novelraw Chapter 257 : Heavy Snow Crushes the Pine, Yet the Pine Stands Tall【Revised】
Chapter 257 : Heavy Snow Crushes the Pine, Yet the Pine Stands Tall【Revised】
Chapter 257: Heavy Snow Crushes the Pine, Yet the Pine Stands Tall【Revised】
Tide Bay, within the Black Moon Grand Array.
The Black Moon Sect Leader, sensing the situation on the sub-banner’s side, opened his mouth. “Huh? Lu Pan chose to send the three juniors away, outside the range of the Yin Vein’s coverage, while he alone stays behind to form the array and hold them off.”
"I don't understand why he would choose the most meaningless path."
"Could it be that, because the Vice Sect Leader has only summoned three Banner Spirits, he thinks he stands a chance?"
"But there are a total of six Banner Spirits, and every one of them is at a higher realm than him."
"The power difference is far too great, and he has the Myriad Souls Banner in hand—"
"He won't last even thirty breaths like this."
"After thirty breaths, Chu Huaixu and the others will still have nowhere to go, no path up or down!"
"So why bother?"
Jiang Zhi’s expression grew colder.
Yet his heart grew increasingly calm.
Calm to the point of deathly stillness!
“You’re saying, you gave him six Banner Spirits?” he suddenly spoke.
“Yes, after all, I’m up against you. If I gave him too many, I wouldn’t be able to stall you.”
“So, you only gave him six Banner Spirits.” Jiang Zhi repeated, but the meaning in his words had changed.
This caused the eyes beneath that bronze mask to narrow.
As for Lu Pan—
As his Little Martial Uncle, he knew of Lu Pan’s 【Heaven-and-Earth Cage】.
With the rank of Eighth Realm, forcibly forming an array to draw power equivalent to Origin Power—
This was stealing the power of the Heavenly Dao!
Only such a grandmaster of formations would dare such a thing.
But it was troublesome. If it dragged on too long, it could very well exhaust his lifespan!
“And according to him, there are six Banner Spirits.”
This Little Martial Uncle of the Dao Gate had a bad feeling in his heart.
Jiang Zhi’s temples began to throb, his head ached more and more.
Again! Again!!!
It was that same powerless feeling of being unable to do anything.
“If that’s the case, then—”
In the next moment, his eyes turned crimson.
A monstrous aura of murderous intent spread throughout his body.
Within the Sword Domain【Slaughter】, those vengeful spirits behind him, who sought to drag him into the Mortal Purgatory, suddenly pulled him in.
Or rather, he willingly stepped in.
The man wearing the bronze mask spoke at once. “Gone mad?”
“Gone mad!”
“Hahaha! The Little Martial Uncle of the Dao Gate—one of the Four Great Righteous Sects—has willingly fallen into the demonic path! Ha! Hahahaha!”
The Black Moon Sect Leader burst into a hearty laugh.
Guanghan Cliff, within the grand array of【Heaven-and-Earth Cage】.
Lu Pan floated midair, like a descending god, awe-inspiring and mighty.
This overwhelming power had already come infinitely close to the【Origin Power】of the Heavenly Dao.
His【Domain】had also fused into this grand array.
Lu Pan once again formed a hand seal with one hand, speaking aloud, “Break.”
In the next moment, the connection between the three Banner Spirits was instantly severed, and the opponent’s crude formation was immediately broken.
But as the eldest among the Dao Gate’s current upper echelon, he instantly appeared even older.
Other means, other arrays, could not fully seal the power of the evil cultivators and their Banner Spirits.
Even a small leak would be unbearable for people like Chu Huaixu and the others.
At a disadvantage, Lu Pan had no choice but to use a formation to "steal the authority of the Heavenly Dao"!
But this formation, just as its name implied, its so-called Heaven and Earth, was but a miniature world—a fixed region.
Lu Pan could not retreat while fighting with Chu Huaixu and the others. In such a case, he would not be able to execute this method and would definitely be no match for the enemy.
