Chapter 153: The Great Battle of Wu Zhong Jiu Li Ends in Defeat, the Demon Emperor Descends, and Humanity Faces Another...
"boom!"
The beam of starlight, like a sword of divine punishment, slashed down fiercely.
The blinding light instantly engulfed the demon emperor and his guards who were charging ahead, and the terrifying energy shock tore a giant ravine tens of thousands of miles long into the earth.
When the dust settled, several demon emperors who had charged at the forefront perished on the spot. The remaining few who had not fallen had their armor shattered, their bodies covered in blood, and their auras extremely weak.
"good!!!"
"Kill them!! Kill all these bastards!"
"White is invincible!!"
This earth-shattering blow greatly boosted the morale of the human cultivators. Countless young cultivators roared as they fought.
Bai also hovered in mid-air, her breathing slightly rapid. That all-out attack had almost drained all of her spiritual power.
"My cultivation level is still too low..."
She was helpless. In this kind of battlefield, using a powerful skill would deplete half of her mana, making it impossible to fight.
"Dharma Form! Appear!"
Bai Ye made a hand seal and shouted! In an instant, the true forms of the four Dharma images appeared, namely the White Tiger, the World Tree, the Black Dragon, and the original body.
The four Dharma forms each occupied a side, instantly forming the Four Symbols Dharma Array.
The moment the formation was completed, the spiritual energy of this world rushed in, flowing into Bai Ye's body continuously through the Four Symbols cycle, replenishing her energy reserves rapidly.
Seeing that the Zhou Tian Grand Array could still be maintained for the time being, Bai also relied on the support of the Four Symbols Grand Array to begin clearing out the high-level demon emperors who were besieging him from the outside.
The pressure on everyone inside the Star Array immediately lessened, and many people began to take out pills and put them in their mouths to replenish their consumed spiritual energy.
However, Bai Ye's attack, which gathered the power of the stars, was too dazzling and instantly became the most eye-catching focus on the battlefield, also arousing the killing intent of the remaining half-step demon emperors.
A black, skeletal bird demon emperor, devoid of any flesh or blood, soared into the sky. As its massive body moved, it resembled a black continent floating in the clouds, causing space to collapse wherever it went, its power terrifying.
"Bah!"
A piercing scream that reached the very depths of their souls rang out, and many young cultivators were struck as if by lightning. The light in their eyes instantly went out, and their bodies went limp as they fell to the ground.
Bai Ye's mind was shaken by the blow, but fortunately, the golden mark of the character "王" between her eyebrows shone again, casting golden rays that blocked the mental impact.
"Descendant of the White Tiger Clan, this body is full of pure blood essence. It would be a great tonic to devour it!" The bone bird opened its huge beak and made a shrill, unpleasant sound.
Bai stood with her sword in hand, her dark gold armor gleaming, making her appear extremely heroic and extraordinary. Facing such a powerful opponent, she retorted without fear: "You feathered beast, not only are you hairless, but you don't even have two ounces of meat. I wouldn't even want to use you for soup."
"Arrogant brat!" the bone bird cursed, letting out another piercing shriek that struck straight to the soul.
Bai was unaffected by the sound attack, but the people behind her couldn't withstand it.
Her eyes sharpened, and she opened her mouth to roar: "Awooo~~"
The tiger's roar shook the heavens, and golden sound waves surged forth, neutralizing the bone bird's attack.
"You bald bird, shut your stinking mouth!" Bai, carrying Dahei, streaked across the sky like a dark golden meteor, heading straight for his opponent, a half-step demon emperor.
clang!
The bone bird's sharp claws clashed with the dark heavy sword, producing a metallic clang.
Bai Ye's body trembled violently, as if struck by a meteorite. She was sent flying backward, the void beneath her feet shattering as she stomped on it, until she finally regained her footing tens of thousands of miles away.
"Cough~"
She spat out a mouthful of blood, her blood and qi surging, unable to calm down. The gap between two major realms could not be bridged by external force.
Even though the dark gold armor boosted her combat power to the True Immortal Realm, she still couldn't withstand a single blow from her opponent.
"Pathetic!" The bone bird sneered, its figure flashed, and it directly crossed tens of thousands of miles of void to arrive in front of Bai Ye, swinging its sharp claws to grab her.
Bai also raised his sword to parry, but was once again slammed into the depths of the ground by a claw, stirring up a cloud of dust.
"Later, I'll have to have a good taste of whether your bones are as hard as your mouth!" As the bone bird spoke, it flashed away and chased after Bai Ye.
