"The Demon Lord of Doxuan? How did that person get here? Has that Supreme Primordial Demon gone mad and released him?"

Chong Xuan froze, and after only a moment of thought, his eyes filled with sheer terror.

"The Demon Lord of Doxuan? The one who mastered the Divine Ability of Doxuan Seizure? He has emerged again?"

In an instant, Chong Xuan's face turned ashen white: "When I began my cultivation, this person had already been sealed by the combined might of the Supreme Primordial Demon and the World-Trampling Celestial Lord. However, I knew of the Great Calamity of Doxuan back then. At that time, for every ten cultivators above the Spirit Realm, three perished. Although this person hailed from the Demonic Path, the losses suffered by the demonic sects were even greater than those of the Righteous Path, causing various sects and factions to seal their gates. This lasted for nearly a thousand years, and only after two millennia did the Cultivation World truly recover its vitality."

Simply put, this was a bloodthirsty lunatic whose power was terrifyingly absolute.

The Supreme Primordial Demon, Li Biexue, and the World-Trampling Celestial Lord, Xing Xie, had joined forces to seal him back then. One could say it was to preserve him, preventing this foremost junior of the Demonic Path in millennia from being slain. Conversely, it could also be said that these two could no longer tolerate the Demon Lord of Doxuan.

"The Supreme Primordial Demon must have a plan for releasing this person!"

Chong Xuan frowned, equally curious about what Li Biexue was plotting. However, at this moment, nothing was more urgent than Xu Fu undoing the forbidden arts.

"Doxuan has always been erratic and driven by whim; he certainly won't care about the consequences of the First Emperor's resurrection! If even a slight misstep occurs, the disaster could be immense—"

The Great Law of Doxuan Seizure was one of the most formidable secret divine abilities in the Cloud Realm.

It was excruciatingly difficult to cultivate, yet once mastered, even Han Qing’s Heaven-Defying Demonic Arts might not be able to resist it.

It was also one of the divine ability cultivation methods approaching the Thirteenth-Tier Supreme Level, but because it did not touch the fundamental roots of heaven and earth, it was exceedingly difficult to overcome the Tribulation of the Transcendent Realm, making the prospect of long life almost negligible.

Yet, within Xianyang City, apart from Xu Fu, perhaps no one was his match.

Even Mingrixuan and Li Xuanxuan, though strong, might not be his opponents!

"It must be for Zong Shou! Not long ago, this Great Qian Emperor fought a great battle with the Scarlet Clothed one, slaying several Saint-rank figures—"

Xu Fu rose slowly, looking thoughtfully toward the direction of the Altar of Heaven.

Everything was within his calculations, but the appearance of the Demon Lord of Doxuan had introduced unexpected variables into all subsequent events.

Zong Shou's life or death meant nothing to him; he might even welcome the boy's demise here. However, if the Altar of Heaven was to hold out until the First Emperor's resurrection, did that mean he had to secretly aid that fellow once more?

In the same city of Xianyang, atop the eave of a house in the western part of the city, a middle-aged man cloaked in a feather robe the color of crimson clouds and wearing a Nine-Ridge Star Crown gazed intently at the celestial disk before him.

"An object that aids in the manifestation of profundity? Indeed, once one obtains this item, one can instantly transform from a Flood Dragon into a true Dragon, soaring above the Ninth Heaven and roaming all realms. But, not yet—"

Within the celestial disk before him, countless starlights flickered, mirroring those in the sky. However, beyond that, there were fine, thin lines of light contained within—these traced the paths that various stars had traversed over the past thousand years.

There were also intricate, crisscrossing lines of thread, densely packed.

Only the most supreme masters of numerology and calculations could glimpse the marvels of destiny within them.

The middle-aged cultivator then looked toward the Altar of Heaven, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.

"So, there is still a chance to seize this object? What exactly is this 'Manifestation of Profundity'?"

Manipulating the celestial disk of destiny, the middle-aged man soon shook his head again.

"Forget it! While this object tempts the heart, there are also powerful enemies observing it; it is too perilous. For me, it would be misfortune, not fortune. I have already established good karma with him; there is no need for this!"

That person possessed the Dao of All Beings plus the Dragon Shadow, backed by five Transcendent Realm experts. Moreover, he was the first imperial heir of the Fenkong Lu family. If even he could not sever the greed of others and invite a great calamity upon himself, what hope did he have?

In the next instant, the crimson-robed cultivator's heart pounded wildly as he looked toward a location in the east. Then, his eyes also registered a look of sheer dread.

That person... was the Demon Lord of Doxuan?

On the Altar of Heaven, Zong Shou remained seated. Though his expression was calm, for some reason, a strange palpitation resonated in his chest, as if something ominous was about to occur.

"Kong Rui said a great calamity would befall me in the First Emperor's tomb. Jingyin also prophesied that a killing tribulation ten times more dangerous than the Scarlet Clothed one was imminent. Is it manifesting here?"

Though slightly uneasy, Zong Shou suppressed these feelings. In truth, he could not afford to be distracted now.

Below him, the one hundred and ninety Dragon-Tooth Swords of the Ten Absolutes for Guarding the Dao were spread across a ten-mile radius, continuously slicing out threads of sword energy. Although sword energy seemed to fill the sky, it was being compressed step by step.

Meanwhile, Lin Xuanxuan's Scarlet Banner Golden Flame Formation was on the verge of collapse. The golden flames burning within the formation showed signs of being extinguished under a wave of surging corpse qi.

At this moment, it was entirely thanks to Zong Shou's Boundless Beginning and End Divine Ability that the Corpse Armies were still held ten miles away.

