Chapter 936: 斩星一剑

This is the last creation left by the Ancestral Master!

Inside the Vermilion Bird Dao Palace, Ming Yihua, standing beside Chen Mobai, gazed at the Spirit Cloud Palace in the void beyond the heavens, his voice filled with emotion and his eyes with excitement. The Spirit Cloud Palace, the Immortal Sect's supreme war artifact, was designed by Ancestor Yun Ya of the Weapon Crafting Daoist Academy. During the first Expansion War, the Immortal Sect encountered the Three-Eyed Race and suffered heavy losses, even with the Five Ancestors presiding. Sensing the enemy's immense power and considering the conditions of the Terrestrial Star, Ancestor Yun Ya designed the Spirit Cloud Palace, using his sect's secret war artifact as a foundational blueprint.

Before his demise, Ancestor Yun Ya continued to painstakingly perfect the Spirit Cloud Palace. It was precisely because of this that he exhausted his life force prematurely and passed away just as the core of the Spirit Cloud Palace was successfully forged, despite having much more time to live. After Ancestor Yun Ya, the artificers of the Weapon Crafting Daoist Academy, and indeed the entire Immortal Sect, inherited his will. They gritted their teeth, poured the Terrestrial Star's most precious resources into the project, and finally completed the Spirit Cloud Palace before the second world-level Expansion War. In that Expansion War, the Immortal Sect again faced a formidable enemy. Ultimately, it was the Spirit Cloud Palace that turned their opponents to dust, averting massive casualties.

Over thousands of years, the Immortal Sect's brilliant minds relied on Ancestor Yun Ya's design blueprints to modify and create the Four Symbols Dao Palaces, the Six Great Heavenly Gates, and other structures. Therefore, artificers across the Immortal Sect, even those from the other three great Daoist academies, revered Ancestor Yun Ya as their patron ancestor.

Given Chen Mobai's current status, he was naturally permitted to view the blueprints of the Spirit Cloud Palace. It must be said that even as a half-step fifth-tier artificer, he found studying them extremely challenging. This was not merely a sixth-tier artifact; it also involved sixth-tier formations, lightning spells, talismans, and more. If Ancestor Yun Ya had not completed the sixth-tier core before his death, the Immortal Sect might not have succeeded in crafting it, even with thousands of years of effort. It was precisely for this reason that for many years, the Immortal Sect could only create the Four Symbols Dao Palaces but could not replicate a second Spirit Cloud Palace. The ability to replicate the Four Symbols Dao Palaces was also thanks to the extraordinary talent of Ancestor Zhongli. In a sense, the combined achievements of the Four Symbols Dao Palaces, the Six Great Heavenly Gates, the Twenty-Eight Constellations Battle Armor, and other creations were no less impressive than the Spirit Cloud Palace.

Chen Mobai was now at the core of the entire Vermilion Bird Dao Palace. He could feel the endless fire spiritual energy from the Dragon God Star's heavens and earth. After being refined by the Nine Heavens Fire Palace, which the Dao Palace manifested, ninety percent of it transformed into pillar-like spiritual light, flowing into the Spirit Cloud Palace in the void beyond. The remaining ten percent stayed in the Dao Palace's energy core, the Thunder-Fire Pool. Of that ten percent, half was used to maintain the Vermilion Bird Dao Palace's fifth-tier grand formation, controlled by Zhongli Tianyu. The other half was wielded by Chen Mobai, who was at the core of the Nine Heavens Fire Palace. Although most of the fire spiritual energy on the Dragon God Star had been consumed and refined by the Mother Monarch, in the grand scheme of the heavens and earth, it was still as vast as an ocean to Chen Mobai, a Nascent Soul cultivator.

With the continuous supply of fire spiritual energy from the Nine Heavens Fire Palace, the bottleneck that had troubled him for so long shattered. Chen Mobai's Pure Yang Scroll advanced to the fourth layer of the Nascent Soul realm. The aura of his breakthrough on the spot naturally couldn't be hidden from those around him. Everyone marveled at his extraordinary talent, amazed that he could achieve a breakthrough on the eve of battle. He truly lived up to his reputation as "the man victorious in combat." Wenren Xuewei quickly calculated and found that Chen Mobai had reached the fourth layer of the Nascent Soul realm only thirty-three years after forming his Nascent Soul. In the Immortal Sect, this was unprecedented and likely unsurpassed.

