Staying in the sect, controlling beasts and cultivating immortals

“Xue Qing is absolutely right. This creature feeds on life force and energy, and its flesh and blood make close combat extremely dangerous.” He looked at Wang Cheng, “Your Tyrant Blood Chaos Domain is newly formed. Although your power is strong, your realm is not yet stable, and your understanding of the rules is still shallow. You are not strong enough to directly confront its core rules. This battle is not about brute force, but about using strategy, and even more so, using rules against rules.”

With a slight thought, the Purple Spirit Emperor Sword floating beside him emitted a clear and melodious hum, and the Returning Void Sword Seal on the sword body slowly rotated.

"I need to use the Chaos Divine Runes to activate the earth's veins, combine them with the power of the 'Six Beasts Guarding the Province,' temporarily suppress its spread, isolate it from absorbing the life force of the earth's veins, and locate the location of its core remnant pupa." Yu Changsheng spoke very quickly, issuing a series of clear instructions.

"Xueqing, you wield the laws of life and purification, which are naturally incompatible with its withering essence. Immediately go to Qingmu Manor and gather all the spiritual plants within the manor that contain life force, especially the 'Purifying Lotus' nurtured with the aura of the 'tender buds of the ancient tree of life,' and extract its essence lotus dew! At the same time, mobilize all the life force you can control to prepare to construct the 'Life Pure Land Barrier.' Once I suppress that remnant pupa, you must, at the very first moment, invade its core with the purest life force and dismantle its withering rules from within! This is the key!"

"Understood!" Chen Xueqing nodded emphatically, and with a flash of emerald light, her figure transformed into a streak of light and shot towards Qingmu Manor.

“Wang Cheng,” Yu Changsheng looked at his brother, whose fighting spirit was boiling, “your mission is ‘Barrier’ and ‘Spearhead.’ Push your Overlord Blood Chaos Domain to its limit, fuse it with the power of the Xuan Turtle, and protect Xue Qing’s Pure Land of Life! The wounded pupa will fight like a trapped beast; only your Chaos Overlord Body can withstand the backlash from its withered roots, buying Xue Qing time to purify! At the same time, if the Soul-Locking Old Ghost dares to show himself…”

A cold glint flashed in Yu Changsheng's eyes, and a chaotic mark, far more refined than the one bestowed upon Shi Poshan and containing a wisp of his natal sword intent, was injected into Wang Cheng's body. "Using this mark as a guide, wherever the Guixu Sword Intent points, that is where your Overlord Fist will strike! Tear him apart!"

Wang Cheng felt a vast and sharp power merge into the Tyrant Blood Chaos Domain, instantly triggering a resonance between the chaotic origin within the domain and itself. The entire domain seemed to solidify and sharpen considerably! A surge of heroic spirit welled up within him, and he clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking: "Don't worry! With me here, no one can get even half a step closer to Xue Qing! If that old ghost of Soul Locking dares to show his face, I'll tear his bones to pieces and burn them for firewood!"

"Mo Heng! Shi Poshan!" Yu Changsheng's voice boomed like a bell, instantly spreading throughout the entire city.

"Your subordinate is here!" "Your subordinate is here!" Two figures responded respectfully from below the observatory.

"Chaos Returning to Ruins Grand Array, activate 'Earth Vein Stabilization' mode! Tilt the energy core towards the Xuan Turtle projection! Isolate all earth vein fluctuations in the north from leaking out, preventing the remnant cocoon's aura from triggering anomalies deep within the Burial God Ruins!" Yu Changsheng ordered Mo Heng, then turned to Shi Poshan, "Shadow Guards, all deployed, highest alert! Monitor every corner of the Imperial City and the outer perimeter of the Grand Array! Especially the Central Plains direction! If any unfamiliar powerful aura not originating from Qingzhou is detected, especially those belonging to the cold and deathly Xuanming, kill them without mercy! If an insurmountable enemy is encountered, use the Chaos Mark to warn and trigger the Grand Array's destructive power!"

