Chapter 566: Successfully Seized!

Inside the cave, bloodlight surged, the altar hummed, and a ferocious aura, like a volcano about to erupt, pressed down with suffocating force.

Chen Mu and Tan Lang stood like two stone statues fused with the darkness, their presence nearly imperceptible, their gazes locked unwaveringly on the object atop the altar—wrapped in increasingly intense bloodlight, pulsing slowly as if alive, radiating an ancient, heart-stopping malevolence.

On the altar, the beast-god wielding the massive hammer was entwined with increasingly violent black lightning, which poured relentlessly into the hammer; the blood-red runes in the altar's groove writhed wildly as if awakened.

The dark green-cloaked beast-god's牵引 of icy blood-evil had solidified into tangible dark green chains, coiling layer upon layer around the bloodlight object, as if binding and guiding it.

Meanwhile, the robe-clad beast-god remained still, his surrounding诡异 force field—capable of devouring all—quietly expanding, subtly enveloping the altar's center, as if preparing at the final moment to pluck this nearly ripe "fruit."

The blood pool churned more violently; incomplete beast-soul shadows constantly struggled to rise from its depths, shrieking as they were drained and swallowed by the altar's power, transformed into pure blood-evil energy.

The seven beast-god guardians at the peak of Earth Altar Realm had pale faces and sweat-drenched brows—clearly, sustaining this massive ritual drained them terribly, yet their eyes burned with fanaticism and reverence.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, a deep, mournful, yet boundlessly violent and destructive roar erupted from within the bloodlight-wrapped object.

The sonic wave, tangible as solid matter, rolled in relentless waves, shaking the cave walls into trembling dust and stirring the blood pool into towering tidal waves.

The bloodlight enveloping the object collapsed inward in an instant, condensing—as if preparing to reveal its true form.

The three Tiangong beast-gods and the seven guardians tensed their spirits to their absolute limit.

In that single moment, every mind, every ounce of power, every spiritual perception, involuntarily and rigidly focused on the collapsing core of bloodlight.

This was the most critical, most unforgiving instant of the ritual.

The object within was about to fully manifest, its power reaching its zenith—the very moment they had prepared to seize or control it.

And at this moment, Chen Mu moved.

Without warning, without energy fluctuation, without even a trace of movement.

Chen Mu vanished as if erased from his spot; in the next thousandth of a breath, he appeared like a phantom, materializing directly above the altar, less than three zhang from the collapsing bloodlight object.

As he materialized, Chen Mu's right hand opened wide, pressing downward through the air toward the bloodlight cluster about to solidify.

He did not activate the Four Seasons Martial Domain, did not invoke the True Martial Cleansing Sword Art, nor did he reveal the Sunken Dragon Sword.

At this moment, Chen Mu unveiled the unique inherited technique of Wu Quxing—

The Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand!

Boom—

Centered on Chen Mu's hovering palm, the entire cave—no, this entire underground space, and even the vast heavenly forces linked to the distant earth veins—seemed forcibly seized, compressed, and governed by an invisible colossal hand.

Not merely a single elemental force, but all existing, flowing, stable, and violent energies of heaven and earth.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth; wind, thunder, light, darkness; yin, yang, life, death; even the pervasive thick blood-evil, the churning blood-evil of the pool, the altar's malevolent energy…

All of it converged wildly under a supreme martial will—so exalted it could stabilize heaven and earth, overturn the myriad realms.

Behind Chen Mu, the void faintly manifested the towering, indistinct-faced silhouette of a godlike figure—immense as the heavens, radiating authority that crushed mountains and wielded celestial punishment.

The silhouette extended a colossal hand covering the sky, mirroring Chen Mu's right hand as it pressed downward.

The Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand, fully unleashed by a Tiangong cultivator.

First Form: Suppress Heaven and Earth!

One palm pressed down, as if the heavens had toppled and all paths submitted.

The bloodlight object, about to fully manifest and unleash its malevolence, saw its surrounding violent energies, viscous blood-evil, dark green chains, and even the altar's own sinister force field—all freeze under this palm's embrace, as if bound and suppressed by invisible shackles.

Even the impending roar of malevolence within seemed forcibly stifled, emitting a muffled, resentful whimper.

"It's the damned Star God!"

"Attack!!"

