“Actually dared to charge recklessly like this? He didn’t lie after all.” Chen Jiu frowned. He also wanted to collect as much information as possible about how previous teams had passed through, hoping to learn lessons and increase his team’s chances of success.
“Dongbo Xueying, describe in detail how he passed through,” Chen Jiu pressed.
Dongbo Xueying then gave a detailed account.
Only his Illusory Realm Clone could observe so brazenly from above. If others tried to do the same? They would easily be detected by the stone guardians.
Dongbo Xueying’s “Illusory Realm Clone” could change unpredictably and could even transform into a part of the Illusory Realm itself! It *was* the Illusory Realm. Therefore, even if the stone guardians looked upward, even if their gazes pierced into the Illusory Realm and passed through the Illusory Realm Clone, they would only perceive it as part of the realm itself, without any suspicion. As long as the Illusory Realm Clone did not act, it could not be detected at all.
…
Time ticked away, second by second.
Dongbo Xueying’s team advanced cautiously. Throughout the journey, Dongbo Xueying didn’t even need to act personally—Chen Jiu’s distant attacks, manifested as countless dragon shadows, eliminated danger after danger.
“The Sword Emperor’s team has moved.” Dongbo Xueying advanced carefully, while his Illusory Realm Clone observed the distant situation from above.
Boom!
From too far away to see clearly, the team’s speed suddenly surged. A dense swarm of stone guardians surged forward to attack. Some even leapt into the air, launching assaults from above. In an instant, they swarmed forward like a tidal wave, covering the sky and earth.
A strange dragon-turtle illusion appeared above the team, shielding them completely.
Yet they couldn’t even endure for half a second.
Under the relentless onslaught of the stone guardian horde, the dragon-turtle mirage shattered into oblivion.
Then came a dazzling sword beam, radiant and brilliant. In an instant, stone guardians were either cut down, sent flying backward, or crashed into each other. Yet even more stone guardians continued their assault.
“There are too many,” Dongbo Xueying shook his head.
The entire process lasted about five seconds.
The Sword Emperor’s team finally reached the meteorite bridge. When they landed on the floating giant meteorite, the stone guardians ceased their attacks.
…
In the Xia Clan’s world, on a grassy field.
Numerous figures filled the space—some seated in lotus position, others pacing restlessly, a few perched upon jagged stones. These were the Douqi Avatars and Mana Doppelgängers conjured by warriors from the four squads, their forms occasionally flickering with traces of demonic essence.
“Sister Blood Vei!” The young man, the Sword Emperor in golden robes, had been sitting calmly on a large rock, but suddenly his face changed drastically, filled with disbelief and terror.
“Blood Vei!” The tall, muscular man beside him also trembled.
“How could this happen… how could this happen…” The Sword Emperor in golden robes could no longer bear it. He knelt directly onto the grass, his body trembling, “Why… just a little more, just a little more and I could have saved you.”
Since being captured into the Temple of Time and Space and becoming a Reincarnator,
The Sword Emperor was once the weakest member of the team. The alluring enchantress who had just perished, Sister Blood Vei, had already been a legend in her own right. Recognizing his potential, she took him under her wing, nurturing him like a sibling, their bond unbreakable.
From a mere mortal when first captured, the Sword Emperor had now ascended to the brink of divinity.
“Captain,” the tall, muscular man also grieved deeply, gently patting the Sword Emperor’s shoulder.
“Why… why did it have to be this way? I was too arrogant, I shouldn’t have agreed, shouldn’t have entered the Red Stone Mountain.” The Sword Emperor was filled with hatred. Although he had prepared for his team to be wiped out, after all, this was a desperate battle to the death. Yet when Blood Vei, who had shared life and death with him time and time again, truly died before his eyes, he still couldn’t accept it.
If one died in the Red Stone Mountain, not even the Temple of Time and Space could retrieve the soul—it was truly a permanent death!
“It’s not your fault. We all agreed together back then. If anyone is to blame, it’s the Temple of Time and Space,” the tall, muscular man said gravely. “It’s been forcing us, pushing us to walk the edge of death time and time again. If it hadn’t been manipulating and forcing us, how could our team have fallen into such a desperate situation? Forcing us to choose to come to Red Stone Mountain in the end.”
The young man, the Sword Emperor in golden robes, stood up. He had experienced too much loss and death, and managed to suppress his grief.
“Wu Huang,” the Sword Emperor in golden robes looked toward the nearby Mountain Master He, “I truly envy you, for having the courage to take on three Hell-Level missions, breaking free from the Temple of Time and Space and regaining your freedom.”
“Let’s look forward,” Mountain Master He glanced at the Sword Emperor, saying little else.
…
Wu Ma Hai’s team lost Bo Bo, and the Sword Emperor’s team lost the seductive enchantress ‘Blood Veil.’ This left the two remaining teams even more on edge.
Clearly, from what had happened so far, ordinary divine scrolls offered limited help, especially defensive ones, which were nearly useless. Because when the entire team was under attack by a dense swarm of stone guardians, even wide-area protection wouldn’t last long. Unless dozens of such scrolls were used consecutively, it would be impossible to endure.
To get through…
It depended on strength and luck! If one could dash through the gaps in the stone guardians’ attacks within a very short time, then success was achieved. If not? Then it was certain death.
The more members in a team, the larger the target, making it even harder to dash through the gaps.
