Chapter 318

The oppressive pressure of a newly born General-rank demon soul surged like a tangible tide in all directions.

Its solidified form stood five zhang tall, composed of the purest killing intent, resentment, and the origins of countless shattered demon souls, its tattered armor etched with eerie demonic runes, while the near-substantial phantom greataxe in its hand exuded a bone-chilling aura capable of severing souls.

The burning blood-colored soul fire locked onto Wang Ping—cold, brutal, and filled with a ravenous hunger to devour all.

The two foreign cultivators, Saheran and Gruum, felt the urge to retreat the moment the General-rank demon soul appeared.

Though strong, they knew a demon soul at the Nascent Soul level was beyond their ability to match, especially since this demon soul clearly seemed more "interested" in Wang Ping.

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously fled in opposite directions without hesitation, abandoning their opponent and any potential spoils, clearly intending to divert disaster and save themselves.

"Running away so fast." Wang Ping let out a cold snort, feeling little surprise. Distrust among these foreign explorers was natural, and scattering when disaster struck was common.

He had no spare attention for them now; all his focus was on the terrifying presence before him.

The General-rank demon soul ignored the fleeing Saheran and Gruum, its full attention seemingly truly drawn to some quality of Wang Ping—perhaps his pure chaotic aura, or perhaps the nascent chaotic immortal essence's natural restraint against killing intent, triggering its primal hostility.

"Roar—!"

The silent roar exploded directly in Wang Ping's sea of consciousness—a spiritual impact mixed with the wails of myriad souls, far more violent and ferocious than any previous demon soul.

The purple light of Wang Ping's Purple Heaven Protector God Token flared brilliantly, actively shielding his soul and barely withstanding the impact.

At the same time, the demon soul's phantom greataxe had already been raised, without flourish, just a simple downward chop!

Before the axe fell, the air around Wang Ping had already solidified, space seeming frozen, a mountain-heavy pressure squeezing from all directions, seeking to pin him in place to take the blow head-on.

This was the Nascent Soul level's initial mobilization of heavenly and earthly power, combined with the suppression of the battlefield's killing intent domain!

"You think you can pin me down?" Wang Ping's eyes flashed with a fierce gleam; his dantian's chaotic infant let out a clear, resonant hum, his chest's Star Mystic spun at unprecedented speed, and that thread of nascent chaotic immortal essence was fully ignited!

"Five Elements Chaos Domain, open! Chaos First Opening, Part!"

He held nothing back; a thirty-zhang chaos domain exploded open! This time, the domain was no longer merely interference and defense, but Wang Ping had imbued it with a certain "opening" will!

At the domain's core, the murky chaotic qi boiled violently and clashed, faintly evolving a hazy scene of clear and turbid separating, yin and yang initially distinguished! Though it was but a billionth of the Immortal King's phantom "Heaven-Opening Art," it carried an undeniable trace of "breaking the prohibition" true intent!

Crack!

A soundless cracking came from the domain's edge. The binding force constructed by the demon soul from killing intent and Nascent Soul pressure was forcibly propped open and torn apart by this chaos domain containing a trace of heaven-opening true intent! The pressure on Wang Ping's body suddenly lessened.

But he did not choose to clash head-on with the axe phantom; instead, his body flickered as he employed an escape art fused with spatial translocation insight, slipping like a fish through the narrowest edge of the axe phantom's envelope.

Boom—!!

The phantom greataxe struck the ground, leaving a trench a hundred zhang long and bottomless; the killing earth on both sides instantly crystallized, then was quickly shattered into dust by the dispersing axe energy. The terrifying shockwave hurled bones and rubble within several hundred zhang into the air, shattering them!

Though Wang Ping avoided the direct hit, he was still swept by the aftermath, chaotic gray light flashing violently on his surface, his qi and blood surging. "Such formidable power! Nascent Soul might—indeed not something an infant can hard-resist."

