Chapter 1235: The Dao Merging Heavenly Tribulation Appears in the Horn Darkness Domain

The great cultivator of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace harbored killing intent toward the nine Dao Sons for avoiding battle.

"For the greater good of the sect, the cowardly deserve death."

He said coldly, casting an inquiring gaze at the other seven.

The Great Sun Sword Son must be dealt with.

Great cultivators are tied to the sect's greater good and cannot be sacrificed lightly, so the Dao Son must be sacrificed—this is the price of receiving the sect's full nurturing, nothing comes without cause.

Besides, perhaps there were some unspeakable darker motives at play—maybe, maybe not.

This generation's Dao Sons were generally far stronger than the previous generation's by a wide margin; once this generation's Dao Sons grew to the Dao Merging realm, or the peak of Refining Emptiness, they might threaten the great cultivators' lives and positions.

This situation was especially evident in Mo Sects like Shadow Demon Abyss and Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace that enforced brutal internal systems.

Heaven has no two masters!

In such Mo Sects, it was absolutely impossible for two top-tier powerhouses of comparable strength to appear at the same time—that would plunge the entire sect into turmoil.

"There is still a two or three-in-ten chance…"

Many great cultivators were tempted.

This generation's Great Sun Sword Son was growing far too fast—in just two thousand years, his combat power had already stepped into the same great realm as theirs; what lay ahead would be very dangerous.

The Dao Son's sacrifice might well be necessary.

"No."

The great cultivator of Wuxingtian Sect frowned and refused.

He offered no reason, nor did he need to—the strong have their own convictions, need only hold firm within themselves, answerable to no one else.

"Hmph!"

"Weakling master-and-disciple sentiment—laughable!"

The great cultivator of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace snorted coldly.

The great cultivator of Wuxingtian Sect smiled faintly and said nothing.

If Antu Son could grow strong, it would be a tremendous blessing for him—perhaps he could just lie back in the sect and cultivate in peace, letting that brat go out and fight for his life.

"Dealing with the Great Sun Sword Son does not require juniors to stake their lives for that one or two-in-ten chance—we can handle it ourselves."

The great cultivator of Tianji said calmly: "This generation's Dao Son of the Xiangong has greater potential than I, with more potential to break through above Dao Merging in the future; if anyone is to be sacrificed, it should be me—especially since the Horn Darkness Sovereign was not slain, and we may already be exposed to the starry sky outside; under these circumstances, we cannot afford to lose him in the future."

He was utterly cold, even toward his own life.

In his eyes existed only the greatest chance of victory, opportunity—his own life could be pushed onto the battlefield as a chess piece for this, nothing was unsacrificeable.

"On the path of cultivation, one must be utterly selfish or be destroyed by heaven and earth…"

Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace frowned.

He did not press the matter further, returning to cultivation to consolidate his foundation and accumulate resources.

Without the support of the other Immortal Sects, Elder Bo Ming alone could not change anything; breaking away from the nine Dao Sons' formation to act alone meant certain death, utterly meaningless.

"Two senior brothers, no need to quarrel—we should value harmony above all."

The great cultivator of Qingmuxian Sect said softly: "Over these past few hundred years, the fleet of the Eastern Extreme Demon Sect, with the advancement of many Refining Emptiness and Soul Transformation cultivators and the commissioning of many planet-class warships, has been growing stronger at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming ever more terrifying; now the balance of power between us and them has already been upset."

"Now, we must work together with one heart—only then do we have a chance of achieving the Dao; we must not allow any rift to form."

"Indeed."

The great cultivator of Wuxingtian Sect smiled with honest simplicity: "We can trigger a heavenly tribulation at any time; the Eastern Extreme Demon Sect would not dare act rashly—if pushed to the limit, at worst we merely advance in haste; we do not fear this Demon Sect."

"This old man is well aware of that!"

The great cultivator of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace stopped pressing aggressively, about to say something—when his face changed drastically.

"This is… not good!"

Sizzle~

Sizzle sizzle~

A wisp of a mysterious dark hue, like silk, like thread, as if some ancient curse-serpent crawling out from the deepest Nine Hells had transformed into a pattern, slowly surfaced on the stern face of the great cultivator of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace—the so-called unrivaled body-refinement of the Nine Spirit Domain, the unbreakable defense of the Brother Xuanwu Dao Body, could not block it at all.

The Nine Hells curse pattern spread bit by bit, bit by bit, corroding the Brother Xuanwu Dao Body, extending toward the depths of the divine soul.

As if some precise targeting existed, the terrifying curse power capable of easily slaying a peak Refining Emptiness cultivator landed precisely on the great cultivator of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace; something within his divine soul was even activated, resonating, reacting to produce an even more terrifying curse.

