Chapter 311: Performers Take the Stage

Chapter 311: The Performer Takes the Stage

Since the Shaosi Sect was shattered by the Eight Sect Alliance using forbidden relics, and its great dam collapsed, a tributary of the Immortal-Nurturing Eternal River came rushing forth, following Mount Taisi Du'e across a vast distance, and flowed into the territory of the Eight Sect Alliance.

This river, along its course, nourished countless small states, bringing benefit to a multitude of mortals and blessing the lands.

The Eight Sect Alliance guarded it with utmost strictness; the eight sects patrolled almost without respite, ensuring the river’s safety.

But today, an accident occurred nonetheless.

The afflicted stretch of river lay not far from the Eight Sect Alliance.

Indeed, it was within the Alliance’s domain. For reasons unknown, that section of water suddenly turned from its former clarity to an abyssal black.

From afar, the upstream water still shimmered with immortal essence, yet once it flowed into this stretch, it became in an instant fetid and foul beyond measure.

Within, the aberrant substance was dense, even bearing resemblance to the main flow of the Immortal-Nurturing Eternal River as it emerged from the forbidden land of Yinghuang Province.

Black mist rose from the river, solidifying as it shrouded the surroundings, forming vast waves of aberrant fog that spread far and wide. Where it touched, the riverbanks were corroded, all vegetation turned purple-black, and life could not endure.

More terrifying still, this aberrant fog devoured spiritual energy, causing the surrounding qi to dissipate with alarming speed.

And the river itself became the source of the corruption.

Even a single drop of that water contained astonishing aberration; countless tiny black specks could be seen with the naked eye, as though something lethally fine.

Vaguely, the fog affected the heavens as well: black clouds spread across the sky, casting an oppressive gloom.

There were also waves, invisible to the eye, radiating from the river.

Where they passed, they seemed to alter the very fabric of life, causing existence to collapse under severe invasion.

Not only that, but the transformed water was laden with deadly poison. This poison spread, tainting the river thoroughly, and infused it with a fierce corrosive quality.

Countless spirit fish perished within the river; those that did not die began to mutate into grotesque beasts, issuing earth-shaking roars.

Even the river’s plankton were caught up, twisted into monstrous forms.

Finally, hosts of vengeful spirits rose from the riverbed, their numbers incalculable, undulating within and without the water, plunging the tributary beyond this stretch into a ghostly realm.

But these spirits were unlike ordinary phantoms—they emanated not cold and chill, but a searing heat, and as they surged, the river itself boiled, warping the surroundings.

If a great power were present, peering into the depths of the afflicted river, they would see the source: an altar constructed on the riverbed.

Around this altar lay concealment arts, undetectable by day, and upon the altar rested a small black bottle, from which thick black liquid poured, swiftly merging with the river.

Thus, the tributary of the Immortal-Nurturing Eternal River, bearing unimaginable lethality, rushed forward at tremendous speed, roaring and tumbling toward the Eight Sect Alliance.

Because the distance was so short, in an instant this terror-laden, aberration-saturated water surged to the outskirts of the Alliance’s principal city.

Though the Eight Sect Alliance had long prepared numerous measures for such a scenario, those measures now seemed systematically countered, yielding little effect.

Formations collapsed, hastily erected dams corroded, barriers of sorcery crumbled under the assault of the dreadful river.

Even when the river’s freezing power was invoked to seal it, the presence of the scorching spirits prevented any lasting frost.

In that moment, the entire Eight Sect Alliance trembled; from each sect’s mountain gate, urgent bells rang out, and a flood of disciples rushed forth.

Their faces filled with shock, they sped straight for the Immortal-Nurturing Eternal River.

They understood clearly that they must not allow this polluted river to bring its aberration into the principal city—otherwise, the Alliance would suffer immense loss.

And the Eight Sect Alliance was, after all, one of the six great powers of Yinghuang Province, possessing deep foundations. Though a series of preemptive safeguards had failed, there remained many preventive measures unknown to the disciples, known only to the patriarchs and sect masters.

So soon, as the sect masters and patriarchs appeared, walls of earth rose abruptly around the Alliance city, blocking the roiling water.

Sword qi, sharp and fierce, howled as it merged into the river, swiftly slaying all within.

Vast quantities of alchemical pills were scattered, neutralizing the poison and aberration.

Meanwhile, patriarchs struck out, holding back the encroaching fog; the earth roared, and a new river channel materialized, bypassing the Alliance’s principal city and extending toward the forbidden sea from another direction.

These varied methods robbed the seemingly violent river of most its potency.

Thus could be seen the resilience and preventive capability of the Eight Sect Alliance, befitting its status as one of the six powers.

Nevertheless, some aberration and poison spread, requiring many Alliance disciples to dispel them.

Moreover, dealing with the river was only one aspect; the key was to find the source of the invasion.

So the elites and patriarchs of the Alliance sects rushed out, heading straight for the troubled stretch of river.

At the same time, disciples of all eight sects busied themselves; though the situation seemed urgent, everything proceeded orderly, each to his duty.

Xu Qing was at the Transport Department, having just formed his own dharma vessel. Watching this unfold, his communication jade quickly received orders and arrangements from his sect.

