Light-years beyond the orbit of Pluto, so far that the Sun was a forgotten memory in that expanse of void, a planet of absolute blackness orbited the star with excruciating slowness. Its rotation was lethargic, and its orbit even more so. A single rotation took approximately three hundred and sixty years. To complete one circuit around the Sun required some twelve thousand years. The sheer scale of this world was immense, its diameter roughly equivalent to that of Jupiter. The gravitational pull on its surface was brutal, amounting to nearly thirty times Earth standard gravity. Due to its profound distance from the star, the planet was perpetually swathed in darkness; even the scattered light of distant stars failed to pierce its dense, murky atmosphere to illuminate the deep, abyssal blackness of its surface.
This world possessed air, and the air quality was excellent. There was water, crystal clear in its rivers, lakes, and oceans. Flora and fauna existed too: trees, grasses, and flowering plants, but every single specimen was pitch black. They required no light whatsoever, subsisting entirely by drawing upon the abundant spiritual energy permeating heaven and earth. Yet, Planet JL harbored no animals; in its vast watery expanses, not a single shrimp stirred.
A Luo Man super-battleship slowly approached the planet. Over a hundred intensely brilliant streaks of light descended from the vessel, plunging into the atmosphere like lightning bolts.
These hundred-zhang-long beams of light tore through the heavy, oppressive cloud cover above the planet’s atmosphere, the resulting gale whipping the clouds into violent, colliding friction. A dull, subterranean thunder echoed across the long-silent surface. Arcs of electricity, spanning hundreds of miles, twisted and snaked within the gloom, rupturing the void like venomous pythons. The fierce glare of the lightning illuminated the land below. Black mountains, black plains, black oceans, and black lakes revealed their entirety to the sky, resembling monstrous entities rising from some hellish domain.
The Corpse Emperor, True Master White Water, and True Master Cold Crane flew at the vanguard of the formation, followed by just over a hundred Grandmasters of the Void Realm from various sects.
After years of relentless refinement, Old Lord Valley had finally forged a significant supply of Void-Shattering Pills. The Grandmasters who had been stalled at the Divine Transformation stage for many years now possessed a genuine chance at breakthrough. Combined with the first cohort of over thirty Void Realm Grandmasters who had already taken the pill, the Asian Dao Alliance now commanded a total force of one hundred and five masters at the Void Realm.
A little over a month prior, when the Earth Federation officially commenced interstellar colonization, Gu Xichen had confided in the Corpse Emperor about the existence of the solar system’s Twelfth Planet, mentioning that his father, Gu Yitong, had once discovered something quite valuable there. Upon hearing this, the Corpse Emperor rallied his allies. All the Void Realm experts of the Dao Mantis school were instantly stirred, eagerly setting out with the Corpse Emperor on this pilgrimage to find the Twelfth Planet.
The Federation began its mass migration. Simultaneously, the great Daoist sects were preparing to relocate their strongholds to Paradise Star, a world offering superior conditions and richer spiritual sustenance. For a Void Realm Grandmaster like the Corpse Emperor, matters of lineage migration were tedious chores best delegated; his disciples could certainly manage such logistical arrangements thoroughly and appropriately.
Gu Xichen discovered Paradise Star; Gu Xichen brought back an alien princess; Gu Xichen unearthed numerous immortal artifacts and treasures... Over the years, virtually every advancement made by the Dao Alliance had traced back to Gu Xichen. When the Void Realm masters of the Alliance learned that this current venture was also initiated by intelligence provided by Gu Xichen, the Corpse Emperor’s call met with immediate and resounding affirmation. All one hundred and five Void Realm Grandmasters, without exception, assembled to journey to the Twelfth Planet.
“Hmm, I wonder how well those youngsters are managing the relocation,” the Corpse Emperor mused aloud, soaring through the air and chuckling to True Master White Water. “If they can’t even handle something as minor as moving the sect, I’ll have their backsides thoroughly whipped when we return. Haha, I’ve already selected two exceptionally fine mountain estates for myself on Wandering Immortal Star.”
“Mutually understood!” True Master White Water replied with an equally broad smile. “My Kunlun lineage has also pinpointed two locations where the spiritual energy is richer than even Mount Kunlun. Given the density of the energy in those two spots, Kunlun could easily accommodate another hundred thousand disciples. A grand ascent for the Kunlun lineage is precisely what is needed now.”
