All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 410 - 53 Immortal Path Ancient City (3/3)

Chapter 410: Chapter 53 Immortal Path Ancient City (3/3)

"Indeed, it works! This approach is correct!"

An Jing was also pleasantly surprised; previously, he was able to trigger an "Embracing the Pill" outburst and employ the "Heavenly Demon Dismemberment Technique" to defeat the Martial Meridian Grandmaster of the Zuohuan Sect only by harnessing the power bestowed upon him by the Mingguang Dust.

Without the power of the Mingguang Dust, this technique had temporarily become unusable, for the Heavenly Demon Dismemberment Technique also required a foundation to be driven—not just any Inner Strength could suffice.

It was only after receiving a hint from Huo Qing that he realized the Houtu Skills also contained similar tricks, and by combining them with the power of the Imperial Heaven Skills to condense his Essence Qi into a pill, he could now also trigger an "Embracing the Pill" outburst!

Although he was still no match for a Grandmaster, An Jing now possessed a means to inflict fatal damage on a Grandmaster at critical moments!

Furthermore... Huo Qing had indeed changed a lot.

He had become quite confident, for a person lacking confidence would never believe that something they just grasped on the spur of the moment could be employed—let alone in a life-or-death situation. Most people still couldn’t trust themselves, becoming rigid, unable to move, with their minds void of any thoughts.

Huo Qing’s ability to overcome this fear and take action signified that his character had undergone a transformation, no longer the same Huo Qing who could be intimidated by Big Spear and others.

Though pleased, An Jing knew that now was not the time to discuss the progress of Martial Arts.

He inquired further about the details of the Three-legged Golden Crow’s attack on the city and gleaned two rather interesting pieces of information.

Firstly, recently, frequent demon beast assaults on the city had caused the Purple Mansion Great Formation to operate more often than not, possibly leading to some issues. The Great Yuan Rainbow Tower was undergoing repair at that time, which was why Chonggang Town found itself in such disarray due to the demon beast onslaught.

Secondly, the Three-legged Golden Crow did not appear immediately; at first, everyone assumed it was a sizable demon beast incursion with a few Foundation Establishment-level great demons at most, hence the hasty adjustments to the Great Yuan Rainbow Tower followed by its activation to repel several attacks led by these Foundation Establishment great demons. As a result, when the Three-legged Golden Crow appeared later, an energy-deficient Great Yuan Rainbow Tower could no longer muster sufficient power to threaten it.

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, An Jing narrowed his eyes and murmured in a low voice, "If that’s the case... This Three-legged Golden Crow seems to be rather well-informed about the affairs inside the city... Could there be a demon spirit traitor within?"

"How could that be possible."

Huo Qing shook his head like a rattle drum: "A demon spirit traitor? How could such a thing happen? What could make a demon spirit betray? Besides, it’s a thankless task; look, once Mengshan True Person makes a move, that Three-legged Golden Crow can’t perform anymore."

He had quite a favorable opinion of Mengshan True Person, perhaps because they were both Array Masters.

"Hmm. A traitor is unlikely, but conversely, it may be that someone in the city intends to use the demon beasts for some purpose."

Huo Qing was rather naive, while An Jing was from the world of Embracing the Void, where it seemed everyone had dealings with the Heavenly Demon, leveraging its power to achieve their own ends, which made him acutely aware of such conspiracies and schemes.

Even in his heart, An Jing speculated: "Perhaps... it wasn’t the Three-legged Golden Crow that was originally spying on certain treasures within the city, but rather someone from the city itself who was spying and thus instigated the Three-legged Golden Crow, leaking information to provoke its attack?"

He stepped out of the warehouse and looked towards Mengshan True Person and the Three-legged Golden Crow—the Golden Crow was still launching attacks from time to time, but it was consistently unable to break through the defensive Array laid out by Mengshan True Person’s Formation Flags, its power steadily being eroded.

The Golden Crow was after all a True Spirit, and since it couldn’t break through, it wouldn’t let its power be wasted in a meaningless battle. With a piercing screech, the already-thinning flock of Fire Crows began to disperse, retreating towards the outside world, reminiscent of smoke rings that rise and expand.

And the Golden Crow itself slowly took flight, its wings beating as the ominous clouds scattered, leaving a sun suspended amidst the jumbled stars.

Innumerable sharp rays spilled out, like the gaze of a great sun upon the earth—its eye.

This was the final strike—both Mengshan True Person and An Jing could tell that it was a True Spirit’s last attempt before departing in the face of failure. This strike harbored no hope of defeating the enemy; it served merely as a matter of dignity.

Mengshan True Person also stood up solemnly, the six Formation Flags spinning rapidly, and the [Six Harmonies Primordial Unity Calamity-Staving Formation] was deployed in midair.

