Aspiring to the Immortal Path
chapter-784

The sudden reversal stunned everyone.

The first pairs to have their outcomes determined should have been Xiao Biehan and Shi Wunian, and the Mountain Shatter Boy and Hu Xuehua. After all, Godhead Palace's combatants in these match-ups had been hurt before the battle. But then Zhan Wushang had come out of nowhere.

After his successful strike, Zhan Wushang moved to slice Mystic Moon's body in half.

Thankfully, Ling Xiao intervened in time, his Water Moon Sleeve bouncing the saber away. This allowed Mystic Moon's head enough time to fly back around and fix itself back onto his neck. The wound healed, but the shock on Mystic Moon's face was clear as he cried out, "The Godhead Armor!"

The thing Godhead Palace was most famous for was naturally its Godhead Armor.

But the Godhead Armor Mystic Moon was referring to wasn't the standard-issue Godhead Armor, but a true Dao armament, the object which all the other Godhead Armors copied.

The Godhead Aegis!

This was a golden suit of armor that was somehow as thin as a cicada's wing, sticking close to Zhan Wushang's body. When it wasn't activated, it was almost undetectable, and it also didn't do anything, not even blocking Mystic Moon's finger. But when it activated, it blocked all attacks like an impervious fortress, even weakening Divine Soul attacks.

If the God-Conquering Merak Sword was the most powerful spear, the Godhead Aegis was the most powerful shield.

The sword was still stronger than the armor when they were directly compared, since the Godhead Aegis could only weaken rather than neutralize Divine Soul attacks, but when the sword wasn't present, hurting someone wearing the Godhead Aegis was extremely difficult.

Shi Wunian had always been the one holding the Godhead Aegis, so nobody had expected it to appear on Zhan Wushang. It was just as surprising as Xiao Biehan suddenly taking the God-Conquering Merak Sword out for a stroll instead of leaving it behind to serve its purpose as part of the Basking Moon Sect's guardian formation.

What had happened at Heavenly Balance Mountain was replaying itself, but this time in reverse, with Godhead Palace seizing this opportunity.

Although Ling Xiao had saved Mystic Moon, waving his sleeve that one time had given Jin Wuyu an opportunity, thrusting his palm forward and completely taking the initiative. As for Mystic Moon, he had also been greatly restrained by that saber strike. While he seemed to be fine on the surface, the Astral Wind on the wound was still affecting him, preventing him from truly healing the injury. With his strength, neutralizing the Astral Winds wasn't difficult, but he couldn't do it while Zhan Wushang was attacking at full force.

The balance of power shifted. On one side, Xiao Biehan and the Mountain Shatter Boy had the upper hand, while on the other side, Jin Wuyu and Zhan Wushang had the edge. As for Han Wuxin and Nine Splendors, they were evenly matched. These two were old foes, Han Wuxin being the one who had gone to attack the Zephyr Mountains during the battle at Heavenly Balance Mountain, and Nine Splendors being the one to push him back with a single palm. But Nine Splendors had been able to win because he had been on home territory, assisted by the formation and countless disciples. While Han Wuxin had taken a blow, it hadn't been fatal, and he had needed only a few days to recover. It was hard to say what the result of this battle would be.

Now that the Godhead Aegis had appeared, the others stopped hiding their power.

Hu Xuehua took out a phoenix hairpin.

The moment the hairpin appeared, it transformed into a phoenix of flames that rushed at the Mountain Shatter Boy. This was no ordinary hairpin. Ye Yun had made it from Nine Mountains Cold Metal, and he had also caught a fiend phoenix from High Antiquity, devouring its meat and drinking its blood before forging its soul into the pin. It could be considered an upper-grade divine treasure.

The Mountain Shatter Boy simply chuckled, a pair of gauntlets appearing on his hands. He began to throw out punch after punch at the phoenix, the storm of blows preventing the flames from getting close, somewhat recalling Tang Jie's battle with Wang Juemie.

But rather than cultivation, the Mountain Shatter Boy was completely relying on this pair of Massacre Gauntlets, which multiplied his strength, also being an upper-grade divine treasure. Filling the sky with his punches, the Mountain Shatter Boy seemed completely unafraid of this one-versus-two match-up.

On the other end, Shi Wunian took out a small hammer made of wood and threw it into the air.

As the wooden hammer flew out, it manifested a black statue of a meditating old monk, which grasped the hammer and swung it at Xiao Biehan.

This was a true Dao armament, but it had originally come in a set, a wooden fish and a wooden hammer, together creating the most valuable treasure of Godhead Palace after the Godhead Aegis. The Dao of this item was Sound, and when the hammer struck the fish, it would shake everyone's soul. While the God-Conquering Merak Sword could only target one person at a time, this Dao armament could affect an entire group, so it was good in both single-target and group situations.

Alas, in the battle of Nadir Hill, when Xiao Biehan had proposed that wager with Godhead Palace, the wooden fish had been Godhead Palace's wager.

The Celestial Sound Wooden Fish was a strong Dao armament, but it was at its most powerful only when they were used together. Xiao Biehan had only a single Dao armament, so he naturally couldn't put it up for the set, but he was cunning and asked only for the wooden fish and not the hammer.

If he couldn't use it, Godhead Palace couldn't use it either!

Later on, just as he wanted, the Dao armament was divided, and the Dao of Sound could no longer be manifested. There was no choice except to strike directly with the hammer, activating the weapon soul within the Dao armament, but this way of using it dropped the Dao armament hammer to the level of a divine treasure.

