Staying in the sect, controlling beasts and cultivating immortals

Yu Changsheng hovered high in the sky at the very rear of the army, seemingly not directly attacking, but his divine sense, like an invisible imperial net, enveloped the entire advancing massive army, maintaining a close connection with the core array of the Soul-Suppressing Protectorate. He was the pillar of stability, the ultimate force of judgment.

The Sword of Annihilation hovered beside him, and the dark red divine rune became increasingly active as it ventured deeper into the ancient ruins, as if it had caught the scent of its prey.

His gaze pierced through the thick fog, as if trying to see the deepest secrets of this desolate land that buried gods and demons.

He could sense that as the army ventured deeper, the "will" of the ancient ruins—or rather, the distorted aggregate of countless chaotic resentments and broken laws—was awakening, carrying with it an offended rage and a chilling malice.

The initial advance went relatively smoothly. Wang Cheng's Demon-Slaying Army was incomparably fierce, and the three great beasts, Golden Roc, Flame Dragon, and Evil Demon, worked together seamlessly to clear away the chaotic mist and weak evil creatures surrounding the ancient ruins.

The Sky Patrol also successfully sniped several ancient, rotting bat-like monsters that attempted to launch a surprise attack from high altitude.

However, when the army actually stepped into a basin surrounded by huge, twisted, dark red rocky mountains, the ancient ruins revealed their ferocious fangs.

The ground was no longer scorched earth, but covered with a thick, wriggling, dark purple fungal carpet that smelled like living things and emitted a nauseating sweet and fishy odor.

The surface was soft, slippery, and wet, with a powerful suction and corrosive effect, rapidly eroding the protective aura of ordinary soldiers. Countless twisted, bizarre creatures, half-plant and half-animal, emerged from the fungal carpet. They had no eyes, only suckers filled with sharp teeth, spewing out clouds of spores containing potent neurotoxins.

"Watch out for the ground! Shieldbearers, form a defensive formation! Mage, fire and lightning spells, cover the area!"

Wang Cheng roared, and his Chaos Bone Arm slammed into the ground. The Overlord Blood Burning Heaven Domain erupted, and crimson-gold blood flames formed a huge halo that instantly incinerated the nearby fungal carpet and monsters, temporarily clearing a section of the area.

The elite of the Demon Slayer Army reacted swiftly, with heavily armored shield guards immediately forming an iron wall to defend against the spore cloud and the monsters' attacks. Meanwhile, the Dharma Master condensed a raging fireball and lightning, unleashing it in all directions.

But this is just the beginning.

"Om-!"

The twisted, dark red rock mountains surrounding the basin suddenly trembled violently. Countless cracks appeared on their surfaces, revealing a viscous, crimson liquid flowing within, resembling molten lava and emanating an extremely foul and scorching aura. Even more terrifying, countless distorted, agonizing human faces appeared in relief on the mountains, seemingly coming to life and emitting piercing screams that could tear eardrums.

This was not a physical attack, but a mental scream that directly impacted the primordial spirit!
"Ah!" Many soldiers with lower cultivation levels immediately clutched their heads and screamed in agony, blood flowing from their seven orifices. The light of their protective magic treasures flickered violently, and they were on the verge of collapse.

Even the Sky Patrol Army's formation showed signs of disarray.

"Evil spirit! Suppress it!" Yu Changsheng's thoughts were transmitted instantly.

"Roar!" The evil beast let out a deep, rumbling roar, and the barrier of eternal night instantly expanded and deepened. The profound, ghostly light, like the thickest black water, covered the entire battlefield.

The terrifying mental shriek crashed into the barrier, only to be swallowed, disintegrated, and annihilated silently, like a clay ox sinking into the sea. The soldiers immediately felt a significant reduction in pressure.

"Jinpeng, break the mountain!" Wang Cheng seized the opportunity and pointed to a rocky mountain that was howling the most violently.

"Screech—!" The Golden Roc flapped its wings, its speed soaring to the limit, transforming into an almost imperceptible golden-gray thread, its target pointing directly at the core of the rocky mountain—the largest, most distorted, howling face!

The ethereal gray light condensed to its limit on its claws, making the space beneath them as fragile as glass, groaning under its weight. Just as the Golden Roc was about to crash into the mountain, its core face suddenly opened its massive maw, and a thick, blood-red beam of light, exuding an aura of corruption and decay, shot out!

"Roar—!" The Flame Dragon was prepared. Its massive body nimbly coiled, and the Chaos True Fire condensed in its mouth. A world-burning dragon breath, thicker and almost pure white than before, struck first and collided with the scarlet pillar of light with perfect precision!
*Swoosh—Boom!*

The collision of the ultimate purifying fire and the tainted light erupted with a deafening roar and blinding light. Turbulent energy surged in all directions, tearing the surrounding rocks to shreds.

Although the crimson pillar of light was filthy and powerful, it was quickly melted and disintegrated under the burning of the Chaos True Fire, which was extremely yang and strong.

