Although he had never experienced the power of the “Invincible Domain” before, the moment Tang Buye saw that layer of misty radiance, he immediately made a clear judgment: this should be yet another Dao Seal bestowed by the Void Sea.

The female cultivator before him was Lu Xiangleng, the medicine maiden of Baiyue Valley.

Tang Buye had heard of her before, but he never expected that she would stand before him at this moment.

Under Lu Xiangleng’s cold gaze, Tang Buye gripped the Nine Mechanisms tightly, his voice carrying a trace of indifference: “Why must Fairy Lu force yourself to intervene? I harbor no malice. The Left Three Thousand gathering has its winners and losers. Fairy, you are currently severely injured and barely holding on. You can only block me once or twice at most. Why bother?”

Why bother?

Lu Xiangleng also wanted to ask herself “why bother,” but what floated in her mind was the axe that had flown through the air earlier, and that plain moon-white figure.

Despite her pale complexion, there was still a trace of dignified smile at the corner of her lips. Though covered in blood, her bearing remained undiminished.

“I too want to ask ‘why bother,’ but unfortunately, the person I wish to ask has been injured by Fellow Daoist Tang. To ask this question ‘why bother,’ Xiangleng can only act like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.”

When Tang Buye asked her “why bother,” how could Lu Xiangleng not want to ask Jian Chou the same question?

But was there an answer?

She could almost guess Jian Chou’s response.

So at this moment, facing Tang Buye’s question, why should she answer?

Tang Buye actually harbored no real malice.

However…

He suddenly discovered something slightly abnormal: he knew all too well the formidable attack power of the Nine Mechanisms. When he had initially defeated Wei Lin, after the opponent withdrew, the Void Sea Dao Seal that belonged to them had automatically transferred to his brow.

But what about now?

Jian Chou had clearly been defeated, yet the Dao Seal belonging to Jian Chou had not come to him.

So there was only one possibility!

She had not completely lost her fighting capacity, nor had she been expelled by the Void Sea.

To him, beneath that blood-stained sea surface, danger still lurked.

His gaze toward Lu Xiangleng gradually turned cold.

Tang Buye’s fingers gripping the Nine Mechanisms grew tighter: “Since Fairy Lu refuses the toast and insists on drinking the forfeit wine, don’t blame Tang for being impolite!”

As his words fell, his entire body transformed into a streak of light, charging straight toward Lu Xiangleng!

“Bang!”

The Invincible Domain was still activated. As long as Lu Xiangleng had the ability to maintain it, within this domain, she was an invincible existence whom no one could harm.

This was an invincible defense!

How could Tang Buye have imagined that such a heaven-defying Dao Seal existed in the Void Sea? Caught off guard, he was directly intercepted three zhang away from Lu Xiangleng.

“What?”

“Swoosh!”

A purple-gold beam of light grazed past his cheek!

Ice-cold and sharp!

The force of that collision was truly terrifying.

Lu Xiangleng’s body trembled slightly, but she gritted her teeth and stood her ground. The purple-gold light in her hand weakened for an instant, as if it could no longer be sustained, but in the next moment, under her forceful urging, it brightened again.

“This Dao Seal…”

So powerful!

Tang Buye, who had been sent flying backward, felt his blood churning within his body, but when he raised his eyes, his gaze toward Lu Xiangleng was already faintly glowing.

“This is bad.”

Jiang Wenchao, not far away, frowned deeply upon seeing this.

“Tang Buye already has two Void Sea Dao Seals. Now Fairy Lu is at the end of her strength and probably cannot hold on much longer. If she is defeated by him, I’m afraid…”

The trouble would be enormous.

Wielding “Deep Sea Binding” and “Water Void Escape,” Tang Buye’s abilities were already terrifyingly formidable, giving him a huge advantage over others. If he were to obtain another “Invincible Domain”…

There was no need to think about what would happen next.

In this Void Sea, who could still be his opponent?

By then, forget about competition—none of them present would be able to escape!

Little Jin, holding a watermelon, stood beside him.

Jiang Wenchao had discovered the disturbance and come here together with him. Now, seeing Tang Buye fixated on Lu Xiangleng and continuously attacking fiercely, with Lu Xiangleng probably unable to hold on much longer, he simply turned and asked Little Jin: “Shall we act?”

“Huh?”

Little Jin was stunned for a moment, not immediately understanding what he meant.

However, after meeting Jiang Wenchao’s gaze, he slapped his forehead, understood, and immediately exclaimed excitedly: “Act, act, act! Fight, fight, fight! How dare he bully Sister Lu who gave me pills to eat! Bad guy! Come on, let’s beat him up!”

“Whoosh!”

Barefoot Little Jin, wearing his savage-like animal skin vest, had already raised his fist and charged toward Tang Buye almost the instant his words fell!