Only when Chen Mu's palm-shadow neared the bloodlight object did the three Tiangong beast-gods snap out of the shock and cosmic awe, roaring in furious disbelief.

They were enraged—how could someone have slipped undetected into this core zone, guarded by their three Tiangong cultivators, and strike with such terrifying, brutal force, summoning vast heavenly energies to crush them?

The beast-god wielding the hammer reacted fastest—his crimson eyes flooded with blood-red lightning; he roared, abandoning all effort to maintain the altar's core, and yanked the thunderous hammer from its groove.

With a backward swing, a black thunder dragon, as thick as a water barrel and wreathed in annihilating energy, tore through the air with deafening thunder, slamming straight at Chen Mu in midair.

He sought to counterattack, forcing this sudden assailant to retreat!

The dark green-cloaked beast-god also shrieked, slamming his hands together—the dark green chains, once coiling toward the bloodlight object, instantly reversed direction, like countless venomous serpents, wrapping from all sides around Chen Mu's body and the descending hand-shadow.

The robe-clad beast-god, however, remained the calmest.

He did not attack Chen Mu directly like the other two; instead, his body shifted subtly, as if merging with the void, reaching straight for the bloodlight object temporarily suppressed by the Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand.

His goal was clear—seize the object first!

As for this audacious assailant, he could be dealt with later.

Yet at the very instant the robe-clad beast-god was about to move—

A dark red blade-light, dense as blood and saturated with slaughter and annihilation, erupted without warning from the shadows near the cave entrance.

The blade-light made no sound, yet moved faster than thought—retreating yet arriving first, striking with pinpoint precision at the robe-clad beast-god's pale, slender hand as it reached for the bloodlight object.

Where the blade-light passed, faint black fissures lingered in space—as if light and vitality itself had been severed.

Tan Lang!

At the exact moment Chen Mu launched his ambush, Tan Lang moved too.

His long-prepared lethal strike did not target the other two beast-gods—it struck directly at the robe-clad beast-god.

"Hn?!"

The robe-clad beast-god's pale golden eyes contracted sharply; his reaching hand snapped back, while his other hand formed a sword-finger, the tip igniting a deep, abyssal black glow—seemingly capable of devouring all—as it struck the weakest point of the dark red blade-light.

Clang—

A crystal-clear yet terrifyingly powerful metallic clash rang through the cave.

Tan Lang's long-prepared dark red blade-light shattered inch by inch under that single point of black light.

Yet the robe-clad beast-god's movement was halted for an instant by the force of Tan Lang's full strike; the black glow at his fingertip dimmed slightly, preventing him from immediately grasping the bloodlight object.

In that split second—those less than one-tenth of a breath Tan Lang had bought—

Chen Mu's phantom of the Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand had fully descended, gripping the blood-lit artifact—along with a small patch of surrounding space—as if plucking a ripe fruit, firmly in his palm.

Rolling torrents of heavenly and earthly power formed an immediate seal and restraint, forcibly suppressing and locking down the artifact's imminent outburst of ferocity.

"Retrieve!"

With a thought, Chen Mu caused the blood-lit artifact, clutched by the Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand's phantom and the small patch of space forcibly torn from its surroundings, to vanish instantly from its location and be absorbed directly into the storage space of the Star Seal.

The entire process was too swift for the eye to follow.

"Damn it!!"

The beast-god clutching the massive hammer, eyes bulging with rage, watched helplessly as the artifact—brimming with boundless power and secrets—was snatched right before his eyes!

In his furious rage, the black thunder dragon he had unleashed gained an additional third of its power, slamming violently into the residual shockwave of Chen Mu's Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand.

Boom!!

A deafening crash, like heaven collapsing and earth splitting, echoed endlessly through the cavern.

The black thunder dragon and the lingering heavenly-earthly power of the Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand collided fiercely, unleashing a cataclysmic tide of destructive energy.

The entire cavern shook violently; the walls cracked, and rocks rained down like hail.

The blood pool surged into waves over ten zhang high; the seven Earth Altar Realm guardians all spat blood and were flung backward.

Chen Mu grunted, using the recoil of the collision to shoot backward like a falling star.

Hardly enduring the full fury of a mid-stage Heavenly Palace beast-god's attack—even though the Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand's summoned heavenly-earthly power had absorbed most of it—the residual shock still churned his blood and qi.

But Chen Mu's gaze remained cold; even as he recoiled, he swiftly accelerated forward.

