This was Zheng Fa’s first time witnessing a large-scaleNascent Soulbattle.
Even standing within theThunder Pool, surrounded by the endless roar of lightning, he could still hear the fierce battle raging above.
Raising his gaze, he activated hisVoid-Seeking Spirit Eyesand peered into the skies beyond theThunder Pool.
Above them,Five Dragons Palacehovered over the storm.
At its outer edges, the five golden dragons—already immense in their natural form—hadswelled to a hundred times their usual size.
Each dragon was now a thousand zhang thick and ten thousand zhang long, their titanic forms coiling protectively aroundFive Dragons Palace, shielding Martial Uncle Pang within.
Yet, outside the palace, streaks of crimson and black light slashed through the sky—an eerie, ominous glow that rivaled the palace’s own grandeur.
Sun Daoyu, also using hisVoid-Seeking Spirit Eyes, was perplexed.
He had expected to see theNascent Soul cultivatorsthat Martial Uncle Pang had invited.
But there werenone.
Only Pang Qian remained, alone, relying onFive Dragons Palacefor support.
Zheng Fa shook his head.
He had no idea.
But Pang Qian’s face was visibly pale, his complexion far more ashen than usual—signs of spiritual depletion.
The five golden dragons encircling the palace were looking worse for wear, too.
One dragon had a vast patch of missing scales.
Another’s eye had beencorrupted by demonic magic, thick black smoke seeping from its wounded socket.
Opposing him were fourNascent Soul cultivatorsfrom theGreat Freedom Demonic Sect:
A gaunt, corpse-like old man, seated atop a bronze coffin.
A scantily clad female cultivator, wrapped in the coils of a massive human-faced crimson snake.
A middle-aged man, accompanied by a young child—
That child, with chubby limbs and a round moon-like face, looked utterly adorable at first glance.
But a second look revealed his eyes werecompletely white, devoid of pupils.
Even Zheng Fa wasn’t sure if he still qualified ashuman.
"Jiushan Sect’sFive Dragons Zhenren."
The old man on the bronze coffin spoke, his voice dry and cold.
“One glance to see the heavens and earth, one talisman to sever life and death.
“Truly impressive.”
Zheng Fa was momentarily stunned.
DidMartial Uncle Pangactually have such a grand reputation?
Even Sun Daoyu looked a little dazed.
It seemed neither of them had ever known about their master’s past glory.
“…Mere empty titles,” Pang Qian replied, his voice calm.
“But Iamsurprised…”
He slowly turned his gaze toward his four adversaries.
“The Coffin Elder.”
“The Crimson Serpent Immortal.”
“And… The Thousand-Slaying Sword Immortal.”
His gaze lingered on the child, his expression darkening with anger.
“So you three… despite your heretical ways, theImmortal Sectsnever realized you were allGreat Freedom Demonic Sectmembers…”
A soft, chilling laugh rang through the air.
Zheng Fa instinctively assumed it was theCrimson Serpent Immortalspeaking.
But to his surprise, the voice came from the human-faced snake itself.
That grotesque face—lacking even a proper nose—smiled sweetly.
“Oh, but we’renotthe only ones, are we?”
Her tone was syrupy, like a coquettish maiden’s.
"Didn’t one ofyourinvitedNascent Soul cultivatorsturn out to be one ofours?"
Zheng Fa’s expression changed.
So did Pang Qian’s.
“…Xuangui Shangren.”
The moment Pang spoke the name, it was no longer a suspicion—it was confirmation.
TheCrimson Serpent Immortalcontinued, giggling.
“He planned tobetrayyou first… but in the end,yououtmaneuveredhim.”
“Truly impressive, Five Dragons Zhenren—your perception is as sharp as ever.”
“But in the end, the otherNascent Soul cultivatorsyou invited saw you and Xuangui Shangren fighting each other, realized they couldn’t tell friend from foe, and chose to stand back.”
“Eventually… theyall ran away.”
“You’re alone now.”
Her laughter was light, but beneath it was a sneer filled with contempt.
