Chapter 1533

Dark clouds obscured the sun and sky, heavy rain pouring down.

Raindrops lashed the water surface like whips, colliding midair and shattering into mist. Towering gray waves, mountain-like, crashed down, striking walls and recoiling; within the colosseum's molar-tooth arena, vortices spun, anguished cries persisted, and wave crests bore screaming figures.

A million corpses floated.

The vast majority of "River-Mid Stones" across the world fell inert, rigid and unmoving.

Liang Qu's "River-Mid Stone" inexplicably unfurled, resembling malt sugar dropped on steps, softened and melted under blazing sun, continuously spreading, continuously expanding.

Lightning in the clouds, gales on the river, tree shadows beneath the moon—

Things became so clear, so striking, that all flood dragons noticed at this moment, and not long ago had undergone the same change.

Dragon-Elephant Ascension!

Did someone break through mid-battle at the Great Hunt?

Become the fifth immortal!.

"Huai King!?"

Wolf Lord, Xin Da'ai, and Deng remained stunned on the spot, unaware of what had occurred. The last of the "River-Mid Stones" finally sensed something wrong, immediately converging toward the locations of the Holy Emperor, Tribal Lord, and Khan King.

"Could it be in the Ascension Furnace? But why are the River-Mid Stones still here?" Ge Zu exclaimed in shock.

Long Eying worried, yet could not approach or appear; drawing near would only add another soul to distract and protect, so she froze the surrounding colosseum with ice, seeking the Diamond Bright King and Yue King, likewise turning toward the Holy Emperor's location.

"No, wrong, absolutely not the furnace—no furnace formed, his River-Mid Stone" still remains, so why is there a small world?

The Straw Hat Old Man blocked Lichuan, once again astonished by Liang Qu, this strange fellow.

Entering Zhen Xiang's energy sea, flood dragons' boundless sea, furnace's small world. Within the small world, a thought arrives, a thought moves, a thought collapses—Liang Qu has not ascended the furnace, so how could he possess such means?

Fundamentally impossible.

Immediately, the Straw Hat Old Man silently thought: Not good.

Liang Qu could only escape and hide because the Whale King and Great Li Taizu paid him no heed; Li Taizu's sneak attack failed, so he shifted focus to the Whale King——

Cloud giants and blood giants clashed, at this moment all turning toward the opened corner.

The cloud giant moved.

Absolutely cannot let the Whale King succeed!

The Straw Hat Old Man waved his fishing rod, releasing Lichuan.

Lichuan harbors ghosts; Great Li Taizu transformed one breath into Three Purities—all enemies, all opponents, our side has only one Zhang Longxiang, the situation already precarious, Liang Qu, who hopes to ascend, is now the sole critical point we can hold.

Three versus three versus two—still a chance, still a turning point.

Thoughts like lightning, assessing the situation, no time to entangle with Lichuan; the Straw Hat Old Man seized Zhang Longxiang, abruptly retreated, released the person, and reversed direction.

Just as he tried to shake off the Straw Hat Old Man and Zhang Longxiang to aid the Whale King, Lichuan made a snap decision, abandoned his original intent, and instead entangled the Straw Hat Old Man and Zhang Longxiang, preventing them from rescuing Liang Qu.

Changes, changes—circumstances constantly shifting!

"Ah!!!"

Boiling! Boiling! Boiling!

Rolling white steam screamed skyward, dark pressure accumulating the heavens.

Boiling clouds, blood in veins boiling, seawater within a hundred miles also boiling!

Liang Qu screamed hoarsely, canine teeth growing, eye whites flooded with blood, mouth continuously vomiting blood, then rapidly drying into blood scabs0

Intense heat vaporized a hundred-zhang radius to nothing, scalding steam at hundreds of degrees surged wildly, unparalleled power coursed through the body.

Ripples surged across his body like light, expanding from three feet to three zhang, thirty zhang, four thousand times the root sea, linking the Dragon King, reaching six thousand two hundred times—at this moment, the root sea broke through six thousand two, primary and secondary inverted, no longer the six thousand two from Yunhua convergence, but transcending.

