C617 Stardust Blade!

Outside the Marsh, Yu Yuan landed on an earthen slope and heard Xu Zixi's call. He looked up to see imposing figures suspended high in the air, towering hundreds of feet tall, which sent a tremor through his heart. In the next instant, he sensed remnant souls descending from the sky. To his spiritual sense, these remnant souls were like bright lamps and massive candles, hovering above his head and by his side. He felt as though he had been stripped bare, exposed and scrutinized by onlookers.

With a grimace, he hung his head and reined in his thoughts. There were many things he dared not even contemplate. He was acutely aware that his thoughts could be perceived and deciphered by the remnant souls of those prominent cultivators at the forefront of the Everlands.

The Soul Forging through Enlightenment technique he practiced, and its connection to Boulderdawn, must remain a secret. It was at this moment he realized why the Untamed had offered to "temporarily safeguard" his possessions before he left the Marsh—it was likely for his own benefit. Otherwise, with the Crucible of Evil and the sword spirit sheath on his person, many secrets would have nowhere to hide. By relieving him of these items, the Untamed had left him empty-handed, sparing him much trouble.

The Untamed had surely been aware that the powerhouses from the upper sects, Devil Palace, and Shadow's Keep were converging outside the Marsh. Yu Yuan took a deep breath and attempted to meditate, striving to keep his mind from spawning a maelstrom of thoughts, aiming for clarity and emptiness.

The exalted beings surrounding the Godsblight Marsh, akin to ancient deities suspended in the void, had subtly encircled it, though they had not ventured within. Cultivators at the ninth level and archdemons in the Unbound state could communicate effortlessly from any corner of the Godsblight Marsh.

The Unbound cultivator before him, shrouded in divine radiance, exuded an aura far surpassing that of Zhongli Dapan, Loong Jie, Xi Quan, and Green Willow, for they had not yet regained their past levels of strength.

"Yu Yuan!" Xu Zixi transformed into a bolt of lightning and appeared in an instant, accompanied by Dusk Raven, the figure Yu Yuan had encountered in the Embers Sea.

From the direction where the Python Queen and Lord Dusk Raven had arrived, a golden mountain crafted from molten goldsteel floated high in the sky.

Thousands of feet in height, the golden mountain shimmered with a divine radiance under the moonlight, so intense that it was almost impossible to gaze upon directly.

Atop the Gold Mountain, a colossal golden elephant stood majestically. Even from a distance, its presence was heart-stirring and commanded respect.

The golden elephant was surrounded by delicate bolts of golden lightning, radiating the power of the rule. This caused the Sunsilver ore veins deep within the earth across tens of thousands of miles to release their essence, seemingly eager to fuse with the elephant and aid in purifying its form.

Rumble! Rumble!

A deep, muffled rumbling echoed from the earth's core, miles away. In unseen corners, every vein of metal-rich ore subtly shifted in response to the arrival of the Golden Elephant God.

The Golden Elephant God innately grasped the true essence of the metal force. His demonic form could provoke transformations in the ore veins, making all Sunsilver tremble and surge with power to bolster him in his conquests.

The likes of Tong Laoqian and solitary cultivators such as Liang Jingyin paled in comparison to his profound mastery of the metal force.

"Golden Elephant God!"

With a single glance, Yu Yuan recognized the formidable figure seated atop the Gold Mountain as the one who had shown favor to Zhan Tianxiang, a powerhouse from the Shadow's Keep.

In his prime, the Golden Elephant God, once a resident of the Shadow's Keep, had descended to the ninth level of archdemon status. He had yet to regain his former glory and reclaim his place within the Shadow's Keep.

Yet, the tales of the Golden Elephant God lived on, passed down through the ages in the Everlands.

Legend had it that the Golden Elephant God was the mightiest archdemon among all of the Everlands' evilkind.

At the eighth level, he could effortlessly shift the landscapes of the Everlands, altering the courses of Sunsilver veins beneath.

As a ninth-level Golden Elephant God, he tore through the extraterrestrial Star Rivers, leaving a trail of shattered starships from the Otherkin in his wake.

Upon reaching the tenth level, with the power of a Dark Deity, he would traverse the cosmos, causing even the smaller stars of the Domain to shift and realign with his formidable impact.

Yu Yuan, who had lived two lives, was somewhat unsettled at the sight of the legendary Golden Elephant. It seemed the Golden Elephant God had been dispatched because it was aware that the Sword Prison had been dragged into the Godsblight Marsh. Otherwise, such a move would be unlikely.

Besides the Golden Elephant God, there were other towering figures in the sky whose full images had not yet been revealed. However, Yu Yuan could discern through their auras that they were on par with the Golden Elephant God.

