Below Spirit Void Peak.
A gentle breeze blew, and on a tender green blade of grass on the ground, a black-bodied, white-winged ant slowly crawled up.
The ant wiggled its antennae, crawled to the top, seemingly searching for something, and slowly paused.
Suddenly, a tremor spread and blew over, causing the grass blade to tremble and quiver.
The ant fell to the ground along with it.
Woo~~~~
In the distant forest, a melodious, ancient horn sounded.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!!
The orderly phalanx of black-armored tower shield spirit army approached step by step toward Spirit Void Peak.
There were vast numbers of them, forming square formations, moving through the forest.
Even the rather dense forest shrubbery did not affect their formation changes.
Like blocks of black carpet, they pressed steadily and orderly toward Spirit Void Peak.
Behind the large spirit army, several gigantic, heavy-armored generals, three to four meters tall, walked with heavy steps, slowly lowering their pitch-black visors, raising their massive weapons.
"They’re coming." The leading one, white hair flowing out from the helmet’s gaps, his eyes emitting a sliver of cold killing intent, gazed toward the foot of Spirit Void Peak.
"Everyone, this battle is dangerous, but it concerns the safety and major plans for us in the decades or even hundreds of years to come. Please give it your all," he said in a deep voice.
"Why say such words, Leader Shangguan? If we cannot win this battle, you and I will be mere ants in the future. Now everything has been verified, as heaven and earth are about to converge; anyone will become a target of the reaping. Without exerting ourselves, we can only wait for death," replied a person beside him in a deep voice.
"Then let’s kill. It’s nothing more than you live or I die. Why say so much?" another robust man said coldly.
Shangguan Feihua raised his head, his eyes seeing through the helmet, looking into the depths of the forest at a large number of blue-eyed stone men gradually closing in.
The blue light in their eyes was clearly visible even in the dense sea of trees.
The stone men continued to hunt the top experts from various factions who couldn’t retreat in time.
"Prepare!!" he shouted loudly, raising the greatsword.
Whizz.
The entire spirit army halted, erected their shields, stabbing their pointed ends into the ground.
With the sound of piercing, the entire black-armored torrent completely stopped.
Boom!!
In an instant.
A large group of blue-eyed stone men swarmed out from the dark recesses of the forest.
They moved like a gray stream, carrying an emotionless, icy aura, rushing rapidly across the gap between the two armies, slamming into the interception line of the black-armored tower shields.
Bang bang bang bang!!!
The dense clashing sound became a continuous stream.
"Kill!!" Shangguan Feihua pointed forward with his greatsword.
He himself was the first to rush forward, his body expanding and growing rapidly, transforming in the blink of an eye into a five-meter-tall figure, crashing through a group of stone men like a heavy rhinoceros.
The surrounding stone men attempted to encircle him, but strangely, all their weapons and fists struck disorderly only on their comrades.
And the real Shangguan Feihua, though in the midst of an encirclement, only had to handle two or three erroneous attacks that ended up hitting him.
This was his self-created pinnacle martial art, Heavenly Diligence Nine Chapters, Heart Seeking Illusion Technique.
Not only him, but other Grandmasters and masters also launched their ultimate moves, charging at the group of stone men. Wherever they passed, stone men shattered and crumbled.
But soon, massive stone spiders, each over ten meters tall, approached with heavy steps toward the crowd.
*
*
*
Underground Jade Void Palace.
Below the copper-colored, pyramid-like high platform.
Yue Dewen slightly raised his head, and all the footprints behind him exhaled white smoke.
All the white smoke gathered into one behind him, forming a faint, round painting.
In the painting, there were mountains, water, people, flowers, birds, insects, fish, and even the sky, sun, and white clouds.
It seemed like another new world formed from smoke.
He carried this gigantic painting over ten meters high, step by step approaching the blue light aura pervading around the high platform.
Until an invisible thin film force field in front blocked his way forward.
He paused there.
"Open!!"
Suddenly, he raised his hands, and all the smoke behind him gathered onto his arms, winding upward.
A large amount of smoke coalesced into two giant hands with diameters of several meters, fiercely striking the invisible blue light force field in front.
Boom!!!!
Blinding blue light and a large amount of white smoke squeezed, collided, and dispersed, shooting around.
The blue light of the entire tower began to flicker, becoming unstable.
With a tearing sound.
Finally, the blue light force field was forcibly torn open into an elliptical light gate.
Daoist Qingyi and Cosimo jumped up simultaneously, darting into the light gate, quickly ascending the steps to the top.
"Descent of the God!!" The two of them roared in quick succession.
At the same time, the dazzling blue light burst out like a small sun, completely erupting at the top.
Yue Dewen maintained his effort on his arms, sustaining the large hole in the blue light, suddenly charging forward, following them into the hole, softly landing and standing still.
The large hole in the blue light behind him, deprived of opposing force, instantly healed, returning to calm.
He raised his head, flew up briskly, quickly crossing the steps, landing on the edge of the top.
Tap.
His long boot landed, making a light sound.
Yue Dewen’s pupils slightly shrank.
The first thing he saw was Cosimo’s body collapsing on the ground, lifeless and unmoving.
His body was being enveloped by a faint gray hue, spreading. He was transforming entirely into a stone statue.
Amid the pounding clash.
Daoist Qingyi’s enormous ultimate form was being choked by a giant hand, suspended in mid-air, struggling constantly.
He powerlessly pounded on the large hand gripping his neck, but the vast disparity in strength made escape impossible.
