Chapter 147: Battle of the Immortal Mansion (Part Two)

Out of the corner of her eye, Li Jingxun caught a glimpse of that demoness, whose entire being exuded a bizarre and seductive aura. Unflustered, Li Jingxun wielded a cinnabar brush in her hand, lightly and swiftly tapping the woman between the brows.

With a tremor of the brush handle, the female immortal seemed to have inscribed a character upon the adversary's forehead. With a muted pop, everyone present felt their hearts skip a beat as the demoness was repelled by a single stroke from Li Jingxun.

By this time, Fu Yutang and the other two had recovered their wits, and a sheet of azure brilliance cascaded from the sky.

Twenty-four treasured pearls simultaneously slammed into the demoness's body, blasting her away. Yet at that moment, Qinghong seemed to sense something amiss, frowning as he cast a glance at Li Jingxun beside him.

Seeing Qinghong obliterate the demoness with a single move, Liu Zimo wore a look of astonishment. "Fellow Daoist's pearls are truly formidable, to be able to instantly shatter the Dao fruit of such a demoness?"

This was a demoness of the human immortal realm. Having cultivated a Dao fruit, she had nevertheless failed to withstand even a single exchange in Qinghong's hands! The Azure Tide Pearls had shattered her Dao fruit in an instant?

Noticing Li Jingxun's expression remained unchanged, Qinghong brushed off the inquiry with a few perfunctory remarks, turning to Liu Zimo to say, "Brother Liu, I find myself struggling against the Roc Envoy. I must trouble Brother Liu and Junior Sister Qinglan to lend a hand. As for these feather-brained beasts, leave them to me." With a flick of his sleeve, a sheet of icy thunder radiance detonated right above the envoy's head. Seizing the opportunity, he leaped out of the fray, trading places with Liu Zimo.

While Liu Zimo was inept at handling group battles, entangling a single demonic cultivator was well within his capabilities for the time being!

Qinglan and her companion nodded, swiftly moving to engage the Roc Envoy. Liu Zimo breathed a sigh of relief internally: Brother Qinghong is indeed a good man. Seeing that the two of us couldn't handle those crows, he proactively suggested swapping opponents.

Liu Zimo's discernment was not lacking; he naturally understood that Qinghong alone was more than capable of handling the Roc Envoy. It was only out of consideration for their pride that he had made such a deliberate remark.

With these thoughts settled in their minds, the two poured greater effort into their attacks, pressing the Roc Envoy onto the defensive.

Meanwhile, Qinghong stood beside Li Jingxun, gazing into the distance at the flock of birds rolling like white clouds.

"Senior Brother, what brilliant strategy do you have for dealing with these crows?"

"The Daoist techniques and divine powers we learn are none other than steering the Dao of Heaven and defending against enemies to protect the Dao. The Unaction Sect leans toward the Dao of defense, advocating that the highest good is like water, establishing an undefeatable position through the method of inaction. However, when faced with a coordinated crowd assault, it falls short of my methods."

"Yet I have heard that the cultivation arts of the soaring clouds pavilion are likewise unsuited for mass warfare?"

"Junior Sister, you must understand. When soaring birds fly through the firmament, what is it they fear the most?"

A flash of contemplation crossed Li Jingxun's gaze, when suddenly she saw the companion beside her hurl all of his Azure Tide Pearls toward the firmament, before taking a mighty stride forward and shouting to the heavens: "Gather clouds and summon rain!"

This was Qinghong's innate divine power, capable of manipulating the weather of heaven and earth, summoning wind and rain.

Before long, dense clouds gathered thickly in the sky, and pearls flashed with azure light amidst the mist, radiating ripples of water that unleashed a torrential downpour upon the flock of birds.

The heavy rain soaked their feathers, severely impeding the flight of the white crows.

Li Jingxun asked again, "But what if these spiritual birds use their magical power to protect themselves?"

"Junior Sister, just keep watching." With the air of someone who had everything under control, Qinghong leisurely cast the Ice Soul Divine Thunder into the cloud layer, and gradually, hailstones began to fall amidst the lightning.

Li Jingxun watched the flying birds in the sky. Upon hearing the terrifying peals of thunder, the flight of the white crows grew increasingly chaotic. They collided with one another frequently, and fresh blood continually splattered through the air.

