Ascending to the Upper Realm
There was no hesitation, and no way back.
Faced with a terrifying enemy that is about to descend and may far surpass the Nascent Soul stage, forcibly ascending and breaking into the upper realm becomes the only option that may offer a glimmer of hope for survival.
The sacred mountain's secret realm had accumulated primordial power over countless years, which was now being guided out without reservation by the old priests, transforming into five dazzling pillars of light that poured into the bodies of Fang Li, Ye Wuyang, Shen Yunzhou, Ji Qianqiu, and Xie Chen!
A boundless, ocean-like power surged in instantly! The five people's bodies trembled violently, their meridians felt as if they were about to burst, and their dantian qi seas spun and expanded wildly! Their auras rose wildly at an unprecedented speed, instantly breaking through the barrier of the Nascent Soul stage and touching a mysterious and profound divide between immortals and mortals!
The five of them had not yet fully adapted to the overwhelming feeling of their sudden surge in power. Their eyes met, and a tacit understanding formed between them.
"open!"
The five of them raised their hands at the same time, gathering the terrifying spiritual power that was almost overflowing from their bodies into a single point, and slammed it hard into a vulnerable node in the sky of the secret realm!
"Sizzle—!"
The void was forcibly torn apart, and an extremely unstable seven-colored passage was forcibly opened up! The passage was bizarre and colorful, with violent spatial storms like billions of invisible blades slashing and cutting, and chaotic laws intertwining and colliding, emitting deafening roars and filled with a destructive aura!
The channel is extremely unstable, with its edges constantly twisting, collapsing, and barely mending.
"Let's go!" Ye Wuyang stepped into the passage first, his Ice Glass Sword swirling around him, slicing through the raging storm ahead.
Fang Li, Shen Yunzhou, Ji Qianqiu, and Xie Chen followed closely behind, stepping onto this perilous path to ascension without hesitation.
The passage was fraught with danger. Huge fragments of space silently sliced through; violent lightning of the laws condensed into various forms, crashing down with an aura of destruction; even more unpredictable were the invisible and intangible illusions of inner demons, which attacked the most vulnerable parts of the soul, stirring up the deepest fears and desires within.
The five individuals each displayed their unique abilities, supported each other, and persevered through difficulties.
Nightless Sword Domain was fully activated, freezing a large area of storm and creating a relatively safe path for everyone.
Suddenly, a sharp fragment of space shot towards Fang Li's back from an odd angle! Ye Wuyang's eyes narrowed, his body shifted slightly, and he raised his arm!
"Swoosh!" A shard grazed his arm, drawing a string of blood beads; the wound was deep enough to expose the bone. He remained unfazed, simply saying, "Be careful."
Fang Li turned around and saw this scene. Her feelings were complicated. She said softly, "...Thank you." But inwardly she couldn't help but mutter, "Now you know how to show off! Where were you before! Humph!"
The system immediately went online: [“Host! Your ex-husband is a hero saving the damsel in distress! Bonus points! Although it's a bit late... but the attitude is good!”]
Shen Yunzhou's sword mind was clear and his sword intent was dedicated to breaking through illusions. With one sword, he destroyed several strange phantom images of inner demons that were attacking Fang Li.
He stayed by Fang Li's side the whole time, his voice steady and brooking no refusal: "Stay close to me."
Ji Qianqiu roared repeatedly, his war god aura surging, his fists like giant hammers, directly blasting apart the energy storms blocking the way, bravely clearing a path for the team: "Junior sister, don't be afraid! I'll clear the way! These things are no match for you!"
Xie Chen was the busiest, his Star Compass spinning rapidly, constantly calculating the safest path and the best time to avoid risks. "Three steps to the left, avoid lightning!" "Concentrate, there's a demonic disturbance ahead!" he calmly issued the commands.
The space inside the passage was limited, and the five people were very close together, making the atmosphere somewhat awkward.
Ye Wuyang tried to get close to Fang Li several times, but was always separated by Shen Yunzhou, who "just happened" to need to adjust his position, or by Ji Qianqiu, who "unintentionally" slashed at the space with his giant battle axe.
Xie Chen waved the jade fan he had taken out again at some point and chuckled, "Gentlemen, with a formidable enemy at hand, personal grudges...why not set them aside for now?" His tone was gentle, but his eyes held a hint of mischievousness as he watched the spectacle unfold.