Even after breaking through to the fourth layer of the Nascent Soul realm, Chen Mobai's aura continued to surge. He donned a vermillion battle armor, the Vermilion Bird Immortal Armor, which was also the core of the Nine Heavens Fire Palace. The Four Symbols Dao Palaces, established by Ancestor Zhongli, each incorporated a realm, allowing them to manifest four Nine Heavens Immortal Palaces. These palaces would draw elemental spiritual energy (metal, wood, water, fire) from the heavens and earth, forming four boundary heavens that, when combined with the Spirit Cloud Palace, perfectly aligned with the Five Elements of the cosmos and could unleash infinite transformations. The Primordial Chaos Energy Cannon, a great light of destruction, was precisely triggered by the fusion of the Five Elements.

In fact, according to Ancestor Yun Ya's initial draft, the Spirit Cloud Palace, by itself, could manifest the five boundary heavens and condense the Primordial Chaos Energy Cannon. Unfortunately, the workload for that was too immense, and the Immortal Sect currently lacked the capabilities and resources. Moreover, if that were the case, five Spirit Transformation True Monarchs would be required to fully unleash the power of the Spirit Cloud Palace. The Four Symbols Dao Palaces, developed by Ancestor Zhongli from the Spirit Cloud Palace, could each unleash the power of the Spirit Transformation realm if evolved to their utmost. However, to do so, the cultivator presiding over a Four Symbols Dao Palace had to be at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm. Although Chen Mobai had just broken through to the fourth layer of the Nascent Soul realm, it was still insufficient, so he needed to rely on the Vermilion Bird Immortal Armor.

After donning the armor, Chen Mobai felt the power of the Nine Heavens Fire Palace continuously pouring into the immortal armor, which then augmented him in return. His entire aura surged, reaching the fifth, sixth, seventh layers of the Nascent Soul realm… This immortal armor, combined with the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace, could temporarily elevate the core cultivator to the peak of their current realm, ensuring that when the Vermilion Bird Dao Palace burned its core energy, it could manifest a Nascent Divinity projection! Although it was only a temporary enhancement, Chen Mobai was still somewhat entranced by the power of his Pure Yang Scroll at the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul realm!

"Is this... the perfect Nascent Soul?" At the core of the Nine Heavens Fire Palace, Chen Mobai felt that with every breath he took, he influenced the weather across thousands of miles on the Dragon God Star, causing endless droughts, scorching air currents, and even making seawater evaporate and sink. He couldn't help but feel a slight trepidation. If the peak of the Nascent Soul realm was already this terrifying, then what about Spirit Transformation cultivators unleashing their full power? Wouldn't that be world-destroying?

"The two Ancestors are about to make their move!" Just then, Wenren Xuewei received the latest instruction from the Spirit Cloud Palace and informed Chen Mobai. As his staunchest ally, Chen Mobai had given Wenren Xuewei sufficient respect, appointing her as his deputy, so that if he were absent, she would be in charge of the Vermilion Bird Dao Palace. Upon hearing this, Chen Mobai immediately looked up at the void beyond the heavens! At the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul realm, his Void-Piercing Spiritual Eye was also empowered to an unprecedented level. He clearly pierced through the Nine Heavens Astral Winds and the Heavenly Membrane, seeing the woman in full pure-white battle armor standing before the Spirit Cloud Palace. Chen Mobai naturally knew that Ancestor Baiguang was wearing the Spirit Cloud Immortal Armor, the Immortal Sect's only sixth-tier battle armor.

Beside Ancestor Baiguang, a silver-gray longsword floated. Chen Mobai sensed a terrifying energy source from deep within the Spirit Cloud Palace, seemingly an accumulation of tens of thousands of Nascent Soul cultivators, surging forth and being absorbed by the Spirit Cloud Immortal Armor at that very moment. In an instant, Ancestor Baiguang's aura surged to a level that even the void could not withstand. It was also at this moment that Chen Mobai's Echoing Valley Perception sensed the Dragon God Star's heavenly and earthly rules trembling as if reviving. However, because the rules of this world had long been trampled and shattered by the Mother Monarch, even if they sensed the aura of destruction, they could only wail in vain.