This speed was even faster than Jiang Wenchao’s by a large margin.

His massive fist brought forth a tearing wind sound.

“Bang!”

One punch smashed toward Tang Buye’s face!

Tang Buye, who had been concentrating on attacking Lu Xiangleng, never expected someone to launch such a brutal sneak attack on him!

A thought flashed through his mind to activate Water Void Escape, but it was already too late.

The fist struck hard against his chest, and Tang Buye immediately lost his balance, flying backward.

“Hooray! Success!”

Little Jin excitedly waved his fist, shouting loudly.

Only then did Jiang Wenchao arrive belatedly. With a sweep of his wide maple-leaf red sleeves, his aura condensed and carrying a hint of smile, he had already positioned himself near Lu Xiangleng.

Under Lu Xiangleng’s slightly surprised gaze, he smiled, nodded, and said: “I received medicine from the fairy during the Heart-Intent Pearl incident. Now it’s time for us to return the favor.”

“…”

That was indeed a suitable reason.

Lu Xiangleng fell silent for a moment, feeling an indescribable emotion in her heart. In the end, she said nothing more, only gripped the purple-gold light in her hand tighter, as fighting spirit slowly rose in her eyes.

At this moment, it was three against one!

No one had expected things to develop this way.

Left Liu in mid-air felt an almost worshipful impulse: “Group fighting! Heavens, you actually dare to gang up on someone! So shameless, so despicable, so disgraceful—how could you do such a thing without calling this rogue to join? Take me with you!”

As his words fell, his figure flickered and vanished from mid-air!

Tang Buye, who had just stabilized his form in mid-air, immediately felt a sense of danger.

It was that guy who could turn invisible!

This group of people…

A flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and Tang Buye immediately realized his mistake.

By unintentionally attacking Lu Xiangleng and showing his intention to seize her special Void Sea Dao Seal, he had clearly given everyone a deep sense of crisis: no one dared let him act against Lu Xiangleng!

This was because the Void Sea Dao Seal Lu Xiangleng had obtained was too special, too heaven-defying!

At this moment, Tang Buye was like a wolf that had strayed into the wrong territory. Because of his exceptional strength, he would only be feared by everyone, becoming a thorn in their side.

No one would believe he harbored good intentions.

Thus, even those who had previously minded their own business would unite against him once they perceived his intentions.

For example, Young Master Ruhua was currently troubled by such a dilemma.

On the sea disc, several beams of light showed no signs of diminishing.

The light point belonging to Jian Chou had only sunk into the sea but had not extinguished.

This meant…

Jian Chou was not yet eliminated.

What tremendous luck.

But now…

“Oh my, three against one really doesn’t look good at all… How can they bully a cultivator from the outer domains like this?”

Pinching his pointed chin, Young Master Ruhua watched the battle situation ahead with considerable indecision.

“Should I stand here and watch the show, go join the fight, or simply ignore their fate and search for the Black Dragon’s traces?”

What a difficult choice.

He frowned and pondered for a long time, then suddenly snapped his fingers.

With a sweep of his hand across the front of his robes, a pink radiance spread out, and Young Master Ruhua actually pulled out a magnificent and luxurious peony from the pink peony pattern on his chest!

“Alright, I’ll pluck petals—whatever I land on, that’s what I’ll do!”

With a satisfied smile on his face, Young Master Ruhua’s slender fingers, full of elegance, reached out to grasp a petal.

But just as he was about to tear off this petal, he stopped.

“Such a delicate and beautiful peony, worthy of competing with this young master’s beauty—how could I be so cruel as to destroy a flower?”

With this murmur, he actually withdrew his hand.

Hmm.

Actually, it wasn’t such a difficult choice after all.

Everyone was fighting—three from the Middle Domain against one from the Northern Domain. No matter what, he was also a Middle Domain cultivator.

With so many people watching from outside, if he fled now or stood by and watched, it would look bad when everyone saw. Although he didn’t really want to act, putting on a show was always the right thing to do.

So…

Decision made!

Young Master Ruhua pinched that gorgeous peony with his fingers, and his face immediately showed a smile more beautiful than the flower: “I’ll reluctantly join the group beating!”

Having said this, he held the flower between his fingers and immediately stepped on the sharp cold wind above the Void Sea, attacking Tang Buye!

Tang Buye, who was already struggling under the siege of three people, now faced additional pressure.

Although he had “Water Void Escape” at hand, which prevented him from simultaneously facing attacks from three people, the rapidly increasing spiritual power consumption was becoming unbearable even for him.

Now with Young Master Ruhua added to the mix, Tang Buye’s expression immediately darkened.

“…”

“…”

“…”

At the foot of Kunwu Mountain, everything was completely silent.

