Chapter 680: The Power of the Chaotic Demon Arrow
When Lin Langtian opened his eyes again, the antique bamboo house came into view. Lying on the bed, he could still feel a faint dizziness in his head.
He gave his head a slight shake, then slowly sat up. As he breathed in the lingering fragrance in the air, scenes from the "great battle" earlier involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Although he had fallen asleep, that feeling of every cell in his body cheering and rejoicing was something that could not be erased no matter what.
"You're awake?"
A soft voice came from ahead. Lin Langtian raised his head and saw Ling Qingzhu standing not far away, her clear eyes quietly fixed on him.
A thin veil now covered her cheeks, and under the white dress wrapping her slender, graceful figure, her curves appeared almost perfectly outlined.
Her three thousand strands of black hair, which had usually been tied up, were now cascading freely like a waterfall down to her pert hips. For some reason, there was a languid charm about her at this moment.
That kind of charm made Lin Langtian's heart skip a beat right after waking.
It seemed the "sage mode" was not working on him at all right now.
"You seem a little different now." Lin Langtian could not help smiling as he looked at Ling Qingzhu.
"What's different?" Ling Qingzhu walked over and gently crouched down in front of him. Those usually cold eyes now held a faint hint of a smile.
"You look even more beautiful… and more like a real woman." Lin Langtian joked.
He gazed at her, the corner of his lips slightly curved. Ling Qingzhu rarely took the initiative to act this close, even with him.
Sure enough, after a round of "deep emotional exchange," their relationship had become much more intimate.
And for some reason, Ling Qingzhu's beauty now had a soul-stirring quality. It was not just her looks, but something elevated in her very aura.
At his flattery, Ling Qingzhu merely smiled faintly and softly said, "Enough staring. Your Scarlet Flame Sparrow Formation is about to give out. You'd better think about how we're going to get out of this mess."
Lin Langtian snapped back to his senses at her words. Looking up, he saw the Scarlet Flame Sparrow Formation outside the bamboo house starting to tremble. He hurriedly got to his feet.
Only, his entire body was currently bare. With that sudden movement, his skinny yet muscular frame came completely into view.
Clearly, during all that fuss earlier, Ling Qingzhu had focused on taking his clothes off, but had not bothered to put any back on him.
Seeing this, a flush crept up Ling Qingzhu's earlobes, though she deliberately acted calm. Turning her gaze aside, she said lightly, "I know you're curious about what just happened, but don't ask too much. The Taishang Induction Art—I've already taught it to you."
"Oh?" Lin Langtian pretended confusion as he watched her feigned reserve and the contrast with her earlier enchanting self, which he found rather amusing.
"If you calm your heart, you'll naturally sense it. But that's all I can do for you. As for how far you'll take the Taishang Induction Art in the future, that's entirely up to you." Ling Qingzhu stood up.
"For now, focus on comprehending the Taishang Induction Art. If we can make it out of this alive, so much the better."
"And don't forget to put some clothes on. As a grand palace master, if others saw you like this, they'd laugh their heads off."
Lin Langtian gave an embarrassed chuckle. As he dressed, he said with a grin, "Don't worry. You're the only one who's ever seen me like this. No one else will laugh."
At those words, Ling Qingzhu merely shot him a sidelong glance and said coolly, "And what about Ying Xiaoxiao and that commander from the Flame God Temple?"
"Cough, cough…"
Lin Langtian's expression stiffened at once, and he started coughing dryly. He had not expected Ling Qingzhu to bring up Ying Xiaoxiao and Tang Xinlian at a time like this.
Could this aloof and proud woman… actually be jealous?
Fortunately, Ling Qingzhu did not press the issue. Lin Langtian could only smile wryly and shake his head, suppressing his emotions and closing his eyes to sense the mysterious presence that had suddenly appeared in his consciousness.
That presence was not anything tangible. It felt more like something ethereal and formless, yet when he touched it, there was a subtle power flowing in from some unknown place.
This… was it the power of chaos?
Lin Langtian mused inwardly.
