After the young True Immortal finished speaking, he glanced again at Lin Yue, who stood closest to them. Perhaps the turning point truly lay with this junior!
"Our allies from the Immortal Domain also sent word earlier, asking us to reinforce them. Resistance there is fierce, and many of our world's strongest have gathered there. The Foreign Realm is gathering its forces too, with several immortals descending. Another decisive battle may be upon us!"
"Not only that, a king descended earlier, then fought his way out of Great Red Heaven! He may descend again!"
Someone spoke up! Everyone's heart trembled at the news. The descent of an Immortal King was simply too earth-shattering!
Lin Yue understood now, but tension gripped his heart as well. No wonder there were so few invincible experts here. They had all gone to Great Red Heaven. Was the most brutal battle of the late Immortal Ancient era about to begin?
"The people of the Immortal Domain cannot be trusted!" Snow Linglong declared!
"Do not speak rashly! They are still our allies, after all. We should treat them with courtesy!"
The oldest-looking True Immortal spoke. He was a supreme figure who had survived since the beginning of the war between worlds, and the leader of the Nine Heavens' forces here! His combat strength rivaled that of a quasi-king.
"If only Lord Wuzhong and the others were still here! We would not have to stand a head lower before the Immortal Domain!"
"Indeed. Ever since our world's Immortal Kings fell, some people from the Immortal Domain have begun strutting about with their noses in the air! They no longer see us as comrades. They always look down on us, treating us as vassals! They even want to command us!"
Some invincible experts whispered among themselves, but everyone present was at least in the escape one realm and heard them perfectly clearly! Sadly, there was nothing they could do except sigh!
After their lament, however, everyone turned toward Lin Yue and found some comfort in their hearts!
Chapter 34: Visitors from the Immortal Domain
Clang! Clang! Clang!
While everyone was in the meeting, bells rang out once more through the Divine City!
More than a dozen terrifying auras spread outside the Divine City, their pressure engulfing the city and its surroundings! Several belonged to figures of the Immortal Dao, while the weakest of the rest were Supreme Dao Venerable cultivators!
Everyone looked toward the gates of the Divine City, their brows furrowing!
"Our comrades from the Immortal Domain have arrived. A few of you, come with me to welcome them!"
The quasi-king stood as he spoke!
"We obey your decree!"
Seven or eight invincible experts rose and followed close behind the old man!
At the old man's words, the young True Immortal stood, but the other three seemed to have no intention of moving!
"If you do not wish to come, stay here!"
The old man smiled wryly. Who could blame him for being their senior? He could not shirk such matters! Otherwise, he would not have wanted to go either!
"Yan, Yu, and Lin Yue, stop standing there in a daze. Come welcome them with this old man, and take a good look at the outstanding talents of the Immortal Domain! Broaden your horizons!"
"Exactly what I had in mind!"
Yan spoke, seemingly none too fond of the people from the Immortal Domain!
The old man understood perfectly well that those dozen or so erupting auras were not merely an announcement of their identities. They were also intended as a show of force!
This was no longer the early Immortal Ancient era. After so many kings of the Nine Heavens had fallen, some in the Immortal Domain had begun putting on airs! Some were even hostile toward cultivators from the Nine Heavens!
Still, the future belonged to the young, did it not? In that case, let these fellows who had begun strutting about with their noses in the air see the peerless prodigies of the Nine Heavens as well.
Even setting Lin Yue aside, the sister and brother of the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan were beyond the reach of ordinary prodigies. The old Heavenly Horned Ant had praised them both as his children with the greatest hope of surpassing him. They could be regarded as young Immortal Kings!
The old man looked at the three with a smile. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became, until his face practically blossomed with delight!
Outside the Divine City, several veteran soldiers had changed their usual demeanor upon seeing the people from the Immortal Domain arrive, unwilling to let them look down on the Nine Heavens!
"We are delighted by our comrades' arrival. Please come into the city so we may speak!" one veteran said respectfully!