Seeing its blow miss, the demon soul's blood-colored soul fire flared more violently, as if enraged. Its massive body moved with surprising agility as it turned, raising the greataxe again; this time, the axe phantom transformed into a sky-filling dark red killing intent gale, like a blood-colored storm, instantly covering all of Wang Ping's possible dodge paths, each gale sharp as divine weapons, infused with soul-eroding resentment!

No escape possible!

Wang Ping drew a deep breath, knowing probing was over and now came a true life-or-death battle. He rapidly formed seals with both hands before his chest, his inner spiritual power and that thread of nascent chaotic immortal essence surging madly toward his palms.

A phantom, constantly arising and ceasing chaotic gray seal appeared in his palm; within the seal seemed a miniature heaven and earth opening, evolving, returning to chaos—exactly his self-comprehended embryonic divine ability, the "Chaos First Opening Seal"!

Though far from perfected, facing the demon soul's killing blow now, he had to give it his all!

Just as Wang Ping was about to unleash the "Chaos First Opening Seal," the demon soul's killing intent gale storm was also about to reach him at this critical moment—

"Huh?"

Wang Ping's spirit, focused to the extreme, suddenly caught a trace of extremely weak yet eerily familiar spiritual power fluctuation!

This fluctuation came from another direction at the battlefield's edge, about a hundred li away, currently masked by intense battle energy; had Wang Ping's spiritual awareness not been highly focused, and had he not previously encountered such fluctuation, it would almost have been undetectable.

"This is……spiritual power of a Spirit Realm cultivator? And……" Wang Ping's mind instantly flashed with an image—from the Hidden Dragon List intelligence, some rumors in the Ninth Dao Institute, where he had once briefly sensed that unique aura—vast, ancient, bearing the chill and pride of starlight—

Cangxuan! The peerless heavenly pride hailed as the young generation's leader of the Spirit Realm's Azure Azure Clan!

After parting in the secret realm, I never expected to meet here.

How could he be here? Does the Spirit Realm also have other passages into the Azure Void Heaven Domain? Or……

As his thoughts raced, Wang Ping's hand movements did not cease in the slightest. The "Chaos First Opening Seal" had already formed, and he thrust it forward against the oncoming killing intent gale storm!

No earth-shaking explosion. At the instant the gray seal touched the blood-colored storm, it seemed as if two different natures of world collided.

Where the gray seal passed, the violent killing intent gale was silently annihilated and assimilated, turned into the most primal chaotic qi. Meanwhile, the blood-colored storm continuously eroded and impacted the seal's power.

The stalemate lasted only a brief instant. The gray seal was ultimately just an embryonic form, and Wang Ping's cultivation was far from reaching the level to support its full power.

After annihilating nearly half the storm, the gray seal suddenly shattered, turning into chaotic airflow returning to the domain. The remaining blood-colored storm, though greatly reduced in power, still fiercely struck Wang Ping's chaos domain!

"Pah!" Wang Ping's throat felt sweet, a trace of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, the domain violently trembling, flickering uncertainly, his qi and blood surging terribly. But his eyes flashed with a sharp light—using the rebound force from this collision, plus his prior preparation, his body shot backward like a severed kite's string, toward the direction of that familiar spiritual power fluctuation, at extreme speed!

The General-rank demon soul clearly had not expected Wang Ping to borrow force to flee; it stalled for a moment, then let out a furious roar, strode forward, transforming into a blood-colored killing wind, pursuing relentlessly! A hundred li distance, for a Nascent Soul-level existence, was but a moment!

A hundred li away, on a relatively "gentle" slope of the Immortal Fall battlefield.

The killing intent here remained heavy, bones littered the ground, but large-scale law turbulence was less. Yet now, this area was enveloped by even more intense battle energy.

Three cultivators stood back-to-back, forming a small triangular formation, now locked in a bitter struggle. Around them, over thirty Immortal Slaughter demon souls raged in attack!

These demon souls varied in strength, from Golden Core to Nascent Soul level, among whom the five leaders' auras had clearly reached late Nascent Soul or even perfect completion level!

