Chapter 2443: Yu Huang, Shi Huang, Jian Huang
The Xia Clan possessed an ancient castle in the Eastern Second Domain of Ice King Star, with a long history spanning thousands of acres. Beyond the castle lay a vast forest of blood-red trees.
As night fell, Xia Yu stood atop the highest structure of the castle, holding a foot-long bronze brush in her hand, earnestly writing something on a two-zhang-long jade table.
The castle's lord, Xia Qiuling, a Saint King realm expert, stood outside the door, respectfully bowing. "Imperial Lord, the matter you ordered investigated has yielded clues."
"Enter!"
Xia Qiuling pushed open the door and stepped inside, not daring to look directly at the stunningly beautiful woman before him. From his sleeve, he produced a butterfly emitting a blood-red glow.
The butterfly's body was semi-transparent. Fluttering its wings, it flew toward Yu Huang.
"Swoosh!"
The butterfly struck Xia Yu's wrist, dissolving into specks of light that merged into her.
"I already know. Withdraw!"
Yu Huang raised the bronze brush, flicking its tip toward Xia Qiuling. Instantly, a powerful surge of spiritual power, like a blade, slashed into his sea of consciousness, erasing part of his memory.
At that moment, in the antique room, the candlelight flickered violently.
A deep, fierce voice echoed through the castle: "I wonder what matter Yu Huang is investigating. I am quite curious."
"Who is it?"
"Whose voice?"
...
A fierce wind arose.
An overwhelming sacred might suddenly enveloped the entire Great Xia Ancient Castle.
All saint realm cultivators were terrified, crushed to their knees, trembling uncontrollably, until they lay flat on the ground, unable to move.
Any living being below the saint realm, whether Xia Clan members or servants, had their bodies crushed into bloody mist.
Screams rose and fell.
A thick, bloody stench permeated the castle.
Even Xia Qiuling, a Saint King realm cultivator, knelt on the ground, unable to stand.
"What a terrifying enemy—definitely a Great Saint above the Thousand Questions Realm. When did the Xia Clan provoke such a formidable foe?" Xia Qiuling's heart was filled with fear, feeling death drawing ever closer.
Yu Huang remained unflappable, still holding the brush. "Fei'er Tianding, my Xia Clan has no grievance with you. What is your intention?"
Fei'er Tianding stood on the grass outside the ancient castle, releasing his Dao Domain. Countless sacred dao rules flew out, enveloping a thousand-mile radius. Some of these rules coalesced into tens of thousands of Rakshasa-shaped sacred armies.
Within his Dao Domain, all battle fluctuations could be concealed.
Fei'er Tianding let out a deep laugh, taking a step through the air as if passing through a sheet of paper, penetrating the castle's defensive formation. With a thunderous crash, he shattered the wall and entered the room, standing opposite Yu Huang.
Xia Qiuling was sent flying by the evil Rakshasa aura emanating from Fei'er Tianding, turning into a crumpled mass of bloody flesh.
Fei'er Tianding looked Yu Huang up and down, taking in her nearly perfect figure, her delicate yet cold features, her tall and voluptuous frame, her skin unnaturally pale, and the icy beauty's temperament mixed with the innate seductiveness of the Undying Blood Clan.
"Haha! No wonder you became Zhang Ruochen's paramour. Truly worthy of being the number one beauty of the Blood Heaven Tribe." He laughed.
Yu Huang's gaze turned icy cold. "Say one more nonsense word, and I'll drain your blood dry."
"You're young, but your temper is fierce. Hmph. With your Hundred Shackles Realm cultivation, you'd best abandon any thought of fighting me. Otherwise, if I ruin your face, it won't be pretty. Come with me—a certain great figure wishes to see you."
Fei'er Tianding's face always wore a mocking smile, not taking Yu Huang seriously at all.
With his Thousand Questions Realm peak cultivation, he indeed had that confidence.
Although Xia Yu had fought Thousand Questions Realm heavenly slaves on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, those slaves had their spiritual power sealed and lacked powerful weapons, greatly diminishing their combat strength.
Fei'er Tianding was no reckless fool; he had carefully analyzed Yu Huang's performance on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield.
Her combat power could at most match a Thousand Questions Realm mid-stage Great Saint.
Now that Yu Huang was trapped in his Dao Domain, he could suppress her with one hand.
Of course, if Yu Huang fought desperately, burning sacred blood and using forbidden arts, wanting to escape, even with his far superior cultivation, capturing her would not be easy.
Just like when Yan Huangtu had struggled against a desperate Yu Huang.
Fei'er Tianding feared even more that Yu Huang was a woman unafraid of death. If pushed too far, she might self-detonate her sacred source. That would lead to mutual destruction.
So, the best outcome was that Yu Huang didn't know his purpose and willingly went to see Bai Qinger.
Who would want to fight to the death if they didn't have to?
