Chapter 150: How did the two-day battle break apart?
Under the dim sky, the massive demon army held their breath, all staring at the white-clad figure, eager to witness her death.
The three demon emperors were even more ferocious, eager to see how this hateful Zhulong would be annihilated, body and soul, under the ancient ancestor's sword.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhong Jiuli finally made a move. She slightly raised her palm, and a great bow with flowing starlight came across the ages.
"Buzz!"
The humming sound of the bowstring vibrating echoed between heaven and earth. With just a soft sound, tens of thousands of low-level demons exploded and died, turning into a cloud of blood mist.
It was an extremely ancient and terrifying great bow. The bow was shaped like a dragon, covered with dragon scales, with white tigers coiled at both ends, and the arrows were forged from the feathers of the Vermilion Bird.
She flicked her wrist, and a crimson arrow was nocked onto the bowstring.
This imperial bow carries the final blessings and power of a deceased friend; it is a trump card that Zhong Jiuli has never used.
Now facing her strongest opponent in her life, she finally held nothing back.
"My old friends, help me vanquish the enemy."
Zhong Jiuli drew the bowstring, her body radiating dazzling starlight, and a river of time surged forth behind her. This arrow embodied all the knowledge she had acquired throughout her life.
The crimson arrow trembled and shot through the air.
The two most powerful beings simultaneously unleashed their strongest attacks.
But to the surprise of all the Void Demons, this arrow did not strike the world-destroying sword light.
"Oh no, she wants to kill us!" Yaoshan roared, retreating in terror.
The other two demon emperors also dodged and retreated, instantly disappearing a million miles away, leaving behind only a group of bewildered demon army.
The demon army was thrown into chaos at this moment, and many powerful demons retreated as they all felt fear.
Crimson arrows streaked across the sky like meteors, followed by a phantom azure dragon wagging its tail, and a white tiger roared as it charged forward. The Vermilion Bird spread its wings, scorching the heavens.
The phantoms of the three Immortal Emperors appeared simultaneously, carrying the power to crush all heavens, and went straight for the bronze skeleton.
Faced with this unexpected attack, the soul fire in the bronze skeleton's eye sockets flickered, clearly showing some surprise that the opponent dared to take the initiative to attack.
It was confident that its bones, tempered to the extreme, could withstand any attack, but it would not be arrogant.
The rusty ancient sword was raised and held horizontally in front of his chest.
clang!
The moment the arrows clashed, the world fell silent for a moment, followed by a deafening roar. The shockwave from the collision swept across the area, instantly obliterating a group of demons who couldn't escape in time, turning them into dust.
Almost simultaneously, the earth-shattering sword light also descended.
Inside Zhong Jiuli's clothes, an ancient tortoise shell shone with a warm luster, and the phantom of Xuanwu stood tall, forming an absolute defense.
The sword light collided with the tortoise shell, producing a loud, resounding clang.
This world was enveloped in an extremely dazzling light, and in the void, there were jagged and terrifying cracks.
The two supreme experts nearly shattered this world with just one strike each.
When the light faded, only Zhong Jiuli in white and the skeleton clad in tattered bronze armor remained on the battlefield.
The bronze skeleton looked down at the ancient sword in its hand, a chip appearing on the rusty blade.
In the distance, Zhong Jiuli coughed lightly, a trickle of bright red blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. Even with the Xuanwu tortoise shell protecting her, she was still injured by that sword strike.
Ultimately, her opponent was still half a step stronger than her.
"very good......"
The bronze skeleton chuckled softly, its eyes flickering with soul fire. "The stronger you are, the more perfect food you become to me."
Zhong Jiuli remained silent, but once again drew her bow and nocked an arrow, the crimson arrow piercing the air.
The great battle erupted completely. The bronze skeleton swung its sword to meet the attack. Each time the ancient sword struck, it stirred up the death energy in the world, frantically devouring everything around it.
Crimson arrows streaked across the sky like meteors, repeatedly crashing into the ancient sword.
The Sea of Nothingness shattered completely, and spacetime turbulence raged. The Kunxu Jade Bottle was inevitably affected in this great battle.
Within the borders of Kyushu, mountains and rivers trembled.
The highly skilled cultivators sensed this and all looked up at the sky.
......
Deep within the endless sea, Zhong Jiuli, who had just completed her half-step Immortal Emperor tribulation, finished her meditation and slowly opened her eyes. Her immortal light was restrained, and her aura was several times stronger than before her tribulation.
