Longevity: Start by refreshing your entries through farming.

Chapter 965 Great Battle
Upon seeing Yun Gu Zi and the other two arrive, Qin Ming cupped his hands in response.
"I had some business to attend to at Xiaogui Peak, and I stopped by Tianxing City on the way."

"The two patriarchs have also arrived?"

He was quite surprised to see that both the Old Ancestor of Beiling and the Old Ancestor of Chequ were in Tianxing City.

"It's not because of the recent tense situation that the higher-ups decided to increase the defenses of Tianxing City to prevent a counterattack from the demons. We two just arrived recently."

The Old Ancestor of Beiling explained to Qin Ming.

"It's wonderful that Fellow Daoist Qin has arrived. I can inform the elders at the council meeting about your appointment as a guest elder of this city." Yun Gu Zi felt quite reassured upon seeing Qin Ming, this powerful ally.

Qin Ming had just overheard their conversation and immediately recalled what Succubus had told him.

"I'm afraid the demons won't give up easily. According to my reliable intelligence, four of the twelve demon stars, led by 'Dove Demon Star,' will bring a large demon army to the realm. They'll be a tough opponent."

Upon hearing Qin Ming's words, the three Nascent Soul stage experts opposite him all changed their expressions, exclaiming in astonishment:
"What?! The Four Demon Stars!!"

"Fellow Daoist Qin, the disappearance of this path is of great importance, is that true?"

Qin Ming said calmly, "What I say is naturally based on my complete confidence."

"Please come inside for a chat, Fellow Daoist Qin. If that happens, I'm afraid we'll have to notify our superiors to make preparations immediately." Yun Gu Zi's expression was also extremely solemn.

A being of the Demon Star level is clearly beyond their capabilities.

Then.

Qin Ming then followed Yun Gu Zi and the others to the Starshine Temple for a meeting.

In a short time.

In Tianxing City.

The news that the legendary cultivator from Little Turtle Peak, Ancestor Wangyue, had returned to Tianxing City swept through the entire immortal city like a giant wave, greatly reassuring the many cultivators within.

With such powerful Nascent Soul stage cultivators in charge, they had much more confidence when facing the demonic tribulation.

……

at the same time.

Above the outer edge of the human border, countless enormous flying beasts roamed, armed with special magical treasures, almost to the teeth.

This is the 'Warblade Flying Owl', a highly representative weapon of the Feathered Spirit Clan.

Among the densely packed army of Feathered Spirits, there were nine gigantic black birds, each thousands of feet tall, exuding an aura like ancient behemoths.

On the backs of these colossal beasts stood several powerful Feathered Spirit Clan cultivators, led by a middle-aged man with a white feathered crown.

The man had a pair of golden eagle eyes, his gaze as sharp as a knife. With just a glance, he seemed capable of tearing a person apart, giving off an extremely powerful sense of oppression.

"Elder Jin Yu, everything is ready."

"The demons have also amassed an army of 800,000, just waiting for our successful surprise attack."

A Feather Spirit Clan member at the Refinement stage reported to the middle-aged man with the feathered crown with utmost respect.

Elder Jin Yu nodded slightly, then asked the person beside him:

"How are the preparations for the Flying Spirit Sacrifice Heaven Array going?"

The Void Refining Feather Spirit Clan member replied, "Reporting to the elder, the great formation is ready and can be activated at any time."

"Very good! I heard that Yun Gu Zi from Tianxing City has brought two reinforcements. However, with this top-tier seventh-order formation, we can use them as a sacrifice to show the Demon Clan our true strength." Elder Jin Yu then waved away the people around him, instructing them to prepare.

Just then, a stunningly beautiful young woman dressed in a seven-colored feather robe approached and hesitated before speaking to Elder Jin Yu:
"Elder Jin Yu, do we really have to join the demon race and oppose the human race? After all, for hundreds of thousands of years, our Feather Spirit Clan has lived in peace with the human race."