True Master Cold Crane also stroked his beard and chuckled several times, glancing back to call his junior sect-brothers to stay close behind.
This Twelfth Planet was profoundly strange; even the Dao Alliance’s most ancient records made no mention of it. However, according to Gu Xichen’s account, this planet was a ruin left behind by certain ancient ancestors from the Primordial Era. For cultivators, such ruins held an irresistible allure. Yet, these Grandmasters were clear-headed: the older the ruins were, the more they were tied to the Primordial Chaos, and the more perilous they became. Ruins that held no prestige even among venerable strongholds like Kunlun and Zhongnan Mountain were especially fraught with unknown risks.
All one hundred and five Void Realm Grandmasters found themselves pondering the same mystery: How did Gu Xichen’s father manage to leave this place successfully after acquiring treasures?
And the most critical question: What exactly did Gu Xichen’s father obtain here? Was it that very artifact that accounted for Gu Xichen’s astonishing luck?
The descent light moved swiftly. After flying for three days and three nights, the Corpse Emperor and the others had roughly circled the planet once. The world consisted of a single landmass; all other areas were oceans of stagnant, pitch-black water undisturbed by wind or wave. The continent was mountainous, with only small stretches of plains dotted with the ruins of broken towns. Deep within the mountains, numerous caves and valleys pulsed with strange magical energy fluctuations. Among the ridges lay gigantic skeletal remains, some bearing the contours of true giants, towering nearly a hundred meters high.
Having completed the initial circuit, the assembled Grandmasters agreed with the Corpse Emperor’s suggestion: they would split into small teams of three to scout the planet’s condition comprehensively. They made a pact: any magical artifacts or objects discovered would belong solely to the discoverer. However, should any team encounter insurmountable peril, all other groups would offer immediate mutual aid, responding instantly to any distress signal.
Once the warning signals were agreed upon, the thirty-five three-person squads launched simultaneously, scattering across the surface in every direction.
The Corpse Emperor, True Master White Water, and True Master Cold Crane formed one unit. They floated slowly forward, smiling as they rode the wind. After traveling barely two hundred li, the Corpse Emperor’s expression abruptly changed: “Bizarre!”
True Master White Water and True Master Cold Crane also stiffened, sensing something deeply wrong. When they first entered the planet, they were together, so the anomaly hadn't been noticeable. Now that they were dispersed, they discovered that their divine consciousness could no longer perceive any trace of the others beyond a distance of about a hundred li. It was as if their spiritual senses were being swallowed by the planet itself; their awareness could only stretch out roughly a hundred li before abruptly vanishing.
Looking around, the panic in the trio intensified. The skies were choked with dark clouds. The mountain ranges below seemed indistinguishable from one another. The cloud masses above drifted sluggishly, and an insidious power permeated the very fabric of the environment, causing the forests below to seem to flow like an unseen vortex. Even with their cultivation and experience, the Corpse Emperor and his companions could no longer distinguish north from south, nor even accurately gauge their altitude above the ground.
On this planet, the functions of both divine sense and eyesight seemed utterly compromised.
After a short while longer, the three were horrified to realize that it wasn't just their divine consciousness being devoured; even the true essence (Zhen Yuan) within their bodies was subtly beginning to dissipate, dissolving slowly into the surrounding environment.
“A truly bizarre place!” the Corpse Emperor frowned.
“I still marvel at how Martial Nephew Xichen’s father managed to find this location,” True Master White Water sighed deeply.
“How he found it is irrelevant now; how he left is the major problem,” True Master Cold Crane added, shaking his head repeatedly with profound contemplation.
The Corpse Emperor spread his hands in a gesture of resignation, laughing lightly. “It’s fortunate we brought so many fellow Daoists. Otherwise, this situation would be truly troublesome.” After a round of nervous laughter, the three reignited their descent lights and sped toward the distance. Since divine sense proved largely useless here, they would have to rely on brute-force searching. Fortunately, with so many Void Realm masters present, searching the entire planet should not take an excessive amount of time.
Nine Nether Bone King, accompanied by the Evil Dao Lord, leader of the Heavenly Evil Sect, and True Man Zhuan Feng, the leader of the orthodox Taiyi Sect from the Dao Alliance, descended cautiously from the high altitude into a valley exuding an eerie aura. Treading through black grass that reached their knees, the three advanced slowly, sweeping the area. The Bone King, possessing the most resilient physical body, took the lead, with the Evil Dao Lord and True Man Rufen flanking him, keeping within a single step’s distance.
