One Sword Becomes Five (Bonus Chapter for 2,000 Bookmarks)

One Sword Becomes Five (Bonus Chapter for 2,000 Bookmarks)

Canghai Old Man merely struck out with a light palm.

"Careful!" Ye Guxue's eyes narrowed. He held his broad sword horizontally before him, and a sword phantom materialized out of thin air.

Boom!

The sound rang out like a young monk at Hanshan Temple striking a bronze bell at dawn.

The sword phantom before Ye Guxue cracked like glass struck by a hammer, countless spiderweb-like fractures spreading across it before it instantly crumbled into powder.

The force of the palm had not yet dissipated. Ye Guxue was sent flying backward, staggering back seven or eight steps. Each step drilled deeply into the ground like a massive auger, yet he continued retreating until he was more than ten meters away before barely halting his decline.

A clearly defined palm print appeared on his chest, deeply embedded over his left breast. An ordinary cultivator would have had his heart and ribs shattered long ago.

Fortunately, Ye Guxue was at the third realm of Dragon Transformation. His spine had strengthened his internal organs, and coupled with the solidity of the sword phantom, it had preserved his life.

Pfft!

Even so, he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs.

Had it been Bai Ningbing, he would have died without question!

A half-step great power was truly terrifying!

"Too frightening!"

Everyone looked horrified, trembling with fear.

Dragon Transformation and Immortal Platform appeared to be separated by only a single realm, but the true gap between them was like an uncrossable chasm. Even Ye Guxue, famed for his Emperor Sword, could not withstand Canghai Old Man's casual palm strike.

Under such overwhelming might, everyone felt as though their hearts had plunged into an ice abyss ten thousand years deep.

The moment that palm struck out, two cultivators leaped into the air, trying to flee first.

"Ah!"

Their screams immediately echoed through the valley.

Before everyone's horrified eyes, the two cultivators had not even flown out of the valley when a black curtain engulfed them, and golden flames instantly set their bodies ablaze.

First came their clothes, hair, beards, and nails, then their muscles, blood vessels, bones, and internal organs. From the outside in, every inch of skin and flesh was scorched by the flames, burning away bit by bit until they gradually turned into wisps of green smoke.

The sight of living cultivators slowly being burned to ashes before their very eyes utterly terrified everyone in the valley.

This was the sacrifice and refinement of living people!

Even their souls failed to escape and were burned to nothing.

Everyone present trembled from head to toe, a fear rising from the depths of their hearts clutching fiercely at them.

"This is the Black-Gold Manifestation!"

"The heavenly curtain has sealed the valley. No one can escape this manifestation!"

"Unless Canghai Old Man is killed..."

In an instant, the entire crowd was completely stricken with terror.

Canghai Old Man had formed such a divine manifestation because he intended to refine every living thing in the valley as a sacrifice, leaving them not even the slightest chance to escape!

Bai Qubo was blocked outside the Black-Gold Manifestation and could not see what was happening inside the valley at all.

"This is bad!"

Bai Qubo condensed essence blood at his fingertips and tapped the void. Spell after spell shot forth, but they had no effect when they struck the heavenly curtain, vanishing without a trace like spring rain falling into the sea.

Though he was from a collateral branch, Bai Ningbing's status was far too special. If Bai Ningbing died here, he would not escape death either!

At that moment, a streak of light tore across the distant sky. A figure arrived, riding upon Wind-Fire Wheels.

"Everlasting Battle Soul!?" Bai Qubo's expression changed, and delight appeared on his face. "Bai Ningbing has been sealed inside the valley by Canghai Old Man. Quickly, lend me a hand!"

"This is the Black-Gold Manifestation?" The newcomer was Bai Yuanshan's Everlasting Battle Soul. He was not human, but a great demon that had taken human form. Without blinking, he stared at the heavenly curtain over the valley, which resembled a massive black hood. Fearless of the flames bursting from it, purple radiance swirled over the scales covering his arms as he viciously swung his axe downward.

The great axe carried the power to split mountains and divide seas!

