Chapter 562: Great Battle, Boundary Turtle

Under a brilliant golden light, the Divine Dragon Vajra Aspect, wreathed in a four-clawed golden dragon, suddenly emerged from the void. It was immediately followed by a special aspect, transparent and ethereal like a shadow.

Though human-shaped, it was eerily thin and elongated.

Behind it hovered a Celestial Array Wheel, seemingly containing the mysteries of all creation, named the Profound Insight Celestial Wheel Aspect.

The former was Venerable Longchan, while the latter was Tianmu Su.

The Underworld King Spirit Official used spatial divine abilities to send the two in. His true form, however, did not enter the realm. Yet, attacking from across the boundless void, the originally stable space of the Sword Sect's mountain gate instantly fractured into countless cracks.

Pairs of purple eyes materialized behind the cracks.

Thousands of ethereal divine rays shot out from them, like deadly beams capable of bypassing all defenses.

The first to suffer was the Sword Sect's mountain protection array.

Despite being a supreme fifth-tier celestial array, it had no effect whatsoever and was riddled like a sieve by the ethereal divine rays.

Venerable Longchan's face was benevolent.

Yet his eyes were filled with murderous intent. The Divine Dragon Vajra Aspect, using the openings in the pierced array's spiritual light, violently tore it open and fearlessly squeezed through.

"The Buddha says, when righteousness and evil lose their way, they must be chastised!"

A dragon's roar echoed through the nine heavens.

The divine dragon coiled around the Vajra suddenly flew out, aiming directly at Wang Yu. Bearing old grudges, Longchan's animosity towards Wang Yu was deeply ingrained.

The enmity of stolen treasures and destroyed sects would be settled completely today.

Wang Yu's spiritual sense warned him. Furthermore, he had held back some strength, merely sparring with Sword Head Haoran in a feigned battle, so he could naturally react in a crisis.

However, after Venerable Longchan pledged allegiance to the Underworld King Spirit Official, his strength had advanced further, coupled with his late-stage Soul Transformation cultivation.

Wang Yu could contend with him, but his chances of winning were no more than thirty percent. Unless he could outmaneuver his opponent, the probability of winning in a direct confrontation was minuscule.

He raised his right hand high, and the Demonic Sword materialized in his grasp.

With a horizontal slash, using the Yellow Springs Burial Curse Sword divine ability as a lure, he forced Sword Head Haoran, who feared the Yellow Springs' nature, to retreat. With his left hand, he fiercely gripped towards the roaring divine dragon.

The absolute power brought by his control over force created a field of space, almost instantly reducing the divine dragon's speed to a crawl. Though it couldn't fully restrain it, it provided him a perfect opportunity to escape.

He then cast the Ruined Heavens Concealment Curse, vanishing without a trace.

Wuji and Liantian did not step in to save him. Perhaps they believed he could contend with Longchan, but more likely, they wanted to teach him a lesson, to get revenge for his earlier extortion.

With multiple parties targeting him, Wang Yu naturally had no reason to continue fighting.

He decided to keep a trick up his sleeve for now.

His exchange with Venerable Longchan had only lasted a few breaths. At the same time, Tianmu Su also made her move, regarding the Profound Insight Celestial Wheel Aspect.

Its wondrous aspect was not in the manifestation itself, but in the Celestial Wheel behind it, seemingly containing the mysteries of all creation. Tianmu Su, residing within it, felt as if she had divine assistance at that moment.

Within the Sword Sect's mountain protection array, half of its core nodes were instantly seized by her. Each sword dao talisman transformed into the sharpest weapon in her hands.

She indiscriminately slaughtered everyone from both the righteous and demonic factions.

Without the array's enhancements, Fuling and Miaozhen, both early-stage Soul Transformation cultivators, suffered a significant drop in strength. Chitian and Huangquan did not press their advantage, but instead quickly moved closer to Demonic Venerable Liantian's position.

The only unexpected development was the Blood Demon Palace Lord.

For some inexplicable reason, his sea of blood surged and actually sucked Fuling and Miaozhen, the two female cultivators, inside. In an instant, it transformed into a streak of blood light too fast for the eye to follow, vanishing into the horizon.