"Descendant of the White Tiger Clan, I also want to have a taste!" Another nine-tailed jackal, resembling a jackal with bony spurs on its back and wings, and nine tails, roared and came to Bai Ye's side, wanting to snatch Bai Ye from the bone bird.
It could also see that this white tiger had extraordinary bloodline, and that eating it might help it break through to the Emperor Realm.
"What? You can eat it, but I can't?" Another lizard-like demon emperor with terrifying horns also appeared.
The three half-step demon emperors were all eyeing Bai covetously.
The pure and powerful bloodline aura emanating from Bai Ye was an absolute boon to them.
"This is my prey!" the bone bird roared angrily, flapping its wings in an attempt to drive the two away.
Bai, at the bottom of the pit, also gasped for breath. She took out a Creation Lotus Seed from her spatial storage and ate it. The ruptured wounds on her body were instantly healed. Then she took out a large ball of Chaos Divine Water, stuffed it into her mouth, and swallowed it.
"Eat, eat, eat your grandpa! I'll cleave you all to death with one sword!" Bai roared as he flew out of the deep pit, his body a mixture of death and life, and even the sword light carried a hint of death.
"Roar!" the lizard bull roared, "Why do you taste so disgusting now? I'll ram you to death!"
It shook its head, and its two jet-black bull horns came flying through the air, almost piercing through this world, with awe-inspiring power.
The nine-tailed jackal roared and spat out a jet of black light that hurtled towards Bai Ye.
The bone bird flapped its wings and swung its sharp claws to grab.
The three half-step demon emperors attacked simultaneously, determined to kill Bai.
This scene horrified everyone inside the formation. Bai Shu, Jiang Lian, and the others wanted to break out of the formation and rush out to rescue Bai, even if they were no match for him. They didn't want to watch Bai die.
"Roar!"
Just at this critical moment, the sound of a dragon's roar came from the horizon once again.
A dragon-shaped body, cast from rock, snaked its way through the landscape, its length unknown, with each scale shimmering faintly. Its massive form resembled a moving mountain range, exuding an unparalleled sense of oppression.
On the dragon's head, an old man dressed in hemp clothing stood against the wind, his white hair dancing wildly in the wind.
"I'm late!"
The old man in hemp clothing sighed deeply and sharply pointed his dragon-headed cane downwards.
Buzz!
As the cane fell, a burst of azure light erupted, rippling outwards like water, enveloping Bai Ye entirely and barely managing to block the combined attack of three half-step demon emperors.
"It's Mai-senpai!! She's appeared!"
Exclamations arose from the crowd, many looking excitedly at the elderly man who had suddenly appeared in the sky to save the day.
"And our guardian beast! She's back too!" Lu Yao shouted from the crowd, his face beaming with pride.
"Screech! Another one coming to its death!" The bone bird shrieked, turned around, and lunged at the dragon python rock.
The old man in hemp clothing flashed and appeared directly in front of the bone bird. He raised his cane and pointed it at the top of the bone bird's head.
Thump! Thump!
The bone bird was unable to dodge the two slow, consecutive attacks. The soul fire in its skull flickered under the blows, clearly indicating that it had suffered severe damage.
Having landed a successful blow, the old man in hemp clothing swung his cane again, striking the charging bull's horns.
clang!
A resounding voice echoed between heaven and earth, causing many low-level cultivators to cough up blood, and many low-level demons to explode directly.
The old man in hemp robes, holding a dragon-headed cane, calmly swept his gaze across the crowd, his voice tinged with disdain: "Having cultivated to this level, you can be considered an unparalleled expert. Even if you are not of my kind, you should still possess the heart of a strong person. Such bullying of the younger generation by outnumbering the older is truly despicable!"
"Old man, you're asking for death!" The nine-tailed jackal roared, and together with the lizard bull, they unleashed a torrent of black energy, transforming into two streaks of dark light that lunged toward the old man in hemp robes.
The old man in hemp robes and the dragon python rock took to the air, leading the two half-step demon emperors away from the battlefield.
At this point, only Bai Ye and the bone bird remained on this battlefield.
With this brief respite, Bai's injuries had been completely healed, and he had also refined a small portion of the Chaos Divine Water.
"Screech, you little beast! I'll eat you!" The bone bird opened its beak and shrieked, charging forward menacingly.
Bai's dark gold armor glowed, and the power of the void circulated as he turned and fled with the bone bird.
