, can you fill in the veins with sword intent?"
Xiaomo shook his head, "I am an outsider in talismans and cannot help. The slightest difference leads to a thousand miles of error. Even if I returned to the Bright World and could calm down to repeatedly deduce within a Dao arena, I would probably only waste the young master's precious cultivation time."
He glanced at Bai Jing and reluctantly said, "Perhaps Bai Jing would be better suited to help the young master."
Chen Ping'an had to give up.
The young cultivator instantly entered the layered formation. "Mountain Lord Chen, I will temporarily preside over this formation. You prepare that backup move."
Besides relying on the layered formation to completely reverse the Barbarian World's bow and force it onto a "correct track" laid by the talisman spirit, they also needed this young Hidden Official to deliver the crucial blocking sword strike. Each link was interlocking; none could be missing.
Chen Ping'an nodded.
Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises asked, "Do you know how to deliver the sword?"
Chen Ping'an replied, "This junior will try his best."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Juzhong's smile became playful.
Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises clearly noticed Zheng Juzhong's peculiarity and asked with heart voice, "Mr. Zheng has something to say?"
Zheng Juzhong smiled, "Nothing to say."
Originally, the layered formation relative to that wide River of Registers was just like a floating duckweed on water.
After Chen Ping'an handed over the leadership of the formation's operation, Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises sat within it. Behind him instantly materialized a talisman dharma image that rivaled the Rite Saint's. The entire layered formation's scale correspondingly rose and expanded. All the Dao arenas suddenly expanded countless times, but not in a diluted way—the condensation of these secondary true-traced Dao arenas was not diminished at all.
Bai Jing grinned and let out a "Ha." Then she gave an impartial evaluation: when an expert makes a move, you know if they have it.
Chen Ping'an paid no attention. He only extended his mind out of his true body and looked into the distance at the edge of the Captive Bird flying sword's heaven and earth. He saw that Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises' dharma image, composed of countless talismans, was magnificent. The bones and sinews were accumulated from Mountain Character Talismans. Many dragon veins meandered for thousands of miles. The meridians were gathered from Water Character Talismans. In the history of several worlds, all great rivers could be seen within these waterways. Above the neck was a head, and within the brain, the scene resembled brilliant stars, but not the Milky Way where Talisman Yu Xuan's merged with the Dao. It seemed to be formed by the circling accumulation of countless unknown constellations.
The greatness of the Great Dao was incredible, beyond imagination.
The matter was of great importance. This young cultivator had to remind Chen Ping'an again, "I only preside over the formation; you are the formation itself. I can only try my best to offset the impact of the Barbarian World on the layered formation. When you truly find it difficult to sustain, don't force yourself to hold on. Just retrieve your two flying swords, keep some strength, and ensure you can deliver that sword strike."
In Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises' view, Chen Ping'an was both the origin of this magnificent layered formation and its weak link.
But he could not be too demanding of a young qi refiner who had only lived forty years, especially with a Dao age of less than thirty.
To be honest, even with someone as discerning as Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, Chen Ping'an's ability to reach this step was already quite remarkable.
In fact, earlier when performing calculations with the Rite Saint, there had been about eight candidates from the Bright World similar to Chen Ping'an. Among them were three sword cultivators, including Qi Jinglong from the Taihui Sword Sect in Beiju Continent.
Choices included several people, or nine people working together, and various combinations totaling over a hundred types.
In the end, the conclusion was to choose Chen Ping'an alone.
It wasn't that this choice had the greatest risks and benefits, but it was relatively the most "error-free" choice.
Chen Ping'an nodded, "I won't swell my face to look fat. I will definitely act within my means."
The young cultivator took out two blue-purple talismans from his sleeve and handed them to Chen Ping'an, explaining their uses: "One is to stabilize the soul, one to solidify the physical body. They can be used simultaneously. Do not use them unless absolutely necessary. Pay close attention to timing and don't act impulsively. If you use these two talismans too early, your true body and soul will be like a pillar rooted in the midst of a flood—like a pure martial artist being hit with a binding talisman, unable to fight back. To see the outcome, just look at Hu Tu. It's like hitting an egg against a rock. So it's best to use them immediately after dismantling the layered formation to heal your injuries, stabilize your heart and body, and prevent your soul from scattering outside your true body and damaging your Dao foundation."
Chen Ping'an carefully put away those two life-saving talismans that were worth a fortune. If used poorly, they could become death talismans.
The entire Barbarian World navigated within that River of Registers. The Rite Saint's dharma image had changed from leaning against the "ferry boat" to pushing the stern with both hands.
The entire back of the Rite Saint's dharma image had been worn into a pitch-black void by the Barbarian Great Dao. This visible loss of the Dao was incalculably vast. For any flying ascent realm or even fourteenth realm cultivator, it would probably make them feel desperate.