"Why is no one here to welcome us? Do you look down on our Immortal Domain?"
A young man in the group spoke. He looked twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with short hair bristling upward and a handsome, resolute face. His eyebrows slanted toward the heavens like two treasured swords, and his sharp eyes flashed with dazzling cold light. He gave the impression of untamed arrogance, looking down even on princes and nobles!
As an invincible Extreme Dao expert not yet a thousand years old, he was a rare sight even in the Immortal Domain. He absolutely had the right to be proud. With the Immortal Dao within his future reach, he was one of the leading figures among the younger generation sent on this expedition from the Immortal Domain. His clan likewise had great expectations for him, nurturing him as a future pillar and using this war to temper him!
"Ao Zun! Do not be rude! These are soldiers of the Border Pass. Treat them with courtesy!"
An Immortal Domain True Immortal spoke. She was one of the several True Immortals accompanying the group, and also a relative of Ao Zun's, named Ao Jin. Her words seemed polite, but her tone was exceedingly casual. It was no more than a verbal admonition!
"Hmph!"
With his own ancestor speaking up, Ao Zun restrained himself somewhat!
"Heh! You are still too arrogant, Ao Zun. You ought to keep a lower profile! The Nine Heavens has countless prodigies, and it even gave rise to great figures such as Immortal King Wuzhong and the Reincarnation Immortal King. Do not underestimate it!"
Another young man beside him spoke. He too was an invincible Extreme Dao expert, and his aura likewise bore few traces of passing years. He was very young!
"Yuan Suo! You talk too much. How could ordinary people compare to Lord Wuzhong and Lord Six Paths? I do not believe the Nine Heavens can produce such unrivaled kings again!"
Just as their words fell, more than a dozen figures descended from the center of the Divine City, led by the old quasi-king of the Nine Heavens!
"Greetings, fellow Daoists! This old man was presiding over a meeting and could not come at once. Please forgive my discourtesy!"
"Not at all!"
"Greetings, Senior!"
"Our respects, Senior Jing Ci!"
The people from the Immortal Domain dared not be negligent. Before a quasi-king, no one dared act recklessly. Though this old man of the Nine Heavens was only a quasi-king, any supreme figure whose realm touched upon the word "king" was beyond comparison with ordinary True Immortals!
Even those young talents from the Immortal Domain who held everyone beneath their notice lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze!
"Hmph!"
A faint, cold snort sounded from behind Jing Ci!
It was a woman's voice, filled with disdain and more arrogant than any of the earlier speakers. Clearly, she had heard the young man from the Immortal Domain. Yu had long found these people displeasing and would certainly show them no courtesy!
Rumor had it that the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan's ancestral lands had originally been in the Immortal Domain. A catastrophe there had nearly wiped out the clan, and their homeland had become a deadly forbidden land, filled with supreme killing power. All life had vanished from the entire mountain territory. In the end, led by their few remaining members, they had left the Immortal Domain and ended up in the Nine Heavens. To this day, they regarded the Nine Heavens as their homeland and had never considered returning!
Others said something had invaded and destroyed their ancestral lands. There were even rumors that the clan's strongest member at the time might have been tainted by something sinister while fighting the darkness, ultimately falling. Some in the Immortal Domain had feared contamination and joined forces to drive the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan out. In the end, the Nine Heavens had taken them in.
Deeply moved, they had put down roots in the Nine Heavens and treated it as their mother world. Now that someone was arrogantly belittling it, how could someone with Yu's temper endure that?
Several young prodigies from the Immortal Domain frowned and were about to lash out. Following the voice, however, they saw a woman with a magnificent figure and peerless beauty. Her close-fitting battle armor traced curves so striking that they could not tear their eyes away, and half their anger vanished at once.
She was a peerless beauty, and the aura of a young invincible expert she radiated was no weaker than theirs. Most importantly, the force field naturally formed around her by her physical strength distorted the void, leaving them aghast!
"A Heavenly Horned Ant!"
