TDFM Chapter 126

Divine Dragon 

At daybreak, they arrived at the sea of clouds above Lingcang Mountain.

A red sun emerged from the horizon, and the cloud layers surged and rolled like boundless white waves. Flying closer, they could see that at the edge of the “waves” there was a large expanse of mist flowing from high to low, forming a cloud waterfall over a thousand zhang wide.

The Compassionate Sword carried them gliding past the cloud waterfall. Above their heads stretched a pale blue, clear sky, while below their feet extended snow-covered mountains. The world was both magnificent and serene.

Xi said, “Hold tight, we’re about to start ascending.”

The Compassionate Sword lifted the group upward. While Xi controlled the Compassionate Sword, she explained, “The sea of clouds at Lingcang Mountain is one of Qiguang Zi’s sanctuaries, though he himself doesn’t come here often. It’s probably because of Yixin Zi.”

Yun Qing asked puzzledly, “What does it have to do with Yixin Zi?”

“Yixin Zi had set up formations for his sanctuary, which he continued to use afterward.”

Yun Qing asked, “What kind of formation is it? Can we break through it?”

Xi smiled, “The Great Evolution numbers fifty, but only forty-nine are used. The formations mastered by humans are incomplete—even the most sophisticated formations have flaws. Emperor Xi’s Wordless Book, however, encompasses the full fifty numbers. Using completeness against incompleteness, we can naturally break through.”

Yun Qing understood, “I see.”

Xi then explained in detail the formations she had encountered there to Yun Qing. The two did their homework in advance, determined to break through the formations as quickly as possible once they reached the top.

After finishing the explanation of this formation, Yun Qing said again, “Xi, I still haven’t fully comprehended the last formation in Emperor Xi’s Wordless Book. Could you teach me?”

Xi remained silent for a moment, then said, “I know what you’re thinking, but Yun Qing, immortals and mortals are different. The essence of cultivation and immortal power are fundamentally different. No matter how vast one’s cultivation, it cannot resist immortal power, do you understand?

If we truly encounter Qiguang Zi, only I can deal with him. No matter what happens, you must remember one thing—run.”

“Oh.”

Xi seemed to feel somewhat guilty and didn’t want to disappoint her, so she said, “Alright, I’ll teach you, but you must use it cautiously.”

Yun Qing’s spirits lifted, “Yes!”

…

Finally, Xi added, “I have the ability to move mountains and seas, but I lack the power to heal the wounded and save the dying. The turbid qi up there is almost nonexistent—ordinary mortals would die instantly upon encountering it. I don’t know how long you can hold out.

However, once I regain mobility, I’ll immediately have the Compassionate Sword take you down. I just hope you can endure as much as possible.”

Yun Qing nodded, “Don’t worry.” She then briefed the others on these matters.

With lives at stake, everyone listened with serious expressions. Fu Xue clenched her fists and said, “When brave warriors meet on a narrow path, the courageous one wins. In the end, it’s all about willpower—I understand!”

Cheng Suiyan stroked the Beihai Sword and nodded firmly, “Don’t worry, my body has always been strong. I absolutely won’t hold anyone back!”

After the Compassionate Sword passed through the sea of clouds at the mountain peak, the air became crystal clear. Yun Qing glanced at the sky—the sun was rising in the east, and ten thousand li stretched azure blue. Above, the sky still accumulated cloud masses, like large, clean, dense goose down.

The goose down drew closer and closer. They passed through this cloud mass, and looking up again, the sky’s blue had become deeper. High above, there was another layer of clouds, much thinner, like fine gauze fluttering in the wind.

As the Compassionate Sword flew toward the thin clouds, everyone except Yun Qing gradually felt difficulty breathing and began to close their eyes to regulate their breathing. As the altitude increased, their chests felt as if pressed by giant stones, causing dizziness and hearts to beat wildly.

Fortunately, this process wasn’t too long, as the Compassionate Sword flew very quickly. When it stopped, everyone opened their eyes.

Butterflies.

So many butterflies—thousands upon thousands… no, more than millions!

These butterflies varied in size—the largest comparable to wagon wheels, the smallest about the size of fingernails. All the butterflies crowded densely together, forming a vast butterfly cloud mass, truly spectacular.