After advancing several hundred zhang and nearing the source of the strange energy, the Evil Dao Lord suddenly chuckled. “This planet is certainly peculiar.”
True Man Rufen immediately chimed in, “It seems strange that Gu Xichen managed to find this place…”
The Bone King responded without turning back, “It wasn’t my nephew Xichen who found it, but rather his secular father’s interstellar exploration team that stumbled upon it by chance.” The Bone King sighed regretfully. “Those mortals, though insignificant, managed to achieve things that we cultivators could not. If not for our Void Realm cultivation, how could we ever traverse this vast cosmos?”
The Evil Dao Lord subtly edged half a step closer to the Bone King, forcing a dry laugh. “Surely the matter isn’t quite so simple, is it?”
True Man Rufen chuckled wickedly. “Daoist Bone, in recent years, almost every major undertaking in the Dao Alliance has involved that brat Gu Xichen. How could it be otherwise? Finding Wandering Immortal Star, obtaining so many rare materials and immortal artifacts, and then Daoist Corpse gifting so many immortal artifacts to the various factions—how could this mere Gu Xichen manage all that?”
The Bone King’s mind was slow to catch up. He continued muttering without looking back, “It was indeed the actions of that brat Xichen. That little fellow is a monster; I truly don’t know how he acquired such monumental luck and such great fortune. Hmph, you two be careful. This planet can absorb our divine sense; if we’re not careful, it could even damage our physical bodies.”
The Evil Dao Lord and True Man Rufen exchanged a look. Without warning, they each placed a hand upon the Bone King’s shoulders.
Before the Bone King could react, the Evil Dao Lord unleashed a blast of gray-white lightning from his palm, and True Man Rufen simultaneously struck with a purple divine lightning bolt from his. Both bolts possessed immense power, instantly vaporizing the upper half of the Bone King’s torso into dust. The residual force hurled his head forward. His lower body staggered unsteadily a few steps before collapsing heavily onto the ground.
The Bone King cried out in terror, “What are you doing?”
The Evil Dao Lord, his face grim, waved his hand, sending seven green bone needles flying to tightly seal the Bone King’s seven orifices. True Man Rufen swiftly reached into his sleeve, snatching out a talisman, one foot and two inches long, radiating golden light! He agilely shot it toward the Bone King’s skull. Amidst a piercing scream from the Bone King, the golden talisman, seemingly made of an unknown substance, adhered firmly to his forehead, burning into his cranial bone with a hissing sound, like a branding iron. The golden light seared the Bone King’s nascent soul, causing the green light in his eyes to flare violently in agony.
“Evil Dao Lord, Rufen, what is the meaning of this?” the Bone King roared hoarsely.
The Evil Dao Lord planted a foot firmly on the rolling skull fragment on the ground and snarled, “Enough nonsense. Hand over the Nine Nether Dao’s treasure map. We will spare a single remnant of your soul for reincarnation. If you refuse to speak, we will obliterate your spirit, condemning you to eternal non-existence. I will count to three—speak quickly!”
The Bone King roared back, “What damned treasure map?”
True Man Rufen sneered, “If the Nine Nether Dao didn’t have a treasure map, how could Gu Xichen acquire so many fine things? Who are you trying to fool?”
The Bone King, enraged, his eyes flashing green light furiously, his teeth clicking together with a dense kaka sound, bellowed, “You are spewing utter nonsense! What treasure map? Those treasures were obtained by Martial Nephew Xichen himself by risking Heaven’s wrath! What has it to do with the Nine Nether Dao? You… you betray our alliance with the Nine Nether Dao, you…”
“Alliance?” The Evil Dao Lord boomed with laughter. “Do the Nine Nether Dao, Kunlun Mountain, and Zhongnan Mountain truly consider us allies?”
True Man Rufen scoffed sharply. “It’s absurd to even mention it. Do you truly consider us allies? The Nine Nether Dao, Kunlun, and Zhongnan Mountain combined account for thirty-two Void Realm experts! The entire Dao Alliance only has one hundred and five Void Realm Grandmasters. Your three sects alone command over thirty percent of the cultivation world’s strength!”
The Evil Dao Lord declared proudly, “Your conspiracy to monopolize the cultivation world is doomed to fail!”
