Ah, the darkness descended, swallowing the stark white light of the day and sucking in the visible spectrum of the covering network, until the pallor slowly morphed into a profound, inky black.

In the next instant, countless orbs of white light blossomed from the black canvas of the sky, and the ground vibrated with a sound like surging dragon-roared waves. A mist, ethereal and bright as light itself, rose from the lakes and rivers surrounding the castle. A gale erupted violently from the earth, sweeping the vapor high into the air, gradually funneling into those clustered spheres of white light. Slowly, the mist thickened, and the wind intensified, until the roaring tempest, laden with water vapor, transformed into hundreds of thousands of water spouts that shot straight toward the heavens.

The one hundred and eight Spirit Veins, previously buried underground, simultaneously erupted with immense volumes of Spiritual Qi. The water spouts, now carrying this Qi, ascended into the sky, merging with the white light, causing these luminous orbs to swell in size and emit an increasingly blinding, fierce radiance. In less than the time it takes to sip tea, the white masses in the sky had expanded to an astonishing degree. The void warped momentarily, and these concentrated white lights coalesced into spheres of ash-white stars suspended within the black expanse—the elders of the Patriarchal Council were thus trapped within this localized firmament.

“Attack!” A Patriarchal Council elder, whose skin was tinged dark, suddenly barked the command.

The two Death Star Vessels that had followed them simultaneously spewed thick clouds of black fog. The main cannon shield on the front of the Death Star Vessels slowly retracted, revealing their massive barrels. Triangular crystal spikes gradually extended from within the ships. Dazzling black light gathered on the surfaces of these spikes, continuously spitting out blinding streaks of black lightning.

Just as the Death Star Vessels were preparing to unleash their full power, Gu Xiechen formed an arcane seal with his fingers and pointed towards the myriad white stars overhead. From the dozen or so largest stars closest to the two Death Star Vessels, dozens of beams of brilliant, crystal-like white light suddenly shot forth. These rays of chillingly cold Taiyin Divine Light coalesced into several bizarre talismans that slammed into the Death Star Vessels. The impact was like molten mercury breaching defenses, sinking deep into the ships’ armor. The Death Star Vessels, poised to unleash energy sufficient to shatter the starry expanse, trembled violently. Innumerable arrays and seals erupted across their hulls, and in the blink of an eye, they disintegrated into countless shards of steel scattering in all directions. The two masses of black energy, already prepared to fire, were instantly absorbed entirely by the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array.

These talismans were secret array-breaking incantations developed by the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns, capable of restraining and destroying most common formations. Although the immortal arrays within the Death Star Vessels were profound, they did not escape the general categories of common immortal arrays. Struck by a secret array-breaking spell painstakingly researched by array Grandmasters like the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns, the Death Star Vessels naturally crumbled, and the energy contained within their two divine crystals was absorbed by the great formation.

The elders of the Patriarchal Council were greatly alarmed. They simultaneously utilized various methods to summon the vast fleet patrolling around the Bloodline Fortress.

However, this was the Taiyin Void conjured by the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array. All radio waves, divine senses, and energy pulses would be corroded and absorbed by the Taiyin Qi. How could they possibly receive any reply from the outside world?

The white stars in the sky multiplied. The entire visual field of the Patriarchal Council elders was densely packed with massive celestial bodies. These brilliant white stars radiated a bone-chilling cold that made them feel as though their very bodies were about to fracture from the freeze. Someone moved first—hundreds of Patriarchal Council elders hastily summoned their protective magical treasures. Various colored banners enveloped them securely. The invisible cold air, upon touching the protective banners of these elders, churned up massive bursts of glittering ice shards and frigid light.

Among these elders, one old man—whose head bore twin horns and whose skin subtly showed scale-like patterns—possessed the most wondrous protective treasure: an azure banner. This banner, spanning a hundred zhang, covered the old man’s head. With every wave, ten thousand white lotuses bloomed and perished, projecting ten thousand zhang of golden light to guard his body. The cold air spat out by the Taiyin stars had not even neared the elder before it was shattered by the impact of the golden light. Even the two Taiyin stars positioned beside the old man wavered faintly after being struck by the golden radiance.

“The Azure Lotus Treasure Banner!” Gu Xiechen gasped, drawing in a sharp breath.

After a moment of contemplation, Gu Xiechen concluded that this elder could only be dealt with by strategy, not brute force. The elder’s cultivation level was at the peak of a Sixth-Rank Celestial Immortal, further fortified by the Eastern Azure Lotus Treasure Banner, one of the primordial supreme treasures. Gu Xiechen had no hope of directly confronting him. He might be able to trap and kill the elder by employing the full might of the Taiyin Grand Array, but with so many other Patriarchal Council elders still within the formation, sacrificing the array’s overall advantage to trap one individual was clearly not worth the cost.