The entire Dragon God Star began to erupt with an unprecedentedly rich spiritual energy, as if trying to birth more powerful beings to overcome this catastrophe. This, however, only caused the remaining insect beasts on the Dragon God Star to wildly feast and evolve. Naturally, the three great Dao Palaces, which had already manifested three boundary heavens, also absorbed more spiritual energy from the heavens and earth at this time. A colossal Azure Dragon stretching ten thousand miles, a Tortoise-Serpent Black Tortoise retreating above the oceans and covering endless waters, and a Vermilion Bird soaring across the southern sky gradually condensed into illusory forms, erupting with power fluctuations nearing the Spirit Transformation realm. This was the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace evolved to its extreme. However, to make these three Nascent Divinity projections solidify from illusion, or even be fully wielded, the energy core within the Dao Palace had to be ignited and unleashed. And at this point, it also meant that the Spirit Cloud Palace's Nine Heavens Immortal Palace was ready for action.

"How come I only see Ancestor Baiguang?" Chen Mobai was surprised to see only the graceful figure before the Spirit Cloud Palace. Hadn't Wenren Xuewei said both Ancestors would make a move? "Have you forgotten the origin of Ancestor Qianxing's title?" Hearing this, Wenren Xuewei pointed to the silver-gray longsword hovering beside Ancestor Baiguang. It was at this moment that Ancestor Baiguang formed a sword gesture with her fingers, and the starting stance of the Dao Annihilation Sword, which Chen Mobai was very familiar with, was unleashed.

The Qianxing Sword, formed from a world, slowly rose from beside Baiguang, accompanied by the Dao Annihilation Sword. Wherever it passed, dark cracks were torn open, continuously spreading and extending! Under the terrifying energy augmentation of the Spirit Cloud Palace, Ancestor Baiguang's cultivation reached a dreadful level that Chen Mobai dared not even spy upon or listen to. And with her at such a level, the Qianxing Sword fully, even more terrifyingly, manifested the Dao Annihilation Sword!

"Strike!" With the command "Strike!", the Qianxing Sword erupted with dazzling silver light. Centered on it, enormous dark fissures tore open in the cosmic void, as if piercing a colossal spiderweb covering the entire Dragon God Star! This was a sign that the power of this sword was too immense, something this cosmic realm could not withstand! The silver light, like a star, pierced through the Dragon God Star's heavenly membrane and Nine Heavens Astral Winds in an instant, resembling a silver beam of light descending from the outer cosmos. Carrying a destructive vitality, it plunged directly into the abyss leading to the Dragon God Star's core!

Powerful insect beasts surged forth, attempting to block this sword! Unfortunately, before the Dao's annihilation, they were utterly destroyed. The Qianxing Sword was unstoppable, slicing through the crust, evaporating groundwater, and melting mineral veins. In what seemed like an instant, it pierced the white cocoon, then penetrated the star's core, emerging from the Dragon God Star's crust on the other side! Ancestor Baiguang, standing before the Spirit Cloud Palace, lifted her sword-finger. The hundreds of thousands of miles of silver light that had pierced the entire planet swept upwards into the cosmos, like a star-severing sword, carving an opening through the middle of the entire Dragon God Star!

Under this single sword strike, countless insect beasts turned to ash! Chen Mobai also heard the painful wails of the Dragon God Star's heavens and earth! This entire world had been severed! Amidst thunderous roars! From the other side of the planet, endless seawater began to pour incessantly into the planet's depths along the gaping wound carved by the Qianxing Sword, triggering infinite tsunamis that submerged the insect beasts, accompanied by volcanic eruptions and raging storms… It was as if an endless apocalypse was unfolding on the Dragon God Star.

