Chapter 576: Breaking the Dream to See True Martial (End)

Chapter 576: Dream Shatters, Meeting True Martial (End)

In the shattered and broken city of Nanchang.

The third-grade celestial rail star "Pojun," suspended in the sky, after unleashing a thunderous strike, eerily ceased its activity and quietly hid into the night.

The whole process was notably anticlimactic, filling Yi Kuidou's heart with suspicion.

At this point, with so many sealed Dao sequences dead, was Zhang Chongyuan still afraid to take a gamble?

Was he truly so incompetent? Or had something unexpected happened within the Celestial Master Mansion of Mount Longhu?

But regardless of the reason for Zhang Chongyuan abandoning the attack, that strike from Mount Longhu in Nanchang City today had already given Mount Gezao a reason to act.

The sect's goal had been achieved.

Thinking this, Yi Kuidou looked down at the enormous pit on the ground left by "Pojun."

At the top of a precarious building by the edge of the pit, Li Jun, who had withstood the blow from "Pojun," sat astride the roof ridge.

His armor was now covered in cracks, his face beneath the helmet was pale as paper, and scarlet blood dripped continuously from his chin, his eyes stained red—the damage from Zhang Xihong's self-detonation of his divine thought.

But his ferocious aura showed no sign of weakening.

"You're Yi Kuidou, right? After following me for these past few days, don't you want to give it a try?"

Li Jun pressed his elbows on his knees and raised his bloodshot eyes to look at the sky.

Their eyes met, and both saw the coldness in each other's gaze.

"Let's go!"

Yi Kuidou withdrew his gaze, left no more superfluous words, turned decisively, and led the Dao sequences of Mount Gezao away toward the southern part of the city.

"Another bunch of scheming bastards."

Li Jun watched them depart and raised his hand to wipe the blood from his chin.

"Lord Ma, can you tell what that old man's background is?"

"A puppet avatar controlled by Hekai, a common trick of the Zongheng order."

The low voice of Lord Ma with the red eyes: "But even Zhang Qingyu of the new-style Order Four fell for it, so the other side is at least Zongheng Order Three."

"These troublemakers really are persistent as ghosts..."

Li Jun took a deep breath of the night air thick with the smell of burning, turned his head to face the north, frowned, and muttered to himself.

"Beizhili? Old man, are you from Honghu? Or from the royal family? Or perhaps both?"

Bang!

The serpentine giant beast lying half in the sea was struck on the head by a fist, its massive body howling as it fell into the sea, splashing huge waves several zhang high.

Ignoring his fists corroded and decayed to the bone by the poison, Zou Sijiu's armor expelled a rushing airflow as he threw himself again at the still tumbling Gongsun Yao.

Swish!

A black shadow suddenly shot out from the surging waves, swift as lightning.

Zou Sijiu couldn't dodge in time and was viciously struck by Gongsun Yao's snake tail. With a booming sound, Zou Sijiu bounced and rolled across the sea like a skipping stone, finally slamming heavily into the sea.

The wound at the broken horn of the snake's head kept writhing, and Gongsun Yao's figure slowly rose from it.

The offset and cancellation of massive backdoors and the immense mental exhaustion made his expression extremely gloomy.

Zou Sijiu's tenacity far exceeded his expectations.

"Just a bumpkin, how does he have such a special ink armor? And this strange divine invocation method, how can it have such formidable combat power? Where on earth did he get so many opportunities?!"

Just as Gongsun Yao was in astonishment, Zou Sijiu's figure also leaped out from under the sea.

"Huff..."

Zou Sijiu bent over, pressing his knees, panting heavily, blood continuously dripping from the corners of his mouth, creating small ripples on the dark ink-like sea surface.

"Without the training of the Eastern Palace, you have been able to assemble such backdoor technology on your own. Zou Sijiu, you are indeed a rare talent, but trying to stop the advance of the Eastern Palace is still like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—it will only lead to death."