The Bone King’s mind was reeling from the accusation. He roared in fury, “Monopolize the cultivation world? Who said—”
True Man Rufen cut him off with a cold laugh. “Who said? Does this require saying? Your three sects possess the masters, the immortal artifacts, and the materials. Among the Earth Federation, your secular disciples control the levers of power, and even the alien queen has become a disciple of the Nine Nether Dao! If this continues, where will the rest of us in the cultivation world have room to survive?”
The Bone King opened his mouth, then suddenly roared toward the heavens, “A tall tree catches the wind!”
The Evil Dao Lord stomped fiercely on the Bone King’s severed head. He shouted hoarsely, “The treasure map! Or all the ancient secrets the Nine Nether Dao possesses! Don’t tell us you don’t know anything! The ancient undead zombie dragon guarding the mountain gate of the Nine Nether Dao—it must be tens of thousands of years old! What has it told you? Tell us quickly!”
True Man Rufen, impatient, drew a peach-wood sword and stabbed it through the Bone King’s brow. He grinned menacingly. “Enough talking nonsense with him. We’ll use the Soul-Searching Great Technique to forcibly probe his spirit!”
The Bone King let out a cry of utter despair. As the peach-wood sword pierced his nascent soul, the nine ghost-repelling talismans affixed to the blade delivered a devastating blow to his spirit. Following the intense energy from the golden talisman just moments before, the Bone King was instantly reduced to nothing more than a struggling wisp of true spirit clinging desperately to the sword’s edge, utterly defenseless. The half-dead Bone King cried out in desperation, “After all the candor the Nine Nether Dao showed you, even sharing those immortal artifacts when we obtained them!”
True Man Rufen gritted his teeth and sneered coldly. “If it weren't for those immortal artifacts, how would so many Daoist sects in the cultivation world have cast their covetous eyes upon you? The Nine Nether Dao, Kunlun Mountain, and Zhongnan Mountain have held the reins of power for too long. It’s time we had a taste of leadership in the cultivation world.”
Red light flashed along the peach-wood sword. True Man Rufen unleashed the Soul-Searching Great Technique, churning the Bone King’s true spirit into a chaotic mess of energy. He took a deep, satisfied breath and ecstatically began sifting through the memories within the Bone King’s true spirit. Every detail of the Bone King’s life flooded into True Man Rufen’s soul, akin to experiencing the Bone King’s entire existence firsthand.
The Evil Dao Lord looked toward True Man Rufen. True Man Rufen shook his head with disappointment. He had found nothing of value in the Bone King’s soul. The secret arts of the Nine Nether Dao were useless to them; the methods for ghost cultivation or bone cultivation were nothing more than poison to flesh-and-blood cultivators. As for the entry procedures to the Nine Nether Dao mountain gate… they might have been useful previously, but since the sect was currently moving to Paradise Star, all their defensive arrays would have to be completely overhauled, rendering the entry methods utterly obsolete.
“Useless!” The Evil Dao Lord stomped the Bone King’s skull to pieces and looked up with a cold smile. “I wonder if the other Daoists have been more successful?”
A thousand li away in another valley, the Tigress Grandma had reverted to her original form and was locked in fierce combat with an aged Daoist and a bald monk. The monk’s body was densely corded with muscle, his skin possessing a strange bronze hue, standing nearly four meters tall, radiating majesty like a descending Vajra. He wielded a crescent-shaped spade, every strike ferocious, aimed consistently at the Tigress Grandma’s vital neck area. Occasionally, his left hand would emit a golden light, instantly transforming into a golden Buddha’s palm several meters high, which descended with the sound of chanting mantras to smash into the Tigress Grandma.
A massive gash, over a meter long and two chi deep, scarred the Tigress Grandma’s lower back and waist. Her heart and coiled intestines constantly squeezed out through the fissure with every pulse. The Tigress Grandma, driven into a frenzy, ignored her severe injuries, merely roaring and clawing wildly at the monk. The monk’s golden palm slammed into her body, the impact sounding like bone cracking, shattering who knew how many bones. Yet, fueled purely by savage aggression, she managed to inflict over a dozen wounds upon the monk, deep enough to expose the flesh beneath.
The old Daoist, hidden behind the monk, squinted as he watched the Tigress Grandma. He held three crimson talismans in his hands, maneuvering his body awkwardly while channeling energy to form a protective field on the ground.
