Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 725 - 655: Creation

The Canglong and the Stone Jiao, coiled into a massive stone sphere, fell straight down, striking the valley with a thunderous boom that shook the heavens. Powerful air waves swept through the hollow, propelling mud, river water, and shattered rock to splatter and shoot out in all directions.

A vast cloud of dust rose in the valley, creating a fierce wind that drew in the surrounding mountain fires, eventually forming a raging, sky-reaching pillar of smoke and flame.

Cui Yixian dove and landed on a pile of rubble, while Xi Yangyu slowly descended beside him, his face ghastly pale. The arm holding the Xia Mountain Mountain Lord Seal was completely twisted and broken; shards of bone, entangled with fascia, pierced through wrinkled skin, gushing blood profusely.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE—

Dense, noisy sounds of struggle emanated from within the dust cloud as Canglong writhed and twisted. Its wagon-wheel-sized dragon eye peered through the cracks in the Stone Jiao, fixed intently on the two men by the river.

Cui Yixian’s peripheral vision caught his companion’s arm, and he warned, "Your hand."

"It’s nothing."

Xi Yangyu squeezed the words out through clenched teeth. "Take the sword."

The moment he spoke, he continued to twist his arm, rotating the Mountain Lord Seal.

Under the brute force, the bone spurs snapped and shattered. Blood spurted out as the overstretched skin tore like cloth.

Correspondingly, the Mountain Lord Seal blazed with a brilliant light. The mountainsides on both sides of the valley suddenly collapsed, and millions of tons of rock fused into slabs, taking on the outline of swords.

CRACK!

Cui Yixian shot out his hand, grasping the distant sword hilt with an ethereal grip, and slammed it down along the hillside.

RUMBLE—

The mountain rock crashed into the riverbed, kicking up a sky-high cloud of dust. Then came a second sword, a third...

Giant swords formed from Xia Mountain’s rock filled the valley, their placement seemingly haphazard yet interconnected.

Sword hilts, sword guards, and sword blades intertwined, completely covering the river valley, resembling both an impenetrable net and a massive tomb.

By the time the Sword Array was complete, the peaks on both sides of the valley had been entirely shaved off, leaving only bare, ashen plateaus.

"ROAR—"

Pinned beneath the thick layers of rock, Canglong still roared in fury. Thunderbolts continuously struck from the Sky Dome, blasting the scattered stones.

Yet, compared to the entirety of the Sword Array, this was but a scratch.

"GASP, GASP..."

Leaning against a tree, Xi Yangyu wheezed like a broken bellows. His bleeding arm trembled uncontrollably, no longer able to hold the Mountain Lord Seal, which slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.

Cui Yixian picked up the seal. He watched as his companion clenched his jaw and, using Telekinesis, with a CLICK, snapped the broken arm back into place, then roughly reconnected the blood vessels.

As for the shattered Bone Fragments under the skin, there was no time to worry about those now.

"Masterful technique from the two Masters."

From deep within the Sword Array, Li Shan’s sigh was faintly audible. "Using mountains as an array, the valley as its base, swords as a cage, and harnessing the opportune moment and terrain to trap a dragon."

Xi Yangyu took a ragged breath, straightened up, and said indifferently, "It’s just a pity about this mountain scenery."

"Indeed."

Li Shan sighed wistfully, paused, then probed, "The Crown Prince is still in my hands."

This time, Xi Yangyu didn’t even bother to respond. Regardless of whether the Crown Prince himself was willing to die for the country, at this stage, the death of another imperial successor wouldn’t change the overall situation.

As for now, as long as they could suppress Canglong, they just needed to hold out for another 15 minutes...

Wait. Something wasn’t right.

An inexplicable sense of unease welled up. Xi Yangyu’s eyes flew open as he scanned the valley.

The howling mountain wind whistled through the gaps in the Sword Array, sounding like a thousand ghostly wails. The night sky, illuminated by the blazing mountain fire, seemed as bright as day. Perhaps triggered by the heatwave, the heavy clouds finally began to release rain.

Everything was under control. No abnormalities could be detected.

Except... the water level.

The Sword Array had dammed the river valley, cutting off the stream and exposing the jagged rocks of the riverbed. Multitudes of fish and shrimp lay in scattered puddles, struggling and leaping.

The Sword Array had numerous crevices, surely enough for the upstream water to seep through. Besides, it had started raining. The downstream water level shouldn’t be dropping this quickly...

Xi Yangyu’s expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to shout a warning, he saw a sudden, bizarre transformation ahead.

The rainwater, along with the intercepted upstream water, surged upwards along the inner crevices of the Sword Array as if alive.

Summoning clouds and rain was the Dragon Clan’s instinct; manipulating water was as natural to them as eating and drinking were to humans.

