Chapter 175: The Dual Saints Battle Formation, First Display of Divine Power
The news of the Battle of Black Wind Pass, where the two Sacred Realms had struck with thunder and instantly annihilated a vanguard of the Demon Abyss, spread like wildfire throughout the spirit world, greatly boosting the morale of the "Balanced Symbiosis" faction and offering a glimmer of hope to the war-torn beings. The thresholds of the Nether Pavilion and the Nine Heavens Palace were practically broken down by the monks seeking their support. Factions that had previously wavered submitted letters of alliance, and the Third Faction's prestige suddenly became unrivaled.
However, the offensives of the Temple and the Demonic Abyss didn't slow; instead, they intensified. Apparently in response to Ye Li and Qin Yixuan's intervention and to quash this new threat, both sides intensified their attacks on the Spirit Realm's native forces, spreading the flames of war and becoming increasingly ruthless. The Temple no longer limited itself to targeting explicit "heretics," but began purging any forces that showed sympathy or leaning toward the "balanced camp." The Demonic Abyss became even more unscrupulous, often leaving a thick layer of demonic contamination after slaughtering a city, turning it into a breeding ground for more demons and attempting to fundamentally corrupt the Spirit Realm.
This time, the target was a fertile land in Zhongzhou known as "Hundred Flower Plains." Not only was this region rich in spiritual energy, teeming with a variety of rare and precious flowers and herbs, it was also home to dozens of time-honored small and medium-sized sects and cultivation families adhering to traditional natural cultivation philosophies. These aloof people worshipped plant spirits and delved into the study of alchemy and natural magic. Following Ye Li and Qin Yixuan's declaration, most of these factions, while not explicitly expressing their stance, had already shown a sympathetic inclination and had secretly made initial contact with Youge.
Such a piece of "pure land" and important resource producing area that is about to be taken into possession naturally attracted strong covetousness from the hostile camp, and they were determined to get rid of it as soon as possible.
The Eternal Temple was once again the first to launch the attack. A "Purification Army," led by a senior cardinal, Orton the "Staff of Judgment," and far larger than the one at the Valley of Beasts, suddenly appeared on the outskirts of the Hundred Flower Plains. Tens of thousands of Knights of Light, mounted on armored wildebeests, formed a rigorous "Sacred Barrier" battle formation, like a moving metal mountain range, emanating a suffocating pressure of order. Hundreds of priests, clad in platinum robes, formed the center of the army, chanting the ancient and solemn hymns of purification in unison. Their voices coalesced into tangible sound waves, rippling the very air wherever they passed.
They offered no ultimatum or opportunity for negotiation. Bishop Orton raised aloft his scepter, adorned with the "Eye of Judgment" gemstone, and declared in a cold voice, "The inhabitants of this place are spiritually mixed, worshipping false gods and straying from the light of eternal order! According to Chapter 7, Article 4 of the Temple Law, they must be thoroughly purged and order restored! In the name of the God-King of Light, purification!"
"Purification!"
Amidst a thunderous roar, the legion moved. The knights pointed their lances at the Hundred Flower Plain, their tips condensing into dazzling holy flames. The priests' chants suddenly became more resonant, and beams of milky white purifying light, like swords of divine retribution, first struck the villages and spiritual fields at the edge of the Hundred Flower Plain.
Under the holy light, the beautiful, vibrant sea of flowers withered and faded at a visible speed, reducing them to ash. The rich spiritual energy within them was forcibly drained from the earth and plants, twisting and wailing in the holy light, ultimately "purified" into the purest yet lifeless element of light. The plant spirits, worshipped for generations by local monks and already possessing intelligence, wailed shrilly, inhumanely, beneath the holy light. Their ethereal, beautiful forms vanished like mist exposed to the blazing sun, leaving behind only the last traces of unwilling consciousness.
The cultivators of Baihuayuan, overcome with grief and indignation, fought desperately under the leadership of their respective elders. Alchemists unleashed multicolored poisonous miasma, formation masters hastily activated mountain-protecting formations, and wood masters urged ancient trees to wave their branches... However, despite their exquisite power, they seemed scattered and weak before the organized Temple army, blessed by the unified laws of order. Purifying beams of light easily pierced the hastily deployed formations, and holy flames burned through the poisonous miasma and ancient trees. The knights' charge was like a hammer against glass, and the defenses were falling back. The beautiful plains were being "formatted" piece by piece into a desolate, silent expanse of pure white.
The atmosphere of despair spread across Baihuayuan.
Just when the core area of "Hundred Flowers Valley" was about to be devoured by the holy flame and countless monks were showing despair, a sudden change occurred!