"Stay!"

The emerald cloak beast-god shrieked; the emerald chains scattered by Chen Mu instantly reformed, clinging like a malignant tumor, coiling toward his ankles, their tips凝聚凝结 dark, icy death-energy, piercing straight for vital points!

Chen Mu growled low, refusing to engage the chains; his recoiling form blurred instantly, and the next moment, he vanished from his spot, leaving behind only a slowly dissipating afterimage, pierced through by the emerald chains.

"Think you can escape?!"

The long-robed beast-god, now utterly enraged, eyes blazing with murderous intent, abandoned his brief standoff with Tanlang.

Tanlang, after his single strike, had dissolved into shadow and merged with the surrounding miasma, disappearing.

The long-robed beast-god swiftly formed a bizarre hand seal before his chest!

"Devour Heaven, Swallow Earth, Seal the Ten Directions!"

Hum—

A terrifying, formless yet real吞噬力场— a force of devouring—erupted from the long-robed beast-god, instantly engulfing the entire cavern and surging rapidly through the surrounding corridors.

Where the force-field passed, light twisted and dimmed, sound was swallowed, and even the violent energy chaos and scattered miasma were forcibly drawn in like rivers returning to the sea.

Additionally, a sealing power targeting space itself, targeting existence, sought to lock and solidify all spatial fluctuations within the area, blocking any possibility of escape!

Chen Mu had just teleported to the entrance of another corridor a hundred zhang away when he felt his body grow heavy, as if sinking into invisible mud—even the Star Seal's teleportation light was noticeably disturbed and delayed.

This devouring force-field could interfere with the Star Seal, a divine artifact of such caliber!

Chen Mu's heart tightened, but he had already prepared.

Facing the rapidly spreading devouring seal-field, he did not retreat; instead, he stabilized his stance, drew a deep breath, and unleashed the Great Luo Martial Scripture at full speed—his Four Seasons Martial Domain and the true essence of the Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand fused and resonated in this instant!

No more holding back. Surrounded by three enraged Heavenly Palace beast-gods, he must expend every ounce of strength to secure even a sliver of survival.

The Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand activated once more, drawing upon all heavenly-earthly power within a radius of several li, and unleashed its second technique: Tear the Heavens!

Chen Mu slammed his palms together before his chest, then violently tore them apart toward the core of the devouring field—the very location of the long-robed beast-god.

Rip—

A piercing, grating sound, like fabric being violently torn, echoed through heaven and earth.

Not sound—but the lament of space itself being forcibly rent.

From the point where Chen Mu's hands parted, a thin yet supremely condensed dark-gold fissure erupted forward, expanding rapidly, as if capable of slicing through the veil of the world.

This "fissure" was not physical—it was pure, distilled, governed by the Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand's essence: the principles of annihilation, separation, and severance.

Where it passed, the all-devouring force-field, as if encountering its mortal enemy, was violently "torn" open into a massive, irreparable gash!

Even the spatial laws, previously distorted and sluggish under the field's influence, momentarily cleared and stabilized after the fissure passed through.

"Now!"

Chen Mu seized the fleeting opening created by the Great Luo Turning Heaven Hand's second technique, "Tear the Heavens," and pushed the Star Seal to its absolute limit!

His body blazed with radiant starlight, resonating powerfully with the torn gap in the force-field and the temporarily stabilized spatial node.

Shh!

Just before the massive hammer beast-god's second, even more furious thunder dragon, the emerald-cloaked beast-god's storm of ice spears, and the long-robed beast-god's enraged, re-closing devouring field could fully engulf him, Chen Mu's figure—along with the brilliant starlight—vanished from the corridor, leaving no trace, no ripple in space.

Only the devouring force-field's tear, stubbornly refusing to fully close, and the chaotic, furious scene within the cavern—where the three Heavenly Palace beast-gods raged uncontrollably—proved that the lightning-fast, heart-stopping battle for the sacred artifact and escape had not been an illusion.

"Pursue him! He won't get far! Seal every exit from the Ancient Battlefield! Activate the Ten Thousand Beasts Blood Curse—search every inch of heaven and earth! Dig out those thieves and reclaim the Sacred Artifact!!"

The massive hammer beast-god's furious roar, accompanied by thunderous booms, echoed wildly through the collapsing cavern and corridors.