【Upholding the Marsh State, the ruler's bones may transform into Huai Vortex Ruler's Bones, strength boundless, capable of seizing heaven and man.】

Dragon tendons, tiger bones, seizing dragons, subduing tigers, grasping rivers, pulling rivers, ruler's bones——

Violent metamorphosis.

Violent elevation.

Root sea unfurled, six thousand, seven thousand, eight thousand——

"Ah!!!"

Drinking through layered clouds.

A brand-new, unparalleled, capable-of-resistance final vessel, wrapped in steam, slowly emerging from the furnace!

Spine protruding, major tendons shifting.

Liang Qu grinned, gums crimson, muscles like steel cables tensed, never before had he felt this swelling destructive urge, clenched fists, five fingers bound, the released gang wind tore the sea, carving a thousand-li vacuum.

Shatter, shatter the world, shatter all.

But——

The dome's thick clouds exploded violently, clear sunlight bathing ten thousand li.

White mist flowed along curves, leaving wisp after wisp of faint smoke.

A vast cloud-hand came from the horizon, looming from above, probing the boundless cloud sea!

Outside the celestial hand's fingers lay boundless blue sky, gold light radiant. Heaven and earth, neither below nor above could be clearly seen.

What he faced was never an ordinary furnace.

Twist the body, step across.

Clench fists, violent bombardment.

The entire heaven and earth held in the palm, torrential sea water following the strike.

The cloud-whale giant fist trembled violently, a thousand li of sea water evacuated into vacuum, ten thousand li of waves surged, all sound vanished into nothing, the Whale King's emotion shifted slightly, continuing downward pressure.

"Boom!"

Sound like tidewater, parting then retracting, Liang Qu's arm bones ached fiercely, he spat fresh blood.

Damn it!

Still couldn't beat it.

Run!

Heaven and earth expanded, creating a fleeting gap.

The Giant Spirit and Flying Lei trembled, were squeezed, and fought desperately; within the expanding marshland, the previously ineffective central fruit once again exerted the authority it was meant to have.

Liang Qu transformed into a loach, covered his bone protrusions, wiped his white cloud fingers, and slammed open with his shoulder, breaking through the blockade and fleeing desperately forward.

He felt it, felt the whereabouts of the Straw Hat Old Man and Zhang Dragon Elephant.

Racing, racing, racing!

The vortex waterway spun madly, covering ten thousand miles in an instant; the round-headed mouth, dragging a streamlined body like an assembly line, kept moving, likewise rushing forward, it swung its tail fiercely, as if gaining even more speed.

The cloud whale flashed again, its speed surpassing light.

"Boom!"

The great hand grasped at empty air, blood-colored threads entwined, the Great Zhou Founding Emperor immediately entangled, and once again pressed down on the Whale King.

Liang Qu lunged out another three thousand li, struggling free.

The Great Zhou Founding Emperor grabbed him, the Whale King blocked.

The Whale King grabbed him, the Great Zhou Founding Emperor blocked.

Too strong invites targeting; not strong enough, and whoever gains the upper hand will come to grab him!

Fire, rage!

Dazed and muddled, the brain straining desperately, Liang Qu struggled to gauge the distance, exerted all his efforts, and cautiously sought survival in this narrow gap, searching for opportunity within it.

Supporting the marshland, the marsh spirit's transformation—this is a complete furnace.

Advancing to the thirteenth stage, Gou Mang and Flying Lei's transformation—this too is a furnace.

Now he has supported the marshland, without transforming the marsh spirit, he is extremely carefully caught at the limit of tolerance between the Whale King and the Great Zhou Founding Emperor.

The great hand comes again.

"Run, frog!"

The old toad in the marshland desperately urged.

"Whale King, I fuck your mother! Wah!"

The thousand-li seabed parted again, Liang Qu embedded himself into the earth, spat out a mouthful of blood, dared not linger, and vanished again through traversal; he became a rubber ball in the Whale King's hand, repeatedly bouncing back.

Whale King, Great Zhou Three Immortals, Straw Hat Old Man, Lin Chuan, Zhang Dragon Elephant, the vanished Northern Court Immortal—all people, all beasts' small worlds clearly reflected in his mind; Liang Qu, like standing on a stool, poked his head out the window, glimpsing a corner of the furnace world.