The sky, once radiant and bright with the holy light of the Temple Legion, suddenly darkened. It wasn't dark clouds covering the sun, but rather countless brilliant phantoms of stars emerged from thin air, interweaving into a vast, starry canvas! Then, a gentle, yet incomparably resilient, curtain of starlight descended like the Milky Way, like a giant glass bowl, crashing down, enveloping the entire Baihua Plain core area and the massive Temple Purification Legion!
Above the light curtain, the sun, moon, and stars slowly move along mysterious paths, emitting a majestic aura that isolates the inside and outside and suppresses all things!
"The Great Zhou Tian Xing Chen Guardian Formation, rise!"
Qin Yixuan's voice, as clear and cool as an icy spring striking jade, seemed to echo from the depths of the universe, resonating clearly in the hearts of every living being. She hovered at the apogee of the formation, the radiant power of the Mystic Goddess blending seamlessly with the vast star array below. She seemed to become the core and soul of the formation. The formation, once complete, not only instantly severed the Temple Legion's energy connection with the outside world, and even with the mysterious Temple headquarters, but also significantly weakened and repelled the pervasive, disturbing purification chants and the pressure of order.
The Baihuayuan monks in the formation suddenly felt their bodies lighten. The influence of the hymn that made their spiritual energy flow sluggish and their minds rigid suddenly decreased, and their morale, which was on the verge of collapse, was boosted.
"It's the Xuannv Sanctuary! The Xuannv Sanctuary has come to save us!"
"Heaven will not destroy Baihuayuan!"
The ecstasy and excitement of escaping from a desperate situation turned into thunderous cheers.
The commander of the Temple Legion, Bishop Orton, suddenly grew gloomy. He looked up at the remarkably graceful figure atop the formation, a flicker of disbelief and deep dread in his eyes. The sophistication and power of this formation far exceeded his expectations. "Xuan Nu Sanctuary!" he shouted, attempting to break through the formation's interference with the power of order embodied in his voice. "You, the Heir of Light, dare to openly obstruct the Temple's execution of the oracle and the maintenance of cosmic order? This is a treasonous act!"
"Order?" Qin Yixuan's voice, tinged with a hint of stern mockery, emanated clearly through the formation. "Disregarding the wishes of all living beings, trampling on the diversity of all things, forcing your rules upon us, and annihilating those who dissent, this is not order, it is brutality! What I protect is life itself, the right of all living things to coexist!"
Before she finished her words, she had already formed the Star Seal with both hands. Within the formation, the situation shifted again! The light curtain, originally a defensive barrier, now shed countless warm and pure starlight points, nourishing the land burned by the holy light like a gentle rain. Even the roots of the withered spiritual plants sprouted faint sparks of life. Simultaneously, this starlight also fell upon the injured Hundred Flowers Origin cultivators, rapidly healing their wounds and purifying the Order-force that had invaded their bodies. Furthermore, an invisible star force field spread out, wrapping around the members of the Holy Temple Legion like countless invisible threads, slowing their movements and causing the battle formation to noticeably stagnate.
Bishop Orton was shocked and angry. He was about to order a forceful attack to break the formation, but he sensed an extremely dangerous aura had appeared in the core area of his own battle formation!
A deep, dark figure that seemed to absorb all light and sound, like a ghost tearing through space, appeared silently among a group of light priests who were chanting together and trying to use the "Great Purification Technique" to attack the center of the formation.
It’s Ye Li!
Her arrival did not cause any energy fluctuations, as if she already belonged there, to this battlefield shrouded in reincarnation.
She didn't even look at Bishop Orton, whose face changed drastically not far away. Her cold eyes swept across the priests who were slightly panicked by the suppression of the formation and her sudden appearance.
"Reincarnation... deprivation."
Her red lips parted slightly, and she uttered four icy words, like the whispers of death. With a casual flick of her slender jade finger, a faint, almost invisible stream of gray light, like a venomous snake weaving between reality and illusion, instantly sank into the body of a high priest in the middle stage of Nirvana, who was leading the rhythm of the hymn.
The head priest's body suddenly stiffened, the fanatical expression on his face frozen, giving way to utter terror. The surging luminous spiritual energy that once surged like a river now gushed out like a collapsing dam, uncontrollably and madly leaking out! His aura plummeted like an avalanche, from the middle stage of Nirvana, to the early stages, to the Soul Realm, to the Soul Transformation Realm... in the space of a single breath, he plummeted all the way to the pitiful Spirit Awakening Realm! Unable to maintain his levitation, he let out a shrill, despairing cry, plummeting from the air, landing on the ground, his life or death unknown. And the powerful purifying holy light he had previously channeled, without its core support, quickly dissipated like a rootless tree, vanishing.
