Chapter 539: War Endgame (Part 1)

“Everyone, leave Luotang Pass and go outside the formation,” Meng Chuan’s voice suddenly rang in every Venerable’s ear. “The demon race is about to attack.”

Currently, only Meng Chuan and the other Venerables were present at Luotang Pass. These Venerables, whether their true bodies, essence soul avatars, or manifestations, were all here to witness the most crucial battle in a war that had lasted over nine hundred years.

“Finally?”“It’s coming?”

Although the Venerables resided in Luotang Pass, they were also near the edge of the formation. Understanding the urgency, each quickly flew outside the formation.

The formation had been laid out by Meng Chuan. It spanned three hundred miles around, completely enveloping the Demon Saint Passage, serving as Meng Chuan’s pre-arranged battlefield.

“Are the demons coming?” Venerables such as Qin Wu, Xu Yingwu, Bai Yaoyue, Meng Tiange, Jing Fei, and Meng An were all outside the formation, watching the world entrance from high in the sky.

Although Meng Chuan had set up the array, he had not blocked external observation. Currently, within five hundred miles of Luotang Pass, no mortals could be found; the entire area had been completely sealed off long ago.

“There’s no movement at the world entrance,” Bai Yaoyue said, watching nervously.“Meng Chuan, however, remains calm, still sitting cross-legged alone, guarding the world entrance by himself,” Xu Yingwu added.Meng An also observed carefully.

Suddenly, he sensed something. His gaze penetrated the vast hundred-mile-wide world entrance, observing the Demon World on the other side. He quickly said, “There’s power infiltrating from the Demon World again.”“I see it.”“What is that?”

Among those watching were Venerables nearing the end of their lifespans, as well as younger generation Venerables like Meng An and Xiang Fu. All watched anxiously.

Starting subtly, it gradually became more prominent: a vast, blood-red tide seeped from the other end of the world entrance, spreading towards Cangyuan World. On the other side of the blood tide sat Meng Chuan, cross-legged in the snow.

Meng Chuan saw everything clearly. As the blood tide appeared, three figures were vaguely visible within it: the three Demon Sages of the demon race who had been identified—Demon Sage Baifu, Demon Sage Sifeng, and Demon Sage Yingfeng. At this moment, the three Demon Sages respectfully bowed in one direction, where three figures faintly stood.

“Peng Emperor, Xinghe, Xuanyue,” Meng Chuan identified them. They had come with the three Demon Sages. Within the rolling blood tide, brilliant stars rose and fell, obscuring the figures of the three Demon Sages.

“This blood tide seems capable of harming essence souls?” Meng Chuan felt his essence soul power instinctively recoil from the blood tide. A ‘seventh-level Essence Soul’ is typically what an Emperor possesses, and this level of essence soul power can be countered in various ways. For instance, some powers can corrupt an essence soul; even his own ‘Demon Cone’ would be corrupted if it penetrated this, significantly reducing its power, or even disintegrating.“Is this to counter my Demon Cone?”

Meng Chuan paid it no mind. The opponents were Tribulation-level mighty figures of the Third Tribulation, capable of mobilizing many resources from the Demon World. Meng Chuan had never expected to easily defeat his enemies solely with his seventh-level Essence Soul’s ‘Demon Cone’.

In a blink, the blood tide surged through the Demon Saint Passage into the human world, spreading all around. Brilliant stars also appeared in the human world, and amidst the protection of numerous stars, the three Demon Sage figures emerged; they had already arrived in the human world.

“They’re here.”“The demon race’s Demon Sages have arrived.”“Demon Sage Baifu, Demon Sage Sifeng, Demon Sage Yingfeng—three Heaven and Earth realm Demon Sages.” The human Venerables watching from outside the formation grew tense, feeling the increasing disparity between the two sides. The Demon World was far larger, nurturing far more beings, and its cultivation system was more complete. At the Fifth-level Demon King, Demon Sage, and Emperor stages, they vastly outnumbered humanity. With greater numbers, naturally, more elites could be screened out; they even had three Heaven and Earth realm Demon Sages. In contrast, humanity had not produced a single Heaven and Earth realm Venerable for nearly a millennium before Meng Chuan’s rise. Even Meng An, for all his current growth, was not confident in facing a well-prepared team of ‘Heaven and Earth realm Demon Sages’ from the demon race.

