Chapter 128 Only I am alright at the Sword Tomb; you will die.

Bai Ye and Ming Wushuang looked at each other across the water. Their eyes met briefly in the air before they looked away and continued walking towards the deepest part of the lake.

There, more laws of the Great Dao surged, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was even more abundant.

The further she went, the more and more laws and Dao patterns approached her. Originally, most of what surrounded her were the laws of stars, but now, in addition to the laws of stars, there were also the laws of thunder, the laws of the five elements, and many other messy chains of laws.

Too many complex and chaotic chains of laws blocked Bai Ye's path.

"Is it because I've studied too many different kinds of things?" Bai asked herself softly. She had noticed it earlier; everyone else was surrounded by only one or two kinds of law chains, while she was surrounded by hundreds.

Xiao Jin reminded her, "Junior, don't bite off more than you can chew. Since you are mainly cultivating the Star Body, then you should first focus on studying the Way of the Stars."

Bai nodded, no longer forcing herself to move forward. She closed her eyes and focused her mind, guiding the power of the stars within her body to circulate throughout her body. The more than one hundred stars that had already been lit lit up together, and star shadows appeared behind her.

Numerous stars slowly rotated, drawing the stellar laws within the lake towards her. The stellar laws were incredibly powerful, dispelling the other chains of laws in the lake, leaving only the stellar laws surrounding her.

The road ahead suddenly became clear, and Bai strode forward. After walking several thousand feet, the surroundings became a sea of ​​stars, with countless stellar laws swirling around him, the starlight dazzling and radiant.

Bai looked around and saw only starlight; there was no one else in sight. She guessed she must have reached the center of the lake.

Perhaps it was because the spiritual energy here was too rich, but Xiao Lü, who had been asleep for a long time, actually woke up. She flew out of Bai Ye's dantian and was no longer the little sprout she had been. Instead, she had grown into a small, green tree surrounded by primordial purple energy, with each tender leaf radiating mysterious starlight.

"Sister Green, you're awake?" Bai asked in surprise.

"Hmm, don't bother me, I need to comprehend the Dao." Little Green muttered, then flew to the center of the lake and took root on the surface. The vast spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the chains of laws converged on her as if on a pilgrimage, condensing into crystal dewdrops on her emerald leaves, which were then slowly absorbed.

Seeing that she had actually started cultivating, Bai also withdrew his gaze and prepared to start cultivating as well.

Then another strange event occurred, and Xiao Taihu, who had been sleeping for a long time, woke up. As soon as she transformed, she fell into the lake with a splash.

Bai quickly scooped the little girl up and held her in his arms, asking, "Why are you awake too? Did you break through to the next level?"

"Big White~" Little Fire rubbed his sleepy eyes, his voice as soft as a kitten that had just been weaned, "No, there is something here that attracts me, something that can complete my laws."

After she finished speaking, she transformed into a ball of blue and white flame and headed towards the depths of the lake.

Bai looked at the two guys with some helplessness, wondering if this counted as taking advantage of his wife. He could only hope that these two guys weren't too greedy.

She ignored them, sat cross-legged in mid-air, closed her eyes slightly, and began to circulate her cultivation technique. Countless stellar laws surged into her body like rivers flowing into the sea. The already lit stars shone even brighter, and the unlit acupoints also began to glow faintly.

"This cultivation speed is more than a hundred times faster than outside. No wonder those two guys were scrambling to wake up," Bai sighed inwardly.

Soon, she focused her mind and immersed herself in cultivation. This was a rare opportunity; if she relied on her own cultivation, she didn't know how many years it would take to fully illuminate the stars within her body.

Her path is to transform herself into the universe, absorbing all the stars into her body; this cultivation is extremely difficult. At this moment, she has all the advantages—favorable timing, favorable location, and favorable circumstances—and she must cherish them.

Time slips away quietly in the process of enlightenment, and before we know it, the seasons have changed, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

In the heart of Tianjing Lake, Bai sat quietly in meditation.

