A magnificent rout.
It unfolded with earth-shaking force upon the ancient battlefield of the wasteland.
Ominous celestial phenomena, a baleful star falling.
After crimson mountains crashed down from the heavens one after another, shattering the sky pillars and grinding countless comrades into bloody pulp, the psychological defenses of the million-strong army completely collapsed.
The sounds of weapons snapping and armor clattering to the ground mixed with thunderous roars and the deafening impact of shattered stars, churning mountains and rivers upside down, tearing heaven and earth apart.
The 20,000 cavalry led by the white-robed rider on a white horse also plunged into the enemy amid chaos, accompanied by countless crimson star fragments raining down.
Nearly 100 li away, the city of Kunyang erupted as well. The 80,000 defenders inside charged out in a frenzy, every soldier's eyes bloodshot as they entered a berserk state.
The court army's formations fell into disarray as soldiers trampled one another. Their minds were filled with only a single thought—"Our army has been defeated." Their eyes reflected nothing but the apocalyptic vision of starfall across the wasteland. There was not the slightest will left to resist, let alone heed any command.
They cared only for fleeing for their lives, scattering like startled birds and beasts.
Though the enemy's numbers were vast, at this moment on the battlefield, it had become a completely one-sided slaughter—
Amid the chaos.
Lü Ji raised his hand, and a massive altar descended from the sky. Standing atop a ritual incense artifact and wreathed in billowing violet aura, he swung his sharp Fangtian halberd, relentlessly harvesting enemy lives.
Behind his towering figure, a distorted divine shrine faintly manifested, then transformed into violet light that poured down upon him. His facial features twisted grotesquely, his pupils dull and vacant, as though his own consciousness no longer remained.
"Boss?!"
Nie Yuan, who had been wreaking havoc across the battlefield, saw this and his expression immediately turned grave. He commanded the soldiers of the Black Tortoise Battalion, "Spread out! General Lü has gone mad—stay away from him!"
"This is—"
Shan Liangcheng, who arrived with two fellow cultivators, quickly recognized the phenomenon. "The Evil God Path?!"
"How many people has he killed?"
One of the fellow cultivators could not help but sigh.
This man's incense-based divine cultivation had already reached the critical threshold of heaven-and-earth suppression, and he had even been deliberately restraining himself from breaking through.
"It's useless. He's already ruined."
Shan Liangcheng said with pity. "In his haste to increase his cultivation, he sold himself completely to an evil god. The best possible outcome is becoming nothing more than a puppet believer of that god.
"We should leave now. Until his killing desire is satisfied, he won't distinguish between friend and foe. There's no need to risk our lives fighting him."
However, it was already too late.
On the ground, Lü Ji suddenly lifted his gaze toward the sky. His pupils gleamed like those of a ravenous beast that had gone hungry for ages upon seeing fresh prey. Gripping his weapon, he leapt straight into the air.
With no way to evade, Shan Liangcheng and the others could only engage him in battle.
Not far away.
Sima Yao, with a wolf's head atop a human body, swept blades with one hand and claimed lives with razor claws using the other. When the killing frenzy surged, he would even bite off a man's head in a single snap.
"Monster, a monster!"
"Heaven's punishment!"
With all manner of chaos layered together, the court army had no chance of recovery. They collapsed like a landslide, until total defeat was inevitable.
Yet amid this once-in-a-millennium battlefield of chaos, there was a stretch along the Miao Riverbank that stood out in eerie silence.
Beneath the crimson rain curtain, three figures stood in a triangular standoff.
One wore white robes and rode a white horse, a long spear in hand.
One carried a broad sword across his shoulder, standing atop a mountain of corpses.
One stood in midair upon an immortal crane.
Across a battlefield filled with wails of agony, the million-strong torrents of iron cavalry on both sides instinctively detoured around these three, as if they were towering peaks rising from the sea, splitting the vast waters in two.
The three faced each other in silence, as though everything in the world had frozen at that instant, becoming a single ink-wash painting.
Only after more than ten breaths did the scene within this scroll finally begin to move.
Without any wasted words, the Netherworld Greatsword struck first.
Ancestor Ling Kui of the Ling family unleashed the power he had long been storing. At some unknown moment, he had already surged forward dozens of zhang, his form in motion like a tiger granted wings.
Within his body, the Sixteen Scenic Deities awakened one after another, channeling their stored spiritual power through complex meridian circuits and refining it into vast True Force. This power was then guided to the sword's edge. The Netherworld Greatsword, which had been dragging along the ground, now surged with profoundly sinister Nether River True Force and sword intent compressed to the extreme before exploding outward in an instant.
