BOOM!!! White qi pervaded the entire cavern! None could anticipate that such a terrible qi was actually hidden within the seemingly unremarkable demon heart!

Chu Zhaonan looked above in shock. It wasn’t the slightest exaggeration to say that this white snake manifestation was the most horrific thing he had witnessed in his entire life! He firmly gritted his teeth and stood his ground. A mere manifestation had indeed brought forth a kind of feeling that shook his mind!

“God…” Lord Zhao’s voice warbled as he stared at the fluttering manifestation of the white snake in the air, and his sweat oozed out like broth. In no way did he dare believe that such a horrible thing truly existed in the world! It was moreover even grasped in the hands of a Qi Condensation cultivator! Even Dao Masters hadn’t given him such a deity-like sensation!

Swoosh! The snake phantasm was like a dragon. Only until it circled around the entire cave for a minute did it disappear without a trace.

At the same time, the magma lake in front of the trio started to whirl like a helix! Originally the focus of the formation eye, the white lotus and the golden sword were now simply unable to defend in the face of the white snake manifestation! Instead, they were continuously rotated by the magma vortex. Yet in the nexus of the vortex and the mouth formed from the lava, a layer of white qi suddenly exploded!

BOOM!!! A sonorous noise boomed, and a several-meter-thick column of underground magma suddenly jetted out tens of meters high! As the molten slag was about to touch the surroundings, the talismans in the cave all flickered blue, and a seemingly formless muslin curtain pushed down the lava. But as the first wave subsided, a second one came roaring anew! Before the first wave had even abated, the second lava tide, no less than ten meters thick this time… exploded again!

An enormous scarlet-red wave frantically gushed down in torrents, as if it was a tide of flame. Surprisingly, the surrounding blue talismans totally covered it. All that remained in the cave was surging red tides.

After a full five or six minutes, everything simmered down. In the lava vortex, however, the heart now appeared to shed away its stony outer skin. Sparkling, pure golden runes were engraved within the heart. In the wake of each magma wave’s cleansing, it was even dyed a little red.

Lord Zhao took a deep breath and turned his head to look at Xu Yangyi. “Fellow Daoist Xu… where in the world did you get something like this…”

Xu Yangyi kept quiet, but his face was solemn. Both his hands weaved seals at a dizzying pace. As his movements became faster and faster, the jade-like heart actually seemed to hum in accordance. His hand speed continued to increase, almost taking the form of a mirage. Just as he reached the peak, Bai Suzhen’s heart erupted with a domain of snow-white radiance. A snow-white sun seemed to have risen in the magma, a land of peace and quiet!

Swoosh… A boundless white light spread forth like a muslin curtain, and Xu Yangyi’s hands relaxed. In his heart, he finally took a long and deep sigh of relief.

Activated…The Demon Heart Seed Magik had been activated at long last. He wouldn’t speak the truth to the others. This object… while it had been activated, he didn’t know when it would stop, achieve its limit, or if there was some prior indication, either.

The writing Bai Suzhen had left behind only explained that the explosive range would go beyond twenty meters. As for how great the range was? How powerful it was? There was nothing.

In other words… He raised his head and looked up. There above was the Featherwood Guard. The Xingtian Legion… had to defend this fort to the death! No matter how fierce the enemy offense was! Even if it was the most savage tsunami, they still had to lock themselves in and refuse outsiders! In case they let the enemy attack in the decisive range of twenty meters…

He shook his head. There would be no such time. If that happened… then perhaps everyone would already be a mass of corpses.

They would defend until their dying breath!

He pursed his lips and looked towards Chu Zhaonan and Lord Zhao. His intention was obvious.

I’ve already shown my card, what about yours?

Chu Zhaonan didn’t answer straightaway, his eyes instead containing deep reverence as he studied the heart that was dyed with slivers of red. He clenched his teeth and said, “You’re sure… this thing won’t blow up Nanzhou to kingdom come?”

That qi moments ago was too awful. All that the gunslinger thought back to was that lingering fear!

“I’m not.” Xu Yangyi laughed, “So they better not force me to this step.”

