Within Holy Stream Residence, only Fang Yu's low laughter could be heard.
"Dragon Queen."
He suddenly spoke.
"Your subordinate is here!"
Dragon Queen Yi Shen shot forward and landed not far from Fang Yu, a trace of excitement faintly appearing on her face.
"Sha Yu."
"Your subordinate is here!!"
A flash of black light passed by, and a black-clad figure draped in countless jeweled pendants appeared on Fang Yu's other side.
"I'll leave it to you two."
Fang Yu withdrew his gaze and swept it over the two emperors.
"You are far too inferior to Brother Hong Tian..."
With that, he strode toward the Spirit Gathering Place.
Not a single person blocking his path dared step forward to stop him.
They all hurriedly made way.
Dragon Queen Yi Shen and Sha Yu each flashed to the side of one of the two great emperors. Before long, two terrified screams rang out.
Afterward, the army stirred in commotion, but swiftly fell silent again.
"Dao Ancestor Source in the hands of these two pieces of trash is truly a waste of heavenly treasure."
Dragon Queen Yi Shen sneered.
With one motion, she tossed the empress whose blood and qi she had drained onto the ground.
The empress had already been completely reduced to a skeleton. Even her divine soul had not escaped being devoured, all of it swallowed into Dragon Queen Yi Shen's belly.
On the other side, Sha Yu slowly withdrew his hand from the old emperor's chest and flicked the blood from his fingers.
"The plan has been carried out perfectly. Now, the true Great Calamity begins..."
The two exchanged glances, and the corners of both their mouths curled slightly upward.
Fang Yu walked into the Spirit Gathering Place step by step. Then came wave after wave of silence.
Of all the great generals in Holy Stream Residence, aside from a very few, every one of the rest had fallen under his control.
Even the grand formation of Shadow City had had its core altered, becoming something he personally presided over.
With the Dao Ancestor absent, he was the true strongest Celestial Venerable—without equal!
As early as sixteen thousand nine hundred years ago, he had secretly broken through the limits of Celestial Venerables. Not even the Dao Ancestor had discovered the strength he had concealed.
The supreme-grade cultivation art he had created could only have its deeper mysteries understood by himself. If not for the Dao Ancestor suppressing him all along...
The vast armies waited in silence. Before long, the entire Spirit Gathering Place abruptly shook.
BOOM!!!
A seven-colored pillar of light blasted straight through the roof, tore open the grand formation, and shot into the black heavens like a sharp sword.
BOOM!!!
In an instant, all the shadow demon generals erupted in ecstatic cheers.
"Victory is certain!!!"
"Victory is certain!!!!"
"Victory is certain!!!!!"
Countless ranks upon ranks of soldiers cheered at once, like a tide spreading from within to without.
With a massive bang,
a gigantic human figure arched out of the Spirit Gathering Place, smashing through the roof. Its body stood thousands of meters tall and wore the familiar Soul Hunting Armor. It was shockingly Fang Yu, who had just entered!
Amid the scattering rubble, he straightened up and raised his head toward the sky.
"Netherworld Time Master, did you see that? Did you see it??!
Hehehehe..."
He laughed deeply, his voice growing louder and louder.
By the end, it was like a raging wind and rolling thunder, shaking and roaring over all of Holy Stream Residence.
Shadow Division City.
A force outside the largest Shadow City in the Shadow World.
The Dao soldier army was like a white flood. In an instant, it cleared away every wandering creature around Shadow Division City and charged straight for the four great shadow passages behind the secret realm.
The shadow passages were the necessary tunnels leading directly to Shadow City's headquarters.
The Shadow World was not home to Shadow City alone.
Outside the shadow passages were many forces large and small. Though none could compare to Shadow City's might, they had their own territories and trump cards, enough to stand on their own.
If Lin Xin's group wished to reach Shadow City's headquarters while ensuring that none of its cultivators escaped, there was only one method: divide their forces!
At this moment, three enormous cylindrical tunnels floated side by side before the cultivators outside the shadow passages. They appeared close enough to touch, but in truth were still quite a distance away.
Guanyin Bodhisattva, Melting Dao Lord, and Lin Xin all floated in the air, gazing toward the three great shadow passages from afar.
"Dividing into three routes is possible, but Shadow City's headquarters also has Celestial Venerables guarding it. Should any of them escape..." Melting Dao Lord said gravely.
"When removing a great evil, why fuss over the branches and leaves?" Guanyin Bodhisattva said softly.
"If the grass is not pulled out by the roots, there will surely be trouble later." Lin Xin's voice was cold.
"If so, the three of us can each lead a team and block the three routes," Melting Dao Lord suggested.
"Good."
"Agreed."
Guanyin and Lin Xin both nodded.
"Then there is no time to lose!"
Lin Xin could not be bothered with further words. He flew directly toward the shadow passage on the left, with Yao Yuanhui and the Azure Lake Mountain cultivators following behind him.
Melting Dao Lord also led his followers and cultivators toward the middle shadow passage.
Guanyin shook his head slightly. Only after watching the two enter did he lead the Buddhist Domain arhats toward the remaining shadow passage.
"My Buddha is merciful..."
He murmured softly.
The lengthy shadow passage resembled the intestinal tract of some incomparably enormous creature.
The surroundings were pitch-black, with faint gurgling sounds drifting from afar.
Countless white Dao soldiers marched inside in orderly formation, carving out a path.
Lin Xin and his fellow cultivators moved slowly in the middle and rear of the procession.
Under the glow of spiritual light, all the Dao soldiers seemed lighter and swifter, hurrying forward at high speed.
From time to time, sounds of battle and screams came from ahead.
