Chapter 220: Cave Heavens Forming a Circle
Chapter 220: Cave Heavens Forming a Circle
In the grand hall, spiritual marks vanished while dao patterns dispersed like millennia-old flowers withering in an instant.
Cheng Lingyu remained unconscious, his body floating up from the large blue stone as he drifted through the hall. The fading spiritual traces and dao patterns converged around him, forming a luminous cocoon.
Mid-air, the beautiful woman’s scroll swayed gently, casting nourishing golden light over Cheng Lingyu’s body.
Time blurred in his deep slumber. Upon awakening, the world seemed transformed, granting him fresh insight.
Checking his condition, Cheng Lingyu found the Diagram of Heavenly Heart and Myriad Domains had migrated to his tenth cave heaven.
“How long did I sleep? Why did that diagram move on its own?”
This unprecedented occurrence puzzled him.
Stretching his limbs, Cheng Lingyu felt revitalized. A massive Firebird materialized behind him – the Nine Nether King Sparrow – its flames capable of scorching skies and boiling seas.
“The accumulation took ages, yet mastery came effortlessly.”
His prolonged stay in the palace had borne fruit: opening the tenth cave heaven, merging it with the Diagram during sleep, and reaching the fifth level of soul martial transformation.
Returning to the large blue stone, he found it drained of spiritual energy and turned gray.
Summoning his Ten Cave Heavens, their connected ring shattered the void. Ten Immortal Souls within them absorbed cosmic energy a thousandfold faster than ordinary cultivators.
A strange notion struck him. The circular formation dissolved and rearranged into a pyramid structure, the tenth cave heaven crowning its peak like an indomitable fortress.
“Circle for unstoppable offense, pyramid for unbreakable defense.”
After circling the six pillars thoughtfully, Cheng Lingyu retrieved the mid-air scroll. As it vanished into his Spirit Cloak Ring, the colossal figure above the castle faded, ending the month-long phenomenon.
Outside, hundreds of cultivators fixated on the castle gates, anticipating revelations.
When palace doors creaked open, a frosty-eyed man materialized before Cheng Lingyu.
“Where’s the scroll?” demanded the thirtyish killer radiating menace.
“Stolen. They trapped me here till now,” Cheng Lingyu snapped with convincing irritation.
The man scrutinized him, detecting no treasure aura.
“Why lie to you? You’re no beauty,” Cheng Lingyu retorted hotly, playing the aggrieved escapee.
After scanning the empty hall, the assailant vanished abruptly.
Cheng Lingyu flashed an eerie smile and stepped out of the palace doors, sensing a binding force shrouding the entire sky.
After two paces, he turned to gaze at the ancient palace, muttering, “A beauty like a painted scroll – what message does this hold?”
The scroll truly perplexed him. Though he recognized its value, what hidden meaning did it carry?
Leaving the mystery unanswered, Cheng Lingyu strode forward. As he passed through the city gate, hundreds of eyes instantly locked onto him, making him the undisputed center of attention.
Cheng Lingyu scratched his head bashfully. “You’ll make me blush if you stare so.”
The words barely left his lips when two hundred cultivators collapsed like felled trees, struck dumb by his audacity.
“Now I’m really embarrassed.”
A rosy hue spread across Cheng Lingyu’s handsome face as genuine shyness surfaced.
“Enough with the act!” roared a cultivator. “We’ve camped here for a month waiting for you. Hand over the treasures or crawl home on broken legs!”
“Drop the crazy act and empty your pockets!” others chimed in.
Most cultivators had regained their wits, baying like hounds after prey. These castle outsiders knew nothing of what lay within, but all believed Cheng Lingyu couldn’t be allowed to keep potential treasures for himself.
“What treasures?” Cheng Lingyu spread his arms innocently. “My shirt? Trousers? Should I strip completely?”
Though his smile remained pleasant, biting sarcasm edged his words.
“Enough talk!” A cultivator lunged fist-first at Cheng Lingyu’s nose, repulsed by the youth’s nonchalant smirk. “Beat him senseless! Let’s teach this whelp his place!”
The month-long wait had brewed potent frustration. Now the mob saw only one outlet – crushing the smirking youth before them.
“Violence solves nothing,” Cheng Lingyu tutted as he sidestepped. “Especially when your arms are shorter than my legs.”
True to his words, the attacking cultivator sailed through air with a yelp, courtesy of Cheng Lingyu’s boot.
“Bastard…I’ll end you!” The man writhed on ground, spine protesting any attempt to rise.
“Strike true and strike hard,” Cheng Lingyu chided, cheer returning to his voice. “But gutter trash like you? You’ll never learn.”
“Snap his legs! We’ll pick him apart piece by piece!”
Hundreds of cultivators seethed at the outskirts. Seeing their comrade humiliated, six more charged from the crowd while others formed a raucous circle, hunger for spectacle thick in the air.
Cheng Lingyu’s smile didn’t waver. He’d expected this reception when exiting the castle.
The Soul Martial Fourth Realm required grueling cultivation through accumulation. But the fifth level of soul martial transformation demanded battlefield baptism – true mastery of the Immortal Soul blossomed only in combat’s crucible.
Freshly ascended to Soul Martial Fifth Realm, Cheng Lingyu craved precisely such a trial. Strangers’ battle held no reservations, letting him taste life-and-death’s essence without restraint.
Encircled by six foes, the youth stood empty-handed yet utterly composed. His handsome features bore the carefree smile of his early years – one unseen since Ruo Xue’s death, now resurrected by tranquil confidence.
“Wipe that grin off his face!” A cultivator’s shout launched the assault.
All six attackers hovered near peak Soul Martial Seventh Realm, their coordinated assault honed through rigorous practice. Cheng Lingyu danced through their onslaught, deliberately avoiding Formation Martial Arts or spirit artifacts. The Ten Cave Heavens’ awakening demanded proper testing.
Thunder Palm strikes interwove with Thousand Strikes, footwork blending Skywing Escape maneuvers from the Heavenly Palace. Though slightly outmatched in raw cultivation, Cheng Lingyu’s unbreakable physique and monstrous strength bridged the gap.
Soul Martial practitioners typically favored psychic assaults, but Cheng Lingyu deliberately shelved his mental advantages for pure martial exchange.
From cautious defense, Cheng Lingyu gradually shifted to fluid control. He even baited attacks by feigning openings, stoking his opponents’ fury.
Among hundreds of spectators, disdain morphed into shock, then grim respect. Late-stage Soul Martial cultivators often let pride override sense – these six attackers now embodied that flaw.
Their initial confidence curdled into desperation as Cheng Lingyu thrived under their hundred-strike assault. Public humiliation before hundreds demanded redemption.
“Crush this cockroach!”
“End him!”
The six erupted into frenzied attacks. Soul Domains flared, spectral avatars materialized, mental barrages interlaced with killing strikes.
Cheng Lingyu’s calm finally fractured. After all, beneath the combat mastery pulsed an eighteen-year-old’s heart – serene as deep lakes when undisturbed, but no less tempestuous than any youth when provoked.