Chapter 475: Jin Dan Group Ends, Time Branch Collapses

From afar, it looked like a mountain, but when they got closer, they realized it was a golem!

Is this even reasonable?!

I spent ages hiding until the final round just to barely forge one Divine Mechanism Unit, and you just…

Before she could recover from her shock.

Boom!

The air was crushed, emitting a series of explosive cracks.

A terrifying giant hand, made of mountain-sized earth and stone, with root systems of spiritual plants as its bones, slammed down.

The violent wind pressure made the entire Divine Mechanism Unit tremble constantly; only after the rear engines increased power did it barely stabilize its form.

But as she watched the flood of continuous damage reports popping up.

She dared not hesitate further and immediately activated the Phases Amplification function she had saved as her trump card.

Hum~

Inside the cockpit, countless crystal-fiber tubes connected to the seat suddenly glowed brightly, resonating with her magic power.

Transmitting her inner magic power through the Divine Mechanism Unit's spiritual circuits, finally controlled by her divine will!

Instantly!

A thin layer of Jin Guang emerged on the armor's surface, expanding rapidly from faint to solid.

In an instant, the Jin Guang rising from the Divine Mechanism Unit swelled to just one head's height shorter than the mountain golem.

It directly shoved back the slamming earth-and-stone giant hand, forcing it off-balance.

It staggered backward several steps, shaking the earth continuously.

The Phase's form resembled the original Divine Mechanism Unit, but now bore a ring of constantly drifting golden runes and held a golden greatsword piercing straight into the clouds.

Zhao Ruohan's expression remained unchanged.

For Soul Transformation cultivators, Phases are typically used only against massive opponents in the starry void; among peers in the Xuan Realm, they're rarely employed.

After all, cultivators at this stage rarely have fully formed Phases.

They're fine against biological weapons, but cumbersome against peers of equal realm.

Of course, the Divine Mechanism Unit's Phase Amplification system partially compensated for this, and since the opponent was a mountain-sized golem, this decision was correct…

Thoughts flashed through her mind as Zhao Ruohan stood atop the mountain peak, her robe billowing in the howling winds.

She shifted her intent.

Sssssss!

It sounded like millions of birds flapping wings at once, a collective noise that sent chills down the spine.

The spiritual-plant golems scattered across the mountain golem suddenly surged forth, like a colossal tidal wave obscuring sky and clouds, rushing en masse toward the Divine Mechanism Unit's Phase!

Simultaneously!

"The Scale of Ages," came a calm voice from the mountain peak.

Ding!

A resonance, as if rising from the world's depths, echoed outward.

A phantom scale suddenly appeared, measuring the age difference between the two sides.

Aside from Chi Jiuyu, none of the other competitors were younger Soul Transformation cultivators than herself!

…

…

Now back to the other side.

The commotion caused by the battle between the two colossal beings was naturally immense.

In the past, Xuan Xiang Fan Xu cultivators would never have missed this opportunity—they'd at least have tried to obtain the Divine Mechanism Unit's manufacturing method.

But now… they had no energy to care about such things.

At the world's highest point, dark, profound void.

Several Xuan Xiang Fan Xu cultivators stared intently at the tens of thousands of frozen figures near the Celestial Track, and the one walking at the front—Mu Yong.

Qi Gathering, Foundation Establishment, Jin Dan, Nascent Soul—even Soul Transformation!

Yet regardless of realm, all had inexplicably frozen mid-journey toward the Xuan Xiang Celestial Track.

Even the Soul Transformation cultivator first dispatched by Xuan Xing to follow Mu Yong still had a considerable distance left.

"Looks like none of these will do—do we have to approach ourselves?" the Tianji Palace Fan Xu said, glancing at the others.

But no one responded.

None of them were fools!

The situation near the Celestial Track was so bizarre—who knew if it would affect Fan Xu cultivators too?

What if we accidentally got trapped inside…

"Should we go find more expendables to scout ahead?" the Yan Yu Mo Sect Fan Xu frowned.

The first batch of expendables had been taken in by Mu Yong; the tens of thousands now frozen were the second batch they'd gathered.

There were plenty of expendables—pull them all in, fill this place completely, and surely we'll find a way to break it!

"Quantity alone won't help," Xuan Xing gazed ahead, thoughtful, then slowly shook his head.

"Besides, the number of expendables must remain above the baseline, or how will we offset the Xuan Xiang Celestial Track's draining of our cultivation?"

Fan Xu cultivators are also drained by the Xuan Xiang Celestial Track.

But when the Track harvests life, it gives us Fan Xu cultivators thirty percent, so we not only break even—we gain a surplus…

If expendables dwindle, won't we have to make up the deficit ourselves?