Zheng Fa finally understood.
This was why Martial Uncle Pang was fighting alone.
Those so-called “reinforcements” hadneverintended to truly help.
And the moment Pang had struck down Xuangui Shangren—
They hadfled.
Despite the conversation, the battle never stopped.
Zheng Fa observed carefully from within theThunder Pool.
At a glance,Nascent Soulbattles seemed almostslow, almostcalm.
The combatants even had time to exchange verbal duels.
But through hisVoid-Seeking Spirit Eyes, he saw the truth.
The spiritual energy in the sky wassplit into two forces.
Around theGreat Freedom Demonic Sect cultivators, their aura was a chaotic mix of black and crimson.
AroundPang Qian, his spiritual energy flowed in five colors, shifting in cycles.
The two opposing forces swirled around one another, testing, probing, seeking an opening.
But slowly—
Pang Qian, outnumbered three to one, began tolose ground.
Above, the sky had become an ocean of black and crimson energy.
Five Dragons Palace, once mighty and radiant, now looked like a dim lantern flickering in the night.
Yet, despite this…
Pang Qian did not panic.
He remained composed, as if prepared toendurefor an eternity.
His attackers, too, were not in a hurry.
Their faces remained calm, evensmiling.
The battle was a slow, suffocatingsiege.
“In theHundred Immortals Alliance, they say you’re even more of a turtle than thatXuangui Shangren—a ten-thousand-year-old tortoise. Seems they weren’t wrong.”
TheCrimson Serpent Immortallaughed mockingly.
Pang Qian didn’t react, merely continuing to controlFive Dragons Palace, deflecting the attacks from the threeNascent Soulcultivators surrounding him.
Time stretched on—one day, one night.
Even forNascent Soul cultivators, maintaining such high tension for so long was exhausting.
Yet, the battlefield seemedunchanged.
Even Zheng Fa was beginning to feel weary justwatching.
Then—
“Enough!”
The old man atop the bronze coffin suddenly roared.
Zheng Fa looked up just in time to seePang Qian—
Leaping forward, abandoning the defenses of Five Dragons Palace—
And lunging straight at the Crimson Serpent Immortal.
She had been caught off guard, never expectingPang Qianto suddenly abandon his own fortress.
But Pang Qian had beenwaitingfor this single moment of distraction.
His hands flickered—
First, aHeaven-Grade Cloud and Rain Talisman.
Then, aSummoning Wind Talisman.
And finally—
AHeaven-Grade Thunderfire Talisman.
Zheng Fa recognized this technique.
"Sequential Talisman Technique."
It wasPang Qian’smost powerful trump card.
At its core, it was an application of Five Elements Reinforcement, stacking effects to amplify the power of a single strike.
But in practice, it required precise execution.
When to release each talisman, how to sequence them, how they interacted—
Everything depended onVoid-Seeking Spirit Eyesto analyze spiritual energy fluctuations and find the perfect moment to strike.
Individually, theCloud and RainandSummoning Wind Talismansweren’t offensive.
But when followed by aThunderfire Talisman—
Lightning fed on rain.
Fire raged with wind.
Thunder and flames consumed half the sky.
TheCrimson Serpent Immortalhad already beenslightly off balance.
Now, caught byPang Qian’s deadly combo, she had no time to react.
But—
The other two enemies werenotso easily shaken.
TheBronze Coffin Elder’scoffin lid slammed open—
A swirling abyss of pure darkness yawned within.
The coffin rotated in midair, aligning perfectly withPang Qian.
From its depths, hundreds—no, thousands—of purple-blue arms reached out, clawing toward him.
Even through the void,Pang Qianseemed to be locked in place, unable to move.
And then—
TheThousand-Slaying Sword Immortalfinally acted.
The child beside him suddenly rose into the air—
His once-chubby, plump flesh shriveled away in an instant.
His round, youthful limbs withered, revealing a small skeletal frame.
And then—
The bones morphed into a sword.
A bone sword.