This was Chen Mobai's first time witnessing a Spirit Transformation cultivator from the Immortal Sect make a move! He could only conclude that he still needed to maintain humility and not grow arrogant just because he possessed the potential for Spirit Transformation and was considered the most talented person in the Immortal Sect's history. As long as one had not reached this realm, no matter how powerful a Nascent Soul cultivator—even if he could now slay many Nascent Souls with a single sword—before a Spirit Transformation cultivator, it was merely a matter of a casual sword strike from them!

Deep within the planet's core, after witnessing the Star-Severing Sword unleashed by the combined power of the Immortal Sect's Twin Sages through their avatars, the three grand masters of the Ascension Cult all fell silent. A sense of despair then welled up in their hearts. Without achieving Spirit Transformation, before this sword, they were no more than ants, just like the insect beasts that had turned to ash.

"Is the Mother Monarch dead too?" Yan Xinjie asked, somewhat disbelievingly. One must know that, according to their estimations, the Mother Monarch, having consumed the planet's essence and being a powerful ancient mutated insect like the Gold-Gnawing Fire Ant, should at least be able to withstand the Immortal Sect's Twin Sages, even if it couldn't defeat them. Who would have thought that the Immortal Sect would deploy its profound might, and with a single sword strike, cleave the entire Dragon God Star!

"No, it seems to have awakened!" The Pavilion Master of Divine Control had taken over the most insect beasts, and had many avatars before the Mother Monarch's cocoon. Although most turned to ash under the Star-Severing Sword, a few lucky ones managed to hide beneath the path of the sword and were not affected.

"Let's act as the situation demands..." The Ascension Cult Master's eyes flickered with strange light. After leaving this remark, he used shadow escape techniques and vanished from the spot.

"After the Immortal Sect eliminates the Mother Monarch, they will surely try to develop and utilize the planet's remaining resources. Before they set up their heavenly and earthly nets, we must have Lin Daoming condense more fetal transformation essence qi..." This thought flashed through Yan Xinjie's mind as he left. After witnessing the Star-Severing Sword of the Immortal Sect's Twin Sages, he held no hope for the Mother Monarch. Not to mention it hadn't even achieved Void Refinement; even if it were taught the Purple Firmament Dao Scroll now and knew how to achieve Void Refinement, with the Immortal Sect's Twin Sages and the Spirit Cloud Palace suspended in the cosmic void, there would be no possibility or time for it to do so. Under circumstances where success was impossible, he needed to gain as much benefit as possible. This Expansion War had proven the effect of Lin Daoming's Myriad Spirit Hubs and the fetal transformation essence qi on Spirit Transformation. Although Qing Nü was hidden by the Pure Yang lad, and Yang Jing was taken over by the Ascension Cult Master, there was still Kong Feichen, who was also one of the three immortal sprouts that had integrated the fetal transformation essence qi. Since he had just lost a Black Dragon avatar, he might as well use Kong Feichen to compensate for it. Thinking this, Yan Xinjie headed towards Lin Daoming's location.

Meanwhile, the Pavilion Master of Divine Control, watching the two leave, had multicolored light continuously flickering in his eyes. He finally looked towards the deepening roars from the white giant cocoon deep within the planet's core, and made a decision!

After the Star-Severing Sword cleaved the Dragon God Star, the insect beasts hidden underground were exposed to the eyes of all in the Immortal Sect. Among them, what most captured Chen Mobai's attention was naturally the giant white cocoon embedded within the star's core. The formerly sealed cocoon had also been cut open by the Qianxing Sword, revealing the true form of the sleeping creature within. It was a creature that was half-dragon, half-human, and half-insect! It had an anthropomorphic female face, short black hair, and six dragon horns of various colors on its head, from which one could faintly hear the whistling of the sky, the vastness of the earth, and the raging waves of the ocean. Its upper body resembled a female torso, slender and flexible, but its skin was jade-like golden, adorned with vivid blood-red patterns like ant markings that felt scorching to the touch. Six long, slender, ant-like arms extended from its back, tearing open its cleaved white cocoon, and it roared furiously at the Spirit Cloud Palace in the cosmic void! Its lower body was a long, dragon-like tail covered in scales glinting with golden-red brilliance and dazzling spiritual light. However, at the junction of its upper and lower body, there was a fist-sized blood-hole, and the wound seemed to harbor a terrifying tearing force, spreading like a spiderweb across its half-body. Drops of golden-red blood seeped out, staining and burning the white cocoon. This was clearly the injury inflicted by the Star-Severing Sword.