This bizarre and terrifying scene instantly made the scalps of all the surrounding temple monks explode, and a chill ran down their spines! Depriving one's cultivation! What an incredible method!
"It's the Samsara Sanctuary! Be careful of her laws! Don't let her get close!" Bishop Orton roared in shock and anger, while rapidly tapping his scepter. "Law: Holy Confinement!"
An incredibly condensed halo, composed of countless golden chains of order, emanated a terrifying wave of energy that froze spiritual energy and imprisoned the soul. It instantly spanned space and enveloped Ye Li. This was a high-level divine art from the temple, powerful enough to easily trap a supreme being of the same rank.
However, Ye Li merely glanced at the halo, and the invisible samsara sanctuary around her rippled slightly. The chain halo, imbued with the powerful force of order, seemed to sink into an invisible quagmire of space and time the moment it entered the three-meter radius around her. Its speed suddenly decreased a hundredfold, and the order runes flowing through it seemed to have encountered their nemesis. Their light quickly dimmed, their structure collapsed, and finally, like a weathered sand sculpture, they silently dissipated into the most basic point of light, quietly swallowed by the samsara sanctuary.
Bishop Orton's pupils suddenly shrank, and he was horrified! He knew that the Samsara Sanctuary was powerful, but he had never expected that the other party's law level could so easily disintegrate the core divine arts of the temple!
As Ye Li neutralized the attack, her figure blurred again. The next moment, she appeared in the middle of a group of elite knights who had formed the "Holy Light Guardian Sword Formation."
"Six Paths of Reincarnation, Devouring Souls!"
She raised her palm upward, and a chaotic vortex, barely the size of a fist, yet so deep it seemed to connect to the abyss of the universe, emerged from thin air. An irresistible, terrifying suction suddenly erupted! It wasn't directed at the body, but directly affected the very essence of life, the very foundation of the soul, and the very understanding of the laws!
The gleaming holy light shields of the elite knights shattered like paper. They were horrified to discover that the spiritual energy they had painstakingly cultivated for hundreds and thousands of years, their vibrant vitality, and even their understanding of the laws of light, were being forcibly drained away by a brutal force, continuously being thrown into the small vortex of chaos! They opened their mouths, but no sound emanated. The light in their eyes quickly dimmed, and their plump bodies shrank at a visible speed, eventually becoming a few dried corpses wrapped in tattered armor. They fell from the sky, reduced to ashes before they even hit the ground.
Ye Li was like a formless grim reaper walking the battlefield. Her attacks were devoid of earth-shattering explosions or dazzling displays of light and shadow, only an irresistible indifference and precision that penetrated the very essence of the laws. Under the comprehensive suppression and support of the Zhou Tian Xingchen Guardian Formation, she unleashed the strange, domineering, and judgmental qualities of the power of samsara to its fullest potential. Sometimes she transformed her fingers into swords, shattering the enemy's natal magic weapons; sometimes she triggered a small samsara vortex, devouring and disintegrating the Templars in an area along with her attacks; sometimes she unleashed a samsara illusion, forcing enemies trapped within it to slaughter each other...
Qin Yixuan sat poised at the center of the formation, commanding the entire situation. Her spiritual awareness connected to the entire formation, she had a complete grasp of the battlefield situation. Sometimes she summoned the light of the stars, condensing them into "evil-destroying starlight spears" that, as if possessed of life, bypassed allies and pierced with uncanny precision the minor Templar leaders and Bishop Orton's deputies attempting to organize a counterattack. Other times, she rained down "star nectar," imbued with the rich aura of life, which not only healed the cultivators of the Hundred Flowers Plains but even revitalized some less severely damaged spiritual plants. Furthermore, with her masterful star illusions, she sowed chaos among the Templar legions, transforming their perceived allies into ferocious monsters that unleashed their attacks upon their own ranks...
The two saints worked together with such tacit understanding that they seemed to share a single soul. One was in charge of the interior, like the most precise surgical scalpel, using the power of reincarnation to carry out deadly point-to-point elimination and disintegrate the laws; the other was in charge of the exterior, like the most solid fortress and the most wise commander, controlling the rhythm of the battlefield with the star array, purifying negative status, protecting allies, and assisting attacks.
The Temple Purification Corps, once so formidable and capable of easily annihilating a large sect, was now like a beast caught in a web of devastating power, caught in this internal and external assault and the crushing power of the laws. Its immense power lay doomed to destruction, its formation fragmented, its command system paralyzed, and its individual strength steadily weakened and stripped away. The knights' charge was slowed by the stellar force field, the priests' chants interrupted by the power of samsara, and Ye Li snuffed out their combined divine art before it could even begin to form.
