Chapter 56: Sun Chang Appears, Battling the Golden Core (Please collect, please vote monthly)

“Jiang Sheng!”

“Die!”

A roar erupted from the Taiping River like a clap of thunder.

Immediately following, the countless commoners and gentry within the Dongjun Prefectural City witnessed a figure stepping out from the waves of the Taiping River.

The figure did not possess the monstrous appearance of a blue-faced, fanged demon; instead, he looked like an orthodox deity.

The man wore a gold-plated, pearl-inlaid crown and a brocade flying-fish robe patterned with cloud waves. No matter how one looked at him, he appeared to be a River God officially enfeoffed by the imperial court.

Seeing this River God of Taiping truly emerge from the river, although Jiang Sheng was fully on guard, his expression remained calm and indifferent. "Your clones are all blue-faced and fanged, resembling demons and ghosts; yet your true self is so dignified and righteous. I wonder which one is your true heart and original form, Fellow Daoist."

Sun Chang stared at Jiang Sheng with intense resentment. "You deserve to die! You have ruined my grand plan! You deserve to die!"

Without further words, the surging waters of the Taiping River were directly seized by Sun Chang, transforming into violent, crashing waves that slammed toward Jiang Sheng.

Gazing at the terrifying tidal wave hundreds of feet high that seemed to cover the very horizon, Jiang Sheng actually breathed a sigh of relief.

While this move demonstrated Sun Chang's strength, it also proved that Sun Chang had absolutely not fully recovered!

The terrifying waves crashed down with overwhelming force, causing the gentry and commoners in Dongjun City to cry out in terror, many collapsing to the ground in fear.

At that moment, a flash of azure light suddenly appeared.

In the blink of an eye, the azure light surged for thousands of feet, slicing directly through the crashing waves.

As the azure light carved a thousand-foot trail through the air, the terrifying waves hundreds of feet high instantly collapsed into infinite water vapor.

A single sword strike to sever the waves!

At some unknown point, a jet-black longsword entwined with green lotuses had appeared in Jiang Sheng's right hand.

Jiang Sheng smiled faintly. "Come to think of it, this is the sixth time this poor Daoist has met with you, Fellow Daoist."

"Regrettably, the previous five times were only your clones, which was quite unsatisfying."

"This time, I intend to settle things with you once and for all."

Hearing this, Sun Chang's fury surged to the very top of his head. "You were the one who provoked me first, and now you want to settle things with me!"

"Are all you priests from Penglai so arrogant?!"

Jiang Sheng held the Qingping Sword horizontally before him and said softly, "Fellow Daoist, you are mistaken. I am merely a Qi-refining practitioner from Qingping Mountain."

"By the way, I have yet to introduce myself. This sword is called Qingping, and it is my personal blade."

Having spoken, Jiang Sheng suddenly activated the Qingping Sword in his hand.

The Qingping Sword transformed into a burst of spiritual light, surging outward and instantly flying thousands of feet ahead like a rainbow.

A sense of alarm instantly rose in Sun Chang's heart. He saw a streak of azure light, carrying infinite sharpness, whistling toward him, arriving before his eyes in what seemed like a mere blink.

Only then did the faint hum of thunder begin to resonate.

"Sword Qi Thunderous Sound?!"

In his shock, Sun Chang mobilized infinite water vapor to form a tidal wave to meet the approaching azure light.

However, the azure light flashed and suddenly split into four, with four streaks of azure light slashing from different directions!

At this moment, Sun Chang was truly startled.

The fact that Jiang Sheng could use the Sword Qi Thunderous Sound had already surprised him, but now he could even split his sword light!

Was this truly a sword technique that a young Daoist in the early stages of the Purple Mansion realm could perform?!

While Sun Chang was still reeling from the shock, he heard Jiang Sheng say, "I have heard that the Profound Wave Azure Cloud Scripture of the Qingyun Sect is quite extraordinary. I have always wished to witness it. I wonder if Fellow Daoist would allow me to take a look?"

