Chapter 76 – Don’t Look Down!

  The night sky became a battlefield between monsters.

  City Lord Han Zhengwu surged upward like a blazing meteor, his aura radiating majesty and power that blasted back the demonic Qi that enveloped them. Every movement of his hand stirred the clouds in the sky, and the weight of his Early Nascent Soul stage cultivation pressed down on everyone present.

  He had honed his skills through centuries, and despite Xun Beiming’s rapid rise in cultivation, he was far from being the City Lord’s equal.

  Han Zhengwu’s sword was a gleaming arc of celestial light that sliced through the air with righteous fury. It was the manifestation of his unyielding will to protect Yunlai City.

  Floating in the sky opposite him was Xun Beiming, who was wrapped in a writhing shroud of bloody mist and shadow. His eyes gleamed in the night sky with madness, and he held his black spear in his hands.

  The barbed tip of the weapon was pointed directly at his opponent, and it pulsed with malevolent Qi. The air was filled with the cries of tormented souls that had been refined to increase its power. It was a demonic weapon refined through atrocities, and filled with the spirits of hundreds of thousands.

  Mortals, Cultivators, and even Spiritual Beasts had been consumed by the spear in order for it to become a Low-Grade Nascent Soul weapon. Their resentment fed Xun Beiming’s spear like an endless wellspring.

  Xun Beiming laughed, and his aura spiked violently as he burned his blood essence and spirit without a care for the consequences. He was far beyond reason, and nothing mattered to him now apart from refining Han Zhengwu and everyone present on the flying vessels.

  Each time his power flared, it eroded what little remained of his foundation as a cultivator. His lifespan was rapidly decreasing, and his skin became brittle while his body grew further emaciated. Yet, his strength lifted to match Han Zhengwu.

  Where the City Lord’s Qi was stable, Xun Beiming’s was chaotic, aggressive and unbalanced.

  The two Nascent Soul Cultivators collided in the sky like titans.

  The shockwave from the first clash ripped apart the clouds and shattered the sky’s stillness. Sound disappeared for a heartbeat, replaced by stunned silence, before a deafening roar occurred. The sky above and the earth below quaked at the sudden onslaught of spiritual energies.

  White sword energy met the black tide of demonic Qi from Xun Beiming’s spear, and the heavens shuddered around them. Xun Beiming howled as his spear devoured the ambient Qi around them, withering everything that neared him with the touch of death.

  Han Zhengwu countered with radiant slashes from his sword which shattered the darkness, but Jun De could see that the battle wasn’t as one-sided as he had hoped it would be.

  Below the two Nascent Soul Cultivators, the sky was alight with hundreds of other battles as the Tranquil Mountain Sect Elders and Inner Sect Disciples leapt into the fray.

  Jun De could spot Mu Yanyu at their forefront, her blue robes billowing around her as she ascended in a flash of light. The Moonfrost Sword gleamed with its own chilling brilliance, and each stroke would freeze demonic cultivators in midair before shattering them into icy shards.

  All across the sky, spiritual lights flared and techniques collided like storms. While the Core Formation Elders dominated the battlefield, Foundation Establishment guards and disciples fought to the death as well, their bodies falling through the clouds like falling stars.

  Qi Condensation cultivators, unable to fly under their own power, fought on the decks of the ships. The wood was soon covered in blood as casualties accumulated on both sides.

  Jun De stood on the edge of the deck with Shen Ruolan beside him, and fear gripped his heart. He could feel the sheer weight of the battle in the marrow of his bones. His eyes widened as he spotted another familiar face amongst the demonic cultivators.

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  The Ren Clan Patriarch may have physically changed due to his new cultivation method, but Jun De was able to recognize him instantly.

  His aura was heavier, and whatever kindness that had been present in his features was now twisted with hatred, anger and the fervour for violence. He had ascended to Core Formation, but his breakthrough had been as unnatural as Xun Beiming’s.

  He flew against the Elders of the Tranquil Mountain Sect, talismans erupting around him as he hurled fire that was tainted black from his new powers.

  Jun De’s attention was suddenly wrenched away from the fighting in the sky as the battle on the ship’s deck reached them.

