Chapter 538

“You really are willing to go that far, boy. To waste a Dao-Protection Jade Talisman like this…”

The Canglan City Lord stared solemnly at the ghostly figure of an old man beside Gongshu Yu. Though the figure was somewhat illusory, the look in its eyes was chillingly indifferent.

Though it was merely a Divine Soul Projection, the pressure emanating from it was immense. The original body’s cultivation was at least Nascent Soul Third Tribulation or higher.

By contrast, the City Lord himself was only at the First Tribulation level—far inferior in realm.

So even though it was only a projection, he treated it like facing a mortal enemy, not daring to show the slightest carelessness.

The only thing that slightly reassured him was the faintness of the apparition’s form. This suggested it had not reached the Fourth Tribulation, or the realm of eternal renewal.

If it had, this fight wouldn’t even be necessary—he would have surrendered without a second thought.

“Nangong Yuanwu, you brought this on yourself. A washed-up old thing like you dares to insult me?

If I don’t make you pay a price, do you really think the Gongshu Clan is made of clay, ready to be trampled?”

Gongshu Yu’s expression was icy.

Of course, he regretted using the Dao-Protection Jade Talisman.

His clan had strict rules: each direct descendant and Child of Fortune was granted only one such talisman.

Once used, it would never be replaced.

But he didn’t regret it.

If he swallowed Nangong Yuanwu’s insult, his Dao Heart would forever be flawed.

And once his Dao Heart bore a crack, cultivating the Emperor’s Heart Mantra would become a path of thorns—he would never again advance as swiftly as he did now.

No hidden trump card or treasure was more important than one’s own cultivation.

Gongshu Yu understood this clearly.

Since a flaw had formed in his Dao Heart, he had to crush it completely—no matter the cost.

Even if it meant sacrificing something more valuable than a Dao-Protection Jade Talisman.

“…So I underestimated you a little,” said the Canglan City Lord, eyes now focused and alert as he watched the younger man’s fierce and resolute face.

“But even so—what of it? Even a Nascent Soul Third Tribulation Divine Soul Projection is just a rootless illusion. That doesn’t mean it can defeat me!”

As he finished speaking, a strange force surged around his body.

He formed a hand seal, and at once, the great Canglan City below flared with light. Spiritual light surged skyward and poured into him.

He had activated the city’s defensive grand array, infusing its power into himself.

“You think a city formation will protect you?” Gongshu Yu sneered.

Then, turning to the illusory elder beside him, he bowed deeply.

“Ancestor, this scoundrel dared insult the Gongshu Clan. I beg you to use your Divine Ability and suppress him. Capture him alive and take him back to the clan for punishment!”

As Gongshu Yu pleaded, a flicker of awareness lit up in the old figure’s eyes.

His gaze locked onto the Canglan City Lord.

“You, brat… dared insult the Gongshu Clan? Suppression is warranted!”

With that, the elder extended his arm. His hand swelled rapidly.

In an instant, it grew to over ten li wide.

Within the palm, strands of law-like patterns wove together—this was a Sky-Covering Palm, stretching toward the City Lord.

He intended to subdue him in a single strike.

“Nascent Soul Third Tribulation… Sky-Covering Palm?” the City Lord scoffed at the sight.

“If you’d come in person, I’d have no way to resist. But this is just a projection—you think you can defeat me?”

Surging spiritual power exploded from within him and flooded into the seal before him.

The next moment, that seal expanded to several li across, blasting toward the giant palm!

Boom!

Palm met seal in a thunderous clash. The shockwave was even greater than the one during the earlier battle among the three experts.

The pressure knocked countless low-level cultivators in the city unconscious.

Even weaker Golden Core Realm experts trembled and staggered.

“So this is the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator…”

One stunned Golden Core cultivator stared skyward in awe, overwhelmed by reverence—for power that far exceeded his own.

“The City Lord blocked it!”

As the dust settled, the crowd below cried out.

High in the sky, palm and seal were locked in deadlock.

Despite the overwhelming power of the palm, the City Lord had managed to hold it at bay using the grand array’s reinforcement.

“…Hm?”

The elder’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He had clearly not expected a mere First Tribulation Nascent Soul cultivator to withstand his strike.

But soon, his gaze returned to calm indifference.