There was no prior planning for this; cultivating a new batch of expendables takes considerable time.

The Return-to-Void cultivator of the Yan Prison Mo Sect grew somewhat irritated: "Then what should we do?"

They said they needed to break through the Heavenly Trajectory and take control of it, then use it to deal with the existence behind those Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivators, but they got stuck on the very first step...

"Speaking of which." The sword cultivator of the Canglan Jiangong said slowly, "Ever since that kid arrived near the Heavenly Trajectory, the cultivation being drawn from us each day seems to have lessened somewhat."

"Do any fellow Daoists share this feeling?"

Hearing this, several Xuanxiang Return-to-Void cultivators couldn't help but pause, the same thought surfacing in all their minds.

'So it's not just me.'

That's right, they had all actually felt this way.

But they weren't sure if others felt the same, so they never brought it up.

They had originally planned to find a few expendables later to verify it, but they hadn't expected the Canglan Jiangong's Return-to-Void cultivator to expose it...

"..."

After a period of silence, the Return-to-Void cultivator of the Tianji Palace spoke first.

"Is it related to that kid, or is it because too many expendables are trapped in the surroundings, thus limiting part of the Heavenly Trajectory's ability?"

"It should have nothing to do with the expendables," said the true body of Sheng Qingqing, who wore a purple palace dress with enchanting curves, "The cultivation drawn from me only changed when that kid approached the Heavenly Trajectory; the expendables thrown in afterward did not make it lessen."

"..." The Tianji Palace Return-to-Void cultivator pondered briefly, then looked toward Xuan Xing, "So, that kid might really be the reincarnation of that Xuan Qi old... Ancestral Master?"

He had originally wanted to say 'that old ghost Xuan Qi,' but Xuan Xing's knife-like gaze swept over, forcing him to change his words on the spot.

"As Dao Brother Xuan Xing is the direct disciple of Ancestral Master Xuan Qi, you must have some guesses about this as well, right?" the Yan Prison Mo Sect Return-to-Void cultivator also said.

Heh!

You all also know that I am that old ghost Xuan Qi's direct chief disciple.

"I'm not clear on the specifics, but Master did indeed favor that kid greatly..." Xuan Xing swept his gaze over the crowd, "Fellow Daoists should have felt it too, right?"

The crowd: "..."

Indeed, every time they raised a killing intent toward that kid, signs of cultivation loss would appear within their bodies.

Simply outrageous!

"By the way." Xuan Xing suddenly looked at Sheng Qingqing, "You went to seduce that Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivator, how is the progress? Have you extracted any useful information?"

Seduce?

That word is really unpleasant...

Sheng Qingqing frowned slightly.

"So far everything is going smoothly, but all I can confirm is what that old Monk said before — those 'dead' Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivators might really not be dead."

She then added.

"That Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivator is very wary, so I can only take it step by step; the information I can extract is truly limited."

Like I'd believe you!

The other Return-to-Void cultivators thought in unison.

It's been this long, and they really don't believe this one only managed to dig up this single piece of news!

But everyone knew they couldn't pry any more information out of her, so they didn't press further.

emm...

Now, breaking through the Heavenly Trajectory felt hopelessly distant.

Yet the threat of the existence behind the Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivators was pressing, so it was time to think of other methods...

The many Return-to-Void cultivators each harbored different thoughts.

After all, putting all your chips on one place would be far too foolish!

Only Xuan Xing remained staring in the direction of the Xuanxiang Heavenly Trajectory, his brow tightly furrowed.

Because of differences in their sense of time, the Xuanxiang Return-to-Void cultivators were still taking things slow and easy.

Although they had the idea of imitating Sheng Qingqing, thinking there should still be time, they didn't rush to implement it.

After all, they were attacking an entire world!

Just the preliminary preparations and subsequent planning alone would require considerable time.

And the only one who understood some of the inside information, and thus felt urgency — Sheng Qingqing — had already begun swapping her own origin, silently transforming her true self into the 'Sheng Qingqing' beside Lin Changsheng.

As the saying goes, the first step is always the hardest; under her careful arrangement, Lin Changsheng's wariness had nearly vanished completely.

The relationship between the two thus advanced by leaps and bounds.

Although it hadn't developed to the step she had anticipated, under Chang Xiao's repeated pursuits, they had become 'friends' with a decent relationship.

And there was also a trend of getting closer...

And during this process.

The safe zone kept shrinking, and now only the Tian Ling Sect and some important cities around it remained.

Conflicts, naturally, also increased.

But interestingly, because the Soul Transformation and Jin Dan groups had fewer participants, their conflicts were relatively fewer.

The first timeline where the Nascent Soul group was located was different.

