The Forbidden Path to Immortality - Chapter 191

Episode 18, Mirror Clone, Chapter 1, Divine Power

The same cry echoed in the ears of the cultivators engaged in a fierce battle on the East China Sea. Accompanied by strange shifts in the celestial phenomena, the situation there shifted invisibly.

Li Xun was one of the few cultivators to notice the subtle shift. Gazing at the dark curtain hanging from the sky in the distance, his mind was swirling with thoughts, a state of confusion.

“Did something just happen?”

“You hit your head!”

Shui Dielan forced a smile and teased. Li Xun also noticed the error in his words, but before he could explain, the scorching demonic flames from afar were already licking him.

He felt as if sprayed with acid, his protective Qi sizzling. The water butterfly orchid in his arms choked and coughed, “What’s that smell? It’s really…”

At this moment, Yin Sanren concluded, “This must be the poisonous fire of the Demonic Swamp, corroding vital energy and contaminating the six senses. I wonder which supreme demon has suddenly appeared?”

“To act so arrogantly in the face of a heavenly tribulation is courting death!”

As if heaven had answered Li Xun’s doubts, half of the dark realm was suddenly illuminated by lightning and fire that connected heaven and earth, making it seem like daylight.

The roar of the exploding atmosphere, while not as powerful as the previous nine waves of explosions, was still terrifying, and in an instant, it suppressed the impact of the poisonous fire of the Demonic Swamp.

However, beyond the divine might, there was also the unparalleled aura of the True One Grandmaster.

Qi Wu Daoist, in particular, was a rare sight. Despite the devastation of his sect’s foundation, he managed to focus his mind on a single point, oblivious to everything else, unleashing the full power of his “Innate Life Qi.” For a moment, even Jade Wanderer’s puppet was overwhelmed by his power.

Amidst the clashing thunder and fire, Qi Wu Daoist’s aura intensified. Even from a hundred miles away, Li Xun and the others could clearly sense the blazing “Heart Flame” of Qi Wu, forcing him to carve out a territory of his own beneath the lightning.

Yin Sanren pondered, “The Dharma body is the instrument, the spiritual consciousness is the root. It penetrates heaven and earth, controls the six energies, and discerns yin and yang. Qi Wu now possesses the composure of steering a boat on a raging sea… I’m afraid that after this battle, he’ll be only a step away from ascending to the realm of the sun. However…

” Li Xun took over, “However, he may not survive this battle.”

Li Xun’s keen sense of the pulse of life allowed him to grasp more information than Yin Sanren. He vaguely sensed that in the distant chaotic turbulence of vital energy, a powerful reaction was occurring, quite close to the battlefield between Qi Wu Dao Ren and Yu Sanren’s puppets.

Yin Sanren glanced over, but before he could speak, the strange infant’s cry filled his ears again. However, this sound was not as sharp as before. Under the impact of the power of the heavenly tribulation, the darkness of half the world was shrinking at a visible speed, and the thunder, fire, and profound frost had spread to every corner he could perceive, at least on the surface.

However, in Li Xun’s eyes, this was simply the unknown demon abandoning its struggle against the heavenly tribulation and instead gathering strength.

When its earth-devouring might converged into a single point and exploded with a bang, no one could predict the devastating impact.

“Who exactly is this demon?”

Li Xun desperately wanted to know the other party’s background. However, when this question was posed, both Shui Dielan and Yin Sanren were unusually bewildered.

He had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and ask, “What kind of magic is this?”

Yin Sanren still shook his head. “The great way is simplicity, all methods converge into one. Especially at the higher levels, even with thousands of methods, the manifestation is still the same. Now that his vital energy is turbid and his qi is disordered, we can only see the difference when he truly strikes.”

So where did Gu Yin find such a master?

Li Xun began to understand Gu Yin’s intention in sending Yao Feng away. Besides wanting to conceal Lin Wuyou’s affairs, he probably trusted this suddenly appearing great demon more.

As he pondered, the vast, dark area vanished completely, and the sky returned to its previous gloom. A hundred miles away, the fierce battle between Qi Wu Dao Ren and Yu San Ren’s puppets could now be seen with relative clarity. However

, the power of the heavenly tribulation grew increasingly violent, its lightning bolts dense and dense, almost crushing the enemy one by one. The massive explosions caused by the collision of yin and yang energies were certainly not as shocking as the previous nine waves of explosions, but they were densely packed and covered the entire area, turbulently transforming the vital energy of heaven and earth for hundreds of miles. The impact forced everyone from the Loose Cultivator Alliance to the Nineteen Sects to temporarily retreat.

The clearly divided situation in the East China Sea was suddenly thrown into disarray.

Li Xun, who was extremely sensitive to forbidden formations, tensed up instantly: “The formation has broken.”

“Huh? Was that really the core of the formation that we just broke?” The sickly Shui Dielan suddenly perked up.

Li Xun shook his head again, “No, it’s not the formation itself.”

He observed it for a moment before saying, “The formation is functioning correctly, but the previous one-two, two-one harmony with the heavenly tribulation is gone. It’s either fusion or confrontation, there’s no third way… We didn’t destroy the center of the formation, but we destroyed something even more formidable.”

He turned his gaze to Lin Wuyou, the girl who seemed to never grow up. Her consciousness and aura were now sealed, and she had fallen into the most profound slumber. Though her eyes were closed, her delicate brows were slightly furrowed, a touch of pity.

However, Li Xun’s eyes penetrated the surface, seeing something deeper.

“The demon phoenix must be deeply regretful.”

Li Xun felt awful. Amidst the sinister thunderclap, he felt a surge of pressure, like a shadow cast by a demon overhead, looming over his heart, difficult to dispel. However, stimulated by this pressure, his intuition rose against the tide, like a ray of light that, while unable to pierce the clouds, illuminated previously unseen areas.

In the shadows, the two figures intertwined.

Li Xun suddenly felt a sharp needle pierce his brow, sending a sharp pain piercing his brain. He groaned and nearly fell back to the ground.

At this moment, the immense energies of two of the most advanced figures in the Tongxuan Realm collided, their entire force concentrated in a single point, without a single leak. This meant that both parties had to withstand the terrifying backlash.

This was the most ferocious and decisive confrontation!

Li Xun, with his exceptional sensitivity, captured the impact at that instant. However, being able to clearly sense it meant establishing a Qi connection with the core of the impact.

This interconnectedness between heaven and earth was profoundly mysterious. At that moment, Qi pulled, sending a shockwave through the gap, like a golden blade slicing through the wind, its sharpness no less than that of any divine weapon. If it weren’t for Li Xun’s protective Qi dissipating its own power, his brain would have been split in two.

