For Gu Han had profoundly experienced Jun Mo Xie’s unfathomable depths; rashly confronting such an eternally immeasurable being could only lead to self-destruction. Yet, how few truly grasped this reality!
Jun Mo Xie narrowed his eyes, straightened up, and gazed toward the volcanoes spitting fireworks almost within arm's reach to the south. He spoke slowly, "It is time for us to move as well. We will divide into several groups now and scout ahead separately. As for the people from the Three Great Holy Lands, you may form your own teams." Then, "As for our contact methods, we shall do this and this..."
Saying this, Jun Mo Xie began sketching a rudimentary layout on the ground based on the nearby terrain, then proposed a rough tactical deployment plan and the subsequent communication protocol between the sides. Gu Han and the others listened intently, nodding repeatedly.
Jun Mo Xie commanded with assurance, his tone casual yet brimming with supreme confidence. With effortless sweeps of his hand, he issued orders—the dispatching, the planning, everything unfolded as if by pure instinct.
Unconsciously, by the strange twists of fate, all the high-ranking figures of the Four Great Factions—Three Sages and One Fiend—had silently conceded the leadership role to Jun Mo Xie in the coming war. "Alright, that is settled for now. We move out separately..." Jun Mo Xie stood, tossed aside the stone in his hand, and a blood-red glint of killing intent flashed in his eyes. "If the Outsiders do not come, so be it. But if they do, not a single one of them will be allowed to return from this battle! If they dare set foot on the Profound Continent, they must accept the price of failure and death..."
"Go!" Following the command, the dozens of experts from the Heavenly Sage Palace detonated in silence, scattering like bombs, drifting and floating away toward various different directions.
"What should we do now..." Mei Xue Yan inquired.
"Our priority right now must be finding the whereabouts of the Eagle King and the Bear King..." Jun Mo Xie frowned. "With such violent volcanic eruptions, the Outsiders shouldn't be able to cross over yet. But for some reason, I feel a lingering sense of unease. Could there be some unforeseen variable at play here..."
The two exchanged a glance, rose simultaneously, and with a whoosh, two streaks of white light shot across the sky, vanishing from sight in an instant.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ten-thousand-mile-long Heavenly Pillar Mountain range, the Eagle-Bear Alliance faced an unprecedented, massive crisis!
At this moment, the once infinitely majestic Heavenly Pillar Mountain had completely collapsed into a field of rubble, and the earth continued to tremble violently from the sudden upheaval. Firelight permeated everywhere, and choking smoke billowed from all directions. Thirty to forty volcanoes erupted simultaneously, their might shaking heaven and earth, seemingly intent on tearing the very firmament apart!
In such a scene, it was not just men, but even metal and stone, that could not possibly pass through this barrier of death!
But, in this world, absolutes rarely exist; there are always exceptions!
While the volcanic eruption was undeniably harsh and vast in its coverage, the Heavenly Pillar Mountain spanned tens of thousands of miles. There had to be areas where the eruption's fury did not fully extend. In these regions, though the ambient temperature had soared to an astonishing several hundred degrees—hot enough to melt metal and fossilize stone—this level of heat was still bearable for experts above the Saint Emperor realm.
And the most crucial factor was this: the Outsiders had always been separated from the Profound Continent by the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, and their craving to conquer this land was intensely fervent!
The impassable natural barrier was gone in an instant…
They immediately chose the accessible points and forcefully broke through!
When the Eagle and Bear Kings flew rapidly to the Heavenly Pillar Mountain and witnessed this massive devastation, they were naturally shaken, and they understood that the situation unfolding was exceedingly perilous.
They dared not delay. While carefully navigating around the erupting volcanoes to avoid natural disaster, they searched diligently for traces of the enemy. Almost immediately, they spotted the tide of Outsiders surging forward in a massive, overwhelming wave!
The Twin Kings issued the order to intercept almost without hesitation!
Above and below, the two forces spotted each other simultaneously!
It was as if heavenly thunder had ignited subterranean fire!
Or perhaps like adulterous lovers, both sides instantly struck a chord, assuming the most passionate postures, and with the fullest, most abundant fervor, initiated what both sides considered the most intense battle of their lives!
Almost as soon as the grand battle commenced, the Eagle and Bear Kings began to moan in misery! This confrontation with the Outsiders was proving unexpectedly grueling!
Jun Mo Xie had never truly visited the regions south of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain. His knowledge of the Outsiders came only from hearsay, so he was unaware of the severe environmental hardships under which the Outsiders lived.
South of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, there were only two seasons throughout the year: winter and summer. In winter, the climate was fiercely cold, with temperatures routinely dropping to minus forty or fifty degrees, potentially reaching minus seventy or eighty degrees at the lowest points. In the hotter summers, it was almost like being burned in a raging fire. The Outsiders who managed to survive in such a harsh climate were fundamentally robust individuals. Moreover, the Outsiders almost universally practiced cultivation. The reason was simple: in such a brutal environment, refusing to cultivate was tantamount to forfeiting the chance to live!
