Free Web NovelChapter 297: Chapter 61: Divine Punishment Banner
On Cangwu Mountain’s Star-picking Platform.
Ye Yan and Madam Ye stood side-by-side, gazing at the sky.
The aura radiating from Wu Mingshou was astonishing, and he made no effort to conceal it. The moment he appeared, he alerted all the Ye Family Elders on Xiaocang Island.
Madam Ye was dressed in a magnificent, phoenix-patterned long robe. Her graceful and noble bearing carried a hint of authority, and her beautiful eyes, fixed on the sky, glinted with killing intent.
She controlled the Ye Family’s Island Defense Array. As long as she was on Xiaocang Island, she had no reason to fear a Late-stage Life Talisman Cultivator.
The conversation between Fang Cheng and Wu Mingshou in the sky had been clearly audible, and the expressions of the Ye Family Elders had changed upon hearing it.
What surprised them even more was that the Ye Family’s son-in-law, Fang Cheng, had attacked without hesitation, completely disregarding the threats from the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio cultivator.
In the heavens above.
The Immortal Binding Rope moved like a phantom, appearing beside Wu Mingshou in an instant. It coiled like a bolt of lightning, about to bind him tightly.
The cultivator from the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio, clad in opulent robes and exuding an air of nobility, stood at the bow of his small boat with his hands behind his back. His expression was calm, as if he had anticipated this.
"Suppress!"
He uttered a soft command.
The Divine Punishment Banner behind him suddenly erupted with a blinding gray light. A vast and majestic sound, like grinding stone and metal, echoed through the void. The gray divine light spread out like ripples, and wherever it passed, an immense, invisible sealing force emerged.
The Immortal Binding Rope abruptly froze. The Divine Sense Fang Cheng had infused into it was suppressed, and the Magical Artifact’s own Spiritual Mechanism was restricted.
Fang Cheng frowned. The Immortal Binding Rope flashed with golden light, struggled free, and returned to his side.
As expected, the farther it was from the Divine Punishment Banner, the weaker the sealing force became.
’A Third-tier Magical Artifact...’
Fang Cheng’s eyes flickered as he looked at the banner behind Wu Mingshou.
’He came prepared.’
"So it really is the legendary Immortal Binding Rope!"
Wu Mingshou recognized the origin of the Immortal Binding Rope, a sneer gracing his lips.
’A backwater is still a backwater. They truly have no idea how terrifying the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio is.’
He mocked silently.
As a merchant guild spanning several countries, the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio was second to none in the Cultivation Realm, both in terms of financial power and intelligence-gathering capabilities.
Since they had waited over a year to cause trouble for Fang Cheng, they had naturally made ample preparations in secret.
They had corroborated rumors about "Suanni" and Fang Cheng’s past battles from multiple sources to ensure no detail was missed. In particular, during the great war between the Flame God Palace and the Yinluo Sect, Suanni of the Law Enforcement Hall had shone brilliantly. He had used a wondrous treasure to obliterate a Tier Three Celestial Demon and a golden rope, alongside other experts from the Law Enforcement Hall, to kill many Elders from the Flame God Palace. News of this had long since spread throughout the Abyssal Marsh.
Afterward, they had arranged for a well-informed and skilled strategist to conduct a comprehensive study of Fang Cheng, analyze his weaknesses, formulate a detailed and reliable "battle plan," procure specific countermeasures in the form of Magical Artifacts, and dispatch a trustworthy Honored Guest Elder to execute the plan.
When the results of the analysis came in, the upper echelons of the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio’s Jin Country branch were all astonished.
It could be said that Suanni’s strength could no longer be measured by the conventional standards of a True Disciple or an Inner Sect Elder of the Yinluo Sect.
One major reason the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio had delayed sending someone after Fang Cheng was that they were assessing the cost of retaliation.
The primary goal of retaliating against Fang Cheng was to uphold the prestige of the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio. Avenging the Silver Belt Elder was secondary.
As a commercial organization, any damage to their prestige would inevitably trigger a chain reaction, as far too many factions coveted the wealth of the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio.
But in Fang Cheng’s case, the cost of taking forceful action seemed a bit high.