Before Li Xun could recover from the chaotic concussion, another gray shadow plummeted from the sky. Qi Wu Dao Ren was once again hurled down from the sky, without even a chance to slow down, before being smashed into the bottom of the crater that had been initially blasted.

This time, however, he couldn’t bounce back.

The nameless demon, carrying the poisonous fire of the Demon Swamp that Water Die Lan hated, flew down in Qi Wu’s wake.

It seemed as if it were a hammer, plunging itself directly into the crater, which was already several feet deep, striking Qi Wu headfirst, causing the ground to shake.

The tremor occurred only once, and then, silence fell.

It’s not quite right to say there was no sound, but Li Xun at least heard a faint “sizzling” sound, the sound of the thick vital energy rubbing against the outside air as it rapidly flowed.

Li Xun’s face was stern. He gestured for Shui Dielan to hold Lin Wuyou and retreat. Yin Sanren, needing no prompting, moved forward, his normally calm face finally taking on a solemn expression.

Shui Dielan was seriously injured, but as a supreme demon, she still had her experience. In some ways, she understood the situation better than Li Xun.

She snorted and stood up, holding Lin Wuyou. She didn’t retreat in a hurry, but sneered, “I couldn’t see it before, but now it’s clear… Swallowing the wilderness, splitting the sky and blocking the sun, and demonic infants crying, ripping out hearts and livers… This is some kind of Jade Demonic Art, right?!

” “Back then, Qixia practiced this idiotic technique solely to conceive, I already admired her. But this one took three years to conceive and nine years to carry, refining her own blood and transforming it into a Creation Demonic Infant. I wonder who this master is?”

A woman’s laughter echoed from the pit below. “Fairy Baihuan has a lightning-fast vision, and I’ve always admired her. She can even spot and capture her ideal husband. Isn’t that something to be envied and marveled at?”

The complimented Shui Dielan’s face froze slightly, not to mention Li Xun beside her. Even Yin Sanren, who had nothing to do with the matter, showed surprise.

As the three of them watched, a woman in white slowly emerged from the pit.

Though treading on the desolate wilderness ravaged by a calamity, the graceful demeanor of the woman in white was like walking among garden pavilions, graceful and unhurried, evoking a sense of worldliness.

“Guyin…”

As Li Xun savored the familiar name, he felt as if he understood everything, yet at the same time, everything seemed completely muddled.

The culprit who had driven a hundred thousand wandering cultivators to their deaths, trapped and murdered the elite of the Nineteen Tongxuan Sects, and unleashed the calamity to overthrow the world was right before his eyes, yet Li Xun’s first impression of this demonic woman remained the same: graceful and elegant, like a lotus flower in a heavenly pond!

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Li Xun recalled his first impression and feelings of the woman he had seen through the water mirror in the City That Never Sleeps, all those years ago.

That image was already hazy, and in the decades since, the cultivator had constantly shaped the impressions of her in the minds of others. By this point, she had ascended to the throne of the most rebellious figure in the history of the Tongxuan Realm, but from then until now, one thing remained unchanged… Every time he saw her, Li Xun was always amazed by her graceful demeanor, and repeatedly shocked by the vast contrast between her inner and outer self. Even now, it was still the same.

Truly hopeless…

The self-deprecating thought faded, and Li Xun realized he had been lamenting for far too long. However, the shock of Gu Yin’s clean and decisive finish off a True One Grandmaster had faded considerably. He was no longer nervous, and even felt like greeting her, “Well, Grandmaster Gu always manages to surprise.”

With these words, the frozen air around them began to flow again, and Li Xun could even hear Shui Dielan’s breath cease. For a supreme demon, this was a bit of a misstep, but Gu Yin now possessed the aura to freeze the very void.

Perhaps Gu Yin’s complexion wasn’t particularly good, her emaciated form suggesting a relapse into illness. However, as she stood there, her dark pupils seemed to devour all light. Every time she moved, Li Xun and the others before her felt a wave of dizziness. An inexplicable pressure penetrated their skin, impacting their internal organs and tendons, especially as the bone-shattering thundering sound lingered.

This feeling and the thundering sound seemed to be intimately connected, as if… or perhaps it was Gu Yin controlling the thundering sound, crushing every corner of their bodies.

Upon hearing Li Xun’s greeting, Gu Yin didn’t smile as before, nor did she even offer a polite response. Instead, she stared into Li Xun’s eyes with a strange gaze. After a long pause, she finally replied, “Both of us. I’ve always underestimated Fellow Daoist Li’s destructive power.”

“Are you talking about Senior Sister Wuyou? I’m truly sorry…”

Li Xun muttered, his mind racing, trying to process Gu Yin’s current situation and plans.

However, this time was completely different from usual!

Gu Yin didn’t give Li Xun a chance to ramble. Before Li Xun could finish his words, a buzzing sound filled his ears. The bone-melting thunder sound, as if receiving a command, exploded the moment he spoke!

The Yin Sanren in front of him couldn’t even offer any resistance. Li Xun was crushed by an invisible mountain, his entire body hurled backward. While still in the air, eighty percent of his bones were broken, and his internal organs were in shattered chaos.

“What the hell…”

Li Xun cursed, and now, not caring about anything else, he unleashed the full might of his Blood Shadow Demon Body, instantly dissolving all flesh and blood into mist, absorbing the damage from the thunder sound.

However, his previously proven method proved problematic this time. True to the grand technique of the Forty-Ninth Tribulation, the Bone-Melting Thunder Sound’s insidious vibrations bypassed all the blood mist and poisonous fire, striking directly at Li Xun’s heart, the source of all life.

That’s how Qi Wu was destroyed!

Between life and death, Li Xun’s mind grew clearer and clearer. He instantly grasped the cause and effect, and his blood-shadow demonic body responded accordingly.

“Blood Nightmare Devours Essence, Shadow Transforms into a Clone, Huh!”

A short incantation flowed through his mind, and the ethereal blood mist suddenly split, then transformed and condensed, forming two solid forms resembling humanoids, which flew in different directions.

The thundering sound suddenly cut off.

The two separated figures shook simultaneously, and once again transformed into blood mist, gathering in the void, eventually consolidating into the complete form of Li Xun.

However, the moment his form recovered, Li Xun choked on another mouthful of blood and rolled in the air before regaining his balance.

By then, Yin Sanren was already engaged in a battle with Gu Yin.

The two sides were only a few feet apart, and the limited space within was now filled with smoke and flashes of lightning.

Yin Sanren’s knowledge surpassed Li Xun’s by a factor of ten. Though she didn’t fully grasp the details, seeing Qi Wudao’s fate had already swayed her resolve: Gu Yin’s ability to control thunder sound would never be fully realized.

