A murderous aura filled the air, and the mountains and rivers were stained with blood.
In Evernorth Lu Region, Gu Xia had just beheaded a demon soldier, and his hand holding the sword was trembling slightly.
“Are you okay?” Zheng Bai, who just ended his fight, gave him a hand. “These demon soldiers seem to be getting stronger and stronger.”
Gu Xia, “It’s not that they are getting stronger, but we are getting weaker.”
Zheng Bai fell silent and looked at the cultivators on the auxiliary formation not far away. Some of those cultivators came from Frostcloud Sect, while others came from various sects. If it was just Frostcloud Sect, they could not provide so much manpower to complete the formation at all.
Although he was also an Amethyst Abode, his task was to protect the people in the auxiliary formation, because these people couldn’t leave their positions at all.
At this time, Liu Feng-laozu had activated her Eight Tone Demon Killing Formation, and eight women of various styles and individual charms protected the auxiliary formation. Many cultivators guarded outside the formation and fought the demon soldiers too.
The auxiliary formation was well protected, but Zheng Bai could tell that most of them were a little listless.
Zheng Bai, “I remember something Jing-laozu said. After the demon spawn was born until it evolved into an adult, it’ll be a vulnerable period for it. Now it has such strength just after it was born, once the vulnerable period is over…”
Gu Xia, “We can only take one step at a time. Laozu is doing his best. We just need to defend the auxiliary formation without worrying about other things.”
Zheng Bai nodded. “You are right. We need to defend the auxiliary formation no matter what.”
As soon as he said that, Zheng Bai suddenly felt his body go limp as if an invisible big hand had taken away his spiritual power.
Gu Xia also went pale and couldn't help but groan.
Zheng Bai, “Has the demon spawn evolved again?!”
He looked at the demon soldier who suddenly grew bigger not far away and guessed.
Gu Xia, “Most likely.”
Zheng Bai, “It grew up to be a child so quickly?”
The information about the demon spawn was no secret now. Zheng Bai knew that after the demon spawn was born, it needed to go through the stages of childhood and youth before turning into an adult. The strength of the demon spawn would increase every time it advanced, and the luck of demonic Dao would also become stronger.
With this ebb and flow, the righteous Dao would be naturally suppressed as a whole.
Gu Xia grimaced. “It's the first time we've encountered the demon spawn. Even Jing-laozu doesn't know what to expect. But as I said, no matter what the situation, we will defend the auxiliary formation.”
Zheng Bai, “Yeah!”
The two rushed into the horde of demon soldiers together, drew their swords, and fought again.
The sound of fighting was deafening, and everywhere was full of landslides, fire, and thunderstorms.
Although mortals could imagine the life-and-death struggle in the cultivation world, they only realized the cruelty when they experienced it themselves.
The death of mortals only involved blood and broken limbs, the death of the mortal body. But the death of cultivators would likely involve total annihilation, where even the spirit and soul would be wiped out, with no chance of an afterlife.
Clang!
A cultivator's long sword was broken in two. He threw away the broken sword decisively, made a seal with both hands, and released the spell.
The nearby soil quickly turned into a swamp, trying to engulf everything on the surface, and the demon soldiers had no choice but to float into the air. But another red-hot boulder rolled down and broke the demon soldiers apart.
But at the same time, a spear made of demonic energy pierced through the cultivator's abdomen. With a flick of the spear, a big hole opened in the cultivator's abdomen. He grabbed the protruding spearhead and tried to turn around to kill another demon soldier, but another huge force hit the cultivator's back, breaking all his bones.
The cultivator opened his blood-red eyes wide and breathed his last.
The death scene did not attract extra attention because everyone faced countless enemies.
Even though the strength of the demon soldiers was only Amethyst Abode, while there were many Heavenly Grottoes and even Return to Voids among the cultivators, the demon soldiers were endless. Every loss of a cultivator reduced their numbers, and millions of ants could ultimately kill the elephant.
Life and death meant nothing on the battlefield.