After perhaps fifteen minutes, the Tigress Grandma let out a near-manic roar. Her two massive tiger claws moved in a flurry of afterimages toward the monk, while her jaws spewed forth a blanket of green flame that swept across the area. The monk cried out, hastily tossing his crescent spade into the air, where it transformed into a beam of white light and clashed violently with the Tigress Grandma’s flames. The monk shouted, “Hurry up, Old Noodle! This old hag’s strength is far greater than we anticipated!”
The old Daoist mumbled several incantations, then suddenly let out a great laugh. He hurled the three spiritual talismans toward the Tigress Grandma.
As the three talismans were unleashed, the surrounding void instantly solidified. The local elements—earth, water, fire, wind, and spiritual energy—were condensed like stone blocks. The Tigress Grandma’s movement seized up, and she spat a mouthful of dark blood that flew a great distance. The three talismans affixed themselves tightly to the Tigress Grandma’s forehead, waist, and groin, acting as three great mountains pressing down upon her. She let out a weak moan, collapsing onto the ground spread-eagled. The pressure from the talismans was so immense that the Tigress Grandma’s limb bones were crushed to powder, and even her nascent soul was suppressed to the point of immobility.
“No matter how fierce she is, these are the Three Heaven-Sealing Talismans passed down by the Patriarch of our Four Spirits Pavilion. Can she possibly escape their control?” The old Daoist smiled faintly, stroked his long beard, and sauntered over to the Tigress Grandma, whose eyes were rolling furiously in rage. He casually placed his hands upon her eyes.
“What beautiful tiger eyes—perfect for refining into a treasure.” The old Daoist lifted his hands slightly. The Tigress Grandma shrieked in agony as her two bowl-sized eyes were suctioned out, coalescing into two fist-sized green orbs that spun merrily in the old Daoist’s palm.
The monk laughed heartily, strode over to the Tigress Grandma, and bellowed demands, mostly concerning the secret behind the Nine Nether Dao’s acquisition of so many immortal artifacts and celestial treasures.
The Tigress Grandma knew nothing of any secrets. She could only writhe in agony, howling over the blinding pain of having her eyes violently ripped out.
The ruthless pair of a monk and a Daoist acted with chilling severity. After the Tiger Granny cried out just three times, they unhesitatingly extracted her soul, meticulously scouring every memory using the Soul Searching Secret Art.
After about a quarter of an hour, the monk and two Daoists, having found nothing, exchanged glances and simultaneously sighed. They looked at the Tiger Granny's skeletal remains, a savage glint flashing in their eyes. They promptly flayed her, stripping her tendons and skin, reducing her corpse to a pile of materials for artifact refinement. A fierce tiger spirit at the Lüjing cultivation level—her entire body was prime material. Even her fur could be refined into an exotic, evil treasure: Tiger Hair Needles. Since they had already destroyed the Tiger Granny's soul, how could they possibly leave behind such valuable raw materials?
In a low saddle between two ridges within this valley, two monks, one Daoist, and a Confucian scholar coldly extinguished two flickering balls of soul-fire. The Nine Nether Sect's Daoist Lion Venerable and the Kunlun Mountain's True Man Chixin were utterly annihilated, their spirits dispersed.
Two thousand li away, deep within a cavern ten li beneath the earth, two heavily injured figures slowly struggled out, carrying two wisps of souls that seemed ready to dissipate at any moment. In this gloomy cavern lay the shattered forms of the Nine Nether Sect's Evil Sword Ghost King and the Zhongnan Mountain's True Man Green Crow; beside them lay two other ruined bodies.
One place, then another. Across this planet, the cultivators of the Dao Alliance mercilessly raised their butcher knives against their former allies.
Cultivators are inherently selfish beings. On the vast path toward the Heavenly Dao, they would kill anyone who obstructed their progress for their own advancement.
The Corpse Emperor, True Man Bai Shui, and True Man Cold Crane swiftly investigated several large mountains. But the further they advanced, the more their hearts pounded with terror. Finally, a profound fear and deep sorrow washed over them, rooting them to the spot. Their bodies trembled, and their very souls quaked, as if someone had carved a large chunk from their hearts with a blade. They stared at each other in horror and simultaneously gasped, "What is happening?"
Slishhh~ Bang!
