Chapter 456

This glaring counter-example shocked the early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators on both sides. They immediately stopped fighting and retreated.

But for great cultivators and mid-stage Nascent Souls, the Azure Lion Stone Puppets posed little threat unless their numbers were truly endless.

That battle actually helped them gauge the puppets’ combat strength.

“These mere stone puppets are nothing to fear. Today we must slay these treacherous people from the Blood Reversal Sect to console the spirit of Jade Water Demon Lord in heaven.”

Earthnether Master spoke with righteous indignation, yet the force behind his attacks remained average, far from the level he had displayed at the Demon King Banquet.

He had clearly started slacking off.

The Nether Mountain Sect’s Nascent Soul ritual priest, however, did not know this. Seeing that it was time for them to contribute, they exchanged glances and began intense divine-sense communication.

Out of respect for the alliance, the ritual priest, including Crow Snake Priest, all prepared to act.

“Shall we ask the High Priest to summon the Yin Nether Crow King?”

“Agreed.”

“Agreed.”

The yin beasts controlled by Yin Beast Dao cultivators could, under certain conditions, be passed down to descendants. Powerful yin beasts also possessed a degree of intelligence and could be communicated with.

The High Priests of the Nether Mountain Sect were almost all late-stage Nascent Souls.

Even if their main bodies were absent, they could borrow the Yin-Yang Path to summon their life-bound yin beasts.

The moment they moved, Thunder Howl Lord suddenly split into two. Amid violent purple lightning, the clone refined from a thunder spirit corpse possessed nearly the same level of power as the original.

Resembling the legendary Thunder Howler Beast in form, it wielded yang-to-the-extreme lightning with a zombie body. In a flash, it struck the Nether Mountain Sect ritual priests miserably.

The half-opened Yin-Yang Path was sealed once more.

The battle intensity escalated rapidly. Earthnether Master faced Ice Soul Fairy, Three Corpses Daoist battled Filth Daoist, and after breaking the sword formation, Thunder Howl Lord locked onto the group of Nascent Soul priests.

From the trend of the high-end combat, it would not be long before the Yellow Springs Monastery experts fell into a losing position.

The situation was far from optimistic.

While the palace city side was fighting fiercely, Wang Yu’s side was incredibly comfortable. Although the Marrow Cleansing Pool no longer held any meaning for improving his aptitude.

The body-rebuilding effect still provided considerable benefits.

Hidden injuries, losses, and the floating power from consecutive breakthroughs were all restored and stabilized.

It quickly returned his body to peak condition.

At the same time.

After the Demonic Dragon Armor devoured the Marrow Cleansing Pool, the fusion of two dragon-vein supreme treasures occurred. The Dragon Armor’s ability to strengthen the physique rose from one-third to double!

It was still only a fourth-rank mid-grade true treasure, yet its effect had been strengthened so dramatically. Once worn, his physical body strength would surge twofold.

His thick qi and blood nearly surpassed the total amount of his demonic essence.

The divine power he could unleash reached a new high. His overall strength had risen by more than one level. In this state, Wang Yu even felt he could clash head-on with a great cultivator.

“It’s still the drawback of being too young.”

Muttering inwardly, Wang Yu walked out of the now-empty Marrow Cleansing Pool. This treasured land was ruined. After all, there had long been no dragon vein beneath Eastern Extreme Capital.

From the Eastern Palace to the Marrow Cleansing Pool, it had taken less than ten days.

The successive gains had added quite a few trump cards to his hand, but he was still far from truly claiming a share of the Eastern Extreme Capital cake.

Just as he stroked the Coiling Dragon Ring.

And pondered his next target.

The sky suddenly darkened. Within boundless blood clouds, a powerful will descended upon the area. Wang Yu’s expression grew solemn.

A Spirit Transformation Venerable… had arrived.

At the same time.

Scorching Sun Old Demon, who was still arduously chiseling at the restriction light screen in front of the Longevity Medicine Vault, also changed color. He realized he no longer had any chance to obtain the opportunity here.

