Chapter 235 : Total Annihilation

Chapter 235: Total Annihilation

“A bunch of useless trash, you can’t even capture a mere mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

Seeing that Zhou Yuan and his group failed to capture Chen Beiwu, the Purple Kui Hound spoke with disdain.

“Why didn’t you make a move to stop him?” Zhou Yuan’s face darkened as he looked at the Purple Kui Hound. “That Fourth-Tier Formation Disk Wandering Void Realm is very likely the key to opening the fissure in the stone stele.”

“That’s your human clan’s internal struggle. I sure as hell won’t meddle in it.” The Purple Kui Hound’s eyes turned cold, intent on maintaining its reputation as the fastest existence within the secret realm.

Was it really unwilling to intercept?

When Chen Zi’ang activated the Fourth-Tier Formation Disk, his fleeing speed rivaled that of his father, the Heavenly-Thunder Howling Hound—speed far beyond that of a Golden Core True Person.

What means did it have to keep Chen Zi’ang?

‘To think that after ten thousand years, the Mirror Moon Sect would once again produce a peerless genius with a Tianyan Dao Foundation!’ Zhao Qingluo’s eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Han Shengwu and Gu Yunsi, who could hardly suppress their joy.

All cultivators in the Earth Proliferation Territory knew this: among the Five Great Sects, the Blazing Flame Sect had the strongest arts, the Profound Sword Pavilion had the strongest combat power, the Heavy Gold Sect excelled most in body refinement, the Greenwood Sect specialized in spiritual plants, and the Mirror Moon Sect was the most skilled in alchemy. Yet few knew that the Five Great Sects shared a common origin, all their cultivation methods inherited from the ancient sect—Taiyi Dao Sect.

Ten thousand years ago, the Taiyi Dao Sect had been the overlord power that ruled the entire Southern Wastes Domain.

The sect’s five branches had countless strong cultivators, with Divine Transformation True Venerables presiding over it from generation to generation.

At its peak, the sect’s Patriarch was a Void-Refining Dao Venerable who bore the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth itself. His prestige far surpassed that of the present overlord of the Nanyan Territory, the Eight Desolations Sect.

However, even the most prosperous sects had times of decline.

When the ancient great calamity descended, the Taiyi Dao Venerable perished. The five branches of the sect were led only by peak True Venerables, unable to suppress one another.

Coupled with the deliberate instigation of the neighboring Divine Transformation sects from the Mountain Submergence Realm and the River Evolution Territory, the split of the Taiyi Dao Sect became inevitable.

As the saying went: gathered, they were a blazing fire; scattered, they became a sky full of stars.

Even after splitting into the Five Great Sects, they still remained Divine Transformation sects that countless cultivation sects could only look up to.

Their inheritances were vast, even including the legendary Heavenly Evolution Cycle Art, which broke through the Thirteenth Layer of Qi Refining.

In her youthful arrogance, Zhao Qingluo had once harbored the idea of cultivating the Heavenly Evolution Cycle Art, seeking to comprehend the mysteries of the Thirteenth Layer of Qi Refining and forge a flawless Tianyan Dao Foundation.

Alas, the Tianyan Dao Foundation was nearly impossible to achieve. In the tens of thousands of years since, only the Mirror Moon Sect’s first-generation patriarch and the Greenwood Sect’s third-generation patriarch had managed to succeed.

‘Could it be that the declining Mirror Moon Sect is about to produce another great cultivator of the Nascent Soul True Monarch realm—or even a Divine Transformation True Venerable?’

The thought left Zhao Qingluo with mixed feelings.

Now was not like the past. In the present age, the patriarchs of the Five Great Sects were all merely Nascent Soul True Monarchs, with not a single Divine Transformation True Venerable to dominate the world.

If the Mirror Moon Sect produced one, it could very well reshape the balance of power, unifying the Five Great Sects under its banner—something utterly against the interests of the Greenwood Sect.

‘I must report Chen Zi’ang’s matter to the sect immediately!’

Not only Zhao Qingluo, but Zhou Yuan too had the same thought rising in his heart.

Just then, Zhou Yuan’s gaze caught sight of a chained Mask-Wearing Demon Ape.

‘What in the world is that? Could it be the Heart Monkey mentioned by the inheritance stele?’

The next instant, Zhou Yuan’s heart lurched, and like an ordinary mortal he suddenly collapsed to the ground.

‘What’s happening?’