"Is this the Mother Monarch!" Seeing this strange creature, Chen Mobai once again felt fortunate that the Immortal Sect had waited for Ancestor Baiguang to emerge from seclusion before launching a full-scale war. Otherwise, relying solely on Ancestor Qianxing might not have been enough to secure victory.

"Three Great Dao Palaces, unite with us to slay the Mother Monarch!" Qianxing's voice rang out, reaching the ears of Chen Mobai and the other two.

"As you command!" In an instant, the illusory Nascent Divinity projections above the three great Dao Palaces, fueled by the boundless energy of the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace, condensed terrifying and extreme lightning bolts! Rumble! Chen Mobai, controlling the Vermilion Bird projection, directed beams of crimson lightning towards the Mother Monarch, which was flying out from the depths of the planet's core. However, facing this thunder-fire, one of the Mother Monarch's hands on its back opened, revealing a mouth in its palm. Amidst the violent explosions, it devoured most of the thunder-fire energy. Chen Mobai even saw the Mother Monarch's scales gleam slightly brighter. Seeing this, he immediately halted the Vermilion Bird Dao Palace, yielding the stage to his colleagues.

The Azure Dragon Dao Palace naturally manifested the Myriad Illusions Green Lightning! This lightning spell was both a lightning of vitality and destruction. When it struck the Mother Monarch, the fiery patterns on her scales and skin instantly dimmed somewhat. But as it opened its mouth and exhaled, a stream of golden-red magma poured down. The terrifying high temperature, a mix of metal and fire, perfectly countered the Myriad Illusions Green Lightning. Qi Yuheng tutted, then also halted the Azure Dragon Dao Palace.

The last to strike was naturally the Black Tortoise Dao Palace, on which they placed great hopes! Water Immortal did not disappoint them either! Beams of deep blue-black lightning, carrying a cold aura that could freeze everything, struck the Mother Monarch, instantly freezing the seawater that had been pouring into the planet's cut. Even the Mother Monarch was no exception! As it flew towards the Spirit Cloud Palace in the cosmic void, it instantly transformed into a colossal iceberg! Water Immortal then condensed the power of the Heavenly Serpent into a thousand-meter-long sword, horizontally slicing the suspended iceberg into two halves!

However, accompanied by a cracking sound! The severed iceberg, under the impact of a golden-red energy, shattered into pieces, and even melted into droplets of water that fell upon the vast yellow sands. The Mother Monarch, completely unharmed, tore through the iceberg and appeared before them. Although they could employ fifth-tier techniques with the aid of the Four Symbols Dao Palaces, these methods seemed insufficient when facing a true peak Spirit Transformation insect beast.

Buzz, buzz, buzz! After the three great Dao Palaces attacked in succession, they naturally attracted the Mother Monarch's attention. Its cold pupils scanned the surroundings. The six dragon horns on its head, arranged in pairs, then caused three giant energy spheres of different colors to condense in the sky, instantly bursting forth towards the three Dao Palaces. The East, North, and South Great Heavenly Gates immediately erupted with unprecedented brilliance, continuously drawing energy from the Dao Palaces' cores to form a colossal defensive shield composed of thousands of four-lobed crystal shields, blocking the energy beams fired by the Mother Monarch outside the Dao Palaces. Rumble! Amidst intense roars, Chen Mobai, feeling almost sympathetic vibrations with the Vermilion Bird Dao Palace, sensed the Nine Heavens Fire Palace intensely vibrating. Although the Mother Monarch did not understand cultivation, this simplest and crudest method of condensing and unleashing the energy of heaven and earth was precisely what suited it best.