An outstanding talent from the Immortal Domain spoke, his silver hair flowing loose. His face was handsome, and he looked even younger than Ao Zun. His tone was deeply solemn.
His aura was exceedingly strange. He lacked the imposing presence of an invincible expert, seeming instead to have returned to simplicity and truth like a figure of the Immortal Dao, yet he had not truly stepped onto the Immortal Dao. Judging by the positions of those around him, however, his standing was certainly high. He had not expected to encounter such a heaven-defying creature!
The Blood of the Extremity of Strength was coveted by all. Even Immortal Kings wanted to obtain it for their clansmen. The gates between the two realms had not yet been sealed, so they naturally knew the old Heavenly Horned Ant's fearsome reputation.
"I am Qi Yuan. May I ask your names, fellow Daoists?"
"My name is Yu!"
"My name is Yan!"
"We are from the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan! Greetings, fellow Daoist!"
Just as expected! Everyone understood. Only this clan could distort the void with the divine strength naturally radiating from their bodies!
Yan and Yu looked at the young man before them with equally solemn expressions. They felt pressure from him. Even if they fought with all their strength, they dared not claim they would win. He was a prodigy rare across the ages!
With no figures of the Immortal Dao taking action, the two now rarely encountered a match aside from Lin Yue. Anyone capable of pressuring them had to rank among the Immortal Domain's strongest prodigies, an unrivaled talent with a chance of striving for kingship in the future!
"Hmph, merely Heavenly Horned Ants! You may rank among the strongest creatures, but I have yet to see you prove invincible!"
Ao Zun spoke. As a blood relative of an Immortal King, he would not revere the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan as ordinary creatures did! What did even their old Heavenly Horned Ant amount to before his clan's king?
"Hmph! My sister and I do not use our ancestors' fame as a crutch for arrogance. If you disagree, face us in the arena, and I will grant you defeat! Let us show you whether our Nine Heavens truly falls short of your Immortal Domain!"
Yan spoke as well!
"Gladly! I was just hoping to experience your skills. I would very much like to see whether, after Lord Wuzhong and Lord Six Paths Reincarnation, the Nine Heavens still has anyone worth looking forward to!"
The leaders of both sides were smiling now. Each had their own aims, and both were happy to see this happen!
Chapter 35: The Divine Might of Ultimate Strength
The central altar of the Divine City!
It was an independent Ancient World. A crowd streamed toward the altar's martial arena, where many secret realms had been established to counter the cultivation methods of the Foreign Realm.
It was not only the Foreign Realm studying the Nine Heavens' cultivation methods. The Nine Heavens was also studying those of the Foreign Realm, seeking a cultivation path that could break the stalemate!
There were many such secret realms for martial practice. Some had been established by True Immortals, others by Immortal Kings.
Even the path now being proposed, Using the Self as the Seed, had emerged from discussions like these!
"Hurry, come on! I heard comrades from the Immortal Domain have arrived and are going to exchange pointers with our world's prodigies!"
"Really? Nothing like this has happened in a long time. We cannot miss it!"
Many cultivators were gathering at the center of the altar!
Before the Foreign Realm's iron cavalry had set foot in the Primordial Ancient World, the two realms had often gathered to spar and exchange insights. Since the war began, however, such grand occasions had become rare!
At the Ancient World's altar, the people of the Immortal Domain and the Nine Heavens sat in two separate groups to one side!
In the center of the great formation stood Yu, a woman of peerless bearing. Her presence was like a blazing sun descending upon her, scorching the void.
A great formation suppressed the arena, a measure laid down by an Immortal King, sufficient for Supreme Dao Venerables to spar!
"Come, let me see whether the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan truly looks down upon all under heaven in the path of strength, as the rumors claim!"
Ao Zun spoke, paying no heed to the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan's fame! He came from an Immortal King's clan and was a prodigy on the level of an Immortal King's son, having even entered the Extreme Dao before reaching a thousand years of age.
