Chapter 432: Bloodstained Western Border

The entire Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain was enveloped by spiritual energy, the ground shook violently, blood mist pulsed, and scriptures radiated in all directions.

The rapidly moving golden light shimmered like a star. In the nearest provinces, countless beings felt the immense power of Chan Hai Guan Wu, prostrating themselves and worshipping the Immortal Plain.

The Spirit-Waning Army no longer possessed its initial momentum.

Some of the Ghost Marquises and Ghost Lords sensed that something was wrong. From afar, they saw the Ghost King they had always served, whose combat power rivaled that of human Transcendents, being obliterated by an unknown entity's palm strike.

The powerful figures from the Demon Kingdom who presided over the blood sacrifice altars were highly sensitive to danger. Upon seeing the half-severed corpse of the Azure Luan plummeting down the cliff, they immediately ordered their forces to pack up and prepare for withdrawal.

Those who had cultivated to the Dao Seed and Longevity realms possessed extraordinary insight and made their own judgments about the situation.

Nearly all Transcendents possessed formidable protective treasures and evasion techniques honed over millennia of arduous cultivation.

However, they could not defend themselves or escape.

Chan Hai Guan Wu, employing her physical immortal arts, displayed power and speed that far surpassed their comprehension.

"If she could maintain this state indefinitely, she would have used this move long ago. I refuse to believe that there is an invincible opponent below the Martial Arts Emperor."

Qilin Zang said this in a deep voice to stabilize morale, then looked towards the Demon Kingdom's Crown Prince.

A resolute gleam appeared in both their eyes. Their indomitable will, accumulated over thousands of years of cultivation, quickly suppressed their fear, and their fervent fighting spirit was rekindled.

"Fight!"

The Demon Kingdom's Crown Prince had a powerful physique, a towering build, and vitality far surpassing other Transcendents. His neck had already regrown.

His upper body was tattered, and the blood flowing from his wounds burned into an inky demonic flame. The surrounding sky also turned black.

Around his Ancestral Field, space vibrated violently, tearing the flesh in his abdomen.

"Heaven... Enlightenment..."

The Demon Kingdom's Crown Prince spread his arms and roared to the sky.

From his Ancestral Field, a river of scriptures and an ocean of spiritual energy surged forth, enveloping his body and forming layers of protective barriers.

The mere overflow of residual energy flattened the ground beneath him, mile by mile. Distant Lingxiao City was continually overwhelmed by the inky spiritual energy.

The Third Palace Master manipulated the Ghost Banner, flying towards the southern part of Lingxiao City.

The colossal body of the Mara Ghost God, shrouded in spectral mist, stood at the edge of the ruined city. It exhaled Turin Cold Fire from its mouth, blocking the destructive aura unleashed by the Demon Kingdom's Crown Prince.

At this moment, the citizens within Lingxiao City were still far from fully evacuated.

The Fourth Immortal Gate, "Heaven's Enlightenment," was the most potent. The Demon Kingdom's Crown Prince could not yet fully control it; it required time and a heavy price to unleash.

How could Chan Hai Guan Wu give him such an opportunity?

She immediately descended from mid-air and struck down with her sword.

The Second Palace Master and Lord Lan intercepted her from left and right, attempting to buy time for the Demon Kingdom's Crown Prince.

The orchid pattern on Lord Lan's forehead pulsed, and imperial scriptures appeared on his skin as his corpse unleashed residual imperial power. Every strand of his hair shot out lightning, and every glance could cleave through the void, as he ascended to his peak state.

"Boom!"

The Void Sword cut through the light shield supported by the Yellow Clay Lamp, annihilating all the light and shadows of the corpse sea.

Chan Hai Guan Wu landed, and the three engaged in fierce combat.

The Second Palace Master was extremely fast, transforming into lightning to assist Lord Lan, moving along the edge of the battle. Having cultivated the "Nine Heavens Secret Treasury," her mastery of lightning arts was exceptionally high.

Lord Lan's combat power was formidable; he surprisingly managed to withstand Chan Hai Guan Wu's attacks for a short period.

"Bang!"