The Taishang Induction Art was the most mysterious martial art technique on the Tianxuan Continent. It allowed its user to sense the Taishang Realm and thereby augment their power. For that reason, it was revered as a supreme martial art, passed down only by the Palace Masters of the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace.
In Lin Langtian's mind, that so-called Taishang Realm was likely where the Seed of the Dimension resided. The Taishang Power, then, was the continent's source power—the so-called power of chaos.
As he felt this mysterious chaotic energy, the Scarlet Flame Sparrow Formation in the sky began trembling more and more violently. He could vaguely sense the torrential demonic qi raging outside.
Faced with the combined assault of two King Halls and the Demon Emperor's projection, the Scarlet Flame Sparrow Formation, even with Ling Ying presiding over it, was clearly at its limit.
Buzz!
A humming sound finally echoed from the sky as the enormous Scarlet Flame Sparrow Formation abruptly dimmed, its light weakening before it began to collapse.
Just as the formation broke apart, Lin Langtian and Ling Qingzhu stepped out of the bamboo house. A streak of light shot out from the collapsing Scarlet Flame Sparrow Formation and then merged back into Lin Langtian's body.
"Oh? Brat, in just half an hour, a strange new power has appeared inside you. It seems that so-called Taishang Induction Art did indeed do you a lot of good." Ling Ying's surprised voice sounded in Lin Langtian's mind after she returned to his body.
Though she did not fully understand the power of the Seed of the Dimension, she could sense how peculiar and powerful that new energy inside Lin Langtian was.
Even she felt a tremor of awe before it.
Lin Langtian smiled faintly. "You could say the harvest was considerable. Thank you for your hard work just now, Ling Ying. Leave the rest to me."
"Be careful. That Demon Emperor projection is no pushover." Ling Ying reminded him.
With the Scarlet Flame Sparrow Formation gone, heaven and earth were fully exposed to the raging sea of demonic qi.
Within that ocean of demonic power, the Demon Emperor's projection emanated a terrifying might as the Sixth and Seventh King Halls hovered in midair, their sinister gazes fixed coldly on Lin Langtian and Ling Qingzhu.
"Heh, looks like you really won't escape death today." The Seventh King Hall's lips pulled into a ferocious grin as he watched Lin Langtian.
Lin Langtian's lips curved into a faint smile. His dark eyes were calm and utterly devoid of any panic despite their desperate situation.
The Sixth and Seventh King Halls both frowned slightly at his composure. For some reason, they could not shake off an uneasy feeling.
But they promptly cast that odd sensation aside. Barely half an hour had passed—what could have changed?
"Then the two of you can die here together, a pair of doomed lovers."
As the Seventh King Hall's words faded, the Demon Emperor's projection stretched out its palm. Within it, a horrifying tide of demonic qi began to condense.
Lin Langtian's eyes remained steady. In the next instant, his figure flashed in front of Ling Qingzhu.
"Stay behind me. Don't worry. If I brought you out here, I'll definitely take you back alive."
Ling Qingzhu bit lightly on her red lips as she gazed at his tall figure in front of her. Deep in her usually cold eyes, a faint tenderness rippled. She responded with a soft, rare murmur of assent.
Lin Langtian raised his head as his tightly clenched hands slowly loosened. In his dark eyes, a wave of razor-sharp intent surged forth.
That cold sharpness flashed through his eyes as he suddenly thrust out his palm. A myriad of black lightning bolts exploded from within him.
Rumble!
With a thunderous boom, a colossal demon thunder dragon thousands of zhang long roared forth, finally converging in his palm.
Black lightning crackled as the demon thunder dragon rapidly shrank. In just a few breaths, it compressed into a giant black demon thunder bow, forming in Lin Langtian's hands.
His expression remained frosty as he stared at the Demon Emperor's projection in the sky. One hand slowly drew the demon thunder bow until it formed a full moon.
As he drew the string to its very limit, a deep black radiance swiftly gathered before him, forming a devouring demon arrow.
Buzz, buzz!
Dark demonic light flickered along the tip of the arrow, where tiny devouring vortexes seemed to spin. Though it had yet to be loosed, the space around the arrow was already showing signs of collapse.
