Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and the military force sweeping in from the Southern Domain finally reached the Qingfeng Mountain.
A dark, imposing army stretched out from the southern wilderness, seemingly endless, with banners fluttering in the wind.
Layer upon layer of flags obscured the sunlight, and armored vehicles formed a cold and eerie forest.
The God Venerable gathered together more than a dozen major sects in the Southern Domain, and along the way, he also coerced local armed forces and affiliated rogue cultivators from various prefectures and counties, assembling a massive force of nearly 100,000.
This army looked formidable, but its internal structure was clearly divided.
The vast majority of people were just cultivators at the fourth or fifth level, or even the sixth or seventh level, or ordinary soldiers. Their cultivation was low, and they could only follow behind to fill the gaps and boost morale. They were cannon fodder used to create a sense of oppression.
Those who are truly capable of standing on the stage are the core experts selected by the sect.
There were twenty or thirty cultivators at the Twelfth Realm, as well as several veteran powerhouses who had reached the Stellar Eighth Metamorphosis or Ninth Metamorphosis stage of the Stellar Realm. Any one of them would be considered a giant in the Southern Domain.
At the very front of the entire army formation, the God Venerable stood alone.
He was tall and imposing, enveloped in a somber, surging dark purple divine light. His features were indistinct within the purple glow, his face as hard as a stone carving, devoid of any warmth.
With each step forward, the earth trembled slightly, and muffled sounds emanated from beneath the soil. The surrounding wild grasses were all pressed down and flattened by an invisible force.
Behind the God Venerable, more than a dozen sect leaders stood side by side, each with a solemn expression.
Outsiders might think they were simply intimidated by the God Venerable power and had no choice but to follow the army north, but only they themselves knew their true intentions.
They had already found out that Qingfeng Temple was just an inconspicuous little Daoist temple in the Eastern Wasteland, with an unremarkable heritage, no ancient Daoist scriptures, mountain-guarding treasures, or ancient spiritual veins. The temple itself was not worth mentioning.
What's valuable is never Qingfeng Temple, but Chen Du.
That young Daoist priest who, over the past three years, single-handedly defeated countless challengers and accumulated a massive amount of Calamity Qi.
They speculated that Chen Du must possess some extraordinary opportunity or a unique Dao Fruit, otherwise he couldn't have become so powerful at such a young age.
If the God Venerable captures this person, they can seize the opportunity to get a share of the spoils, or capture Chen Du and offer him to the Xuanwu Divine Hall in exchange for the cultivation techniques, resources, and protection promised by the Divine Hall.
This is the reason why they were willing to follow the God Venerable on his journey north for thousands of miles and serve as his vanguard.
At this moment, the area within dozens of miles of Qingfeng Mountain was already filled with concealed auras.
Almost all the experts in the entire Ling Dynasty who were qualified to watch the battle came.
The lone cultivators of the Twelfth Realms, the reclusive old monsters who had long secluded themselves in ancient caves, the reclusive elders of the major sects, and the Martial Dao masters in the imperial court who rarely appeared in public, all stayed far away in safe places, watching this confrontation from across the mountains.
In everyone's mind, the Southern Domain God Venerable is the undisputed number one powerhouse in the Ling Dynasty.
His Thirteenth Tier cultivation suppressed the entire Southern Domain, making him unable to lift his head; no one could stop him.
They came here today because they wanted to see for themselves what it was like for Thirteenth Tier expert to make a move.
Many people sighed inwardly, not having a high opinion of the small Daoist temple on the mountain.
They had heard of Qingfeng Temple's foundation to some extent; it was just an ordinary lineage, without an ancestor to oversee it, without a protective mountain formation, and without the foundation to contend with Thirteenth Tier sect.
The fact that we were able to hold on for these three years was entirely thanks to that Daoist Chen Du.
But no matter how strong one person is, can they really stop a Thirteenth Tier, plus so many top masters and an army of 100,000? In their view, this time, Chen Du's reign is probably over.
The army completed its formation on the southern slope of Qingfeng Mountain, and a chilling atmosphere permeated the hillside.
