Chapter 145: Words Made Manifest

The sunset after the violent storm was exceptionally red, as if a bloody mist had stained heaven and earth.

Spanning tens of thousands of miles, the Kunlun Mountains stood majestic, with the Yuxu Palace situated right at their center and highest peak. The mountain where it resided had been shaped by Yuanshi using supreme divine power into a straight stairway leading directly from the foot of the mountain up to the Yuxu Palace amidst the clouds.

Yet at this moment, someone intended to shatter this stairway, or rather, to collapse the very mountain itself.

A giant sword, dozens of Zhangs in length, descended from the nine heavens, its blade blazing with brilliant light in the setting sun. Falling slowly, with every fraction of an inch it dropped, its momentum grew more formidable, akin to cleaving mountains and severing peaks. This overwhelming momentum was not the least bit inferior to the Heaven-Turning Seal used previously, yet it carried an added edge of fierce lethality—cleaving mountains, severing peaks, and obliterating all in its path.

An ocean of fire spanning the skies dispersed at a casual wave of a finger and a soft utterance. The blazing fire of heaven was swallowed in a single gulp, accompanied by a light laugh. As the words fell, he suddenly opened his mouth and spat, and a wisp of flame instantly appeared in the void. Agile and flamboyant yet tinged with a baleful aura, it permeated the sky in the blink of an eye and swept toward the Daoist holding the feather fan.

The Daoist was alarmed and waved the feather fan in his hand toward himself. His body was instantly enveloped by a ball of flame and transformed into a streak of fire as he fled.

At that exact moment, a streak of light suddenly streaked across the distant horizon. Before the person could be seen, an aura-shrouding, thunderous roar echoed from within that stream of light: "Nan Luo, how dare you be so impudent! Watch me clear out the sect's gate on behalf of our master's elder brother."

That streak of light flew from millions of miles away, tearing through the void and dragging a heaven-shaking rainbow behind it.

The voice originated millions of miles away, but in the blink of an eye, it had arrived above the Yuxu Palace, striking toward Nan Luo with the speed of lightning.

"That is... that is Master Taiyi's Universe Ring!" someone watching from afar recognized it and said in astonishment.

Rumor had it that this Universe Ring could strike all things in heaven and earth; those it hit would have their physical bodies pulverized into dust, and even those with formidable physical bodies would inevitably fall unconscious. It was truly an immensely powerful magical treasure that injured both the physical body and the primordial spirit.

At this moment, the onlookers felt overwhelmed. The Twelve Immortals of Yuxu, who usually commanded towering prestige, appeared one after another, only to be defeated in an instant. Before their astonishment could even fade by half, they heard Nan Luo say coldly: "Is this all the skill you have?"

Before his voice had even faded, he pointed at the streak of light and casually chanted: "Earth—"

Yellow fog instantly filled the sky within the void, enveloping that streak of light. Following that came another soft shout: "Seal—"

The yellow fog across the sky stirred in response, rapidly churning and condensing inward. In the blink of an eye, an earth-yellow ring appeared in the void. The Universe Ring had indeed been sealed, stripped of its astonishing, heaven-shaking momentum to destroy all things in the world, and it plummeted straight down into the mountain.

Suddenly, a golden pillar emerged silently and imperceptibly behind Nan Luo. Before the golden pillar had even fully materialized from the void, three golden rings had already locked Nan Luo within them. The golden pillar had appeared so soundlessly that it seemed to have existed there since primordial times. Amidst the dazzling golden light, a hint of eerie color flickered.

"Boom..."

The moment the golden pillar locked Nan Luo in place, a thunderclap exploded from the nine heavens, and a purple lightning bolt tore through the void and descended. With the majestic might of the heavens, it shattered the void...

Just as the purple lightning struck Nan Luo, a cluster of five-colored mist suddenly surged from his body, forming a canopy of auspicious clouds above his head. The cloud caught the purple thunder, while his hand reached backward, and the golden pillar was already in his grasp.

I saw him flick... and that golden pillar had already shrunk to the size of a flute, with three golden rings upon it. Suddenly, it erupted with dazzling golden light, vibrating violently as if struggling to break free. Nan Luo's hand was shrouded in yellow fog, and with a casual swipe, a layer of loess wrapped and sealed it, causing it to fall still in an instant.

Nan Luo chuckled and said, "How could such an object trap me?" As his words fell, he casually tossed it down into the mountain.

Thunderclaps rolled across the sky one after another, purple lightning illuminating the entire void.

The five-colored auspicious clouds above Nan Luo's head were blasted apart time and time again, only to recondense instantly... Standing quietly upon the hilt of the Qingyan Sword, Nan Luo descended rapidly toward the stairway before the Yuxu Palace. From time to time, he flicked his sleeves, reforming the five-colored auspicious clouds to block the purple thunder descending from the nine heavens.

A gray bell suddenly manifested in the nine heavens. With a gentle sway, the crisp ringing of the bell filled the entire space, so loud that even the deafening thunderclaps could not drown it out.

The moment the bell rang, many of the onlookers in the distance plunged headfirst out of the void. Nan Luo's body swayed slightly before steadying itself once more. He looked up at the gray bell and said, "The ringing of this bell actually possesses the power to scatter souls, yet right now, it still cannot do anything to me."

With that, he reached out and grabbed into the void. A five-colored giant hand materialized out of thin air and lunged at the gray bell in the void... A broad, majestic precious sword pierced through the void and emerged. The characters 'Pi Xie' (Warding off Evil) on the blade were solemn and archaic, inspiring awe in beholders. All evils avoided it, radiating an aura of righteous majesty.

The moment it appeared, the void shook, and sword light soared into the sky, slashing down upon the five-colored giant hand in an instant.