Failing to block even one strike—just the residual power from an Eighth Realm attack—would be fatal to Chu Huaixu and the others!
Dividing his attention to protect three “burdens” meant he would likely die as well.
Therefore, his choice was to first send them away, and then as he had said before, imprison them, and imprison himself as well!
Let’s see who could last longer.
—Do one’s utmost, leave the rest to fate!
Only now, this miniature world was under *his* control.
“Destiny is mine to command!!!”
At this moment, the Vice Sect Leader, holding the black banner, revealed a horrified expression.
“You have a death wish!” he shouted.
He could never have imagined that someone of such high status, who held everything in his grasp, would act with such decisiveness.
Knowing there was no hope of reinforcements, and still daring to stake his life here!
No testing strikes, no reservations, charging in to fight to the death with no room for retreat?
Clearly an evil cultivator, yet suddenly thinking—are all these Dao Gate people insane?
Earlier, when Chu Huaixu attacked, he had noticed it too.
Without a word, launching a move that hurt the enemy a thousand but harmed oneself eight hundred.
Why did they all treat themselves so poorly?
Was this truly the Dao Gate’s tradition?
“You really don't care about your own life!” he shouted.
“You’re the one who’s going to die.” Lu Pan, his white hair fluttering, replied calmly.
“An Eighth Realm evil cultivator who can also wield Kunlun Grotto-Heaven’s Immortal Treasures—and Banner Spirits that have even reached the Nascent Soul Stage.”
“Your Black Moon Sect must be executing a far-reaching plan, likely a heaven-shaking conspiracy that threatens the Xuanhuang Realm.”
When it concerned Kunlun Grotto-Heaven and the Heaven-and-Earth Calamity, how could Lu Pan not be cautious?
Chu Huaixu was under his protection, and this newly accepted disciple must not come to harm. His safety was no longer a matter for just the Dao Gate.
Now, it was simply a matter of who could endure until the end.
“I am the Dao Gate’s Enforcement Elder!”
“Today, I shall tear off your mask and see just what trickster hides beneath it!”
“Guanghan Cliff is under the Dao Gate’s jurisdiction.”
“And you dare to intrude!” he shouted, his voice like thunder from the Ninth Heaven, descending like divine wrath!
The Vice Sect Leader of the Black Moon Sect felt heavenly might pressing upon him, an overwhelming force nearly driving him to his knees.
He had to rely on the black banner in his hand to support himself.
“I thought three Banner Spirits would be enough to suppress you, but who knew you’d risk mutual destruction and ruin our sect’s great plan!” the short man gnashed his teeth.
“Then let me show you the limit of this sub-banner!”
Three surging clouds of black smoke emerged, and three more Banner Spirits stepped forth.
Two more at the Nascent Soul Stage, one at the Eighth Realm.
Even more frightening, all were at the Great Perfection stage! Every one of them above Lu Pan’s level!
In such a situation, unless one had Origin Power, even if one had achieved Eighth Realm Great Perfection, death was certain!
But the Vice Sect Leader felt his heart bleeding: “These were all Banner Spirits gifted by the Sect Leader.”
Every loss was more painful than having his own flesh torn away.
To him, these were what allowed him to walk sideways below the Ninth Realm.
And this Enforcement Elder of the Dao Gate, at this moment, was like unpredictable heavenly might, wielding divine punishment.
What kind of lunatic, and what kind of astonishing genius, could create such a heaven-defying formation?
The Vice Sect Leader knew he could not leave unscathed—one of them must die!
Now, it all depended on how long this【Heaven-and-Earth Cage】, suffering the backlash of the Heavenly Dao, could hold!
Lu Pan, floating midair as if delivering judgment from the heavens, looked at the newly emerged Banner Spirits and revealed a faint, serene smile.
“If you only had three Banner Spirits, the backlash from the Heavenly Dao wouldn’t be worth it.”
