Chapter 35: Autumn Swallow Transmitting the Sound

Countless cannon shells hurtled toward Zhang Xiao, each gleaming with runes. Zhang Xiao could even sense a dense concentration of spiritual energy compressed within them. Narrowing his eyes, a five-colored auspicious cloud suddenly materialized around him, successfully intercepting all the incoming projectiles.

A series of deafening explosions rang out as a wave of turbulent spiritual energy detonated, generating destructive ripples that caused the surrounding space itself to tremble.

Zhang Xiao was instantly swallowed by the violent spiritual explosion. Zhou Fang had unleashed a lethal strike without holding anything back; every single shell stored an amount of spiritual energy equivalent to that of a cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage. The simultaneous detonation of so many shells instantly turned the area where Zhang Xiao stood into a chaotic vacuum.

Witnessing this, Bai Shunuan showed no trace of worry for Zhang Xiao's safety. Instead, she stood frozen in disbelief, muttering, "How can this be? How could these shells possess such terrifying power?"

It was not just Bai Shunuan who was utterly shocked; even Viculus, standing nearby, underwent a drastic change in expression as he secretly weighed whether he himself could survive such an onslaught. After a brief comparison, Viculus could not help but gasp in awe. It was no wonder he was so astonished—looking solely at the spiritual shockwaves rippling through the air, even a late Nascent Soul cultivator, protected by a top-tier ninth-grade magical treasure, would be instantly vaporized the moment those ripples touched them. As for himself, only by unleashing his thirty-six blade ultimate techniques at full strength could he barely manage to block the attack, and he would be left entirely devoid of any further fighting capacity.

"Roar!"

At that moment, a resounding roar erupted from the chaotic vacuum. A golden fire crane, blazing with flames that burned like pure gold, burst forth from the center. As the fire crane spread its wings, the turbulent spatial ripples immediately subsided. Yet, even in that fleeting instant, the intense heat radiated like a miniature sun, causing all the surrounding space to warp and burn.

"Bifang!" Zhou Fang's pupils constricted. He had never expected Zhang Xiao to transform into the mythical Bifang bird—something he could not have possibly anticipated, as he had not witnessed the battle outside the ancient grotto-heaven in Province Z.

"Is that all the tricks you have? Hmph! I truly overestimated you," Zhang Xiao's voice echoed from the beak of the fire crane.

With that, Zhang Xiao spat out a ball of golden fire. Like a comet trailing a long, golden tail of flames, it hurtled toward Zhou Fang. At the same time, the fire crane spread its wings and let out a fierce cry: "Dragon of Fire, Incinerate!"

The firebomb spat out by Zhang Xiao instantly transformed into a majestic golden dragon of flames. The scorching heat suddenly surged tenfold, dyeing both heaven and earth in a brilliant golden hue as the surrounding space ignited, tearing open countless spatial fissures.

Yet, Viculus's ancient castle directly below remained completely unscathed—a testament to the astonishing heights Zhang Xiao had reached in his fire-control mastery, being able to wield such a terrifying flame with the precision of an extension of his own limbs.

Seeing the diving golden fire dragon, Zhou Fang's expression shifted. Sparks began to leap from the flying sword beneath his feet. With a swift slap to the storage pouch at his waist, a giant cannon glowing with silvery glass light materialized in his hands.

To call it a heavy rifle would be an understatement; it resembled a colossal artillery piece. Even the main guns of the most advanced modern warships possessed barrels far less thick than the weapon Zhou Fang held. The surface was densely covered in arrays arranged like fish scales, so intricate that even a microscope would fail to distinguish how many overlapping runes were packed into a single array formation.

Zhou Fang hoisted the massive cannon onto his shoulder, locking his sights onto the approaching golden fire dragon. The surrounding heat had already ignited his robes, but he paid it no heed, focusing entirely on the oncoming beast. Finally, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes as his finger gently squeezed the trigger.

"Arrow of Annihilation."

There was no sound, no shockwave. Yet a purple ray of light, capable of obliterating everything in its path, erupted from the muzzle. Everything it touched vanished silently into nothingness. Zhang Xiao's fire dragon didn't even have time to struggle before it dissipated at a visible rate.

Even Zhang Xiao could not help crying out in shock at this sight. What kind of attack was this to be so terrifying? While others might have missed the details, Zhang Xiao could see clearly: anything struck by the purple beam was instantly decomposed into its most primitive atomic constituents, and not even his divine Bifang flames were an exception.

Seeing the purple beam streak toward him, Zhang Xiao dared not show any further arrogance. Spreading his wings, he swept a single talon violently through the air, instantly ripping open a spatial fissure dozens of meters long to act as a barrier before him.

Powerful though the purple light was, it could do nothing against the existence of a spatial rift, and it could only plunge headlong into the void. Zhou Fang was secretly startled; he had not expected Zhang Xiao to neutralize his ultimate trump card with such apparent ease.

This firearm was Zhou Fang's classified ace in the hole. The Arrow of Annihilation it fired consisted of specialized decomposition particles designed to disintegrate any solidified matter, including spiritual energy, Daoist techniques, and magical treasures. Its destructive power was sufficient to slay a cultivator at the late Divine Separation stage. Even a Void Integration stage cultivator would suffer severely if caught squarely by this strike.

