Even though Huo Shu's power was immense, he couldn't fully manifest it like a true Deity Transformation cultivator, nor could he comprehend and display the various divine abilities of a Deity Transformation. Old Demon Tian Zhu and the other three were, after all, great cultivators standing at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. Perhaps individually they were no match for Huo Shu, but with the four of them coordinating their attacks, coupled with the intermittent assaults from the other Nascent Soul cultivators, Huo Shu was hard-pressed to cope.
Huo Shu's mental state was already in a very delicate balance, prone to deviation that could easily lead to madness. Therefore, he was unable to contain his fury towards these Nascent Soul cultivators who harassed him incessantly like flies. His temper flared up, and in his irritation, he was likely to reveal flaws.
When his uncle and the other cultivators were once again flung away by Huo Shu, spitting blood in midair, Gu Yao's pupils suddenly contracted, and he quickly sent a telepathic message to Chi Changye: "I've found it! There's not just one flaw; one is in the brain, the other is in his heart area!"
Even though Huo Shu had absorbed the essence of other cultivators, that essence still contained the resentment from the cultivators at the time of their death. The resentment from one or two people might be manageable, but given the unknown number of essences Huo Shu had consumed to reach this stage, his irritability and inability to control his temper could also be due to the accumulation of these many resentments.
Gu Yao's spiritual sense was inherently subtle, capturing even the minutest changes immediately. Chi Changye had no doubt about his judgment and quickly communicated with Old Demon Tian Zhu and the others. In the next moment, Chi Changye suddenly turned around, biting into the Explosive Spirit Pill he had been concealing in his mouth. The pill burst, transforming into a torrent of spiritual power that surged into his body. The aura emanating from him climbed steadily until it stopped at the mid-Nascent Soul stage."Take action!" The Tang cultivator and others stuffed a pill into their mouths, their eyes bulging. Ignoring the pain of the pill's potency tearing through their meridians and dantian, they knew that if Huo Shu was not eliminated, they too would not escape death. It was a matter of life and death in this struggle.
The Tang cultivator and others, led by Yin Hua, launched an attack on Huo Shu's head. Huo Shu roared in anger, using his arms to shield his head.
Now was the moment! A sharp light burst forth from Chi Changye's cold eyes; he merged with his sword. A purple dragon, like lightning, struck towards Huo Shu, and in that instant, Chi Changye's figure completely vanished.
"Boom, boom, boom!!!"
The intense booming noise was deafening. The lightning that burst forth around Huo Shu blinded everyone. The Tang cultivator and others were once again thrown back, their meridians screaming in pain, but at this moment, their faces showed a hint of relief.
A streak of lightning flashed by, and Chi Changye's figure appeared behind Huo Shu. He planted his sword into the ground to support himself, one hand clutching his chest. Gu Yao quickly came to his aid, wrapping Chi Changye up and rapidly retreating far away. What situation would arise after the balance was broken was hard for anyone to predict.
"Scatter!" Old Demon Tian Zhu placed the severely injured Yin Hua onto Tian Zhu's back, then gave an order to the other Nascent Soul cultivators.
The other Nascent Soul cultivators also sensed the chaos in the central energy and quickly scattered in all directions. They only stopped when they were far enough away that the energy fluctuations couldn't harm them, their excellent vision allowing them to see clearly the changes happening to Huo Shu.
The giant-like body began to convulse and twist, with parts of the body violently erupting with tumors. These tumors swelled until they burst open, and the sounds they heard were the noises of these tumors exploding.
"What's happening?"Old Demon Tian Zhu happened to be in this direction, the corners of his mouth still dripping with blood, looking extremely sinister: "Power that isn't one's own will eventually rebel. So now, these foreign forces have begun their revolt. Enjoy this final feast to the fullest!"
The malice in his words made the other Nascent Soul cultivators shudder. Looking at Huo Shu, even tumors were bulging on his head, his entire appearance grotesquely altered, a sight of utter misery. Only Old Demon Tian Zhu could so coldly describe this as the final feast.
However, they had no desire to appreciate this 'feast,' for Huo Shu had completely lost his mind, unable to control the power within his body, and sought to drag others down with him. Thus, he chased after the Nascent Soul cultivators everywhere, forcing them to start a new round of fleeing. During their escape, they continuously threw various disposable explosive items at Huo Shu to hasten his demise.
