Stranger Danger
Chapter 1380: The Sky Breaks, The Mirror Flies

Chapter 1380: The Sky Breaks, The Mirror Flies

“The Clear Sky Mirror and the Xuanyuan Sword definitely deserve their reputation.”

Inside the teahouse, Feng Qingyou let out a wistful sigh. “Alas, it is not enough.”

Ye Qing nodded in agreement. The battle was being waged in the imperial capital and Emperor Jing Run’s domain. That was why outsiders such as Haotian Hong and Xuanyuan Wang were suppressed. That had changed after the duo used the Clear Sky Mirror and Xuanyuan Sword to forcefully break Emperor Jing Run’s terrain advantage.

The Clear Sky Mirror was a sacred artifact of the heavens and an instrument of fate. As the Son of Heaven, one might say that Emperor Jing Run was chosen by the heavens and fate to rule. That was why he enjoyed the blessings and protection of the Heavenly Way.

By activating the fateful power of the Clear Sky Mirror, Haotian Hong had cut off the blessings and protection Emperor Jing Run enjoyed from the heavens. This meant that he was no longer strengthened and protected by the Heavenly Way.

The Xuanyuan Sword was a sacred artifact of the Human Way. Its foundation was the human race itself. As the master of a people, Emperor Jing Run naturally enjoyed their worship and protection.

By activating the human power of the Xuanyuan Sword, Xuanyuan Wang had cut off the channels between Emperor Jing Run and his people. This meant that he was no longer strengthened and protected by his people.

Without the Heavenly Way or the Human Way to protect or strengthen him, Emperor Jing Run was much weaker as a matter of course.

But why did Feng Qingyou say that it wasn’t enough? That was because of the Earthly Sovereign Bell—or rather, the lack thereof.

Emperor Jing Run was the regent of a nation and the lord of a vast realm. He naturally received the protection and blessings of his realm.

Although Yue Hanhai was able to shatter Chu’s Will of the Empire and stop Emperor Jing Run from borrowing strength from his realm, the Profound Yellow Bell was ultimately not the Earthly Sovereign Bell.

As mentioned before, the Profound Yellow Bell was inferior to the Earthly Sovereign Bell in every way except its offensive capabilities. Therefore, even though the Profound Yellow Bell was successfully in dispersing the power of the realm of Chu and lowering Emperor Jing Run’s strength further, it wasn’t to a degree comparable to the Clear Sky Mirror or the Xuanyuan Sword.

Because of this, Emperor Jing Run retained a measure of power despite the severe debilities he received.

Of course, that did not mean he could win this battle. In fact, it was only a matter of time before he lost the battle.

It wasn’t going to happen immediately though. It was worth noting that the Clear Sky Mirror, Xuanyuan Sword, and Profound Yellow Bell had used up much of their power to isolate Emperor Jing Run’s power of Heavenly Way, sever his channels of Human Way, and scatter his power of the realm. As a result, they had become much weaker than before.

Originally, the Clear Sky Mirror had shone like the blazing sun. Now, it was dim like the sunset.

The Xuanyuan Sword was brimming with the power of the Heavenly Way and looking like it could cut through anything before. Now, it looked almost like an ordinary sword.

The Profound Yellow Bell fared even worse than its peers. Its chime was weak, and its profound light was dim.

This was the biggest reason why Emperor Jing Run’s side was still hanging on despite having a large portion of their power severed.

On a related note, the battle no longer looked or sounded as grandiose and terrible as before since both sides had become much weaker.

However, the risk of death and injury had increased dramatically.

It was because both sides were beginning to stake it all in hopes of killing the other person.

At this point, it wasn’t win or lose.

It was life or death.

Naturally, a life-or-death battle carried a much higher risk than any other battle.

A teatime later, Xuanyuan Wang found a gap in Chu Xuanxuan’s defenses and swung the Xuanyuan Sword. The weapon exploded into rainbow light, cut right through the restriction of the Natural Five Phases Flags, and struck Chu Xunxian squarely in the torso.

Chu Xunxian let out a muffled groan as his physical body was ground into paste by the sword qi. He only survived because his mind had slipped into the Natural Five Phases Flags.

But of course, Chu Xunxian was way weaker after losing his physical body. The Natural Five Phases Flags were not as powerful as before either. Another dozen or so breaths later, Xuanyuan Wang found another opportunity and removed the Cyan Lotus Treasure Color Flag, Off Ground Flame Light Flag, and Plain Color Cloud Realm Flag in one slash, dealing massive damage to Chu Xunxian once more. With this, he simply could not protect the Heavens’ Eye any longer.

