Chapter 420: Bloodbath at Lintai

Yuntian Xianyuan, three thousand zhang high and three thousand li wide.

Today, the sky was clear for thousands of miles, a pristine azure.

The Marquis of Divine Wings from the Demonic Kingdom stood on the ground in Liangzhou, Eastern Domain, his sharp golden eyes gazing far at the peak of Xianyuan, as if peering into the Immortal Realm.

Such a magnificent sacred realm, fallen from the Immortal Realm to the human world, with its abundant immortal soil and vast territory, was exceedingly rare in southern Yingzhou.

The Lingxiao Life Realm, lacking a Martial Dao Emperor, had occupied such a sacred realm for a thousand years; its current tribulation was long overdue.

The Marquis of Divine Wings was located in a county town with a population of several hundred thousand, 280 li away from Yuntian Xianyuan. This county had been occupied by the Demonic Kingdom several months prior. They had strictly controlled internal and external communications and set up concealing formations.

Furthermore, altars were constructed underground to prepare for the assault on Yuntian Xianyuan.

Prince Yu Daozhen of the Demonic Kingdom and Lord Lan, the overlord of the Nether Realm, dared to venture alone into Lingxiao City because they had already established twenty-eight blood sacrifice altars in various locations beneath Yuntian Xianyuan.

These altars were guarded by powerful figures from the Demonic Kingdom and the Nether Realm of the Dead.

It was known that with sufficient mental power from the officiant, the power of a blood sacrifice could even refine an entire life realm.

Should any change occur in Yuntian Xianyuan, the formations would activate, and the twenty-eight altars would immediately begin operation.

At this moment, in the county town overseen by the Marquis of Divine Wings, hundreds of thousands of human civilians, like livestock, were driven by nearly a hundred experts from the Demonic Kingdom. They were forced into underground pits, becoming sacrifices—reduced to blood and bones.

It wasn't that they didn't resist.

They simply couldn't resist.

Each opponent was as mighty as a god or demon; they were merely mortals.

"The battle for Yuntian Xianyuan actually erupted prematurely, which shows that Lingxiao Life Realm still possesses insightful and capable individuals. Such a major event couldn't possibly unfold silently and smoothly."

The Marquis of Divine Wings, clad in heavy armor and bearing four wings on his back, stood two zhang tall, his imposing aura enveloping the entire city.

Beneath his feet, blood-vein patterns spread from the altars, swiftly surging towards Yuntian Xianyuan and other altars, aiming to corrode the Grand Formation of Xianyuan, established by the Mist Emperor of old, through blood sacrifice.

Subsequently, the twenty-eight altars would connect, forming a grand formation to blood-sacrifice all living beings on Yuntian Xianyuan.

"Huh!"

The Marquis of Divine Wings squinted, channeling his magic power into his eyes, which gleamed with golden light.

He saw a small crack appear in the formation's light barrier at the peak of Yuntian Xianyuan's Grand Formation.

From the crack, a figure flew out, plummeting towards the ground.

It was too strange!

The Grand Formation of Xianyuan was so formidable that even Transcendent beings greatly feared it and found it difficult to enter or exit freely.

How could anyone escape at this moment?

More critically, the person's aura wasn't strong; they didn't seem to be a peak figure. Why would a peak figure fall to the ground instead of flying away directly?

The more unusual it was, the more necessary it became to capture them.

The Marquis of Divine Wings had followed the Demonic Kingdom's Prince for two hundred years, traveling to various life realms, and annihilating dozens of sects and families, large and small. Several times, due to momentary oversight, some inconspicuous sect disciples managed to escape with their realm bags, carrying resource treasuries and scriptures, resulting in meager gains.

Such a mistake could not be repeated.

Moreover, these were treasures from the Lingxiao Palace in Yuntian Xianyuan, which even Xiaoyaojing placed great importance on. If he could pick up some overlooked items, he would surely gain immensely.

Upon realizing this, the Marquis of Divine Wings immediately summoned his ten most trusted Blood-Wing Clan experts and ordered them to converge on the location where Li Weiyi had landed.

The ten individuals included the Marquis's children, clan elders, and Transcendent disciples, all brimming with vitality and renowned experts of the Blood-Wing Clan for decades.

Three of them wore ninth-grade Blood Handprint Demonic Armor, a hundred-character artifact, signifying their extraordinary status.