Three hundred and sixty-five stars revolved around her, their brilliant starlight and the power of the sun complementing each other, making her seem like a great sun surrounded by stars.

Bai Ye quickly formed hand seals, and the entire Tianjing Lake suddenly boiled. Waves rose on the surface of the water without any wind, and countless chains of laws surged towards her like rivers flowing into the sea.

She suddenly opened her eyes, two beams of light shooting from them, and raised her hand to pat forward lightly.

In an instant, the world lost its color.

A giant hand formed from the laws appeared out of thin air, with the laws of stars flowing in its palm. The giant hand pressed down, causing the entire small world to tremble. The next second, Bai also waved his hand, dissipating the force.

The strongest attack she unleashed, a culmination of the laws she had comprehended over the past year, was nearly capable of piercing through this small world; it was simply terrifying.

Although Bai Ye dispersed in time, it still disturbed Xiao Lü and Xiao Tai Huo, who were cultivating at the bottom of the lake. The two of them woke up one after another and surfaced to look at Bai Ye.

"Big White, what are you doing?"

"You stinking tiger, are you trying to cause trouble?"

Feeling a little embarrassed by the two little ones staring at him, Bai coughed lightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. Anyway, I'm going to break through now."

Before she could finish speaking, her aura began to rise rapidly, and her cultivation, which had been suppressed for several years, finally broke through at this moment.

Vast spiritual energy surged through her meridians, and all 365 acupoints simultaneously shone with starlight. It was as if she had pierced through a thin layer of paper, and in an instant, she broke through the Nascent Soul stage and entered the Divine Transformation stage.

However, this breakthrough did not stop. From the early, middle, and late stages of the Nascent Soul realm to the Great Perfection realm, the momentum of breakthroughs was unstoppable.

Bai also inwardly cried out in alarm: "I can't break through two major realms in one go, otherwise my foundation will be unstable and I'll be finished."

She forcefully stopped the momentum of this breakthrough and shouted, "I'm going out first. The spiritual energy here is too strong, and I can't suppress it anymore."

After saying that, she tore open a void passage and left Tianjing Lake.

......

Outside, many events have occurred in the past year, stirring up turmoil across the land, and a tense atmosphere of impending doom permeates the world.

At the beginning of the year, in the Hundred Thousand Mountains of Southern Xinjiang Prefecture, which were shrouded in miasma and difficult for humans to set foot in, continuous thunderstorms lasted for three days, shaking the mountains and causing countless cultivators in Southern Xinjiang Prefecture to think that the sky was about to collapse.

After the thunderstorm, many people saw numerous distorted, pitch-black creatures emerge from the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Their bodies surged with black energy, and their appearance immediately triggered a massive beast tide.

Many monsters fled the mountains out of fear, and the dark creatures surged out with the beast tide. But strangely, they did not enter human cities to wreak havoc. Instead, they transformed into black shadows and scattered, disappearing from sight.

This event caused a huge uproar throughout the Nine Provinces. Countless cultivators were discussing it in the streets, alleys, teahouses, and taverns. Everyone had a premonition that a cataclysmic calamity was approaching.

To uncover the truth, Zhong Jiuli, together with top experts from various states, personally traveled to the Southern Frontier. Ignoring the pervasive miasma, the group ventured deep into the heart of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, ultimately discovering the remnants left by the source of the anomaly in this perilous place.

Zhong Jiuli stood in mid-air, lightly tapping her fingertips, causing the surrounding void to distort and the scenery to rapidly recede.

With her ability to reverse time and space, everyone was able to witness the entire process of the anomaly. When they saw the dark creatures struggling to squeeze out of the void, everyone present changed their expressions drastically.

"As expected, the Void Demon Clan has returned with a vengeance," a sect leader from Southern Xinjiang said in a trembling voice.

"But why do they hide their tracks? Now that they have appeared in the world, why not just start a war?" The Daoist from Zhongzhou frowned, his eyes filled with confusion.