This individual, whose personality had been warped by demonic corruption, actually abandoned the overall strategy, carrying away two Sword Sect Soul Transformation cultivators from the battlefield.

Both Venerable Taixu and Demonic Venerable Liantian were bewildered by this sudden change.

The white-bearded, white-browed Sword Sect elder frowned deeply.

"That scoundrel has been too deeply corrupted by demonic influence," he said, "I fear he intends to turn Fuling and Miaozhen into blood demon slaves."

"Fellow Daoist, now is not the time to worry about such things," Demonic Venerable Liantian quickly interjected.

"If we win this battle, dealing with the Blood Demon Palace Lord will be a simple matter. If we lose this battle, becoming a demonic slave is better than losing one's life."

Though Taixu did not entirely agree, the larger picture was indeed more important at this moment. "The Underworld King Spirit Official has appeared," he said, "The rest is up to you, Fellow Daoist."

"The world power still needs some refinement," he added. "This villain can manifest thousands of avatars and is skilled in the Dao of Space. Please assist me, Fellow Daoist."

These words were all transmitted via divine sense.

Both discreet and efficient.

Taixu, with a sigh, lightly called out.

"Chunyang, Danchen!"

Two of the Sword Sect's three elders, both with fifth-level Soul Transformation cultivation, emerged from the floating immortal mountain. One, wielding the Pure Yang Sword, seemed to transform into a great sun, violently smashing towards Tianmu Su.

Around the other floated strange-colored spirit pills.

These actually transformed into pill-swords. A unique alchemy-sword technique unfolded, an eerie medicinal fragrance pervaded the air, carrying an illusionary divine ability that felt like being cut into a thousand pieces.

The two joined forces, contending with Tianmu Su.

Cultivators below the Soul Transformation stage from both righteous and demonic factions seized the opportunity to quickly withdraw from the battlefield. Groups that were originally incompatible, like fire and water, and mutually detested, actually maintained a tacit understanding.

They fled as far as they could, wanting to get away from this troublesome place as quickly as possible. Though they only partially understood the situation, they could clearly see that this was no longer a decisive battle between righteousness and evil.

The play they were needed for had entirely concluded.

It was time to exit the stage. Without sufficient strength, they could only await the final outcome. Apart from praying, there seemed to be nothing else they could do.

Seeing this, Venerable Longchan had no choice but to abandon his pursuit of Wang Yu.

He opted to pursue the scattered righteous and demonic cultivators. Tossing his alms bowl into the air, it transformed into a vortex with endless suction. Only cultivators at the perfected Nascent Soul stage could resist it slightly.

All cultivators within a hundred-mile radius were swept back.

They were all drawn into the alms bowl spirit treasure!

This was the Demon Refining Bowl. Living beings drawn into it would be refined into a pool of golden liquid in moments, which could help Buddhist Vajra cultivators increase their physique and vitality, truly sinister.

The order given to them by the Underworld King Spirit Official was to kill as many cultivators from both righteous and demonic factions as possible to weaken their overall strength. This was a plan for the future.

However, whose future was truly assured was currently unknown.

Meanwhile.

As the second most powerful figure in the demonic path and reputedly the foremost alchemist in Chiyuan, Demonic Venerable Wuji also made his move. In some respects, he was considered the second strongest in the Ice Hell Realm.

His counterpart was Danchenzi.

Danchenzi's path of combining alchemy and swords was completely different from his. For Wuji, human alchemy and blood alchemy were merely supplementary cultivation methods.

His combat rarely involved alchemical techniques.

Since the righteous path had dispatched someone to hold back Tianmu Su, he could only target Venerable Longchan. A dark light shot out horizontally.

It streaked along the suction force of the Demon Refining Bowl.

Almost instantly, it touched the devouring vortex formed by the spirit treasure. A sky-shattering explosion resounded, and Longchan, wincing in pain, retrieved the Demon Refining Bowl.

He stared at Demonic Venerable Wuji with a grim expression.

It was just short of his demon-refining auxiliary cultivation treasure being shattered. The technique used by Demonic Venerable Wuji was called the Treasure-Shattering Shuttle, which was both a divine ability and a spirit treasure.