After overcoming numerous hardships, a ray of light finally appeared at the end of the passage!
However, a chilling, murderous aura emanated from the light!
As the light faded, a magnificent and enormous fortress came into view!
The fortress's towering walls reached into the clouds, their surfaces marked with the imprints of swords, axes, and magical strikes, exuding an aura of iron, blood, and death.
At the top of the fortress, the two huge ancient characters "巡天" (Xuntian, meaning "Patrolling the Heavens") are engraved on the wall.
What's even more chilling is that on the fortress, behind the city walls, stood countless cultivators clad in uniform armor, wielding weapons, and with icy eyes!
They stood solemnly like statues, their powerful auras merging into a tangible pressure, firmly locking onto the five people who had just rushed out of the passage!
A command imbued with a murderous intent thundered from the depths of the fortress, echoing through the deathly silence of the void:
"Those who ascend... show no mercy!"
The next instant, their vision was completely submerged!
Above the fortress, the array's brilliance soared into the sky, condensing into a destructive pillar of light; countless talismans, like locusts swarming across the land, flashed with dangerous spiritual light of various colors, obscuring the sky; and countless flying swords formed a formidable sword formation, cascading down like a torrential rain with sharp whistling sounds!
"Defend!" Xie Chen roared, and lightning formed a barrier to open up, but it was instantly struck by countless attacks and shook violently, its light dimming!
The battle erupted in an instant and quickly escalated to a fever pitch!
Although the five had just experienced the baptism of the ascension passage and their strength had increased dramatically, allowing them to initially touch the barrier between immortals and mortals, they were immediately plunged into a bitter battle when faced with the well-trained, geographically advantageous, and overwhelmingly numerous defending troops!
Fang Li was targeted almost the instant she landed! More than 30% of the attacks converged on her! The Glazed Chaos Flame autonomously protected her, transforming into a blazing Glazed Flame Shield that blocked, devoured, and purified all the incoming array light pillars, exploding talismans, and piercing flying swords!
But the terrifying impact still made her blood boil, she felt a sweet taste in her throat, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.
Ye Wuyang's face was ashen. The "Ice Glass Sword" emitted a clear, resonant sword cry, and extreme cold spread wildly from him! "Freeze a Thousand Miles!" The sword light swept across, and a large area in front of him, along with dozens of guards, was instantly frozen into ice sculptures, the attack abruptly ceasing. But soon, more guards from behind filled the gaps with expressionless faces, and a new attack came again, seemingly endless.
Shen Yunzhou moved like lightning, weaving through the barrage of attacks. Each swing of his "Frost Chant" sword brought forth a desolate sword intent, precisely severing array nodes, shattering talismans, and knocking down flying swords. His efficiency was extremely high, but each strike consumed a great deal of energy, and his face turned pale at a visible speed.
Ji Qianqiu roared repeatedly, not bothering to block, his blood and battle flames burning to their limit, directly using his powerful body to withstand the attacks! Fist energy and axe shadows blasted out, smashing the approaching enemies away, armor and all! But the opponent's attacks were too numerous and too dense, and soon he had several wounds on his body, blood staining his armor red, but his fighting spirit only became more ferocious.
Xie Chen did not directly participate in the attack or defense. His figure was elusive, his fingers constantly calculating, and his eyes shone with starlight as he analyzed the operational patterns of the opponent's layered and perfectly coordinated battle formation and fortress defense array, searching for that fleeting flaw. "The northeast Kan position has a gap in the flow of spiritual energy!" he urgently transmitted his voice.
The battle was incredibly fierce. The five were completely overwhelmed and could only barely hold on, facing constant danger!
At the critical moment, Fang Li, relying on her Chaos Dao Foundation's perception of energy, suddenly looked up, her gaze piercing through the layers of attacks, locking onto a point where energy was converging on the fortress wall.
"There it is! The core of the formation!" she shouted urgently.
Without needing to say a word, the five of them instantly understood!
Ye Wuyang's sword aura changed, condensing all the icy sword intent into an extremely thin beam of azure light, which shot out instantly, freezing a large area of space on the path leading to the array's core, temporarily solidifying all spiritual energy flow and enemy movements in that area!
"Break!" Shen Yunzhou seized this fleeting opportunity, becoming one with his sword, and poured all his power into the tip of the "Frost Chant" sword, transforming it into a beam of annihilating sword light that pierced straight into the temporarily frozen core of the array!
