Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 40 Mutation
The Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation of Lingbao Tianzun is renowned and is an extremely rare supreme treasure that can kill other Daoists of the same level as long as it is presided over by a Daoist who has attained enlightenment.

Furthermore, as long as there are four self-severing supreme beings or four unorthodox Dao-attaining preceptors, they can besiege beings below the Heavenly Emperor level.

Although it is unknown whether a near-Heavenly Emperor like Liang Yu can break through from within, it is likely that even if he could, it would not be an easy feat.

There are even rumors that this sword formation has been stained with immortal blood.

The reason this sword formation is so powerful is that it is the product of a perfect combination of the Immortal Slaying Sword Technique and the Secret of Character Formation.

The former represents the highest achievement in swordsmanship during the mythological era, while the latter represents the highest achievement in array formation, which ranks among the Nine Secrets.

It can be said that it is the embodiment of the supreme Dao fruit of Lingbao Tianzun's four incarnations, perfectly demonstrating Lingbao Tianzun's extraordinary achievement as a grandmaster of both swordsmanship and array formation.

In the mythological era, this sword formation became famous in two periods. First, when Lingbao Tianzun quelled the corpse calamity, he used this treasure to sweep away the hordes of corpses and suppress the underworld. Second, during the reign of Emperor Zun, this formation was broken by Emperor Zun with his supreme combat power, which made him famous and respected by all the gods and ghosts. However, it also demonstrated the terrifying power of this formation, which was almost unbreakable by anyone but the Heavenly Emperor.

However, in the hundreds of thousands of years after Lingbao Tianzun disappeared, this sword formation also vanished. Considering the situation of the ancient star of heavenly soldiers in later generations, perhaps Lingbao Tianzun was not completely dead at this time.

Therefore, Liang Yu had previously tried to find Lingbao Tianzun and this sword formation, but ultimately he came up empty-handed.

Come to think of it, if Lingbao Tianzun were still alive, he would definitely have set up layers of array patterns to hide himself in his weakened state, so as not to interfere with his transformation.

As the number one master of array patterns in the mythological era and even for millions of years to come, if he wanted to hide, it would be really hard for others to find him.

Therefore, Liang Yu gave up after figuring it out.

But now, the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation has manifested itself. Could it be that the Celestial Venerable Lingbao encountered a major problem at this moment, leading to his failed transformation?

Without hesitation, Liang Yu grabbed the desolate tower that was still absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, and transformed into a golden light, rushing towards the direction where the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation had appeared.

At this moment, the various forbidden zones were also alarmed by this aura. Especially in the Underworld, apart from the Eternal Life Celestial Venerable and the Annihilation Celestial Venerable, the other supreme beings all turned pale, recalling some unpleasant memories.

Even the Underworld Lord was somewhat surprised, after all, the Spirit Treasure Celestial Lord had almost fought with him back then, and he had a very deep impression of this sword formation.

Could it be that Lingbao Tianzun is still alive? Why did his sword formation suddenly appear and even fully reactivate?
This idea lingered in the minds of these supreme beings, but due to their agreement with Liang Yu, they could not make a move and could only probe the aura from afar.

Before long, Liang Yu arrived at the edge of the universe. The origin of this sword formation was shrouded in mystery, but it must have traveled a very long distance to get here.

It looked as if someone had thrown the sword formation far away.

Liang Yu finally saw the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation, the powerful weapon he had long admired.

Four dark red swords surrounded a complex and mysterious array, upon which appeared a domineering figure with an air of unparalleled power. This must be the deity of this sword array, whose form bears a striking resemblance to the Celestial Venerable Lingbao.

Each immortal sword is engraved with a different scene: immortals shedding blood, seas of blood raging, countless spirits lying dead, and the destruction of heaven and earth.

An aura of terrifying killing intent emanated from the sword, as if it wanted to annihilate all life, cause all things to perish, and destroy the universe.

Liang Yu frowned. Something was wrong with the sword formation. Although no one was controlling it, it was in a state of full activation. Moreover, the deity within it was inexplicably confused, as if it were being corrupted by killing intent, and it was attacking everything that approached it indiscriminately.

