Chapter 436: War in the North Continent (Part 1)

This white light arrived far too swiftly; in one moment, it was just a flash of cold light, and in the next, it was hovering before Dongmu Gong and Qi Yuan.

The group of heavenly soldiers had the highest cultivation at the Zhenxian realm, and at that instant, they were completely unable to react.

Dongmu Gong's face changed dramatically, and instinctively, he grabbed Qi Yuan's arm, flinging him forcefully behind.

Qi Yuan let out a cry of "Aiya," nearly being thrown apart.

At the same time, golden light erupted around Dongmu Gong, revealing half of a treasure armor over his robe. With his left hand, he couldn't grab a magical treasure in time and simply struck out with a palm toward the front!

Dongmu Gong of the Tian Court, engaging in combat!

A green wind vortex burst from his palm, expanding into a green light screen. Dongmu Gong's beard and hair fluttered, his eyes filled with majesty.

But before the light screen could fully unfold, the hovering white light erupted suddenly, beams of light piercing through heaven and earth, illuminating a hundred li radius as bright as day!

Li Changshou's paper avatar, transformed into a flying bird, was some distance away but still wounded by the white light. His vision turned completely white, and his yuan shen power nearly dispersed.

Instinctively, he made this paper avatar retreat, while his two mind threads descended upon the paper avatar hidden in his master's sleeve!

First, save the master!

In a fight of this level, even a brush against it would injure the master, and any direct hit would kill him. A single breath of immortal energy could vaporize him...

Thus, amid this sudden burst of white light, two streams of light flew from Qi Yuan's sleeve—two Golden Immortal realm paper avatars transforming into two middle-aged heavenly generals!

Paper Avatar One grabbed Qi Yuan's shoulder, enveloping him with surging immortal power, and pulled out a familiar beast skin bag, preparing to retreat swiftly...

Paper Avatar Two charged straight at Dongmu Gong, condensing immortal power into ropes and flinging them forward, aiming to pull Dongmu Gong out of the densest part of the white light.

Li Changshou's reactions were already incredibly swift, but the interval of the white light's surge was simply too short!

So short that Li Changshou couldn't even deploy his most proficient escape techniques.

The opponent had struck with premeditation and no defense, and perhaps influenced by the Jie Yun, Li Changshou's usual crisis premonition had no effect at all.

Paper Avatar One hadn't yet managed to take the master away, and Paper Avatar Two's left fingertip hadn't even touched Dongmu Gong's flowing gray hair...

In an instant, the white light throughout the sky converged, causing the heavens and earth within a hundred li to spin and reverse, yin and yang to swap places, shifting from utter brightness to utter darkness!

Even immortal sense was suppressed to just a few dozen zhang around the body, as if trapped in a dark prison.

And that wasn't the end...

In the moment of this rapid shift between light and dark, Li Changshou barely caught sight through the distant paper avatar of a silver-white shuttle hovering before Dongmu Gong, rippling with waves...

The waves spread far and wide.

Silently, that group of heavenly soldiers didn't even manage a groan; their bodies went limp, their yuan shen shattered, and they fell like dumplings toward the ground below, utterly lifeless...

As a professional poison expert, Li Changshou immediately recognized what those waves were.

The attacker was undoubtedly a master of poison, and this shuttle-shaped spiritual treasure was quite formidable, launching a sneak attack and releasing poison without giving an ordinary Golden Immortal "expert" like Dongmu Gong any chance to escape!

Of course, this wasn't Dongmu Gong's fault; even Li Changshou wouldn't have many options. He simply sent a voice transmission saying "Forgive me," knocked his master unconscious, and casually pulled out a beast skin spiritual treasure bag, stuffing Qi Yuan inside and tucking it into his sleeve.

Dongmu Gong let out a muffled groan, his eyes trembling, and black light flashed over his entire body...

His protective immortal light couldn't hold for even a moment before collapsing directly under the waves.

Li Changshou: ...

"Wood Gong!"

Paper Avatar Two shouted lowly and quickly supported Dongmu Gong's arm.

But with a sizzling sound, the paper avatar's palm was corroded by the black light, exposing the white paper surface, as if it had been burned.

Li Changshou fished out a few antidote pills—standard issue for each Golden Immortal realm paper avatar—and stuffed them into Dongmu Gong's mouth, which was already starting to lose consciousness, to help him fight off the rampant poison...

From Dongmu Gong's cultivation level, it was clear that this nominal second-in-command of the Tian Court was genuinely busy with Tian Court affairs most of the time.

Meanwhile, through the eyes of the external Paper Avatar Three, he observed this "pitch-black" area.

The heavenly soldiers who had been poisoned fell only about ten zhang before floating in midair, evidently encountering some barrier...

With the antidote pills' help, Dongmu Gong barely rallied his spirits, panting heavily.

