Chapter 524: Demonic Saint Passage The Escape of Tens of Thousands of Cultivators

The Yin-Yang Star Formation was vast beyond measure. Outside the formation, in the dark void, hidden powers lurked.

In one location, a massive black ship floated, stretching over thirty thousand miles long—comparable to an ordinary star. The ship, made of a special black material, emanated an icy aura that caused frost to crystallize in the surrounding void. Even ordinary Imperial Lords would instantly freeze into dust if they approached. At the bow of this black ship, a black-robed, black-haired man stood with his hands behind his back, silently observing the Yin-Yang Star Formation before him.

Whoosh. A bolt of lightning streaked across the void, appearing beside him and coalescing into a short, stout old man. The old man had a lightning mark on his brow, and lightning crackled all over his body; the mere aura of his lightning was enough to strike fear into Imperial Lords.

The stout old man looked at the black-haired man and spoke respectfully, “Senior Dong Jing.”

“Brother Jiao Zuo, if you had arrived any later, you would have missed it,” the black-haired man said indifferently. “How many subordinates did you bring?”

“I brought three Tribulation Realm followers and fifteen Imperial Lords,” the stout old man replied respectfully.

Jiao Zuo was also an official member of the Blackfiend Hall, a Fourth Tribulation Realm powerful being skilled in lightning, ranking among the strongest in some star systems. Yet, his status was significantly lower than that of the black-haired man, Dong Jing.

Dong Jing was a Fifth Tribulation Realm powerful being, one of the three Fifth Tribulation Realm cultivators overseeing this hunt.

“Three Tribulation Realm followers and fifteen Imperial Lords?” The black-haired man mused for a moment, then waved his hand. Frost in the void condensed into a deployment map, and he pointed to a specific spot. “You and your subordinates will guard this blank area.”

After glancing at the void deployment map, the stout old man respectfully replied, “Senior Dong Jing, rest assured.”

The black-haired man continued, “Old Ancestor Black Dragon is extremely stubborn. He insisted on using the Yin-Yang Star Formation to shield all cultivators, allowing them to escape together from the formation’s edge. This formation, set up with one hundred and twenty-eight Solar and Lunar stars, is too vast for us to completely blockade.”

The stout old man nodded slightly.

To set up this formation to guard his lair, Old Ancestor Black Dragon had paid a hefty price, even enlisting the help of Tribulation Realm powerful beings from the Eternal Tower to collectively establish such a grand array.

For Old Ancestor Black Dragon alone, merely moving so many Solar and Lunar stars would have been an immense challenge.

“There will undoubtedly be many who slip through, so our focus is on catching the big fish,” the black-haired man said. “You only need to be responsible for this blank area: Tribulation Realm powerful beings intercept Imperial Lords, and Imperial Lords intercept Venerables. You’re confident in that, aren’t you?”

“Of course I’m confident,” the stout old man chuckled. “I don’t expect too many Imperial Lords to escape from my guarded area, but there will be a large number of Venerables, and it might be impossible to intercept them all.”

“As for Venerables, intercept as many as you can,” the black-haired man said nonchalantly. “Let fate decide.”

“Yes,” the stout old man nodded.

The black-haired man waved his hand slightly.

The stout old man, Jiao Zuo, instantly vanished, transforming into a bolt of lightning.

“The Tribulation Realm powerful beings of the Eternal Tower are all fools,” the black-haired man said coldly, looking at the Yin-Yang Star Formation before him. “They could exterminate a pile of Imperial Lords and Venerables with a mere breath, yet they still harbor compassion. Setting up their own rules and engaging in so-called ‘fair transactions’ is truly laughable. The strong preying on the weak is the true principle of survival for all things.”

He disagreed from the bottom of his heart.

His juniors in his home world trembled in fear when they saw him. Yet, he still harbored thoughts of repaying his home world’s karma, and thus treated its younger generations much better.

However, when it came to cultivators from other domains, he had no qualms about slaughtering them.

Inside the Yin-Yang Star Formation, a faint, hazy light shimmered, affecting visibility.

Even with Meng Chuan’s eyes, he could only see tens of thousands of miles around him.

“Phew.” He had already flown to the edge of the Yin-Yang Star Formation. The formation formed a barrier, preventing him from exiting for now.

“The Yin-Yang Star Formation is immensely vast; hundreds of stars only occupy a portion of its interior. With tens of thousands of cultivators scattered, they are quite distant from each other,” Meng Chuan observed his surroundings, unable to see other cultivators. Even if there were Blackfiend Hall spies hidden within, they wouldn't be able to report the precise location of every cultivator. The Blackfiend Hall would find it difficult to completely blockade the area.

“However, the outside can be seen clearly,” Meng Chuan thought. Through the formation barrier, he could see the void outside.

The outside was dark and desolate. In the distance, stars and living worlds could be seen.

However, he couldn't spot a single Blackfiend Hall powerful being. Clearly, the Blackfiend Hall experts had also blocked their own detection.

Suddenly— “Hm?” Meng Chuan saw something.

A nine-story tower-like building flew out from the distant formation barrier.

“It’s the Eternal Tower,” Meng Chuan and many other cultivators recognized the building at a glance.