Previously, they were concerned about injuring their fellow cultivators, so even Gu Yao didn't dare to throw out the poisons he had. But now, with the sea bringing those poisons and explosive talismans to be hurled towards Huo Shu, following the explosions, one of Huo Shu's arms was blown off, skin and flesh turned inside out, with poison still corroding it. The blood that dripped down quickly ate through the ground, forming a hole in the sand and stones.
After a full day and night, that ghastly body finally fell with a thud. The internal organs were either blasted apart or corroded away; one leg was blown off to who knows where; both eyeballs were gone; only bones remained of the two arms, but even the bones were charred black. And still, in its death throes, the surrounding cultivators could hear Huo Shu's soul emitting sounds of unwillingness and rage."Let your Heimeng Beast take action; leave no troubles for the future," Old Demon Tian Zhu said, pointing at the ferocious beast beside Gu Yao. The true form of this beast was unmistakable, and who would have thought that Gu Yao, an alchemist, would keep such a ferocious creature by his side.
Gu Yao had indeed thought the same, but he was worried that taking action himself would seem too cruel. However, now that Old Demon Tian Zhu had initiated, other cultivators quickly agreed, "Indeed, who knows if this guy has any tricks left. It's better to completely eradicate him to prevent any future calamities to the continent."
Gu Yao had no choice but to pat the leg of the kitten-sized creature; he couldn't reach its head as it was too large. The kitten roared and approached the mutilated body, its mouth opened wide and dragged out Huo Shu's soul from the body. The soul wasn't in much better shape compared to the body, distorted and convulsing due to resentment, with its eyes emitting a vicious red light. If it were released, it would undoubtedly become an uncontrollable menace.
With a "gulp," the head of the soul was bitten off. The sharp screams still lingered in their ears, causing some cultivators to shiver for reasons they couldn't quite articulate. Finally, the Heimeng Beast tore and swallowed the soul. Huo Shu's existence, along with his soul, was completely eradicated from the world. The cultivators then sat down with a thud, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
At the same time, they felt disbelief. Although Huo Shu was a pseudo-Transcendent God, he possessed the power of a true Transcendent God. So now, the reality was that they had collectively slaughtered a Transcendent God monster? Ha! Even Transcendent Gods weren't so impressive after all.
Of course, this thought was just a bit of fanciful thinking in their minds. After all, it was clear that the ones who had exerted the most effort were the four top Nascent Soul cultivators of Old Demon Tian Zhu's group, and then there was Chi Changye's final strike. The power he burst forth with in that instant could be said to rival the late Nascent Soul stage. Indeed, the younger generation is to be feared. Perhaps it wouldn't take many years for Chi Changye to surpass these older generation Nascent Soul cultivators.Everyone didn't think of leaving this place for the time being. Instead, a Nascent Soul cultivator proficient in formations set up a defensive array. Then, everyone hurried to heal and recuperate. Their conditions hadn't improved much; most cultivators carried with them their portable abodes, not just the kind suitable for living, but those with their own spiritual veins. The spiritual energy of this place had been drained, making recovery impossible outside.
Gu Yao had also taken out the portable abode he acquired from the seabed earlier, letting Chi Changye enter first to heal. When he turned around to look for his uncle, he saw Old Demon Tian Zhu helping his uncle into his abode. Gu Yao stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, unsure whether to snatch his uncle back or not.
His own injuries were not light, and if it weren't for his persistent body cultivation, he wouldn't have been able to withstand such a level of combat. But right now, he was uneasy about leaving Mil in the hands of Old Demon Tian Zhu. Although he had seen him save his uncle several times, Gu Yao still stomped his foot and followed.
By the time he caught up, the person had already been helped into the abode. Gu Yao could only stand at the entrance and call out, "Senior, I think it's better if I take care of my uncle."
Gu Yao still addressed these older generation Nascent Soul cultivators with respect, especially top figures like Old Demon Tian Zhu.
"Come in then," came the languid voice of Old Demon Tian Zhu.
"Yes," Gu Yao responded and walked in. The interior was quite unexpected; it wasn't sinister at all but rather luxurious and tasteful. Following the sound into one of the rooms, he saw Yin Hua being seated on a jade bed that looked extremely smooth and warm to the touch, obviously a warm jade bed. Moreover, such a large piece of jade must have been very old; resting on this warm jade bed that was at least a thousand years old would be very beneficial for healing wounds. This made Gu Yao hesitate.
