All the defensive array formations of the Wubei Sect were active. Xiao Xuefeng was still controlling the Seal of Authority despite Sect leader Xuan's presence. And Sect Leader Xuan had just activated his most powerful technique yet.
Behind him, space had opened up. All the disciples and the traitors within the Wubei Sect felt a powerful tremor. It wasn't the mountain that was shaking. No, this time it was space itself. They also all felt their souls shake. Something had been unleashed, something ancient and powerful.
All the chief elders recognized the two yellow eyes that had pierced through the veil of space. Those were the eyes of a particular Immortal Beast. All Immortal Beasts had gone extinct just like all cultivators beyond the Spirit Warrior realm. But according to the legends of the Wubei Sect, Ancestor Wu had been friends with one. This Immortal Beast had even almost reached the stage of Godly Beast. For most citizens of the Hongchen Kingdom, those words were devoid of meaning but for Chief Elder Yisheng who was the head of the demonic beast pavilion, it made perfect sense.
Demonic beasts were cultivating instinctively by devouring other beasts and cultivators. They could also naturally absorb the Qi in the environment or even cultivate plants rich in Qi. But at the end of the day, their cultivation consisted in absorbing Qi in their blood and slowly forming demonic cores. When they reached nine demonic cores, then they could try and enter into the legendary realm of Immortal Beast. In order to do so, they had to use those nine demonic cores as a foundation in order to cultivate their body into something new.
Each demonic core contained the potential for growth. By using them, they could develop new organs similar to humans in the sense that they were comparable to Dantian or meridians. But they were completely unique to each family of demonic beasts. Besides, those changes could also awaken their bloodline. Along with those changes, the demonic cores would also evolve into demonic pearls. Only when all the nine demonic cores had become demonic pearls would their bloodline have been fully opened. At that point, the Immortal Beast would be as powerful as a late Immortal, hence the name. But just like humans, there were even further realms for an Immortal Beast to develop.
And just like humans and demons alike, demonic beasts had been unable to cross over to this realm since the beginning of the Forsaken Dao Era. This era had struck everyone on the Piaolu planet, bringing an end to a prosperous era of cultivation.
Ancestor Wu had been the last human recorded in history to be associated with an Immortal Beast. Some even thought that this legend had been made up to increase the status of the Wubei Sect. But they could now all feel something in their souls. It was as though an Immortal was rejoicing and weeping at the same time. The sensation was hard to pinpoint but the entire Wubei Sect was encompassed by it. In fact, even Sect Leader Xuan was shaken by this sensation. He was the only one who knew where it came from, but that meant that he was also the only one to know what it meant.
Even Xiao Xuefeng was not entirely sure of what was going on. But she could clearly feel that this sensation emanated from a dying or even dead soul.
Once the sensation was gone, it was replaced by something else. From behind Sect Leader Xuan, a titanic creature emerged. It was almost corporeal but it was clearly a form of Qi Manifestation. However, it seemed to contain some kind of intelligence in its eyes. The creature was in the image of the legendary World Black Tortoise, the companion of Ancestor Wu. It was a turtle with golden marks on its face. In its eyes, stars could be seen. Although its face seemed very young, the turtle had a dignified and wise air around it.
On its shells were thirteen scutes made of precious onyx and gold. Each one of its legs was as tall as a building of the Wubei Sect while its body was larger than the Sect Palace high on the Heidai Peak. All around its legs and its shell, there was also a vicious snake coiled. The more one would try to see where it was coming from, the more the line between the snake and the turtle would be blurred. It seemed to be fused with it and its tail was elusive to the eye.
Although the creature was gigantic, it left no trace on the ground. Indeed, it was a Qi Manifestation entirely controlled by Sect Leader Xuan. He had used everything he could from the Wubei Sect and he had called forth the ultimate technique of Ancestor Wu's 'Black Tortoise Under the Rain'. Just like 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' that was supposed to be able to form the spirit of an Azure Dragon within the cultivator who would push it to the extreme, 'Black Tortoise Under the Rain' could produce the spirit of a Black Tortoise. And here it was, manifested in the physical world.
