After introducing the Power of Life and achieving the Rebirth Sword Dao, Li Yi returned to the alliance headquarters to enter seclusion. He focused on consolidating his cultivation and bringing the Power of Slaughter and the Power of Life into harmony.
Compared to introducing the Power of Slaughter and the Power of Life, bringing them into harmony was much easier. Once he succeeded, the two forces could freely transform into each other through Li Yi's body.
As he worked to harmonize the Power of Slaughter and the Power of Life, Li Yi continued to comprehend the Nirvana True Meaning.
Time flew by as Li Yi remained in seclusion. In the blink of an eye, another fifty thousand years had passed. After all this time, the Power of Slaughter and the Power of Life could almost freely transform into each other, though the process was still somewhat awkward and imperfect.
But Li Yi was already quite satisfied. His strength had risen another level. Inside his body, a black current of the Power of Slaughter and a green current of the Power of Life flowed ceaselessly, converging in his dantian to form a spinning Taiji Diagram, half green and half black. The two forces continuously transformed into each other there.
Having understood the deeper meanings of slaughter and life, it had become easier to grasp the true meaning of nirvana. After fifty thousand years of seclusion, Li Yi had more or less comprehended the essence of nirvana.
What was nirvana? Nirvana was eternity. It was intangible, while life and death were fleeting and tangible. All things that existed would eventually perish; only the intangible was eternal.
Life and death formed a cycle, with nirvana between them. Many Great Powers in later generations spoke of attaining the Dao of nirvana, meaning they had attained eternity—in other words, they would live forever, undying and indestructible.
Once Li Yi completely fused the Power of Slaughter and the Power of Life, life would contain death, and death would contain life. With life and death transforming at a thought, he would naturally comprehend the Nirvana Sword Dao.
Over these fifty thousand years, tensions between the two sides had grown ever more intense, especially along the eastern and western borders, where their combined forces had reached one hundred million cultivators. Slaughter was everywhere.
"Dong, dong..." The gathering bells rang throughout the Primordial World.
"Has the war finally begun?" Li Yi murmured, a glint briefly flashing in his eyes.
As this was to be the final battle, the alliance had gathered all its forces. Its numbers even exceeded those of the previous battle, surpassing seven trillion.
The armies of the Fierce Beast Domain and the Demon Domain were also advancing eastward. They had committed all their elite forces, and their seemingly endless ranks formed a vast black ocean.
"Kill!!!!"
The two sides met once more at the border. The battlefield was filled not only with the aura of slaughter, but also with a grim, desperate atmosphere. Everyone knew that if their side were defeated, there would be almost no chance of survival. Faced with the pursuit of an overwhelmingly powerful force, few could be confident of escaping.
Thus, the alliance cultivators, the cultivators of the Fierce Beast Domain, and those of the Demon Domain all wore expressions more solemn than ever. This was a battle for survival, and only the victors would have the right to live.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Just as before, nine Black Giant Coffins descended onto the battlefield. The Blood Prison Five Elders immediately led their people in arranging a formation, then closed their eyes to rest.
This time, the blood-colored tower did not descend. Still, the cultivators on both sides looked at the people of Blood Prison City with awe. After all, Blood Prison City had a Supreme seated among them.
The cultivators on both sides wisely pretended that the people of Blood Prison City were not there.
"Kill!!!!"
Led by the Ancestral Dragon, the Heavenly Phoenix, and Ancestor Lin, the alliance cultivators surged toward the armies of the Fierce Beast Domain and the Demon Domain. Meanwhile, the enemy armies, led by the Blood Demon and the other experts, roared as they charged at the alliance.
"Kill!!!!"
Li Yi coldly watched the approaching cultivators from the Fierce Beast Domain and the Demon Domain. The Green Lotus Ancient Sword flew out of his dantian on its own.
"Ha!" Li Yi swept his sword forward without mercy. Countless black lotuses appeared in the void, while the Power of Slaughter on the battlefield gathered into a storm and poured into them.
