Chapter 1905: Magic Tide Surges

**Mortal Cultivation Journey, Volume 10: Battle of the Demon Realm**

The remaining individuals, who had not yet transformed, mostly cast scornful glances at their companions in such states.

Others, though their faces remained calm, subtly revealed an unmistakable excitement as their gaze swept across their surroundings.

Among them, an old man with a full head of red hair and a hooked nose looked with a complex expression at the distant lush green scenery for a while, then mumbled in a barely audible whisper, "I never thought I, an old man, would live to see these things again. If so, even dying in battle in this realm would leave me with no regrets."

"Brother Sha, why so disheartened? The Venerated Ancestor has already issued his commands to us. This time, unlike previous sacred rites, if possible, our Holy Tribe might completely occupy parts of the Spirit Realm. If we can make significant contributions during this rite, we can apply to remain in the Spirit Realm. For those of us who ascended to the Demon Realm, this is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity."

Though the red-haired elder's voice was extremely low, it was heard by another dignified elder nearby, who wore a black hemp robe and a golden sash around his waist. He chuckled and said, "Brother Sanyang speaks truly! We ascended to the True Demon Realm, which means we are members of the Holy Tribe. But if we can truly remain in the Spirit Realm after this battle, that would indeed be a great fortune." The red-haired elder's expression shifted, and he nodded.

Similar whispers echoed among other groups of people.

At that moment, a rumbling sound suddenly emanated from the silver gates of the colossal towers, followed by the heavy thud of footsteps, one after another, emerging from within.

Runes around the silver gates flashed, and suddenly, never-before-seen demonic creatures began to emerge in formation. These creatures had cracked, grayish-white skin all over their bodies, not a single hair growing, as if they were monsters constructed from blocks of stone. Their humanoid outlines were barely discernible, yet four thick arms protruded from their shoulders. As they moved, the nearby ground trembled, their astonishing weight evident with every step.

These Stone Demons, each over ten zhang tall, emerged by the thousands from every colossal tower. They obediently lined up in rows in front of the towers and remained motionless, their temperament surprisingly docile. However, under the low roar of a leading demonic creature, a gray light flickered across the Stone Demons' bodies, and their seemingly exceptionally hard forms transformed into soft, yellow mud, sinking into the earth and vanishing without a trace.

A short while later, the land spanning ten thousand li suddenly trembled. Then, at a certain edge, the ground unexpectedly split open from thin air. Yellow light flashed and whistled as walls of earth emerged from underground, continuously forming. In just the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, a colossal city wall, approximately a hundred li long, rose from the ground.

However, even though this wall stood a hundred zhang tall, it was only a rudimentary form. Its surface was exceptionally rough, constantly shedding sand and dirt, giving it a precarious appearance. But at that very moment, spiritual light flashed in the ground before the earth wall, and the grayish-white Stone Demons once again emerged from underground, swinging their four arms and continuously slamming against the earth wall.

An astonishing scene unfolded!

As the Stone Demons' four arms danced, light beams as thick as a bowl spewed forth, striking densely all over the earth wall. In an instant, a freezing "hissing" sound erupted! Where the light beams struck, clusters of grayish-white light flowers bloomed and spread in all directions. And wherever the grayish-white light swept, the loose sand and dirt instantly transformed into grayish-white hard stone. These Stone Demons, it turned out, possessed the divine ability to transform earth into stone.

As a result, under the frantic dance of the many Stone Demons' arms, the hundred-li-long earth wall instantly transformed into a flawless city wall. In other directions, rumbling sounds also continued, and another group of Stone Demons easily constructed another stone wall using the same method. Just like this, within a mere hour, everything within an area of tens of thousands of li was enclosed within the stone city walls.

At this point, groups of blurry spectral figures, enveloped in black mist, flew out from the triangular colossal towers. These ghostly figures were extremely light and ethereal as they flew, as if they were intangible forms. But as soon as they reached the city walls and pounced onto them, magic circles of varying sizes appeared out of thin air on the wall. Their styles and sizes were identical, as if engraved by the same person. Having completed all this, these ghostly figures drilled out from the city walls again, disregarding other demonic tribes, and swarmed back into the colossal towers.

And so, as time passed little by little, a massive city forged from solid stone stood tall, rising out of thin air beneath the Demon Sea. Centered around hundreds of colossal towers, other curiously styled buildings also rose from the ground one by one under the tireless efforts of the Stone Demons. Furthermore, some high-ranking demonic tribes unhurriedly and personally arranged mysterious restrictions in various corners of the city, and layers of restrictive fluctuations soon enveloped the entire city.

Suddenly, spiritual light flashed at the very top of a triangular colossal tower in the city's center, and it eerily split apart. A great rumbling sound arose, and a massive altar, as if stained red with blood, slowly ascended from within. Obscure ancient characters were inscribed all around this altar, and upon seeing them, one could immediately feel a strong, bloody scent wafting forth. But even stranger, at the very center of the altar, a tall figure, completely enveloped in a layer of blood-red light, stood rigidly.

