The mist was soft and hazy, like Jiangnan in the third month, dreamlike and veiled.
Zhao Zixu felt his heart jolt. The formation’s smoke enveloped him, and in that instant, it was as if he had traversed endless space and time.
When he opened his eyes, he stood on a vast, blood-soaked plain. His nine Xiang Family brothers regained consciousness around him.
“Where… are we?” one asked.
“This soil is drenched in blood. An ancient battlefield?” Zhao Zixu crouched, scooping a handful of dirt. It seemed to drip crimson.
Everyone’s hearts tightened.
An ancient battlefield?
Were their enemies heavenly demons?
With cultivation now widespread, more and more people knew of heavenly demons.
In the primordial era, a glorious cultivation civilization had flourished, far more brilliant than today.
It was destroyed by heavenly demons.
Otherwise, this era would have been even more radiant.
“If it truly is an ancient battlefield, stay sharp. Heavenly demons are no joke,” Zhao Zixu said gravely.
RUMBLE!
The sky shifted.
Zhao Zixu’s gaze sharpened. The ten Xiang Family soldiers stood ready, looking up.
A massive vortex of smoke swirled in the heavens.
Roars echoed from beyond, like primordial demon gods howling at the firmament.
Immense pressure crushed down on Zhao Zixu.
They were here!
The roaring faded.
Something emerged from the vortex.
A bronze warship floated in the void.
Upon it stood bare-chested giants etched with strange, ferocious runes.
The ship’s presence seemed to collapse space itself.
“Form up!”
Zhao Zixu roared, spear raised toward the sky.
His nine brothers fell into battle formation.
At that moment, they forgot they were competing against the Academy.
This felt too real.
These demons seemed truly intent on invading their world.
The cultivators on the bronze ship had eyes full of aggression, eyes Zhao Zixu recognized.
Just like the barbarian tribes beyond Great Zhou’s borders.
When they attacked Tiger’s Pass, their gazes had been exactly this hungry, this greedy.
“Huh?”
“Natives below!”
“So the lords couldn’t enter because these ants are too weak?”
“Kill them all! Plunder this world!”
The giants roared with excitement.
Then, they leapt down.
“Internal Organs realm…”
Zhao Zixu swept his spear, eyes narrowing.
His tense heart eased slightly.
All enemies were Internal Organs realm.
They still had a chance!
“Kill count… Young Lord Lu meant heavenly demons!”
“KILL!”
Zhao Zixu roared, charging with spear dragging behind.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The Foundation Establishment cultivators from Golden Body Continent rained down.
Their bodies were monstrously tough, they clearly cultivated pure physical strength!
BOOM!
The leader, two meters tall, fists like battering rams, smashed into Zhao Zixu.
Zhao Zixu blocked with his spear shaft.
The spear bent; his legs skidded backward two steps!
“Such raw power!”
They specialized in body refinement?!
Ever since Young Lord Lu spread cultivation methods, old martial artists had abandoned blood-and-qi paths for spiritual qi.
Pure body refinement was too slow.
Yet these heavenly demons… were body refinement experts!
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Zhao Zixu and his nine brothers plunged into battle.
Ten versus ten.
It was brutal.
In moments, Xiang Family soldiers were nearly routed.
But Zhao Zixu gritted his teeth, re-formed the array, and turned the tide.
He charged the enemy commander with everything he had.
Meanwhile,
Lu Jiulian and the Academy students faced their own foes.
A crimson kasaya carried ten young monks down from the vortex.
No compassion in their eyes, only eager aggression.
But compared to Zhao Zixu’s bloodbath,
the Academy side had it easier.
They supported each other perfectly.
---
Outside the formation,
even through the barrier, everyone felt the slaughter within.
Overlord stood, staring as if trying to pierce the mist.
But he couldn’t.
This was Young Lord Lu’s formation, even Tianyuan Nascent Souls couldn’t see through it.
