200: Chapter 200: The Battle for Heaven and Earth's Qi!

...

"A bunch of scum, come and get it!"

The young man in purple robes faced the onslaught without a hint of panic, his face bearing an arrogant expression; this person was called Chief Disciple Han Yue, the Inner Sect Chief Disciple of the Taiqing Sect, at the Peak of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.

His Ziyang True Fire had long since been Cultivated to Major Achievement.

Among the younger generation of the Taiqing Sect, he could be considered a notable figure.

Two fellow Disciples accompanied him, both at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage; each of the three held a red copper Magical Artifact, forming a triangular Formation that completely blocked the entrance to the giant island...

Sun Yao's sword radiance surged, and thousands of ice swords fired simultaneously.

Chief Disciple Han Yue flipped a hand seal, and as the lid of the small red copper tripod lifted, a thick, purplish-red pillar of fire surged into the sky, colliding head-on with the ice swords filling the air.

The ice swords shattered, turning into water vapor.

The fire pillar pierced through layers of water mist, its remaining power undiminished as it struck straight toward Sun Yao's face.

Sun Yao leaned back, her toes tapping on the stone surface as she slid back a zhang, barely dodging the brunt of the fire pillar.

The stone slab beneath her feet was scorched through, glowing red-hot.

"What a powerful fire technique."

Sun Yao did not panic; she Cultivated the Cloud Dao; clouds are born from water and governed by wind, making them best suited for changing tactics and entanglement.

Seeing this, she held her long sword across her chest and changed her sword seal.

The water vapor in the surroundings, guided by her Spiritual Qi, rapidly condensed into a hundred-zhang-long water dragon; the dragon's head opened its mouth, lunging to devour Chief Disciple Han Yue.

"Mere tricks, how dare you show off in front of me!"

Chief Disciple Han Yue sneered, pushing his palms forward; the red copper tripod hovered above his head, and the three legs of the tripod spewed flames simultaneously; three fire dragons wove into a net, strangling the water dragon.

The water dragon struggled for a few breaths before being evaporated by the high temperature, turning into steam that filled the sky.

Just as Chief Disciple Han Yue was about to press his advantage, the sound of wind suddenly rose behind him.

Sun Chengzhu's long dragon of Sword Qi swept in from behind him; twelve Flying Swords connected head to tail, the Sword Qi piercing through the sky with the momentum of a thunderbolt.

Chief Disciple Han Yue frowned, his left hand forming a fire shield seal.

A three-foot-square red light shield condensed behind him; the long dragon of Sword Qi collided with the fire shield, emitting a harsh metallic clang.

The fire shield cracked, and seventy or eighty percent of the Sword Qi dissipated; the remaining edge grazed Chief Disciple Han Yue's shoulder, leaving a trail of blood.

"You're courting death!"

Chief Disciple Han Yue's face darkened as he backhanded a fire talisman.

The fire talisman exploded violently, transforming into over a dozen small fire snakes, each trailing purple-red flames as they lunged separately at Sun Yao and Sun Chengzhu.

Sun Chengzhu advanced instead of retreating; the sword box opened wide, and the twelve Flying Swords formed a sword array, shredding three fire snakes, but the remaining ones bypassed the array and attacked from the side...

In an instant, the Spiritual Qi light shattered; the fire snakes gnawed at Sun Chengzhu's left arm, and immediately, half of his arm ignited, turning into charcoal.

"Chengzu!"

Sun Yao cried out, and the two Taiqing Sect Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivators seized the opportunity, flanking from left and right.

One of them wielded a fire whip, and the other brandished a red copper ring.

The fire whip swept out, and the red copper ring spun through the air!

The situation reached a stalemate.

Although Sun Yao was at the Foundation Establishment Perfection, Chief Disciple Han Yue's Ziyang True Fire was truly troublesome.

This fire technique was famously fierce and overbearing; water-based Daoist Magic was supposed to counter it, but she happened to Cultivate the Cloud Dao, so her water nature was not pure, naturally reducing the effectiveness.

"Junior Martial Uncle, I'm here to help you!"

Lu Xun arrived from the flank, holding a short blade with lightning patterns, its entire body wreathed in lightning arcs.

The Materials for this short blade were taken from Zixiao Peak, and the blade was embedded with a Zixiao Lightning Bead; although it was only a High Grade Magical Artifact, it was extremely compatible with Lu Xun's Lightning Spiritual Root.

Lu Xun was young and only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, so his combat power was limited, but his strikes were decisive.

He swung the short blade, and a purple lightning arc slashed toward the Cultivator wielding the fire whip beside Chief Disciple Han Yue.

The lightning arc came extremely fast; the fire whip Cultivator dodged to the side, barely avoiding a fatal blow, but was struck on the right leg by the tail of the lightning arc; his entire leg went numb instantly, and he lost his balance.

Sun Chengzhu seized this moment and instantly unleashed his Flying Sword.

In just a split second, the magical sword pierced through the man's shoulder blade, pinning him to a giant rock.

The fire whip Cultivator screamed, struggling to pull the sword out, but the sharp Sword Qi on the sword blade churned inside the wound, twisting his face in pain.

"Trash!"

Chief Disciple Han Yue cursed, and the red copper tripod shone brightly.

The flame temperature climbed a notch, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of burning.

He no longer cared about his companion's life or death, fully driving the Magical Artifact to launch an offensive against Sun Yao; countless fire snakes flew out from the tripod, attacking Sun Yao.

