Xuanyuan Che's icy glance was like a tangible blade, instantly piercing through the shadow's disguise.
The hidden group was struck with terror, knowing their tracks had long since been exposed! At their head was a sinister-looking young man in black robes. A flicker of shock and ruthlessness flashed through his eyes as he made a snap decision. "We've been exposed! Retreat!"
They had originally planned to reap the fisherman's profit, never expecting this suddenly appearing team of four to be so terrifyingly powerful. Especially that youngest and most handsome-looking youth—he was simply unfathomable! Instantly killing the Corrupt Swamp Evil Spirit was far beyond anything they could contend with!
However, it was already too late to leave.
"You think you can come and go as you please? Did you ask Grandpa Shi?!" Thunder Roar Ravine roared. He was in the heat of battle—how could he allow these sneaking, skulking bastards to slip away? Abandoning the Three-headed Demon Ape, whose bones and tendons had been shattered and which was barely clinging to life, lightning erupted around him. Like a thunder god, he charged straight at the fleeing group!
"Form the array! Stop him!" the sinister young man shouted. The remaining five immediately formed hand seals, gathering a murky, sinister black energy that formed a shield engraved with ghostly faces before Thunder Roar Ravine.
This formation was rather strange. Cold and viscous, it could actually absorb and weaken the power of lightning to a certain extent.
Thunder Roar Ravine's lightning fist smashed viciously into the ghost-face shield. The shield shook violently, black vapor surging, yet it did not immediately shatter. Instead, waves of ghostly wails and wolfish howls rang out, battering at their minds.
"Hmph! Crooked demonic arts!" Mu Qingxue snorted coldly as the Wuchen Sword fully left its sheath! Its blade was like autumn water, flowing with gray glimmers of annihilation. She moved with her sword, becoming a gray sword rainbow that tore through the sky and stabbed straight at the core of the formation!
Guixu Sword Intent—Shattering Delusion!
Wherever the sword rainbow passed, the sinister black energy scattered and dissolved as though it had met its natural bane! The savage ghostly faces on the shield let out shrill screams and instantly blurred!
"Now!" Yun Mengyao's cool voice rang out. Her hands formed seals, and a flawless rune, as though condensed from moonlight, instantly took shape and silently imprinted itself upon the formation node that was on the verge of collapse!
Pure Moon Sealing Demons!
The moonlight-like rune blazed brilliantly. The already tottering evil formation was like accumulated snow drenched in boiling oil, instantly collapsing into dust! The five people controlling the formation suffered the backlash, all coughing up black blood as they staggered backward.
"Die!" Thunder Roar Ravine seized the opportunity, his massive lightning fists raining down like a violent storm!
Crack! Splat!
The sounds of bones breaking and flesh bursting came without end! Those five evil cultivators had no time to react before the violent lightning power turned them into charred corpses, body and Divine Soul alike utterly destroyed!
Only the sinister young man, at the instant the formation broke, brought out a black talisman covered in cracks. The talisman burned, turning into a cloud of black mist that enveloped him. It actually withstood Thunder Roar Ravine's punch head-on, and using the recoil, he fled into the distance like a stray dog!
"Where do you think you're going!" Mu Qingxue shifted her Sword Momentum and was about to give chase.
"No need." Xuanyuan Che spoke indifferently. He did not even turn around, merely flicking a finger casually.
A tiny sword light, nearly impossible to see, crossed space as though teleporting. Though unleashed later, it arrived first, precisely entering that fleeing cloud of black mist.
"Argh—!"
A brief yet shrill scream came from within the black mist. Then the mist dispersed, and a shriveled, twisted corpse fell from the air. Its life force had been completely severed, even its soul annihilated by that wisp of Chaos Qi.
In the blink of an eye, this evil cultivator squad that had intended to play the oriole behind the mantis was completely wiped out!