She gazed intently at the sky beyond, staring for a long time before opening the passage and returning to the secret realm.
Bai is also sparring with Lin Jinghong. The two number one geniuses of Kyushu, separated by hundreds of years, are locked in a fierce battle.
Upon seeing Zhong Jiuli's return, Bai immediately stopped what he was doing and went to greet her: "Zhong Jiuli, you're finally back. It feels like I haven't seen you for over a decade."
"Mm." Zhong Jiuli responded, raised her hand to pull Bai Ye into her arms, stroked her fluffy tiger ears, and said softly, "You and everyone else can cultivate here. I have something to do and need to leave for a while."
"What is it? Where are you going again? Didn't she tell us to cultivate here properly?"
Zhong Jiuli pointed to the sky, "Go help her."
Bai looked up at the sky and asked, "Are they attacking again?"
The two spoke very softly, but everyone present heard them clearly. Everyone's expression changed, and they all looked up at the sky.
The place was very peaceful, and the sky was naturally serene, without the slightest abnormality.
Zhong Jiuli nodded, her gaze falling on Liu Xianyue.
Without a word, Liu Xianyue immediately flew forward and asked, "Is there anything you need me to do?"
"You shall convey my order to mobilize all the manpower of the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion, the Three Pure Ones Sect, and all the major sects to send all mortals of the Nine Provinces to the Wilderness State. The Tower of Babel in the capital of the Great Li Dynasty is quite miraculous and may be able to protect everyone."
Even Liu Xianyue, who was used to seeing all kinds of storms, was stunned when she heard these words: "All mortals?"
“All of them,” Zhong Jiuli affirmed. “I don’t know if Kyushu can survive this calamity, but at the very least, we must protect all living beings until the very last moment.”
Liu Xianyue opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything. Everyone knew what this decision meant. Zhong Jiuli wouldn't have made such a decision unless it was a matter of life and death.
"I'll go with you." Bai also clung to her, unwilling to leave, his claws tightly gripping her clothes.
"You stay here and cultivate diligently. I'll go help her. That should buy us some more time."
"You won't die, right?" Bai looked up at her, his eyes slightly red.
"Of course!" Zhong Jiuli lowered his head and touched her forehead, a slight smile playing on his lips. "I'm waiting for the great battle to end so I can have a grand wedding with the number one genius of Kyushu."
"Then go help her. I know she has it a million times harder than any of us."
"Okay, wait for me to come back."
Zhong Jiuli patted her head one last time, then turned and left.
The secret realm returned to silence, but a tense atmosphere permeated the air as everyone worked even harder, wanting to improve their cultivation as quickly as possible.
Bai sat on the lotus petals, unable to calm down for a moment. She asked in her mind, "Little Wang, this book won't kill the female lead, right?"
Don't worry, honey, we've got a sweet love book!
Even though Bai knew the script Xiao Wang had was unreliable, her assurance still put his mind at ease.
Perhaps all stories are like this. Before the grand finale, the protagonist always has to defeat a few powerful monsters, and then at dawn, they laugh and embrace on the battlefield, shouting, "We did it! Awesome!"
Bai stopped thinking nonsense and closed his eyes to concentrate.
The most urgent task is to improve her cultivation level as soon as possible, at least to reach the Ascension Realm, otherwise she won't even be qualified to participate in the final battle.
She had reached the peak of Mahayana cultivation some time ago, but breaking through to a higher realm is always a mysterious matter; it's not something you can simply do at will. No matter how anxious she was, if she couldn't reach the threshold of that breakthrough, everything would be in vain.
Bai also raised her tiger claws, and with a slight thought, a ball of turquoise divine water appeared in her palm.
To be honest, she didn't actually intend to eat this stuff. After all, it was holy water that had been soaked in a corpse; eating it would be the same as consuming corpse water, wouldn't it?
But for now, this is the only thing she can rely on.
"Never mind, I'll just pretend I'm a wild tiger." Bai closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and put the ball of chaotic divine water into his mouth.
boom!
A terrifying surge of life force and death energy, almost enough to cause her to explode, erupted simultaneously within her body!
Bai never expected that this divine water would also contain death energy, even though the water smelled full of life and had no abnormalities at all.
Almost instantly, her body began to change.
The fur lost its luster, the flesh quickly dried up, then rotted and fell off, revealing the pale golden tiger bones.
In the blink of an eye, Bai Ye turned into a skeleton, her body devoid of any flesh or blood, and a dense aura of death emanated from her.
