Inside the blood swamp, the serpentine creatures formed arms that flailed relentlessly at the stone spirit and tried to drag it beneath the muck. However, the statue’s strength defied imagination. With a shake of its body, it pulverized its attackers into piles of pulp.
Boom!
Shaking its four arms with a flourish, it called the power of the four primordial elements to it. Together, earth, air, fire, and water formed a majestic combat art that blasted the demon god.
The demon god growled in response, demonic aura vibrating around his being as he, too, called upon his own combat arts.
Caught in the middle, the Exalted Divine Tombs heaved and bucked into complete disarray. Above the mausoleum, the vast bulk of Mount Exalted crumbled with a deafening bang, exposing a dark red sky above the tombs.
Surprisingly, the Exalted celestial emperor found it possible to dredge up more despair from his heart, even with everything that had already happened. Mount Exalted had broken open, and the demons buried in the mausoleum since the dawn of time were about to come into this world!
Demonic howls echoed beyond Mount Exalted, and thick demonic energy swept through every corner of Exalted Major like smoke and ashes erupting from a volcano.
“Men! Assemble into formations!” Zhao Jifeng blanched. With a booming shout from their commander, the soldiers swiftly gathered into enormous battle formations.
“May the heavens help us,” Zhao Jifeng murmured to himself.
Skree!
A bird’s cry cut through the sky as the Exalted Immortal Sect’s great peng arrived. Its wings blotted out the firmament as it quietly hovered in the air, bright golden eyes staring fixedly at the two giant monsters fighting beneath Mount Exalted.
Meanwhile, due to the corruption of demonic energy, the dead divines of the human dao era had been reawakened as corpse demons. With jerky movements, they crawled stiffly out of the divine tombs.
……
“The emissary from the Purple Firmament has already left the world of immortals. She doesn’t even care about her own junior sister or disciple! What a coward.” A young man clad in blue strode out of the Dark North Sword Sect, his posture relaxed and confident. Bearing a sword on his back, he trod the North Sea’s waves and headed toward Exalted Major.
On Ingress Island, an enormous white hand turned into a shepherd boy sitting backwards on a blue bull. Playing a tune on his flute, he followed the young swordsman to Exalted Major.
From Levitating Island, a streak of silver light glided across the vastness of the North Sea and reached Exalted Major in the blink of an eye—the silver scarlet ape, the one many times stronger than its golden dao partner!
“We can’t let the demon step out of Mount Exalted even if it costs us our lives!” Inside Destiny City, the city lord sighed before grabbing his sword and heading toward Exalted Major.
Truespirit Major.
“Jiuying, are you not going?” asked the Truespirit celestial emperor.
“I am not.” Yin Jiuying shook his head lightly.
“In that case, I shall make the journey.” The Truespirit celestial emperor stood up from his seat, nine origin dao fruits popping into existence and merging with his figure. “The demon god will turn the multiverse’s last haven into a land of demons… I have no choice but to go.”
The emperor vanished from view as he spoke, leaving the still silent Yin Jiuying behind.
……
“The Skyturtle Pearl is finally mine!”
Nephrite Major, Spirit Province.
Mo Yi held a small fist-sized orb in her hand, the Skyturtle Pearl she’d spoken of. However, there was no hint of joy on her face when her gaze bore through many layers of space to land on Mount Exalted.
“Qing Buyi and Chen Xiao are still trapped inside the Ancient Tree of Life. What a pair of absolute idiots…” she sighed, then disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving the Ling Clan in chaos. [1]
“We should also go. Let me witness the true power of a holy lord of the underworld,” Lu Feng said quietly as he looked at Ashu.
“If I recklessly draw from the core of my essence, I’ll instantly return to my living dead self. All my accumulated efforts during this time will have been in vain,” Ashu responded flatly. “The demon might transform the entire world into a land of demons… but that won’t affect me.”
“In that case, stay here then.” Lu Feng set forth, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.
Ashu grinned. “It won’t affect me, but it’ll affect our dear little Lu Yun. If he happens to die, where else will I get the breathing method from?”
Swoosh!
He, too, disappeared.
……
The crowd of mighty powerhouses gathering around Mount Exalted took Zhao Jifeng by surprise. He hadn’t expected people from the world over would come at the first sign of the ancient corpse demons’ emergence.
“What’s going on?!” Everyone stared blankly when they realized that, while Mount Exalted had collapsed, there was a mysterious veil of light that blanketed its surface, a veil the corpse demons couldn’t breach no matter what they tried.
Holy Lord Ashu stared vacantly at the veil for a moment, then turned on his heel and left without a glance backward. “We can go home and put our feet up now, there’s nothing to see here. That supreme being has come. With him here, who are we to stick our noses in this?”
“Who?” Still by Ashu’s side, Lu Feng looked inquisitively at the holy lord.
“Neither copper, nor iron, nor steel; under Mount Sumeru it lies hidden… Dear me, how could I forget that Mount Exalted used to be called Mount Sumeru! Ah, Mount Sumeru!” Ashu laughed heartily, then leisurely drifted away.
Boom!
Four giant swords hung in the sky, forming sword gates in the four cardinal directions. Boundless natural energy gushed in from every direction of the world and coalesced into icy sword light that tore through Mount Exalted.
“It’s him, it’s him, it’s actually him!!” shrieked the silver scarlet ape with raised hackles. Without further ado, it spun around and left, not sticking around for another second.
“Oh, it’s that ancestor. He’s still alive huh?” The shepherd boy riding his bull in reverse trembled involuntarily. “Alright, we can go home now! With that ancestor here, the crisis is resolved.”
“Teacher, the sword formation is strong only on the surface. It does have the will to destroy the demon, but I fear its power won’t be up to the task…” The young man bearing a sword on his back hesitated.
“Will? Power? What are you talking about now? The ancestor’s merely released the last bit of energy stored inside the sword formation. He’ll naturally have other means at his disposal. We’re going!” The shepherd boy lifted his flute and gently whacked the young swordsman on the head, then the two of them turned into streaks of light that vanished into the distance.
Those who’d left were all mighty existences of great influence originating from the primordial past. As for the eminent figures of the present age, none of them dared leave. They, too, could tell that this sword formation was at the end of its rope. Despite its majestic momentum, it didn’t have the power to vanquish the demon!
Underneath Mount Exalted, the stone spirit and demon god stopped moving and stared at the sword formation surrounding Mount Exalted, a grave expression on their faces.
……
“Is this the treasure Ge Long mentioned?” Somewhere on Mount Exalted, Lu Yun looked at a palm-sized picture scroll in his hand. Indeed, it was no bigger than a palm, but it’d been this item that’d released the sword formation encircling Mount Exalted.
He studied it carefully for a moment, but couldn’t figure out what made it special.
“Master.” Zhaoqing poked his arm, then pointed at the sky.
“Eh…” Lu Yun looked up and immediately spotted the terrifying sword formation above. “What the… Did the scroll release the formation? But I haven’t activated it yet!”
1. Previous owners of the Skyturtle Pearl, didn’t mention it to LY when they knew he was looking for it.