The entire Wubei Sect turned into a giant lake. It seemed to be formed by the vacuum of space and not water, but the World Black Tortoise could swim in it. Every time its limbs moved in this starless lake, space was disturbed all around.
Every disciple in the Wubei Sect felt invigorated as they were able to sense the immeasurable strength of their sect leader. Some even imagined that he had surpassed Ancestor Wu and was maybe close to breaking the curse of this era and to sail into the Sage realm. Of course, this was wishful thinking. But his strength had indeed greatly surpassed Ancestor Wu's. However, he had used the array formations of the Wubei Sect. Although he was a bit more powerful than Ancestor Wu at his peak, and the strongest fighter in the current Hongchen Kingdom, he wouldn't be able to pull off such a move outside of his sect.
And this wasn't over! All the chief elders flew and gathered on the shell of the World Black Tortoise. Xiao Xuefeng was leading them with Chief Elder Baishen by her side. Sect Leader Xuan's martial art was known by all thus it made things easier for them to harmonize with it. They all used their own technique and their own strength to support the Qi Manifestation. Xiao Xuefeng and Chief Elder Lümian could feel the spirit of the Black Tortoise within the Qi Manifestation. Sect Leader Xuan had clearly reached True Success but he was still a ways away from Perfection.
Faced with such a creature though, even Mo Tian began to panic. He could feel that space around him had become so viscous that even his soul could barely move around. And he was trying to send it inside Da Mo's body to gain full control over it.
'Black Snake Darts Out its Tongue'!
Before Mo Tian could wrap his head around everything that was going on, the snake attacked. Although it had only one head, the moment the attack reached Mo Tian, he sensed as though eight maws were coming for him. The bloody chains tore through the starless lake. They completely disregarded the strange nature of space in this place as the blood glistening on them started to burn more and more intensely. Several chains went for each head. They were fighting off the snake that was relentless in its assault.
'The Snake Leaves the Shell'!
All eight heads turned into a giant snake whose body was so entangled that it was impossible to discern where the heads were coming from. Even if one were to try and follow the body from one of the heads, he would always get lost and confused. The giant body was coiled several times all around Mo Tian and the giant red arm. Since it had formed, the water in its embrace had turned even more viscous. With it, space had also become more difficult to control and resist. Mo Tian felt as though he was in the middle of a storm. He had to actively use his Wei Qi to avoid being blown away and ripped to shreds.
He was no fool though. This technique was way too powerful for a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior. It was comparable to what an early Sage could pull off. Although Sect Leader Xuan had the support of all the array formations of the Wubei Sect and of fifteen chief elders, he wouldn't be able to maintain such a technique for a very long time. And the fact that he had unleashed powerful attacks right away was proof of that. However, he had not used all of his techniques yet.
In fact, Mo Tian felt as though he only used a different technique each time he had been able to adapt to one. Yes, Sect Leader Xuan was just trying to keep him off balance. He was just trying to buy some time. That meant that he had a plan in mind. Although Mo Tian was certain of his success, he was no fool. No matter how short lived this newfound power would be for Sect Leader Xuan, Mo Tian didn't want to lose a single instant. Instead, he was hellbent on fusing with Da Mo as soon as possible.
Thinking in such a way, Mo Tian pushed the red arm further than before.
Da Mo's arm finally attacked. When it moved, the starless lake was blown away. Just like water, it reformed behind but it was unable to stop or even hinder the red arm. The blood inside the arm was boiling and the air touching the skin sizzling. The moment it moved, the arm had caught one of the eight heads. Without any hesitation, it crushed it into a bloody pulp. Several chief elders threw up blood at that moment but they stayed strong. Xiao Xuefeng's melody was supporting them and preventing them from losing consciousness.
