Chapter 1183: An Absurd Reversal

Amidst the dark void space, a dragon's mighty roar shook the heavens and lands. Golden Dragon Awe Auspicious Clouds dispersed in all directions.

The Qin Emperor Shi Yu's decision to sacrifice Shi Xingyun undoubtedly angered the Earth Dragon King and the Azure Skies Dragon King even further. Although Shi Xingyun had already reincarnated back into a human, with the Earth Dragon King and the Azure Skies Dragon king no longer viewing her as one of their own kind, the Qin Emperor Shi Yu using the soul carcass of the Jin Dragon King and adding it to the Immortal Dragon City's design nonetheless infuriated them greatly.

Shi Yu was still observing Zhu Yi closely, as his mood would have a substantial effect on their plans. Even if the sacrificial ceremony was successful, he still required Zhu Yi's help to fend off the Earth Dragon King and the Azure Skies Dragon King. Needless to say, during the sacrificial ceremony itself, they would need Zhu Yi even more urgently to support them from the side regarding the Immortal Dragon City that terribly angered the two Dragon Kings.

In a sense, he was taking a gamble, but he was not betting on Zhu Yi's decision - whether a friend was more important than the Great Qin as an ally of his sect. Based on Shi Yu's understanding of Zhu Yi, the most important factor in influencing his judgement was not personal gain, but his ideals and beliefs. And regardless of what Zhu Yi chose, his master Lin Feng would usually support his decision. However, the Qin Emperor Shi Yu could not confidently predict how Zhu Yi would view the sacrificial ceremony.

To him, for Shi Xingyun to undergo the sacrificial ceremony before she even reached the Immortal Soul Stage was undoubtedly a flawed choice. But based on the existing circumstances, he could very likely influence Zhu Yi's decisions in a way that benefits himself. Otherwise, he would be even more unsure of how Zhu Yi and the rest of the Celestial Sect would act under separate circumstances.

At this moment, a radiant streak of light suddenly flashed in the distance, like a gigantic star traversing boundless void space and flying towards them.

The Qin Emperor Shi Yu's eyes flickered. He recognized it as a blinding Sword Star formed from boundless Sword Qi.

Tens of thousands of rays of Sword Qi swirled and fused together, forming a magnificent ray of sword aura. Tens of thousands of rays of sword aura then fused to form a brilliant ray of sword radiance. Subsequently, tens of thousands of rays of brilliant sword radiance intersected to form a terrifying sword formation that shook the heavens and lands. And tens of thousands of these sword formations combined to form this resplendent star which was even more blinding than an actual star. It arched across the horizon and charged straight for the Earth Dragon King and the Azure Skies Dragon King!

The Qin Emperor Shi Yu immediately recognized such incredible swordplay from his first glance. "The Tiangang Swordmaster?"

Zhu Yi's gaze also floated towards the gargantuan and brilliant Sword Star conjured by the Tiangang Swordmaster, the Supreme Elder of the Mount Shu Sword Sect, and a great sword cultivator at the Vipralopa Stage.

This great sword cultivator who had already achieved his current cultivation during the Middle Age, has been hailed as the strongest sword cultivator across all of the Divine Lands before the Battle of Mount Shu against Lin Feng.

During the Battle of Mount Shu, the Tiangang Swordmaster yielded the Celestial Sword, summoning the Immortal Heaven Universal Sword Formation and the power of the Seven Great Sword Peaks in his incredible battle against Lin Feng. In the end, Lin Feng claimed the Immortal Heaven Universal Sword Formation for himself and severed the Celestial Sword.

In this battle, besides sustaining physical injuries, the Tiangang Swordmaster's sword heart was damaged by Lin Feng. Those on the same boat included Xin Longsheng, the then leader of the Mount Shu Sword Sect, as well as the Cang Ming Swordmaster, another Supreme Elder.

Beneath the three great sword cultivators, the entire Mount Shu Sword Sect was thrown into confusion and turmoil.