With a light sigh, Gu Xiechen waved his hands. The three thousand six hundred Taiyin stars surrounding the elder simultaneously erupted in blinding white light. These beams converged into a magnificent screen of light that enveloped the old man. Immediately, the tide-like white light spun rapidly, and both the stars and the elder vanished from the array. In their place remained a colossal, spherical void, but in an instant, new Taiyin stars materialized from the surrounding space, instantly filling the gaps.

Witnessing this spectacle, the Patriarchal Council elders cried out in unison. The Grand Elder was gone. Gu Xiechen nodded inwardly. The old man holding the Azure Lotus Treasure Banner was indeed the Grand Elder of the Patriarchal Council—the true puppet master controlling the vast Star Alliance organization. It was no wonder he possessed such a primordial supreme treasure. Although the three colossal dragons sustained themselves by devouring various immortal artifacts and treasures for energy, given the Grand Elder's status and power, it was more than sufficient for him to retain a set of superior magical items for his own use.

Having contained the Grand Elder within a small dimension—the ‘Minor Sumeru of Taiyin’ ability within the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array—Gu Xiechen dared not delay any longer. He immediately unleashed the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array’s strongest killing move: the Taiyin Divine Light! As Gu Xiechen uttered an incantation, he spat six mouthfuls of his vital essence blood onto the Taiyin Profound Pearl. Instantly, all the countless Taiyin stars within the array, which covered the entirety of the void, retracted their brilliance, transforming into dull, lifeless orbs resembling white pearls suspended in space.

Then came sounds like the splitting of countless glaciers emanating from these Taiyin stars. Threads of white light, as fine as spun silk, continuously spewed forth from them. Each ray was slender as a hair, barely three cun long, weaving and darting through the void, stirring up great clouds of ice crystals that danced in the air. These threads of frigid light instantly blanketed the entire formation.

The Taiyin Divine Light, being the ultimate Yin and coldest energy, specialized in destroying all post-natal matter. Any object that could not escape the Five Elements or flee the Three Realms, upon contact with the Taiyin Divine Light, would surely be frozen, fractured, and dissolved. The might of the Taiyin Divine Light was overwhelming. If the True Monarch of Taiyin had deployed this array, a peak Grand Luo Golden Immortal trapped within would be frozen into an ice block within moments, their primordial spirit evaporating and their flesh turning to mud. Now, with Gu Xiechen, a Third-Rank Celestial Immortal, deploying the array, the Taiyin Divine Light emitted was sufficient to threaten beings at the Celestial Immortal realm.

Innumerable threads of Taiyin Divine Light danced back and forth, rapidly eroding the protective radiance of the Patriarchal Council elders within the array. A continuous series of faint clink-clink-clinking sounds arose, reminiscent of a winter stream rapidly freezing under the chill wind. The protective glows of dozens of elders suddenly dimmed, and their protective artifacts became sheathed in a thick layer of profound ice. In the blink of an eye, these inferior magical implements cracked in various ways and were blasted apart by the Taiyin Divine Light.

Several Patriarchal Council elders, seeing their protective treasures damaged, momentarily panicked. They immediately spat out several beams of sword light, hacking wildly into the void, attempting to intercept the piercing shafts of Taiyin Divine Light.

The hundred-zhang-long sword lights danced through the air, but as soon as they radiated their myriad rays, tens of thousands of threads of Taiyin Divine Light shot upwards. The ultimate Yin energy instantly froze the flying swords into dust. Such a magnificent burst of sword energy instantly disintegrated, and the consciousnesses of the elders attached to the swords were simultaneously erased by the chilling air, causing them to vomit blood.

Subsequently, countless streaks of ash-white light converged upon the protective glows of these elders, tearing the barriers to shreds. Innumerable white threads pierced their bodies, boring transparent holes throughout their forms. The Taiyin Qi froze the vitality of these elders, transforming them into clouds of ice crystals that scattered away. A few wisps of grayish mist enveloped these ice shards, and all the energy contained within the shattered physical bodies of the Patriarchal Council elders was converted into Taiyin Divine Light, continuing its trajectory toward the remaining elders.

“Form the array! Form the array!”

An elder with the cultivation of a Sixth-Rank Celestial Immortal shrieked hoarsely. He swiftly summoned a golden array disk, palm-sized, from which surged great swathes of golden radiance into the sky, casting a massive Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams formation in the void. A golden giant tortoise, with a diameter spanning a hundred li, flickered intermittently within the diagram. The patterns of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams emanated from the giant tortoise’s carapace. Pure, refined Shangqing Immortal power surged within the diagram, and vast numbers of azure lotuses spat from the giant tortoise’s maw, collectively shielding the immense formation.

