Endless night shrouded Buzhou Land.
Yang Zan raised his head to gaze at the night sky, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Looking at the vast Heavenly Shifting Array before him, its area enormous and bristling with formation flags, he let out a long breath and muttered with a smile, "Heaven does not fail those who are determined. The mission is finally completed perfectly."
It had been three days since the Ascetic Heavenly Emperor was severely wounded and returned to the Celestial Realm.
And in these three days, Yang Zan had been on edge the whole time, not daring to close his eyes, afraid Luo Xiu would suddenly come to kill him.
Fortunately, up to now the Formation was fully completed, and no accident had occurred.
Yang Zan's gaze slightly narrowed as he looked at the Shattered Star City disciples sitting on the ground resting, and said, "Your sacrifice and effort are glorious!"
Hearing this, smiles appeared on the disciples' faces as they started imagining the scene of going to claim their reward after the great battle.
Yang Zan said, "The old ancestor said, to activate the Heavenly Shifting Array, one must offer up the Life Blood of twenty-three people as sacrifice, corresponding to these twenty-three array coresā¦ so everyone, my apologies."
At these words, all the disciples froze, not yet reacting to what Yang Zan meant, when Yang Zan was already walking over with his sword.
After a flurry of flashing blades, Yang Zan stood amidst a pool of blood, looking down at the twenty-three blood-soaked corpses, and let out a long sigh.
"Your sacrifice and effort will be recorded in the merit rolls, and your families and children will be protected by Heaven's Dao for all eternity."
"Everyone, rest in peace!"
"..."
...
After lying there for three days and nights, Luo Xiu finally forced out the strange aura the Shattering Star Spear had left in his body.
Without that strange aura corroding and destroying him, his internal injuries recovered even faster.
Luo Xiu, now lively and vigorous again, stood up, took out the seized Shattering Star Spear from his Human Sanctuary, and cursed at it, "You damned bastard of a stick, you really almost tortured me to death!"
Lin Xiyue, who was sitting to the side in meditation channeling Qi, heard this and couldn't help feeling that something sounded off.
Words like thatā¦ it seemed she herself had said something similar to Luo Xiu before.
Luo Xiu suddenly asked, "Xi Yue Tongzi, how are you feeling?"
Lin Tong said, "I've pretty much recovered."
Lin Xiyue said, "I should be almost recovered too."
Luo Xiu said instead, "I mean, what do you two think of this Shattering Star Spear?"
Lin Xiyue: "..."
Lin Tong chuckled, "How could a Chaos Divine Artifact be bad? After all, this spear could easily pierce through even your Hongmeng Physique. In your hands, that's like a fierce tiger growing wings."
He added, "And only in your hands can a Divine Artifact like this truly shine with its real brilliance."
Luo Xiu was praised to the point of feeling a bit embarrassed. "You know, you reallyā¦ spend all day long spouting such brutally honest truths."
Lin Xiyue couldn't help but complain, "Hero Luo, can't you at least try to have a bit of shame?"
Luo Xiu's expression turned serious as he said, "It's just that I still can't tame this thing. It's really more stubborn than a wild mule. No choice, I can only use the Indestructible Divine Flame to refine it again."
With that, he directly took out the Sun Well, planning to use the Indestructible Divine Flame to deal with the Shattering Star Spear.
Lin Xiyue looked at the greasy Sun Well in his hand with a face full of disgust. "That's filthy. You didn't wash it after using it to roast meat last time?"
"..."
As the Indestructible Divine Flame was released, the Shattering Star Spear suddenly trembled and let out a clear humming sound, as if begging Luo Xiu for mercy.
Luo Xiu said to it, "So you have two choices now: either recognize me as your master, or I'll melt you down."
The Shattering Star Spear hesitated for a moment before choosing to submit; it flew in front of Luo Xiu and gently rubbed against his shoulder.
Luo Xiu grabbed it in one hand, spun in place, and danced out dazzling spear flowers.
Lin Tong watched with great enjoyment and laughed, "Big bro, you really are somethingātruly proficient in every kind of weapon."
Luo Xiu said to the Shattering Star Spear, "You made a wise choice. Following that old geezer won't get you anywhere; I'll kill him sooner or later anyway. Besides, that old geezer is already that oldāhe can't even 'play' with a spear anymore."
"From now on, you're with me."
No sooner had he spoken than a sharp sting suddenly came from his butt.
He turned around and saw that the Mysterious Central Sword had quietly flown over and poked his butt with its tip.
"The hellā¦ you sick or what?"
Luo Xiu cursed, clutching his butt.
The Mysterious Central Sword hovered in midair, emitting a sharp buzzing, expressing that it was now jealous.
Luo Xiu grabbed the Mysterious Central Sword. "Believe it or not, I'll use you to roast meat?"
The Mysterious Central Sword trembled again, expressing that it wanted a life-and-death duel with the Shattering Star Spear.
The Shattering Star Spear sensed its battle intent and, unwilling to show weakness, also expressed its desire for a fight.
So sword and spear began to fight around Luo Xiu.
"Boom!"
In the midst of their scuffle, a sudden loud boom came from the night sky.
A massive Array quietly manifested, and from it descended a straight pillar of light.
Luo Xiu stopped the sword and spear from fooling around and said, "What's meant to come will always come."
Lin Tong slowly stood up. "I wonder who we'll be dealing with this time."
"..."
The three walked shoulder to shoulder, flew onto a tall mountain, and landed at the edge of a broken cliff.
The pillar of light was descending onto the vast land below the cliff.
At the spot where the light pillar touched down, figures seemed to appear out of thin air, even standing in neat formation.
In just a brief moment, that stretch of land had become a black, seething mass!
It was the army sent by the Heavenly Dao Alliance through the Heavenly Shifting Array!
Each soldier wore Battle Armor and held a long spear, looking extremely imposing.
Even from such a distance, Luo Xiu could feel a faint aura of iron-blooded slaughter.
Lin Tong glanced over them and said, "Looks to be no fewer than two hundred thousand, with two Venerable Ones at the front and five White Emperors."
"Big bro, should we let the Demon Beasts of the Shanhai Territory out?"
Luo Xiu gently shook his head. "If we suddenly release a Demon Army, Old Guan will surely die."
"True enough."
Luo Xiu let out a soft sigh, took out a silver metallic sphere, and pressed it to his chest.
The metallic sphere suddenly exploded into countless fragments that instantly assembled on his body into the Heavenly Armor.
"Tongzi."
"What?"
Luo Xiu slowly raised his right hand, took out the Gaze Mask, and said, "Ten thousand each for us. Let's see who finishes killing first."
Lin Tong snorted in disdain. "When it comes to destructive power, I definitely can't compare to you. But when it comes to harvesting lives, who can compete with me, the Death God?"
At this, Luo Xiu only gave a mild smile, then said to Lin Xiyue, "Xi Yue, you stay here and guard those ten coffins."
Lin Xiyue reminded them, "You two be careful. This is the Celestial Realm's army after allāthe armor they wear and the stuff they wield aren't ordinary Magical Treasures. They're not that easy to kill, so don't you dare get careless."
Lin Tong joked, "Sister-in-law is the one who really knows how to care about people."
Luo Xiu said nothing more and directly leaped off the thousand-meter cliff, letting his body fall freely.
Lin Tong turned into a wisp of black mist and flew straight toward the enemy ranks.
"Big bro, sorry, you enjoy your slow jump. I'm going to grab first blood!"
Luo Xiu stayed calm and unhurried, even seeming a bit elegant as he put on the Gaze Mask, and said, "Natuoyasi, your offerings have arrived. Is two hundred thousand enough for you to eat?"
"..."