From the rain-soaked thick earth, a pitch-black crescent moon roared upward.
In a moment of disorientation,
it was as if, amid the sky filled with crimson stars, another tide-black moon descended from the heavens, blotting out the firmament as it smashed straight down.
Beneath the filth and mire, the white-robed figure allowed the torrential rain to pour down upon him. Yet no matter how large the raindrops, they evaporated instantly, turning into wisps of blue mist that spiraled upward, as though a blazing sun were rising within his body.
The brain deity, named Jue Yuanzi, styled Dao Du, one cun and one fen tall, clad in white;
the hair deity, named Xuan Fuhua, styled Dao Heng, two cun and one fen tall, clad in dark robes;
the right kidney deity, named Xiang Tawu, styled Dao Yu, three cun and five fen tall, clad in white or black;
the spleen deity, named Bao Yuanquan, styled Dao Qian, seven cun and three fen tall, clad in pure yellow!!!
One radiant manifestation after another burst forth.
When Bao Yuanquan, the final deity of the middle Eight Scenic Deities, awakened, the upper and middle sections' Sixteen Scenic Deities fully merged and interconnected. True Force stacked layer upon layer, its might boundless and inexhaustible, reaching the middle stage of the True Force Realm!
"Fire Aspect—boom—!"
Upon the silver spear, flames ignited in an instant.
A blazing sun of pure radiance suddenly rose from the filthy, thick earth, colliding head-on with the descending black moon. Two vast and surging torrents of True Force tore into each other, whipping up a colossal upheaval amid the storm. Mud waves rose one after another, the ground within 100 zhang trembling violently. Twisting tempests churned and rolled, wrenching armor and weapons buried in puddles and mire up from their roots, spinning them into a roaring vortex around the three figures.
The brief exchange ended in a violent clash. Under the terrifying impact, Ling Kui was forced to slide backward through the sticky mud for several hundred meters, his legs carving two shocking ravines into the earth.
The white horse beneath Chen Sanshi also erupted with all of its spiritual power to offset the force. Its front hooves reared high, as if it were about to charge straight into the sky, while behind him the waters of the Luojian River exploded into waves more than ten meters high under the aftershock.
Middle stage of the True Force Realm!
Feeling the residual force still clinging to the sword edge, Ling Kui steadied himself and narrowed his eyes sharply. Staring at the white figure blurred by the torrential rain ahead, he shouted, "Your Majesty, be careful! He truly has reached the middle stage of the True Force Realm!"
As the two tested each other, Emperor Longqing also struck in silence. Standing atop the wings of the immortal crane and holding his horsetail whisk, he descended like a golden baleful star falling onto the wasteland. From more than 300 meters away, he formed seals with both hands and gently cast the whisk forward.
In an instant, it expanded hundreds, then thousands of times. Tens of thousands of strands of exotic beast hair transformed into chain-like bindings that surged in from all directions.
All techniques and exchanges unfolded in the blink of an eye.
Chen Sanshi was still in the process of dispersing force after his clash with Ling Kui. Both man and horse were tilted back in midair when he saw heaven and earth change color, countless white cords descending to bind him.
Spiritual light flashed in his left hand as a golden radiant bow silently appeared. He placed the more-than-3-meter-long Dragon Gall Silver Spear directly onto the bowstring, then drew the string with his right hand until it curved like a full moon.
The profound patterns carved into the golden radiant bow lit up one after another like flowing streams.
Waves of spiritual energy surged onto the bowstring, intertwining with the scorching fire-aspect True Force.
At that moment, the Dragon Gall Silver Spear, once a lifeless object, became a living divine beast. Before everyone's eyes, the gleaming spearhead twisted and rotated, transforming into a beast's head, while the spear shaft swam through the void as though its body were desperately struggling to break free.
The sudden backflow of violent wind caused cracks to spread across the bow's frame. All forces in the world converged upon a single point, no longer capable of being suppressed.
Chen Sanshi released his right hand.
The bowstring snapped, the bow frame shattered, and the blazing Vermilion Bird was freed of all restraints. Amid a phoenix cry that shook the internal organs, it soared into the sky. The overwhelming recoil force drove Chen Sanshi's body straight down, sinking more than 3 meters into the ground.
Boom—
The countless cords woven from spirit-beast fibers were incinerated in an instant by the searing True Force. The Vermilion Bird spread its blazing wings, unstoppable as it lunged to engulf the long-bearded old Daoist atop the immortal crane.