She was well aware that even if she tried her best, she couldn't kill the bone bird, so she might as well take it away from the battlefield.
In this way, without the presence of a half-step demon emperor on the main battlefield, the human cultivators, with the support of the Zhou Tian Star Array, could barely hold their own against the demon army.
......
Although the flames of war have not yet reached the capital, chaos has already broken out within the city.
Many refugees looked at the sky in fear. With the eyesight of ordinary people, they could not see what was above the dark sky, but they could hear the roars coming from outside the Tongtian Formation.
The women in the courtyard, who had already rested, were now all dressed, carrying long swords and bows, looking ready for battle at any moment.
Xiao Lü and Jiao Jiao transformed into two streaks of light and returned to the courtyard where their aunts lived.
"Jiaojiao, have the young clan leader and the others gone to the front lines? Can we be arranged to join the battle as well?" Aunt Wu strode forward and asked.
Jiaojiao shook her head and said, "Yezai went to the front line. You can't go. The demon race is too strong. Xiaolu and I came back to protect you."
The aunties were about to say something more when Little Green acted swiftly. With a flash of green light, everyone in the yard was taken into the inner space of the World Tree.
Without much time to explain, the tree and the tortoise began sweeping through the capital. Every mortal or domesticated animal within sight and reach was swept up by the green light and sent into the World Tree.
"Hey, what are you doing! Give my granddaughter back!" An elderly woman with white hair rushed forward anxiously, leaning on her cane, after seeing Xiao Lü rush into her house and disappear in a flash.
"Stop making noise, I'm saving your lives!" Little Green said, and a green light spread, enveloping the old man and the others who were fast asleep inside the house.
Before the old man could utter a cry of surprise, he felt his consciousness sink and instantly fell into a deep sleep.
It's not just this old man; all mortals who enter the World Tree will fall into a deep sleep.
Little Green is still a seedling, and the world it has evolved from is flawed in its rules, incomplete in its天地 (heaven and earth), and chaotic in its spiritual energy, making it impossible for mortals to survive normally within it. Once inside, all living beings will naturally fall into a state of slumber due to the restrictions imposed by the rules.
This temporary shelter can only be used in emergencies. Otherwise, these mortals would starve to death in the small world within just a few days. If it weren't for this restriction, all living beings in the Nine Provinces could hide there, and Bai Ye and the others wouldn't have had to fight the demon race to the death.
Time flies by in the midst of our busy lives.
The capital city was far too vast, teeming with hundreds of millions of beings both inside and outside the city. Xiao Lü and Jiao Jiao worked from late at night until sunrise, finally managing to gather all the mortals they could find, both inside and outside the capital city.
"Little Green, find a corner to hide in, I'm going to help Yezai." Jiaojiao yelled at Little Green. She was very anxious. The fighting had been going on outside all night, and she was worried that the little brat would be beaten to death.
After all, that kid has such a foul mouth, and he's always being targeted for no reason. Without her protection, he might even lose his tiger skin in no time.
Little Green watched the tortoise disappear in a flash and sighed helplessly. She wanted to help, but she couldn't take the risk. The billions of living beings in the entire Nine Provinces were in her little world, and she couldn't afford to have any accidents happen to her.
......
Outside the Heavenly Array, it has been transformed into a living hell.
The shouts of battle were deafening, blood rained down, and the ground beneath their feet was already soaked in blood, turning it a deep crimson.
Countless Void Demons trampled over the corpses of their comrades, relentlessly assaulting the human cultivators' defenses. At this moment, the area had become a meat grinder, with massive numbers of lives being extinguished every second.
The Zhou Tian Star Array is still in operation, but the cultivators maintaining it have been replaced several times over. Stars constantly dim and fall, while new rays of light constantly soar into the sky to fill the void.
Although there were many casualties here, the battle situation was still barely stabilized.
The situation on the other side of the battlefield was much more critical.
The old woman stood suspended in mid-air, her battle armor tattered, her body riddled with tiny blood holes from which blood continuously oozed.
The three-headed serpent opposite was in a similar sorry state. Most of its scales had fallen off its massive body, revealing bloody and mangled wounds. Of its originally ferocious three heads, only one and a half remained, with only the humanoid head in the center still intact.
It stared intently at the pale, bluish-white old woman opposite it, whose life force was waning and who was on her last legs, and sneered, "You old hag, let's see how much life force you have left to bleed, and what tricks you can still use!"
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Bai smiled bravely across her blood-stained face and said weakly but firmly, "I'm old... I'm really old, and I don't have many tricks up my sleeve anymore, but why do I need so many tricks to kill you, you wretched creature?"
