Chapter 81: Not Escaping the Five Elements (500 Monthly Votes)

As Shen Lian stepped forward and drew his sword, he gave Song Qingyi a completely refreshing sensation. He was still the same person, yet it was as if a shallow stream had abruptly transformed into a vast and mighty river. There was no natural transition, making it somewhat difficult to accept.

When the sword Qi drifted like willow catkins and the vital Qi surged like a tide, the airflow expelled by the mirage monster suddenly morphed into an endless abyss. The sword Qi, fine as threads, drifted into it, pulling the vital Qi along into the abyss as well.

The great abyss expanded continuously, pitch-black and dense, first creeping up to Shen Lian’s toes.

Before Shen Lian’s Primordial Void Divine Qi could erupt, endless darkness fell before his eyes, as though he were situated in outer space devoid of a universe.

It was so quiet that not even a trace of sound remained. Shen Lian discovered that he could not breathe, nor was there any external vital Qi available to absorb and expel.

If a person were confined to a small, dark room and left to do nothing at all, it would take merely a day or two for him to go mad. Even the bravest person, if placed in such a state of pure darkness without knowing where the exit lay, would be no different from someone locked in an inescapable dark room.

At that moment, panic would sprout from the depths of the heart. It required only a tiny shadow of panic for it to expand rapidly until the inner self could no longer bear it, culminating in a complete collapse.

With a flick of Shen Lian’s finger, a wisp of cyan dharma power broke out from his body and continuously charged forward until it vanished without a trace, receiving no response. Next, Shen Lian flicked out a streak of lightning, intending to cleave open the darkness. Just like the cyan wind power before it, it flashed and vanished instantly.

The eight fundamental forces of heaven, earth, mountain, marsh, water, fire, wind, and thunder appeared in succession and were annihilated in succession. No matter what, they could not alter the darkness of that vast void. There was not even a response from the Mirage Demon King, nor the slightest breath of its presence.

His divine intent remained very calm as he pondered: if the Mirage Demon King were capable of creating such a terrifying void, then Chen Jianmei would not have been able to slay it; it would have to possess Earth Immortal-grade strength.

Unfortunately, the result was clearly not so. Even if the phoenix’s Nirvana flame could allow it to be reborn and grant it greater vitality, it would not cause a qualitative leap in its cultivation realm and strength.

Having first understood this point, Shen Lian’s line of reasoning grew increasingly clear.

All the methods he employed failed to stir any response here. Even an ant situated within rivers, lakes, and seas could stir a ripple, rather than causing absolute silence.

Unless everything before his eyes was false—because it was false, it was empty, and thus nothing.

All illusions must take the mind as their foundation in order to manifest any phenomena. No matter how brilliant the Mirage Demon King was, it could not bypass his mind to manufacture hallucinations for him.

Shen Lian revealed a faint smile, and then his expression gradually grew serene. Suddenly, his posture shifted. The Xuande Sword in his hand gradually transformed, becoming a jade Ruyi, natural and auspicious.

Divine light radiated from his body as well, turning him into an unnamed deity descending from primeval antiquity, whose name was unknown.

The divine light spread like clear water, yet knew no end.

Inch by inch, it dissolved the illusory space without encountering the slightest resistance. In reality, although the time here seemed prolonged to him, outside it lasted merely a single instant.

His *Supreme Clarity, Numinous Treasure, Natural Heart-Locking and Spirit-Stabilizing True Scripture* could help him anchor the stray thoughts in his mind, and naturally could also anchor all manner of illusions. Moreover, this visualized deity was even more terrifying than he had imagined; Shen Lian always felt that within that water-calm divine light, a terrifying force capable of overturning heaven and earth lay dormant.

Heaven and earth grew clear once more. Shen Lian saw clearly that the mirage monster had already left the phoenix tree. With a head like a lizard, it opened its sickening and terrifying maw and lunged to bite him.