From Xuanyuan Che instantly killing the Corrupt Swamp Evil Spirit to Thunder Roar Ravine, Mu Qingxue, and Yun Mengyao working in perfect coordination to eliminate the Three-headed Demon Ape, the Thousand Soul Skeleton Demon, and this group of evil cultivators, the entire process had taken only a dozen or so breaths!
Zhou Qiankun and the others from True Martial Academy were utterly dumbfounded, standing where they were like clay statues and wooden carvings.
The three Tai Xu Realm foreign races they had struggled desperately to resist, along with a fairly powerful evil cultivator squad that had ambushed them in secret, had been swept away before these four like chickens and dogs, crushed with the force of rotten wood breaking!
What kind of monstrous geniuses were these?! And that Xing Yuan Realm youth... what sort of monster was he exactly?!
Zhou Qiankun took a deep breath and quickly suppressed the stormy waves in his heart. He stepped forward several paces and solemnly cupped his hands toward Xuanyuan Che's group of four, his tone incomparably sincere. "I am Zhou Qiankun of True Martial Academy in the Central Continent. Many thanks to you four, fellow Daoists, for righteously coming to our rescue! True Martial Academy will forever remember this favor! May I ask the names of you four, and which academy you come from?"
He had lowered his stance to the extreme, with not a trace remaining of the pride of a Central Continent prodigy. In a world where strength was revered, the power Xuanyuan Che's group had displayed had earned their absolute respect.
Moreover, Xuanyuan Che's group had saved their lives. This was no small favor!
Xuanyuan Che clapped his hands, dusting off the dirt, and smiled. "No need to mention it. Eastern Wasteland Domain, Eastern Xuan Academy, Xuanyuan Che." He pointed behind himself. "This is my Second Senior Sister, Yun Mengyao, my Third Senior Brother, Thunder Roar Ravine, and this is Senior Sister Mu Qingxue of Heavenly Sword Peak."
"Eastern Xuan Academy..." Zhou Qiankun tried hard to recall it, but he truly had little impression of the academies in the Eastern Wasteland Domain. Still, he deeply engraved this name in his heart. "So it is Brother Xuanyuan, Fairy Yun, Brother Lei, and Fairy Mu! Without the four of you today, we would likely have faced grave danger!"
"It was merely a small effort." Xuanyuan Che waved a hand, but his gaze had already turned toward the altar deep within the ancient battlefield ruins. "Brother Zhou, are you here for that altar as well?"
A rugged man like him calling such a handsome youth brother suddenly gave him an odd feeling.
Following his gaze, Zhou Qiankun gave a bitter smile. "To be honest, we were pursued by those three foreign races and accidentally entered this place, only then discovering that the altar seemed extraordinary. Before we could investigate it, we were drawn into a bitter battle." He paused, his expression turning serious as he warned, "Brother Xuanyuan, that altar gives me a very strange feeling. It seems both sacred and dangerous, and it is too close to the Abyss of Annihilation. There may be unfathomable risks. You must be careful."
"Risk and opportunity go hand in hand." Xuanyuan Che smiled, unconcerned. "Brother Zhou, your injuries are not light. Why not rest and recover here first? We'll go see what mysteries that altar holds."
Zhou Qiankun also knew that his group was in poor condition. Following them would instead make them a burden, so he nodded. "Very well. We shall keep watch here for you four, fellow Daoists. If you need anything, just speak!"
Xuanyuan Che nodded, then led Yun Mengyao, Thunder Roar Ravine, and Mu Qingxue toward the half-collapsed ancient altar.
The closer they came to the altar, the clearer that pure, sacred energy fluctuation became. Yet at the same time, the deathly power of erosion coming from the direction of the Abyss of Annihilation grew increasingly dense. Two utterly opposing powers intertwined here, forming an exceedingly strange balance.
The altar was built from an unknown white jade. Although most of it had collapsed, its main structure remained. It was carved with ancient and complex runes, most of which had already become blurred. At the altar's center rested a crystal sphere roughly the size of an infant's fist, entirely translucent, with milky-white halos seemingly flowing within it.
