Chapter 697 - 377: Startling Thunder

She stomped her foot and shot out in a streak of green light.

"Just give up quietly," Yan Lianxing said with a faint smile. She ignored the approaching streak of green light and continued conjuring her massive magical hand to snatch the siblings away.

"In your dreams!" Lü Tianwen was shocked, but he fought back his fear and shielded his sister, trembling.

But just then, the unexpected happened!

A green and a black streak of light shot out from Tianwen and Jiuge in quick succession. After two resounding clashes, the massive magical hand was knocked away by the phantom images of flags.

"The Flood Dragon Spirit Banners!"

Yan Lianxing cried out in alarm once she got a clear look at the flags.

’Could this be a trap!’

The thought immediately surfaced in her mind.

But a moment later, Yan Lianxing relaxed. She could see that the two banners weren’t being controlled by their owner; they were just counter-attacking automatically. This meant Lü Zhong was nowhere nearby.

Meanwhile, Fang Daoyun was astonished.

He had assumed that even if there was something strange about the four guards, they were just Nascent Soul Cultivators using a Secret Technique to hide their cultivation. At the absolute most, he figured they would be in the Early-stage Nascent Soul Realm.

It wasn’t that Fang Daoyun underestimated Lü Zhong.

It was just that across the Southern Barbarian lands and Central Earth combined, there simply weren’t that many Nascent Soul Cultivators available for hire. The fact that Lü Zhong could bring in four at once was already a testament to his astonishing influence.

But now, the auras of the four opposite him had surged, reaching the level of Great Cultivators.

’This... is an Outer Body Incarnation!’

His thoughts raced, and Fang Daoyun arrived at the answer.

Everything that didn’t make sense suddenly became clear. ’If Lü Zhong didn’t possess such a Divine Technique, how could he have risen from obscurity? It must be thanks to this Outer Body Incarnation technique.’

The first Ten Thousand Transformations Divine Monarch had risen to power by relying on this very technique.

The appearance of that Divinity Transformation cultivator, one who was not from an Immortal Sect, was proof of the Four Central Earth Sects’ failure and a direct challenge to their established order. Even though he eventually fell in a siege laid by the four sects, he still caused considerable chaos. His story was an inspiration to many and even indirectly led to a great upheaval.

’Don’t tell me... a second Ten Thousand Transformations Divine Monarch is about to appear?’ Fang Daoyun’s heart sank at the thought.

But just as quickly, a smile returned to his face.

’What a pity. You’ve lost your chance to grow! Now that you’re exposed, even if we fail today, a Divinity Transformation cultivator will personally take action later. They will never give you the slightest opportunity to reach the Divinity Transformation Realm!’

A Divinity Transformation cultivator could only be one from Central Earth.

And by "Central Earth," he specifically meant the Central Earth Immortal Sects.

Any potential challengers who sprouted up elsewhere had to be stamped out before they could grow.

...

The clash between Nascent Soul Cultivators was world-shaking.

In just half a breath, an entire street was razed to the ground.

Anyone caught in the aftershocks had little chance of survival; most were crushed to dust.

When Su Caocao saw the Flood Dragon Spirit Banners unleash their power to protect the siblings, she heaved a sigh of relief. She leaped forward, passing through the banners’ defensive perimeter to stand before them.

Tianwen and Jiuge were stunned by this.

The fact that the Flood Dragon Spirit Banners accepted her meant she also had their father’s approval. They quickly deduced her identity: she was clearly their eldest martial sister, whom they had never met.

"First Senior Sister!"

"Mm. Don’t worry. With me here, you’ll be safe."

With that, Su Caocao summoned her Green Cauldron Sword and stood guard in front of them.

’Even if it means facing a Great Cultivator, I’ll fight to the death!’

"Hmph. How presumptuous," Yan Lianxing scoffed.

The gap between a mere Early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator and a Late-stage one was, if not as vast as heaven and earth, then not far from it. It was a far greater disparity than the one between the Nascent Soul and Core Formation Realms.

She lifted a Jade Finger, and the sky changed in an instant.

The temperature plummeted.

Dark clouds gathered overhead, heralding a terrifying blizzard that was about to descend.

Her Ice Spirit Root, combined with her Profound Ice Body, granted Yan Lianxing astonishing power.

With a single thought, she could turn a scorching summer day into a winter wasteland.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The air shrieked as Yan Lianxing condensed moisture into ice, forming countless massive lances of profound ice that rained down like a torrential storm. With a single, casual attack like this, she could overwhelm her opponent.

Meanwhile, Fang Daoyun, who was well aware of the Incarnations’ nature, weathered their initial burst of power. He deliberately moved closer to the siblings, using them as leverage to prevent the Incarnations from resorting to their ultimate suicide attack.

Then, he finished them off, slaying every last Incarnation.

The situation was looking excellent!

But who would have thought that a sudden clap of thunder would change everything.

Amidst crackling lightning, Lü Zhong appeared, stepping out of a Thunder Escape.

"You!" Fang Daoyun was utterly shocked.

He had racked his brains, considering ten thousand possibilities, but he had never imagined that Lü Zhong had mastered Thunder Escape. It allowed him to travel from Tide Cave to here in less than three breaths.

According to their original plan, Lü Zhong should have needed at least ten breaths to make the journey, by which point the outcome would have been sealed.

Who could have possibly expected this...?

Levitating in mid-air, Lü Zhong looked up at the giant lances of profound ice raining down, his expression unchanging. With a sweep of his arm, his sleeve billowed out, growing immense and swallowing the entire blizzard whole.

In an instant, sunlight spilled down once more.

Of the two of them, the one under the most pressure was, of course, Yan Lianxing, who was now face to face with Lü Zhong.

She had never imagined that the battlefield she had so painstakingly crafted with a vast amount of her Magical Power would be shattered by Lü Zhong in the blink of an eye, and so effortlessly at that. The shock she felt was immense.

Even so, Yan Lianxing’s Heart and Spirit were not shaken. She was worthy of her title as one of the two pillars of her Immortal Sect. Instead of fear, a powerful fighting spirit surged within her.

She gave a cold snort, her expression quickly returning to normal. She raised her hand and summoned her Lifebound Treasure, the Cold Prison Banner. It was a large, square, ice-blue flag embroidered with numerous rare and Exotic Beasts. At that moment, they all began to roar, coming to life as if they were about to charge right out of the fabric.

The moment the banner appeared, the blizzard that had just vanished returned.