Chapter 1161: Breaking the Array, Returning to the Immortal Sect

Hearing the citizens' public sentiment lean, Jiang Ding was not overjoyed; his brow furrowed slightly.

"A population base of tens of billions…"

"That's too few. It has to reach hundreds of billions at the very least."

Jiang Ding thought for a moment and said, "No matter which path we take, the immortal sect is the most fundamental existence."

"But for an interstellar civilization, a population of tens of billions is far too small no matter how you look at it — insufficient to sustain a civilization. Outsider prodigies can indeed be absorbed, but it must be built upon a sufficient citizen base; they cannot be allowed to overtake the host."

For him, the immortal sect's citizens were always the foundation.

"Is that so?"

An Siyan glanced at him in surprise: "I thought you'd be very happy."

"Still, as for me personally, I'm likewise unwilling to see the immortal sect's citizen numbers grow too much. We fought that bloody war for so long, sacrificed so much, without complaint — fighting for the overall interests of the citizens."

"Now that we've won, can't we let loose a little?"

"Must we sacrifice for the greater good again?"

She was a little indignant.

"Mm, there's reason in that too."

Jiang Ding agreed.

The two stopped discussing this topic and began turning to some views on advancing to Soul Transformation — things that peak Nascent Soul cultivators valued most.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Hum!

As countless spatial runes blossomed at the edge of the sky, a hazy, indistinct horned figure appeared once more in the starry sky.

This was the last batch of Horned Demon Imperial Race cultivators.

If one also counted the Horned Demon Imperial Race cultivators annihilated in the previous Jiudaxian Sect surprise assault, these were practically the last of the Horned Demon Imperial Race's kin.

Once again, a thorough, physically meaningful extermination of a race was about to occur in this boundary domain.

Boom!

At this moment, startling thunder erupted in the starry sky where the spatial runes had blossomed, along with a pair of terrifying crimson pupils brimming with agony.

He seemed to want to strike from afar.

But in an instant, he was blocked by nine terrifying figures.

A wisp of aura leaking out from across hundreds of millions of kilometers of starry sky solidified the rules of this stretch of heaven and earth; space instantly became like an iron plate, let alone secondary forces like order, divine sense, and magic power. Countless cultivators' minds went blank, losing any will to resist.

"Dao Merging…"

Jiang Ding's body trembled slightly.

He wanted to resist, but could not.

The surrounding spatial rules had solidified, no longer flowing and comfortable, no longer something cultivators could manipulate at will.

The only thing he could do was watch clearly as that heavy, terrifying aura descended, then vanished under the obstruction of another power.

He could only accept his fate.

Beyond that, he could do nothing.

Not until that aura from across hundreds of millions of kilometers dissipated did Jiang Ding gradually regain his strength; divine sense and magic power, along with order, once again spread into the surrounding heaven and earth, letting him take control of himself.

'Dao Merging… Dao Merging…'

'Such terrifying power!'

Jiang Ding was not angry or anything; he silently repeated this name in his heart.

He reminded himself once again that before superior-tier enemies, only time and endless space could shield him, and so he must be cautious in word and deed — only thus could he have enough time to grow.

Crack!

Crack, crack…

After that terrifying aura departed, this stretch of heaven and earth, bound by the King of Equality's Yin-Yang Reversal Grand Array of Yama Hell, began to show cracks one after another. Patches of dark-brown runes appeared between heaven and earth; boundless fresh blood flowed out, countless dead living souls and vengeful spirits emerged, roaring and raging, cursing with venom…

These were the countless beings who had died on this Blood Arena battlefield — each one a powerhouse in the eyes of outside cultivators and mortals, yet they had died in heaps, with resentment and fresh blood carpeting the Blood Arena.

These endless resentments and fresh blood converged toward a central point, forming a terrifying vortex, within which a dreadful black-red aura blossomed, containing some strange and unknown power.

Moreover, this was power exceeding Dao Merging!

Countless changes far beyond the horizons of Soul Transformation cultivators were born within that black-red vortex.

In the end, all the strange phenomena vanished, forming a terrifying black-red curse arrow.

This arrow was condensed from the fresh blood and vengeful souls of hundreds of millions of beings who had perished on this Blood Arena battlefield, carrying a certain strong directional quality.

"…King of Equality… equality…"

"…Adjudication…"

From the void came a vast, low murmur, following some highly biased notion of 'equality' — but it still required equality; that was the foundation of its existence.

It rendered its adjudication.

"Black Horned Ant Race, defeated!"

Whoosh!

This terrifying black-red curse arrow, condensed from the deaths and fresh blood of hundreds of millions of beings, vanished along some law, some intense aura of karma.

This turbulent stretch of heaven and earth gradually calmed.

The cage of the Blood Arena battlefield that had bound countless living beings vanished; the shattered space healed; even the smell of blood and the lingering resentment of living souls common to battlefields disappeared. The cosmic starry sky was tranquil.

Hoo~

Hoo, hoo~

Sounds of exhaling came one after another from the surroundings.

Clearly, at the instant that black-red arrow appeared, everyone's nerves had been taut, afraid that death would descend the next moment.

Now, he felt a strong sense of having survived a calamity.

Hum!

Once he had calmed slightly, nine flying treasures of differing forms — a Moon Palace, a Xianshan, emerald-bough treehouses, and others — appeared in the void, bursting forth with Void Refinement-stage speed as they raced toward the realm passage, with no interest in lingering even a single moment longer.

They were the nine great Dao Children of Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong.

They felt no embarrassment whatsoever at this display of weakness, swallowing the insult without protest.

Only Yu Yu Qianzi gripped her Taiyin Flying Sword tightly, her face showing intense unwillingness, but in the end she did not turn back either, drawing her sword to press forward, seeking her own Sword Dao.

Because, at this moment, she could not find even a sliver of possibility within her Sword Heart to defeat her opponent.

This would not be a sword duel, but suicide.

A sword cultivator would never initiate a duel against an opponent they could not possibly defeat, because it offered no chance of breakthrough.

In that final instant, Yu Yu Qianzi took a long look at that blue-robed youth, committing him to memory.

"I, too, must go."

Jiang Ding felt no particular pride; he gave a faint sigh.

Before Dao Merging cultivators, he was terrifyingly weak, without even a shred of power to resist. Staying here would not only fail to help the Immortal Gate, but would instead distract people like Yuan and the others, forcing them to protect him.

Both Horned Darkness Sovereign and the great experts of the Badaxian Sect harbored an intense desire to beat him to death.

"We are as well."

"Great Sun Sword Child, give us a lift — we need to return to the rear to rest and recuperate, to slumber."

Teacher Gu Lin, An Siyan, Jin Jin Lingfeng, and the others stepped forward, laughing as they spoke.

This was wartime; among them they did not have a large number of Immortal Gate Soul Transformation cultivators, nor sixth-tier array masters, and could not form a Void Refinement-stage military formation. In the starry sky they were very fragile, very vulnerable.

"Then together."

Jiang Ding cast a glance toward the distant starry sky.

There, with the shattering of the King of Equality's Yin-Yang Inversion Grand Array of Yama's Hell, the Dao Merging battlefield must have undergone tremendous changes. Yuan and the others were surely locked in life-and-death combat; now was not the time to disturb them.

Jiang Ding raised his hand; the Dayang Dayang Tianchi unfurled in his palm, radiating brilliance outward, and in an instant expanded to ninety thousand kilometers in size.

The radiance of the Dayang Dayang Tianchi shone forth, drawing in all the Immortal Gate cultivators and the Immortal Gate's spoils of war. The eternally self-rotating crystal wall spun as it flew into the realm passage.