But this corner held a more terrifying scene.

The Whale King's Heavenly Water Realm exceeded the sum of everyone's and was still expanding! Lin Chuan's small world merged with the Whale King's, and even the faint Northern Court Immortal's small world in the minutiae was merging.

Boundless and endless, limitless and infinite.

The aura of the sleeve resembled a hydrogen balloon soaring into the sky, exploding with a boom; the ethereal airflow expanded endlessly, completely suppressing the Great Zhou Founding Emperor! Even more so suppressing those nearby.

Just now supported, the marshland expanded outward, but at this moment it was actually being inversely compressed and squeezed by the Whale King's small world, even blurring the boundaries, feeding back to Liang Qu a intense burning pain.

The Whale King is digesting everyone!

How is this possible? What method is this?

Liang Qu was shocked.

Galloping Whale, vast sea.

The Whale King's strength grows ever stronger, the Great Zhou Three Immortals united, yet still pressed down upon it.

"What use is the Great Hunt Assembly, after all?" Liang Qu's scalp tingled.

"Planned for thousands of years, just for today, matters have come to this, nearly accomplished—what use is this Great Hunt Assembly, after all?" The Great Zhou Founding Emperor likewise inquired.

The Whale King remained silent, from head to toe uttering not a single word.

Blood River Realm, the Lotus Great Scholar flicked his prayer beads, heartstrings taut.

He watched helplessly as the Whale King's small world completely detached from the Yin Realm's enveloping range, even began to reverse-invade, using the vastness of the cloud sea to intrude into boundless dreams.

Breath leaked into the Dream Realm Dynasty, the Lotus Great Scholar sensed it, finally sensing a thread of message.

The Dream Realm Dynasty borrowed all under heaven's dreams; the Whale King convened the Great Hunt Assembly, also borrowing the power of all under heaven!

"Refining, the Whale King opens the Great Hunt Assembly widely, to gather all under heaven, attract all under heaven, then rely on the power of all beings, the Whale King swallows all under heaven!"

"What?" Wu Lingxu asked anxiously, "Great Scholar, what use is this?"

The reply to Wu Lingxu was not from the Lotus Great Scholar, but another voice came from above the head.

"All position fruits have corresponding refinement rites; if not completed, one cannot master the corresponding authority, cannot incorporate it into one's own small world, and expansion becomes transformation into a rainbow.

The Whale King's plunder of all under heaven's power, combined with its own nature, transforms heaven and earth into a furnace, magnifying its own momentum" to an unparalleled degree, like an endless-root sea's infant dragon, divine powers boundlessly vast, its own nature infinitely expanded.

Thus, it can use its whale-swallowing nature to bypass all refinement rites, forcibly refine all obtained position fruits! Perfect the Three Realms!

Support the Three Realms!

The Whale King is now refining the Northern Court Immortal, strengthening itself; once its true strength surpasses ours, it will then devour our Heaven Fire Sect!

At that time, all position fruits of the Three Realms will enter his fins; whatever combination he desires, he will obtain; whatever kind of rainbow transformation he wishes to ascend, he will ascend that kind.

"How is it still not good?"

"Where is the problem?"

"Just now we went to Yingchun Tower and saw, it's the same as ours, the image doesn't move at all."

"Not like it's stuck, this water surface is still moving, it's just the image isn't aligned with people."

Jianghu Long Gong, the merfolk and dragon people on the square long unseen moving, gradually losing patience, began unable to sit still.

Boom!

The vortex waterway gaped open, sharp explosive sound, pulling out a narrow stream of bubbles.

The round head struggled forward, violently struck the Long Gong square, and shattered through several houses.

Long Zong's silver heart jumped: "Round Head? What happened?"

Round Head, utterly senseless, ignored his broken ribs and fish fins, swimming desperately backward and crashing headfirst into the blazing cavern!

The earth sank and cracked.

"You go first, I'll follow!"

The Straw Hat Old Man roared, his fishing rod swaying the line as he actively pulled and held Linchuan.

