Chapter 423: Lava Forest
The Sword Realm was a sword technique created by the Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor after being enlightened by the Village Chief, entering the realm of the Sword Dao. It differed from his previous sword techniques. Before, he had only touched the threshold of the Sword Dao but had not yet reached its pinnacle.
At that time, his sword techniques were powerful, and he had created three basic sword forms, hailed as the Sword God. However, without entering the Sword Dao, he could never compare to the Village Chief. After entering the Sword Dao, his combat power increased tremendously.
He was exceptionally brilliant, with no weaknesses in his strength, and the Sword Dao he comprehended was different from the Village Chief's.
The Village Chief remembered the martyrs and created the Sword Diagram, more out of nostalgia for the past. In contrast, he was pioneering and enterprising, reforming and changing the laws, possessing great ambition and vision.
Ambition determines achievement. The Village Chief's era had passed, and his era had just arrived.
His Sword Realm had just been created, with only the first chapter completed: Defining the Realm.
Defining the Realm: to define the rivers and mountains, to define the state and the altars of land and grain, to quell the chaos within the four seas, to sweep away the calamities across the eight desolates, and to usher in an era of great peace. The Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor's will and ambition were hidden within this single sword strike—the highest sword technique he could currently create!
The One-Eyed Deity was pierced through his single eye by this sword strike, and Defining the Realm had already been buried within the One-Eyed Deity's mind.
The One-Eyed Deity was treacherous. He wasn't truly one-eyed; he originally had two eyes. However, his cultivation technique was peculiar, and his mastery of the Dao of Creation was extraordinary. Through the wonders of creation, he moved one eye to the center of his forehead and the other to the back of his head, usually covered by his hair, making people believe he had only one eye.
Little did they know he could see both in front and behind. He knew the Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor was his formidable rival and the key figure in the Yan Kang reforms. Therefore, this time, he was willing to sacrifice one eye to send the Imperial Preceptor to his death!
Yet, despite his cunning and willingness to lose an eye, the Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor was even more adept in the art of schemes.
The power of Defining the Realm, hidden in his mind, erupted. Cracks appeared on the One-Eyed Deity's head, and streaks of blinding sword light emerged from these cracks.
Suddenly, his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose became dazzlingly bright, followed by streams of sword light bursting forth from them. Then, more and more cracks spread across his head, and even more sword light erupted from the fissures. The brilliant light instantly illuminated the surrounding snowy mountains as if it were broad daylight!
Thump!
The One-Eyed Deity's fist slammed down, striking the Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor heavily. The ground cracked and split with a sharp crackling sound, with fissures radiating outward from the Imperial Preceptor in all directions, stretching who knows how far.
The Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor coughed up blood, hearing the sound of his own bones breaking.
The One-Eyed Deity's entire upper body above the neck vanished completely. His corpse swayed and then collapsed.
At the bottom of the pit, the Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor lay motionless, blood continuously flowing from his mouth, his breath as faint as a thread. "Jade-Faced Poison King... save me..."
At that moment, Cripple was carrying the Pharmacist, sprinting frantically through various battle zones, dodging wildly. The Pharmacist was constantly concocting pills and medicines, even faster than Qin Mu, either poisoning the Celestial Deities or administering healing medicine to the Village Chief and others. He urged, "Cripple, hurry! Faster! Didn't you boast that your speed is unmatched under heaven?"
"If I weren't carrying you, I *would* be unmatched under heaven!"
Cripple was furious, shouting, "Why don't you try having your legs cut off and reattached twice? My legs have been severed twice, and I only just got them reconnected recently. I'm worried that if I run any faster, my legs will leave my upper body and run off on their own!"
The Pharmacist comforted him, "It's fine. Mu'er's skills are good; they won't break easily. Run a bit faster; there's a deity catching up behind us."
Behind them, a three-headed deity was chasing madly. The Pharmacist had already released his "little darlings," a tide of poisonous creatures surging like a flood toward that deity.
These poisonous creatures had been nurtured by the Pharmacist for years with miraculous pills and various poisons. Each was incredibly powerful. As they ran, they transformed, their bodies swelling in an instant, muscles and exoskeletons popping and expanding, turning into massive, ferocious monsters that breathed clouds and mist, spewed fire and water, and released poison.
But even so, they could only slightly slow down the three-headed deity's pace.
That deity's strength was terrifying. With a mere gesture, it smashed the poisonous creatures into pulp, sending multicolored juices and severed limbs flying everywhere.
These creatures couldn't even get close before being blasted apart by its roar.
Even when poisoned, one of the three-headed deity's heads burst into raging flames, becoming a head of fire. It burned fiercely from the inside out, using divine fire to refine itself. The divine fire circulated through its body repeatedly, incinerating the venom.
Its other head turned a sapphire blue, and a precious blue light washed over its body repeatedly, expelling the poison in an instant.
The Pharmacist's poisons had met their match in this deity.
Moreover, without relying on his poisons, the Pharmacist's personal strength was the weakest in the Crippled Village, merely at the Heavenly Human realm. His power lay entirely in his poisons and poisonous creatures.
Factoring in his poisons and creatures, his combat power became incalculable—he might poison a deity to death, or he might be crushed with a single slap.
Carrying the Pharmacist, Cripple's speed was not at its peak. He also had to dodge potential sneak attacks from other deities at any moment. Their situation was extremely dangerous.
Even though Cripple's speed was unparalleled, weaving through earth-shattering divine abilities was still a heart-stopping affair. One misstep and both of them could die at any moment.
"The Imperial Preceptor has lost his combat ability. Let's go rescue him first!"
