Chapter 283: Taking Action

Once a demonic beast reaches the second tier, every breakthrough into a minor realm requires it to undergo the trial of the Lei Jie.

Relatively speaking, this is far more cruel than what humans face.

However, once a demonic beast successfully survives the Lei Jie, its strength will leap forward and multiply exponentially.

It could be said that gains come with losses.

After nine bolts of thunder, the thunder clouds in the sky dispersed.

The Shi Tian Shu lay on the ground, barely breathing, its entire body emitting a scorched black aura.

At this moment, it no longer possessed the arrogant and unrestrained majesty it had shown earlier; although it had narrowly succeeded in surviving the Lei Jie, it was still fried crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. "I submit!"

"I really submit!"

Three days later.

Qin Ming used the Four Seasons Divine Light to nurture it, and the Shi Tian Shu became lively and vigorous once again.

He observed carefully; after advancing, the Shi Tian Shu's innate bloodline divine ability had strengthened once more, and its terrifying demonic power had become as deep as an abyss, unfathomable.

"Gahaha! Master, I feel like I have endless energy now."

"I will fight for you in this life!!"

"."

"Mm, there will be places for you to exert your strength soon enough."

After breaking through to the mid-third tier, the Shi Tian Shu's strength was no inferior to that of a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator among humans.

It could be considered Qin Ming's most powerful ally at present.

Immediately after, he looked toward the cave of the Profound Water Crocodile; there was no movement whatsoever, indicating it had likely fallen into deep slumber again and would not awaken for several years.

After all, for a demonic beast to break through and become a Demon King, just like for a human cultivator, it was a massive barrier, a matter of great significance.

The Jin Dan is merely external aid; whether it can reach that other new world depends entirely on itself.

"The time is about right; let's go out and take a look."

Qin Ming summoned the Yin Yi Shuangfeng, took the Shi Tian Shu with him, and left Moon Gazing Island.

Subsequently, he traversed the void in mid-air, flying with Jin Dan magic power, feeling a speed like wind and lightning, incomparable to before.

In just a few breaths, he flew hundreds of miles away; half an incense stick later.

Qin Ming gazed downward and descended toward Phoenix Perch Island of the Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance.

In recent days, due to the invasion by the Jin Kingdom, the outer regions of the Spirit Perch Archipelago had also been affected.

The San Alliance had urgently dispatched a large number of cultivators to deal with the external enemy.

When Qin Ming arrived, dozens of dharma ships from the San Alliance were docked at the port for resupply.

Wounded individuals and the corpses of cultivators were constantly being carried out.

Seeing this, Qin Ming frowned.

He had not expected that the invasion from the Jin Kingdom's Immortal Realm had reached such a severe stage.

Qin Ming immediately did not linger, transforming into a streak of shocking rainbow light and flying toward the main alliance headquarters at the center of the island.

"Who goes there?!"

"How dare you trespass on the Spirit Island!!"

The team of cultivators patrolling around Phoenix Perch Island, seeing a streak of light flying toward the island from the distant horizon, immediately sounded the alarm! But just as that fleeing light approached.

A massive spiritual pressure suddenly descended, causing ripples to rise in the nearby air.

That team of patrolling cultivators had not yet had time to react.

They only saw the fleeing light dissipate, revealing an ordinary-looking young man appearing before everyone's eyes.

They only heard him ask indifferently, "Why is Alliance Leader Li Yuanqing not on the island?"

Just before Qin Ming was about to reach Phoenix Perch Island, he had released his divine sense to sweep the area, yet he had not discovered any trace of Li Yuanqing.

Although these patrolling cultivators were all at the late Qi Refining stage, some among them possessed keen eyesight and had seen Qin Ming's portrait before.

Among them, the squad leader, after clearly recognizing Qin Ming's face, found his entire back soaked in cold sweat.

He hurriedly stepped forward, performed a great bow, and trembled as he paid his respects: "J-Junior, pays respects to True Person Moon Gazing!"

"Just now, we were ignorant; we hope True Person does not take offense!"