Dozens of signal flares shot into the sky in the distance, exploding overhead. These signals erupted in brilliant light and colored smoke that spread across a radius of nearly a hundred li. Even from thousands of li away, the signals were seen clearly. According to the prearranged signal code, these meant they had made a discovery, but an immense upheaval—an extreme danger—had occurred.
The Corpse Emperor, True Man Bai Shui, and True Man Cold Crane exchanged glances and simultaneously transformed into streaks of light, flying toward where the signals had risen.
In the blink of an eye, the three accelerated their escaping light to its absolute limit.
Dozens of blood-soaked cultivators lay sprawled on the ground. Only a few, dressed as monks or Daoists, could barely prop themselves up, administering pills to the mouths of those lying prone. The scent of blood drifted for miles. The Corpse Emperor trio smelled the thick stench of gore from several li away. Especially the Corpse Emperor, who was most sensitive to the scent of vital blood; he detected the essence of at least thirty-odd individuals' lifeblood, mixed with the sharp tang of internal organ fragments—proof that someone’s viscera had been smashed and ejected.
Three streaks of light plummeted down. The Corpse Emperor landed in the center of the clearing, bellowing, "What happened? What did you encounter?"
True Man Bai Shui and True Man Cold Crane also landed, their minds in utter chaos. They had not found the Void Realm masters from their own sects—those masters were the pillars of their respective organizations; the loss of even one was a catastrophic blow. Yet, not a single one was present here?
The mental state of the Corpse Emperor trio descended into utter disarray, their three corpses jumping wildly, a mouthful of blood choking their throats, refusing to spill.
Just then, a streak of black light shot toward them rapidly from afar. This escape light was at least twice as fast as the Corpse Emperor and the others. It appeared at the horizon only to be instantly close by.
Within the black light, the Eagle Saint, missing both legs and both arms, spat blood with every ragged breath, roaring hoarsely toward them, "Senior Brother, flee... those two bull-nosed priests, run for your lives!"
Behind him, a magnificent giant axe, shimmering with breathtaking trichromatic light, descended lightly from the void. This axe spanned nearly ten zhang wide, yet as it flew, it danced like a feather in the wind, emitting not the slightest sound of rushing air. The axe blade delicately sliced through the Eagle Saint’s body, cleaving him into two halves. Wherever the divine light passed, the Eagle Saint’s nascent spirit was pulverized, not even a shred of remnant soul managing to escape.
The Corpse Emperor instinctively tensed his body. The Nine Nether Sect’s supreme treasure, the White Bone Great Seal, shot out from above his head, trailing a plume of gray-white evil energy. In an instant, it transformed into a colossal seal spanning dozens of zhang, enveloping and protecting his body. True Man Bai Shui waved a large, dark-blue banner, which spewed forth ten thousand lotus blossoms to shield him. True Man Cold Crane shook his hands, and a cloud of crane feathers soared into the sky. Countless snow-white immortal cranes, each the size of a fist, drifted out from the feathers, lightly forming an overwhelmingly complex formation around True Man Cold Crane.
In less time than it takes to speak, all the cultivators lying on the ground, apparently on the brink of death, suddenly sprang up. They pointed their fingers, and beams of treasure light descended in unison.
The Corpse Emperor recognized those lights and couldn't help but grind his teeth so hard they cracked, 'Gah-beng'! These Spiritual Artifacts and Immortal Artifacts all belonged to Gu Xichen—the supreme treasures he had gifted to these 'allies.'
The combined strike from dozens of Grandmasters at the Void Realm cultivation level, using either Immortal Artifacts, top-grade Dharma Tools, or the secret supreme treasures of their own sects, was devastating. Ten beams of intense light flashed and vanished instantly. The Corpse Emperor’s White Bone Great Seal shattered. True Man Bai Shui’s dark-blue banner was pierced with several huge holes. True Man Cold Crane’s feathers simply burned into a wisp of gray ash in mid-air.
The three Grandmasters simultaneously spat blood from all seven orifices. The Corpse Emperor roared fiercely, "Escape!" and immediately transformed into a plume of gray-white smoke that enveloped True Man Bai Shui and True Man Cold Crane, swiftly burrowing deep underground.