Everyone stared in shock with wide eyes. Fu Xue said, “These… butterflies… alive?” She was now breathing with great difficulty, able only to speak word by word, while her mind kept going blank and she constantly wanted to sleep.

Yun Qing shook her head, “These are manifestations of Qiguang Zi’s immortal power.”

In her mind, Xi said, “Yun Qing, the formation here hasn’t changed. Let’s proceed according to our original plan.”

This butterfly formation contained a total of 108,000 butterflies. Originally, according to Yixin Zi’s design, one needed to catch specific forty-nine butterflies in the correct order to break through.

If caught incorrectly, all 100,000-plus butterflies would scatter, requiring one to start over. Every day at sunrise, all butterflies would return to their original positions.

Xi and Yun Qing had improved the breaking method—they only needed to catch eight butterflies to break the formation.

The Compassionate Sword carried everyone, wandering through the rain of butterflies. Countless magnificent butterfly wings swept past their vision. Except for Yun Qing, everyone was dazzled by the sight.

Moments later, Yun Qing caught the last deep red phoenix butterfly, and the butterfly swarm receded like a tide, quickly dispersing to both sides.

A pavilion appeared before them.

The group jumped down from the Compassionate Sword and entered the pavilion.

Cheng Suiyan felt dizzy and nearly stumbled when jumping down, but Jiang Baiyu caught him.

He raised two fingers toward Jiang Baiyu in a gesture of thanks. At this moment, he felt a strong sense of suffocation in his chest, causing him to open his mouth wide but unable to speak. His mind kept going blank, and his thinking wavered on the verge of collapse.

This place resembled a small garden. The ground was paved with blue bricks, surrounded by flowers, grass, and trees manifested by immortal power. In the cool pavilion stood a table with a chessboard and pieces, with three stools around the table—two for players, one for observers.

In her mind, Xi’s voice sounded somewhat excited, “Go to the northwest corner. I can now feel the attraction of my soul’s main body toward me—my body is still there!”

Yun Qing could feel it too. From the northwest direction, something was forming a wonderful pulling force toward the center of her brow.

Yun Qing supported Fu Xue while the other three helped each other, stumbling toward that direction. Except for Yun Qing, everyone’s lips showed a strange purple-blue color. Jiang Baiyu’s condition was much better, and his lips were a lighter shade.

Jiang Baiyu’s feelings at this moment were conflicted. He was naturally suffering—his lungs were compressed to the point where he could barely breathe—yet his heart kept sending forth vitality.

From landing to reaching their destination in the northwest corner was only a few dozen steps, but they felt as if they had walked for a year. As Yun Qing felt the pull at her brow becoming more and more obvious, she kept repeating while walking:

“Keep your eyes open, breathe deeply, don’t sleep—we’re almost there. We’re about to succeed!”

Fu Xue’s mind was working much slower, so she could only instinctively do as her senior sister instructed.

Finally, their luck wasn’t too bad—there really was a stone bed there. The bed’s base was covered with restrictions, and a person lay upon it.

The woman had a slender figure and gentle features, lying quietly on the stone bed with her eyes closed.

Tears almost fell from Yun Qing’s eyes, “Xi!”

At the same time, she felt a swelling, burning pain between her brows, then something burst through the center of her forehead—a golden light fell into the body on the stone bed.

The moment the golden light left her brow, Yun Qing felt her body suddenly become heavy. The profound and vast feeling that had always been in her qi sea disappeared, becoming much thinner. A suffocating pain struck her chest as if something was pressing down heavily.

She was enveloped by a sense of suffocation and couldn’t help but breathe deeply, though it didn’t provide much relief.

Dizzy and disoriented, her heart pounded wildly. Enduring the pain, she took out a handful of blue small flags from her treasure pouch.

The wind was strong up there—perfect for setting up a Wind-Riding Formation.

After taking out the small flags, she retrieved the Wish Power Pearl, then looked at Xi’s face.

Xi suddenly opened her eyes.

Yun Qing’s anxious heart finally settled, and she was about to place the items in her hands on the stone bed.

However, before she could extend her hand, the scene before her eyes suddenly changed!

In an instant, Xi’s entire body disintegrated!

Countless fragments burned and turned to ash like burning paper scraps, dissipating into the air.

The Compassionate Sword behind Yun Qing suddenly let out a mournful cry.