"White!"
Ming Wushuang, who was closest to Bai Ye, was the first to notice something was wrong. She stood up and looked at Bai Ye.
Everyone was startled awake by this sudden turn of events and gathered around.
Bai Zhu's expression changed drastically, and without thinking, he stepped forward to try to help.
She had barely moved when she was stopped by Old Lady Bai. "Don't rush, let's take another look."
Before the words had even finished, Bai, who had transformed into a skeleton, began to radiate a blue light once more. The life force contained within the Chaos Divine Water began to take over, and the skeleton began to grow flesh and fur again. In just a few breaths, Bai completed a cycle from birth to death.
Everyone immediately understood that she must have consumed some kind of divine substance and was refining it. They dispersed and retreated to a distance to watch, so as not to disturb her.
Sure enough, the next moment, Bai Ye's body began to wither and decay at a visible speed, turning into a skeleton.
The horrifying sight held everyone's breath. It was clear to everyone that the little tiger was enduring unimaginable pain. Each withering and regeneration of flesh was comparable to a slow, agonizing death.
In each cycle of life and death, Bai Ye's aura grew rapidly stronger. Each withering of flesh and blood tempered her physical body, and each rebirth solidified her divine soul.
After countless cycles of life and death, Bai Ye's aura reached its peak.
The spiritual energy within the secret realm surged towards her rapidly, forming a massive vortex above her head, while nebulae swirled in the sky above, showering down countless rays of starlight.
Bai's entire body lit up, and his Star Body operated autonomously, absorbing endless starlight into his body.
With the help of this immense power of the stars, she finally suppressed the death energy within her body, stabilized her body to prevent it from withering, and activated the Great Creation Scripture, mobilizing the life force of creation to break through the barrier to immortality.
This hurdle is arguably the most difficult on the path to immortality. It requires converting a portion of the spiritual energy within the body into immortal spiritual energy, a feat that has stumped countless geniuses.
The secret realm is home to the most outstanding geniuses in the Nine Provinces. Despite cultivating diligently for over ten years in such a superior environment, no one has been able to break through, which shows how difficult it is.
Even if Bai were to cultivate diligently on her own, it might take endless years to break through this barrier. But at this moment, relying on the boundless vitality within the Chaotic Divine Water, she repeatedly assaulted that solid barrier.
Each impact caused her to tremble violently and cough up blood.
"Open it for me!"
Bai roared angrily, the golden mark of the character "王" between his eyebrows radiating a light that illuminated the ages, and the Immortal Emperor's Dao Seed within his body awakened simultaneously.
The power of stars, the vitality of creation, and the origin of the imperial seed—these three forces merged into one, transforming into a torrent of energy that crashed headlong into the barrier blocking its path.
"Boom! Crack!"
Two loud explosions erupted inside Bai Ye's body, shattering the seemingly impregnable barrier.
Bai also spat out a mouthful of blood, but her aura continued to rise, and a powerful immortal aura permeated the air. The immortal spiritual energy in the secret realm seemed to be drawn to her and surged wildly towards her.
Upon seeing this, Hei Yang sighed softly, "What a little monster, he actually broke through so quickly."
Bai slowly rose to his feet, and when he opened his eyes, golden light burst forth, like two great suns piercing through the void.
She glanced around at everyone, nodded slightly, and then flashed away from the platform to face her ascension tribulation.
......
Beyond the Nine Provinces, in the void, the great war continues.
The once vast and boundless void collapsed completely, and shattered spatial fragments danced wildly in the air, causing countless ancient beings to suffer undeserved calamities.
By now, Zhong Jiuli and the bronze skeleton had figured out each other's strength.
The bronze skeleton grinned maliciously: "You are no match for me. Even if you burn your entire imperial blood and fight me for a hundred years, the outcome will not change. When you are exhausted, I will refine all the creatures in that bottle..."
"You won't have that chance." Zhong Jiuli's eyes were cold as she drew her bow again.
However, the crimson feathered arrow was no longer at her fingertips. Those arrows, crafted from the Vermilion Bird's divine feathers, had been completely exhausted in the previous fierce battle.
The opponent's ancient bronze sword was truly terrifying. Each strike contained an extremely destructive death aura that even the Celestial Emperor Divine Feather could not withstand. Otherwise, those arrows would not have been destroyed so easily.
"Stubborn to the end!"
The bronze skeleton let out a low whistle and attacked again with its sword.
Zhong Jiuli drew the bowstring with her bare hands, and arrows of law shot out one after another, clashing head-on with the opponent's sword light.
