Chapter 249: Probing, Retreat, and Questions

Giggle, giggle, giggle.

Although the Corpse Bone Heavenly Demon Concubine was slashed in two by the boundless sword light of True Monarch Lingjian, she dissolved amidst a light laugh, transforming into countless pitch-black flowers that surged toward True Monarch Lingjian like a tidal wave, blotting out the sky.

Everyone present could see clearly that those were not flowers, but clusters of death-fire condensed from incomparably refined death energy, corpse energy, baleful energy, and poison energy; thousands upon thousands of them turned into a sea of fire in an instant, sweeping across the entire horizon!

The eerie corpse-fire seemed capable of burning everything; wherever it surged, the air and even the sword Qi were dissolved amidst mournful cries, forming vast patches of black in the sky, as if the void itself were being corroded and pierced through by the demonic fire.

True Monarch Lingjian let out a cold snort, and as he lightly tapped his finger, the void vibrated; endless spiritual light gathered at his fingertip, entirely transforming into a boundless sword light so bright it was arrogant, so brilliant it could not be surpassed, like a rainbow sun falling into the sea.

With a single point of his finger, the sword light swept across, and the void rippled outward like water waves, stirring up rolling torrents of magnificent light, with endless sword Qi washing, bursting, and blooming in all directions along the waves. There were millions upon millions of layers of swords; in the sky and on the ground, even gods and Buddhas could not count exactly how many swords there were.

Wind, rain, mist, morning dew, ephemeral flowers, the turning of the four seasons, and the cycle of life and death were all contained within it; the pitch-black corpse-fire that had been ravaging the world began to explode and dissolve rapidly, just like snow meeting magma.

However, the offensive of an existence like the Corpse Bone Heavenly Demon Concubine was clearly not that simple; she did not manifest her physical form, yet her delicate, evil voice spread across the sky:

"Old thief Lingjian, this vast and endless corpse tide is the source of my power; can you kill them all?"

But regardless, it was an indisputable fact that even a Transformation Spirit Giant would find it difficult to perceive the supernatural power of 【Flying Body Tracing Tracks】.

At this moment, a sharp cry pierced the firmament, and a giant hole was melted into the pitch-black sea of fire; within the hole appeared a bewitching yet disheveled figure, which was none other than the true form of the Corpse Bone Heavenly Demon Concubine.

"It is no hardship; if not for the two True Monarchs presiding here, we would likely not have been able to withstand even a single moment of this Century Impact, so the two of you are the ones who have truly performed a great service."

Lu Yuan naturally would not miss such a good opportunity; taking advantage of the fact that no Transformation Spirit Giant was present, he stood upon the Flying Boat and manipulated his Sword Pill. With the three supernatural powers of 【Sword Technique】, 【Mastering Five Thunders】, and 【Slaying Demons】 subtly superimposed, the Seven Star Longyuan Sword Pill instantly transformed into a Sword Light Thunder Dragon, weaving back and forth, rapidly shredding the mountains of corpses and seas of bones that covered the sky.

Under the leadership of the six True Monarchs, the massive corpse tide began to be cut apart and divided, being led toward the location of the Xianmo Great Array.

Of course, with so many people present, the cultivation level he displayed was still only at the Jiedan Late Stage, but his efficiency in harvesting Corpse Demons was still more than ten times that of other cultivators; almost every breath, hundreds of Corpse Demons were killed by him.

"These bastards are even harder to deal with after death than they were before."

After secretly killing a King Blood Heavenly Corpse and harvesting over two hundred wisps of Merit Power, he crazily harvested over three hundred more on the battlefield, his accumulation soaring like a rocket!

This was still because he was keeping a low profile and unable to strike with full force; otherwise, breaking through one thousand would not have been a problem!

Yang Xianlin nodded, then asked:

True Monarch Lingjian's expression became even colder and more severe; the condensed sword light became increasingly introverted and calm. As it crisscrossed, it did not stir up a single cloud, nor were there any gods of wind or thunder following, yet it stirred up the vivid aura of the world.

Afterward.

