Chapter Fifty-Six: The True Form Reveals Itself, Battling the Golden Core (Please Support with Favorites, Votes, and Recommendations)

"Jiang Sheng!"
"Die!"

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

Immediately, countless townsfolk and gentry within the Eastern Commandery city saw a figure rise, riding the waves of the Taiping River.

This figure was no fearsome demon with a blue face and fangs; rather, he resembled a dignified deity.

He wore a gilded pearl-encrusted crown and a brocade robe embroidered with clouds and flying fish—undeniably the river god officially enfeoffed by the current dynasty.

Seeing the Taiping River God truly emerge from the water, Jiang Sheng, though fully alert, maintained a calm, unruffled expression. "Your incarnations all bear blue faces and fangs, like fiends or ghosts. Yet your true form is so solemn and upright. I wonder which is your true heart, your authentic self."

Sun Chang glared venomously at Jiang Sheng. "You deserve to die! You have ruined my grand plan—you deserve death!"

Without further words, the roaring waters of the Taiping River were drawn in by Sun Chang, transforming into a surging tempest aimed directly at Jiang Sheng.

Facing the terrifying waves hundreds of feet high, seemingly pressing down the sky itself, Jiang Sheng instead relaxed slightly.

This move indeed displayed Sun Chang's power, but it also proved Sun Chang had not yet fully recovered.

The overwhelming waves crashed down, causing the townsfolk and gentry of Eastern Commandery to cry out in terror, many collapsing in fear.

Suddenly, a flash of azure light appeared.

In the blink of an eye, the azure gleam surged thousands of feet, slicing through the monstrous waves.

As the blue light traced a streak spreading for thousands of feet across the sky, the terrifying waves collapsed instantly into swirling mist.

A single sword severed the waves!

In Jiang Sheng’s right hand, an unfamiliar dark black sword wrapped with blue lotus petals gleamed—a slender blade known as Qingping Sword.

Jiang Sheng smiled faintly. "This is, I believe, our sixth meeting, Dao Friend."

"Unfortunately, the previous five were all your incarnations, which was hardly satisfying."

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

Sun Chang’s fury surged to his temples. "You provoked me first, and now you want to settle this with me?"

"Are all of you Penglai sect Taoists so arrogant?"

Jiang Sheng countered calmly, holding the Qingping Sword horizontally before him. "You are mistaken, Dao Friend. I am merely a Qi cultivator from Qingping Mountain."

"By the way, I have yet to introduce this sword—it is called Qingping, my treasured blade."

With that, Jiang Sheng suddenly unleashed the Qingping Sword.

The sword transformed into a radiant spiritual light and shot forth like a rainbow for thousands of feet.

Sun Chang’s heart alarmed at once as a sharp azure gleam, filled with lethal intent, howled toward him, arriving almost instantly.

At that moment, a faint rumble of thunder was heard.

"Sword Qi with thunder sound?!"

Startled, Sun Chang rallied the boundless water vapor into a wave to confront the azure gleam.

But the blue light flickered and suddenly split into four, four azure beams slashing from different directions.

Sun Chang was genuinely shocked.

He had already been amazed that Jiang Sheng could wield sword Qi thunder sound, but now the sword light could divide!

Could such swordsmanship truly be wielded by such a young Daoist at the early Purple Mansion stage?

---

Still amazed, Sun Chang then heard Jiang Sheng speak, "I have heard that the Xuánlàng Qīngyún Classic of the Qingyun Sect is extraordinary. I have long wished to witness it—might you allow me a glimpse, Friend?"

Hearing the name "Xuánlàng Qīngyún Classic," Sun Chang felt as if his wounds were torn open, exposing his bleeding scars.

Enduring bitterness for fifty years, Sun Chang’s heart was already dark with vengeance.

The Buddhist array he utilized to absorb incense power had only further unsettled his foundation.

Though his foundation was not fully restored, Sun Chang was constantly plagued by inner demons, though suppressed by the array’s strength.

Having been forcibly stopped from advancing by the broken formation, Sun Chang’s obsession was fully stirred by Jiang Sheng’s words.

"You wish to see the Xuánlàng Qīngyún Classic? Then I shall give you that honor!"

As he spoke, the primordial power of his false core surged wildly, linking with the world’s qi to form infinite waves crashing toward Jiang Sheng.

Hundreds of towering waves roared, each wave’s power growing as they piled together.

If this strike landed on Qingping Mountain, it would shatter its main peak!

This was power far beyond a Purple Mansion cultivator!

Even a false core cultivator possessed the genuine strength of an early Golden Core stage; otherwise, Sun Chang would never have maintained his position at Qingyun Sect for so many years.

Now that power was fully displayed, the aura of this mountain-shattering, peak-breaking attack caused all living beings in Eastern Commandery to tremble.

If it struck the city, the entire county seat would be submerged!

This was the might of a Golden Core Immortal—Golden Core dueling could reshape mountains and rivers!

