After refining his treasures, Jiang Yun continued leading the Heavenly River Navy on patrol through the starry river.
On one hand, they slaughtered Heavenly Devils and accumulated Merit!
On the other, he used the pure demonic qi to continue refining the Baleful Corpses, along with the newly acquired Profound Yin Banners.
The eighty-one late-stage Taiyi Baleful Corpses had now, after devouring an enormous amount of demonic qi, all broken through to the Peak Taiyi Golden Immortal!!
They were only one step away from entering the Daluo Realm!
Not only that, the Profound Yin Banners bestowed by the Jade Emperor had also been refined anew.
The forty-nine Profound Yin Banners now corresponded to the number seven times seven, greatly multiplying the power of the Lunar Dark-Baleful Grand Array!
This day!
Jiang Yun was seated cross-legged atop the flagship, continuing to comprehend Astral Law in hopes of raising the Chaos-Reversing Nebula Grand Array to an even higher level.
"Report!!!"
A heavenly general landed atop the flagship.
"Reporting to the Marshal!"
"A large-scale Demonic Tide has been discovered in the starfield ahead!!"
"There are at least a million of them!"
"Oh?"
Jiang Yun slowly opened his eyes.
"Pass down the order. Full speed ahead!"
"Understood!"
The Star River Immortal Arks sailed at full speed, arriving at the site of the Demonic Tide's outbreak in less than an hour!
When they clearly saw the scene before them!
Even the battle-hardened Tiangang General, a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, could not help but suck in a cold breath!
The starfield ahead had already been completely shrouded by boundless demonic qi!
A vast black expanse stretched as far as the eye could see!
Countless Outer-Realm Heavenly Devils lurked within, roaring hideously!
How could their numbers be merely a million?!
At the very center of the Demonic Tide!
There was astonishingly a pitch-black spatial rift several thousand zhang tall!
From within that rift emanated a terrifying aura that left everyone unsettled, as though it connected to a supreme demonic domain!
Outer-Realm Heavenly Devils poured madly out of the rift like an endless tide!
"Kehehe----"
"Primordial World! We have returned!!"
"Kill!!"
The Tiangang General felt his scalp go numb!
In all his tens of thousands of years guarding the Celestial River, this was the first time he had seen a Demonic Tide on such a scale!
Yet Jiang Yun's face remained calm as an ancient well, with even a faint trace of excitement!
"Excellent!"
"So much demonic qi is just what my eighty-one Baleful Corpses need for another breakthrough!"
Jiang Yun slowly rose to his feet. His indifferent voice spread throughout the army. "Hear my command!"
"Activate the Star River Immortal Ark formations!"
"Attack and kill!!"
"Understood!!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The formations on more than twenty Star River Immortal Arks all activated at once!
Lightning, true fire, frost----
Countless divine abilities rained down upon the endless Demonic Tide!
"Roar!!"
"Kill them all!!"
Several million Outer-Realm Heavenly Devils likewise charged fearlessly toward the immortal arks!
Facing a Demonic Tide on this scale, even the Heavenly River Navy did not dare leave the arks to engage in close combat.
They merely stood throughout the immortal arks, pouring their mana into them and greatly enhancing the power of the ark formations!
In an instant!
The battle became incomparably brutal!
The starry river trembled! Demonic blood stained the skies!
"Clang--!!"
Jiang Yun stood at the bow of the flagship and brought out the [Four Symbols Bell], giving it a gentle shake!
The bell's chime rang out melodiously!
The powers of earth, wind, water, and fire surged forth, transforming into terrifying four-colored divine light that swept outward!
With every shake, hundreds or thousands of Outer-Realm Heavenly Devils were suppressed on the spot and ground into dust!
Yet no matter how the Heavenly River Navy slaughtered them, no matter how Jiang Yun wielded the Four Symbols Bell.
The number of Outer-Realm Heavenly Devils did not decrease in the slightest!
Instead, with the continuous stream pouring from the spatial rift, their numbers only grew greater the more they were killed!
They had already densely surrounded all twenty-odd Star River Immortal Arks!