Upon hearing this, both True Monarch Lingjian and True Monarch Zhuhuo frowned slightly:

Such a slaughter lasted for nearly an hour.

The True Monarchs looked grave, and Wei Bufan could not help but say:

"This junior has also discovered that among these Corpse Demons, the number of those at the level of Heavenly Corpse and above that undergo mutations or even evolve and break through their cultivation levels from when they were alive seems to be increasing; if this continues..."

True Monarch Lingjian could not help but sigh:

"She still managed to escape. This woman was originally the Sect Master of the Yin Yue Sect in the Beihao Continent region; she was a peak Nascent Soul Great Cultivator with an extremely deep foundation. After she fell and turned into a Corpse Demon, not only was her intelligence reborn, but she also inherited many memories of her physical body. Thus, after breaking through to Transformation Spirit, her strength and methods were no different from a true True Monarch. Although I can repel her, I lack the power to execute her."

True Monarch Lingjian said indifferently:

"This matter is not something we can worry about; the several Immortal Lords will have a way to solve it, and we just need to wait patiently."

And after hearing this vast, desolate roar, the millions and millions of corpse tides sweeping across the world suddenly seemed to have received some order, and they actually began to retreat.

At this moment, on her body, a huge sword scar appeared in the center of her chest, clearly caused by that sword strike from True Monarch Lingjian just now.

Seeing the two True Monarchs appear, Yang Xianlin, Wei Bufan, and the other True Monarchs, and even the thousands of cultivators present, all bowed respectfully:

Yang Xianlin, Wei Bufan, and the others exchanged surprised glances, then said:

"The two True Monarchs may not know, but just over an hour ago, we..."

One of them was none other than True Monarch Lingjian, who had been fighting the Corpse Bone Heavenly Demon Concubine not long ago, while the other was a tall old man wearing a crimson Daoist robe, with hair and even eyebrows like raging fire; he was clearly the other True Monarch sent by the Immortal Alliance, True Monarch Zhuhuo.

Communicating with the Heavenly Book in his mind:

【Supernatural Power Master】: Lu Yuan

【Mastered Arts】:

【Earthly Fiend Arts】: -

Ingestion (Heaven: 31%); - Guidance (Divine Communication: 10%); - Invisibility (Heaven: 7%); -

Staff Sending (Divine Communication: 8%); - Medicine (Heaven: 23%); - Earth Travel (Heaven: 10%); -

Generating Light (Divine Communication: 11%); - Sword Technique (Divine Communication: 3%); - Boiling Stones (Heaven: 17%); -

Pot Heaven (Divine Communication: 3%); - Great Strength (Heaven: 2%); - Sprouting Head (Divine Communication: 6%); -

Wind Control (Divine Communication: 7%); - Obstacle Clothing (Divine Communication: 3%); - Dream Grafting (Earth: 1%); -

Body Immobilization (Divine Communication: 3%); - Nightmare Prayer (Divine Communication: 3%); - False Form (Divine Communication: 1%); -

Cloning (Divine Communication: 1%); - Soul Absorption (Divine Communication: 1%); - Disaster Averting (Earth: 1%); -

Rain Prayer (Heaven: 1%); - Stone Penetration (Heaven: 1%); - Array Formation (Divine Communication: 1%); -

Violent Sun (Heaven: 1%); - Slaying Demons (Divine Communication: 1%)

The vast corpse tide had already retreated nearly a hundred miles, and the vast majority of the thousands of cultivators present also had floating auras and pale faces, clearly having completely exhausted their Dharma Power. Including the six True Monarchs like Yang Xianlin and Wei Bufan who were fighting on the front line, one by one, their Dharma Power had bottomed out, and their personal Pills were mostly consumed. They immediately stopped fighting and sent voice transmissions; the cultivators on the rear battlefield who were almost drained also stopped completely and began to regulate their breathing to recover.

"The True Monarch is right."

Seven to eight hundred wisps of Merit Power, equivalent to nearly eighty thousand units of Qi Luck, enough to light up any mid-tier Heavenly Gang Divine Ability.