But with the presence of powerful individuals like Chen Jiu, the Sword Emperor, Wu Ma Hai, and Mountain Master He, their companions still preferred to act together.
“Mountain Master He’s team has moved.”
Dongbo Xueying observed while informing Chen Jiu of the situation.
Because they were constantly advancing, Dongbo Xueying and Mountain Master He’s team were now within ten thousand li of each other! With the Illusory Realm, they could clearly detect everything.
“I’ve noticed too,” Chen Jiu, relying on the range of his True Intent Domain, could also detect the battle situation.
“This!”
Dongbo Xueying suddenly felt shocked.
Other than the other two members of Mountain Master He’s team using their techniques, it was Mountain Master He’s display of power that truly shocked Dongbo Xueying.
His arms suddenly elongated, reaching over six meters in length. The two arms rapidly attacked and blocked all incoming stone guardians! Moreover, the surrounding space seemed like a swamp—the closer the stone guardians got, the slower their speed became. In an instant, Mountain Master He alone was able to hold off the swarm of stone guardians surrounding him.
Of course, there was only so much space around him, and the stone guardians were about human height. Thus, only about a hundred could attack him simultaneously at any given time.
But attacks came from all directions—front, back, left, right, and above. Two arms couldn’t possibly defend everywhere.
Mountain Master He’s entire body became a weapon—his head, back, legs—all used for attacking! Every part of him was incredibly powerful.
“True Self Intent! And even wearing divine armor?” Chen Jiu’s voice echoed into the Illusory Realm.
“True Self Intent?” Dongbo Xueying was also surprised.
Among the second-tier True Intents…
True Self Intent was purely a physical intent! It contained no offensive subtleties, no other types of subtleties—only one… to push the physical body to its utmost limits! True Self Intent believed that the body itself was a heaven and earth, a universe, containing infinite mysteries. One need not concern oneself with the outside world—by thoroughly comprehending oneself, one could become a god, become invincible.
This was the “True Self Intent.”
Thus, those who had mastered the “True Self Intent” wielded bodies of unimaginable might—far more fearsome than even the demonic forms of Lord You Lan or General Kumo.
A purely extreme physical True Intent!
“True Self Intent focuses inward, while Spatial Intent focuses outward. One internal, one external… This Mountain Master He is truly formidable. And he even managed to obtain a set of divine armor?” Chen Jiu transmitted in astonishment.
Dongbo Xueying also felt amazed.
He also knew.
Since the Red Stone Mountain appeared in the Xia Clan’s world, the cost for gods to send “divine armor” into this world had skyrocketed! For those great existences, delivering Wu Ma Hai, Lord You Lan, Chen Jiu, and others into this world had already been difficult enough. Delivering a set of divine armor was almost equivalent to sending another semi-divine being like Chen Jiu. They simply couldn’t afford it!
Moreover, within the Red Stone Mountain, divine armor was effective against direct attacks, but later on, there were many attacks capable of bypassing divine armor and penetrating directly into the body.
“Mountain Master He, I heard, had already been in the Xia Clan’s world long ago,” Chen Jiu transmitted. “Therefore, there was no need to pay the transportation cost to bring him down. Divine armor has limited effectiveness against certain special attacks and generally isn’t worth sending down. But Mountain Master He possesses True Self Intent, making his body already extremely strong. With divine armor added on top, killing him would be extremely difficult. Combined with Spatial Intent, his survival ability might be the strongest among all of us.”
Dongbo Xueying also agreed.
…
Under Mountain Master He’s frontal resistance and defense, his team managed to step onto the meteorite bridge, the only team so far where all members survived.
“It’s our turn.” Not long after, Chen Jiu, Old Rogue, Uncle Fu, and Dongbo Xueying also approached.
Tens of thousands of stone guardians blocked every possible direction.
There was absolutely no gap to exploit.
The four of them—Dongbo Xueying, Old Rogue, Uncle Fu, and Chen Jiu—had already discussed their plan beforehand.
“Hmm?” The densely packed stone guardians, spread across thousands of li, suddenly turned their heads to look in one direction. There, a massive group of transcendent warriors charged forward at high speed—Mountain Master He, Pavilion Master Sikong Yang, Chi Qiu Bai, Elder Orland, the Three Priests of the Demon God Cult, King Qing Yan, Bu Chengzhu, Dongbo Xueying… and countless other transcendent warriors.
Dongbo Xueying’s nine Illusory Realm Clones transformed into nine familiar semi-divine beings, each walking within the Illusory Realm. Of course, the stone guardians could detect them now that the Illusory Realm Clones had fully materialized.
Old Rogue was even more astonishing. He had condensed his “Illusion Intent” into his true divine core, mastering the art of illusionary avatars. At this moment, he had manifested thirty-six Illusionary Avatars, each wielding peak semi-divine power, roughly on par with the Ghost God Knight Feng Dong. Every avatar bore a distinct appearance and unique aura—likely modeled after the various semi-divine beings Old Rogue had encountered throughout his journey.
“My Flying Sword Pavilion’s semi-divine warriors have arrived!”
The entire swarm of transcendent semi-divine warriors roared forward, charging into the stone guardians! Yet Chen Jiu, Dongbo Xueying, and the others all felt their hearts tighten. Life and death would be decided in this brief thousand-li distance! Remember, other teams also had formidable techniques. Except for Mountain Master He’s team, every other team had lost one companion.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage