Chapter 874: Strength Skyrockets!

The Great Tide is coming.

Within the entire Evil Realm, how many people are terrified, how many are busy, across the countless Pure Lands?

Yet, within the central palace of the Yun Hai Dao Fu, it is a different scene.

Clear water reflects the clouds, a glazed pavilion floats upon the green waves, immortal mist coils around the pillars, and the lotus breeze carries a fragrance that refreshes the heart and spirit.

Mu Yun Hai, dressed in white, pours tea from a pot into the jade cup before Bai Wuseng.

He maintains a gentle smile throughout, as if even the heaven-toppling malice of the tide cannot disturb his current refined interest.

Bai Wuseng sits upright and composed, offering a smiling gesture as he receives the tea handed over by Mu Yun Hai.

"Alas, that Chen Yan is truly vigilant. I had thought he would come to the Yun Hai Dao Fu before the Great Tide; I did not expect him to be so patient."

Mu Yun Hai sighs softly, sipping his tea, his calm eyes appraising Bai Wuseng before him:

"Which refinement of the Emperor Realm Nine Refinements has the Third Daoist reached now?"

Bai Wuseng lowers his eyes to sip the tea in his hand, white mist curling around his lips, and speaks softly:

"Merely the fifth refinement. The First Daoist, Xuan Yi, has likely already reached the seventh."

Mu Yun Hai narrows his eyes, pondering something, and smiles:

"Regardless of who can pass the Emperor Realm Nine Refinements and who cannot, the seven of us will eventually have to fight to the death."

As Mu Yun Hai speaks, there is a hint of sorrow in his eyes.

"Who made us enter this game long ago, unable to escape? After we die, our life's accumulation will also become nourishment for our enemies.

The Emperor Fruit may be a great opportunity, but to us Daoists, each other is an even greater opportunity."

Listening to this, a look of misery appears in Bai Wuseng's eyes, and he presses his palms together:

"Amitabha."

Yet, in the very next moment.

Mu Yun Hai senses something, looks toward a distant place, and a smile appears at the corner of his mouth:

"This Chen Yan is truly a man of great kindness; in this chaotic world, he does not hesitate to expose himself just to protect the common folk."

Clearly.

Chen Yan has mobilized the power of the Central Divine Array located in the Yun Hai Dao Fu, and Mu Yun Hai has detected it.

Bai Wuseng drinks the tea in his cup, and as he rises, the scent of tea permeates his monk's robes; his eyes are calm and waveless as he walks straight toward one direction.

Mu Yun Hai hurriedly catches up and smiles:

"Mu will go along with the Third Daoist."

Bai Wuseng pauses and looks toward Mu Yun Hai:

"Exterminating the benefactor Chen Yan is merely a wisp of killing karma that this humble monk can create with a casual gesture."

Mu Yun Hai freezes, and in the next moment, his expression changes drastically.

For he sees.

Blood-colored light disperses from the immortal white kasaya on Bai Wuseng's body, and an intensely thick aura of blood-evil strikes.

Bai Wuseng chants a mantra and presses a palm to the ground; countless scriptures spill out like weeping blood, swirling and entangling toward Mu Yun Hai.

The mantra Bai Wuseng chants also transforms into black sound waves, wrapping around Mu Yun Hai like chains.

"Third Daoist, what are you doing? We... we have clearly already cooperated."

Mu Yun Hai is unable to move for a moment and speaks hurriedly.

The evil aura on Bai Wuseng's body gradually dissipates, and he smiles:

"Does the benefactor need this humble monk to explain what he wants to do?"

Mu Yun Hai's body stiffens, and in the next moment, he watches as Bai Wuseng's figure disappears from where he stood.

A long time passes.

A figure wearing a bronze mask appears beside Mu Yun Hai.

"Do you need me to open the shackles for you?" the bronze mask asks.

"No need," Mu Yun Hai shakes his head:

"He did not use his full strength; in a while, the effect of this Anti-Buddha Heart-Slaughtering Mantra will dissipate.

He is afraid that I would use Chen Yan's power to deal with him together with Chen Yan."

As Mu Yun Hai speaks, his expression becomes increasingly unsightly.

Clearly, Bai Wuseng only revealed a fraction of his strength, yet it left him shocked.

And the struggle of the Daoists is destined; of the seven Daoists, only one will be left alive in the end.

He is destined to battle Bai Wuseng.