Hundreds of Patriarchal Council elders, overjoyed, swiftly retreated toward the formation diagram, skillfully taking positions at the designated coordinates within the layout.

Countless white light beams surged toward the formation diagram. The giant tortoise opened its mouth and spat down a cascading waterfall of azure lotuses. Myriad large and small azure lotuses rushed forward to meet the surging Taiyin Divine Light. Each azure lotus corresponded precisely to one ray of Taiyin Divine Light, and the two violently collided and clashed around the formation, erupting in great flashes of blinding brilliance.

This golden array disk was clearly an extremely rare exotic treasure. The giant tortoise was likely the spirit remnant of some primordial creature. The azure lotus immortal energy it spat was dense and possessed formidable defensive power. Though the Taiyin Divine Light struck the azure lotuses, causing their glow to dim and forcing them backward repeatedly, they could not break the defense in a short time.

With a cold snort, Gu Xiechen shouted sternly, “Enter the array!”

Dozens of beams of light shot skyward. Following the safe routes Gu Xiechen had previously designated, the members of the Flame Family transformed into firelight and darted into the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array. They concentrated their magical power, igniting the most potent immortal swords they possessed, which transformed into magnificent sword auras, each thousands of zhang long, slashing down towards the golden light formed by the array diagram. Protected by the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array, Raskov and the others needed no defense; they could pour all their strength into the offense. Consequently, the sword energies they unleashed were overwhelmingly powerful—every strike seemed capable of cleaving the heavens in two. Wave after wave of sword light viciously descended, and clusters of azure lotuses lightly advanced to meet them. Sharp collision sounds continuously echoed. Clusters of azure lotuses were shaken loose by the sword energy, but they regenerated as quickly as they fell. The eyes of the golden giant tortoise flashed with light, and the azure lotuses spat from its mouth became more numerous and faster in their release.

Boreas and Mohe roared, transforming into two powerful streams of light that plunged into the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array. They swept their hands towards the void, and behind them materialized two Buddha images, one black and one white, each a hundred zhang tall. One was the form of Dainichi Nyorai, encircled by dense deathly aura; the other was the form of the Medicine King Buddha, permeated with vibrant life energy. Low, sonorous Sanskrit chants echoed through the void. Waves of blood, ten thousand zhang high, suddenly surged from beneath the feet of the Dainichi Nyorai image, washing over the endless azure lotuses. The Medicine King Buddha image sprayed a vast expanse of clear light from above, within which shone dense forests of Bodhi trees and golden Sāla flowers. In an instant, the Bodhi forests covered the great formation formed by the Patriarchal Council elders, and countless Bodhi seeds and transparent Sāla flowers rained down upon the enemy formation.

Sword energies swept in all directions, annihilating swathes of azure lotuses.

The blood wave surged upward, the murky tide contaminated with infinite death energy, fouling countless azure lotuses and forcing the endless flow to retreat steadily.

The Bodhi seeds and transparent Sāla flowers possessed a peculiar power. As they descended, any azure lotus they touched rapidly grew, as if nourished by ample fertilizer. When those fist-sized lotuses swelled to nearly a zhang across, they violently burst apart, while the Bodhi seeds and Sāla flowers continued their assault on the formation diagram.

The combined force of the three attacks caused the golden Eight Trigrams formation diagram to shatter piece by piece. The azure lotuses ringing the perimeter were on the verge of being annihilated.

Just then, the elder controlling the golden array disk let out a few sinister laughs. He raised his left hand, bit off a chunk of flesh the size of a fist from his own arm, chewed the skin and muscle into pulp within a few bites, and violently spat it towards the array disk. A stream of pitch-black, viscous evil energy surged from the disk, swallowing the piece of flesh and blood in one gulp. The hundreds of Patriarchal Council elders standing on the formation simultaneously spat out a stream of vital essence blood, which the black evil energy swept up entirely. With a loud whoosh, a black stream of energy, dozens of zhang thick, shot up into the sky from the array disk.

Countless grotesque and terrifying illusory beasts, massive in stature, flew out of the black energy. These beasts included three-headed flying dragons, six-headed monstrous pythons, lizards bearing several pairs of wings, or tigers with scorpion stingers on their tails—an endless variety of bizarre creatures. At a glance, no two monsters appeared the same. These numerous beast phantoms, shrieking with discordant howls, surged out of the black energy, twisting their bodies—each at least several hundred meters long—and slamming violently against the surrounding void.