The two Bamboo Basket Character Talisman "paper folds" of Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, along with the golden round mirror formed by the sage's destiny characters, ensured that this ferry boat must travel within the River of Registers.
That talisman true spirit serving as Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises' "maid" stood at the end of the River of Registers, responsible for laying a new path. She had already constructed a talisman path millions of miles long in the void beyond the heavens.
The new path deviated from the Azure Path, creating a clearly visible arc.
And Chen Ping'an and the others' layered formation happened to be outside the arc's apex.
Like a heavy infantry formation withstanding a charge of elite cavalry.
After the "ferry boat" collided with it, it instantly tore a hole in the Captive Bird's sky and then slowly embedded itself into the layered formation.
Outside the heavens, a series of harsh sounds like blades slowly scraping glass echoed.
Even the Nameless One and Ligou, outsiders enjoying the distant scene, felt their scalps tingle.
The Nameless One quickly took a gulp of wine to calm himself, shuddered, and said with a smack, "Just watching hurts. Imagine how it feels for the one bearing it."
Ligou looked at that young Hidden Official. His figure was as small as a mustard seed, sitting cross-legged at the "sky canopy" of the sword formation's sky, showing no change in expression for the moment, holding his breath and sitting motionless as a mountain.
The Nameless One laughed, "He doesn't even frown. Young as he is, he's truly a tough man. It seems our Hidden Official Chen's physique as a pure martial artist is very solid. I wonder who taught him his punches—quite impressive."
Also speaking without feeling the pain, this Nameless One's words were much more pleasant to hear than Hu Tu's.
Seated within the minor heaven of sun and moon, Talisman Yu Xuan and the Pure Yang Daoist began to patch up the hole respectively, preventing the ferry boat's bow from tearing through more of the sky's barriers too quickly.
One Barbarian World, one layered formation—like two flowing pills in the River of Registers. The former rolled swiftly, the latter remained stationary, and their sizes were vastly different. Where they touched was like two millstones grinding against each other.
Zheng Juzhong nodded slightly. The toughness of the layered formation was a bit better than expected.
In fact, the Literati Temple must have prepared for the worst-case scenario: that they couldn't stop this ferry boat outside the heavens and eventually the two worlds would collide.
Then the Bright World's choice of the collision point would be very interesting. Zheng Juzhong guessed the Literati Temple's choice would be... the Central Earth Literati Temple.
At that time, the person to replace Chen Ping'an in this position would be the classical scholar Xiping, who was equivalent to a fourteenth realm cultivator when within the Literati Temple grounds.
Bright World, Central Earth Literati Temple.
An old scholar tugged at his beard with even more worry. Standing at the top of a pavilion's steps, he couldn't bear to watch the scene in the heavens anymore. He hastily withdrew his gaze and turned to an old friend beside him, who was dressed in a scholar's robe, and said, "Brother Xiping! They say a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring. Then a gushing spring of kindness cannot be repaid with a drop! Absolutely not!"
The classical scholar Xiping replied helplessly, "How to settle this matter? The Literati Temple has its own rules."
If one were to be strict, Chen Ping'an hadn't even asked for anything from the Literati Temple so far.
The old scholar was unhappy when he heard this. He stomped his foot, "Judge things by their merits, not by people's hearts! The world's morals decline daily. How can we expect everyone to be a sage? Besides, you and I—we are all scholars!"
Xiping became even more helpless, "You know my situation. I have to handle things according to the rules; I cannot discuss personal friendships."
Constrained by his identity, Xiping indeed could not talk about private relationships with anyone. Even though he was in the Literati Temple, he did not participate in discussions.
The old scholar actually didn't want anything from Xiping. He just wanted to distract himself, chatting about this and that to avoid acting like an inexperienced hothead.
He walked into the pavilion, sat down, but immediately jumped up as if his seat was on fire. He restrained himself from walking to the edge and craning his neck to look outside.
He was still like an ant circling on a hot pan.
The old scholar started muttering to himself, talking nonsense like a man drinking alone at a table.
Having read hundreds of thousands of sage books, one shouldn't just produce a pile of shit.
A vulgar man's piss and shit can still fertilize the fields. But a scholar with a crooked heart—even dogs won't touch his shit.
Occasionally, beautiful things and hardworking people can soften even the hardest hearts.
For Dao cultivators, the continuation and length of life lies in the depth of the traces they leave in the world.
Xiping sat to the side, silently listening. He was used to it.
A layered formation began to gradually collapse. The broken flying swords fell like torrential rain across the sky.
The Filling Gold Peak where Yu Xuan sat had completely dissipated. Zheng Juzhong's Colored Glaze Pavilion also collapsed and exploded, the scene brilliant and dazzling.