"Yes, sir!" Mo Heng and Shi Poshan accepted the order and left quickly.

With the deployment complete, Yu Changsheng looked up at the northern night sky, which was quietly tinged with a sense of decay, his eyes cold and resolute. Qingzhou was the home he had personally built from ruins, carrying the hopes of countless lives, and he would not allow any being to drag it into eternal decay and death!

"Six Beasts Guarding the Prefecture, rise!"

Yu Changsheng's decree resounded throughout the heavens!

Rumble——!
The earth's veins throughout the entire Qingzhou Imperial City rumbled violently! The chaotic domain enveloping the entire city shone brightly!

The Chaos Tortoise roared to the heavens, its illusory form instantly solidifying into a mountain, its four legs stomping heavily on the core of the imperial city's earth veins! The profound array on its shell erupted with unprecedented earth-yellow divine light, and countless thick, dark yellow chains burst forth from the earth, not as an attack, but like the roots of a giant tree, frantically plunging into the depths of the northern earth of Qingzhou! The vast earth's magnetic power was activated, transforming into an invisible "Dark Yellow Prison Suppressor," its target being the withered source that was dissipating beneath the ruins of the Zhao family!

Wherever the chains passed, the life force flowing through the earth's veins was forcibly stabilized and isolated, forming a thick barrier, intending to forcibly block and suppress the gloomy aura that greedily absorbed life force!
At the same moment, deep within the cellar of the Zhao family's ruins.

The "Ancient Filthy Remnant Pupa," whose roots had been severed by Shi Poshan, seemed to be completely enraged by the sudden and overwhelming suppressive power emanating from the entire Qingzhou landform!
"Hiss-!"

A silent yet soul-tearing shriek pierced through layers of rock and soil, resounding at the level of the soul! The ground of the entire ruins undulated and convulsed violently as if boiling!
boom! boom! boom!
Dozens of enormous roots, several times thicker and darker in color than before, with suckers resembling countless withered mouths, burst forth like death dragons from the earth, crashing fiercely into the Xuanhuang chains formed by the Xuan Turtle's will!
Withered against heavy!
Devouring the suppression!
Two diametrically opposed forces, both touching upon the very essence of rules, engaged in a silent yet extremely perilous struggle deep within the earth's veins in northern Qingzhou! The earth groaned, and space trembled.

"Hiss-!"

A silent shriek tore through the soul, and the ground of the Zhao family ruins churned wildly like a boiling inkwell! Dozens of withered roots, as thick as giant pythons and as dark as dead iron, burst out of the soil, their suckers covered with serrated mouthparts opening and closing, biting fiercely at the Xuanhuang chains formed by the Xuan Turtle's will!

laugh--!
A piercing corrosive sound erupted deep within the earth's veins! The earth-elemental divine light flowing along the Xuanhuang chains dimmed and became mottled at a visible speed! That withering power was domineering and incomparably powerful, ignoring the energy's defensive layers and directly targeting the core of the rules, frantically decomposing the "heavy" essence of the earth's magnetic field! The Xuan Turtle phantom trembled violently, letting out a painful roar, and some of the ancient runes on its shell began to seep out grayish cracks!
"Not good! That thing is polluting the foundation of the earth's veins!" Mo Heng's face turned ashen at the core of the main formation. The runes representing the northern earth veins on the formation plate were flashing violently, rapidly turning from a thick, earthy yellow to ominous gray spots. The energy output of the Chaos Returning to Nothingness Formation instantly became chaotic.

"Hold on!" Yu Changsheng shouted sharply, the chaotic divine patterns in his eyes spinning wildly, and his body erupting with unprecedented light. His hands formed hand seals like weaving through flowers, and the chaotic mark on his back seemed to come alive, transforming into a hazy gray pillar of light that crashed into the earth beneath his feet, completely merging with the phantom of the Xuan Turtle! "Suppress!"

