Chapter 342: Sacrifice to Restore the Blackened Earth

Brother Ox roared to the heavens, a sound so powerful it reverberated across the battlefield. Together with the Five Elements Tree, it unleashed its full might, aiming a ferocious charge at the corrupted earth.

Boom!

The ground quaked violently as they struck. The gray-blue sky above rippled, and a massive black void began to form where the impact occurred. Xiao Chi trembled with excitement, his body shaking as he clenched his lips shut, too overwhelmed to speak.

“Damn it, brothers! Keep charging!”

From the distance came a thunderous shout. Chen Xun’s shadow loomed over the battlefield as he wielded his Mountain Splitting Axes, cutting down wave after wave of corrupted beings. The enemy forces, sensing the growing peril, howled in panic and fury.

“Moo!” Brother Ox’s gaze turned wild with determination. It swung the formation flags with relentless force, driving the massive breaker vessel deeper into the earth. They were no longer just fighting; they were carving a path, creating a hope that lay hidden beneath their feet.

Buzz…

Hundreds of ancient warships that had survived the long battle now surged forward with unyielding resolve. Their battered hulls creaked as cracks spread across their surfaces, but they showed no signs of stopping. Bloodstained banners fluttered defiantly in the air, even as the ships themselves began to collapse into ruin.

“Stop them! The Sacred Ground must not fall!”

“Attack! Crush them all!”

“Our kind, offer your lives to the cause!”

The corrupted beings’ shrieks echoed across the land. In a desperate bid to halt the advance, Deity Transformation corrupted beings hurled black mountains at the battlefield’s vanguard. Tainted blood filled the sky as dozens of them unleashed their terrifying power.

Chen Xun let out a laugh that was more roar than mirth. His silver hair glimmered under the sky’s eerie light as he faced the incoming barrage. Raising his axes, he sneered, “Come! Let’s see if you can kill me!”

Boom!

A cataclysmic explosion of light and energy erupted as Chen Xun collided with the corrupted beings’ assault. Death energy and blood painted the sky as he cleaved a path through his enemies. For every corrupted being that fell, another surged forward to take its place.

Three days passed in a blur of chaos.

The battlefield had become a maelstrom of carnage. Corrupted beings began sacrificing themselves en masse, their blood fueling the restoration of the Sacred Ground. Chen Xun, his body battered and bloodied, stood tall atop a mountain of corpses. Though his wounds ran deep, his presence was as defiant as ever.

“This all you got?!” Chen Xun spat, his axes dripping with blackened blood. His voice echoed like a challenge to the heavens. “You call this breaking me? Pathetic!”

“Living being!”

“You… you can’t be our progenitor! You’re no ancestor of ours!”

The corrupted beings’ rage and hatred burned brighter, their cries filled with venomous fury. Yet, for all their malice, they could not break him.

Chen Xun’s gaze flicked backward for a moment. His strategy was clear—draw all the attention to himself. Every insult and every attack he hurled was a calculated ploy to keep the corrupted beings away from Brother Ox and the breaker vessel.

He chuckled coldly, flinging dozens of talismans into the air. “Let’s see if you’re prepared to handle a pissed-off human with nothing left to lose!”

Talismans detonated like fireworks, sending corrupted beings spiraling into chaos. Their bodies burst apart mid-charge, their remains unable to feed the land they sought to restore.

Five more days of relentless combat passed. Chen Xun staggered as fresh blood streamed from his lips, his body trembling. The piles of corpses around him had grown so large they blotted out the horizon.

In the cavern below, the breaker vessel continued its relentless descent. The earth groaned as space itself trembled, disrupted by the titanic forces tearing through it.

Brother Ox’s eyes burned with urgency. He could feel Chen Xun’s aura weakening with each passing moment. With the corrupted beings sacrificing themselves to restore the land, the vessel’s progress was slowing. The Sacred Ground was fighting back.

“Moo!”

Brother Ox turned to Xiao Chi, his expression deadly serious. “Moo, moo! Moo!”

“What?! You want me to control the vessel?” Xiao Chi yelped, his fur standing on end. “I can’t handle the formation! I don’t know anything about it!”

Brother Ox snorted, handing him the formation flags. His gaze was firm, unyielding. With a mental command, he transmitted the necessary techniques to Xiao Chi and nodded toward the Five Elements Tree.

Xiao Chi gulped. Sweat poured down his face as he tried to steady his trembling hands. Finally, he nodded. “Alright, Brother Ox. I’ll do it.”

Placing a hoof gently on Xiao Chi’s head, Brother Ox gave one final nod before charging skyward. The battlefield erupted as a thunderous roar echoed across the land.

The corrupted beings trembled as Brother Ox’s black coffin radiated a deadly light, devouring all in its path. The sheer force of his assault sent shockwaves through the ground, splitting it apart.

An hour later, Chen Xun’s eyes met Brother Ox’s. Neither spoke. They didn’t need to. Their bond was unbreakable.

“Brother Ox, let’s finish this!”

“Moo!!!”

The corrupted forces roared in defiance. “Accelerate the sacrifices! Stop them!”

Their cries mixed with screams of agony and the sound of bodies bursting into crimson mist. Even newborn corrupted beings fell lifeless, their essence consumed to fuel the land’s restoration.

Chen Xun tightened his grip on his axes, his gaze steely. The ancient warships were gone, their remains scattered across the battlefield. Their final act of defiance had cleared the path this far. Now, it was up to him and Brother Ox.

“The corrupted beings are playing their final hand,” he muttered, his voice low. “But they won’t stop us.”

Above the battlefield, the Five Elements Tree shimmered, its black-and-white branches stretching to the heavens. It poured its power into the breaker vessel, solidifying its transformation into a weapon of legend—a vessel capable of breaking realms.