Chapter 261 : Seizing Auspicious Fortune
Chapter 261: Seizing Auspicious Fortune
Sun Yuanqing's expression drastically changed as the Third-Tier defensive artifact he carried erupted in a ripple of golden light.
At the instant the ripple burst out, a series of Third-Tier talismans at his waist spontaneously ignited, transforming into layers of defensive barriers and healing radiance that shielded him.
Yet even so, Sun Yuanqing still trembled violently, staggering three steps back. The Golden Core Dharma Body he had hastily summoned was covered in cracks, causing him to vomit blood laced with fragments of internal organs.
‘How is this possible.’ Sun Yuanqing's eyes held disbelief.
He was a Mid-Stage Golden Core cultivator, a Third-Tier High-Grade Formation Master. With the Thousand-City Dragon-Locking Grand Formation he had prearranged, he was capable of contending with even a Late-Stage Golden Core expert.
But he never imagined he couldn’t even withstand a single strike from Zhu Shaoyuan’s Dharma Body, and had nearly perished due to the formation’s backlash.
‘So this is the strength of the First Golden Core?’ Sun Yuanqing’s gaze sharpened, now looking at Zhu Shaoyuan with caution.
Elsewhere, Zhu Qiong seized the moment the formation shattered to cast an escape technique, taking Chen Beiwu far away.
Truth be told, if she could’ve broken the formation and defeated the Golden Core Formation Master of the Heavy Gold Sect, Zhu Qiong would never have asked her father for help in front of her junior disciple.
But Zhu Qiong lacked confidence in breaking the formation. Worse yet, as time passed, the danger she perceived through divine sense grew more terrifying.
Given another few dozen breaths, if the formation’s power continued to escalate, even with the many trump cards she carried, she would risk death. Not to mention, her junior disciple who had yet to reach the Golden Core stage was still trapped within.
Compared to the Dao Heir’s safety, pride was utterly insignificant.
“With Master taking the field, we’ll just watch now. Best not get caught in the aftermath.” Zhu Qiong said softly, her eyes not turning to her junior disciple.
Chen Beiwu nodded and looked toward the distant battlefield.
With his current cultivation realm, it was far too early to meddle in a Golden Core-level battle.
But not participating didn’t mean observing would yield no benefit.
On the contrary, by witnessing Golden Core cultivators clash up close, Chen Beiwu could vaguely glimpse the unique rhythm by which a Golden Core Dharma Body suppressed heaven and earth’s spiritual energy and sealed space—though this rhythm was still far beyond his grasp.
Perhaps this was why the sect had sent him to war under his teacher.
Besides accumulating sect merits, it was more about tempering his heart and letting him understand the power of Golden Core True Persons.
“Hu.”
Ji Shaoyuan exhaled a heavy breath, looked at Zhu Shaoyuan, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “True Person of Myriad Treasures, I admit you're strong, but…”
“No need for boring nonsense.” Zhu Shaoyuan interrupted calmly. “Die.”
As soon as the words fell, Zhu Shaoyuan raised his right hand. Behind him, the Dharma Body of the Myriad Treasures Manifestation Aspect likewise raised the Myriad Treasures Hammer, radiating overwhelming might.
“You’re the one who’ll die!” Ji Shaoyuan changed his hand seal, and the entire Hollow Gold Mountain suddenly quaked violently. The sharp metal essence buried for a thousand years erupted skyward like a volcano.
He had fought bitterly until now solely to force the manifestation of the True Person of Myriad Treasures' Dharma Body.
The True Person’s strength was simply too formidable. Only by drawing out the Manifestation Aspect Dharma Body could their ambush plan possibly succeed.
Had it been any other Golden Core elder from Mirror Moon Sect leading the team, Ji Shaoyuan would’ve already revealed his trump cards rather than enduring blow after blow to the brink of collapse.
“True Person of Myriad Treasures, this thousand-li Hollow Gold Marrow Vein shall be your grave.” Sun Yuanqing also suppressed his fear, channeled his mana, and inserted a Fourth-Tier formation flag into the core of the Hollow Gold Marrow Vein with a sneer.
So what if he was the First Golden Core? The Wutu Gold-Sundering Grand Formation was a Third-Tier Supreme-Killing Formation unique to the Heavy Gold Sect.
To set up this formation, four ‘Wutu Gold-Sundering Flags’ were required as formation cores, along with a location rich in metallic essence.