However, just as An Jing prepared to return to the warehouse to avoid the fallout from the True Spirit’s battle with the Purple Mansion True Person, something unexpectedly expected happened.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion erupted from the heart of Chonggang Town, at the site of the Great Yuan Rainbow Tower. Whether it was due to the Purple Mansion Great Formation being overloaded for several consecutive days or internal sabotage, a terrifying surge of Golden Flame Magnetic Thunder burst forth from the base of the formation.

The towering Great Yuan Rainbow Tower, at this moment, resembled a snapped chopstick or toppled blocks, beginning to tilt and collapse. Not only An Jing, but Huo Qing, sensing something was amiss, also arrived at the doorway. Nearly all the remaining living residents of Chonggang Town widened their eyes, their gazes uncontrollably fixated on the sight of the Great Yuan Rainbow Tower falling.

At this instant, Mengshan True Person was locked in combat with the Three-legged Golden Crow, powerless to stop any of it.

But this was only the beginning.

Rumble—

With the collapse of the Great Yuan Rainbow Tower, intense earthquakes began to rock the whole of Chonggang Town. Under the horrified stares of all, a tremendous rift opened up from south to north, centered on the former site of the tower. On either side of the rift, the eastern land slowly elevated while the western side sank, creating a height difference of nearly a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

The rift continued to widen. An Jing on the eastern side, along with the warehouse, moved involuntarily, prompting him to call upon Tengshuang White. Carrying himself and Huo Qing into the air, many cultivators of Chonggang Town also took flight, looking down in stunned silence at this land that had been tranquil for years, listening to the roaring power from deep within the earth as layer upon layer of the earth’s crust was upheaved by the terrifying force, forming a tidal wave of land spreading toward the entire Floating Dust Plains.

——Rumble rumble rumble—

The thunderous roar from deep within the earth reverberated through the heavens and the earth, and the dust and debris from the crumbling crust were blown from the bowels of the earth into the high sky, forming a thousand-feet-tall layer of dark brown clouds that obscured the sun. Countless Spirit Ores from deep within the ground were blown into the air, glittering with seven-colored lights that turned into a display of Primordial Magnetic Neon in the sky.

Seeing this scene, the Golden Crows, originally intending to retreat, screeched sharply before once again diving toward Mengshan True Person, entangling him tightly on the spot.

Even the Cangsu Cang in An Jing’s breast pocket, which had been unconscious before, woke up and stared intently in one direction with its bright eyes. It let out a squeaking noise, turning its back with its fluffy tail standing straight up, pointing directly at a certain bulging stratum on the side of the rift.

"What? Wait a second..."

An Jing activated his True Spirit Eye and immediately his breathing became rapid—because that was exactly the source of Chonggang Town’s core vein, the Chenjing Mine... A Sinking Crystal Seed!

This Crystal Seed, roughly the height of a person, was set within a massive Crystal Cave, surrounded by silver-grey Sinking Crystals. The upheaval of the earth’s crust had exposed it, lying there in silent slumber.

—Could this be fortune? An Jing did not think twice. At this point, not seizing it would be more suspicious. Even if Chonggang Town later demanded the return of the Crystal Seed, he could argue that he was helping to protect it for mutual benefit.

"Got it!"

An Jing spurred on Tengshuang White, moving to the side of the rift. Lifting his hand, he used Air-Strike Force to lift the Crystal Seed, then tucked it into the Great Void Magical Instrument. The whole process did not even span the time it takes to flick one’s finger, smooth as if he had done it millions of times before.

"Haha, was it really that simple?"

Pleased with his own fluid actions, and with no one else vying for the treasure, An Jing was in high spirits: "It seems a great calamity surely brings great treasures. Though I know not what that Three-legged Golden Crow truly seeks, obtaining this Crystal Seed justifies my adventure!"

He made Tengshuang White ascend further, then glanced sideways at where he had just flown past the Crystal Cave.

And then, An Jing froze.

He opened his eyes in disbelief, his True Spirit Eye involuntarily pushing to its limits. Streams of Golden Blood Fiend and Gold Fiend rose along his tear ducts, causing even Huo Qing behind him to sense something was amiss.

But at this moment, An Jing had no time to care about these things.

Because he saw, below the rift, amid the endless dust and the pitch-black chasms... there was light.

Beneath that light, at the deepest depths of Chonggang Town, a vast subterranean cavity was faintly visible, much larger than Chonggang Town itself.

And due to the splitting open of the rift, a glimpse of the true face of the enormous cavity was revealed. It was an ancient, dust-enshrouded complex of ruins.

A colossal, almost perfectly preserved, city of the Immortal Path.