Until the dense, pitch-black substance that had billowed around him dissipated, the Mirage Demon King paused for a fraction of a second, seemingly failing to anticipate that Shen Lian would break free so swiftly.

A talisman clutched tightly in Song Qingyi’s hand was quietly tucked back away by him.

A profound-yellow sword ray flew horizontally across. Shen Lian stood beneath the phoenix tree, while the Mirage Demon King behind him had already been severed at the waist. It wriggled a few times on the ground before turning into a wisp of light smoke, truly dissipating between heaven and earth.

Shen Lian leisurely extended the wooden Xuande Sword, its yellowish luster blending into the clear light—this was the fire of Nirvana. The Xuande Sword did not burn, yet Shen Lian seemed to hear the cry of a phoenix soaring into the nine heavens.

A smile welled up from the depths of his heart, born from the joy of experiencing a new birth, much like the first little flower blooming across the wilderness after a winter of wind and snow.

The faint yellowish Qi of merit pulsing within the Xuande Sword underwent an inexplicable tremor, and the residual flames lingering on the phoenix tree were all drawn inward, fusing with it.

As the flames vanished, the phoenix tree began to shrink continuously until it was only half a person high, radiating a powerful wood-and-fire spiritual power throughout its entire body.

Spiritual power broadly refers to those transcendent forces between heaven and earth, such as vital power, a Taoist’s dharma power, and even the aspiration power of all living beings; all can be termed spiritual power. Spiritual power is further categorized by the Five Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, which are used to metaphorically describe the five natures of these transcendent forces. Hence, all forces in the world exist within the Five Elements.

Song Qingyi walked over from afar and said, "I didn’t expect you to possess an artifact of merit. It just so happens that this Nirvana flame has become exceedingly rare, which is why you were able to absorb it."

Shen Lian replied, "I didn't deliberately hide anything from you."

Song Qingyi laughed casually and said, "What did you think I’d get angry about? You had your reasons for not speaking of it, and I’m not that petty; I was just momentarily dumbfounded."

Reaching the final word, Song Qingyi could not help but burst into laughter.

Seeing the clarity in Song Qingyi’s eyes, completely devoid of any lingering estrangement, Shen Lian felt that this person was truly worthy of deep friendship. The more it was so, however, the more ashamed it made him feel, seeing as he had fallen short of absolute honesty.

******

The stars and moon remained as of old. Shen Lian and Song Qingyi had met by chance like duckweed and parted ways just as casually. The phoenix tree was naturally taken away by Song Qingyi. It was not that a rift had formed between the two, but rather that obtaining the phoenix tree happened to be of great use to him; he would borrow it to seek a place for seclusion and cultivation for a few days.

Shen Lian naturally had no worries about anyone guarding Song Qingyi’s Dharma. The moment he had seen Song Qingyi pull out three yellow beans that turned into three Taoist soldiers—whose spiritual pressure could rival a cultivator who had condensed dharma power by opening their acupuncture points—he knew that beneath the level of returning to the elixir realm, there were probably very few people in this world who could truly do anything to this fellow.

After all, he had at least several hundred such beans tucked inside his pouch.

That was the Daoist technique of "scattering beans to form soldiers" cast upon the beans in advance. It was said that with Lu Jiuyuan’s dharma power, the Taoist soldiers conjured through this technique could possess the strength of the Void-Wandering or even Truth-Piercing realms.

If there were thousands of cultivators of such a caliber, even Immortals of Long Life would likely feel their scalps tingle.

Shen Lian walked leisurely out of the wasteland, his feet touching solid ground. The biting cold wind did not abate, and occasionally packs of wolves howled at the moon in the distance. Yet when Shen Lian walked right past them, these wolves remained completely oblivious.

His aura had converged to an extreme degree; even with the keen sense of smell belonging to wolves, they could not perceive the slightest trace of it. What was even more terrifying was that the sounds generated by his movements were almost entirely extinguished.

PS: Thanks to everyone for the monthly tickets.
(To be continued.)