Chapter 256: Harvesting Abundantly, Returning in Triumph

The various True Monarchs, Realized Ones, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators, who had long been holding back their breath, surged out under the leadership of Yang Xianlin, then bypassed the combat zone of the several True Monarchs to go and encircle the still-rampaging corpse hordes.

Although the thousands of Corpse Demons brought by Shi Mingkong had suffered significant losses under Lu Yuan's previous Heavenly Thunder bombardment, there were still many ferocious Corpse Kings and Heavenly Corpses rampaging, and they were immediately met with the angry encirclement of high-level cultivators.

Including Lu Yuan, who took advantage of this incredibly chaotic moment to have his true self and his cloning reunite silently, then wielded his Sword Pill to seek out targets and harvest experience.

Of course, his primary attention was still focused on the fierce battle between Douzhan Tianjun and Shi Mingkong.

Within the radius of several dozen miles where these two tyrannical existences were locked in combat, the magnificent and fierce golden radiance intertwined and collided with the death energy that corroded all things; the terrifying power stirred the heavens and earth into a state of chaos, and any matter that approached this range was instantly shattered into dust.

Indescribable, terrifying power fluctuations rolled violently across the firmament; this level of battle had almost exceeded the perception of all the cultivators present. No one could discern the specific details of their exchange, but what could be glimpsed was that the battle situation was constantly shifting, and Shi Mingkong, who had once suppressed the two Heavenly Monarchs, was now completely contained and even at a slight disadvantage.

Clearly, a Great Name is not without substance; compared to bizarre creatures like the Heavenly Corpse King, the Supernatural Power and methods of Douzhan Tianjun, a renowned Heavenly Monarch of the Immortal Alliance, were still a cut above.

Furthermore, as the battle shifted, countless fragments of turbulent flow impacted the surroundings. In the outer residential areas for mortals, the earth cracked, city walls collapsed, and countless houses were destroyed in an instant. The millions of people hiding in their homes were either turned into powder on the spot or buried directly in the ruins; fire, smoke, screams, and wails shot straight into the sky.

"Hahahaha, you, a dignified Heavenly Monarch of the Immortal Alliance, are actually turning a blind eye to the death of so many living beings?"

Amidst the fierce battle, Shi Mingkong laughed wildly, his words attacking the heart:

"Every clash between us results in the perishing of thousands of living beings; do you not feel any guilt?"

"This seat can see that you are also at the threshold of stepping into the Return to Void realm to achieve the status of a Void Immortal. With so many innocent souls, your hands are already stained with blood; in the future, when karmic retribution entangles you, don't even think about surviving the Heavenly Tribulation!"

Golden light illuminated the world, and the eyes of Douzhan Tianjun were like ancient icebergs, without the slightest fluctuation:

"You, this sinister and treacherous creature, also know how to play such ridiculous tricks? You are the culprit behind the death of these living beings. Once I execute you, my merit will benefit the billions of sentient beings, and Heaven and Earth will praise it; where does this talk of karmic retribution come from?"

"Collecting living souls with the intent to seek life from death—you will not have that chance!"

His voice was immensely vast, like a hurricane passing through; for a moment, wild winds surged and the earth shook, as if this entire world were resonating with him.

At the same time, he lifted his sleeve and tossed, and an ice-blue scroll whistled out, unfurling in the void.

Amidst an earth-shattering roar, a massive, phoenix-like ice-blue light shadow flew out, and a vicissitudinous, ancient aura that seemed to have experienced endless epochs and spanned ten million years instantly filled the sky.

This aura was extremely frigid and ancient, freezing all things in heaven and earth; it was visible to the naked eye that whether it was the surging light, the rippling death energy, or even the dust floating in the void, all were instantly frozen by this terrifying power of eternal ice.

The end of all things, everything was heading completely toward the end, returning to silent freezing; this was a vast power that seemed capable of freezing even time itself, and nothing could stop it.

Visibly, Shi Mingkong's expression changed drastically; his movements, reactions, and even the mobilization of his monstrous death energy and corpse energy slowed down tenfold, as if he were about to be completely frozen in the void.

Sensing that something was wrong, he let out a low roar, and immediately after, pitch-black ink-colored energy erupted from behind him, expanding and surging violently, covering the sky like a tide, dyeing the entire visible sky as black as ink, to the point where one could barely see their own fingers.

In the deep, bottomless, thick darkness that was black to the point of turning red and purple, there resided endless hatred, pain, madness, and death, combined with unfathomable, sinister evil thoughts stirred into a mass, forming a bottomless, rotting swamp. For a moment, the entire space suddenly rippled, twisted, and shook like ink, attempting to break free from this bizarre freezing power!

However, Shi Mingkong's reaction was ultimately half a beat too slow.

Douzhan Tianjun reached out with his other hand and gripped, and that golden pagoda suppressing the heavens unfurled, suddenly transforming into a massive wheel.