Xuanyuan Wang did not miss the opportunity. He immediately unleashed a devastating strike at the Heavens’ Eye.

Emperor Jing Run was being pinned down by Haotian Hong and unable to spare any attention to his surroundings. Li Chengzhong, Wan Bainian and more were no match for Yue Wanhai. It was all they could do just to defend themselves and survive, much less protect the Heavens’ Eye. By the time they realized what was going on, it was already too late.

“You dare!”

Emperor Jing Run’s eyes threatened to fall out of his eye sockets as he roared. He tried to stop the sword strike but was dragged into a separate space by the Clear Sky Mirror. As a result, he could only watch helplessly as the sword strike hit the Heavens’ Eye.

BOOM!!!

A deafening boom erupted, and the sky shook violently. At first, the gigantic Heavens’ Eye unleashed an infinite amount of light and stirred up the surrounding energies until it felt like a stormy ocean. Then, both the light and the energies abruptly burst out like a broken dam and disappeared in no time at all.

A new crack appeared on the Heavens’ Eye’s surface, and it was longer and larger than all the other cracks combined. It spanned nearly the entirety of its surface.

From the ground, it looked as if the sky had broken into pieces.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!”

Emperor Jing Run was bonded with the Heavens’ Eye, so the blow also dealt him a severe blow. His rage reaching a boiling point, he roared at the top of his lungs, “I will kill you all if it’s the last thing I do!”

It was as if Emperor Jing Run had gone insane. He forcefully activated the Heavens’ Eye even though he knew that it would deplete its essence further.

The Heavens’ Eye shook violently as tiny flecks of light began rising from its dim surface. The light looked incredibly weak at first, but a single spark was enough to light an entire prairie on fire. That was what happened. The sparks eventually culminated into an inferno that spanned the entire sky.

There was no time for the combatants to react. The light created by the Heavens’ Eye instantly engulfed not just Haotian Hong, Xuanyuan Wang, and Yue Hanhai, but also Emperor Jing Run’s own allies.

The gigantic inferno lasted at least a dozen breaths. Finally, a mirror, a sword, and a bell rushed out of the all-encompassing light and rammed into the Heavens’ Eye.

RUMBLE!!!

There was another massive explosion. The titanic clash of powers generated violent streams that instantly ripped the entire sky into a lightless hell of chaos.

Like helpless boats, both the Heavens’ Eye and the Earthly Sovereign Bell were swept away by the currents of chaos and moved dozens of kilometers away in an instant.

“I’ll kill you all!”

The Heavens’ Eye had taken yet another blow, and so did Emperor Jing Run. However, the man could not seem to feel his injuries. In fact, his aura grew stronger as he charged Haotian Hong, Xuanyuan Wang and Yue Hanhai alone.

“It’s our turn. Let’s go!”

Inside the teahouse, Feng Qingyou and Ye Qing exchanged a glance with each other. As soon as they stepped out of the teahouse, they disappeared.

A few breaths later, the duo appeared at the foot of a mountain called the Star Embracing Mountain. It was located dozens of kilometers away from the imperial capital.

The Star Embracing Mountain was the tallest mountain in Chu. Thousands of meters tall, it was steep and treacherous. Over a thousand years ago, the poet celestial of that era once scaled the mountain and created this poem: “A lone mount cuts into the clouds and embraces the stars like a celestial.” In one sentence, he had clearly described the height and dangers of the Star Embracing Mountain. It was also how the mountain earned its name.

For the past thousand years, the Star Embracing Mountain was also a famous scenic spot in Chu due to its treacherousness and height. In fact, it was the symbol of the imperial capital. People often said that it was a mistake to visit the imperial capital of Chu but not scale the Star Embracing Mountain.

Alas, the tallest mountain of Chu had snapped into two. It was as if a titan had broken its spine.

Considering what had happened, it wasn’t too far away from the truth. The culprit that snapped the Star Embracing Mountain into two was none other than the Heavens’ Eye. The gigantic mirror had cut through the poor mountain like a sharp blade and embedded itself within the severed half of the mountain.

“A shame the Star Embracing Mountain is no more!” Feng Qingyou sighed while Ye Qing raced straight toward the Heavens’ Eye.

The three sect heads and Emperor Jing Run were fighting an epic battle against each other right now. Everyone else was still recovering from the shockwaves of the battle. Therefore, now was the best time to act. If they waited too long—if the battle ended, or some people recovered their wits and realized that they should probably go after the Heavens’ Eye and the Earthly Sovereign Bell—then they would be in trouble.

Some opportunities came and went in a flash. That was why Ye Qing did not dare to waste even a second.