Chapter 699: Chapter 698: Dead End
Helian Zhan stood in the center of the wide square within the Zhuge family grounds when the sudden voice caused his pupils to shrink slightly, his right hand instinctively grasping the sword at his waist.
Without the three Zhuge brothers to preside over and manipulate the Nine Dragon Formation, even the qualification to draw his sword was not granted to him, yet he had broken it in the time it takes to finish a cup of tea.
However, facing this abruptly emerging voice, Helian Zhan felt pressure he hadn’t experienced in ten years.
He released his Divine Sense, attempting to lock onto the specific location of the other, only to find that they were exceedingly well-hidden, completely eluding his detection.
"I had not expected the Zhuge family to have such an ancient ancestor presiding over it; my approach was presumptuous," Helian Zhan slowly said.
"Who are you, and why have you broken my Zhuge family’s Mountain Protection Array?" the person asked, then appeared to sense something and exclaimed in shock, "How long have I been asleep for the Mountain Protection Array of the Zhuge family to have become so weak? And why has the Spiritual Power in this world become so thin?"
"Reporting to the old ancestor, you... you have been asleep for seventy-three years and six months. Over the past several decades, the Spiritual Energy in the Hidden Sect Plane World has been continuously weakening, and the forces of the Hidden Sect are facing the difficulty of dealing with the worldly mundane world," a Zhuge family elder said.
This person was over one hundred and twenty years old and was considered an ancestor-level figure within the Zhuge family, yet even facing the owner of the voice, he still respectfully addressed them as old ancestor.
"Seventy-three years, has it been so long?" the imposing voice slowly said.
"Yes, you have indeed been asleep for more than seventy-three years."
Helian Zhan narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke, "If this junior has not guessed incorrectly, you should be Elder Zhuge Hong, a peer of my master Wu Zheng."
"Wu Zheng? You belong to the Qingtian Sect?"
The voice, resounding with overwhelming authority, came through again, tinged with a hint of surprise, "The Qingtian Sect has raised a genius like you after Wu Zheng? No, Wu Zheng was of my generation, although younger than I by over thirty years. He did not wish to slumber, so after seventy-three years, he should have long passed away. You... with such full vitality and robust Life Qi Mechanism, you could not possibly be more than merely decades old, how could you be a disciple of Wu Zheng?"
"At the brink of his death, my master brought me back to Qingtian Sect, and my martial skills were indeed taught by my senior brothers," Helian Zhan explained.
"My Zhuge family has always had an amicable relationship with Qingtian Sect, so why have you come here to provoke us?" Zhuge Hong’s tone suddenly became stern as he sharply questioned.
Helian Zhan responded with a smile, "There is no provocation to speak of. The Zhuge family has concealed acts that endanger the Hidden Sect from other forces in the Hidden Sect, and for my own survival, I had no choice but to come here to seek the truth."
"Nonsense, by breaking my Zhuge family’s Mountain Protection Array and awakening me, you are provoking the Zhuge family. Even if you are a disciple of an old friend, you must leave your head behind," Zhuge Hong’s voice came with anger.
The smile on Helian Zhan’s face grew thicker as he responded lightly, "Since the elder wishes to kill me, why not come out and meet me?"
"To kill you, why does this old man’s true form need to descend?"
The angry voice drifted through the void, and with it rose a terrible oppressive force.
Everyone looked up, only to see a giant face forming in the sky, shining brilliantly, as if a divine being had descended.
Countless disciples of the Zhuge family prostrated themselves on the ground.
"The ancient ancestor has manifested!"
"This... this is the Primordial Spirit Dharma Form, congratulating the old ancestor on the breakthrough, entering a higher realm."
"Long live the old ancestor, heaven bless our Zhuge family!"
Dan Wuji’s face was filled with terror as he exclaimed, "Master, this... this is a manifestation of the Primordial Spirit, is this person’s Primordial Spirit so powerful that it can separate and manifest itself?"
Helian Zhan’s expression turned extremely solemn, while everyone else couldn’t raise their eyes to face the giant face emitting a soft golden light, he stood proudly, his gaze sharp as a knife, fixedly staring at the face.