Subsequently, a zhang-tall fire spirit puppet flew out from the mouth of the tripod.

The fire spirit puppet was entirely crimson, its eyes burning with purple flames, and its body radiated scorching heat.

This thing was the Taiqing Sect's trump card, created using a Golden Core Cultivator's Ziyang True Fire as a seed, sealed within the Magical Artifact, and released at critical moments.

Its power was much higher than that of a talisman treasure!

Once the fire spirit puppet appeared, the temperature within a ten-zhang radius rose sharply, and even the mist on the water surface was completely evaporated.

Sun Yao's expression tightened.

This thing could not be handled by ordinary means.

"Scatter, don't take it head-on!"

Before she finished speaking, the fire spirit puppet had already moved.

It threw out its fists, and two fire pillars crossed, one striking toward Sun Yao and one sweeping toward Lu Xun...

Sun Yao's figure turned into mist, using the Cloud Dao escape technique to avoid the heat of the fire pillar.

Lu Xun was not as agile as her; he blocked vertically with his lightning-patterned short blade; the lightning arc collided with the fire pillar, and suddenly, blinding light exploded.

Lu Xun was knocked over by the aftermath, stumbling back several zhang, and a mouthful of blood sprayed onto his lapel.

"Lu Xun!"

Sun Chengzhu roared and pulled away to save him.

But the Taiqing Sect Cultivator wielding the red copper ring held him tightly; the copper ring spun like a spinning top, slicing out dense blades of Qi.

On the giant island, the slaughter intensified.

Meanwhile—

In other directions of the marshland, various factions were also fighting in a melee.

The Haoran Sect's water cypress maze was burned down by more than half by Kuang Dou.

But the Haoran Sect was no pushover; they unleashed a sect-protecting flag, which had a towering ancient tree embroidered on it.

The flag unfurled, and countless tree roots burst out from under the water, entangling Kuang Dou's hind legs.

Kuang Dou roared, spraying lava from his mouth to burn through the tree roots, but new branches quickly grew from the broken parts, entangling him again.

Liu Qing stood in the rear, commanding the Qingguang Sect Disciples to set up a Formation; poisonous miasma constantly spread, forcing the Haoran Sect Disciples back.

However, the Haoran Sect had many people, and their Formation was exquisite; every layer the poisonous miasma spread was neutralized by the water and wood Spiritual Qi.

Both sides went back and forth, temporarily fighting to a draw.

On the west side, the Xuanqing Sect Disciples collided with the Taiqing Sect's follow-up team.

These two families claimed to be allies, but in this Secret Realm, in front of heaven and earth qi, any alliance was just a scrap of paper.

The Xuanqing Sect leader unleashed a long banner, its surface as black as ink, with a night-luminescent pearl the size of a baby's fist hanging from the tip.

The long banner waved, and a stream of cold, sinister water swept across the four directions, suppressing the flames of the three Taiqing Sect Disciples.

The Taiqing Sect Disciples were not confused; they joined forces to drive the Ziyang True Fire, evaporating the cold, sinister water.

Both sides fought fiercely, and no one had time to pay attention to the situation on the core giant island.

And this was exactly Sun Yao and her group's opportunity.

"Shi Mo, Shi Pan!"

Sun Yao transmitted her voice: "Hold back the fire spirit puppet!"

The two giant bears received the order, rushed over from the rear, and simultaneously lunged at the fire spirit puppet.

Shi Mo's dark golden bear paw slammed down, its metal Spiritual Qi turning into a layer of protective golden armor to withstand a punch from the fire spirit puppet.

The punch's force poured into the golden armor, cracks appearing on its surface; Shi Mo's feet sank into the stone ground, but he gritted his teeth and did not retreat a single step.

Shi Pan crashed into it from the side.

His earth-attribute Bloodline played its greatest role at this moment, condensing a layer of rock shell several inches thick on his body; like a moving mountain, he engaged in a head-on collision with the fire spirit puppet.

Although the fire spirit puppet's power was terrifying, it was not a living thing, and its adaptability was limited; after being entangled by the two giant bears, it could not free itself for a moment.

Sun Yao seized the gap!

Her figure rushed forward, her long sword thrusting diagonally; the tip of the sword condensed all of her decades of bitter Cultivation, as well as a wisp of highly refined Cloud Dao true intent!

Chief Disciple Han Yue swung the tripod to block; the red copper tripod collided with the long sword, the sound of metal ringing deafeningly.

Sun Yao's sword did not clash head-on; instead, she borrowed the force of the collision, turning the sword body, transforming solid into void, and the Cloud Dao true intent on the sword tip suddenly dispersed.

It turned into clouds and mist filling the sky, wrapping Chief Disciple Han Yue inside...

Within the clouds and mist, vision was completely lost.

Chief Disciple Han Yue unleashed his True Fire, wanting to burn away the clouds and mist, but this cloud and mist was infused with Cloud Dao true intent; the more it burned, the thicker it became, with water vapor flowing endlessly.

"What the hell is this thing!"

Chief Disciple Han Yue cursed in anger; the red copper tripod then suddenly contracted, turning into a streak of firelight that drilled into his body; the next moment, flames surged from his entire body, instantly turning him into a fire man, forcibly dispersing the clouds and mist around him.

But in those few breaths, Sun Yao had already swept past his side and stepped onto the core area of that giant island.

That milky-white pillar of Qi was just three hundred zhang ahead.

heaven and earth qi, within reach!

...