Straw Hat Old Man and Zhang Longxiang, two against one, could easily block Linchuan. Linchuan, facing two, could not simultaneously block both furnace cultivators.

Zhang Longxiang wasted no words, uttering a single "be careful," then sped forward to rendezvous with Liang Qu.

In the azure sky, meteors burst forth.

The Whale Emperor and the Great Li Taizu pursued from behind.

Liang Qu gripped his severed arm, fleeing madly, his body entwined with crimson blood flames. Seeing Inspector Bian, his eyes blazed bright as he stretched out his arm: "Dragon Elephant King!"

"Boom!"

A massive hand struck; Liang Qu and Zhang Longxiang spat blood simultaneously, both embedded into the seabed. Yet Liang Qu grinned, having seized it—firmly grasping Zhang Longxiang's forearm!

Just short of this authority.

Yun Hua! Ju Ling!

The small world and small world converged.

Originally unable to connect with Zhang Longxiang, after supporting the Ze State, a link not as thick as Yaolong's former bond but tighter than before was reestablished!

Familiar authority extended once more.

Taotie!

Madly devouring, the severed hand regenerated, myriad wounds healed instantly.

Zhang Longxiang also felt it.

Martial Bones! Position Fruit! Divine Powers!

Fire flowed through flesh and blood, electricity threaded through vessels. Even as yin and yang were sealed and the five elements reversed internally, vast righteous energy nurtured the three fields. When killing intent was unleashed, thunder and shock shook the boundless.

What immense power!

Zhang Longxiang received this astonishing feedback—first stunned, then he roared skyward in anger.

"Roar!!!"

The small world suddenly expanded.

Gang winds expanded endlessly, tearing the azure sky, crushing all in their path.

Thunder burst from the mountains, immense force surging to overturn the Whale Emperor a staggering step; all were shocked.

Fei Lian! Ju Ling!

Liang Qu, having already melted half of the "River Stone" and spread it half-open, became even more diluted, nearly invisible, completely replaced by his own domain.

The Great Li Taizu and the Whale Emperor's gazes shifted simultaneously, in unison withdrawing their techniques.

They struck in unison!

"Run!"

Opportunity fleeting, Liang Qu seized Zhang Longxiang and vanished instantly.

In the azure sky, the Whale Emperor and the One-Two-Three Immortals battled anew, while Linchuan faced off against the Straw Hat Old Man.

An extremely brief respite.

"What now?" Zhang Longxiang shouted loudly.

Liang Qu spat a mouthful of blood foam: "Go to the Beast Arena, find the Cloud Whale that controls the Dragon Spirit Silk. Help me initiate a River God Festival!"

"River God Festival, now!?"

"He holds grand affairs, so do I!"

"And you?"

"I'll draw them away! Hurry!"

Waving to send off Zhang Longxiang, Liang Qu gazed again at the azure sky.

The long wind hunted and hunted.

Before the Great Li Taizu and the Whale Emperor clashed, they again created an opening, lunging toward him.

"I fuck your two mothers!"

Blazing flames, green light illuminating all.

Round Head's broken ribs and fish fins, bathed in the green light, healed rapidly.

Suddenly, a great demon intruded—Wei Lin was highly alert, then saw that the demon entering the cavern was precisely the Jiang Tun Liang Qu had raised.

The Jiang Tun spoke not a word, charging straight ahead; Wei Lin did not ask.

However.

When the great demon Jiang Tun produced three azure-blue small fish, which vanished into the void, Wei Lin suddenly sensed that something in heaven and earth had changed.

The entire cavern's green light surged by a third, nurturing all living things. Finally, a piece of red-gold began to visibly fade at a discernible speed, like dying embers about to extinguish!

", it moved! It moved!"

"Quick look, quick look, it's appeared again!"

Light and shadow fell on the face; Chen Qingjiang, dazed and nearly asleep, suddenly awoke, clutching his painful head, gazing at the curtain.

But what appeared on the curtain was not the match footage, not the Martial Saints' battle, but a human face.

Chen Qingjiang vaguely recalled having seen this face somewhere, but his mind was truly muddled, truly unable to remember clearly. After a long while, he finally reacted.

