Chapter 371

Chaotic light enveloped everyone, flying swiftly away from that brutal battlefield.

But Wang Ping looked back and saw that the three silver-robed Divine Transformation cultivators had not been truly annihilated.

Although Jiang Haiyun's palm had severely wounded the silver-robed leader, the vitality of an early-stage Divine Transformation cultivator was incredibly tenacious. After being flung dozens of li backward, the silver-robed leader actually stabilized his form, and silver light once again surged across his body.

The deep wound on his chest, revealing bone, was healing at a visible speed. Silver ordering power, like countless tiny threads, stitched and repaired the torn flesh. In just three breaths, the injury that could kill any Nascent Soul cultivator had healed to seventy percent.

"Jiang Haiyun..." the silver-robed leader gritted his teeth and snarled, his eyes full of venom, "Do you think you alone can hold us three?"

Jiang Haiyun glanced at him coldly, saying nothing.

But behind him, two figures were already flying over at high speed.

Lei Wantiing was surrounded by crackling lightning, each step he took causing arcs to explode in the void, like a walking thunder god. He grinned, a wild and bloodthirsty smile, his gaze on the burly Divine Transformation cultivator like a tiger eyeing prey.

"That big guy, leave him to me, Old Lei! I want to see whether the defense of ordering power is harder, or my thunder is sharper!"

Bingyue Xianzi arrived in white robes whiter than snow, drifting silently. She spoke no words, merely gazing steadily at the thin Divine Transformation cultivator with a silver fissure on his brow. Her clear, cold eyes showed no emotional fluctuation—only absolute calm—and beneath that calm, killing intent capable of freezing all things.

Three Divine Transformation cultivators of the Spirit Realm, versus three Divine Transformation cultivators of the Purification Court.

The true Divine Transformation great battle was imminent.

The silver-robed leader's face sank like water. He had not expected the Spirit Realm's response to be so swift, nor that the one who came would be Jiang Haiyun—an old monster who had already reached late-stage Divine Transformation thirty thousand years ago, having secluded himself for a century only to attempt the breakthrough to Unity, and though still stuck at the half-step Unity threshold, his power was terrifying beyond what these three newly entered Divine Transformation cultivators could resist.

"Scatter!" he barked, making a swift decision.

But would Jiang Haiyun give him the chance?

"Seal."

As the single word left his lips, the chaotic-colored barrier instantly expanded, sealing off the void within a hundred li radius. Silver light struck the barrier, erupting in blinding sparks, yet it could not budge it in the slightest.

"A half-step Unity seal..." the silver-robed leader gritted his teeth, "Jiang Haiyun, do you truly seek endless enmity with my Purification Court?"

Jiang Haiyun looked at him, and finally a flicker appeared in his eyes—derision.

"Endless enmity?" he said lightly, "Thirty thousand years ago, when you killed seventeen Spirit Realm Divine Transformation cultivators, did you ever consider these four words: 'endless enmity'?"

Before his words faded, he had already moved.

Without flashy divine abilities, without earth-shaking momentum, he simply thrust out a plain, ordinary palm.

Yet this palm caused the silver-robed leader's face to drastically change.

The palm appeared slow, but was actually extremely fast; appeared simple, but actually contained the comprehension of Jiang Haiyun's hundred-year seclusion—the Great Dao of Chaos. In his palm, chaotic clouds surged, evolving the birth and death of countless laws—flames burning, ice condensing, thunder exploding, space folding... all laws resided within chaos, all changes within this palm.

The silver-robed leader roared, his silver light surging to the extreme. He formed seals with both hands, condensing wall after wall of ordering power before him. Those walls lay layered upon each other, dense and numerous, each capable of blocking a full-force strike from an early-stage Divine Transformation cultivator.

But Jiang Haiyun's palm treated those walls as nothing.

The first wall shattered.

The second wall collapsed.

The third, fourth, fifth...

Wherever the palm passed, the silver ordering walls, like paper paste, shattered one after another, annihilated, dissipated. The ordering power that made countless cultivators tremble at its name, before Jiang Haiyun, seemed like nothing more than a child's toy.