“The Mother and Child Yin-Yang Corpses.” Lord Zhao muttered after two seconds. There was nothing left to ask. He grinded his teeth and said, “The Zhao Clan’s clan-protector magik treasure. We have been earth masters for many generations. In life, these two corpse puppets were awesomely famous. The Zhao Clan also invested an enormous price to refine them into puppets. When both join hands, they can resist initial-stage Foundation Establishment.” [1]

Chu Zhaonan didn’t even hesitate in consideration, not missing a beat. “The Eight Immortals Painting. Grandfather gave it to me. A B+ magik treasure that Qi Condensation can use. Its unified in attack and defense, and its strike is comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It can defend for twenty-four hours. If defense is abandoned and specially dedicated to attack, half-step Foundation Establishment souls of the Eight Immortals can be summoned to kill initial-stage Foundation Establishment. However, only one will be summoned, and I’m still not capable of controlling which one it is.”

Xu Yangyi nodded and firmly memorized these two items in his mind. These were their killing moves. Their three ultimate aces! Each one was not be utilized, unless as a method of last resort. He was in no way willing to rashly use them. These cards… were also the final two fences of the last twenty meters they had to defend to the death!

At this time, a resounding boom suddenly rang out! The entire underground region was shaking! Rubble and soil above crumbled down. Lord Zhao looked up at the ceiling in shock. “What’s going on? What happened?”

His voice yet to fall, an even more intense tremor spread! This time, it seemed as if a meteor had landed on top of them! The cavern rocked like a level six earthquake!

“Something fell…” Xu Yangyi gazed deeply above. “This place is the heart of the battlefield. The spread of such massive tremors is definitely from some kind of special giant being falling down… Two of them.”

He turned his head, his eyes burning with the raging flames of war. “It’s probably our Xingtian Legion’s turn to go on stage.”

To fear death was not cultivation.

Now that the time had come, I can only forge ahead without a path of retreat, even though ten million men stand before me! [2]

Each person standing above this place, each clan, were all sacrificing lives to win five command plates. Everyone could only advance, no room for falling back! If not the enemy in collapse, they would be the ones to fall!

“Go!” Without any further hesitation, he took a final glance at the demon heart and walked to a tunnel entrance ahead without turning his head back.

...

At this moment, the color of the sky was bright yet not bright. Venus had just risen not long ago, and it was now that black clouds had floated into view moments ago from hazy and indistinct white light.

But in the sky… Venus’s whereabouts were simply unseen! Only splendid, prismatic flowing light, comparable to the Milky Way, shuttled to and fro! At the southeast corner, an enormous white tiger-puppet exploded with streaks of white light all over! It dyed the sky a snow-white expanse! Akin to lasers in a scifi movie, hundreds of grand light-beams jetted out from its entire form and madly cut the ground and its body!

Plumes of black smoke followed the rise of flowing beams of light. The ground had been scorched and frozen over for a hundred meters. There was moreover a kind of deathly still odor in the air. But beyond this, the ground was scarlet-red from blood.

Presently, all that remained of Nanzhou’s past buildings and skyscrapers was ruined devastation, broken tiles and savaged traces. Yet dozens of meters high in the air—mortals simply without hope to reach above—screams of murder and shouts resonated throughout the horizon. Those who thundered in anger and responded were like clouds. Banners, flying magik artifacts, and valiant cultivators who didn’t fear death formed a long and faint drifting river in the night sky.

All of Nanzhou had become a battlefield. However, there was oddly one corner of Nanzhou that hadn’t been affected by the fires of war. They were three ancient-style pavilions. They appeared to be buildings modeled in the ways of old, each one no less than six stories tall. Amidst the numerous skyscrapers, they weren’t tall, yet their foundations were somewhat astonishingly large. These foundations were greater than 500 meters in size. The three buildings circled around a public park of ancient style and formed a continuous building complex.

Swoosh! A long streak of flowing light cut through the horizon! The deathly pale radiance tearing through the sky illuminated everything below. As this light went far away, darkness took over the land again. But if someone had just taken a quick glance, they would’ve definitely seen over a dozen silhouettes outside the building who were motionlessly pouring in.

