Chapter 13: Changsun Yu
Half a year of accumulation — relying on the old monk's written work, "The Other Shore of the Bitter Sea," he had gained insight into the leap of a fish across the sea, and successfully achieved a Breakthrough to the Sixth Seal.
For Lin Jiufeng, this was an unexpected joy.
He had never once comprehended the Dao Rhythm before, and had thought it impossible to break through to the Sixth Seal so quickly.
Yet a single chance reading had led him to a swift Breakthrough.
After entering the Sixth Seal, the Dao Rhythm Lin Jiufeng had comprehended flowed into his Soul Sea. Beneath his Divine Soul, surrounded by a sky full of stars, a great white carp swam freely and at ease.
The immense energy brought by the great white carp spread from Lin Jiufeng's Divine Soul and Soul Sea throughout his entire body.
Rumble!
It began to madly cleanse every part of Lin Jiufeng's body.
His muscles expanded, his strength surged, and in an instant he shattered the barrier of forty dragons and forty elephants.
Lin Jiufeng's entire body turned crimson red, like a cooked prawn. The vast energy ran rampant through him, causing visions to manifest behind him.
A true dragon roared, soaring across the heavens.
A divine elephant bellowed, its steps shattering the earth.
It was utterly terrifying.
Crack crack crack crack.
The energy within Lin Jiufeng surged and churned like crashing waves, pouring down in torrents, endlessly elevating his power.
Fifty dragons, fifty elephants.
Sixty dragons, sixty elephants.
Seventy dragons, seventy elephants.
Only when it reached one hundred dragons and one hundred elephants did the energy slowly settle.
After his surging power stabilized, Lin Jiufeng smiled and said, "The books say that from the Fifth Seal onward, every subsequent Seal brings earth-shattering change. Indeed, they did not deceive me."
One hundred dragons and one hundred elephants — once unleashed, it would overturn rivers and seas.
And this was only the Sixth Seal. Just how powerful would the Seventh Seal and Eighth Seal be?
As long as he had time, growing stronger was simply not a problem.
But right now, Yuhua Sect did not have much time left.
The Taishang Sect had already surrounded Yuhua Sect on all sides, pressing in on the mountain gate. Half a year had passed, and the newly broken-through Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor could arrive at any moment.
With that in mind, the joy Lin Jiufeng felt after his Breakthrough faded away.
He looked toward the Golden Summit Hall.
Bai Yunfei was in seclusion inside. Over two years had passed, and his aura had shown no significant change.
There was no telling when he would break through.
"Fortunately, I had a sudden enlightenment of the Dao Rhythm, comprehended the leap of a fish across the sea, and broke through to the Sixth Seal. With the power of one hundred dragons and one hundred elephants, I can barely be said to have the means to protect myself. If things truly reach a desperate point, I can fight with everything I have and escape with the three little ones." Lin Jiufeng sighed inwardly. He truly could not bear to leave the Canon Pavilion where he had lived for a hundred years.
For now, all he could do was pray that Bai Yunfei would break through soon.
Through the Canon Pavilion, Lin Jiufeng looked down the mountain. At regular intervals, he could see disciples of the Taishang Sect standing guard.
Layer upon layer, heavily fortified — they had sealed off every direction around Yuhua Sect.
Most of these disciples were at the Third or Fourth Seal. Their leader was an Elder at the Seventh Seal named Qingshan.
He was watching and waiting, merely blockading Yuhua Sect without moving to enter.
He had been defeated by Bai Yunfei before, and before the Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor arrived, he would certainly not take the initiative to attack.
"Elder Qingshan, why surround but not attack?" a disciple asked curiously.
Elder Qingshan's complexion was waxy yellow, his frame gaunt. He replied, "Yuhua Sect's Sect Master Bai Yunfei is very powerful. We must wait for the Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor to arrive."
"Which Dao Ancestor is coming?" a Sixth Seal disciple asked.
"It is our Taishang Sect's newly broken-through Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor — Changsun Yu," Elder Qingshan said in a deep voice.
"Changsun Yu... he seems to be the younger brother of Changsun Wuji," the Sixth Seal cultivator thought for a moment and said in surprise.
Elder Qingshan nodded. "Indeed."
