Chapter 909: Four Extremes Edge, Sword Formation Overwhelms Heaven

The painting Ji Yuan spread on the ground was pitch black, seemingly without any pattern, engulfing all the imperial palaces and city buildings. The painting above his head, apart from the night sky, contained only a striking bright moon.

At this point, everything in Xia Yong Imperial City seemed to vanish in an instant, except for the pagoda, which appeared to remain suspended between the two paintings of heaven and earth.

Zhu Yan, however, seemed to pay no mind to this. He looked down at Ji Yuan, still in his eunuch attire, with an expression of astonishment, as if seeing Ji Yuan for the very first time.

"You..."

Ji Yuan looked up, meeting Zhu Yan's gaze, and said calmly,

"I knew that by painting this moon, it would be difficult for you, psychologically, to discern the night sky painting above."

Ji Yuan understood that a fierce creature like Zhu Yan, even if appearing reckless on the surface, was not truly a brute. A pre-arranged trap would likely not catch him directly.

The reason Zhu Yan hadn't detected the anomaly for so long, only reacting when Ji Yuan appeared and covered the blind spot, fundamentally lay in that moon. Ji Yuan's painting skills were realistic enough to be mistaken for the real thing, combined with the Heaven and Earth Transformation method, which was wondrous. Yet, Ji Yuan felt that while it might deceive others, it might not fool Zhu Yan. However, this moon Ji Yuan had painted imbued a subtle sensation of a "silver toad."

In Zhu Yan's perception, Ji Yuan, though possessing good cultivation, was ultimately a junior who had never witnessed ancient landscapes or the true colors of primal heaven and earth. But at this moment, he realized that his initial understanding of Ji Yuan might have been wrong from the start.

"You know that Silver Toad? Ji Yuan, you're not from this era! But why do you cultivate the current immortal path and reach such a realm?"

While the term "immortal path" existed in ancient times, the ancient immortals and the current immortal path were fundamentally different. Although terms like "magic power" also existed, ancient beings were innately powerful, and the ancient immortal path was a path of self-cultivation for beings who were already immortal, not for humans to become immortals. It was even somewhat similar to the cultivation of mythical beasts and fierce beasts.

This difference was so vast that it was like fierce beasts and mythical beasts instantly understanding each other's distinct life-forms upon seeing each other. Yet, Ji Yuan had always given Zhu Yan the impression of a contemporary immortal, even his immortal qi felt like the ethereal qi of the current immortal path, rather than the profound qi of ancient immortals.

But tonight, Ji Yuan had directly painted the illusory form of the moon toad to deceive Zhu Yan. No matter how incredible it seemed, it pointed to one major possibility: Ji Yuan inherently knew what the moon represented and could leverage this knowledge to set a trap.

Ji Yuan, of course, understood the meaning behind Zhu Yan's shocked questions, but he had no intention of explaining them clearly. As for "current immortal path" or "past immortal path," in Ji Yuan's heart, there had always been only one beautiful vision for what an immortal truly was.

Moreover, in Ji Yuan's view, what was called the ancient immortal path was actually more akin to innate deities.

"I don't wish to say anything more unnecessary. Since you haven't escaped, it saves me a lot of effort!"

Ji Yuan knew Zhu Yan hadn't been able to exert his full strength last time, but he also had his own backup plans.

"Wait, Ji Yuan! The conflict between us is a complete misunderstanding. Since you also originate from ancient times, we can absolutely cooperate. There's no need for me to tell you the secrets of heaven and earth; I presume you already know some. Your current immortal path has reached its peak. You can totally let me have Zuo Wuji. In the future, we can form an alliance, and we'll certainly have victory assured against any changes!"

Zhu Yan spoke quickly, and seeing Ji Yuan's silence, he rapidly added,

"Ji Yuan, do you think by sealing heaven and earth, you can burn me to death with Samadhi True Fire? Do you think that little golden rope can still bind me this time? Do you think your immortal sword can really kill me? There's no benefit in us fighting to the death! I, Zhu Yan, control a part of the Way of Heaven's Derivation and hold a sliver of hope amidst the great cosmic changes, far stronger than other awakened mediocrities. Isn't cooperating with me to seek the origin of the Heavenly Dao and fundamental transcendence the most important thing?"

Seeing Ji Yuan remain entirely unmoved, even looking at Zhu Yan with detached eyes, as if in silent mockery, Zhu Yan's face grew ferocious.

Zhu Yan's peripheral vision swept around him. He knew that as he spoke, the two paintings of heaven and earth were continuously expanding. But what of it? As long as the golden rope couldn't surprisingly bind him, he was confident he could break free by force.

"You don't know what's good for you. To show my sincerity, I'll have a proper talk with you after I defeat you and have your life in my hands!"

Before his words fully fell, Zhu Yan's body rapidly expanded. The six-story pagoda beside him instantly became as tiny as a toy. Demonic energy rose like flames, coiling around the fierce ape covered in white fur.

"Roar! Ji Yuan, can you truly not distinguish what's important?"

The giant ape's voice was like thunderous heavenly might, shaking heaven and earth with a rumbling sound. It was then that Ji Yuan, standing on the ground, finally spoke.

"I don't care about what you consider important. I only know that your not living is very important to me!"