Since the beginning of the fight, Xiao Xuefeng had been warding off powerful soul attacks. When Da Mo's arm had crushed that snake's head, she had felt a huge wave of killing intent wash over her. Despite all her spiritual senses, she had barely been able to contain it. Everyone was really reaching their breaking point. But Mo Tian did not press on the attack. Instead, he used this distraction to get closer to the red arm. Although it was risky, Mo Tian wanted to send his Soul Embryo directly into the new body of Demon God Da Mo.
'The Snake Sinks its Fangs'!
The starless lake suddenly rose. Millions of tiny snakes emerged from the coiled body of the giant seven-headed monster. They were all swimming and creating powerful currents in space. Mo Tian was attacked by thousands of them while millions were biting into Da Mo's flesh. Each snake that got close to Da Mo's body began to burn instantly. Those who managed to bite into its flesh simply turned into ashes right away. On the other hand, Mo Tian conjured some painting. Eagles flew out of the painting. They were made of black ink and their form was ever changing. They got hurtled around in the maelstrom of space. But their claws and beaks were able to find many of the snakes to destroy them.
Then, Mo Tian rang a small bell. Every Qi Manifestation around him ceased to be for an instant. Using this opportunity, he got closer and closer to Da Mo's body. He couldn't think of a single plan that could stop his ambitions. But something in the back of his head was telling him he had to fuse with Da Mo's body right now or he would never get another chance. Although he couldn't rationalize it, he accepted this intuition as truth. Of course, he was right.
-
At the same time as all this madness, on the ground, Cao Yun was making his way into the Devil's Jail.
Sect Leader Xuan and Xiao Xuefeng had made sure that the Qi Manifestation would not materialize directly on the ground. This fight was happening above it. And the chaos was so total that even without his stealth technique, it would have been difficult to spot him for an early Spirit Warrior. However, with his stealth technique, even Sect Leader Xuan and Xiao Xuefeng did not know where he was, even though they knew he was down there. Both were very impressed, but this was natural from a technique created by a genius of the Huang family.
Fully healed and a full-fledged 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior, Cao Yun's mastery over 'Ashen Feather Seal' had greatly improved. Under normal circumstances, he was certain he could fool even a middle Spirit Warrior. But with the mayhem above his head, only a Sage would be able to locate him. Unfortunately, Da Mo's body had largely crossed that boundary. So he had to be quick about it. If Mo Tian really did fuse with the body, he might be discovered.
Because he was using his stealth, Cao Yun could not move as fast as usual. That didn't stop him from being incredibly fast though. His physique had improved by leaps and bounds thanks to his blood. It had reached a bottleneck for now, but it was on par with a 7th-grade Mortal Warrior, and even a bit more. Apart from Ren Chao's improved physique, Cao Yun had no rival among the Mortal Warrior realm.
Following the directions of the Palace Spirit Dian Mo, Cao Yun quickly reached the Devil's Jail. It was now a giant hole in the ground. And the hole was completely blocked by the giant red arm. As he was getting close to it, Cao Yun could feel its wrath, its fury and its heat. The blood within its body was boiling like crazy. In fact, around the arm, the heat was so intense that the air had been burned off. The arm was literally surrounded by a layer of vacuum that could never be filled. As such, there was some kind of suction force attracting everything toward the arm to be destroyed.
Now that he was close enough, Cao Yun could feel something in his Drop of Wrath. No matter what Da Mo and Axiu Qian had been, now Cao Yun was certain that they were related in some capacity. But he could also feel that the Drop of Wrath was a tiny bit superior to the blood coursing through that giant arm. It wasn't the real Da Mo though. And even the cultivation of this body was inferior to the real Da Mo.
In fact, Axiu Qian had been way more powerful than Da Mo but this Drop of Wrath was the last vestige of him. It had almost been destroyed by an entity beyond what Cao Yun could comprehend. Yet, it was still more powerful than an Exalted Demon.