Li Changshou's two paper avatars, aside from being directly "burned," weren't affected by the poison; at that moment, their eyes widened in surprise...

"Heh, paper figures?"

A voice, neither male nor female and somewhat chilling, echoed from beyond the darkness:

"Unexpectedly, the Water God has avatars here as well. Today is truly full of surprises."

Water God?

Dongmu Gong looked somewhat bewildered at the two middle-aged heavenly generals beside him.

Li Changshou slowly nodded, glancing down at the two now-decayed paper avatar hands.

This was the biggest flaw of paper avatars—once their protective immortal power was broken, they were as fragile as paper.

From the paper avatars' performance, Li Changshou could tell that the poison wasn't directly targeting the yuan shen...

With the master now safely and roughly protected, the two paper avatar heavenly generals stood one on each side of Dongmu Gong, preparing for the next attack.

Dangers lurked all around, with the opponent yet to fully appear, creating immense pressure.

To buy time, Li Changshou revealed a small trump card, linking the two paper avatars' auras and making their expressions identical.

The opponent clearly hesitated.

With a light tremor from the two golden dans within, Li Changshou's paper avatars actively released their pressure, their expressions utterly calm.

Now, he had to stall for time.

Just as the opponent struck, Li Changshou's main body had already set out with his family in tow, bringing along the still-unreturned Tower Lord and Qiankun Ruler, hurrying toward this location.

The ambush site was at the edge of Dong Sheng Shen Zhou, not too far from Du Xian Men. With Li Changshou's escape techniques, as long as the two Golden Immortal realm paper avatars could hold out for a moment, he could...

Suddenly, a thunderous tiger roar echoed, making the surrounding heavens and earth tremble lightly. Above and below Li Changshou and Dongmu Gong, massive forms rapidly approached!

It seemed like a huge tiger maw.

Even in such peril, they couldn't just wait to be captured!

Li Changshou's two paper avatars burst with golden light, their immortal power surging as if about to strike forward...

In the darkness, a slender figure flashed by and quickly retreated, clearly unwilling to take Li Changshou's fierce blow head-on!

In that instant,

Li Changshou shouted lowly, shifting his attack, and grabbed Dongmu Gong, who was already heavily wounded, with both hands. Their figures turned into a ball of golden light, shooting off in a random direction...

Now was the time to flee!

But as soon as Li Changshou escaped about a hundred zhang, he felt the heavens and earth ahead sealed off, and the golden light was blocked for a split second.

In that critical moment, without a spiritual treasure in hand and unable to break through, he tried to activate the Qiankun Escape Technique, but the dao rhyme wouldn't unfold. The two massive shadows above and below closed in, engulfing them.

The heavens and earth were completely sealed, and Li Changshou's connection with his two paper avatars was nearly severed!

Through Paper Avatar Three in the distance, Li Changshou could vaguely see:

A double-winged, three-headed white tiger, hundreds of zhang long, with its left head swallowing his two paper avatars, Dongmu Gong, and the bag containing his master in one gulp!

Vast, tyrannical pressure spread from the white tiger's body, making it seem like the ruler of this realm. The right tiger head tilted back and let out a roar, killing intent sweeping thousands of li.

Truly, they had entered the tiger's maw.

Right at that moment!

Whoosh—

That wisp of silver-white light reappeared.

Li Changshou's paper avatar that had been tailing his master only had the strength of a late Tianxian realm.

Facing that silver shuttle, Li Changshou had no illusions of escaping unscathed. Instead, he seized the moment of the shuttle's attack to unleash his escape technique at full speed, buying himself...

Time to say one sentence.

"If you harm those two, I will eradicate your nine generations!"

With a soft "puff," the paper avatar was pierced by the silver shuttle, severing its connection with Li Changshou's mind.

'Master.'

Beneath the ground, Li Changshou's main body moved like a flowing stream of sand, racing forward at top speed.

Li Changshou's mind still maintained a faint link with the two Golden Immortal realm paper avatars; he could hear Dongmu Gong's pained groans from the poison and sense his master's slight movements inside the bag...

Their position was northwest, and the distance was closing rapidly, but the double-winged, three-headed white tiger's cultivation was profoundly deep. Even at full speed, Li Changshou couldn't catch up immediately.

The Qiankun Ruler in his hand emitted bursts of roars as he alternated between earth escape and Qiankun escape techniques, madly pursuing through the ground.

In his eyes, wisps of water-blue light bloomed...

This group of demon clan experts was targeting Dongmu Gong!

There must be traitors in the Tian Court who leaked Dongmu Gong's whereabouts.

With the great calamity's Yun descending, divination methods had failed. Without traitors tipping them off...

But the Tian Court was so vast; even a single heavenly soldier could be involved.

