Chapter 80 — The Eighth Chapter

The demonic cultivators brought out every bizarre and outlandish treasure they possessed; by contrast, most of the Canglan elders wielded immortal swords. But in the hands of elders who had cultivated the Supreme Mystery of the Great Ultimate Purity to the Shangqing realm, those sword-gleams swept boundless and transformed without limit; had the demonic masters not been so many, they might well not have fallen into disadvantage at all.

Still, though Tian Buhui and the others could yet hold, the situation among the ordinary Qingyun disciples below was desperate. The demonic cult had made careful arrangements for this great assault, and the Nether King in particular had laid detailed plans, counting on the fact that because Zhang Qingyue carried a strange treasure and the Fanyin Temple's un-transmitted dharma, the Canglan masters would surely gather at the Jade Balance Hall. So in dealing with the Qingyun disciples, following Daoist Cangyan's report, they had concealed masters in ambush and struck suddenly, and the effect was indeed remarkable: the Qingyun disciples fell into confusion, with countless dead and wounded.

Only, the Nether King had not reckoned with one thing—the Canglan Sect's guardian spirit beast, the Water Qilin.

Since the passing of Patriarch Qingye a thousand years before, the Water Qilin had kept to the Emerald Pool, free and at ease, and had never truly shown its might. Even in the great battle at the foot of Mount Canglan a hundred years ago, the Water Qilin had not come down the mountain to fight, and so the Canglan Sect of this generation, Daoist Cangyan included, knew not what the Water Qilin's power truly was.

But roused by the strife between the demonic cult and the Qingyun disciples, the Water Qilin, as the mountain's guardian spirit beast, naturally flew into a fury and struck. This sudden turn nearly changed the whole course of the battle.

The Water Qilin stood in the now churning Emerald Pool, the whole of the pool's waters swirling urgently around the great beast. A dozen columns of water, each as thick as a man's embrace, were raised from around the Water Qilin by this thousand-year spirit beast through its spiritual power, and among them, faintly, were mingled countless resentful spirits and ghosts of those the Qilin had devoured in ages past, striking out on every side against the demonic cultists.

At first the demonic cultists paid the strange beast no mind and swarmed to attack it, only to be shattered at a touch of those water columns. The Water Qilin's might was astonishing; in moments seven or eight were crushed to death by the columns, and seven or eight more perished, trapped by the resentful spirits in the water. The demonic cultivators were stricken with terror and scattered in flight, while the Qingyun disciples took heart.

In a short while this turn roused the four great sect masters of the demonic cult still upon the Jade Balance Hall. First they sent down several masters, and at last even the Fairy Sanmiao and the Poison God came down in turn; only then was the situation steadied and the Water Qilin gradually hemmed in.

The Fairy Sanmiao and the Poison God were each masters of one of the four great sects, persons of no small consequence, and their cultivation far surpassed that of the other demonic masters. Once the two entered the fray, the Fairy Sanmiao wielded a strange, soft white thread, well-nigh invisible to the eye; she danced it fine and delicate, as though weaving an unseen net. Several times the Water Qilin drove its water columns to charge, fierce beyond compare, yet they were blocked by that soft, invisible net and dissolved into nothing.

As for the Poison God, after watching the Water Qilin and the Fairy Sanmiao trade blows a while, he nodded, drew from his bosom a small knife half a foot long, its clear light flowing, and gripped it in his right hand, while in his left he held a jade bottle. He pulled out the stopper—who could say what was within?

After a moment, as though the Poison God had stirred his thought-force, the small knife blazed with light, its keen edge extending forward. The Poison God gave a light wave, and at once, as easily as cutting bean curd, he severed the water column nearest him; then swiftly his left hand flicked, and some powder that looked blue in the air fell upon the place where the water column had risen.

The Water Qilin seemed to sense something; it turned its head and gave a furious roar, and with a great crash the pool waters raised yet another, still vaster column from where it stood, straight at the Poison God. But the Poison God's expression did not change, and indeed in but a moment the Water Qilin suddenly roared aloud, and the column attacking the Poison God burst apart and fell back into the pool—and the waters nearby had turned wholly a deep, dark blue.

Thus the Poison God cut and sprinkled poison, and in a trice nearly half the water columns the Water Qilin had raised were destroyed; while on the other side the Fairy Sanmiao, her face expressionless, bound fast the Water Qilin's attacking columns with the "Lingering Silk" secretly transmitted by the Sect of Bewitchment.

By now any clear-eyed observer could see that the Water Qilin, caught between these two demonic masters, was certain to be defeated.

On high, Yuyangzi and the Nether King stood shoulder to shoulder looking down. Seeing the situation all but settled, Yuyangzi looked smug and said, "With two sect masters joining forces, no matter how fierce the beast, it makes no difference!"

The Nether King smiled faintly, then looked to the sky. Under the assault of the crowd, the Canglan Sect was still resisting, but being outnumbered, it was hard pressed indeed. He laughed and said, "Brother Yuyang, with this great deed today, hereafter within the Holy Cult none shall match your prestige."

Yuyangzi turned and glanced at him, overjoyed at heart, and laughed aloud.

The Nether King sneered inwardly, but on his face he smiled and said, "In that case, lest the night bring many dreams, why do we not strike together and put an end to these Canglan wretches—"

Yuyangzi, elated, said, "Good! I shall strike alongside you!"

The Nether King nodded and smiled. "After you, brother!"

Yuyangzi chuckled, leapt up, spread his arms, and with a flash of silver light a wondrous mirror appeared in his hand, black on one face and white on the other.

Behind him, the Nether King's face suddenly darkened, and deep in his gaze a cold gleam flashed. He stirred, as if about to do something—but at that very moment, from the distant horizon, a low, unearthly wail came drifting.

Suddenly, the whole Canglan mountain range, that heaven-piercing peak that had stood for ten million years, seemed to tremble faintly!

Suddenly, every immortal sword and magic treasure in every hand gave a faint, warm, low hum—toward that dazzling radiance!

The Heaven-Reaching Peak towered into the clouds, and the sky that had been clear for a thousand years gradually darkened.

Only that one dazzling beam at the horizon remained, like a leaping bolt of fire, breaking free of all restraint, soaring above the nine heavens, racing hither.

In an instant—detonation!

Glory beyond all brilliance blazed across the world, and the figure deep within the light held its sword toward heaven.

All held their breath, staring up in astonishment. In that very instant of distraction, the Water Qilin in the Emerald Pool gave a mad roar—yet it attacked the Poison God and the Fairy Sanmiao no more. Instead, all the water columns crashed together, forming a vast, immense curtain of water that bore the Water Qilin straight up into the sky, flying toward the depths of that radiance!

Above the heavens, a spirit beast roared, and the echo rolled unending.