On the wheel, the power of the Five Elements gathered frantically, and all the radiance in the surroundings collapsed and gathered toward the void; in the blink of an eye, it went from quantitative change to qualitative change, and from qualitative change to fusion. In an instant, light rose to the sky, possessing a flavor that crushed all things.

The surface of the wheel burned with vast flames, surrounded by radiance, with thunderous sounds, brewing an earth-shattering explosion at every moment. Moreover, it was as heavy as a giant mountain, pressing the surrounding void until it bent and swayed, and a vast, boundless aura of destruction shrouded all directions!

Within a radius of over a hundred miles, everyone felt an extreme sense of heaviness and stagnation, layered over every part of their bodies like shackles, and like a swamp, sinking deep into the mud.

Looking at the wheel, even the several True Monarchs felt a suffocating aura rising from the depths of their souls, as if disaster were imminent and they were about to be doomed!

The next moment.

With a loud boom!

The wheel pressed down toward Shi Mingkong, just like billions of tons of gunpowder exploding in mid-air. The void suddenly tore open a large hole, and in an instant, countless cold ice, flames, thunder, lightning, and light rays surged chaotically. The high temperature and twisted light changed rapidly, stirring this sky like a newly erupted volcano, with the aura of destruction surging in all directions!

Collapse, collapse, everything was perishing and shattering. In this instant, indescribable light burst forth in the sky, Shi Mingkong's figure was completely submerged by this destructive power, the throne of bones behind him disintegrated like sand, and the earth cracked open with huge fissures as if unable to bear the weight, extending for over ten miles.

"Is this... the power of the late Nascent Soul stage?"

The numerous cultivators around the battlefield were struck dumb; even Lu Yuan, seeing this heaven-destroying and earth-shattering scene, focused his gaze, a hint of shock rising in his heart.

And amidst all the shocked gazes.

This scene of destruction, with the void shattered and the heavens and earth collapsing, did not last long and soon dissipated.

Yet, in a twisted, shattered, and surreal void, the figure of Shi Mingkong was completely gone, as if he had been reduced to ashes and annihilated.

Only Douzhan Tianjun frowned:

"A cicada shedding its skin!?"

As his voice echoed, he took a step forward and instantly transformed into a golden meteor, speeding away in a certain direction, seemingly to pursue Shi Mingkong, who had already escaped.

Including the Corpse Bone Heavenly Demon Concubine and the other Heavenly Corpse King, who were surrounded and in a bitter fight with the three Heavenly Monarchs, they also roared, black flames erupting from their bodies, and then transformed into black meteors, breaking through the blockade of the three Heavenly Monarchs at all costs and without regard for damage, fleeing frantically.

"You all, hold your positions!"

With such a great opportunity, Lingjian Tianjun and the other two naturally would not allow the two Heavenly Corpse Kings to escape, so they immediately pursued them, leaving behind only one instruction.

After Yang Xianlin received the order, he originally wanted to lead the cultivators to retreat back to the Immortal City and rely on the Big Dipper Heavenly Star Array to resist the massive Corpse Demons about to impact the city. However, a sweep of his Divine Sense revealed that the corpse tide spreading across the horizon in the distance was still thirty or forty miles away from the Immortal City but had begun to retreat, not knowing if it was because they had received orders from the three Heavenly Corpse Kings.

Such an opportunity could not be missed. Yang Xianlin, who had not fully vented his pent-up frustration while retreating to the Immortal City, immediately shouted:

"The corpse tide is beginning to retreat; we cannot let these evil beings just walk away like this!"

"Follow me to cleanse the demons!!"

As his Divine Sense swept across the sky, thousands of cultivators inside and outside the Immortal City responded. Streams of light flew rapidly toward the retreating corpse tide, wanting to vent the hatred in their hearts. Among them, Lu Yuan was naturally in the first batch of cultivators; even without using his 'Flying Body Hiding Trace' technique, his speed was extremely fast, and in just a few breaths, he had already flown above the corpse tide.

It could be seen that the vast majority of the corpse tide at this moment consisted of low-level Corpse Soldiers, who for some reason were turning around and running wildly toward the path they had come from. Lu Yuan wielded his sword light and thunder, sweeping through and slaughtering the Corpse Demons in swathes, just like cutting grass.

Although the Heavenly Dao Merit provided by these Corpse Demons was very little, it was compensated by their vast numbers and concentration; harvesting them was as effortless as crushing ants.

While he still needed to hide his cultivation and control his methods, the strikes of True Monarchs like Yang Xianlin and Wei Bufan after they descended upon the corpse tide were like a prairie fire; every strike caused hundreds or thousands of Corpse Demons to be torn apart and reduced to ashes, with extreme efficiency.

Therefore, in order to harvest as much experience as possible, Lu Yuan deliberately stayed away from these True Monarchs and other cultivators, secretly augmenting his sword light with Divine Thunder and Slaying Demons Supernatural Power, causing his harvesting efficiency to soar.

Just like that.