The Eternal Tower flew out of the Yin-Yang Star Formation.

However, it was suddenly ensnared by an invisible restraint, completely bound.

An old man carrying a turtle shell emerged from the Eternal Tower and spoke, “We are under the command of ‘Lord Bloodguard.’ This Eternal Tower contains only cultivators serving Lord Bloodguard; we are not carrying any cultivators from the Heaven Peak Star System. Please grant us passage.”

“Lord Bloodguard?”

“I can sense it; he’s not lying.”

“Fine. There’s no need to go to war with Lord Bloodguard over a galaxy-level branch of the Eternal Tower.”

Three minds exchanged thoughts and made a decision.

If the temptation were great enough, the fanatics of Blackfiend Hall would still dare to seize it.

Soon, the Eternal Tower flew away.

Meng Chuan watched this scene from within the formation, feeling no surprise. This was merely a hunt for weaker cultivators, not an all-out war between the two top powers, the Eternal Tower and Blackfiend Hall. Even a localized conflict was unlikely. A localized war between these two top powers would require at least Six Tribulation Realm powerful beings to participate. A large-scale war would need Seven Tribulation Realm powerful beings like Ancestor Cang Yuan to lead, which would be a war that shook the entire River of Spacetime.

“Venerables and Imperial Lords are merely ordinary cultivators in the entire outer realm,” Meng Chuan silently mused. “It’s the Tribulation Realm powerful beings who decide the ownership of all resources and establish the rules.”

Another hour passed.

Suddenly— “In ten breaths of time, all of you cultivators must escape at your fastest speed!”

“Remember, the farther you escape, the better.”

“Do not enter the River of Spacetime.”

A familiar voice of a dragoness echoed throughout the formation and into Meng Chuan’s ears. Meng Chuan’s heart tightened. Was it time to escape?

As soon as the ten breaths were up, the formation barrier vanished without a trace.

“Go!” Meng Chuan instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning. The flow of time around him shifted, and his speed soared in an instant as he rapidly flew into the distance.

At this moment, tens of thousands of cultivators employed their various methods, frantically fleeing into the void outside the formation.

Although the Blackfiend Hall possessed formidable strength, the number of its powerful beings was limited. Even with six additional Fourth Tribulation Realm official members temporarily brought in, they still felt short-staffed.

“Flee, flee, flee!” “Run!”

Among the tens of thousands of cultivators, there were five hidden Tribulation Realm powerful beings and over two hundred Imperial Lords, some of whom had considerable backgrounds.

However, against the Blackfiend Hall, unless they were beings with truly sufficient deterrent power in the River of Spacetime, like ‘Lord Bloodguard,’ revealing their names was useless.

At this moment, all of them frantically sought to escape. Although the Tribulation Realm powerful beings and Imperial Lords among them possessed true bodies in their home worlds, their true bodies venturing into the outer realm still carried Tribulation Realm secret treasures, weapons, and other items, usually representing more than half of their accumulated wealth. They would not give up until the moment of utter despair.

Meng Chuan was the same. If he were to die in battle, without the Exile Prison, it would not be easy to escape the demon race’s pursuit again.

Moreover, Meng Chuan was unwilling to lose the large number of treasures he carried.

“Charge!” “Escape!”

Each one fled frantically.

Outside the Yin-Yang Star Formation, Blackfiend Hall had deployed hundreds of formations, but these only managed to blockade a small portion of the area.

At this moment, some cultivators, the instant they burst out of the Yin-Yang Formation, fell into the formations laid out by Blackfiend Hall.

Others, however, encountered no obstacles.

Almost instantly… battles erupted simultaneously in many areas outside the Yin-Yang Star Formation.

“Boom.” The instant Meng Chuan burst out of the Yin-Yang Star Formation, he discovered that the previously desolate void was now filled with countless dense water droplets. These droplets were only a foot apart and all surged towards Meng Chuan. The moment Meng Chuan charged in, his Chaotic Cavern Domain collided with many of these ‘water droplets,’ making him feel as though he was being crushed by numerous mountains.

“Oh no, I’ve crashed into a formation,” Meng Chuan’s heart clenched. “And it’s severely affecting the void; I can’t even use a ‘Minor Void Teleportation Talisman.’”

Inside the Yin-Yang Star Formation, Meng Chuan naturally couldn't use the Minor Void Teleportation Talisman.

But the moment he rushed out, he fell into a Blackfiend Hall formation.

Blackfiend Hall’s formations were all crafted by Tribulation Realm powerful beings, specifically designed to counter escape. Anyone who crashed into one of these formations would find it impossible to escape using most common methods.

This formation was merely one of hundreds deployed by Blackfiend Hall. Although far less vast than the Yin-Yang Star Formation, it was simultaneously overseen by a Third Tribulation Realm powerful being and five Imperial Lords, covering an area of one hundred million and three thousand miles.

“Within the formation, we have intercepted one Imperial Lord and sixty-five Venerables,” a long-browed old man, who was presiding over the formation, said calmly. “I will go kill that Imperial Lord; you all quickly eliminate the Venerables.”

“Yes,” the five Imperial Lords also overseeing the formation immediately responded.

They needed to deal with this group of prey and continue pursuing other targets.

The more they killed, the greater their merit.