Before the two even made contact, the crane's feathers blackened and charred, letting out a pained cry as its body stiffened, nearly plummeting toward the ground.
At that very moment, a resounding dragon's roar echoed between heaven and earth. It seemed to descend from the nine heavens, yet also to rise from the abyss itself, impossible to tell its origin.
Only the result was seen—appearing in Emperor Longqing's hands.
A soaring golden dragon descended from above, carrying a vast sea of mana as it slammed into the Vermilion Bird.
Thud—
With a heavy, muffled impact, the Golden Dragon clamped its jaws around the Vermilion Bird's throat. Golden light extinguished the raging flames, and the Vermilion Bird perished in silence.
The silver spear spun as it was flung back down from the sky, caught by a powerful hand wreathed in flames, the shockwave it generated flipping the earth itself.
Chen Sanshi and his mount could no longer maintain balance. He was hurled backward more than 100 meters. The white horse dissolved into spiritual light midair and slipped into the storage ring, while Chen Sanshi himself tumbled several times before slamming down on one knee, his formidable physique barely holding together.
In a battle of life and death, there was no chance to catch one's breath. Before he could even draw another breath, beneath the shattered stars above, another tide of black moonlight surged toward him head-on. At the same time, Emperor Longqing formed seals in midair.
The Seven-Star Dragon Abyss Sword stabbed down from the sky.
Giant Strength Talisman!
Swift Flight Talisman!
The talismans prepared in advance were activated simultaneously. The fire-aspect True Force within Chen Sanshi's body surged through its full circulation at overload.
Flames once again coiled around the spear. With a sweep capable of breaking armies, he precisely blocked the sword edge hidden within the black moon tide, but he had no time left to deal with the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss Sword.
The Thick Earth Art condensed.
The seized golden body-protection barrier talisman was activated.
Bang! Bang!
The thick earth shattered.
The golden radiance broke apart.
Only then did Chen Sanshi finally gain a brief opening to grip the front half of the spear shaft and raise it horizontally to block. He narrowly deflected the blade, yet his body was once more sent flying uncontrollably, smashing through several massive boulders along the riverbank before plunging heavily into the waters of the Luojian River.
When the strengths of both sides were comparable, this was the reality of two fists facing four hands.
One possessed a top-grade spiritual root, had lingered at Qi Refining perfection for many years, and had nourished his qi and blood meridians with a blood pill refined from the lives of 1,000,000 living beings of Yunzhou, attaining Foundation Establishment cultivation—on top of wielding one of Divine Continent's supreme treasures, the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss Sword.
The other had once been a peerless prodigy of the Heavenly Water sword path, severing his own future in exchange for an even more powerful Nether River Breathing Method.
Neither was mediocre.
Thud!
A muffled thunderclap rang out. After plunging into the water for no more than 2 breaths, the white-robed figure burst back out, shooting skyward. He immediately engaged Emperor Longqing and Ling Kui, who had pursued to above the water's surface, and the three clashed once more in midair.
Night shrouded the heavens as torrential rain fell, shattered stars streaked, and lightning split the sky.
The Golden Dragon of Geng Metal rampaged wildly, the blazing Torch Dragon met it head-on, and between the two surged an unceasing tide of black moonlight, forming a spectacle of twin dragons contending for the heavens while the dark moon shifted and rolled.
"You little wretch!"
Ling Kui gripped his sword with both hands. Every slash carried the full force of his Nether River True Force, and every strike condensed the ultimate sword intent forged through a hundred years of martial practice.
At this level of mastery, fixed routines and preset techniques no longer existed in their eyes. The black sword edge moved like a living creature, bombarding the opponent's vital points with relentless precision.
The Dragon Gall Silver Spear was equally flawless. It blocked each sword radiance with pinpoint accuracy while exploiting the briefest moments of respite to fend off the lethal strikes of the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss Sword.
With every exchange, Chen Sanshi was forced to retreat under attacks he could barely withstand, his Vajra Body at the middle stage of the True Force Realm resonating and trembling without pause.
Listening from the ground, it sounded as though someone were continuously striking immense bronze bells in the Celestial Palace of the Nine Heavens.
"You little wretch, let's see how long you can last!" Ling Kui roared.
With each clash, his Nether River True Force spread over the opponent like a contagion.
Sticky black liquid speckled the silver spear. Wherever it covered, the fire-aspect True Force was completely extinguished. If this continued, it would not take long to drag Chen Sanshi from the middle stage of the True Force Realm down to the early stage, until he could no longer wield even the slightest trace of True Force.