It seemed some unknown creatures were being slaughtered by the Dao soldiers.
Commanding the army were two Azure Lake Mountain cultivator generals floating beside Lin Xin: Huang Sheng and Zhuge Bai.
Both possessed Tier Five cultivation, held Azure Lake Soldier Talismans, and each controlled fifty million Dao soldiers.
At this time, the Dao soldiers within the shadow passage were like an ocean—boundless and endless.
Every possible obstacle and threat was utterly drowned beneath them.
After advancing for roughly four hours, a rumble suddenly came from ahead, followed by a tremendous explosion, as though something had detonated.
The Tier Five Dao soldiers floating in the air ahead immediately mobilized, gathering and flying over.
"What happened?"
Lin Xin sat cross-legged in the air as he floated onward. He had been slowly adjusting his condition and comprehending his sword art, but the boom had disturbed him.
"Reporting to Divine Lord, Dao soldiers have already gone to investigate."
Huang Sheng answered carefully.
He had heard many accounts of this Sun Snatcher Divine Lord. Though the stories came in many versions, they all shared one point: cruelty.
The Sun Snatcher Divine Lord ought to be the sort of formidable cultivator who enjoyed resolving everything through violence.
Such cultivators never followed rules. At the slightest offense, they struck without mercy. One had to be exceedingly careful around them.
"Too slow." Lin Xin had no desire to waste time.
He now possessed genuine Celestial Venerable-level combat strength.
And he was no ordinary Celestial Venerable. Yet such a small matter and minor nuisance could actually obstruct his path forward.
How long would it take to reach Shadow City's headquarters at this rate?
Very soon, news from the front line was relayed back.
Spells streaked through the air ahead. Before long, a crystal mirror appeared before Lin Xin's group.
Within it were black-robed figures with candles floating behind them, clashing with the Dao soldier army.
There were unexpectedly many black-robed figures, and for the moment, they had managed to halt the entire flood of Dao soldiers.
They wielded clumps of flames and fireballs in all manner of forms.
"People from the Fire God Sect? How could they be hiding in the Shadow World?"
Zhuge Bai recognized their origins and was somewhat surprised as well.
"Is this the third trial?" Lin Xin asked blandly.
"Perhaps not."
Zhuge Bai answered in a low voice.
"Wait..."
Lin Xin closed his eyes and continued comprehending his sword art.
The Void Demon Spirits lacked souls, so only one attribute point could be obtained for every hundred demon spirits—equivalent to ten threads merging into one point.
But even so, their numbers were simply too great.
Added to that was the Four Extremes Demonic Qi he had devoured earlier, which had yielded around three hundred thirty thousand attribute points.
Lin Xin now had another three hundred forty thousand free attribute points. With his eyes closed, he comprehended his sword art while rapidly allocating points.
He added every last one to defense.
With the Sword of Wrath, joy first followed by the Sword of Wrath gave him enough power for the time being. Instead, his own body was not strong enough. If he suffered even a slight sneak attack, his body would practically explode and perish.
After all, his present opponents far surpassed those of the past. More than seventy thousand points of evasion might work against Earth Immortals, but against Celestial Venerables, the force it could deflect was far too little.
Even a single strike from most Celestial Venerables contained dozens or even hundreds of different Dao intents. Some also possessed unique divine abilities and Karma Dao Arts, with power beyond compare. They could only be resisted head-on.
"If Earth Immortals rely on official rank to support them and grant them immense strength, then Celestial Venerables rely on star-pattern formations."
The Celestial Venerables Lin Xin had fought flashed through his mind.
They almost all had one thing in common: not Primal Spirit Holy Light, but star-pattern formations.
This was the greatest difference between Celestial Venerables and Earth Immortals.
Official rank and starlight combined, merging the stellar power of myriad worlds to form a wholly new and mysterious talisman formation. It was a natural qualitative transformation born from a Celestial Venerable's body.
This was the star-pattern formation.
"The Vice Sect Master I fought in the Soul Sect before had a Star Destroyer covered in densely packed star-pattern formations. That is the true core of Celestial Venerables." Lin Xin's thoughts became clear.
"Star-pattern formations contain a Celestial Venerable's understanding of the natural cycles of their own planet, as well as the enormous power bred by the living beings upon it.
"Their understanding and comprehension become star patterns. The star patterns make their planets operate and cycle according to different Daos and laws, thereby exerting all kinds of effects upon the beings living there."
If a Celestial Venerable's understanding of laws was comprehensive, their planet's natural breeding, operation, and cycles would be complete, capable of endless renewal and even naturally producing powerful beings.
But if their understanding of laws was incomplete, all manner of strange lifeforms would emerge instead. Pure energy lifeforms, for instance.
"Unfortunately, if I wish to break through to Celestial Venerable, I must first reach the Fate Candle realm." He gathered his thoughts.
Having gained a rough understanding of the foundation of Celestial Venerables, he had also nearly finished allocating his attribute points.
All three hundred forty thousand points had been added to defense.
His defense had originally stood at eight hundred seventy thousand points. With another three hundred forty thousand added, it reached a terrifying one million one hundred ten thousand points.
BOOM!!
A dark-blue fireball suddenly exploded ahead, engulfing a vast swath of Dao soldiers.
A beastlike roar came from the front.
"Kill!!"
"Fate Candle?" This was the fluctuation of power from a Fate Candle Earth Immortal, accompanied by Karma Dao Arts.
Lin Xin's gaze turned cold. With a flash, he vanished from midair.
The fluctuation did not belong to Shadow City's side. It should have come from some other clan or force that had already existed within the Shadow World.
But whatever force it was, anyone who dared block the army's advance was courting death!
Before you continue