Liu Xianyue said, "Breaking through the boundary is no easy task for them either. You saw how heavy their casualties were when they came out of the void passage. I think that what is entering Kyushu now must be the vanguard. They need to hide and wait for the main army to arrive."

"What should we do?" Another sect leader asked with a worried expression. "The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. Are we just going to sit here and wait to be killed?"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their gaze to Zhong Jiuli, and their first reaction was to rely on her.

“The Void Demon Clan’s whereabouts are unpredictable; even Sect Master Zhong would find it difficult to intercept them in advance.” Jiang Zhiming took out several tattered jade slips from his storage ring.

The jade slip was extremely ancient and broken, its surface covered with cracks. It looked as if you would be afraid of it shattering on the spot if you held it in your hand. However, there was starlight flowing on it, which made it seem like an ordinary object.

A knowledgeable sect leader recognized the object and exclaimed, "Could this be a fragment of the Hetu Luoshu?"

Jiang Zhiming nodded slightly, and a drop of blood essence condensed from his fingertip and smeared it on the jade slip.

She looked up at the sky and solemnly vowed: "I am willing to offer up a thousand years of my lifespan as a sacrifice, for the sake of all the people of the land, to glimpse a sliver of heavenly secrets."

As soon as the oath was uttered, the jade slip burst forth with dazzling starlight, countless stars shooting into the sky and forming a vast star map. The stars shifted, and countless rays of light pointed towards the far east.

"Sword State, Sword Tomb." After uttering these words, Jiang Zhiming staggered backward, almost unable to stand.

Liu Xianyue flew forward and caught the woman, looking at the annoying woman who was pale and weak.

She was furious and immediately yelled, "Are you crazy? You're willing to sacrifice your thousand years of lifespan like that? Do you want to abandon your cultivation path?"

"It's alright." Jiang Zhizhi leaned softly on her shoulder, chuckling lightly. "I can't help with the fighting. This is all I can do for you. When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. What use is it for me to retain ten thousand years of lifespan if we don't eliminate the Void Demon Clan?"

"We will remember the great righteousness of Pavilion Master Jiang!" Everyone bowed and saluted in unison.

Zhong Jiuli glanced at everyone and said, "Now that we know the next move of the Void Demon Clan, let's set off and make preparations as soon as possible."

"What are Sect Leader Zhong's plans?" Yun Shu asked.

"Even after a thousand days of guarding against thieves, there will eventually be a loophole; it's better to strike directly at the heart of the enemy!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was startled again. What did Zhong Jiuli mean by that? Did she want to enter that dark and sunless void?

......

In the far east of Jianzhou, there is a desolate place known as the Sword Tomb.

Legend has it that this place was once an ancient battlefield between gods and demons, a desolate and lifeless expanse stretching for hundreds of thousands of miles, where even weeds could not survive.

For thousands of years, countless sword cultivators have come to this place as if on a pilgrimage. Legend has it that this place is where the remnants of ancient immortals and gods are buried, and any one of them is enough to allow an ordinary cultivator to roam freely across the land.

However, this place harbors great terror. Many cultivators who had managed to escape from the Sword Tomb said: "The remnants of ancient immortals and demons occasionally appear in the Sword Tomb. Every time they appear, a great battle is inevitable. The scene is so intense that it shatters the heavens and the earth, and the sun and moon lose their light. Even a wisp of their aura is enough to annihilate countless lives."

But that's not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing is the invisible sword energy that wanders between heaven and earth.

The sword energy is traceless and silent, moving with the wind, and its existence cannot be detected by the naked eye or divine sense. Once, a high-level cultivator, defying this superstition, forced his way into the Sword Tomb, but after only a hundred miles, he was grazed by a wisp of sword energy as thin as a hair and died on the spot.

Thousands of years have passed, and the Sword Tomb has long been forgotten by the world. Today, this ancient and desolate place welcomes visitors once again.