Little did Zhou Fang know that Zhang Xiao was currently even more astonished than he was. *As expected of the leader of the Seven Swords of Mount Shu,* Zhang Xiao thought to himself. *Had I taken that hit directly, I would undoubtedly have suffered severe injuries.*

Although Zhou Fang's attack had fallen short in certain aspects, allowing Zhang Xiao to block it using a spatial rift, its sheer destructive force alone was fully comparable to his own Three-Colored Primordial Slash.

"Stop fighting! If you want to fight, go somewhere else!" Viculus cursed, pointing at the sky.

As it turned out, the aftermath of Zhou Fang's previous attack had instantly pulverized a patch of ground in front of the castle into a massive crater, leaving both Viculus and Bai Shunuan deathly pale.

Just as the battle was momentarily interrupted, Zhou Fang suddenly froze. Retrieving an iron box from his bosom, a voice rang out: "Big brother, save me! I've been kidnapped by a group of strange foreigners with very advanced technology. I am at... static... static..."

The voice coming from the box belonged to Qiu Yan, whom Zhou Fang had been so frantically worried about. Yet at the crucial moment, the signal from the other end was abruptly jammed.

Hearing his younger sister's plea for help, Zhou Fang's eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Raising the communicator in his hand, he roared, "Qiu Yan! Qiu Yan! Tell me clearly where you are... Beep, beep, beep!"

The disconnection tone echoing from the communicator stunned Zhou Fang. He slammed the device down hard against the ground and cursed furiously, "Damn it! This is maddening!"

Although Zhang Xiao and Zhou Fang were hundreds of meters apart, how could Zhang Xiao's divine sense fail to catch the cries for help coming from the communicator? Though he did not know the specifics regarding the other man's sister, her words immediately brought Atlantis to mind.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, forgive my rashness. Once I rescue my sister, I will personally come to offer my apologies. Farewell," Zhou Fang declared, turning to leave.

However, eyes glinting with a sudden thought, Zhang Xiao executed the Heavenly Demon Phantom movement technique, instantly materializing to block Zhou Fang's path.

Seeing this, a chilling murderous intent flashed in Zhou Fang's eyes. "What? Does Fellow Daoist Zhang not trust my word?"

Shifting his form back from the Bifang bird into his human guise, Zhang Xiao wore a faint smile as he said, "I know who has kidnapped your sister. That is an army; you have no hope of rescuing her alone. Why not join forces with me? That way, you might actually stand a chance of getting her back."

Looking at Zhang Xiao and noting the sincerity in his expression, the frigid look on Zhou Fang's face softened slightly. "How do you know who has my sister?" he demanded coldly.

Hearing the challenge, Zhang Xiao was instead pleased, and he quickly laid out his deduction.

Since Zhou Qiu Yan had mentioned that the captors possessed highly advanced technological capabilities, what other faction possessed such technology here besides Atlantis? Based on that single detail, Zhang Xiao knew it had to be Atlantis. Furthermore, Atlantis maintained only a single base in this region—the very base that he and Viculus intended to destroy. It stood to reason that if Zhou Qiu Yan had been captured in District 10, she would likely be taken to that exact facility. Of course, this was merely a possibility.

Even if Zhou Qiu Yan was not at that base, Zhou Fang could hardly do anything to him. On the contrary, Zhou Fang's technological weaponry could assist Zhang Xiao in dealing heavy blows to the large-scale forces of Atlantis.

At the same time, Bai Shunuan would be able to harvest a wealth of technological intelligence from Zhou Fang, providing a tremendous advantage for their future plans to destroy Mount Shu. Such a multi-purpose opportunity was not something Zhang Xiao would ever let slip away.

Hearing Zhang Xiao's explanation, Zhou Fang fell silent. Ever since he had been told his cultivation aptitude was exceptionally poor, he had relied on technological means to secure his position as the leader of the Seven Swords of Mount Shu despite his inferior cultivation realm. He was naturally no arrogant madman and knew when to set aside his pride and adapt to the situation.

It was only because his deep concern for Qiu Yan's safety had temporarily robbed him of his usual composure that he had engaged in a fierce duel with Zhang Xiao. Had it not been for his sister's distress call, Zhou Fang might well have drawn upon his ultimate trump card to fight Zhang Xiao to the death.

Calming himself down, Zhou Fang's expression smoothed out as he cupped his fists toward Zhang Xiao. "A great debt requires no words of thanks. If I can rescue my younger sister, I, Zhou Fang, will never forget this kindness."

Hearing these words, Zhang Xiao could hardly contain his inner joy. When the time came, he could simply dump that baggage onto Zhou Fang; with Zhou Fang protecting her, he wouldn't need to worry about Bai Shunuan coming to any harm.

Just as the two men were speaking, a troop of knights suddenly appeared in the northern sky. These were no ordinary horsemen; every single knight radiated a thick, sacred aura, clearly having reached the level of eighth-tier knights—equivalent to the Spirit Condensation stage.

They were clad in gleaming, luminous armor, wielding lances and massive shields. Even more eye-catching were their mounts: robust, silvery-white unicorns equipped with a pair of massive wings, hurtling swiftly through the sky toward them.

"Don't worry, it's Karina. These are her guard legions," Viculus explained hastily, fearing that the two powerhouses in the sky might misunderstand. At the same time, he shouted upward toward the approaching guard legion, "Karina, come out!"