The God Venerable's figure slowly rose into the air, hovering in mid-air, his gaze sweeping lightly over the simple mountain gate in front of him.
His voice wasn't loud, but it pierced through the noise and clearly echoed throughout Qingfeng Mountain: "Listen up, people of Qingfeng Temple! I've come today only to expose that false god who has stolen the destiny of heaven and earth. As for the rest of you, if you're willing to leave, I won't harm the innocent. If you remain obstinate, then I'll crush you all."
Inside the mountain gate, all was quiet.
After a moment of silence, the old wooden door hinges creaked open, and the mountain gate slowly opened from the inside out.
A figure slowly walked out.
Chen Du was slender with delicate features, and appeared calm and quiet, without any airs of a powerful figure.
He walked out of the mountain gate step by step, stopping at the bottom of the stone steps. Across the open ground, which was several dozen feet wide, he looked up at the God Venerable floating in mid-air, his tone flat, revealing neither joy nor anger:
What brings you to Qingfeng Temple?
The God Venerable lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on him. He was slightly taken aback at first, then a soft chuckle escaped his throat.
He used his Thirteenth Tier Divine Thought to probe and instantly sensed the key.
The young Daoist priest before him possessed unfathomable cultivation, so profound that even he found it difficult to fathom its boundaries.
What alarmed him most was that the other person's bone age was less than fifty years old.
He reached such a level of cultivation before the age of fifty.
A strong sense of lingering fear welled up inside him, but fortunately, the Xuanwu Divine Hall reacted quickly and took action personally.
If left to grow unchecked for several hundred years, this young man will surely become a major threat to the Xuanwu Divine Hall in the future.
They had indeed underestimated the Ling Dynasty's remote border region and the unassuming Qingfeng Temple.
He suppressed the turmoil surging within him, his smile slowly fading, leaving only a condescending indifference. His tone carried a hint of regret, yet also a playful, cat-like glint in his eye.
"What a pity, what a pity. A peerless genius like you is going to die today. Don't blame me for bullying you. There has never been any fairness in this world. Order has always been set by the strong."
As soon as he finished speaking, he no longer concealed his aura.
With a loud bang!
Belonging to the Thirteenth Tier, the immense power of the Cosmic Life Realm was released with a roar.
Dark purple divine light surged forth from his body like a burst dam, sweeping out in all directions.
An invisible pressure enveloped the mountains, and the entire Qingfeng Mountain trembled slightly under this force.
The cultivators at the foot of the mountain, who were at the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh realms, couldn't withstand it at all. Their legs went weak, and they collapsed to their knees in droves, their heads pressed against the soil. They didn't even have the strength to lift their heads, and it felt as if an invisible hand was gripping their breath.
The dozen or so sect leaders and experts at the eighth and Ninth Metamorphosis of the Stellar Eighth Metamorphosis Realm in front of the formation suddenly changed their expressions and subconsciously took a few steps back. Their blood and qi surged, and their Dao Resonance fluctuated violently.
Hundreds of miles away, the Twelfth Realm experts who were watching the battle from the shadows were all pale-faced and trembling with fear.
This is the Thirteenth Tier!
Many of them had lived for thousands of years, and this was the first time they had ever witnessed Thirteenth Tier powerhouse unleash his full power without reservation.
The oppressive feeling was like an invisible, Ancient God pressing down on your head, heavy and making it difficult to even relax your mind.
The immense divine power of the Thirteenth-Tier Universe Life Realm was unleashed without reservation and completely at this moment.
The dark purple divine light filled the sky like a tidal wave, crushing, sweeping, and filling the entire world without leaving a trace.
The terrifying pressure of the realm transformed into a massive, tangible torrent, crashing down and gripping the entire Qingfeng Mountain.
The earth trembled violently, the rock layers of the mountains cracked continuously, and fine cracks spread from the foot of the mountain to the top. Rocks tumbled down, ancient trees bent their branches and shed leaves, and mountain streams were cut off by an invisible force and stopped in mid-air.