Dozens of Void Realm experts simultaneously raised their hands and slammed them down onto the earth. With a deafening crash, the ground suddenly split open, revealing a massive sinkhole exceeding a thousand li in diameter and a hundred li deep, appearing out of thin air. The very core of the crater broke through the earth’s shell. Rivers of molten magma surged out frantically, mixed with countless streams of pitch-black, malevolent Yin Sha energy. The Immortal and Spiritual Artifacts that these Void Realm experts had blasted into the ground were instantly enveloped by the Yin Sha Qi and reduced to scrap iron as they fell into the abyss.
Waaah!
Nearly fifty Void Realm experts from various sects spat blood at the same moment. They watched the malevolent aura with terror and swiftly transformed into streaks of light, flying high into the sky.
The Corpse Emperor trio, who had escaped underground using Earth Evasion, were struck by the joint attack of fifty Lüjing experts. Even though most of the attack’s power missed them, they were still forced to vomit copious amounts of blood, their internal injuries worsening significantly. The Corpse Emperor's mind was severely shaken, rendering him unable to continue the Earth Evasion. True Man Bai Shui hurriedly grabbed the Corpse Emperor, and together with True Man Cold Crane, they transformed into two cold beams, shooting up into the sky.
The dozens of Void Realm experts saw the two streaks of light fly up and immediately gave chase. A few unlucky experts who flew slightly lower were brushed by the Yin Sha Qi surging from below. Their flesh immediately began to rot, and their bodies and souls vanished within two breaths. Everyone screamed in terror, quickly soaring high into the air, anxiously pursuing the Corpse Emperor trio.
True Man Bai Shui was filled with extreme rage. He roared back, "You curs! Have you forgotten that the Luo Man fiends are still watching?"
A bald old monk sneered, "Capture you, obtain the Nine Nether Sect's Treasure Map, and we will have countless Immortal Artifacts at our disposal. What is a mere Luo Man?"
A scholar in a green robe laughed serenely and declared loudly, "The emperor’s seat rotates; it is our turn now. Your Nine Nether Sect, Kunlun Mountain, and Zhongnan Mountain have commanded the Hua Xia cultivation world for thousands of years. It’s time we tasted what it’s like to be the leaders of the Daoist path!"
An old Daoist snarled coldly, "Corpse Emperor, surrender all your treasures, and today we will allow you reincarnation. Refuse, and today you will surely meet misfortune!"
True Man Cold Crane cursed furiously, "Nonsense! The hatred between us could not be washed away even by draining the four great seas! If we do not die today, we will surely seek revenge on you one by one in the future!"
The pursuing Void Realm experts’ faces all changed color. They coldly sneered, "Then we will spare none of your lives!"
The pursuing experts were less injured and could maintain full speed on their escape lights. Although True Man Bai Shui and True Man Cold Crane were gravely wounded, their Evasion techniques were superb, allowing them to maintain great velocity. The chaser and the chased fled for several thousand li. Just as they approached, a mountain towering ten thousand ren suddenly appeared before them.
True Man Bai Shui and True Man Cold Crane, seeing no other escape, plunged toward the great mountain. However, as they drew within a hundred li of it, a wave of chilling, frigid air struck them head-on. The true essence within their bodies dissipated, and the two dignified Void Realm Grandmasters tumbled from the high sky like stones.
The pursuing Void Realm Grandmasters cheered in unison, urging their escape lights forward, pressing the pursuit with all their might.
But their elation was short-lived. Chilling, cold air billowed up from all directions, and dozens of Void Realm masters also plummeted from the sky, crashing hard and landing in utter disarray.
True Man Bai Shui and True Man Cold Crane were no less determined. One in front and one behind, they hoisted the comatose Corpse Emperor and stumbled forward, employing a lightness skill they hadn't used in perhaps years. The pursuers, seeing this, had no choice but to bite the bullet and run forward on foot like mortals.
Fortunately, all of them possessed Void Realm cultivation. Although they couldn't gather true essence to soar, their running ability remained intact. Moreover, cultivators possessed abundant vital qi; they could sprint for a hundred li while holding their breath without issue.
The group chased and fled, running for a full four to five shichen until they finally crawled to the summit. There, abruptly rising before them, stood a black stone palace, no more than ten zhang high, but spanning a thousand zhang in length and width—it exuded an atmosphere of intense oppression and profound gloom. At the palace's center, within the gaping entrance, a patch of black mist slowly swirled. Within it, a ray of profound light outlined three ancient, worm-like characters:
Luo Peng Dian! (Luo Peng Palace!)
That’s all for today; I am very sleepy!