Mu Feng was also facing the siege of six demon soldiers at this time. His body was covered with wounds, his face was stained with blood, his spiritual power was almost drained, and he had reached his limit.
As a new generation of Frostcloud Sect, Mu Feng never dared to forget that everything he had today was because Jing-laozu reshaped his dantian for him, and it was the sect that gave him a chance to start anew.
He wanted to repay Jing-laozu and the sect, but right now, his vision was getting blurry.
If possible, he would not hesitate to self-combust his Amethyst core, but he didn't dare, because the auxiliary formation was behind him, and because countless righteous Dao fellow disciples were still fighting.
Mu Feng's body swayed like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind. He had reached the end of his life.
In a trance, he went back to two thousand years ago, back to the Frostcloud Sect martial arts arena, and he saw the sword that dazzled him again. That was the basic sword technique of Frostcloud Sect, the first lesson Jing-laozu gave him.
Although many years had passed, he still remembered that shocking purple sword light, and recalled it from time to time. At that time, Jing-laozu's sword took away his confidence and steadfastness, but many years later, this sword light became his belief.
He wanted to be like Jing-laozu, with one sword to shock the soul!
Perhaps when a person was forced into a corner, the most powerful potential would always explode. For the first time, Mu Feng saw this sword in such detail as if the fragments in his memories were suddenly transformed into images and replayed in his mind at the slowest speed.
He could see Jing-laozu's cold eyes, the latter’s posture of holding the sword, and every detail when he performed the sword move.
In an instant, Mu Feng had an unprecedented understanding of this move, which did not require any spiritual power.
Thus, he slashed one sword out!
At this moment, there was only one thought in Mu Feng's mind, which was a sentence that a Zhenren told him on his first day in the sect.
“Anyone who violates my Frostcloud Sect will be punished!”
A loud shout and the sword light erupted at the same time. After the sword light, six demon soldiers all turned into smoke.
Mu Feng swayed, his knees gave way, and he fell to the ground, never to stand again.
The blood of cultivators painted thousands of miles of land into a red picture scroll. In just ten days, sects were destroyed, cities were slaughtered, and the World of Seven Continents screamed in sorrow everywhere.
What was even more heartbreaking was that the accumulation and inheritance of the righteous Dao sect for thousands of years, even tens of thousands of years, dwindled precariously in this Demon Catalyst.
Lower South Region.
Most of the disciples in Green Bamboo Sanctuary participated in the auxiliary formation, and a few remained in the sect.
At this time, Wu Dao-zhenjun, who had reached Amethyst Abode, said to a handsome child, “The mountain protection barrier won’t last much longer. Please leave immediately, Shishu!”
(TN: Shishu 师叔 = Martial uncle)The child was about five or six years old, but his seniority in Green Bamboo Sanctuary was very high because he originated from the heavenly bamboo, none other than the clone of heavenly bamboo that Jing Yue cut in half back then. But it wasn’t easy for a clone to cultivate, so his appearance hadn’t changed much in the past thousand years.
“No! Let's go together!” Old Man Tianzhu stubbornly refused.
Wu Dao-zhenjun said anxiously, “The catalyst is upon us now. Regardless of whether Jing-laozu succeeds or not, Green Bamboo Sanctuary can no longer hold on! If all of us leave, what about the sect’s ten thousand years of inheritance?”
Old Man Tianzhu, “But if you want to seal the pagoda, you must activate the Blood Sacrifice Sealing Formation. All of you will die!”
Wu Dao-zhenjun, “I have no regrets to die for my Green Bamboo Sanctuary’s inheritance.”
Old Man Tianzhu's eyes were bloodshot. “I’m also willing to lay down my life for the inheritance of Green Bamboo Sanctuary. I’ll stay. You can find someone else to leave with you.”
Wu Dao-zhenjun, “You have a high level of cultivation, and you appear to be a child. You have the best chance to deceive the people in demonic Dao, and you have the best chance to survive! If you survive the Demon Catalyst, you can return to reopen the pagoda! If… then you have to live well. One day, your descendants will return and let the pagoda see the light of day again!”
