Chapter 1466: Seizing the Immortal Sword
This was a golden monkey, his fur gleaming like satin. He somersaulted through the dark cosmos without a trace of steadiness, carrying half a section of the Ancient Tree of Life on his shoulder while scratching his ears and cheeks.
He laughed incessantly, his eyes cunning, yet his face appeared honest and simple—a contradictory combination that made him look quite peculiar.
Regardless of temperament, purely in appearance, he was a spitting image of the Holy Prince: a thunder-beak mouth, fiery golden eyes, a lean and capable frame, as if cast from gold.
However, he had six ears, capable of listening to the sounds of the world, clearly marking him as another rare divine ape from ancient times—the Six-Eared Macaque.
The half-section of the Ancient Tree of Life flowed with essence, its entire body verdant and emerald, spewing auspicious mists and exhaling immortal fog. It was like a carving of jade, covered in the wheel seals of the Great Dao, containing fragments of laws within.
This was something that would drive everyone in the world mad. Even Great Sages could use it to extend their lifespans, living out a second life through it. If discovered, it would inevitably lead to a sea of blood and mountains of corpses.
The Six-Eared Macaque carried the half-section of ancient tree, his eyes rolling around incessantly. He plucked some leaves and swallowed them, causing his entire body to boil with essence. After sitting cross-legged for a moment, he opened his eyes again, their divine radiance piercing.
Silently and soundlessly, a void aperture appeared. He transformed into a golden speck of light, vanishing from the spot with the precious tree.
No one would have expected that at the critical moment, the Six-Eared Macaque would leap out, strike Dao Yi with a sneak attack, and nearly snatch the prize—an act of sheer audacity.
Clearly, Dao Yi was furious. He had painstakingly schemed for a perfectly intact precious tree, finally obtaining it, only to have half stolen by someone else. This grudge was enormous!
The Other Shore no longer existed, reduced to a pile of dust. Almost all living beings there had died.
Now, only the Divine Domain remained, like an isolated island suspended in the cold celestial void, where the saints were locked in battle. They fought over the immortal sword using ancient imperial weapons and attempted to draw out the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable's formation diagram.
The Holy Prince glared with fury, his roar shaking the heavens. Wielding the Battle Staff, he struggled to stabilize one of the killing swords. But then, the Ten Thousand Dragon Bell and the Soul-Refining Vessel struck together, pressing down toward him.
The saints had already lost the Ancient Tree of Life and were unwilling to let the immortal sword slip away. Naturally, they struck with full force, all competing for it.
"This bunch of old bastards is too detestable!" the Dragon Horse said indignantly.
"Don't come over!" Ye Fan said, wanting them to hide within the Heaven-Deceiving Array and watch the battle from afar in the celestial void, as it was too dangerous otherwise.
"No, how can you handle this alone? At the very least, I can channel the Five Elements Immortal Qi to help you activate the Green Copper Cauldron," Ji Ziyue said.
Pang Bo and Ji Haoyue naturally refused to retreat. One was determined to share life and death with Ye Fan, the other to protect his sister. Both joined in.
In truth, no one left. Even the ten great saints channeled their divine power to assist. The Ancient Golden Peng shrank to a foot in length, perched on Ye Fan's shoulder, staring ahead.
Ye Fan laid down eighteen layers of the Heaven-Deceiving Array, unwilling to expose himself. The first strike had to be a surprise attack to achieve maximum effect.
"If I appear, it might cause big trouble," he said. He had another worry: if his true body showed up here, it would likely drive the saints even crazier.
Not long ago, in the battle at the Divine Demon Ridge, he had single-handedly slaughtered the younger generation, killing almost all the strongest ones cleanly, leaving no one daring to claim supremacy.
But precisely because of that battle, the secret of his possession of a Bodhi Immortal Tree had been seen by Di Tian, Xin Lan, the Nine-Eyed Green Toad, the Great Demon God, the White-Haired Heavenly Wolf, and others.
What were the saints after? Primarily the Ancient Tree of Life, to extend their lifespans and live out a second life.
Now, if Ye Fan appeared, wielding an immortal tree with the same miraculous effects, he would undoubtedly become a target, suffering the most ferocious attacks.
"Don't worry too much. The Great Demon God, the Nine-Eyed Green Toad, and the others don't seem to have leaked the information. No one has mentioned it so far," Ji Haoyue said.
That battle had passed many days ago, yet the days since had been calm. People mostly talked about Ye Fan's terrifying strength and the stunning Heavenly Emperor Fist, never mentioning the Bodhi Tree.
Ye Fan had also pondered this, concluding there were no more than two reasons.
First, Di Tian, the Great Demon God, the Nine-Eyed Green Toad, Xin Lan, and the White-Haired Heavenly Wolf were ambitious. They kept the news secret, planning to summon strongers later to deal with him and seize his precious medicine, unwilling to let the information leak and let the Great Sages take it first.
Second, the Great Sages might have been secretly informed by those few, but they held back, afraid of alerting their prey. Hence, they remained calm recently, waiting for him to show his face before striking a fatal blow and taking the immortal tree.
Now was not the time for overthinking. Ye Fan used Source Art to transform heaven and earth, altering the appearances of several people. Regardless of whether the Green Cauldron and the Bodhi Tree were truly exposed, he would conceal them for now.
The Heaven-Deceiving Array covered all directions as they approached silently. But once they truly reached the storm's center, they could no longer hide. The Green Copper Block was compressed, its radiance blazing, azure mists surging to the heavens!
With a thunderous roar, Ye Fan directly activated it, launching the most violent strike. He blasted forward, crashing into the stalemate.
At this moment, the Holy Prince was at a disadvantage. The other two sides were fighting, unwilling to let him let go because they needed him to stabilize the immortal sword. The two sides battled, only needing to suppress him slightly.