They knew no fatigue, feared no death, launching tide-like attacks from all directions, killing intent soaring to the heavens, ghosts wailing, wolves howling.

The three cultivators besieged in the center were in dire straits.

The one on the left stood tall, wearing a moon-white robe embroidered with the pattern of the Zhou Tian stars, his face handsome as carved, his brows bearing an innate arrogance that looked down on all under heaven and a vicissitude.

He held no weapon; merely raising a hand and pressing down, a vast starry hand phantom appeared, fell, and exploded, blasting back and purifying the onrushing demon souls. His spiritual power was vast like a star sea, pure and refined—exactly the unparalleled heavenly pride of the Azure Azure Clan—Cangxuan!

At this moment his face was slightly pale, his breath still mighty but no longer as round and smooth as at first, clearly having expended greatly.

The one on the right was a woman. Her posture was graceful, enveloped in a gauze shirt flowing with seven-colored light halos, her face peerless, as if gathering all the spiritual beauty of heaven and earth, yet bearing an air of unworldly detachment.

Her slender fingers plucked the void, and bell-like sounds like immortal music rang out; where the sound waves passed, demon souls' movements stagnated, killing intent dissipated, and even some weak demon souls directly disintegrated. This woman was Yu Liuli of the Fallen Immortal Clan, her divine abilities mysterious and unfathomable.

But at this moment, fine beads of sweat appeared on her otherwise clean forehead, the light halo on her gauze shirt somewhat dimmed.

Behind the triangular formation, with his back to Cangxuan and Yu Liuli, was a blurred black shadow. This black shadow seemed to have no fixed form, sometimes elongating, sometimes contracting, shifting unpredictably between the real and illusory.

(He or she) attacked soundlessly and tracelessly; often the demon soul had not yet noticed when a part of its body had already been severed by invisible spatial force. This was the Youying of the Void Clan, whose stealth and assassination arts had reached the pinnacle.

However, facing such vast numbers of demon souls encircling them, its strange assassination means were also limited, only able to coordinate with Cangxuan and Yu Liuli for defense and pinpoint strikes, the black shadow's fluctuations also appearing somewhat disordered.

"Cangxuan Daoist, the demon souls are gathering ever more densely, their baleful aura stirring something deeper! We must break out quickly!" Yuliuli's voice was clear and crisp, yet carried gravity.

"Three late Nascent Soul demon souls on the left, two perfected Nascent Soul on the right, and more demon souls gathering behind... the breakout route is sealed." Youying's voice drifted uncertainly, transmitted directly into both their seas of consciousness.

Cangxuan's star-like eyes swept the surroundings, his brow furrowed. The three of them had each stumbled into the spatial rift by chance, falling into this strange fragment of the immortal realm. After initial exploration and several clashes, they had temporarily allied, intending to traverse this ancient battlefield to find an exit or greater fortune.

Yet they had not expected to be entangled by a group of demon souls here, and these demon souls seemed to be under some summoning, growing ever more numerous, impossible to slay completely.

"I possess a technique called Star Extinction Divine Ability, which can briefly clear an area, but after using it I will fall into weakness." Cangxuan said in a deep voice, "Fairy Liuli, can your 'Nine Heavens Immortal Sound' disturb the rear demon souls for a moment? Daoist Youying, you take the left—perhaps you can tear open a gap?"

Yuliuli and Youying fell silent for an instant, then both replied at once: "We can!"

All three were top-tier heavenly pride of their respective clans, with resolve far surpassing ordinary people, instantly reaching consensus and preparing to fight to the death.

However, just as Cangxuan's fingertips began to coalesce a point of extinction starlight capable of making heaven and earth lose color, Yuliuli's gauze robes stirred without wind, her immortal song about to reach its peak, and Youying's form completely merged into shadow, preparing to unleash a thunderous strike——

A vastly different yet seemingly all-encompassing, chaos-suppressing immense domain power, like a gray heavenly canopy, suddenly descended from the side of the battlefield!

