Chapter 240 - 136: Sword Opens the Heavenly Gate, Breaking the Mountain Gate (Part 2)

Chapter 240: Chapter 136: Sword Opens the Heavenly Gate, Breaking the Mountain Gate (Part 2)

"’A Star-pointed Blue Tail Feather... a Spiritual Sparrow from the Star-picking Sect!’" Wang Xingsi’s expression darkened, and his fingertips trembled as he clutched the letter. Inside was a full account of the events at the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly!

The Star-picking Sect’s special breed of Spiritual Sparrow could fly faster than an ordinary Nascent Soul Venerable and was bred specifically for delivering critical messages. A letter delivered by such a sparrow left almost no room for the news to be a false rumor.

In other words, the Celestial Permanence Sect’s six Nascent Soul Venerables, including Jiang Chengzi himself, had truly perished at the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly, and their seat among the five great sects had been usurped by that baffling True Form Temple!

Wang Xingsi took a deep breath. Knowing he had already delayed for too long and could not hesitate a moment more, he immediately summoned the managing elder in the hall and ordered in a deep voice, "Relay my decree! Activate the Sect-Guarding Array at once! Strike the golden bell! The entire sect is to be on high alert!"

The managing elder was stunned. Before he could even respond, Wang Xingsi was already issuing one decree after another:

"Open the Grotto Heaven at once! Move all five palaces and ten halls inside. For anything that cannot be moved, activate all protective formations."

"Immediately assemble all sect members! All Inner Sect Disciples are to relocate into the Grotto Heaven. All outer sect disciples are to guard the protective formations of each hall..."

"All sect members at the Golden Core realm and above, meet me at the entrance to the Grotto Heaven!"

Before his voice had even faded, Wang Xingsi produced the token left behind by Jiang Chengzi and shouted, "This is a decree from the Sect Leader! Now go!"

The managing elder was hesitant at first, but hearing Wang Xingsi’s rapid-fire decrees, he realized the gravity of the situation. He hastily acknowledged the orders and departed in a flurry.

Before long, the resonant chimes of the golden bell echoed throughout the grounds, and the entire Celestial Permanence Sect stirred into action.

Wang Xingsi did not rest for a single moment. He strode into the grand hall, issuing decrees to all corners of the sect. At the same time, he summoned his attendant Daoist Child and instructed him via voice transmission, "Send word to the family at once. All members of the Wang Family are to assemble at the Grotto Heaven entrance within fifteen minutes and enter."

The Daoist Child’s young face was taut with tension. He acknowledged the order, hurried out of the grand hall, summoned an immortal crane, and soared into the sky on its back.

Fifteen minutes later, Wang Xingsi finished issuing his decrees. He rushed out of the hall, and with a single leap, transformed into a streak of light, speeding toward the Grotto Heaven entrance.

The Grotto Heavens of the Five Domains Great Sects all depended on the Celestial Waterfall for their existence, and the Celestial Permanence Sect was no exception. They had, however, constructed a grand hall just outside the Celestial Waterfall to serve as an entrance to their Grotto Heaven.

By now, the area before the Grotto Heaven’s grand hall was already crowded with sect members. Under the direction of the sect’s elders, they were entering the Grotto Heaven in an orderly fashion.

Ordinarily, sect members at the Golden Core realm and above, and even exceptionally talented Foundation Establishment and Refining Technique Disciples, could all enter the Celestial Permanence Grotto Heaven to cultivate. However, after Jiang Chengzi assumed leadership, he had temporarily revoked this privilege for all sect members in preparation for merging the Grotto Heaven. This was precisely what made today’s evacuation so troublesome.

Fortunately, according to sect regulations, the authority to open the Grotto Heaven was not held by a single person. Otherwise, with Jiang Chengzi’s death at the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly, the Celestial Permanence Sect would not even have had the chance to retreat inside.

When Wang Xingsi arrived, the sect’s other two Nascent Soul Venerables, along with all the Golden Core Mages currently within the sect, had already gathered there. They all wore grave expressions. Seeing him arrive, an elder hurried forward, offered a salute, and said, "Senior Brother Wang, you’ve come."

Wang Xingsi nodded and asked, "Have my orders been carried out?"

"Yes, everything has been arranged," the elder replied. "Senior Brother, why was the alarm bell suddenly struck? Could it be...?"

The Celestial Permanence Sect had never truly sounded the alarm bell, not just in its entire history, but at least within the living memory of its members. For it to happen now, right during the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly, inevitably led to speculation.

At this point, Wang Xingsi had no intention of hiding the truth. He nodded grimly and said, "Yes. I’ve received word. Our sect was defeated by the True Form Temple at the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly."

Wang Xingsi closed his eyes and said, "The Sect Master, Junior Brother Li, Elder You... all of them have fallen."