Lu Pan raised the long spear in his hand, holding it horizontally before him.
“The Nascent Soul cannot be killed, but these Banner Spirits can be destroyed!”
Six Banner Spirits that posed great threat to the world—if he could kill them, it would be worth it!
He briefly gauged his current state. In a flash, he appeared, and with a single thrust, pierced through a Nascent Soul Stage Banner Spirit.
This thrust was plain and unadorned, yet it embodied the simplicity of the Great Dao.
He was the Enforcement Elder, the one in the Dao Gate who most abided by the rules.
And at this moment, within this Heaven-and-Earth Cage, what he controlled seemed no longer to be rules, but law itself?
The Banner Spirit was like thin paper—unable to withstand a single blow.
This strength, infinitely close to the Ninth Realm, was in fact not beneath Jiang Zhi when he wasn’t using【Origin Power】!
Heaven and earth—all were part of his formation.
Within this domain, even a speck of dust was his formation!
At this moment, Lu Pan’s formation was everywhere.
“How is this possible!” the Vice Sect Leader exclaimed in shock, a trace of fear inevitably rising in his heart.
The sense of oppression was simply overwhelming.
But fortunately, Lu Pan’s body had begun to wither.
He infused his spiritual energy into the black banner, which instantly released black mist that spread outward, attempting to drain Lu Pan’s blood essence and refine his divine soul.
“Stop!”
Lu Pan’s voice rang out, and once again, his words manifested reality.
The black mist froze mid-air.
Beneath the mask of the Black Moon Sect’s Vice Sect Leader, his pupils couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
He slapped his storage pouch and retrieved a black-gray long whip from within.
It was his life-bound spiritual artifact—Witch Serpent.
Lu Pan gripped his long spear and swept it toward the incoming whip.
“Break!”
Another banner spirit shattered and perished.
As time passed, one banner spirit after another was cut down, their wails echoing like ghosts crying in agony.
They possessed many divine powers, but now were utterly suppressed.
This small world seemed ruled by the frail, shriveled elder before them.
The short Vice Sect Leader began to have thoughts of retreat.
“Damn it!”
But his feet seemed rooted to the ground—he couldn’t move an inch.
“Imprison!”
Lu Pan called out once more, though blood had begun to spill from the corner of his lips.
His eyes grew increasingly clouded.
If there had been a choice, he would not have wished to die here.
“It seems this black banner is too strange. It must be isolating all communication, preventing me from sending a message to the sect.”
“Then I might as well destroy it first!” Lu Pan thought.
Now, faced with his renewed assault, the Vice Sect Leader had no way to respond.
All he could do was treat his banner spirits as expendable, using them to stall for time.
Until the final banner spirit fell.
Lu Pan, holding his spear in one hand, flew right before him.
The skin of Daoist Songbai was now completely shriveled, his eyes clouded beyond recognition.
His silver hair appeared dry and lifeless, like weeds in winter.
His vitality had nearly run dry, yet the backlash from the Heavenly Dao continued to intensify.
Still, he thrust his spear forward, aiming to rip off the Vice Sect Leader’s mask!
However, that wooden mask was fused with the flesh of the evil cultivator’s face.
Along with the mask, an entire layer of his facial skin was torn off!
The Vice Sect Leader let out a blood-curdling scream.
Then he pulled out a talisman.
No one knew what secret technique he activated, but his body began to melt, turning into a puddle of black water.
“I told you, in this heaven and earth, you cannot escape!”
As he finished speaking, Lu Pan looked up at the sky.
The large snowflakes that had been suspended in mid-air began to drift downward.
Cracks started forming on the shaft of the long spear in his hand—【Lone Valor】.
Lu Pan let out a quiet sigh.
The puddle of black water on the ground seemed to sense something.
It suddenly lunged forward.
Lu Pan thrust his spear forward.
Green light and black light interwove, obscuring everything from view.