The bronze mask, however, smiles:

"Over these ten thousand years, Bai Wuseng has slaughtered ten million living beings in the Baiwu Dao Fu, using the blood of the common people to nourish his demonic nature.

He has long since transformed into a demonic Buddha; it looks like he will have a final decisive battle with Xuan Yi."

Mu Yun Hai frowns and looks at the bronze mask:

"It is your turn to act. If he is injured from battling Chen Yan, you can take the opportunity to deal a heavy blow."

The bronze mask pauses, speaking in a tone of extreme mockery:

"Hey?

You don't actually think Chen Yan can heavily injure Bai Wuseng, do you?

If I go there like this and am discovered by Bai Wuseng, wouldn't I just be throwing my life away?"

Mu Yun Hai looks at the bronze mask:

"You are the Zheng Qian Punishment Lord, one of the three great Punishment Lords; in terms of strength, you are even above me."

"The Sea of Malice is your territory, not that of Bai Wuseng."

The bronze mask was silent for a moment, then sighed slightly:

"I will try, but do not hold too much hope."

Mu Yun Hai nodded, and only after watching the bronze mask disappear did a smile emerge.

"Brother Chen, did you think that just because you didn't come over, I, Mu, couldn't make use of you?

Having taken my things, you are required to repay them a billion-fold.

As for the Third Daoist, the tea money for these past few days also needs to be paid."

The smile at the corners of Mu Yun Hai's mouth grew increasingly exuberant.

Among the Seven Great Daoists, he, Mu Yun Hai, was the least known, yet he was the one best at doing business.

Even for a single copper coin, he, Mu Yun Hai, would record it in his ledger, sitting back to collect huge profits in the future.

…………

Inside the Sea of Malice.

The black sea formed by malice surged and climbed toward the horizon, the waves wrapped in countless twisted remnant souls and broken bones.

All evil gathered, collided, and erupted within the sea waves.

The earth-shattering tremors affected the entire world.

A great terror invaded the hearts of all living beings.

This is the Great Tide.

Chen Yan went deep into the Sea of Malice, buffeted by various currents, yet he swam straight toward the deepest part of the Sea of Malice.

Suppressed by the malice and the tide, Chen Yan's speed was extremely slow.

Within his body, five blood-red Wills of Destruction circulated, sensing the things that excited them most and disgusted them most.

Will is the natural enemy of malice.

And malice is the best nourishment for will.

From the very beginning of creating the Path of Will, Chen Yan had already embarked on a road of hunting malice.

And the Will of Destruction feeds on the aura of Ancient Gods.

Very quickly.

In the place of endless darkness, a terrifying sense of evil struck.

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes, clearly sensing the existence ahead.

In the pitch black, slimy malice seeped through; the closer Chen Yan got, the more his skin could touch that invisible distortion.

The surrounding surging malicious seawater seemed to have been muted; in Chen Yan's world, only that evil chaos like an abyss remained.

Ancient God aura.

That wisp of Ancient God aura was like a node on a grid that covered the entire Sea of Malice.

Wisps of Ancient God aura connected to one another, organizing this terrifying tide capable of exterminating the world.

Chen Yan reached out a hand, five strands of destruction aura coiled around it, and he grabbed toward that wisp of Ancient God aura.

The moment of collision.

Moo!

A low and turbid roar resounded in the depths of Chen Yan's mind.

In an instant, Chen Yan seemed to see that grotesque ice wall occupying the heavens and earth once again.

He saw the filthy gaze situated behind that ice wall.

Desolation, bewilderment, fear, loneliness—countless kinds of intense emotions exploded in the bottom of Chen Yan's heart.

Like the collision of ice and fire, the blazing power of will within Chen Yan's body was devoured and extinguished by the malice, as if it were about to be completely snuffed out and dissipated.

Just like the last time.

But this time, Chen Yan was already far stronger than the last time.

Sss, sss, sss!

The five Wills of Destruction devoured that wisp of Ancient God aura like wild beasts, transforming that Ancient God aura into the best nourishment.

Finally, that wisp of Ancient God aura disappeared.

And within Chen Yan's body, a sixth Will of Destruction appeared.

The Will of Destruction is the realm level of breaking through boundaries.

Having one more wisp also meant that Chen Yan's power of will had grown stronger by another fraction.

Every confrontation with an Ancient God aura would make Chen Yan stronger.

And Li Zhiyi, who was in the outside world, produced a sixth Will of Destruction at the same moment.