The twin swords in the Second Palace Master's hands were cleaved into two broken blades by Chan Hai Guan Wu. A deep bloodline appeared on her chest, her five Qi Seas shattered, and her spiritual energy fell into chaos.

She flew backward for dozens of miles, blood gushing from her mouth like a fountain.

Looking at the two broken swords in her hands, the Second Palace Master could no longer muster any will to resist. Her arms felt weak, and the broken swords fell to the ground. Throughout her life, she had always been strong-willed, refusing to admit defeat, always wanting to compete for superiority with everyone.

She sensed Chan Hai Guan Wu's gaze locking onto her.

How could she not understand that her death was imminent?

Escape was impossible.

Of course, the Second Palace Master did not want to die. So, just as she had done every time she made a mistake in her youth, she prostrated herself, tears streaming from her eyes: "Master... I was wrong... This disciple knows her mistake..."

She sought to awaken emotions within Chan Hai Guan Wu, believing that only past affections could serve as the best shield for her heart.

Chan Hai Guan Wu's golden figure appeared before her, striking her spiritual perception between the brows with one finger and piercing her Ancestral Field with another palm strike.

"Bang!"

The Second Palace Master's protective treasures were utterly ineffective.

Her Ancestral Field shattered, her entire abdomen exploded, and her body was almost torn apart from the waist down.

Two Nirvana Celestial Pills appeared in Chan Hai Guan Wu's golden palm.

The Second Palace Master, as if all her strength had been drained, collapsed weakly to the ground, her face pale. Her voice was hoarse and breathy due to her shattered lungs: "Master! My Nirvana Celestial Pills, I offer them to you. This disciple truly repents and only wishes to shave her head and become a nun, cultivating Buddhist teachings... cough cough... to atone for my sins..."

Chan Hai Guan Wu crushed the two Nirvana Celestial Pills before her eyes, turning them into misty spiritual energy and endless scriptures that dispersed in the wind.

The Second Palace Master raised her head, disbelieving: "No... How could you..."

Thousands of years of cultivation achievements were thus destroyed before her very eyes.

Her most cherished possessions, the fruits of her Great Dao cultivation which she valued more than her own life, were directly crushed to dust by Chan Hai Guan Wu. This psychological shock was too profound, completely beyond her comprehension, invalidating her entire past life.

"I shall teach you one last lesson: cultivation is not merely for power and strength. If one cultivates solely for power, they will become unscrupulous and fall into the abyss of greed."

Chan Hai Guan Wu did not wish to set a bad precedent for the lineage of the "Void-Nether Arts."

If she were to seize the pills today, her future disciples and their descendants could use any fabricated, high-sounding excuse to convince themselves to seize the cultivation of their masters or fellow disciples.

Chan Hai Guan Wu had her own Dao and intended to cultivate her own Nirvana Celestial Pills.

"Today, I will cripple your cultivation and take half your life. The remaining half I leave for your senior sister. Every day henceforth, you will live in dread. When she breaks free from the Six Thoughts Mind Spell, her mental power will achieve an unprecedented elevation, bringing her close to becoming a Martial Arts Emperor. From now on, the gap between you two will be like that between the clear sky and mere dust."

Chan Hai Guan Wu had absolute confidence in Yu Yaozi; Yu Yaozi had to overcome the 'Immortal Sensitivity' hurdle herself.

Plant the cause, bear the fruit. Cut off the cause, only then gain the fruit.

"Bang!"

Chan Hai Guan Wu swung the Void Sword, sending the Second Palace Master flying over two hundred miles, causing large clouds of blood mist to erupt from her body.

She then turned away, not sparing another glance.

She strode forward, unleashing Styx Sword Qi, attacking the Demon Kingdom's Crown Prince who had activated the Heaven's Enlightenment Immortal Gate, and Lord Lan, who held the Yellow Clay Lamp.

"Imperial spirit awakened, dragon blood ignited."

"Roar!"

Qilin Zang transformed into his Qilin true form. The Imperial Dragon Blood and Dragon Soul he inherited from the Flying Dragon within him ignited, and his scales emitted a greenish glow.

His aura continuously escalated, now possessing the might of an Emperor.

"Master, take the Hundred Prisons Wind Chimes."