"These should be the powers originally bestowed upon the Dragon God Star's Three Dragon Gods by this world, allowing them to condense the elemental forces of sky, earth, and ocean to unleash divine punishment spells." "The Mother Monarch must have devoured the Three Dragon Gods and also gnawed upon the planet's essence, thus evolving these abilities." "The method to counter this is also very simple…" At this moment, Cloud Sea True Monarch's voice sounded in the communication channel. Immediately after, three black holes suddenly appeared above the Mother Monarch's head, devouring all of the continuously drawn elemental forces of sky, earth, and ocean that it had been absorbing. "These are the divine domains of the Three Dragon Gods that we found over the years by seeking out dragon veins and searching heaven and earth. They still contain the Three Dragon Gods' authority, which can in turn suppress this ability of the Mother Monarch!" As Cloud Sea True Monarch spoke, the Mother Monarch evidently discovered this as well and extended three of its arms directly into the three black holes. With a muffled grunt from Cloud Sea True Monarch, these three previously opened divine domains were immediately shut down again! Another roar of intense pain erupted as the Mother Monarch's three hands, which had plunged into the three divine domains, seemed to be severed by the power of the void. Streams of golden-red blood dripped down, forming mountains of flame on the ground.

At this moment, silver lights flickered in the void as the Nascent Soul True Monarchs of the Immortal Sect all descended into the Spirit Cloud Palace, standing behind Ancestor Baiguang.

"It's about time!" After Yu Baiguang uttered these words, Qianxing, who had transformed into a sword beside her, nodded slightly. Then, the fully re-charged Spirit Cloud Palace once again injected terrifying surges of energy into the Spirit Cloud Immortal Armor. At this moment, the Mother Monarch seemed to have completely lost its sanity. It roared, transforming into a sky-shattering rainbow, bursting through the Dragon God Star's heavenly membrane and entering the cosmos. Yu Baiguang's gaze turned icy cold. She transformed into a silver light and stepped out of the Spirit Cloud Palace! The Qianxing Sword, piercing the void, had already followed her and appeared before the Mother Monarch!

Qianxing, having transformed into a sword with his own body, moved with almost instantaneous speed. He arrived after her but struck first, landing a sword thrust with the technique of a void blade into the bloody hole on the Mother Monarch's chest, which had been created by the earlier Star-Severing Sword. However, each palm on the Mother Monarch's back seemed to have an eye. Although three of its hands had been severed by the Three Dragon Gods' divine domains, three remained. One of them extended and collided with the Qianxing Sword. Accompanied by a piercing sound, Qianxing was astonished to find himself knocked flying. Yet, the Mother Monarch's palm showed no signs of injury. "How is this possible? I can't even break its defense?" Witnessing this, Qianxing found it hard to accept. He had just pierced through the Mother Monarch and the entire planet, even carving an opening through the planet, almost bisecting the Mother Monarch. Although in that previous strike, he merely provided the sword, Baiguang had wielded it, and the Spirit Cloud Palace had provided the energy. But this current scene made Qianxing realize just how formidable the Mother Monarch's outer shell defense truly was. If it weren't for Yu Baiguang, a sword cultivator, making her move, he might truly have to rely solely on the Spirit Cloud Palace.

At this moment, Yu Baiguang had already drawn her Forgetfulness Sword and began to fully display her Immortal Sect's peak sword Dao! Collaborating with Qianxing and leveraging the power of the Spirit Cloud Immortal Armor, she could easily slay this Mother Monarch! However, with the overall situation already decided, she wished to use this powerful insect beast to hone her perfected sword Dao. After all, this time, undergoing a "reduction for emptiness," although she remained at the Great Accomplishment Spirit Transformation realm, her karma and connections were cleared. With her sword free from these restraints, she could finally unleash it to her heart's content. This was a feeling Yu Baiguang had never experienced before. While her previous swordplay was swift and sharp, every time she struck, she always felt she couldn't use her full power. But now, any casual sword strike from her was equivalent to her previous peak performance!

The Dao Annihilation Sword! It bloomed upon her Forgetfulness Sword, and even without Qianxing's assistance, this strike still pierced through the Mother Monarch's hard shell. As golden-red blood splattered, a look of pain reappeared on the Mother Monarch's face. However, Yu Baiguang showed no mercy. With a flick of her sword-finger, Qianxing was involuntarily guided by her. Together with the Forgetfulness Sword, they transformed into two brilliant streaks, severing the head of the Mother Monarch before them!