When Elder Jinling saw this young girl, he was not as harsh as he had been with others, and his expression softened slightly as he spoke:
"This is a decision made by the higher-ups. The Spirit Realm is currently in a period of upheaval that is unprecedented in hundreds of thousands of years. If our race wants to survive this catastrophe, we must make the most correct decision."

"The demonic forces are powerful, and it is still unknown whether the human race can even protect itself. Perhaps after this great battle, our territory will expand again."

"This is an inevitable trend."

"Your talent is one in a million, and you are also blessed with good fortune. You must prove yourself in this battle."

Seeing Elder Jin Yu's clear stance, the girl in colorful clothes knew she could no longer persuade him. She hesitated for a moment, then turned and left without saying a word.

Elder Jin Yu watched her leave without saying anything more.

He then ordered his army to march, tearing through the human border defenses. Countless swarms of birds and beasts, with immense power, charged toward Tianxing City.

Inside the Starlight Temple in Tianxing City.

Qin Ming and Yun Gu Zi were discussing countermeasures to the situation. He was mainly responsible for listening in, while Yun Gu Zi was the one making the decisions.

However, just as they were talking...

A man hurriedly entered from outside the main hall. He was wearing purple-gold holy armor and was none other than Zi Chen Divine Lord, the Grand Commander of Tianxing City.

Qin Ming and he were old acquaintances, and Qin Ming greeted him upon his arrival: "Fellow Daoist Zi Chen, it's been a long time."

The last time Qin Ming saw him was when he and Elder Kui Mu of the Star Palace went to the Soul Clan ruins to seek opportunities.

He escaped with his life in that chaos, and Qin Ming remembered that almost all of the disciples who were brought with them were wiped out.

After all, the Soul Clan Ruins were so terrifying that even a Nascent Soul cultivator like Lingyuan Ancestor perished there.

Those disciples in the Void Refinement stage went there to serve as cannon fodder for scouting.

"Greetings, Senior Qin!"

Zi Chen Divine Lord also had a complicated expression. He had never expected that in just a few hundred years, Qin Ming would advance from the Void Refining stage to the Body Integration stage.

He became someone even he had to look up to.
When he first met Qin Ming, he was sitting in the seat above him. But now things were different; Qin Ming was the one sitting there, his aura unfathomable.
Every gesture he made exuded the awe-inspiring presence of a fully-fledged powerful being.

Even Elder Kui Mu of the Star Palace held him in extremely high regard, a reputation that was unprecedented and unparalleled.

"Commander Zichen, what happened?" Yun Gu Zi asked immediately when he saw that he looked anxious.

Even the Divine Lord Zichen dared not linger here, reminiscing with Qin Mingpan. He got down to business, cupping his hands in a respectful greeting as he reported:

"Reporting to the four elders, a large number of Feathered Spirits are pressing on the western border, heading straight for Tianxing City. It seems the Demon Clan is planning a major operation. According to intelligence from the front, the number of Feathered Spirits alone exceeds one million."

"What?!" Upon hearing the information from Divine Lord Zichen, Yun Gu Zi almost couldn't sit still.

He had just learned some bad news from Qin Ming when he heard about the Feather Spirit Clan's army pressing in, and his brows furrowed.

"This old monster with golden feathers is truly determined to make trouble for our human race. His heart is wicked!" Ancestor Chequ gritted his teeth in hatred.

They had only been in Tianxing City for a short time, and now they were facing such a severe battle, which made them grit their teeth in hatred.

Qin Ming remained silent, wanting to observe how the situation would develop.

He was merely a guest retainer; whether or not he intervened was entirely up to his own will.

This was something Yun Gu Zi personally suggested; otherwise, Qin Ming wouldn't have bothered to agree.

Half a month later.

The Feathered Spirit Clan's army, allied with other alien races within the Demon Clan's camp, formed an encirclement and launched a massive attack on Tianxing City. On the Starfall Plains, a battle of unprecedented scale, the largest since the beginning of the Alien Calamity, erupted.