Once activated, it could draw upon the power of mountains and rivers, condensing three hundred-zhang-long Sundering Gold Blades—each strike equivalent to an attack from a False Nascent Soul cultivator.
If a Third-Tier High-Grade Golden Core Formation Master were to personally anchor the formation, using a Fourth-Tier Mystic Treasure 【Chaotic Vein Flag】 as the trigger, and taking the Hollow Gold Marrow Vein as its base, it could stimulate Wutu to generate gold, unleash Gold Fiend to shatter the heavens, reverse the Five Elements, and forcibly disrupt the earth veins.
Harnessing the mountain and earth vein’s power in one explosive burst, the formation could unleash destruction rivaling the full force of a Nascent Soul True Monarch—but at a tremendous cost.
“Wutu Sunders Gold, Earth Vein Reverses—Detonate!”
With Sun Yuanqing’s roar, the Fourth-Tier Mystic Treasure 【Chaotic Vein Flag】 merged into the earth vein, and the four Wutu Gold-Sundering Flags detonated simultaneously, transforming into four golden lights plunging into the ground.
“Rumble!”
In the next moment, the entire Hollow Gold Marrow Vein awakened like a giant beast.
From deep underground came an eerie rumble—the omen of the formation forcibly igniting the marrow vein and drawing on the mountain-earth vein’s might.
“Retreat!”
Sensing this indescribable threat, Chen Beiwu’s heart clenched. His left hand grabbed his senior sister and dragged her back, while a Fourth-Tier talisman quietly appeared in his right palm.
His reaction was swift; he noticed the disruption in the earth vein the instant it occurred.
But it was already too late. Countless streams of sharp metal essence converged into a world-destroying Geng Metal Storm.
Where the Geng Metal Storm passed, mountains silently disintegrated, and cultivators’ bodies collapsed.
Seeing this, Yun Yishu’s expression changed as she retreated to the side of her senior sister and Chen Beiwu.
She hadn’t expected the Heavy Gold Sect to go this far—willing to sacrifice a Golden Core True Person and countless Foundation Establishment disciples to forcibly stir the earth veins, attempting to destroy the entire Biyuan Mountain Range just to deny the sect the Hollow Gold Marrow Vein.
“Pfft!”
Sun Yuanqing coughed blood, his face pale. The Earthly Sha True Qi in his dantian sea of qi was nearly exhausted.
His cultivation was only at Mid-Stage Golden Core. Although the Fourth-Tier Mystic Treasure 【Chaotic Vein Flag】 had absorbed most of the backlash from detonating the Wutu Gold-Sundering Grand Formation, the remaining force still left him grievously injured. It would take over a decade of secluded cultivation to recover.
“Farewell, True Person of Myriad Treasures.”
Just before the Geng Metal Storm descended, Ji Shaoyuan lightly waved the Fourth-Tier High-Grade Mystic Treasure Sky-Gang Chi-Sundering Mace.
He didn’t dare use the Sky-Gang Chi-Sundering Mace against Zhu Shaoyuan—worried the True Person would seize the treasure, causing the sect to lose a vital artifact.
But using it to escape was fine—the latter wouldn’t have the chance to snatch it during such chaos.
Moreover, with Ji Shaoyuan’s understanding of Zhu Shaoyuan’s personality, the man cared far more for his daughter and Dao Heir’s safety than taking his enemy’s life.
“Buzz!”
As spatial ripples emerged, Ji Shaoyuan and Sun Yuanqing vanished without a trace, leaving behind the despairing Heavy Gold Sect cultivators staring at the sky-darkening Geng Metal Storm.
“Suppress.”
Zhu Shaoyuan’s eyes sharpened. He didn’t retreat. Behind him, the Dharma Body of the Myriad Treasures Manifestation Aspect radiated nine layers of treasure light, facing the Geng Metal Storm head-on, confronting the combined might of heaven, earth, and earth veins.
With the Dharma Body present, space was suppressed.
Unless he used a Fourth-Tier High-Grade teleportation talisman or Mystic Treasure, it would be near impossible to retreat safely with his disciples before the storm hit. Better to confront it directly and forcibly suppress it.
“Crack!”
The moment the two forces clashed, the entire world fell silent. Space shattered like a spiderweb, and the shockwaves from each fissure could easily annihilate a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.
A terrifying shockwave suddenly erupted, stirring up a blinding light that obscured the sky.