Her cultivation differed from Qi Wudao’s. Even before her transformation into a puppet, she was already one of the most formidable figures in the Tongxuan realm. She subsequently mastered the entire Yin Fu Jing, reaching a state of enlightenment that rivaled only the two contemporary masters, Ramash and Li Douliang.

At this moment, Yin Sanren unleashed her profound mystical powers, uniting the six energies of wind, rain, darkness, brightness, yin, and yang. Within a three-meter radius, these energies mingled, creating a self-contained universe. Despite the thunder and lightning outside, life within remained unceasing. Gu Yin’s attacks, whether near or far, powerful or sinister, were largely neutralized by Yin Sanren.

However, the bone-shattering thunder sound surging between heaven and earth, flowing like water as the heart of heaven moved, proved difficult for Yin Sanren to fully resist.

Gu Yin’s figure swam amidst the thunder, like a nimble fish, yet more like a ethereal ghost. Ultimately, she forced Yin Sanren onto the defensive.

At this moment, Gu Yin’s slow voice pierced through the outer barrier, reaching the ears of the crowd, like a sigh: “Meeting my fellow Daoist today, I’ve finally learned that fate always exists in this world. Regardless of demons and monsters, among the millions of independent cultivators in the Tongxuan Realm, only the three independent cultivators are truly the pillars that support the heavens, standing at the pinnacle of this realm.

“However, fate plays such a trick. As if by pre-arranged agreement, these three top figures have become puppets of others. Isn’t that a cause for regret?”

A long sentence flowed from Gu Yin’s red lips, each word stammering like a winding stream, piercing everyone’s ears. Yet, the bluntness of the words was as cold as a knife, piercing their hearts.

Yin Sanren merely raised an eyebrow at this, his defenses unwavering. Li Xun, observing the battle from the sidelines, was startled.

How had she seen through this?

Though horrified, Li Xun maintained a clear sense of priorities. While focusing on the battle between Yin Sanren and Gu Yin, he sent a message to Shui Dielan, instructing her on what to do with Lin Wuyou. Soon, Shui Dielan replied with a positive response.

Finally, after Qi Wudaoren, cultivators from the Nineteenth Sect had reached the Sixth Ground. Furthermore, due to the rapidly decreasing compatibility between the Gangsha Hunyi Formation and the Heavenly Tribulation, the overall movement speed of the Nineteenth Sect had significantly increased.

Li Xun slowly controlled his breathing, mentally calculating the incoming attacker’s progress and strength. Finally, at a certain point, he managed a single word through gritted teeth—

“Retreat!” Yin Sanren, now in a completely defensive stance, roared, his entire body aglow with a vibrant crimson glow. The six independent, interconnected, and endlessly regenerative zones within his body shattered, unhindered by the thunderous sound, which poured in like a flood.

Yin Sanren, completely unconcerned with the destructive power of this thunderous sound, swung her slender figure and charged forward, her fingers forming a blade that stabbed directly into Gu Yin’s chest, a strategy designed to inflict damage on both sides.

Just as Yin Sanren shifted from defense to offense, the water butterfly orchid on the ground snorted coldly, clapping her palms together. Amidst a resounding buzz, a pair of silver-white metallic wings extended from her back. In a flash, she was clutching Lin Wuyou, soaring away, disappearing without a trace.

The Night Demon Shadowless—the most breathtaking flying magic weapon in the Tongxuan Realm—was retrieved from Lin Wuyou by Shui Dielan and immediately put to use.

Thanks to this artifact, Li Xun, to maintain his speed, would have abandoned Lin Wuyou, a complete waste of time.

The moment Shui Dielan soared into the air, the expressionless puppet of the Jade Wanderer appeared from the ground where she had been standing. Its robes billowed, its blade-like energy completely missed, signaling the failure of Gu Yin’s final counterattack.

Elsewhere, with a long, drawn-out “zi” sound, Yin Wanderer’s hand slashed through Gu Yin’s palm, sending a fiery burst of lightning, as if the two stunning female cultivators’ delicate hands were made of steel.

However, the two separated instantly. Gu Yin stood firm, while Yin Wanderer flew back, instantly joining Li Xun. Li Xun then exerted his strength, and the two of them streaked across the empty sky like meteors, with Gu Yin making no attempt to pursue.

At this moment, dozens of miles away, Luo Qichang’s sword-like aura filled the sky. A moment later, the presence of Xumiao Sect’s Liu Yunzi loomed.

Even with Gu Yin’s unfathomable skills, these were two formidable foes she must contend with with all her might. Coupled with the dire state of the Gangsha Hunyi Formation, Li Xun believed the situation was beginning to spiral out of control for Gu Yin.

From a considerable distance, Li Xun and Gu Yin stared at each other, her features blurred beyond recognition. Yet, Li Xun could still “see” the demonic flames emanating from the female cultivator, and her profound connection to the chaotic celestial phenomena of the East China Sea.

Li Xun held his breath, closed his eyes, and the world before him suddenly became pitch black. But against this darkness, blood-red veins slowly spread, carving a complex pattern.

This was the channel through which Gu Yin’s aura communicated with the external celestial energy. Only a cultivator like Li Xun, with a precise grasp of the pulse of life force and exceptionally keen perception, could, through this means, grasp the essence hidden beneath the chaotic primordial energy.

Undoubtedly, this was a forbidden pattern.

Suddenly, the blood-red veins in Li Xun’s eyes twisted into a tangled mess. The powerful aura of Gu Yin in the distance, the soaring vortex of vital energy, caused the original forbidden pattern sequence to rapidly change, its complexity beyond his ability to grasp.

Shaking off the dizziness, Li Xun opened his eyes, only to be met with a surge of light waves from the outside world, forcing him to squint again.

“What’s going on?”

Yin Sanren didn’t respond. Li Xun glanced at her, then returned his attention to the dazzling light source in the distance.

The nine waves of explosions leveled the forest for hundreds of miles. From their elevated position, the two men had a clear view. Where Gu Yin had stood, a swirling, blazing white flame engulfed all prying eyes. Its soaring tails carved traces of light into the air, stimulating the surrounding celestial energy and rumbling its course. A gaping

hole was blasted through the haze of the sky, swirling with countless golden snakes of lightning. Occasionally, they collided with the soaring tails of flame, only to be absorbed within, intensifying the blaze’s brilliance.

Contrasting this, a thin layer of frost slowly drifted across the ground. As far as Li Xun could see, vast swathes of the ground were coated in a layer of white frost, creating a strange contrast with the thunder and fire blasts from the sky.