After this battle, the Mount Shu Sword Sect closed off their sect, segregating themselves from the outside world all the way until the beginning of the War of the Two Worlds. They no longer allowed their disciples to leave the sect. It was as though the holy ground of sword cultivation back then had disappeared from the face of the earth.

Right at the beginning of the War of the Two Worlds, all the human cultivators of the Divine Lands including the Celestial Sect of Wonders and the Great Void Sect had never considered the strength of the Mount Shu Sword Sect in their calculations. Hence, none of them would have expected that the Tiangang Swordmaster would show up in the Barren Expanses.

Furthermore, from the looks of his sword cultivation and will, it seemed as though he had reaffirmed his conviction on his chosen path. His sword will was razor-sharp and confident, not wavering one bit.

Noticing the incoming Sword Star, the Earth Dragon King let out a huge roar, spitting out a ray of golden light that resembled both flames and lightning. The dancing flames and lightning then merged to create a material with the steel-hard texture of actual metal, clashing violently against the Tiangang Swordmaster's sword force.

The golden light and the Sword Star shattered simultaneously. Amidst the bursting effulgence of the tens of thousands of rays of sword radiance, a tall middle-aged man faded into view. His eyebrows were as long and sharp as swords, and his face looked proper and handsome. He was the Tiangang Swordmaster.

The Qin Emperor Shi Yu looked at him. "The Tiangang Swordmaster actually showed up here. This was certainly unexpected."

The Tiangang Swordmaster did not open his mouth to speak, instead spreading his message across the battlefield with his Supernatural Awareness. "It's not just me. The rest of Mount Shu's cultivators will also be participating in the War of the Two Worlds."

With that, Shi Yu and Zhu Yi had already understood his intentions. The Mount Shu Sword Sect wishes to reclaim their worth in this War of the Two Worlds. Their sect, which has secluded themselves for countless years, wants to take this opportunity to return to the grand stage of the Divine Lands.

The Tiangang Swordmaster turned his vision towards Zhu Yi. "After this War of the Two Worlds, I'll proceed to Mount Kunlun and seek your Master's teachings once more."

Zhu Yi's expression remained unchanged as he spoke calmly, "Master is busy, so I'll take on his role. It's just that I'm not trained in swordplay, so you might not be satisfied if I activated the Higan Golden Bridge to duel with you. I'll take you to our resident teacher and let him have the final say. If you wish to pay a visit at Mount Kunlun, our sect will welcome you anytime."

The Tiangang Swordmaster nodded without adding anything else.

The Qin Emperor Shi Yu then said, "I'll briefly thank you first for lending a helping a hand. We'll discuss the exact details after we've fended off these dragon tribes."

The Tiangang Swordmaster has already achieved the Vipralopa Stage. His addition to the battlefield instantly upheaved the entire situation, and has decreased the pressure on Zhu Yi and Shi Yu tremendously. However, he did not have his Celestial Sword on hand, while Shi Yu has yet to achieve the Vipralopa Stage. Although Zhu Yi has his Higan Golden Bridge in tow, his personal abhijina and mana levels was still a considerable gap away from achieving the Vipralopa Stage.

It was still incredibly difficult for these three to combine forces to eliminate the Earth Dragon King and the Azure Skies Dragon King. However, safely retreating back to the Divine Lands was no longer a problem for them.

Although Shi Yu felt slightly relieved, his heart still clenched.

The situation was no longer as pressing with the forces strengthening on his side, and this also added many more variables for Zhu Yi to consider when deciding on his course of action for the sacrificial ceremony. The ceremony had already begun, with either success or failure as their two possible ends, but it was impossible for them to halt it halfway.

As Shi Yu pondered, he continued powering the sacrificial ceremony while channeling the Immortal Dragon City to withstand the Earth Dragon King's attacks before turning his gaze towards Zhu Yi.

But at this moment, his face turned pale as he lowered his head to look at the Immortal Dragon City below him.

He suddenly felt that the Immortal Dragon City's power was continuously decreasing while his communication channel with the Original Soul of the city's magic treasure was being obstructed.