In his plan for the Celestial Star Tower, he had trusted his own experience too much.

A Spirit Transformation Venerable had suddenly descended. Although he had anticipated it, out of confidence in his own strength he had chosen the Longevity Medicine Vault, one of the top opportunities in Eastern Extreme Capital.

Now everything had failed at the last step. A fifth-rank restriction could not possibly be broken in just ten days.

He was like a monkey picking corn, grabbing one and dropping another.

In the end he had not even secured his baseline. The negative emotions in his heart reached their peak. With a gloomy face, he left the entrance of the Longevity Medicine Vault without another word.

He headed toward the palace city to pay respects to the descended Spirit Transformation Venerable.

Wang Yu’s choice was similar, except he was far better at hiding his gains. He decisively took out the “299th place” reserve Valiant General Token from the Seaheart Ring.

Putting on an appearance of eager haste to present the treasure, he flew out of the imperial palace first.

At that moment.

Just a thousand zhang outside the Celestial Star Tower.

The Blood Reversal Sect and Yellow Springs Monastery groups had already separated. Aside from the unlucky fellow bitten to death by the Azure Lion Stone Puppet at the very beginning, both sides had suffered zero further casualties.

On the contrary, the three early-stage Nascent Soul priests and one mid-stage Nascent Soul priest who had come to help had all been slain by Thunder Howl Lord. This lesson to the Nether Mountain Sect was not light.

It was almost certain to have been intentional.

After all, the Blood Reversal Sect and Yellow Springs Monastery were old rivals. They had already fought great-cultivator-level battles over the ancient Heavenly Soul Sect ruins.

After the righteous-demonic war began.

The Nether Mountain Sect had chosen to help Yellow Springs Monastery, and the Joyous Union Demon Sect had once backstabbed the Blood Reversal Sect. Naturally, the resentment was enormous.

According to the earlier situation, no matter whether Thunder Howl Lord chose to kill Nether Mountain Sect people or Yellow Springs Monastery people, he held absolute superiority.

Yet he had specifically targeted the helpers.

If it was not deliberate revenge, what else could it be?

Now that the Nether Mountain Sect’s people were dead, every Nascent Soul of the Blood Reversal Sect wore a smile, while the Yellow Springs Monastery cultivators looked as if they had lost their mothers, their faces extremely ugly.

Especially Earthnether Master. He now deeply regretted stopping the Blood Reversal Sect group earlier. If he had let them leave, things would not have developed into the current situation.

How to explain this to the Nether Mountain Sect was a problem!

Whether the other party would continue cooperating or even turn their blades was something that needed serious consideration.

“Master Youming… Master Youming… why have you still not appeared…”

Beneath the boundless sea of blood clouds, both sides harbored different thoughts.

Thunder Howl Lord roared with overwhelming ferocity.

“Chase them! Why aren’t you chasing anymore? Did your soft eggs get smashed? Now you finally know pain?!!”

Earthnether Master clenched his fists tightly, then remembered the key issue.

If Jade Water Demon Lord had not died so mysteriously inside the Immortal Officials’ Medicine Vault, their side would at least have equal combat power at the great cultivator level.

So the difficult situation Yellow Springs Monastery now faced was all because of Wang Yu.

While busy shifting blame, he knew deep down that he bore half the responsibility for Jade Water’s death. He was the one who had told the Filth Daoist to sit back and watch the show with him. Now that something had really happened, it was too late for regrets.

No matter how many thoughts swirled in his mind, they could only turn into a long sigh in the end.

Returning to the main issue.

A Spirit Transformation Venerable had descended. Just from the boundless blood clouds, it was clear that the arrival was none other than a newly ascended Demon Lord from the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect a few hundred years ago.

His title — Crimson Heaven!

When Crimson Heaven Demon Lord broke through, Wang Yu had not yet stepped into the cultivation world. However, both in the Crimson Kite and Taihu, the names and general characteristics of Spirit Transformation Venerables were still remembered clearly.