Fear finally appeared on the silver-robed leader's face.

He desperately circulated his internal ordering origin, gathering all his power before him, condensing it into a silver light ball only the size of a fist. Though small, that light ball contained terrifying power capable of destroying a star—it was his innate ordering origin as a Divine Transformation cultivator, the foundation of his standing in the Purification Court.

"Go!"

The silver light ball shot forth, colliding head-on with Jiang Haiyun's palm.

"Boom—"

A tremendous roar shook the entire void, making it tremble.

In the distance, a barren dead star was swept by the aftermath, its surface instantly cracking open with countless huge fissures, magma erupting from below and staining half the void red.

The silver light ball exploded, turning into a rain of light across the sky.

Jiang Haiyun's palm also trembled slightly from the shock.

But it was only a slight pause.

The next moment, the palm pressed down again, striking the silver-robed leader's chest.

"Puff—"

The silver-robed leader spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with specks of silver light—his ordering origin, rapidly draining. His chest caved in again, his whole body flying backward like a meteor, slamming hard into the chaotic barrier, then rebounding off it.

One palm, another severe wound.

At the same time, the other two battlefields also erupted into fierce combat.

Lei Wantiing clashed with the burly Divine Transformation cultivator, shaking the void and making the stars sway.

That burly Divine Transformation cultivator excelled in frontal assaults; his physical strength far surpassed that of ordinary Divine Transformation cultivators. Each of his punches contained the ultimate power bolstered by ordering, capable of shattering a small asteroid. But Lei Wantiing was no pushover—he was recognized by the Spirit Realm as the "Number One in the Thunder Dao," his thunder divine abilities reaching the peak of perfection, famed as "Invincible Among Peers."

"Hahaha! Satisfying!" Lei Wantiing laughed, lightning wildly exploding around him as he head-on collided his fists with the burly Divine Transformation cultivator's iron fists.

"Boom—Boom—Boom—"

Each collision sent countless thunder and ordering power exploding, churning the surrounding void into chaos. The floating meteorites in the distance, swept by the aftermath, instantly turned to powder.

The burly Divine Transformation cultivator fought on, growing more shocked. Though his body was strong, Lei Wantiing's thunder was too overbearing; each collision sent countless thunder forces invading his body, eroding his ordering origin. He could feel his defenses crumbling bit by bit, his power draining bit by bit.

But Lei Wantiing grew bolder with each fight, as if he had endless strength.

"What's wrong? Can't take it anymore?" Lei Wantiing grinned, throwing another punch, thunder condensing on his fist into substance, like a thunder sun, "Now it's my turn, Old Lei!"

He punched the burly Divine Transformation cultivator in the chest.

The burly Divine Transformation cultivator grunted, retreating dozens of zhang, leaving a blackened fist imprint on his chest. The edges of that imprint still crackled with countless tiny thunderbolts, wildly ravaging his flesh.

On the other side, Bingyue Xianzi's battle with the thin Divine Transformation cultivator was of another style.

No earth-shaking collisions, no deafening roars—only absolute silence—and within that silence, killing intent capable of freezing everything.

Bingyue Xianzi arrived in white robes whiter than snow, standing still in the void. Her body was surrounded by faint lunar power, that light clear and cold yet gentle, yet it made the thin Divine Transformation cultivator feel as if facing a great enemy.

The silver fissure on the thin Divine Transformation cultivator's brow had fully opened, fierce silver light shooting out like substance, attempting to lock onto Bingyue Xianzi's position. But each time, when that gaze was about to reach her, she would dissipate like a moonlit phantom, then recondense elsewhere in the void.

"Moonlight Phantom Form..." the thin Divine Transformation cultivator gritted his teeth, "The divine ability that guards the Mysterious Ice Palace!"

Bingyue Xianzi ignored his muttering, simply raising her hand lightly and pointing a finger.

A beam of lunar power shot from her fingertip like a solid substance; the light appeared gentle, yet wherever it passed, even the void froze—not ordinary freezing, but absolute, eternal, even time itself solidified in the "Taiyin Freeze."