Gongsun Yao's deep voice echoed across the sea.

"If you step aside now, today's deadly situation might still have a sliver of hope!"

Zou Sijiu slowly straightened his back, looked at the huge snake beast standing a hundred zhang away, and sneered: "It seems I went too easy on you, leaving you with the strength to spout such nonsense."

"The Eastern Palace controls all 'Yellow Millet Backdoors.' Forsaking the Eastern Palace means cutting off your own future, never again able to acquire or learn other methods and techniques, completely severing your path of advancement. Are you clear on the heavy price you pay for the life or death of a single Dao sequence?!"

"I'm so scared!"

Zou Sijiu laughed contemptuously and shouted loudly.

"Chen Qisheng, you damned Taoist, did you hear that? For you, I've taken a huge loss this time. If you don't catch a few Yin-Yang sequences and strip their backdoors for me, I won't be done with you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a fierce fluctuation suddenly came from the ship floating behind Zou Sijiu, along with a high-pitched sea beast roar!

The cycle of the cave heaven had reached its final climax, and Chen Qisheng was about to awaken!

But for Gongsun Yao, it meant that if he did not extract Chen Qisheng's consciousness immediately, Zhao Yanlong's cave heaven would collapse completely in an instant.

His mission this time would be a total failure!

"Get out of the way!"

Thinking of the punishment he might face after failure, a chill arose in Gongsun Yao's heart. He shouted angrily, and the snake head connected to his body also let out a sharp hiss.

"How are you talking to your daddy?!"

Zou Sijiu's expression twisted, his body floated into the air, and the red light emanating from his armor became even more glaring, like a blood-red sun hanging in the sky.

A violent gale rushed out from under Gongsun Yao's fluttering wings, and where the wind passed, clouds were shattered and waves surged, an indescribable tremor filling Zou Sijiu's heart.

It felt as if the entire dark sea had fallen into a rage, intent on crushing him to powder.

"Guardians, protect Zhou Yanlong's dream sea beast!"

Zou Sijiu, as if bearing a thousand jun of pressure, was forced down inch by inch as he floated, shouting loudly.

Roar!

The snake beast roared to the sky, and a terrifying wave over twenty zhang high crashed upward like a black mountain shifting sideways.

Gongsun Yao stood proudly atop the wave, his might overwhelming the heavens.

Under such heavenly power, the solitary figure of Zou Sijiu seemed particularly insignificant. The red light on his body dissipated almost completely, and he knelt on one knee on the sea surface, as if he had no strength left to resist.

"It seems there are indeed no helpers lying in ambush behind you. Otherwise, your group's temperament wouldn't have chosen to consume so many backdoors to fight me to the death."

But just as the wave was about to crash down, Gongsun Yao suddenly heard a contemptuous voice and a crisp snap amidst the roar of the waves.

Dap!

A chill wind rushed against the gale, climbing up the wave, with constant cracking sounds, and in an instant, it froze the towering wave solid!

"What?!"

Gongsun Yao, standing on the snake head, was sealed in a piece of deep blue ice, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Not only that, he was horrified to find that a small half of his 'backdoors' had inexplicably fallen into a silent state!

They were not stolen by someone, but had locked themselves down, ignoring his commands and direction.

This eerie scene was unprecedented for Gongsun Yao.

What was happening?!

"Don't worry, your backdoors aren't lost, just temporarily unusable."

Zou Sijiu slowly stood up, looking up at the elevated Gongsun Yao.

The mocking smile on his face made it seem as if everything before was an act.

He raised his hands, wiping them over both sides of his helmet, and laughed, "This move is called 'Heaven and Earth Share Longevity.' Have you heard of it?"

Heaven and Earth Share Longevity?

Gongsun Yao's heart shook, and he blurted out in shock, "Zhao Mengze?!"

"Zou Sijiu, this tactic of exposing your origins is truly foolish. Besides, Zhao Mengze gave you this backdoor for one-time use. If you don't act quickly, why waste words with him?"

