A figure, drifting like catkin down, rose and fell amidst the sea of clouds, flying slowly yet steadily toward the Bikong Region.
His pale golden eyes pierced through the layers of clouds and mist, looking down from time to time.
The sights that met his gaze were shocking to behold.
The dams and dykes holding the waters had collapsed, leaving vast numbers of fish and shrimp stranded on the dried riverbed, flopping weakly.
Bubbles emerged from their mouths one after another in a futile attempt to moisten their bodies, but it was an utter drop in the ocean.
"The intricate underground water network of Lake Taihu Domain has completely collapsed. Massive volumes of lake water are cascading toward lower ground. Without foundational physical support, the spirit veins of this domain are all but ruined."
Luo Chen observed for only a brief moment before grasping the general situation of Lake Taihu Domain.
Without pausing, he pressed forward along the path he had come.
Because he had intentionally slowed his pace, it took a full three days before he returned to the Jiuling Domain.
Before even crossing the boundary marker, Luo Chen came to a halt.
For the clear, surging roar of waves had reached his ears from far away.
A strange look appeared on Luo Chen's face.
Because the Jiuling Domain was filled with steep mountains and craggy heights, its elevation was lofty, earning it the reputation of connecting to the Nine Heavens.
Yet this rushing sound of churning waves signified that a tremendous change had occurred.
Whoosh!
Luo Chen sprang into the air and landed upon a shattered cliff face.
At the sight before him, he could not help but inhale a sharp breath of cold air.
"Has all the water from Lake Taihu Domain flowed into the Jiuling Domain?"
A vast expanse of water stretched endlessly, seeming to merge with the horizon.
The lake waters churned tempestuously, wave upon wave crashing relentlessly against the shore with thunderous roars.
Under the pounding of the water, fragments of rock crumbled and fell from the precipice beneath his feet from time to time.
Gazing as far as the eye could see, sunlight spilled across the lake's shimmering surface, its dazzling radiance gleaming like countless gemstones and nearly blinding to the eyes.
Here and there, jagged little islets broke the water's surface, offering resting perches for flying birds.
Yet upon closer inspection, those were no mere islands—they were clearly the mountain peaks of what had once been the Jiuling Domain!
This scene, both unfamiliar and yet strangely reminiscent, made Luo Chen feel as if he had returned to the Northern Sea.
"The land has sunk, the mountains collapsed, and the lake waters surged in, merging sea and sky into one!"
Murmuring to himself, Luo Chen felt a profound awe toward the destructive power of Soul Transformation powerhouses.
They recklessly drew upon the world's primal essence, throwing spiritual qi out of balance and shattering the earth veins, forcefully transforming the natural landscape itself.
Lake Taihu Domain had become an arid wasteland.
In just a few short days, a massive lake had formed out of nowhere in the Jiuling Domain—no, it could no longer be called a mere lake. Spanning tens of thousands of li across, it could fully be deemed a sea!
Then what of the primary battlefield, the Bikong Region?
Luo Chen took a deep breath and shot forward.
A powerful wave of displaced air parted the tranquil water's surface, surging ahead like a rolling white crest.
One day later.
Chhh!
Luo Chen, flying at high speed, came to an abrupt halt.
In astonishment, he reached up and touched his cheek.
There was a warm, wet sensation.
Bringing his fingers before his eyes, a smear of crimson was starkly visible.
As if realizing something, Luo Chen reached forward into the air.
A breeze swept past, and a faint cut immediately surfaced on Luo Chen's palm.
Due to the battle against Demon Emperor Baizu, the Xuanchen Armor that usually clung to him had suffered severe damage and had been removed.
Yet the defensive strength of Luo Chen's physical body was in no way inferior to the Xuanchen Armor, a True Artifact!
How could a mere wisp of wind pierce his physical defense?
Just what kind of change had taken place in the Bikong Region?
Tensing his mind, Luo Chen circulated source power through his entire body, forming a resilient film of blood.
Not only that, he formed hand seals and cast several protective barriers around himself.
He advanced with great caution.
One step, two steps; ten zhang, a hundred zhang... until, having penetrated a thousand li deep, Luo Chen stopped helplessly.
His array of magic power barriers had already shattered.
The blood film covering his body was also repeatedly shredded and regenerated under the constant cutting of astral winds.
Although Luo Chen could still supply vast amounts of source power to sustain this protective blood film, the rate of consumption was more than he could bear.