Perhaps a quarter-hour had passed, or maybe a whole hour—when the third-tier defensive talisman released by Senior Sister gradually shattered and the brilliance faded, what entered Chen Beiwu’s view was his master standing with hands clasped behind his back, his expression calm.
Before his master, the once-continuous mountain range had been reduced to broken ruins at this moment, with sharp Metal Qi permeating the air.
The next second, a trace of golden blood suddenly spilled from the corner of his master’s mouth, followed by hearty laughter:
“Good, good, very good! What a Wutu Gold-Sundering Grand Formation—it actually managed to breach this old man's Myriad‑Treasures Manifestation Storage Aspect Dharma Body.”
Witnessing this scene, Zhu Qiong’s pupils slightly contracted.
In his eyes, his father, who had always been invincible and unstoppable, was actually injured.
Chen Beiwu, on the other hand, for some unknown reason, found his heartbeat gradually accelerating after the battle.
The Nine-Breath Chaos that resided within his heart also began to stir restlessly, prompting him to recall the moment he once glimpsed the Great Sun Fate at Shouhe No. 2 High School.
...
Heavy Gold Sect, Sect Master Hall.
The Sky-Gang Chi-Sundering Mace tore through space, and the figures of Ji Shaoyuan and Sun Yuanqing slowly appeared.
The burly man seated at the sect master’s position reached out to grasp the Sky-Gang Chi-Sundering Mace and opened his mouth: “How did it go?”
“Reporting to Sect Master, the Hollow Gold Marrow Vein has been successfully destroyed.” Ji Shaoyuan paused slightly at this point. “But Zhu Shaoyuan may not necessarily fall to the Wutu Gold-Sundering Formation.”
“It’s not ‘may not necessarily’, it’s ‘absolutely impossible’.” The burly man glanced at Ji Shaoyuan. “At most, he’ll suffer some internal injuries.”
If a peak Golden Core cultivator in the Earth Proliferation Territory were so easily killed, he would have long personally acted to erase Zhu Shaoyuan.
‘But perhaps this might turn out to be a good thing.’ The Heavy Gold Sect Master’s eyes grew profound.
The incident at the Biyuan Mountain Range was merely a casual move on his part.
If they could kill a Golden Core elder from the Mirror Moon Sect, it would be a tremendous gain.
But even if they failed, destroying the Hollow Gold Marrow Vein and heavily wounding a peak Golden Core cultivator was still worthwhile.
After all, Zhu Shaoyuan’s cultivation was at the peak of the Golden Core stage, just one step away from becoming a Nascent Soul True Monarch. If the Mirror Moon Sect were to obtain the Hollow Gold Marrow Vein, his chances of forming a Nascent Soul would rise by ten to twenty percent.
The reason was simple—Zhu Shaoyuan was a third-tier high-grade artifact refiner. Using Hollow Gold Marrow as the main material, he could personally forge a vast number of third-tier artifacts compatible with the Furnace Law, perfecting his Myriad‑Treasures Manifestation Storage Aspect Dharma Body.
This was something the Heavy Gold Sect could absolutely not tolerate!
Because a Nascent Soul True Monarch-level powerhouse could already determine the balance of power among the Five Great Sects.
“You two did well. Go receive your rewards.” The Heavy Gold Sect Master did not hold back his praise.
After this operation, Zhu Shaoyuan would at least need a period of recuperation, delaying his core-forming progress. Meanwhile, the sect would obtain a large amount of Hollow Gold Marrow and cultivate several physical Golden Core cultivators.
Compared to these gains, the lives of a few inner sect disciples were inconsequential.
As for retaliation from the Mirror Moon Sect?
It didn’t matter. The mutual understanding upheld by the Five Great Sects remained in place—Nascent Soul True Monarchs were forbidden to act casually.
Unless the Mirror Moon Sect had the strength to suppress all Five Great Sects, they could not possibly break this iron rule.
“Sect Master, do you think the Mirror Moon Dao Child should be eliminated in advance to avoid future trouble?” Sun Yuanqing suddenly spoke.
To guard against a sneak attack from the True Person of Myriad Treasures, he had not gone all out against the Mirror Moon Dao Child and the Crimson Prison Fairy, but he could still tell how troublesome the two were.
“Don’t act recklessly. A living Mirror Moon Dao Child is far more useful than a dead one.” The Heavy Gold Sect Master chuckled.