Because Chen Yan's Path of Will had no Domain of Will, and Li Zhiyi was himself one-third of a Domain of Will.

Therefore, Li Zhiyi's strength in the Path of Will was ten times stronger than Chen Yan's at this moment.

Chen Yan rested for a while, then set off again.

Very quickly, he found two more wisps of Ancient God aura.

The distance between these two wisps of Ancient God aura was very short, no more than thirty thousand li.

The Wills of Destruction devoured these two Ancient God auras, and Chen Yan possessed a seventh and eighth Will of Destruction.

The power of will was even stronger.

Immediately following, Chen Yan found three more Ancient God auras.

And the distance between these three Ancient God auras was no more than twenty thousand li.

After being devoured by the Wills of Destruction.

Chen Yan already possessed eleven strands of Destruction Will.

The power of his will was already more than twice as strong as it had been before the Great Tide.

And this had only taken two days.

The scale and duration of this Great Tide far exceeded those of a Small Tide.

An incomparably powerful sensation washed over him, yet Chen Yan narrowed his eyes.

The distance between the auras of Ancient Gods was becoming increasingly small.

This meant that as long as Chen Yan wandered in this direction, he might encounter a place where Ancient God auras were concentrated.

Chen Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, his entire body radiating a scorching golden light, crossing through the foul darkness like a sun.

The eleven strands of Destruction Will within his body sensed it from afar; Chen Yan could clearly feel that he was heading toward a great terror.

Danger, danger, danger!

Every particle within Chen Yan's physical body was sounding an alarm, and even his Destruction Will was vibrating.

The closer Chen Yan got, the nearer he drew to death and chaos.

But Chen Yan did not retreat.

This Great Tide had already lasted for two days.

Perhaps it would disappear completely in another two or three days.

Once the Great Tide vanished, these Ancient God auras that had appeared within the Sea of Malice would also disappear.

The Ancient God aura was arsenic to all living things, but it was honey to a Master of Will.

Chen Yan continued to venture deeper.

Time passed slowly.

Another day went by.

Chen Yan continuously devoured and extinguished Ancient God auras, and the Destruction aura within his body had accumulated to eighteen strands.

This meant that Chen Yan had found seven strands of Ancient God aura in a single day.

The distance between the Ancient God auras was growing ever shorter, and the strength of Chen Yan's Will path was already more than three times what it had been before the Great Tide.

The eighteen strands of Destruction aura within his body gradually showed a tendency to coalesce, but they were suppressed by Chen Yan.

Even the anomaly in the connection between 【Unity】 and Chen Yan was ignored by him.

Chen Yan could vaguely feel that his ranking had risen again, but at this moment, he no longer cared.

The further Chen Yan wandered forward, the stronger the suppression of the surrounding malice became against him.

Gradually, Chen Yan was no longer able to erupt with the Radiance of Will, and even his speed slowed to the extreme.

Finally.

The endless darkness collapsed.

An abyss rift spanning tens of thousands of miles appeared before Chen Yan.

Within Chen Yan's body, the eighteen strands of Destruction Will were sounding a frantic alarm.

It was not a geological formation, but a living abyss interwoven from billions of writhing, bizarre creatures.

Dense, layered tentacles, eyeballs, and other strange structures floated upon it.

As Chen Yan entered.

The viscous malice condensed here into a black crystal wall, its surface bulging with crimson light patterns like blood vessels.

A suffocating sensation struck him.

Chen Yan's eyes widened, a powerful sense of crisis washed over him, and the next moment, Chen Yan directly cast 【Boundary Instant】 to flee the area.

Boom—!

The abyss rift shook, and the Sea of Malice for hundreds of thousands of miles around surged violently.

Chen Yan continuously cast 【Boundary Instant】, but a terrifying sense of crisis remained behind him.

Amidst the heaven-shaking roar produced by the collision of endless waves.

A vast, evil, profound, and extremely grand low roar resounded.

This sound permeated the entire world, echoing continuously, transforming into billions of ghostly shrieks that crashed into the depths of Chen Yan's mind like a physical force.

Chen Yan looked behind him; a massive and blurred existence was chasing him.

But with Chen Yan's eyesight, he could only see the tip of the iceberg of that existence, unable to see its true appearance at all.

An endless sense of madness and insanity washed over him, engulfing Chen Yan.

Only then did Chen Yan realize that the abyss rift, which stretched for tens of thousands of miles, was perhaps merely the mouth of that massive existence.

Supreme Ancient God Beast!