Seeing that Old Man Tianzhu was about to say something else, Wu Dao-zhenjun suddenly knelt and kowtowed, “Shishu, I’m begging you!”
Old Man Tianzhu's eyes burned, and he nodded slightly.
On that day, the most famous Heavenly Bamboo in Green Bamboo Sanctuary withered overnight, and at the same time, the Wanfu Pagoda in Green Bamboo Sanctuary, which stored countless talismans and classics, disappeared without a trace.
The World of Seven Continents' largest talisman sect ended up with no one left alive.
If sealing up the inheritance was the decision made by the disciples of Green Bamboo Sanctuary as a last resort, then letting Old Man Tianzhu leave was because they still had hope in their hearts.
And this hope lay in Jing Yue’s hands.
At this time, Jing Yue was trying his best to refine the Yao fruit. He knew he was running out of time. Once the demon spawn’s evolution was over, the righteous Dao would have no more chance. Therefore, he did not hesitate to push himself and absorbed the power of the Yao fruit far beyond his capacity, even though doing so would cause irreversible damage to his meridians and dantian.
Around him, Qin Yanzhi, Yi Ye, and Cheng Nian stood guard. Many righteous Dao cultivators arrived later and fought the demon soldiers on the periphery.
Blood sprayed everywhere like rain, and even Qin Yanzhi's face was stained with blood. Those bloodstains were not his, but they still made people feel the pain to the bone.
Qin Yanzhi didn't dare to leave his guard post, so he could only manipulate the twin souls of Taiqing and Daoyi to fight the demon soldiers, and the same was true for Yi Ye and Cheng Nian.
But there were too many demon soldiers. If this continued, they couldn’t last much longer. Besides, the demon spawn kept growing, so the strength of the demon soldiers kept increasing, and the burden on the cultivators became heavier and heavier.
If Jing Yue still failed to activate the formation, perhaps…
Suddenly, within a radius of hundreds of miles, everyone felt an extremely strong chill.
Although the weather didn’t change, fine snow drifted in the sky. Once the crystal-clear snowflakes touched the demon soldiers, they were instantly destroyed as if purified.
At the same time, the ground, green trees, and even the rivers, lakes, and seas within a hundred miles were all frozen into ice, and Hollow Mountain seemed to be an iceberg carved by frost.
A snowflake fell on Qin Yanzhi's thick eyelashes. He was taken aback and turned around abruptly.
He saw Jing Yue's whole body exuding fluorescent blue light. Under the light and shadow, his cheeks were calm and gentle, like a jade statue. At the same time, the surrounding spiritual energy surged, and water spiritual energy was extremely active, continuously gathering around Jing Yue.
“Is Shizun going to reach the next level and go through tribulation?”
Of course, both Yi Ye and Cheng Nian were aware of such a big commotion and asked in unison at this moment.
The two of them stared at Jing Yue without blinking, Cheng Nian didn't even notice that Yi Ye had a slip of the tongue.
Qin Yanzhi nodded and went on high alert, fearing that something might happen.
Boom!
With a loud bang, the spiritual energy exploded like a bomb, forming transparent waves and sweeping across Hollow Mountain.
The merit stone heart suddenly shone brightly, and the sun, which had been mostly covered by dark clouds, once again showed its full face.
An abundance of auspicious energy descended from the stars, and with the sun as part of the formation, they illuminated crisscrossed lines on the ground, outlining the appearance of a chessboard.
The rich demonic energy faded a little, and the demon soldiers were reduced to the size when they were just born, but the cultivators felt full of strength.
In Evernorth, East Yu, Central Region, Upper South, Lower South, West Shu, and Miniwest Lu Region, the righteous Dao cultivators of the World of Seven Continents were all ecstatic, because they were certain of one thing—the Multiworld Star Formation was finally activated!
