The Immortals... are dead?
Ieyasu Tokugawa, barely able to lift his head, felt as if every bone in his body had shattered. Intense pain surged through him, the result of his divine power backfiring before it could be unleashed! Looking up, he saw the colossal Heavenly Venerable’s palms, one above, one below, forming a canopy that covered heaven and earth. As they closed in, his two mighty Immortals, wielding divine artifacts, were annihilated, vanishing into thin air! This outcome left him stunned.
Then came profound terror!
“Lord Uesugi, that… could it be!”
Ieyasu Tokugawa had been separated by the Five Elements Formation. Furthermore, when the Ming Immortals made their move, they unleashed a torrent of swords, causing mountains to crumble and the earth to split, kicking up dust and smoke everywhere. He hadn't seen the opponent's appearance clearly, only knowing it was someone clad in black.
Now, it seemed…
A deeply ominous suspicion arose in his heart, one he couldn't shake!
“We’re finished!”
Uesugi Kagekatsu’s reply, just two words, nearly shattered Ieyasu Tokugawa’s spirit! Of course, Uesugi Kagekatsu was equally panicked. Even with his body filled with vengeful spirits and lacking his three souls and seven spirits, witnessing the demise of two pseudo-Immortals with a mere flick of the wrist sent shivers down his spine. Immense dread surged from his long-still heart, causing him a dull ache.
He couldn't believe it.
They had already entered the Yellow Springs… and yet, they had torn through the Yellow Springs with their own power to return to the human world?
Was such a thing even possible?
The Yellow Springs was the destination for the dead. All spiritual realms and the mortal world were separated by barriers. For netherworld realms like the Yellow Springs, these barriers were even more immense, as yin and yang were irreversible. To reverse them would inevitably come at a cost.
The return of the dead to the yang world was not achieved through brute force.
But now, such a situation was unfolding before their very eyes.
Could it be… this was the supreme power possessed by a true Immortal!
“Weren’t they saying he was just a remnant Immortal? And even a remnant Immortal has this kind of world-shattering might to break through the Yellow Springs? I’ve never heard of such a thing!”
“Now… run…”
Uesugi Kagekatsu called out to Ieyasu Tokugawa. Though they could make one final stand, the outcome would be a brutal death for them, while the opponent would remain unharmed.
The Deer-Shooting Bow and the Heavenly Feather Arrows… now the Heavenly Feather Arrows had flown into the city and gone silent!
The predictable dire consequence was that their divine artifact had already fallen into the opponent's hands!
Therefore, with only the Deer-Shooting Bow remaining as a divine artifact, victory against the enemy was impossible!
“The Golden Seal, the parchment, the feathers – they’ve all fallen into his hands. We must report this news to the other legion commanders, to tell the Supreme Commander…”
The Supreme Commander they needed to inform was naturally the overall commander of the entire army, not just the eastern or western fronts. In fact, Uesugi Kagekatsu understood that the Supreme Commander of the western front, Kobayakawa Hideaki, had likely already been eliminated, or had surrendered. Otherwise, the Imperial Capital wouldn't have been taken by the Ming army in half a day. As for Shimazu Yoshihiro on the eastern front, he had been captured alive – this was information conveyed to him by that Ming Immortal.
Both eastern and western fronts had completely collapsed!
With the loss of three divine artifacts and two pseudo-Immortals, coupled with the prior deaths of Tachibana Muneshige and the Sword Saint Yagyū Munenori, and a large number of swords and the Raikiri also falling into the opponent's hands, the losses were simply too immense, having a world-altering impact on the subsequent battle!
Uesugi Kagekatsu grabbed Ieyasu Tokugawa, abandoning Shimazu Tadatsune. This was not the time to humiliate the youth; escape was paramount! His body instantly transformed into a wisp of vengeful energy, sweeping towards the distance!
The vengeful energy swept aside the divine generals and Ming soldiers before them, carving out a gap. Uesugi Kagekatsu intended to retreat south, flying through the heavens and earth, far from the Imperial Capital. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. The scenery before his eyes shifted…
They were surrounded by the Ming army once again!
“Huh!”
Uesugi Kagekatsu was startled, as was Ieyasu Tokugawa. They had just escaped the Imperial Capital, so why were there so many Ming soldiers to the south?
His expression darkened. Vengeful winds surged again, sweeping through, causing the Ming soldiers to fall prostrate. He continued southward… arriving before a large city!
The Korean Imperial Capital!
Uesugi Kagekatsu’s pupils contracted violently, then he turned his head…
It was the same Ming soldiers from before, appearing like persistent phantoms!
“Who exactly is the vengeful spirit here?”
Even Ieyasu Tokugawa couldn’t help but utter such self-deprecating words. Of course, he also clearly saw the strangeness of the situation. He immediately broke free from the vengeful energy, manifesting the form of the Kurikara Dragon King, and swept his Sword of Wisdom forward!