His form flickered faintly—becoming even more ethereal.

And yet, with this change, the pressure on the City Lord abruptly intensified.

The palm began slowly descending, pressing the seal downward, inching closer to its target.

“This old thing… is stronger than I thought. But let’s see who lasts longer—you or me!”

The City Lord didn’t hesitate. His face flushed red as he pushed his spiritual power to the limit, relentlessly channeling energy from the formation to sustain the seal.

He understood clearly—this elder was burning his Divine Soul to fuel this power.

If he could just hold out until the projection’s strength was exhausted, victory would be his.

In this moment, the City Lord was inwardly thankful.

Thankful that this elder had not reached the Fourth Tribulation, the realm of eternal renewal.

Thankful, too, that he had fully refined and mastered the power of the seal over the last century.

Otherwise, there’d be no way he could endure this clash.

“He really blocked it?”

Not far away in the sky, Gongshu Yu, who had been observing the battle, was stunned to see Nangong Yuanwu actually block the Ancestor’s attack.

When he saw the Ancestor’s Divine Soul Projection grow fainter, he shivered and instantly shouted, “Uncle Cai, Steward, the Ancestor’s projection can’t last much longer! You two, go help him!”

“Yes, Young Master!”

The two elderly men didn’t hesitate and immediately moved with great speed.

They understood clearly—if the Ancestor’s projection dissipated, the two of them alone would be no match for Nangong Yuanwu.

“Nangong Yuanwu, surrender now and spare yourself!” they shouted.

But they dared not enter the direct area where the giant palm and seal clashed.

The laws of heaven and earth in that space had already been violently distorted. Even though they were Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, entering recklessly could result in soul injuries or worse.

So the two opted for ranged attacks with artifacts.

With a thought, they each summoned their life-bound artifacts—one a jade ruler, the other a string of black beads.

As they were released, the artifacts enlarged dramatically and surged forward with terrifying power, targeting the Canglan City Lord’s physical body.

“Vile rats!” roared the City Lord, eyes wide.

He was forced to split his attention, sending out two spiritual swords to intercept.

But in such haste, how could his hastily summoned swords match two fully refined life-bound artifacts of Nascent Soul cultivators?

Moreover, he was still fully focused on wielding the seal to resist the giant palm.

Boom! Boom!

Two earth-shattering explosions rang out.

The spiritual swords were blasted away, and the City Lord spat blood as his soul was shaken.

The palm above him seized the opportunity—along with the seal it pressed upon—and crashed downward.

To make matters worse, the two life-bound artifacts didn’t stop there. After blasting away the swords, they regrouped and continued their assault on the City Lord.

Under the threefold assault of Nascent Soul powerhouses, the City Lord fell into desperate straits in the blink of an eye.

If he were struck head-on, even if he didn’t die, he’d likely be crippled forever.

“You’ve left me no choice!”

Driven to the edge of life and death, the City Lord’s eyes turned wild with madness.

Blood stained his mouth as he gritted his teeth and growled, voice rasping from his throat.

At the same time, he formed a hand seal.

In response, the mountain-sized seal overhead suddenly began to tremble with violent power.

“No! He’s going to self-detonate his artifact! Young Master, retreat at once!”

The two Nascent Soul elders sensed the wild aura and their expressions changed drastically.

They rapidly pulled back, forming defensive seals with lightning speed. Their Divine Souls surged as they cast layer after layer of defensive techniques in front of them.

Their reactions were impressively quick—

But the seal’s explosion was even faster.

Just as they began to move, cracks appeared across the massive seal.

BOOM!!!

It detonated with a radiance like the noonday sun bursting from the heavens.

A blinding sphere of light appeared high above.

The surrounding laws of heaven and earth went completely berserk.

The monstrous explosion didn’t just obliterate the illusory elder’s giant palm—

It also blasted away the two life-bound artifacts of the Nascent Soul elders.

The devastating shockwave spread outward at terrifying speed—swiftly catching up to the retreating elders.

In the blink of an eye, their layers of defenses were torn apart, and they were engulfed by the raging energy.

“Young Master, run!!” one of them bellowed as he was swallowed by the blast.

Gongshu Yu, already retreating after hearing the warning, flew backward at top speed.

But his flight couldn’t match the advancing explosion’s reach.

