Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Bright Moon Forms a Halo

Thunder rolled!
A tremendous roar echoed above the city of Abyssal Heaven.

Feng Xun and the beast Xiezhi were the first to step outside, with Xu Zhong following closely behind. The moon shone, twinkling with starlight; in the distance, the surface of the water glittered, casting a silvery glow for thousands of miles, like a river of stars fallen to earth, boundless, resplendent beyond compare.

“The sea has risen?” Xu Zhong muttered in astonishment.
This stretch of water was clearly suspended above the sea, level with Abyssal Heaven City.
Above the surface, countless bolts of lightning flared, drawing down the true fires of the stars, as if a great crimson sun hung in the vault of the heavens.
Beneath the red sun, a few ritual platforms could be vaguely seen.
Several water dragons rolled and tumbled within the waves, stirring up storms that soared sky-high; columns of water shot upward, steadying the tumultuous platform beneath the surge.

“What is happening?” Xu Zhong stood transfixed by the spectacle before him.

At that moment, a dark shadow suddenly shot from within a water column.
A faint, tremulous vibration echoed between heaven and earth, the source of the sound barely discernible.

“Is that the Heavenly Chief?” Xu Zhong cast a secret art, bringing the ship into view a hundred miles away.
The subtle tremors originated from the ship’s elemental crystal cannons.

“Are they hunting something?”

Recalling Yun Yong’s earlier words, Xu Zhong naturally assumed they were hunting sea beasts.

Suddenly, a swirl of pale water vapor burst forth, churning up a colossal wave that turned and crashed toward Abyssal Heaven City.

Feng Xun frowned, forming seals with his hands.
In an instant, divine radiance shrouded the entire city.

The surging wave, raised by the water vapor, struck toward the Heavenly Chief.
Just then, a tiny figure—Xuan Jiu Yuan, grasping a great blade—leapt from the ship.
With all her might, she swung down.

The massive wave was cleaved in two.
The blade’s light pierced the Infinite Sea, opening a void spanning three or four miles, exposing the monster lurking within the waters.

A monstrous roar sounded.

It was a colossal tortoise, bellowing in fury, spewing pale water vapor that shrouded the rift.
The beast lashed its tail, striking the surface.

Instantly, countless water arrows shot skyward.
Each arrow was several yards across, blotting out the sky as they rained down upon Xuan Jiu Yuan.

She gripped her blade, studying the dragon-turtle intently: a dragon’s tail trailing behind, four dragon claws, two dragon whiskers at the corners of its mouth stirring whirlpools in the stagnant sea, and atop its head, coral-like dragon horns pulsing with dragon’s blood. Most captivating of all was the mysterious Nine Palace Diagram etched upon its shell.

“Demon dragon, put down your shell and let me make a rubbing of that diagram,” Xuan Jiu Yuan called, brandishing her blade.

Yet every slash of hers was swallowed by the dragon-turtle.

The beast roared in rage.

In a blink, nine towering water columns surged from the sea, combining to strangle Xuan Jiu Yuan.

“Insolent thing!”

She swept her arms, unleashing seventy-two arcs of blade light into the air.

The moment the water columns touched the blades, they vaporized in a burst of energy.

The nine columns were instantly shredded into a thousand fragments of cloud and mist by the seventy-two blade lights.

“From the river came the diagram, from the Luo came the script,” Xiezhi whispered, “The divine tortoise bears what is surely a copy of the Luo Script.”

“The Luo Script?” Feng Xun glanced back.

“Thunder Ancestor left behind two supreme treasures. One was the Divine Pivot Azure Skies Thunder Banner, the ultimate manifestation of his Dao; after his passing, it became the thirty-three layers of thunderclouds. The other is the Luo Script.”

“The Luo Script is said to contain the ultimate laws of heaven and earth, capable of evolving the Great Dao,” Xiezhi’s eyes burned with desire.

These divine beasts need not study; they only have to awaken their bloodline to inherit the experiences and wisdom of their ancestors.

“Even if it’s merely a rubbing, it is still a precious treasure.”

But Xu Zhong’s attention was not on the Luo Script; he was more concerned with the water realm upheld by the divine tortoise.

Upon it, countless water spirits twisted and shifted form. The longer the water realm was exposed, the more mountains and terrains became visible.

“It’s a Mirage!” Xiezhi explained to Xu Zhong.

“A mirage conjured by the reflection of the Luo Script,” it said, recording the images upon the mirage. “Perhaps this mirage points to the true hiding place of the Luo Script.”

Hearing this, Xu Zhong also took note, imprinting the image of the water realm in his mind.

“A rubbing of the Divine Diagram and Luo Script—never thought I’d witness this,” a divine thought echoed through Abyssal Heaven City. Then, a beam of platinum light shot forth from the city, manifesting above the water as a sword cultivator in a cloak.

The platinum light was the sword’s radiance and Dao reflected from his blade.

“Boss, does that Luo Script on the dragon-turtle’s back have a share for me?” The sword cultivator cradled his sword case, platinum light flickering from it like a snake’s tongue.

“Heavenly treasures belong to the worthy; whoever can pry the shell from its back, it’s theirs.”

Xuan Jiu Yuan laughed heartily. Her blade suddenly swelled to dozens of yards, and she herself grew larger and larger, clearly invoking the Art of Manifestation.

“Let’s see who moves faster.”

Meanwhile, several more streaks of golden light shot up from within Abyssal Heaven City.