All the members of Wuyi Sect were dumbfounded, those from Tongling Pavilion were also looking at each other in bewilderment, while the female cultivators of Baiyue Valley breathed a great sigh of relief…

As for the other spectating cultivators from Kunwu, their minds were filled with endless bizarre thoughts: How had the battle situation developed into this?

Four people ganging up on one person!

Except for Xia Houshe who had been coldly observing from the sidelines, everyone else had joined in!

And they didn’t seem to find it shameful at all!

Lu Xiangleng was understandable—from her brief exchange with Jian Chou, one could tell their relationship was close, so standing against Tang Buye was normal; Jiang Wenchao and Little Jin had “connections” with Lu Xiangleng from the Heart-Intent Pearl incident, having received pills from Fairy Lu, so helping her in distress was beyond reproach.

But why was Young Master Ruhua joining the commotion?

Many disciples from Wuyi Sect simply doubted their eyes. Tao Zhang’s mouth twitched—he could hardly believe that the person holding a small flower and fighting Tang Buye with great enthusiasm was actually their aloof and eccentric fellow disciple genius!

The Void Sea had now become a chaotic battlefield.

Tang Buye had Golden Core late-stage strength, almost crushing the others, and he held two Void Sea Dao Seals, putting him a level above everyone else. Moreover, he wielded the Nine Mechanisms that could strike at any unknown moment, truly making him a formidable opponent.

Therefore, this battle, though fought with vigor, was actually quite presentable. Despite being at an absolute disadvantage, he was not immediately defeated.

This battle was becoming increasingly intense and probably wouldn’t end peacefully.

Real Person Hengxu still stood shoulder to shoulder with Fudao Shanren.

However…

Neither of their gazes was on the battle.

In the Void Sea, Jian Chou’s figure had long since completely disappeared.

The blood scattered on the sea surface had been diluted by the endless blue sea in the blink of an eye, and no trace could be found.

“Pop.”

A bubble suddenly rose slowly from the sea bottom, bursting the moment it surfaced.

Thus, ripples spread out leisurely…

All those still engaged in fierce battle failed to notice this small detail.

The sea surface immediately began to change.

Those ripples were just the beginning. What followed was a small whirlpool that gradually formed, driving that section of seawater to rotate slowly, with momentum growing ever larger…

Fudao Shanren’s eyes suddenly brightened, and he immediately looked up and laughed heartily: “Haha haha, the opportunity, the opportunity! So that’s how it is!”

Real Person Hengxu was also somewhat surprised.

Hearing Fudao Shanren’s delighted laughter, he nodded lightly and smiled slightly: “Congratulations, Brother Fudao.”

“Haha ha…”

Fudao Shanren felt incredibly refreshed, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. His laughter was thoroughly satisfying.

However, few people at the foot of Kunwu Mountain understood what he was laughing about.

Xia Houshe stood quietly on the sea surface.

The Phantom Dream Guide had disappeared from his hands at some point. His dark red robes, so deep they struck fear into hearts, completely concealed his figure. With both hands hanging down, he seemed to have no intention of acting.

His gaze fell upon the sea surface.

The moment that small whirlpool formed, he had already noticed it immediately.

At the same time, he sensed a mysterious aura from heaven and earth—vast and profound.

Above the firmament, layer upon layer of floating clouds were slowly gathering from all directions toward the center the instant that small whirlpool formed, positioning themselves directly above that whirlpool.

…

Xia Houshe had experienced the same scene himself.

In fact, all the cultivators currently in the Void Sea should not forget this scene!

The answer was about to emerge!

Whoosh!

As Xia Houshe’s thoughts stirred, the whirlpool on the sea surface finally began to expand frantically.

As if the sea floor had suddenly cracked open another enormous abyss that continuously devoured the seawater above, the entire sea surface began to collapse frantically with that previously small whirlpool as the center!

The sea surface was collapsing!

A terrifyingly enormous whirlpool formed in an instant!

Tang Buye, still engaged in fierce battle, suddenly looked up at the sky.

The sea waves produced tremendous roaring sounds, drowning out all other sounds between heaven and earth in that instant.

Thick cloud layers piled together, emanating a terrifying aura…

That was the power of heaven and earth, a suppression against all cultivators who wished to transcend boundaries.

Tribulation clouds!

This was clearly someone attempting to form a Golden Core!

But who among those in the Void Sea had not yet formed a Golden Core?

A figure flashed through his mind, and Tang Buye immediately gasped!

In the deep sea.

Even though she had lost consciousness, that delicate hand still gripped the massive axe tightly.

The heavy Ghost Axe, slanting downward, carried Jian Chou’s body deeper and deeper.

Heavenly light shone down from the sea surface, but grew dimmer the deeper it went. As she sank deeper and deeper, the light grew fainter and fainter.

Thus, she seemed to return to the primordial darkness of the world’s beginning.

Comforting darkness.