A single word of imperial decree, like thunder at the dawn of creation!

Gray vapor billowed from the cracks in the tortoise shell, forcibly repelled! The dim, dark yellow chains suddenly lit up, revealing intricate chaotic Dao patterns, as if coated with an indelible gray membrane! The serrated mandibles of the withered roots gnawed at them, emitting a teeth-grinding metallic scraping sound, yet could not advance an inch further! For the first time at the level of rules, the chaotic source power's properties of encompassing, transforming, and annihilating had forcefully withstood the withering's erosion!

Two primal forces collided and clashed deep within the earth's veins of Qingzhou! The entire northern part of Qingzhou trembled slightly, and countless fine cracks spread across the charred ruins of the Zhao family, like the pulsating blood vessels beneath the skin of a giant beast, on the verge of bursting. A decaying aura of withering and extinguished life permeated the air, and vegetation withered and turned to ash at a visible speed.

Meanwhile, three hundred miles north of the imperial city, a shadowy figure darted through the air.

The Soul-Locking Elder's withered, skeletal fingers were caressing a pale banner composed of countless agonizing, wailing faces of living souls—the Nine Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Banner. At the center of the banner, a single crimson light flickered wildly, its location clearly pointing to the observatory in the heart of the imperial city, where Yu Changsheng was! Another, slightly dimmer light marked the edge of the Qingzhou Guard camp, where Shi Poshan was directing the defenses!
"Hehehe..." Soul Lock let out a venomous laugh from its throat, its empty eye sockets "looking" at a figure shrouded in distorted light and shadow beside it. "Faceless, can your 'Shadow Escape' combined with my 'Boundary-Breaking Cone' silently tear open a corner of that tortoise shell? Yu Changsheng is suppressing that ancient pupa with all his might, this is a golden opportunity!"

The distorted light and shadow rippled slightly, and a crack appeared on a smooth face devoid of features, emitting a hoarse voice like sandpaper rubbing: "The core array of the imperial city is secure, and a strong attack will surely alert the six beasts. But... on the edge, the newly established 'Qingzhou Guard' camp is filled with blood energy, and the defensive nodes are not yet fully connected to the core array network... there is a sliver of a gap. Ten breaths, at most ten breaths."

"Ten breaths? That's enough!" Soul Lock's eyes blazed with ghostly fire as he tossed a jet-black, spiral-patterned cone to Faceless. "Blood Soul Guards, heed my command! Once the Boundary-Breaking Cone tears open a gap, immediately annihilate the camp, create chaos, and force Wang Cheng out! The Soul Lock Banner will guide you to the most burning spot of your souls! I will personally go and 'invite' that Commander Shi!"

The outer perimeter of Qingzhou Guard camp.

Shi Poshan's body was tense, his Rift-Splitting Blade hanging low. His divine sense, at the Nascent Soul stage, was like a taut bowstring, scanning the edge of the camp shrouded in a desolate aura. The suffocating sense of decay in the air grew stronger, even the light of the campfire seemed dim and flickering.

Suddenly, his brow twitched violently! A chilling, bone-deep sense of crisis, as if it would freeze his soul, descended without warning! Without thinking, his long-accumulated Nascent Soul spiritual power and battlefield killing intent erupted!
"Enemy attack! High alert—!"

Before he could utter the word "prepare," a thin, dark crack, as fine as a hair, silently opened in the space less than three zhang in front of him! A distorted beam of light shot out from it, moving at a speed beyond comprehension! It was none other than the Shadow Assassin Hall Master, Faceless!

The deep, eerie light at the tip of the "Boundary-Breaking Cone" in his hand had just faded. His faceless, featureless features split open, and a "Shadow Assassin," refined to its extreme and carrying the power to tear apart the soul, silently shot towards Shi Poshan's brow! This strike contained the deadly intent of a fully-fledged assassin, its timing and angle perfectly calculated!