Yu Huang said, "A great figure? Which great figure are you referring to? A god of the Fei'er family?"
"You'll know who she is when you go."
Yu Huang countered, "What if I refuse to go?"
"Chi chi!"
Fei'er Tianding summoned the monarch sacred artifact "Golden Jade Cloud Winged Spear," holding it in his hand. Battle qi transformed into a cloud of evil Rakshasa sacred energy, hovering above the castle. In a threatening tone, he said, "If you refuse, all Xia Clan cultivators in this castle will die. And you can only watch helplessly, unable to stop it."
"Rumble."
One by one, sacred armies formed from sacred dao rules charged into the castle, trampling Xia Clan cultivators underfoot, ready to take their lives at any moment.
All the sacred armies were part of Fei'er Tianding's Dao Domain.
The cold aura emanating from Yu Huang caused sharp ice pillars to form in the room. "Do you not fear that I will self-detonate my sacred source and take you with me?"
"I am merely inviting you as a guest, not seeking a fight. Besides, we are less than four zhang apart. Do you think you have the chance to self-detonate your sacred source?" Fei'er Tianding said.
"I have long wanted to see just how strong a Thousand Questions Realm peak Great Saint truly is. If you can defeat me in one strike, I will not resist and will immediately go with you to meet that great figure. If you cannot, you had better get out of my castle."
"Swoosh—"
Yu Huang spread her eight silver wings, their silver light like blades, tearing through the castle's roof and illuminating the dim sky and earth.
Fei'er Tianding acted decisively, thrusting the Golden Jade Cloud Winged Spear forward like lightning.
The air exploded with a sharp sound.
Space cracked with tiny fissures along the spear's trajectory.
In an instant, the spear tip was before Yu Huang.
Standing still, Yu Huang slapped the jade table before her. With a "bang," the two-zhang-long table stood upright like a shield, blocking her.
"A table to block my spear tip?"
This thought had just crossed Fei'er Tianding's mind when he sensed something was wrong.
On the seemingly ordinary table surface, densely packed blood-red talisman patterns suddenly appeared, transforming it into a sacred killing talisman. While blocking the Golden Jade Cloud Winged Spear, countless attack powers surged from the talisman.
"Not good—she was prepared, deliberately luring me to attack."
Fei'er Tianding's expression changed drastically. He quickly shifted from offense to defense, crossing the Golden Jade Cloud Winged Spear before him to form a light barrier against the talisman's power.
"Boom."
Fei'er Tianding was sent flying backward, crashing into the ground outside the ancient castle and plowing a long trench.
His body was charred black, skin split open.
"Why did Xia Yu have an attack talisman prepared? Did she know I was coming to capture her? No, there's no way news leaked. It must be a coincidence. Hmph! This little girl is quite cautious."
Fei'er Tianding's eyes turned fierce as he slowly stood up.
He had been too careless earlier. Otherwise, even if Yu Huang had prepared a talisman, she couldn't have harmed him.
The gap of several realms was not so easily crossed.
Yu Huang walked to the broken platform of the castle, looking down at Fei'er Tianding below. "You lost."
Fei'er Tianding was not about to give up. "Little girl, you're still young to talk about winning and losing with me. If I hadn't underestimated you, you wouldn't have had the chance to repel me."
Yu Huang shook her head gently. "Fei'er Tianding, you really don't know when to quit. Do you realize that breaking into my Xia Clan's castle is a capital offense? I told you to leave to give you a chance to live. Since you insist on dying, I will grant your wish."
Fei'er Tianding felt as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, thinking Yu Huang had stolen his lines.
Yu Huang clasped her two snow-white, crystalline hands together, forming seals with her fingers. She released powerful spiritual power, and instantly, the castle beneath her and the thousand-mile region around it lit up with countless formation inscriptions, interweaving like a blood-red spiderweb.
The Xia Clan had operated this castle for over ten thousand years, setting up countless formations.
If Yu Huang hadn't deliberately let Fei'er Tianding in, how could he have so easily entered the castle?
After all, Yu Huang herself was a formidable formation earth master, capable of setting up ninth-rank formations.
"Boom!"
"Rumble!"
...
From the ground around the ancient castle, stone peaks rose one after another, turning the area into a cage.
Fei'er Tianding could no longer laugh. His face darkened with clouds, and he was certain that Yu Huang had known he was coming and had deliberately let him into the formation.
"How exactly did you know I would come here?" Fei'er Tianding asked in a deep voice.
Yu Huang opened her left hand, and the Seven Star Ghost Lotus appeared in her palm.
The lotus's supreme inscription patterns connected with the formation inscriptions of heaven and earth, emitting a dark, eerie light.
Fei'er Tianding's eyelids twitched again. He realized that defeating Yu Huang alone might not be difficult, but capturing her alive would be as hard as reaching the heavens.