Darkness that allowed one to shed all pretense, all strength, releasing weariness to complete darkness, allowing oneself to lie down in a sea of floating light.

What could the boundary between life and death tell her?

She was someone who had died once before, but at that moment, why was it still difficult to let go?

Having died once, rather than seeing through life and death, made her treasure this life even more.

She wasn’t unafraid of death—she was simply very willing to risk this life in battle.

The shattered wounds continued to pour forth blood.

It flowed from her body and merged into the endless seawater, disappearing without a trace.

But as it continuously flowed away, new spiritual energy kept gathering from every corner of the deep sea, as if drawn by something in the darkness. Starting from just wisps and strands, it gradually increased, becoming more and more abundant…

With her body as the center, countless spiritual energies intertwined, surrounding her body and actually forming a whirlpool!

Thus, the entire silent deep sea suddenly began to boil!

“Buzz.”

The dim battle disc suddenly spread outward with Jian Chou’s brow as the center.

The Kunxian lines lit up one by one, seeming to flash in rhythm with her breathing, with her intent, brightening and dimming, brightening and dimming…

They too seemed to be breathing.

At the Tianyuan position, endless stardust-like micro-lights gathered, condensing into substantial spiritual energy in the jade bowl at the center of Tianyuan.

At this moment, a new particle of stardust suddenly formed amid this endless surrounding spiritual energy.

A pale golden color!

In that instant, as if something had suddenly been ignited in the endless void, the moment this grain of stardust-like light appeared, the entire Tianyuan of Jian Chou’s Wanxiang Battle Disc was set ablaze!

Boom!

In the silent deep sea, the roaring sound of a great fire suddenly igniting seemed to appear!

One point, two points, three points…

Countless upon countless!

Like a dry wasteland that had been waiting hopefully for so long, after this point of golden light appeared, the entire Tianyuan transformed completely into brilliant gold!

In the ink-blue depths of the sea, all fish attempting to approach were scattered at this moment.

The battle disc that had originally been two zhang in circumference suddenly began spinning rapidly the instant this golden light appeared.

The endless spiritual energy around swirled with this rotation, surging madly toward Jian Chou’s brow!

Thus…

One inch, two inches…

One foot, two feet…

Continuously expanding!

After just a few short breaths, Jian Chou’s battle disc had already reached two zhang and three chi!

Kunxian extended out one after another…

Jian Chou’s consciousness was very hazy.

She only felt endless spiritual power continuously pouring into her body from her brow. She could only guide them to constantly transform into spiritual energy within her body, expanding the battle disc that had originally been two zhang.

But at this moment, no matter how she expanded it, the Kunxian would no longer extend outward.

More and more spiritual energy accumulated in her body, giving her a bloated feeling from inside out.

Her entire body had no meridians, causing unbearable pain.

Her trembling fingers could barely hold onto the Ghost Axe!

The torment inch by inch was even worse than the body refinement of that day!

In this hazy consciousness, Jian Chou felt as if she had been placed over fire to roast, and also as if thrown into an ice cave to freeze. The immense torture was driving her completely mad!

Her consciousness grew hazier and hazier…

She sank into endless darkness.

In the darkness, there was Tang Buye’s stunning “First Mechanism.”

That arrow shot toward her, toward her brow!

She could feel the massive power of the Golden Core stage it carried—its purity and refinement far exceeded that of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

So that…

Was the Golden Core?

In the depths of her mind, Fudao Shanren’s words echoed again, word by word.

“Before out-of-body, cultivate the body; after out-of-body, cultivate the heart. The former pursues powerful strength, the latter seeks the Heavenly Dao…”

“The Golden Core—transforming qi into form, changing the cultivation of qi into substance. For Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, this is a step to ascend to heaven.”

“Release the spirit, comprehend myriad phenomena, then heaven and earth’s spiritual energy will cleanse my body, and the dao origin Golden Core will cast my destiny; embrace the origin and maintain unity, release the body into the universe…”

All the pain and torment seemed to disappear in this instant.

Jian Chou had a vague enlightenment. She concentrated all her scattered consciousness among countless sufferings to the Tianyuan position.

Thus, that already brilliant golden light instantly gathered together, then exploded with a thunderous roar!

Bang!

A golden beam of light surged violently from the Tianyuan position!

It rose from the sea floor, breaking through this ten-million-zhang deep sea, ascending from the center of that massive whirlpool, instantly piercing into the firmament above, into those hundred-li tribulation clouds!

“Crack…”

Its arrival seemed to enrage heaven and earth.

Countless bolts of lightning suddenly appeared, racing madly through the gloomy purple-gray tribulation clouds, then converging into a light blue lightning bolt thick as a child’s arm, striking down toward that whirlpool!

“Boom—”

In the Empty Sea, thunder exploded, and torrential rain poured down in an instant!