As soon as this figure appeared, all the middle and high-ranking demonic tribes, whether on alert or working, solemnly knelt in reverence. Other demonic tribes further away, even if they had not known what was happening, upon seeing those nearby behaving this way, instinctively realized and likewise knelt down in homage.

"Greetings, Bloodlight Venerated Ancestor!"

A moment later, a vast, resounding voice, soaring to the heavens, echoed continuously above the colossal city. The figure enveloped in blood-red light on the altar, however, remained unmoved by all this. After merely sweeping a faint gaze around, it narrowed its eyes and looked up at the Demon Sea in the high sky. Its gaze was dazzlingly bright, like a pair of crescent moons in the desolate sky, an unforgettable sight.

Suddenly, an arm was raised, and a crystal-clear hand reached out, beckoning upwards with a single, seemingly casual gesture. A world-shattering "rumble" erupted. The Demon Sea high in the sky seemed to be fiercely grasped by an invisible, colossal, sky-grasping hand. A small portion of the demonic energy surged violently, and with a roll, these energies swirled madly together. With a flash of light, they transformed into a pitch-black giant staff, with a ghostly skull and a dragon's body, covered in bizarre patterns, falling directly from above towards the altar.

The blood shadow's gaze flashed, and the five fingers of its crystal-clear hand, which had reached out, moved slightly. The pitch-black staff, over a hundred zhang long, had runes flowing all over its surface. As it fell, it suddenly shrank, becoming about two zhang long, and was grasped by the Bloodlight Venerated Ancestor.

Holding the staff horizontally with one hand in front of it, a low incantation emanated from the blood shadow's mouth. This incantation was obscure and difficult to comprehend, and when recited in the native demonic tongue, it conveyed an even more peculiar sense of mystery. Amidst the incantation, the demonic skull at the top of the pitch-black staff suddenly opened its silver ghostly eyes. Then, with an open mouth, it spewed out sheets of glossy black runes, which, upon fluttering in the wind, transformed into giant black flowers, drifting upwards towards various parts of the colossal city.

After a short while, the giant flowers permeated every corner of the city. At this moment, the Bloodlight Venerated Ancestor's incantation paused. With a fierce rub of the pitch-black staff in both hands, it burst open into a black halo. The halo, after a few undulations, transformed into circles of invisible spiritual waves sweeping out in all directions.

Those giant black flowers, upon being swept over by this wave, immediately popped and burst open one after another, dissipating into streams of pitch-black demonic energy. The entire city was instantly shrouded in boundless demonic energy. At the moment the demonic energy touched them, those large and small demonic tribes who had been kneeling immediately felt their spirits greatly invigorated, and both their magical power and physical strength rapidly recovered at nearly half the usual speed.

"Within three days, build three more Holy Cities separately. Then, after seven days of consolidation, once all personnel have arrived, immediately set out towards the nearest largest human cultivator stronghold," the Bloodlight Ancestor said grimly, clasped his hands behind his back, his face, bathed in blood-red light, wavering for a moment.

"Your decree shall be obeyed!"

In the colossal city enveloped by demonic energy, countless high-ranking demonic tribes cheered in unison.

A similar scene unfolded at roughly the same time at various demonic marks across the human and demon territories. At the largest demonic mark, a vast human city built around a colossal tree that soared to the sky, several Integration-level cultivators stood above a pavilion on the tree's waist, looking down upon the boundless, rolling Demon Sea in the distance, their faces exceptionally grim.

Tens of thousands of li away from Tianyuan Holy City, a monk and a daoist, two cultivators, each activated a bronze mirror and a round bowl, unleashing myriad rays of light to wantonly slaughter a group of demonic creatures with snake heads and horse bodies. But suddenly, a furious shriek came from the distant horizon, and a demonic wind rolled in with incredible speed.

"Go! High-ranking demons are coming," the daoist shouted sternly, witnessing this scene. Then, without hesitation, spiritual light flashed on his and the monk's bodies, and each transformed into a dazzling rainbow over ten zhang long, shooting away. Their escape direction was towards Tianyuan Imperial City.

On a desolate, withered plain in the demon territory, several large armies were desperately fighting. One side consisted of hundreds of thousands of hazy gray wolf packs, while the other was a pride of tens of thousands of light blue demonic lions. On the wolf side, all were giant wolves several zhang long, each with emerald green ghostly light flashing in their eyes, clearly low-level demonic beasts possessing some demonic power. The light blue demonic lions on the other side were a fist-size larger than the giant wolves, had several-inch-long pitch-black short horns on their heads, and occasionally spewed attacks like fireballs and ice cones from their mouths.

And in the air above the beast battle, thousands of snowy white giant eagles and a group of twin-flying snakes also fought fiercely. As the white eagles swung their steel claws, silver arcs coiled, and thunderous sounds emerged, while the twin-flying snakes, with open mouths, spewed out blobs of venom, splashing and flying, exceptionally vicious. Both occasionally fell from the air, but once they fell into the ground battle, their bodies instantly vanished.