Wherever this domain passed, the raging baleful aura became sluggish and disordered, as if smoothed by an invisible hand; the frantically attacking demon souls froze mid-motion, as if stuck in viscous mire; even the omnipresent resentful wails in the air seemed muffled by a layer, becoming indistinct.

Immediately after, a low yet clear voice echoed across the battlefield:

"Three Daoists, retreat!"

Before the words finished, a figure had already slipped like a ghost into the periphery of the demon soul encirclement! His entire body was shrouded in a hazy gray chaotic light halo, his features indistinct, only seeing him wave his hands—dozens of clusters of chaotic thunder-fire light balls, as if alive, precisely blasted toward the demon souls attempting to leap from the flanks and rear, especially those few late Nascent Soul and perfected Nascent Soul demon souls!

Boom boom boom!

Violent explosions accompanied by the purifying power of thunder and flame, and a higher-order annihilation aura that made baleful aura instinctively fearful, instantly disrupted the demon souls' assault! Several Nascent Soul-level demon souls screamed as they were swallowed by thunder and fire, the weaker ones directly disintegrating.

This sudden aid and powerful strange domain reduced the pressure on Cangxuan's trio drastically! Though doubtful, their combat instincts let them seize this fleeting opportunity.

"Go!" Cangxuan lowly shouted, the point of extinction starlight at his fingertips not shooting out but transforming into a radiant star curtain shielding the three, while retreating swiftly toward the gap opened by Wang Ping.

Yuliuli's immortal song shifted, turning from attack to illusion, disrupting the perception of the remaining demon souls. Youying then became like a true shadow, blending into the edge of the star curtain, clearing scattered interceptors.

The three cooperated seamlessly, instantly breaking through the weakest link of the demon soul encirclement and merging with the suddenly appeared chaotic gray shadow.

"Thank you for your aid, Wang Daoist!" Cangxuan's eyes flashed like lightning, instantly sweeping over Wang Ping.

His heart stirred—after not seeing each other for years, this person's cultivation had actually broken through to mid Nascent Soul—how could that be?

Moreover, the domain and divine ability just displayed could so effectively restrain these troublesome demon souls; the nature of this power seemed unprecedented. And… a faint sense of familiarity?

Wang Ping still maintained the chaotic gray light enveloping his body, not revealing his true visage. He urgently said: "This place is not suitable for lingering! A Nascent Soul demon soul is chasing me—hurry!"

"A Nascent Soul demon soul?!" Yuliuli exclaimed in shock, her face changing behind the veil. Youying's form also violently fluctuated for a moment.

Cangxuan's pupils contracted sharply, instantly understanding why the demon souls had abnormally gathered and why this sudden aid seemed so "rushed." He made a swift decision: "Follow me! Thirty li northeast, there is a temporary hiding spot we discovered—perhaps we can take temporary refuge!"

No time for pleasantries or questions, the four became four streaks of escape light, rushing toward the direction Cangxuan pointed. Behind them, the disrupted demon soul group, after brief chaos, let out angry roars and reassembled in pursuit. And farther off, that suffocating Nascent Soul pressure approached at terrifying speed!

The four escape lights streaked like meteors across the blood-red sky, pushing speed to the extreme. Wang Ping maintained the Five Elements Chaotic Domain enveloping the four, though its range shrank to ten zhang, the effect was significant, greatly weakening the speed and attack of the pursuing troops behind, and also shielding part of the Nascent Soul demon soul's pressure lock.

The hiding spot Cangxuan pointed to lay deep within a "waste hill" formed by piled-up countless massive, bent metal wreckage. These metal remnants were rust-streaked yet still extremely hard, emitting weak, chaotic spiritual power fluctuations, strongly interfering with and refracting divine sense. Between the wreckage, natural winding crevices and holes had formed.

