As night fell, Tianyan City grew even noisier than it had been by day. Countless lights illuminated the entire city as bright as noon. The streets teemed with people, and crowds surged toward the city gates like a rising tide.
Red lanterns hung beneath the eaves of taverns and teahouses, swaying gently in the night breeze and casting mottled shadows.
"Come on! If we get there late, we won't get a good spot!"
"I heard the Yantian Sect Master has reached Great Accomplishment in the Blazing Heaven Art. At last, we'll get to see it with our own eyes!"
Groups of cultivators wandered through the streets and alleys, their excited chatter rising and falling all around.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, vendors set up stalls along the roadside, hawking telescopes for watching the battle, Jade Slips for recording it, and even homemade protective talismans.
The city walls were already packed with spectators. White-haired elders leaned on their canes, anticipation gleaming in their cloudy eyes; young cultivators clutched their swords, gazing fervently into the distance; wealthy merchants brought their families and claimed the best viewing spots, surrounded by servants.
Even reclusive masters, rarely seen on ordinary days, had quietly appeared, keeping themselves hidden in the crowd.
Suddenly, a clear, ringing bell sounded from the clouds.
Everyone looked up. Beneath the bright moonlight, a crimson streak, red as fire, tore across the night sky.
The Yantian Sect Master strode through the air. With every step, fiery lotuses bloomed beneath his feet, turning half the sky crimson.
He wore a battle robe wreathed in scarlet flames, his beard and hair billowing. Nine phantom fire dragons coiled around him, and his terrifying pressure made the spectators on the wall involuntarily retreat half a step.
Almost at the same moment, a deep blue radiance lit up the horizon on the other side.
The Ming He Sect Master arrived atop a river of stars, leaving specks of starlight in his wake.
He held a jade ruler in his hand, his robes fluttering. Behind him appeared the phantom of a vast Star River, matching the Yantian Sect Master's blazing light head-on.
In the shadows at the highest point of the city tower, Ling Cangqiong stood with his hands behind his back. The Imperial Lord of the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty wore a black dragon robe, his face hidden beneath his hood. Only his eyes, deep as an abyss, watched the scene below.
Behind him, Shadow One knelt on one knee and said quietly, "His Majesty, we've confirmed that spies from seventeen different powers are mixed in with the crowd. Should I..."
Ling Cangqiong raised a hand, gently cutting him off. "Let them watch." His voice was frighteningly calm.
"Once those two leave Tianyan City, someone will ambush them!"
Before the words had even faded, a thunderous boom erupted outside the city.
The two sect masters had already clashed. The shock wave from the collision of fire dragons and the Star River swept across the wilderness, making the city walls tremble.
The spectators burst into cries of alarm. Some cultivators with weaker cultivation were even knocked off their feet by the aftershock.
The Yantian Sect Master and the Ming He Sect Master finally stopped probing each other. Two world-destroying forces collided in earnest!
"Roar—" Nine fire dragons roared and surged, their scorching breaths searing through the void. The air twisted and the earth cracked wherever they passed!
The Star River power swirling around the Ming He Sect Master refused to yield. Countless stars gathered into a dazzling river and crashed fiercely against the fire dragons!
"Get back! Further back!" someone shouted in terror. The crowd hurriedly retreated, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
Yet the true terror had only just begun!
"Dharma Aspect—manifest!" the Yantian Sect Master bellowed. The void behind him twisted, and a ten-zhang-tall giant of flame rose from the ground!
Golden flames blazed across the giant's body, and its eyes were like two scorching suns. Every movement unleashed heat that seemed to burn the heavens, warping even space!
"Gods! It's the Yantian Sect Master's Natal Dharma Aspect—the Blazing Heaven Dharma Idol!" someone cried out.
At nearly the same instant, the Ming He Sect Master gave a cold shout. "Dharma Aspect, open!"
"Whoosh—" Starlight filled the sky and gathered into a towering giant Dharma Aspect, deep blue from head to toe and clad in a Star River!
The Dharma Aspect stood ten zhang tall, a dazzling ring of stars circling its body. With every step, a vast star chart appeared on the ground, as if it strode across the Milky Way!
"It's the Ming He Sect Master's Star River Dharma Idol!" A spectator's voice trembled with excitement. "Two experts at the ninth level of the Dharma Aspect Realm, both unleashing their Natal Dharma Aspects! This battle will go down in history!"
The two Dharma Aspects faced each other, their pressure as deep and boundless as the sea. Within a thousand zhang, every cultivator trembled with fear. Those with weaker cultivation even fell to their knees, unable to lift their heads!
"Fight!"
The Yantian Sect Master roared. The Blazing Heaven Dharma Idol struck with a punch, its scorching force becoming a raging sea of fire that swept toward the Star River Dharma Idol!
The Ming He Sect Master was no less formidable. The Star River Dharma Idol raised a hand and beckoned, drawing countless rays of starlight together into a hundred-zhang-long giant sword of stars. It slashed down with crushing force!
Fist and sword collided, and heaven and earth lost their color!
Blinding light illuminated the night sky. Terrifying shock waves swept in every direction, shaving several zhang off the ground.
The spectators fled in a frenzy, but even so, many were struck by the aftershock and sent flying backward, spitting blood!
"How terrifying... Is this the power of the peak Dharma Aspect Realm?" someone murmured, trembling.
Far away in the Scripture Repository, Chen Lin's gaze pierced through layer upon layer of space, as if he were watching the battle outside the city with his own eyes.
A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, and ripples stirred in his heart.
"So this is the true Dharma Aspect Realm..." Chen Lin murmured.
Once someone stepped into this realm and manifested their Natal Dharma Aspect, they could draw upon the power of heaven and earth and create a domain within a limited area. Its might was truly not to be underestimated.
He thought in silence: Natal Dharma Aspects were mostly rooted in a cultivator's fundamental cultivation technique—the unity of the Dao and the body.
Chen Lin instinctively sensed his own strength and couldn't help smiling wryly. At his current level, he probably couldn't even stand against a cultivator who had just entered the first level of the Dharma Aspect Realm.
The gap between these realms was truly like a heavenly chasm.
But he was only at the Divine Vault stage, so that was to be expected.
And reaching the Dharma Aspect Realm was only a matter of time.
If he cultivated a King Tier technique, would the gap grow smaller?
Just as Chen Lin's thoughts stirred, outside the city, the sect masters' battle—which had lasted half an hour—finally came to an end.
The aftershocks of the fierce battle had yet to fully dissipate, but the result was clear: the Yantian Sect Master had proved the more skilled and defeated the Ming He Sect Master.
Just as the battle came to a close, the Yantian Sect Master suddenly hovered in the air. His voice rang out like a bell, echoing throughout Tianyan City—
"Starting today, the Yantian Sect opens its mountain gates wide!"
His voice, infused with the pressure of the Dharma Aspect Realm, sent the clouds churning:
"Anyone who joins my sect may study the first six layers of the Blazing Heaven Art! All cultivators at the Qi Condensation stage or above may enter the outer sect!"
—Boom!
The entire city erupted!
The Blazing Heaven Art!
It was a genuine Heaven-tier cultivation technique!
In the past, only Core Disciples had been allowed access to the first six layers. Now, the sect was opening all six to outsiders?
More astonishing still, the admission requirement had dropped straight from Foundation Establishment to Qi Condensation!
"Gods! Did I hear that right?" A rogue cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Condensation trembled with excitement.
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