Perhaps this was a manifestation of the power of the heavenly tribulation…

Li Xun could only guess.

Especially with the wisps of wispy, sinister energy swirling through it, all the elements blended into a tangled mess. While imposing, it hardly felt threatening. He couldn’t help but recall his previous inference: Was the situation truly out of control for Gu Yin?

Before he could finish his thought, the ball of light within it expanded again. Its blazing white light swept across, melting all the haze and cold fog like boiling water pouring over snow, reducing them to the purest primordial energy of heaven and earth. It swirled and flew around Gu Yin’s position, instantly forming a massive tornado connecting heaven and earth. Even Li Xun and the other man, dozens of miles away, felt the strong wind in their faces, making it difficult to breathe.

Li Xun had never felt more disgusted with his own narrow-mindedness than now. He had to turn around again to listen to Yin Sanren’s opinion.

However, Yin Sanren seemed somewhat bewildered, and could only cautiously offer, “Unifying the primordial energy, returning to its origin—perhaps this is a magical power that can create a new world.”

“Create a new world? Like Wuyinxuan?”

Yin Sanren was about to explain when a sudden thunderclap echoed in the distance. The vibrations originated from the very center of the blazing flames. By the time the sound waves reached them, a dramatic shift had already taken place.

The massive tornado shattered as if struck by a sledgehammer, but the surrounding primordial energy didn’t disperse. Instead, it naturally channeled and flowed back, as if thousands of invisible grooves were arranged in the void, guiding this massive wave of energy to its intended destination.

From Li Xun’s perspective, Gu Yin was like a poisonous spider, spitting out countless threads that covered the entire world. The cultivators of the various Tongxuan sects on the East China Sea were like insects caught in the web, flapping their wings and struggling, but most of them were inevitably devoured.

Li Xun was amused by his own thoughts, a smile spreading across his face, though it was a hint of misery.

The ancient sound orchestrated the diversion of vital energy in a blink of an eye. Li Xun sensed that the diverted vital energy had already been fully aligned in the void, forming a vast and complex forbidden pattern structure, vastly superior to the earlier, rudimentary evolution.

Of course, he was even more perplexed. The spiderweb stretched taut, and the ancient sound at its center merely plucked a single string, sending a humming resonance through heaven and earth. This vibration wasn’t in the form of sound waves, but rather, through some unfathomable means, instantly transmitted to the void beyond Li Xun’s sensory limits.

The thousand-mile haze instantly dissipated, revealing a blazing sun and a clear blue sky.

As the midday sun shone down, Li Xun was stunned, almost believing he had witnessed a miracle.

This wasn’t an illusion, nor was it some otherworldly creation of Gu Yin. This was the shores of the real East China Sea, the very land previously ravaged by the catastrophe.

“Go!”

This time, it was the Yin San people who shouted, and Li Xun, waking from his dream, was startled to realize that beneath the clear sky, another wave of terrifying energy was rapidly gathering.

A swirling halo of light ignited around the blazing sun, expanding and contracting, each expansion and contraction bringing with it an immense heat far beyond common sense.

The moisture accumulated over the previous hours was rapidly evaporating under the intense heat. As far as the eye could see, the void twisted and rippled, and Gu Yin, dressed in a plain white dress, blended into the glaring sunlight.

Li Xun couldn’t even tell which was the true sun: the void above him or the place where the female cultivator stood.

This was a realm beyond human reach!

The temperature around him rose rapidly, but a chill ran through Li Xun’s heart. In this lifetime, he had only experienced such divine power and awe in the person of Zhong Yin, who had transcended the catastrophe and ascended to heaven.

Gu Yin… what on earth was this woman made of?

Amidst their wild thoughts, Li Xun and Yin Sanren had already flown hundreds of miles away.

Temporarily out of the reach of Gu Yin’s power, Gu Yin’s figure was no longer visible. However, Li Xun could sense that the long-stagnant Gangsha Armillary Sphere had begun to function smoothly again. Under the clear sky, the Gangsha aura grew even more ethereal and unpredictable, elusive than before.

The thunder, fire, and Yin Hell seemed to melt away in the sunlight, but the vast power of the Primal Chaos Heavenly Tribulation continued to rumble, connecting with the Gangsha Armillary Sphere once again, merging with each other until they became indistinguishable and one. The same cry echoed in the ears of the cultivators engaged in a fierce battle on the East China Sea. Accompanied by strange shifts in the celestial phenomena, the situation there shifted invisibly.

Li Xun was one of the few cultivators to notice this subtle shift. Gazing at the dark curtain hanging from the sky in the distance, his mind tangled in confusion.

“Did something just happen?”

“You hit your head!”

Shui Dielan forced a quip. Li Xun noticed the error in his words, but before he could explain, the searing demonic flames from afar licked him.

He felt as if he’d been splashed with acid, his protective Qi crackling. Shui Dielan in his arms choked and coughed, “What’s that smell? It’s really…” Yin

Sanren concluded, “It’s corroding vital energy and contaminating the six senses. This must be the poisonous fire of the Demonic Swamp. I wonder which supreme demon has suddenly appeared?”

“To act so arrogantly in the face of a heavenly tribulation is courting death.”

As if answering Li Xun’s doubts, the heavens suddenly illuminated half of the dark realm, illuminating it like daylight with thunder and fire connecting heaven and earth.

The roar of the exploding atmosphere, while not as powerful as the previous nine waves of explosions, was still awe-inspiring, instantly suppressing the impact of the poisonous fire of the Demonic Swamp.

However, beyond the divine might, there was also the unparalleled aura of the True One Grandmaster.

Qi Wu Daoist, in particular, was a rare sight. Despite the devastation of his sect’s foundation, he managed to focus his mind on a single point, oblivious to everything else, unleashing the full power of his “Innate Life Qi.” For a moment, even Jade Wanderer’s puppet was overwhelmed by his power.

Amidst the clashing thunder and fire, Qi Wu Daoist’s aura intensified. Even from a hundred miles away, Li Xun and the others could clearly sense the blazing “Heart Flame” of Qi Wu, forcing him to carve out a territory of his own beneath the lightning.

Yin Sanren pondered, “The Dharma body is the instrument, the spiritual consciousness is the root. It penetrates heaven and earth, controls the six energies, and discerns yin and yang. Qi Wu now possesses the composure of steering a boat on a raging sea… I’m afraid that after this battle, he’ll be only a step away from ascending to the realm of the sun. However…

” Li Xun took over, “However, he may not survive this battle.”

Li Xun’s keen sense of the pulse of life allowed him to grasp more information than Yin Sanren. He vaguely sensed that in the distant chaotic turbulence of vital energy, a powerful reaction was occurring, quite close to the battlefield between Qi Wu Dao Ren and Yu Sanren’s puppets.