In the distance, the three great demon emperors who had fled millions of miles away had quietly returned, lying in ambush and looking for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.
As demons, they don't consider sneak attacks to be shameful.
Zhong Jiuli, already at a disadvantage, was now besieged on all sides. Not only did she have to deal with the devastating attacks of the bronze skeleton, but she also had to be on guard against the sneak attacks of the three demon emperors. She quickly fell into a disadvantageous position, and her white clothes were stained with blood.
What is most despicable is that the attacks of the three demon emperors were mostly aimed at the small jade bottle in her arms. Their purpose was clear: to shatter the container that held the Nine Provinces, so that the demon army could advance unimpeded, and then billions of living beings would become the demons' food.
"Shatter for me!" The old ape sneered, swinging his Starry Sky Staff with earth-shattering power, and smashed it into the jade bottle once more.
Zhong Jiuli's heart tightened. She chose to withstand the sword strike from the bronze skeleton and also to block the old ape's long staff.
At this critical moment, the jade bottle suddenly emitted a burst of blue light.
To the old ape's astonishment, another figure in white stepped out of the bottle, raising his jade-like hand to meet the old ape's devastating blow head-on.
As Zhong Jiuli stepped out of the Nine Provinces, she looked around at the shattered battlefield. When her gaze fell upon the bronze skeleton, she couldn't help but feel a chill. The terrifying pressure that surpassed the Emperor level made her instantly realize how dangerous the battle here was.
"You've actually stepped into the half-step Immortal Emperor realm?"
The old ape roared in disbelief. It clearly remembered that when it first awoke, this ant was merely a True Immortal. In just a few short years, this little candle dragon had already reached the Half-Step Immortal Emperor realm; its breakthrough speed was simply terrifying.
Jiuzhou Zhong Jiuli ignored it, instead meeting the gaze of her other self. Without a word, they understood each other's thoughts.
With a wave of her hand, an ancient longbow appeared. She drew the bow, nocked an arrow, and pointed the arrowhead directly at the three demon emperors.
"How can there be two Zhulong?"
The demons stared in shock at the other Zhong Jiuli that had suddenly appeared. With their demon emperor cultivation, they could naturally tell that this was not an avatar, but another Zhulong existing independently.
“It’s her from another timeline.” The Shadow Demon Emperor was the first to discern the truth. “But this one is clearly much weaker. Let’s attack together and kill her first!”
The three demon emperors joined forces, unleashing an extremely terrifying attack towards Zhong Jiuli of the Nine Provinces.
Faced with such an offensive, Jiuzhou Zhong Jiuli showed no fear. Her bowstring trembled, and a law arrow was released from the bow.
Each time he drew his bow, he fired three arrows simultaneously, thwarting the opponent's offensive. Although he was fighting three against one, he could temporarily maintain a stalemate by relying on the intervention of the laws of time.
On the main battlefield, Zhong Jiuli of the Void was able to concentrate on dealing with the bronze skeletons, and the originally precarious situation was finally barely stabilized.
Two versions of Zhong Jiuli from different timelines fight side-by-side against the enemy on this battlefield.
The battle reached a brief stalemate, but this calm did not last long.
After the bronze skeleton cleaved down with a sword, forcing the Void Bell Jiu Li back, it shook its head, and the soul fire in its eye sockets began to change.
"I... have been asleep for too long." Its voice was low, as if it were talking to itself, then it burst into laughter, "I've almost forgotten how to fight, and I can only slash with a sword like a child."
As the bronze skeleton spoke, it patted its head with its bone palms, and with each pat, the flames in its eye sockets transformed into two balls of pitch-black light.
It was an extreme black, as if it could devour everything in the world.
It blinked its eyes, sweeping across the battlefield, and everything began to vanish. The shattered remains of living beings turned to dust under its gaze. Even the raging turbulent currents of time and space became eerily calm.
"Run!" The three demon emperors were terrified at the sight and abandoned their battle, fleeing into the distance. They knew better than anyone the terror of the ancient ancestor's eyes—a forbidden power that even demon emperors could not withstand.
Void Bell Jiuli also felt this terrifying aura. After being swept by the other party's gaze, her primordial essence was rapidly draining away, her skin was losing its luster, her flesh was withering, and even her full head of black hair began to turn frosty white.
"Take the Kunxu Jade Bottle with you, and don't let its eyes see you. That gaze can devour life essence." Xu Wu Zhong Jiu Li made a quick decision and tossed the small jade bottle hidden in her bosom to another version of herself.
