nycdaug Chapter 283 Ascension
Chapter 283 Ascension
The lightning bolts danced wildly across the Heavenly Pivot Spirit Gathering Array, shattering the array into pieces, and the golden light grew increasingly faint.
In the sky, the dark clouds were as thick as ink, piling up in layers as if to crush the entire world. Suddenly, a blinding white lightning bolt tore through the clouds, like a giant silver sword piercing straight into the earth, instantly illuminating the entire dark world. The light was so bright that it was impossible to look directly at it, as if it could pierce the soul.
Immediately afterwards, several more bolts of lightning flashed, like nimble silver snakes weaving and twisting among the dark clouds, sometimes forking, sometimes converging, illuminating the clouds as if they had been burned, presenting a strange yet magnificent sight.
However, that bright yellow figure was like a lamp in the night, even more dazzling than the thunder.
Tian Ruochun approached the center of the formation. She brushed past Xie Wanning, but did not stop walking.
Perhaps sensing something, Xie Wanning, who was nearly unconscious from being struck by lightning, opened her eyes and reached out to grab Tian Ruochun's clothes. She cried out in a hoarse voice, "Xiao Tian, what... are you going to do!"
Tian Ruochun dodged Xie Wanning's outstretched hand and forced a smile: "Sister Wanning, I said I would help you ascend to immortality. Now that the formation is threatened, I will stabilize its operation and will not allow anyone to affect it."
"And what about you?" Xie Wanning felt a vague unease in her heart.
Tian Ruochun did not answer, but looked at Xie Wanning with reluctance and urged, "Sister Wanning, live on."
"Oda!!!"
Tian Ruochun resolutely walked into the center of the formation and never looked back.
Outside the array.
Everyone was anxious, watching the light of the Heavenly Pivot Spirit Gathering Array flicker and fade, like a candle about to go out in the wind. The runes flashed and jumped, constantly shattering and dissipating into specks of starlight. At the edges, the array's energy was like smoke scattered by a gale, thin and chaotic, on the verge of disintegrating at any moment.
Xie Wanxun stared at the yellow figure disappearing into the center of the formation, and was suddenly startled, remembering the blueprints of the formation layout she had seen last night.
The Heavenly Pivot Gathering Spirit Array uses one person as the array's core and a hundred people as its support.
Now, all one hundred disciples of the Azure Wave Court have been struck by heavenly lightning, making it impossible to maintain the formation.
It appears that the formation is about to break, but that is not the case.
This array is a large array composed of hundreds of spirit-gathering arrays stacked together. As long as the array eyes of the scattered spirit-gathering arrays are not broken, they can transmit spiritual energy towards the center of the large array.
The array's cores are scattered throughout the cultivation world. No matter how powerful the heavenly lightning is, it cannot instantly cover the entire cultivation world. Therefore, the array will not be destroyed.
This is an extremely well-designed formation.
However, the central core of the grand formation must be maintained by one person. That person should have been Zhong Yingxiu, but now, as one of the ascended beings, Zhong Yingxiu has also been attacked by heavenly lightning and is unable to maintain the core of the formation.
Tian Ruochun's goal was clear: she wanted to replace Zhong Yingxiu as the core of the formation and complete the formation.
Xie Wanxun's eyes flickered slightly, and she unconsciously frowned.
Zhong Yingxiu is a born spiritual being, capable of withstanding superhuman spiritual power and maintaining the operation of this powerful formation. Tian Ruochun, on the other hand, is just an ordinary cultivator. How could he possibly maintain a formation damaged by heavenly lightning all by himself?
That was too reckless!
Xie Wanxun rushed towards the Spirit Gathering Array, but was bounced back the instant she got close to it.
"puff!"
Xie Wanxun coughed up blood and rolled on the ground a few times before finally stopping.
How could she forget that she was a demonic cultivator and couldn't possibly enter the spirit-gathering array?
However, watching Tian Ruochun enter the formation, Xie Wanxun felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
She looked at her hands, stained with demonic energy, and felt a disgust she had never felt before. Why was she a demonic cultivator?
The center of the formation.
Tian Ruochun carefully carried the unconscious Zhong Yingxiu out of the formation's eye.
"Thank you for your hard work. Leave the rest to me."
Tian Ruochun stood at the center of the formation, his hands forming a hand seal, and silently chanted.
"What joy is there in living, what sorrow in dying? I will sacrifice myself to protect this formation. With my broken body I will fill the gaps in the formation. Once the incantation is released, no difficulty can be overcome. May the formation gather its spirits, for my heart has not failed."
The array shone brilliantly, its previously incomplete parts beginning to fill in the gaps. The golden light curtain flowed like liquid, runes flashing and leaping, reflecting all external attacks. Lightning crackled in the sky, echoing the array's radiance, and the entire world trembled under this powerful force.
The spiritual energy of the entire cultivation world rapidly gathered at Qingyun Sect, and a protective shield appeared above the formation. Heavenly lightning struck the shield, causing the entire Qingyun Sect to tremble.