The cultivators of Beiling Immortal City and other Immortal Cities launched a massive counterattack. Under the strikes of thousands of mid-to-high-level cultivators, tens of thousands of Corpse Demons were exterminated with every breath. Even though this massive corpse tide numbered in the millions or tens of millions, it was disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A full hour later.

A thousand cultivators had pursued them for hundreds of miles. The originally vast, boundless corpse tide was reduced to only a few scattered groups fleeing in all directions. The group of cultivators stopped in the sky, their chests heaving and breathing rapidly.

Even the several Nascent Soul True Monarchs, including Yang Xianlin, were weary and had weak auras.

During the process of pursuing the corpse tide, they had not encountered any tricky situations and had been cutting through them like vegetables. The only problem was that everyone's Dharma Power consumption was like pouring water, and even the Pills they carried to replenish Dharma Power had been completely exhausted.

If it weren't for the fact that their Dharma Power and Pills were all depleted, it would not have been impossible for the five Nascent Soul cultivators, dozens of Golden Core cultivators, and hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators present to have completely wiped out the corpse tide.

And the only exception among them was, naturally, Lu Yuan.

With the Nine Breaths Serving Qi Supernatural Power at his disposal, the situation of his Dharma Power being exhausted simply did not exist, which allowed him to maintain an extremely efficient harvest.

And under this harvest, his gains were naturally also extremely astonishing:

Communicating with the Heavenly Book to receive feedback:

【Luck Power】: 3554 units

【Heavenly Dao Merit】: 1278 wisps

In this heaven-shaking encirclement battle, he had shockingly harvested nearly 800 wisps of Merit Power, which converted to 80,000 units of Qi Luck!

With his total accumulation, he now had 120,000 units of Qi Luck, enough to illuminate any one of the Heavenly Gang Great Divine Abilities he had previously considered.

"Thank you all for your hard work."

In the void, the ground was covered in remains; after waiting for everyone to catch their breath for a while, Yang Xianlin bowed respectfully to all the cultivators who had come to assist:

"With your all-out support, Beiling Immortal City will welcome a long period of peace after this battle. This old man thanks you all here!"

The True Monarchs who came to assist from the four great Immortal Cities hurriedly returned the salute:

"Immortal City Lord Yang is too polite. As fellow cultivators of the Immortal Alliance, it is our duty to provide all-out support; why the need for such a grand gesture?"

"Indeed, with a catastrophe at hand, we should work together with one heart. You help me and I help you; perhaps we will need Immortal City Lord Yang to lead people to assist us in the future!"

"Exactly. If we are to thank anyone, we should thank the five Heavenly Monarchs of the Immortal Alliance. If they had not held back the Heavenly Corpse Kings, we would not even have the chance to stand here and speak."

Yang Xianlin could not help but nod: "That is indeed the case. Presumably, the several Heavenly Monarchs have already harvested the fruits of battle and returned to the Immortal City; let us return to report on our mission."

Everyone agreed, and without lingering there for too long, they quickly turned around and headed toward the direction of the Immortal City.

A moment later, the cultivators returned to the Immortal City and happened to see several streams of light returning together from the horizon; they immediately went up to meet them and paid their respects:

"We respectfully welcome the triumphant return of the Heavenly Monarchs—!"

The several streams of light landed one after another, and it was seen that the four Heavenly Monarchs, led by Douzhan Tianjun, appeared; in the hand of Lingjian Tianjun, he was still holding a corpse with a palm made of Dharma Power.

Looking closely, it was shockingly the Heavenly Corpse King transformed from that Star River Sect Elder.

Yang Xianlin immediately stepped forward to greet them and asked respectfully:

"May I ask the Heavenly Monarchs, what of the other two Heavenly Corpse Kings...?"

Douzhan Tianjun's expression was indifferent as he sighed lightly:

"That Heavenly Corpse King called Shi Mingkong has methods not inferior to mine. Although I severely wounded him, I failed to keep him here. However, this fiend's body was shattered by me, so he likely won't be able to appear and cause trouble for a long time."

Lingjian Tianjun also sighed:

"It is the same for me, Zhu Huo, and fellow Daoist Jiuxian. Although we killed this Heavenly Corpse King, that Bone Heavenly Demon Concubine was truly cunning; she used a trick to escape from our hands, and we failed to achieve complete success."

Of the three Heavenly Corpse Kings, one died and two escaped; such a result was not unexpected, and Yang Xianlin still said respectfully:

"Regardless, it is thanks to the five Heavenly Monarchs arriving in time to turn the tide, otherwise Beiling Immortal City would likely have ceased to exist by now."

"We are filled with gratitude and have nothing to repay you with, save for bowing in thanks to all the Heavenly Monarchs!"

After saying this, he bowed deeply with his hands joined, and at the same time, the other True Monarchs and True Immortals behind him, and even the tens of thousands of cultivators on the walls of the Immortal City, all bowed in thanks:

"We bow in thanks to all the Heavenly Monarchs!"