Yet the oppressive, bloody aura was unmistakable.
What was happening inside?
Suddenly,
the formation rippled.
With a boom,
a blood-drenched head rolled out.
The crowd erupted.
Luo Cheng and the Dragon Blood Army rushed forward, picking it up.
Luo Cheng frowned.
“This isn’t any of the contestants!”
Gasps.
What?!
There were others inside the formation?!
Jiang Li’s fists clenched, did the third round truly risk lives?!
And what did the head mean?
Who were the students fighting?
Jiang Li was tormented, he had no idea what was happening inside.
Xu Chu was the same.
His soldiers, his best soldiers, were in there.
If they died meaninglessly in some formation, he would never accept it.
Ni Yu, standing outside, felt the pouch Young Lord Lu gave her tremble.
Twenty jade talismans floated out.
Ten on the left engraved with “Western Liang.”
Ten on the right with “Academy.”
Suddenly,
one Western Liang talisman turned crimson.
BANG!
It exploded!
Everyone jumped.
A muffled groan.
From the mist,
a figure was hurled out, armor clanging, covered in wounds, barely breathing.
A Xiang Family soldier!
Xu Chu’s face changed.
He flashed to the soldier’s side, forcing a healing pill into his mouth.
The soldier opened confused eyes, touching his neck.
“I… I’m not dead?”
Xu Chu: “What happened inside?!”
“I didn’t die? I was sure those invaders snapped my neck…”
His eyes turned red.
“No, my brothers are still fighting! I have to go back!”
He staggered up, charged into the mist,
and was ejected from the other side.
Eliminated. Couldn’t re-enter.
“Inside… we were on a blood-red plain, fighting heavenly demons!”
“They were full of aggression, full of killing intent…”
The soldier’s voice was low.
The crowd froze.
Heavenly demons?!
The third round was killing heavenly demons?!
Many turned to the misty formation.
Faint shouts of battle and soaring bloodlust leaked through.
Was this… just a formation?
Or real?!
Overlord stood at the edge, tried to enter,
but couldn’t.
He heard the killing cries, but they felt separated by two worlds.
His face darkened as he returned to his seat.
On Ni Yu’s side, only nine Western Liang talismans remained.
Each shattered talisman meant one Xiang Family soldier had died in that battlefield.
BANG!
An Academy talisman exploded.
A blood-soaked Academy student rolled out.
Jiang Li flashed over, saving him with a pill.
“One talisman = one life…”
“But the wounds are real.”
“This isn’t illusion. They’ve been sent somewhere to fight for real.”
“This isn’t just a contest, it’s tempering!”
Xie Yunling’s eyes gleamed.
Space-related formations were beyond him, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist.
Dragon Gates, for example, he believed used spatial arrays.
The atmosphere turned grave.
Bloody heads kept rolling out.
Eliminated contestants, eyes red, would grab the heads and roar:
“This is what we killed!”
The stench of blood filled the field.
Talismans kept exploding.
Both sides lost men.
Elimination meant death on that battlefield.
Overlord sat like a war god, chest heaving.
Dantai Xuan clenched his fists, eyes lost.
Everyone fell silent.
This was supposed to be Great Xuan vs Western Liang.
Instead, the formation had connected to a brutal slaughterhouse.
Some thought deeper.
What was Young Lord Lu trying to say?
Or was such a battle… actually happening somewhere in the world right now?
Everyone pondered.
What kind of battlefield was that…?
---
When countless silver blades converged into a wheelchair,
all light in heaven and earth seemed to dim.
A handsome youth in white, gentle as jade, sat elegantly, one hand propping his chin, the other spinning his ring, like a carefree noble son.
Zhulong sat atop the Red Dragon, long lashes trembling.
Sensing the familiar aura of “Dad,” her lips curved into dimples.
It was over.
Go ahead, be arrogant.
Try being arrogant in front of Dad.