Seeing Zhou Yuan fall limp, all the cultivators present frowned deeply, eyes filled with wariness as they spread their divine senses around.

“Senior Brother Zhou!”

A Heavy Gold Sect disciple rushed forward, only to find that Zhou Yuan had already lost all traces of life, his face frozen in terror.

“On guard, now!”

Zhao Qingluo shouted, surging forth in flight light as she led her sect members to form the Greenwood Six-Phase Formation, clutching tightly the Nascent Soul Mystic Talisman bestowed by her master.

Zhou Yuan had been the foremost true disciple of the Heavy Gold Sect, carrying a Golden Core Talisman Treasure on him at all times, and cultivating the sect’s strongest defensive art—the Ten-Thousand Tribulations Golden Body.

Even a Golden Core True Person could not have silently claimed his life.

‘Strange… what’s going on?’

Han Shengwu and Gu Yunsi suddenly felt their blood surging, their heartbeats accelerating.

The next instant, in their vision appeared a Mask-Wearing Demon Ape, beating its chest slowly with both hands.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

With each thud of its fists against its chest, the two felt their hearts seared with excruciating pain, blood spraying uncontrollably from their mouths.

Utterly powerless!

Before this terrifying demon ape, the liquid mana refined to perfection by Foundation Establishment cultivators was utterly useless.

Witnessing this eerie scene, the ever-cautious Zhao Qingluo did not hesitate to bite her tongue, spitting out her life-blood essence to activate her Nascent Soul Mystic Talisman.

This Mask-Wearing Demon Ape was most likely the Heart Monkey spoken of in the inheritance stele.

If the stele’s words were true, her chances of surviving against it were less than half a percent.

Under such circumstances, activating a Fourth-Tier Profound Talisman at once was the best choice.

After all, even killing it would still count as subduing it.

By slaying the ape with her Wood-Aspect Profound Lightning Talisman, she might gain the recognition of True Monarch Tianyan and inherit his legacy.

“Boom!”

As the Fourth-Tier Profound Talisman soared into the air, the Yi-Wood Essence Qi of heaven and earth gathered madly, forming a thousand-li emerald sea of clouds.

“Master, please strike down this fiend!”

At her words, the vast emerald sea of clouds revealed a timeless Evergreen Dharma Body.

Its left eye shone like a verdant pool at the Spring Equinox, while its right eye gleamed like profound ice at the Winter Solstice. Its gaze fell upon the demon ape as if looking down upon an insignificant ant.

In that instant, all heaven and earth fell silent.

The Mask-Wearing Demon Ape raised its head toward the Dharma Body looming above the clouds, its gaze still cold and cruel.

The next moment, the phantom Dharma Body flicked its fingers, stirring the heavens.

“Boom!” Thunder roared, and grass and trees across a thousand li erupted, overflowing with Wood Virtue vitality.

“Boom!” Lightning split mountains flat, draining power from all directions.

“Boom!” Thunder fell once more, shattering space like cracked glass, its power enough to obliterate a Golden Core True Person and even repel a Nascent Soul True Monarch—the terrifying might of the Wood-Aspect Profound Lightning.

A quarter of an hour later, as the Dharma Body dispersed and the last trace of thunder vanished, all within a thousand li radius had been obliterated by the Wood-Aspect Profound Lightning.

‘To die beneath Wood-Aspect Profound Lightning can be counted a blessing for you.’

A smile appeared on Zhao Qingluo’s face at the sight.

But in the very next moment, she sensed something behind her watching intently.

‘Impossible—unscathed?!’

She leapt back and turned, only to see that same terrifying demon ape staring at her.

Ignoring the shock in all the cultivators’ eyes, the ape glanced at the inheritance stele. For the first time, a faint shift flickered in its cold and cruel gaze.

Its nose twitched, memorizing the mana aura and divine sense left behind by the Tianyan Dao Foundation on the stele, before striding in the direction of Chen Beiwu’s aura.

“Step.”

“Step.”

“Step.”

With each step the Mask-Wearing Demon Ape took, a Foundation Establishment cultivator was engulfed in lightning, reduced to ash beneath the Wood-Aspect Profound Lightning.

‘So the Heart Monkey spoken of by True Monarch Tianyan was actually a True Monarch Demon Ape…’

‘Laughable. Forget Foundation Establishment cultivators—even a Nascent Soul True Monarch might not be able to subdue such a being.’

“Where exactly is that so-called half-percent chance of survival the stele spoke of?”

These were Zhao Qingluo’s final thoughts before her death.