An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Chapter 1203: I’ll Take Care Of It! (II)

Instead of forcing his way through, he abandoned the charge and pulled back. At the same time, blood-red light gathered before him and formed a barrier that knocked aside the needles as he retreated beyond the hundred-zhang range of Azure Gloom Black Swamp.

Yet the moment he landed, he felt something pulling at his legs. He looked down and found himself sinking into the same muddy black mire he had supposedly escaped. What the... No way! I am pretty sure I judged the distance perfectly. How am I inside the swamp?

Unbeknownst to him, while he had been focused on breaking through Yin Sixiang’s defenses, Yin Sixiang had quietly expanded the range of the Azure Gloom Black Swamp around him.

Yet such a trap was not even remotely enough to restrain Wang Yuan. He opened his mouth and breathed into the ground, releasing a tremendous fortified qi that dispersed the black swamp.

Only then did Yin Sixiang speak to him directly for the first time since the battle began. ”Oops! Look, what do we have here? Since you’ve stepped into my trap, you might as well surrender.”

As the swamp was swept away, four small flags appeared under it. Yellow, green, blue, and golden light flared up from them simultaneously, and another barrier rose within the formation already enclosing the space around them.

Yin Sixiang had finally revealed his true trump card! Using his life-bound enchanted treasure, the Four Spirit Flags, as the foundation, he had recreated the ancient Four Symbols Formation and formed a space entirely under his control: the Four Symbols Sphere.

The moment the sphere took shape, the Azure Gloom Black Swamp surged back across the ground as though Wang Yuan had never scattered it. At the same time, golden sabers and silver swords materialized throughout the sky, while enormous green logs rose from the swamp below like a flock of living battering rams.

The sight sent the spectators into an uproar.

Skyscraper narrowed his eyes as he studied the Four Symbols Sphere. A formation this powerful that can imitate a Nascent Soul Domain? I didn’t expect that brat to have something like this hidden away. Looks like I won’t need the backup plan after all. Good, that should save me from having to explain myself to Lingtian later.

As he thought this, he could not help glancing at Divine Fire, who stood somewhere in the distance, still looking completely unfazed. The Five Elements Divine Sect really isn’t to be underestimated.

Fairy Moonbreeze, on the other hand, had gone pale. If she were trapped inside that sphere herself, she doubted she would make it out alive. She turned toward the woman beside her and said, ”Master, can an Adept really create something like this?”

Fairy Windflower studied the barrier with a frown before shaking her head. ”I mean, it’s not really a Domain. He’s pieced it together using formations, spells, enchanted treasures, and materials he prepared beforehand. If someone has enough resources and deep enough mana, then yes, it’s indeed possible to set something like this even at the Golden Core Realm. Hmm, moving forward, you should be careful around him. He’s not someone to take lightly.”

Fairy Moonbreeze swallowed. ”Then... isn’t Wang Yuan in serious trouble?”

Fairy Windflower gave a quiet hum, though even she sounded uncertain. ”Maybe. But I’ve heard Wang Yuan’s physique refinement art is unlike anything else. He should still have a way to fight back.”

Among the spectators below, Dragon Fiend showed none of the same concern. He stared at his master’s back with full confidence. That thing won’t hold him.

Ye Lingtian was enjoying a cup of tea on the balcony of another tall building overlooking the arena. He set down his cup as soon as the Four Symbols Sphere appeared. After studying it for a moment, however, he merely smiled and shook his head. ”That’s not enough to trap a man who’s made me acknowledge him.”

Almost as if to prove him right, the winds and clouds within the sphere started churning.

”Five Qi Convergence, Giant Spirit Transformation!”

Wang Yuan’s already burly frame began to swell. In moments, he had grown into a towering giant that loomed over the pseudo-domain like a small mountain.

Yin Sixiang tightened his grip on the four flags, and the corner of his mouth twitched. That thing again?

Even so, his composure never faltered. The black swamp churned beneath Wang Yuan as enormous green logs hurtled toward him and golden sabers and silver swords filled the air. With another wave of his hand, countless red threads joined the assault, weaving through the other attacks as they closed in from every direction—Dragonbind Red Threads, the same technique his junior sister, Qi Emei, had previously used against Wang Yuan’s very own disciple. In his hands, however, its power was on an entirely different level.

Before any of the attacks could reach Wang Yuan, currents of divine wind erupted around his colossal body, forcing back the mire and scattering the incoming sabers and swords, while the fortified fiend qi surged through the air to corrode the red threads before they could touch him.

