Chapter 723: No Road Above, No Road Below
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
When he saw the celestial mountain, Fangzhang, Lin Feng knew that the Great Zhou Empire's advantage this time was not simply its geographical position. Liang Pan and Zhu Hongwu could have been said to be almost halfway there already.
Penglai, Yingzhou and Fangzhang were independent from one another but yet, they were strangely connected too. By obtaining Fangzhang, it would be much easier to obtain Penglai and Yingzhou when they appeared.
In terms of searching, even if Lin Feng was allied with the Great Qin Empire and other powers, it would be almost impossible for them to face the Great Zhou Empire. It was akin to them swimming in their own little patch in the ocean while facing a giant battleship.
Earlier, the Great Zhou Empire's advantage was that it was geographically near the Ying Sea and hence, more familiar with it. Now, they possessed a home ground advantage.
Liang Pan and Zhu Hongwu had made every possible preparation in anticipation of the appearances of Penglai and Yingzhou.
Stepping back, even if they could not obtain Penglai and Yingzhou, they would be invincible as long as they controlled Fangzhang. The other major powers could not truly the Ying Sea while the Great Zhou Empire had many more chances.
Lin Feng shook his head and sighed, "This is beyond my expectation."
"You are too kind, Master of the Celestial Sect. I am surprised that you managed to find me here." On top of the vast celestial mountain, Liang Pan's voice sounded from the dazzling golden palace.
In its main pavilion sat a middle-aged man who resembled Liang Pan, the Emperor of Great Zhou, exactly. However, his aura was different. He wore the robes of a Daoist and no longer had the regal air of an emperor.
This was not his actual body but rather, an avatar that he had left on Fangzhang.
However, Lin Feng did not dare to underestimate him. Even if Lin Feng was here in person, the fact that Liang Pan to control Fangzhang deserved his utmost attention. Lin Feng himself remembered how he was able to move Mount Yujing before he even reached the Immortal Soul stage.
While he did not know if Fangzhang was stronger or weaker than Mount Yujing, Lin Feng had no intention of sacrificing his Steel Tree Avatar.
Lin Feng placed his hands behind his back and took note of Fangzhang. After a long while, he smiled and said, "It appears that the celestial mountain is exceptional. While you appear to have owned itfor quite some time now, you don't have complete control over it, do you?"
Liang Pan looked at Lin Feng and smiled calmly. He did not deny it as he said, "Controlling the celestial mountain was not hard, but to obtain its secrets I still need more time."
"The matters of the mortal realm continue to bug me and hence, I can only leave an avatar on the mountain. The pace of my investigation is rather slow and hence, I hope you won't mind."
Lin Feng lifted his head to look at the golden light that enveloped half the sky and said quietly, "Daoist Liang, do you intend to leave my avatar here too?"
When Fangzhang appeared, Lin Feng realized that something was amiss.
He noticed that the spiritual energy of Fangzhang had been suppressed. The golden light completely cut the mountain off from the outside world. Not only can he not project his voice to the outside world telepathically, the connection between the Steel Tree Avatar and his actual body was cut off too.
While the Steel Tree Avatar could still move independently, it was no longer in-sync with Lin Feng's actual body on Mount Yujing.
His actual body could only feel the connection severed but he would not know what had actually transpired.
Lin Feng, however, did not panic. Liang Pan, being the owner of Fangzhang, was surely capable of something like this. Lin Feng had the same ability with Mount Yujing.
However, this meant that if the Steel Tree Avatar fell in battle there or if it got captured, no one would know that the Great Zhou Empire was in control of Fangzhang.
Liang Pan smiled and said, "The Great Zhou Empire and I had planned for many years. We have no choice to but act carefully. I'm afraid Master Lin has to remain on the mountain for this period."
Lin Feng smiled and said, "Since you have already obtained Fangzhang, you are already way ahead of the others and me. Why are you still worried?"
Liang Pan shook his head and said with a smile, "The closer you are to success, the more careful you must be."
He stood up and walked slowly in the palace. "The celestial mountain Fangzhang is unlike Master Lin's Mount Yujing, which could move about freely in the void. While it could float about in the Ying Sea, its movement was restricted to the Ying Sea."
"However, there are many special aspects to it. I implore Master Lin to stay behind and carefully discover its secrets with me."
As he said that, Liang Pan said nothing else. With a thought, the entire Fangzhang moved and came towards Lin Feng.
The humongous mountain, which was akin to a continent, moved extremely quickly. In the blink of an eye, it appeared above Lin Feng's forehead.
Golden light flashed as clouds encircled it. Countless amount of bright, golden runes shined in space.
Looking at it, Lin Feng could not help but to laugh, "Fate is truly tricky. Earlier, I used Mount Yujing to smash others. Today, someone else is using a celestial mountain to smash me."
While he was separated by numerous spell restrictions, Liang Pan did not need to hide as Lin Feng could clearly see that the avatar that was in control of Fangzhang was in the Immortal Soul First Level.
However, Liang Pan did not plan on fighting Lin Feng, even though Lin Feng only had his Advanced Nascent Soul stage Steel Tree Avatar.
