Translator: CinderTL
Hong Guang wasn't the only one trembling. Hong Tu, Hong Feng, and the other Primordial Spirit True Monarchs also felt a buzzing in their minds. As True Monarchs of the Hong Clan, they were intimately familiar with the formidable power of their Ancestral Temple's protective formation. Even a Sixth-Rank Cosmic Radiance-Tier expert would struggle to breach it quickly.
Moreover, the Hong Clan Ancestral Shrine housed the Eternal Light left by their founding ancestor. Under its radiant glow, all living beings within the shrine could rapidly replenish their depleted energy, and their defensive formations could be swiftly repaired. Any clansman the enemy couldn't defeat in the short term would remain undefeated forever, and any formation they couldn't break quickly would remain unbreakable. This was the foundation of their confidence.
But now...
Li Chunjun had shattered a Sixth-Rank formation in an instant, displaying combat prowess at the pinnacle of the Sixth-Rank—a standard worthy of the Cosmic Light List's top ten! With a portion of their True Monarchs lost in the battle against the Heart Demon and the rest deployed to the Azure Star Minor Realm, only a little over a hundred remained. How could they possibly stand against a powerhouse ranked among the Cosmic Light List's top ten?
For a moment, fear involuntarily surfaced in the eyes of many True Monarchs.
Witnessing the scene, the woman suddenly declared, "Don't be afraid! Breaking our Ancestral Temple's Defensive Formation has already pushed him to his limit. He seems to be suffering the consequences himself—the fact that he can't launch another attack anytime soon proves it!"
Suppressing her fear, she activated her Divine Sense. "We possess the Eternal Light, a Seventh-Rank Origin Supreme Treasure left by our founding ancestor. Even if the formation shatters, it will swiftly reassemble! Muster your courage and steadfast resolve! Victory will undoubtedly be ours!"
Her impassioned words sent a jolt through Hong Guang, who had been trembling with fear.
She's right!
With all pretenses abandoned and both sides now fully committed, their only option was to stand firm and fight Li Chunjun to the bitter end. Could they really expect him to show mercy?
As he himself had declared, only one side—the Hong Clan or Li Chunjun—would survive this day's battle.
"Maximize the Eternal Light's power! Everyone else, pour every ounce of strength into maintaining the formation. If it breaks, True Monarchs, immediately intercept him! Spare no effort—hold him back at all costs until they retreat!"
As for whether Li Chunjun would turn his attention to Hong Yan after failing to breach the Ancestral Temple...
At that moment, Li Chunjun couldn't afford to hesitate.
Even if it meant preserving only a remnant of his clan's legacy, one side would inevitably have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Boom!
As Hong Guang rallied his forces and issued commands, Li Chunjun unleashed the Great Mystic Power Void Heaven Flash once more. Like a sword light tearing through the void, he crashed violently into the reactivated Array Formation guarding the Eternal Light.
The painstakingly repaired formation shattered again.
Several Nascent Soul True Lords, tasked with maintaining the array but possessing comparatively weak cultivation, coughed up blood and suffered severe Primal Qi depletion as the formation was forcibly breached.
Fortunately, the Ancestral Temple was surrounded by elite warriors.
Even as one, two, or even a dozen True Lords fell into critical condition, others immediately stepped forward to fill the gaps.
Simultaneously, Primordial Spirit True Monarchs, braving the terrifying spatial tremors caused by the formation's collapse, surged against the tide to intercept Li Chunjun with suicidal resolve.
By the time Li Chunjun had slain these self-sacrificing True Monarchs, the formation he had just shattered had already been repaired.
Yu Jin, observing from afar, declared, "Sword Master, let us handle this! The moment the formation cracks again, we'll charge in and slaughter them all. I want to see how many Primordial Spirits the Hong Clan is willing to throw into the fray!"
"No need," Li Chunjun said, waving his hand dismissively.
Now that his life rank had reached Level 33, each Primordial Spirit True Monarch would grant him at least 1,000 experience points. The Hong Clan currently had over a hundred such experts.