The moment the entire Stone Coffin was soaked...

BOOM!!!

A deafening thunderbolt pierced heaven and earth, striking directly atop the Sword Array.

Countless Thunder Pythons and Electric Snakes bored into the cracks in the rock. Where the waters converged, they unleashed their full energy, instantly vaporizing the surrounding droplets and generating dense pockets of steam.

The steam bubbles expanded explosively, compressing the surrounding water, forming a rapidly expanding shockwave that squeezed the rock formations from within.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE—

The Stone Forest Sword Formation first caved inward, then violently bulged outward!

Hundreds of tons of shattered rock exploded. Scorching hot water, laced with electric light, blasted the debris a hundred meters into the air before it crashed back to earth, smoldering faintly.

A large hole was torn in the Sword Array. The Stone Jiao within lay motionless, as if dead. The vines covering its body snapped one after another until they completely disintegrated.

"ROAR!"

Deep within the Stone Coffin, the dragon’s roar echoed again. Before Xi Yangyu’s horrified, nearly splitting gaze, Canglong soared into the sky, carrying Li Shan, and hovered in the night air.

"Heavens, the heavens themselves are helping us!"

Sprawled on the dragon’s back, Wu Guifei stretched out her hand to catch the pouring rain, laughing hysterically.

Beside her, the tightly bound Crown Prince Li Si closed his eyes, refusing to look or listen.

Forcing its escape was not without cost. Canglong had deliberately drawn the lightning, allowing it to bypass the Mountain Master Talisman’s protection and shatter the Sword Array. In doing so, it too was grievously wounded, its hide torn and flesh mangled.

Dragon Blood dripped down. When it fell into the mountain fires, it stirred up rolling heatwaves. When it fell onto the green vegetation, it caused plants to blossom and bear fruit, releasing a rich, verdant fragrance.

Fortunately, the effects of the Azure Spring Water were still active. The wounds on Canglong’s body gradually healed, and its entire massive form continued to grow.

"Let’s go."

Li Shan noticed the dragon’s whiskers had begun to turn white, his eyes filled with bitterness. He gently patted the Dragon Head, urging Canglong to continue westward.

Beyond Xia Mountain, the Academic Palace was within sight.

The once quiet and serene campus was now ablaze with lights. Not a soul could be seen on the tree-lined paths. Instead, ripples of energy shimmered in the air.

Prohibitions. Countless array prohibitions filled every corner of the Academic Palace.

The wooden benches and stone lamps along the paths, the willows by Chuiyun Lake, the rockeries in the gardens, even the flagpoles in the training grounds—all these usually unremarkable old objects on campus now radiated auras. Millions of strands of energy were interwoven, linking them to each other, forming a massive formation, looped within loops.

No wonder that years ago, when Zhao Ming wreaked havoc in Chang’an City and openly raided the garrison’s prison, he hadn’t even considered breaking into the Academic Palace.

With such a magnificent and formidable array, even a Great Practitioner who had surpassed the Candle Cloud Realm would likely perish on the spot.

Li Shan once again caressed the Dragon Head, encouraging the hesitant Canglong to press forward until it crossed the invisible boundary.

Hidden in the woods of the back mountain, Chao Wen Yuan, the Doctor of Mathematics, seized the moment. Now! He fiercely waved a small flag.

BUZZ!

Thousands of chilling killing intents, like a tsunami, instantly enveloped Canglong, and all light between heaven and earth dimmed.

The Dragon Species’ pupils constricted sharply. Li Shan instinctively clutched his neck.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

The barrier projected by the Mountain Master Talisman still stood firm. The myriad layered prohibitions throughout the Academic Palace detected a familiar aura, hesitated, then slowly receded.

"We failed."

Chao Wen Yuan turned back to his colleagues, his face pale, a helpless, bitter smile on his lips. The figures of the Supervision Department around him also remained silent.

The prohibitions buried within the Academic Palace, accumulated and refined over centuries, were considered unparalleled in the world. They were confident enough to trap and kill even Near-Cliff Realm Cultivators.

But only the Mountain Master possessed the authority to control such a massive array.

Lian Xuanyao’s death had been too sudden. There had been no proper handover, and Chen Danqiu had hastily gone into seclusion. At this moment, Chao Wen Yuan was completely out of his depth, only able to awaken a mere tip of the iceberg within the grand array.

Faced with the Protective Talisman bearing the Mountain Master’s aura, the great array was like a guard dog, half-roused from sleep, that catches its master’s familiar scent and drowsily drifts off again.

"What do we do now?"

"We’ll have to deal with it."

Sun Pu, the Doctor of Herbal Medicine, spread his hands. "No matter what, we have to fight. We can’t just stand by and watch that dragon barge in, can we?"

