Chapter 147: The Yata Mirror
"Swish—"
The teleportation array lit up for the fourth time, but this time, instead of the white-robed mad avatar prone to self-destruction in Hong Chenji's eyes, a figure emerged clad in a white daoist robe, exuding a gentle, jade-like demeanor—
Chen Chang'an himself!
The teleportation array combined with avatar self-destruction was the most powerful attack method he had devised over the years.
Unfortunately, the number of avatars was limited, with a maximum of three per day.
Thus, on the fourth attempt, choosing between hiding and his daughter's safety, he stepped out of the valley for the first time.
"Hiss—"
Recognizing the newcomer, Hong Chenji inhaled sharply, nearly sucking the surrounding gray mist into his lungs.
Another peak Saint Realm powerhouse?!
Since when did the lower realm start mass-producing such experts?
He recalled the Venerable on Mount Buzhou informing him that Saint Realm cultivators were rare in the lower realm, with no Immortal Venerables present. Occupying Hong Chenji's body, he was supposed to dominate the lower realm.
Yet, after just a few steps, he was already being ganged up on by three peak Saint Realm experts?
If he continued strutting about, he'd likely end up a corpse in the wilderness soon!
The earlier confidence in his chest vanished instantly. Now, he only wanted to find a place to hide and reassess this world.
Chen Chang'an hovered in mid-air, first surveying the shattered gray mist, then glancing at the unharmed Chen Xingcai and Ji Hongli. His tense expression finally eased, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
But the next moment—
[Ding! Detecting target attempting to flee!]
[If the target escapes successfully, the legendary achievement "Unraveling the Void's Mystery" will be deemed a failure!]
"Not good!" Chen Chang'an's face changed. Without even greeting his daughter, he drew his longsword and unleashed a horizontal slash toward Hong Chenji!
He had come this far, risking his life—if he didn't secure the achievement, wouldn't this trip be a massive loss?
At the same time, Ji Hongli on the other side acted in perfect sync!
"Clang—"
A crimson sword light, striking first despite being launched later, formed a flawless pincer attack with Chen Chang'an's white sword aura!
Hong Chenji flailed to activate his realm-breaking talisman. As the sword qi approached, he blocked one with a hand, but the talisman, just beginning to glow, was shredded by the second sword strike.
"My escape talisman—you're asking for death!"
Hong Chenji laughed in furious defiance, his aura twisting violently. His once-solid body began to crack with grotesque fissures.
These cracks resembled abyssal rifts, dark and profound, and even more chillingly—each fissure slowly opened to reveal crimson eyes!
Countless eyeballs covered his body, each gleaming with an eerie luster, their pupils contracting as if harboring different law powers.
What on earth is this?
Chen Chang'an landed in front of Ji Hongli and Chen Xingcai.
"Father!" Chen Xingcai exclaimed excitedly.
But the next moment, she saw her father and master exchange a glance, then without hesitation, both waved a hand. Two gentle streams of spiritual energy transformed into differently colored light orbs, encasing her tightly.
Keeping her by their side for protection was safer than sending her out of the battlefield now.
Chen Xingcai, aware she was currently a liability, immediately fell silent, sitting obediently within the protective barrier.
Ji Hongli and Chen Chang'an then stood shoulder to shoulder. Though silent, they moved in perfect unison, charging forward!
Quick victory! x2
Chen Chang'an's longsword crackled with entwined lightning, a sword technique summoning the thunder of the nine heavens!
"Boom—!"
Blinding lightning, like a dragon or snake, struck directly at Hong Chenji's forehead.
Yet, the eyes within those fissures suddenly rotated, weaving a net of petrifying rays that froze the thunder mid-air, turning it into a lightning sculpture before shattering it!
Hong Chenji let out a sinister laugh, the eyes on his body flashing again. This time, extreme cold and blazing flames erupted simultaneously! The space to his left froze instantly, ice crystals spreading; the right ignited into a raging sea of fire, scorching the air!
Ji Hongli snorted coldly, the cold gleam of her Heavenly Kusanagi Sword intensifying. She neither dodged nor evaded, charging into close combat!
Her swordplay was devoid of flourish, relying solely on pure speed and power. Each strike gouged out an eye, blood splattering three feet!
Seeing this, Chen Chang'an altered his sword technique, the lightning transforming into threads like roaming dragons, targeting the eyes within Hong Chenji's fissures.
One attacking from afar, the other up close, their coordination was flawless. Soon, most of the eyes on Hong Chenji were blinded, crimson bloody tears seeping from the cracks, corroding deep pits into the ground upon contact.
However, amid the fierce battle, Chen Chang'an caught a glimpse of the longsword in Ji Hongli's hand, feeling a vague familiarity.
Those patterns on the blade, the carvings on the hilt…
This sword… why does it seem so familiar…
But he had no time to dwell on it.
Though wounded, Hong Chenji showed no signs of defeat, and the remaining eyes gleamed with even more dangerous light…
Hong Chenji's body suddenly trembled violently, emitting a roar unlike any human sound. The fissures around him writhed and expanded like living entities, the dark cracks rapidly eroding his remaining human outline.
His skin tore apart inch by inch, bones twisted and deformed, and the features that once defined him as "human" were displaced by the widening gaps—his nose skewed toward his ear, his lips split to his cheekbones, and his bloodshot eyes were pushed to his temples by wriggling flesh.
The most chilling change occurred at the center of his face. All remaining crimson eyes suddenly spun wildly, then, as if summoned, converged and fused toward his forehead.
Amid the sound of tearing flesh, a massive compound eye formed at the center, shoving his original features to the sides. Composed of dozens of pupils, each gleaming with a different menacing light, it now locked onto the distant Chen Xingcai.
"Die—!"
Accompanied by a distorted, warped roar, the compound eye contracted sharply, unleashing a pale beam of light! Wherever it passed, the space cracked with fine fissures, as if even the laws of heaven and earth were about to be pierced.
Chen Chang'an's pupils contracted, his longsword's lightning surging. The thunder of the nine heavens gathered at the blade's edge, forming a purple lightning-wreathed barrier. But just as he swung his sword—
"Clang—"
A clear, resonant sound rang out.
Ji Hongli parted her lips slightly, and an ancient bronze mirror flew from her mouth.
The bronze mirror hovered in the air, its frame adorned with ancient cloud-thunder patterns, each groove seeming to flow with the traces of time.
Its surface was not the smooth glass of modern mirrors but bore a hazy mist-like glow, like a lake under moonlight, faintly reflecting the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth, yet seemingly connected to another realm.
This was one of her trump card immortal artifacts—the Yata Mirror!
The mirror expanded with the wind, instantly growing to a size of several zhang, perfectly intercepting the white beam's path.
The cloud patterns on its frame glowed with azure light, its surface rippling like water, absorbing the devastating white light entirely.
"Boom—!"
After a brief pause, the mirror's surface trembled violently, reflecting the same white light back with even greater ferocity! For the first time, a look of shock crossed Hong Chenji's twisted face.
The pupils within the compound eye contracted wildly, but it was too late to evade the fatal beam it had unleashed…
…
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