"Alchemist Gu, your uncle should stay here to heal. You should not neglect your own injuries either. Go back and recuperate quickly to avoid any hidden issues. Isn't that right, Daoist Yin?" Old Demon Tian Zhu spoke in a rather kind tone.Yin Hua opened his eyes and glared at Old Demon Tian Zhu, but he couldn't bear the thought of his nephew delaying his healing because of him. So he said, "Xiao Yao, you hurry up and heal. Don't worry about uncle, I'm very good here."
Since Uncle had said so, Gu Yao couldn't just turn his back on someone he had just cooperated with. He left behind a few bottles of elixirs and departed.Seeing Gu Yao leave, Yin Hua then gave Old Demon Tian Zhu a sidelong glare: "Hmph, I don't want to cause Xiao Yao any trouble. You can have half of these elixirs, and I'll borrow your warm jade bed for a while."
Old Demon Tian Zhu laughed heartily, swept away half of the elixirs, and left with his beast pet. Healing was the priority, after all.
Although everyone was seriously injured, after a month had passed, most had recuperated sufficiently. They discovered that, after this battle, their cultivation levels had all improved, which was an unexpected surprise. Reaching the Nascent Soul stage, it's not easy to make progress, and over the past few years, their advancements were not insignificant.
This was also inseparable from the frequent battles. Before this calamity, Nascent Soul cultivators had few opportunities to engage in combat unless they went out for training; most of their time was spent in seclusion, accumulating spiritual power over time.
This made the cultivators with a drive for progress even more eager to head to the Wan Luo Continent. Here, the opportunities for them to take action were fewer, which meant fewer chances for opportunities. Only by moving to higher realms to face more challenges could they continue to make progress.
Even those who hadn't fully healed had their conditions stabilized. It must be said that the batch of sixth-grade healing pills provided by Gu Yao was of great help to everyone. The rest could wait until they left this place and returned to their own territories to continue their seclusion and healing. It would also be a good opportunity to assimilate and digest the gains from this battle.The place they were in was still part of the periphery of the sealed battlefield. They tentatively moved further inside and quickly felt a heart-palpitating power. The senior monks from the Tang sect stopped any thoughts of further exploration: "There's no need to go on. The ancestors sealed this place for a reason. In my opinion, that old thief Huo Shu must have only stayed on the outskirts without venturing deep. Our strength is not yet on par with his."
Meng, the alliance leader, also said, "Indeed, in my view, we should wait until we have a chance in the future to come back and have a look."
At their level, an instinctive feeling told them not to continue; the consequences would be more than they could bear. This was different from the battle they had with Huo Shu.
Old Demon Tian Zhu didn't hesitate to turn around and stop moving forward, and the others were certainly not willing to take this risk either. They all felt the same trepidation.
They found the place where Huo Shu had settled down and destroyed most of the things there. What was left were some spiritual materials and treasures of heaven and earth. Other items were not suitable to be passed on; human nature is the most unpredictable, and not all cultivators can resist the temptation that comes with power.
Eventually, they found the array controlled by Huo Shu, which was an array that opened an entrance on the Yin Yang Sealing Great Array. The array was not particularly sophisticated, but what took the cultivators' breath away was the array's components—each one was an extremely rare treasure.
The Silver Clan leader saw the stolen treasures of his clan, Yin Hua also saw the heritage items left by the Yin family, and recognized several treasures left behind by ancient clans, including a fire attribute treasure that Gu Yao thought must have been plundered from the Yan family.
Some Nascent Soul cultivators recognized treasures lost from their own sects that had been missing without a trace, but they never expected them to have fallen into Huo Shu's hands."Let's go, it's not wise to stay here for long," the Tang cultivator sighed. Every treasure here represented a considerable amount of bloodshed and scheming. Huo Shu's death, leaving not even a soul behind, was not at all unjust.
When everyone entered the black hole, the Tang cultivators acted simultaneously, removing all the treasures placed within the array's foundation. Half of these needed to be returned to their original owners, like the treasures belonging to the Silver Clan leader. How to distribute the rest needed to be discussed since everyone had contributed effort, and among them were several items crucial for constructing the passage. This was also an unexpected surprise.
Once again, they returned to the magnificent polar world. This time, everyone walked with ease because the greatest threat had been dealt with. What remained was waiting to construct the passage to the Wan Luo Continent. So, while everyone felt relaxed, they also felt a sense of reluctance to leave the Qian Hao Continent and their respective powers. They planned to use the remaining time to handle their affairs. They wanted to leave without regrets, to depart without any concerns.