In the sky, the Sixth King Hall's eyes narrowed slightly before he sneered.
"Impressive. To so freely fuse our clan's power with that of the Ancestral Symbols… you truly exceed expectations. But before the Demon Emperor, no matter how many tricks you have, they won't make up the difference."
"Is that so…"
Lin Langtian's lips curved into a faint smile as he took a deep breath. A moment later, a strand of chaotic light flashed and sank into the black demon arrow.
The light slowly flowed along the shaft, carrying no visible power. Instead, the arrow's devouring force suddenly grew entirely subdued.
The space that had been imploding under its pressure gradually returned to normal.
It was as if the bow and arrow in Lin Langtian's hands had lost all their power.
A tinge of paleness crept onto his face. He looked up at the Demon Emperor's projection and smiled faintly, a chilling aura pouring from that smile.
The fingers holding the bowstring abruptly relaxed, and in that instant, his gaze became as sharp as blades.
"Chaotic Demon Arrow!"
Buzz!
The black arrow wreathed in chaotic radiance vanished almost the instant it left the string. The pupils of the Sixth and Seventh King Halls tightened violently.
A streak of chaotic demonic light flashed across the sky. For a brief moment, its glow resembled the first light born at the dawn of the world, suffused with an incomparably profound mystery.
As the black arrow wrapped in chaos burst forth, the Seventh King Hall and his companion felt a surge of violence well up in their hearts.
"Die!"
The faces of the Sixth and Seventh King Halls twisted as they thrust their hands together, weaving strange seals and shouting hoarsely.
"World-Annihilating Hand!"
In the sky, the Demon Emperor's projection's blurry eyes grew a deeper shade of red. Its massive palm gained a degree of solidity, while a terrifying, evil demonic qi roiled in its center, enough to obliterate a Reincarnation expert with a single touch.
Whoosh!
The Demon Emperor's massive hand lashed out, shattering the sky. In the next instant, that immeasurably evil palm slammed down toward the seemingly unremarkable Chaotic Demon Arrow, under the gaze of countless breathless onlookers.
Buzz!
A strange humming spread across the heavens as visible ripples of power flashed outward, one after another, nearly filling the skies for ten thousand meters around.
At the center of those ripples, the Demon Emperor's hand and the arrow remained locked in a stalemate. The Chaotic Arrow did not budge an inch. Its shaft did not even tremble.
Buzz!
The next moment, the Chaotic Demon Arrow shuddered.
Then the chaotic radiance exploded outward. Under that eruption of light, the Demon Emperor's hand, which had been slowly closing, was forcibly held back, unable to close any further.
With the Demon Emperor's hand stopped, the Sixth and Seventh King Halls' faces changed dramatically. As they stared at the arrow as steady as a mountain within the Demon Emperor's palm, a surge of dread rose within them.
That chaotic light was far too strange.
Screech!
Just as unease took hold of the two King Halls, the Chaotic Demon Arrow, which had been pinned down the whole time, suddenly let out a crisp cry. The chaotic light flowing outward from it shrank abruptly back into the arrow.
Buzz, buzz!
The Chaotic Demon Arrow turned crystal clear, a mysterious and ancient power spreading from it.
This power, formed by blending the continent's source power with Yimo power, possessed a sense of unstoppable might.
The arrow's tail trembled wildly, while a strange light flickered at its tip. Then the entire arrow jerked and shot out violently.
Slash!
Light surged as boundless demonic qi erupted from the Demon Emperor's hand, trying to block the arrow's sudden explosion of power.
But now, the arrow's dazzling chaotic radiance tore through the nearly solidified demonic qi, ripping it apart layer by layer. Under countless shocked gazes, it pierced straight through the Demon Emperor's palm.
Then, following the Demon Emperor's arm like an unstoppable force, the Chaotic Demon Arrow bored its way upward and, with one final thrust, blew through the Demon Emperor's head.
Whoosh!
The arrow burst through the Demon Emperor's skull and soared into the nine heavens above. Behind it, the Demon Emperor's projection disintegrated into dust.
(END CHAPTER)
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