At that very moment, when the light was at its brightest and the energy was at its most chaotic!
Jinpeng's figure, at the center of the energy storm that erupted from the collision of the Flaming Dragon's World-Burning Breath and the filthy blood pillar, a storm powerful enough to melt gold and iron, transformed into a thin ray of light that cut through the boundary between light and darkness.

One ten-thousandth of a second!

Those sharp claws, wreathed in the gray light of ultimate void, ignored the chaotic energy turbulence that was enough to tear apart an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, and precisely and decisively pierced deep into the gaping maw of that core demonic face!
"Pfft—Awooo!!!"

It was no longer the dull sound of rocks cracking, but a strange sound as if some kind of viscous, tough, and viciously vital living tissue was being torn apart.

Immediately following was a agonizing scream from that demonic face, far surpassing the previous mental shriek! This scream was no longer a pure mental shock, but a physical roar that mixed physical sound waves with the resentment of the soul, shaking the entire dark red rock mountain. Countless fragments of rock mixed with dark red viscous "blood" spurted out from the cracks!

The ethereal gray light of the Void is the manifestation of the law that ends all things. Wherever the Golden Roc's claws passed, the "flesh and blood" of the demonic face, formed from filthy energy and the resentment of the ancient ruins, rapidly melted and annihilated, as if thrown into grease with strong acid. The distorted face struggled and deformed wildly in extreme pain, trying to close its giant maw to devour the Golden Roc, but the power of the Void was like a maggot clinging to its bone, frantically eroding along its energy core.

"Well done! Flame Dragon, deliver the final blow! Burn its remaining body to ashes!" Wang Cheng roared, keenly sensing that the core energy of the Rock Mountain Demon Face was rapidly dissipating under the Golden Roc's claws.

He then whirled around, his dark gold and gray light on his chaotic bone arm like boiling magma, and slammed his fist into another demonic rock mountain on the side, which was frantically spewing out filthy beams of light in an attempt to rescue its companions.

"Overlord Blood Chaos - Mountain Shattering!"

Before the fist's force even arrived, its terrifying power caused space to collapse, creating a distorted shockwave that struck the rocky mountain's surface first. With a deafening roar, the mountain shook violently, its demonic face contorting and flickering, and the beam of light it was spewing suddenly froze.

At the same time, Yanlong received Wang Cheng's command. Its huge dragon body swung its tail in the air, its mouth opened wide, no longer spewing dragon breath, but compressing and condensing the Chaos True Fire essence accumulated in its body into a terrifying fireball that was only the size of a millstone, but appeared to be blazing white and almost transparent!
"Roar—Chaotic Dragon Flame Break!" The fireball shot out silently, its speed seemingly slow, yet it instantly traversed the distance to the first demonic face rock mountain, precisely plunging into the giant maw that had been torn apart by the Golden Roc's claws and whose internal energy core was annihilating and collapsing!

There were no earth-shattering explosions.

There is only one kind of chilling, thorough "purification".

A blinding white flame erupted silently from within the gigantic maw of the demonic face, instantly spreading across the entire mountain! Under the extreme heat and the purifying power of chaos, the dark red rocks melted and vaporized like wax. The countless bas-reliefs of tormented faces on the mountain let out a final, desperate collective wail before turning to ashes. The entire twisted rock mountain, a thousand feet high, was completely incinerated from within in just a few breaths, leaving only a huge, charred crater emitting wisps of smoke, and the lingering, acrid smell of burning flesh in the air.

Jinpeng had already retreated the instant the fireball struck, the gray light of the void flowing across his body, annihilating all the remaining filth. His golden feathers shone brightly in the afterglow of the Chaos True Fire, and his sharp eyes locked onto his next target.

"General Wang! Watch out for the ground!" Chen Xueqing's urgent shout instantly entered the minds of Wang Cheng and all his soldiers through her divine sense.

Just as Wang Cheng's fist energy shook the second rock mountain and the Fiery Dragon burned the first one, the dark purple wriggling fungal carpet covering the basin beneath everyone's feet suddenly underwent a terrifying change!
Countless massive tentacles, as thick as pythons and dark purple to almost black in color, suddenly burst forth from the depths of the fungal carpet! The surface of these tentacles was covered with constantly opening and closing suckers, each sucker filled with spiral-shaped sharp teeth, secreting a viscous, purplish-black mucus with strong corrosive and neurotoxin properties.

The tentacles were not targeting the army above, but rather lashing out at the base of the dark red rock mountains all around!

"Puff puff!"

With each lash of the tentacles, it seemed as if the foul energy they contained and some kind of activation command were injected into the mountain. The rocky mountain shaken by Wang Cheng's fist energy, as well as the other three rocky mountains around it that had not yet been the main target, trembled violently at the same time! The demonic face relief on the mountain surface instantly became incredibly clear and ferocious, as if it was trying to break free from the rock, and scarlet light flashed wildly in the eye sockets and mouth and nose of the demonic face.

Even more terrifying, with the "activation" of the tentacles, the earth's energy in the entire basin was forcibly stirred and distorted. The ground undulated violently, like a boiling pot of porridge.

