The Immortal Trapping Array Gate had been broken. He charged through it without much resistance. The pressure of the Immortal Slaying Sword Array still remained, but East King Duke was more than capable of withstanding it.
Inside the formation, the space created by the Immortal Trapping Sword was vast and empty. The countless sword lights had vanished, and soon he spotted a formation stele in the distance, with a gleaming sword above it, brimming with Innate Qi.
It was clearly the Immortal Trapping Sword, one of the Four Immortal Slaying Swords.
His gaze sharpened, and he rushed straight toward it.
Luohu was stationed at the heart of the formation, so he naturally knew someone had entered the Immortal Trapping Array Gate. One look at the intruder told him the man had come to break the formation. Growing anxious, he wanted to free up a hand to deal with him.
But Luohu's earlier surprise attack on Qiankun Ancestor had already put Hongjun, Yang Mei, and the others on their guard. They kept him firmly occupied.
Though East King Duke had entered the formation without hesitation, he had already prepared to bring out the Chaos Bead and retreat at a moment's notice. Hearing Luohu roar in fury, yet unable to attack him, he smiled and reached the Immortal Trapping formation stele in the blink of an eye.
Standing beneath the stele, he wasted no time. He swung the Flame Light Banner in his hand, sending a burst of Supreme Yang power toward the Immortal Trapping Sword.
At the first sweep, the sword rang out.
At the second, the spiritual sword trembled.
At the third, it flew free.
After three sweeps of Supreme Yang power, the Immortal Trapping Sword fell and shot away.
East King Duke was ready. He flew forward and seized control of it before it could escape. After laying down several seals, he sent it into his soul to be confined.
At that very moment, the Immortal Trapping Sword was taken, and the entire Immortal Slaying Great Array shook violently. In the other three gates, the Spiritual Mist churned.
The instant he secured the Immortal Trapping Sword, East King Duke darted out of the formation without touching the ground. He didn't pause for a moment, unleashing his immortal power and fleeing at top speed until he was hundreds of thousands of miles away.
Amid a series of rumbles, the Immortal Slaying Array shook more and more violently.
The swords hanging within the Immortal Slaying, Immortal-Slaying, and Immortal-Severing Array Gates trembled as well. With the Immortal Trapping Sword removed, the great array broke. When the Four Immortal Slaying Swords flew back to Luohu, only three remained.
The dense fog dispersed, revealing a clear view all around. The great array had reverted to its original form: a formation diagram five feet square.
Qiankun Ancestor's self-destruction had already injured Luohu. Within the Immortal Slaying Array, he had still been able to use the formation's power to suppress Hongjun and the other two. But now that the formation was broken, Hongjun and Yang Mei—men of such stature—noticed at once.
The three acted in perfect accord. Before they had even steadied themselves, each unleashed their divine abilities and spiritual treasures, attacking with all their might.
The Taiji Diagram and Pangu Banner—two of the Three Treasures of Creation—were immeasurably powerful. Blasts of Chaos Sword Qi shot forth, forcibly breaking through the protection of Luohu's Twelve-grade World-Destroying Black Lotus.
At the same time, Yang Mei had already prepared his attack. A Spatial Divine Ability—Space Severing—struck straight at Luohu's physical body.
The attack was too fast, and Spatial Divine Abilities were exceptionally difficult to defend against. There was nowhere to dodge. Struck in the body, Luohu was gravely wounded in an instant.
Just as the Demon Ancestor was overcome with alarm, Hongjun and Yang Mei attacked again. By then, Luohu was nearly defenseless, and their blows sent him flying.
Luohu's face turned ashen. He could already feel his soul dissipating, and knew his end was near. Yet rather than despair, he wore a look of grim resolve and burst into wild laughter.
"Hahaha! I did not lose to you, Hongjun! Even if my soul is scattered, I won't let you get off lightly! Heavenly Dao Above, I, Luohu, am willing to transform into the Devil Dao, giving rise to Inner Demons, Karmic Demons, Death Demons, Heavenly Demons, and Good Root Demons... to temper the living beings of the Primordial World! So long as the Heavenly Dao endures, the Devil Dao will never perish. From this day forth, when the Dao flourishes, demons will wane; when the Dao wanes, demons will flourish. Hongjun, I'll return sooner or later. For now, you can bear this boundless Karmic Sin—explode!"