In just a moment, a large portion of the uninhabited stars on the edge of the universe were shattered by the sword energy.

Under the terrifying sword energy, Liang Yu, who had not yet entered its attack range, felt a faint stinging pain on his skin, and even his primordial spirit was invaded by a baleful aura. If it were an ordinary cultivator, he would probably be torn to shreds by now, or even be bewitched by the baleful aura and suffer a qi deviation.

Could it be that Lingbao Tianzun really had a problem, and the only option was to move the sword formation to an uninhabited area to reduce damage? With this question in mind, Liang Yu did not hesitate and activated the Desolate Tower to suppress it.

As if provoked, the four swords intensified their killing intent, and the central array emitted rays of immortal light, enveloping Liang Yu and attempting to trap and obliterate him.

However, the Desolate Tower was, after all, a celestial artifact, and it was activated by Liang Yu, while the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation was revived without anyone controlling it, so it was naturally unable to withstand it.

Even under the suppression of the desolate tower, the sword formation continued to tremble, causing the tower to shake violently.

Seeing this, Liang Yu recited the Sutra of Salvation with the supreme Daoist voice, which calmed the sword formation down and allowed it to fall back into slumber.

Although the lineage of Lingbao Tianzun is extremely rare, the Scripture of Salvation he created to suppress the Corpse Calamity is undoubtedly widely circulated, and Liang Yu naturally obtained it as well. Now it is coming in handy.

Seeing that the sword formation was no longer resisting, Liang Yu immediately set off, following the aura left behind by the Zhuxian Sword Formation.

In the blink of an eye, he found himself in a vast starry sky.

Liang Yu's eyes gleamed with divine light, and he finally discovered the flaw. This must be the work of Lingbao Tianzun; he had left behind several layers of array patterns here, concealing everything, which had failed to be discovered by several Dao-proving individuals in later generations. Even Liang Yu himself had been completely unaware of it before.

If the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation hadn't flown out and opened a gap, who knows how long it would have taken for this flawless, multi-layered formation to reappear in the world.

All I can say is that he truly deserves to be called the Supreme Celestial Venerable who created the secret of character formation.

Liang Yu followed the opening created by the Zhuxian Sword Formation and entered the formation.

What appeared before Liang Yu were several enormous rocks, even larger than the ancient star of life. These rocks contained a boundless vitality, even more vigorous than the Holy Spirit.

If these stones were pieced together, they would form a colossal stone figure, so large it would rival the size of a small star system.

Liang Yu also discovered hidden realms of the human body, such as the Sea of ​​Wheels and the Dao Palace, which had begun to transform into ancient stars, pure lands, and other secret realms within these stones.

But among these scattered stones, the head was nowhere to be found.

Once inside, the array patterns could no longer impede Liang Yu, allowing him to trace the source of the energy. Finally, he saw a stone head as enormous as an ancient, life-giving star.

Although the head has now petrified, it has not yet become an ancient star. Within this enormous head, a majestic mountain range stretches endlessly, devoid of any life, yet containing immense vitality within; this is the frontal bone of the head.

In this mountain range, a large hole appears, with traces of the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Qi still remaining on it. This should be the place where the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation flew out.

Through the large hole, Liang Yu saw that the interior of the star was a hollow and peculiar space, in which a magnificent, radiant platform, as vast as a continent, floated. This was the Celestial Venerable Lingbao's platform.

Although the head was completely petrified, the gap was slowly wriggling and repairing itself.

This is the head of Lingbao Tianzun, which is also the ancient star of the Heavenly Soldiers in later generations.

Tens of thousands of years later, the Emperor will use this star as an important base for the Heavenly Court to train heavenly soldiers.

But it makes sense, since Lingbao Tianzun's Zhuxian Sword Technique is inherently a sword path of slaughter, and its word-combination secret is the highest level of array patterns, so training heavenly soldiers here would indeed be twice as effective.

But had Lingbao Tianzun completely failed and perished by then?
If not, then what role did the Emperor play?

(End of this chapter)