"Are you crazy? How can someone undergo tribulation with such powerful heavenly lightning? Isn't that going to kill people?" someone exclaimed.
Everyone's hearts sank to the bottom. The malice of Heaven was laid bare, which was also the reason why no one had been able to ascend to immortality for a hundred years.
Spiritual energy gathered around Xie Wanning and the others, and their injuries gradually healed, with golden light appearing around them.
When he opened his eyes again, they had turned gold.
Their bodies became light, and a passage appeared between heaven and earth, slowly lifting them up.
Xie Wanning's gaze remained fixed on the center of the formation, but she saw Tian Ruochun kneeling on one knee, supporting herself on the ground with one hand while still making hand seals with the other.
"Xiao Tian, that's enough, stop supporting the formation," Xie Wan Ning pleaded, her voice choked with emotion several times.
Tian Ruochun waved at Xie Wanning, her eyes sharpening, radiating an undeniable aura. She took a deep breath, her hands rapidly forming hand seals, each movement firm and powerful.
The formation activated rapidly, accelerating Xie Wanning and the others' ascension.
Suddenly, with a loud "boom," a giant dragon formed from heavenly lightning flew towards the ascension passage.
"Crack, click, click!"
The passage cracked, and the formation also began to shift.
Tian Ruochun struggled to her feet, her hands already stained with blood, but she didn't stop moving.
"My body transforms, summoning thunder to descend! Hurry!"
The lightning dragon changed direction and surged towards the center of the formation.
"puff!"
Tian Ruochun could no longer hold on; she collapsed to her knees, helplessly enduring the onslaught of lightning.
The formation was now flashing with golden light, isolating everyone outside. No one could step into the formation, let alone help deal with the heavenly lightning.
Xie Wanxun took a deep breath, no longer suppressing the resentment within her body, with two wisps of eerie green ghost fire swirling around her.
"Heavenly lightning, come on! Strike me!" Xie Wanxun said with a mocking smile.
The Heavenly Realm and the Underworld are irreconcilable enemies. She was more hated by the Heavenly Thunder than anyone else present, and she refused to believe that the Heavenly Thunder could refrain from striking her.
She couldn't help maintain the spirit-gathering array, nor could she ascend to immortality, so she would accept the heavenly lightning.
As expected, the thunder dragon instantly became interested upon seeing Xie Wanxun surrounded by ghostly energy. It swiftly flew towards Xie Wanxun with unstoppable momentum.
Xie Wanxun smiled contemptuously and quickly fled on her sword.
The dragon chasing after her made things much easier for Tian Ruochun, who was inside the formation.
The Heavenly Thunder Dragon caught up with Xie Wanxun and bit down. The heavenly thunder flowed within Xie Wanxun's body, but caused no harm.
After all, her body was made of lacquered wood and did not conduct electricity. However, heavenly lightning had a tearing effect on the soul, and Xie Wanxun gritted her teeth and insisted, "I don't believe you can kill me with that lightning."
She is a Ghost King, and her soul is much stronger than that of ordinary cultivators. Even heavenly lightning cannot shatter her soul; she will only have to endure some pain, which is a trivial matter!
Just as the formation was operating smoothly and Xie Wanning and the others were about to ascend to immortality.
"Boom!"
A fierce tiger carrying thunderbolts emerged from the clouds and pounced on Tian Ruochun with lightning speed.
"Oda!"
"Junior Sister Tian!"
……
Amidst gasps of alarm, the tiger bit Tian Ruochun, splattering blood everywhere.
"thump!"
With a thud, Tian Ruochun could no longer hold on. She collapsed to the ground and never got up again.
With no obstruction in the passage between heaven and earth, Xie Wanning and the others finally ascended to the realm of gods.
Human world.
After Xie Wanxun withstood the dragon's heavenly lightning, he saw that the entire spirit-gathering array was completely shattered, and Tian Ruochun was lying on the ground on the verge of death.
She quickly flew to Tian Ruochun's side, wanting to treat her.
However, as the Ghost King, she immediately realized that Tian Ruochun's soul was shattered beyond repair.
"Demon... Sister Wanxun, don't be sad, I've fulfilled my wish. But, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Go ahead," Xie Wanxun said, her voice suppressed, her eyes filled with reluctance.
"Protect Wan Ning, keep her alive. I've witnessed her death countless times, and I don't want it to happen again," Tian Ruochun said weakly.
"I know, I will," Xie Wanxun nodded vigorously, assuring him.
The light in Tian Ruochun's eyes dimmed. She looked at Xie Wanxun and smiled, "Also, thank you. I know that you helped me set up the ninth-grade teleportation array back then."
Xie Wanxun's eyes flickered slightly, and her body trembled slightly.
When she reached out to hold Tian Ruochun's hand, the hand fell limply to the side.
Death arrives silently.
Xie Wanxun's lips trembled, and she could only say one sentence: "Rest well. Leave the rest to me, Xiao Tian."
Spirit world.
Looking at the scene on the ground, Tendou Fusang smiled and said, "One variable has been eliminated. Now it's time to welcome the 'guest'."