In the blink of an eye, only a blood-red fine net remained on the stone bed. In the center of the net was clearly Xi’s divine soul. This time, Yun Qing could see it without opening her Yin-Yang Eyes. The divine soul flickered with golden light, struggling anxiously at that moment.

Yun Qing: “!!!”

Suddenly, laughter rang out from the sky, clear and resonant like pine and stone.

After laughing, the voice said, “I once looked into the Eastern Sea Destiny Mirror, and it told me I would ‘perish by wish power.’ Tell me, could I not be on guard against you, Shen Xi? This Heaven Net Soul-Binding Web was specially forged by me just for you.”

The divine soul in the net struggled like a dying fish while saying, “Yun Qing, this body was an illusion! After Shuangling escaped, my rate of dissolution accelerated—this was something I didn’t anticipate!

Qiguang Zi trapped my soul, preventing it from dissipating, which affected my judgment. I’m sorry, I miscalculated!

Now that I have no body, I cannot contend with him! I’ve already commanded the Compassionate Sword to recognize you as its master—leave here immediately!”

Yun Qing’s mind went completely blank.

Jiang Baiyu tugged at her, “Yun Qing, let’s go!”

“Go?” The voice from the sky laughed coldly, “The mice that have toyed with me want to leave? Today, all of you must stay here for this immortal!”

Before the words from above finished, Yun Qing felt a pressure forming from shallow to deep, knowing that Qiguang Zi was rapidly approaching.

Just as she was about to remove the Neat Family bracelet from her wrist, suddenly a stream of immortal qi struck this magical treasure. The string of the bracelet broke, and the demon cores and gemstones scattered and fell, creating a series of crisp sounds on the ground.

The sky changed.

Butterflies—butterflies again.

Covering the sky and earth, dense and numerous, obscuring the sky.

This was still Yixin Zi’s formation, and if they wanted to leave this place, they still had to catch butterflies!

Under the butterfly sky stood Qiguang Zi on the clouds, hands behind his back, wearing a faint smile, tall and elegant—how carefree and unrestrained!

Yun Qing opened her mouth wide—she now needed her entire oral cavity for breathing and had no space left for speaking. Her heart pounded thunderously, as if gripped tightly by giant pincers, suffocating to the point of ready explosion.

She frowned, ignoring her body’s pain, concentrated her mind, and with a thought, the Compassionate Sword expanded against the wind, growing to two zhang long again.

Jiang Baiyu held Yun Qing’s hand, Yun Qing held Fu Xue’s hand, Fu Xue’s other hand was grasped by Ci Li, and Ci Li simultaneously held Cheng Suiyan. The five of them, hand in hand, supporting each other, jumped onto the Compassionate Sword again.

When Yun Qing had controlled the sword earlier, her cultivation had already diminished by nine-tenths. The moment she jumped onto the sword’s spine, Jiang Baiyu’s hand rested on her shoulder, continuously channeling cultivation power.

Fu Xue held her senior sister’s hand with one hand while lying prone on the sword, panting “huh, huh” with difficulty, struggling to untie the bell from her waist.

In this butterfly formation, breaking from inside to outside was exactly the reverse order of breaking from outside to inside. The first butterfly Yun Qing needed to catch was the deep red phoenix butterfly in the southeast direction.

She had already spotted it. The Compassionate Sword carried them straight toward the phoenix butterfly. Suddenly, from the sky like falling rain, many butterflies began flying toward them!

Jiang Baiyu’s lips were blue-purple, his expression solemn. While channeling cultivation power to Yun Qing, he simultaneously controlled the Xiangsi Sword and Caihen Sword. Both swords flew out, carrying sword qi to block the approaching butterflies.

The butterflies shattered upon contact with the sword qi, but the remaining butterflies passed through gaps in the sword qi and swarmed forward!

Ci Li’s body swayed, and he rolled his eyes. Unable to help himself, he slapped himself to stay conscious, then tore off the Heaven Star Falling to Earth Pearl from his neck and threw it into the butterfly swarm.

This time the throw was shorter, so the Heaven Star came quickly. The butterfly swarm seemed to be burned by countless sparks.

Everyone’s attention was focused on this butterfly swarm, but unexpectedly, behind them, a South Sea butterfly as large as a wagon wheel suddenly attacked the back of Yun Qing’s head!

When Jiang Baiyu’s gaze swept over and noticed something wrong, it was already too late—the butterfly was already close!