"This junior is bold enough to ask, I wonder about that Corpse Bone Heavenly Demon Concubine...?"

【Heavenly Gang Dharma】: Nine Breaths Serving Qi (Divine Seed: 8%); Fetal Transformation Shape Changing (Divine Seed: 4%); Flying Body Tracing Tracks (Divine Seed: 3%); Mastering Five Thunders (Divine Seed: 2%)

"By the way, this junior would like to ask, has the Immortal Alliance invited other Immortal Lords to come here to support us?"

Although he now practiced 【Nine Breaths Serving Qi】, had 【Mastering Five Thunders】 for offense, and 【Flying Body Tracing Tracks】 for life-saving and running away, it could be said that he had no shortcomings, but among the thirty-six Heavenly Gang Great Divine Abilities, there were already many mysterious and powerful ones that would be of great help to him if lit up.

As they spoke, they gave a rough account of the struggle with the King Blood Heavenly Corpse, and the subsequent intervention of a mysterious figure who killed the King Blood Heavenly Corpse in one fell swoop.

"This is a rare opportunity to slay this fiend; you all continue to deal with the corpse tide, no need to worry about me."

"Old thief, if you have the ability, keep chasing!"

Yang Xianlin hurriedly said:

Once this signal was sent, apart from the Flying Boats sent by the various Immortal Cities, the remaining hundred or so Flying Boats of Beiling Immortal City moved out one after another, then pierced into the retreating corpse tide like sharp knives, followed by the explosion and sweeping of various brilliant and violent Immortal lights.

Roughly speaking, the combined forces of the various Immortal Cities have exterminated nearly a million Corpse Demons this time, but compared to the Century Impact, where the number of Corpse Demons likely reaches the tens of millions, this figure appears to be a drop in the bucket.

At this very moment, with the sun setting and only the last traces of afterglow remaining, the hundred-mile expanse of land is already covered in broken, hideous corpses, like a carpet spread over the earth, emitting an extremely intense stench of decay.

However, such injuries only made her appear slightly disheveled; an endless sea of corpse fire instantly surrounded and protected her form, and then she retreated backward in an instant, leaving only an incomparably cruel and vicious voice echoing in place:

As they responded, the figures of Lingjian Tianjun and the Corpse Bone Heavenly Demon Maiden had already completely vanished at the edge of the sky; they could only collect their thoughts, quickly retreat from the Corpse Tide, and once again regroup with the Golden Core Cultivators of their respective Immortal Cities.

But for Lu Yuan, his gains this time were indeed substantial.

"Ah!"

As it turns out, "Tracing the Void and Manifesting the Trace" is truly worthy of being a Heavenly Gang Great Divine Ability; when cast, it completely merges one into the void, and even that so-called Lingjian Tianjun did not discover that he was also observing from outside the battlefield.

"Yes, we shall respectfully obey the Tianjun's orders."

Dharma Artifacts, Dharma Techniques, and Talismans—their formidable power blossomed everywhere within the Corpse Tide; regardless of their cultivation level, the cultivators on the Immortal Boats all unleashed their most proficient methods to their heart's content, harvesting the Corpse Tide in swathes.

Just as Lu Yuan was in a pleasant mood, secretly pondering which Heavenly Gang Dharma to select.

Countless sword lights flashed across the sky, as if containing all the brilliance between heaven and earth and the countless creations of nature, becoming incomparably radiant and dazzling, then surging mightily toward a certain direction within the sky-filling sea of fire.

The highest cultivation achievement in the Yuanling Heaven cultivation world is the Return to Void realm; those at this level are the pinnacle of hundreds of millions of cultivators and are also known as Void Immortals, which is why they are respectfully addressed as True Monarchs by countless cultivators.

And Lu Yuan, having stepped back silently before them, returned to the Flying Boat of Longshan Immortal City.

The reason he was so bold as to follow them to witness the clash and struggle at the Spirit Severing level was, on one hand, that he wanted to take this opportunity to see the Supernatural Powers and methods of cultivators at this level, and on the other, he wanted to test whether his "Tracing the Void and Manifesting the Trace" could evade the other party's senses.