Because they were all rather easygoing, many contestants remained, and combined with the fact that they hadn't clashed with local forces on a large scale in the previous rounds,

now that the safe zone had shrunk, it led to them running into other contestants everywhere, turning into a complete mess.

The 'Return-to-Void' of the Tian Ling Sect on the first timeline was even busier than ever, overwhelmed.

Just like that.

Time arrived at the thirteenth precise coordinate display after the fifth safe zone update.

From the start of the Xian Sect Grand Competition's final round, exactly one day had passed!

The second time branch where the Jin Dan competitors were located finally produced a result.

Of the remaining fourteen competitors, eleven attacked the Tianling Sect.

And successfully inflicted severe injuries upon the "Xuan Xing" of their own time branch.

But after this battle, only two of the eleven competitors escaped.

The three competitors hiding nearby, seeing this, found it too shameful to take advantage and simply kept hiding.

Yet the severely wounded "Xuan Xing" of the second time branch could not swallow this humiliation—he directly offered one-third of the Tianling Sect's share as a gift, inviting the remaining "Fan Xu" to act.

Under a search that scoured heaven and earth, the entire vicinity of the Tianling Sect was turned upside down.

Although the three competitors' concealment techniques were indeed excellent, they ultimately could not escape such thorough searching—they were found and killed on the spot!

Pitifully, they had barely survived until the end, yet earned only a few ranking points before being eliminated.

Had this been the old format of full-platform, full-channel live streaming, their defeat would have been turned into videos and mocked for years.

The two competitors who barely escaped were also found.

……

……

Second time branch.

Outside the largest city in the entire Xiang Xiang Realm, adjacent to the main sect of Tianling.

The continuous, treacherous spiritual peaks had vanished; even the spiritual plants cultivated among the mountains were erased by a colossal handprint descending from the sky, leaving only a blank expanse.

Led by "Xuan Xing," the "Fan Xu" stood high above the dome of heaven, surrounded densely by countless "Soul Transformation" cultivators, encircling a single figure.

He was a young man clad in a gray Daoist robe, with a vertical purple mark on his forehead.

Yet now, his aura was utterly feeble, his Daoist robe filthy and torn, his eyes dull and lifeless, even the once-glowing purple mark on his forehead dimmed to nothing.

Liu Ming, from the Taishang Dao Sect.

It was because of him and Sheng Wu of the Long Xiang Qing Tian Sect that the entire Jin Dan competition turned into a "battle spectacle."

"Huh~"

He exhaled slowly.

With great effort, he lifted his head to look up at the "Fan Xu" and "Soul Transformation" cultivators towering above, gazing down at him.

He had never seen such weak Fan Xu and Soul Transformation cultivators.

So weak…

【Congratulations! Liu Ming of the Taishang Dao Sect, you have successfully survived until the end.】

【Ranking Points +5】

【Your Total Points: 8】

【Calculating Xian Sect Competition (Jin Dan) rankings…】

【Calculation Complete!】

【Congratulations! Your rank is 1 (Jin Dan)】

A flicker of daze passed through Liu Ming's eyes, then he let out a self-deprecating smile.

His performance this time could hardly be called "cautious"—it completely violated the "Cautious Survival Guide."

A "cautious stream" cultivator who was anything but cautious ended up, by sheer accident, securing first place…

【The Xian Sect Competition (Jin Dan) has ended. Teleportation will occur in five seconds.】

"Five seconds…?"

The sunlight was blinding, making his eyes ache.

Damn it!

This idiotic Tai Xuan Immortal Net—why can't it just heal my injuries first?!

Then, Liu Ming slowly raised his hand.

He couldn't waste the last moments.

"You bunch of ** bastards—I crushed you Jin Dan cultivators like dogs! What the hell are you?!"

The second time branch's "Xuan Xing" froze, then grew even more furious: "Still spouting insults? I'll extract your soul and refine your spirit, light your soul as a lamp for a thousand years, and you'll—!"

Before the second time branch's "Xuan Xing" finished speaking, Liu Ming sneered—and vanished without warning.

Huh?!

Just as he failed to react, assuming Liu Ming had used some special technique to flee far away and was about to order further pursuit—

Boom—!

Heaven and earth trembled violently; everything within the world seemed frozen as if the pause button had been pressed.

In the distance, the world was crumbling inch by inch from an unfathomable distance, collapsing into an eternal, lonely void.

Did it begin from the sky or the earth?

No one knew.

It was as if the entire world was falling into a void devoid of any concept.

The second time branch's "Xuan Xing" grew dazed—until he realized he himself was gradually turning transparent, nearly vanishing, and finally understood.

So… everything was fake. (End of Chapter)