"This is bad!" The Tiangang General's expression changed slightly.
"Marshal, this Demonic Tide is far too strange! It seems we have fallen into an ambush!"
Before his words had faded!
"Roar--!!!"
A terrifying pressure far surpassing that of ordinary Heavenly Devils suddenly descended from the black rift!
Accompanied by nine earthshaking, terrifying roars!
Demonic qi churned wildly within the thousand-zhang-tall pitch-black spatial rift!
Nine terrifying demonic figures emanating the pressure of Grand Unity Golden Immortals burst forth!
These nine Great Luo Heavenly Devils took different forms, each hideous and terrifying!
Most terrifying of all!
The two at the front possessed auras that had astonishingly reached the Grand Unity Golden Immortal Peak!!
"Kehehe----"
"What wonderfully pure blood and flesh!!"
"Little ones! Kill for me! Today, we will charge into the Primordial World and slaughter hundreds of millions of living beings!!"
One of the leading Peak Great Luo Heavenly Devils let out a piercing, savage laugh. The rolling sound waves made even the starry river tremble!
"What?!"
"Nine Grand Unity Golden Immortals?!"
"And two Peak Great Luo existences!!"
The Tiangang General was instantly horrified by this sight, his face turning as pale as paper!
It was over!
This time, they were completely finished!
Let alone nine Daluo, those two Peak Great Luo alone were enough to wipe out their entire Heavenly River Navy here!
The Heavenly River Navy received exceptionally generous treatment.
They not only possessed the Heavenly Court's most elite armor and weapons, far surpassing ordinary heavenly soldiers.
They could also refine demonic qi in their daily lives to raise their cultivation and accumulate Merit.
Otherwise, they would not have been able to recruit two Grand Unity Golden Immortal-level great divine ability users like the Tiangang General and the Primordial Unity Grand Commander, Wang Yu.
To give up their carefree lives and take posts in the Heavenly Court.
But there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. In a sense, the Heavenly River Navy could be considered cannon fodder.
For ordinary Demonic Tides, the Heavenly River Navy would naturally handle the slaughter.
But for an enormous Demonic Tide like this one, the Heavenly River Navy's mission was to use their lives to buy time.
They had to wait for great powers of the Primordial World to arrive and suppress the Demonic Tide!
"Marshal!!"
The Tiangang General immediately roared, "Marshal, leave at once!!"
"In a moment, we subordinates will risk our lives to carve out a path for you!!"
"All the commanders of the Heavenly River Navy have placed a strand of their True Spirits within the Heavenly River Water Palace!"
"Marshal, please revive us in the future!!"
The Tiangang General had already resolved to die!
Since death was inevitable today, he might as well secure a path of survival for Jiang Yun before he died!
With their True Spirits entrusted to the Heavenly River Water Palace, they would not truly perish, but they would still need countless years of arduous cultivation and vast quantities of heavenly materials and earthly treasures to restore their cultivation!
He only hoped that Jiang Yun would remember today's bond and extend them his protection then.
Yet in the face of such certain death, not the slightest panic appeared on Jiang Yun's face.
"No need to rush----"
"Perfect! I can use them to test the formation I have just refined!"
"What?!"
The Tiangang General froze upon hearing this, hardly daring to believe his ears!
The Marshal----had gone mad?!
Those were nine Daluo!!
Before he could react!
"Hum!!!"
Jiang Yun had already made his move!
With a sweep of his sleeve!
Three hundred and sixty-five incomparably radiant [Star Pearls] transformed into streams of light and shot into the sky!
Immediately afterward!
The [Star Map] engraved with the stars of Zhou Tian crashed down!
"Chaos-Reversing Nebula Grand Array, rise!!"
Jiang Yun gave a soft shout!
Rumble rumble rumble-!!!
In an instant!
Starlight flooded the heavens!
A terrifying killing formation spanning ten thousand li suddenly took shape!
Heaven and earth inverted! Yin-Yang reversed!
Endless stellar power descended, instantly enveloping the nine Great Luo Heavenly Devils and the million-strong Demonic Tide within!
Before you continue