Zhong Jiuli and her group landed outside the border of the Sword Tomb, where the land beneath their feet was barren. A tall stone tablet, half-buried in the yellow sand, stood before them, with the eight characters "Sword Tomb: A Forbidden Ground, Those Who Enter Will Die" faintly inscribed on it.

This stone tablet has stood here for who knows how many years. The characters are severely weathered, but the eight large characters still exude a chilling sword intent. It is likely that the person who carved the characters was a master swordsman.

"Who erected this stele?" a sect leader asked.

As the host and the master of Jianxin Tower, the largest sect in Jianzhou, Ning Ran stepped forward and said, "This was left by the previous master of my sect."

"Please follow me inside," Ning Ran said, leading the way.

Those present were all sect leaders from various major sects, and their statuses were roughly the same, so there was no question of it being beneath their dignity to lead the way for others.

"Lord Ning, have you ever witnessed the great battle between the remnants of immortal and demonic souls?" Liu Xianyue asked casually.

Upon hearing this, Ning Ran's eyes flashed with a hint of reminiscence. "I saw it once. At that time, Jianxin Tower was still in my grandmother's hands. When I was young, I always liked to do things that disobeyed her. One of them was to sneak into this place and luckily witness two remnant souls fighting in the wasteland. I will never forget that scene."

"Does the remnant soul still retain its consciousness?" someone else asked.

"It's just a lingering obsession." Ning Ran shook his head. "Only the fighting instinct remains, and he continues to fight here according to his will before his fall."

"How did Master Ning escape from the remnant soul?" another sect leader gossiped.

Ning Ran shook her head and chuckled: "It was my grandmother who came here to find me and rescued me. Otherwise, how could I be here with you all again today?"

As they talked, they kept moving. They all used the technique of shrinking the earth to an inch. Their figures flashed on the scorched earth, and each step they took covered hundreds of miles. In no time, they had gone tens of thousands of miles into the earth.

The closer one gets to the center, the denser the sword energy becomes. If it weren't for the fact that the minimum cultivation level for anyone entering this place is a Mahayana cultivator, they wouldn't be able to get this far.

"This must be the place," Jiang Zhizhi said, gazing at the vast expanse of scorched earth before him.

“This area seems unusual,” a sect leader said, picking up a smear of black soil from the ground.

"It is said that a demon king once fell here, and his demonic blood soaked the land, which is why the evil aura here is particularly strong," Ning Ran explained.

Zhong Jiuli also looked up at the scorched earth before her. Broken swords were stuck in the blackened ground, and each broken sword was filled with an indomitable fighting spirit, as if the person who wielded the sword was still guarding this place.

"Let's set up the formation!" Zhong Jiuli said calmly.

"yes."

The crowd responded in unison and scattered in all directions. Banners carrying streams of light flew by and disappeared into the scorched earth.

In the blink of an eye, this vast scorched land was covered by a net of heaven and earth. After setting up the great formation, everyone dispersed and disappeared thousands of miles away.

Only Zhong Jiuli remained in place. It wasn't that the others were afraid of battle, but rather that, apart from her, no one else in the world could perfectly conceal their aura without revealing the slightest trace.

Time passed quietly, and after an unknown amount of time, this scorched battlefield, which had been turned into a prison, finally began to stir.

The scorched earth suddenly fell silent, even the omnipresent sword energy seemed to vanish. A ferocious claw emerged from the sky, releasing an extremely terrifying aura.

The claw tip slowly sliced ​​across the sky, and a huge crack that stretched across the heavens appeared instantly.

Thick, inky black mist poured out from the crack, and countless twisted black shadows struggled and fell onto the scorched earth. After landing, they prostrated themselves on the ground, all looking up at the crack in the sky, like pilgrims waiting for the king's arrival.

Zhong Jiuli, hidden in the void, observed this scene. These vanguard troops were nothing but ants and were not worth fearing.

She didn't rush to take action and continued to wait patiently.

