Chapter 1718: Death Mountain Range

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Yang gently waved his hand in front of him, and a transparent teleportation gate quickly appeared. This spatial teleportation array, connecting to the coordinates of the exit area, seemed even more powerful than the Light of the Stars.

“Holy crap, Boss, do you have to be so over-the-top in the Wuji Realm this time? Have you really reached a point where you can ignore all rules of space-time? You can create teleportation barriers between two places at will! I’ve never seen such a terrifying method before.”

Xu Yang smiled slightly, quite pleased by Long Kun's flattery.

“Don’t panic; you’ll have even more surprises in the future. This teleportation array, however, can’t directly enter the Nether Imperial Clan’s immortal abode. After all, I’ve never been there, so I can’t pinpoint the exact spatial coordinates. But taking you back to the Peak of Kunlun anytime and anywhere is still something I can accomplish.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Long Kun and the other three, enveloped by the powerful teleportation array, vanished from the forbidden area of the immortal abode. When they reappeared, four beams of light had already landed on the Peak of Kunlun, within the sight of hundreds of thousands of powerful beast-race individuals.

“Holy crap, Boss, where did you guys pop out from? The Light of the Stars didn’t produce any power fluctuations, yet you just appeared out of thin air!”

Bai Lian Demon Saint, one of the Four Great Demon Saints and Xu Yang’s only direct disciple, was quite puzzled by this situation. Xu Yang, with no intention of boasting, simply glossed over the fact that he had merged his power with the Creation Mountain and River Map. This served to explain the fundamental principle behind their sudden appearance. Afterwards, no one gave it much thought, and they once again activated the starry sky mark before them. The fifth array light quickly emerged; this was the only path to the Nether Imperial Clan’s immortal abode.

However, just as they were about to enter, Goddess Yanxia made a request: she wanted Long Teng, Ling Yao, and the others to remain behind. For this particular stage, Goddess Yanxia wished to proceed alone with Xu Yang.

“Why, Senior Yanxia? Is it because our strength isn't sufficient?” asked a puzzled Ling Yao.

Goddess Yanxia quickly shook her head, looking at the puzzled Ling Yao beside her. “Silly girl, your strength is not at all inferior to mine. This isn’t about how strong or weak one is. According to my estimation, the source of power of the Nether Imperial Clan, that divine treasure, is simply too terrifying. It possesses a powerful characteristic of corroding life force. No matter how strong you are, touching that power will result in danger.”

Upon hearing Goddess Yanxia’s words, Xiao Hua volunteered, stepping forward to stand before Xu Yang and Goddess Yanxia. “They don’t need to go. I am perfectly capable of adapting to this kind of combat environment.”

Xu Yang, hearing this, exchanged a smile with Xiao Hua and immediately granted her request. Unlike Goddess Yanxia, Xiao Hua does not possess a physical body, so she had no need to worry about such a situation occurring.

Thus, a new temporary combat team was formed. Without further hesitation, the three quickly disappeared from everyone’s sight. However, as soon as they landed, the incredibly dense aura of death around them, coupled with the particularly strong dark attribute that accompanies decaying and perishing life force, truly shocked all three of them.

This was a valley-like area where the color of the sky was invisible. Pitch-black darkness surrounded them, so profound that one couldn't see their own hand. Had Xu Yang not used the Law of Light to illuminate the scene within a hundred-mile radius, this place would have been truly absolute darkness.

And when the power of the Law of Light was unleashed within this endless darkness, it encountered an extremely strong repulsive force. It seemed as though the power of the Law of Light was an anomaly in this exclusive space, creating an intensely conflicting effect with the unique aura of the entire immortal abode.

Even the power of the Law of Light could not be fully released without hindrance in this space. Once it lost Xu Yang’s continued power support, even something as mighty as the Law of Light would likely be unable to sustain itself for long.

“My heavens, even the protective power of the Law of Light can be so strongly impacted. It’s clear that the decaying aura in this place is more intense than we imagined,” Xiao Hua slowly concluded. Goddess Yanxia’s expression beside her grew even more solemn.

“It seems my judgment was not wrong. The decaying aura you are feeling is emanating from the most terrifying Corrosive Divine Vein.”

“Could it be a mountain range condensed with dense death energy?” Xiao Hua asked, turning to look at Goddess Yanxia beside her with a puzzled expression. The latter, however, gently shook her head.

“The so-called Corrosive Divine Vein is, in fact, a backbone,” she explained. “I only heard the leader of the Eighteen Guardian Old Gods mention it once, and no one truly knows its origin. It’s very possible that it existed since the main continent first formed, or perhaps it’s the backbone of an even more powerful extraterrestrial invader from ancient times. In any case, it is permeated with an infinite aura of death. However, Sir Xu Yang should actually be very aware of one thing: this world inherently operates on the principle of extreme Yin producing Yang, and extreme Yang producing Yin—the cycle of Yin and Yang evolving all things. Extremely dense death energy is often the core element that gives birth to powerful life forms.”

Xiao Hua was able to comprehend Goddess Yanxia’s explanation. After all, she had fought alongside Xu Yang across various continents for many years, and even by mere exposure, she had gained considerable understanding of the Grand Dao of life and death.

According to Goddess Yanxia, the most essential part of this Corrosive Divine Vein contained an immensely powerful vitality. She nodded in confirmation.

“Exactly, that’s the principle. Just like our human bodies, our spine is also the place where the most powerful life essence is nurtured, connecting the entire torso and head through the backbone. It’s one of the most important parts of a person besides the head, and this backbone is no different. In other words, if someone could withstand this incredibly dense aura of death and absorb all the power nurtured by this backbone into their body, that person would undoubtedly transcend life and death in terms of physical strength. They would break the so-called limits of life and death and achieve true eternity. However, this idea was merely our leader’s speculation back then. No one has ever succeeded, nor has anyone ever achieved true eternity. Even the gods who stood at the pinnacle of the main continent in any era lived for at most several hundred thousand years before their physical bodies succumbed to decay. Only this one Corrosive Divine Vein has existed since the main continent was born, and even now, the death aura it produces remains incredibly dense, showing no signs of diminishing.”