Su Yan clung to the bell as it carried him toward Jade Mountain. The words of the painted swordsman echoed in his mind. They had impersonated the Heavenly Dao? But why?
Space collapsed near the spirit root. A towering figure emerged, neck and head wreathed in blazing maple-leaf light. The four-armed cultivators fell to their knees.
"Dragon Abyss God!"
The deity's gaze swept across the fleeing crowd and locked onto Su Yan. "Yuan Ding subjects — capture him. Dead or alive."
The painted swordsman faced the god. "You think you can judge me?"
He raised his hand. "Heaven's Punishment — come!"
The dragon-headed god dissolved into light. A massive sword flew into the painted man's grip — a blade wrapped in dragon spirit, carved with ancient bird-seal script.
"This is Heaven's Punishment," the swordsman said. "The will of heaven to punish. It is in my hand, so I am the Heavenly Dao."
He looked at the god. "You fell ten thousand years ago. You can't feel the true Dao anymore. You're just a discarded tool, too pathetic to return home."
Su Yan's scalp prickled. "Bell! Faster!"
The two powers clashed. Their aura alone drove weaker cultivators mad. Those too slow to escape twisted into writhing flesh-mountains.
Su Yan popped the gourd open and drank. Primal Dao Essence flooded his body, igniting his soul medicines. His three souls and seven spirits blazed with new strength.
He passed the gourd to Yuan Qi. The serpent drained it until his belly bulged, then tossed it to the bell. The ancient bronze soaked up the essence, its material purifying.
They reached Jade Mountain just as the sky convulsed. Divine light hammered down. The bell roared upward to meet it.
"I suppressed gods for three thousand years!" it thundered. "You won't harm them while I stand!"
The bell rang again and again, shattering the falling radiance. Su Yan sprinted toward Stone City.
A four-armed cultivator intercepted him, fist trailing a dragon phantom. Another pinned him with a golden core from above. Su Yan moved anyway. His Yuan Tone resonated, his six secrets blazing. He killed them both.
Ahead, Stone City trembled — and lifted into the air.
"No!" Su Yan poured every ounce of speed into his legs.
The city rose higher, shuddered once, and vanished into the void.
Su Yan stood in the desert, breathing hard. "It's fine. It returns every full moon. We'll wait."
He laughed, trying to convince himself. "That old Zhu immortal was wrong. There is no great terror here."
The sky darkened. A chill wind rose.
Someone walked toward him through the sand.
Su Yan squinted. It was himself — older, crueler, smiling a predator's smile.