The void monsters emerging from the rifts are getting higher and higher level, from the sixth or seventh rank to the eighth or ninth rank to the tenth rank, and their numbers are many times greater than before.

"Looks like we've finally caught the culprit," Zhong Jiuli muttered to herself.

The next second, the spatial rift trembled violently, as if it were about to close. Then, an enormous claw reached out from the void rift, firmly grasped it, and tore it apart with force.

The entire world trembled, and a huge hole was torn open in the sky, revealing a pitch-black void passage.

From the passage, a figure a hundred feet tall slowly emerged. It had a hundred legs like a centipede, yet walked upright like a human. Its body was covered in jet-black scales, and dozens of compound eyes grew on the top of its head, making it look extremely terrifying.

The terrifying figure had barely stepped out of the void passage when it roared to the sky, its voice hoarse: "Kunxu, Kunxu, I've finally found you again."

Then, as if sensing something, it roared in the direction of Zhong Jiuli: "You stinking bug hiding in the crack, come out!"

Zhong Jiuli looked at the great demon who had shouted, her brows furrowing slightly before relaxing. So what if it was a thirteenth-level great demon? She would surely kill it.

She stepped out of the void, her expression now calm, and strolled leisurely, as if taking a walk in her own backyard.

"Human? No... it's Zhulong. Zhulong bloodline at the Ascension Realm, not bad, not bad. Where is Shadow Demon General? This vessel is yours." The great demon said in a hoarse voice.

At its summons, a twisted black shadow flew out from the scorched earth, writhing as it lunged toward Zhong Jiuli.

“No need to bother choosing a vessel!” Zhong Jiuli pointed her fingers like a sword, and a point of silver light flew out from her fingertips, piercing through the black mist.

"You can carefully select a burial plot."

The dark figure let out a miserable howl and exploded into black mist. However, in an instant, the scattered black mist regrouped and rushed towards Zhong Jiuli at an even faster speed, trying to take over her body.

"Hahaha!!!" The great demon threw his head back and laughed wildly, "Ignorant ant, the Shadow Demon General is immortal, do you think you can kill him?"

"Stop laughing, it sounds awful." Zhong Jiuli frowned slightly, tapping her fingertip lightly, "Freeze!"

The entire space froze, the reunited dark shadows trapped in mid-air, unable to advance or retreat.

"You're too noisy, I'll get rid of you first." Zhong Jiuli waved her hand and activated the great formation.

A pillar of light shot into the sky from the scorched earth, activating the Heaven-Sealing Forbidden Land Formation. Countless array patterns swirled in the sky, completely sealing off this land.

"How laughable! A mere ascended immortal cultivator dares to try and trap me?" The thirteenth-tier great demon moved its hundred legs together, and countless dark laws condensed into a black sun, crashing down on the spot where Zhong Jiuli was.

Zhong Jiuli snorted coldly. Without her making a move, she merely let out a soft snort, and countless Void Demons on the scorched earth instantly exploded.

Apart from the Shadow Demons, which were difficult to kill, all the other Void Demons perished.

As the great sun drew near, Zhong Jiuli raised her finger and pointed. A ray of silver light overflowed from her fingertip, and the laws of time descended, freezing the great sun in mid-air.

"You think a mere law of time can stop me?" The Void Demon King roared, slamming his claw down towards Zhong Jiuli's location.

Zhong Jiuli flicked her wrist, and a large bow appeared in her palm. She raised her hand and drew the bowstring, the power of time flowing, and a silver-white arrow of law shot out from the bow.

The arrow pierced the giant claw in an instant, and the claw instantly disintegrated and turned to ashes.

Zhong Jiuli didn't blink, and drew her bow again, firing two more arrows in quick succession. One arrow pierced through the black sun, while the other ignored the great demon's black armor and went straight into its brow.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Only when Zhong Jiuli released the bowstring did the black sun formed by the laws of destruction slowly disintegrate in the air.