Zhang San’s expression changed as well, startled by the sudden event. He too received a task. The two exchanged glances, reading the gravity in each other’s eyes, and with no time to confer, they swiftly separated.

“This is wrong!” Xu Qing raised his head, gazing at the vermilion clouds partially veiled by the encroaching black mist. Between red and black, a hint of purple emerged.

That purple reminded Xu Qing of the earlier heart-pounding sensation.

That sense of dread still lingered.

So he headed straight for the Seven Blood Eyes’ mountain gate; his assigned task was to guard it.

Any perceptive person could see that the river’s contamination was likely just a diversion.

But even so, it had to be dealt with—whether by dispersing the aberration and poison, or by drawing the patriarchs and elders to the troubled river section, all were necessary steps.

Yet if this were the extent of the upheaval, it would pose little threat to the Eight Sect Alliance; soon, it would be fully resolved.

Everything depended on whether more was to follow.

Xu Qing knew that what he could deduce, the Alliance’s high echelons surely could as well, so he moved even faster.

On his way to the mountain gate, Xu Qing’s gaze swept across the principal city. He saw the terror of countless mortals, the worry on the faces of disciples.

All were busy, yet all harbored a gnawing unease toward the unknown.

Even the forbidden relics of each sect were being activated one after another, casting beams of light to ward off external foes.

But just then, as the light of these forbidden relics blazed forth, the red radiance shooting up from the Lingyun Sword Sect suddenly flared with unparalleled brilliance—it erupted ahead of schedule.

That red light, stunning heaven and earth, drew every eye.

In an instant, it became the focus of all.

The disciples, ignorant of the cause, speculated wildly.

Yet at the same moment, the Lingyun Sword Sect’s patriarch—who had gone with the patriarchs of the other three sects to the troubled river and was dealing with the source—saw this and his face changed drastically.

Because this activation of the forbidden relic was not his doing!

High in the sky, the red light from the Lingyun Sword Sect’s forbidden relic, the color of blood, dazzling beyond measure, transformed directly into a colossal crimson tree.

This tree, vast beyond compare, stood in the heavens. Its trunk was thick, its body entirely red, and upon it appeared countless ferocious faces, all wailing.

Its leaves, numberless, each emanated an unstoppable, heaven-shaking sword aura, causing the sky to roar and form a huge vortex, within which countless sword shadows roamed, too many to count.

This vortex hung over the entire Eight Sect Alliance, its momentum shattering the firmament.

Xu Qing, now close to the Seven Blood Eyes’ mountain gate, looked up and saw this. His expression changed; he sensed the terrifying pressure emanating from there, as if the sky had turned into a sea of blood and swords, a sea that moved with immense force, shaking heaven and earth.

And atop that great tree, a figure now appeared.

This figure wore a robe of shifting gold, a blue cap adorned with purple, and stepped on a three-colored flowing-cloud bronze sword. His face was pale yet undeniably handsome, but the emptiness of his right eye and the ferocity in his left lent him a malevolent aura.

His appearance made all who saw it shudder in their hearts.

That is……Saint Xunzi!

He stood atop the flowing cloud bronze sword, this sword floating at the top of the blood-colored great tree, there, Saint Xunzi lowered his head to gaze at the earth, suddenly laughing.

The smile carried a hint of longing, a hint of madness, and spoke in a light voice.

“This is my blood-colored performance.”

Upon his words, the blood tree below erupted suddenly, forming a red sea that spread across the heavens, then directly rushed toward…… the Seven-Blood Pupil Mountain Gate!

The speed was so fast, due to the short distance, in a blink of an eye, the red glare submerged the Seven-Blood Pupil Mountain Gate.

A sky-scaring blood tree directly rose from the Seven-Blood Pupil Mountain Gate!

The earth trembled and the mountains shook, the heavens and the earth resonated at the same time, in the middle of the air, Saint Xunzi slowly extended his arms, looking toward the sky.

“Torch Illumination, look!”

The Eighteen Sect Alliance was instantly stirred, and at this moment, in the main city of Lingyun Sword Sect, which was in chaos, on the top of a pavilion, those two people dressed in black robes with divine spirit remnants' masks, one sitting, the other standing.

The black-robed person sitting there played with an ancient wooden box, continuously flipping it in his hands, while he looked at the Saint Xunzi in the sky, clearly he was on the earth, Saint Xunzi in the air, yet to him, he looked like watching insects, smiling slightly, his voice young.

“Night Bird, is it his performance?”

“Master, it is not him.” Night Bird respectfully spoke, then looked toward the Seven-Blood Pupil, in his eyes, threads like starlight passed through, and spoke in a low voice again.

“Master, you first slowly appreciate, I will go give the Seven-Blood Pupil a greeting gift. It seems that after this, the entire Emperor Welcome State will re-recognize Torch Illumination, recognize the Master, because before, in their understanding, Torch Illumination was just an inconsequential organization, but with your arrival, Torch Illumination will be different from now on.”

“Go.” The young black-robed person smiled slightly, while playing with the wooden box in his hand, turned his head to look toward…… the Seven-Blood Pupil direction, muttering lightly.

“Little brother is going to cry again.”