Too fast! Too close! Too dangerous!

Shi Poshan felt a chill run through his body, and the shadow of death instantly enveloped him. He roared, and the Rift Mountain Blade instinctively swung upwards. The wisp of Returning to Nothingness sword intent bestowed upon him by Yu Changsheng on the blade was fully activated by the life-or-death crisis, transforming into a dim yet resilient gray line that blocked his way!
*Pfft! Sizzle!*

The Shadow Strike slammed into the gray line! The Returning Void Sword Intent frantically dissipated the sinister soul power contained within the strike, emitting a piercing shriek! The gray line fluctuated violently, instantly dimming by more than half! The remaining power of the soul strike still penetrated the defense and fiercely pierced into Shi Poshan's sea of ​​consciousness!

"Ugh—!" Shi Poshan felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer. Blood gushed from all seven orifices, his vision went black, and he staggered backward. If it weren't for that precious wisp of Guixu sword intent blocking ninety percent of its power, this attack would have been enough to shatter his soul!
"Huh?" A hint of surprise seemed to flash across the faceless man's smooth face, as if he hadn't expected a mere early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator to be able to block his long-prepared Shadow Assassin. But this surprise instantly transformed into an even colder killing intent. His figure blurred again, gliding along the ground like a ghost, a bone dagger as thin as a cicada's wing, almost transparent, in his hand, carrying a chilling aura that seemed to freeze blood, silently slashing towards Shi Poshan's throat! The real killing move was only just beginning!
"Roar—! You bastard! Get the hell out of my way!"

In the center of the camp, a furious roar, as violent as thunder, resounded! A figure engulfed in golden-red flames, carrying the power of a landslide and tsunami, crashed through the tents and shot towards them like a cannonball! It was Wang Cheng!

He had been patrolling the edge of the camp, both as a protector and as bait! The moment Elder Soul Lock's aura appeared in the distance, the pent-up anger from being chased by Yin Bone ignited within him! His Tyrant Blood Chaos Domain erupted, golden-red light swirling around his body, and a wisp of chaotic true meaning merged into his fist, unleashing a punch at the trajectory of the Faceless One!
Tyrannical Blood Chaos - Collapsing Star!
Before the fist even arrived, the terrifying pressure of the punch had already compressed the air into a solid wall, forcibly imprisoning space! The faceless, ghostly figure suddenly froze! A trace of solemnity flashed in his eyes. He abandoned his attempt to kill Shi Poshan, and his bone dagger spun, drawing a pale arc of light, pointing precisely at Wang Cheng's fist! The tip of the dagger emitted a ghostly light, containing an aura of annihilation that could pierce through all things!
clang--! ! !
Fist and dagger clashed! A deafening roar, like the sound of a great bell, erupted!
The raging, domineering aura of blood and energy clashed violently with the sinister, annihilating death intent!

Golden-red light flashed on Wang Cheng's fist, the chaotic source energy grinding the death intent at the dagger tip like a millstone! The faceless arm trembled violently, the distorted light and shadow covering its surface shattering for a moment, revealing the paper-white skin beneath! He was as if struck by a rampaging ancient elephant, his body flying backward uncontrollably! Wang Cheng also groaned, a deep gash visible in his fist as the bone dagger's edge sliced ​​open, the wound quickly covered by a deathly gray-white layer, frantically eroding his life force!

"A body cultivator at the half-step Void Refinement stage? The power of chaos?!" Faceless steadied himself, cracks widening on his smooth face, his voice tinged with surprise and greed. "The Xuanming Sect is mine!"

"Fuck your mother!" Wang Cheng shook his throbbing arm, his blood surging, forcefully pushing back the grayish-white death aura at the edge of the wound by an inch. His eyes erupted with fighting spirit like a volcano. "Where's that old dog, Soul Locker? Get out here! I'm going to tear you apart and make soup from your bones!" (End of Chapter)