  Screaming erupted as a host of demonic cultivators broke through the rear section of the ship and charged toward Jun De and Shen Ruolan. They were all in the mid to late stages of Qi Condensation, but each had the same flawed foundation as the others Jun De had faced.

  Their attackers soon hurled spiritual energies and other techniques against Jun De, and he reacted instantly. With a deep breath, Jun De used the Heavenly Deflection Art to form translucent barriers of flowing Qi around him and Shen Ruolan that absorbed and redirected the incoming attacks.

  Fire talismans burned around them, darts covered in poison struck the deck at their feet, and flying swords crashed into the wooden railing beside them as Jun De protected Shen Ruolan from danger.

  But before he could say anything to her, Shen Ruolan was already moving.

  With a brilliant flare of her Qi, she dashed forward into the horde of demonic cultivators.

  Shen Ruolan had been trained to use the Jade Petal Dance, a technique that was taught to her by her mother. It was a fusion of movement arts and lethal bursts of spiritual force that tore through her enemies.

  Her sleeves fluttered around her like the wings of a crane, and every motion of her fingers summoned sharp, crescent-shaped petals of glowing energy that slashed through the air.

  The jade petals moved in weaving patterns, attacking her enemies from different and unpredictable angles. Some would encircle them before exploding, all while she moved with light steps, her figure drifting through the enemy lines like the wind.

  Despite her elegance and grace, Jun De could see that she fought with wild abandon.

  Shen Ruolan was brilliant and fearless, but incredibly reckless. She nearly took hits that she barely avoided, and she laughed as she fought.

  One of the demonic cultivators tried to seize her from behind, only for a dozen jade petals to erupt from the air around her and cut him to shreds. Another cast out a length of cursed chain links, but she flicked it away with a sharp motion that released a spiraling bloom of petals.

  But she was outnumbered, and despite her skill, she was only in the 4th Level of Qi Condensation. She was nearly overwhelmed when Jun De intervened, using the Falling Star Palm to drive back several of her attackers.

  “I don’t need your help!” Shen Ruolan said crossly, her lips forming a pout that was familiar to Jun De by now.

  “Then why did your grandfather assign me to protect you?” Jun De replied harshly.

  He flicked his hand, and golden flames mixed with his Qi erupted from the ground, giving Shen Ruolan enough time to send another barrage of Jade Petals against them.

  Before she could reply, a howl tore through the sky. It was soon followed by a thunderous explosion, and the rear of the City Lord’s flying ship erupted in fire that pillared upwards.

  Xun Beiming, who had been locked into a furious battle with Han Zhengwu, had suddenly twisted in mid-air and hurled his black spear toward the ship with monstrous strength.

  “You bastard!” Han Zhengwu shouted as he watched the spear strike the flying ship and obliterate the rear of the vessel.

  The ship lurched violently, and the deck split open. The rear supports cracked like dry bones, wood and pieces of the ship flew in all directions. The talismans and formation arrays that maintained the barrier and kept the ship aloft failed in succession.

  The air was filled with smoke, screams, and the groaning of straining wood and metal as the ship began to tilt sharply and fall from the sky.

  Jun De staggered, catching his footing just in time to see the deck pitching at a sharp angle.

  “Ruolan!” Jun De shouted. She had fallen to one knee, her face pale from the sudden explosion and shift in the deck. She was gripping the railing, her eyes wide as the rear of the ship burned behind them.

  Before she could try to stand, and knowing that she wouldn’t be able to maintain her footing, Jun De crossed the distance between them with the Luminous Step. He grabbed her tightly by wrapping his arm around her waist and drawing her close to him.

  “Wait, what are you doing?!” Shen Ruolan exclaimed, her cheeks flushing a deep red at the sudden closeness. Her voice was nearly lost in the roar of the wind and fire.

  Jun De didn’t waste any time with explanations.

  “Don’t look down!” He said simply.

  And then he leapt over the railing with Shen Ruolan safe in his arms.

  They went over the edge of the railing in a rush of air and falling debris. The two of them plummeted into the night sky like falling stars, and the wind tore at their robes as they fell. There was nothing but endless darkness below them, with hints of the landscape they were rushing to meet.

  Ruolan’s arms clutched tightly to Jun De, and she pressed herself even closer to him.

  “Hold on tight.” Jun De said as he gathered his Qi.