When the light faded, only wisps of black smoke remained, drifting away where the puddle had once been.
The long spear pierced into the black banner.
The black banner too began to fade away.
Lu Pan staggered, his long spear finally shattering in half.
The tip of the spear fell to the ground, and he used the remaining half—the broken shaft—for support.
He slowly, rigidly turned his head, looking toward Chu Huaixu and the others.
Using the last of his strength, he spread his divine sense to scan the surroundings, thoroughly checking for any hidden evil cultivators.
He left nothing to chance.
In the next moment, the suspended snowflakes all came crashing down, landing upon his body and covering him in frost and ice.
The falling snow completely buried his pale, withered hair.
Daoist Songbai stood unmoving in the snow.
——“Heavy snow weighs down the green pine, yet the green pine stands straight and tall.”
At Tidal Bay, within the Black Moon Grand Array—
The situation was utterly one-sided.
Jiang Zhi, who had willingly fallen into the demonic path, fought like a madman—his power was even greater than before!
The Black Moon Sect Leader was barely hanging on.
The banner spirits were being slaughtered by Jiang Zhi.
Suddenly, the Sect Leader coughed up a mouthful of blood, apparently suffering a backlash.
“The sub-banner is destroyed!” His expression was one of disbelief.
“This is impossible, impossible!”
“As long as it lacks origin power, even a peak Eighth Realm expert must die!”
And yet, it had all happened too quickly.
How could Lu Pan have made the decision to sacrifice himself so swiftly?
“Damn it!”
“Do you know how hard it is to cultivate such power?”
“After all those years of bitter cultivation, he dares treat his life so cheaply!!!”
At Guanghan Cliff—
The backlash of the Heavenly Dao continued.
He had not lifted the array in this place.
Anyone who approached would suffer the same backlash!
Lu Pan’s eyes grew dimmer, his body increasingly buried in snow.
Daoist Songbai stood firm in the snow, his face nearly covered.
“Enough.” He spoke softly, feebly.
“Enough!” he repeated, with a bit more strength.
A hundred miles away, Chu Huaixu heard that final voice.
It was so gentle—almost tender.
“Huaixu, my disciple.”
“I promised to teach you the way of formations. From now on, you’ll have to comprehend it yourself.”
The Enforcement Elder of the Dao Gate had always been a man of his word.
“But it is I who failed to keep the promise.”
The token at the Enforcement Elder’s waist bore the character for ‘Law’.
Two jade slips containing formation techniques emerged, following the token as they transformed into streaks of light and flew into the distance, floating before Chu Huaixu.
“Is this... how I go?” Lu Pan’s clouded eyes showed a trace of unwillingness.
So... he still felt regret after all.
But thinking of how, at the brink of death, he had killed an Eighth Realm evil cultivator and six banner spirits—it was worth it.
He gripped half a broken spear, supporting his body. The other half lay shattered on the ground.
Too weak to lift his head, he lowered his gaze and looked at the broken spear.
“Then let’s go home.”
That broken half of the spear turned into a streak of light.
Daoist Songbai’s body disintegrated into ash.
The next moment, a terrifying boom rang out.
The entire Guanghan Cliff collapsed in an instant!
Miles away, in the dense forest, Chu Huaixu stared at the jade slips and the token engraved with the character for ‘Law’ floating before him. His expression grew darker and darker.
They watched helplessly as the cliff crumbled before their eyes.
Then, even the rubble began to turn into ashes!
The entire cliff vanished from the world, together with Lu Pan.
“How could this happen!”
“Why!”
Chu Huaixu clenched his teeth in anguish.
What confused him even more was, “Lu Pan wasn’t supposed to die here.”
Before his transmigration, this Enforcement Elder was clearly still alive in Borrowed Sword. He was perfectly fine, always punishing those lawless, idiotic Dao Gate players.
Among all the high-ranking Dao Gate NPCs he had seen in the game, the only one who had ever died was his First Master, Shen Man!