Yet through this brief encounter, Luo Chen had vaguely realized what had changed in the Bikong Region.
This place was permeated with the true meaning of the Metal Law!
Consequentially, everything within it—even flying sand, rolling pebbles, gentle breezes, and white clouds—was filled with a terrifying, razor-sharp cutting force.
Ordinary cultivators would likely find it difficult to venture even a hundred li inward, let alone a thousand.
If he recklessly pushed his source power to the limit and wore the Xuanchen Armor in its peak condition, he might be able to rush ten thousand li inward in a single burst, but even that would be fraught with peril.
Such a peculiar environment was actually not unfamiliar to Luo Chen.
In fact, it was extraordinarily familiar!
In the Land of the Fallen Demon within the Sunken Sea, there were three heavens: Liwangtian, the Five Elements Heaven, and Mingzhaotian.
And that Five Elements Heaven was divided into five domains, each suffused with the ubiquitous true meaning of a single elemental law among the Five Elements!
However, compared to the artificial and orderly arrangement of the Five Elements Heaven, the law's true meaning in the Bikong Region was utterly chaotic, teeming with hostility toward any living creature.
Comparing it to the Five Elements Heaven was somewhat unfitting.
After all, that had been arranged by Demonic Lord Liantian himself.
The current state of the Bikong Region bore a closer resemblance to another secret realm Luo Chen had experienced.
The Bai Ye Cave Dwelling!
In the Jade Cauldron Domain, beneath Mount Thunder Accumulation's Nine Peaks, a mighty powerhouse had fallen, turning his palace into ruins.
Within it lay the terrifying true meaning of Thunder!
In fact, Mount Thunder Accumulation's Nine Peaks had been formed bit by bit by the true meaning of Thunder radiating from that ruin.
Luo Chen had heard the general story from cultivators who entered the Bai Ye Cave Dwelling back then: even after a thousand years, the true meaning had not dissipated, and the closer one got to the center, the more perilous it became, like a pool of pure lightning.
How similar was the current state of the Bikong Region to the Bai Ye Cave Dwelling?
On the periphery, metal winds and astral qi were omnipresent.
The deeper inside one went, the more frequently the law's true meaning manifested.
In other words, had the Ancient Demon Di Tian fallen?
Had the law's true meaning he had painstakingly cultivated throughout his life, now freed from the confines of a physical body, flooded into heaven and earth?
The Ancient Demon Di Tian's true form was a White Tiger, and his law governed Metal—which perfectly matched the current circumstances.
Through these environmental changes, Luo Chen deduced the fate of this generation of ancient demon.
A sacred ground newly founded, the Demon Court not yet established; fallen at Biyou, his life cut short by Mingyuan—in the end, all his grand ambitions and hegemonic aspirations had come to naught!
He felt a sigh of pity for the demise of Lord Pingshan,
yet was equally shocked by the ruthless decisiveness of the Mingyuan Sect: staying dormant until the right moment, striking once to quell the demon turmoil, and striking again to annihilate an ancient demon.
The Eastern Wasteland, after all, was truly going to belong entirely to the surname Mingyuan.
Luo Chen abandoned the idea of pressing further ahead.
With the methods of three Soul Transformation powerhouses, having slain Di Tian, they certainly would not have left behind anything valuable for others to scavenge.
Moreover, the environment here was so chaotic and disordered that a single misstep could cost one's life. Why take such a risk?
Perhaps after eight hundred or a thousand years, steeped in the true meaning of the Metal Law, the Bikong Region would naturally spawn precious resources like the Five Elements Heaven or the Bai Ye Cave Dwelling. But that was not something the present Luo Chen could covet.
Just as Luo Chen turned to leave, his steps paused for a moment.
He looked back, staring into the depths of the Bikong Region with uncertainty and suspicion.
There, he felt a faint, ethereal connection!
"Could it be... Di Tu?!"
Luo Chen had once claimed his soul blood and placed a slave seal upon him.
Even though the slave seal had been released and the soul blood returned, that had occurred only a few days ago, allowing Luo Chen to accurately recognize his aura.
"How could Di Tu still be alive?!"
Luo Chen swallowed hard and took a step forward, intending to enter.
Yet in the end, he pulled his foot back.
His pale golden eyes took a deep, lingering look into the depths of Bikong, and then he turned and left!
After his departure, within the depths of the Bikong Region, metal winds continued to howl and bone-scraping astral qi blew relentlessly.