Yin Sanren glanced over, but before he could speak, the strange infant’s cry filled his ears again. However, this sound was not as sharp as before. Under the impact of the power of the heavenly tribulation, the darkness of half the world was shrinking at a visible speed, and the thunder, fire, and profound frost had spread to every corner he could perceive, at least on the surface.

However, in Li Xun’s eyes, this was simply the unknown demon abandoning its struggle against the heavenly tribulation and instead gathering strength.

When its earth-devouring might converged into a single point and exploded with a bang, no one could predict the devastating impact.

“Who exactly is this demon?”

Li Xun desperately wanted to know the other party’s background. However, when this question was posed, both Shui Dielan and Yin Sanren were unusually bewildered.

He had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and ask, “What kind of magic is this?”

Yin Sanren still shook his head. “The great way is simplicity, all methods converge into one. Especially at the higher levels, even with thousands of methods, the manifestation is still the same. Now that his vital energy is turbid and his qi is disordered, we can only see the difference when he truly strikes.”

So where did Gu Yin find such a master?

Li Xun began to understand Gu Yin’s intention in sending Yao Feng away. Besides wanting to conceal Lin Wuyou’s affairs, he probably trusted this suddenly appearing great demon more.

As he pondered, the vast, dark area vanished completely, and the sky returned to its previous gloom. A hundred miles away, the fierce battle between Qi Wu Dao Ren and Yu San Ren’s puppets could now be seen with relative clarity. However

, the power of the heavenly tribulation grew increasingly violent, its lightning bolts dense and dense, almost crushing the enemy one by one. The massive explosions caused by the collision of yin and yang energies were certainly not as shocking as the previous nine waves of explosions, but they were densely packed and covered the entire area, turbulently transforming the vital energy of heaven and earth for hundreds of miles. The impact forced everyone from the Loose Cultivator Alliance to the Nineteen Sects to temporarily retreat.

The clearly divided situation in the East China Sea was suddenly thrown into disarray.

Li Xun, who was extremely sensitive to forbidden formations, tensed up instantly: “The formation has broken.”

“Huh? Was that really the core of the formation that we just broke?” The sickly Shui Dielan suddenly perked up.

Li Xun shook his head again, “No, it’s not the formation itself.”

He observed it for a moment before saying, “The formation is functioning correctly, but the previous one-two, two-one harmony with the heavenly tribulation is gone. It’s either fusion or confrontation, there’s no third way… We didn’t destroy the center of the formation, but we destroyed something even more formidable.”

He turned his gaze to Lin Wuyou, the girl who seemed to never grow up. Her consciousness and aura were now sealed, and she was in the most profound slumber. Though her eyes were closed, her delicate brows were slightly furrowed, a feeling that moved pity.

However, Li Xun’s eyes penetrated the surface, seeing something deeper.

“The demon phoenix must be deeply regretful.”

“What?”

Shui Dielan didn’t hear his sigh clearly. Just as she was about to ask, her lips suddenly couldn’t close.

She wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Li Xun and Yin Sanren beside her also felt the discomfort. Everyone’s eardrums seemed to suddenly swell.

At the same time, a deep, trembling sound penetrated, stirring his qi and blood, yet not wanting to stop. The vibrations seeped into every corner of his body, penetrating deep into his bones.

Li Xun vaguely sensed that this was also a kind of thunder, but this kind of thunder, with its yang extreme giving rise to yin, was even more unpredictable.

As the thunder trembled, Li Xun felt as if countless tiny beans were stuffed into his bones. The slightest movement caused them to clatter and jump up and down. The feeling made him wish he could pry open his bones and pour out all the foreign matter inside.

Yin Sanren said solemnly, “Be careful! It’s the Windless Yin Thunder, also known as the Bone-Smashing Thunder Sound. It specifically targets cultivators who have achieved the Indestructible Golden Body. The more profound the physical cultivation, the greater the impact.”

Shui Dielan, however, was unfazed. “Heavenly tribulations are just so annoying, especially the forty-ninth level. The Heavenly Heart’s perception is extremely sharp, and they’ll do whatever it takes to annoy you.”

Li Xun frowned, but didn’t respond. He watched as Qi Wudao, a hundred miles away, was affected by the Bone-Smashing Thunder Sound, his already peak momentum inevitably being dampened.

In this moment of respite, the great demon, poised in the shadows, launched a brazen attack!

All the onlookers’ vision darkened. This wasn’t a change in light, but rather the surging demonic energy that instantly obscured everyone’s six senses.

This was followed by a third wave of piercing infant cries, this one more shrill than ever before. The thick negativity carried within them spread throughout the sound waves, causing the surrounding cultivators to feel uneasy.

As the ultimate target of the sonic attack, Qi Wu Dao Ren reacted the most, especially as the sonic attack hit him just as he was about to rally his momentum and reach his peak. With impeccable timing, he immediately suppressed the flow of his innate life energy.

The Jade Wanderer puppet across from him seemed to be in tune with the demon’s mind, unconcerned with its own injuries, charging headfirst.

“Evil creature!”

In all his long history, Qi Wu Dao Ren had never once shouted such a rebuke at Gu Zhixuan, one of the three Wanderers. Yet, at this moment, the rebuke emanated spontaneously, reminding him that the figure before him, no different from the Jade Wanderer, was merely a soulless puppet. Amidst a sudden wave of emotion, Qi Wu Dao Ren flicked his sleeves, using the agility of the Nine Revolutions of Heart Flame to avoid the dip in his momentum. He slightly shifted his edge and struck directly at the center, colliding with the Jade Wanderer puppet at an angle. The two figures were instantly torn apart, and in a blink of an eye, they were over ten miles apart.

Qi Wudao used his innate life energy to activate the Nine Transformations of Heart Flame, his entire body aglow with luminous light from the inside out. He had reached the pinnacle of the Wuxin Sect’s four major stages of cultivation: transforming the five internal organs, fusing the six internal organs, refining the skin and bones, and dissolving the flesh and blood. Now, save for the symbolic outer layer of flesh and skin, Qi Wudao’s internal organs, bones, and meridians had all been transformed into innate life energy. Driven by the convergence and dispersion of his “core,” it differentiated into yin and yang, generating mystical wonders.

This body-cultivating and physical refinement technique bore some resemblance to the Blood Shadow Demon Body. Even if ordinary methods could penetrate his outer defenses, they would be unable to penetrate the viscous torrent of vital energy within him, and would instead risk a full-scale backlash.

Because of this, Qi Wudao’s energy recovery was incredibly rapid; in perhaps half a breath, he felt confident that he could regenerate his innate life energy to its peak state.

