Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 394: Chapter 256: Awakening from a Dream_2

“Hmm!?”

Zhang Ren’s and Du Xinyu’s gazes sharpened as they said in a deep voice, “Do you truly intend to make an enemy of my Holy Gate?”

“So what if I do? Even if Old Ghost Yan himself were to arrive today, these three treasures shall belong to Iron Heart Fortress!”

In the midst of the wild howl, Chen Pojun soared into action, his tightly sealed Mysterious Iron Divine Weapons transformed. From within his iron armor emerged a fierce and tremendous long blade, which he grasped in a reverse grip and viciously hacked down with.

“Boom!!!”

With a single strike from Pojun, his blood energy formed Gang Qi, creating a blade edge over thirty feet long, slashing directly at the two Demon Sect envoys.

“No good!”

Zhang Ren’s pupils contracted, and he leapt out of the way. Du Xinyu, even stronger, also dared not block this Pojun blade edge head-on. Her slight frame and bare jade feet danced strange steps across the snow.

In the end…

“Pff!!!”

The leaping Zhang Ren could not evade in time and was cleaved in the head by the Gang Qi blade edge. His body instantly split into two streams of blood and scattered away.

On the other hand, Du Xinyu danced out her steps, creating a multitude of enchanting shadows, miraculously avoiding the ferocious incoming Pojun blade edge and teleporting ten-odd yards away.

The two streams of blood surged forth, reassembling into Zhang Ren’s form, but his complexion was pale, indicating he had suffered significant injuries.

“Hmph, you do have some tricks up your sleeve, but that’s all there is to it,” he sneered.

The attack might not have hit its mark, but it was a mere test of the knife’s edge, showing the gap between the two sides.

Chen Pojun sneered coldly, his ferocious blade edge striking out again, aiming to kill the two Demon Sect individuals.

“Kill!!!”

The seventy-two surrounding Mysterious Iron Divine Soldiers also deployed the Earth Sha formation of Iron Heart Fortress. Some coordinated with Chen Pojun to besiege the two from the Demon Sect; the rest attacked Undying Divine Beggar Shi Wei and the three in white clothes.

The situation was primed to explode, transforming instantly into a chaotic melee.

“Kill!”

Seeing the Mysterious Iron Divine Soldiers coming to kill, Su Shaoqing didn’t waste words. Drawing his Yuan Core-powered sword, he aimed to break out of the encirclement.

The two burly men at his side moved in coordination. They each drew a long blade to cover Su Shaoqing’s flanks as they charged outwards.

“Bang bang bang!”

A moment of clashing blades and sword shadows, clang upon clang, streaks of fiery light.

“Hmph, this Chen Pojun is being too overconfident. He’s not even a match for the Demon Sect, yet he dares to dream of catching us all in one net. He truly doesn’t take this young master seriously,” Undying Divine Beggar Shi Wei said coolly amidst the chaos, his face cold as his green bamboo stick whipped around like a dragon, clashing with the Mysterious Iron Divine Soldiers that came to kill him, also creating a barrage of fiery clangs and clangs.

“However, these Mysterious Iron Divine Soldiers are indeed formidable, worthy of being relics from the Temple of War God. Just with these seventy-two Earth Sha they possess such combat strength. If they were to combine with the thirty-six Heaven Gang and the three stars of SLP, forming the Iron Heart Heavenly Tribulation Great Array, they might even be able to battle against the top fighters of the Heaven List.”

With his bamboo stick weaving like a dragon, each strike carried the force of ten thousand jun, yet when it landed upon the heavily armored Mysterious Iron Divine Soldiers, it produced only clangs and a shower of sparks, unable to inflict significant damage and yet having to evade their sharp edges.

Although as a fighter on the Heaven List and a Yuan Core martial artist, Shi Wei had more techniques than just this Subduing Tiger staff method, he did not act rashly to break through the encirclement. Instead, he stayed both offensive and defensive, coldly watching the situation on both sides unfold.

Which two sides?

Naturally, it was…

“Boom!!!”

As Pojun unleashed his blade, sweeping grandly through the battlefield, the sanguine Gang Qi of his blade grew to tens of yards long, and the battle ascended from the ground into the sky. Eighteen Mysterious Iron Divine Soldiers formed a tight array around him, coordinating with his blade edge to attack the two from the Demon Sect.

After several exchanges, even the incredibly strong Du Xinyu, unpredictable in her Heavenly Demon Dance steps, had sustained injuries.

As for Zhang Ren, one did not need to say more. Despite possessing a blood transformation technique that allowed him to reconstitute his form repeatedly, the residual Gang Qi from the ferocious blade edge still caused him intense pain, making him weaker and more perilous as the battle raged on.

In just a moment, the desire to retreat arose.

If Qinshan remains, there is no fear of lacking firewood. It’s not like Iron Heart Fortress could consume the Holy Relics into their stomachs. For now, it’s okay to let them have it; once the four Spell Kings arrive, we can seize it back with interest.

With the intent to retreat, the two thought of breaking out of the encirclement.

But Chen Pojun did not relent, his blade edge even sharper, his offensive even stronger, as he intended to keep the two right there.

“Dammit!”

“Let’s fight it out with him!”

Seeing Chen Pojun pursuing them so fiercely, Zhang Ren and Du Xinyu locked gazes, knowing there was no way out.

Zhang Ren let out a fierce shout, his body once more dispersing into a crimson stream of blood, engulfing Du Xinyu’s petite figure.