The thirteenth-tier demon king, who had been spouting grand pronouncements, froze for a moment, but only for a moment, before the silver arrow of law was forced out of his body.

"The laws of time, you want to exhaust my life essence?" The Void Demon King sneered. "You know absolutely nothing about the power of the thirteenth rank!"

Its hundred claws moved in unison.

The scene was terrifying. Nearly a hundred giant claws, powerful enough to tear apart the boundary, appeared simultaneously. Each claw shadow was wrapped with the law of destruction. When the giant claws fell, space collapsed, and even the great array that sealed the world trembled wildly, showing signs of collapsing.

The enemy's strength far exceeded Zhong Jiuli and the others' expectations.

Zhong Jiuli's white robes fluttered in the wind, her eyes gleaming with silver light like two bright moons. The power of Taiyin surged within her, and three hundred and sixty-five stars appeared behind her, their starlight as dazzling as the Milky Way.

"Freeze!" A clear voice rang out.

Nearly a hundred giant claws were frozen in mid-air, and although it was only for a moment, it was enough.

Zhong Jiuli waved her hand, and the stars spun. Three hundred and sixty-five stars, trailing silver tails, descended from the sky like a silver river, crashing into the hundred giant claws that were tearing through the air.

The two collided in mid-air, and time and space seemed to freeze for a moment. At that moment, the world was silent, except for the dazzling light that overwhelmed the entire area.

The next instant brought a deafening roar that shook the heavens and the earth. The space shattered completely in the violent explosion, a huge gash appeared in the scorched earth, and smoke and dust billowed into the sky.

The protective shield of the great formation trembled violently, barely withstanding the attack.

People who had fled thousands of miles away were alarmed and all craned their necks to look in this direction.

Liu Xianyue was shocked to see that the great formation had been activated. When everyone left earlier, they had clearly agreed that Zhong Jiuli would notify them when the Void Demon Clan appeared.

Now that she has activated the great formation herself, it is clear that she has encountered an uncontrollable danger.

"Jiang Zhiming, you stay here, I'll go check what's going on," Liu Xianyue instructed, and then she took to the air.

Jiang Zhizhi followed her, "Don't be reckless. The Heaven and Earth Sealing Array has already been activated. Do you intend to break the array from the outside? What if you release the Void Demon Clan?"

“I’m not such a reckless person. I’ll go check if Zhong Jiuli is alright.”

Liu Xianyue was very anxious. Although she thought Zhong Jiuli was very strong, terrifyingly strong, the Void Demon Clan was a force that had nearly wiped out the entire Nine Provinces Continent. Her opponent was too strong, and she couldn't help but worry.

The rest of the people were also rushing towards the scorched earth, even though they didn't know how they could help there.

Even those with ulterior motives were worried that something might happen to Zhong Jiuli, and then no one would be there to stop the Void Demon Clan.

Inside the great formation, the light gradually faded.

On the scorched earth, two figures faced each other across the distance.

Zhong Jiuli was dressed in white, pure as snow, untouched by any dust. The violent explosion had no effect on her whatsoever.

She stood in mid-air, holding a large bow, surrounded by stars, like the bright moon surrounded by stars.

The Void Demon King was surrounded by black energy, yet he remained unharmed.

"Hehehe... You're actually alright?" the Void Demon King hissed. "Tens of thousands of years have passed, and I thought the Kunxu Continent had fallen into decline. I never expected that someone like you would still exist."

“I’m the only one who’s alright; you’ll die,” Zhong Jiuli said expressionlessly.

She finished speaking, then paused, somewhat stunned. Wasn't this what that stinky tiger loved to do most? Before every fight, he always said things that were sure to infuriate people; had she unknowingly picked it up?

However, there's a strange sense of exhilaration about it; no wonder that guy likes it.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Zhong Jiuli: Strange, why am I starting to talk nonsense? It's all that stinky tiger's fault for leading me astray. [Laughing][Laughing][Laughing]