Upon hearing the name of the *Profound Wave Azure Cloud Scripture*, Sun Chang felt as if his wounds were being forcibly ripped open, exposing the bloody scars.

Having endured for fifty years, Sun Chang had thought of revenge every single moment; his heart had long been filled with darkness.

Furthermore, mobilizing that Buddhist Great Array to attract incense power had made Sun Chang's foundation even more chaotic.

With his foundation not yet fully repaired, Sun Chang could be said to have been constantly plagued by inner demons, merely suppressed by the force of the array.

Having been forcibly interrupted during his breakthrough by the array, Sun Chang's obsession was completely drawn out by Jiang Sheng's words.

"You want to see the Profound Wave Azure Cloud Scripture? Then I shall let you see it!"

As he spoke, the primordial power of the False Core within Sun Chang's body surged wildly, connecting with the worldly essence to transform into infinite water waves that struck toward Jiang Sheng.

Waves thousands of feet high whistled toward him; with every overlapping surge, the power of this move continuously increased.

If this move were unleashed upon Qingping Mountain, it would be enough to snap the main peak in two!

This was power far exceeding that of a Purple Mansion cultivator!

Even as a False Core cultivator, he still possessed the genuine strength of the early Golden Core stage; otherwise, Sun Chang could never have presided over the Qingyun Sect for so many years.

Now that this power was being displayed, the aura brought by this mountain-shattering technique made every living being in Dongjun Prefectural City tremble.

If this strike hit the city, the entire prefecture would be submerged!

This was the power of a Golden Core True Person. A battle between Golden Core cultivators was enough to alter the very geography of a region!

"Jiang Sheng! So what if you are a disciple of Penglai?"

"Today, I will show you the realm of a Golden Core True Person!"

"This move is called: Overlapping Waves of the Vast Sea!"

Sun Chang grinned savagely. The primordial power within his False Core was being continuously mobilized, adding even more might to the Overlapping Waves of the Vast Sea.

The four streaks of azure light split from the sword light had long since collapsed under the impact of these millions of tons of water. Finally, the Qingping Sword turned into a streak of light and returned to Jiang Sheng's hand, vibrating and humming with indignation.

Jiang Sheng frowned as he watched the successive layers of massive waves whistling toward him. The pressure brought by this authentic Golden Core realm power felt as if the heavens were collapsing and the earth was sinking, making it difficult to breathe.

Pure spiritual energy continuously poured into the Qingping Sword. The sword emitted constant soft hums, and the green lotuses entwined around the jet-black blade began to bloom, radiating spiritual light.

"This poor Daoist also has a move. I ask Fellow Daoist for guidance."

As Jiang Sheng spoke, he suddenly raised the Qingping Sword in his right hand, which actually drew in the myriad waves from the Taiping River.

With the swing of the Qingping Sword, the infinite waves, guided by the spiritual essence of the sword qi, formed a surging river of sword qi that met Sun Chang's Overlapping Waves of the Vast Sea.

Whether they were cultivators or gentry in Dongjun City, they saw one side of the sky filled with violent, crashing waves, and the other side filled with a continuous, surging river.

Infinite water vapor converged above Dongjun. The crashing waves and the river collided with a sound like muffled thunder, the shockwaves causing the entire prefecture to tremble.

However, Sun Chang's strength was ultimately a level higher; the Overlapping Waves of the Vast Sea eventually crushed Jiang Sheng's river of sword qi.

But by this point, the move had lost most of its power and was completely destroyed by the successive streaks of sword qi slashed out by Jiang Sheng.

Sun Chang watched this scene in astonishment; he never expected that Jiang Sheng could actually perform such a move.

Jiang Sheng gave a light laugh and consecutively struck out two spiritual talismans.

"This is the Bright Radiance Departing Fire Talisman, which this poor Daoist has drawn recently. I ask Fellow Daoist to receive it."

