Chapter 305: Holy Ancestor
Within the War Domain.
The Xuanzhen Domain cultivators were flying in perfect unison toward the detected Realm Node.
The congregation flew for a while, still several hundred li away from that node.
The personnel who had set out first to stealthily scout intelligence, thanks to the secret technique bestowed by Ning Qi, acted with utmost secrecy and once again transmitted a message.
Intelligence chief Xia Xing was positioned near Ning Qi within the main force. He immediately said to Ning Qi:
“Alliance Leader, a battle is currently erupting at the location of that node!”
Ning Qi looked at him and said, “Who is battling?”
Xia Xing said, “It is Haoran Realm cultivators. They are locked in a great battle with the fierce beast suppressing the node.”
“That group of Haoran Realm cultivators has extremely impressive strength. According to the transmitted intelligence, the leaders are two Integration Venerables: one is a Top Venerable, the other a Peak Venerable. Under them, there are several ordinary Integration Realm cultivators, and as for Void Dao Realm and Nascent Soul Realm, there are even more!”
Ning Qi nodded. “So we’ve encountered cultivators from a Haoran Realm Immortal Sect?”
Xia Xing pondered briefly. “Probably.”
Their exchange was not hidden, so all Xuanzhen Domain cultivators heard it.
Upon hearing they had encountered Haoran Realm Immortal Sect cultivators, including Top and Peak Venerables, they showed no trace of fear.
Even though their side’s strongest, the Alliance Leader, had only Late Integration cultivation.
Moreover, Ning Qi had granted them a method for joint battle. Now, even Void Dao Realm cultivators linking up could fight an Integration Realm.
“With such a splendid lineup on their side, how many fierce beasts are at the node?” Ning Qi asked.
Xia Xing replied, “Only one fierce beast—a Flood Dragon!”
Ning Qi understood.
“No wonder it can resist attacks from so many Immortal Sect members. The strength of these Sea of Realms Fierce Beasts cannot be underestimated.”
Realm Nodes are divided into three levels: small, medium, and large.
The areas around nodes often have the densest spiritual energy, so fierce beasts lurk nearby.
The fierce beasts near each node vary: as few as one, or as many as dozens or even hundreds.
These Realm Fierce Beasts all come from the Sea of Realms, and the fierce beasts within the Sea of Realms have the most ferocious temperaments.
They usually crash against the realm walls of various worlds, attempting to break in and slaughter wantonly.
Now, arriving from the chaotic and disordered Sea of Realms into the relatively stable War Domain, they were like fish in water.
Mountain Sea Realm and Haoran Realm had spent half a year stabilizing the War Domain between the two realms, yet who knew how many Sea of Realms Fierce Beasts had slipped in.
Ning Qi waved his hand, directly laying down a Concealment Array over the entire Xuanzhen Domain cultivator team, preparing to silently mask the army’s aura as they headed to that node.
Within the great formation, the congregation felt, besides a special energy surging around them,
a vague sense that this great formation had thoroughly connected everyone together, keeping all their forward speeds consistent.
They were like passengers on a formation vessel—truly wondrous, and they could not help but be convinced by the Alliance Leader’s methods.
Once the great formation was set, Ning Qi immediately said, “Accelerate!”
Everyone’s bodies suddenly felt pulled, speeding toward the node at extreme velocity, yet the entire void showed no sign of them, with not even a ripple of energy fluctuation.
Ning Qi decided to rush over immediately.
Otherwise, if Haoran Realm cultivators seized that Realm Node, they would fall into a passive position.
If they even established an altar at the node, the Haoran Realm Will would gain enhancement within this War Domain, making things even more troublesome for them.
……
At the moment the War Domain entrance opened.
Not only were the two realms’ wills paying attention to the movements within, but the sects that dominated within the two realms were also watching, as the outcome inside concerned them all.
Mountain Sea Realm Will swept across various parts of the War Domain.
