Chapter 652 - 647: Lotus Platform Karmic Fire, Familiar with Light Escape
The Elder of Treasure Pavilion displayed his divine power with great flair. The moment the Great Breaking Divine Needle was unleashed, it immediately put Qin Feng on the defensive, piercing through most of his protective shields with the unstoppable force of splitting bamboo.
Although in terms of destructive power alone the Great Breaking Divine Needle might not necessarily surpass Ji Ziqing’s Geng Metal God Talisman, when it came to penetrating defenses, it far exceeded that of other Immortal Artifacts of the same tier. Therefore, at this moment, Fatty Zhang had a smug look on his face as he squinted at Ji Ziqing, his hands weaving spells, preparing to manipulate the Great Breaking Divine Needle to completely break through Qin Feng’s defenses and in one fell swoop seize this so-called thief from the Kongkong sect.
By then he wouldn’t need to say much, for it would be embarrassing for the others to contend with him for Qin Feng’s Karma Fire Red Lotus!
Li Shentong and Luo Jianbei exchanged glances from a distance, both seeing the unwillingness in each other’s eyes.
Both of them were Primordial Spirit Realm Cultivators and each had their own trump cards. But while everyone was entangled by the Nine-Headed Dharma Form, Fatty Zhang had managed to slip away to gain an advantage over Qin Feng. Not only was he taking the easy pickings, but he aimed to monopolize the victory. This made them feel somewhat indignant!
Especially since they had seen for themselves just how formidable the defense of the Karma Fire Red Lotus was, even capable of withstanding the Great Breaking Divine Needle. Such power was irresistible to them.
Thus, the two of them simultaneously brought out their hidden trump cards.
“Dang…”
A deep and ancient bell echoed between heaven and earth!
Li Shentong had a huge copper bell, several zhang tall, hovering above his head. The surface of the bell was covered with all sorts of mystic runes, which formed various bizarre patterns, giving the impression, from afar, that a million demons were being suppressed.
Li Shentong pulled the bell single-handedly, his gaze burning with eagerness as he looked at the Lotus Platform surrounding Qin Feng.
The Nine Heavens Demon Cleansing Bell had once had a renowned reputation, but this Immortal Artifact was somewhat limited when it came to combat. It could display dramatically increased power against Demon Dao Cultivators, but against cultivators of the Righteous Path, it was somewhat lackluster.
This was why the Li Family, despite possessing an Immortal Artifact for many years, rarely brought it out, fearing that others would learn its weakness and make targeted preparations against them.
If he could capture the Lotus Platform beneath Qin Feng, then the Li Family would truly own an Immortal Artifact that they could be proud of.
Although up to now Qin Feng had only been using the Lotus Platform for defense, anyone with discernment could tell, from the flames that almost seemed capable of burning through the void, that the artifact’s function was not solely defensive.
However, before he could claim the Immortal Artifact for himself, he would need to first fend off the Nine-Headed Dharma Form before him.
Hence Li Shentong manipulated the Nine Heavens Demon Cleansing Bell, and with three successive tolls, layer upon layer of sound waves surged forth, like the ocean unleashing hundred-zhang waves, ferociously pouncing towards the Nine-Headed Ghost Fire Flame Dragon.
On the other side, Luo Jianbei let out a thunderous shout and fiercely swung his broadsword forward. A series of piercing sword cries cutting through the void rang out as his body suddenly emitted more than a dozen swords of light, astonishingly, they were twelve oddly-shaped Flying Swords.
When these twelve Flying Swords were released, they clicked into place, amazingly merging with the original broadsword as a base, reforming into an extraordinary large sword!
This large sword, twelve zhang six in length, was radiant with sword light, and exuded a formidable Sword Qi.
It turns out, this was the Immortal Sword that the Luo Family rarely disclosed.
However, the Ancestor of the Luo Family was quite astute. Worrying that the descendants might find it difficult to fully command the power of an Immortal Artifact, he deliberately spent a lot of effort to refine a set of composite Immortal Artifacts. Normally, when disassembled, they were thirteen Top-Level Spiritual Treasures, but once combined, they became an Immortal Artifact.
