Chapter 642: Like a Sovereign, Like a Master

As the Palace Emperor's voice rang out, the island housing the Red Moon headquarters immediately trembled, and the many temples built upon it began to sway, with nine of them in particular shining with red light.

They formed a nine-star pattern.

In this region, due to the light of the nine suns, the world had originally lost its crimson hue, leaving only the color of the Red Mother's mortal shell and the Palace Emperor himself unchanged; but now, nine more streaks were added.

Amidst the flickering red light, ancient auras emanated from each of these nine Red Moon temples on the ground, accompanied by the churning of blood like a river and a baleful aura; the rhythmic sound of hoofbeats gradually drew near.

Soon, nine figures stepped out, one by one.

The first figure was a four-armed alien; it was impossible to tell its gender, only that a withered robe was wrapped around it, carrying a sense of decay and the passage of time, and of its four arms, three were rotting and wrapped in iron chains.

Yet, in its fourth hand, a gray-black palm gripped a long spear, with fresh blood still dripping from the tip.

The second figure was human, wearing the same style of blood-armor, with red flames burning in the eyes beneath the helmet, and also holding a long spear.

Looking out, as they continued to emerge, these nine figures were fully revealed within the heavens and earth.

There were humans and aliens among them, each different, yet they wore identical battle armor that encased their heads and bodies.

The armor was branded with runes and bore totems of the Red Mother's likeness; though blood-colored, it gave one a sense of holiness, and beneath them, each rode a large, crimson blood-horse.

These nine horses were also clad in battle armor, and judging by the exposed skin, it was a mass of raw flesh, devoid of any hide, as if it had been forcibly peeled away.

As they walked, blood flowed from them.

The horses' eyes were blood-red and their teeth sharp; though they appeared to be horses, they were effectively demonic beasts, and they each possessed not four legs, but six.

The appearance of these nine figures and nine horses caused a stir across the entire battlefield; the Red Moon side was stirred with excitement, while the Reverse Moon side felt their souls seized with dread.

It was because the cultivation fluctuations emitted by the Red Palace Blood Guards summoned by the Palace Emperor were too intense; as they advanced, their aura rolled forth like a collapsing mountain or an overturning sea, unstoppable and earth-shaking, infinitely close to the Void-Refining realm.

One could even say they were just a small step away from stepping into Void-Refining.

And clearly, the Void-Refining realm required not only sufficient cultivation but also specific conditions; thus, until now, within the entire Moon-Sacrifice Domain, aside from the Heir and his peers, new Void-Refining experts had been as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns for countless years.

Even this avatar of Shen Quezi was currently only at the half-step Void-Refining stage, and as for what her original body was like back then, that matter had long been submerged in history.

As for those who had truly reached Void-Refining, only the Palace Emperor remained.

However, his Void-Refining was a product of patchwork and augmentation, possessing a fatal flaw.

Therefore, the appearance of these nine ancient Red Palace Blood Guards had a massive impact on the war's landscape outside the Red Mother's mortal shell; once they participated in the battle, the advantage brought by the Reverse Moon War Souls would crumble.

Yet Li Li Xiaoshan's footsteps did not falter; instead, his speed grew faster and faster, a fighting spirit erupting in his eyes as his entire being began to burn without hesitation at this moment.

This burning was not physical, but of his very core.

As he burned, his appearance actually reversed, no longer looking aged but transforming into that of a middle-aged man, his aura reaching the peak of his life.

As he sped forward, his words echoed from his mouth.

"In my life, I, Li, have experienced over seven thousand life-and-death battles; the first thousand were against those of the same realm, and after that, I grasped the origin of slaughter and fought those of higher realms in every battle!"

"Nine blood guards of the same realm as me—I can fight them all alone."

Li Li Xiaoshan let out a low roar, his speed exploding as he transformed into nine afterimages, charging toward the nine blood guards walking from the earth; his speed was so great that he reached them in an instant, his great blade slashing out.

Their collision echoed with a deafening sound; Li Li Xiaoshan spat out blood and his body retreated three steps, forcing himself to a halt, while the nine blood guards' forward momentum came to a simultaneous stop.

The next instant, one of the war-horses trembled, its body splitting down the middle into two halves, and the alien blood guard atop it also emitted a cracking sound from its armor before collapsing, revealing the withered flesh beneath.

This flesh, too, could not withstand the force, and a blade mark appeared; the mark grew larger and clearer until, finally... the alien blood guard, like the war-horse, split into two.

On the ground, among the nine shining, roaring temples, one of them saw its light dim and the temple collapse.

Li Li Xiaoshan's peak strike was truly terrifying.

Licking the blood from the corner of his mouth, Li Li Xiaoshan's fighting spirit grew even more intense; at this moment, he did not care for his own life or death, and he was well aware that the resurrection of the Reverse Moon Palace had no upper limit.

His own limit, however, had been reached.

But he did not care, brandishing his great blade as he charged once more.

On the other side, the expressionless Shen Quezi, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, stepped through a sea of fire, heading straight for the Palace Emperor.

But the foundation of the Red Moon Temple still remained.

The Palace Emperor's expression was calm as he raised his right hand and pressed it against the earth once more.

