Above Cloud Splendor Mountain, a Taiyi Golden Immortal held a small, three-legged tripod, spewing down boiling water that resembled shining, liquid mercury.

This boiling water was intensely hot. A few minor demons from Cloud Splendor Mountain once tossed several ingots of specialized alloy outside the mountain-protecting formation; the alloy ingots, upon being immersed in the silvery boiling water, instantly evaporated into gas, soon to be absorbed into the liquid.

The boiling water was incredibly dense. Mo Yue Long Gen, the demonic beast guarding Cloud Splendor Mountain, once relied on his thick hide and tough flesh to charge upward, intending to sweep a stream of the boiling water toward the immortal in the sky. However, he never anticipated the immense pressure contained within that water. His body staggered violently and he was actually forced straight down to the ground by the liquid, gaining a massive lump on his head.

Having absorbed a portion of the Sky Moth's essence, and possessing an excellent foundation himself, Mo Yue Long Gen had already reached the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm. His physical body was formidable, his strength unparalleled, placing him among the absolute elite of Taiyi Golden Immortals.

Yet, a Taiyi Golden Immortal wielding a powerful magical artifact was a completely different concept from one without one—it was the difference between an armed adult holding an assault rifle and one facing a fight empty-handed. Mo Yue Long Gen had become overly arrogant and suffered a great humiliation for it.

Furious, Mo Yue Long Gen squatted beneath the memorial archway at the foot of Cloud Splendor Mountain, rubbing the lump on his forehead with his right hand, glaring through gritted teeth at the swaggering immortals hovering overhead. He deeply missed his natal artifact, lamenting the countless immortal artifacts he had devoured over the years. If he had a few suitable weapons at hand, he would have already charged out and slaughtered those bugs.

With a loud, grating kacha as his teeth ground together, Mo Yue Long Gen suddenly slammed his head violently against the nearby archway, shattering the massive structure into dust.

Hundreds of his bloodline descendants, lined up neatly in formation behind him, stared expectantly at Mo Yue Long Gen. If their progenitor could not withstand the attack from the enemy’s supreme immortal artifact, there was no hope for them. Although the weakest among these descendants was at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm, they certainly could not withstand the enemy's magical treasures with sheer physical might!

“Hmph, I’m so unwilling to accept this!”

Mo Yue Long Gen’s eyeballs darted around rapidly. After glancing quickly to his left and right, he saw no outsiders except his descendants. Gritting his teeth, he stood up and probed around in his throat for a long time. Suddenly feeling nauseous, he spat out a large quantity of thick, black fluid, filling the surroundings with a stench that rose to the heavens.

He pointed a finger at the black liquid, and a black pearl the size of a human head slowly floated up from the mire.

Mo Yue Long Gen grinned triumphantly. The monkey had stolen his accompanying natal artifact, but the pearl formed from his own mother-body was unknown to the monkey. Over the years, he had refined his mother-body to his will, and by incorporating his innate fusion ability, he had merged his internal core with the mother-body, making this pearl even more potent.

In fact, this black pearl was Mo Yue Long Gen’s true natal treasure, even more powerful than that black staff! However, because his internal core was fused within it, any significant damage to the pearl would result in a severe drain on Mo Yue Long Gen's vital energy, potentially even leading to his demise.

Weighing the heavy pearl, Mo Yue Long Gen blinked his triangular eyes and glared viciously at the mid-grade Taiyi Golden Immortal hovering in the air, who was smugly spraying torrents of silver boiling water, causing the Cloud Splendor Mountain protection array to shudder violently. “Based on my years of devouring immortal artifacts, this is no ordinary immortal tool! It must be a rare treasure passed down from the Ancient Era!” Mo Yue Long Gen narrowed his eyes, calculating.

“Such an Ancient Era treasure demands an immense requirement from its user. I don’t believe a mere mid-grade Taiyi Golden Immortal like you can operate it freely. The immortals around you hail from various other factions, and with the Two-Heart Ghost Saint lurking nearby, I doubt you dare to drive this artifact to its absolute limit.” “Wait until you pull back to rest, hehe!”

As he was laughing triumphantly, the immortal high in the sky indeed ceased his technique when his immortal energy was halved, took a deep breath, and slowly retreated backward.