All six of them were gradually giving their all. Even Chu Xue hovered three thousand feet in the air,

Encased by the armor of the Five Elements Divine Beasts, she unleashed powerful divine abilities and spiritual techniques with every wave of her hand—be it streams of fire like meteors, sharp spikes, or frigid profound ice rings—striking in all directions.

She possessed the Battle-Martial Body; although her spiritual techniques seemed random, they often struck at the most critical points, repeatedly breaking the rhythm of the attacking Corpse Army.

Among the six, only Lin Xuanxuan had deployed a set of formation flags and then ceased all other actions.

However, Yuan Wushang and the other four felt no dissatisfaction.

On one hand, they had indeed gained considerable benefits earlier, and on the other, they knew deeply that if any unforeseen change occurred now, only this 'Mortal Dream Wanderer' from the Dao of All Beings could handle it.

This was their final reserve, their contingency for an unexpected crisis.

Those two hundred Arrow Puppets were now firing at full capacity. The crimson arrows, upon reaching ten miles away, immediately exploded. The force of the explosion was almost comparable to the full-power strike of an early-stage Immortal Realm cultivator.

Unfortunately, their numbers were too few; they still could not hold back the Heavenly Gang Arrow Soldiers.

Little Han Xixi continued to dart rapidly through the enemy ranks. Blade light flashed as she continuously slew the scattered Fierce Corpses.

However, individual strength was ultimately limited. These two spirit pets, however strong, were currently powerless.

When the flag formation was intact earlier, they could handle things with relative ease. But as the formation gradually broke down, they began to struggle.

The Sacred Fire Silver Ants were far worse off. If Zong Shou hadn't been constantly vigilant, forcibly teleporting them back using the Dao Seed of Stars before they fell into utter despair, several would have perished long ago.

However, the sacred fire surrounding them could restrain corpse qi. One Sacred Fire Silver Ant could often resist seven or eight Immortal-Realm level Fierce Corpses. Furthermore, they were tireless and unafraid of death.

Thus, these seventy-two Sacred Fire Silver Ants gradually became the main force resisting the Corpse Armies.

Lin Xuanxuan watched, offering a slight commendation: "Shou'er, your spirit pets are quite good. That sacred fire happens to counteract the Fierce Corpses. Though they are innate variants, they are exceptionally beautiful. It's a pity their rank is too low. The way you command them is as if they were extensions of your own arm. They are more like Dao Soldiers than many actual Dao Soldiers. If they had a specialized formation array, they would surely be extraordinary—far better than fighting individually without order."

Zong Shou chuckled, surprised that Lin Xuanxuan shared his view. He himself had considered this possibility half a year ago.

He wanted to design a Dao Soldier Grand Array specifically for these Sacred Fire Silver Ants, along with a matching cultivation method for them.

If he possessed these Silver Ant spirit pets then, it would be equivalent to carrying a Heaven-Tier Dao Soldier Grand Array at all times.

But how easy was that? He needed to leverage the ants' advantages in evasion speed while ensuring the array method suited their cultivation. Moreover, the Dao Soldier Array needed to possess comparable might; otherwise, there would be no point.

In short, numerous difficult issues needed resolving. Although these Sacred Fire Silver Ants were gradually becoming humanoid, they were, after all, not human bodies.

He had found no progress on this matter in the past six months.

"It's not that I don't want to, but that I cannot."

Zong Shou shook his head: "I have used the Supreme Demon Slaying Array and the dozen or so Dao Soldier cultivation methods and grand arrays passed down by the Dao of All Beings as references to design several formations and accompanying cultivation methods. However, I am not confident enough to attempt them rashly."

Dao Soldier cultivation methods above the Earth-Tier are difficult to reverse once cultivated to a certain degree. Even if the technique is modified later, the efficacy will be greatly reduced.

Like the Dao Soldiers captured in the previous battle against the Nine Capitals Celestial Court, most could only be utilized as ordinary cultivators.

The physical structure of the Sacred Fire Silver Ants is much simpler than humans, but this also means that once a cultivation cycle is established, it is very difficult to reverse.

There are only a few dozen Silver Ants, and their thoughts are interconnected. If a mistake occurs, they will all be ruined.

Therefore, Zong Shou was extremely cautious in this matter.

"Your Majesty has already deduced several Spirit Arrays? Are you worried that the deductions might be flawed, leading to deviation later?" Shen Yuexuan suddenly interjected: "If that is what troubles you, there is a way! One could design specialized artifacts for this purpose. To my knowledge, many powerful cultivators in the Outer Regions place captured slave cultivators within artifact arrays, using them as Dao Soldiers."

Zong Shou paused, immediately recalling the first time he was hunted upon arriving in the Tianfang World.

A cultivator had used a ring-shaped magical treasure; inside, dozens of low-rank cultivators maintained it, amplifying its power, essentially forming a Dao Soldier formation.

However, those people were not slave cultivators; they were likely the cultivator's disciples or juniors.

This method seemed viable?

Idle contemplation was useless; without practice, it was hard to confirm any flaws in the grand arrays he had deduced.

"If Your Majesty has detailed diagrams of the formations and cultivation methods, you can hand them to this subordinate. I am confident I can assist Your Majesty."

Zong Shou couldn't help but be slightly distracted. Designing this array alone was indeed too arduous, and he lacked the time.

When he mentioned designing several formations and accompanying cultivation methods, it was, in reality, only a rough framework.

Even using the Chronicle of the Cosmos, he lacked the spare energy and time to perfect it.

However, it was usable; one could start from the foundation, adding bricks and mortar bit by bit, eventually building a grand structure.

Hmm? Something seems slightly amiss—RS

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