In mere moments, the tide of energy caught up to him.

He turned deathly pale.

He could feel it—even with defensive treasures, he wouldn’t survive this wave of devastation from a high-grade artifact’s explosion.

Just as despair filled his heart—

A one-armed figure suddenly appeared before him, shielding him from the blast.

The explosion’s force was so vast that even Canglan City below couldn’t avoid it entirely.

Thankfully, at the final moment, a titanic barrier of light rose from the city walls, enclosing Canglan City in protection.

Moreover, when the City Lord self-detonated the artifact, he had deliberately redirected the explosion’s force toward Gongshu Yu and the others.

This lessened the burden on the city.

Though the barrier trembled violently, it held.

And because of that, hundreds of thousands of citizens within the city were spared from annihilation.

“What… what just happened…?”

As the smoke and dust gradually dispersed, a cultivator within the city slowly rose to his feet, his face blank as he looked around.

All around him was devastation—collapsed buildings, debris scattered everywhere.

For a moment, he couldn’t even recognize where he was.

Though the Canglan City grand array had withstood the brunt of the explosion, the city still suffered from the residual shockwaves. Many structures had been destroyed.

The cultivator quickly recovered his senses. Realizing something major had occurred, he immediately looked toward the sky.

And then his jaw dropped.

The massive palm and giant seal were gone.

So were the Canglan City Lord, the ethereal old man, and the two Nascent Soul powerhouses.

Only one person remained floating in the sky—the young man in resplendent robes.

“What just happened? Where’s the City Lord?”

Over at the Treasure Pavilion, the Pavilion Master and the others were equally bewildered.

From the City Lord’s encirclement to his artifact self-detonation—it had all happened too fast.

And the explosion itself had been far too terrifying.

Even the laws of heaven and earth had been violently distorted. Everyone’s minds had gone blank under the pressure.

Even they couldn’t fully comprehend what had just occurred.

“The City Lord is over here.”

Lu Qing pointed not far away. A figure lay motionless amid the rubble.

Judging by the ruined robes, who else could it be but the Canglan City Lord?

“City Lord!”

The Pavilion Master cried out and darted over to his side.

The moment she got a clear look, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth in shock.

The City Lord’s eyes were tightly shut, his body nearly torn apart—his form almost unrecognizable.

If not for his barely recognizable face, she wouldn’t have believed this was once the domineering and peerless City Lord.

“Pavilion Master, he’s still alive! We need to treat him immediately!”

A Vice Pavilion Master knelt to inspect and cried out.

“Yes! Get the best healing elixirs from the treasure vault!” the Pavilion Master snapped back to her senses and ordered at once.

“I’m afraid it may be too late.”

Just then, Lu Qing also stepped over.

Seeing the City Lord’s injuries, he silently clicked his tongue.

So close. This man had almost been completely annihilated—body and soul.

While others were unclear about what had happened, Lu Qing had seen it all clearly.

In the face of death, the City Lord had chosen to self-detonate his spiritual artifact.

And this seal wasn’t just any magical treasure—it was a high-grade spiritual artifact.

Its self-destruction unleashed utterly catastrophic power.

Even the City Lord himself was caught within the blast.

Had he not, at the final moment, forcibly guided his body into the city’s defensive array…

He would have been utterly obliterated—his path ended, his Dao extinguished.

With a flick of his fingers, Lu Qing released a talisman, which floated above the City Lord’s body.

Gentle white light filled with Life Force radiated down, shining upon his body.

Slowly, the City Lord’s broken flesh began to regenerate.

But Lu Qing couldn’t help frowning at the slow pace of healing.

Though the injuries were being mended, the Life Force within the City Lord’s body was barely increasing.

Activating his Spiritual Powers, Lu Qing quickly saw an informational readout appear in his vision, detailing the City Lord’s condition.

His eyes flashed with realization.

“A Dao injury to the Divine Soul… no wonder a standard healing talisman has little effect.”

“Fellow Daoist Lu, how is the City Lord?” the Pavilion Master asked anxiously.

“His wounds are severe—not something a normal talisman can heal,” Lu Qing answered truthfully.

“And besides, our trouble… is far from over.”

He pointed to the sky above.

At the same time, Gongshu Yu’s icy voice descended from the heavens...