The stone dragon’s head rolled free. Its powerful, vigorous body likewise shattered, blasting outward in every direction. The Saint-level energy spread outward, like swords cleaving the heavens — a hundred mountains collapsed, a thousand hills turned to ash.
Killing Saint Qi Luo pointed his finger like a blade and cut into the void. A great black fissure appeared, and he channeled all that devastating force into it — otherwise, everyone present would have been caught in the shockwave.
The forces from every great sacred ground all drew sharp breaths. The three Emperor’s Son-tier figures had just destroyed a Saint-level puppet on the spot.
What did this mean? They were now capable of slaying true Saints!
Clang…
A bronze bell rang out — low, reverberant, carrying hundreds of li. Killing intent filled the entire divine spirit realm, sword energy crisscrossed in all directions, rising up in tens of thousands of streaks, all sweeping toward this position.
Pff!
A battle carriage from Purple Mansion Sacred Ground was reduced to powder on the spot, and the several great masters within were turned to a mist of blood in an instant.
Hiss!
Thousands upon thousands of sword energies rose like wind-churned clouds, blazing with every color, crossing through the sky at great distance — even at a remove, it made people’s flesh ache, their fine hairs shaved off.
For over one hundred thousand years, no outsider had ever intruded here. This was a killing domain — the former dwelling-place of Hell’s ancient Saints. Though the glory was long gone, it was still awe-inspiring, filled with killing intent. No matter who came to attack, there would be no advancing even a single step without paying a price in blood.
Swoosh!
A thick shaft of sword energy like a black mountain range swept through the air, slicing more than a dozen people from Jade Pool clean into a spray of blood, triggering a chorus of shocked cries. The remaining people retreated hastily.
Boom!
Yao Guang Sacred Ground suffered a heavy blow. A colossal sword descended from the sky, hacking more than ten prominent figures into pulp.
This was a catastrophe of blades. One after another, world-soaring sword energies blazed upward, thick as mountains, nearly reaching the Saint-level — whether they were being released by an ancient formation or were being wielded by a person was unclear.
Qi Luo let out a long, clear cry. His voice rolled outward like ocean waves, sweeping forward and blocking all the sword energies. He held the line here, watching with extreme caution into the depths of the mysterious realm, guarding against the most terrifying possible enemy.
The Great Black Dog was furious. It quickly arranged a line of formation platforms — a damaged, incomplete version of the Beginningless Killing Formation — and in an instant, auspicious light gushed forth while killing intent collapsed ten thousand li.
Boom!
Smoke and dust rose to the sky ahead. A stretch of mountain land was leveled, but the sword energies continued, unceasing in their attacks.
“Kill!”
The Holy Emperor’s Son gave a long roar. A single leap took him several li. He plunged into the sword-light, swinging his black great staff — pointing east, striking east; pointing south, striking south — sweeping in all eight directions.
Rumble!
Mountains were like paper models, unable to withstand a single blow — they either turned to ash or were sent flying like straw, as sheet after sheet of Dao inscriptions were forcibly destroyed by him.
Ji Zi stepped forward, threading through the void, raising his hands to send dozens of mountain ridges flying, hurling them into the depths of Hell — dissolving the assault from this direction.
Ye Fan’s whole body was like jade, bathed in rainbow light. With every step he vanished and reappeared elsewhere, supporting a golden gate from which endless weapons flew out in a torrent, sweeping through everything ahead.
Clear, ringing sword-song moved heaven. It tore apart heaven and earth. Solemn, resonant bell-tones shook the sky; when their ripples spread out they destroyed all things, extinguishing every spark of life. Treasure towers rose and fell, destroying Dao inscriptions, grinding down killing intent.
The Holy Emperor’s Son, Ji Zi, and Ye Fan moved together, working in concert with the Black Emperor’s killing formation. They forced open a path by sheer power — blood spraying as they went, more than a hundred people from the killing divine dynasty dead or injured. Sheet after sheet of terrifying sealing formations were also broken through.
“Those who invade Hell will find no way back. They will sink here, unable to transcend for all eternity.” Sinister words echoed through the air.
“Laughable. Hell has been exposed, and now what does it amount to? You’re on the verge of annihilation, and you still dare make threats to us!” A Supreme Elder of the Jiang Family laughed coldly.
“In the past, the sacred grounds feared you because they didn’t know where your den was, and had no way to guard against you everywhere. Now that we’ve come to root out your nest and sweep it clean — not one of you will escape!” A living fossil from Boundless Ocean Sacred Ground called out.
“May the divine spirits open their eyes. Swallow the blood of all these people — the sacrificial offerings have already been prepared. Feast freely.” The chill, ghastly voice rang out once more.
The tone was very strange, very cold, making people genuinely sense an eerie and frightening aura, goosebumps rising across their skin.