The Green Copper Cauldron suddenly burst in, shocking everyone. A fifth imperial weapon manifested so abruptly that the saints were stunned. Just moments ago, Dao Yi had stirred up the boundless immortal qi, isolating both sides. They had sensed a terrifying fluctuation but didn't know what it was.
"Boom!"
Too sudden! The Ten Thousand Dragon Bell bore the brunt, its azure light touching it instantly, sending it flying sideways. Imperial weapons rarely collided directly; otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable. Only their ripples clashed.
At the same time, the Holy Prince, who had already received a telepathic message, roared in fury. He temporarily released his grip on the immortal sword, raised his staff, and struck down at the Soul-Refining Vessel, smashing it heavily.
Chaos erupted on the spot. The saints were caught off guard!
In an instant, the Green Copper Cauldron and the Battle Staff combined, sweeping through the crowd. They directly tore open the void and fled.
Moreover, during this process, the monkey's divine iron staff hung down billions of immortal rays, drowning the cauldron and concealing its true form, almost unseen by anyone.
Only then did the Heaven-Deceiving Array completely collapse, revealing the group's whereabouts. But they were still shielded within the divine iron staff, blocking others' line of sight.
It wasn't that Emperor Wu Shi's Heaven-Deceiving Array was weak, but the materials used to set it up were too poor. The human realm couldn't find suitable divine materials, and under the attack of such imperial weapons, it could only collapse first.
"What weapon is that?" Many were furious and enraged, charging together to encircle and kill them.
"Go!" Ye Fan and the Holy Prince decisively tore open the void, using the imperial weapons to escape the battlefield's center. Otherwise, even if they were made of iron, how many nails could they crush? Their opponents were all Great Sages, holding three imperial weapons. If they truly fought to the death, they would surely bleed here.
Retreating to a sufficient distance, Ye Fan sat cross-legged in the void, took out a human-faced ghostly bronze lamp, chanted the Salvation Scripture, and activated the Weapon Art to summon.
Ji Ziyue sat cross-legged opposite him. As a Primordial Spirit Body, she could channel the origins of all things. She gathered all the remaining Five Elements Immortal Qi from this area and infused it into Ye Fan's body.
This was the essence born from the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable's Dao Palace, merging with Ye Fan. As he chanted the scripture and held the ancient lamp, he naturally released a most mysterious aura.
The nearest immortal sword stopped dancing, humming like a person. Its dark red blade stood alone, "gazing" in this direction.
"It's working, but the power is still lacking. Let me help you!" the Holy Prince said. He placed the vast, dark divine iron staff on Ye Fan's shoulder and carefully activated it, instantly releasing a massive oppressive force.
This wasn't to attack the enemy but to use the imperial might to gather essence, imprint supreme laws, and pour them into Ye Fan's body. The effect was clearly enormous.
Ye Fan's entire body glowed, as brilliant as a sun. His body swelled, like a giant divine demon sitting cross-legged. Every inch of his skin was covered in densely packed, mysterious, and complex patterns, as if he had attained the Dao and could overlook the Great Sage realm.
The bronze ghost lamp blazed brightly, its radiance enhanced and blooming with extraordinary colors. Combined with the Five Elements Immortal Qi Ji Ziyue infused into Ye Fan's body, he seemed like the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable resurrected—mysterious and profound, his entire body submerged in chaotic mist. The Salvation Scripture resounded through the celestial void.
In the distance, the four immortal swords resonated. Three of them circled briefly before flying straight in this direction.
The saints were shocked. They couldn't see Ye Fan and the others due to the great distance, but they dared not delay. They activated their laws and order with all their might. The Ten Thousand Dragon Bell and the Soul-Refining Vessel transformed into two most terrifying beams, intercepting two of the immortal lights and blocking them on that side.
Only one immortal sword broke through the air, hovering above Ye Fan's head. It circled the ghost lamp once before coming to a halt, all its aura retracted.
Even so, people felt a sense of heaven-destroying, earth-obliterating destruction, as if their flesh and divine bones would shatter. The killing intent of this sword was too intense.
On the dark red blade were terrifying carvings of slain immortals—scene after scene, group after group. Ten thousand spirits were executed, blood staining the universe, terrifying to the extreme.
"Damn it! Otherwise, three immortal swords would have been summoned. Those old bastards intercepted two of them. How infuriating!" the Dragon Horse cursed bitterly.
Pang Bo, Ji Haoyue, and the others were also filled with regret. The opportunity was rare, and success was within reach, but the enemy used ancient imperial weapons to block one each. There was simply no way around it.
Suddenly, a scripture sounded, deafening, like a mountain collapse and a tsunami, sweeping in from all directions.
The fourth immortal sword trembled slightly, transforming into a wisp of divine radiance that flew away, disappearing into the dark cosmos. This shocked everyone.
"This is the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable's orthodox immortal scripture. Who is it? Who obtained it?" The saints only heard the opening lines before the scripture turned into Dao waves, rumbling and deafening, making the words impossible to capture.
In the dim cosmos, in an uninhabited place, a golden monkey with a thunder-beak mouth was sitting cross-legged, drenched in sweat, covered in blood, his eyes nearly splitting from strain. He was activating an ancient artifact, using it to chant a terrifying, grand scripture.
This was the supreme divine ability of the Daoist lineage, a highest Dao Roar!
Legend had it that this Dao Roar could shatter deities with a shout, but now it was only used to awaken the immortal sword and summon it over.
It was the Six-Eared Macaque. No one knew that he possessed the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable's orthodox immortal scripture. Now, by releasing its power through an ancestral artifact, he finally managed to draw one immortal sword through the void.
"They were all supposed to be mine. You ruined my great plan," he muttered resentfully, struggling to guide the sword to his side.