Considering the proportion of Fourth and Seventh Tribulation True Monarchs among them, these hundred individuals should easily provide him with 120,000 to 130,000 experience points—nearly forty percent of what he needed to level up.
Combined with his own accumulated experience and the Heart Demons lurking within the Hong Clan's Lesser Thousand World...
He stood a strong chance of reaching the threshold for advancing to Level 34.
Therefore, he had no intention of letting Yu Jin and the others intervene.
As for the True Monarchs aboard the Silver Leaf...
They could content themselves with bullying Nascent Soul True Lords.
"Does he truly believe I can't shatter this formation in a single strike?" Li Chunjun muttered. In the next instant, he soared into the sky, ascending directly toward the upper atmosphere.
Yu Jin's eyes lit up with excitement as he watched this spectacle.
The Void Bridge!
Swordmaster Li was about to unleash his signature dao technique—the Void Bridge—a peerless strike comparable to the full-force assault of a Seventh-Rank lifeform!
In stark contrast to Yu Jin and the others' excitement, Hong Guang and his companions were ashen-faced.
They had barely withstood Li Chunjun's Great Divine Ability, Void Heaven Flash. If they were to face the Void Bridge, a strike comparable to the full power of a Seventh-Rank lifeform, their entire Array Formation would be annihilated in an instant, its Formation Bases utterly destroyed.
Even the ceaseless energy provided by the Eternal Light for repairs would be meaningless once the foundation was shattered.
"Li Chunjun!" Hong Guang roared furiously, his Divine Sense swiftly catching up to Li Chunjun's figure. "Do you truly intend to make the Hong Clan your sworn enemy for eternity? Our founding ancestor is a Void Refining Great Power! If you destroy our clan, he will never let this rest!"
Fear gripped the Hong Clan. Their bluster was merely a desperate attempt to mask their terror.
Alas, Li Chunjun paid him no heed.
Having come this far, what foolish words are these?
He had already annihilated hundreds of millions of the Hong Clan's core members with a single strike. Their founding ancestor would never forgive such an act.
But none of it mattered.
By the time he returned to the Profound Yellow Great World, he would likely have attained Void Refining himself.
Moreover, given his deep foundation, once he reached Void Refining, he would undoubtedly become one of its foremost practitioners.
By then, it would be uncertain who would be the one refusing to let matters rest.
Seeing Li Chunjun remain unmoved, Hong Guang grew desperate and furious. "Li Chunjun! No matter how formidable you are, you haven't truly stepped into the Void Refinement Realm. You..."
"Hong Qianjue, the Elder of the Hong Clan, must be spinning in his grave to have descendants like you!" Yu Jin sneered at Hong Guang's dying struggle. "You yourselves believed that in this foreign land, even the most talented individuals would die and be forgotten—that strength was the only true measure. What? Does that principle no longer apply to your own Hong Clan?"
As he subtly guided the True Monarchs to retreat, Yu Jin continued, "How long did it take Swordmaster Li to rise from the top of the Star Brilliance List to possessing peak Sixth-Rank combat power? With his innate talent, do you think Void Refining will be an insurmountable obstacle for him? And once he reaches the Void Refinement Realm..."
Yu Jin emphasized gravely, "The real threat isn't Swordmaster Li—it's your own Hong Clan Ancestor, Hong Qianjue!"
This truth struck Hong Guang and every member of the Hong Clan like a thunderous blow to the chest.
When Li Chunjun displayed his peak Sixth-Rank power, his terrifying rate of growth had already filled them with a mixture of awe and terror.
Yet...
The truth was too brutal for them to bear, their instincts recoiling from dwelling on it.
Now, Yu Jin had ruthlessly exposed it. Every member of the Hong Clan turned deathly pale, their eyes brimming with uncontrollable terror.
A prodigy...
The Hong Clan feared no ordinary prodigy. But a genius like Li Chunjun, one destined to reach the Void Refining Realm swiftly—so swiftly they wouldn't have time to suppress him—that was a terror they couldn't ignore.