“Playing at ghosts and gods — before the Dao arts that can cleave the universe apart, everything is empty. Hell’s annihilation is at hand today!”
The Black Emperor roared. It opened its mouth and spat out three hundred and sixty-five great banners, blotting out the sky, mist rolling in dark columns, killing intent infinite, sweeping forward in all directions.
Tremendous sounds. Fierce resistance. All manner of killing light shot outward. The area ahead became a scorched, fiercely contested zone — even primordial chaos qi was blasted out.
It had to be said: Hell’s defenses were extraordinarily staggering. Even in the outer perimeter, one was dealing with ancient Saint-level formations. Terror without end.
From time to time, heaven-piercing killing intent came streaking from afar. The forces from the various sacred grounds cried out in alarm as dozens of people were severed through the midsection, falling into pools of blood in an instant.
Every face had gone an ashen iron-gray. Even at the very final moment, with their nest that had never been discovered in all the ages now exposed to the world, the people of Hell were still fighting to the last.
If this continued, even if they eventually succeeded, by the time they took this divine spirit realm, the casualties would likely be severe.
Breaking through one more sealing formation, everyone trod across shattered mountain terrain and advanced. This divine spirit realm was incomparably sturdy, formation inscriptions everywhere, densely packed, killing intent inexhaustible.
“Use the cosmos mother ship. Destroy this place!” Ye Fan said.
Heaven Village had three mother ships. Because this space was limited and too dangerous, only Li Heishui had been allowed to pilot one inside.
Boom!
Sheets of light erupted forward, inundating everything ahead — full-scale obliteration. Blazing runes inscribed themselves across the void.
This was the mother ship’s Great Dao weapon, releasing power of absolute supremacy. Like a sharp sword cutting grass, one sweep leveled everything across a wide swath, and the various sealing formations quickly fell apart.
Ye Fan and his group attacked through eight successive layers of peril — but at the ninth layer, they could advance no further. The shadows of people from the killing divine dynasty could clearly be seen, but there was nothing to be done about them.
In that stretch of mountain terrain, black mist curled around and dark clouds pressed close — as if the gates of Hell had been thrown wide open. The breath of death swept in like a tide.
“A flawless ancient formation laid down by a Saint King!” The Black Emperor was taken aback, its bronze-bell eyes wide open, shooting sharp light with every blink.
Everyone had run into a great problem. This ancient formation had endured for tens of thousands of years, and only a small portion of it had ever deteriorated. It was impossible to break through.
“Give me the Divine Women Furnace.” The Killing Saint spoke. Li Tian handed it over.
Ye Fan, Ji Zi, and the Holy Emperor’s Son stepped forward, and together with Qi Luo, they catalyzed the top-grade artifact of an ancient Great Saint, hurling it toward the front.
“Attack there!” The Black Emperor pointed the way. A slit had cracked open between its brows — the vertical eye there could see through the formation, seeking out weak points and flaws.
Boom!
The might of an ancient Great Saint was unleashed. Solar flames blazed to the sky, overwhelming in their domineering force. The Divine Women Furnace, crystal-clear and translucent, pressed forward like an advancing mountain range.
Crack!
A terrifying sound erupted. A enormous fissure was forcibly split open in the Saint King’s formation, the Dao inscriptions in that area ground away to nothing.
The flames of the Divine Women Furnace blazed to the sky, as if to refine the entire world. It pierced through this place and carved open a path to survival.
Without question, drawing upon the power of an ancient Great Saint’s artifact consumed enormously. Anyone else who released such a ferocious assault would most likely have been drained dry. Ye Fan and the others recovered their normal complexions as they breathed in and out, suffering no serious harm, and pressed their advance.
“Aaah…”
Screams rose in waves. The forces from the various sacred grounds poured in, and struck without mercy against the people of Hell’s divine dynasty.
In this area, the formation’s Dao inscriptions were far less dense, their power much diminished — everyone could move through, pursuing those assassins.
“Something’s wrong!”
Ye Fan’s whole body broke out in goosebumps. A bad premonition came over him, because they had arrived at the deepest reaches of Hell — and there was no sign of the legendary white bone hall.
“We’ve broken all the way in here, but where is Hell’s Killing Saint? How is it that the most powerful individual we’ve encountered was that first Great Accomplishment King, plus a puppet stone dragon? Where are all of Hell’s major figures?”
“Fall back quickly!”
“Something’s wrong — we might be in trouble.”
Everyone’s expressions changed simultaneously. Ahead was a broad, open area — as if an ancient structure had been uprooted and carried off entirely, leaving only its foundation marks.
It was apparent that this was where the most ancient hall had stood. Now it was gone — the entire divine spirit realm seemed to have been abandoned. Not one of Hell’s senior figures had appeared.