That pure, sacred energy fluctuation was emanating from this crystal sphere.
"This is... a Sacred Heart Crystal?!" After studying it for a moment, surprise flashed through Yun Mengyao's cool eyes. "It is said that this object contains extraordinarily pure holy light energy. It is a supreme treasure for cultivators who practice light- and purification-type techniques. It can also nourish the Divine Soul, ward off inner demons, and even purify the death Qi of annihilation to a certain extent! No wonder it was able to remain preserved here."
"A Sacred Heart Crystal? That's good stuff!" Thunder Roar Ravine's eyes lit up. "It would definitely fetch plenty of spirit stones if we sold it!" His way of thinking was as direct as ever.
Xuanyuan Che's gaze, however, did not remain entirely on the Sacred Heart Crystal. His senses probed deeper, scanning the entire altar. Suddenly, he gave a soft sound of surprise, crouched down, and brushed aside some rubble and dust at the altar's base.
On the back of the altar's base was carved a crude mural and several lines of extremely ancient divine script.
The mural's contents were simple: a group of tiny figures knelt in worship before a strange sapling, entirely black but with branches and leaves gleaming with starlight. That sapling grew at the edge of a bottomless abyss!
Those lines of ancient divine script, however, were obscure and difficult to understand, carrying an aura of immense antiquity.
Yun Mengyao also crouched down and carefully identified the divine script. After a moment, she slowly read aloud, "...annihilation... nurtures... the utmost of life... star... god..."
Her physique possessed a special sensitivity toward such ancient information. Though she could not fully decipher it, she had caught several crucial points.
"Annihilation nurtures the utmost of life? Star god?" Xuanyuan Che raised a brow slightly, thoughtfulness flashing in his eyes. "Could it mean that in the deepest reaches of the Cang Mo Abyss, there is instead some divine object representing the ultimate of life? Something related to the stars? Is this altar meant to worship that sapling? Or perhaps... worship that so-called Star God?"
This discovery was far more valuable than a Sacred Heart Crystal! It might involve deeper secrets of the Myriad Races Battlefield and even the Cang Mo Abyss!
Just as Xuanyuan Che tried to decipher more information, the Attendant token from the Mysterious Yellow Pavilion in his hand suddenly grew faintly warm again. An extremely urgent warning message came through!
The message came from Lu Guan and contained only one short sentence:
"Be careful! The Netherworld Clan has infiltrated the battlefield! Their target is suspected to be... an abyssal relic! They may possess means to track the aura of the Cang Mo Abyss!"
Almost at the same moment!
Rumble—!
The ground beneath everyone's feet suddenly began to shake violently! It was as though some colossal being was awakening from the depths of the Cang Mo Abyss!
The altar began to shake violently, and the Sacred Heart Crystal blazed with light, seemingly resisting some force beneath the abyss!
An aura several times more terrifying than that of the Corrupt Swamp Evil Spirit surged into the sky from that bottomless fissure!
"Not good!" Yun Mengyao's expression changed. Her Heavenly Heart Dao Body sent out an intense warning of danger as white light shielded the four of them. "Something is coming up! Retreat first!"
Xuanyuan Che had achieved his objective and did not hesitate. With a wave of his hand, he swept up the Sacred Heart Crystal and the entire altar base.
"Go!"
The four reacted with extreme speed, instantly turning into streaks of light as they rapidly retreated!
Zhou Qiankun and the others were also startled by the sudden upheaval. They had no time to recover their breathing and desperately flew backward!
The very next instant after they left their original position.
A gigantic claw composed entirely of ghastly white bones suddenly thrust out from the abyssal fissure and viciously slammed into the spot where the altar had stood!
Boom!!!
The earth split apart, and shattered stones flew everywhere! A terrifying shockwave of death Qi swept in all directions, blotting out the sky and covering the earth!
Before you continue