"Hmph! If you want to taste the bitter fruit of defeat, nothing could be easier!"
As soon as Yu finished speaking, she raised her jade-like hand, formed a divine fist, and struck to kill!
Ultimate divine strength burst from her body, interweaving with her opponent's imposing aura to form black lightning as they clashed! The shock waves shook the void into billowing swells like ocean waves!
Ao Zun's words were arrogant, but when he attacked, he did not underestimate his opponent in the slightest!
From his very first move, he unleashed the secret art of an Immortal King's clan, together with the divine strength of his Extreme Dao body, tempered through countless trials.
Ao Zun also wanted to know how his physical strength compared to that of the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan!
This was almost a shared habit among the creatures of the Nine Heavens and the Immortal Domain: using the bodies and divine strength of the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan as a benchmark to measure their own bodily refinement.
No matter what kind of cultivator one was, it seemed impossible to avoid this point, for the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan embodied bodily refinement and the supreme pinnacle of strength.
Even in the later Chaotic Ancient era, many great sects and schools used the divine strength of the Ten Fiends in the blood moving realm as the goal for their own tempering!
Boom...
Lightning flashed and thunder roared where the two clashed. Ripples spread through the void amid eruptions of Extreme Dao radiance. Even the suppression of the great formation could not diminish the impact of such an Extreme Dao collision!
The instant they exchanged blows, Yu knew this young man truly had the right to be arrogant. He was not at all outmatched in a head-on collision with a member of the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan. Such bodily refinement made her put aside her disdain.
He truly lived up to his origins in an Immortal King's clan. He had likely walked an exceedingly formidable path in the blood moving realm, no weaker than the strongest in the world and beyond comparison with ordinary prodigies. His entry into the Extreme Dao before a thousand years of age was certainly no accident. His talent was indeed unparalleled.
Both of Ao Zun's hands were numb. His heart tightened, and he too marveled inwardly. They truly deserved to be called the strongest race on the path of strength! It appeared evenly matched, but in truth he had fallen a little short!
Ao Zun said, "You do deserve your place among the strongest on the path of strength, and the renown of the Ten Fiends. But strength is not my specialty!"
Yu said, "What use is all your talk? Bring your myriad arts. My ultimate strength will shatter them all!"
"Hmph! Eternal light, illuminate the cosmos! Nirvana Divine Light, cleave!"
Ao Zun unleashed the mysterious treasured art nurtured within his grotto-heaven, seeking to cleave open the void suppressed by Yu's ultimate strength! He intended to break through everything with a supreme killing art!
This was the signature divine ability of Ao Sheng, a peerless Immortal King of the Immortal Domain. Let your Great Dao be chaos; my divine light is eternal, cleaving through all darkness! Ao Zun had mastered it and now unleashed it to decide the match!
Ao Zun held nothing back. Extreme Dao radiance surged all over his body, transforming into a deadly holy light. Its speed carried it across the void in an instant, beyond the shackles of time, as it slashed toward her. It truly deserved to be a clan king's secret art, one that could be imprinted in the bloodline and become an ancestral art!
The spectators around them broke into a nervous sweat. With no figures of the Immortal Dao taking action, no one in the Nine Heavens could match such a prodigy!
"Hmph. I have seen stranger divine abilities. I have seen the Heaven-Seizing Secret Art, and I have seen the most ancient treasured arts. Compared to He Wushuang, you are still far behind!"
Yu spoke calmly. If she fought He Wushuang now, she was confident that even if she could not win, she would certainly not lose to him. Such was the confidence of a body on the verge of becoming divine!
As Yu spoke, the blood and qi throughout her body began to boil. She no longer deliberately suppressed her divine strength. For the first time since her transformation, she unleashed the full Extreme Dao Divine Power of her body!
Starting around Yu, strength spread outward as a domain. The void began to twist, unable to bear the imprint of divine abilities or Dao laws! Caught in that power, it spun madly like a whirlpool! Even the great formation boomed and cracked beneath the crushing force!
Before you continue