Cangxuan, familiar with the route, led the three into an inconspicuous crevice, winding seven turns and eight bends, descending nearly a hundred zhang, finally arriving at a narrow space half-covered by several huge curved metal plates. The space could barely hold four or five people, but relatively sealed, the entrance concealed, the metal plates seemingly retaining some effect of isolating aura.

Just as the four entered, Wang Ping immediately set up a minor Five Elements Concealment Formation disk at the entrance and activated it. The hazy gray formation light halo blended with the surrounding metal environment, concealing the last trace of aura.

Almost the instant the formation completed, a vast, violent divine sense swept over the waste hill from above like a gale! That divine sense was filled with anger and incomprehension—exactly that of the general-level demon soul!

It circled above the waste hill for several turns, scrutinizing carefully, but clearly confused by the interference from the metal wreckage and Wang Ping's concealment formation, failing to discover any clue.

Finally, after an unwilling angry roar, the divine sense gradually faded, seemingly heading toward other areas with movement.

After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, outside completely returned to only the mournful wail of baleful aura.

In the narrow space, the four unconsciously exhaled in relief. After continuous high-intensity battle and flight, even they felt deep fatigue.

Only now did they have the chance to carefully observe each other.

Wang Ping gradually retracted the chaotic gray light from his body, revealing his true appearance—a simple blue robe, handsome features, calm and deep eyes, his aura rounded and inwardly restrained, yet faintly giving an unfathomable impression.

The moment his visage was revealed, the other two's eyes suddenly burst with astonishing brilliance! A light mixed with shock, sudden realization, scrutiny, and intense interest.

"Indeed it is you!" Cangxuan's voice carried a rare fluctuation, "Ninth Dao Academy, Wang Ping! 'Five Elements Dao Child'!"

Yuliuli and Youying, upon hearing this, instantly focused their gazes on Wang Ping.

Though the Luoxian Clan and Xu Clan lived in seclusion, as heavenly pride of their clans, they naturally had heard of the recent prominent figures in the spiritual realm. Wang Ping, who suppressed the heavenly pride of the Five Elements and Yao clans, bore the chaotic five elements Nascent Soul, and was acclaimed as the strongest dark horse on the Potential Dragon List—the "Five Elements Dao Child"—this name they certainly were not unfamiliar with.

Yet they never imagined they would meet in this foreign realm's desperate land, in this manner.

Especially Yuliuli was even more shocked

Yuliuli's beautiful eyes beneath her veil flowed, carrying curiosity and inquiry, she gave a slight salute: "Wang Daoist, after several years apart, you actually possess such divine ability?.

Liuli, thank you Daoist for your earlier aid." Her voice was like clear water striking jade, pleasant to hear, yet carried an inherent aloofness.

Youying's form slightly solidified, revealing a figure shrouded in a wide black robe, blurred features, only a pair of deep eyes visible, he (she) gave a slight nod, voice drifting: "Xu Clan, Youying. Thanks."

Wang Ping returned the salute with clasped hands: "Three Daoists are too polite, sharing the same lineage in the spiritual realm, in times of danger we naturally ought to assist." His gaze calmly swept over the three, his heart also inevitably stirred.

I myself painstakingly reached mid Nascent Soul, yet these three have actually reached peak early Nascent Soul—no wonder they are listed among the top on the Potential Dragon List, renowned figures, truly the pinnacle of the younger generation in the spiritual realm.

Only I did not expect them to gather here, and fall into such peril.

Cangxuan soon restored his usual composure and arrogance, but his gaze toward Wang Ping was now utterly different from how he viewed ordinary cultivators. He directly asked:

"Wang Ping Daoist, how did you come to this realm? That power just now……could it be the legendary Way of Chaos?" He clearly knew quite a bit about Wang Ping's information, directly hitting the key point.

Wang Ping understood that before such figures, deliberate concealment would be inferior, and his earlier move had already revealed the nature of the chaotic domain.