A golden tiger hundreds of zhang in length, covered in wounds from head to tail, curled within a crater, its aura barely clinging to life.
A gust of metal wind swept toward him, yet the moment it touched his body, it turned extraordinarily gentle, brushing over him like a light caress.
The golden tiger trembled, its eyelids squeezed shut.
Faintly, murky tears flowed down in streams.
***
The peace talks between the two races at Mount Biyou had gone awry!
This matter had been made known to everyone on the very day it occurred by Tianduzi, who had fled back to Lingtian Pass.
Everyone understood what this entailed.
If the Mingyuan Sect won, the human race of the Eastern Wasteland would once again regain dominance.
If the battle ended in a stalemate, that was an outcome no one wished to see.
For if that happened, this human-demon war would inevitably drag on in deadlock, and aside from the Mingyuan Sect, no faction could endure such attrition.
And if the Mingyuan Sect were defeated...
This last possibility was dismissed by everyone.
With three great ancestors taking the field alongside thirty-six Nascent Soul Perfected Cultivators of the Mingyuan Sect forming a grand formation, who in this world aside from the Tianyuan Dao Sect could defeat such a lineup?
Thus, everyone hoped that the first possibility would become reality.
Naturally, people were not sitting idly by during this process either.
Those of weaker cultivation retreated toward the rear at all costs to avoid being swept up in the powerhouses' clash.
Those with somewhat greater strength hovered at an immense distance, trying to glimpse fragments and details of the battle.
After the great battle raged for three days and three nights, all the dust finally settled.
Between heaven and earth, the turbulent primal essence gradually calmed, allowing Nascent Soul cultivators to attempt spreading their domains to control the ambient spiritual qi.
High in the heavens, the stars no longer shone and thunder ceased to rumble, signifying that the other battlefield had reached a conclusion as well.
After the battle concluded, the three great ancestors of the Mingyuan Sect did not show themselves and returned straight to the Nether Abyss.
Furthermore, after returning, the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Mingyuan Sect did not linger long before hurriedly retreating to their sect grounds.
Only Castellan Lingtian, appearing severely drained of vitality, remained behind to continue overseeing matters great and small at Lingtian Pass.
Some curious meddlers ventured toward the battlefield to observe, hoping to scavenge something.
Yet they found nothing at all!
All that met their eyes were harrowing sights that chilled them to the bone.
The Bikong Region had turned into a forbidden land, barring all living beings!
The earth veins of Fire Ridge had ruptured and lava spewed forth, turning it into a vast world of fire. Anyone who was not a Fire-attribute cultivator found it nearly impossible to take a step within, making it utterly unsuited for cultivation.
The Jiuling Domain was bereft of high mountains, leaving only a boundless sea. When Sovereign Jiuling came in person to the seashore and beheld his former homeland, he stood in silence, merely giving this sea a name: the Pingshan Sea.
It carried both the literal meaning of high mountains leveled and lakes filling the land, as well as a memorial symbol for the fall of a generation's ancient demon, Lord Pingshan.
Lake Taihu Domain suffered massive soil and water loss, its spiritual qi became thin, and faint signs pointed toward persistent drought in the future.
Just a single clash among Soul Transformation powerhouses—one where the battlefield's boundaries had been deliberately constrained—had devastated four entire domains!
Such was the terror of Soul Transformation might!
Curiously, the Blade Dominance Domain, which had previously been blasted into a spiritless dead zone by Nascent Soul cultivators, was the least affected by this great war.
Many cultivators thus passed through this relatively calm domain to travel back and forth, scouting for news.
Lingfengzi was among them.
Luo Chen had disappeared!
As a newly joined Nascent Soul Elder of the Luotian Sect, he had no choice but to step forward in person to search for Luo Chen.
He first went to Fire Ridge, covered in flaming mountains, thinking Luo Chen might be hiding there because he primarily cultivated Fire methods.
Finding nothing after searching, he had to divert toward the Blade Dominance Domain in an attempt to head toward the rear.
Just as Lingfengzi was wandering aimlessly with no leads, a voice transmission suddenly entered his ear.
Lingfengzi froze, then was overcome with joy, flying toward an empty valley.
Clad in white robes, Luo Chen had already been waiting for a long time.
"Senior Brother, you really are alive!"
Luo Chen smiled faintly and asked about the Luotian Sect's recent situation.
Lingfengzi reported truthfully, "The Luotian Sect is fine and still resides within Fenghua Palace."
