Chapter 679: True Fire Like the Sea, Sword Rises to the Ninth Heaven

The Sword of Green Vine unsheathed, and its light shone. The junior disciple, who had fled far away, turned back and saw streaks of radiant light coming from behind. This light was actually caused by the Gu spell deployed by his senior brother, illuminating half the sky and representing immortal insects as vast as clouds and seas.

"Senior Brother..."

Seeing his senior brother fighting with all his might, the junior disciple understood the gravity of the situation. He furiously channeled his magic power to accelerate his escape, continuously ascending through the strong winds, breaking through layers of dark clouds to enter the high-altitude gales.

"Whoosh... whoosh..."

The whistling sound of the high-altitude gales grew louder, but the invisible winds around the junior disciple seemed to form a blade-like tornado, stirring the clouds below like dragons drawing water.

"Something's wrong!"

The junior disciple's heart pounded as he felt something terrible was about to happen. The moment the thought crossed his mind, he once again used his essence blood to cast a spell, activating his escape technique. But his escape light flashed, unable to break through the wind ahead.

"Bang!"

Like a horse running into a wall, the junior disciple was directly bounced back, his head feeling incredibly dizzy. The gales, which had formed a tornado before him, transformed from invisible to visible, gradually emanating golden light.

"This is... not good!"

The endless golden shadows contracted. Before the junior disciple could react, he could no longer feel his own magic power. His entire body was rendered powerless, as he was tightly bound by the Immortal-Binding Rope, becoming a golden zongzi with only his head protruding.

At this moment, the Immortal-Binding Rope, trailing golden afterimages, transformed into a streak of golden light and flew into the gales, disappearing from sight.

On Ji Yuan's side, the senior brother's figure had vanished, hidden within a sky-obscuring swarm of insects. These insects also multiplied, their numbers growing exponentially. They looked like sky-obscuring hornets, yet they emitted streaks of radiant light and even possessed an aura capable of stirring wind and clouds.

The Sword of Green Vine flickered with light, sweeping through the insect swarm. Swathes of flying insects fell from the sky; some were cut in half, others wounded by the sword qi. But among these falling insects, many that weren't completely dead would fly again before reaching the ground. They appeared incredibly resilient, and the caster's trace remained undiscoverable.

"Buzz... buzz... buzz..."

Unbeknownst to him, all that Ji Yuan could see before him were immortal insects, and he couldn't detect the senior brother's aura at all.

"So, you are an immortal insect yourself? I underestimated you!"

Ji Yuan looked at the scene before him with slight surprise. So many immortal insects, they practically covered a hundred miles. If they were to directly descend upon the borders of Zuyue Kingdom below, or where the two armies were clashing, the battle wouldn't even need to be fought. In comparison, his opponent truly hadn't intervened too deeply.

"Hahahahaha... Mr. Ji, you flatter me. I am merely trying to protect myself!"

The old man's voice seemed to emanate from every single immortal insect. The insect cloud also stretched out both front and back, becoming increasingly long and narrow. The far end continuously extended, fleeing, while the end closer to Ji Yuan seemed to transform into a giant hand of immortal insects, glowing with radiant light, reaching out to grasp the pursuing Ji Yuan.

"Boom..."

The sky vibrated, and the surrounding clouds were all shattered. Ji Yuan dodged the giant hand, yet more and more immortal insects appeared around him, enveloping him from all directions—above, below, left, and right. Their mouthparts and sharp claws occasionally revealed themselves.

At this moment, a golden light flashed across the sky; the Immortal-Binding Rope had flown back. Ji Yuan's expression softened slightly, knowing that the Immortal-Binding Rope had brought back the fleeing person.

Ji Yuan raised a hand, first storing the Immortal-Binding Rope into his sleeve. Following this, within his mental landscape of mountains and rivers, the furnace roared. With a clatter, the lid of the alchemy furnace flew up into the sky, and endless furnace flames surged upwards, disappearing along the Golden Bridge between Heaven and Earth.

The external Ji Yuan felt his Qi sea boiling hot at this moment, and a slight flush rose to his face. His Dharma Eyes opened to their widest extent, and in the sight of his azure eyes, his inner world visualized a boundless sea of fire as he wished.