Appearing simultaneously with Ji Yuan's words were numerous glowing characters that continuously materialized throughout the four cardinal directions of heaven and earth. The moonlight, rich with abundant lunar essence, and the shimmering starlight all transformed into torrents of keen sword intent. An astonishingly powerful green vine sword also emerged in the night sky, its radiance surpassing the stars and moon—it was none other than the Immortal Sword Qingying.

"Let me show you this incomplete sword array of mine."

"Hahahaha... You dare to show off something incomplete? I'll destroy this grand array first!"

Zhu Yan laughed loudly, lifting two illusory mountains in his hands, one red and one green, and hurled them fiercely towards the silver moon in the sky, which seemed most like the core of this enclosed array.

However, the two mountains, once thrown, rapidly receded and grew smaller, as if the sky's distance truly had no end, failing to elicit any reaction Zhu Yan had imagined.

"This array is enough to kill you!"

Ji Yuan pointed his sword finger at the colossal Zhu Yan. The character spirits in the four directions burst into brilliant light. Infinite sword intent fell like a rain of starlight. All the stars, the entire sky, became hazy and illusory with sword qi, like a mirage. In this state, the Green Vine Sword gathered the momentum of the heavens and descended as a dazzling streak of light.

The sword light was incredibly fast. Even though Zhu Yan reacted swiftly, the sword light still grazed his shoulder and slashed across his back, instantly tearing his flesh, and a bone-chilling sharpness invaded his body.

Whoosh—

The sword light flashed again. Though the immortal sword had just vanished into the ground a moment before, it now struck horizontally from afar, leaving a gash across Zhu Yan's waist that was difficult to heal.

Swish, swish, swish, swish...

Wounds continuously appeared on Zhu Yan's body. These were not mere injuries from sword light or qi; each was a direct piercing and laceration by the immortal sword.

Bang bang bang bang... Rumble... Rumble...

Zhu Yan continuously pounded various parts of his body. Each blow resounded like heavenly thunder. Various auras alternately flashed across his body, causing his ape skin and fur to gather terrifying, gelatinous demonic qi, and faintly revealing the golden outline of his bones.

But even so, he could neither touch the immortal sword nor block its sharpness. Every time he sensed the sword's presence, a new wound was inevitably added. A sense of excruciating pain, as if his entire body was being torn apart, continuously escalated, while a sharp energy ceaselessly locked onto him.

The Green Vine Sword seemed to disregard all changes in direction, vanishing after each flash and reappearing as another streak of sword light striking Zhu Yan. The various character spirits constantly shifted and transformed, and the Green Vine Sword continuously flashed into existence at the locations of these spirits, seemingly folding spatial distances.

"Ji Yuan, you can't kill me with these trivial tricks—Mountain Shatter—"

Zhu Yan laughed in his fury. Mountain-shaped illusions appeared behind him, quickly materializing into substance, then were instantly shattered by Zhu Yan's direct punches or palms.

Rumble... Rumble...

Countless colossal rocks, permeated with demonic qi that burned like raging flames, shot in all directions. Smaller ones exploded mid-air; larger ones crashed into sword qi, sword intent, even the pitch-black earth, and slammed into the four cardinal directions and the sky, creating terrifying commotions like falling heavenly lightning.

As one mountain shattered, another immediately appeared. Zhu Yan continuously swept or hurled the broken boulders with his fists and palms, as if giant meteors were bombarding heaven and earth.

Ji Yuan and the pagoda seemed to stand outside this created world, unshaken by the crumbling heaven and earth. But Zhu Yan's exaggerated attacks caused "heaven and earth" to totter. He knew that the Ji Yuan visible was a decoy; the true Ji Yuan must be within, either breaking the array or dealing with the array's operator.

Ji Yuan's magic power poured out like a breached river. Simultaneously, countless magic coins continuously appeared before Ji Yuan, then instantly dissolved into ash. All this magic power supported the heaven and earth, as well as Ji Yuan's spell-casting and array transformation.

Ji Yuan himself no longer lacked magic power, but instantly expending most of his accumulated magic coins was like several Ji Yuans simultaneously exerting their full power.

The character spirits in the four cardinal directions and the sky were all suffused with terrifying sword intent. The increasingly powerful sword intent within this world continuously converged upon these characters. The "Sword Intent Scroll" originally contained only a little over a hundred small characters, but now the character spirits throughout heaven and earth were like endless sword qi, virtually limitless. Among them, the most numerous were characters such as "sword," "kill," "cut," and "execute."

As Ji Yuan's sword incantations grew stronger, the sword intent and qi condensed to the point of recreating stars and moon. At this moment, all the character spirits seemed to transform, both real and illusory, into the Green Vine Sword, slowly turning in unison to point their tips at Zhu Yan, who stood at the center of the grand array.

At this very moment, even before the swords reached him, Zhu Yan felt as if countless swords were piercing his body. The extreme pain and tearing sensation were almost tangible, as if he was experiencing his fate a few breaths in advance.

At this same moment, the colossal Zhu Yan furiously shattered dozens of mountains, turning everything he saw into a hellscape, then with a "bang..." he directly dissolved into the air.

Endless flesh and countless hairs flew out, transforming into innumerable Zhu Yans, scattering in all directions. Each was ferocious, filled with soaring demonic qi. Some held mountains, facing the incoming sword lights; others flew into the sky or burrowed underground to escape; a significant number rushed towards a corner of the earth, where Ji Yuan's spell-casting aura was finally detected by Zhu Yan.

Amidst the shattering of heaven and earth, the world was enveloped in a brilliant sword light.