"Zhang Ruochen actually gave her the supreme sacred artifact Seven Star Ghost Lotus. With the power of a supreme sacred artifact and formations, this Xia Yu cannot be underestimated."
Fei'er Tianding suddenly burst into loud laughter. "The lives of the Xia Clan's saint realm cultivators are in my hands. Are you sure you want to fight me?"
Yu Huang shook her head. "Fei'er Tianding, your cultivation is strong, but your spiritual power is far too weak compared to mine. You can't even see through an illusion formation. You disappoint me."
"Illusion formation?"
Fei'er Tianding gritted his teeth, glaring toward the castle.
He saw that the Xia Clan cultivators being suppressed by the sacred armies had all turned into grains of sand and vanished.
"Damn it! I will make you pay a heavy price."
Unable to bear the humiliation of being toyed with by a woman less than a thousand years old, Fei'er Tianding roared, "Sacred Command of a Thousand Armies."
The sacred armies formed from sacred dao rules erupted with majestic battle might, charging at Yu Huang in waves.
"Bang! Bang! Bang..."
Yu Huang activated the formation's power, sending down bolt after bolt of lightning, shattering the sacred armies into scattered rules.
"Six Harmonies Slay the Heavens."
Fei'er Tianding raised the Golden Jade Cloud Winged Spear, its golden cloud light dazzling, illuminating a thousand miles. It even shattered several stone peaks within the formation, sending rubble crashing to the ground.
Fei'er Tianding spread his ten wings, unleashing extreme speed as he soared into the sky. Then, with the might to overwhelm heaven and earth, he brought the spear down.
Before the spear even landed, the castle below was covered in dense cracks.
The ground sank.
"A Thousand Questions Realm peak cultivator is indeed beyond my current ability to contend with."
Knowing she could not withstand Fei'er Tianding's full-force strike, Yu Huang channeled all her power into the Seven Star Ghost Lotus.
The Seven Star Ghost Lotus spun, growing to the size of a palace, releasing surging supreme power.
"Boom."
The Golden Jade Cloud Winged Spear struck the Seven Star Ghost Lotus. The spear shaft trembled, emitting cracking sounds as if it might break under the supreme power's impact.
The castle beneath the ghost lotus instantly collapsed.
The gap in cultivation between Yu Huang and Fei'er Tianding was ultimately too great. She couldn't block the strike. Her body exploded like a balloon, and the Seven Star Ghost Lotus was driven deep into the ground by the spear.
Fei'er Tianding, holding the now-cracked Golden Jade Cloud Winged Spear, landed on the ground and let out a wild laugh. "A mere Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint thought she could contend with me using a supreme sacred artifact. She deserved to die."
Although killing Yu Huang meant he couldn't report back to Bai Qinger, seizing a supreme sacred artifact was still a great achievement.
In fact, Fei'er Tianding even entertained the thought of keeping the Seven Star Ghost Lotus for himself.
Fei'er Tianding formed a large hand of evil Rakshasa qi, retrieving the Seven Star Ghost Lotus from underground. Just as a smile appeared on his face, his expression suddenly changed drastically, as if the object in his hand was not a supreme sacred artifact but some kind of poison. He urgently tried to throw it away.
"Too late."
Yu Huang, whose life aura had been undetectable, suddenly burst out from the Seven Star Ghost Lotus. Her jade hand formed a palm seal, her palm surging with Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame, striking Fei'er Tianding heavily in the chest.
Fei'er Tianding was extremely formidable. Purple light erupted from within his body as he used his physical body alone to resist Yu Huang's palm strike.
"Bang!"
Fei'er Tianding was sent flying again, like a cannonball, crashing into a stone peak and embedding himself in the formation inscriptions.
One after another, formation inscriptions twisted into chains, binding his entire body.
"Break for me."
Fei'er Tianding's body expanded, snapping the chains one by one as he flew down from the stone peak.
Yu Huang's expression changed slightly. This Fei'er Tianding was too powerful. Taking her palm strike head-on, he had only suffered minor injuries.
Fei'er Tianding forced the Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame out of his body strand by strand, his frozen chest gradually thawing. He walked step by step toward Yu Huang, his aura growing stronger. "I deeply regret not heeding my master's advice to spend more time cultivating spiritual power. I never thought that today, due to my weakness in spiritual power, you would seize every advantage. But from now on, you will have no more chances."
"Is that so?"
Yu Huang's gaze flicked into the distance.
Fei'er Tianding also sensed it—a cultivator had entered his Dao Domain. He glanced sideways.
Zhang Ruochen walked through the formation inscriptions, holding a wooden staff, his green robe fluttering. Flanking him were Shi Huang, a zhang-tall figure with six arms wielding a Xuanhuang Sacred Spear, and Jian Huang, a tall, thin man radiating sharpness.
"You two, this time you can go all out. Assist Yu Huang in swiftly taking down Fei'er Tianding. I want him alive!" Zhang Ruochen said in a hoarse voice.