Li Changshou had now figured out the origin of this incident, just like the rumors in the Tian Court a few years ago—the demon clan had targeted Dongmu Gong as the breakthrough point...

Dongmu Gong was a second-tier orthodox god, known as the "foremost among male immortals," and positioned as the second-in-command of the Tian Court.

If the demon clan coerced Dongmu Gong and forced the Tian Court to bow, it would put the Tian Court in a dilemma.

Whether they ignored Dongmu Gong and mobilized fully, or considered him and agreed to the demon clan's demands, it would play into the demon clan's hands.

If Dongmu Gong became their bargaining chip, the Tian Court's prestige would be utterly destroyed, forcing them to act regardless.

But mobilizing troops from the Tian Court now was clearly useless. Not to mention that most Tian Court soldiers were only at the Zhenxian level, facing such great demons who could devour thousands of heavenly soldiers and generals in one bite.

Gathering forces from the Tian Court, Dragon Palace, and other places would take too much time!

He had to rescue his master and Dongmu Gong in the shortest time possible!

Ask for help?

Li Changshou's first thought was his shifu, but his shifu wasn't even in the Five Parts Continent right now!

Zhao Gongming, Yunxiao Xianzi...

With the calamity's Yun overhead, did he really want to drag them into this, potentially entangling them in a great calamity they might avoid?

He just needed to catch up. As long as he caught up, he could save his master and Dongmu Gong.

Escape techniques, full throttle!

Li Changshou's body shone with water-blue light, his immortal power surging wildly as he left one earth vein after another behind...

Lu Ya!

Western Teachings!

Stay calm; he had to remain calm right now.

His master getting caught up in Dongmu Gong's affairs was purely accidental; the opponent wanted to use Dongmu Gong as a chip, so they wouldn't kill him outright.

By the same logic, his master was temporarily safe.

Li Changshou suppressed his urge to curse and slapped himself, forcing himself to calm down and think of a rescue plan.

Though anxious, he didn't forget to disguise himself, simply taking on his usual minor mage appearance.

In the secret chamber beneath Xiao Qiong Peak, one of Li Changshou's paper avatars knelt before the Saint's portrait, but the portrait showed no reaction...

Did the Saint mean for Dongmu Gong to enter this calamity?

Li Changshou certainly hadn't forgotten that Dongmu Gong was fated for a death calamity, which was how the future Pure Yang Sword Immortal Lü Dongbin came to be.

But with Dongmu Gong's calamity colliding with the Feng Shen Great Calamity, and dragging his master into it...

His master was just a mundane immortal who reached the Zhenxian realm thanks to Pan Tao, with truly pitiful actual strength!

He should have spent his remaining lifespan enjoying life, so why endure such hardships that a mundane immortal couldn't bear...

Today, any demon clan expert could blow him away with a breath, leaving no trace!

Thus, the rescue was extraordinarily difficult.

At Hei Chi Peak, upon receiving the transmission, Bai Ze immediately cast a divine ability, turning into a black light that burst through Hei Chi Peak's grand array and Du Xian Men's mountain-protecting array, heading toward the direction Li Changshou indicated...

Bai Ze's escape techniques were quite limited; though flying in his true form looked elegant, it was mostly for show, and his speed was only passable.

On the other side, Li Changshou burst through the ground after an unknown distance...

His mind suddenly stirred—he had overtaken his two paper avatars underground!

Li Changshou's eyes flashed with divine light as his figure shot from the ground, the Qiankun Ruler in his hand gleaming, vanishing from the surface in a whoosh and plunging into the vast mist...

This place was...

The miasma clouds of Bei Ju Lu Zhou!

In his pursuit, he had unknowingly entered deep into Bei Ju Lu Zhou.

What made Li Changshou's heart sink was...

Earlier, he had pushed his escape techniques to the limit, unable to extend his immortal sense far; now, as it spread out, he detected over a dozen auras of pressure lurking in the clouds, scattered near and far, from a thousand to ten thousand li away.

Clearly, he had stumbled into the demon clan's lair.

But he couldn't hesitate now—Dongmu Gong and his master's lives were in that demon tiger's maw. Li Changshou's figure flashed rapidly, charging toward the increasingly thick, massive shadow in the dense gray-green fog ahead.

Sharp whistles and explosive booms!

The Qiankun shook, and the clouds scattered!

First came a cold snort, then a burst of strong light turning into a dark prison, followed by thunderous tiger roars, with exploding clouds being swept into the sky by gales!

In a flash of lightning and sparks, beside the massive three-headed, two-winged demon tiger, two figures clashed at incredible speed, leaving trails of afterimages...

The demon tiger's left head was tightly shut, while its other two heads spewed endless ice-blue flames, and its four eyes shot beams of golden light, yet they couldn't catch up to Li Changshou's flickering form.