Luo Chen nodded. "That is well."
Lingfengzi asked curiously, "What exactly happened that day to provoke Soul Transformation powerhouses into taking action in person, and even roping in all the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Mingyuan Sect?"
Luo Chen waved his hand, choosing not to give him the specific details.
After all, the three ancestors of the Mingyuan Sect using the guise of peace talks to launch a surprise attack was hardly an honorable deed to speak of.
For those of lesser strength, knowing too much would bring harm rather than benefit.
Out of curiosity, he inquired about another matter.
"What were the casualties among the Mingyuan Sect's Nascent Soul cultivators?"
At the mention of this, Lingfengzi grew lively.
"Catastrophic!"
"During the great battle at Lingtian Pass back then, the Mingyuan Sect only lost five Nascent Soul Perfected Cultivators. But this time, they lost a full twelve Nascent Soul Perfected Cultivators!"
"Not only that, out of the six late-stage Nascent Soul grand cultivators, only two have shown their faces: Castellan Lingtian and Perfected Chongxuan."
"Yet Castellan Lingtian suffered grievous damage to his vitality, shutting his doors to visitors upon returning. Perfected Chongxuan isn't in good shape either and went to Shouyang Mountain to recuperate."
"According to Tianduzi, another cultivator, Perfected Hanyang, even had his physical body destroyed, with only his Nascent Soul surviving."
"As for Lei Daozi, there has been no sign of him, and his condition remains unknown."
Listening to this news, Luo Chen fell into deep contemplation.
Thirty-six Nascent Soul Perfected Cultivators had joined together in a grand formation to counter a Soul Transformation powerhouse. Though they had managed to suppress him initially, they suffered grievous casualties in the end.
Even a powerhouse like Castellan Lingtian had his vitality severely depleted; presumably, the other grand cultivators were in no better condition.
As expected, fighting above one's realm against the suppression of a major cultivation boundary extracted a price that no ordinary faction could ever bear.
He wondered whether Immortal Qinghe had managed to escape.
Luo Chen asked about Immortal Qinghe's fate, but unfortunately Lingfengzi knew nothing of it.
"Never mind, let us return first," Luo Chen said.
As for the fact that he had slain Demon Emperor Baizu, Luo Chen did not mention it to him.
Presently, his reputation was already grand enough and his future path was set; he had no need for such a deed to bolster his renown.
Furthermore, Baizu was, after all, a Demon Emperor. If news got out that he had died by Luo Chen's hands, it would cause too much astonishment.
In the absence of Soul Transformation powerhouses stepping in, Demon Emperors and grand cultivators were already the pinnacle existences of this world, virtually impossible to kill.
Mad Vagrant, head of the Three Vagrants of the Northern Sea, was still alive and well in the Northern Sea cultivation world despite having gone mad.
However fierce the war in the Eastern Wasteland had been, over a hundred years had passed without a single Demon Emperor or grand cultivator falling.
Even Commander Qixi remained alive after continuous battles and suffering grievous wounds several times.
While this was partly because combatants of the same rank rarely fought to the death, it also demonstrated just how formidable Demon Emperors and grand cultivators truly were.
If word leaked that Luo Chen had quietly slain a Demon Emperor—even the weakest of the nine commanders—it would only put other cultivators of similar stature on guard against him.
On the way back, Luo Chen casually asked about Tianduzi and Perfected Shenyuan.
Lingfengzi answered each inquiry.
Tianduzi was unharmed, though one of his twelve Doutian Divine Fiend Flags had been destroyed, and he was currently gathering materials on a massive scale to repair it.
As before, Perfected Shenyuan remained elusive, his whereabouts untraceable.
Lingfengzi had only heard from low-ranking disciples of the Five Elements Divine Sect that their Supreme Elder was safe and sound.
"They're all old monsters with countless life-saving means!"
"If Baizu hadn't impulsively decided to cause trouble for me, if my combat methods hadn't been so varied, and if Xiao Ling hadn't stunned him for an instant with a divine soul strike, he might well have escaped alive as well."
Luo Chen sighed with emotion.
Before they knew it, they had arrived outside Lingtian Pass.
"Shall we enter?" Lingfengzi asked.
Luo Chen hesitated, not particularly eager to enter Lingtian Pass right now.
Yet just as he planned to take a detour back to Fenghua Palace, a feeble voice reached his ears:
"Fellow Daoist, now that you have returned, why not come to the manor for a chat?"
Chapter 865