The border between Mount Beifeng and Mount Luofu, two ghost domains.
Led by Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye, three Great Perfected Lords from the Mount Beifeng ghost domain marched out, accompanied by several other Perfected lords. Their momentum was undeniably massive.
Under these circumstances, Mount Luofu—currently the largest ghost domain controlled by the Three Foundations faction—naturally couldn't sit idly by. After all, heaven only knew if Mount Beifeng was just throwing up a smokescreen. At the very least, they had to stop the enemy outside Mount Luofu. If they were allowed to charge in, their own plans would inevitably be hindered.
And so, the two sides entered a standoff at the border.
"Rumble!"
The deafening roar of thunder echoed through the dark clouds above everyone's heads. From time to time, burning sparks of starlight plummeted from the clouds, crashing into the ghost domain below.
In an instant, the ground shook.
Vast tracts of land were incinerated. Sand and soil surged like a tide into the craters left by the sparks, yet they couldn't fill them. Instead, swirling vortexes formed.
Then came the second deafening roar.
This time, the incredibly thick dark clouds were blown wide open, revealing the abyss-like sky of the Netherworld—a sky with no end in sight and devoid of a sun or moon.
High in the sky, a Mirror of Sin hung suspended.
Within the mirror, a hazy, ethereal, and formless figure manifested. Illusionary colors drifted and cycled through creation and destruction within the glass. Like a single, cold eye, it stared intently ahead.
[Perfected Lord Demon Heart Sinful Karma]
In Beifeng, he was generally known as Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye. An Entering the Dao realm cultivator, his mighty power resonated within the Mirror of Sin, seemingly capable of illuminating the karmic debts of all things.
Opposite him, meeting the gaze of that Mirror of Sin, was another magnificent display of mighty power.
No physical body, no divine sense, no profound wonders.
The mere circulation of its boiling spiritual power caused heaven and earth to emit crisp, overwhelmed cracking sounds. The Concept of Destruction surfaced simply from its reverberations.
[Perfected Lord Supreme Law Upholding Origin]
A Great Perfected Lord of the Spiritual Power Dao at the Immortal Bridge realm. Although he had now been transformed into a death spirit, in life, he stood at the absolute pinnacle of Spiritual Power Dao cultivators.
As an Immortal Bridge Great Perfected Lord of this path, he possessed no Dao Arts, no Dharma Body, and no divine sense. His sole existence was this endlessly boiling body of spiritual power, which was also his supreme treasure, named the [Supreme Law Body]. Its very existence was destruction; his ultimate spiritual power was enough to crush any profound wonder.
The brief clash just moments ago was proof.
Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye, Great Perfected Lord You Hai, and Great Perfected Lord Heavenly Furnace Smelting the World—despite the three of them joining forces, they were still firmly suppressed by Perfected Lord Supreme Law Upholding Origin.
This was a spectacle that could never be seen in the Mortal World.
The swelling wills of four Great Perfected Lords. Their Daos plucked at the concepts of the Netherworld, triggering massive collapses and evolving into raging natural disasters.
But this was the Netherworld.
The boundless death qi drastically suppressed the destructive power of these mighty experts. If such mighty power were unleashed in the Mortal World, it could level a small section of the Light Sea.
They weren't even truly fighting yet; this was merely the Great Perfected Lords "greeting" each other. However, even the simplest exchange of their divine senses would trigger shifts in concepts, causing the earth to shake and the heavens to roar—especially when one party harbored anger.
"Xin Ye, You Hai, have you two betrayed us as well?"
The [Supreme Law Body] surged with anger, its voice echoing with enough force to disintegrate myriad phenomena. "That traitor, Emperor Cang... what exactly did he promise you?"
"Are you angry, Senior?"
Beside Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye stood Great Perfected Lord You Hai, another Entering the Dao realm cultivator who also walked the Spiritual Power Dao. He sneered, "What, Senior, are you going to reprimand us?"
"Do you not think you deserve to be reprimanded?"
"Heh."
Great Perfected Lord You Hai's smile grew increasingly sinister. "You can reprimand me now, but only because you died early. Killed by the Great Sword Ancestor, if I remember correctly?
