Chapter 523 - 316: United by a Common Foe, the Human Race as One, the Ascension Platform Emerges

The Ancient Dragon Race was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful races in the Wilderness World.

Furthermore, Dragon Halberd had risen through the ranks to become the Eighth Throne.

The Demon Race’s Thrones were the absolute pinnacle of combat strength in the Wilderness World.

Rumor had it that Dragon Halberd had already achieved Integration and survived three Physical Body Saint Tribulations. He was considered invincible below the Three Ancestors of the Three Religions. Who would dare fight him?

Even if the Taoist Sect’s Ancestral Master of the Three Pristine Ones were to act personally, they might not be able to defeat him.

With Dragon Halberd’s arrival, the world itself seemed to shift. Dark clouds blotted out the sky as dense moisture gathered from all directions, brewing a torrential thunderstorm.

ROAR!

ROAR!

...

Around the Ten-winged Fire Dragon Altar, the Human Race Cultivators were horrified and hastily retreated into the distance.

’If Dragon Halberd attacks, could he really kill Lu Mingyuan with ease?’

’He’ll definitely come after us next. If we back away now, it’ll be easier to escape later.’

"Emperor of Great Yan, do you regret it now? If you had just obediently stayed away from Dragon Peak Mountain when you were outside, perhaps you wouldn’t be in this predicament."

Long Xuan, dressed in her Seven-Colored Qilin Robe, arrived at her father’s side. She stood atop the head of an ape as massive as a mountain, positioning herself on a peak a hundred meters from Lu Mingyuan.

Her gaze was sharp, her posture graceful and ethereal.

A seven-colored light emanated from her body, transforming the surrounding dozens of miles into an imperceptible domain. The land shrouded by this divine light was drenched in blood.

Some living creatures that passed by the edge of this seven-colored divine light silently lost their life force, withering into dried corpses that collapsed to the ground and turned to bone dust.

This seven-colored divine light was an extremely powerful Divine Technique.

"Your Majesty."

In the distance, Qi Muxue clenched her fists, her gaze fixed on Lu Mingyuan. Watching the black Dragon Shadow flying amidst the clouds, she felt a sense of suffocation, her heart filled with worry.

She took a step forward, but Saintess Ziwei and Taiwei True Monarch reached out and stopped her.

Saintess Ziwei wore a charming smile. "Empress, the Demon Race has surrounded the mountain. The altar has become a deathtrap. His Majesty is already in great danger. He’s very strong, so it’s not like he has no chance of escaping. If you go over there, you’ll just become a burden to His Majesty, a troublesome liability."

Even though Qi Muxue was the Empress, Saintess Ziwei’s words held little deference, but rather a heavy tone of warning.

She didn’t want to see His Majesty worrying about the Empress.

If something happened to the Empress, they would all face dire consequences.

Qi Muxue appeared quite calm, her eyes veiled by a faint Golden Light—the Vast Righteous Qi. She said earnestly, "With Elder Qisheng here, His Majesty will naturally be safe. I just don’t want to hide behind him anymore. When we first met, I was the one protecting him. Afterward, His Majesty’s Cultivation progressed so rapidly that I know I became a burden to him."

"Now that I’ve finally become a Great Scholar and inherited Li Sheng’s legacy, how can I just sit here and wait for death like the Cultivators from the other Dynasties?"

’This aura of Immortal Spirit Qi... it must be the Ascension Platform.’

The Chess Saint stood before a Chessboard, his white beard fluttering. After hearing Qi Muxue’s words, his gaze deepened as he looked toward Lu Mingyuan and asked in a low voice:

"The Ascension Platform is about to emerge. This old man can lock onto its position soon. How long can you hold out?"

The moment the Chess Saint’s voice faded, Lu Mingyuan, from atop the altar, responded forcefully to Long Xuan and the lofty Eighth Throne. His voice boomed, "What’s the point of all this nonsense? Let’s fight! Today, we fight to the death!"

The next moment, Lu Mingyuan channeled two different-colored streams of Primordial Qi into Yang Su. The blade’s body swelled to ten times its size, transforming into a colossal, sky-piercing blade. Two completely different Sword Auras—a sea of scorching red fire and a frost-blue Thunder—erupted from it, slashing toward Dragon Halberd in mid-air.