Rumble!

A deafening crash rang out like thunder exploding across the heavens, like a meteor smashing into the stars!

The power of a half-step great power!

The might of the first level of Immortal Platform!

Yet it could not break the Black-Gold Manifestation!

"This manifestation is sustained by vital energy and blood. I cannot break it from outside!" The Everlasting Battle Soul's four eyes turned grave. "Even my master could not do it! Unless an Immortal Three Dao-Severing cultivator makes a move..."

"Then what do we do?" Bai Qubo's face darkened, green light flickering in his eyes.

"You suppress it from here with your divine abilities. I'll strike its western side with my battle axe, draining the manifestation's vital energy and blood to delay its power. As for the rest, they can only rely on themselves inside!"

As soon as the Everlasting Battle Soul finished speaking, the Wind-Fire Wheels beneath his feet spun as he streaked across the sky.

Bai Qubo did not dare hesitate. He extended both hands and pushed upward as though holding up the heavens. Blazing Dao light surged forth, and divine abilities took shape.

The battle axe fell again and again, its thunderous echoes reverberating throughout the valley.

"That is the phantom of the Battle Soul Mountain-Cleaving Axe. Great Elder Changsheng has arrived. We're saved..."

Supporting Ye Guxue, Bai Ningbing stood together with Lu Junchu, Su Manman, and the others. Delight appeared on his face. "Great Elder Changsheng is already at the first level of Immortal Platform. He will surely..."

Before he could finish, Canghai Old Man's chilling laugh rang out.

"Even if Bai Yuanshan came today, you would still die..."

Canghai Old Man waved his hand, and a wave of energy surged skyward. The Black-Gold Manifestation grew even more condensed. Beneath the blanket of darkness, a three-legged Black-Gold crow appeared vividly lifelike.

The Black-Gold crow descended. Scarlet flames condensed across the sky, turning into heavenly fire that burst apart inch by inch and crashed down like a sudden hailstorm.

"Quick, use your spells to fight back!"

A cultivator snapped awake from his terror and shouted loudly. All kinds of Dao-patterned spells shot into the air, filling it with dazzling colors in an instant.

Boom... boom... boom!

Streams of fire fell and collided with the Dao-patterned spells. Explosions thundered through the sky, radiance flashing everywhere.

But this was only the first wave!

Screech!

The Black-Gold crow let out a long cry, as piercing as an eagle's shriek.

Sharp and ear-splitting.

Sure enough, the streams of fire it formed grew even stronger. They even ignored the cultivators' Dao patterns, smashing the spells apart by force. The residual heat from their impacts directly ignited human bodies, setting them ablaze.

With every barrage, cultivators perished. The Dao patterns grew dimmer and dimmer, unable to hold on.

"What do we do!"

Everyone retreated toward the rear. Facing Canghai Old Man and the three-legged Black-Gold crow in the distant sky, despair filled their faces.

"Blue Calamity!"

Lu Junchu brought two fingers together and pointed into the void. A blue longsword shot forth.

Clad in pristine white, Lu Junchu stepped into the air.

"Gather behind me. He has to divide his attention to resist the pressure from outside, so he can only suppress us with the manifestation. If we withstand these streams of fire, his vital energy and blood will inevitably weaken!"

As Lu Junchu's fingers moved, the Blue Tribulation Longsword rippled through the air in an extraordinarily mysterious manner. As blue light blossomed, it gave off a sharp hissing sound.

A sword appeared in the sky from nothing!

One became two!

Two became three!

Then there were five!

One sword became five!

"Brother Chen, retreat!"

Ye Guxue shouted. A stream of fire was crashing toward Chen Qiye's position. Ye Guxue flashed forward, the longsword in his hand drawing a golden arc as he cleaved the stream of fire from the sky.

"Buy me a moment!"

Chen Qiye landed before Ye Guxue and spoke in a low voice.

As soon as he spoke, more than a dozen streams of fire shot down from the sky!

Before them lay a sea of flames!

Above Mirror Lake and within the valley, it was as if hell had descended once more!