Chapter 727 - 477: Slaughter and the Demonic Realm

A few moments earlier, when the Old Lion’s true form descended, it was a force no Nascent Soul being could possibly oppose. With just a few leaps, every major gathering point of the Beast Taming Sect within Awakening Lion Valley met the same fate. Tens of thousands of Beast Taming Sect disciples and tens of thousands of Tamed Beasts were sent to their eternal slumber.

All those souls made the Old Lion’s fur even smoother and silkier. He let out a long, satisfied burp and then flew to the northern border of Awakening Lion Valley, not far from Nine Stars Square.

The Old Lion ambled out of the towering, primeval forest and found the view ahead suddenly open. Neat, uniform patches of a low-growing plant he had never seen before entered his sight. They were merely the most ordinary, common rice paddies of the human world.

After three generations of land grants, the families of Nine Stars Square were few in number but held vast territories, so they did not cultivate their fields meticulously. This place was also a borderland; the half-yellow, half-green rice shoots were scattered sparsely in the paddies, swaying with the wind. Their harvest was left entirely to fate, and they looked little better than weeds.

The Old Lion, however, grew hesitant. It cautiously extended a forepaw and touched the edge of the rice paddy, only to quickly retract it. Turning, it went back into the dense forest and began to pace in circles.

The she-elephant of Silver Elephant Mountain was long gone, but an invisible boundary seemed to linger here, one the Old Lion had no desire to cross by even a single step.

This was the Celestial Essence Array, which the human world had built at an immense cost. Even for a being like the Old Lion, who stood at the pinnacle of this Land Realm, it possessed a palpable sense of intimidation.

Inside the pristine white spiritual sea, a steady stream of fresh souls was being fed in. The souls of any existence below the Golden Core Stage were instantly dissolved and destroyed by the pure Spiritual Power upon entry, dissipating into wisps of smoke within this white world.

And only those at the Golden Core Realm or higher could manage to persist within the Old Lion’s Spiritual World.

"Body and soul, utterly destroyed. Good, good, good! Although I imagine I won’t be able to escape the same fate, I have to admire your ruthlessness! Haha!"

The One-armed Nascent Soul let out a demented laugh as he watched the various souls pour in, wave after wave, like a tide.

"You’ve killed so many Beast Taming Sect Cultivators. Your enmity with them is now immense; it’s a feud that can only end in death. Go back now. You’ve vented your anger, and that should be enough. Don’t risk a great loss for a small gain."

Excitement aside, the One-armed Nascent Soul had not lost his reason, and did not forget to offer his counsel.

"No. There are two more annoying little bugs."

The Old Lion recalled the faint, almost imperceptible thread of an aura he had sensed in his slumber. He would deal with them before turning back.

Simply slaughtering weaker creatures could not assuage the Old Lion’s rage. A being of real substance had to die to serve as the ultimate statement of his power.

Tens of thousands of Cultivators and three Nascent Soul Cultivators were not enough. Only these two Divinity Transformation Cultivators were worthy of the Old Lion’s notice.

"Don’t be reckless! The Celestial Essence Array is in place. You won’t succeed easily."

Seeing the Old Lion preparing to charge straight into the Celestial Essence Array, the One-armed Nascent Soul grew anxious. As a Nascent Soul Cultivator and a high-ranking figure of a major power, he naturally understood the true might of the Celestial Essence Array.

This was not an Array protecting a single city or land, but one that encompassed the entire Land Realm of human Cultivators. Though the barrier here at White Mountain seemed thin, from a broader perspective, the power accumulated within the Celestial Essence Arrays of places like Qi Yun, Black Wind Style, and the Beast Taming General Mountain could be rapidly transferred over as reinforcements via the Array.

Though the Old Lion was powerful, in the heart of the One-armed Nascent Soul, he was not yet mighty enough to take on the entire Cultivation Realm.

"I have already locked onto their auras. Too late!"

With those words, the Old Lion leaped forward, instantly crossing the boundary between the forest and the rice paddies as it charged straight for Nine Stars Square.

......

Within the Marketplace, Jade Rabbit was still caught in a scene of tearful farewells, oblivious that the Old Lion had already locked onto her completely.

Yue’e was furious now. Casting aside all composure, she roared:

"Go! All of you, go now!"

Yue’e suddenly unleashed her power, sending Jade Rabbit and her closest relatives high into the sky. She, however, turned and made for the outskirts of the Marketplace.

’I can’t fight in the Marketplace. Otherwise, this place, home to tens of thousands, will be utterly destroyed.’

The instant the Old Lion locked onto her, Yue’e knew there was no escape. She had never expected the Old Lion to be so audacious as to brave the Celestial Essence Array and charge into the human world.

But reality was what it was. Facing the Old Lion, Yue’e knew she was no match. This did not mean, however, that she would simply close her eyes and wait for death. Before she died, she could still do something for those who would live on.

’At the very least, Jade Rabbit must survive. The clan members who have followed and served at my side must all survive.’

Thus, Yue’e chose to face the Old Lion head-on. All she wanted was to stall him for a brief moment. According to the response mechanism of the Celestial Essence Array, a single moment was enough time to marshal power equivalent to the Late-stage of Divinity Transformation.

However, Yue’e, for all her hopeful thinking, plunged into deep despair the first moment she laid eyes on the Old Lion.

She saw the Yuanhou Lion Dance shouldering the immense weight of clouds and mist as it walked upon the very air. Where each of its four paws fell, enormous, lotus-shaped ripples bloomed.

The very instant Yue’e’s gaze met the Old Lion’s, her soul was involuntarily pulled from the body she had spent ten thousand years cultivating, hurtling toward the lion’s physical form.

In the next breath, without a soul to control it, Yue’e’s body plummeted from the sky. But in the blink of an eye, it reappeared in the Old Lion’s mouth.

For the Old Lion, the body of a Divinity Transformation Cultivator was a decent tonic. Having cultivated for millennia and weathered countless tribulations, it surpassed even Sixth and Seventh Tiers Spirit Herbs and Medicines.

This entire exchange happened in a flash. Yue’e had not even left the Nine-star Marketplace. The moment she died, every Cultivator in the Marketplace felt an immense terror descend upon their hearts.