Though the War Domain had only just opened not long ago, great battles had already erupted in many places.
Some against Haoran Realm cultivators, some against Sea of Realms Fierce Beasts, or even… battles between Mountain Sea Realm cultivators!
Eighty percent of Mountain Sea Realm cultivators had been teleported into the War Domain. With so many people present, there were surely those with deep hatred.
Even though Mountain Sea Realm Will had long warned everyone not to slaughter each other within the domain, once here, some were ultimately blinded by hatred and could not hold back.
Mountain Sea Realm Will immediately condensed several Tribulation Lightnings within the War Domain, instantly slaying those cultivators who disregarded the overall situation.
Then, its will resounded once more in the hearts of all Mountain Sea Realm cultivators.
“I remind you all again: just now, some disregarded the overall situation and slaughtered each other, and all were slain by me!”
The congregation was stunned upon hearing this.
Cultivators with similar thoughts suppressed their impulses of hatred.
Among them were those skilled at endurance—not truly letting go of hatred, but waiting for an opportunity undetectable by Mountain Sea Realm Will.
Moreover, within the War Domain, exterminating enemies was not limited to personally taking action.
Luring fierce beasts or borrowing the hands of Haoran Realm cultivators was also an excellent method.
How could Mountain Sea Realm Will know everything?
Mountain Ancestor and Sea Ancestor gazed across endless void, and no one knew what they were thinking.
At this moment, they shifted their gazes away from each other and turned their minds to the War Domain.
The first sweep of their illusory images naturally fell on their own sects.
Seeing their sects’ cultivators leading their forces to slay opposing Haoran Realm cultivators, the two illusory images remained calm.
Meanwhile, on the Haoran Realm side.
The old ancestor of Vast Righteous Immortal Sect was unknown by name; all cultivators within called him Saint Ancestor.
At this moment, Saint Ancestor remained atop an isolated immortal peak within the sect.
This immortal peak, unlike the other immortal peaks of Vast Righteous Immortal Sect with their soaring immortal qi and mist-shrouded clouds,
was like an utterly ordinary scenic mountain peak, with a crooked stone path from the foot to the mountainside.
At the mountainside was a large flat area.
On the far left floated a cloud pavilion in midair, from which one could gaze at endless blue skies and leisurely drifting clouds.
On the right, a waterfall cascaded down a mountain cleft amid dense bamboo and tall trees, the rising mist shimmering with rainbow hues in the sunlight.
In the center was an utterly simple little courtyard.
Before the courtyard stood a wide wooden table, upon which were placed the Four Treasures of the Study.
Behind the table sat an elder with all-white hair and beard, his white hair tied with a hairband and topped with a simple wooden hairpin.
He wore grayish-white scholar’s robes, giving the impression of a down-and-out scholar.
Yet this very elder was the Saint Ancestor revered by the entire Haoran Realm.
Compared to Mountain Sea Realm’s two old ancestors, this elder seemed even more detached. He picked up his brush and, as usual, freely wielded it in ink-splashing strokes, paying no heed to the situation in the War Domain.
Only Vast Righteous Immortal Sect’s Sect Leader and Haoran Realm Will were focused on everything, occasionally exchanging a few words, but never daring to disturb the elder.
……
The current War Domain was not just one; overall, it could be divided into nine.
East, west, south, north four directions, plus southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest four directions, and Central Land, totaling nine War Domains.
Each directional War Domain corresponded to a Spiritual Domain within Mountain Sea Realm.
Cultivators from multiple Spiritual Domains would enter the corresponding War Domain, and the Xuanzhen Domain where Ning Qi and the others were corresponded to the Southeast War Domain.
But from Haoran Realm’s perspective, it was naturally also nine War Domains.
However, the directions corresponding to each Spiritual Domain within the realm differed from those in Mountain Sea Realm.
Between the two realms, they were perfectly opposite.
For example, the Southeast War Domain where Ning Qi and the others were corresponded not to Haoran Realm’s southeast, but northwest.