The five-colored giant hand shattered instantly, and the Pi Xie precious sword rebounded back up into the nine heavens. The instant the five-colored giant hand disintegrated, a streak of golden light pierced the firmament from the horizon. Atop the golden light stood a Daoist clad in an apricot-yellow robe, with a precious sword slung across his back.

The golden light condensed, and what appeared above Nan Luo was a massive golden brick. Lightning arcs flashed across the brick, and countless profound Daoist scripts were inscribed upon it. The moment it paused, it swelled like a tidal wave, pressing down rapidly toward Nan Luo.

The Daoist atop the giant golden brick had his dark hair flying in the wind, his sharp edge fully exposed. With his right foot, he stamped heavily upon the giant golden brick, doubling and redoubling its oppressive momentum...

As the golden brick descended with overwhelming might, the Pi Xie precious sword also slashed down. Simultaneously, the gray bell in the nine heavens shook frantically, its chime reverberating and spreading outward. Many people in the distance who had already retreated quite far plummeted from the void once more in an instant.

Suddenly, another Daoist appeared in the void, holding in his hands precisely the three-ringed golden pillar that Nan Luo had previously sealed. With clear light shining in his hands, he stroked it continuously several times before finally undoing that layer of earth seal. However, the divine aura of the golden pillar was noticeably diminished.

The Daoist's expression was extremely grim. As hand incantations surged, waves of clear light poured into it... Immediately afterward, he tossed the three-ringed golden pillar in his hand into the void and chanted: "Hide and vanish into heaven and earth, dragons lock all things." The pillar with the three rings moved in response, emitting blazing golden light as it transformed into a golden dragon in the void. With a toss of its head, it burrowed into the void and vanished.

Another streak of fire appeared in the nine heavens, flashing abruptly to transform into a multicolored feather fan. With a wave toward Nan Luo, an ocean of fire swept down from the sky.

The Qingyan Sword continued to descend rapidly toward the Yuxu Palace stairway, determined to slash downward no matter what, completely indifferent to the magical treasures and spells attacking him.

He gently flicked his sleeve and uttered the profound sounds of the Dao. In an instant, a long river traversed outward from the void, originating from the unknown, without beginning or end, rolling endlessly as it swept toward the Pi Xie sword and the bell in the nine heavens...

Following that, a giant mountain abruptly appeared in the void, propping up the golden brick. Then came his soft chuckle as he casually grabbed into the void, causing a large golden sword to appear in his hand. He slashed toward the void beside him. The void shattered, and a golden dragon let out a miserable cry and flew backward. The entire ocean of fire was swallowed into his mouth amidst his light laughter.

Magical treasures and spells danced across the sky amid furious shouts, rolling purple thunder, and overlapping Daoist incantations, yet they could do nothing to Nan Luo. The distant onlookers were dumbfounded, finding it hard to believe that Nan Luo possessed such divine powers. Someone could not help but ask: "Could it be that he has already entered the Dao realm? Is this the strength of someone in the Dao realm?"

Nan Luo was enveloped in five-colored mist and smoke, his green robes fluttering like an immortal. Pointing casually and uttering true words, he generated spell after spell... Yet those who looked closely would notice that the spells cast by Nan Luo all belonged to the Five Elements.

Five Elements spells were originally the most basic spells, but when used by Nan Luo, they possessed heaven-shaking and earth-shattering might, as if they had shed their mortal shells and undergone a complete transformation, distinctly different from all other Five Elements spells.

To pluck them out at will, his words bringing laws into reality!

Through all these years of nourishing his soul with the power of heaven and earth while reciting the *Huangting Scripture* all the way, he had reached such a realm where his Five Elements spells could manifest instantly upon a single thought.

"Boom——"

No matter how those few individuals in the sky tried to intercept him, they ultimately failed to stop Nan Luo's mountain-cleaving, peak-severing sword strike. The Qingyan Sword plunged deep into the stairway, stirring up monstrous waves of air.

The corpse of the Yellow Dragon, which had previously been cleaved in two by Nan Luo, had somehow vanished without a trace. Equally missing was the Daoist Cihang. Only a pool of crimson blood remained on the ground. However, no one noticed that just as the Qingyan Sword pierced into the middle of the ninety-thousand-plus stairs, that blood suddenly moved, writhing as if it possessed life. Eerily and silently, it transformed into a streak of bloody light and darted through the fissure gouged out by the Qingyan Sword.

Nan Luo seemed to sense something as well. Frowning, he looked closely, but found nothing. Just as he was about to increase his magical power to shatter the step trapping Beiling, he saw the stone step holding Beiling ooze with copious amounts of fresh blood, submerging the multicolored butterfly imprinted upon the stone.

Nan Luo was greatly alarmed, but the blood had already flowed out from within the stone step, completely unaffected by the seal. Once the blood flowed out, the multicolored butterfly on the stone step vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a sheet of jade white.

"Hum——"

Suddenly, a faint, angry grunt echoed from the void. Although the sound was not loud, it carried supreme majesty. The moment this grunt sounded, those Daoists instantly withdrew their magical treasures. Hearing this angry grunt, Nan Luo felt a tight squeeze in his chest. To others, it might have been merely a grunt laden with anger, but to his ears, it was like a thunderclap.

Before the grunt had even dissipated, the Heaven-Turning Seal that Nan Luo had previously cleaved in two suddenly appeared in the air, fusing back together in an instant.

With a flash of clear light, it suppressed downward toward Nan Luo's head. At the beginning of its descent, it was merely a shattered little seal, but as it fell, it grew frantically in size.

In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a giant mountain, its might multiplying manifold compared to when Guangchengzi had wielded it.

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