A murderous aura filled the air, and the mountains and rivers were stained with blood.
In Evernorth Lu Region, Gu Xia had just beheaded a demon soldier, and his hand holding the sword was trembling slightly.
“Are you okay?” Zheng Bai, who just ended his fight, gave him a hand. “These demon soldiers seem to be getting stronger and stronger.”
Gu Xia, “It’s not that they are getting stronger, but we are getting weaker.”
Zheng Bai fell silent and looked at the cultivators on the auxiliary formation not far away. Some of those cultivators came from Frostcloud Sect, while others came from various sects. If it was just Frostcloud Sect, they could not provide so much manpower to complete the formation at all.
Although he was also an Amethyst Abode, his task was to protect the people in the auxiliary formation, because these people couldn’t leave their positions at all.
At this time, Liu Feng-laozu had activated her Eight Tone Demon Killing Formation, and eight women of various styles and individual charms protected the auxiliary formation. Many cultivators guarded outside the formation and fought the demon soldiers too.
The auxiliary formation was well protected, but Zheng Bai could tell that most of them were a little listless.
Zheng Bai, “I remember something Jing-laozu said. After the demon spawn was born until it evolved into an adult, it’ll be a vulnerable period for it. Now it has such strength just after it was born, once the vulnerable period is over…”
Gu Xia, “We can only take one step at a time. Laozu is doing his best. We just need to defend the auxiliary formation without worrying about other things.”
Zheng Bai nodded. “You are right. We need to defend the auxiliary formation no matter what.”
As soon as he said that, Zheng Bai suddenly felt his body go limp as if an invisible big hand had taken away his spiritual power.
Gu Xia also went pale and couldn't help but groan.
Zheng Bai, “Has the demon spawn evolved again?!”
He looked at the demon soldier who suddenly grew bigger not far away and guessed.
Gu Xia, “Most likely.”
Zheng Bai, “It grew up to be a child so quickly?”
The information about the demon spawn was no secret now. Zheng Bai knew that after the demon spawn was born, it needed to go through the stages of childhood and youth before turning into an adult. The strength of the demon spawn would increase every time it advanced, and the luck of demonic Dao would also become stronger.
With this ebb and flow, the righteous Dao would be naturally suppressed as a whole.
Gu Xia grimaced. “It's the first time we've encountered the demon spawn. Even Jing-laozu doesn't know what to expect. But as I said, no matter what the situation, we will defend the auxiliary formation.”
Zheng Bai, “Yeah!”
The two rushed into the horde of demon soldiers together, drew their swords, and fought again.
The sound of fighting was deafening, and everywhere was full of landslides, fire, and thunderstorms.
Although mortals could imagine the life-and-death struggle in the cultivation world, they only realized the cruelty when they experienced it themselves.
The death of mortals only involved blood and broken limbs, the death of the mortal body. But the death of cultivators would likely involve total annihilation, where even the spirit and soul would be wiped out, with no chance of an afterlife.
Clang!
A cultivator's long sword was broken in two. He threw away the broken sword decisively, made a seal with both hands, and released the spell.
The nearby soil quickly turned into a swamp, trying to engulf everything on the surface, and the demon soldiers had no choice but to float into the air. But another red-hot boulder rolled down and broke the demon soldiers apart.
But at the same time, a spear made of demonic energy pierced through the cultivator's abdomen. With a flick of the spear, a big hole opened in the cultivator's abdomen. He grabbed the protruding spearhead and tried to turn around to kill another demon soldier, but another huge force hit the cultivator's back, breaking all his bones.
The cultivator opened his blood-red eyes wide and breathed his last.
The death scene did not attract extra attention because everyone faced countless enemies.
Even though the strength of the demon soldiers was only Amethyst Abode, while there were many Heavenly Grottoes and even Return to Voids among the cultivators, the demon soldiers were endless. Every loss of a cultivator reduced their numbers, and millions of ants could ultimately kill the elephant.
Life and death meant nothing on the battlefield.