They were all Unbound cultivators from the Sword Sect, the Sunlit Order, the Ebon Star, and the Devil Palace!

"You..."

Xu Zixi descended gracefully, her eyes wide with surprise and curiosity as she regarded Yu Yuan, who had just been ejected from the Godsblight Marsh. Overwhelmed with questions, she suddenly fell silent, unsure of where to begin.

In the hidden place within the Star River, the extraterrestrial aerolite housing the Sword Prison had been pinpointed and besieged by numerous Sky Fiends and Otherkin.

Caught off guard, the three great upper sects, the Devil Palace, and the Shadow's Keep failed to respond in time. By the time they sensed the danger, the Sword Prison and the aerolite had vanished without a trace.

The five pinnacle forces of the Everlands had been inquiring and speculating far and wide. Connecting the dots with the odd occurrences at the Godsblight Marsh, they eventually confirmed the Sword Prison's fall into the marsh.

Thus, the five forces mobilized and converged near the marsh.

Unbound cultivators like the Golden Elephant God, a ninth-level archdemon, had arrived but dared not make any rash moves or step into the marsh, for fear of invoking the Untamed's fury.

They remained scattered around the marsh to prevent the Banes that had fled the Sword Prison from leaving and wreaking havoc in the Everlands.

More critically, they aimed to ensure that the peculiar entity imprisoned within the Sword Prison would not make its way into the Moonfall Sanctuary.

"Kid! Have you seen a wooden statue? The statue has two faces..."

After transforming, the gaunt Lord Dusk Raven placed his hand, resembling a chicken claw, on Yu Yuan's shoulder, exerting slight pressure to convey his urgency.

"I saw it. It seems to have gone to the Moonfall Sanctuary through a space tunnel," Yu Yuan said, feigning excruciating pain as he grimaced and cried out.

No sooner had he spoken than the remnant souls around Yu Yuan burst into existence. The area around him erupted in a spectacle akin to a dazzling fireworks show, with lightning and a kaleidoscope of lights dancing in the air.

He instantly understood that the Unbound cultivators who had secretly left a wisp of their remnant souls to watch him were now in shock. Their remnant souls had collided and intertwined due to their proximity to him, sparking such a brilliant display.

"It's all over, it's all over!" Lord Dusk Raven cried out helplessly, releasing his grip on Yu Yuan's shoulder.

Under the horrified gaze of the Python Queen, the guardian of Shadow's Keep in the Embers Sea sat down heavily, dejectedly pulling at his own grey hair. "It's my negligence. If only I had been more vigilant and recognized Hei Xun's treacherous ambitions sooner, none of this chaos would have happened."

In the void, lightning zipped back and forth as the Unbound cultivators scattered throughout the marshes communicated with one another.

From the other side of the marsh, hundreds of miles away, Loong Jie's roar shook the heavens.

A small sedan hanging in the air suddenly expanded a hundredfold, as if trying to catch the wind and escape.

Then, a sword light cascaded from the night sky like a falling silver river, cleaving into the magnified sedan. Loong Jie's roar instantly transformed into a piteous plea for mercy.

The resplendent silver river, with its frosty chill, left a trail of frost wherever it passed. Bai Shuang drifted down, each flake imbued with the essence of the sword's will.

Bai Shuang, Loong Yang, and Lee Yuchan, whom Loong Jie had captured, all became motionless as Bai Shuang penetrated the carriage. Their eyes were devoid of any flicker of life.

Loong Jie, revealing his true form as a Five-clawed Golden Dragon, swam through the shimmering sword light river. In no time, he was riddled with wounds.

Despite his frantic struggles, Loong Jie couldn't break free from the river of sword light. His injuries multiplied, and his golden scales burst apart one after another.

Loong Jie's anguished screams echoed through the river of sword light, a testament to his dire plight.

The old dragon, having ventured out of the Godsblight Marsh, believed the sky was limitless and the sea boundless for his taking, was suddenly filled with regret.

Had he foreseen this outcome, he would have chosen to remain within the confines of the Godsblight Marsh and never emerged.

He harbored a secret resentment towards the Untamed for not warning him, allowing him to suffer the indignity at the hands of the Sword Sect's Grand Sword Immortal.

Hundreds of miles away, Yu Yuan caught a glimpse of the sword light that had severely wounded Loong Jie in an instant, and a peculiar emotion flickered in his eyes as he observed the silvery gleam of the blade.

"Ji Ningshuang has made her move!"

Xu Zixi's eyebrows lifted as she peered through the distance towards the path of the radiant sword light, remarking, "It seems the venerable patriarch of the Nagas may not elude capture."

Ji Ningshuang, the fourth-ranked Grand Sword Immortal of the Sword Sect, wielder of the Stardust Blade, was in the late period of the Unbound Stage.

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