The advantage of this type of composite Immortal Artifact was that, if the family’s strength declined and no one was capable of wielding the Immortal Artifact to face the enemy, as long as the family could gather a certain number of cultivators to simultaneously wield the thirteen Spiritual Treasures, they could still exert a significant portion of the Immortal Sword’s power, thus preserving the family’s bloodline and heritage during times of crisis!
Luo Jianbei, being so powerful, evidently did not require assistance from others; he was capable of wielding the Immortal Artifact on his own.
With Luo Jianbei’s roaring command, the large sword flew through the air, slicing towards the Nine-Headed Ghost Fire Flame Dragon Dharma.
The power of this strike was several times more formidable than the previous ones.
Both men, wielding two Immortal Artifacts, showed off their might surpassing that of the Primordial Spirit Realm.
They needed to severely injure Qin Feng’s Dharma Image with one strike, so they could grab the lotus platform without disturbance later, and also have more excuses to compete for the Karma Fire Red Lotus!
“Roar…”
The Dharma Image with its nine heads raised emitted a heaven-shaking roar, unleashing the might of the Dragon Power together with the Soul Shattering Roar. After nine Dragon Roars, they just barely managed to block the sound waves of the Demon-Clearing Bell.
Immediately afterwards, one dragon head spewed out a cold breath that condensed into a thousand feet of Cold Ice, blocking in front of the broadsword. The moment it was pierced through by the broadsword, it used Earth Element Divine Powers to condense massive boulders, which similarly failed to withstand the edge of the broadsword.
Flames, Divine Wind, Thunder, Space Distortion, among others, Divine Powers were consecutively deployed, but they could only delay the speed of the broadsword for a moment, unable to completely block it!
Qin Feng, multitasking, furrowed his brows upon seeing this scene, knowing he had encountered trouble. The people before him were all from ancient families with long-standing heritage, which shouldn’t be weaker than the nine main families of the Beast Taming Sect; otherwise, they would not possess such profound foundations!
There might even be Immortals backing them up.
It was hard to say for the others, but the guy from the Treasure Pavilion definitely had some tough backing. Although the business of the Treasure Pavilion wasn’t as big as the Ten Thousand Treasures Building in the Southern Domain, it still had some reputation in the Northern Domain. If there were no Immortals taking charge, they couldn’t support such a big operation!
The Nine-Headed Ghost Fire Flame Dragon Dharma Image was indeed strong, but it was still somewhat strained under the attack of two Immortal Artifacts.
Qin Feng didn’t want to have a tough fight with them here either. Even if he could barely win in the end, he feared it would be a Pyrrhic victory, resulting in mutual destruction!
Moreover, this battle was causing a great commotion, and it was hard not to attract the attention of others. If the news of his presence here got out, it would inevitably invite countless Cultivators to launch an assault on him.
Therefore, he used his Space Distortion Divine Power again, but this time not against the Immortal Sword, but on the Dharma Image itself.
The Dharma Image suddenly shrank, from its original two to three hundred feet, to a mere foot in length. Following the twisted space, it dodged in a flash, avoiding the broadsword and the sound waves of the Demon-Clearing Bell, returning to the front of Qin Feng, and passing directly through the Protective Shield set by the Karma Fire Red Lotus, disappearing into Qin Feng’s body.
“Roar…”
Qin Feng let out a thunderous roar, his figure swelling massively, his body covered with dark gold scales as if possessed by a Demon Dragon, his face fierce and his aura terrifying.
“Be careful, he’s trying to break out!”
“Stop him, don’t let him get away!”
Several Primordial Spirit Cultivators yelled urgently.
“Run? Why should I run?”
Qin Feng grinned with a cold smile, revealing gleaming white teeth: “Relying on external objects and still daring to act fierce in front of me!
Hmph, you really think I’m a soft persimmon, easy to squeeze, today, I will let you know my power!”
As he spoke, the Karma Fire Red Lotus beneath Qin Feng suddenly rose up with raging flames.