Whoosh. Demon Sage Yingfeng waved his hand, throwing out a green seed. The seed glowed faintly as it flew. Landing mid-air, it immediately rooted and sprouted, growing rapidly. In half a breath, it fully matured: a massive, pale pink flower bloomed atop its green main stem, which bore three enormous leaves.“Quickly,” Demon Sage Yingfeng, Demon Sage Sifeng, and Demon Sage Baifu simultaneously flew into the flower.

“Don’t worry, my formation can withstand even a late-stage Emperor for a while, and we have numerous protective treasures. A newly advanced Tribulation-level mighty figure won’t be able to threaten us in a short time,” Demon Sage Baifu transmitted. As he spoke, he activated one treasure after another. One-time talismans, ancient tokens... He activated them all! Causing layers of protection to form around the flower, safeguarding it thoroughly.

“His Majesty said,” Demon Sage Sifeng interjected, “that within a living world, rules protect the weaker more strongly, and temporal-spatial suppression is severe. Many life-saving items have their power greatly diminished. Some overly heaven-defying ones can’t even be used at all.”“So we just need to hold on for a short while, until Brother Yingfeng becomes an Emperor,” Demon Sage Baifu said, looking at Demon Sage Yingfeng.

Demon Sage Yingfeng had already transformed into a giant white bird with red eyes.Roar!The giant white bird with red eyes let out a low roar. The roar caused both Demon Sage Baifu and Demon Sage Sifeng to wince in pain. And with that roar, the giant white bird with red eyes, already extremely close to its ‘adult form’ and just a hair’s breadth away, completely transformed! Its feathers began to grow long and sharp, its skin became tougher, and its eyes underwent a metamorphosis...

“I have enough accumulation and enough outer realm essence crystals; I can stabilize my Emperor realm in a quarter-hour,” Demon Sage Yingfeng transmitted to his two companions. “You two just need to hold on for a quarter-hour.”“Leave it to us.”“Don’t worry.”

Demon Sage Baifu and Demon Sage Sifeng were both very confident. This time, Emperor Peng and his allies had truly spared no expense, giving them a large number of protective treasures to ensure ‘Demon Sage Yingfeng’ could fully reach its adult form. Once it reached its adult form! Even at the mid-stage Heaven and Earth realm, by physical body alone... Demon Sage Yingfeng could unleash extremely powerful combat strength.

“What is that flower?”“The demons hid inside the flower.”“Demon Sage Yingfeng has broken through, he’s become an Emperor.” The human Venerables watching from outside felt a surge of panic and suppression in their hearts just by observing Demon Sage Yingfeng’s body transforming into its adult form. It was a suppression of life level; they all understood that it was the Emperor level. A Demon Sage from the demon race, breaking through to Emperor as soon as it enters? Then why hadn’t Demon Sage Yingfeng become an Emperor all these years? Although the human Venerables were perplexed, they knew that now they could only rely on Meng Chuan.

Meng Chuan observed everything. “Life-saving items?” Meng Chuan watched the activated life-saving items, not rushing to act. He knew well that in the outer realm, without any suppression, many life-saving items were incredibly miraculous. Like substitute-death talismans... However, in a living world, the rule suppression was much stronger. The principle of a substitute-death talisman is to instantly restore one’s ‘past’ self to the present. So, even if the present self is instantly annihilated, the ‘substitute-death talisman’ can restore that specific ‘self’ from a past time anchor point to the present. Thus, if someone specializing in temporal cultivation reaches a profound level, even if they completely annihilate an opponent who only excels in spatial means, the opponent can continuously recover. But in a living world... Substitute-death talismans are suppressed, and temporal rules are heavily suppressed; the meager power of the talisman alone makes it impossible to activate. Many talismans are like this. Even a ‘Void Teleportation Talisman,’ a crucial life-saving treasure for Tribulation-level mighty figures, can only teleport within the world’s boundaries in a living world. It cannot even go to the outer realm! Many talismans are unusable! Some that can be used have their power significantly reduced!