The complete set had nine pieces, specifically designed to shatter others' magical artifacts.

In the past.

When he gained fame, it was by relying on this set of techniques that he became renowned across the Taihu and Chiyuan regions. Even though he resided overseas, he had a good understanding of the Soul Transformation venerables on the mainland.

"Old Devil Wuji..."

"Baldy, come fight!"

The two instantly clashed, forming a chaotic battle. The Sword Sect's mountain gate area was engulfed in even more violent spiritual light. Explosions resounded ceaselessly, and space continually vibrated.

From further away, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continuously converged on this spot, repairing the damaged aspects of the venerables. The battle immediately entered a white-hot phase.

However, determining victory or defeat was not something that could be achieved in a short time.

Wang Yu, hidden within the spatial interstice, his gaze obscure and unreadable. He had previously fought with Tianmu Su several times. After she unleashed her aspect, she appeared to be entangled by Chunyang and Danchen.

However, her very troublesome treasure gourd had not been used.

It was evident she still held back some strength.

Especially the Underworld King Spirit Official behind them, whose purple eyes were visible in countless cracks, but whose true body's location was entirely unknown.

Wang Yu felt that his hiding place was somewhat dangerous.

Displaying spatial techniques before a peak Void Refining expert was likely like teaching a fish to swim. Therefore, after briefly observing the situation, he quickly teleported into the distance.

He planned to stay for a while in the demonic cloud where the demon race was observing the battle. Given their past encounters in the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm, Demon Venerable Azure Dragon wouldn't likely drive him away.

The focus returns.

After the situation reached a stalemate, Venerable Taixu nodded to Liantian, while his figure transformed into sword light and vanished into the Taihu Lake at the base of the floating immortal mountain.

In just a few breaths, spiritual beasts raised by the Sword Sect surfaced from the waters. The most prominent among them was a gigantic turtle, its body like a mountain.

Even the highly knowledgeable Demonic Venerable Liantian had to ponder for a moment before realizing: "This is... an ancient relic species—the World-Suppressing Turtle?!"

This was a hidden foundation of the Sword Sect, never before revealed to the world.

Ancient relic species were fierce beast bloodlines, ranked only below true spirits. Even low-grade fierce beast bloodlines possessed the potential to break through to Soul Transformation, and this World-Suppressing Turtle before them had clearly reached the high-grade bloodline.

Its strength had reached the peak of the fifth tier.

Old Daoist Taixu stood on the turtle's back, which was covered in savage thorns. He chuckled, "Grandpa Turtle, this concerns breaking the cage of the Ice Hell Realm. Whether our cultivation path can continue depends entirely on this. This unworthy descendant can only ask you to seal the void."

The World-Suppressing Turtle slowly raised its head, meeting the gaze of the purple eyes in the spatial cracks. Its turtle eyes were filled with hatred.

"You are not him," it rumbled, "but you must be connected, I presume. Today, this old turtle will stake his life to drag you beast from your high perch!"

Upon hearing this, the Underworld King Spirit Official let out a disdainful chuckle.

"I heard long ago, ten thousand years past, that the Ice Hell Realm produced a family of World-Suppressing Turtles," he said. "My master captured its offspring, refined its body, and obtained a Qiankun seed, which transformed into a portable immortal abode, extremely useful."

"Later, when the mother turtle came seeking its child, she was captured alive and sold to the Immortal Palace as a breeding specimen for producing turtle eggs. Are you that mother turtle's Dao companion, the father of that young turtle?"

"Since you chose to hibernate and hide back then, your emergence today is destined to be my opportunity!"

It would have been better if he hadn't spoken, but as soon as he brought this up,

The World-Suppressing Turtle's eyes instantly turned redder than blood. Overwhelming malevolent energy surged from its body. Though its voice was aged, every word seemed to bleed, and its demonic might was world-shaking!

"—Get out here!"

The World-Suppressing Turtle clan.

As their name suggested, they possessed the ability to suppress realms. Within their bodies, they harbored an inner Qiankun realm. Legend had it that their ancestors were the offspring of a void beast and a profound turtle.

When the inner Qiankun minor realm within their bodies matured, it signified their adulthood.