Shouyu's cold voice, tinged with anger, echoed in his mind, urging Zou Sijiu to make his move.

"You wouldn't understand. This bastard is Zouzi Fifty-eight, a big shot in the Eastern Palace. I've swallowed my pride for so many years, finally getting a chance to collect some interest. How can I not make a grand ceremony out of it?"

Zou Sijiu laughed heartily, slowly floating into the air, surveying the great waves and fierce beasts before him.

"This is the Yellow Millet Nether Sea. It's a contest of wits and schemes. Why do you have to make such a spectacle? To show off your numerous backdoors? What makes you so cocky?"

Crack!

The glacier shattered and sank into the sea.

Liberated, Gongsun Yao looked at Zou Sijiu, who was now close at hand, yet dared not make a rash move.

"Now we both have the same number of 'backdoors.' I only have 'Su Ce' in hand. Gongsun Yao, feel free to summon any god or transform into any beast you wish."

Zou Sijiu, arrogant and overbearing, gestured with his hand.

"I'll give you three breaths. One..."

Gongsun Yao's chest heaved violently, his breath like thunder. He no longer spared the remaining backdoors, setting them all alight, pouring immense power into the serpent body connected beneath him.

His broken wings, wounds writhing, sprouted and thrust out black feathers.

But the next second, Zou Sijiu, who had been smiling in the distance, suddenly vanished from Gongsun Yao's sight.

Then, a violent fist shadow crashed into his vision!

"Dastardly!"

"Threatening me with backdoors? You think having more backdoors makes you something special?"

Zou Sijiu's face twisted in a savage grin, and amid Gongsun Yao's furious roar, he swung his arm and punched!

Boom!

Figures soared into the sky from the summit of Tianzhu Peak, riding swords, charging fearlessly into the rain of thunder toward the new faction dao sequences hidden in the shadows of the clouds.

Each time a sword light shattered, a deeply muffled bell toll would sound.

This was the final requiem of the Wudang dao sequence at the moment of life and death, the last gift of the Zhenwu tradition to its followers.

But even as bells rang out incessantly, they could not stop the successive waves of sword lights.

In the higher heavens, a colossal sword light was surrounded by several mechanical phantom figures whose forms remained unscathed.

This was the battlefield of the Daozu artifacts, where even the thunder dared not intrude.

The occasional falling aftershock could shear off the surrounding peaks directly.

But the battle erupting at the foot of Wudang Mountain, though not as awe-inspiring as that in the high sky, far exceeded it in bloodiness.

The Wudang disciples who had descended upon hearing the news were locked in combat with the Yellow Turban warriors covering the hills, bright red and white blood mingling and splattering, severed limbs and arms strewn across the mountain path.

These puppets assaulting Wudang Mountain, refined by Maoshan, had their flesh replaced with a large number of mechanical limbs, granting them extremely strong vitality. Moreover, they displayed superb combat skills, with obvious traces of martial arts in their brawling.

Though individually they were no match for martial disciples, their overwhelming numbers were enough to bring despair.

Only the mountain gate archway remained. Chen Qisheng, drenched in blood, had long since gone berserk. The captured war saber in his hand, blunted from use, finally snapped with a crack as he drove it into the next enemy's chest, unable to withstand the impact.

Thud!

As he kicked the corpse off the platform, Chen Qisheng finally had a moment to catch his breath.

He flicked his toe, snatching a chipped longsword from a pool of blood, but his body lurched forward.

The spiritual sense formation, like a whirlpool hanging over the battlefield, emitted a silent screech that pierced his skull.

His limp limbs felt as heavy as lead, his withered foundation wailed, unable to produce a shred of true qi.

At this point, he was nearly spent.

"Senior brother... Zhao Yanlong!"

Chen Qisheng shouted at the top of his lungs, but his eyes met only countless entangled figures, with no sign of Zhao Yanlong.