In Mountain Sea Realm, Xuanzhen Domain was a marginal Spiritual Domain, but the corresponding northwest Spiritual Domain in Haoran Realm was a mid-tier one.
Thus, in the War Domain where Ning Qi and the others were, Haoran Realm held the overall advantage!
Ning Qi and the others were heading toward the Realm Node.
At this moment, at that Realm Node, the great battle was in full swing!
Those who appeared here were White Crane Immortal Sect from Haoran Realm’s Flying Bird Spiritual Domain.
White Crane Immortal Sect’s legacy had lasted five hundred thousand years.
White Crane Immortal Sect’s two Perfection Venerables were conversing.
Peak Venerable Shu Lingyu glanced at the several Integration Realm cultivators battling a Black Flood Dragon, seeing them gradually suppressing the ferocious Black Flood Dragon, and paid it no more attention.
He said to the Top Venerable beside him:
“Junior Brother Hao, according to the results of Vast Righteous Immortal Sect’s Dao Law Severing Heaven Divine Calculation, the domain we encountered here should be a bottom-tier Spiritual Domain in Mountain Sea Realm, so this should count as an easy task.”
Hao Qiuran nodded and replied, “Senior Brother Shu, you are absolutely right. That’s why the sect dispatched four teams to explore this domain.”
He smiled and added, “In my view, even if we split into eight teams, we could crush the opposing domain’s people. With so many heavenly materials and earthly treasures here, splitting into four is really slowing down our exploration of the domain.”
Shu Lingyu shook his head and nodded toward the Black Flood Dragon.
“Junior Brother Hao, don’t forget, the domain isn’t just full of Mountain Sea Realm cultivators—there are also Sea of Realms Fierce Beasts. If our people spread too thin, they might fall into danger.”
Hao Qiuran narrowed his eyes, acknowledging this.
They looked toward the Black Flood Dragon.
Besides them, all their subordinate cultivators were battling that Black Flood Dragon.
Integration Realm at the front, Void Dao Realm in the middle, Nascent Soul Realm at the rear—they had surrounded the Black Flood Dragon airtight.
But the Black Flood Dragon remained extraordinarily ferocious, its entire body covered in black scales gleaming like black obsidian from the mortal world, its body spanning a thousand zhang in circumference.
Every claw strike tore through the void, peeling away paths of hard-to-heal black holes.
Every tail swing was like overturning heaven and earth, with terrifying momentum.
Unfortunately, the Black Flood Dragon was merely a fierce beast that had just stepped into Integration Realm.
Facing nine Integration Realm cultivators, plus a hundred Void Dao, and a thousand Nascent Soul Realm cultivators’ combined efforts, every attack of its was blocked!
Its thousand-zhang twisting body was continuously compressed and shrinking, with waves of terrifying spell fluctuations pouring entirely onto the Black Flood Dragon.
In the void, Rule Divine Chains emerged one after another, combining into a heavenly net of earth and sky, continuously pressing down on the Black Flood Dragon!
The Black Flood Dragon’s eyes were blood-red, emitting bursts of flood dragon roars, yet it remained helpless.
Suddenly, its fangs-filled massive maw fiercely sprayed streams of black flames. Black Flame like clouds encircled its body.
Upon appearing, it burned more than half of the descending heavenly net, even collapsing half the void.
White Crane Immortal Sect’s cultivators were startled, then anger rose in their hearts.
So many of them against one Sea of Realms Black Flood Dragon, and they still hadn’t taken it down—it was truly embarrassing.
Immediately, the nine frontline Integration Realm cultivators grouped in threes, forming a Three Stars Great Formation.
One star as sun, sunlight blazing; one star as moon, moonlight gentle; one star as stars, starlight scattering!
The three lights detached from the nine, instantly suppressing toward the central Black Flood Dragon.
The Black Flood Dragon continued spewing Black Flame nonstop. The black flames that could previously collapse void and incinerate spiritual energy rules now encountered a higher existence.