Most could break through to the Void Refining stage. Every movement contained spatial mysteries and the creation of Qiankun! With one step of a turtle's foot, it was as if the weight of a world pressed down, crushing everything within inches.

They were one of the rare exotic beasts capable of rivaling body cultivators of the same realm!

The lifespan of demon beasts varied greatly.

Ordinary demon beasts had shorter lifespans than humans. Only when their bloodline reached the Earth Grade did their lifespan become comparable to human cultivators. However, upon reaching the Heaven Grade or fierce beast level, their lifespans would far exceed that of humans.

Turtles were among the best of them. This peak Soul Transformation World-Suppressing Turtle had a lifespan of at least twelve thousand years. Were it not for the restrictions imposed by immortal rules, it would likely have broken through to the Void Refining stage long ago with increasing age.

Yet, heavenly will was hard to defy.

By an unfortunate twist of fate, such a tragedy occurred. No wonder it harbored such profound hatred for the Underworld King Spirit Official. That resentment was no less than an oceanic vastness.

As the World-Suppressing Turtle raged,

the surrounding spatial cracks began to mend one by one, just as the Underworld King Spirit Official's means of peering into this realm were about to be completely nullified.

"A mere trick!" a voice boomed. "How can the Dao of Space be comprehended by bloodline alone? Today, this venerable one will show you what 'Dao' truly means!"

However.

Not long after the grand pronouncement,

Old Daoist Taixu formed a spirit seal with his hand. Countless array patterns rose from the waters of Taihu Lake. He, too, had apparently comprehended the Dao of Celestial Arrays.

"Shift stars and change constellations, Profound Turtle takes its place!"

"Command the Star Sea, return to the One and transform to Void!"

All the spiritual beasts that had surfaced with the World-Suppressing Turtle offered their own magical power and demon essence. Some even had their bodies rapidly shrivel and wither, sacrificing their very essence and lifespan to lend a hand to their turtle ancestor.

With tens of thousands of demons gathered, the World-Suppressing Turtle's power rapidly swelled.

Under the array's enhancement, the duration of this ritualistic secret art was significantly extended. A Qiankun minor realm, centered around the World-Suppressing Turtle, enveloped everyone within it.

This included Wang Yu, who had only recently arrived in the demonic cloud.

All Soul Transformation cultivators felt the world spin around them. In the blink of an eye, the world had changed.

All that remained in their vision was a vast black ocean.

This was the Qiankun minor realm within the World-Suppressing Turtle's body. Though its area might be only that of a single continent, it was a truly distinct dimension.

For the Underworld King Spirit Official, striking from across realms became even more troublesome.

It was equivalent to having to penetrate two layers of realm barriers to affect those within the Qiankun minor realm. Demonic Venerable Liantian's eyes lit up at this sight. Without another word, he directly charged towards Venerable Longchan.

Old Daoist Taixu did likewise, seizing the moment to rush towards Tianmu Su.

Faced with the focused attack of two peak Soul Transformation experts,

and the shift in the surrounding environment, Longchan, already meticulous and opportunistic by nature, became indecisive. He quickly manipulated his Divine Dragon Vajra Aspect to retreat.

Before he could even speak, he found that Liantian's Demonic Flames from the marsh were clinging to his aspect's divine ability, forcibly refining its power, causing the special power before Liantian to continuously grow.

This, too, was clearly calculated.

The Dao of Liantian, where "heaven" refers to a substitute, actually targets the entire world, causing it to return to its origin. The ultimate gain from this is the theoretically omnipotent "world power"!

This characteristic was somewhat similar to the supreme Heavenly Heart Realm in mental cultivation, and also resembled immortal attributes. However, the final outcome still depended on whether the so-called Dao of Liantian was truly flawless.

As time passed,

Longchan and Tianmu Su's aspects were continuously shrinking, and their Soul Transformation might grew weaker and weaker. This Black Sea world was under the absolute control of the World-Suppressing Turtle.

If it did not consent, even a Soul Transformation domain would find it difficult to plunder the spiritual energy of this realm. This, in turn, shattered the characteristic of their divine abilities and aspects being indestructible.