Streams of colored light spat from the beasts’ mouths, causing the surrounding void to shake violently. Dozens of Taiyin stars were struck by the beams of light, shattering large portions of the Taiyin energy that formed them. The Zhou Tian Taiyin Array trembled, and all the Taiyin stars in the void quivered simultaneously.

Gu Xiechen let out a cold laugh and pointed his finger. The one hundred and eight Spirit Veins transformed into giant white dragons that soared into the sky, sweeping up all the water vapor within a ten-thousand-li radius and funneling it into the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array. He rapidly shifted his hand seals and cast several streams of spiritual light towards the white dragons formed by the veins. The veins, imbued with an incalculable amount of spiritual energy, shattered violently. Great masses of white spiritual energy rapidly surged in all directions, along with the carried water vapor, and were absorbed by the Zhou Tian Taiyin stars until not a single drop remained.

The simultaneous collapse of one hundred and eight massive Spirit Veins released a shocking amount of spiritual energy in that instant. The volume of the Zhou Tian Taiyin stars rapidly expanded nearly a thousandfold; every star shone with brilliant light that illuminated the nine heavens. The radiance made the void snow-bright. Following Gu Xiechen’s chant, the Taiyin Divine Light projected from the stars thickened considerably; each ray was now several zhang in diameter and stretched for ten thousand zhang, streaking across the void and violently colliding with the various light beams spat out by the monstrous beasts.

The Taiyin Divine Light, being the ultimate cold of Yin, was the primordial pure Yin energy of the cosmos, much like pure Yang fire. It held immense power to restrain and slay all manner of Yin, evil, and ghostly entities.

The infinite beasts released from the array disk were all derived from the souls of the unqualified blood descendants the elder controlling the disk had refined in the most malicious way. A venerable immortal treasure had thus been transformed into a strange artifact reeking of evil energy. Although the monstrous entities were powerful—millions of them possessing at least the cultivation of a peak Soul Transformation stage—their essence was ultimately that of Yin ghosts and demonic specters.

The Taiyin Divine Light, carrying the chilling breath of the extreme Yin, struck downward. Countless beast phantoms dissolved in the near-flame-like boiling of the Taiyin Divine Light.

The elder controlling the array disk spat black blood from all seven of his orifices. These beast souls, intrinsically linked to his life force, were destroyed, and he himself suffered a severe injury. The golden Taiji Eight Trigrams diagram was visibly dimming and on the verge of collapse. Three Patriarchal Council elders instantly flew forward and took control of the array disk, replacing the injured elder.

The mana of all the Patriarchal Council elders poured into the array disk. Having recognized the formidable nature of the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array, they knew that individually, they might all perish within the formation. Thus, they threw caution to the wind, pouring their power into the golden array disk without reservation, striving to use an array to break an array and conquer the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array. With their cultivation levels and their absolute numerical superiority, Gu Xiechen and his allies were no match for them.

A ball of purple energy surged from the array disk. The purple mist quickly drifted over the giant tortoise’s head, drawing out a massive azure sword, thousands of chi long, from the tortoise’s mouth. Upon the sword’s emergence, the azure lotuses, which had been steadily forced back, suddenly surged with renewed vigor. Streaks of sharp sword Qi permeated the void. The sword light unleashed by Raskov and the others fiercely clashed dozens of times with the formless sword Qi. Raskov and the others cried out in alarm as the immortal swords they controlled were sliced into fragments by the formless Qi, leaving them with minor internal injuries as well.

The three elders controlling the array disk chanted incantations simultaneously, cautiously maneuvering the gigantic treasure sword as it slowly lifted into the air, preparing to cleave down upon a nearby Taiyin star.

At that very moment, Gu Xiechen, employing a somewhat unconventional tactic, released a fully charged Death Star Vessel from the Taiyin Profound Pearl. This vessel’s main cannon was packed with the entire stored energy of two First-Grade Divine Crystals. Had the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns and the others not thoroughly reinforced and perfected the protective formation surrounding Gu Xiechen’s personal Death Star Vessel, the backlash from the energy of just two First-Grade Divine Crystals would have completely annihilated it.

Before the Patriarchal Council elders could even fully swing the azure sword, the fully charged Death Star Vessel spewed forth a black torrent, a hundred zhang thick, directly at the golden array disk!

This was the full-power strike equivalent to two Peak-Stage Lower-Grade Golden Immortals! To be precise, the transition from peak Sixth-Rank Celestial Immortal to Lower-Grade Golden Immortal represented a hundredfold leap in terms of energy magnitude. Therefore, this black torrent was equivalent to the combined full-power strikes of two hundred peak Sixth-Rank Celestial Immortals!