Suddenly, heavy sword intent swept past their eyes, forming a small area of local hurricane. The butterfly happened to be within the range of the hurricane and was directly swept away!

The Xiangsi Sword returned in time and supplemented with another strike, completely destroying the butterfly.

Yun Qing looked toward the owner of the heavy sword.

Cheng Suiyan’s entire face had turned liver-colored from holding his breath. He was now opening his mouth wide, his eyes unfocused, standing at the sword’s tip while wildly swinging the Beihai Sword. His swinging was completely without technique—the butterfly had simply collided with the wind stirred up by the Beihai Sword.

Yun Qing’s eyes unconsciously grew hot.

Cheng Suiyan opened his mouth and slightly pulled up the corners of his mouth in a smile.

“How touching,” said the person in mid-air.

Then, more butterflies attacked.

This time there were a hundred times more than the previous group, and they surged from all directions like a tide!

Cheng Suiyan still stood on the sword stubbornly swinging wildly, while Yun Qing no longer knew what other methods they could use to cope.

The butterflies drew closer and closer. Just then, Fu Xue, who had been lying prone on the sword, finally finished stammering through the incantation for the Six-Path Sealing Bell.

Woooooo————

Suddenly, a deep and majestic roar sounded from the horizon. The roar was extremely penetrating, almost piercing people’s eardrums and shattering their brains!

Yun Qing was shaken by this roar until her heart felt panicked, and she couldn’t help but look up.

The butterfly-covered sky was suddenly torn open, and a dragon’s head emerged from the gap!

This dragon’s head was probably larger than a palace, with two golden eyes bright and bulging like two huge glazed lamps. The dragon’s breath exhaled from beneath its nostrils instantly scattered the nearby butterflies into mist.

Dragon—it was a dragon!

Her junior sister had summoned a divine dragon!

Tears filled Yun Qing’s eyes. She wanted to remind Fu Xue, but Fu Xue at this moment didn’t even have the strength to lift her head. She lay motionless on the sword, and Yun Qing couldn’t help but touch her head.

The divine dragon above swept its gaze around, looked at Fu Xue lying on the sword, raised its head, and roared again. Then it opened its mouth and took a mighty breath.

Countless, countless butterflies were thus sucked into its mouth in one breath!

Who could have expected that the butterfly formation would be broken in such a manner?

Qiguang Zi coldly glanced at the divine dragon. This dragon also seemed unwilling to truly make an enemy of him. After swallowing the butterflies, its massive body swayed and swam away. The dragon scales reflected sunlight through the mist, dazzling to the eyes.

Above the clouds, Qiguang Zi seemed somewhat regretful. “The good show is over.”

In the Heaven Net Soul-Binding Web on the stone bed, Xi couldn’t help saying, “Qiguang Zi, you’re so despicable!”

Qiguang Zi said matter-of-factly, “When killing people, if you don’t appreciate their struggles, wouldn’t the killing be in vain?”

“You…!”

Yun Qing smiled bitterly in her heart. Their desperate struggle for survival was merely something for his entertainment?

But yes, if not for entertainment, they probably wouldn’t have had even the chance to struggle.

But even as a laughingstock, she would still continue to struggle.

Mortals were weak and humble, but mortals would never lack courage—not even in the face of despair, death, or the end of the world.

With a thought, Yun Qing controlled the Compassionate Sword to rush out of the sanctuary. Qiguang Zi clicked his tongue impatiently and flicked his finger.

Ci Li reacted fastest, jumping up to block it. Most of this finger’s immortal power was blocked by him. He spurted a large mouthful of blood in mid-air and was instantly beaten back to his original form. The remaining immortal power continued downward, striking everyone down.

The Compassionate Sword shrank back to normal size and heavily crashed onto the blue bricks with a loud clang.

Four people and one cat fell to the ground in a sorry state.

Yun Qing lay on the ground, mouth open, like a dying fish.

Qiguang Zi above the clouds remained as immortal and elegant, as carefree and composed as ever. He said, “To die by my sword is your honor.”

“Little one, don’t be afraid—you won’t die for now. Because you have something I want,” he added with a smile.

Yun Qing stared blankly at Qiguang Zi in the sky descending from the clouds.

In her eyes, his reflection grew larger and larger.

He drew his sword.

Was everything about to end?

Perhaps.

Perhaps not.