A few nearby Taiyi Golden Immortals glanced at him, their eyes flickering momentarily, before flying a short distance further away to avoid suspicion. Before the words could fully register, Mo Yue Long Gen suddenly transformed into his true form and shot into the sky.

What a peerless Demon Dragon! His colossal body, spanning millions of miles, stunned the immortals in the void into stupefaction. Countless immortal lightning bolts and spells rained down upon Mo Yue Long Gen, yet they failed to leave even a single trace on his scales; myriad immortal artifacts struck him, only managing to spark large showers of fire against his armor.

Nearly ten thousand Heavenly Immortals were swept away by a single flap of Mo Yue Long Gen’s wing, all flying far away, broken in body and spirit, vomiting blood. Hundreds of Golden Immortals were struck by a stream of black water spat from his maw. Those unfortunate Golden Immortals melted like candles in a raging fire, their bodies rapidly dissolving into pus and blood, their very divine souls contaminated by the black water, leaving not even a shred of true spirit capable of escape.

The dozen or so strongest Taiyi Golden Immortals struck simultaneously, hastily unleashing their most powerful artifacts against Mo Yue Long Gen. But this fellow had swallowed countless ancient immortal artifacts passed down from antiquity; the dozen artifacts that neared his head were swallowed whole in a single gulp. The black water and black miasma within him were the most defiling things imaginable. The dozen Taiyi Golden Immortals simultaneously spat blood and retreated. Their artifacts had been seized by Mo Yue Long Gen, and a wisp of soul essence attached to each artifact was polluted and devoured, causing their own physical bodies to suffer grave injuries.

Mo Yue Long Gen didn't spare a glance for these insignificant insects who posed no threat to him; he lunged solely toward the immortal he had set his sights on.

Just as the cunning Mo Yue Long Gen had surmised, the three-legged tripod in that immortal’s hand was an extremely rare Ancient Immortal Artifact, akin to the Nine Dragon Heaven-Piercing Ladder, personally forged by the great divine powers of the Ancient Era—fundamentally different from contemporary supreme immortal artifacts.

Immortal artifacts forged by Ancient Era great powers, even if not innate creations, typically incorporated traces of the rules and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, granting them immense power. However, such Ancient Immortal Artifacts placed extremely high demands on their wielders; unless one possessed the magical power equivalent to a Daluo Golden Immortal or higher, even refining such an artifact was no easy feat.

This unfortunate Taiyi Golden Immortal screamed in terror as the incomparably huge Mo Yue Long Gen rammed toward him. In desperation, he frantically unleashed dozens of immortal lightning bolts and nearly a hundred immortal spell restrictions. But with a slight movement of his body, Mo Yue Long Gen shattered them all into dust. His massive head rapidly approached the immortal, and a tremendous suction force spread swiftly from his mouth.

A cry of despair tore from the Taiyi Golden Immortal’s throat. He suddenly spat blood from all seven orifices, utilizing a desperate secret technique that nearly burned his Nascent Soul to spur his cultivation nearly a hundredfold. He finally managed to force the three-legged tripod forth, moving it with immense difficulty.

Mo Yue Long Gen’s eyes flared crimson; he recognized the terrifying power of the three-legged cauldron. The silver liquid was a terrifying substance that even his own body could not withstand. He immediately exerted all his strength, hurtling forward fiercely, and spat the black pearl the size of a human head from his mouth. It whistled out, trailing a black light, and slammed fiercely into the Taiyi Golden Immortal’s chest.

At that precise moment, the three-legged tripod tilted slightly downward, and a single drop of silver liquid, the size of a thumb, slowly descended, landing squarely on Mo Yue Long Gen’s black pearl. Mo Yue Long Gen let out a piercing shriek, and several thin cracks instantly spiderwebbed across the pearl. All over his body, his black armor burst open with loud crackling sounds, and copious amounts of thick, black blood jetted out from within him. “It hurts like hell! If you were a woman, I’d flip you over and defile every single hole on your body!”

Mo Yue Long Gen cursed crudely, forcing back the simultaneous pain tearing through his body and soul, and swallowed the three-legged tripod in one gulp.