The huge fire twisted and deformed even the Void itself, causing the faces of Li Shentong and the others, who had just approached, to change dramatically.
They knew Qin Feng’s Immortal Artifact was powerful, but they didn’t expect it to be to such an extent.
Before they could think of how to deal with these raging flames, they heard the sound of sword cries.
Then, they saw the lotus platform, which had been rotating slowly, suddenly speed up its pace, like illusions, and sharp petals fell off the platform, flying toward them with heart-palpitating flames.
Bang, bang, bang…
Luo Jianbei swept his broadsword horizontally, shattering the lotuses that assaulted him, while Li Shentong dropped the Demon-Clearing Bell over his body, letting the Sword Lotuses hit the bell. Despite the humming and ringing of the bell, he stood immovable like a mountain!
Fatty Zhang’s face changed abruptly, and he quickly manipulated the Great Breaking Divine Needle to form a rain of needles, leveraging the sheer number of his attacks to counter the dozens of Sword Lotuses flying toward him, thus withstanding this assault.
However, Ji Ziqing was in a somewhat embarrassing plight.
His Geng Metal God Talisman, after all, was not an Immortal Artifact, but merely a divine talisman capable of exerting the might of an Immortal’s spells. Even if its power had not yet run out, its functionality was too simplistic, so faced with Qin Feng’s sharp offensive, he was unwilling in his heart but still had to dodge and retreat backward.
The moment he stepped back, Qin Feng, who initially seemed intent on a staunch confrontation, chuckled slyly, waved his hand to cast several Divine Skills to hinder their movements, then quickly turned around while collecting the Karma Fire Red Lotus and made his escape through the path Ji Ziqing had opened.
“Stop him!”
Several Primordial Spirit Cultivators shouted to the cultivators stationed around the perimeter, laying down a battle formation.
But the cultivators behind Ji Ziqing were thrown into chaos by the Spirit Turtle, and even now, their formation still wasn’t neatly arranged, failing to demonstrate the slightest advantage in numbers. How could they possibly stop Qin Feng!
Qin Feng moved like a flash of lightning, darting through the crowd, and as he passed by the Spirit Turtle, he grabbed one of its legs and made a swift getaway.
“Ji Ziqing, you useless fool!”
Luo Jianbei cursed angrily and suddenly leaped atop his broadsword, chasing after Qin Feng as quickly as lightning.
“I…”
Ji Ziqing’s face stiffened, but he couldn’t retort—after all, it was from his direction that Qin Feng had escaped.
“Hmph!”
Both Fatty Zhang and Li Shentong flew past him, and neither looked particularly pleased.
However, Li Shentong ultimately cared about old ties. The two families had a long history of interactions, and Ji Ziqing had been invited by him to come and assist. It wouldn’t be right to leave him behind.
“Aren’t you going to chase?”
Li Shentong said, “If he gets away, where else will we find the chance to obtain the Beiming Immortal Mansion and achieve Becoming an Immortal?”
“Alright!”
Ji Ziqing clenched his teeth and nodded, as True Yuan surged crazily within him, unleashing his strongest Escape Technique in pursuit of Qin Feng!
He had to catch up with Qin Feng to prove his capabilities, otherwise, he feared he would be the subject of ridicule for a long time.
Qin Feng couldn’t care less what these people thought. He executed his Escape Skill and focused solely on shaking off his pursuers as quickly as possible.
But a moment later, he heard an earsplitting sword cry from behind.
Looking back, he saw Luo Jianbei riding a massive Immortal Sword, the first to give chase.
The Sword Dao is renowned not only for its fierce and sharp killing power but also for the speed of Sword Controlling flight. Luo Jianbei, by using an Immortal Sword to perform the Sword Escape Divine Power, managed to keep up with Qin Feng.
Qin Feng frowned and disdainfully glanced at the Spirit Turtle he was holding.
It was this creature’s fault; not only did it fail to show him a clear path this time, but it had also led him into crisis.