As soon as she finished speaking, her aura, which had been at its lowest point, suddenly began to surge.
An indescribable, terrifying majesty surged from her body, its solemn and vast aura overwhelming the entire battlefield, drawing the gazes of all the creatures engaged in combat.
Even Bai Ye, who had been chased all night, took a moment to look at where Old Lady Bai was.
She couldn't help but feel alarmed; it seemed like her old lady was about to go too far.
Old Lady Bai had indeed gone all out; the golden Dao Fire ignited the Emperor's Blood within her, and her entire body was ablaze.
Above the sky, the winds and clouds suddenly shifted, and a blurry yet incomparably majestic phantom traversed the river of time and space. She took a step out of the void and directly merged into Old Lady Bai's body.
The Bai family members within the Zhou Tian Grand Formation were shocked to see this. How could the ancestral spirits summoned by the family patriarch still merge with each other?!
The moment the ancestral spirit entered her body, Old Lady Bai's entire aura changed. Although she was still covered in wounds and her clothes were torn, she exuded a majestic aura like an ancient god, as if an immortal emperor had personally descended.
The three-headed snake's pupils contracted, sensing fear. Without a second thought, it turned and fled. The old hag was clearly no match for it; it only needed to avoid the brunt of the attack for now and settle the score later.
It was clever, but it was too late.
"Can you escape?"
Old Lady Bai gave a low shout, and at that moment, her voice changed, carrying a strange Daoist charm, like the sound of the Great Dao, resounding throughout heaven and earth.
She opened her arms, and countless chains of laws appeared, each chain representing an evolution of a Dao principle.
"go!"
The myriad chains of laws seemed to possess a life of their own, instantly piercing through the void, binding and tightening around the three-headed serpent that had already escaped into the void, pulling it out of the void.
"No!! You dare to hurt me! I will slaughter your entire clan!" the three-headed serpent roared, feeling fear and letting out a desperate howl.
Old Lady Bai's eyes flashed like lightning, her fighting spirit soaring to the sky: "Then I'll kill you first, and then wipe out your entire clan!"
Her outstretched hand suddenly tightened!
puff……!
With an extremely muffled cracking sound, the incredibly powerful half-step demon emperor was crushed by her from a distance, turning into a sky full of blood mist.
This scene stunned the demons. How could they, as powerful half-step demon emperors, be so easily slaughtered like ants in the hands of this human?
Having landed a successful blow, Granny Bai swept across the battlefield and began a massive attack. However, her target was not the low-level demons, but Bai Ye, who was being chased around by the bone birds.
She came to Bai Ye and pointed a finger out from mid-air.
"Destroy!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the soul fire in the bone bird's head was extinguished instantly, and its enormous body disintegrated inch by inch, turning into countless bone dust that fell to the earth.
"The Bai family head is mighty!!" Many cultivators shouted at the top of their lungs.
Old Lady Bai slew two half-step demon emperors in succession, displaying astonishing power and greatly boosting morale.
"Grandma!!" The Bai family members, including Bai Laoliu, shouted at the top of their lungs as they rushed in this direction.
Bai also heard the shouts of those people and noticed that Old Madam Bai's condition was not right. She stepped forward to support her and asked with concern, "Grandma, are you alright?"
Before she could finish speaking, the divine light surrounding Old Lady Bai began to recede and extinguish. Her once wrinkle-free face quickly became covered with wrinkles, and her once upright body began to wither, as if all her cultivation and essence had been drained away in an instant.
It seems... life has come to an end at this moment!
"Hey, old lady, what's wrong?!" Bai was shocked and hugged the old woman's frail body.
Too light!
The old woman was so light that she seemed to have no weight, and all that remained was a skeleton.
Old Lady Bai's cloudy gaze swept over Bai Ye's anxious face, then she looked with difficulty at the group of Bai family members who were crossing the battlefield to get there.
"Grandma, don't scare me..."
Bai Ye's voice trembled with tears as he frantically retrieved the last Creation Lotus Seed from his dantian and brought it to the old man's lips, saying, "You haven't seen me get married yet, so eat this quickly."
The old woman gently waved her withered hand, shook her head, and forced a smile on her aged face. "It's no use, good child, don't waste it... Great-grandmother is really tired."
“How could it be useless?” Bai Ye’s tears finally fell. “You have just become a true immortal and have a million years of lifespan left. How could it be useless?”
