Melee

The Tree Race is a peak race of the Second Reincarnation Era, composed of various plant lifeforms—somewhat akin to the Monster Race, which is formed from countless different beast races in the Primal Universe's reincarnation era.

This time, four Tree Race Universe Masters came to Flowing Cloud Sea, led by Lord Ghost Vine. Among them were two Fifth Order powerhouses and two top-tier Fourth Order experts.

"This treasure is ours!"

Lord Ghost Vine transformed directly into his true form, countless dark green vines covered in barbs surging toward the Black Ruyi.

"The Tree Race? Just you?"

A seductive, melodious voice rang out as a massive dark purple Bug Race Mother Nest appeared in midair.

It was Lord Qingxuan of the Bug Race from the Second Reincarnation Era.

Over a thousand Bug Race warriors of various forms flew out from the Mother Nest. At the lead were eight cyan-glowing Bug Race warriors radiating Universe Master-level auras; the rest, deep blue in color, were each worthy of being called "top-tier Universe Overlords."

"Children, attack!"

A stunning figure with translucent wings, radiating endless light, appeared above the Mother Nest.

Under the conscious control of a Fifth Order Universe Master, the thousand Bug Race warriors swiftly formed a massive formation, their scythe-like limbs striking in unison.

"Whoosh!"

Countless blade lights merged into one, carrying a violent might as they slashed toward Lord Ghost Vine.

"Eight Universe Master-level Bug Race warriors?" Qing Huan, lagging behind, couldn't help but startle at the sight.

The more powerful a Bug Race warrior, the harder it was to nurture, the higher the cost, and the more difficult to control.

Even a Universe Master-level Bug Race warrior—like those cyan ones with merely Second Order strength—cost an unimaginable price to produce.

In the current Primal Universe Bug Race, perhaps only the Empress could field a significant number of Universe Master-level Bug Race warriors. For other Universe Masters, having one or two was already considered wealthy.

By comparison, the more ancient Bug Race Universe Masters of the Second Reincarnation Era clearly possessed far more powerful Bug Race warriors.

"Go!"

Just as Qing Huan marveled, Lord Qingxuan above the Mother Nest shot two streams of purple light from her eyes. The streams overtook the blade light, merging with it and dyeing it a pale purple.

Material and soul attacks combined—though not yet a Universe Master's strongest fused Secret Technique, it was still exceedingly troublesome.

But Lord Ghost Vine ahead seemed oblivious, showing no reaction to Lord Qingxuan's attack. Instead, a flood of plants surged from the palace treasure behind him.

There were lotus seedpods, patches of green ivy, and terrifying vines lined with jagged fangs.

The other three Tree Race Universe Masters.

Under their control, countless plants instantly erected towering walls that blotted out the sky.

"Sizzle..."

A teeth-grinding sound echoed across heaven and earth.

The blade light descended, cutting through like a mortal scything grass—unstoppable at first—but after piercing over a dozen plant walls, its power was spent.

As for the soul attack fused within, the three Tree Race Universe Masters seemed equally unaffected.

"Qingxuan, you alone can't stop us."

A low voice came from within the jagged vine Universe Master.

But Lord Qingxuan only smiled softly and said, "Alone, naturally not. But why do you think I'm the only one?"

No sooner had she spoken than a Bug Race Mother Nest rose on each side of her. Two figures, different in form but equally beautiful, floated above the nests as countless Bug Race warriors poured out.

The other Universe Masters nearby were not idle either.

"You Tree Race think you can claim this treasure? Dream on!" Four towering Skeleton Race Universe Masters, composed entirely of bones, appeared above the Gray Bone Palace.

The remaining powerhouses—the God Eye Race, the Second Reincarnation Era Human Race, the Dream-Eater Race, and the Primal Universe Monster Race—all revealed themselves as well. Another Universe Master, acting alone with a peak domain treasure, also launched an attack on the four Tree Race powerhouses.

"Damn it!"

Over twenty Universe Masters attacked in unison. The countless vines Lord Ghost Vine had extended were instantly severed and annihilated.

If he hadn't retreated quickly, pulling his main body back into the palace treasure in time, he might have lost his life.

As for the other three Tree Race Universe Masters, none dared to face the combined assault of over twenty powerhouses and were forced to retreat into the palace treasure.

"Boom!"

A barrage of attacks struck the palace treasure, sending the Tree Race's treasure plummeting downward.

"Deflect the force!"

Lord Ghost Vine strained to stabilize the palace treasure. With the toughness of a peak palace treasure, such attacks left it completely unscathed.

But this left the Tree Race powerhouses far behind. Even Qing Huan and the others quickly overtook them, making it nearly impossible to catch up.

The Tree Race was out. The seven factions that had briefly allied now splintered apart.

At this moment, the closest to the Black Ruyi were the Bug Race, the God Eye Race, and a lone Universe Master from a powerful race—Lord Black Rock.

"Jueyun! Seize the treasure!"

Outside the Spire Castle, Lord Pure Eye bellowed. An ancient-looking mirror emerged from the void behind him.

This mirror was Lord Pure Eye's precious soul illusion treasure, the Pure Light Mirror—its value no less than Master Wuhun's Mad Demon God-Extinguishing Armor.