"Open up for me!" Ji Qianqiu roared, slamming his fists into the ground! The violent power of his blood and qi surged like an earth dragon, forcibly shaking away the enemies and obstacles blocking his path and clearing a passage!
"Star orbit reversed!" Xie Chen's hand seals changed, and the Star Compass shone brightly, interfering with and distorting the spiritual energy flow of the auxiliary arrays around the array eye, preventing them from supporting the core in time!
Fang Li took a deep breath, mobilizing all the chaotic spiritual power within her body, along with the primal power of the Glazed Chaos Fire! She held her hands together, and a thick, glazed fire pillar condensed in her palms. As the flames danced, even the surrounding void began to distort!
"Burning the heavens and extinguishing the world!"
With a sharp cry, she used all her strength to blast the pillar of fire into the core of the array that Shen Yunzhou had broken open with a single sword strike!
"boom--!!!!!"
A deafening roar shook the entire fortress violently! The defensive array that had enveloped the entire area collapsed and vanished!
Under the backlash of the formation, the defenders on the city wall were instantly thrown into chaos, countless people coughed up blood, their energy waned, and their attacks stalled!
The pressure on the five people was greatly reduced, and they were finally able to catch their breath.
However, before they could catch their breath...
An aura far more terrifying than all the previous defenders combined suddenly awakened from the deepest part of the fortress and descended with a roar!
A burly figure clad in dark gold immortal general armor and wielding a heavy halberd descended from the sky.
His face was majestic, his eyes arrogant and cold, and he exuded an aura of pressure like an abyss. He was clearly a true early-stage Immortal Lord!
His gaze swept over the ravaged city walls and the chaotic garrison, finally settling on the five people below who had just broken through the enemy lines and were still catching their breath. A hint of contempt and anger flashed in his eyes.
"You lowly ants from the lower realm, how dare you invade my Sky Patrol Fortress!" His voice was like thunder, making people's eardrums hurt, filled with majesty and arrogance, "Destroying my great formation... you deserve to die a thousand deaths! Kneel down and submit to execution immediately, or perhaps you can be spared a whole corpse!"
Ji Qianqiu was the first to lose his temper, pointing his battle axe at the other party's nose and cursing: "Pah! Go to hell, you Immortal Lord! You big bad wolf! You call me an ant every other word, what kind of good things are you high and mighty gods?!"
He grew angrier with each word, unleashing his full fury: "What a fine Heavenly Law! You raise demons in the lower realms, devouring living beings and creating an uproar of resentment! Is this your Heavenly Law of the Upper Realm?! Huh?! In my opinion, you are the demons in the guise of gods! You deserve to die even more than those demons!"
Fang Li's eyes were icy cold, and her voice was clear and cold, yet it carried a power that pierced the heart: "What a 'Sky Patrol' fortress, what a 'Celestial Lord'! What kind of sky are you patrolling? What kind of living beings are you protecting? You're just guarding a passage that sucks the blood, flesh, and marrow of the lower realms, fattening your own gluttons!"
Her words were like knives, pressing on relentlessly: "You treat all living beings like weeds, and demons like livestock! Is this the Heavenly Way you proclaim? Is this the order you uphold? Does the Heavenly Way even know about this? Today, we will tear off your hypocritical shell and let this glorious Upper Realm see just how filthy and rotten you are inside!"
The system was also giving Fang Li a huge shout-out in her mind: [“Host is awesome! Well done! (Applause) That’s the difference when a cultured person curses! Every word hits him where it hurts! Kill this hypocrite!”]
Fang Li: "Tongzi, check if this old bastard has any history of embezzlement, bribery, or abuse of power! We're going to expose him today!"
System: [“Alright! Scanning... Beep beep... Target’s emotions are fluctuating wildly! Heart rate is soaring! Blood pressure is rising! He’s broken down! He’s broken down!”]
That early-stage Immortal Lord had clearly never been so defied and insulted by someone from the lower realms, especially since every word struck a nerve. His arrogant face instantly flushed red, veins bulged on his forehead, and a terrifying Immortal Lord aura erupted from his body like a volcano, causing the surrounding space to creak and groan!
"Insects... how dare you bark! I... will tear you to pieces! I will extract your souls and refine your spirits!" He completely broke down, attacking in a rage! He raised his halberd, and spiritual energy began to gather in his hand!
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