Both sides suffered casualties, and countless corpses littered the field, making it an extremely tragic scene.

Outside Tianxing City.

The Golden Feather Ancestor stood proudly atop the giant bird's back, addressing the city:
"Old man Yun Gu Zi, do you dare to come out and fight me? What kind of nonsense is it to cower in the city? Do you really think I can't handle the protective array?"

In reality, he was truly helpless against the defenses of Tianxing City.

They're just trying to trick Yun Gu Zi into revealing himself.

As one of the major cities of the human race, Tianxing City boasts top-notch defensive capabilities. It was designed and built by a master of formations, and even a master of the Fusion Realm cannot break through it.

Yun Gu Zi stood in mid-air, gazing at the extremely fierce battle outside. Hearing the provocative words of the Golden Feather Old Monster, his usually kind face turned frosty.

If someone cowers in such a situation and doesn't dare to come out, how can their thoughts be clear in their future spiritual practice?

"Hmph! Old ghost Jin Yu, you traitorous opportunist! You still have the nerve to lecture me? I was planning to settle accounts with you slowly."

"Let this old man see how much you've improved over the years!"

After Yun Gu Zi finished speaking, his figure disappeared. When he reappeared, he had a writing brush in his right hand and a green bamboo scroll in his left.

The two objects emitted astonishing Daoist energy fluctuations, causing the primordial energy of heaven and earth in the entire void to stagnate.

"It's actually a complete set of seventh-order Dao Integration Treasures." Qin Ming couldn't help but show a hint of surprise upon seeing this.

Once a magical artifact reaches the seventh rank, it requires immense luck to forge, and a complete set of Dao-integrating treasures is even more rare.

According to the records in "The God of Fire's Heavenly Craftsmanship", such sets of Dao-Merging Treasures have power far exceeding that of other treasures of the same level. A low-grade seventh-level treasure can exert power comparable to a high-grade Dao-Merging Treasure.

"It seems that Yun Gu Zi's ability to take charge of Tianxing City is not without some real skills."

After Yun Gu Zi came out, he immediately attacked Jin Yu Ancestor without saying a word. A powerful spiritual pressure from a Nascent Soul stage expert descended upon the battlefield.

The powerful aura of cultivation caused all the cultivators below to retreat, fearing they would be crushed into dust by the aftershocks.

And so.

All the low-level cultivators from both sides retreated from the battlefield, leaving a huge circular area on the Starfall Plain as a duel arena for powerful cultivators at the Integration level.

This is one of the few clashes between powerful beings at the Fusion Stage since the Great Calamity of the Alien Races, aside from the several times outside the Heavenly Ridge Mountains and the Lingmiao Sect's mountain gate.

Yun Gu Zi's aura surged, reaching the peak of the early stage of the Fusion Realm. The brush in his hand instantly grew larger, pointing towards Qu Zhi.

"Ink and Wash World!"

In an instant.

A violent tremor erupted in the void, and streams of pitch-black spiritual energy gathered, sketching a landscape painting in mid-air.
The view before the Golden Feather Ancestor suddenly changed, as if he had fallen into a world constructed of ink and wash.

The black ink, interwoven with an incomparably sharp aura, slashed towards him, each stroke containing intense killing intent.

This made even this old monster from the Feathered Spirit Clan, who had lived for tens of thousands of years, perk up considerably.

However, when the Golden Feather Ancestor saw that Yun Gu Zi had finally come out, he revealed a strange smile and a seven-colored feather fan appeared in his hand.

The feather fan emitted a seven-colored halo, like a dancing flame, making it a remarkable seventh-tier spiritual treasure.

Without saying a word, he activated his seven-colored feather fan and unleashed it towards the surging ink painting.

boom!
A loud buzzing sound came, and a gust of wind swept through the void, instantly scattering all the ink.

Followed by.