Conversely, having cultivated under the pressure of long-term survival, each one was more desperate than the last! Each one, more formidable than the next!
There was another critical point: the Outsider race consisted entirely of conjoined twins, meaning each body housed two sets of meridians. Furthermore, these sets were mutually complementary in Yin and Yang, creating an inherent advantage. The physical structure scorned by the Profound Continent dwellers actually harbored immense benefit; their complementary cultivation speed was naturally much faster than that of the people on the Profound Continent.
Most critically, these beings could cultivate dual-form practice almost anytime, anywhere—an undeniable, massive advantage…
The Outsiders, pouring forward like a rising tide of the ocean, were only from the few tribes near the Heavenly Pillar Mountain.
The sudden collapse of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain and the subsequent volcanic eruption caused immense harm to the Profound Continent side, but the damage was not insignificant to the Outsiders either. The eruption killed and wounded many Outsiders, but there were still many who escaped, especially those with greater strength; this level of natural disaster was unlikely to threaten those whose power was truly profound. As for the tribes slightly farther from the mountain, aside from some alarm, they suffered no casualties.
And their shock was mingled with intense joy…
With the sudden collapse of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, the airflow that had been blocked since antiquity rushed into the region south of the mountain like a spring breeze, bringing these Outsiders an indescribable feeling of exhilaration!
This sensation further spurred the Outsiders. Attacking and occupying the Profound Continent, bypassing the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, had been the greatest dream of the Outsider race for generations!
The land on the other side of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain—with its lush meadows, fertile soil, and beautiful mountains and clear waters—how wonderful a place it was!
Even the most desolate, the most unlivable places on the Profound Continent were equivalent to paradise for the Outsiders!
Therefore, upon seeing the Heavenly Pillar Mountain collapse, the Outsiders from these few tribes formed shock assault teams almost without a second thought, fearlessly surging through the breach!
The volcanoes continued to erupt, heavy obstacles piled up, yet they could not halt the Outsiders’ path toward a better future!
Across the entire tens-of-thousands-of-miles stretch of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, there were many such gaps not blocked by lava. Everywhere, groups of beings with two bodies and two heads were pouring out, more and more, growing increasingly frantic. If one could look down from a high altitude, the scene would resemble the sudden opening of Pandora’s Box—a sweeping, overwhelming legion of demons and monsters!
And that wasn't even the most terrifying part, for the most terrifying aspect was that the tide of demons and monsters continued to pour forth without interruption!
The strongest leader among these few tribes was Kamikawa Hakuku, a High Ninja of the Nether Ghost Clan among the Outsiders.
Kamikawa Hakuku’s strength positioned him as a Demon King-level figure even across the entire surrounding Outsider territory!
He commanded numerous experts: tens of thousands of Ninth-level Ninjas, and seventy to eighty Nether Ghost Ninjas, both Lower and Middle ranks.
Kamikawa Hakuku and his deputy, Hakuwa, were both the type who lived for conflict. Upon witnessing the unexpected collapse of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, both reached the same conclusion in a very short span of time: This is a heaven-sent opportunity! This is the perfect moment for our clan to break through the Heavenly Pillar Mountain and seize the Profound Continent!
Thus, disregarding the poisonous volcanic gases and the iron-melting heat, they immediately led all the subordinates they could muster into the Profound Continent!
In their calculation, even they could barely withstand such a harsh climate, let alone the pampered people of the Profound Continent on the other side of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain! The path ahead would surely be unimpeded! Once they could rush into the human settlements, everything else would fall into place!
But they never anticipated that just as they passed the border of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, they were met by a dense, black mass of enemies!
The approaching force was the Heavenly Punishment Profound Beasts!
Their numbers were not small, and every single one possessed considerable strength! If not for the overwhelming disparity in sheer numbers, it would have been a one-sided slaughter!
Kamikawa Hakuku roared an order, his eyes turning bloodshot as he launched a desperate, frenzied assault! Once they had entered this territory, even if they died, they would die upon this land!
They absolutely could not retreat back to the south of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, that place where life was a constant struggle! That nightmare-like, terrible homeland!
The Eagle King let out a high-pitched cry, and the Bear King roared, shaking the heavens, simultaneously issuing the attack command.
Six thousand shock troops descended together. All the Eagle Clan warriors landed, shifted into human form, and retreated in the same instant. At this critical moment, the Bear Clan warriors dismounted and advanced with large strides!
The Bear Clan warriors used their thick, resilient bodies to form an unbreakable defense line for their comrades fighting side-by-side, providing the Eagle Clan warriors a brief respite to rest and recover their energy, as they had flown across tens of thousands of miles in one breath!
Almost all the Eagle Clan warriors were utterly exhausted!