Anxious, Chen Qisheng had just taken a step when a massive sword light suddenly descended from the sky.

Clang!

Boom! Boom!

Successive violent explosions plunged the war-cry-shaking mountain path into dead silence. The sweeping sword light carved a deep, vast chasm across the path, pulverizing over a hundred Yellow Turban warriors into bloody dust.

The spiritual sense overhead was scattered by the impact, and the leaderless Yellow Turban warriors stood frozen, forming a brief stalemate with the exhausted Wudang dao sequences across the chasm.

"Here... I'm here..."

From a pile of corpses, a faint call arose.

Chen Qisheng dashed over and finally saw Zhao Yanlong pinned under a Yellow Turban corpse.

"Don't move. It hurts."

Zhao Yanlong narrowed his eyes and quickly stopped Chen Qisheng from lifting the corpse.

"I've cultivated my foundation for so many years, and now it's been stabbed through by these monsters that aren't even human. What a pity..."

"If it's ruined, just nurture it again. What's there to pity?!"

Chen Qisheng carefully moved aside the Yellow Turban corpse, revealing Zhao Yanlong's abdomen pierced by an arm, buried up to the elbow.

Ptu!

Chen Qisheng cut off the arm with a single sword stroke and helped Zhao Yanlong sit up.

"Don't bother looking. There's no saving me."

Zhao Yanlong twitched his face, forcing a free and easy smile: "I never expected to live. Why that expression, kid? Dying first isn't bad. When you drive these bastards back, remember to tell the sect about my exploits. I figure one life for a line of text is still too much of a loss; better write more."

"I don't have your thick skin. Tell them yourself."

Chen Qisheng supported Zhao Yanlong, ready to stand, "Hang on. Your wound isn't fatal. The Huangqi Temple on the mountain can save you."

"Which Huangqi Temple is there still?"

Zhao Yanlong rested his head askew on Chen Qisheng's shoulder, his dull pupils reflecting the burning Wudang Mountain.

"They've all been burned away..."

"Don't talk. I'll take you up the mountain!"

Chen Qisheng had just taken one step when he felt a hand seize his collar tightly.

“I can’t leave. If I run now, won’t I be a coward again? I’ve gritted my teeth and fought this far—don’t let all my effort go to waste.”

“Junior brother…”

Zhao Yanlong pressed his cheek against the back of Chen Qisheng’s neck, his voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum. “It’s enough for one of us to die. Don’t be stubborn. Living is more important than anything. As long as there are people, our Wudang lives on. If we all die, there’s nothing left, you understand? Nothing.”

“I understand. I won’t die, and you can’t die either.”

Chen Qisheng stood rooted to the spot, the veins on his right hand gripping the sword hilt bulging like knotted roots.

“You’re right. Some people and some things are indeed more important than life. From now on, who dares to curse me, Zhao Yanlong?”

“Whoever dares, I’ll kill them.”

“No one will dare, because I have no shame before Wudang. Junior brother… I’m almost out of strength. One last thing… in this life… thank you.”

The voice faded in his ear, and the body in his arms grew cold.

“Elder brother, in the next life, it is I who should thank you.”

Chen Qisheng gently set down the corpse in his arms, stood sword in hand beneath the mountain gate.

The shattered divine thought, torn apart by the sword light, surged back once more. The stiffened Yellow Turban warriors swarmed forward again.

“Zhang Xiji, you have slain Wudang! Today, you will pay with your life!”

A roar of fury exploded across the heavens. Chen Qisheng turned abruptly.

A blinding flash of lightning, accompanied by a thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth, fell upon Heavenly Pillar Peak!

Boom!

A visible shockwave erupted from the collapsing summit of Heavenly Pillar Peak, scattering the black clouds, blowing away the phantom gods and immortals, and extinguishing the flames that covered the mountain.