"I see. If it were only one or two spiritual birds, they might still manage to fly in a heavy rainstorm. But with numerous white crows crammed together, any attempt to move at random only destroys their formation, ultimately causing them all to pack into an impenetrable mass where movement becomes impossible." Having reasoned this out, Li Jingxun immediately formed a new question: "If that is the case, the white crow army cannot possibly serve as one of the trump cards of the Radiant Sun Demon Sect. Can those leaders above not control them—ah, so that's it!" She understood instantly: "No wonder Senior Brother chose to use the Ice Soul Divine Thunder to turn the rain into hail."

What were the leaders of the white crow army doing?

This was the southern frontier, and during the fifth month of the Dragon Boat Festival, the climate was scorching and humid. Those demonic soldiers were stripped to the waist, riding atop the white birds to attack the others. Yet battered by hail combined with torrential rain, they were shivering so violently that how could they possibly control the white crows?

Moreover, pounded by thunderclaps, the avian nature of the birds instinctively dreaded thunder, further throwing the white crows' formation into complete disarray.

"Senior Brother has made them fall into chaos by their own accord; are you going to slaughter them all next?"

"I don't have that kind of idle time." Qinghong formed a hand seal: "Junior Sister, watch closely! This is the true application of the Azure Tide Pearls."

The Azure Tide Pearls rose upon the waves, wreathed in light mist and rippling waters, gradually forming a vast lake of misty rain in the sky.

This lake water was transformed from celestial water, sweeping all the numerous white crows down into its depths. Furthermore, scoured by the intense biting chill, they were entirely sealed within an icy lake.

Having succeeded in one stroke, Qinghong suppressed the entire flock of white crows. Seeing that no one was paying attention to their surroundings, he secretly said to Li Jingxun, "Junior Sister, was that person killed by you?"

When Qinghong had assisted in slaying the demoness, he had already perceived that her Dao fruit had been struck down by someone else.

"This method—surely it wasn't done with your cinnabar brush? Brush Suppressing the Cosmos or Severing Life and Death? When did Junior Sister master these two divine powers? And it appears Junior Sister has already attained the realm of a human immortal?"

At a time when all immortals and demons found every step forward barred, how was Li Jingxun able to cultivate?

Li Jingxun pressed her finger against Qinghong's lips, pressing down his doubts. "Senior Brother, have you forgotten? I have a tribulation to transcend." Her finger traced out the shape of a "three".

Slashing the Three Corpses? Qinghong finally came to a sudden realization.

That made sense. Although the killing tribulation was formidable, it targeted only practitioners of purity and turbidity. If one were fortunate enough to practice the lineage of ancient Qi cultivators, or sever the three corpses, one could use the three corpses to transcend the tribulation.

Li Jingxun smiled faintly, a wisp of baleful aura flashing across the space between her brows and vanishing instantly. This was clearly the "baleful corpse" Li Jingxun had forged by researching the dual qi of purity and turbidity.

"The Purity-Turbidity Taiji Diagram controls the cultivation realms within the bodies of all immortals and demons in the world. Once the killing tribulation arises, cultivation can no longer continue. But within my body, purity and turbidity are already integrated as one, and the Taiji is whole. Why should I fear the shackles of the killing tribulation?"

Isolated yin cannot grow, and isolated yang cannot be born. Immortals possessed abundant pure qi within their bodies, while demonic cultivators gathered turbid qi. Thus, they lost the balance of purity and turbidity and were controlled by the Purity-Turbidity Taiji Diagram. However, ancient Qi cultivators possessed only the primal breath of chaos within them, remaining unhindered by the suppression of the Taiji diagram. As for Li Jingxun, having cultivated the Dao law of the three corpses, she had also touched upon the essence of baleful qi. With her own purity and turbidity united into one, she had escaped the constraints of the Taiji Diagram.

However, this was Li Jingxun's personal secret, not something to be shared with outsiders.

Before long, everyone suppressed their respective enemies one by one.

Qin Wu let out a loud shout: "Everyone, be careful! Take them alive!"

The immortals carefully tightened their encirclement, just as they were about to capture the demonic cultivators, Iron-Feather Daoist arrived.

As soon as this person appeared, he directly rescued the Left Roc Envoy.

The immortal maiden made a decisive judgment, releasing the Left Roc Envoy to drive the Primordial Golden Dipper with all her might, instead suppressing the Right Roc Envoy standing nearby.

Seeing that he could no longer save him, Iron-Feather Daoist grabbed the Left Roc Envoy and bolted straight back!

"Since you've come, you might as well all stay!" A Xuande sword shot down from beyond the heavens.

The sword qi wounded Iron-Feather Daoist, and white clouds materialized to block their path of retreat.

Qinghong's eyelids twitched, and he thought to himself: As expected, this scoundrel has arrived as well.