The Marquis of Divine Wings greatly wished to go himself, but the blood sacrifice was only halfway complete, preventing him from leaving.

Delaying such a crucial matter would make His Highness the Prince wish him dead.

"Luo Tian, ride my mount, the Wind-Seeking Beast, and do not disappoint me. If you fail to capture that person, you know the consequences," the Marquis of Divine Wings issued a death order to his ten top Demonic Kingdom experts.

Young Marquis Luo Tian, clad in Blood Handprint Demonic Armor, was valiant and energetic, his blood essence surging like a sea. He leaped a hundred meters high and landed on the back of the Wind-Seeking Beast. "Father, don't worry, he won't escape."

Lintai, 800 zhang high, was primarily built from black stone.

From the base to the summit, every black stone structure served as a vital foundation for the various great formations across Yuntian Xianyuan, which the Third Palace Mistress had controlled for three thousand years.

The Prince of the Demonic Kingdom stood halfway up the mountain, at 400 zhang, and stopped to look at the sky. The moment the city's protective formation activated, he knew that the Transcendent beings and giants of Lingxiao Life Realm had long prepared to act preemptively and counter-attack them.

"This is the wisdom and fighting spirit a life realm should possess. Very good, Lingxiao Life Realm has not disappointed me too much."

The Prince of the Demonic Kingdom's eyes were as calm as water, his body as straight as a celestial pillar. As he spread his arms, four ethereal immortal gates appeared around him. All four gates were magnificent and sacred, seemingly real, crushing the surrounding formation runes and black stone structures into flat ground and dust.

With infinite power emanating from the four immortal gates, the Prince of the Demonic Kingdom, majestic as a celestial god, ascended the mountain with swift speed, treading on formation runes as if they were weeds. He said, "Third Palace Mistress, well played! Are you trying to tie down this Prince alone so that the Lingxiao Palace martial cultivators can clear the internal threats within the city? But aren't you overestimating your own strength?"

The Third Palace Mistress at the peak of Lintai frowned. Although she didn't know when Grand Historian Tai Shi had begun his preparations, she knew that this battle was inevitable.

She struck her palm towards the Immortal Soil Divine Tree at the center of Lintai's main hall, activating the Nine Heavens Great Formation: "Lintai disciples, take your positions in the various halls, activate the formations, and join this Palace Mistress in slaying the demons."

Boom!

The cloud and mist formation covering the three mountains of Lingxiao Palace was breached by a giant ship of yellow mud.

Its mast swayed, and the sound was as deafening as celestial thunder.

The ship was enveloped in thick ghostly mist and negative energy, as massive as Lintai itself, with a mast made of white bones radiating immortal light.

A vast shadow appeared on the ground.

The Lintai officials enveloped by the ship's shadow felt their souls tremble and their bodies grow cold, unable to resist kneeling.

"Third Palace Mistress, how have you been? When you and Yu Yaozi invaded my territory, destroying three ghost cities and slaying millions of spirits of the dead, did you ever imagine this tribulation today?"

Lord Lan, appearing in the form of a young boy, stood at the bow of the giant yellow mud ship. With one hand, he obscured something, and with the other, he released ghost fire to light a yellow mud lamp.

Burning within the lamp was the blood of ancient immortal beasts.

This lamp, obtained by Lord Lan from a fallen immortal realm, was eerily unpredictable, possessing the ability to collect and burn souls.

Defending Lingxiao's twenty-eight states was no easy task.

The human Transcendent beings had constantly fought against the overlords in the surrounding Nether Realms of the Dead, using offense as defense, which led to a millennium of peace and prosperity.

For the strong, there was never true peace and prosperity; they always carried responsibility and burdens, always resisting and clearing crises. Only then could the younger generation have space to survive and enjoy peace and prosperity.

Survival was the struggle of the older generation against heaven and earth; it was the continuous flourishing of the younger generation.

Lacking either, a life realm could not last long.

The Third Palace Mistress, of course, knew of Lord Lan's terror. This was a Transcendent spirit of the dead, seven thousand years old, whose dominion in the southeast was even vaster than the entire Lingxiao Life Realm.

While facing the Prince of the Demonic Kingdom, she merely felt unprecedented pressure.

However, Lord Lan's appearance was akin to the collapse of heaven and earth itself, something she simply could not withstand. Facing two opponents, even if her Senior Sister awakened, it was still debatable whether they could handle today's situation.