"Blood Generals, appear!" The earth rumbled as three areas sank, and three temples exuding ancient auras rose from within; unlike the other temples, these three gave the impression of having existed for infinite ages.

And indeed, that was the case; these three temples were stronger than those built in the first batch.

At this moment, their gates opened, and amidst the spreading sense of vicissitudes, three blood-colored coffins rushed out directly from within; the lids of the coffins burst open in mid-air, and three withered corpses stepped out.

As the wind blew, their bodies rapidly filled out, transforming into three old men in the blink of an eye.

Looking closely, one could see they were extremely similar in temperament to the Palace Emperor; as they stepped out, their eyes opened and closed, fixing their gaze upon Shen Quezi.

Shen Quezi's expression tightened; the next instant, the three old men traversed the void and appeared beside her, and as they raised their hands, shadows of worlds manifested—the cultivation they displayed was indeed Void-Refining.

But their Great Worlds were not real, but illusory, which made their combat power inferior to a true Void-Refining expert, yet it was enough to suppress anyone at the Return to Ruins realm.

However, Shen Quezi was no ordinary person; as the previous Lord of the Reverse Moon, capable of leaving an avatar sealed in the Reverse Moon Palace until now, her own methods were also astonishing.

At this moment, she actually relied on superhuman strength to engage these three old men; though she was at a disadvantage, she kept them from being able to divert their attention, locking them in a stalemate.

Yet as the three old men attacked, their Great Worlds began to slowly turn from illusory to real, as if they were reviving, and their combat power continued to rise, making Shen Quezi's situation increasingly perilous.

And even more astonishing was that within the Great Worlds of these three old men, projections were also reviving in synchronization.

This scene caused the hearts of both sides on the battlefield to thunder; the Red Moon side was emboldened, while the Reverse Moon side felt their hearts quail.

The battle between the two sides was world-destroying, the resulting fluctuations spreading out to engulf the entire domain, changing the heavens and shaking the earth.

The Red Moon side acted with arrogance, their divine arts descending to suppress all.

There were also those factions attached to the Red Moon who fought even more zealously, including the Gate Clan, the Lingyou Clan, the Yinxun Clan, and others; in particular, the Yin-Yang Flower Sect, whose Dream-Sacrifice Art was also unleashed at this moment.

A vast, hazy mist assaulted the Reverse Moon cultivators; wherever it passed, any cultivator who touched it would show a blank expression, and even if they woke up quickly, that moment of blankness was often the difference between life and death.

In an instant, the Reverse Moon's advantage continuously dwindled, forcing them to shrink their perimeter and stall for time, waiting for the outcome within the Red Mother's mortal shell.

Seeing this, Xu Qing immediately summoned his artifact spirit to step out and confront the Palace Emperor; the Palace Emperor, having just experienced the battle at the Bitter Life Mountain Range, was now very cautious regarding the Reverse Moon Palace. Even now, he did not act personally, but after glancing at the artifact spirit, he raised his right hand and pressed it against the earth again, a dark light flashing in his eyes as he spoke in a low voice.

"Blood Children, revive!"

The island's ground shook violently; aside from the three ancient temples and the eight temples emitting red light, all other temples collapsed and sank in that instant, turning into whirlpools and forming caverns.

Looking out, there were no fewer than several thousand caverns across the entire island, and beams of blood-light erupted from them; one after another, the blood beasts Xu Qing had encountered in the Great Desert leaped out from these caverns.

They were ferocious in appearance and extremely baleful.

Dense and numerous, they formed an endless sea of beasts.

It was as if the interior of the island was completely hollow, a massive cavern in itself, storing countless blood beasts.

The moment the blood beasts appeared, they simultaneously let out bloodthirsty roars, the sound filled with madness, hunger, and greed.

From all directions, they ascended into the sky, riding a sea of blood as they charged toward the battlefield in mid-air; wherever they passed, the world turned crimson, and the Reverse Moon cultivators, witnessing this, felt their emotions fluctuate, their expressions turning grave.

The Captain narrowed his eyes, looked at the Palace Emperor, and sent a voice transmission to Xu Qing.

"Little Ah Qing, this old ghost is too cautious. We need to find a way to make him come over, and then you just watch—I have a way to deal with this thief."

Xu Qing nodded upon hearing this, glanced at the countless blood beasts below, and a flash of blood-light appeared in his eyes.

He understood these blood beasts perfectly; after all, he had raised and hatched many of them over the past few months, and when he first encountered them, his cultivation was only at the Nascent Soul stage, yet he had relied on his authority to make a large number of them kneel in submission.

Now, his cultivation was completely different from before, far exceeding that level, so Xu Qing did not hesitate; the Red Moon authority within his body surged, and the secret storehouse behind him manifested with a rumble.

The moon in the sky within it released moonlight, spreading the secret storehouse's power across the island's ground with him at the center.

As the moonlight shone, the earth turned red, and all the blood beasts simultaneously paused in shock, instinctively looking toward the Reverse Moon Palace, each of them agitated and roaring as if struggling in terror, as if in their eyes, there was some supreme existence looking down upon them.

This scene shocked both sides of the battlefield, and for the first time, the Palace Emperor's expression changed as he looked toward the Reverse Moon Palace.

Under their gaze, Xu Qing's elegant figure stepped out from the Reverse Moon Mirror, step by step, like a monarch.