“Now it’s even worse, because flying with it slowed me down a bit, and I’ve actually been caught up with.”
He shook his head, “It seems that the Spirit Turtle is still not strong enough. I’ll have to cultivate it properly in the future. I originally wanted it to be my meat shield, but it looks like there’s still a long way to go.”
The Spirit Turtle, feeling guilty under his gaze, hurriedly activated the Eight Trigrams Divine Pattern on its back and said to Qin Feng after a moment, “Master, change course, head southeast. That’s where the path of life is most clear!”
“Are you sure?”
Qin Feng looked at it skeptically, “It’s not going to be like last time when the path of life turned out to be for you, is it?”
Last time, this creature claimed that fortune lay to the north, but the result was that not only did the Dragon Turtle become its opportunity, but even the Beiming Immortal Mansion that Qin Feng had painstakingly seized was sent to the second layer of the Demon Refining Pot, where it merged with the Void Shattering Cave Mansion and directly became the Cave Heaven World of the second layer, which also became this Spirit Turtle’s Cave Heaven Blessed Land for cultivation!
So now, Qin Feng was quite suspicious that this Spirit Turtle might be up to something. If it only calculated its own opportunities or escape routes, he would really need to be cautious.
“Uh…”
The Spirit Turtle quickly shook its head vigorously, “No, no, your subordinate is absolutely loyal to Master, how could I dare to mess around behind Master’s back!”
“Why do I feel even more uneasy after hearing your words?”
Qin Feng eyed it suspiciously a few times, and seeing the Spirit Turtle’s expression attempting to appear honest and simple, he grew even more distrustful.
After all, as a cunning member of the Demon Clan, the Spirit Turtle could hardly be associated with honesty.
Plus, it hadn’t been under his control for long, its mentality might not have adjusted yet, perhaps even harboring thoughts of escaping his control, so Qin Feng could be certain that its honest appearance was definitely feigned.
However, even if the creature had some ulterior motives, Qin Feng wasn’t too concerned. He believed that the Spirit Turtle had just tasted the benefits and would certainly not be willing to leave now.
Besides, it currently had no certainty of escaping the prohibitions. As a Spirit Turtle skilled in divination, it had become accustomed to moving only after careful planning, and would never casually reveal its inner thoughts when not confident, in order to avoid drawing his attention.
And the Spirit Turtle also knew that if it dared to make a move against him now, Qin Feng could erase it at any moment.
Therefore, after thinking for a while, Qin Feng decided to fly in the direction guided by the Spirit Turtle.
He wanted to see just how powerful the Spirit Turtle’s divination divine power was. After analyzing the situation, he would plan for himself whether it was worth spending a lot of time cultivating this divine power.
After all, divine powers like prediction and divination, even with the Spirit Turtle’s talents, still required quite some time to cultivate successfully for himself.
This was different from other divine powers. Even the innate divine strength and water manipulation talent from the Spirit Turtle, he could cultivate within a month or so. But for things involving the operation of Heavenly Dao and Destiny Principles, it required much more time.
Since he still needed the Spirit Turtle to guide the direction, Qin Feng did not put it into the Demon Refining Pot, just dragging it along as he moved forward.
However, in order not to be relentlessly pursued by Luo Jianbei, who was controlling his sword from behind, he spared no expense of True Yuan to use escape techniques at full strength. Despite this, he still couldn’t shake off Luo Jianbei, but he gradually increased the distance from Li Shentong and others.
As for cultivators from the several families, even though they claimed to have large flying escape treasures, they couldn’t keep up with their speed and were completely left behind!
Li Shentong and the others clenched their teeth and kept up the relentless pursuit.
After all, Qin Feng was just in the Dharma Image Realm, and they didn’t believe that Qin Feng’s True Yuan was infinite. After such extensive depletion of True Yuan in the previous battle, and with the speed of their pursuit using Immortal Artifacts, how far could he really get?
While in mid-flight, suddenly Qin Feng caught a glimpse of a somewhat familiar Light Escape in front of him.
He took a closer look, and was immediately shocked!