Everyone’s gaze involuntarily swept towards the rear, to the colossal stone engraved with the Eternal Mountain River Talisman. It stood quietly within the array, an integral part of the back mountain. Drawing continuous power from the vast Spirit Vein beneath the Academic Palace, it guarded the lands for thousands of miles.

The survival of the Academic Palace, the fate of the nation, the destiny of countless common people—all rested upon this single, unremarkable stone.

It was truly... beyond words.

Their gazes returned. Zhong Qin, the Doctor of Musicology, nodded. "The students have all been evacuated safely. We can fight without holding back."

Nearby, Wei Shanjun gave a bitter smile. "To think, after teaching Hundred Beasts Studies for most of my life, the first time I see a living Dragon Species would be under circumstances like these."

"Stop dawdling. He sees us. Let’s go together."

Du Qinyin, the Doctor of Painting, shook her head and flung several sheets of paper into the sky.

She studied the art of infusing paintings with talismans, and talismans with the Dao. The papers ignited in mid-air, disintegrating into ink-wash phoenixes, Qilin, and Immortal Cranes that lunged at Canglong.

The other Doctors also made their moves. Zhong Qin knelt, laid his guqin flat, and swept his fingers across the strings, producing a grim, battle-ready tune.

Sun Pu slapped several specific ancient trees, conjuring a myriad of falling leaves and flower petals that shot towards the sky.

Former master and disciples now stood as adversaries. Li Shan took a deep breath, one hand gripping a Dragon Horn, the other swinging down forcefully.

BOOM!

Lightning descended from the heavens. A dazzling white light tore through the night, scattering the torrential rain.

Within a hundred-zhang radius of the Thunder Strike Point, trees snapped, toppled, and carbonized.

Most of the Doctors were blasted away. Only a few, along with several figures from the Supervision Department, managed to remain standing, barring the way to the great stone. They raised Protective Talismans or activated Flying Sword Telekinesis Control Devices, shielding the stone.

SWOOSH—

Several whistling sounds rapidly approached from the distance. Cui Yixian and Xi Yangyu had also arrived.

There wasn’t much time left. Again!

Li Shan swung his arm once more. Canglong simultaneously swiped its claw, calling down another thunderbolt that sent the remaining defenders flying.

Under the continuous strain of overdrawing its potential, the side effects of the Azure Spring Water finally manifested. Canglong’s whiskers turned completely white, and its Dragon Scales grew dry and withered. The Dragon Species, creatures with lifespans of centuries or millennia, began to show signs of advanced age.

Fortunately, the target was within reach.

"Stop him!"

Cui Yixian dove rapidly. The Xia Mountain Mountain Lord Seal was ineffective against the back mountain. In his haste, he could only draw his sword to fell nearby trees, which Xi Yangyu then hurled at Canglong with Telekinesis, desperately trying to buy a single moment.

But mere mortal wood was useless. Canglong, enduring the impacts of the massive trees, pressed onward. Electric currents crackling across its skin incinerated the towering trees, grinding them to dust.

Until it was but a claw’s length from the stone.

All this happened in the blink of an eye.

Chao Wen Yuan, seared by the lightning’s aftershock, his internal organs burning and Qi Sea roiling, lay on the ground. Like everyone else, his heart was filled with despair—until a fleeting glimpse of a figure still diving through the night sky caught the corner of his eye.

Like a black meteor, Li Ang, at the last possible second, descended from the sky, blocking Canglong’s path.

His lips were cracked, his face haggard, his weary gaze peering out from beneath disheveled hair. His clothes, long stained red with blood, hung in tatters, clinging with fragments of flesh and bone dust.

Without a word of explanation, he reversed his grip on the Dragon Fall Spear and, to everyone’s utter astonishment, thrust it at his own heart.

CLANG!

The ever-victorious spear blade failed to pierce his chest—not due to Mo Si’s protection, but...

BUZZ—

Invisible ripples spread out, forming a barrier around Li Ang.

A barrier of the same origin as Canglong’s.

The two barriers met and merged, like two bubbles encountering each other and blending, ultimately becoming one.

"The cause of one day is the fruit of another."

Li Ang’s gaze was wistful. He opened his palm, where an Ink Jade Pendant lay quietly—the Jade Pendant given to him by the Mountain Master when he first entered the Academic Palace.

This pendant should have been consumed at the Luzhou Inn but was preserved due to the Dream Eater’s interference, an inversion of cause and effect, proving its use at this very moment.

Fate truly is capricious.

Li Ang pocketed the Jade Pendant, stepped onto the soft fallen leaves, and with a powerful leap, launched himself headfirst at the Dragon Head.