No sect in the Earth Proliferation Territory wanted the Mirror Moon Sect to rise and become the dominant force in the territory—not even the Greenwood Sect and Profound Sword Pavilion, allies of the Mirror Moon Sect.
The more prodigies the Mirror Moon Sect had, the stronger their momentum, the more the upper echelon of the Five Great Sects grew wary.
...
Just as the Heavy Gold Sect’s upper echelon predicted, after forcefully suppressing a Nascent Soul-level strike from the Geng Metal Storm, Zhu Shaoyuan was indeed heavily injured—far from the ease perceived by Chen Beiwu and the others.
“Qiong’er, cleaning up the aftermath is your responsibility now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Shaoyuan furrowed his brows slightly, his gaze falling upon the now-transformed mountains.
From deep within the vein came rumbling thunder-like tremors, and the fractured rock layers of the vein peeled away like eggshells, seeping with gurgling water.
To ordinary cultivators, this merely signified disordered Earth Veins, causing underground rivers to surge upward—not worth much attention.
But to Zhu Shaoyuan, he keenly sensed something abnormal.
Logically, after the Wutu Gold-Sundering Formation detonated the Earth Veins, the spiritual mechanism of this place should have withered and ceased, turning it into a barren land devoid of spiritual energy for centuries.
Yet the scene before him was completely different from the usual chaos of disrupted Earth Veins. It even seemed to carry a trace of mystique compared to before.
‘The mountain lacks a dragon's ridge, yet Earth Qi whirls within.’
‘The water lacks a dragon's form, yet there’s a surging undercurrent.’
‘The Earth Veins are disordered, yet Metal generates Water, forcibly altering this place into a Hidden Dragon configuration.’
Zhu Shaoyuan calculated with his fingers, activated his divine sense, and slightly raised his gaze: ‘No doubt about it—this is the manifestation of a Dragon Vein. The Biyuan Mountain Range most likely holds a Hidden Dragon lurking in the depths.’
High-grade Hidden Dragon Veins were rare, the essence of the Earth Veins. They contained incomparably pure innate spiritual energy and were the key hubs that maintained the spiritual cycle of a region.
If properly guided with formations, a single high-grade Hidden Dragon Vein could be used to create a fifth-tier low-grade blessed land suitable for Divine Transformation True Venerables to cultivate, blessing a clan and nurturing a Golden Core True Person or even a Nascent Soul True Monarch.
However, after the Wutu Gold-Sundering Formation exploded the Earth Veins, the Hidden Dragon Vein took the opportunity to emerge but also lost most of its essence, its dragon energy leaking—it would not be an exaggeration to say that ninety-nine percent of it was ruined.
Even with a fourth-tier formation master modifying it, it could only produce a fourth-tier low-grade spiritual vein. Its value had plummeted—far inferior to the Hollow Gold Marrow Vein.
‘What a pity.’ Zhu Shaoyuan’s figure vanished, not noticing the change in Chen Beiwu’s eyes, merely sighing inwardly.
Such was fate.
If the sect had discovered this sooner and invited a fourth-tier formation master to alter it, this Hidden Dragon Vein would have fully qualified to become a core-forming location and aided him greatly. But now it was too late.
At that moment, Chen Beiwu’s pupils dilated as he vaguely saw strands of crimson Fate bursting from the ground.
These crimson strands interwove in the sky, gradually coalescing into a translucent Crimson Dragon of Fortune.
Unlike the Crimson Dragons of Fortune seen on cultivators, this one had high spiritual intelligence, with dragon eyes that seemed to contain purple Qi, as though it possessed sentience.
“Gulp.” Golden Egg also showed signs of excitement.
Golden Egg could not see the Fate power in Chen Beiwu’s eyes, nor the Crimson Dragon of Fortune, but it could sense the agitation in its bloodline, as if urging it to transform into a flood dragon.
“Junior Brother, what’s wrong?”
Zhu Qiong looked at the dazed junior brother with concern.
“Nothing, Senior Sister. I just think that the aftermath of a battle between Golden Core True Persons, capable of moving mountains and overturning seas, is truly awe-inspiring.”
Chen Beiwu came back to his senses and cast a barely noticeable glance toward his own heart.
Just now, the Nine-Breath Chaos had suddenly exerted its power, using a mysterious force to forcibly intercept the Crimson Dragon of Fortune that was about to dissipate into the world.
Making Chen Beiwu the biggest winner of this grand battle between two sects.