"Leave?" The bronze skeleton let out a low growl. "You can't leave. You'll all stay here!"
It turned its skull head and looked at the small jade bottle.
The once radiant jade bottle emitted a very slight clicking sound under this gaze.
The celestial light emanating from the bottle dimmed at an alarming rate. Even Jiu Li, who was holding the bottle, lost most of her life essence in an instant.
The old ape, having fled into the distance, roared triumphantly, "As far as our ancient ancestors could see, all things perished. Let's see how long you can struggle!"
In this life-or-death moment, the two Zhong Jiuli exchanged a glance and simultaneously abandoned any thought of escape. They quickly moved closer to each other, the power of the laws of time activating, causing the space around them to fluctuate violently.
The three demon emperors who had fled far away were shocked to discover that, under the gaze of their ancestor, the two of them had actually regained their life essence.
"Time reversal! They've combined their powers to unleash Time Reversal!" the Shadow Demon Emperor roared.
"How can mere spacetime power possibly stop me? It's just a death throes."
Black light surged in the bronze skeleton's eyes, and two extremely terrifying black beams shot out from the sky, heading straight for the two people.
The two Zhong Jiuli moved simultaneously, thrusting out their palms with dazzling silver light.
A massive time-space wheel appeared in front of them, blocking the incoming black light.
"Hmph, you can't stop me!" the bronze skeleton sneered, its black light growing ever brighter.
Under the impact of that destructive beam of light, the spacetime wheel began to gradually collapse, and countless cracks spread rapidly.
boom!
The time-space wheel shattered.
"Follow the laws of heaven and earth!"
With a low shout, the Void Bell Nine Li revealed her true form, which was ten thousand feet tall. She pointed her fingers, and silver light flowed, causing the river of time and space to surge, directly confronting the destructive black light.
The moment the black light touched the river of time, even the seemingly unsolvable laws of time and space were annihilated. The river dried up, but the black light continued its momentum and crashed directly into the jade bottle.
"Snap!"
A crisp cracking sound echoed through the void.
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the small jade bottle, with one crack running through the bottle and vaguely revealing the magnificent landscape inside.
The crisp sound of shattering reached the ears of every living being in Kyushu.
In Kyushu, the sky is azure, and the weather is fine and sunny.
All living beings, regardless of strength or location, looked up at the sky at the same moment.
Everyone saw that a huge crack running east to west had suddenly appeared in the originally azure sky.
Through that crack, all living beings could see the chaotic and terrifying scene outside.
And beyond that crack, there stood a colossal, towering phantom of a Dharma form, radiating a soft silver glow!
The Dharma image, its entire body shimmering with silver light, stood tall and straight, cradling a young woman in white robes stained with blood in one hand. The woman held a small jade bottle in her palm. The Dharma image's other hand, fingers joined like a sword, pointed forward. An ominous black light swirled around its massive knuckles, spreading and consuming the Dharma image's true form.
The vast imperial might spread, causing the souls of all living beings to tremble even across the world barrier.
"Heavens! Sect Master Zhong is fighting against the Void Demon Clan in the outer realms."
"He is a figure of the Demon Emperor level."
"Why...are we inside a bottle?"
Many young monks were shocked and frightened, not understanding what was happening.
Some of the more powerful old demons instantly understood. They understood why the path to immortality was severed and why no one could ascend.
"Mother... why is the sky cracked?" a young child asked innocently, pointing to the sky.
These child's words expressed the sentiments of all living beings in the land of Kyushu.
The sky has truly cracked open.
Catastrophe struck, and the world was overturned.
When the sky was torn apart and that white-clad figure facing off against the billions of demons appeared before everyone's eyes, the calamity that befell the Nine Provinces truly began.
"Quickly!!! Activate all teleportation arrays."
At the same time, thousands of branches of the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion lit up with pillars of light reaching the heavens. From the snowy plains of the North to the mountains of the South, wherever there was a branch of the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion, millions of mortals flocked in.
In addition, the teleportation channels of major cities and the ancestral magic arrays of various families are being activated at all costs. Spirit stones are burning wildly, and the collapse of array foundations is not an option.
Elderly people led children, mothers held babies, and all the elderly, weak, women, and children were given priority to be sent into the teleportation array and into the capital of the Great Li Dynasty.
At this moment, no one questioned whether Zhong Jiuli's orders were correct. Everyone was united in their efforts to save more lives.
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