The interior of the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array suddenly plunged into darkness as all the Taiyin stars lost their light. The devastating black torrent swept across the area, and the massive golden array diagram emitted terrifying cracking sounds. The giant golden tortoise let out a mournful cry to the heavens; the light of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams on its back gradually dimmed, and cracks the width of a thumb began to appear in several of the palace diagrams.

All the Patriarchal Council elders spat blood simultaneously. It was precisely at the moment they pooled all their strength that Gu Xiechen delivered the overloading, fatal blow using the Death Star Vessel. The elders, with their profound cultivation and formidable physiques, managed to withstand the terrifying strike, but the unified flow of their mana was forcibly broken. The rebound of their power inflicted grievous damage upon their physical bodies. Some elders whose bodies were slightly more fragile developed large fissures, and black blood continuously erupted from them.

“Ju Ling!” Gu Xiechen, who controlled everything within the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array, suddenly roared.

On the ground, the giant spirit, Ju Ling, had just hoisted the severed heads of the last few Patriarchal Council blood descendants on his colossal axe. He had finished slaughtering every member of the Patriarchal Council bloodline within the castle.

Hearing Gu Xiechen’s roar, Ju Ling bellowed and charged into the Zhou Tian Taiyin Array. He dropped his twin axes and opened his arms, reaching out to embrace a Taiyin star.

Gu Xiechen shifted his mind. Hundreds of nearby Taiyin stars simultaneously spewed forth concentrated spiritual energy, all injecting into Ju Ling’s body. In a mere instant, energy equivalent to nearly three giant Spirit Veins was transferred to Ju Ling, stimulating his body to expand rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he swelled to a hundred li in height. Veins like water dragons bulged beneath his skin, and his muscle masses twitched violently at an extremely high frequency. Ju Ling snorted two plumes of white vapor from his nostrils and brought his massive fists down heavily towards the cracking golden array disk.

Boreas and Mohe let out fierce cries, simultaneously forming Buddha seals with both hands, launching vast numbers of black-and-white swastika seals toward the golden array disk.

The people of the Blazing Flame Clan simultaneously manifested their Demon-Slaying Golden Forms, gambling everything as they spewed forth their Natal Relics, which shot out like streaks of white rainbow light.

Gu YeChen let out a long roar, and the Haotian Mirror soared above his head, accompanied by a sound like tearing silk. A beam of pure light blasted out from the Haotian Mirror, striking the golden formation disk with the dull thunder of rolling storm clouds.

A hazy, clear shadow emerged from beside Gu BeiChen. Mao E held the Guanghan Mirror in her left hand, pouring all her immortal power into it, activating a massive expanse of pure white, hexagonal snowflakes that lashed out like a howling blizzard. If one got close enough, they could clearly see the faint phantom image of a lush osmanthus tree within each palm-sized flake. Vast swathes of pale, greenish moonlight coiled around these snowflakes, tempering them until they were as sharp as blades, their speed of flight as inscrutable as the passage of time itself.

Following closely behind Mao E were thousands of Yin-Ghost maidens, each armed with a longbow. They drew their bows simultaneously, unleashing a final, maximum-effort strike before swiftly retreating into the Taiyin Xuan Pearl. Thousands of streams of greyish-white cold light, each strike equivalent to that of a Third Grade Heavenly Immortal, spanned the void, slamming down hard upon the already tottering golden formation disk.

“Mo Tang Long Gen!”

The three Grand Elders holding the formation disk watched the sky fill with devastatingly powerful incoming attacks, their faces turning instantly ashen. They looked up to the heavens and shrieked madly, urging the azure sword embedded in the formation disk—which already showed countless hairline cracks—to cleave violently toward a Taiyin Star in the void.

Brilliant light flashed, and the entire Zhou Tian Tai Yin Formation shattered with a roar. A single sword strike, condensed from the combined power of hundreds of Grand Elders, annihilated the Zhou Tian Tai Yin Formation. Terrifying sword energy ripped through the void, striking Gu YeChen directly. A mournful sword slash cleaved from Gu YeChen’s right shoulder straight down to his left flank. This one clean cut severed Gu YeChen’s body in two.

Innumerable wisps of black and yellow energy intertwined at the rupture where Gu YeChen was split, forcefully binding his bisected body together. Dense streams of Dao-Er-Duan erupted from the wounds. Severely injured and bleeding, Gu YeChen’s physical body was rapidly regenerating, yet the infinite sword energy contained within the azure sword raged within him, incessantly ravaging his body, constantly destroying his meridians, blood vessels, viscera, and bones. Nevertheless, thanks to the formidable efficacy of the Profound Yellow Imperishable Body, although Gu YeChen’s physical form hovered on the brink of collapse, it never truly disintegrated.