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

"Now you will learn what it means to be a Golden Core Immortal!"

"This move is called ‘Ocean’s Repeated Waves!’"

Sun Chang sneered, drawing upon his false core’s primordial power continuously, adding even greater force to the Ocean’s Repeated Waves.

The four azure sword beams that had split earlier collapsed under the onslaught of countless waves, and the Qingping Sword returned to Jiang Sheng’s hand as a reluctant trembling buzz.

Jiang Sheng frowned at the towering waves bearing the true power of the Golden Core realm, their oppressive force like the sky falling and earth collapsing, suffocating all breath.

Pure spiritual energy surged into the Qingping Sword, which emitted gentle hums as blue lotus blossoms bloomed along its black blade, radiating spiritual light.

"I also have a move; please, Dao Friend, teach me."

Jiang Sheng raised the Qingping Sword, summoning countless waves from the Taiping River.

With his sword’s spiritual guidance, the infinite waves formed a roaring river of sword Qi to meet Sun Chang’s Ocean’s Repeated Waves.

Cultivators and gentry in Eastern Commandery witnessed one side filled with towering waves crashing, the other with a continuous flowing river.

Boundless water vapor gathered above the city, waves and river colliding with thunderous roars, shaking the entire county seat.

Yet Sun Chang’s greater strength prevailed; the Ocean’s Repeated Waves shattered Jiang Sheng’s sword Qi river.

But by this point, the move had lost much of its power, ultimately destroyed by Jiang Sheng’s slashing sword Qi.

Sun Chang stared in astonishment—he had never imagined Jiang Sheng could wield such a move.

Jiang Sheng chuckled softly and swiftly released two spiritual talismans.

"These are the Bright Fire Charms, recently crafted by me. Please, Dao Friend, experience them."

With a crack, the talismans shattered, and two thirty-foot-long fire dragons appeared beside Jiang Sheng!

---

The fire dragons were complete with scales and claws, lively and majestic, circling Jiang Sheng as he hovered like a divine being.

The gentry and common folk of Eastern Commandery gasped, as if they were witnessing an immortal.

Foundation Establishment disciples and scattered cultivators gazed at the combatants with great reverence—such terrifying power far exceeded their expectations.

For many, this was the first time seeing such a spectacular duel.

Zha Liangping looked up with a helpless sigh, finally understanding why his elder brother refused to participate.

Zha Liangcai was self-aware; entering a duel at this level might endanger his own life.

Unbeknownst to Zha Liangping, his good elder brother was also watching the duel from afar.

This battle was not only affecting all of Eastern Commandery but also the entire Qingzhou region!

Regardless of the outcome, the balance of power in Qingzhou would be profoundly altered!

At that moment, as Jiang Sheng formed hand seals, the two fiery dragons roared and surged toward Sun Chang.

Sun Chang snorted coldly and manipulated his primordial power, condensing infinite water vapor into thousands of weapons—knives, spears, swords, halberds, axes, and hooks.

These water-condensed arms piled up behind Sun Chang, and with a single gesture, surged like a tidal river against the two fire dragons.

The dragons, possessing their own intelligence, spewed flames and tore at the dense weaponry with claws and teeth, but still struggled alone, gradually overwhelmed and swallowed by the blades.

Before Sun Chang could relax, a deafening explosion shattered the river of blades as a fiery blaze erupted, breaking the oncoming tide.

Another explosion followed as a fiery surge devoured more water-weapon constructs.

Then Jiang Sheng pressed two fingers, performing a sword technique, and the Qingping Sword transformed into an azure beam rushing straight at Sun Chang.

In the blink of an eye, the beam streaked over a thousand feet; as Jiang Sheng shifted, the beam split into four, these sword lights like comets striking the moon, arriving with roaring thunder sounds before Sun Chang!

Enraged and shocked, Sun Chang’s false core power burst forth, causing infinite waves to explode outward in all directions.

Layer upon layer of waves surged, stirring the clouds, reaching three thousand feet away in moments.

Cultivators and townsfolk of Eastern Commandery finally panicked, fleeing frantically.

Above, Jiang Sheng and Sun Chang clashed continuously, neither paying heed to the lives below.

Green and white lights flickered rapidly as four azure beams flashed, slashing thunderous sword rainbows across the sky.

Sun Chang was a seasoned cultivator, a Golden Core Immortal with vast dueling experience, having slain countless foes.

Though young, Jiang Sheng’s dueling experience was considerable, aided by an uncanny sense of qi, allowing him to respond increasingly skillfully.

The two figures probed each other high above Eastern Commandery, and with each test, Jiang Sheng grew more suspicious of Sun Chang’s strange condition: is this truly a Golden Core Immortal?

Sun Chang himself sensed the depletion of primordial power within his false core.

The painstakingly repaired false core, evolving toward Golden Core, again showed cracks, its golden light dimming considerably.

He could not afford to drag this out any longer!