The light of the yellow mud lamp, dim and ghostly, transformed the morning into dusk, and the blue sky into a dark cosmic void.

Lord Lan stood like a deity in the cosmos.

The lamplight penetrated the formation barrier, aiming to seize the Third Palace Mistress's soul.

The cultivation gap between the Third Palace Mistress and the two was enormous. Only with the aid of Lintai's formations could she resist the power of the yellow mud lamp. However, her control over Lintai's formations weakened, allowing the Prince of the Demonic Kingdom to ascend the mountain even faster.

The activation speed of the Nine Heavens Great Formation was also affected, hindered by multiple unknown Transcendent powers.

Rumble!

The giant yellow mud ship was shrouded in thick, dark clouds, with scriptures forming rivers, emitting an aura comparable to a supreme magic artifact. For a short time, it could withstand the attacks of the city's protective formation controlled by Grand Historian Tai Shi.

A mysterious carriage, cloaked in an ocean of text and carrying boundless spiritual power, surged into Lintai, ascending the mountain via the black stone stairs.

Wherever the carriage passed, all surrounding Lintai disciples, officials, and spellcasters exploded, turning into mere skeletons.

She aimed to prevent everyone from assisting the Third Palace Mistress and Grand Historian Tai Shi in activating Yuntian Xianyuan's formations.

The carriage sped directly towards the mountain peak, joining forces with the Prince of the Demonic Kingdom. From left and right, they advanced irresistibly, aiming to breach Lintai and kill the Third Palace Mistress as quickly as possible.

Li Longshu arrived close behind, waving his hand to release spiritual energy, cleansing Lintai once more, leaving behind a ground littered with corpses. He launched his attack on the mountain peak from a third direction.

Once Lintai was flattened, Yuntian Xianyuan's formation would be half-broken and no longer pose a significant threat to them.

Within the Six Thoughts Zen Monastery, the Six Thoughts Zen Master and 1,200 monks chanted scriptures and incantations.

Immediately, the pupils of some spellcasters at the peak of Lintai Mountain, the city defense camp, and the formation hubs turned gray, their minds controlled. Some began destroying formations, others attacked the Third Palace Mistress, and some turned on Grand Historian Tai Shi and Historian Qing Shi...

Chaos reigned throughout the city, with massacres erupting in every district.

"Haha! Don't kill the Third Palace Mistress; just cripple her spiritual realm and leave her to me!"

Scarlet Phoenix dared not reveal his true form, fearing he would become a living target for the city's protective formation.

He and a Transcendent from the Sacred Dark Family joined forces, fighting their way through the three thousand Embroidered Uniform Divine Guards protecting Lingxiao Palace along a hundred-zhang-wide district road. Half of them were devoured by Scarlet Phoenix.

The Imperial Court's Transcendent, Blood-Clothed Chief Steward Ye Xuanming, was torn in half by the two of them, each seizing an arm. His organs spilled out, and bones shattered.

The Transcendent's screams echoed throughout the city, causing countless inhabitants to cower, kneel in fear, tremble, and lose control of their bladders.

The Transcendent's blood, upon hitting the ground, instantly transformed into flames, igniting an entire district and leaving over one hundred thousand people wailing in the inferno. Only powerful figures in the Five Seas Realm managed to escape the conflagration.

While evading the city's protective formation's attacks, Scarlet Phoenix strode forward, pointing a finger at the sky and employing imperial techniques. Immediately, a cloud of Southern Bright Leaving Fire enveloped Lintai, as if igniting the firmament, continuously incinerating formation runes.

Whoosh!

Large swaths of earth spirit gray mist rose from a Transcendent's mansion in the city.

Within the earth spirit gray mist was a golden coffin from another world.

The sarcophagus, as massive as a palace, was entwined with a hundred golden-cast beasts. As it flew, it generated continuous sonic booms that shook the void.

The otherworldly coffin transformed into a golden streak, like a meteor, and struck the protective formation in the sky, intending to restrain Grand Historian Tai Shi and assist the array of Transcendent beings in breaching Lingxiao Palace.

Inside the coffin was the taboo being from Coffin Mountain, also known as 'The Reaped One,' one of the three main victims of the Rice Cult.

Protected by the otherworldly coffin, The Reaped One was fearless of the protective formation's energy beams.

Grand Historian Tai Shi had to manage all fronts and could not, by himself, counter so many Transcendent beings with the formation.