The Black Flame sought to burn the three lights but had utterly no effect.
The roars from the Black Flood Dragon’s mouth intensified, but facing the steadily approaching tri-colored orbs of sun, moon, and stars, its body shrank smaller and smaller.
In the blink of an eye, it was compressed to only five hundred zhang!
Observing Shu Lingyu and Hao Qiuran felt a slight fluctuation in their moods, which soon calmed.
The two fully shifted their gazes, continuing their exchange.
“This time, Mountain Sea Realm dared to actively distort positional trajectories in the Sea of Realms, hijacking our Haoran Realm and forcing the two realms into war—truly deserving death,” Shu Lingyu said hatefully.
Hao Qiuran’s expression turned ugly upon hearing this, and he replied:
“Our Haoran Realm has always championed peace, yet encountering this Mountain Sea Realm gone mad with desire for promotion—truly a case of good people meeting mountain bandits!”
Shu Lingyu said, “Therefore, we must achieve a great victory this time and teach Mountain Sea Realm Will a lesson.”
“Once we seize all nodes in this domain, we’ll cross domains to aid other sects.”
Hao Qiuran frowned slightly. “Crossing this War Domain won’t be simple, will it? This isn’t crossing Spiritual Domains within Haoran Realm.”
Shu Lingyu nodded. “Of course not simple, but not impossible. As long as we take all nodes in this domain, Haoran Realm Will can fully dominate it, then open paths to other War Domains.”
Hearing this, Hao Qiuran understood.
He said, “Then let’s quickly slay this Black Flood Dragon and seize the time to complete the cross-domain sooner.”
Shu Lingyu extended his right index finger, wagging it slightly, and smiled. “No, no—being so hasty, how can we lure Mountain Sea Realm cultivators?”
Hao Qiuran then realized.
Their great battle with the Black Flood Dragon had them pinned. If Mountain Sea Realm cultivators were nearby, they would naturally rush over quickly.
Plus the node swallowed by the Black Flood Dragon—it was double temptation. Mountain Sea Realm cultivators nearby surely wouldn’t miss such a golden opportunity!
“Worthily Senior Brother Shu—you were scheming this.”
Shu Lingyu smiled, his gaze sweeping the four wilds to the horizon’s end, Primordial Spirit Power radiating out, yet he never detected any Mountain Sea Realm cultivators.
He sighed. “Pity—Mountain Sea Realm cultivators haven’t shown up even now. Perhaps we’re just lucky, finding a node right upon entry.”
In any case, even without Mountain Sea Realm cultivators coming, their gains were immense.
With words finished, they looked toward the Black Flood Dragon.
By now, the Black Flood Dragon’s massive body had been compressed from five hundred zhang to a hundred zhang range.
Gouts of flood dragon blood oozed from its glossy black scales. It was now fully bathed in Black Flame, its eyes fixed on the encircling Haoran Realm cultivators, seemingly burning as it spewed streams of blood-tinged black flames.
Two flame clusters rapidly condensed into two black-red lasers at speeds the cultivators couldn’t react to, slashing like light swords toward where its eyes gazed.
Crack!
One of the three lights—starlight—was instantly cleaved in two. The two black-red lasers did not dissipate, slashing toward the Integration Realm cultivators behind.
Those three had Early Integration Realm cultivation, the weakest among their team’s Integration Realm.
For a moment, the three were stunned. The lasers had already sliced diagonally through their bodies, cutting them in half!
“Damn beast!”
Shu Lingyu and Hao Qiuran roared in fury, instantly appearing before the three.
Several extremely fine Rule Silk Threads emerged from Hao Qiuran, beginning to stitch the three severed bodies back together.
Fortunately, Integration Realm cultivators refined rules into their bodies and weren’t so easily killed—they just had to fight on with severe injuries next!
