Chapter 376: Soul Transformation Battle Merit

Around them.

The earth rolled, and cracks appeared in the sky, spreading like spiderwebs.

Crackling sounds kept coming, and with the death of a single spirit deity, the entire world seemed to enter its final apocalypse.

Jiang Ding watched in silence.

Other immortal sect cultivators also watched this sky-collapsing scene in quiet awe; many activated the camera functions on their helmets to record it, with no concern at all.

After a moment, the surrounding heavens and earth completely collapsed, revealing a small island brimming with spiritual energy; in a few places, the spiritual energy had already condensed into mist, visible to the naked eye.

It was unmistakably a fifth-rank spiritual vein!

Crack!

In the sky, a crack appeared midway along each of the thirty-six sky-piercing pillars, rapidly spreading across their entire bodies before they collapsed with a thunderous crash, striking the ground and stirring up massive waves of spiritual energy.

Wild winds surged, torrential rain poured, lightning flashed and thunder roared—phenomena of all kinds erupted.

Long after, everything calmed down.

The Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace's final tentacle in this world had been severed!

The Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace's starry sky military formation had lost its anchor point.

Meanwhile, the immortal sects' aerial forces would gain a complete small world as an anchor point, serving as the most solid support for the starry sky formation, with access to all forms of support—including the fifth-rank spiritual vein.

"Begin setting up the Xing Chen Ding Gao Jie array."

Jiang Ding said softly.

He located a spiritual vein node with fourth-rank spiritual energy concentration, sat cross-legged, and behind him, the blue-gold great tree burst from the earth, spreading a canopy over a hundred meters wide, gathering spiritual energy and solar essence.

"Yes!"

Numerous immortal sect Qi Condensation cultivators were ecstatic, not wasting a single second, urgently urging their company commanders to assign them array-setting tasks immediately.

If the company commander had none to give, then make him rush upward to seize one!

This was a military mission capable of determining the fate of an entire world—mountains of spiritual stones and battle merits lay piled on the ground, waiting to be picked up, with zero risk.

One mission completed,

their cultivation needs for the next two or three decades would be secured.

Of course, this is on the premise that the small world is actually seized—if not, they'd be destitute, with no spiritual stones ever distributed.

Fifteen days later,

Jiang Ding opened his eyes.

Boom…

Three hundred and sixty-five stars rose in the sky, their starlight pouring down, clearly visible even in daylight; as the stars rotated, chaotic array patterns flickered in and out, radiating terrifying power.

Not just here—in the Western Desert, Northern Sea, and Southern Theater, identical phenomena of stars appearing in daylight erupted simultaneously, unleashing boundless starlight that completely obscured the sun.

All four Xing Chen Ding Gao Jie arrays had been completed.

The entire world's spiritual and earth veins were now under control!

The four Xing Chen Ding Gao Jie arrays resonated with each other; their three hundred and sixty-five stars trembled with thunderous vibrations, and after several breaths, they detached from the heavens, rising toward the world's boundary and beyond the stars, merging into the unknown—only faint starlight now filtered down.

Jin Jin Lingfeng, Dong Xue Senior Qian, Jin Jin Chengkong, and other corps commanders gathered here, forming a circle around him, eyes fixed on the sky.

"This is all we can do."

An Siyan took a deep breath: "We now control the entire world's spiritual and earth veins, using them as anchor points and energy sources for the starry sky formation. With this advantage, the immortal sects' aerial forces will gain countless strategic edges."

"Now, we wait to see what they do."

"If we win, we will make history—the Thirteenth Small World of the immortal sects has appeared. Starting next year, at least one new sentence will be added to the immortal sects' history textbooks."

"History…"

Many officers gazed with longing, their hearts yearning for it.

"If we lose, they will notify us in advance to return through the arrays to the immortal sects."

"The chance of victory is high."

Jin Jin Chengkong, the most senior commander of the Second Group Army, said: "As long as the Lián Xū experts don't appear, the immortal sects always hold an advantage in Soul Transformation-level corps battles. The only gap is in ground assault forces—our opponents' Dao heirs possess terrifying cross-rank combat power."

"Even at Foundation Establishment, it's the same; at Jin Dan Jing, it often takes dozens or even hundreds of aerial masters to have a chance of killing a Dao heir."

"Among the twelve small worlds of the immortal sects, several were won by aerial forces ignoring the ground force disparity—overwhelming the enemy with massive casualties before the ground troops collapsed, ultimately seizing the small world."

"The commander of the Huangtong Aerial Force, Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun, did exactly that."

Jin Jin Chengkong, as a veteran Jin Dan's avatar, told them a tale: "The Master Canghai Small World was won over two thousand eight hundred years ago by Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun, who defeated his enemy head-on despite massive disadvantages in ground forces and lacking array amplification or anchor points."

"Thus earning the name Master Canghai Small World."

"But the casualties…"

He fell silent.

Everyone else fell silent too, as if seeing the backviews of countless elder predecessors from millennia past, fearless of death, undeterred by sacrifice, fighting on.

Jiang Ding glanced at the stars.

The sky was clear, boundless, cloudless.

A flock of sea-gull spiritual birds flew overhead—a beautiful seascape, more stunning than any beach resort.

But one could imagine,

that in the stars above, brutal, bloody battles raged—immortal sect Jin Dan and Foundation Establishment cultivators died every moment, inevitably.

The Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace was no weakling; every high-level cultivator had walked out of blood and storm.

"Wait."

Jiang Ding closed his eyes.

Everyone held their breath, silent, waiting.

One day,

Ten days,

Twenty-seven days.

Boom!

A deafening roar erupted in the sky, waking everyone.

A colossal palm of the azure heavens, its fingernails sharp as hooks, tore through the boundary wall and descended amidst lightning and thunder; seven stars were concealed within its palm, exuding an infinite attraction capable of devouring the sky and earth, and even countless living souls.

"Great Sun..."

An aged voice sounded, and then the seven-star giant palm fell from the sky.

Its target was unmistakably clear.

Jiang Ding opened his eyes.

His divine soul trembled instinctively; the dark blue aperture in his brow opened, spreading the intent of the sword of destruction, and even his vital blood began to boil.

As for the others, their bodies froze as if solidified, lacking even the qualification to react.

Boom!

A brilliant pillar of spiritual light followed closely behind, blasting the seven-star giant palm to pieces from its center; it lost all spiritual radiance, plummeted into the sea, and transformed into a thousand-foot peak, sending up towering waves.

Moments later, the hollow rift in the sky slowly healed.

Everything returned to calm.

"Just now, was that a Soul Transformation Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun on the verge of death?"

Jin Jin Chengkong awoke from the oppressive pressure and said in shock.

Everyone around him looked deathly pale; they still needed some time to recover. Before such a powerful expert, they were not even ants; even their breathing would only be possible with the other's permission.

"I do not know; perhaps it was."

A hint of killing intent appeared in Jiang Ding's eyes; he spoke no more and waited silently.

Several days later.

"Ding!"

"You have obtained a Soul Transformation-level war merit, which can be exchanged for Soul Transformation-level heavenly treasures, medicines, magical treasures, and all legal things you desire."

"You may also accumulate them; ten Soul Transformation-level war merits can be exchanged for one Soul Transformation opportunity, entering the queue sequence."

The voice of the Central Array Spirit Computer appeared beside his ear.

(End of this chapter)