Lingjian Tianjun flicked his sleeve and smiled faintly:

"No need for such formalities; you True Monarchs have come to lead the various cultivators of the Immortal City to deal with the impact and resist the Corpse Demons, you have all worked hard."

"Other Tianjun? Of course not, what is the meaning of your question?"

Currently, the situation on the battlefield is extremely chaotic, with all cultivators unleashing their full strength, and various Dharma Techniques and Dharma Artifacts' spiritual lights dancing across the sky, making it impossible to distinguish whose is whose, so his slightly outstanding performance went almost unnoticed, with only the cultivators of Longshan Immortal City on the same boat noticing and feeling slightly surprised.

【Luck Power】: 2376 units

However, Longshan Immortal City is now entirely in Lu Yuan's hands, so a little exposure is nothing; he just unleashed his sword light to his heart's content, weaving through the Corpse Tide, while specks of Heavenly Dao Merit continuously emerged from thin air and were absorbed by the Heavenly Book.

This kind of bizarre situation had never occurred in previous Century Impacts; Yang Xianlin and the other six True Monarchs were filled with both joy and suspicion, and the former certainly would not let such a good opportunity pass, so his Divine Sense transmission immediately swept across a hundred-mile radius:

"Everyone, attack! Exterminate the Corpse Tide with all your might!"

Lingjian Tianjun looked over upon hearing this:

Yang Xianlin and the others, who were still immersed in this earth-shattering battle, immediately reacted and hurriedly said:

The Corpse Bone Heavenly Demon Maiden drove the sea of fire and fled in an instant; Lingjian Tianjun frowned, his form instantly enveloped by sword light, and he whistled away, leaving only a Divine Sense transmission echoing in the ears of Yang Xianlin and the other six True Monarchs:

【Heavenly Dao Merit】: 781 strands

After speaking, the pitch-black corpse fire, which was rapidly dissolving, descended in large swathes into the endless Corpse Tide; the Corpse Demons it touched were instantly incinerated into brilliance, causing the clusters of pitch-black corpse fire to rapidly grow, one becoming two, two becoming four, four becoming eight...

In just a few blinks of an eye, the corpse fire wiped out by Lingjian Tianjun not only fully recovered but even grew stronger, leaving nothing but a sea of pitch-black corpse fire in the sky and on the ground!

Of course, this might also be because he was at a greater distance; after all, out of caution, he had only been watching from the void nearly ten miles outside the battlefield, and if he had been any closer, the situation might have been different.

But what was bizarre was that before the mighty Corpse Tide could fully enter the range of the grand formation, an extremely desolate roar suddenly erupted from the very depths of the Corpse Tide, as if crossing the barriers of time and space.

"You wicked beast!"

Above the sea of the Corpse Tide that had already retreated in the distance, two powerful streams of light swept over rapidly, and in just a few blinks of an eye, they hovered above the heads of the cultivators from the various Immortal Cities.

"We pay our respects to the two Tianjun!"

To the side, the clearly hot-tempered Zhuhuo Tianjun also said angrily:

"That Heavenly Corpse King who fought with me was an Elder of the Star River Sect in our Xiyanzhou; this person only had Yuan Ying Late Stage cultivation before, and he even personally attended my thousand-year birthday banquet and offered a gift. Yet later, he and the entire Star River Sect were destroyed in the catastrophe, and hundreds of years after his death, he is able to contend with me—it is truly infuriating!"

"Manipulating thunder to form a giant palm, instantly killing a King-Blood Heavenly Corpse that could single-handedly resist your four True Monarchs?"

"This kind of Supernatural Power to command thunder is indeed like something a Spirit Severing Tianjun would do, but there are no more than three Tianjun in the Immortal Alliance who can master thunder techniques to such a level, and none of them should have come to this defensive border without reason and without notice..."

"Could it be that within this Immortal Alliance, there is another Spirit Severing Tianjun we don't know about, or is this person simply not a cultivator from our Xiyanzhou?"