He spoke frankly: "A fortunate coincidence, passing through a transmission array at an ancient ruin to reach this realm. The cultivation method I practice indeed touches the fringes of the Way of Chaos. Cangxuan Daoist, your broad knowledge is admirable."

Cangxuan deeply glanced at Wang Ping once, did not press for specifics, then turned and said:

"We three also, while exploring secret grounds or ruins in our respective clans, accidentally triggered spatial rifts and were drawn into this place. It seems the so-called 'Qingming Heavenly Domain' has more connection with the spiritual realm than imagined."

Yuliuli softly said: "Not only us. Over these months, we have encountered more than one wave of outsiders here—there were shadow mages and holy temple warriors from the 'Dark Star Continent,' totem warriors from the 'Barbarian Ancient Continent,' and even wandering souls seemingly from the 'Netherworld Ghost Realm'……this immortal realm fragment seems to have become a special 'convergence point'."

Youying added, voice icy: "They are not scattered stragglers; most are organized, seemingly seeking something. Conflicts have occurred during encounters."

Wang Ping's heart tightened—this matched his conjecture. The waters of the Qingming Heavenly Domain were indeed unfathomable, already become a battlefield where multiple forces contend. He asked: "Three Daoists, do you know what is special about this place that draws so many powers?"

Cangxuan, Yuliuli, and Youying exchanged a glance. Cangxuan pondered for a moment, then said:

"Combining our scattered information and our exploration of this realm's environment, we have some speculations. This place is called 'Qingming Heavenly Domain,' a relatively large fragment of the ancient immortal realm—this you, Wang Ping Daoist, likely already know. And its specialness lies in……"

He paused for a moment, then slowly spat out a few words: "It is suspected to be one of the key nodes of an ancient great war that swept across the heavens, and possibly… remnants of a passage or 'coordinate' leading to other important regions, and even back to the relatively stable realms of the myriad worlds."

There are even rumors that deep within this place lies buried the core inheritance of a certain 'Immortal King' or 'Demon Lord' who fell in that great war.

Immortal King inheritance! Wang Ping's heart jolted, and he couldn't help but recall the fragmented scroll he had obtained. It seems the inheritance of the Chaos Immortal King is not unique, or perhaps what he obtained is merely a part of it? Or perhaps other beings of equal standing also fell here?

"No wonder…" Wang Ping suddenly understood. An inheritance of Immortal King level would drive any world, any faction mad. This also explains why so many powerful beings from outside realms have surged in, possibly even including Nascent Soul cultivators, and perhaps even higher-level existences.

"The Divine Transformation demon soul that was chasing you fellow Daoist just now was probably also drawn here by the abnormal energy fluctuations of this place, or by the aura of us 'living beings'." Yu Liuli said in a grave tone, "The deeper one goes into this ancient battlefield, the greater the danger, but it seems the core of exploration and contention for all factions also lies in the depths."

"We originally planned to join forces to delve deeper, searching for a way to return to the Spirit Realm, while also seeing if we could obtain some opportunities." Cang Xuan looked at Wang Ping, his eyes sharp, "Now encountering Fellow Daoist Wang Ping is an unexpected delight. Fellow Daoist's chaotic power seems to have a special restraining effect on the killing aura and demon souls of this place, which would be greatly beneficial to our exploration. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Wang Ping would be willing to temporarily join forces?"

Yu Liuli and Youying also looked toward Wang Ping. Although Wang Ping's cultivation appeared to be the lowest, the strength and special means he displayed earlier had already earned their respect. In this perilous otherworld, having one more powerful ally, especially one who can effectively counter the main threat, would greatly increase the odds of survival and achieving their goals.

Wang Ping pondered briefly. Joining forces with these three heaven's pride talents would indeed mean facing their possible competition and scheming, but the benefits are also obvious: information sharing, complementary combat strength, and greater confidence when facing external powers and local dangers. Moreover, he has long been intrigued by these three renowned heaven's pride talents, and this presents a perfect opportunity to observe their methods and dispositions.