Enlightenment!
This was an opportunity cultivators dreamed of, yet one that was exceedingly rare.
At this moment, nourished by the Ginseng Fruit immortal wine, Gu Changqing's divine consciousness sank into the elusive void.
The laws of the Sword Dao shone brilliantly, weaving and flowing together.
All manner of great Sword Dao arts manifested around him.
"I have a sword that can open heaven's gate!"
Gu Changqing reeked of wine, looking as though he were sleeping in a drunken stupor.
Yet at this moment, those words slipped softly from his lips.
No one heard them.
But in the blink of an eye, Words Become Law stirred the vast currents of power throughout the boundless cosmos.
Rumble!
Above Golden Ao Island, an ear-splitting heavenly roar suddenly erupted and resounded without end.
Hundreds of thousands of Interception Sect disciples blanched in horror and cried out:
"What's happening? Some force suddenly seized the sword intent inside me!"
"I felt it too!"
"Heavens, why do I sense something that makes my heart nearly burst and my hair stand on end?"
But before they could work out the reason.
An even more earth-shaking spectacle gradually took shape above Golden Ao Island.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Piercing bursts of sound rang out as the air was torn apart.
Hundreds of millions of streams of sword intent surged forth, vast as an ocean of mist, blotting out the sky and sun.
Above the highest heavens, an immense sword phantom a million zhang across stretched into view, seemingly without end, crushing the lofty sky beneath its weight.
Duobao and the others watched with their scalps prickling and chills running through their bodies.
"Hiss... such overwhelming sword power, so terribly sharp! What kind of technique is this?"
"Is this sword going to cleave our Golden Ao Island apart?"
"Heavens, it's Junior Brother Changqing's work again!"
At Golden Spirit Holy Mother's cry, everyone focused their gaze.
At some point, Gu Changqing had emerged from his Cave Abode, walking with stumbling steps.
He seemed to sway unsteadily, thoroughly drunk.
Yet his hands moved again and again, tracing the paths of profoundly mysterious seals.
With each seal he formed, the enormous heavenly sword in the void shone ever more brilliantly.
"This is bad! Junior Brother Changqing has drunk too much again. He doesn't know how much force he's using."
"This sword might threaten Golden Ao Island. We must hurry over and wake him!"
As they spoke, Duobao and the others rushed toward Gu Changqing, urgency written all over their faces.
If the sacred grounds of a venerable Saint's Lineage were cleaved apart by one of its own disciples, it would become the greatest joke under heaven.
But just then, Tongtian suddenly thundered from within Biyou Palace.
"Wait!"
"No one is to disturb my disciple Changqing!"
"He's in the midst of enlightenment. If he is interrupted, all his efforts will come to nothing."
His voice boomed, freezing every disciple in place.
Yet this transmission from a Saint deliberately excluded Gu Changqing and had not the slightest effect on him.
Such was the unparalleled might of a Saint's methods, unfathomable even to gods and spirits.
Before his words had faded, Tongtian appeared before the disciples.
He watched Gu Changqing with a solemn expression, both amazed and gratified.
Tongtian had a keen eye and acute divine perception.
He could sense that Gu Changqing had reached the most crucial point of his enlightenment.
If they waited a little longer, they might witness the birth of a supreme divine art.
For a time, everyone fell silent and held their breath, as though afraid that the slightest disturbance might ruin Gu Changqing's efforts at the final hurdle.
Under everyone's watchful eyes.
At a certain moment, Gu Changqing suddenly spoke softly.
"This move is called... Sword Opens Heaven's Gate!"
As his words fell!
High above, that awe-inspiring heavenly sword finally moved.
Its edge rose into the air, pointing straight at the firmament.
Then the sword thrust forth with unstoppable force.
Boom!
At once, a scene like the heavens collapsing and the earth splitting unfolded.
All living beings watched in horror as the firmament shattered inch by inch, enormous fissures opening amid surging torrents of spacetime turbulence.
Endless sword light intertwined, as though remaking heaven and earth.
Amid the radiant interplay of sword intent, all living beings could even faintly glimpse towering figures standing one after another, peerless in stature and overwhelming in presence.
Sword Opens Heaven's Gate truly lived up to its name!
Gu Changqing's sword strike seemed to have opened the supreme gate to immortality.
Overwhelming pressure descended, leaving creatures of every race within tens of millions of li utterly horrified.
On Golden Ao Island!
Duobao and the others stood dumbfounded!
They were numb!
Completely numb!
Though they were fellow disciples, Gu Changqing's Sword Dao divine ability left them feeling as though they could only tremble before it.
When Tongtian recovered his senses, he burst into laughter.
"Haha! What a magnificent Sword Opens Heaven's Gate!"
"With this move, my disciple Changqing can truly be called a supreme sword immortal."
Tongtian's expression brimmed with admiration and wonder.
His words also brought Duobao and the others back to their senses.
"Junior Brother Changqing, what divine ability is this? Could you teach us?"
"Senior Brother Changqing, please grant us your guidance! We too wish to cultivate such a supreme Sword Dao divine ability."
"Senior Brother Changqing..."
The disciples clamored with requests, eager to cultivate the mighty divine ability, Sword Opens Heaven's Gate.
Yet Gu Changqing ignored everyone. Carrying his Wine Gourd, he had already returned to his Cave Abode and collapsed once more.
Helplessness immediately spread across everyone's faces.
The commotion in the Interception Sect came to an end.
Meanwhile.
Elsewhere, the great battle on Penglai Island was gradually drawing to a close.
Just as all living beings had predicted, under the Demon Court's ferocious assault with every means at its disposal, the forces of Purple Mansion Continent retreated again and again, utterly powerless to resist.
Toward the end, Taiyi even brought forth the Chaos Bell, one of the three supreme treasures of the creation of heaven.
Radiance of five colors flowed around it, and the Chaos Bell unleashed a terrifying might that drained heaven and earth of color and shook the cosmos.
The whole of Penglai Island broke apart beneath it.
Among the forces of Purple Mansion Continent, many powerful cultivators had already perished, their Daos extinguished, leaving nothing behind.
The King Father of the East was also a spent arrow, his aura feeble.
By this point, the King Father of the East had finally recognized reality.
The supposed protection of the Dao Ancestor had been nothing more than his own foolish dream.
The King Father of the East's eyes nearly split with rage, his face twisted and filled with bitter refusal.
"Ah... Di Jun, Taiyi!"
"I refuse to accept this... you beasts of the Demon Race dared to destroy my Purple Mansion Continent!"
But such impotent fury plainly served no purpose.
Di Jun sneered.
"Hmph, King Father of the East!"
"You have only yourself to blame for not knowing your limits. You brought today's fate upon yourself!"
Then Di Jun showed no further mercy, sending Solar True Fire sweeping across the sky.
In mere moments, the King Father of the East was burned into nothingness, his body and soul utterly destroyed.
Nothing but emptiness and deathly silence remained on Penglai Island.
The countless cultivators watching could only sigh, their expressions complicated.
The King Father of the East had truly been "trapped" into his death by a single remark from Dao Ancestor Hongjun.
But what all living beings did not know was.
At that moment, in West Kunlun.
Watching the scene on Penglai Island from afar, the Queen Mother of the West stood dumbstruck.
Only after a long while did she recover her senses, unable to keep herself from drawing a deep, sharp breath.
"Fellow Daoist Wine Sword Immortal actually saved my life..."
At this moment, her exquisite, breathtakingly beautiful face was filled with emotion.
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