The hundreds of Grand Elders were reduced to ashes. Facing the unified, full-power strike condensed by Gu YeChen and his allies, survival was impossible for them. Especially since the Zhou Tian Tai Yin Formation had bound over half of their strength, the combat environment itself had been fundamentally unfair to them.

The Giant Spirit God’s arms tore open, spilling vast amounts of golden blood like fountains. He hopped around on the ground, howling in agony—the backlash from the golden formation disk had been too intense.

Prajna, Mo He, and Mao E, however, were largely unharmed, save for the immense depletion of their strength. They had only executed long-range attacks and suffered no direct damage.

The people of the Blazing Flame Clan, including Laskov, collapsed weakly onto the ground, their complexions sickly gray, their vital essence severely damaged. In their desperate attempt to annihilate the Grand Elders in one fell swoop, they had recklessly sacrificed their Natal Relics! As a result, the great formation dissolved, and all their Relics were destroyed in the massive explosion. Their Buddhist Golden Body divine ability was more than half-ruined, and their cultivation had been diminished by at least forty percent. The fact that they were still breathing was nothing short of a sheer miracle.

Countless greyish-white banners and flags in the void gradually disintegrated, scattering into wisps of pure Taiyin Qi. Thick dark clouds gathered overhead, and heavy rain roared down, splashing countless white droplets onto the ground. The Bloodline Secret Fortress trembled violently. Massive fissures appeared across the earth. The immense shockwave from the collapse of the Zhou Tian Tai Yin Formation shattered the very foundations of the fortress; this artificial metal continent was breaking apart.

Gu YeChen laughed several times toward the sky, taking a deep, ragged breath. He spat out a mouthful of blood and was about to speak when a sudden flash of insight struck him, causing him to shout, “Blast it! Watch out!”

With the collapse of the hundreds of Grand Elders and their formation, Gu YeChen had become momentarily overjoyed, forgetting that the formation still contained the Elder Mo Tang Long Gen, who possessed the highest cultivation and was protected by the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner! The cry of alarm had barely left his lips when a strong light suddenly shot out from between several disintegrating Taiyin banners in the void. The Grand Elder, his facial muscles contorted into a mess, burst forth with a heaven-shaking roar, lunging toward Gu YeChen like a bolt of lightning.

The old man held the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner in his left hand and a great axe wreathed in a strange mix of black, red, and white light in his right, bringing it down in a savage overhead chop aimed directly at Gu YeChen’s skull.

Gu YeChen’s body had not yet regenerated; he lacked even the strength to move, forced to watch as the axe, radiating bone-chilling killing intent, descended before him.

In less time than it takes to speak, the Giant Spirit God, who had been hopping erratically on the ground, flung himself forward and slammed into Gu YeChen, knocking him flying a great distance. With a resounding crack, sparks flew everywhere as the Grand Elder’s axe cleaved from the Giant Spirit God’s lower abdomen all the way down to his groin, ripping open a colossal wound hundreds of feet long across his body. Although the Giant Spirit God’s muscles and internal organs were cleaved open by that single blow, the incomparably sharp axe could not penetrate his bones, instead striking sparks against them.

“That’ll teach you, you old dog!”

In agony, the Giant Spirit God’s eyes, large as water vats, shot out like a string of cannonballs. Almost instinctively, he thrust a leg out, slamming it hard against the Grand Elder’s chest.

Golden light flashed from the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner, and countless clusters of green lotuses gently cradled the Giant Spirit God’s massive foot. An irresistible, powerful counter-force erupted from the lotus light. The Giant Spirit God cried out in pain as the bones from his foot to his lower leg were pulverized into dust by this recoil. Even though he had fused with the original bones of the Outer Realm’s Absolute Sun Bone Demon, he was no match for the innate supreme treasure like the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner, which easily inflicted grievous injury upon him.

The Grand Elder reacted with frightening speed. He hissed and brought his axe down on the Giant Spirit God’s right leg in a reverse swing. The Giant Spirit God’s right leg bones were already reduced to powder, and the sharp axe tore through the muscle and pulverized bone as if through mud, cleanly severing his entire lower leg.

“Curse your venerable mother, I am useless. Guess I need to go recover again!”

Tons of blood sprayed from the Giant Spirit God’s ruptured abdomen. Clutching his split belly with one hand and holding his severed lower leg in the other, he transformed into a streak of purple light and fled back into Gu YeChen’s sea of consciousness.