"If only you had died a little later, you would have seen it. You would have seen Lord Sisui defeated in battle. You would have seen Lord Sisui risking everything to save Pan Huang and the others, while our Dao Lord didn't hesitate for a second, completely disregarding our lives, and turned tail to run."
Surging will erupted, roaring loudly.
"So, Senior, it wasn't us who chose betrayal. It was the Dao Lords who betrayed us! And now they have the gall to return and demand we fight for them?"
"..."
The roaring of the [Supreme Law Body] fell silent for a moment before sounding again. "Even so, you have absolutely no reason to fight for Emperor Cang."
"How can there be no reason?"
Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye smiled. "Emperor Cang actually lent us the [Myriad Refinements Blood Pool] to use. Isn't such a massive benefit the best reason?"
"For benefits?"
The howling of the [Supreme Law Body] paused slightly. "If it's only for that, we can provide benefits as well. The Mysterious Wall even promised a secret method for resurrection from the dead..."
"Apologies."
Before he could finish, both Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye and Great Perfected Lord You Hai shook their heads, wearing cold smiles. "We will never believe those promises again."
"On the contrary, Senior...
"We've thought about it for a long time, and we still don't understand. Why are you still willing to fight for them? At least the Dao Lord of Dao Arts has taken some actual action.
"But what about the Dao Lord of Spiritual Power?
"Have you still not figured it out? The Dao Lord abandoned you long ago. So what if you're at the Immortal Bridge realm? You're still just an ant. Do you really think a Dao Lord cares about you?"
Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye's voice echoed eerily. It was both a heartfelt question and a psychological attack. However, facing his interrogation, the eternally burning, eternally boiling [Supreme Law Body] emitted unexpectedly calm words. Just one short sentence:
"Because you are wrong."
"The Mortal World, the Netherworld, the things currently circulating in the Light Sea—they are all wrong. Perhaps the Dao Lords were wrong too, but some things will never be wrong."
It's exactly because of this meaningless stubbornness that we lost back then!
You pedantic, unrepentant fools!
Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye was just about to deliver this mocking retort when a massive divine sense suddenly descended, and a voice rang in his ear.
"Return and defend Mount Beifeng!"
His Majesty?!
Those short words instantly dispelled all of Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye's thoughts, causing his brow to furrow tightly.
Did someone take the opportunity to sneak attack Mount Beifeng?
The next second, the divine sense transmitted a message.
Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye was stunned. Not only him, but Great Perfected Lord You Hai and Great Perfected Lord Heavenly Furnace Smelting the World also received the divine sense transmission.
The Blue Heaven Incarnation was killed. The [Myriad Refinements Blood Pool] fell into enemy hands.
Mount Beifeng disappeared. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a Death Spirit Perfected lord of the Dao of Dao Arts... The changes in heaven and earth grew even more violent due to the shifting thoughts of the Great Perfected Lords.
What? Our home is gone?!
More importantly—
His Majesty's Blue Heaven Incarnation was killed, yet I didn't sense any of the commotion a battle of that level should have caused. Just how strong is the attacker?!
It couldn't be a Heaven Treading expert, right?
Did the one guarding the [Ghost Gates] return?
Thinking of this, Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye instantly felt the urge to retreat. He was no longer the fearless, life-risking fool he had been back in the day.
Seemingly guessing his fear, the massive divine sense from Emperor Cang quickly sent another message. "The opponent's cultivation is at most at the Immortal Bridge realm. It's impossible for them to be at the Heaven Treading realm. My main body will also head there. You must trap the opponent inside Mount Beifeng and take back the [Myriad Refinements Blood Pool]."
Hearing this, Great Perfected Lord Xin Ye felt much more at ease.
With this thought, he glanced at the [Supreme Law Body] opposite him and sneered. "It seems you aren't as upright and honorable as you make yourselves out to be, Senior."
"This feint to the east to strike the west was quite well executed.
"Deliberately pinning us down here, while secretly sending an even stronger expert to sneak attack Mount Beifeng and kill His Majesty's Blue Heaven Incarnation. Such underhanded methods!"
Perfected Lord Supreme Law Upholding Origin: "...?"