The several patrolling cultivators behind the squad leader, hearing that the visitor was actually a Jin Dan expert, and furthermore the famous True Person Moon Gazing, nearly scared out of their souls.

"Pays respects to True Person Moon Gazing!" "Pays respects to True Person Moon Gazing!"

Subsequently, that squad leader said: "Reporting to True Person! Some time ago, Alliance Leader Li went to Sky Eagle Ravine to supervise the battle and has not returned yet."

"Does True Person need this junior to deliver the message to Alliance Leader Li?"

But before he could finish speaking, there was a blur before their eyes, and True Person Moon Gazing had already vanished; only then did the people present feel as if they had received a great pardon.

The squad leader wiped the cold sweat from his forehead; facing that Jin Dan True Person just now, he had been so nervous he could barely breathe.

He also could not figure out why True Person Moon Gazing would come here.

"That was close! Luckily it was True Person Moon Gazing, who did not bother to hold a grudge against the likes of us."

"Otherwise, offending a Jin Dan Laozu, we would definitely be in deep trouble."

"Damn it, we almost caused a major disaster."

"Next time, all of you perk up and identify people clearly before shouting, do you hear me?"

"B-But Boss, the speed was too fast; we couldn't see anything clearly."

"."

Sky Eagle Ravine, inside a tent at the San Alliance encampment.

Li Yuanqing, with graying temples, had not slept for a long time; listening to the reports from his subordinates below, his brows were tightly knitted together.

"Reporting to the Alliance Leader, the three major powers of the Jin Kingdom have gathered a massive force, breached the defensive line established by Lei Yuanzong on the Blackstone Plain, and are advancing rapidly toward this side."

"Our Scout Battalion was discovered; only five cultivators managed to escape by luck to return and report. I fear... the Jin Kingdom's army will soon arrive at Tianying Gorge."

Upon hearing this, the elderly female Vice Alliance Leader of the San Alliance asked Li Yuanqing, "Alliance Leader Li, as far as this old one knows, among the three major powers of the Jin Kingdom, there even exists a False Dan Yunxi Laozu. I fear that with our strength, we cannot hold out for long!"

In recent days, Li Yuanqing had already been exhausted to the point of physical and mental collapse, and now, upon hearing of the approaching great army,

a profound sense of powerlessness rose within him as well.

"Tianying Gorge cannot be lost..."

"Once it is breached, the great army of the Jin Kingdom will drive straight in from here, without any further hindrance."

Less than two hundred li from the outer perimeter of Tianying Gorge,

dozens of Jin Kingdom dharma ships, large and small, formed a dark, dense mass as they sailed toward the station of the San Alliance's Seventy-Two Islands.

On the deck of one huge dharma warship stood three cultivators, among whom an old man in red robes was a False Dan stage Yunxi Laozu.

"Senior He, we have arrived at Tianying Gorge."

The other two, both late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, spoke respectfully to the old man in red robes before them.

"Haha! Good!"

"Let this old man see what abilities these good-for-nothings possess, that they dare block this old man's path!"

Li Yuanqing of the San Alliance also led his people flying out from the camp to meet the enemy, but when he clearly saw the leader on the opposite side,

his heart could not help but plummet to the bottom.

"Hahaha! I wondered who it was?"

"It is merely a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with scattered spiritual energy."

Seeing only a few Foundation Establishment cultivators on the opposite side, He Muhe Laogui's eyes instantly revealed a bloodthirsty excitement! But the next moment,

just as He Muhe Laogui was about to make his move,

Boom! The nearby space suddenly fluctuated.

First rippling like water waves, it then began to tremble violently.

At that moment, a streak of startling rainbow light flew in from the distance; the spiritual pressure was so immense that every cultivator present changed color.

Sensing this aura, He Muhe Laogui's pupils widened in disbelief, revealing terror! The next moment,

before the astonished gazes of the crowd,

Bang! Squelch!

He Muhe Laogui's entire body, without any warning, seemed to be crushed by an invisible giant hand.

In an instant, he exploded into a cloud of blood mist! "What? A great Jin Dan stage cultivator?!"

The nearby cultivators cried out in horror!

(End of Chapter)