"Is that so?"
Amid surging True Force, the white-robed figure's flame-filled pupils shook the soul. His voice boomed like war drums. "Then I also want to see how long the two of you can last!"
"What?!"
They had already exchanged several rounds, yet the time that had passed amounted to no more than a few blinks.
Only now did Ling Kui suddenly notice something amiss. The rate at which his True Force was being consumed had increased. He hurriedly turned to look at the person beside him.
Emperor Longqing cast him the same look. His mana consumption had also exceeded its usual level.
How could this be?
Was it being affected by the opponent?
"You're not cultivating ordinary fire-aspect True Force?!
"Could it be—"
Ling Kui seemed to think of something, but quickly dismissed it himself. "Impossible!"
This was not his first time fighting this youth. Previously, the fire-aspect True Force had clearly been cultivated through the most ordinary fire breathing method. How could it possess any special effect?
Could it be the influence of the baleful star descending from the heavens today?
Perhaps it had slightly accelerated the consumption of True Force and mana?
In a world where spiritual energy was depleted, such anomalies were entirely possible.
With this thought, Ling Kui quickly steadied himself. Not the slightest flaw appeared in his sword techniques; instead, they grew even sharper.
Emperor Longqing, meanwhile, controlled the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss Sword while simultaneously bringing forth the Nation-Stabilizing Imperial Seal. Within the dantian of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the sea of mana churned and roared, forming a terrifying pressure of mana. He intended to end the battle swiftly and eliminate the only threat this world posed to him.
However, as the exchanges continued, their expressions grew increasingly grave.
Because, the increased consumption of True Force and mana was no illusion; it was undeniably real.
Once it accumulated to a certain degree, they could clearly perceive the cause: the white-robed figure's bizarre fire-aspect True Force.
With every exchange, every time they came into contact with that fire-aspect True Force, strange flames remained upon their weapons and magical treasures, even invading their meridians. In Ling Kui's case, the sixteen landscape deities within his body were all being scorched by the flames. Any True Force produced through the circulation of his breathing method would first have a portion burned away before it could be unleashed alongside his sword edge. To maintain the original power of his techniques, he was forced to expend far more True Force.
Emperor Longqing was in a similar state.
For a spellcaster, mana was stored within the dantian.
Each exchange allowed threads of scorching True Force to invade his body, coiling around the perimeter of the dantian. The mana he mobilized for casting spells was likewise being depleted.
Only at this moment did Ling Kui finally reach certainty.
His pupils trembled as he said in disbelief, "Burning Heaven Breathing Method?!"
The Burning Heaven Breathing Method!
Among the top ten martial breathing methods, the Nether River Breathing Method ranked sixth, while the Burning Heaven Breathing Method ranked seventh. The two possessed similar effects.
The reason the latter ranked seventh was due to a confrontation between the two methods in the past.
In that battle, the wielder of the Burning Heaven Breathing Method had died at the hands of the Nether River Breathing Method. After that, it nearly vanished without a trace.
Who would have thought it would reappear within the Eastern Divine Continent?
"Where did you obtain the Burning Heaven Breathing Method?!" Ling Kui's eyes split with fury before he let out a cold laugh. "But so what if you obtained it?
"You'll still be defeated by my Nether River Breathing Method! Wretch—prepare to die!" He roared as he went all out.
Emperor Longqing's suspicious eyes flickered incessantly. He glanced at the Dragon Abyss Sword in his hand as if hesitating over something, yet in the end he still failed to make up his mind and chose to once again directly command the flying sword to engage in spell combat.
"Boom—!"
True Force and mana collided without cease, thunderous detonations ringing endlessly.
Cao Kai and Ling Kui worked in perfect coordination, continuously suppressing every move of the white-robed figure. However, the consumption of True Force and mana within their bodies was also steadily intensifying.
Chen Sanshi was no exception.
The surface of his Dragon Gall Silver Spear gradually became entangled with Nether River True Force, while the divine shrine within his body was likewise covered by mire clinging like a festering curse. His fire-aspect True Force was suppressed, making it difficult to fully unleash.
Their battle had already carried them from the western bank of the Luo Stream to the eastern bank, yet the power erupting from their exchanges was steadily diminishing.
The immortal crane beneath Cao Kai's feet was only a first-rank spirit beast to begin with. Unable to withstand the aftershocks produced by combatants at second-rank battle strength, it succumbed to its severe injuries and died on the spot.
All three continued fighting while flying through the air, and before they realized it, they had arrived above Bagong Mountain.