The matter was debated within the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio for a long time, and the disagreement among the higher-ups was never resolved.
In the end, it was the Chief Shopkeeper of the Jin Country branch who requested instructions from an Elder at headquarters, finally settling the matter.
At this moment, Wu Mingshou took out a fiery red pill and swallowed it. Then he said coolly, "The Ten Thousand Treasures Studio may lack other things, but the one thing we never run short of is Spirit Stones and Magical Artifacts."
"Sinner Fang Cheng, for wantonly murdering a Silver Belt Elder of my Studio, I am here today to carry out your execution! This is to let the world know the consequences of offending the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio!"
His voice grew louder, resonating with a cold, ruthless killing intent.
At the same time, the aura around him began to surge dramatically!
He was already a Late-stage Life Talisman Cultivator. Now, after swallowing the pill, a vast and turbulent Spiritual Mechanism appeared in his Qi Sea, causing his Magical Power to rise continuously.
Soon, Wu Mingshou’s Magical Power broke through a barrier, reaching a realm that countless cultivators in the world could only dream of.
The Life Soul Realm.
This new aura shot into the heavens, filling the sky and pressing down upon the void. It sent a chill down the spines of all the cultivators on Xiaocang Island, making their scalps tingle. As if facing an imminent catastrophe, they stood frozen on the spot, not daring to move.
Life Talisman Cultivators on Yinluo Island, Chixia Island, Flame Demon Island, and other locations also sensed this aura and were instantly alerted. Except for those in critical closed-door cultivation, they all turned their attention toward the Ye Family on Xiaocang Island.
Above Xiaocang Island.
Wu Mingshou reveled in the surging Magical Power within him. With a grand gesture, he pulled a cold blade from the void and sneered at Fang Cheng, "You should be proud. Not just anyone is worthy of a personal visit from me. That heaven-defying method you used to kill the Tier Three Celestial Demon, do you still have it? Why not use it and let me see what it’s all about!"
He always enjoyed verbally assaulting his enemy’s mind before a kill, shattering their Dao Heart before leisurely reaping their life.
Unexpectedly, Fang Cheng was completely unfazed. He waved his sleeve to recall the Immortal Binding Rope, then calmly took out a Dream Spirit Paperman and chuckled, "As it happens, I do."
With that, the paperman flew out.
The sneer on Wu Mingshou’s face froze solid.
According to the Ten Thousand Treasures Studio’s deductions, a heaven-defying technique like the one Fang Cheng used to instantly annihilate a Tier Three Celestial Demon had to be unique, with an immense cost and an exceedingly rare origin.
The only exception would be if a Peak Life Soul Realm cultivator had specifically expended years of their own foundational Magical Power to refine a Divine Power Talisman for him.
Even so, he wouldn’t have many. Besides, what was Fang Cheng’s background? The Yinluo Sect’s resources were well-known; it was absolutely impossible that such a cultivator would act on his behalf.
Looking across the entire Yun Country, the only other possibility was finding something similar in some Ancient Ruins.
His words, meant to mock and strike at his opponent’s Dao Heart, had unexpectedly backfired.
Wu Mingshou’s gaze sharpened, and he stared intently at the paperman, subconsciously hoping it was just a bluff from Fang Cheng.
Unfortunately for him... the paperman suddenly flashed with spiritual light, rolled on the spot, and transformed into a Golden-haired Giant Ape.
The Giant Ape beat its chest with both hands as its body inflated like a balloon. In the blink of an eye, it grew to be a thousand feet tall. It roared at the sky, and a blinding ball of light appeared in its mouth.
The Sun-Swallowing Divine Ape Transformation.
The tyrannical aura of the Peak of the Life Soul Realm instantly swept across the sky like a tidal wave.
Wu Mingshou muttered, "Impossible... H-how is this possible? The Studio’s strategists have misled me!"
Though he spoke, his hands did not slow. He grabbed the Divine Punishment Banner, channeled all the Magical Power in his body, and swung it violently at the Golden-haired Giant Ape.
A sky full of gray divine light surged forth, layering upon itself to form a celestial canopy that shielded him.
At the same time, the blinding orb of light in the Giant Ape’s mouth shot out, crashing straight into the gray divine light.