It shot towardPang Qianlike a vengeful spirit, wailing like the cries of ten thousand weeping children.
A sound so piercing, so sorrowful, that it cut straight into the soul.
Zheng Fa felt Sun Daoyu grab his shoulder, his fingers trembling.
He didn’t look back.
He kept his eyesfixedonPang Qian.
His master was trapped.
Pinned down by the Bronze Coffin’s ghostly grasp.
And the Bone Sword of Weeping Souls was moments away from piercing him.
Even without turning, Zheng Fa couldfeelthe panic on Sun Daoyu’s face.
But then—
The five golden dragons surroundingPang Qiansuddenly lashed out.
They hurled themselves at theBronze Coffin.
TheCoffin Eldersneered.
“YourFive Dragons Palacehas a solid defense, but—”
BOOM.
He didn’t even finish speaking.
One of the golden dragons suddenly expanded, swelling into a ball—
And then detonated.
“You’re insane!”
TheCoffin Elderwas caught completely off guard.
He had never expectedPang Qianto sacrifice his own life-bound artifact so recklessly.
ButPang Qianwas even more ruthless than he thought.
Even as the first dragon self-destructed, the remaining four dragons also began to swell.
They looked like they no longer cared for survival.
Panic flashed across theCoffin Elder’sface.
He hastily recalled his bronze coffin, retreating inside and sealing himself in completely.
Now free from the coffin’s grasp,Pang Qianlaunched another Thunderfire Talisman.
TheCrimson Serpent Immortal, already wounded, was completely overwhelmed.
Her body was incinerated, reduced to ashes.
The human-faced crimson snake, her true form, writhed in agony—its once-pristine scales charred and cracked.
She was on the verge of death.
“…Martial Uncle Pang was always this reckless?”
Zheng Fa was stunned.
“This is theDao Struggle Immortalstyle.”
Sun Daoyu hesitated before responding.
"Dao Struggle Immortal"…
It was acultivation methodthat did not fear death.
And this time—
Pang Qian had embodied that philosophy to its fullest.
Pang Qian glanced toward theThunder Pool.
Even through the distance, he seemed to catch sight of Zheng Fa and the others—
And, astonishingly, he smiled.
“Pang Qian of Jiushan Sect,” he declared.
“Today, I have slain the traitor Xuangui Shangren of the Hundred Immortals Alliance—”
“And the Crimson Serpent Immortal of the Great Freedom Demonic Sect!”
His laughter rang out.
“Dying like this is no loss at all!”
“Disciples ofJiushan Sect! Do not grieve! Stay in theThunder Pool! Train hard! Grow strong!”
Then, his gaze locked onto Zheng Fa.
“Zheng Fa!”
“You and Senior Sister Zhang must destroy the Great Freedom Demonic Sect in my name!”
He turned back—
Watching the Bone Sword of Weeping Souls descend upon him.
His talismans exhausted, his defenses shattered, his life-bound artifact destroyed.
There was nowhere to run.
Yet his face remained calm.
At peace.
“Yan Wushuang!”
Zheng Fa turned and shouted.
“Old Han!”
“Why so anxious?”
A voice answered, lazy and indifferent.
“What’s the rush? Let the old man finish his speech first.”
At the edge of the horizon, a second sun seemed to rise.
But no—
It was a sword.
In one instant, it was at the horizon.
In the next—
It was above the Thousand-Slaying Sword Immortal’s head.
The demonicNascent Soul cultivatordidn’t even have time to react.
He was annihilated in a single strike.
TheBone Swordlost its master.
It tumbled from the sky, falling into the clouds below.
At the edge of theThunder Pool, an old man yawned, looking at the fallen sword withvisible disgust.
“Hah.”
“Calling that ugly thing a ‘sword’… anddaringto call himself a ‘Sword Immortal’?”
Pang Qian glanced at the old man.
Then at his own ruinedFive Dragons Palace.
Then—
He seemed to recall all the dramatic things he had just declared.
For a long moment, his expression twisted—
As if hedeeply regrettedtrying to go out in a blaze of glory.