Ancestor Jin Yu made another hand seal, and the seven-colored feather fan shone brightly, radiating unparalleled power, and unexpectedly whipped up a vast, all-encompassing seven-colored flame gale.

Flames soared into the sky, sweeping towards Yun Gu Zi.

This gale was so strong that it seemed capable of severing a cultivator's soul, even more terrifying than spatial turbulence.

"Seven Birds and Five Fires Fan!" Yun Gu Zi's gaze sharpened as he held his brush, landing on the seven-colored feather fan in the hands of the Golden Feather Old Monster.

He immediately took out the emerald jade slip in his other hand and activated the Treasure Refining Technique.

Swish!
In an instant, the jade slip transformed into a towering wall, resembling rows of bamboo rafts arranged in mid-air.

On the bamboo slip, dense black spiritual runes lit up, unleashing terrifying power that easily blocked all the flames.

Yun Gu Zi's set of treasures is a perfect combination of offense and defense.

Upon seeing this, the Golden Feather Ancestor let out a smug, strange laugh: "The Seven Birds and Five Fires Fan is a rare treasure of the Immortal Abode. The one in my hand is merely a replica. After all, the real Five Fires Fan requires seven kinds of ancient true spirit feathers from the Mahayana stage to be refined."

"But even if it's just a replica, it's enough to give you an old devil a hard time."

As soon as he finished speaking, he activated the seven-colored feather fan in his hand again, and a fierce gale even more terrifying than before transformed into seven-colored divine light and swept towards Yun Gu Zi.

Yun Gu Zi's old face was extremely gloomy. Unwilling to be outdone, he summoned the treasure in his hand, and the ink-wash world in the sky began to change.

Under his brush, the ink painting world is transformed into a huge cage, with countless black waters forming a massive whirlpool that seems to devour everything.

The lower-level cultivators below stared in disbelief at the two Nascent Soul stage experts battling it out, their hearts pounding with fear.

They were fortunate enough to witness a powerful being in the Nascent Soul stage make a move in their lifetime, and they couldn't help but sigh in amazement.

Such heaven-defying methods are indeed capable of changing the world.
The Golden Feather Ancestor and Yun Gu Zi fought fiercely in the Starfall Wasteland, both of them going all out and using their most powerful techniques to try and kill each other.

However, it is not so easy for injuries or deaths to occur during a battle when the two beings are combined, unless the difference in their cultivation levels is too great.

The two fought fiercely for seven days and seven nights without a clear victor, thrilling the onlookers.

Even the two patriarchs, Beiling and Chequ, had extremely solemn expressions, showing great concern for this battle.

Qin Ming let out a long yawn; he was getting sleepy watching the battle between the two.
However, at that moment...

He swept his divine sense across the outer Feathered Spirit Clan army, and a sense of foreboding rose within him.
It seems something is about to happen.

Qin Ming immediately transmitted his voice to Yun Gu Zi: "Fellow Daoist Yun Gu Zi, retreat quickly! The other side is treacherous!"

Yun Gu Zi was engrossed in the battle when Qin Ming's words of reminder reached his ears, and his expression immediately changed.

However, when he scanned the area with his divine sense, he found nothing unusual.

However, knowing Qin Ming's cultivation level, he knew that Qin Ming wouldn't say such things without reason. Therefore, he transformed the brush in his hand into a towering pillar, blocking the Golden Feather Ancestor's attack, and then tried to retreat.

Upon seeing this scene, the Golden Feather Ancestor let out a sinister laugh:
"Hahaha! You're only realizing it now? Don't you think it's too late?"

But then, the Golden Feather Ancestor suddenly swung his seven-colored feather fan towards the sky.

next moment.

From the army behind him, several high-level flying birds exploded in mid-air, turning into patches of blood mist that formed a huge blood-red array pattern.

It echoes a large array on the ground.

Suddenly, a long crack appeared in the sky, from which a pair of colossal claws reached for the heavens, as if some great terror was about to descend!
(End of this chapter)