Cripple, carrying the Pharmacist, rushed toward where the Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor had fallen. But at that moment, the three-headed deity suddenly shook itself, and two of its heads flew through the air, combining water and fire to sweep toward them!
Cripple hurriedly dodged. Suddenly, the ground ahead became scorching hot, instantly turning into rolling magma. The entire snowy mountain was sinking into the lava. A deity stood on the magma, holding a bright mirror. The mirror floated up, suspended in the air, its massive reflective surface shining down into the lava.
Everything beneath the ground became as clear as lake water, visible in detail.
That deity had a goat's head with a pair of curved goat horns and sharp eyes, searching for traces underground.
Suddenly, the mirror light caught the figure of Earth Traveler Peak. He was moving swiftly underground, but when the mirror light shone on him, his speed immediately slowed. He could move unimpeded underground, but this mirror light could bind him, restricting his speed beneath the earth.
"Die!"
The goat-headed deity sneered. The horns on its head detached, shooting into the magma with two sharp *chi* sounds, heading straight for Earth Traveler Peak.
At that moment, the magma suddenly changed. It rose up, forming a massive face that opened its mouth wide and swallowed the goat-headed deity. "Even if I die, I'm taking you with me!"
Cripple and the Pharmacist looked underground. Under the mirror's illumination, Earth Traveler Peak was frozen deep in the earth, while the two goat horns pierced him from front to back.
Earth Traveler Peak's divine ability was dragging the goat-headed deity down into the earth, sinking them both into the depths.
"Cripple, steal that mirror!" the Pharmacist shouted.
Cripple dashed over, using his Heaven-Stealing, Sun-Changing Hand technique. The bright mirror vanished with a *shua* sound, hidden somewhere unknown.
Freed from the mirror's light, Earth Traveler Peak immediately began to move, fiercely attacking the goat-headed deity. Without the mirror's illumination, Cripple and the Pharmacist could no longer see the battle underground.
The magma rolled, surging with fiery waves. Suddenly, the magma rose into the air, forming a giant hand that rapidly solidified. Then, fists, hammers, and feet burst forth from this sea of lava, freezing in midair—a breathtaking sight.
Cripple hurriedly carried the Pharmacist to dodge, shouting down into the ground, "Three-Inch Nail, stop fighting! Come out and let the Pharmacist heal you..."
The Pharmacist gently patted his shoulder and said softly, "Don't call him out. Let him fight to his heart's content. When he was frozen just now, those two goat horns had already nailed his primordial spirit. He only has his last breath left. When that breath is gone, he will..."
He didn't finish.
Cripple was stunned. He gritted his teeth and, without looking back, rushed toward where the Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor had fallen.
The sea of magma trembled incessantly. Strange peaks and bizarre rocks rose from the ground. The ferocity of the battle underground was unimaginable. Suddenly, the fighting beneath the lava ceased, and everything fell silent. Only the strange peaks and rocks that had risen from the sea remained, bearing the imprints of palms, fists, and other forms.
*Hualala.*
The magma parted to both sides, and the goat-headed deity slowly emerged from the sea, its figure growing taller and taller.
*Thump, thump, thump.*
It walked out of the lava step by step, the magma flowing off its body like water, solidifying into black rock as it fell. Its eyes were hollow and wretched, but it still radiated an earth-shattering fighting spirit.
Cripple and the Pharmacist were startled. But at that moment, the goat-headed deity collapsed with a *plop*. A sharp horned hammer was embedded in the back of its head. The short, small-statured Earth Traveler Peak hung from the hammer's handle as they fell together, his chest still pierced by the two goat horns.
The red fire in this chieftain of the Earth Traveler Tribe's eyes slowly dimmed.
"The taste of the underground fire-hot fruit... is like strong liquor. When it flows down your throat, you can savor it for a lifetime."
The fire in his eyes gradually extinguished. He murmured, "I remember that taste again... I suppose this life is coming to an end... I shouldn't have answered the call of the Human Sovereign Seal, but my ancestors have already sworn an oath. The Earth Traveler Tribe will never break our ancestors' vow..."
He closed his eyes and sank into the magma together with the goat-headed deity, slowly swallowed by the lava.
Cripple carried the Pharmacist to the Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor's side. The Pharmacist quickly got down to administer aid. Suddenly, an incredibly bright light burst from the darkness. They looked up and saw the Sun Ship sailing out of the darkness. A figure like a heavenly god stood on the ship, holding chains, towing a blazing sun.
"It's that girl Mu'er brought! She's the Sun Guardian!"
The Pharmacist immediately recognized Yan Jingjing. Without time to be surprised, he quickly shouted, "Sun Guardian, help us quickly!"
Yan Jingjing's gaze swept across the battlefield. Her four arms pulled the chains, and with her overwhelmingly brutal strength, she dragged the sun high above down toward the ground.
On the Sun Ship, tens of thousands of Sun Herders' faces changed drastically. They all shouted in unison, "Sun Guardian, you must not!"
The Sun Herder chieftain cried out, "Little ancestor, don't learn from the Young Lord!"
The sun descended halfway, then suddenly stopped. From the lower half of the sun, streaks of razor-sharp golden light shot out, aiming at the Celestial Deities locked in battle!
———— I've been stuck at home for a long time. I finally went out once, and it affected the update. My apologies! To make it up to everyone, I'll post a photo on the public account, along with many other big names. Everyone, search WeChat for the public account "Zhai Zhu," follow it, and check the history to see it! That's it for today's single chapter. Zhai Zhu will rest tonight and start making up for the missed chapters tomorrow!