Chapter 744: Lone Star Accompanying the Moon
"Whoosh!"
The power fluctuations erupting from the three beasts shattered the defensive barrier of the book mountain. Instantly, the scroll beneath Zhang Ruochen's feet rapidly unfurled, extending in all directions, growing larger and larger.
Finally, that scroll became a full hundred miles long, evolving into a miniature world that absorbed both Zhang Ruochen and the three beasts within it.
On the pages, tens of thousands of characters flew up, suspended in midair, radiating bright light like a sky full of stars.
Long San's true form was a Demon Heart Black Dragon, over three thousand meters long, soaring through the sky like a black mountain range. Each scale on its body was as large as a winnowing basket, and its sharp dragon claws were like swords thrust into flesh.
Jiao Si's true form was a Six-Claw Nether Flood Dragon, as massive as Long San, exuding a chilling cold that caused goose-feather snow to fall from the sky, blanketing the entire book mountain.
Peng Liu's true form was a Golden-Winged Roc.
With its wings spread, it covered most of the sky. Even hundreds of miles away, the golden light radiating from its body was visible.
All three beasts were descendants of divine beasts. Though their power couldn't compare to that of young divine beasts, they still possessed the strength to overturn rivers and seas.
The cultivators below looked up, feeling as though Zhang Ruochen and the three Guardian Beast Generals of the Demon Sect had leaped into another world.
Yet, the miniature world evolved from the scroll hovered above the book mountain, visible to all cultivators, who could see everything happening within it.
There, Zhang Ruochen stood beneath the three divine beast descendants, his body as small as a grain of sand, appearing utterly insignificant.
Seeing the three Guardian Beast Generals of the Demon Sect reveal their true forms, even the Liangyi Sect disciples who had great confidence in Lin Yue gasped in cold air, shivering with fear.
"The Demon Heart Black Dragon's true form is so enormous. If it strikes with a claw, it could probably flatten a mountain into a plain. This time, Long San is seeking revenge on Lin Yue and is finally going to show his might."
"It's said that the Six-Claw Nether Flood Dragon once swallowed an entire city—walls, houses, and people—into its belly and still wasn't full. I wonder if that legend is true?"
"The Golden-Winged Roc's speed is said to be unmatched below the Half-Saint realm. Even Demon Son Ouyang Huan's speed might not surpass it."
Chen Tianpeng, the heir of the Eastern Domain Saint Manor, sneered, "If it were one-on-one, Long San, Jiao Si, and Peng Liu probably wouldn't be a match for Lin Yue. But their strength isn't much weaker than his. Now that the three beasts have joined forces and revealed their true forms, they should be able to suppress Lin Yue with ease."
"Liangyi Sect actually dares to oppose the Demon Sect. Hmph, it seems Huang Yanchen having Lin Yue as her guard isn't a good thing—it'll only bring her great disaster." Chen Lan'er's lips curled upward slightly, finally feeling some psychological balance.
Once the Demon Sect's three top experts defeated Lin Yue, would they let Huang Yanchen off?
She would be delighted to see the Demon Sect's cultivators cripple Huang Yanchen.
"Shameless! The Demon Sect's three top experts are actually ganging up on Senior Brother Lin Yue. Even if he had three heads and six arms, he'd lose."
"Despicable. The Demon Sect people are truly despicable."
...
The Liangyi Sect disciples were all filled with indignation.
Jiao Si and Peng Liu had already joined forces to cripple Qin Yufan. Were the three Guardian Beast Generals now going to gang up and cripple Lin Yue?
"We can't let them succeed. Let's help Senior Brother Lin Yue."
Led by Zhao Wuyan and Can Dong, including Xun Hualiu, Mu Jiji, Gai Hao, Han Qiu, and others, over twenty young experts from Liangyi Sect immediately charged up the mountain, intending to join Lin Yue and resist the Demon Sect's experts.
But as soon as they rushed onto the book mountain, some of the young powerhouses seated on the Outstanding Talent Seats stood up and blocked their path.
Most of those who acted were cultivators from Four Symbols Sect and Eight Trigrams Sect.
"Fellow Daoists of Liangyi Sect, if you want to ascend the book mountain, it's not just a matter of numbers," said a Fish-Dragon Ninth Change expert from Four Symbols Sect, attacking Can Dong, who had the highest cultivation.
Han Qiu's eyes were icy cold. "We're all branches of Taiji Dao. Even if we fight among ourselves, we shouldn't ally with the Demon Sect against Liangyi Sect."
"People from Eight Trigrams Sect never cooperate with the Demon Sect. We're simply testing your strength to see if you're qualified to ascend the book mountain."
The Saint-Transmitted Disciples of Liangyi Sect surged toward the book mountain in an endless stream, but were all blocked by cultivators from Four Symbols Sect and Eight Trigrams Sect, unable to aid Zhang Ruochen.
A Half-Saint ancestor of Liangyi Sect ground his teeth, stomping his foot heavily on the ground, causing the entire Divine Platform City to shake. He roared, "Damn it! Where is Gai Tianjiao? Why isn't she going to help Lin Yue? Does she really want to watch the Demon Sect cripple all of Liangyi Sect's younger generation?"
At the top of the book mountain was a golden lotus sacred pool, surrounded by mist, faintly revealing nine huge seats forged from purple gold.
These were the nine Realm Son Seats.
At this moment, Gai Tianjiao sat on one of them.