The sky, cleared and pristine, showed no twinkling stars, as if those towering, terrifying figures and the rain of thunderbolts had all been but an illusion.

Yet the roaring in Chen Qisheng’s ears grew closer and closer. The aftermath of the explosion, carrying dust and smoke, rolled toward him, swallowing his figure in an instant.

In the moment before his vision went completely dark, the last image Chen Qisheng saw—

Was a charred corpse, clutching a sword, falling from the sky.

Crash! Crash!

The sound of tidal waves echoed ceaselessly.

Chen Qisheng’s eyes flew open. What greeted his sight was a humble Daoist temple hidden in the mountains.

Within the shabby and sparse main hall stood a statue of the Great Emperor Zhenwu. In the incense burner before it, a stick of sandalwood was nearly burnt out.

Every blade of grass, every tree was so familiar—this was unmistakably the Xuanyue Temple where he had lived for many years.

“A dream… is it over? But why am I still here?”

Chen Qisheng stared at the empty temple, lost in a daze.

“Hey, are you the new one?”

The voice reached his ears. A look of wild joy spread across Chen Qisheng’s face. He turned his head abruptly.

Just as in his memory, it was the same arrogant youth, hands on his hips, standing at the temple gate.

But this time, standing before him was not his former self, but a bewildered little novice.

“Why are you so dumb? I asked your name, didn’t you hear?”

The novice tugged at his ill-fitting shabby robe and spoke timidly.

“My name is Zhao Yanlong.”

“Yanlong… How did you get a name like that? Sounds more imposing than mine.”

The youth muttered to himself, then raised his hand to slap his own not-so-robust chest and declared, “My name is He Zhu. From now on, I am your teaching senior brother. Teaching, understand? That means from today on, in our Xuanyue Temple, you’re under my charge!”

Chen Qisheng watched this scene and felt as if a pair of hands were squeezing his heart. An indescribable bitterness surged into his eyes.

He gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and his reddened eyes stared rigidly at his own shoe-tips.

“Hey, newcomer, what’s your name?”

A call full of laughter suddenly rang out before him. Chen Qisheng looked up in astonishment.

There, beneath the statue of the Great Emperor Zhenwu, was an incredibly familiar smiling face.

“Senior brother, my name is Chen Qisheng!”

“That’s a good name! Chen junior brother, I’ll trouble you from now on.”

A Daoist strode in from outside the hall, raised his hand and gently patted Chen Qisheng’s shoulder, then cupped his hands in salute to Zhao Yanlong beneath the statue.

“These years have been hard on you. Farewell, Zhao junior brother!”

Zhao Yanlong returned the salute: “The path of Dao is long. Senior brother, go slowly.”

The Daoist smiled and nodded, his figure dispersing like wind-blown dust, dissolving into points of flickering light that merged into Chen Qisheng’s body.

“These years have been hard on you, Zhao junior brother.”

“Farewell, Zhao junior brother.”

One figure after another appeared. Every face, Chen Qisheng had seen before.

They were the disciples of Wudang from the dream, and the heroic spirits of Wudang in the present world.

After bidding farewell to Zhao Yanlong, they all smilingly dissolved.

“Elder brothers, go slowly. We shall meet again soon.”

Amid Chen Qisheng’s mournful gaze, Zhao Yanlong’s figure slowly disintegrated.

“You brat, your senior brother has been an elite of the Demon Subduing Hall, has killed Wu Xu of the Black Flag Society, has defended the mountain gate of Wudang, has saved the heroic souls of fellow disciples—hasn’t this life been splendid enough?”

His smile was radiant, his eyes filled with gratification. He cupped his hands to Chen Qisheng.

“Goodbye, junior brother. Thank you for letting me return to Wudang one more time. This life of mine—it is enough!”

As his voice faded, his figure dissolved.

Chen Qisheng gazed at the Zhenwu Emperor on the altar. The tight line of his mouth slowly relaxed into a relieved smile.

“Goodbye, senior brother.”