The Barbarian World, with an extremely fine amplitude, turned its bow and slowly shifted toward the trajectory laid by the talisman true spirit.
The Rite Saint's dharma image extended a hand to offset part of the impact for the layered formation. Half of the image's face pressed against the "ferry boat" wall was worn away by the Barbarian World.
Chen Ping'an kept his eyes closed, seated suspended in the air. One hand pressed against his abdomen, palm up, and the other hand made a fist resting on his knee. His entire skeleton emitted metallic vibrations, and golden flowing fire spilled out.
Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, who was presiding over the formation's operation, felt a little more at ease. He continuously adjusted many subtle aspects of the formation, no longer as restrained as before, able to exert the layered formation's power to a greater extent.
Because that young Hidden Official had accomplished something unexpected. His true body was like a mountain, and though his soul was like ten thousand flowers on the mountain burning together, turning into streams of flowing fire that cascaded down to the mountain's foot, fortunately these rivulets that all went their separate ways not only formed deep pools and ponds at the foot, but then converged into a river circling the mountain. Subsequently, about half of the dried-up small streams showed a climbing trend, actually starting to flow backward, returning to the various "qi mansions" within the mountain. In the end, this fire-like human form formed a self-cycle that tended toward stability and became orderly.
One of the layered formations, the Seventy-Two Seasonal Array, also couldn't bear the load. The seventy-two seals at its crux burst one after another.
The Pure Yang Daoist raised a round sun with one hand, pushed it heavily, then brought two fingers together in a sword gesture, commanding the long sword behind him. A dharma sword clanged out of its sheath with a dragon's cry, but twisted into a rope like a sun-tether. Lü Yan twisted his body and swung his arm, directly dragging the rising sun in a huge arc, tossing it toward the massive gap where the Captive Bird was broken by the ferry boat. This move, combining both Dao techniques and sword arts, was perfectly timed. The magnificent sun, surging upward with great momentum, transformed into a golden dharma robe spread open along the way. After that, a long sword rope seemed to connect thousands of blazing suns, layer upon layer, climbing higher until they reached the sky canopy, all turning into dharma robes to block the Barbarian World from enlarging the gap.
To coordinate the "celestial position" of this sun, Yu Xuan drove the moon in the Liangyi Array to sink to the bottom.
Lü Yan turned to look at Chen Ping'an.
Chen Ping'an straightened his waist slightly and said with heart voice, "It's fine."
Just this move by Lü Yan and Yu Xuan was equivalent to pulling Chen Ping'an's heavenly soul and earthly soul into a taut straight line, like a single plank supporting the swaying Captive Bird's heaven and earth.
Zheng Juzhong flicked his sleeve, condensing the shattered Colored Glaze Pavilion into an unknown talisman like a "seal," pasting it onto the gate opened in the sky canopy.
At the same time, a sunken blood groove appeared on Chen Ping'an's forehead.
Obviously, Zheng Juzhong was the ally who cared least about whether Chen Ping'an could handle it or not.
So Li Xisheng brought two fingers together, moved his feet to tread the void, and drew a talisman on the earth like filling a trench to level a sea trench. The blood groove on Chen Ping'an's forehead instantly disappeared.
As if receiving secret instructions from Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, Bai Jing hesitated for a moment. She looked at her mountain lord, who nodded slightly. So she stepped on a void intercalary moon position within the layered formation and offered a sword upward. Several thousand rainbow-like sword beams shot up to the sky, like countless lightning bolts connecting two seas of clouds. The sword beams darted around like electric serpents within the Captive Bird's heaven and earth. At the same time, above the Barbarian World's "sky," they formed a thunder pool hundreds of miles wide, slowly pushing one side of the ferry boat's bow toward the path created by the talisman spirit.
For some great cultivators in the Barbarian World who looked up at the sky, it was probably a thunder pool tribulation for an immortal realm cultivator trying to enter flying ascent. The heavenly might was vast, but it was destined never to fall to the ground.
Chen Ping'an slightly twisted his wrist. The two talismans slipped out from his sleeve and fused into the backs of his left and right hands respectively.
This was?
According to reason, Chen Ping'an could still hold on for at least half a stick of incense, or at most a full stick.
Xiaomo couldn't stop him; Bai Jing also had a moment of bewilderment. It looked like their Mountain Lord Chen was about to force a desperate fight?
Chen Ping'an's right hand, which had been making a fist on his knee, gently opened, the five fingers forming a shape as if grasping a sword handle.
His left hand, pressed against his abdomen with palm up, flipped over, also in a grasping motion, but as if holding the sword's blade, slowly moving from right to left.
A grain of pure golden light bloomed across heaven and earth.
Not only did the seventy-plus thousand flying swords within the Captive Bird vibrate in unison.