Bishop Orton's eyes were bloodshot. He attempted to ignite the power of his faith, forcibly drawing upon the might of the "Eye of Judgment" and unleash a "Great Judgment" powerful enough to severely damage or even kill an ordinary Sanctuary. However, isolated by the protective formation of the celestial stars, his connection to the temple headquarters became extremely weak, and the power he gathered fell far short of his expectations. Just as he finally managed to condense a sacred orb of light that twisted the void and emanated destructive waves, Ye Li's figure appeared not far in front of him like a ghost. A "Reincarnation Tribulation Finger," imbued with the spirit of "Nirvana," struck him first, touching the scepter in his hand!
"Crack!"
The precious "Eye of Judgment" gem on the top of the scepter let out a wail of being overwhelmed, and was instantly covered with cracks. The terrifying energy gathered in it went out of control and backfired, blowing Bishop Orton to pieces and causing him to vomit blood and fly backwards, his breath almost weakened.
Even the supreme commander suffered a severe blow, and the remaining Templars completely collapsed. The survivors, no longer concerned with order and honor, fled like headless flies, attempting to break through the Star Formation's blockade. However, Qin Yixuan's mind moved, and the formation's light curtain swirled, dividing and encircling the fleeing troops. The starlight transformed into endless sword energy and chains, carrying out the final cleansing blow.
In the end, only Bishop Orton and his two strongest lieutenants, relying on the burning essence of life and a precious Holy Temple air-breaking talisman, managed to tear a tiny crack in the formation. They fled in panic, covered in wounds and filled with endless fear. The rest of the tens of thousands of Holy Temple elites were completely killed.
Baihuayuan, defended.
As the veil of starlight that enveloped the heavens and earth slowly dissipated, and the warm sunlight once again shone upon this land, ravaged yet ultimately resilient, the surviving Hundred Flowers Plain cultivators gazed upon the two figures in the sky, their robes flowing and their grace unrivaled. Tears welled in their eyes, and they prostrated themselves in deep worship. Countless thoughts of gratitude and reverence, like a trickle of water, converged upon Ye Li and Qin Yixuan.
In this battle, the Twin Sacred Realms not only saved Baihuayuan but also, with their unrivaled strength, declared their power and conviction to the entire spirit world! The might of the Twin Sacred Realms, like the might of heaven, completely shocked the world, forcing both the Holy Temple and the Demonic Abyss to reassess the threat and challenge posed by this new third faction.
However, just as Ye Li was using the power of reincarnation to meticulously sense and disintegrate the core of the power of the temple monks during the battle, and was tracing back their weak connection with the temple headquarters in an attempt to spy on more of the temple's true strength, an extremely obscure, cold, vicious, and familiar evil feeling that was deeply engraved in her mind flashed from the depths of the Demon Abyss' sphere of influence in the far north, like a poisonous snake lurking in the shadows!
This breath... is filled with curses, betrayal, and the chaos and brutality unique to the Demonic Abyss, but the true spiritual fluctuations at the core of its deepest point are something Ye Li will never mistake even if he crosses reincarnation!
The Bone-Eroding Venerable! The traitor who had been a thorn in her side in her past life, the master of secretly casting cursed soul arts, and the one who had dealt the crucial blow in her downfall!
He wasn't dead! Furthermore, not only had he surrendered to the Demon Abyss, but he also seemed to have devoured vast quantities of spiritual essence and the Demon Abyss' essence through some extremely sinister secret method. His strength had skyrocketed, breaking through that barrier and reaching the peak of the Early Saint Realm! This was even a small step higher than the Early Saint Realm she and Qin Yixuan were currently at!
This sense of surveillance was fleeting, but Ye Li's Samsara Sanctuary was so perceptive that she instantly pinpointed its source—the specific coordinates of a forbidden area known as "Demon Burial Mountain" deep within the Demon Abyss's sphere of influence! Demonic energy surged there, and resentment gathered. It was clearly a key Demon Abyss stronghold, and Venerable Bone Erosion was currently hiding there!
The enemy's whereabouts are clear here!
Ye Li's eyes flashed with coldness, a chilling murderous intent that threatened to freeze the air around him. On the list of those to be cleared of blood debts, this name was heavily circled, emitting a terrifying glow of hatred.
Demon Burial Mountain... Bone-Eroding Old Ghost...
It's time to personally settle this feud that has lasted two lifetimes! This isn't just for revenge, but perhaps, we can also pry out more secrets about the core of the Demon Abyss and the deeper secrets of the betrayal from this old ghost!
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