The Pure Light Mirror merged with the God Eye Race's iconic phantom of a divine eye, and that phantom instantly solidified, looking somewhat similar to the methods of God Eye True Master.

In an instant, several illusory beasts charged out from the divine eye, pouncing toward the three Bug Race members and Lord Black Rock.

"Pure Eye!"

"Lord Pure Eye!"

The four Universe Masters were immediately shocked and enraged—this Lord Pure Eye was actually attacking all four of them at once.

But Lord Pure Eye was among the most pinnacle existences among Fifth Order Universe Masters, his overall strength no less than the renowned Master Wuhun or Chaos City Master, who would one day reach the limit of Universe Masters. He was also extremely skilled in soul techniques. Facing his sudden assault, the four Universe Masters could not afford to ignore it.

"Ah!!"

A painful howl rang out. Lord Black Rock, whose soul techniques were somewhat lacking, withstood Lord Pure Eye's strike and survived, but was now in agony.

It was fortunate that no one was willing to divert attention to attack him at that moment; otherwise, it would have been easy to kill Lord Black Rock while he was vulnerable.

In contrast, the three Bug Race Mother Nests were surrounded by strands of colorful light. When Lord Pure Eye's soul attack descended, the vast numbers of Bug Race warriors controlled by the two later-appearing Mother Nests faltered for a moment, but quickly regained their agility.

As for Lord Qingxuan, who had first struck at the Tree Race, she seemed completely unaffected.

Bug Race Mother Emperors were natural soul masters. Having cultivated to the Universe Master stage, their souls were exceptionally powerful, so the three Bug Race Universe Masters received Lord Pure Eye's attack with relative ease.

However, inevitably, the three Bug Race Mother Nests were slowed by a beat and fell behind.

Just as Lord Pure Eye launched his sudden attack, Lord Jueyun moved with perfect coordination, waving his hand as thirty-six gray ribbons flew out from his body.

These were Lord Jueyun's Peak Supreme Treasure weapon, the "Heaven-Binding Ribbon," a type of ranged weapon that suited his style perfectly.

The gray ribbons extended rapidly, attempting to snatch the Black Ruyi from midair directly.

"Everyone, stop them together!"

Lord Pure Eye's all-out sudden strike temporarily held back the Bug Race and Lord Black Rock, but the Dream-Eater Race, Human Race, Monster Race, and Skeleton Race, who were slightly farther away, were not idle.

"Whoosh... whoosh..."

Devil Lord Nightmare moved his mind, and the howling, endless Ghost Domain Yin Wind condensed into a towering giant axe. The axe body was gray, and at the joint between the handle and the blade was set a complete, pale skull.

"Lord Jueyun, don't even think about it!"

Devil Lord Nightmare controlled the domain treasure transformed into the Gray Divine Axe, slashing directly at Lord Jueyun's Heaven-Binding Ribbon.

The moment Devil Lord Nightmare retracted his domain, the God Eye Race's domain treasure immediately began to expand, attempting to suppress the Skeleton Race.

But at that critical moment, the Human Race's domain treasure filled the gap first, without suppressing the Skeleton Race's several Universe Masters. Instead, it firmly held back the God Eye Race's domain, allowing the Skeleton Race Universe Masters to fight without worry.

At the critical juncture, the Human Race and Skeleton Race chose to join forces against the God Eye Race first.

Seeing their domain blocked by the Humans, the God Eye Race's several Universe Masters seethed with hatred, but there was nothing they could do.

By now, it was a close-quarters fight, and the God Eye Race's reputation no longer carried much weight.

Lord Ying'ai's short body shot out like a cannonball, directly intercepting the Gray Divine Axe controlled by Devil Lord Nightmare.

"Nightmare, your opponent is me!"

But Lord Ying'ai acting alone was not enough; the other three Skeleton Race experts, along with many other strong beings, were also intercepting Lord Jueyun.

"!!!"

Lord Wuliang let out a silent scream toward the sky.

His black hair flew wildly, and though no sound came from his throat, dense, wave-like ripples burst outward in all directions like sound waves.

At the same time, Lord Pure Eye coordinated with Lord Wuliang to launch a second round of soul attacks. Countless tiny, white illusory streams of light flew densely from all over his body.

For a moment, Lord Pure Eye seemed to transform into a hedgehog.

Such a large-scale soul attack naturally had less power than a focused strike, and consumed far more divine power. Under normal circumstances, no one would choose to do this.

But to buy time for Lord Jueyun under the siege of so many Universe Masters, Lord Pure Eye and Lord Wuliang had no other choice.

Of course, even if the power was somewhat reduced, how terrifying was it when two Fifth Order, top-tier Universe Master soul masters joined forces at full strength?

Even though they were using group attack methods, most of the Universe Masters present were neither skilled in soul techniques nor possessed soul-type treasures, so they struggled to cope.

For a time, a full ten Universe Masters were forced to halt and deal with their attacks.

Yet four Universe Masters of exceptional strength remained completely unafraid of such large-scale attacks and continued to surround and kill Lord Jueyun.