Chapter 957

As Xi Ping’an’s divine body fell, the entire battlefield fell silent.

Countless cultivators stared reverently and fervently at the youth in blue robes in the sky, as if facing a deity, daring not to meet his gaze directly.

The Lord of This World has been born.

Not a fleeting, short-lived ruler like Shuoyang Zhenjun, but a Lord of This World who will suppress this world for ten thousand years, until the end of his life.

During this time, all under heaven is his land, all under heaven are his subjects.

A long-lasting peace is about to arrive.

And they, as cultivators beneath the World Lord, may find it very difficult to obtain the future Dao path, the future opportunity for Soul Transformation.

Because there are no more Soul Transformation-level enemies!

Without Soul Transformation-level enemies, where will the Soul Transformation battle merits come from?!

“Kill!”

“Kill! Kill!”

Thinking of this, Zhenjun Tianyang, Zhenjun Xu Fang, and others turned their eyes red, bloodthirsty and frenzied, burning their essence to charge toward Zhenjun Bingfeng, who was surrounded by the three armies.

“Insects!”

“You wretched insects…”

Zhenjun Bingfeng shrieked, sending waves of ice crashing outward, drowning entire groups of cultivators.

After her mother, Zhenjun Bingyuan, died, she had already begun burning her essence to fight for survival; each flap of her ice-crystal wings cleaved through vast arrays, severed clouds of nine-colored sword qi as large as mountains, caused the light wheels of sword cultivators to fall in sheets, and extinguished countless Great Primordial Radiance Spheres unleashed by the Hall.

Lì!

A piercing cry rang out as Zhenjun Bingfeng transformed into a streak of light, piercing through the formation, attempting to flee from the encircling armies, no longer seeking to fight.

She has lost!

She has already lost!

Her mother, Zhenjun Bingyuan, was slain; Xi Ping’an was slain; Baizhu Zhenjun fled; what could a newly elevated early-stage Soul Transformation beast cultivator like her possibly do?

Jiang Ding watched silently as the ice phoenix tried to escape.

He would not steal the fruits from his subordinates.

After all, for them to advance, to climb further, they must earn battle merits; mere hard work alone could never grant them the opportunity for Soul Transformation, not even the opportunity in the Northern Plains.

This opportunity belongs to them.

But if they themselves fail to seize it, that is no one’s fault—it is their destined fate, and they must accept it.

“Kill!”

“Stop her!”

Zhenjun Xu Fang roared.

He merged his body with his sword, commanding his ten thousand sword cultivators, burning himself, uniting with the sword-light wheels, transforming into ten thousand brilliant, blazing flying swords that slashed down upon Zhenjun Bingfeng from above.

“Stay!”

Boom!

The ten thousand light-wheel swords struck as one; a terrible explosion erupted, its shockwave reverberating for thousands of li.

This strike clearly reached the level of mid-stage Soul Transformation, halting the fleeing, disheveled Zhenjun Bingfeng; countless ice feathers flew wildly, leaving her in utter disarray.

“Kill!”

“Kill! Old man’s Dao opportunity!”

In the brief delay, the Tushan Maidens’ Corps and the Great Primordial Heaven Army shattered the blocking Great Snow Mountain formation; nine nine-colored heavenly swords descended, forming a cage that sealed off Zhenjun Bingfeng’s escape.

Zhenjun Tianyang’s hair and beard bristled; he too burned his essence, even more frenzied than the sword cultivators, using the formation to launch a continuous barrage of a thousand giant sun-flame orbs, each as large as mountains, driving Zhenjun Bingfeng back step by step.

A mid-stage Soul Transformation beast cultivator like Zhenjun Bingfeng was surrounded and slaughtered at the center by three armies; whether burning her essence or unleashing her innate divine powers, she could not break free from the three armies’ encirclement—she was inherently inferior in strength.

Even if she unleashed everything, she could change nothing.

Roars, screams, and explosions continued without end.

The beast tribe’s Zhenjun was being slaughtered by the human cultivator armies!

Unconsciously, several hours passed.

Gradually, Zhenjun Bingfeng’s roars grew weaker; vast stretches of formation patterns spread over her, wrapping, binding, and suppressing her beast body.

“Tushan!”

“I hate…”

Zhenjun Bingfeng glared venomously at the youth in blue robes in the sky.

Her aura began to boil, radiating a terrifying, world-destroying power that made every Zhenjun instinctively stiffen, chilled to the bone.

“No good!”

“She’s going to explode her beast core!”

One Zhenjun shrieked in horror, realizing what was happening.

Explode her beast core!

A Zhenjun exploding her beast core!

This terrifying realization sent chills through everyone’s spines, plunging them into a deep abyss of death with not a shred of hope left.

Spatial teleportation, instantaneous movement—useless against a Zhenjun’s self-destruction.

Jing!

At that moment, a clear, resonant sword cry rang through heaven and earth, dispelling all fear from the human Zhenjuns’ hearts.

“Your formation arts still need refinement.”

“A mere newly elevated beast Zhenjun—this should never have happened.”

Jiang Ding sighed, drew his sword.

A blade of light sliced down along the clear blood trail in his vision, penetrating deep, as effortlessly as a butcher dissecting an ox.

The strength of the Tushan Three Expeditionary Armies was revealed.

Each of the three armies possessed roughly early-stage Soul Transformation combat power; together, they could fight mid-stage Soul Transformation cultivators.

Yet if an early-stage Soul Transformation cultivator fought to the death and exploded their core, they could still severely wound the three expeditionary armies, leaving no escape—this is the inherent flaw of formations: too low mobility.

They would absorb one hundred percent of a Soul Transformation Zhenjun’s explosion, with no room to dodge.

After this sword strike, heaven and earth fell instantly silent.

“I hate…”

Zhenjun Bingfeng’s body still radiated destructive energy, her phoenix eyes utterly dimmed.

Her aura vanished instantly; she became a frozen corpse, plummeting from the sky.

One sword—soul and spirit annihilated!

This sword strike was far beyond what a newly elevated Soul Transformation cultivator deserved; such an honor should never have been bestowed.

“Zhenjun, we are unworthy!”

Hei Louxi, Zhenjun Tianyang, Zhenjun Xu Fang, and others stepped forward, bowing deeply, ashamed.

“Train more, that’s all. Besides, you’ve earned merit—you suppressed an early-stage Soul Transformation cultivator and a fifth-rank low-grade Great Snow Mountain formation.”

“This merit cannot be taken away.”

Jiang Ding nodded slightly.

Regarding his subordinates’ advancement to Soul Transformation, his stance was neither encouragement nor opposition.

If someone wished to ascend to Soul Transformation and try to carve out a share of the world from him, that was fine—let them challenge him with their swords; the survivor would naturally claim all.

If they chose not to challenge, they must serve him, exchanging labor for spiritual land, elixirs, and other cultivation resources.

The best choice, of course, would be to ban all other methods and make myself supreme.

But that is too petty; it strips the world’s cultivators of their longing for the Dao—he would never stoop to such a thing.

Besides, to develop this world, he must have a capable, skilled team of cultivators; otherwise, he would be no better than a hunter-gatherer sect in the realm of cultivation—terribly inefficient, relying entirely on slash-and-burn farming and luck for survival.

“Zhenjun is benevolent!”

Zhenjun Tianyang and the others understood his meaning, overcome with gratitude, sincerely convinced.

This generation’s human Zhenjun possessed a breadth of heart unimaginable.

They were truly born in a good age—so long as they worked hard, possessed sufficient talent, talent, and battle merits, they had a sliver of hope for Soul Transformation.

How fortunate—Dao’s path remains unbroken!