The Taiyi Golden Immortal, struck by the natal pearl, exploded into countless fine particles of flesh and blood that sprayed outward, much like a sandcastle collapsing. However, the resulting blood and flesh were all grayish-white; the essence of every particle of flesh, along with the immortal’s divine soul, had been consumed by Mo Yue Long Gen’s natal pearl. “Got it, hahahaha!”

Mo Yue Long Gen’s eyes glowed with excitement. He excitedly reverted to his human form, sucked his pearl back into his mouth, and smugly gripped the three-legged tripod, soaring and dancing about randomly. He joyfully charged toward the interior of Cloud Splendor Mountain.

The divine abilities of this three-legged tripod were even more profound than his natal artifact. His black staff possessed nothing mystical beyond extreme weight and hardness; by comparison, he naturally favored this three-legged cauldron. Especially since the tripod had caused him so much trouble, he admired its power even more.

Just as Mo Yue Long Gen was about to dart back into Cloud Splendor Mountain, a ghostly shadow drifted and rushed back from afar, snatching fiercely at his neck.

A clone of the Two-Heart Ghost Saint—a skeletal monster clad in armor, resembling an ancient general with bleached bones—screeched, “What state is my main body in? Call out Daoist Wu Long! Call out Old Man Wu Luo! Were they plotting against me?”

Mo Yue Long Gen snorted coldly. His neck instantly thickened to three times its original girth, and black scales nearly an inch thick erupted across the skin. The Two-Heart Ghost Saint’s claw failed to tear through Mo Yue Long Gen’s neck; instead, it shattered its own digits.

Staring blankly at his comminuted claw, the Two-Heart Ghost Saint looked at Mo Yue Long Gen in disbelief. Mo Yue Long Gen chuckled, raised the three-legged tripod in his hand, and smashed it fiercely onto the forehead of the Two-Heart Ghost Saint. A large spray of silver boiling water erupted, dousing the Ghost Saint entirely.

This boiling water—its origin unknown—was extremely hot, immensely heavy, and possessed a potent force of evil expulsion, making it the natural nemesis of ghost cultivators like the Two-Heart Ghost Saint. The Ghost Saint let out a mournful wail, and this clone burst into flames like a straw doll splashed with gasoline encountering an open flame.

The Two-Heart Ghost Saint thrashed about, dragging a body wreathed in white flames as it fled in panic. Before it could travel a hundred miles, the clone was incinerated to ash. A wisp of soul essence that tried to escape the clone was immediately enveloped by the white flames, and with a sharp ghostly shriek, it was refined into nothingness.

Mo Yue Long Gen smugly wiggled his hips a few times toward the remaining clones of the Two-Heart Ghost Saint hidden in the distant black mist. He roared triumphantly, “You dead ghost, if you have any female clones, feel free to send them over! I’ll show you what’s what!”

Mo Yue Long Gen howled shamelessly, “As long as it’s a female body, I can use it as a mother-body for my bloodline descendants. As for what gender soul resides within that female body—I don’t care!”

He pounded his chest forcefully and laughed uproariously at the sky, “I only love female flesh! Souls and such sentimental nonsense can go to hell!”

The black mist trembled violently, and a sharp, cold voice echoed from afar: “You are finished!”

Mo Yue Long Gen froze, looking toward the black mist with surprise, and nodded. “There really is a female clone? Hmm, don't fall into my hands! Hehehe, hahahaha, after all these years, my bloodline descendants’ mother-bodies have all been living females. What kind of offspring would result if this ghost cultivator’s body combined with me? Ghost Dragons? Zombie Dragons?”

A strange laugh emanated from within the Cloud Splendor Mountain protection array. Maha pushed more than half his body out of the mist and chuckled sinisterly, “Old Demon, you’d better hurry up and give birth to a pile of Zombie Dragons. That would truly be a miracle in the history of evolution!”

Mo Yue Long Gen’s eyes lit up. He cast a greedy, longing look at the black mist before reluctantly burrowing into the protection array.

The Two-Heart Ghost Saint was a high-grade Daluo Golden Immortal; its clones were not so easy to deal with. Successfully eliminating one clone by trickery was already luck; Mo Yue Long Gen wasn't foolish enough to believe he could truly handle the attacks of the Ghost Saint’s other clones.