Even the Pure Yang Daoist's dharma sword, transformed into a long rope pulling the sun, shook to a certain extent, as if meeting a kindred spirit, emitting a high-pitched hum.
The wandering electric serpents formed by Bai Jing's sword beams, hanging between heaven and earth, leaned uniformly to one side like mountain trees blown by the wind.
Half of the Sword Qi Great Wall, with a single sword in hand.
Far outside the heavens, a young Daoist wearing a lotus crown shrank his shoulders, extended his palm, and rubbed his neck.
At that moment, the Rite Saint was the first to narrow his eyes and look into the distance.
A moment later, a slender black line wound its way here. Beneath the black line was a fiery red path.
Lu Chen, who was sneakily hiding in his own world's sky canopy to watch the fun, suddenly opened his eyes wide. He slapped his fist into his palm, "Coming early can't beat coming at the right time. What a feast for the eyes!"
The Nameless One sensed something was wrong. He immediately reached out and grabbed his companion Ligou by the shoulder, mustering all his strength to dive into an easily overlooked crevice in the Grand Void.
Yu Xuan said gravely, "It seems to be that ancient Teng Serpent wandering deep in the Grand Void."
Zheng Juzhong exchanged heart-voice words with the Rite Saint and Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises.
The Rite Saint nodded slightly. Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, though showing a puzzled expression, still commanded that talisman spirit woman to return to his sleeve.
In just a few blinks, this ancient Teng Serpent revealed its enormity.
The entire Barbarian World was as small as a bead. It opened its mouth and swallowed it into its belly. It shook its head slightly, knocking aside the layered formation. Its massive body crushed the new path painstakingly laid by the talisman spirit. With a flick of its tail, it spat out the bead. Then with a nudge of its head, the Barbarian World had changed to a brand new "Azure Path" that seemed pre-set. The Teng Serpent's form sank into the Grand Void and disappeared.
On the serpent's head, one could faintly see a "Lu Fayin" who was nothing but a husk, without consciousness.
On the path where the Teng Serpent had traveled, heavy Dao traces from the burning fire lingered for a long time.
Lü Yan shrank the earth and crossed mountains, arriving in one step at the roadside. He crouched down, picked up some ashes with his fingers. This true man, with the Dao title "Pure Yang," couldn't help but sigh. He raised his head to look into the distance—could even a "Great Dao" be burned?
Chen Ping'an was knocked backward by the collision and fell to the ground, rolling. The left-handed sword that was about to take shape gradually dissipated. Finally, he propped himself up with his right hand, vomiting blood heavily.
Li Xisheng sighed. Today, they had only temporarily solved the urgent problem. In the future, every ten years, the two mutually attracting worlds would collide once.
If that ancient Teng Serpent hadn't meddled, the Rite Saint might have been able to accomplish everything in one battle. Of course, the Bright World might have suffered heavy casualties. Because there were too many unknown variables, any deduction was meaningless.
Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises returned the formation to Chen Ping'an.
The layered formation turned back into the two flying swords, Captive Bird and Moon at the Wellmouth, instantly disappearing into Chen Ping'an's brow.
The Rite Saint's expression was as usual. He cupped his hands and bowed to everyone, "Thank you all for your hard work."
In the end, they had gained an extra ten years of time.
Except for Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, who stood motionless, the other cultivators returned the salute.
When Chen Ping'an tried to stand up, the Rite Saint pressed his hand down in the air and said with a smile, "Take good care of your injuries."
Xiaomo came to Chen Ping'an's side and helped his master stand up.
Chen Ping'an wiped the blood from his face. Fortunately, he hadn't "again" dropped a realm.
Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises frowned slightly and asked with heart voice, "Chen Ping'an, why did you use those two talismans early?"
Chen Ping'an remained silent.
Zheng Juzhong felt a small regret.
If Chen Ping'an had resolutely swung a sword at the Barbarian World, he, Zheng Juzhong, would definitely have been the first to follow up, adding fuel to the fire.
Presumably Xiaomo and Bai Jing, both flying ascent sword cultivators, would not have been idle either; they could have counted as adding flowers to the brocade.
Li Xisheng would have been forced to protect Chen Ping'an's Dao. The Pure Yang Lü Yan would also have continued to swing his sword, blocking Bai Ze or the Barbarian World's Guike...
Yu Xuan, seeing the "standoff" where one side asked and got no answer, couldn't help but think that youth was truly good.
The Rite Saint smiled and patted this young cultivator's arm. "Put yourself in his shoes—I wouldn't indulge anyone either."
In a crevice of the Grand Void that seemed like a whirlpool in the River of Time, Ligou, known for being expressionless, couldn't help but smile.
It turned out that the Nameless One had been burned by a mysteriously forked fire path, making him look singed. This short man, unable to dodge in time, shook his head, and tufts of burnt hair fell off.
Ligou