A rapid series of thump-thump-thump impacts sounded as Prajina and Mo He lunged toward the Grand Elder. In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of dense blows hammered against his body. Black and white light flashed rapidly, and the heavy impact forced the Grand Elder to stagger backward repeatedly, yet he could not break through the defense of the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner. Even against the attack driven by therules (alien laws) of the Outer Realm, the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner, worthy of being one of this world’s supreme innate treasures, maintained an impenetrable defense for the Grand Elder.

Prajna and Mo He, unable to breach the defense after tens of thousands of punches, spread their great wings to gain momentum for a second wave of attacks. Just then, the Grand Elder suddenly spat out a brilliant golden light from his mouth. The single beam of light quickly transformed into two immense flood dragons thousands of feet long, which lashed out with a sharp whoosh, coiling around Prajina and Mo He’s bodies.

As the flood dragons made contact, Prajina and Mo He felt all their strength drain away, unable even to blink. They dropped to the ground like stones, completely paralyzed. What bound the two brothers were two golden, gleaming ropes covered in flowing streams of rosy runes, clearly some rare, exotic treasures.

“Huh? Dragon Binding Ropes?” Gu YeChen cried out in surprise, then suddenly roared with laughter. Chanting a few incantations, Gu YeChen pointed sharply at the Dragon Binding Ropes, barking the command, “Go!” Immediately, the two ropes detached from the brothers, merged into one, and transformed into a single golden flood dragon thousands of feet long, which coiled and whipped toward the stunned Grand Elder.

A flash of gold light erupted, and clusters of green lotuses flew up to firmly block the Dragon Binding Ropes. Although the Dragon Binding Ropes were ancient exotic treasures, they were significantly inferior to an innate supreme treasure like the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner. They couldn’t even approach the Grand Elder’s body.

“You actually know the secret incantation to control this treasure! Even so, you will all die here today!”

The Grand Elder roared repeatedly. He violently broke free of the Dragon Binding Ropes entangled just outside the green lotus golden light, transforming into a bright beam that shot high into the sky.

Gu YeChen snorted coldly, reached back, and snatched the Dragon Binding Ropes, tucking the ancient, renowned exotic treasure into his sleeve. Treasures like the Dragon Binding Ropes could be used freely once the spell was known, requiring no refinement. Possessing the residual consciousness of an ancient immortal, and with the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns occasionally sharing secrets of the world's creation with him, Gu YeChen had long since memorized the incantation for the Dragon Binding Ropes! Not just the Dragon Binding Ropes, but many ancient magical artifacts driven by incantations could no longer harm Gu YeChen in the slightest!

Watching the Grand Elder soar upward, Gu YeChen commanded sharply, “Mao E, tend to Laskov and the others! Prajina, Mo He, be careful yourselves!”

Taking a deep breath, Gu YeChen flipped his left hand. The Chaos Bell transformed into a speck of light and shot toward the sky, ringing thirty-six times in rapid succession. Dense, flowing patterns of chaotic light spread everywhere, further shaking the already disintegrating Bloodline Secret Fortress into utter ruin. Explosions began erupting in countless locations, and piercing screams echoed from the distance. As the Chaos Bell continued to toll, the Bloodline descendants within the fortress were all affected by the sound, falling to the ground one after another.

Even the golden light projected by the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner was slightly nullified by the chaotic light patterns. The deep, heavy bell tones constantly assaulted the Grand Elder’s ears, shaking his body so violently he nearly fell from the sky.

Sneering several times, Gu YeChen also ascended. His divine sense swiftly swept over the ancient treasures gifted to him by the Roman people. He retrieved a magical artifact, about a foot tall, made from an unknown material that resembled a pinwheel fashioned from thin paper. Chanting a few incantations, Gu YeChen hurled the paper pinwheel into the void. A clear, resounding noise immediately filled the sky as the tiny pinwheel instantly manifested thousands of identical replicas, each about ten feet high.

A sharp whistling sound arose as the pinwheel blades spun without wind. Infinite quantities of black smoke and toxic gas jetted out from within. Faint glints of cold light shimmered within the black smoke—these were countless razor-sharp blades, shaped like inch-long reeds and thin as paper, shooting out from the pinwheels with a piercing whistle.

This paper pinwheel was also a famous artifact from antiquity. The black smoke and toxic gas were excellent at confusing the eyes and damaging the primordial spirit, while the sharp blades could cleave mountains and shatter seas, destroying physical bodies. Thousands of pinwheels spinning together created an effect like the heavens cracking and the earth splitting. Within a hundred-mile radius, there was nothing but swirling black smoke and flashing blade-light; those with weaker divine sense couldn't even tell north from south.