The Red Dragon’s shattered scales and bleeding body relaxed slightly, letting out a low rumble.
Far away,
Du Longyang, clutching his bleeding mouth, froze, then laughed wildly, spear sweeping the sea.
Ye Shoudao’s worried heart settled.
He focused everything on his breakthrough.
He had crossed Infant Transformation into Yin Spirit.
He had to seize this chance!
The Empress and Prince Tianxu were in worse shape.
Near death, yet still couldn’t grasp the opportunity.
Breakthrough wasn’t guaranteed even in mortal danger.
But now they understood,
they had been right.
Fu Tianluo really was Young Lord Lu’s gift.
A wild tool to help them shatter their shackles.
Sadly, they lacked Ye Shoudao’s madness at death’s door.
They flinched.
So they failed to break through.
Hence Young Lord Lu’s disappointment.
The countless rune chains hanging in the air began to dissolve.
Fu Tianluo hovered, staring at Lu Ping’an in disbelief.
Where did this white-robed youth come from?!
Why had he never sensed him?!
This world had someone this strong?!
Impossible…
His spiritual sense swept over Lu Ping’an.
Then his expression turned strange.
“Qi Condensation?”
“No… Qi Condensation can’t fly!”
“And Qi Condensation wouldn’t dare speak of using me as a whetstone…”
Fu Tianluo’s eyes grew cold.
“My quasi-saint compass scanned this world, no second Spirit Severing!”
He declared.
The sea breeze blew.
But the surface remained mirror-still, as if oppressed by overwhelming presence.
Lu Ping’an smiled at his words.
“Quasi-saint compass?”
“You mean… this?”
He raised his hand.
Fu Tianluo’s eyes shrank!
Two broken halves of dull metal.
Put together, it was his compass!
“My compass!”
Fu Tianluo’s aura exploded with ultimate fury.
He was enraged!
Insane!
That was his most precious treasure! The Venerable One’s personal gift! His lifeblood!
Now split in two!
Fu Tianluo clutched his head and shrieked.
“You broke my compass!”
“You’re dead!”
He didn’t know how this wheelchair-bound weakling did it.
He only knew boundless rage.
Countless frozen runes surged into motion.
Forming a roaring face that charged Lu Ping’an.
He didn’t care what realm Lu was.
Only the weak hid their strength!
RUMBLE!
The roaring face became thousands of chains, coiling into a massive rune serpent!
It smashed down, space twisting and cracking!
Late-stage Spirit Severing, his strongest strike!
Fueled by the compass’s destruction, he even shook off some of the world’s suppression!
“You used me as a whetstone? You’ll regret it!”
“DIE!”
Thousands of rune chains exploded outward like ten thousand serpents!
BOOM!
The Vast Sea detonated.
Shockwaves radiated like a nuclear blast.
Seawater rippled in perfect circles.
Fu Tianluo panted in the void, face twisted with vicious satisfaction.
That guy… had to be ash now.
But his pupils shrank to pinpricks.
He sensed… residual rune energy.
Faint.
He looked.
Through the dispersing waves,
the white-robed youth sat untouched.
Still propping his chin, still spinning his ring.
Before him,
a shield made of stacked runes.
Runes?
This guy knew inscription arts too?!
Fu Tianluo stood stunned.
Then Lu Ping’an’s gentle laughter rang across heaven and earth.
“Don’t worry. You still have a chance to become a qualified, excellent tool…”
“For example, help me perfect the inscription path I just learned.”
As his words fell,
terrifying spiritual sense surged.
The rune shield before Lu transformed.
Becoming thousands of rune chains, like ten thousand serpents shooting forth!
Exactly Fu Tianluo’s own technique!
Facing his own move, feeling the casual, terrifying spiritual sense behind it,
Fu Tianluo’s face turned deathly pale.
This youth wasn’t Spirit Severing.
He was…
Soul… Emergence Realm?!