The next moment, Ji Yuan opened his mouth, and the True Samadhi Fire surged out.

"Whoosh! —————"

Just as an ancient dragon can spew water to engulf ten thousand miles of vast blue waves, the True Samadhi Fire, once it emerged from Ji Yuan's mouth, instantly transformed into a sea of fire sweeping across the sky. Its immense flames distorted the light of both night and dawn, exhibiting streaks of colorful, radiant light—beautiful, yet revealing deadly high temperatures and danger.

The moment the sea of insects met the sea of fire, the flames irresistibly spread towards the insect sea. With every wave-like surge, thousands upon thousands of immortal insects caught fire, and the aura of the insect swarm was rapidly replaced by the glow of the flames.

Both tangible and intangible things could not escape the scorching of the True Samadhi Fire.

"Ah—Roar—"

In the sea of immortal insects, it seemed as if all the immortal insects could feel the pain of their kin being scorched by the True Fire. They simultaneously let out screams and roars, but the speed at which the flames spread was even faster than the roars of the swarm...

After Ji Yuan spewed out the sea of fire, he himself retreated directly backward. Even though he was at a distance from the sea of fire and it was under his control, the heat and intensity of the flames still required him to maintain his distance.

"Roar... Mr. Ji, spare me!"

The immortal insect swarm voluntarily split into two sections, sacrificing the "pawns" to protect the "king." Over ninety percent remained to block the sea of fire, while the remaining ten percent rapidly flew eastward. But the sea of fire seemed to have eyes; the faster the swarm fled, the faster the flames spread.

"Rumble..."

In the distance, the sky was covered with dark clouds, flickering with lightning and rumbling with thunder. The moment the insect swarm flew past, heavy rain poured down, and a vast expanse of water rapidly gathered in the sky, rushing towards the sea of True Samadhi Fire.

"Quickly, flee!"

A thunderous sound came from deep within the thunderclouds. Following this, heavenly waves of water swept over the insect swarm and surged towards the True Samadhi Fire.

The fleeing immortal insect swarm seemed to see hope, and sounds of joyful surprise emanated from it.

"Senior Disciple? Senior Disciple, quickly flee! That's Mr. Ji's True Samadhi Fire; it cannot be contained!"

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The sky-filling waves crashed into the sky-filling sea of fire, but at the same moment, the endless water was instantly evaporated. The flames, as if igniting the waves, surged upwards with even greater speed.

"Crack! Rumble... Crack... Crack... Boom..."

Streaks of lightning struck down, and the thunderclouds continuously pressed lower. Among them, a streak of immortal light swept through the insect swarm, drawing out over a dozen brilliant insects. This was precisely a middle-aged man with black hair. But the moment these dozen-plus insects were held, it was like grasping a red-hot iron in boiling oil.

"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"

"Senior Disciple, don't mind me!" the voice cried. "That True Samadhi Fire is like a gangrene clinging to bone. Every immortal insect that dies causes me a fraction of damage; it simply cannot be cut off. The fire also burns within my spirit. You must flee quickly!"

The man's brows furrowed slightly. Watching the distant massive water waves he commanded crash into the True Samadhi Fire was like pouring fuel onto a fire. He spread his left hand, producing a crystal-clear jade bottle, inside which liquid was clearly swirling.

"Junior Disciple, don't move."

Saying this, the man tilted the jade bottle, and a translucent, dark-green liquid poured out, splashing onto the dozen-plus immortal insects in his hand.

"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"

The dozen-plus immortal insects writhed in pain in the man's palm. Their formerly intact bodies strangely showed patches of scorched marks; their wings were broken and their legs maimed, presenting a truly miserable sight.

In the short few breaths it took for the insects in his hand to "cool down" somewhat, although the man had been fleeing rapidly, he had to divide his attention to treat his junior disciple. The firelight from behind had already illuminated their path ahead. After his junior disciple's condition improved, the man quickly pointed the bottle's mouth backward, and a large quantity of translucent, dark-green liquid continuously poured out of the bottle, flowing into the massive waves he controlled, causing these heavenly waves to also take on a verdant green color.

