The last thing Ye Feng saw before slipping into unconsciousness was several hands reaching toward him—his brothers' hands!
This sight… was just like back then, when he had plunged into the abyss.
Back then, his brothers had reached out one by one to pull him up from that filthy mire.
Now, the group had pulled free of the seal. Their formidable prowess, paired with the might of heavenly flame, was enough to temporarily reseal the Purgatory Abyss.
Tang Ru's eyes were filled with anxious concern. "Is Second Brother all right?"
Cao Yan closed his eyes to check, then let out a long breath of relief. "Don't worry, he's fine. Just exhausted."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the others looked up in all directions.
Every face turned grim.
The surrounding earth was battered and scarred, and scattered Abyss Demons were still running amok, wreaking havoc wherever they went.
Even though many cultivators had stepped in to fight, the casualties were catastrophic, with countless innocent civilians dead or wounded.
Xiao Chen's expression darkened, and he muttered, "It seems it wasn't just the regions under our watch…"
"Hmph! The cultivators who rebelled this time have all gone mad, willing to pay any price just to ascend."
"They used every kind of sinister, demonic method imaginable, barely giving a damn about the lives of ordinary people."
At Xiao Chen's words, the rest nodded in grim agreement.
They had not grouped together originally, having scattered across different areas. Fortunately, none of the cultivators by their sides had been blinded by the frenzy for ascension. Had that happened, things would have been even more troublesome.
"Did anyone from the Immortal Burial Realm rebel on your end?"
Cao Yan shook his head and let out a sigh of mild relief. "Thankfully no. They were all fairly restrained."
Gu Li nodded slightly; his side had seen none either.
Yet as they discussed the matter, Tang Ru suddenly spoke up.
"The fact that none of them rebelled this time… isn't necessarily a good thing."
Everyone started at his words.
Gu Li frowned. "Fatty Tang, what do you mean by that?"
"Not only the Six Domains, but even cultivators from the Misty Immortal Domain and the Ancient Clan wanted to ascend."
"Yet not a single person from the Immortal Burial Realm rebelled. How is that not a good thing?"
Not only Gu Li, but Cao Yan and Xiao Chen turned their sharp gazes toward Tang Ru as well, at a loss as to what he meant.
Tang Ru's origin power was surging violently within him; clearly, he was already poised to break through to the Mahayana realm.
With a solemn face, Tang Ru looked at each of them in turn.
With a wave of his hand, he erected a sound-isolating barrier around them before speaking in a low voice.
"The reason I say that…"
"Is because only cultivators who have reached the Immortal Burial Realm understand just how terrifying the strength of the Seventh Domain truly is, compared to what the outside world hears!"
"Remember when Eldest Brother intentionally sent a voice transmission to Long Hou? Quite a few people heard it!"
"Eldest Brother meant to keep those people in line, so none of those around us would turn traitor and catch us off guard."
"Eldest Brother had good intentions, but precisely because of that, the cultivators of the Seventh Domain became even more cautious!"
Tang Ru sighed, his chubby face clouded with deep worry.
"The way I see it… it was fortunate that only someone over in the Great Xia Domain managed to open the passage through the barrier between humans and immortals."
"The immortal who came down was slain by Eldest Brother, and the one who tried to ascend burned up the very last of his strength just to force that passage open."
"If that person had actually ascended… the consequences would have been unimaginable!"
Gu Li's expression shifted drastically—he had clearly caught Tang Ru's meaning!
Cao Yan's face paled immediately after, leaving only Xiao Chen still baffled by what they were talking about.
"What are you guys saying? What's going on? What does that mean? Come on, tell me…"
Cao Yan took a deep breath, looked at Xiao Chen, and said in a heavy tone, "What Old Five means… is that in this turmoil, no one actually ascended to the Immortal Realm!"
"And because no one did, the cultivators of the Seventh Domain chose to wait and see!"
"If someone had truly ascended this time… the world really would have fallen into total chaos!"
Xiao Chen scratched his head, still not grasping the implications.
Gu Li rolled his eyes and snapped in exasperation, "What did you leave that head of yours for? How can you still not understand this?"
Gu Li then broke it down for Xiao Chen in the simplest terms.
"No one making it up means everything is still within the Seventh Domain's control!"
"With no guaranteed benefit in sight, those old foxes of the Seventh Domain wouldn't blindly follow suit and risk ascending to the Immortal Realm."
"But if someone had truly opened the passage and succeeded, those bastards who've been waiting bitterly for thousands of years… their hearts would definitely waver. And once tempted, they would take action!"
Only then did Xiao Chen see the light. It seemed he had looked at the whole situation far too simply.
Tang Ru waved his hand to dispel the barrier and said softly, "Let's head back to the Great Xia Sword Sect."
The surrounding cultivators who had joined the battle bowed respectfully toward the group!
The overwhelming presence radiating from these figures made their hearts tremble. Their auras were as deep as an abyss, impossible to fathom.
"Greetings, Seniors!"
"Our deepest gratitude to the seniors for stepping forward to suppress the demonic abyss! Your righteousness knows no bounds!"
"Indeed. Had you seniors not intervened, the devastation wrought by this demonic abyss would have laid waste to all life."
The surrounding cultivators all fixed their gazes upon the group.
From their bearing, every single one of them was a Mahayana realm cultivator.
And extraordinarily powerful ones at that!
Especially the one… clad in golden robes, currently using talismans to suppress the Purgatory Abyss!
With a flick of his hand, hundreds of thousands of inscribed talismans appeared.
Yet he directed such an enormous number of talismans as effortlessly as his own limbs, without the slightest sign of strain.
Gu Li's brow furrowed as the runes penetrated the heavenly flame barrier and pressed downward into the depths!
A sea of talismans linked across the sky, forming layer upon layer of an incomparably formidable seal of luminous talismans!
Once Gu Li finished, Cao Yan nodded to the others.
"The affairs in the other domains are mostly settled."
"We can leave the remaining cleanup to the others and head back to the sect first."
With that, Cao Yan and his companions cupped their hands toward the surrounding cultivators and spoke in a steady voice.
"It was only right."
"We appreciate your noble intentions, fellow Daoists, but we must leave the remaining aftermath in your hands."
The cultivators hastily offered polite acknowledgments, and Cao Yan led the group away toward the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Within the Purple Spirit Grotto-Heaven of the Great Xia Sword Sect, Li Guanqi lay unconscious, soaking inside a medicinal pool.
This time, the Great Xia Sword Sect had lowered its sect-protecting grand formation to aid an entire province, demonstrating immense valor.
At the same time, many of the sect's disciples had been wounded.
After all… the human heart was treacherous.
This turmoil had been ignited by numerous Mahayana realm cultivators defying heaven.
Yet countless opportunistic cultivators with ill intent had taken advantage of the chaos to run rampant!
As a result, many innocent clans and factions were dragged into the fray, suffering terrible losses.
Wounded filled the grounds of the Great Xia Sword Sect, as many injured civilians from nearby villages and towns had been relocated within its borders.
For a time, even the sect's grand plaza was covered with casualties.
In the dining hall, the cooks swinging their spatulas were working so frantically that their woks were practically smoking.
Chapter 1208