The Immortal Dragon City was a magic treasure in the Destiny realm, so the Original Soul of its magic treasure was not as active as regular magic treasures, instead being expansive like the consciousness of the world. Its thoughts do not waver easily, but this does not mean that the Immortal Dragon City's Original Soul was void of thoughts. However Shi Yu could clearly sense that its Original Soul was slowly sinking into a state of deep slumber. Furthermore, as its Original Soul become still, the communication between Shi Yu and the Immortal Dragon City using his Supernatural Awareness mana was gradually cutting off, and could not be recovered no matter how hard Shi Yu tried.

During this process, the Immortal Dragon City's power was being drained bit by bit.

The tens of thousands of soul shadows in the city disappeared one by one as the mystifying glow that cloaked over the city walls faded away.

It was not just Shi Yu. Even Zhu Yi, the Tiangang Master, the Earth Dragon King and the Azure Skies Dragon King have noticed the problem. Both the Earth Dragon King and the Azure Skies Dragon King belted out thunderous enraged roars, and lunged towards Shi Yu and the Immortal Dragon City.

"Is it because of Xingyun?" The possibility of Shi Xingyun disrupting the process and causing these changes was the first thought that popped in Shi Yu's head. But after thoroughly examining the situation with whatever was left of his communication links with the Immortal Dragon City, he realized that Shi Xingyun's consciousness has already been reduced to complete ignorance under the effects of the ceremony, incapable of doing anything at all. She could only be merged with the Immortal Dragon City involuntarily through the effects of the ceremony.

Shi Yu's face darkened. "She instigated these changes without even achieving the Immortal Soul stage?"

Upon closer inspection, Shi Yu discovered that the ceremony did not fail, but because Shi Xingyun did not achieve the Immortal Soul Stage, it resulted in the Immortal Dragon City temporarily sinking in a state of deep slumber for a certain period of time during and after the ceremony. Even he would be unable to wake it.

The conditions for this sacrificial ceremony were too unique. Under the combined influence of a multitude of factors, the result was unprecedented but they were unable to fully complete their experiment.

Even after very long periods of deduction by the Great Qin's slew of powerhouses, an unexpected situation still occurred. And their current predicament before the Earth Dragon King and the Azure Skies Dragon King was certainly surprising but also undoubtedly fatal!

"Humans, this is what you asked for!" The Earth Dragon King let out a roar and instantly lunged in front of the Immortal Dragon City, throwing his draconic claws out to grab Shi Yu at the front of the city.

The permeating golden light instantly enveloped the entire void space as their ferocious draconic might spread in all directions. With drastic differences in mastery levels, the Qin Emperor Shi Yu's Immortal Soul had been badly shaken after losing the protection of the Immortal Dragon City.

The Azure Skies Dragon King followed suit and expectorated large volumes of dark-green light which eroded the chaotic void space, transforming it into rolling waves which rushed straight for Shi Yu and the Immortal Dragon City.

Their advantage in this battle, having just been salvaged by the Tiangang Swordmaster's unexpected arrival, was instantly crashing downwards due to another unexpected development!

After losing the Immortal Dragon City, the Qin Emperor Shi Yu may still be a powerhouse who has mastered the Way of the Virtual Entity, but when faced with the Earth Dragon King in the Viporalopa Stage and the Azure Skies Dragon King who is one step away from completing the Alpha Destiny Tribulation, he was nonetheless helpless. Even Zhu Yi and the Tiangang Swordmaster would find it unexpectedly challenging to battle these two dragon kings after combining their forces.

Shi Yu's complexion was extremely tense. He took a deep breath and in the spur of the moment, he clasped his hands together and summoned a spell, sending rays and rays of mana down on the Immortal Dragon City.

This move was not to speed up the sacrificial ceremony. The sacrificial ceremony cannot be stopped prematurely, neither can it be sped up. It can only be either completely destroyed, or be successfully completed after a long wait.

Shi Yu's move was to destroy the sacrificial ceremony that he created himself, in order to immediately reawaken the Immortal Dragon City!

In this instant, Shi Yu and Zhu Yi exchanged glances over the absurdity of the situation at hand.