Her fists were clenched tightly, each finger emitting crimson flames. She suddenly stood up, ready to descend the mountain.
But as soon as Gai Tianjiao moved, Ouyang Huan, seated on another Realm Son Seat, also stood up abruptly, staring at her with a smile.
Before the Realm Son Banquet began, the Liangyi Sect's Sect Leader had summoned Gai Tianjiao alone and analyzed the possible events of the night in advance.
If it came to a hard fight, Liangyi Sect would certainly be no match for the Demon Sect, Four Symbols Sect, Eight Trigrams Sect, and Taiji Dao, and would likely be completely wiped out.
Thus, they had to change their strategy. As long as she could secure one Realm Son Seat, even if Liangyi Sect lost thoroughly, they could at least salvage some face.
At the time, Gai Tianjiao hadn't thought much of it, believing that if she held a Realm Son Seat, she could at least tie down Ouyang Huan, which might not be a bad thing. So, she agreed to the Sect Leader's plan.
But the current situation was even worse than she had anticipated.
It wasn't her tying down Ouyang Huan—it was Ouyang Huan tying her down.
Even if it were just Ouyang Huan alone, Gai Tianjiao had some confidence in breaking through to help Lin Yue. But beside Ouyang Huan stood a plain-clothed man.
This seemingly frail man in plain clothes held a rust-covered iron sword, exuding a chilling deathly aura.
Gai Tianjiao could sense a very dangerous presence from him.
If she fought one against two, she would likely lose, and then Liangyi Sect would truly be completely wiped out.
Gai Tianjiao stepped back, sat down again, and closed her eyes. But her muscles were taut, trembling incessantly.
Ouyang Huan smiled slightly, then returned to his seat. He glanced at the plain-clothed man and said, "A Le, go find a Realm Son Seat and sit down. If you can hold it, your future will be boundless."
The plain-clothed man showed no emotional fluctuation, still holding his sword, standing still. His gaze, however, was fixed on Huang Yanchen down the mountain.
No one knew what was on his mind at that moment.
Zhang Ruochen stood at the center of the scroll, showing no fear. He didn't even bother to look directly at the three beast generals, instead observing his surroundings. He nodded slightly, thinking to himself, "This book mountain is probably a very powerful time-space treasure. Each book is a miniature world..."
A fierce roar interrupted Zhang Ruochen's thoughts.
"Roar!"
The Demon Heart Black Dragon let out a furious roar. "Lin Yue, you cut off one of my arms, so I'll cut off both of yours."
From the dragon's mouth, a blast of air turned into a howling hurricane, with dozens of wind blades weaving through it, making a "shua shua" sound as they surged toward Zhang Ruochen.
Even without the Divine Dragon Bone, the Demon Heart Black Dragon's strength was still formidable.
"I'm afraid you don't have that ability," Zhang Ruochen said calmly.
He simply raised the Golden Snake Sacred Sword, forming a sword qi domain covering ten zhang in radius, completely neutralizing the incoming hurricane.
Hearing this, the Demon Heart Black Dragon was enraged. It dove down, channeling dragon qi into its claws.
Instantly, a claw over a hundred meters long turned into a black demon cloud, pressing down toward Zhang Ruochen's head with overwhelming force.
Although the Demon Heart Black Dragon's body was enormous, its claw strike was incredibly fast, reaching above Zhang Ruochen's head in an instant.
"Swish!"
Zhang Ruochen was even faster. With a flicker, he vanished from beneath the claw.
The next moment, he appeared above the Demon Heart Black Dragon's head, gripping the sword hilt and thrusting forward.
"Lone Star Accompanying the Moon."
The first move of the Ghost-Level Upper-Class sword technique, Nine Stars Ringing the Moon.
As the sword technique unfolded, a massive bright moon appeared above Zhang Ruochen's head, enveloping him entirely in moonlight.
At the same time, a brilliant star appeared beside the moon, plummeting downward rapidly.
No.
That wasn't a star—it was Zhang Ruochen's sword.
"Watch out!"
The Golden-Winged Roc roared, spreading its wings and turning into a golden light shuttle, rushing to the Demon Heart Black Dragon's head at top speed.
"Golden Roc Feather."
From the roc's mouth, a golden light sphere shot upward.
Inside the golden light sphere was a Hundred-Pattern Sacred Artifact, shaped like a feather.
But Zhang Ruochen's Ghost-Level Upper-Class sword technique was immensely powerful—how could the Golden-Winged Roc's hastily launched Golden Roc Feather withstand it?
"Boom!"
The Golden Roc Feather was struck, its light dimming, and it flew away.
The Golden-Winged Roc and the Demon Heart Black Dragon simultaneously released their protective saint aura, but still couldn't block this sword strike.
"Pfft."
Zhang Ruochen and the Golden Snake Sacred Sword pierced straight through the bodies of the Golden-Winged Roc and the Demon Heart Black Dragon, leaving a massive bloody hole in each beast.
Landing on the ground, Zhang Ruochen remained spotless, holding the sword with one hand, looking up calmly.
"Splash!"
The blood of the Golden-Winged Roc and the Demon Heart Black Dragon poured down like two blood-red waterfalls from the sky.
Then came two loud crashes.
The two enormous beasts fell to the ground one after another, causing the miniature world evolved from the scroll to tremble violently twice.
(Many people have probably forgotten the character "A Le." You can look back at earlier chapters.)