The Third Palace Master, holding the Ghost Banner, landed on top of the Mara Ghost God's head and unleashed the Hundred Prisons Wind Chimes.

As the chimes rang, the surrounding space trembled and warped.

Nourished by Lingxiao City's Heavenly Law Earth Spring, all the Supreme Scriptures within the Hundred Prisons Wind Chimes fully revived, unleashing a supreme power that collided with the four Immortal Gates, the Yellow Clay Lamp, and the Night Emperor's Silver Moon.

Mountain Lord Huohuo and Ziyuan dared not approach the main battlefield, instead moving along its periphery, launching sneak attacks with their Daoist arts.

Soon after, the Third Palace Master and Tang Shituo joined the battle, activating their respective supreme artifacts: the "Thunderbolt Jade" and the "Immortal-Slaying Sword."

"Boom!"

"Rumble!"

Large sections of the Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain collapsed.

After the commotion subsided somewhat, Xia Jin and Master Guan ascended to the peak of the Immortal Plain.

They saw that Lingxiao City, once vibrant and bustling, was largely destroyed, its ruins filled with thick smoke and flames. The region south of the Immortal Plain had collapsed by hundreds of feet, its terrain lowered and scarred with cracks everywhere.

From ancient times to the present, the Lingxiao Living Realm had experienced multiple changes in governance.

The Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain had suffered calamities before, but never had it been so disfigured and its landscape altered as it was today. Even clashes between Martial Arts Emperors had not caused such devastation.

The material structure of the Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain was far superior to that of the twenty-eight provinces within the Living Realm.

The roar of Transcendent combat and the power fluctuations of supreme artifacts had moved far from the Immortal Plain, appearing thousands of miles away in the Western Territory.

"Qilin Zang and the others deliberately led the battle westward," Xia Jin stated, her expression solemn.

The two proceeded cautiously and, two thousand miles from the Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain, discovered Ziyuan's corpse.

Ziyuan's head was gone, and its body was crushed to bone fragments by the spatial power of the Hundred Prisons Wind Chimes, resembling a mass of purplish-red bloody mud.

Its corpse was a true treasure, but Xia Jin did not dare to collect it.

This was both the Mist Emperor's spoils of war and the daughter of the Flying Phoenix.

From the horizon came the indignant roar of Lingxiao Living Realm's First Demon King, Mountain Lord Huohuo. The hundred beasts of the Western Territory prostrated themselves as the sky turned red.

By the time Xia Jin and Master Guan arrived, a golden tiger corpse, the size of a mountain, had appeared on the Western Territory's land.

The blood flowing from the tiger's corpse pooled into a lake, turning the surrounding hundreds of miles into a dead zone. The power of a Transcendent had transformed this place into a forbidden area; martial cultivators below the Dao Seed realm who approached would have their souls ground down by Huohuo's lingering malevolent spirit.

Master Guan jumped into the blood lake for a bath, absorbing a large amount of the Transcendent's essence blood Qi before continuing their journey.

Along the way, they continuously saw the remains of Transcendents and fragments of artifacts. Wherever the battlefield had shifted, mountains were shattered, rivers dried up, and the landscape was drastically altered.

The Qilin's blood and the Demon Kingdom Crown Prince's demonic blood were splattered across the battlefield, indicating severe injuries.

After passing through Shenming Pass, the two arrived at a vast, burning plain, where prolonged battles had transformed hundreds of miles into a fiery domain.

Lord Lan's Yellow Clay Lamp had fallen here, carving a great canyon over ninety miles long into the earth.

Consequently, flames burned eternally in the surrounding region.

Even Dao Seed realm martial cultivators approaching would be burned to ashes.

At the bottom of the canyon, Xia Jin found Lord Lan's shattered remains. His soul had dispersed, and a third of his body was obliterated, leaving him riddled with holes.

Her emotions were complex, filled with a myriad of feelings.

Lord Lan, possessing the corpse of a Martial Arts Emperor, had dominated the Southeast Nether Realm for thousands of years and was an extremely ancient entity in southern Yingzhou. Who could have imagined he would die today?

One after another, renowned supreme powerhouses fell like rain.

Who in the world would not feel dread?

The higher one's cultivation, the greater the fear.