“So many life-saving items,” Meng Chuan glanced. “Even if their power is greatly reduced, I’ll still need to expend some effort.”

“Rise.” The surrounding world instantly darkened. Strictly speaking, the three-hundred-mile area covered by the formation turned into night. Formation flags flapped, and countless runes were activated. Under Meng Chuan’s mastery, a skill realm comparable to a ‘Fourth Tribulation-level mighty figure,’ this formation—chosen from Ancestor Cangyuan’s treasure vault as the most suitable for Meng Chuan—unleashed its brilliance. Gradually, wisps of light coalesced in the center of the dark sky, forming a ‘crescent moon’. The crescent moon, like a hook, hung high in the dark sky. However, this ‘crescent moon’ continuously gathered power. Even just observing it with the naked eye caused fear and trepidation.

“The formation Meng Chuan is using...” Qin Wu and Luotang watched in shock. They knew Meng Chuan’s strength was growing unfathomable, but how truly powerful he was, they could no longer gauge.

“This formation?” Demon Sage Baifu, Demon Sage Sifeng, and the breakthrough-in-progress Emperor Yingfeng, hidden within the ‘Azure Fire Lotus,’ all felt a tremor of anxiety. Just seeing that crescent moon made them anxious.

“We have many life-saving items; we just need to hold on for a quarter-hour.”“Just the ‘Six Revolutions Earth Talisman’ I activated earlier, in the outer realm, would require a Fifth Tribulation-level mighty figure to break it. Although its power is greatly diminished in a living world... even a newly advanced mighty figure would likely need to attack it continuously for a quarter-hour to break it. Not to mention, there are other life-saving items no weaker than the ‘Six Revolutions Earth Talisman.’” Demon Sage Baifu and Demon Sage Sifeng were now both carefully on guard.

Meng Chuan gazed across at the ‘impenetrable’ demon side.

“Falling Moon Strike,” Meng Chuan said, looking at the crescent moon high in the sky.Boom—The crescent moon, like a blade, manifested Meng Chuan’s most powerful ‘Blade of Annihilation’. Wherever the blade light passed, everything returned to dark annihilation.

“It can be blocked,” Demon Sage Baifu, Demon Sage Sifeng, and Emperor Yingfeng all stared. Emperor Yingfeng was still desperately absorbing outer realm essence crystal power to complete his transformation as quickly as possible.

Boom!On the demon side, they only felt dark annihilation descending. Everything crumbled and shattered with overwhelming force. In an instant, three full layers of protection were utterly destroyed, including the power of the so-called ‘Six Revolutions Earth Talisman,’ which instantly disintegrated.

“Only three layers destroyed?” Meng Chuan, however, paid no attention to the terrified disbelief of Demon Sage Baifu and the others. With a thought, another crescent moon began to form in the night.“Annihilate.”The second Falling Moon Strike descended. The Falling Moon Strike, the Blade of Annihilation, carrying incredibly terrifying destructive power, crushed the demon’s defenses with overwhelming force, causing successive collapses.

The third strike!The fourth strike!Each strike felt as if it pounded directly onto the minds of Demon Sage Baifu, Demon Sage Sifeng, and Emperor Yingfeng; they were completely bewildered.

“How is this possible?” On the other side of the Demon Saint Passage, Emperor Peng, Empress Xuanyue, and Emperor Xinghe, who had been watching with great anticipation, clearly saw this scene through the vast world entrance. Their defensive measures, which they believed to be foolproof, were continuously being destroyed before Meng Chuan. In just four strikes! Except for the miraculous ‘Azure Fire Lotus,’ all other protective measures were shattered. The formation controlled by Demon Sage Baifu was instantly bombarded, sending its star-like beads scattering in all directions.

“Fifth strike,” Meng Chuan commanded remotely, as a new crescent moon condensed in the night.

“What realm is he truly in?” Emperor Peng could no longer maintain his composure, his face contorted as he stared at the other end of the world passage. At this moment, he understood: his dream was shattered!