The countless bursts of soundwaves struck the space down below before exploding in violent waves, and earth-shattering booms instantly rang out from the warped sky.
In the next instant, several long white rifts suddenly appeared on the devilish mark, and as the soundwaves continued to surge through the air, the sound of shattering glass began to ring out.
The white rifts instantly transformed into countless white threads that spread rapidly in all directions, following which the entire sky completely shattered.
Inky-black devilish Qi surged forth like floodwaters through a broken dam, instantly forming a sea of darkness that dispersed in all directions at an incredible speed.
The countless giant devil bats also descended in a frenzy while letting loose a series of high-pitched screeches.
Crimson light revolved around their bodies, and from a distance, it looked as if countless balls of crimson flames had appeared within the sea of darkness before also spreading in all directions.
What was even more astonishing was that within the depths of the devilish mark, which had already transformed into a massive black hole, even more astonishing roars could be heard, and it was quite clear that there were going to be more devilish beasts flooding into the Spirit Realm.
In the distance, the golden-armored burly man finally returned to his senses, and hurriedly said to the elderly man in a hushed voice, "The Elder Devil Race is invading! Our mission is complete; activate the teleportation formation right away!"
"Activate the teleportation formation!" the elderly man instructed without any hesitation, then made a hand seal before casting a series of incantation seals into a small formation beneath his feet.
The black-armored guards standing behind him hurriedly arrived by his side before also making hand seals to assist him.
A faint buzzing sound immediately rang out from the golden ark underfoot, and hundreds of runes appeared down below, before then forming a white light formation.
The same was happening to the other golden ark as well.
The two arks began to release scintillating golden light, and they were going to be teleported away at any moment now.
The golden-armored burly man heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, and his expression finally eased slightly.
However, right at this moment, a high-pitched voice suddenly rang out in the air above the forest they were hiding in.
"Hehe, looks like I'm in luck! I've only just entered the Spirit Realm and I've already come across a pair of Spatial Tempering cultivators; you two will be perfect for an appetizer!"
Both the burly man and the elderly man were stunned to hear this voice, and they turned to discover a hideous young man standing just over 300 feet away from the two golden arks. The man was very short and thin, with a dark complexion, and a pair of bat wings on his back.
His facial features were extremely sinister, and his wings were even larger than his body. He bore a striking resemblance to the countless crimson devilish bats in the sky, but the aura he was releasing was countless times more powerful.
"It's a high-grade devilish being!" Both of the Heavenly Guards naturally instantly identified the young man, and they were extremely alarmed.
Both of them had been focusing their attention on the changes unfolding in the devilish mark, yet they had completely failed to notice as this young man approached them from above.
After a brief moment of astonishment, both of them immediately sprang into action without any hesitation.
One of them laid a hand onto the back of his own head, and a dozen or so small silver swords instantly shot forth before flying through the air as streaks of silver light.
Meanwhile, the other Heavenly Guard raised an arm, and a five-colored ring was summoned. The ring then transformed into countless five-colored ring projections that formed a protective barrier around the two golden arks.
One of them was attacking the enemy as the other was setting up defenses, and it was quite clear that this wasn't the first time they had fought alongside one another.
Their objective wasn't to defeat this high-grade devilish being; they only wanted to keep the young man at bay for a short while so they could complete their teleportation.
A sinister smile appeared on the young man's face, revealing two rows of sharp little fangs. In the face of the oncoming streaks of silver light, he made no effort to take evasive measures. Instead, he opened his mouth to blast forth a burst of golden soundwaves that swept up all of the streaks of silver light.
An astonishing scene then ensued!
The streaks of sword Qi immediately reverted back into their original sword form amid an anguished wail, then tumbled down from above amid the golden soundwaves.
The golden-armored burly man's face immediately paled upon seeing this. Those swords were his bonded treasures that he had been cultivating for several millennia, yet before he could recover his control over the swords, the young man suddenly flapped his bat wings, and the sounds of howling winds and rumbling thunderclaps immediately rang out.
The young man's body blurred slightly before he abruptly vanished on the spot. However, in the next instant, he reappeared right above the two golden arks before launching his fists toward the countless five-colored ring projections in the air without any hesitation.
Two resounding booms rang out in quick succession as a pair of shimmering crimson fists vanquished all of the opposing five-colored projections.
