Chapter 1655: Enemy Rear Attacks

Hearing this, Fu Wen's brows furrowed slightly. He had considered this possibility but hadn't expected it to be true.

Wang Changsheng, on the other hand, wasn't surprised. The Heavenly Sea Sect had unified the realm for over six hundred years; it was unlikely that those Soul Transformation cultivators would leave powerful demonic beasts untouched. After all, places where formidable demonic beasts were sealed were often rich in spiritual energy, and perhaps even powerful treasures were used to suppress them.

"Are there any minor realms in the Heavenly Sea Realm? Or Heavenly-grade secret realms?" Fang Yue asked. Heavenly-grade secret realms might contain spiritual treasures that could aid in breaking through to the Soul Transformation stage, or at the very least, materials for crafting spirit treasures.

"There are no minor realms," True Immortal Qian Li replied honestly, "but there are a few Heavenly-grade secret realms. However, most of the natural treasures within them have likely been plundered. These secret realms are heavily restricted and guarded by substantial forces. Even wild hundred-year-old spiritual herbs are rare, let alone thousand-year-old ones."

True Immortal Qian Li continued, explaining that after unifying the Heavenly Sea Realm, the Heavenly Sea Sect had thoroughly plundered all secret realms across the land to cultivate a large number of experts. Otherwise, the Heavenly Sea Realm wouldn't have been able to produce so many Nascent Soul cultivators.

Fu Wen's brows were tightly knit. If this were truly the case, their only option would be to kill people and seize their treasures.

"Do you know about spatial passages?" Wang Changsheng asked in a deep voice. "Spatial passages in the Heavenly Sea Realm that connect to other realms?"

"I don't know," True Immortal Qian Li sighed. "I've been stationed here for over three hundred years, and very few people come to this place. Heavenly Sea Sect's seventy-ninth rule strictly forbids inquiring about matters outside one's duties, and violators are severely punished." He added that his relationship with the Heavenly Sea Sect's authorities was ordinary, which was why he had been assigned here in the first place.

Wang Changsheng was somewhat speechless. He had assumed that their operations would become much smoother after True Immortal Qian Li submitted to them, but it turned out Qian Li didn't know much about the Heavenly Sea Realm's specific situation. The spiritual energy here was not abundant, nor were there many cultivation resources. True Immortal Qian Li had been dispatched here to mine ore, clearly indicating he was not a favored cultivator.

"Oh, right," True Immortal Qian Li said cautiously, "Our sect... the Heavenly Sea Sect has refined a treasure called the Profound Origin Plate, specifically designed to detect spatial fluctuations. It can detect any spatial fluctuations within a million miles. If you have any companions coming, you must be extremely careful."

"Is there a Profound Origin Plate here?" Fang Yue pressed, knowing this wasn't good news.

True Immortal Qian Li shook his head. "No, the Profound Origin Plate is very difficult to refine, so there aren't many. They are placed in other locations. The environment here is unique; if you want to leave, you'll need to cross the Boundless Sand Sea and contact your fellow disciples on the other side."

"You need to contact other disciples to leave here?" Wang Ruyan asked, puzzled. "You're at the late Nascent Soul stage; how were you assigned to this place?"

"After the Heavenly Sea Realm went to war with the Eastern Fence Realm, the Heavenly Sea Realm was placed under martial law," True Immortal Qian Li explained, visibly frustrated. "Cultivators are strictly forbidden from roaming around without orders. All disciples must stay at their posts. The Boundless Sand Sea has many ancient restrictions that have been repurposed. To leave here, you either cross the Boundless Sand Sea or traverse hundreds of millions of miles of ocean. Other sub-branches are equally heavily guarded. As for whether there are Soul Transformation cultivators, I'm not sure. I had a conflict with a few high-ranking members of the sect. Bound by sect rules, they couldn't outright kill me, so they sent me here. I was at the mid-Nascent Soul stage before I came."

He grew indignant as he spoke. If he hadn't offended some petty individuals and been sent to such a place, he might have already reached the late-Nascent Soul perfect cultivation. This was also a drawback of immortal cultivation sects: cultivators in power could easily obstruct fellow disciples they disliked. The location of this sub-branch was particularly unusual, with an endless ocean to the south and hundreds of millions of miles of desert to the west. This was one reason why True Immortal Qian Li had so quickly submitted to Fu Wen.

Apart from Fu Wen and Huang Fugui, Wang Changsheng and the others hailed from the South Sea. Most of them cultivated water-attribute techniques, which gave them an advantage in battles within the ocean.