“Damn…” In the darkness, a figure bore terrible anxiety in their heart as they looked upon a gigantic man-spider that wasn’t too distant, just tens of meters beyond, and no less than 200 or 300 meters tall! Of three heads, two had been cut off, and only one arm remained of six. It screeched wretchedly, the wounds on its body that contained endless green ichor spilling out with a rumble!

“That’s the Nalan Clan’s Reincarnation Puppet… a product of genetic research… That pack of pseudoscience son of bitches.” In the darkness, the man clenched his fist in a death grip. The enormous corpse slammed into the earth and rumbled loudly! Shaking without end! He clearly saw that at the same moment the Reincarnation Puppet had collapsed, the surrounding, original seventy elites of the Screaming Wind Legion—they who had been called the war-god’s dagger legion by the clan—only had twenty-something soldiers left now!

“F-Fortunately, the real Screaming Wind Legion only has ten people. The others are all preparatory squads…” His fingers almost dug into his flesh, and he comforted himself.

Clan soldiers attacked the enemy at the front line, but he could only stay here and monitor this deserted lair! The blood in his heart was boiling and clamoring yet had found no release since beginning to end. Such a sensation practically drove him mad!

The sound of his grinding teeth echoed. Eventually, he calmed down. He knew now that the preparatory soldiers were all dispatched. No longer could the Screaming Wind Legion completely fill each minor squad. This represented… that the White Tiger Hall was already in a state of red alert!

He lifted his head to the horizon. The sky of the city center had been split apart into three parts by the colors white, green, and red. Looking from where he was, there wasn’t even a shadow in sight. He was left no choice but to look at the qi maelstroms.

“Damn it…” He stowed his gaze and glared daggers at the pavilion before his eyes. “Buncha trash, you should be glad that you didn’t make it. If you were here… all of you would already be mincemeat right now… What do little brats know about war… huh? A dog?”

A fat dog that resembled a pig was huffing and puffing as it ran over to the central plaza. It imitated a wolf and howled out twice. Afterwards, it drew something on the ground.

He didn’t care too much at the start. With Nanzhou’s abrupt evacuation, many house dogs had become feral dogs. Nevertheless… he quickly discovered something was off ten seconds later!

“That’s… That’s…” He sprang up on his feet, his blood surging to the crown of his head. Like a sudden clap of thunder, an incredulous thought caused his hair to stand on edge! He simply didn’t bother hiding his silhouette, and a black paper crane soared away!

This… was a Transference Formation! Moreover, this was a close-range Transference Formation!

Such a formation could only transfer from no more than a hundred meters away! And on top of that, this was a multiple-person transference! Currently, his surroundings were a deserted and vacant expanse. In that case, the people or things that dog wanted to transfer…

Were underground!

They had arrived… They had arrived! The Xingtian Legion had actually entered the stage! Actually dared to step onto the battlefield! He had to pass on this formation!

In the instant the paper crane flew up, a hand gently pinched it. Another hand with distinct joints noiselessly clutched his throat. Without any mercy whatsoever, the hand casually squeezed and a crack echoed. The cultivator immediately collapsed.

“Initial-stage Qi Condensation…” a young man’s voice echoed from behind. “If you don’t want to be cannon fodder, you should just quietly look on.”

The deceased cultivator didn’t see it all. In the moment he fell over, a golden pillar of light that had a radius of a hundred meters boomed in front of the pavilion and rocked into the sky! Inside, dozens of silhouettes were faintly discernible!

1. “The Mother and Child Yin-Yang Corpses”. Big yikes on name, but there’s a specific Chinese mysticism behind this, so no skimping out. The characters for “child-mother” and “yin-yang” are specifically revolving around how the Five Phases (five Chinese elements) are described in relation to each other in specific text.

2. “I can only forge ahead without a path of retreat, even though ten million men stand before me!” This is a specific line said by Mengzi (Mencius), a Confucian scholar (372-289 BCE).