“Little brat, don’t cry…” The old woman’s voice had weakened, but her eyes brightened instead. “Look at this battlefield, look at those who are still fighting. Now it’s your great-grandmother who has fallen, and the next moment it might be your mother, your cousin Qingji.”
Her gaze swept across the battlefield, and all she could see were mangled corpses.
"Good child, don't cry... We are all fighting for what we must protect. Death is not scary; what is scary is losing the courage to fight because of the fear of death..."
Her voice grew softer and softer, and the hand that had been stroking Bai Ye's cheek slowly fell down, limp and lifeless.
His eyes slowly closed, never to open again.
"old lady......"
"grandmother!!"
Bai Shu and the other members of the Bai family finally crossed the battlefield and arrived at the two's side.
When they saw the withered figure in Baiye's arms, everyone froze in place.
They could hardly recognize her; this was the Bai family patriarch whose imposing presence once commanded respect. Now, she was as thin as a child, lying quietly in Bai Ye's arms, her wrinkled face giving her a truly kind and gentle grandmotherly appearance.
"grandmother......"
Bai Zhu slowly knelt down, her trembling hand landing on the aged face, tears streaming down her face like broken pearls.
In that instant, many images flashed through her mind: scenes of her wits and courage with her grandmother when she was young, and the old woman's moist eyes when she returned to the Bai family after many years away.
Regardless of right or wrong, this old woman loved her and her children.
In the final moments of her life, she traversed most of the battlefield, solely to resolve Bai Ye's predicament.
The Bai family members were all weeping. They never expected that the family head, who had the highest cultivation level, would be the first to fall.
"Mother..."
Bai Ye's voice brought Bai Shu back to her senses. She let go of his hand, wiped away the tears on her cheeks haphazardly, and stood up, saying, "Ah Ye, put your great-grandmother away. The rest of you, come with me to your places!"
"Yes!" the Bai family disciples answered in unison, their killing intent soaring to the heavens.
Bai obediently put the old man away. The battle was still ongoing; there was no time for grief and mourning. If they were defeated, this death would only be the beginning. Everyone would die, so there was no need for sorrow.
The group returned to the main battlefield and engaged in fierce fighting with the Void Demon Clan.
Bai also silently swung her sword. With each strike of the heavy sword, a Void Demon would explode under her blade.
Scalding demon blood splattered on her face and body, but she was completely unaware, like an ignorant and unconscious killing machine, tirelessly slaughtering.
[Ye Zai...Are you sad?]
"No." Bai replied succinctly, his swordplay remaining perfectly steady.
"Now is not the time to be sad. If I waste my time being sad, more people will die."
The fighting on the main battlefield remains fierce, but the situation regarding high-end combat power has already become clear.
In the distance, Hei Yang and the old man in hemp robes returned one after the other. The massive body of the Dragon Python Rock was covered in cracks, clearly having survived a fierce battle, but they had ultimately slain several half-step demon emperors.
After the return of the powerful figures, they did not linger for a moment, but went straight into the heart of the demon army and began to clear out the high-ranking demon emperors on the battlefield.
With each strike, a demon emperor fell; they were invincible.
Witnessing this scene greatly boosted the morale of the human cultivators, and the dawn of victory seemed to be just around the corner.
Just as everyone was cheering happily, a huge commotion came from the outer battlefield.
Boom!
Two blood-stained figures fell from beyond the realm like meteors, crashing heavily to the ground. They were covered in blood and wounds.
Like two exquisite porcelain pieces, shattered inside, they would disintegrate into countless fragments with the slightest touch.
The three great demon emperors and that terrifying bronze skeleton descended upon the Nine Provinces.
The terrifying imperial pressure pressed down without reservation, exceeding the limits that this world could withstand.
Boom!
The earth began to crumble, and massive mountains collapsed under invisible pressure, sinking deep into the earth's core. Countless streams of scorching lava shot into the sky, a scene resembling the end of the world.
The Heaven-Reaching Array trembled violently under this oppressive force. To everyone's surprise, the array withstood the onslaught of the Emperor's might and did not completely collapse.
However, the creatures on the battlefield could not resist this oppressive force. All human cultivators could hardly stand, their legs trembling, as if their spines were about to be crushed.
The billions of demons who had just been fighting against humans were now all prostrate on the ground, welcoming their master's arrival with the utmost reverence.
The glimmer of hope for victory that had just been ignited among the crowd was instantly extinguished.
Zhong Jiuli was defeated, the Demon Emperor descended, and humanity lost all hope.
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