"Senior Fu," Wang Changsheng suggested, "why don't we fly across the sea? The Boundless Sand Sea has ancient restrictions. If we're attacked there, we'll be in trouble."

Fang Yue and the others quickly agreed; crossing the Boundless Sand Sea carried considerable risk.

Fu Wen pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Let's leave by sea. We need to move quickly; the Heavenly Sea Sect might have already detected an anomaly."

Less than a quarter of an hour later, a blue giant boat, over a hundred zhang long, flew away from the location, heading towards the boundless ocean.

In the southeastern part of the Heavenly Sea Realm, amidst a verdant mountain range stretching for millions of miles, flames soared into the sky and constant roars echoed. Thousands of cultivators were engaged in battle. Fang Mu stood atop a steep mountain peak, his nine refining corpses surrounding two Nascent Soul cultivators and attacking them with spells.

When Fang Mu learned that the higher-ups were selecting individuals to infiltrate the Heavenly Sea Realm, he voluntarily signed up. This was the best opportunity for his Heavenly Corpse to advance. In the Eastern Fence Realm, he couldn't unleash widespread slaughter unless there was a war between humans and demons; doing so would be courting death. With the Heavenly Sea Realm at war with the Eastern Fence Realm, Fang Mu could fight without restraint there. With nine Nascent Soul stage refining corpses, he dared to contend with cultivators at the late-Nascent Soul perfect cultivation.

In the void behind Fang Mu, there was a black hole several zhang wide, from which cultivators occasionally flew out. Their landing point was a sub-branch of the Heavenly Sea Realm. Fortunately, there were no Soul Transformation cultivators there. Fang Mu needed to guard the passage and welcome his other companions.

"Zombies can cast spells! What kind of zombies are these?!" the Heavenly Sea Realm's Nascent Soul cultivators exclaimed in shock.

Fang Mu sneered. "Go ask Yama!"

The nine refining corpses each glowed with dazzling spiritual light. Nine light beams of various colors shot out, merging into one, enveloping the two Nascent Soul cultivators. The nine refining corpses then pounced. The two Nascent Soul cultivators manipulated their magic treasures to attack the nine refining corpses, but it was useless. The refining corpses were invulnerable to blades and spears, impervious to water and fire. When magic treasures struck them, only muffled thuds were heard.

Dense spiritual light from spells struck the black hole high in the sky, attempting to destroy the entrance. Fang Mu scoffed. He opened his mouth, and a dark light shot out, bringing forth chilling winds and loud wails like ghosts and wolves. The dark light transformed into a black banner over a hundred zhang tall, blocking the black hole. A hideous ghost face emerged on the banner's surface. The face seemed to come alive, opening its gaping maw and spewing a misty gray aura that formed a black wind wall, standing before the black hole. The dense spiritual light from the spells struck the black wind wall, but it was like punching cotton; it had no effect.

A blue light and a dark light flew out from the black hole. As the spiritual light receded, True Ancestor Qing Hua appeared, alongside a gaunt, black-robed old man. The black-robed old man's aura was slightly weaker than True Ancestor Qing Hua's, but he was also a Soul Transformation cultivator. The black-robed elder's surname was Zhao, and his given name was Chi. He was a Soul Transformation cultivator in the early stage and a Supreme Elder of the Yin Corpse Sect.

The arrival of the two Soul Transformation cultivators settled the matter. Zhao Chi flicked his sleeve, and a dark light shot out, heading straight for the Heavenly Sea Realm cultivators. Screams constantly erupted as Heavenly Sea Realm cultivators fell one after another. On the other side, Fang Mu's refining corpses also captured two Nascent Soul cultivators.

Zhao Chi performed soul-searching on the two Nascent Soul cultivators, his brows furrowing deeply. "There are actually no places sealing powerful demonic beasts," he muttered, "only three dangerous locations."

"Hmph, this is within our expectations," True Ancestor Qing Hua said somewhat dismissively. "Let's first rendezvous with Fellow Daoist Fu and the others. I wonder how they are doing." True Ancestor Qing Hua added that the four Soul Transformation cultivators leading the infiltration into the Heavenly Sea Realm had placed special marks on each other before the operation. These marks allowed them to sense each other's presence within a million miles, but they would only last for a year. Therefore, they needed to rendezvous within that timeframe.

Half an hour later, they finished clearing the battlefield and departed.