This Nine Hells curse covered the stern face of the great cultivator of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace almost instantly, spreading toward his entire body!

A terrifying, boundless curse aura, loathed by heaven and earth, centered on the great cultivator of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace, shot straight into the clouds, spreading across the entire Zhong Senior Qian Shi Gao Jie, even extending into the river of stars, causing peak Refining Emptiness cultivators to tremble in dread.

"Curse?!!"

The great cultivator of Tianji Xiangong paled in horror, abruptly rising to his feet.

The Tianji lineage had an extremely close relationship with the Curse lineage—precisely because of this, he sensed at the first instant that terrifying, shudder-inducing curse within.

Dao Merging!

A Dao Merging-level curse technique!

Was Brother Xuanwu truly this foolish?

Had he unknowingly fallen prey to such a technique without realizing it?

The great cultivators of the other Immortal Sects were likewise seized with dread, instantly activating their sects' quasi-seventh-grade grand formations to isolate the ocean-like curse spreading through the starry sky.

"Despicable!"

"Eastern Extreme Demon Sect!"

The great cultivator of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace raged uncontrollably,

Mad with resentment.

His body surged and swelled in stages, revealing a Brother Xuanwu body several thousand zhang in size, jointly refined by incense power and magic power—a joint masterpiece of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace in both the Incense Path and the Immortal Path.

Around the Brother Xuanwu Dao Body, an ancient, time-worn palace radiated brilliance; three hundred and sixty Heavenly Palace Divine Generals, one billion eighty million Mao Shen of various ranks, and several hundred million cultivators of Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace garrisoned the formation nodes in all directions, anchoring themselves to the spiritual veins to unfold a terrifying, boundless sect-protecting grand formation.

This formation was called the Brother Xuanwu Thirty-Third Heaven Palace Realm!

This formation, and the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace at its very center, came from Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong in the upper realm's Fallen Immortal Realm. When it arrived in this realm domain several hundred thousand years ago, this Heavenly Palace already existed, and now, after being refined for several hundred thousand years, it has absorbed countless Mao Shen, countless incense Dao soldiers, and Heavenly Palace divine generals through the generations.

This is the ultimate foundation that the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace has accumulated over several hundred thousand years — the sect-suppressing formation!

"Roar!"

The Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace great-being let out a roar.

He transformed into an immortal Brother Xuanwu, with countless sect cultivators and countless divine generals and Dao soldiers revolving around him, as well as countless immortal rule runes swirling about him.

In that instant, he reached the peak of his combat power, infinitely close to Dao Merging.

Such terrifying strength, its might pressing in all directions, could slay an early-stage Void Refinement cultivator with a snap of the fingers—truly a peerless existence within the same realm, a domain overlord born from the inheritance of the upper realm's Taiyi Qingmu Immortal Sect.

Sizzle~

Sizzle sizzle~

Yet, even against such terrifying strength, the power of the Nine Hells Curse seemed completely unaffected, still spreading unhurriedly into the immortal Brother Xuanwu's divine soul, ignoring the dense web of immortal rules, intent on seizing control of the Brother Xuanwu's entire divine soul and body bit by bit, turning him into a puppet.

Truly, demonic qi was dense and chilling, bizarre beyond measure, making one's heart turn cold.

"Curse!"

"The Eastern Extreme Demon Sect used a Heavenly Dao covenant to leave a curse upon us!"

The Tianji Xiangong great-being roared.

With the speed of lightning — too swift for the ear to cover — he began sealing his own divine soul, cutting off the Heavenly Dao covenant. It went smoothly: when the Eastern Extreme Demon Sect's curse power erupted, the vast majority of its force acted upon the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace great-being, without dispersing its strength elsewhere.

The surrounding great-beings gave a start and likewise immediately began sealing themselves.

"Fellow Daoists, the Eastern Extreme Demon Sect has finally shown its true colors!"

"We can no longer continue using the seventh-tier spiritual vein to temper our foundations. Let us cross tribulation together! Regardless of who lives or dies, once we ascend to Dao Merging, we shall exterminate the entire Eastern Extreme Demon Sect to the last!"

The Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace great-being let out a ferocious great roar.

With the Nine Hells Curse about to invade the core of his divine soul and his true self on the verge of being utterly lost, he fiercely triggered the Dao Merging heavenly tribulation!

In that instant, the starry sky across several hundred thousand kilometers dimmed. Billions upon billions of Heavenly Dao rule-law nets all flared at once, and then endless black clouds rolled in, terri【81】 fying rule-lei Ting flashed across the entire world, as if heaven and earth were about to be destroyed and collapse, plunging into endless darkness.

Terrifying rules of lightning flickered across the entire heavens and earth, as if the world itself were about to be destroyed and collapse, plunging into endless darkness.