Even so, the strike of the wooden hammer couldn't be underestimated, and Xiao Biehan didn't dare to take the blow directly, instead opting to use thirteen spell arts in a row to neutralize it.

The Celestial Sound wooden hammer was enough for Shi Wunian to bring himself back into the battle.

On the other end, Jin Wuyu and Ling Xiao also took out their treasures.

Jin Wuyu took out a book, while Ling Xiao produced a mirror.

Both book and mirror shot out rays of light at their opponents. One treated characters like weapons, with each character exhibiting the sharpness and ferocity of a divine weapon, while the other was the exact opposite, drawing in all attacks and sucking them into the mirror before sending them back. This was a clash of two Dao armaments!

But this time, it was Ling Xiao and his Heaven Earth Mirror that had the upper hand. This item was the second-strongest Dao armament of the Basking Moon Sect. Its Dao was Yin Yang, emphasizing the inversion of two aspects. As this was a full mobilization, the God-Conquering Merak Sword had been given to the Cloud Ancestor, the Starsnatch Pagoda had been left behind to keep the sect safe, and the Heaven Earth Mirror had been brought out. This Dao armament countered Jin Wuyu's Divine Weapon Codex. This object's Dao was Illusion, and it could convert all characters into weapons, so it excelled against both groups and individual targets. However, it was no match for the Heaven Earth Mirror, which could turn all of those attacks right back at him. Jin Wuyu had no choice but to put away his book, and in this way, Ling Xiao was able to recover the initiative he had lost earlier.

The battle between Han Wuxin and Nine Splendors also began to intensify.

Han Wuxin was a small and thin man, and his entire person was seemingly cloaked in shadow. The cold blade he held in his hand was also a Dao armament. Its name was the Phantom Blade, and it excelled at silent ambushes. As for Nine Splendors, he held an ink-green snake.

This little snake seemed like a fiend, but it was also a Dao armament. Its Dao was Life, and because this weapon lacked a soul but possessed life force, it could be controlled, and could attack independently and change forms. It could even absorb life force from a target to strengthen itself. But its numerous functions meant that it was somewhat weak. It was this very Dao armament that Xiao Biehan had used for his end of the wager.

Han Wuxin's Phantom Blade was of the Dao of Assassination, sinister and wicked, while Nine Splendors' snake emphasized endurance, so Han Wuxin was on the offensive while Nine Splendors focused on defense. It appeared that Han Wuxin had the upper hand, but everyone knew that if Han Wuxin couldn't ensure his victory from the start, he would ultimately lose a protracted battle.

Last of all was the battle between Zhan Wushang and Mystic Moon. Although Mystic Moon had taken out a divine treasure, it was no comparison to the Godhead Aegis. Thanks to the Godhead Aegis, Zhan Wushang was able to call on the Astral Winds over and over, with no concern that these winds could hurt him. Perhaps this was the reason the Godhead Aegis had been given to him, so that he could fully utilize his offensive power.

His Mountain Sea Saber was itself a divine treasure, with each swing drawing down lightning and setting the winds ablaze, its overwhelming divine power forcing Mystic Moon back again and again.

It seemed like Mystic Moon was about to be the first to be defeated, and one defeat might result in a complete rout. Zhan Wushang laughed, "So what if you all come together and attack us? This is the land of my Godhead Palace! We are the masters here. The home territory advantage is ours, and not even your Basking Moon Sect can do anything about it. Today, we will avenge the humiliating defeat from one hundred and thirty years ago."

He once more swung his saber.

With the Godhead Aegis protecting him, he had no need to worry about his personal safety and put all his power into attacking. The aftershocks of this attack alone were enough to penetrate the heavens.

But at this moment, a voice rang out behind him. "I'm afraid you won't be the one doing the avenging."

At that moment, Jin Wuyu, Han Wuxin, Shi Wunian, and Hu Xueha all shouted, "Watch out!"

Someone charged out of the void, thrusting a golden sword at Zhan Wushang. It was Tang Jie wielding the Sovereign Blade.

Zhan Wushang brazenly shouted, "I have the Godhead Aegis protecting me. What can you do?"

He ignored the attack and continued to swing his saber at Mystic Moon.

Mystic Moon knew he was in trouble and focused all his power on defense.

The Mountain Sea Saber clashed with Mystic Moon's Twin Dragon Umbrella. Under Zhan Wushang's berserk attack, this divine treasure was actually pulverized. Mystic Moon threw up blood as that torrent of power slammed into his body, shattering his barrier, crushing his bones, and pulverizing his body.

A divine light shot out of Mystic Moon's body—his Divine Soul. But instead of fleeing, it let out a shriek, upon which his shattered body began to converge and reconstruct itself. It was clear that Mystic Moon had not given up on this physical body that he had spent so many years cultivating. He was taking a gamble that Tang Jie could hold off Zhan Wushang.

If Tang Jie couldn't, then Zhan Wushang could deal the finishing strike on his Divine Soul.

Zhan Wushang laughed and charged forward, confident that Tang Jie couldn't hurt him.

But then there was a soft squelch.

Zhan Wushang shuddered, and he looked down to see the tip of a sword emerging from his body.

"This… but… how…" Zhan Wushang said in stunned shock, blood flowing out of his mouth.

A white light erupted from the sword, engulfing Zhan Wushang and ensuring that he saw nothing else.