Wishing to conserve as much mana as possible, they shifted the battlefield from the air to the ground.
Chen Sanshi faced two opponents alone. Even with his dual cultivation of martial and spell paths allowing him to endure a little longer, his body was now essentially sealed by True Force, unable to mobilize it freely.
Thus, the situation changed.
The attacks of all three no longer contained mana or True Force, becoming purely martial exchanges of physical bodies.
For martial cultivators, losing True Force did not mean their bodies weakened. They were still Martial Saints, their flesh remaining bronze-skinned and iron-boned, indestructible.
By contrast, the frail bodies of spell cultivators could not participate in such exchanges.
Emperor Longqing had no choice but to let Ling Kui fight alone. He himself moved to the flank, swallowed pills, and desperately regulated his condition, trying to recover as much mana as possible.
Ling Kui and Chen Sanshi entered a contest of spear technique versus sword technique, exchanging more than 30 rounds.
The effect of the Qilin Heart manifested.
Yet what shocked Chen Sanshi was that the swordsmanship of the man before him—had no flaws!
There was never only one martial prodigy in the world. Evidently, the one standing before him was also such a person.
Thus, the fight devolved into a pure contest of qi and blood.
This, too, was one of Chen Sanshi's strengths, and his foundation was likely firmer than anyone else's.
As time passed, Ling Kui's stamina visibly began to falter.
Above the Martial Saint level, qi and blood were naturally abundant, but when facing someone of the same realm, the expenditure was still enormous.
At the same time, not far away, Cao Kai recovered a trace of mana and once again mobilized the Dragon Abyss Sword to strike. Though it carried only Qi Refining–level mana, for the present Chen Sanshi, it was like a collapsing mountain, utterly irresistible. He barely managed to block it, yet his body was flung away like a kite with its string cut, crashing through 7 or 8 towering ancient trees before smashing into the grass, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
With just this single strike, the mana Emperor Longqing had painstakingly accumulated was once again largely depleted.
By this point in the battle, both he and Ling Kui were utterly exhausted.
And yet—before their horrified eyes, the blood-smeared Chen Sanshi stood up once more. He burst forth with speed far surpassing before and even recovered enough fire-aspect True Force to support a single strike.
Unmatched!
Emperor Longqing and Ling Kui only saw a cold glint flash deep within the pitch-black forest. Then their vision seemed abruptly severed, as though a segment of time itself had vanished. When their sight returned, the cold glint had already transformed into blazing fire, thrusting straight toward their hearts.
The spear strike came too swiftly, and the two of them stood together. It was virtually certain that one of them would have to receive it, unable to evade.
At this moment, Cao Kai still possessed a final wisp of mana. If he forcibly blocked this strike, he should survive, but would certainly be gravely wounded.
Behind him, Ling Kui's True Force was still in the process of recovering. With just one more breath, he would be able to muster the power for a single strike.
"Madman!" Ling Kui stared at the white-robed figure.
With this move, someone was bound to take the blow, but at the same time, Chen Sanshi would expose an enormous opening and would also suffer a counterstrike.
This was—the instant between life and death!
It could not be dragged out any longer!
Chen Sanshi understood this perfectly.
If things continued as before, with Ling Kui holding him down while Emperor Longqing recovered mana, he would inevitably die in a war of attrition!
Therefore—he had to seize the moment while the opponent was still struggling with exhaustion and eliminate one of them first.
Ling Kui saw through the white-robed figure's intent and shouted toward the front:
"Your Majesty!
"This is the last of his True Force. Block this strike for me. He will be completely drained, and I will recover enough power for one blow—he will surely die!"
Emperor Longqing gripped the Dragon Abyss Sword, infusing its blade with his meager mana. As he looked at the blazing spear tip drawing ever closer, hesitation flashed through his deep, unfathomable eyes.
"Longqing, do you dare to die?!!
"Cao Kai!!!
"Do you dare—die with me?!!"
Chen Sanshi's hoarse roar echoed across a 100-li radius, like a frenzied lion. Other than the target before him, there was nothing left that mattered, including—his own life!
"Your Majesty, you won't die, don't listen to him—"
Ling Kui had not finished speaking when he froze in place.
Because the Emperor Longqing who had been standing in front of him, at the very last moment before meeting the Dragon Gall Silver Spear, chose to sidestep and dodge away.
The crimson flame fire-dragon charging straight ahead encountered no further obstruction. Carrying searing fire-aspect True Force, it tore through the flesh and bones of Ling Kui, whose True Force had yet to recover, pierced his heart, and continued on until it punched clean through his entire body.