Mu Feng was also facing the siege of six demon soldiers at this time. His body was covered with wounds, his face was stained with blood, his spiritual power was almost drained, and he had reached his limit.
As a new generation of Frostcloud Sect, Mu Feng never dared to forget that everything he had today was because Jing-laozu reshaped his dantian for him, and it was the sect that gave him a chance to start anew.
He wanted to repay Jing-laozu and the sect, but right now, his vision was getting blurry.
If possible, he would not hesitate to self-combust his Amethyst core, but he didn't dare, because the auxiliary formation was behind him, and because countless righteous Dao fellow disciples were still fighting.
Mu Feng's body swayed like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind. He had reached the end of his life.
In a trance, he went back to two thousand years ago, back to the Frostcloud Sect martial arts arena, and he saw the sword that dazzled him again. That was the basic sword technique of Frostcloud Sect, the first lesson Jing-laozu gave him.
Although many years had passed, he still remembered that shocking purple sword light, and recalled it from time to time. At that time, Jing-laozu's sword took away his confidence and steadfastness, but many years later, this sword light became his belief.
He wanted to be like Jing-laozu, with one sword to shock the soul!
Perhaps when a person was forced into a corner, the most powerful potential would always explode. For the first time, Mu Feng saw this sword in such detail as if the fragments in his memories were suddenly transformed into images and replayed in his mind at the slowest speed.
He could see Jing-laozu's cold eyes, the latter’s posture of holding the sword, and every detail when he performed the sword move.
In an instant, Mu Feng had an unprecedented understanding of this move, which did not require any spiritual power.
Thus, he slashed one sword out!
At this moment, there was only one thought in Mu Feng's mind, which was a sentence that a Zhenren told him on his first day in the sect.
“Anyone who violates my Frostcloud Sect will be punished!”
A loud shout and the sword light erupted at the same time. After the sword light, six demon soldiers all turned into smoke.
Mu Feng swayed, his knees gave way, and he fell to the ground, never to stand again.
The blood of cultivators painted thousands of miles of land into a red picture scroll. In just ten days, sects were destroyed, cities were slaughtered, and the World of Seven Continents screamed in sorrow everywhere.
What was even more heartbreaking was that the accumulation and inheritance of the righteous Dao sect for thousands of years, even tens of thousands of years, dwindled precariously in this Demon Catalyst.
Lower South Region.
Most of the disciples in Green Bamboo Sanctuary participated in the auxiliary formation, and a few remained in the sect.
At this time, Wu Dao-zhenjun, who had reached Amethyst Abode, said to a handsome child, “The mountain protection barrier won’t last much longer. Please leave immediately, Shishu!”
(TN: Shishu 师叔 = Martial uncle)The child was about five or six years old, but his seniority in Green Bamboo Sanctuary was very high because he originated from the heavenly bamboo, none other than the clone of heavenly bamboo that Jing Yue cut in half back then. But it wasn’t easy for a clone to cultivate, so his appearance hadn’t changed much in the past thousand years.
“No! Let's go together!” Old Man Tianzhu stubbornly refused.
Wu Dao-zhenjun said anxiously, “The catalyst is upon us now. Regardless of whether Jing-laozu succeeds or not, Green Bamboo Sanctuary can no longer hold on! If all of us leave, what about the sect’s ten thousand years of inheritance?”
Old Man Tianzhu, “But if you want to seal the pagoda, you must activate the Blood Sacrifice Sealing Formation. All of you will die!”
Wu Dao-zhenjun, “I have no regrets to die for my Green Bamboo Sanctuary’s inheritance.”
Old Man Tianzhu's eyes were bloodshot. “I’m also willing to lay down my life for the inheritance of Green Bamboo Sanctuary. I’ll stay. You can find someone else to leave with you.”
Wu Dao-zhenjun, “You have a high level of cultivation, and you appear to be a child. You have the best chance to deceive the people in demonic Dao, and you have the best chance to survive! If you survive the Demon Catalyst, you can return to reopen the pagoda! If… then you have to live well. One day, your descendants will return and let the pagoda see the light of day again!”