However, at that very moment, without any warning, the great demon behind him, hidden in the shadows, suddenly appeared!

Qi Wudao felt his hair, threatening to burst through his crown, rise up. All light, sound, and vital energy were drained from the void around him, leaving only a wave of thunder pounding through his heart.

A hundred miles away, Li Xun suddenly grasped Shui Dielan’s arm, causing her to hurt. Then, completely ignoring the demon woman’s angry voice and even forgetting his own injuries, he leaped to his feet.

Several feet in front of him, the air suddenly resounded with a soft explosion. Something plummeted down at an incredible speed. Even to Li Xun and the others, it was a blurry gray shadow. Then, with a loud thud, the object, without slowing down, crashed directly into the ground.

A deep crater was immediately created in the mirror-like ground, and the object bounced back like a ball, its momentum undiminished, though at a slower speed. Li Xun took the opportunity to see clearly, and then a chill escaped from between his teeth.

Qi Wudao!

The thing that had been smashed down by someone was actually Qi Wudao Ren!

The sky darkened again, and Li Xun’s heart was startled. He looked up and saw that Qi Wudao Ren’s figure had sunk into the shadow. The atmosphere was filled with a wave of strange thunder, like a thread, penetrating his lungs.

Another bone-shattering thunder!

Li Xun felt terrible. In this sinister thunder, he felt a surge of pressure, like the shadow cast by a demon overhead, enveloping his heart and difficult to dispel. However, stimulated by the pressure, his intuition also rose against the trend, like a strong light, which, although unable to tear through the clouds, could illuminate the places that were previously invisible.

In the shadows, the two figures intertwined.

Li Xun’s eyebrows suddenly felt like being pierced by a sharp needle, and the sharp pain penetrated his brain. He groaned and almost sat back on the ground.

At that moment, the immense energies of the two most formidable figures in the Tongxuan realm collided, their entire force concentrated at a single point, with no escape. This meant that both parties had to withstand the terrifying backlash.

This was the most ferocious and resolute clash!

Li Xun, with his exceptional sensitivity, captured the impact at that instant. However, being able to clearly sense it meant establishing a Qi connection with the core of the impact.

This interconnection between heaven and earth was profoundly profound. With this Qi flow, a shockwave followed through the gap, like a golden blade slicing through the wind, its sharpness rivaling that of any divine weapon. Had it not been for Li Xun’s protective Qi dissipating the force, his brain would have been cleaved in two.

Before Li Xun could recover from the turmoil, another gray shadow plummeted from the sky. Qi Wu Dao Ren was once again hurled from the sky, without even a chance to recover, before slamming into the bottom of the initial crater.

This time, however, he could not bounce back.

The nameless demon, carrying the poisonous fire of the Demonic Swamp that Shui Dielan hated so much, flew down in pursuit of Qi Wu.

As if using itself as a hammer, it plunged directly into the ten-foot-deep pit, striking Qi Wu headfirst at the bottom, causing the ground to shake with a resounding roar.

The tremor occurred only once, and then, silence fell.

It’s not entirely accurate to say there was no sound, but Li Xun could hear a faint sizzling sound, the friction of the thick, rapidly flowing vital energy against the outside air.

Li Xun’s face was grim. He gestured for Shui Dielan to hold Lin Wuyou and retreat. Yin Sanren, needing no prompting, moved forward, his usually calm face finally taking on a solemn expression.

Shui Dielan was gravely wounded, but her experience as a supreme demon remained, and in some ways, she understood the situation better than Li Xun.

She snorted, holding Lin Wuyou and standing up, but she didn’t rush to retreat. Instead, she sneered, “I couldn’t see it before, but now it’s clear… Swallowing the wilderness, splitting the sky and blocking the sun, and there are demon babies crying, ripping out hearts and digging out livers… This is some kind of Jade Demon Art!

“Back then, Qixia practiced this nonsense just to conceive, I already admired it very much. But this person took three years to conceive, nine years to carry the baby, and refined his own bones and blood to transform into a demon baby. I wonder who this master is?”

From the depths of the pit, a woman’s laughter echoed. “Fairy Baihuan has a lightning-like vision. I’ve always admired her immensely. She can even spot and capture her ideal husband. Isn’t that something to be envied and marveled at?”

The complimented Shui Dielan’s face froze slightly, not to mention Li Xun standing nearby. Even Yin Sanren, seemingly uninvolved, showed surprise.

As the three of them watched, a woman in white slowly emerged from the pit.

Though in this desolate wilderness ravaged by a calamity, her graceful demeanor was as if she were walking among pavilions in a garden, graceful and unhurried, a breathtaking sight.

“Guyin…”

As Li Xun savored the familiar name, he felt as if he understood everything, yet at the same time, everything seemed completely muddled.

The culprit who had driven a hundred thousand wandering cultivators to their deaths, trapped and killed the elite members of the Nineteen Tongxuan Sects, and unleashed a celestial catastrophe to overturn the world was right before his eyes, yet Li Xun’s first impression of this female demon remained: graceful and elegant, like a lotus in a heavenly pond!

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Li Xun recalled his first impression and feelings of the woman he had seen through the water mirror in the Nightless City years ago.

That image was actually quite hazy, and in the decades since, the female cultivator had constantly reshaped the impressions of her in the minds of others. Even then, she had ascended to the throne of the most rebellious figure in the history of the Tongxuan Realm, but one thing remained constant: every time he saw her, Li Xun was always amazed by her graceful demeanor, and repeatedly struck by the vast contrast between her inner and outer self. Even now, it was still the same. She was

truly hopeless…

The self-deprecating thought faded, and Li Xun realized he had been dwelling on it for far too long. However, the shock of Gu Yin’s swift and decisive finish off a True One Grandmaster had faded considerably. He was no longer nervous, and even felt like greeting her, “Well, Grandmaster Gu never fails to surprise us.”

With these words, the frozen air around them began to flow again, and Li Xun could even hear Shui Dielan’s breath catch. For a supreme demon, this was a bit of an indiscretion, but Gu Yin now possessed the aura to freeze the very void.

Perhaps Gu Yin’s complexion wasn’t great, and her emaciated form suggested a relapse into illness. However, as she stood there, her dark pupils seemed to devour all light. Every time she moved, Li Xun and the others before her felt dizzy. An indescribable pressure penetrated their skin, impacting their internal organs and tendons, especially when the bone-shattering thundering sound still lingered.

This feeling seemed to be intimately connected to the thundering sound, as if… or perhaps it was Gu Yin controlling the thundering sound, crushing every corner of their bodies.