The gaunt Nascent Soul cultivator's face changed drastically as he desperately tried to evade with his movement technique, but no matter how fast he was, he could not outrun the moonlight. The lunar beam grazed his left shoulder, instantly covering it in a layer of ice, within which his flesh and blood could be faintly seen freezing and disintegrating inch by inch.

He gritted his teeth, his power of Order surging wildly as he tried to dispel the ice layer, but Bingyue Xianzi's Taiyin power was too domineering; even with all his strength, he could only melt a thin layer of the ice.

"Third strike, take your life," Bingyue Xianzi said calmly, pointing her finger again.

Despair finally appeared in the gaunt Nascent Soul cultivator's eyes.

Three battlefields, three silver-robed Nascent Soul cultivators, all fell into an absolute disadvantage.

At most thirty more breaths, and they would undoubtedly die.

But just then—

The silver-robed leader suddenly produced an object from his bosom.

It was a palm-sized, spindle-shaped artifact, its entire body blazing with silver light, its surface densely inscribed with runes. These runes differed from the ordinary Jing Sheng Ting runes—they were older, deeper, faintly emitting an indescribable fluctuation—space's fluctuation, time's fluctuation, capable of tearing apart any seal.

"Po Jie Dun Kong Shuttle!"

Jiang Haiyun's expression shifted slightly as he stepped forward and slapped his palm toward the silver-robed leader.

But it was already too late.

The silver-robed leader fiercely crushed the spindle-shaped artifact.

Instantly, a blinding silver light erupted, illuminating the entire void. The light's intensity forced even Jiang Haiyun to close his eyes and dodge; its brilliance suppressed even Lei Wan Ting's thunder; its fierceness dispersed even Bingyue Xianzi's Taiyin power.

Simultaneously, a violent spatial fluctuation spread from the center of the silver light. Wherever it passed, the void itself twisted, tore, and collapsed. The chaotic seal Jiang Haiyun had laid began to violently tremble, its surface covered in countless fine cracks.

"He's using the Po Jie Shuttle to escape!" Lei Wan Ting roared, punching toward the silver light.

But the moment his fist touched the silver light, it was twisted and deflected by the violent spatial fluctuation, blasting into the depths of the void and exploding an innocent meteorite.

Bingyue Xianzi likewise struck, shooting out a beam of Taiyin power to try to freeze that portion of the void. But as soon as her Taiyin power approached, it was melted and dissolved by the terrifying energy contained within the silver light.

Three Nascent Soul cultivators, yet none could do anything against that Po Jie Dun Kong Shuttle!

At the center of the silver light, the silver-robed leader's face was deathly pale, blood gushing from the corner of his mouth, yet his eyes were filled with mad laughter.

"Jiang Haiyun…… this time you win……" his voice came from within the silver light, broken and intermittent, yet laced with deep resentment, "but next time…… next time those who come…… will not be just us three……"

He waved his hand, and a beam of silver light swept up the burly Nascent Soul cultivator, the gaunt Nascent Soul cultivator, and the remaining seven or eight battle puppets, throwing them into the silver light.

"Go!"

The silver light surged again, then—

Suddenly contracted.

At that moment, the void seemed to be fiercely gripped by an invisible hand, then suddenly released. A terrifying spatial fluctuation burst forth, hurling everything nearby—meteorites, star corpses, shattered law fragments—into chaotic disarray.

When everyone came to their senses, the cluster of silver light had vanished.

Along with the three silver-robed Nascent Soul cultivators and the remaining puppets, it had disappeared.

Only a messy battlefield remained, and in the void, a great crack slowly healing.

"Pursue!" Lei Wan Ting shouted angrily, his thunder surging as he prepared to charge into the crack.

"Don't pursue." Jiang Haiyun raised his hand to stop him, his expression grave, "We can't catch up. Once the Po Jie Dun Kong Shuttle activates, it randomly tears through the void to flee into turbulence. Moreover, their escape trajectory has been concealed by special means, making it impossible to lock onto."

Lei Wan Ting clenched his fists in resentment, thunder exploding in his palms, yet with nowhere to vent.

"Damn it! Let them get away!"