"Over a hundred years ago, Changsun Wuji was young yet supremely gifted — before the age of one hundred, he was already an Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor of our Taishang Sect. But unfortunately, he encountered another genius: Zhou Sheng."
"In the battle at the Yellow Sand Ancient Road, Zhou Sheng, at the Seventh Seal, unleashed the Yuhua Ascension Scripture and slew Changsun Wuji, breaking through to the Eighth Seal and making a name for himself throughout the world. This provoked our Taishang Sect's Supreme Patriarch to personally intervene and kill him."
"It was also at that time that Changsun Yu declared he would enter a death seclusion — he would not emerge until he broke through. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, a hundred years passed, and he has finally broken through to become an Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor."
The Sixth Seal disciple knew Changsun Yu's story thoroughly and recounted it in full.
Elder Qingshan listened and sighed with feeling. "Indeed. Changsun Wuji and I entered the sect together. He rose effortlessly — when I had just reached the Third Seal, he had already broken through to the Sixth Seal. By the time I had luckily entered the Fifth Seal, he was already an Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor, hailed as a once-in-five-thousand-years peerless genius of the Taishang Sect. It is a pity that he encountered an even more monstrous talent in Zhou Sheng, and fell in obscurity."
"Changsun Yu's talent is not as great as his elder brother's, but he has always wanted to avenge him. He spent a hundred years in death seclusion and broke through to become an Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor. The first thing he did after emerging was come here to annihilate Yuhua Sect."
"After half a year of stabilizing his realm, Dao Ancestor Changsun Yu sent word that he would arrive today."
"So today is the day Yuhua Sect falls."
Elder Qingshan gazed in the direction of Yuhua Sect's Golden Summit Hall, his eyes gleaming with smug satisfaction. So what if you, Bai Yunfei, are powerful? Without the right backing, you cannot overturn the heavens.
Boom!!
The moment Elder Qingshan's words fell, a series of thunderous explosions suddenly rang out across heaven and earth. It was a speed taken to the extreme — a rainbow streaking through the sky, trailing sonic booms, approaching from afar, shaking the mountain forests as it came.
Under the gaze of all present, before the Golden Summit Hall of Yuhua Sect, a figure appeared from thin air. The profound and mysterious Dao Laws circulated around him.
His features were handsome, his feet treading upon yin and yang, a halo of golden light behind his head. His robes billowed in the wind. Like a transcendent immortal banished from the heavens, he moved through the void as if strolling through a courtyard — his bearing lofty, filled with confidence.
The one who had arrived was none other than Changsun Yu.
Elder Qingshan looked at Changsun Yu, his face filled with nostalgia. "He looks more and more like his elder brother now."
That peerless genius of the Taishang Sect who had fallen.
Changsun Wuji!
Before the Canon Pavilion, Lin Jiufeng stood with Wen Xinyun and the other two, their expressions grave as they watched.
The three little ones also understood that this was a moment of life and death for Yuhua Sect. Each of them wore tense expressions, fists clenched, deeply anxious, not daring to speak.
They had already reached the Third Seal.
Third Seal at twelve years old — peerless geniuses.
But peerless geniuses who had not yet grown up were of little use in the current situation.
The only one who could truly make a difference was Bai Yunfei, inside the Golden Summit Hall.
Changsun Yu's grand and imposing arrival was naturally sensed by Bai Yunfei.
And so he walked out of the Golden Summit Hall, where he had been in seclusion for over two years.
Over two years of seclusion had not changed Bai Yunfei in the slightest.
He wore a white robe, his skin fair and smooth, still wearing that baby-faced appearance that made him look like a teenager.
Yet within his eyes, there were traces of the years — nothing like the innocent gaze of a child.
"Master has come out!" Wen Xinyun spotted Bai Yunfei, tugged at Lin Jiufeng's sleeve, and cried out in delight.
Zhou Tianzi and Yue Dashan were also overjoyed, gazing at Bai Yunfei with hopeful anticipation.
Lin Jiufeng was watching too. Having broken through to the Sixth Seal, he could now clearly perceive the aura emanating from Bai Yunfei.
Peak Seventh Seal.
Over two years of seclusion, and he had not taken that final step — had not broken through to the Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor level.
His opponent, Changsun Yu, was a genuine Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor.
Could he win?