The Crimson Heaven Life-Seizing Demon Art that this Demon Lord cultivated was one of the Spirit Transformation inheritances passed down from the ancient Demon [Life], which was suppressed beneath the Sword Sect’s mountain gate.

Through some unknown secret method, the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect had managed to bypass the demonic corruption hidden within the inheritance. They had even developed great interest in the ancient Demon “[Life]” itself.

Ever since the Heaven-Refining Demon Sect began ruling the demonic path, the ultimate goal of every righteous-demonic war had been to fight their way to the Sword Sect’s mountain gate and make direct contact with the legendary ancient Demon [Life].

Without exception, they had all failed. The closest they ever came to success was several thousand years ago. Later, the Sword Sect gained another Spirit Transformation Venerable, which completely reversed the situation.

Now that the demonic path had gained another Crimson Heaven Demon Lord, this righteous-demonic war was equally critical and would not end easily.

This great war had only just begun.

The fundamental reason for Crimson Heaven’s descent was that before Cold Bone died, he had followed Youming’s instructions and secretly notified both the Yellow Springs Monastery Master and a child attendant beside Crimson Heaven Demon Lord using a secret technique.

The latter had been faster and arrived at Eastern Extreme Capital ahead of time.

Their goal was naturally the imperial palace. At that moment, within the boundless blood clouds, three fourth-rank black flood dragons pulled an ancient war chariot-style treasure rushing over.

Beneath the round canopy, hanging colored pearl curtains concealed the true appearance of the person inside. Only the two child attendants driving the chariot stared down at the crowd with solemn expressions.

The male child on the left stepped forward. Though his voice was young and tender, it shook the hearts of everyone like rolling thunder.

“Who spoke of a Spirit Transformation opportunity? Step forward immediately and explain the situation.”

The Blood Reversal Sect group remained unmoved. After all, they were not the ones who had called him here, so it had nothing to do with them.

Although the five great demonic sects were nominally on the same side.

Even a Demon Lord like Crimson Heaven could not casually kill people. He still needed a reasonable excuse.

Yellow Springs Monastery was the main target of the child’s question.

Earthnether Master looked around. Seeing no one else willing to step up, he gritted his teeth and prepared to explain the situation himself. However, at that moment, a streak of aurora light shot over from the distance like a meteor.

The arrival was none other than Wang Yu.

He came before the war chariot, respectfully presented the token he had obtained as a reward from the Celestial Star Tower with both hands, and quickly explained:

“This junior obtained this authority token from the Celestial Star Tower trial. It allows one to ignore the restrictions outside the imperial palace and enter directly to seek opportunities. Currently, this is the only one in all of Eastern Extreme Capital.

“Wang Yu is willing to offer it to the Demon Lord, making it more convenient to investigate the opportunity mentioned by the fellow Daoists from Yellow Springs Monastery.”

The child immediately showed a satisfied expression. He took the token and delivered it behind the curtain. Soon after, a voice of approval rang out from within.

“Not bad. If you manage to obtain any opportunities inside the imperial palace in the coming days, it will be due to your own ability. This lord permits you to keep them.”

Wang Yu remained silent, only glancing toward the Yellow Springs Monastery group.

As if saying: ‘I’ve already paid tribute. What about you?

‘You reported the news but can’t produce anything? Aren’t you just making a fool of the Venerable?!

‘That’s very likely to make His Lordship angry~’

Especially since even an “unrelated person” like Wang Yu had offered a treasure. If Yellow Springs Monastery didn’t produce something, they would truly be in trouble.

This nearly made Earthnether Master grind his teeth to pieces.

Without Wang Yu’s move, he could have simply explained what happened and wouldn’t have had to worry about punishment. After all, the situation really was like that, and there was nothing he could do about not being able to enter the Celestial Star Tower.

Now, if he didn’t produce something, he was really going to suffer.

After hesitating for a long time.

Earthnether Master finally chose to take out the fifth-rank reward he had painstakingly accumulated layer by layer from the tower and handed it over. He stared at Wang Yu with extreme resentment.