A large number of Death Star Cruisers and White Wing Warships in the distance had noticed something was wrong and were urgently rushing toward the conflict zone.

Gu YeChen sneered, waved his hand back, and shouted sternly, “Go attend to your own business! Eat as much as you like. You don’t need my help today!”

The Chaos Bell, hovering high in the sky and ringing furiously, let out a cheer. Like a hound suddenly unleashed, it charged toward the Death Star Cruisers and White Wing Warships. A black pillar of light shot out from the mouth of the Chaos Bell. Wherever the black light passed, all warships below the level of the White Wing Cruisers shattered into dust, swallowed by the Chaos Bell along with the Bloodline descendants inside them.

In the blink of an eye, the Chaos Bell’s body expanded to nearly a meter in size, and the black light it projected grew even mightier, covering an ever-widening area.

Dozens of Death Star Cruisers rushing toward the area were terrified beyond measure. They immediately began charging their main cannons, preparing to attack the Chaos Bell.

However, the Chaos Bell was an Outer Realm innate supreme treasure, a primal, chaotic spirit entity born before the heavens and earth were fully formed. Although its physical body had been destroyed, the Chaos Bell Spirit was unharmed. Its sentience was extraordinarily powerful—even ordinary immortals did not possess spiritual power as potent as the Chaos Bell Spirit. Seeing so many Death Star Cruisers preparing to use their main cannons, the Chaos Bell Spirit suddenly spat out tens of thousands of Formation-Breaking Curses from its mouth!

The Formation-Breaking Curses that Gu YeChen had just used were perfectly mimicked by the Chaos Bell Spirit. A massive wave of talismans slammed onto the Death Star Cruisers. The dozens of vessels in the vanguard instantly disintegrated, swiftly swallowed by the Chaos Bell to evolve into a wisp of energy strengthening itself.

“Today, I shall exterminate your entire lineage of the Elder Council!”

Gu YeChen summoned the Haotian Mirror and shot out a beam of green light toward the Grand Elder.

The green light projected by the Haotian Mirror collided with the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner. The banner suddenly wavered, abruptly detaching from the Elder’s hand. It obediently flew to Gu YeChen’s side and willingly merged into his body!

“Magnificent!”

The Grand Elder’s face turned deathly pale with fright, but Gu YeChen shouted in triumph and threw out the Azure Dragon Seal!

Prajna and Mo He rushed forward like two phantoms. Before the Grand Elder could clearly see their movements, thousands of heavy blows struck his body in rapid succession.

The green light from the Haotian Mirror stabilized the Elder’s form; even with his peak Sixth Grade Heavenly Immortal cultivation, he could not move an inch. Prajina and Mo He beat his body until bone and sinew cracked, and the Azure Dragon Seal landed one decisive blow that completely caved in his skull.

With a resounding boom, the Elder’s soul, tightly fused with his physical body, disintegrated, and his body dissolved into fragments.

A flash of black and yellow light enveloped Gu YeChen. He spat out a large clot of congealed blood, and the body injured moments ago by the azure sword was restored to perfection!

“The Elder Council amounts to nothing more than this!”

Having slain so many powerful experts from the Elder Council in one fell swoop, boundless confidence surged within Gu YeChen! Below the level of Heavenly Immortal, he no longer needed to fear anyone!

A roar, almost frantic, suddenly echoed from the distant void. The voice of the Three-Headed Dragon Demon, Mo Tang Long Gen, resounded throughout that region of space.

“Who dares harm my descendant? You will pay a terrible price!”

“My children, I can already sense your presence… Closer, closer, someone is about to arrive at the moment of crisis…”

“Insolent beings, let me show you the wrath of Mo Tang Long Gen! My child, allow me to lend you a hand!”

An overwhelmingly powerful spatial pressure slammed down from above. Gu YeChen and the others suddenly trembled, forced to their knees by the immense weight. The pressure was so terrifying that the dozen weakest members of Laskov’s clan had their bodies crushed instantly, and even their hastily escaping primordial spirits were utterly annihilated.

A piercing shriek erupted from Laskov as he cried out in confusion, “What kind of monstrous thing is this?”

Before his words faded, a tiny black hole suddenly appeared in the void, and the light within it twisted momentarily. A tall, burly figure suddenly rushed out of the black hole.

A wave of suffocating malevolent aura descended. Struck by this aura, Gu YeChen immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, sending it flying far away.

The Three-Headed Dragon Demon, Mo Tang Long Gen, used immense magical power to teleport one of his descendants, located in some distant corner of the cosmos, back here!

“My child, slay these people before you! They have just annihilated many of my beloved offspring!”

A cold, ruthless voice echoed across the starry expanse.