The Eight Thrones Dragon Halberd, who had long considered Lu Mingyuan a thorn in his side and wanted him eliminated, let out a long cry. "All members of the Demon Race, hear my command! Charge the Imperial City altar and tear every Human Race Cultivator associated with the Emperor of Great Yan to pieces!"

Dragon Halberd knew that Lu Mingyuan was on bad terms with the other Six Kingdoms. Coupled with the presence of the Chess Saint and Divine Distinct Bodhisattva, he chose not to clash head-on, instead planning to eradicate the Great Yan Dynasty first.

Then he would deal with the other Dynasties. It was a cunning little trick, intended to make the Human Race complacent.

"ROAR!"

At the foot of the Imperial City altar’s mountain, an army of tens of thousands of Demon Beasts let out an earth-shattering roar.

Some Barbaric Beasts spat clouds of fire, others conjured lightning, and some even launched their Magical Treasure Ancestral Artifacts.

The attacks fell like a curtain of rain, blanketing the altar.

They wanted to trap the Emperor of Great Yan and kill him on the spot.

Lu Mingyuan split off a sliver of his consciousness, pointed forward, and commanded, "Break for me."

A giant hand of flame appeared from the mountaintop.

All the attacks above the altar shattered, forming a dense web of cracks that swallowed all the Barbaric Beasts’ attacks into the searing flames, neutralizing them completely.

With the Taotie Divine Flame, Lu Mingyuan had no fear of group attacks.

He could absorb these attacks and convert them into his own power.

’Even if an army of thousands comes at me, what can they do?’

Immediately after, Lu Mingyuan extended a finger again, pointing it at the horde of Barbaric Beasts below the mountain and fully mobilizing the Sword Intent contained within his Flesh Body.

The void trembled!

The already unstable space began to shatter.

Because the Dragon Peak Cave Heaven was transforming into a Blessed Land, its internal space was extremely unstable. If an immensely powerful being were to mobilize nature’s spiritual energy, it would cause the space to collapse.

No one could have imagined that Lu Mingyuan had already reached a level where a simple gesture could cause the space here to crumble.

His power was undoubtedly extremely close to that of a Martial Saint.

A Nine-Eyed Demon Monarch acting as a commander sensed the danger and roared, "Use the Ancestral Artifact Relics to stabilize this space!"

’If Lu Mingyuan uses his Sword Intent again to shatter the space and cause a large-scale collapse, what kind of devastating losses will the Demon Race suffer?’

From within the Demon Race ranks, intense Spiritual Qi fluctuations erupted. Immediately after, eighteen Ancestral Artifacts flew out, forming eighteen thick pillars of light.

The surfaces of the Ancestral Artifacts emitted a dazzling radiance, like eighteen stars of different colors positioned in eighteen different locations, stabilizing the space above the Demon Race’s army.

So-called Ancestral Artifacts were similar to the Human Race’s Holy Relic Treasures. They were various ancient objects from the Middle Ages that, after being put through Refinement by a Great Demon, became Magical Treasures that could be controlled.

The terrifying Sword Intent Lu Mingyuan unleashed struck that area of space, causing it to tremble violently and sending out ripples.

Unfortunately, this attack failed to shatter the space.

This was because Dragon Halberd was holding a crystal-clear Shadow Treasure Pearl in his hand.

Dragon Halberd was no brainless brute. He had come prepared with numerous methods, determined to obtain the Ascension Platform.

But before that, he had to eliminate his great enemy, Lu Mingyuan.

To the Demon Race, the Celestial Destiny Dynasty of the Central Plains World was a colossal threat. They absolutely could not allow Lu Mingyuan to continue growing stronger.

SWOOSH SWOOSH.

The sound of rushing wind echoed as the eighteen Ancestral Artifacts flew in all directions, enveloping the entire altar.

Many Cultivators from the other Dynasties were still gloating over the situation.

"It looks like the Emperor of Great Yan won’t last much longer. His death can indeed buy us enough time to wait for reinforcements from the Dao Alliance."

"I never thought this Emperor of Great Yan, so young, would have such courage and guts to face a Throne directly."

Just as the various factions were sighing with regret, the Demon Race let out a roar to charge:

"Kill!"

"Annihilate the Human Race’s Emperor and devour his flesh and blood!"