Though they had expected bad news, everyone’s face still turned deathly pale. It felt as if the heavens themselves were collapsing.

That elder, however, though his face was ashen, managed to pull himself together. "In that case," he said, "the heavy burden of the Celestial Permanence Sect now falls upon your shoulders, Senior Brother. I have faith that you can support the sect with all your might and preserve our lineage."

Wang Xingsi merely sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "Let’s just get everyone into the Grotto Heaven as quickly as possible. If we haven’t finished by the time the True Form Temple arrives, I fear we won’t even be able to save our people."

The elder frowned. "The evacuation will take four hours at most. Even if the True Form Temple arrives, surely they can’t breach the Sect-Guarding Array within that time..."

Before he could finish, Wang Xingsi suddenly raised a hand to cut him off. He looked up toward the sky, his expression instantly turning grave.

The other elders present had been listening to the exchange. At this, they all followed his gaze. Gradually, those with higher cultivation levels revealed expressions of shock and disbelief.

A moment later, a great RUMBLE echoed from the sky, like thunder rolling in from a vast distance. In an instant, the shockwave scattered the clouds and made the very mountains tremble. As the sound reached its crescendo, a sky-shattering whistle pierced the air!

A blinding beam of sword light flared into existence. It stretched into a hundred-mile-long rainbow, then, in an instant, smashed through the clouds and slashed downward with world-cleaving force!

BOOM!

It was as if the celestial gates themselves had been torn asunder!

The people of the Celestial Permanence Sect didn’t even have time to feel shocked. A barrier of black light flared into existence above the sect, but it was instantly slashed open. Before the gash could even begin to mend, the sword light had already charged through, its momentum unbroken!

The attacker was, without a doubt, Xuzhuang. Heeding Yang Bijie’s advice to act quickly before circumstances could change, he had left the site of the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly and headed straight for the Celestial Permanence Sect. He hadn’t even waited for Meng Fusheng, instead streaking across the sky like lightning to deliver a decisive blow.

Xuzhuang wasn’t surprised to see that the Celestial Permanence Sect had activated its Sect-Guarding Array. A Sect-Guarding Array was nothing like a Grotto Heaven Array, which was supported by the power of a Grotto Heaven. This, by contrast, would not be difficult to handle.

Although he didn’t have the Taiyi Rainbow Sword on hand, the Sword Qi he had comprehended—one that embodied the ultimate end of substance and the reversal of the primordial beginning—was no mere parlor trick. Fueling his sword light with a vast amount of Magical Power, he shattered the Celestial Permanence Sect’s array barrier in a single strike!

Such ferocious power made the color drain from the faces of everyone from the Celestial Permanence Sect. When Wang Xingsi saw the array’s barrier shatter from a single blow, his eyelids began to twitch violently. "The trapping array!" he yelled. "The trapping array!"

The Celestial Permanence Sect’s Sect-Guarding Array was naturally more than just a simple barrier. It had four modes: a defensive array, a trapping array, an Illusion Array, and a killing array.

However, the defensive array had clearly failed to slow the sword light for even a moment before being breached. Thus, Wang Xingsi dared not place any hope in the killing array succeeding where the first had failed.

As for the Illusion Array, it might have been useful against a full-scale invasion by another sect, where it could disorient the less powerful Foundation Establishment and Refining Technique Disciples. But against a deadly Sword Cultivator who could shatter the defensive array in a single instant? Using the Illusion Array would be a complete joke.

Thus, Wang Xingsi could only pin his hopes on the trapping array, hoping it could at least slow the enemy’s advance. The problem was, the control center for the Sect-Guarding Array wasn’t located here, and its operators couldn’t hear his commands.

Fortunately, though the Celestial Permanence Sect’s Sect-Guarding Array had not seen battle in a long time, its disciples were not inexperienced. The operator in charge of the array reacted just as Wang Xingsi had, instantly switching it to the trapping mode.

In mid-air, black light converged, manifesting a chaotic force field beneath the barrier. It churned with countless vortexes, and all manner of tearing and crushing forces instantly assailed the sword light.

Seeing that the array’s shift mirrored his own instincts, Wang Xingsi breathed a small sigh of relief.

However, Wang Xingsi had assumed that even if the defensive array failed, the trapping array would at least hold the enemy back for a time. But as the sword light entered the trap, it moved like a lithe dragon, carving a bizarre arc through the air as it continued its rapid, deadly advance!

"What?" A look of utter terror finally appeared on Wang Xingsi’s face. His eyes darted back and forth in disbelief before he roared, "Retreat into the Grotto Heaven!"

The elder beside him flinched. "Senior Brother, you mean...?"

"Do I need to spell it out?!" Wang Xingsi spun around, his eyes bloodshot, and bellowed, "Disperse the other disciples now! All members at Golden Core and above, retreat with me into the Grotto Heaven!"