Ch. 1333 - Primordial Lich Emerges, Celestial Talisman

Heaven and earth trembled as the ground split apart. From within the widening fissures, the shadow of a monstrous being slowly emerged.

This creature’s head bore three horns, one on each side and a third on its forehead. Its body was dark crimson, and most horrifying of all, it had only one eye, an enormous vertical slit gleaming at the center of its face. Its mouth gaped open, lined with countless needle-like teeth, dense and terrible to look upon. Anyone with a fear of clusters would find it unbearable to even glance at.

As the earth’s trembling grew stronger, more of the monster’s enormous body surfaced. It was massive, with rows of barbs running down its back. Its limbs were thick but oddly short, giving it a grotesque, unbalanced shape. When the creature appeared, dust filled the air, the ground quaked violently, and the entire sky turned blood-red.

“So this is a Primordial Lich,” Radiant Gold said coldly, his eyes sharp as blades.

No one answered him. The Primordial Lich’s gigantic frame turned its single eye toward Radiant Gold, then reached up, clawing toward the celestial ship in the sky.

“Damn it,” Radiant Gold muttered. “Sword, come!”

The two sword slaves beside him quickly raised their blades. With two metallic clang sounds, both swords, one long and one short, flew into the air, swirling with radiant light. The long sword gleamed like a river of stars, while the shorter one shimmered faintly within his sleeve, hiding a lethal edge.

Radiant Gold shot upward, his aura as a Sage Monarch bursting forth. With a thunderous boom, his sword intent struck the Primordial Lich’s massive arm. But to his shock, the arm remained completely unscathed.

Another explosion followed, this time from the Primordial Lich itself, as its enormous hand grabbed one end of the celestial ship and tore it apart. Inside the ship, a chain of violent explosions echoed in succession.

“Sword pierce the heavens, Wind command the cosmos!” Radiant Gold roared, fury in his voice.

The devastating sword intent came crashing down again, cleaving across the Primordial Lich’s chest. The very sky trembled under the blow, the explosion echoing like divine thunder. But the creature didn’t even flinch, it continued its rampage, tearing the massive celestial ship completely in two.

Panic erupted. Countless Heavenly Court cultivators scrambled to escape from the wreckage. At first, most of them had remained hidden, uninterested in the Ancient Demon Realm since the Infernal Lord wasn’t present.

Now, with their stronghold destroyed, they had no choice but to show themselves.

Among the survivors, aside from a number of Grand Emperors and Saint Sovereigns, the two most powerful auras belonged to Radiant Gold and an elderly man seated in midair.

As the celestial ship was ripped apart, everyone else retreated in chaos. Only the old man remained motionless, sitting cross-legged in the void, utterly calm.

The Primordial Lich frowned and threw a punch at him. The strike landed squarely, and a brilliant protective barrier instantly flared around the old man. Still, the force was immense, the blow sent him flying thousands of meters backward.

He rose slowly, brushing dust from his robes. “When did such a creature appear in the Ancient Demon Realm?” he asked Radiant Gold. “I fear its strength already surpasses that of a Sage Monarch.”

“Perhaps,” Radiant Gold replied grimly. “But it’s still far from an Infinite Dao being. A true Infinite Dao cultivator could crush us both with a single finger.”

That was the terror of an Infinite Dao cultivator, the strongest existence in the world, having opened eleven meridian gates.

As for the rumored twelfth meridian gate, it was said to exist only in myth; no one had ever witnessed it.

“You haven’t noticed?” Radiant Gold said. “This Primordial Lich is not truly alive. Hellfire Asura sacrificed his life to awaken it using the heart he nurtured. Each of its attacks consumes its own life force. Once that energy runs out, it will die again naturally.”

“So what you’re saying is, we shouldn’t fight it head-on,” the old man said, nodding. “We just have to exhaust its life energy.”

The two took their positions, one to the left and one to the right, circling the Primordial Lich. Meanwhile, the other members of the Heavenly Court joined in, launching support attacks from afar.

The Primordial Lich seemed enraged by their persistence. It let out a deafening roar, and its crimson skin deepened to a molten, blood-like red. Its entire body seemed to boil from within.

“Careful!” Radiant Gold shouted. “Get back!”

But it was already too late. The Primordial Lich’s body swelled even larger, and from its core radiated waves of violent infernal energy in every direction. Radiant Gold and the old man narrowly avoided the blast, but the others weren’t so lucky. They were struck by the demonic surge and immediately immobilized, frozen where they stood.

The Primordial Lich’s three horns erupted with blinding red light, which spiraled upward into the sky. There, it formed a blood-colored vortex that began pulling everything toward it with terrifying force.

Though neither Radiant Gold nor the old man knew exactly what would happen to those consumed, the power of the vortex was unmistakably dreadful.

“What do we do?” Radiant Gold asked, his tone strained.

“Combine our strength and strike together,” the old man barked. “We must be able to hurt it!”

Radiant Gold nodded. He lifted his two swords, the long one in his right hand, the short one in his left. Behind him, his true fate spirit manifested, an ethereal figure mirroring his every motion, raising its own sword alongside his.

He moved deliberately, slowly. When his long sword fell, its light vanished into the heavens, leaving behind a cascade of sword intent that poured down like a silver river.

Meanwhile, the old man remained seated. In his palm, a brilliant orb of energy was forming, an ever-shifting sphere woven from countless elemental Primal Daos: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, mixed with wind, thunder, and shadow.

He hurled the orb forward. The sphere and Radiant Gold’s sword intent collided with the Primordial Lich simultaneously.

Another world-shaking explosion followed. Even the monstrous body of the Primordial Lich was blasted backward through the air.

But when Radiant Gold looked up again, the vortex above hadn’t stopped spinning. Many of the Heavenly Court’s cultivators had already been sucked into it, their cries echoing through the blood-colored sky.

“My lord! Save us!”

The two men exchanged grim looks, they had no other options left.

“Use the Celestial Talisman,” the old man said suddenly.

“That was granted to us by the Lord of Heaven himself,” Radiant Gold protested. “It’s meant for moments of mortal peril, only when there’s no other way!”

They both knew how precious that talisman was, it was a true lifesaving treasure.

“Think about it,” the old man replied. “The Infernal Lord has already escaped. We’ve gained nothing from this mission. If we return to the Lord of Heaven empty-handed and the Heavenly Court suffers massive losses, do you think his anger will spare us?”

He paused, his tone sharp.

“We can ask for another talisman. But the dead cannot be brought back.”

Comments