Dragon Fiend clenched his fists in excitement. So that’s what happens when you refine thirty-six strands of divine wind and thirty-six earth fiends into your body. Those defenses are insane. Even enchanted treasures can’t break through!

Meanwhile, inside the Four Symbols Sphere, divine wind and fortified fiend qi swirled wildly around Wang Yuan’s nine-zhang frame. He drew a sharp breath and smashed every massive green log hurtling toward him apart in a single blow.

With the path ahead cleared, he narrowed his eyes and locked on the man beyond the sphere. He leaned forward, planted one foot heavily against the ground, and charged. The Four Symbols Sphere responded to restrain him, but rather than being stopped, he simply dragged the formation’s restraining force along with him! One after another, the four flags anchoring the sphere were wrenched straight out of the ground as he forced his way toward Yin Sixiang.

As his life-bound enchanted treasure got forcibly yanked out of place, the backlash traveled through it, and a thin line of blood seeped from the corner of Yin Sixiang’s mouth. Even so, he remained calm and simply wiped it away. Uuuughhh, whatever. This place doesn’t suit the way I fight. If I really want to pin him down, I’ll have to use that.

With that, he opened his left palm, and a miniature mountain hovered above it. Rocks covered its slopes, while cliffs rose from its surface like blades. Then, with a flick of his wrist, Yin Sixiang tossed it into the air.

The mountain expanded as it rose. In the next instant, its enormous weight came crashing down upon Wang Yuan.

”RROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR!!!”

Wang Yuan answered with a roar that no longer sounded human as power erupted throughout his colossal frame. He thrust both arms upward and caught the descending mountain, trying to overturn it through sheer force.

However, the moment his palms met the mountain, his expression changed. The weight bearing down on him felt like the weight of heaven itself. No matter how intensely the divine wind raged around him or how fiercely his fortified fiend qi surged, he still could not make the mountain budge in the slightest.

For a moment, everyone in the crowd held their breath.

In the residence, Lingtian slammed a hand against the table and jumped to his feet. ”Bastards!”

Before he could do anything else, Divine Fire appeared in front of him. ”Fellow Daoist, he’s only a junior. Why get so angry?”

Lingtian’s expression immediately turned cold. ”You know that’s against the rules.”

Divine Fire shook his head. ”Is it? I don’t remember any rule saying they couldn’t borrow someone else’s treasure.”

Technically, he was right. Nothing in Skypiercing Pass’s battle rules explicitly forbade it. But that was not what angered Lingtian. As he looked toward the mountain, he could sense the powerful Sage mana still lingering within the True Artifact!

”That’s Skyscraper’s own Skyscraper Cliff, isn’t it? You really think you can take Wang Yuan down with just a little borrowed mana?”

”Oh?” Divine Fire looked genuinely surprised and turned his attention back to the battle.

By now, Wang Yuan’s enormous frame had begun to buckle beneath the weight of Skyscraper Cliff. His skin split apart bit by bit as blood streamed down his body, yet amid those wounds, layers of scales had begun spreading across his skin.

Divine Fire’s brows drew together. Is he burning his blood essence to trigger a demonic transformation?

That realization immediately brought to mind Wang Yuan’s battle against a Demon Emperor many years ago. Back then, despite the enormous difference in realm, Wang Yuan had somehow managed to fight the beast head-on.

So this was how he did it? If so, the cost can’t be small. The moment he uses it, he’ll take a serious hit to his qi... Heh, whatever. Skyscraper’s methods aren’t that easy to overcome.

Meanwhile, on the platform, Wang Yuan’s transformation was still progressing. Scales spread across his entire body, while a massive tail shaped like a war hammer formed behind him.

Although his expression had turned savage, his resolve remained firm. I have to win. Even if it damages my body and causes my cultivation to regress, I absolutely will not surrender!

With that, Wang Yuan prepared to stake everything on one final struggle.

But just then, an explosion rang beside his ears, and the crushing pressure bearing down on his body suddenly vanished. The change came so abruptly that even in his mountain-sized form, he staggered.

He stopped himself with a hard step back, and the moment he looked to the right, he saw a man standing on his shoulder, with his robes snapping in the wind, and... holding Skyscraper Cliff aloft with one hand!

”Brother Wang, I’ll take care of this.”

At first, Wang Yuan did not recognize the voice. However, that familiar form of address struck a chord deep within him. Then when he looked at the man’s face, still as young as he remembered it from more than a century ago, recognition struck home.