“Move!”
Long Ma was the first to produce a formation platform, prop open a domain gate, and attempt to flee. Now that the Saint King’s complete formation was no longer blocking them everywhere, leaving should not be a problem.
Yet it was immediately stunned. The domain gate had no sooner been propped open than it soundlessly collapsed. There was no way to leave.
The others encountered the same problem.
“What is happening?!” The forces from the sacred grounds — though none had come in enormous numbers, together they numbered some five or six hundred — broke into a panic.
“To think even our Hell would come to such a day — even our divine ancestral grounds have been breached. It seems there truly is no eternal dynasty, no immortal inheritance. Everything has a day when it reaches its end. The rise and fall of things is the one truth that never changes.”
A gaunt, withered figure appeared. A sigh rang out. Like a ghost, it had evaded the divine senses of every single person.
“It’s the Killing Saint of Hell Divine Dynasty!” someone cried out.
Qi Luo’s eyes flickered. The Blood-Dissolving Blade in his hand swelled abruptly to the sky and back, poised to sweep out at any instant — yet after looking carefully, he held back.
The ghostly Killing Saint spoke to himself: “In the end it was Hell’s own decline. Had we been as glorious as in the ancient primordial age, even without our deep reserves, ten ancient Saints coming together might not necessarily have been able to take us down!”
“It’s nothing but a phantom image.” Ye Fan said. He could shatter this empty shadow the Killing Saint had left with a single punch.
“Heh heh… You had all best be on your way. I never expected you to truly find this place — the first time in all the ages. Being a little more cautious always keeps one alive longer. Now all of you — die!”
The Hell Killing Saint’s eyes were terrifyingly cold. The world around them instantly changed — squeezing inward from all sides, Dao-fire blazing, forming a cage designed to refine every single person into ash.
“Aaah…” Screams instantly rang out in waves. The forces from the various sacred grounds died or suffered injuries in great numbers in an instant, unable to resist — reduced to tribulation ash.
“Ancient Great Saint formation inscriptions!” The Black Emperor cried out in alarm. Everyone hearing this went white as snow.
The divine spirit realm was being compressed inward. It had been branded with Great Saint-level Dao inscriptions — the entire mysterious realm was one enormous killing formation!
“What a pity. If only seven or eight Saints had come, that would have been more worthwhile. Still, three Emperor’s Sons are sufficient.” The skin-and-bones Hell Killing Saint smiled his ghastly smile.
“You really don’t mind the cost — running this ancient Great Saint’s formation like this will cause this rare divine spirit realm to collapse.” A living fossil from Boundless Ocean Sacred Ground said, expression frantic — with no way to escape.
“The divine spirit realm produced a World Stone, which we excavated. That is its essence; a new mysterious realm can be opened again from it in the future. Very well, all of you, be on your way.” The phantom of Hell’s Killing Saint bellowed, then merged into the formation. A terrifying killing intent erupted.
Boom!
The forces from the sacred grounds were thrown into terror. Some had brought holy weapons — though not world-spanning holy soldiers, still of awe-inspiring power. They poured everything into their strikes, but this realm could not be broken open.
“Aaah…” Screams rose in great waves.
Lives blazed and were extinguished. In the span of a few breaths, more than half of several hundred people were dead or injured, blood streaming down. Before an ancient Great Saint’s formation, cultivators were as weak as ants — they fell in rows, like wheat being harvested.
Boom!
Yan Yixi let out a clear, piercing cry. He catalyzed the Divine Women Furnace, threw open its lid, and swallowed everything he could collect inside — Li Tian, Long Ma, the Black Emperor, the mother ship, every person and object — using this as a shield.
This was a catastrophe!
The Divine Women Furnace could withstand the impact of the Great Saint’s ancient formation. Yet with everyone tumbling inside, the situation was still far from safe. Energy boiled and surged. The great Saint-level artifact trembled. Though the divine furnace itself was undamaged, the people inside could not endure it — many were dissolved to blood-mud inside the furnace.
Ye Fan’s expression turned very cold. He produced the green cauldron and held it in his hand, placing it before everyone as a shield!
When the Great Saint-level shockwaves came surging in, the green cauldron at last emitted a hazy immortal light, blocking the overwhelming energy.
Boom!
The divine spirit realm could not withstand the force of the Great Saint formation in operation, and at last collapsed. The divine light wrapped around the survivors and flung them back out.
The Black Emperor tore free of the divine light, collapsed to the ground, and roared, covered in blood: “This Emperor had a world-shaking, supreme killing formation all prepared and never even got to use it — and nearly got killed first by someone else!”
Ye Fan’s expression was very cold. “I knew ancient divine dynasties were hard to destroy — even in their diminished state, they remain dangerous. But they cannot escape their fate!”