...

Led by the Demon Monarchs, a large number of Demon Beasts gathered at the foot of the mountain. They charged past the line of Saber Qi that Lu Mingyuan had drawn with his blade, began to ascend the mountain, and swarmed toward the summit.

If not for a mysterious power protecting the summit, it might have already been trampled into ruin.

Sui Yuqing, Yun Qinghe, Yang Zhaoyuan, Saintess Ziwei, Taiwei True Monarch, Qi Muxue, and many Monks from the Buddhist Sect gathered by Lu Mingyuan’s side. Facing the horde of beasts surging with Evil Qi that blocked their path, they showed no trace of fear.

At the same time, outside the domains of many Dynasties, several streaks of light rose into the sky.

"Amitabha Buddha. Today, Dragon Peak Mountain will not become the last pure land of the Human Race."

Jiang Shan of the Silver Frost Empire had unexpectedly taken Lu Mingyuan’s side, his expression benevolent.

A valiant-looking woman in Fire Phoenix Armor, accompanied by an old man with a sword on his back, said, "The Great Yan Dynasty traveled thousands of miles to aid my Nanli Dynasty. How could I, this humble daughter, repay kindness with enmity?"

Princess Nanli, Li Muwan, and the Nanli Sword Saint also took action.

"Forget it! For today, we’ll set aside our past grievances and resist the Demon Race together!"

Several Twelfth Realm Martial Arts Tributors from the Great Wu Dynasty each took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Besides those mentioned, many Sword Cultivators from the Military Family and Qi Cultivators were also willing to follow the Emperor of Great Yan and resist the Demon Race army.

Jiang Shan sent a voice transmission to Divine Distinct Bodhisattva: "Bodhisattva, the two of us will handle Gangzhu. We’ll leave the Eight Thrones to Elder Qisheng."

"Agreed."

The Divine Distinct Bodhisattva, who had been silent all this time, quickly nodded in agreement.

Two beams of light, one gold and one white, erupted from the summit, radiating a vast Buddha’s Light. They soared into the clouds, scattering the demonic miasma in the sky and forming a two-toned cloud of gold and white.

Divine Distinct Bodhisattva was a Thirteenth Realm Great Cultivator of considerable power, while Jiang Shan had activated his Merit Golden Body, channeling the power of the Buddha to temporarily boost his Cultivation.

Combined with their joint attack, the power they unleashed was multiplied several times over, enough to contend with the Twelfth Throne.

"You dare to fight me with just the likes of you?"

Gangzhu roared as a black Divine Nail emerged from its massive hand, which it then swatted down at the pair.

"Void Sea Formless, Great Mighty Golden Dragon!"

An earth-shattering dragon’s roar resounded from within Jiang Shan’s body. Behind him, the phantom of a seated Buddha appeared. He formed his hands into claws, creating a golden Claw Mark tens of meters long and thrust it forward.

"Do no evil, and practice all good."

The Spiritual Tiger beneath Divine Distinct Bodhisattva swelled to the size of a mountain. It let out a furious howl and clashed head-on with Gangzhu’s Nine-foot Divine Nail.

After taking two hits, Gangzhu stumbled backward. A look of shock and uncertainty appeared on its face, forcing it to re-evaluate the two opponents before it. They truly had the strength to challenge it.

Beneath a parasol tree, the Chess Saint’s body was perfectly still, but his fingers moved over the Chessboard so fast they became a blur.

"One left, two right, gate of life."

"Seven up, five left, path of death."

Just as the Chess Saint was distracted, deducing the outcome of the battle, a strange, divine light emanated from the depths of the altar, catching his attention.

’This aura is... ’

At the center of the seven-colored radiance was the altar, abandoned since the Middle Ages. At this moment, crimson blood surged through its many grooves and patterns, emitting a sacred glow.

The phantom of a stone platform slowly rose.

The Chess Saint was utterly astonished. At the same time, he looked down at his Chessboard and saw a stream of seven-colored qi travel from a corner of the board to its very center.

’Is it above the Returning Ruins Silent Sea?’

’I see now.’

The Chess Saint seemed to have understood something, and was heard muttering to himself:

"Everything... all of it is for the future of the Human Race."

’This Grotto Heaven is definitely not what it seems!’

...