To vie for even a copy of the Luo Script, none without an Inner Realm cultivation would dare to join the fray.

Feng Xun’s heart stirred. Behind him, Xiezhi said, “Go ahead, I will defend Abyssal Heaven!”

Feng Xun transformed into a beam of white light and plunged into the battlefield.

He too invoked the Art of Manifestation.

They stood a thousand yards tall, yet only their heads emerged from the Infinite Sea.

Both reached into the water, grappling for the dragon-turtle.

Sensing danger, the dragon-turtle shrank, smaller than a silverfish, and nearly transparent.

Within the crystal-clear Infinite Sea, it seemed to vanish, darting swiftly away.

Yet it had not traveled far before it was sealed within a block of crystal.

Feng Xun, as if plucking a flower, plucked the crystal from the water.

The dragon-turtle thrashed within, then reverted to its original form, shattering the crystal and bursting forth as a blue dragon, as though abandoning its shell.

The blue dragon, initially only a few yards long, in a heartbeat stretched to a hundred yards, claws and scales intertwining, stirring wind and clouds. Above its head, half an acre of thunderclouds formed, and in a flash, hundreds of bolts of lightning, like giant serpents, crashed down upon the crowd.

Feng Xun casually compressed a hundred-meter stretch of water into a mirror, raising it to block the lightning. At the same time, he invoked other spells, conjuring a prison of brambles woven from the wood qi of the water’s surface.

The blue dragon was trapped within.

In the next instant, it seized its shell and hurled it at the onlookers.

The water churned violently; the bramble cage shattered.

One Inner Realm cultivator failed to dodge and was struck by the shell, his flesh and spirit nearly obliterated.

The blue dragon reared up, grasping its shell.

“Abomination, courting death!” sneered the sword cultivator. With a thought, a flying sword shot from the case, its brilliant light shattering thunderclouds, clanging as it struck the shell.

The treasured sword bounced away, unable to pierce the shell.

The sword cultivator groaned, feeling the feedback of the blow.

He walked the path of unity with the sword; man and blade as one.

To have his sword repelled was to be repelled himself.

“Golden Scale, your swordplay is amusing, but you’re lacking as a man!” Xuan Jiu Yuan laughed, her voice echoing to the heavens.

Now she had abandoned her blade, matching strength with the dragon-turtle.

With each breath, she exhaled arcs of blue crescent blades that circled her, serving as both protective light and flying daggers.

She struck out with a mighty punch.

Thunder rumbled!

The blue dragon felt a tremendous force through its shell—a power mighty enough to move mountains and seas.

“Damn!” the dragon roared, its long body bent into a bow, flung backward.

The divine light protecting Xuan Jiu Yuan was shattered by the dragon-turtle’s strength, scattering into blue sparks drifting into the water.

“Again!” she charged forward.

Seeing things turn grim, the blue dragon whipped its tail and changed course, fleeing toward Feng Xun.

Feng Xun smiled, extending his hand.

He plucked the crescent moon above his head, refining it into a blood-red crescent blade.

He unleashed a streak of blood-hued blade light.

All the moonlight in the heavens transformed into blade light; ten thousand miles of moonbeams converged into this single slash.

“Bastard!” The blue dragon recognized the spell’s power and roared furiously.

It raised its shell to block the blade.

At the same time, Xuan Jiu Yuan barreled toward it from behind, aiming to smash it to pieces.

“You Inner Realm cultivators, shameless, ganging up on an old man!” the blue dragon cursed.

It gathered its strength and clashed bodily with Xuan Jiu Yuan.

Boom!

She was sent flying three or four miles, while the dragon spat a mouthful of blood, drawing a frenzy of fish to devour it.

A flying sword flashed past, severing its tail.

In an instant, the Infinite Sea was stained scarlet with dragon blood, wisps of dragon qi rising.

“Face is only for the living!” Golden Scale, full of confidence, summoned his sword. A crash resounded as a sword light stumbled toward the dragon-turtle’s head.

“If you’re all shameless, then I’ll stop being a dragon too,” the dragon muttered, blood at the corner of its mouth and a look of grievance.

It lifted the dragon-turtle shell.

The Luo Script etched upon it shifted and changed ceaselessly.

In response, the constellations above also shifted.

Countless stars fell from the heavens, merging into the water realm it conjured.

The water realm seemed to be slowly fading away.

Meanwhile, the entire sea boiled with swelling bubbles.

This sudden change caught the attention of Xuan Jiu Yuan and the others, who all turned to gaze at the turbulent spot.

Their vision pierced the billowing waves, revealing mountain ranges rising from the depths, rivers and lakes, grasslands and forests—a kingdom of water slowly emerging from the Infinite Sea.

“Damn!” Xuan Jiu Yuan’s heart sank.

“The dragon-turtle’s reflection isn’t a mirage at all, nor a clue leading us to the true Luo Script, but rather the projection of the water kingdom it suppresses. This is bad.”

Her heart pounded with dread, yet a surge of excitement coursed through her.

Thunder boomed!

The great sound reverberated through Abyssal Heaven City, rousing everyone from their cultivation. They rushed out to discover what had happened.

“Look at the moon!”

Someone pointed in awe, and all eyes lifted to the sky.

They saw the crescent moon gradually filled with light, becoming full and round like a jade disc.

Then, that jade disc fell straight from the heavens, plunging into the phantom kingdom of water.

At once, an underwater nation appeared vividly before their eyes.