Immortal of the Nine Realms

This time, except for a very small handful, everyone truly witnessed, for the first time, the true destructive might of an Immortal Boat formation. They had previously encountered Void beasts, but always managed to avoid them by relying on speed. Now, however, facing the enemy’s Thousand Armed Guanyin formation, speed alone could no longer save them.

Li Shanzi’s voice rang sharply in everyone’s ears.

”Release all your spiritual energy! Don’t hold back! Use every spirit stone and every pill you have, pour all of it into the ship’s core! If we lose this battle, we’ll all die here!”

The young man beside him also began shouting orders, for half the ships in the formation belonged to his command.

No one hesitated. They immediately began channeling spiritual energy into their respective Immortal Boats. That energy then coursed through each ship’s core, merging into the twin Black Dragon ships at the center.

At this moment, both Black Dragon ships became indistinguishable from each other, both serving as the true core of their entire formation.

”All we have to do... is keep channeling spiritual energy?” Lin Yuan muttered while pouring energy in.

The formation constantly shifted, at times dodging enemy barrages, at others trying to break through encirclement. Were it not for the spiritual energy stabilizing everyone aboard the vessel, they would’ve been flung out into the void already.

To be thrown out at a time like this was the same as a death sentence. No one would care if one or two cultivators got lost in the endless Qingming.

Little Immortal Honglian inched closer to Fang Chen as she continued pouring her spiritual energy into the core. She transmitted her voice softly to him, ”They’re monks from the Rulai Monastery. Their power within the Fangcun Realm is no weaker than that of the Enlightenment God Palace. From the look of things, both sides have already torn all pretense of civility, not even bothering with formalities anymore. Judging by the state of things before we arrived, this war must be nearing its end.”

Fang Chen said nothing. He simply kept channeling his power in silence.

The others did the same. Even the first, second, and third transformation immortals among them joined in.

At this point, only two individuals stood apart, Li Shanzi and the young man beside him, both core disciples of the Enlightenment God Palace. They seemed to possess a special technique that allowed them to harness everyone’s spiritual energy and immortal essence, converting it into combat strength.

By now, both sides had taken casualties. Destroyed ships flickered in the void like dying embers, faint and fleeting, swallowed by darkness. As for the cultivators aboard them, their deaths were even quieter, like grains of sand sinking into the sea, leaving not the slightest ripple.

The anxious Lin Yuan quivered slightly as he recalled the number of vessels lost in battle. ”We’ve already lost so many ships. Some of those even had first-transformation immortals aboard, famous expedition teams too.”

Yu Wuxia’s face was pale with frustration. ”This feeling... it’s unbearable.”

As a proud disciple of the Radiant Divine Dao Sect, he had always been confident in his personal combat ability. Even when he’d lost, it’d be after a struggle. But now, he could do nothing but funnel spiritual energy like a powerless cog in a machine. The command of the entire formation lay solely in the hands of the two core disciples. Even their lives were now controlled by them.

After about the time it took to brew a pot of tea, a beam of intense light suddenly struck the Thousand Armed Guanyin formation.

The light originated from the twin Black Dragon ships.

In an instant, the Thousand Armed Guanyin formation seemed to shatter apart, but then rapidly reassembled, turning away to flee toward the Formless Purgatory.

Everyone froze for a moment.

”Did we win?”

Before they could catch their breath, Li Shanzi’s voice echoed again, ”Keep channeling! Don’t stop!”

The Black Dragon formation suddenly accelerated to its utmost speed, pursuing the Thousand Armed Guanyin formation.

From the moment the enemy had appeared and attacked without a word, to now, when their formation broke and retreated, the whole engagement had lasted only a short time.

Everyone worked even harder now. It was no longer a desperate defense but a chase, the joy of striking a fallen foe igniting their spirits.

The two formations clashed several times mid-flight. Eventually, the Thousand Armed Guanyin, having sustained heavy damage, fell apart, its ships scattering like debris.

”Hahahaha!”

Li Shanzi laughed boldly, full of vigor, controlling the formation as it ignored the fleeing remnants and charged straight for the enemy’s core ship.

That ship was even larger than the Black Dragon, carved with hundreds of Buddha statues.

Now that they were closer and no other ships blocked their view, they realized those Buddhas were actually layers of formations.

Just as the Black Dragon formation gathered energy for a devastating strike, that massive ship suddenly stopped fleeing. A young monk burst forth from its deck, clasped his hands together, and chanted, ”Amitabha. This humble monk, Yuan Guang of the Rulai Monastery, greets the core disciples of the Enlightenment God Palace.”

Several other figures rose into the air beside him, all immortals of at least the third transformation. One among them was even a fifth transformation immortal, all wearing equally grave and wary expressions.

”There are so many monks in the Rulai Monastery, I haven’t heard of you before,” Li Shanzi said with a half-smile. ”But since you attacked us without a word, I suppose our two sects are already locked in open war, aren’t we?”

He glanced toward the distant Formless Purgatory. Though too far to see clearly, he could easily imagine the chaos raging over there now.

Yuan Guang had clearly been stationed here to cut off reinforcements.

Yuan Guang did not answer his question. He merely said calmly, ”According to the Fangcun Realm’s rules of engagement over Forbidden Zones, we may surrender as captives to be saved later by our monastery.”

”If not for that rule, you’d already be dust, and so would the immortals standing beside you,” Li Shanzi replied coldly.

After exchanging a few words with the young man beside him, Li Shanzi ordered his men to take Yuan Guang and the others aboard the Black Dragon. Their grand Buddha-carved Immortal Boat was also seized personally by Li Shanzi. Without that core vessel, the Thousand Armed Guanyin formation could never be reformed again.

***

More than a month later, they finally drew near the borders of the Formless Purgatory.

If the Thousand Armed Guanyin formation had already shaken the cultivators’ hearts before, then what they saw now truly horrified them.

Formations filled the starry expanse, countless of them, to the point where it was impossible to tell which side fought which. They even witnessed one formation being besieged by several others, thousands of Immortal Boats annihilated in an instant, not a single one escaping.

Lin Yuan instinctively clutched Yu Wuxia’s arm. ”T-that looks like another Black Dragon! The Enlightenment God Palace has lost a core disciple?!”

Yu Wuxia didn’t shake him off, too stunned himself. Cold dread rose within him.

Fang Chen observed the battlefield intently.

Among all these ship formations... which belong to the Spirit God Sect, and which to the Killing Spiritual Division...

Moments later, several formations drifted closer, drawing everyone’s attention. Fortunately, these nearby formations clearly had Black Dragon ships at their cores, and everyone sighed in relief. They were allies.

As the formations approached one another, Fang Chen and the others saw Li Shanzi and the young man leading their groups onto another Black Dragon ship.

”I need to rest and recover my energy,” Fang Chen said softly.

Then, sitting cross-legged where he stood, his divine soul immediately projected into that other Black Dragon ship.