The nearly ten thousand Heavenly Immortals who had been blasted away by Mo Yue Long Gen staggered back to their positions. The dozen or so Daluo Golden Immortals who had lost their most vital artifacts were yelling themselves hoarse in fury at them. Words like ‘trash,’ ‘idiot,’ and ‘damned lowlife’ were ceaseless.

Just as these Taiyi Golden Immortals were thoroughly enjoying their tirade, the Two-Heart Ghost Saint suddenly sighed faintly, “Fairy Bai Yuan is dead, and True Man Ding is also dead. You were invited by this old ghost, so why aren’t you dead?” After a few eerie laughs, a vast, blood-colored banner suddenly surged out from the black mist surrounding the Two-Heart Ghost Saint, instantly transforming into a crimson fog that enveloped the Taiyi Golden Immortals and Heavenly Immortals. A spine-chilling sound of chewing echoed from within the fog. After a few breaths, when the Two-Heart Ghost Saint retracted the banner, the immortals and their artifacts had all been consumed, leaving not even a trace of residue behind.

The black mist writhed a few times, and a palace-clad woman of breathtaking beauty slowly emerged. Though her appearance was incomparably alluring, her pale green skin and ghastly green eyes instantly betrayed her identity as a ghost cultivator.

Gazing coldly at Cloud Splendor Mountain, the woman sneered, “Listen well! Hand over this old ghost’s main body immediately, and I will leave. Otherwise, the immortals you just killed were sacrificial pawns I carefully invited. Their backers are powerful, even Old Ghost Yuan Luo cannot afford to provoke so many of them!”

Prajna slowly flew out of the protection array, cautiously stopping at the edge of the cloud bank.

Chanting a Buddhist invocation, Prajna spoke in a low voice, “Whether we killed them or not is irrelevant now. By what pretext did you invite them?”

The woman proudly puffed out her chest and chuckled, “The pretexts varied. For instance, your mountain holds countless spiritual herbs, countless primordial materials, numerous innate artifacts, and many virgins and youths with extraordinary bones. Lust, wealth, and vice move the heart. This old ghost prescribed the right medicine, and naturally, people came!” Prajna frowned, speaking coldly, “Your main body, Senior…”

The woman interrupted Prajna, speaking fiercely, “My main body must be in trouble! Call out Wu Luo! Call out Daoist Xie Long! If they don't show themselves, don't blame this old ghost for destroying everyone in Cloud Splendor Mountain!” Prajna shook his head helplessly and turned back toward Cloud Splendor Mountain.

Gu Xie Chen was currently rescuing Fu Ya in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Heavenly Venerate Yuan Luo had become a piece of meat on Gu Xie Chen’s chopping block. As for the Two-Heart Ghost Saint’s main body, it had already been beaten into dust. There was nothing more to say.

The woman glared venomously at Prajna’s retreating back, her long eyebrows deeply furrowed.

She vaguely sensed that Prajna and Maha had been with her main body, but due to the unique nature of the Two-Heart Ghost Saint’s cultivation method, its clones were not fully aware of the events happening around the main body. This woman couldn't be certain whether Prajna and Maha had truly appeared near the Two-Heart Ghost Saint.

Shaking her head in frustration, the woman muttered under her breath, “If I had known this, I shouldn't have cultivated that Fickle-Hearted Soul-Shattering Yin Art back then!”

Hesitating for a moment, the woman waved her hand, and the blood-colored banner surged forth. Boundless scarlet mist churned, enveloping the entire planet of Wole within it. Countless ghost fires and yin thunderbolts the size of human heads poured down, relentlessly battering the Cloud Splendor Mountain protection array.

Silver light flashed above Cloud Splendor Mountain as vast sheets of silver mist shifted and moved, solidly protecting the massive planet of Wole. No matter what myriad methods or secret arts the woman possessed, she could not shake the great array of Cloud Splendor Mountain.

The 108 Star Lords of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend displayed their true forms within Cloud Splendor Mountain, each looking up at the futile blood mist in the sky with cold, mocking smiles.

With them seated as the foundation, reinforced by the inexhaustible stellar power of the 108 Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Stars, it was not impossible to break the protection array, but no power below that of a high-grade Daluo Golden Immortal stood a chance.

Ancient Star Lords were truly Ancient Star Lords. Even though their current power was less than one trillionth