Whoosh.
Daoist Qingyi was casually tossed aside, crashing into a nearby blue energy barrier, bouncing back and landing heavily on the ground.
He struggled, attempting to rise.
But the area from his feet upward had already begun to gradually turn to stone.
"Can’t... Descent of the God!!" The Taiji flesh-and-blood disk behind Daoist Qingyi also began to slowly cease its writhing.
He struggled, blood covering his face, as he cried out in warning.
Yue Dewen did not answer. He lifted his gaze, looking toward the tall, strange figure at the top of the platform.
"Welcome." Three different tones of female voices sounded simultaneously, merging into an eerie and sacred harmony.
The figure atop slowly turned around, revealing a familiar face that Yue Dewen had seen before.
"Sacred Dance....." Yue Dewen squinted.
"The Sacred Patrol said, after the last time, when heaven and earth converge, it will be the day we reclaim everything...."
At this moment, Sacred Dance’s body no longer resembled that of a human.
It was entirely gray-white, like a statue.
She had already revealed her final form, displaying her true self of three heads and six arms.
But unlike usual, her lower body had completely transformed into the serpent body of a gigantic snake, slithering as scales expanded and contracted.
In her chest and abdomen, embedded among the flesh, was a golden human face mask.
Threads of blue light crackled like electricity around her, sporadically flashing in mid-air.
As she looked at Yue Dewen, the face directed at him bore a hint of a seductive, charming smile.
"Reclaim everything?" Yue Dewen slowly stepped forward.
"When did everything in the world become yours?"
He stepped forward, again stirring vast swathes of gray-white mist at his back.
Countless mists rapidly enveloped and wrapped his body, transforming into a massive wall of smoke.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the smoke paused, and a towering five-meter-tall humanoid figure emerged from its center.
The humanoid figure was draped in a purple robe trimmed with gold, silver armor on the upper body, and the face remained Yue Dewen’s, with no change at all.
But behind him, amidst the smoky clouds, a shadowy dark gold disk slowly floated up and down.
The disk was divided into twelve sections, each engraved with a symbol representing a talismanic skill from the Rejuvenation Purification Talisman Manual.
Starting from the first talismanic skill, they were Morning Energy Talisman, Flame Emperor Talisman, One Element Talisman, Spirit Gathering Talisman, Primordial Talisman, Soul-Stabilizing Talisman, Mountain-shaped Talisman, Three Pristine Talisman, Spirit Returning Talisman, Sandalwood Star Talisman, Nine Bends Talisman, Yellow Dragon Talisman.
And at the center of the disk was a black crescent moon, slowly rotating, releasing a continuous stream of gray-white mist.
"Everything of these centuries shall end with me today."
Yue Dewen strode towards Sacred Dance.
"I fear you cannot succeed." Sacred Dance smiled confidently, watching him. "As heaven and earth converge, we have reclaimed the power once stored within the heavens. Here, the Descent of the God is impossible.... Today, you shall die."
"Then let’s try." Yue Dewen raised a hand, vast clouds swarming behind him, gathering into his palm.
Whoosh!!
In an instant, the clouds transformed into a massive dragon shape, roaring as it flew toward Sacred Dance.
Boom!!
In mid-air, the dragon shape swiftly turned red and burst into flames instantaneously, illuminating the entire platform.
Simultaneously, Sacred Dance raised her six arms, countless blue lights converging behind her, forming a cascading, intricate ancient staircase leading into the blurred heavens.
At the end of the staircase, a point of golden light suddenly lit up.
*
*
*
Wish Girl Gorge · Human Immortal Cave.
Crack.
The sky was dim, shrouded in dense clouds. Lightning occasionally flashed, emitting booming sounds.
"I suddenly have a feeling of intuition." Chang Yuqing sheathed her longsword.
Opposite her, Zhang Zhenhai’s beautiful eyes were serious as she also sheathed her short blade.
"You too? I thought I was the only one with this feeling."
She pressed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart quicken its pace.
"There’s a sense that something big is about to happen any minute."
She looked up at the sky.
"The weather is strange too. It was just sunny, and now...."
"Shall we go wash up? Together?" She glanced at Chang Yuqing.
Currently, she was closest to Chang Yuqing within the Taoist temple.
This was largely because Chang Yuqing often sought her to practice martial arts together.
And unlike others, she concealed nothing, sharing all her knowledge freely.
"Alright." Chang Yuqing also felt uncomfortable with her body all wet and sweaty after training. She nodded right away.
Dong!!
Suddenly, a heavy bell toll echoed from afar.
The sound was urgent, quickly followed by two more successive tolls.
"Xiaoqing, Zhenhai! There’s an issue with the Blood Pool!!" Ding Yu’s figure appeared abruptly at one side of the arena.
The two women tensed, swiftly heading towards the direction of Human Immortal Platform.
Ding Yu followed closely, all three recalling the strange palpitations they had felt earlier.
Logically, ever since becoming part of the bloodline, their bodies were much stronger than before, with most ailments having been completely eradicated.
Experiencing sudden, inexplicable palpitations like this had never happened before.
Add to that the current bizarre celestial signs, oppressive and dreary.
And the abrupt news of an issue with the Blood Pool.
A sense of foreboding welled up in each of their hearts.
Soon, the three arrived at Human Immortal Platform, standing before Human Immortal Cave.
Several Daoists from the Celestial Character Institute had already arrived ahead of them, spreading out and intently watching the cave entrance.