After absorbing the Power of Slaughter, the lotuses rapidly multiplied, splitting again and again until they had divided three times.
Now, within a ten-mile radius centered on Li Yi, a sea of black lotuses stretched across the battlefield. Each lotus burst with countless tiny strands of Slaughter Sword Qi, or took root in the bodies of the cultivators from the Fierce Beast Domain and the Demon Domain, sending sword qi inside to wreak havoc.
Wave after wave of shrill screams rang out. When the lotuses vanished, nearly a million fierce beasts and tens of thousands of Demon Domain cultivators had been completely annihilated.
The alliance cultivators behind Li Yi looked at him with awe. As expected of the strongest below the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
"Kill!!!!"
Slaughter was everywhere. The four Supremes had yet to act, while the Grand Unity Golden Immortals on both sides had instinctively engaged one another. The alliance had lost many Grand Unity Golden Immortals in the previous battle, but after years of rebuilding, and with nearly all the Grand Unity Golden Immortals of the three tribes joining the fight, the two sides were once again evenly matched.
The battle was therefore locked in a stalemate.
"Slaughter Sword Dao," "Rebirth Sword Dao."
A strange and majestic twin lotus appeared before Li Yi. The black lotus and the green lotus each shot out a beam of light, one black and one green.
"Bang, bang..."
The fierce beasts and Demon Domain cultivators ahead died instantly. Everything touched by the black light was reduced to nothing, while the green light left only heaps of white bones.
The battle between the two sides grew more and more brutal. Li Yi floated between the black lotus and the green lotus as the two enormous flowers repeatedly ground their way through the fierce beasts and Demon Domain cultivators. Wherever they passed, half were reduced to dust, while the other half became piles of bones.
From time to time, Li Yi also pushed the green lotus forward, shining its light on alliance cultivators whose lives hung by a thread. Most of those who had suffered grievous wounds immediately sprang back to life and fought on, catching the fierce beasts and Demon Domain cultivators off guard and leaving them silently cursing their luck.
Before long, many alliance cultivators had gathered behind Li Yi, forming an arrowhead that plunged straight into the armies of the Fierce Beast Domain and the Demon Domain. The green lotus continually devoured life force and transferred it to the alliance cultivators. For a time, the cultivators behind Li Yi fought without fear of death, driving the enemy forces back again and again.
"Kill!!!!"
The Demon Domain cultivators were utterly frustrated by the alliance cultivators before them. They would struggle to grievously wound someone, only for a beam of green light to sweep over and bring them right back to fighting fit. How were they supposed to fight like that?
As he slaughtered and saved in equal measure, Li Yi grew more and more engrossed in the battle. He could feel the Power of Slaughter and the Power of Life fusing faster and faster. They would probably be completely fused before long, so Li Yi fought with even greater abandon.
"Kill!!!!"
There was no right or wrong on the battlefield. Both sides charged forward with bloodshot eyes. The battlefield stretched for tens of millions of miles, stained crimson with blood. Mountains collapsed, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and flames soared into the sky. It was a scene straight out of the apocalypse.
Feeling the fusion of the Power of Slaughter and the Power of Life accelerating, Li Yi finally let loose completely. He made a beeline for areas crowded with fierce beasts and Demon Domain cultivators, the twin lotus grinding out life after life as it spun.
Still finding that insufficient, Li Yi swept his hand out, sending countless streams of sword qi forth. They formed storm after storm that utterly annihilated countless fierce beasts and Demon Domain cultivators.
The alliance cultivators around him stared in astonishment. No one had imagined that anyone would compete to slaughter enemies on a battlefield. They secretly decided that this man must have been a god of slaughter in his everyday life; otherwise, how could he be so bloodthirsty?
The fierce beasts and Demon Domain cultivators on the battlefield suffered terribly. Some even began detouring around Li Yi as soon as they spotted him from afar, unwilling to provoke this god of slaughter.
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