Upon hearing Li Xun’s greeting, Gu Yin didn’t smile as usual, nor did he even offer a polite response. Instead, he pierced Li Xun’s eyes with a strange gaze. After a long pause, he finally replied, “It’s mutual. I’ve always underestimated Fellow Daoist Li’s destructive power.”

“Are you talking about Senior Sister Wuyou? I’m truly sorry…”

Li Xun muttered, his mind racing, trying to process Gu Yin’s current situation and plans.

However, this time was completely different from usual!

Gu Yin didn’t give Li Xun a chance to ramble. Before Li Xun could finish his words, a buzzing sound filled his ears. The bone-shattering thunder sound, as if it had heard a command, exploded the moment he spoke!

The Yin Sanren in front of him couldn’t even offer any resistance. Li Xun was like being knocked away by an invisible mountain, his entire body flung backwards. While still in the air, eighty percent of his bones were broken, and his internal organs were in shattered chaos.

“What the hell…”

Li Xun cursed, and now, disregarding everything else, he unleashed his blood-shadow demonic body to full power, instantly dissolving all flesh and bone into mist, thereby absorbing the damage from the thunder.

However, his previously proven method proved problematic this time. True to its fortieth level, the bone-melting thunder sound, its insidious vibrations evaded all blood mist and poisonous fire, striking directly at Li Xun’s heart, targeting the “blood core”—the source of all life.

That was how Qi Wu was annihilated!

Between life and death, Li Xun’s mind grew clearer and clearer. He instantly grasped the cause and effect, and his blood-shadow demonic body responded accordingly.

“Blood nightmare devours essence, shadows transform into clones, huh!”

A short curse flowed from his mind, and the ethereal blood mist suddenly split, then transformed and solidified, forming two solid, seemingly humanoid forms that flew in different directions.

The thunder sound abruptly cut off.

The two separated figures trembled simultaneously, transforming once again into a bloody mist that converged into the void, eventually consolidating into the complete form of Li Xun.

However, the moment his form returned to form, Li Xun choked on another mouthful of blood and tumbled in mid-air before regaining his balance.

By then, Yin Sanren was already engaged in a battle with Gu Yin.

The two sides were only a few feet apart, and within the confined space, smoke filled the air, lightning flashed.

Yin Sanren’s knowledge surpassed Li Xun’s by a factor of ten. Although she didn’t fully grasp the details, seeing Qi Wudao’s fate, she had resolved to never allow Gu Yin, who seemed to possess the power to control thunder, to fully display his abilities.

Her cultivation differed from Qi Wudao’s. Even before her transformation into a puppet, she was already one of the most formidable figures in the Tongxuan Realm. Since then, she has thoroughly mastered the Yin Fu Jing, advancing her realm to the point where only two contemporary masters, Ramash and Li Douliang, could rival her.

At this moment, Yin Sanren unleashed his profound powers, uniting the six energies of wind, rain, darkness, brightness, yin, and yang. Within a three-meter radius, these energies mingled, creating a self-contained universe. Despite the thunder and lightning outside, within, life continued uninterrupted. Gu Yin’s attacks, near and far, powerful and sinister, were largely absorbed by Yin Sanren.

However, the bone-shattering thunderous sound surging between heaven and earth, flowing like water as it moved through the heart of heaven, proved difficult for Yin Sanren to resist completely.

Gu Yin’s figure swam within the thunderous sound, like a nimble fish, yet more like a ethereal ghost, ultimately forcing Yin Sanren to the defensive.

At this moment, Gu Yin’s leisurely voice pierced through the outer barrier, reaching everyone’s ears like a sigh: “Meeting fellow Daoist today, I finally understand that fate always exists in this world. Regardless of demons or other beings, among the millions of independent cultivators in the Tongxuan Realm, only three independent cultivators can truly stand as pillars, standing at the pinnacle of this realm.

“Yet, fate plays such a trick. As if premeditated, these three top figures have become puppets of others. Isn’t this a cause for regret?”

The long words flowed from Gu Yin’s red lips, each word stabbing like a winding stream, flowing through everyone’s ears. Yet, the bluntness of the words was as cold as a knife, piercing the heart.

Yin Sanren only raised an eyebrow at this, his defenses showing no sign of trembling. However, Li Xun, observing the battle from the other side, was startled.

How had she seen through it?

Despite his shock, Li Xun still managed to prioritize. While focusing on the battle between Yin Sanren and Gu Yin, he sent a message to Shui Dielan, instructing her on how to deal with Lin Wuyou. Soon, Shui Dielan replied with a positive response.

Finally, cultivators from the Nineteenth Sect followed Qi Wudaoren and reached the Sixth Land. Furthermore, due to the rapidly increasing compatibility between the Gangsha Hunyi Formation and the Heavenly Tribulation, the overall movement speed of the Nineteenth Sect’s cultivators significantly increased.

Li Xun slowly controlled his breathing, mentally calculating the incoming attacker’s progress and strength. Finally, at a certain point, he managed a single word through gritted teeth—

“Retreat!”

Yin Sanren, now in a completely defensive stance, roared, his entire body aglow with a vibrant crimson glow. The six independent, interconnected, and endlessly regenerative zones within his body shattered, unhindered by the thunderous sound, which poured in like a flood.

Yin Sanren, completely unconcerned with the destructive power of this thunderous sound, swung her slender figure and charged forward, her fingers forming a blade that stabbed directly into Gu Yin’s chest, a strategy designed to inflict damage on both sides.

Just as Yin Sanren shifted from defense to offense, the water butterfly orchid on the ground snorted coldly, clapping her palms together. Amidst a resounding buzz, a pair of silver-white metallic wings extended from her back. In a flash, she was clutching Lin Wuyou, soaring away, disappearing without a trace.

The Night Demon Shadowless—the most breathtaking flying magic weapon in the Tongxuan Realm—was retrieved from Lin Wuyou by Shui Dielan and immediately put to use.

Thanks to this artifact, Li Xun, to maintain his speed, would have abandoned Lin Wuyou, a complete waste of time.

The moment Shui Dielan soared into the air, the expressionless puppet of the Jade Wanderer appeared from the ground where she had been standing. Its robes billowed, its blade-like energy completely missed, signaling the failure of Gu Yin’s final counterattack.

Elsewhere, with a long, drawn-out “zi” sound, Yin Wanderer’s hand slashed through Gu Yin’s palm, sending a fiery burst of lightning, as if the two stunning female cultivators’ delicate hands were made of steel.

However, the two separated instantly. Gu Yin stood firm, while Yin Wanderer flew back, instantly joining Li Xun. Li Xun then exerted his strength, and the two of them streaked across the empty sky like meteors, with Gu Yin making no attempt to pursue.