It was not because he was scared of battle, but instead it was because he wanted to settle Lin Feng's Steel Tree Avatar as soon as possible before hiding Fangzhang somewhere else. He did not want to waste a single moment.
While he had separated the connection between Lin Feng's actual body and the avatar, preventing Lin Feng's actual body on Mount Yujing from finding out what had happened on Fangzhang, he was sure that Lin Feng could clearly sense that the connection between his Steel Tree Avatar and his actual body had been severed.
If Lin Feng himself came to the Ying Sea to investigate, Liang Pan was not scared of a fight. But he did not want to create unnecessary trouble.
Furthermore, there were other cultivators active in the Ying Sea. At this moment, while there was no one near Liang Pang, the longer he dragged the more likely he would attract attention. Then, the secrets of Fangzhang would have been exposed.
Lin Feng expected Liang Pan's action. If it were him, he would do the same.
However, he could not just sit there awaiting his death.
A clear light shone from the top of the Steel Tree Avatar and a cosmic form of about 1500 feet appeared. While it was shaped like a giant tree that stretched into the heavens, it was miniscule compared to Fangzhang.
However, the eight tree branches of the cosmic form, each of which represented an Image of the Eight Trigrams, began to swirl like a whirlpool. Then, the whirlpool became engulfed by light, covering both the cosmic form and Lin Feng himself. An eternal, indestructible energy began to spread.
On top of the light, another mystical light began to shine. This was the Eternal Glow Spell that Lin Feng had learned from the Immortal Dragon City, which he incorporated into his own Steel Tree Avatar.
With the help of the Image of the Eight Trigrams, the Saros Steel Tree's longevity was coupled together with the Eternal Glow. Doing so pushed the defensive powers of Lin Feng's Steel Tree Avatar to its extreme.
However, underneath the terrifying Fangzhang, he was still like an egg under the mountain.
Even though it was just a touch, the light that enveloped Lin Feng's cosmic form began to tremble. Spidery cracks and tears could be seen.
It was if the power of an entire world had crashed down. Even the spiritual energy around him was on the verge of being destroyed.
Faced with the pressure of the Celestial Mountain, Lin Feng became serious as he nodded his head and said, "It is as strong as the smashing power of Mount Yujing which I used in my Intermediate Nascent Soul stage."
Liang Pan, who controlled the celestial mountain Fangzhang right now, was in the Immortal Soul stage. The powers of Fangzhang was still inferior to that of Mount Yujing.
However, with the combined powers of Penglai, Yingzhou and Fangzhang, the entire Ying Sea would be thrown into turmoil. The powers of Fangzhang were nothing compared to all three mountains combined.
Emperor Tai was one of the few powerful Emperors of Man. Faced with the chaos of the Ying Sea, he too had to be careful and was forced to leave it after he heard that the demons had started the War of the Two Worlds. In his rush, he was severely injured.
After he tested the powers of Fangzhang, Lin Feng did not dare to confront it head-front again. Instead, he used the second crystallization of his Holy Light of Creation.
The black and white light shone once again and shook the surroundings. Even the humongous Fangzhang above him trembled.
The Holy Light of Creation that Lin Feng released appeared to have connected the heavens and earth and built a divine bridge between himself and Fangzhang, stopping Fangzhang from crashing down once again.
Lin Feng's cosmic form then used his Heaven and Earth Destroyer, destroying the golden light that dazzled the void and turned it into a chaotic stream of the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind.
This destroyed the seal Fangzhang placed on the void. Lin Feng hastily prepared to leave.
At this moment, Liang Pan's voice sounded from Fangzhang, "Heaven Heart Draconic World Forming Divine Spell!"
The dragons on Fangzhang began to criss-cross and intersect. In unison, they roared, causing everything to tremble. At that moment, Fangzhang appeared even more terrifying.
The dragons that were once congregated together began to separate and fly. Together, they circled endless and form numerous light circles, trapping the void firmly.
The void above Fangzhang turned into bright halos of light that turned non-stop, preventing Lin Feng from escaping.
Lin Feng's eyebrows arched as he noticed that Fangzhang continued to crash down upon him. His black and white light was growing weaker.
This was not the Holy Light of Creation he himself released but instead, it was summoned from the crystallization of the Holy Light of Creation and released by his avatar. Hence, it was naturally much weaker.
Once the Holy Light of Creation disappeared, Fangzhang would continue crashing down.
Lin Feng still had one last crystallization of the Holy Light of Creation. At this point, he heard a voice ringing out from the mountain, "Master of the Celestial Sect, please stay and be my guest, even though you would be here for quite long."
Zhu Hongwu, who wore a purple-gold crown and clad in extravagant robes, broke through the void and appeared at the bottom of Fangzhang. He appeared underneath Lin Feng and lifted his head to look at him. However, it was clear that he was actually looking down on him.
Not a single aura came from Zhu Hongwu's body but he brimmed with a terrifying power. He said quietly, "While you may only be an avatar, it is still a pleasure for someone to witness obtain all Three Mountains of the Ying Sea."