As he spoke, the two talismans shattered one after another, accompanied by two resounding dragon roars.

Two fire dragons, each thirty feet long, suddenly appeared beside Jiang Sheng!

The fire dragons possessed complete scales and claws, moving with immense vitality. They circled and danced around Jiang Sheng, radiating divine majesty.

With the fire dragons coiling beside him, Jiang Sheng looked like a god. The gentry and commoners of Dongjun cried out in amazement, claiming they were witnessing an immortal.

Meanwhile, the disciples of Foundation Establishment families and the rogue cultivators of Dongjun watched the two combatants in the sky with absolute awe. Such terrifying strength was far beyond their imagination.

They could truly say they were witnessing their first spectacular battle of this magnitude.

Cha Liangping looked up at the sky and sighed helplessly; he finally understood why his elder brother was unwilling to get involved.

Cha Liang was the one with self-awareness; in a battle of such a realm, if Cha Liang were to interfere, he likely wouldn't even be able to protect himself.

Cha Liangping did not know that at this moment, his "dear" elder brother was also watching the battle in the sky.

This battle would not only affect the entire Dongjun, but the whole of Qingzhou!

Regardless of who won or lost, the landscape of Qingzhou would undergo a massive change in the future!

In the sky, as Jiang Sheng performed hand seals, the two thirty-foot fire dragons roared and lunged toward Sun Chang.

Sun Chang snorted coldly. As he mobilized his primordial power, infinite water vapor transformed into thousands of weapons.

Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, and hooks.

Various weapons condensed from water vapor stacked up behind Sun Chang. With a finger pointed by him, this infinite array of weapons surged toward the two fire dragons like a river.

The fire dragons possessed their own intelligence, constantly spitting flames and using their claws and teeth to tear at the dense mass of weapons, but they were still fighting a losing battle, gradually being submerged and swallowed by the weapons.

Before Sun Chang could breathe a sigh of relief, a deafening boom erupted.

A mass of scorching flame expanded within the river of weapons, exploding and severing the surging torrent.

Immediately after, another explosion rang out.

Another mass of surging flames expanded, swallowing a section of the water-vapor weapons.

Then, Jiang Sheng pressed his fingers to perform a sword seal, and the Qingping Sword once again transformed into a streak of azure light, slashing straight toward Sun Chang.

The azure light covered thousands of feet in an instant. With a flicker of his silhouette, the light split into four, and four streaks of sword light arrived before Sun Chang like comets striking the moon, accompanied by whistling thunder!

In his shock and fury, Sun Chang's False Core primordial power erupted, causing infinite waves to explode outward from him in all directions.

For a moment, layers of surging waves spread in all directions, the exploding water vapor clearing layers of clouds, reaching three thousand feet away in an instant.

The cultivators, gentry, and commoners of Dongjun were finally utterly terrified, fleeing outward in panic.

In the sky, Jiang Sheng and Sun Chang continued to clash and test one another, neither of them paying any heed to the living beings below.

The blue and white shadows rapidly swapped positions, with four streaks of azure light flashing out from time to time, carving stunning sword rainbows through the sky with whistling thunder.

Sun Chang was an old-school cultivator and a Golden Core True Person; his combat experience was incredibly rich, having slain countless enemies on his journey.

Although Jiang Sheng was young, his combat experience was not lacking. Combined with his innate perception of worldly essence, he became increasingly adept at handling the situation.

The two figures continued to test each other in the sky a thousand feet above Dongjun. As Jiang Sheng continued his probes, Sun Chang's strange state caused Jiang Sheng increasing doubt: *Is this truly a Golden Core True Person?*

Sun Chang himself sensed that too much primordial power was being consumed from his False Core.

The False Core, which had been painstakingly repaired and was gradually evolving toward a true Golden Core, had once again developed cracks, and even its golden light had faded significantly.

He could not drag this out any longer!