At this moment, dozens of miles away, Luo Qichang’s sword-like aura filled the sky. A moment later, the presence of Xumiao Sect’s Liu Yunzi loomed.

Even with Gu Yin’s unfathomable skills, these were two formidable foes she must contend with with all her might. Coupled with the dire state of the Gangsha Hunyi Formation, Li Xun believed the situation was beginning to spiral out of control for Gu Yin.

From a considerable distance, Li Xun and Gu Yin stared at each other, her features blurred beyond recognition. Yet, Li Xun could still “see” the demonic flames emanating from the female cultivator, and her profound connection to the chaotic celestial phenomena of the East China Sea.

Li Xun held his breath, closed his eyes, and the world before him suddenly became pitch black. But against this darkness, blood-red veins slowly spread, carving a complex pattern.

This was the channel through which Gu Yin’s aura communicated with the external celestial energy. Only a cultivator like Li Xun, with a precise grasp of the pulse of life force and exceptionally keen perception, could, through this means, grasp the essence hidden beneath the chaotic primordial energy.

Undoubtedly, this was a forbidden pattern.

Suddenly, the blood-red veins in Li Xun’s eyes twisted into a tangled mess. The powerful aura of Gu Yin in the distance, the soaring vortex of vital energy, caused the original forbidden pattern sequence to rapidly change, its complexity beyond his ability to grasp.

Shaking off the dizziness, Li Xun opened his eyes, only to be met with a surge of light waves from the outside world, forcing him to squint again.

“What’s going on?”

Yin Sanren didn’t respond. Li Xun glanced at her, then returned his attention to the dazzling light source in the distance.

The nine waves of explosions leveled the forest for hundreds of miles. From their elevated position, the two men had a clear view. Where Gu Yin had stood, a swirling, blazing white flame engulfed all prying eyes. Its soaring tails carved traces of light into the air, stimulating the surrounding celestial energy and rumbling its course. A gaping

hole was blasted through the haze of the sky, swirling with countless golden snakes of lightning. Occasionally, they collided with the soaring tails of flame, only to be absorbed within, intensifying the blaze’s brilliance.

Contrasting this, a thin layer of frost slowly drifted across the ground. As far as Li Xun could see, vast swathes of the ground were coated in a layer of white frost, creating a strange contrast with the thunder and fire blasts from the sky.

Perhaps this was a manifestation of the power of the heavenly tribulation…

Li Xun could only guess.

Especially with the wisps of wispy, sinister energy swirling through it, all the elements blended into a tangled mess. While imposing, it hardly felt threatening. He couldn’t help but recall his previous inference: Was the situation truly out of control for Gu Yin?

Before he could finish his thought, the ball of light within it expanded again. Its blazing white light swept across, melting all the haze and cold fog like boiling water pouring over snow, reducing them to the purest primordial energy of heaven and earth. It swirled and flew around Gu Yin’s position, instantly forming a massive tornado connecting heaven and earth. Even Li Xun and the other man, dozens of miles away, felt the strong wind in their faces, making it difficult to breathe.

Li Xun had never felt more disgusted with his own narrow-mindedness than now. He had to turn around again to listen to Yin Sanren’s opinion.

However, Yin Sanren seemed somewhat bewildered, and could only cautiously offer, “Unifying the primordial energy, returning to its origin—perhaps this is a magical power that can create a new world.”

“Create a new world? Like Wuyinxuan?”

Yin Sanren was about to explain when a sudden thunderclap echoed in the distance. The vibrations originated from the very center of the blazing flames. By the time the sound waves reached them, a dramatic shift had already taken place.

The massive tornado shattered as if struck by a sledgehammer, but the surrounding primordial energy didn’t disperse. Instead, it naturally channeled and flowed back, as if thousands of invisible grooves were arranged in the void, guiding this massive wave of energy to its intended destination.

From Li Xun’s perspective, Gu Yin was like a poisonous spider, spitting out countless threads that covered the entire world. The cultivators of the various Tongxuan sects on the East China Sea were like insects caught in the web, flapping their wings and struggling, but most of them were inevitably devoured.

Li Xun was amused by his own thoughts, a smile spreading across his face, though it was a hint of misery.

The ancient sound orchestrated the diversion of vital energy in a blink of an eye. Li Xun sensed that the diverted vital energy had already been fully aligned in the void, forming a vast and complex forbidden pattern structure, vastly superior to the earlier, rudimentary evolution.

Of course, he was even more perplexed.

The spiderweb stretched taut, and the ancient sound at the center merely plucked a single string, sending a humming resonance through heaven and earth. This vibration wasn’t in the form of sound waves, but rather, through some unfathomable means, instantly transmitted to the void beyond Li Xun’s sensory limits.

The thousand-mile haze instantly dissipated, revealing a blazing sun and a clear blue sky.

As the midday sun shone, Li Xun was stunned, almost believing he had witnessed a miracle.

This wasn’t an illusion, nor was it some otherworldly creation of the ancient sound. This was the real shores of the East China Sea, the very land previously ravaged by the calamity.

“Go!”

This time, it was the Yin Sanren who shouted in low voices. Li Xun, waking from a dream, was startled to realize that beneath the clear sky, another wave of terrifying energy was rapidly gathering.

A twisting halo of light ignited around the blazing sun, expanding and contracting, each expansion and contraction bringing with it an immense amount of heat beyond common sense.

The moisture that had accumulated over the previous hours was rapidly evaporating under the intense heat. As far as the eye could see, the void was distorting and undulating, and the ancient voice of the plain white dress blended into the glaring sunlight.

Li Xun couldn’t even tell which one was the real sun, the void above his head or the place where the female cultivator stood.

This was definitely not a realm that could be achieved by human power!

The temperature around him rose rapidly, but a chill ran through Li Xun’s heart. In this life, he had only experienced such magical power from Zhong Yin, who had broken the catastrophe and ascended to heaven.

Gu Yin… What on earth was this woman made of?

While thinking wildly, Li Xun and Yin Sanren had already flown hundreds of miles away.

Temporarily away from the radiation range of Gu Yin’s power, Gu Yin’s figure was no longer visible, but Li Xun could feel that the Gangsha Armillary Sphere, which had been stagnant for a long time, began to operate smoothly again. The Gangsha aura became more ethereal and unpredictable under the clear sky, and was more difficult to capture than before.

All kinds of thunder, fire, and Yin Prison seemed to melt and disappear in the sunlight, but the chaotic and vast power of the heavenly catastrophe was still rumbling, and it was once again connected with the Gangsha Armillary Sphere, blending with each other, slowly becoming indistinguishable from each other, and becoming one.