"Boom... boom..." "Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"

The green waves clashed with the sea of fire, no longer fueling the flames. Although still rapidly eroded by the fire, they clearly possessed the ability to block it, allowing the fleeing man to swiftly fly out of the sea of fire's range.

Ji Yuan leaped high into the sky. Wherever he passed, the raging True Samadhi Fire quieted down. The Sword of Green Vine hovered beside him, its sword intent pointing directly into the distance.

"You come and go as you please? You clearly have too little regard for me, Ji Yuan."

"Clang!"

Amidst the sword's hum, Ji Yuan drew the Sword of Green Vine with a backhand motion. Its sword light streaked across dozens of miles, sweeping directly towards the fleeing light ahead, almost immediately striking its target as he drew the sword.

"Clang!"

A mirror-like surface, shimmering with brilliant light like a small shield, appeared. Upon contact with the sword light, it deflected it slightly, causing the sword light to pierce straight into the heavens, tearing a large hole through the rolling dark clouds in the sky.

To be able to parry this sword strike with apparent ease, his opponent's high cultivation level made Ji Yuan vigilant. His expression immediately grew more serious. He flipped his right hand, and the hilt of the Sword of Green Vine rotated around his wrist, allowing Ji Yuan to grasp it firmly in his palm.

Ji Yuan concentrated his thoughts. His azure eyes stared straight ahead, holding the Sword of Green Vine in his hand. His consciousness rapidly extended with his inner world's vision, and in the distant sky, images of mountains and rivers seemed to emerge, like an illusion, yet seemingly real.

"Hum..."

The Sword of Green Vine in his hand trembled slightly, its hum representing its excitement. The subtle character "Slay" on its blade gradually lit up.

The man rapidly fleeing ahead felt a tremendous shock in his heart at this moment. He looked at the escape light behind him; the light-shadow seemed like an immortal sword flying towards him. He looked down at his hand, where the dozen-plus scorched immortal insects were motionless.

"Mr. Ji, allow me to experience your swordplay."

The man suddenly flew downwards. After putting the immortal insects from his hand into his robe, he rapidly formed hand seals. The jade bottle in his hand continuously poured out liquid, which became a torrential downpour by the time it reached the ground.

"Spring birth, harmonious qi, uproot mountains, earth rise!"

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

"Boom!"

The ground suddenly rose in countless mounds of earth, and a colossal mountain range stood up out of nowhere. On it, countless green trees and red flowers continuously grew. The land, as far as the eye could see, surged like waves, continuously rising from the ground, with endless vegetation rapidly growing.

Ji Yuan inwardly praised, "Impressive." At least the visual spectacle was exaggerated. But his actions did not stop. The Sword of Green Vine's sword intent and sword qi were activated. He diagonally slashed upwards and softly chanted with an open mouth.

"Slay..."

Ten thousand feet of silver light swung like a long whip. The brilliance of the sword light outshone the nascent morning light. With a diagonal flick, it instantly caught up with the target, and the surrounding heaven and earth shone dazzlingly like silver.

Whoosh... Snap...

"Boom... boom... boom boom boom boom..."

Countless earthen mountains and stone peaks exploded, and countless green landscapes and red flowers shattered.

"Clang..."

Amidst the continuous explosions and tearing sounds, an extremely jarring sound echoed, making Ji Yuan's eardrums tingle. But this sound also indicated that the sword strike had not fully succeeded.

And at this moment, the rising mountain ranges were slowly toppling to both sides.

Ji Yuan squinted his eyes slightly, wasting no words. Although the opponent's cultivation was far beyond imagination, the current chase and the distance made for his most comfortable attacking state. A row of magical coins in his sleeve dissipated, and his sword-holding hand rose again. His body moved as if in a dance, the immortal sword moving with him, as he sent out a sword strike forward along his right arm.

Wandering Dragon Offering Flowers.

"Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh..."

Amidst the toppling mountains, the endless green trees and red flowers that had shattered on them all transformed into a sword-dragon at this moment, chasing forward.

"Clang... clink... clink-clink... creak-creak..."

In the distance, continuous jarring and rapid clashing sounds rang out. The man's mirror-like luminous wheel emitted groaning sounds under the strain, and the man himself turned pale and then flushed.