Bingyue Xianzi floated over, gazing in the direction where the three silver-robed Nascent Soul cultivators had disappeared, a hint of solemnity flashing in her cold eyes.

"Po Jie Dun Kong Shuttle…… it is an ancient relic, extremely precious. Their ability to use such a thing shows that the Jing Sheng Ting's foundation is deeper than we imagined."

Jiang Haiyun nodded, saying nothing.

His gaze swept across the entire battlefield, finally settling on the crack slowly healing.

After a long while, he softly sighed.

"Let's go back. Although this battle did not annihilate them completely, it also made them know that the Spiritual Realm is not a soft persimmon they can pinch at will."

He turned, looking toward the distant Wang Ping and others clearing the remaining puppets, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes.

"Moreover, the information brought back by the children is far more important than killing a few Nascent Soul cultivators."

In the distance, Wang Ping and others were engaged in fierce combat with the remaining battle puppets.

The moment Jiang Haiyun appeared, everyone felt the pressure on their bodies suddenly lighten. The pressure of the three Nascent Soul cultivators vanished, and the impenetrable Order seal also collapsed, leaving only the battle puppets bereft of master control, and the two remaining Order-aligned Netherworld Clan cultivators.

"Kill!" Cang Xuan was the first to react, his sword light flaring again.

When he had been trapped in the silver prison cage, he had held in a bellyful of anger. Now the cage dissipated, he was like a tiger released from its cage, his sword light cutting down a battle puppet in half with each pass, its core exploding.

Although Yu Liuli was weak, she still gritted her teeth and plucked the zither strings again. The zither's sound was no longer for awakening, but pure slaughter, coordinating with Cang Xuan's sword light to firmly suppress the two struggling Order-aligned Netherworld Clan cultivators.

Tian Yan Shangren panted as he rose, flicked his horsetail whisk, and the remaining runes flew out, transforming into bonds of restraint that firmly trapped the puppets trying to flee.

Xian Hu Fu Ren was severely wounded and could no longer fight, but she stubbornly opened her eyes, using her last bit of perception to guide everyone on the puppets' movements.

"Three on the left…… two on the right…… and one trying to circle around from behind……"

Wang Ping said nothing.

He simply gripped the Chaos Tribulation Sword, swinging sword after sword at those puppets.

Each swing shattered a puppet's core.

Each swing caused silver light to explode in the void.

His movements had no excess, no flourish, only the purest, most effective slaughter. To Nascent Soul late-stage cultivators, those battle puppets were threatening, but before him, they were like weeds.

Yet in Wang Ping's eyes, there was no joy, only coldness.

Because with each puppet he shattered, he recalled the last smile of the Mountain-Moving Old Ancestor.

"Brother…… take care……"

"Ah!!!"

He roared, the sword light of the Chaotic Tribulation Sword surged, and with one strike, he cut down, the three puppets shattering simultaneously.

Wherever the sword light passed, even the void trembled.

Cangxuan glanced at him, saying nothing. He merely silently increased his own sword speed, slaying one by one the puppets attempting to sneak attack from the flanks.

Yuliuli's guqin melody grew increasingly urgent, the two perfected Netherworld Clan beings ordered by her music finally revealed flaws. Cangxuan seized the opportunity, struck with a sword, and severed the head of one.

The body of that Netherworld Clan cultivator collapsed with a boom, the silver light in his eyes gradually fading. In his final moment, a trace of clarity flashed across his eyes, he looked toward Cangxuan, his lips moved slightly, as if saying——

"Thank……thank……"

Cangxuan remained silent, nodding slightly.

Yuliuli closed her eyes, two clear tears sliding down. She did not know whether what she did was right or wrong—granting these controlled cultivators a moment of clarity, yet personally sending them on their way.

But she knew, this was the final mercy they could offer these pitiful ones.

The last battle puppet was shattered by Wang Ping's single sword strike.

The battlefield finally fell silent.

Wang Ping sheathed his sword, turned, and walked step by step toward the corpse of the Mountain-Moving Ancestor.

His burly body floated silently in the void. The blood wound on his chest no longer bled, the smile on his face remained heroic, as if he were merely asleep.

Wang Ping crouched down and gently lifted him.