Oh, it seems to be the Dragon Elephant King, who recently ascended to immortality, coming to hold the River God Festival.

"Beat the drum!"

"Sacrifice to the River Gods!"

The voice engraved in the instincts of the water-town people sounded, and Chen Qingjiang instantly straightened his back, his spirits lifting.

What's the situation?

Isn't it the Great Hunt?

Inside the beast arena, all cloud whales were suppressed by the furnace's might, arranging the venue; the Sacred Emperor, the Tusi lords, and the Khan Kings all failed to understand the situation, while some people skilled in the sacrificial dance had already been dragged to the center of the beast arena.

"Does anyone know how the River God Sacrifice of Yixing is conducted?" Zhang Longxiang asked immediately.

Although he had participated twice and knew the general procedure, he was completely ignorant of what the crucial steps were, what the details were.

Huan Shou shouted a question, but not a single person could answer.

"I know!"

A female voice rang out.

Zhang Longxiang's gaze blazed; he turned his head to look, and was immediately shocked: "You are————the Huai King's shiniang?"

Yang Dongxiong, the Xu clan's wife, and Xu Zishuai walked out from the crowd.

"Ah!!!"

Liang Qu was gripped in the Whale Emperor's palm, his bones exploding throughout his body, fresh blood flowing like rivers, rotting into meat paste, screaming miserably again and again, yet repeatedly recovering with the help of the Taotie Authority.

But this time, the Great Li Founding Ancestor strangely did not make a move to help.

Liang Qu cursed loudly, "Damn it, this is the First Immortal? You were defeated by the Whale Emperor just like that? What about your ten-thousand-year scheme? A pig's nose with a scallion stuck in it, pretending to be an elephant?"

"Huu————"

The sound of breathing rang out.

"So this is your method, combining the general trend, swallowing the world like a whale, refining the World Position Fruit in one go, matching the requirements, ascending to Transforming Rainbow?"

The Great Li Founding Ancestor suddenly spoke.

The Whale Emperor grew vigilant.

"Whale Emperor, have I ever told you what my original Authority was?"

As the words fell.

An inexplicable fluctuation boomed forth from within the Great Li Founding Ancestor's body, spreading out and sweeping across heaven and earth.

In an instant.

All Martial Saints, all Demon Kings — the pouches at their waists storing Mermaid Tears exploded with a boom, countless Mermaid Tears jumping out one after another, suspended in midair.

Inside the Marsh Nation, the Old Toad hid inside a house, suddenly the world spun, and scorching hot seawater surged over.

The Old Toad looked around; to the left was the Whale Emperor, to the right was the Great Li Founding Ancestor, and he was struck dumb with fright.

It, how did it fall out?

It wants my frog life!

Between heaven and earth, all precious items inside packages, all those by people's sides, at this moment, uniformly burst open, hanging high in the sky.

Linchuan and the Straw Raincoat Old Man, locked in combat, both changed countenance drastically; the four Minor Position Fruits and one Medium Position Fruit inside their bodies exploded and fell out in succession.

A blazing sun rushed out from within the Whale Emperor's body.

The Northern Court Immortal Position Fruit the Whale Emperor was in the process of refining immediately separated.

The Northern Court's minor heaven-and-earth was suddenly severed from the Whale Emperor's Heavenly Water Realm!

The Whale Emperor, whose power had been expanding infinitely like hydrogen gas, came to an abrupt halt.

All unrefined Position Fruits, just like the Mermaid Tears dropped after killing wild monsters, were starkly exposed, starkly falling before the Great Li Founding Ancestor!

Blood light flickered.

Under the sun's shadow, beyond the First, Second, and Third Immortals, a pitch-black fourth figure slowly emerged, standing shoulder to shoulder with the former three; merely gazing straight at it made one feel dizzy and spiritually detached.

"This Authority is named————Contending for the Deer!"

The First Immortal spread his hand, five fingers closing in a grasp.

The Whale Emperor's palm suddenly burst open.

Liang Qu and the Old Toad were suspended together in midair; he recalled a passage from the Changqi Treatise.

"Pursue without abandon; upon reaching, seize. Seize without holding; pursue once more in the wilds!"