Countless tiny cracks spread across the fungal carpet, spewing out an intensely dense, deathly gray aura. Interspersed among these were tiny, almost imperceptible specks of gray light that instantly changed Chen Xueqing's expression—the "annihilation spores" that had been forcibly activated!
The moment these spores come into contact with the air, they are like sparks falling into a frying pan, frantically absorbing the stagnant, deathly aura and the foul energy provided by the fungal carpet, instantly expanding and multiplying! They take root as soon as they land, and in an instant grow into twisted, gray thorny thickets that exude an aura of withering and devouring!

Wherever the thorns passed, even the sticky fungal carpet quickly lost its activity and turned into ashes. The earth's vitality was completely drained, forming rapidly expanding absolute dead zones!

"Spore activation! Withered thorns! It's the core area's defense mechanism!" Alarm bells rang in Chen Xueqing's mind. She sat cross-legged on the lotus platform, her hands forming hand seals that changed rapidly, and the Pure World Green Lotus burst forth with an unprecedented emerald divine light.

"Azure Lotus Pure Land - Myriad Phenomena!"

hum!
Centered on her, the emerald green light curtain instantly expanded, enveloping the core area of ​​the entire Divine Dynasty army.

Within the light curtain, countless verdant vines and ancient tree shadows, composed of pure life energy, grew wildly and intertwined, forming a forest realm of perpetual life.

The gray thorns formed by the activated spores were immediately halted when they touched this lush green forest. The power of withering and the power of life purification clashed fiercely, emitting a hissing sound of dissolving, and a stalemate was temporarily formed.

At the same time, the blue lotus mark between Chen Xueqing's brows flickered, and her powerful divine sense followed the earth's veins and the life net, precisely locking onto the source nodes from which spores and death energy spewed from the cracks in the ground. She flicked her fingers repeatedly, and beams of purifying light, as emerald-like as jade, shot into the depths of the cracks, attempting to seal the source and slow down the outflow and activation of the spores.

"Sky Patrol Force! Concentrate fire! Clear the ground tentacles and newly sprouted thorns! Cover the ground troops!"

The commander of the Sky Patrol Army gave the order in a hoarse voice.

Five thousand celestial patrol ships unleashed their full firepower, raining down a deluge of azure crossbow bolts. The bolts precisely pierced the enormous tentacles lashing the rocky mountains and the spreading gray thorn bushes. The Void Runes shimmered, and the struck tentacles and thorn bushes rapidly disintegrated and vanished.

However, the tentacles seemed endless, constantly surging out from the depths of the fungal carpet, and the spores activated at an astonishing speed. Although the Sky Patrol's firepower was fierce, it could only temporarily curb its spread and could not eradicate it.

"Damn it! This godforsaken place!" Wang Cheng cursed angrily. He had just smashed half of the second Demon Face Rock Mountain with a single punch, causing its demon face to dim and its pillar of light to dissipate. But the dramatic changes in the ground beneath his feet and the threat of spores in the air forced him to be distracted.

He stomped his foot, and the Overlord Blood Burning Heaven Domain contracted and condensed at his feet, with crimson-gold flames surging into the ground.

"All of you, get out here! Bloodthirsty Golden Lotus Emerges from the Earth!"

boom! boom! boom!
Centered on Wang Cheng, the fungal carpet within a radius of hundreds of feet was forcibly torn up and ripped apart by the violent force!
The crimson flames, like erupting volcanic lava, surged violently from the ground, instantly burning the fungal carpet, tentacles, and newly sprouted gray thorns in the area into nothingness, temporarily clearing a large area of ​​foothold.

The Demon Slayers immediately retreated into formation under Wang Cheng's cover, using this "safe zone" to defend against the tentacles and spore thorns surging in from other directions.

"Evil Demon! Suppress the spatial anomaly! Golden Roc, Flame Dragon, destroy the remaining Demon Face Mountains with all your might! Shatter their tortoise shells!"

Yu Changsheng's thoughts, like a cold torrent, instantly entered the consciousness seas of the three beast tamers.

He remained suspended high in the sky, the Sword of Annihilation trembling slightly. The dark red divine rune on the sword moved like a living thing, showing a strong desire to devour the surging withered, dead, and filthy energy below, but he forcibly suppressed it.

His gaze pierced through the chaotic battlefield, locking onto the deepest part of the basin—where an even more ancient, more profound, terrifying will, seemingly dormant for endless ages, was slowly awakening due to the fierce attack on the outer defenses, radiating a malice that could freeze one's soul.

"Roar!" The evil beast responded and moved, and the range of the Eternal Night·Return to Ruins barrier expanded and deepened once again. The deep, eerie light, like flowing black water, not only devoured the mental pollution and spatial tearing force, but also began to forcefully suppress the spatial laws within the basin, which had become extremely chaotic due to the awakening of the ancient ruins' will.

The black rifts that attempted to tear through space and drag the soldiers into another dimension were frozen and dissipated under the cover of the eternal night barrier. (End of Chapter)