"Senior……" his voice hoarse, tears finally sliding down his eyes, "We won. Those silver-robed rascals have been driven away. You……you may now rest in peace."

No one spoke.

Cangxuan stood silently behind him, the hand gripping his sword trembling slightly.

Yuliuli embraced her ancient guqin, tears streaming down her face.

Tiandian Shangren leaned on his whisk, deeply bowing his head.

Xuanhu Furen forced her eyes open, gazing at this scene, her eyes filled with sorrow.

In the distance, Jiang Haiyun and the three others stepped through the void and landed beside the crowd.

Jiang Haiyun stared at the corpse of the Mountain-Moving Ancestor, remained silent for a long while, then bowed deeply.

"Fellow Daoist of Mountain-Moving, you died for the Spirit Realm; the Spirit Realm will not forget you."

Lei Wanti likewise bowed, his voice low: "Brother, travel well. Old Lei owes you a life, which I cannot repay in this lifetime. In the next, I will serve as an ox or horse to repay you."

Bingyue Xianzi said nothing, merely raised her hand, a beam of lunar power enveloping the corpse of the Mountain-Moving Ancestor. That lunar radiance was cold yet gentle, gently wrapping the corpse, forming a thin layer of ice crystal.

"Take him back to the Spirit Realm for proper burial." She said lightly, "Such a cultivator deserves the highest honor of the Spirit Realm."

Wang Ping raised his head, looking toward Jiang Haiyun.

"Uncle Master, the Purification Court……what exactly do they want?"

Jiang Haiyun fell silent for a moment, then slowly said: "They want everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything that does not conform to their 'order'." Jiang Haiyun's eyes were deep as the sea, "Laws, civilization, life, thought……anything exceeding their set 'order model' will be deemed 'error,' eradicated, transformed, reset. What they seek is an absolute, eternal, unchanging universe—a dead, silent cosmos with no possibility."

Wang Ping clenched his fists.

"Then what should we do?"

Jiang Haiyun looked at him, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes.

"You have already taken the first step—bringing back that intelligence. Next, the second step—let the entire Spirit Realm know the truth, let all forces understand that the Purification Court is not legend, not myth, but a real threat. Third step……"

He paused, gazing into the depths of the void, toward the direction where the three silver-robed Divine Transformation beings had vanished.

"Third step, unite all forces that can be united, when they come again, give them an unforgettable lesson."

Lei Wanti grinned: "Well said! Old Lei has long disliked those silver trinkets! Next time they come, let them have no return!"

Bingyue Xianzi said lightly: "Profound Ice Palace, we will fully support."

Jiang Haiyun nodded, looking at Wang Ping and the others.

"Children, your injuries are severe, you need immediate rest. Come, let us return to the Spirit Realm."

He raised his hand and waved, a beam of chaotic light enveloping everyone.

As the light flickered, everyone vanished from this chaotic void.

Only the shattered puppet remnants remained, and the battle traces in the void not yet fully dissipated, silently recounting the cruelty of this battle.

Inside the Realm-Breaking Shuttle, everyone finally obtained a chance to breathe.

Tiandian Shangren, upon stepping into the cabin, immediately collapsed onto the seat, unable to rise again. His face was as pale as paper, his breath so weak it was nearly undetectable, yet his eyes still sparkled with excitement—the joy of surviving the catastrophe, and the exhilaration of great gain.

"Old man……old man this lifetime……was worth it……" he murmured, a weak smile at the corner of his mouth.

Yuliuli leaned against him, tightly embracing her ancient guqin. Her complexion appeared at least a century older than before, strands of white hair mixed in her black hair, yet the light in her eyes remained bright. She gazed at the dimmed Immortal Sound Bell in her embrace, gently stroking it, as if caressing an old friend.

"Madam……" she looked toward Xuanhu Furen, her eyes full of concern.

Xuanhu Furen lay on a temporary soft cushion, eyes tightly shut, breath weak. Though the lunar power thread from Bingyue Xianzi had stabilized her injuries, her consumption was too great, her lifespan burned too much, and she remained unconscious at this moment.