As soon as he finished speaking, another tremendous blast shook the western lands of the Primordial World. Luohu had blown himself up, bringing the World-Ending Black Lotus with him and triggering the formation and Earth Veins beneath Mount Sumeru.
When Qiankun had self-destructed earlier, his immortal power had nearly run dry, and he had been inside the great array, so the blast had been limited. Luohu was different. He was at Quasi-Saint Peak, with abundant immortal power, and he used all his spiritual treasures as a catalyst. It was tantamount to blowing up Mount Sumeru itself.
Mount Sumeru was the source of the West's Spiritual Veins. Luohu's self-destruction affected an enormous area. Rumbles shook the Western Continent as countless Earth Veins exploded, and Earth Fire Wind Water ran rampant, sweeping across the land. Innate Spiritual Qi began to dissipate, the earth lost its color, and all living things withered.
Of course, Luohu's self-destruction hit his three opponents hardest.
Hongjun immediately brought out every defensive treasure at his disposal: the Jade Plate of Creation, the Twelve-grade World-Purifying White Lotus, the Twelve-grade Merit Golden Lotus, and the Myriad Heavens Auspicious Cloud. Together, they managed to withstand the force of the blast. Though his treasures were damaged and his body injured, he escaped without serious harm.
Yang Mei had an even simpler solution. He had slipped into the void well in advance and fled far away, escaping the center of the blast unharmed.
Yin-Yang Ancestor, however, was not so fortunate. He had been closest to Luohu, right at the center, and lacked the means Hongjun and Yang Mei had to protect themselves. What was more, he had already expended a great deal of power in the Immortal Slaying Array. Now he had no strength left to resist, and was instantly swallowed by the frenzied spiritual power.
In an instant, Yin-Yang Ancestor perished!
Just then, a Two-colored Lotus Platform flew over as if guided. As Yin-Yang Ancestor's soul was about to scatter, two streams of light flew out from it. The lotus platform's two energies surged, swept up the lights, and vanished from the spot.
This was East King Duke's treasure, the Twelfth-grade Innate Yin-Yang Dao Lotus. When he escaped from the Immortal Trapping Array Gate earlier, he had already hidden it nearby. It had suffered some damage from Luohu's self-destruction, but obtaining the prize he had schemed for over so many years had made it worthwhile.
Hongjun was nearby, so he naturally saw East King Duke's lotus appear. But he paid it little heed, as he had more pressing concerns.
Seeing the devastation all around—the suffering living beings and withered world—Hongjun's expression changed. He gathered up Luohu's, Yin-Yang Ancestor's, and the others' spiritual treasures, then hurriedly used his powers in an attempt to quell the calamity.
Though his cultivation was profound and he possessed several supreme treasures, he had not yet become a Saint. The Western Continent was vast, and with Earth Fire Wind Water raging everywhere, destruction had erupted. The Earth Veins were being destroyed one section at a time. Even with all his efforts, he could not keep up on his own. His attempts to save the land had little effect, and his heart turned cold.
Hongjun understood that, as the central figure, he had defeated Luohu, so this Karmic Sin would fall upon him. If the entire West were laid waste, even he might not be able to bear the consequences.
At the moment the Spiritual Veins erupted, Zhenyuanzi suddenly opened his eyes somewhere in the West, where he had been sitting in a formation. He rose into the air and immediately brought out the Earth Book Earth Fetal Membrane. In an instant, it connected with the Earth Veins and activated the thousands of Supreme Yang Arrays he had set up earlier with East King Duke.
A series of deafening rumbles followed, their power enough to make one tremble. The protective formations around the Earth Veins activated at once. Though they couldn't protect everything, they resisted seventy to eighty percent of the force.
But even the remaining twenty to thirty percent of the explosions could severely damage the Spiritual Veins. Zhenyuanzi had no time to think. He planted his feet on the earth and unleashed the full power of the Earth Book, doing everything he could to protect them. Only then did he barely manage to safeguard most of the Spiritual Veins he had marked out with East King Duke earlier.
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