The red-dressed young girl, her bare feet dancing lightly, joined with the surging blood light, casting a shadowy figure behind her.

Within the phantom, one could see a relief resembling towering mountains, covered in seal scripts—unfamiliar characters that were difficult to comprehend, yet they seemed to emanate boundless mysteries. As the light flickered, it moved as though tadpoles or earthworms, conjuring an image of a Demon God from within, whose giant hand reached out towards Chen Pojun.

“The Ninth Tablet of the War God’s Atlas—Heavenly Demon Great Skill!”

“Boom!!!”

The Demon God emerged, shaking heaven and earth!

“Well met!”

Upon witnessing this scene, Chen Pojun couldn’t help but laugh instead of being alarmed, his fighting spirit soaring wildly as he leaped into the air, transforming into a crimson Red Star.

Within the Red Star, a shadowy figure could also be seen, revealing a relief sculpture that resembled towering mountains with similar inscriptions crawling over it like earthworms and tadpoles, eventually taking the form of a long saber, a blood-red and fierce-looking Pojun Fierce Blade.

“War God’s Atlas, Tablet Fifteen—SLP!”

“Boom!!!”

As the Pojun Saber was unsheathed, it likewise shook heaven and earth, cleaving directly at the Heavenly Demon Colossus.

“Opportunity!”

Seeing this, Shi Wei also decisively took action within the battle, urging the Yuan energy within his body to its extreme, and likewise displaying a tablet behind him.

“War God’s Atlas, Tablet Twelve—Subduing Dragon and Tiger!”

“Roar!!!”

With a startling cry, the bamboo staff shot out like a dragon, truly transforming into an Azure Dragon, sweeping through the ranks of the thirty-six Heavenly Divine Weapons and the Earth Sha formation.

“Bang bang bang!”

Though the Heavenly Divine Weapons were sturdy and the Earth Sha formation was strong, they couldn’t withstand the True Martial God of War and the shadow of the Azure Dragon as it swung its tail and leaped up, breaking through the encirclement and charging directly towards Su Shaoqing and the other two.

Su Shaoqing and the others were also paying attention to the situation, and seeing the two Demon Sect members locked in a life-and-death struggle with Chen Pojun, they too wanted to take this opportunity to break out.

Now that Shi Wei had come taking advantage of the chaos, the three of them had no choice but to grit their teeth and fight.

“Martial Arts Scripture—Fighting Scroll!”

Clenching their teeth, they summoned their energy and shot forward with their swords to intercept the raging Azure Dragon.

“Acting recklessly, without a sense of life or death!”

With a roar, the Azure Dragon split into three shadows, slamming into the three figures barraging their way.

“Bang!!!”

With a loud explosion, the dragon shadows burst, severely wounding the three men.

“Spurt!!!”

The two burly men spewed fresh blood and, unable to withstand the force, plunged forward violently, breaking the chains that tightly bound their shoulders and causing the black-covered rectangular object on their backs to shoot out. One of them crashed to the ground, revealing its true face—a coffin, a silver-shimmering Mysterious Ice coffin.

Inside the Mysterious Ice coffin lay a person—a young man with ink-black hair, garbed in washing-fresh azure robes. Even with his eyes closed and showing no signs of breath, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned in a content and tranquil smile, as if he were deeply asleep in a wondrous dream.

It was…

“Ancestor Emperor!!!”

Witnessing this scene, Su Shaoqing’s eyes nearly split open with rage, ignoring his severe injuries, he prepared to rush forward with his sword.

“Heaven Martial Emperor!”

“Mysterious Ice Coffin!”

“Holy Relics!”

Shi Wei, having just landed a successful blow, gazed intently at the Mysterious Ice coffin; more precisely, at the Yellow Jade Crystal clasped between the hands of the young man lying within it.

Holy Relics!

With treasures before him, Shi Wei didn’t hesitate, whipping his staff out and employing his Subduing Dragon and Tiger power to slam into the Mysterious Ice Coffin.

One should not be too greedy, wanting to possess everything. The Mysterious Ice Coffin, the Holy Relics—he would be content with just one of them.

“Ancestor Emperor!!!”

Su Shaoqing screamed, flinging himself into the air, and with his potential unleashed, he managed to throw himself onto the Mysterious Ice coffin first.

But what was the significance of that?

“Spurt!!!”

With a heavy sound, blood spurted out, instantly staining the surface of the silver-clear Mysterious Ice coffin with a bright crimson.

“Ancestor, Ancestor Emperor!”

Su Shaoqing lay on top of the Mysterious Ice coffin, disregarding the intense pain from behind, and looking at the slumbering figure within the blood-stained ice, managed a bitter smile and said, “Descendant has failed, the great plan unaccomplished, letting you… down.”

“Spurt!!!”

Before he could finish his words, another mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out, and his body slumped weakly onto the ice, teetering on the brink of life and death.

“Humph!”

“Impediment, die for all I care!”

Witnessing this, Shi Wei became furious and immediately leaped forward to forcefully break the ice coffin and seize the Holy King’s Relic.

Sensing the pressure of the wind bearing down on him from behind, and unable to muster the strength to get up, Su Shaoqing’s gaze faltered, and with one last look, he drooped his eyes toward the coffin.

Just as his eyelids were about to close, in that final glimpse, he saw through the bloodstained ice—the person within, calm and serene, appearing as if in a deep, peaceful slumber, slowly lifted his eyelids, the profound and endless gaze meeting their astonished eyes!