"A manifestation of the Primordial Spirit, eh?" Helian Zhan’s eyes gleamed with scorn as he suddenly drew his sword towards the sky.
"The Realm of Divine Void, which my teacher disdained, now appears so insignificant in the eyes of Helian Zhan as well."
Shh!
Sword Qi soared through the air.
As Helian Zhan swung his sword furiously towards the sky, a huge rift suddenly appeared in the void above Wolong Ridge.
It was as if the entire void had been split in two.
A crack appeared on the giant golden face, starting from the center of the forehead.
The crack quickly spread, cleaving the entire face in two.
Boom!
The giant face exploded, vanishing without a trace.
The reverent disciples of the Zhuge family, who had been worshipping, turned pale with shock, trembling fiercely.
How could this happen?
The Primordial Spirit Manifestation of the old ancestor was such a powerful Divine Skill, yet it was destroyed by a single sword strike?
Could this... could this have been an illusion, and not the true manifestation of the Primordial Spirit?
While the Zhuge family members were in a state of fearful confusion, another giant face appeared, still with the aged features, indeed Zhuge Hong.
This time, the golden light was even more intense.
This giant face emerged, showing an extremely furious expression, and let out a deep roar towards the direction of Helian Zhan.
Roar!
The exploding sound waves swept in, like a terrifying sonic wave crashing down violently.
Helian Zhan’s clothes instantly tore open in several places.
On his resolute face, a few fine, silvery bloodstains emerged.
The area he was in, dozens of square meters of ground, sunk in an instant.
"Die!"
As if cursed by the grim reaper, Zhuge Hong’s voice then clearly descended.
Helian Zhan raised his hand and struck out with a palm, a halo flashed, and a golden shield blocked an invisible current of air.
The next moment, he slashed out with his sword again.
The enormous face was split into two for the second time, exploding in midair and dispersing into nothingness.
Hum!
The void violently trembled.
On Zhuge Hong’s aged face, which materialized in the sky for the third time, was not just an immense face but also the upper half of a body.
A gigantic palm shining with a faint golden luster, like a huge mountain descending from the heavens, slammed down ferociously onto Helian Zhan’s head.
Bang!
The ground burst open, amidst rising dust and smoke, Helian Zhan’s body soared upwards, furiously slashing his sword at the sky.
Boom!
A loud noise erupted.
Terrible Qi fragments fell all around the void.
Many descendants of the Zhuge family were cut in half at the waist or sliced into multiple pieces, screams filled the air.
The huge palm was sliced off.
Sword Qi crisscrossed through the sky as Helian Zhan instantly unleashed over a dozen sword strikes.
The giant half-human Primordial Spirit Dharma Form collapsed once again, dissipating into the void.
"You... you have actually touched upon the Supreme Sword Dao, becoming a true Sword Cultivator?"
A voice full of terror floated in the void.
In the sky above, Helian Zhan’s eyes shot out two sharp lights as he laughed and said, "I’ve found you, senior!"
As his words fell, he directed a sword strike toward a patch of forest to the east of Wolong Ridge.
"You dare!"
A terrified voice followed.
When this voice first emerged, it sounded the same as Zhuge Hong’s every time he spoke, the method coming from all directions.
But upon careful identification from the crowd, it was indeed coming from the location Helian Zhan had targeted with his sword.
At the same time, a gigantic fist surged out from that direction.
The Sword Qi was unstoppable, piercing through the massive fist and whistling into the forest.
"Ah!"
A fearful scream rang out.
With a flash, Helian Zhan soared into the air, racing towards that direction.
Deep within the dense forest, an elderly man wearing a faded robe with disheveled hair and beard rushed out from a stone house.
There was a conspicuous wound on his chest, from which blood was profusely flowing.
This person was none other than Zhuge Hong.
After dashing out of the stone house, he did not escape swiftly but instead clutched his chest wound and looked down to inspect the injury.
The sound of breaking through the air came, and Helian Zhan appeared in front.
Zhuge Hong slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with deep unwillingness.
Even after sleeping for seventy-three years and advancing into the Realm of Divine Void, it turned out to be an illusion. It was nothing but the Primordial Spirit that had consolidated together after decades of slumber, bursting forth momentarily to an unprecedented height. But once the Body was discovered, the end was already determined.