After handing the item to the Demon Lord’s child attendant, he also secretly transmitted a few words.

Not long after.

Wang Yu had just returned to the Blood Reversal Sect’s camp when Thunder Howl Lord pulled him aside. His eyes only contained four words.

Well done!

Sure enough, only moments later, a cold snort suddenly came from within the war chariot’s curtains. Earthnether Master was immediately struck as if by lightning.

His face turned deathly pale, and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

The gap between a Spirit Transformation Venerable and a Nascent Soul was like the difference between a Core Formation cultivator and a Qi Refining cultivator. Crushing them with a single hand was no exaggeration. Yet merely using aura and divine sense pressure to make Earthnether Master look so miserable was purely due to his excellent acting.

The realm gap could not be completely compared. After all, Nascent Soul cultivators had real strength. Even if they couldn’t win in a direct fight, they could usually escape. Qi Refining cultivators were a different story entirely, they would die from just a single divine sense pressure.

The more miserably Earthnether Master performed, the harder it became for Crimson Heaven Demon Lord to continue punishing him heavily. Both sides were slippery as eels.

Next.

The two opportunity locations were the Celestial Star Tower and the imperial palace.

The latter had numerous restrictions and formations, most of which had reached fifth-rank, nearly the peak level of this world. However, they were ultimately masterless dead objects.

Given enough time, Crimson Heaven Demon Lord could break through all of them himself.

Thus, attention turned back to the Celestial Star Tower.

Youming had still not emerged. Wang Yu strongly suspected that the other party was currently in seclusion refining a spiritual item that could assist in breaking through to Spirit Transformation. If he succeeded, there would be no need to fight anymore.

They could simply abandon the Blood Reversal Sect and flee.

The current problem was that Crimson Heaven Demon Lord might not be able to enter the Celestial Star Tower. Even if he could, he might not be willing.

No one knew what kind of tests existed at the Spirit Transformation level.

Essentially, the Celestial Star Tower was a trial ground used by the ancient Immortal Dynasty to select eastern geniuses and powerhouses. There was no guarantee it was without risk of death.

As a result, the situation reached a stalemate.

Crimson Heaven Demon Lord remained silent for a long time. Wang Yu felt that this could not continue. If they really stalled here for ten days or half a month and allowed Youming to succeed, the consequences would be unacceptable.

If they could disrupt Youming’s Spirit Transformation attempt, they could let Crimson Heaven Demon Lord take the blame. The Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect definitely would not want to see another Spirit Transformation Venerable appear.

Gritting his teeth, Wang Yu stepped forward.

His plan was simple. He revealed how he had previously used the token to order the tower spirit to expel people and prepared to try the same method again.

These words were meant for Crimson Heaven Demon Lord.

In reality, to force Youming out, he believed the authority of the Coiling Dragon Ring might be sufficient. After all, it was a supreme treasure of the Human Emperor. Its authority should be the highest.

Completely controlling the Celestial Star Tower might be difficult.

But performing this kind of disruptive operation should be entirely possible.

Although Crimson Heaven Demon Lord was somewhat suspicious, he did not say much and had the child attendant hand the token back to Wang Yu.

Under the watchful eyes of both the Blood Reversal Sect and Yellow Springs Monastery groups.

Wang Yu landed in front of the Celestial Star Stone Stele. He placed both the token and his right hand against the stele. The Coiling Dragon Ring showed no reaction.

But Wang Yu confidently gave the order to the tower spirit:

“Forcefully expel all cultivators still remaining inside the Celestial Star Tower.”

【Reserve Valiant General… request unreasonable. Tower spirit has authority to refuse.】

“I said — throw them out!”

【……Coiling Dragon Ring, obeying your command.】

A faint light flashed.

Youming, who had been sitting cross-legged and refining a fifth-rank breakthrough spiritual item, suddenly sensed the change in his environment. He opened his eyes in shock.

Crimson Heaven Demon Lord instantly shot out and roared furiously: “You beast! Spit out this lord’s spiritual item right now!”