"She needs rest." Bingyue Xianzi stood beside her, saying lightly, "At least three years, no use of spiritual power. Within five years, no combat. Ten years……"

She paused, saying nothing further.

Whether she could recover to her original state after ten years remains unknown.

Cangxuan sat in the corner, eyes closed, regulating his breath. His sword lay across his knees, the blade covered in dense nicks. This battle, he had shattered at least ten puppets, withstood a Divine Transformation strike, his sword path advanced rapidly, but the cost was extremely heavy.

But Wang Ping knew, he would not care.

This cold sword cultivator never cared about cost. He only cared——whether the sword was fast enough.

Wang Ping sat alone before the stargazing platform, gazing at the void streaking past outside the viewport.

In his embrace, he held the Jade Bi projection. His sea of consciousness inscribed every detail of that star map. His dantian held that thread of "Chaotic Origin," now returned to calm, as if the previous frenzied beating had merely been an illusion.

But the smile of the Mountain-Moving Ancestor remained forever etched in his heart.

"Senior……"

He murmured, closing his eyes.

In his mind, the scene of their first meeting surfaced—the burly man with a bare upper body, grinning widely, slapping his chest and saying, "Old Shi here has tempered this fleshly shell for eight hundred years!"

The scene of discussing the Dao on the Realm-Shattering Shuttle appeared—the carefree yet meticulous man imparting his insights from cultivating the Mountain-Seal Void Sealing Art without reservation.

The scene of fighting side by side in the Lawless Wilderness emerged—the fearless man always charging to the front, using his "unyielding" fleshly body to block wave after wave of attacks for everyone.

The final scene surfaced—the blood-soaked man with a hole in his chest, expending his last strength to blast open a rift for him, then laughing as he said—

"Brother…… take care……"

Wang Ping's eyes welled up again.

But he did not let the tears fall.

He drew a deep breath, opened his eyes, and gazed out the porthole at the endless void.

"Senior, rest assured."

His voice was low and resolute.

"Your grudge, we will surely avenge."

"The debt of the Pure World Court, one day, I will settle it with them, item by item."

Behind him, footsteps sounded.

Cangxuan had risen at some unknown time, walked to his side, and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

"How much farther?"

"Soon." Wang Ping said, "In seven days, we will return to the Spirit Realm."

Cangxuan nodded, saying nothing.

The two stood thus in silence, watching the stars streak past the porthole.

After a long while, Cangxuan suddenly spoke.

"Senior Mountain-Mover, he was a true man."

Wang Ping nodded.

"We will live well in his stead."

Wang Ping turned his head, looking at him.

Cangxuan's gaze remained stern, yet deep within those eyes, something burned.

It was hatred, and also resolve.

"Yes." Wang Ping said softly, "We will live well in his stead. Then, let the Pure World Court pay the price."

Cangxuan nodded, turned, and departed.

Wang Ping continued to gaze out the porthole, at the boundless void, at the twinkling stars.

Among those stars, how many had already been "cleansed" by the Pure World Court? How many were trembling under their "surveillance"? How many awaited someone to step forward and give them hope?

He did not know.

But he knew that from now on, he was no longer merely an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, no longer a first-class instructor of the Ninth Dao Institute, no longer just a seeker of a breakthrough opportunity.

He was the hope bought with the life of the Mountain-Moving Ancestor.

He was the inheritor of the truth recorded in the fragmented scrolls of the Myriad Phenomena Star Observers.

He was……

A pawn in the opposition to the Pure World Court.

No.

Not a pawn.

The one who holds the pieces.

He drew a deep breath, rose to his feet, and walked toward his quiet chamber.

Seven days later, upon returning to the Spirit Realm, countless matters awaited him—organizing intelligence, reporting the truth, uniting forces, enhancing his cultivation……

But for now, he only wanted to sleep well.

And then, in his dreams, to see that bold man once more, to hear him call again—

"Little brother!"

The Realm-Shattering Shuttle sped through the void, carrying five survivors of the catastrophe, carrying the corpse of the Mountain-Moving Ancestor, carrying information capable of altering the fate of the entire Spirit Realm, racing all the way toward the Spirit Realm's direction.