The Black Flood Dragon had wanted to break out while slaying the three, but Shu Lingyu and Hao Qiuran’s appearance blocked its path again.
Shu Lingyu directly manifested a giant hand covered in feather rules, grasping toward the Black Flood Dragon.
White Crane Immortal Sect’s cultivators, seeing the two join in, immediately followed suit, determined to take down the Black Flood Dragon in the next few attacks.
Their formed Rule Heavenly Net grew even tighter, emitting terrifying fluctuations, fully enveloping the Black Flood Dragon!
At this moment, the void seemed to surge with clouds.
White Crane Immortal Sect’s people felt dark clouds blooming in the sky, the light before their eyes dimming slightly.
“Kill!”
Then, a perfectly synchronized shout carrying endless killing intent rang in their ears.
Endless spell attacks descended from the sky: like falling meteors, like Heavenly Fire, like torrential rain, like hail, like Lightning Tribulation…
Like sword rivers, like blades, spears, guns, like rule nets formed just like theirs…
White Crane Immortal Sect’s people were shocked to their cores!
Mountain Sea Realm cultivators?
They couldn’t fathom why Mountain Sea Realm cultivators had suddenly appeared!
Their only thought was to redirect attacks aimed at the Black Flood Dragon toward the sky, while craning their necks upward.
Upon seeing the dense silhouettes in the sky, White Crane Immortal Sect’s congregation’s eyes widened in disbelief.
The number of Mountain Sea Realm cultivators actually exceeded theirs!
Whether Nascent Soul Realm, Void Dao Realm, or Integration Realm, every realm had more cultivators than theirs.
The only consolation was that, at first glance, there seemed to be no Perfection Venerables among them.
Immediately, the two sides’ attacks collided just above White Crane Immortal Sect’s heads!
Xuanzhen Domain’s attack was completely unexpected, but White Crane Immortal Sect’s cultivators ultimately reacted.
But they could at most make the attacks explode above their heads.
Boom rumble!
Continuous deafening roars assaulted the ears. Every White Crane Immortal Sect cultivator felt as if their entire body had lost sensation amid the massive sound.
A thought rose: Were Mountain Sea Realm cultivators this strong?
Then, many saw darkness before their eyes. They felt exiled into a pitch-black void, completely losing all perception.
Then even consciousness faded, fully entering oblivion.
Only silhouettes turning to flying ash in the air could be seen—perhaps these people died without ever realizing they were dead.
After all, their sacred Vast Righteous Immortal Sect had once used Dao Law Severing Heaven Divine Calculation to divine that every War Domain would correspond to which Spiritual Domains in Mountain Sea Realm.
Corresponding to their White Crane Immortal Sect were Mountain Sea Realm’s bottom-tier domain cultivators—they would face no issues and surely win the war!
All died in ignorance, clinging to this belief.
That Black Flood Dragon, due to Xuanzhen Domain cultivators’ appearance interrupting White Crane Immortal Sect’s attacks on it, gained a momentary freedom.
It swung its flood dragon tail, body flashing like lightning, attempting to flee the area.
But the next second, it felt as if its body was no longer its own—growing smaller and smaller, its internal power weakening.
Only when it clearly saw everything before it did it realize it was being held upside down by a youth in pristine white robes, gripped in his hand.
In that instant, the Black Flood Dragon felt a chill piercing to its soul, completely freezing its flood dragon body!
It shook its head, once thinking itself in a nightmare.
But the nightmare did not end with its shaking.
It looked downward: all attacks below had dissipated into smoke, countless silhouettes perished, countless cultivators in uniform attire were slaughtering the surviving White Crane Immortal Sect cultivators.
Among them, White Crane Immortal Sect’s Integration Realm cultivators had only eight survivors from the attack.
Six had been struck down to various spots on the ground below, where Mountain Sea Realm cultivators were surrounding and killing them.
Two had only fallen halfway from the sky before halting—their side’s strongest, Shu Lingyu and Hao Qiuran.