Seeing Li Chunjun's figure nearing the edge of his Divine Sense range, Hong Guang could no longer contain his fear or the consequences the Hong Clan would face. He unleashed his full Divine Sense, shouting, "Li Chunjun! Sword Prodigy Li! The Hong Clan yields!"
He pleaded urgently, "It's better to resolve grudges than let them fester! We are both members of the Human Race, part of the Azure Sea Domain, stranded in foreign lands. We should support each other, not resort to mutual annihilation! The Hong Clan acknowledges its error and offers compensation. I beg Sword Prodigy Li to grant us a chance!"
Li Chunjun remained silent.
Instead, he flickered and streaked toward the void beyond the heavens.
Those who commit wrongs must face the consequences.
In other words...
They must pay the price.
"Sword Prodigy Li! Swordmaster Li?! No! No!"
Hong Guang watched helplessly as Li Chunjun's figure vanished from their Divine Sense without hesitation, his pain and resentment reaching their peak.
He wasn't alone. Hong Feng, Hong Tu, and the woman beside them stood pale as death, their eyes filled with profound despair.
"This shouldn't be happening... this shouldn't be happening..." the woman murmured, her voice hollow and distraught. "Why... why did we have to encounter such a monster?"
Hong Feng glanced at her. "Li Chunjun has always held the top spot on the Star Brilliance List..." he said bitterly. "We knew that all along. Our only miscalculation was assuming that others who reached the top with a Ninth Tribulation Primordial Spirit did so because that was the limit of their power. But Li Chunjun... even by merely displaying the strength of a Ninth Tribulation Primordial Spirit, he could easily secure the first rank! Yet his true power... a Perfected Primordial Spirit, Quasi-Sage, Sage-level... no one truly knows what he's capable of."
The True Monarch's eyes were filled with profound helplessness. "Especially now that he's attained True Monarch status, spent time consolidating his cultivation, and, like us, obtained the invaluable opportunity of the 'Heart Demon'... no one can truly fathom the extent of his power!"
This fatal misjudgment had brought catastrophic disaster upon the Hong Clan, threatening its very existence.
Even their founding ancestor, Hong Qianjue, would likely suffer the consequences in the future.
"Clan Leader, send a message to Miss Hong Yan!"
Hong Feng raised his head, gazing at the Heavenly Vault. "If Li Chunjun can truly manifest the Void Bridge... Hong Yan must never go to the Azure Star Minor Realm. She must gather the rest of the clan and flee as far as possible. Only then might they have a sliver of hope to preserve a spark of our clan's legacy... to survive."
Hong Guang cast him a sorrowful glance. "It's my fault... I am the sinner of the Hong Clan..."
"All things are governed by cause and effect," Hong Feng replied. "The Hong Clan, arrogant in its reliance on the founding ancestor, has grown accustomed to bullying others. Today, we pay the price for our arrogance."
"Send the message," Hong Feng urged.
Hong Guang lowered his head in anguish.
In the end, they sent the message.
Almost immediately after it was sent, that terrifying sense of oppression and suffocation returned, crushing their hearts.
Though the physical pressure was actually less intense than before, the despair it brought to Hong Guang, Hong Tu, Hong Feng, and the others was immeasurably greater.
"Void Bridge! Void Bridge!" Hong Tu roared skyward in utter despair.
When the resplendent Seven-Colored Rainbow Light materialized across the Heavenly Vault, the Primordial Spirit True Monarch, who had mastered Mind Power, completely broke down.
"It's real... all of it is real!"
"Such a Heavenly Prodigy... exists in this world..." Hong Feng exhaled weakly.
"I refuse to accept this!" Hong Guang suddenly surged to his feet, his Qi blazing around him. With a furious roar, he charged into the heavens, bellowing, "The Hong Clan shall endure for ten thousand generations..."
Boom!
The Seven-Colored Rainbow Light descended!
Like a supreme divine sword capable of piercing the Void, it tore through the fabric of space and plunged violently into the Hong Clan Ancestral Shrine, instantly engulfing the despairing, maddened, broken, roaring, and defiant figures beneath its incandescent glow.
(End of the Chapter)
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