“Attaining the same position as Bodhisattvas through Samadhi, Kurikara Dragon King calls upon His name, appearing to dispel fear and demonic obstacles!”
“All demons and evil hindrances severed! The Three-Pronged Dharma Sword!”
The sword that severed demons and dispelled evils swung forward, its sword energy surging and violently disrupting all the scenery. When the storm of sword energy that had transformed into a barrier-breaking force subsided, the Ming soldiers had vanished! Ieyasu Tokugawa immediately breathed a sigh of relief, “A mere illusion, a petty trick. You think this could stop me…”
He turned around.
Tens of thousands of Ming soldiers reappeared, surging forth from before the Korean Imperial Capital!
“No, these are not illusions!”
Uesugi Kagekatsu’s expression changed. Vengeful energy swirled around him, while the Ming divine generals before them were unleashing their might, each strike hitting his vengeful spirit body with tangible force!
Ieyasu Tokugawa began to doubt his own existence!
“Something’s wrong. If this isn’t an illusion, then where did my attacks go?”
“How could these mortal soldiers, without the protection of their nation’s prestige, withstand my sword energy?”
Suddenly, two divine generals charged at him. Ieyasu Tokugawa was repelled. He looked to the side and saw a heaven-shattering sword energy erupt, scattering all his sword energy!
The Sword Immortal Wang from Wudang has arrived!
“Spirit Refining Realm!”
Ieyasu Tokugawa saw that a great cultivator in the Spirit Refining realm, and moreover a sword cultivator, had arrived, and his expression immediately changed. He blinked his eyes, and only then did he belatedly realize that the sword energy he had just unleashed had been blocked by this old Spirit Refining sword immortal!
But he hadn't noticed his presence at all before! This was too strange!
Sword Immortal Wang’s body took on the form of a celestial god, and he chanted the names of celestial gods:
“I invoke the Five Emperors and Five Directional Divine Generals! From the Taiwei seat, the Eastern Azure Emperor, Lord of the Nine Yi, Azure Divine General! With sword, sever all the fierce ghosts and evil energies of the world!”
“Azure Heaven Nine Energies!”
Sword Immortal Wang transformed into the image of the Eastern Divine General among the Five Directional Divine Generals under the Taiwei seat. At this moment, his sword energy swept out, also a celestial method for severing evils and breaking barriers. As the tip of his sword turned, nine streams of azure energy erupted from the position of Zhen Mao in the East. Their sharpness, directed towards all vengeful and demonic energies, shredded them completely!
“Don’t fight him!”
Seeing Ieyasu Tokugawa appear to want to fight head-on, Uesugi Kagekatsu knew that now was not the time for a frontal confrontation. He once again transformed into vengeful energy and fled. This fundamentally meant that the vengeful spirit warriors within him were wrapped around them as they moved. Therefore, if they were touched by this evil-dispelling sword energy, the power of the vengeful spirit warriors would be weakened, and they would be unable to escape. At that time, these Ming soldiers, with the momentum of thunder, would launch a fierce attack southward, and the Japanese army would surely fall into a great rout!
It was absolutely imperative not to fight the opponent head-on at this moment and lose the opportunity to escape!
The阴风 (yin feng -阴风) swept through, but the Ming army did not pursue.
Uesugi Kagekatsu, taking Ieyasu Tokugawa with him, once again fled from the Korean Imperial Capital.
A moment later.
They appeared before the Imperial Capital once more!
“What… where exactly are we!”
“If this isn't an illusion, then what is it!”
Ieyasu Tokugawa was dumbfounded. He couldn't help but look at Uesugi Kagekatsu beside him, wondering why he had brought him to escape, only to return again?
Uesugi Kagekatsu’s face grew paler.
“This is indeed not an illusion, but what exactly is this…”
He already knew that escape was hopeless. No matter how many times he tried to leave, the result would be returning before the Korean Imperial Capital!
His gaze shifted upward. The only one capable of doing this was the Ming true Immortal who had emerged from the Yellow Springs and crushed their two Immortals!
Uesugi Kagekatsu looked at Ji Xiang, and Ji Xiang also looked down at him.
With both hands spread open, he was still in the form of the Heavenly Venerable.
“Not bound by form, not attached to evil hindrances. Not attached to the view of emptiness, purifying the six senses. Severing all evil hindrances, I am for you. The Heavenly Venerable’s compassion, intending to allow people to cultivate enlightenment through this illusory body.”
“I, Ji, am for you. Since I am here, all true sentient beings are also born like illusions. Without extinguishing evil hindrances and without understanding true enlightenment, they cannot escape.”
“Eliminate all views and extinguish all evil paths through the great Dharma.”
“Severing Evil Hindrances, Heavenly Venerable!”