The young man flapped his wings again, and he appeared behind the burly man in the blink of an eye before plunging an arm through his body with ease. The suit of golden armor didn't offer any resistance to the young man's attack.
"Argh!"
The black-armored guards on the golden ark were naturally petrified upon seeing this, and they immediately fled for their lives.
However, the young man merely swept a bat wing behind himself without even turning his head to unleash a black blade of light that was over 1,000 feet in length. The blade was as fast as lightning, and all of the black-armored guards let loose howls of anguish as they were reduced to a rain of blood. Even the Nascent Souls within their bodies had been destroyed.
The young man then flew toward the other golden ark as a ball of crimson light, and even prior to his arrival, the overwhelming odor of blood and gore had already settled over the ark.
The elderly man had no time to react, and his face instantly became deathly pale.
Coincidentally, the teleportation formation beneath his feet flashed with white light right at this moment, and he was teleported away, along with the entire golden ark.
As such, the young man only managed to pounce on empty air, and the ball of crimson light around him faded.
A hint of frustration appeared on his face as he looked at the remnants of the teleportation formation in the air, and he swept a bat wing violently through the air, releasing a gust of fierce winds that erased what remained of the formation.
"Haha, I can't believe you couldn't even kill a pair of Spatial Tempering Stage humans! I was holding back and leaving them to you, but it looks like I've overestimated you." A burst of cackling that was filled with mockery suddenly rang out from behind a huge tree nearby.
"Meng Man? When did you get here? Isn't your Lightning Cow Race supposed to part of the second group to enter the Spirit Realm? Hmph, if it weren't for that teleportation formation, there's no way those humans would have escaped from me." The young man immediately flared up with rage in response before turning his gaze toward that huge tree.
The ordinary-looking tree suddenly warped before transforming into a green-skinned giant that was around 50 to 60 feet tall.
The giant had a pair of curved black horns on his head, and his face was covered in yellow fur. He wore a suit of black leather armor, and there was a pair of golden hatchets strapped onto his back.
He was currently appraising the young man with a mocking look in his eyes, and in response to the young man's enraged expression, he merely smiled, and said in a nonchalant manner, "Our Lightning Cow Race recently received an order from the Sacred Ancestors, instructing us to be among the first group to enter the Spirit Realm alongside your Devilish Bat Race, so my brethren have already entered this realm."
After that, the cow-headed giant pointed into the distant sky in a nonchalant manner.
"Is that so?" The young man was quite surprised to hear this, and he hurriedly cast his gaze toward the same direction.
There, he discovered that aside from the giant bats pouring out of the gargantuan black hole up above, huge azure cows that were around 100 feet in length each were also rushing out from within.
Not only were these cows astonishingly huge, their bodies were also covered in strange silver patterns, presenting a very mysterious sight to behold.
"Hmph, if it's an order from the Sacred Ancestors, then it can't be helped, but you clumsy cows will only slow us down. With the speed of our Devilish Bat Race, it'll only take us a few days to clear out all of the human cultivators in the nearby area so we can begin building a devilish city," the young man said in a slightly sheepish manner.
"That's what I wanted to discuss with you; your Devilish Bat Race will naturally be able to sweep through low-grade human cultivators with ease, but if you encounter some more powerful humans, you Devilish Bat beings will be nothing more than cannon fodder. There's no way you can compare with our Lightning Cow Race!" the giant chuckled coldly.
The young man was furious to hear this. "Is that so? Then how about we see which of our two races can kill more human cultivators in the next three days?"
"Sure, and just to make things interesting, the loser has to hand over a third of what they plunder from the Spirit Realm to the winner," the giant said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.
"You have yourself a bet!" the young man said in a cold manner before flapping his wings, flying over to the giant in the blink of an eye before extending a shimmering crimson hand.
The giant chuckled in a sinister manner before swinging one of his huge hands toward the young man's hand, and the two palms clashed amid a dull thump.
In the instant that they came into contact with one another, crimson and azure light erupted forth, following which both the young man and the giant swayed slightly before springing back as if they had been bitten by a snake.
As soon as the young man stabilized himself in mid-air, he yelled with a baleful expression, "Where are the five bats?"
"We pay our respects to the revered general!"
As soon as this voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and five crimson bats that were far more enormous than their brethren appeared amid gusts of fierce winds.
These bats each had a wingspan in excess of 100 feet, and they were truly astonishingly massive.
"Go and capture a few human mortals!" the young man instructed.