BOOM!!!
It was as if heaven and earth had inverted, and a blazing sun had come crashing down.
A boundless, majestic force appeared, accompanied by an unimaginable weight and an immense, pure yang energy.
The rapidly spinning, blinding ball of light transformed into a vortex that absorbed all light and heat, manifesting in the sky.
An astonishingly high temperature spread out in all directions.
The searing, majestic, and terrifying white-hot vortex slammed against the gray divine light. Layers of flame seemed to burn in from all sides. The air itself was completely ignited, and a sea of flames engulfed the heavens.
Below, the Island Defense Array on Xiaocang Island was battered by the aura of the battle, flickering erratically and on the verge of collapse.
Flames erupted from the bodies of many Ye Family cultivators, spewing from their mouths and noses. They hastily sat cross-legged and circulated their Cultivation Techniques to suppress the anomaly.
Beyond Xiaocang Island, mountain-like waves churned on the lake’s surface, rolling outwards in a mighty tide.
The daylight dimmed as the sun vanished. In the sky, only a blinding expanse of fire, stretching for a hundred miles, could be seen, battering against a faint canopy of gray divine light.
「A moment later.」
The gray divine light shattered with a deafening roar.
The Giant Ape took a great stride, catching up to the fleeing Wu Mingshou, and threw a massive punch.
Wu Mingshou summoned his Divine Punishment Banner, and the gray divine light reappeared, blocking the giant fist.
At the same time, he twisted his body and unleashed a full-powered slash at the Giant Ape.
The cold, sharp blade light continuously split and transformed, instantly becoming a colossal sphere composed of countless, densely packed beams of light that pressed down on the Giant Ape’s head.
The Giant Ape fearlessly threw its other fist, smashing it into the massive sphere of blade light.
Blade light and fist light erupted in a piercing detonation, clashing a thousand times in a single instant!
The blade light from Wu Mingshou’s hand was ferocious. Each strike seemed capable of sundering the heavens and the earth. A single flick of the blade made the surrounding space tremble, raising a sound like a tsunami’s muffled thunder.
The blade light constantly split and blossomed like a lotus flower. The Giant Ape was besieged by an endless storm of blades, its form becoming difficult to discern.
The collision of their auras stirred up terrifyingly powerful hurricanes of Spiritual Qi. The light screen of Xiaocang Island’s Island Defense Array trembled, collapsed, and cracked.
In that moment, the Divine Power Wu Mingshou displayed left the cultivators watching from near and far utterly shocked.
The blade light splitting from the cold blade in his hand was faster than lightning, incomparably sharp, all-pervasive, and overwhelming.
He seemed to realize he had no other choice but to go all out.
The onlookers were all captivated by the blade light, unable to look away.
ROAR!!!
Suddenly, an earth-shattering ape’s cry rang out.
The world abruptly lit up. A flash of white filled everyone’s vision, blinding them to everything else.
Even their senses were restricted. They could only perceive a blur ahead, feeling a suffocating, terrifying heat bearing down on them.
CRACK!
A clear, shattering sound rang in their ears.
It was followed by a choked groan.
When the light faded, they looked to the sky and saw a thousand-foot-tall Giant Ape standing proudly in the void, clutching a person in its massive hand.
The lower half of the Giant Ape’s body was slowly disintegrating, turning to ash and scattering like paper consumed by flames.
As for Wu Mingshou, held in the Giant Ape’s hand, the effects of the pill seemed to have worn off. The aura of his cultivation had returned to the Life Talisman Realm.
The Divine Punishment Banner hung motionless in the void.
And the cold blade, also a Third-tier Magical Artifact, was now broken.
Just then, a blinding flash of sword-light streaked past like lightning.
A rumbling peal of thunder followed.
A look of unwillingness appeared on Wu Mingshou’s face. He tried to move but was held fast by the Giant Ape.
The next moment, a head tumbled down from the sky.
The sword-light gracefully turned, snatched Wu Mingshou’s storage pouch, and vanished.
The Giant Ape’s body finally disintegrated completely.
Wu Mingshou’s corpse fell after it. A beam of black Demonic Light shot through the sky, engulfing and refining it.
...