Seeing that Old Man Tianzhu was about to say something else, Wu Dao-zhenjun suddenly knelt and kowtowed, “Shishu, I’m begging you!”
Old Man Tianzhu's eyes burned, and he nodded slightly.
On that day, the most famous Heavenly Bamboo in Green Bamboo Sanctuary withered overnight, and at the same time, the Wanfu Pagoda in Green Bamboo Sanctuary, which stored countless talismans and classics, disappeared without a trace.
The World of Seven Continents' largest talisman sect ended up with no one left alive.
If sealing up the inheritance was the decision made by the disciples of Green Bamboo Sanctuary as a last resort, then letting Old Man Tianzhu leave was because they still had hope in their hearts.
And this hope lay in Jing Yue’s hands.
At this time, Jing Yue was trying his best to refine the Yao fruit. He knew he was running out of time. Once the demon spawn’s evolution was over, the righteous Dao would have no more chance. Therefore, he did not hesitate to push himself and absorbed the power of the Yao fruit far beyond his capacity, even though doing so would cause irreversible damage to his meridians and dantian.
Around him, Qin Yanzhi, Yi Ye, and Cheng Nian stood guard. Many righteous Dao cultivators arrived later and fought the demon soldiers on the periphery.
Blood sprayed everywhere like rain, and even Qin Yanzhi's face was stained with blood. Those bloodstains were not his, but they still made people feel the pain to the bone.
Qin Yanzhi didn't dare to leave his guard post, so he could only manipulate the twin souls of Taiqing and Daoyi to fight the demon soldiers, and the same was true for Yi Ye and Cheng Nian.
But there were too many demon soldiers. If this continued, they couldn’t last much longer. Besides, the demon spawn kept growing, so the strength of the demon soldiers kept increasing, and the burden on the cultivators became heavier and heavier.
If Jing Yue still failed to activate the formation, perhaps…
Suddenly, within a radius of hundreds of miles, everyone felt an extremely strong chill.
Although the weather didn’t change, fine snow drifted in the sky. Once the crystal-clear snowflakes touched the demon soldiers, they were instantly destroyed as if purified.
At the same time, the ground, green trees, and even the rivers, lakes, and seas within a hundred miles were all frozen into ice, and Hollow Mountain seemed to be an iceberg carved by frost.
A snowflake fell on Qin Yanzhi's thick eyelashes. He was taken aback and turned around abruptly.
He saw Jing Yue's whole body exuding fluorescent blue light. Under the light and shadow, his cheeks were calm and gentle, like a jade statue. At the same time, the surrounding spiritual energy surged, and water spiritual energy was extremely active, continuously gathering around Jing Yue.
“Is Shizun going to reach the next level and go through tribulation?”
Of course, both Yi Ye and Cheng Nian were aware of such a big commotion and asked in unison at this moment.
The two of them stared at Jing Yue without blinking, Cheng Nian didn't even notice that Yi Ye had a slip of the tongue.
Qin Yanzhi nodded and went on high alert, fearing that something might happen.
Boom!
With a loud bang, the spiritual energy exploded like a bomb, forming transparent waves and sweeping across Hollow Mountain.
The merit stone heart suddenly shone brightly, and the sun, which had been mostly covered by dark clouds, once again showed its full face.
An abundance of auspicious energy descended from the stars, and with the sun as part of the formation, they illuminated crisscrossed lines on the ground, outlining the appearance of a chessboard.
The rich demonic energy faded a little, and the demon soldiers were reduced to the size when they were just born, but the cultivators felt full of strength.
In Evernorth, East Yu, Central Region, Upper South, Lower South, West Shu, and Miniwest Lu Region, the righteous Dao cultivators of the World of Seven Continents were all ecstatic, because they were certain of one thing—the Multiworld Star Formation was finally activated!
