"You all deserve to die!"
Amidst the furious roar, a vast swath of golden light cascaded through the air.
The golden radiance was biting and cold, pregnant with endless killing intent.
Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be countless fine grains of sand, blotting out the sky and earth, plunging the heart into despair.
The Hidden Sword Tower Master's expression shifted slightly at the sight. From the sword casket on his back, countless Sword Leaf Gu flew out, weaving together into a barrier of sword qi to block the front.
Yet the moment the sword leaves collided with the grit, tiny perforations appeared across many of the blades, as though they were being gnawed away by insects.
Things were going no better for Marquis Ziyi. Transformed into a streak of purple light, he dashed left and right, yet beneath the blanket of golden brilliance, his purple radiance dimmed further and further, beginning to teeter on the verge of collapse.
Right at this critical moment, an azure light barrier surged upward from the earth.
Like a babbling brook, it vaulted past the two men and soared into the sky, abruptly turning incomparably resilient as it locked the sky-spanning golden radiance out.
Before the gate of a palace, the old man whom the Golden Lion Emperor had seen earlier laid eyes on this azure curtain of light and blurted out, "Glazed Gu!"
Then came boundless fury: "Heavenly Master Li, you have crossed the line!"
Before the bronze gate, Heavenly Master Li laughed heartily. "Shixiang, why get so worked up?"
Hearing this, the old man known as Shixiang was driven to furious laughter. "You break into my Yin-Yang Realm and butcher my sect brother, and you dare ask why I am angry?"
Heavenly Master Li replied calmly, "If you take the initiative to tell me the location of the Death Gate, this old man can spare your lives."
The Death Gate!
The moment those three words were uttered, no further response came from Shixiang.
Heavenly Master Li furrowed his brows. Right then, the Hidden Sword Tower Master and Marquis Ziyi returned together.
"Are you two all right?" Heavenly Master Li asked casually.
Marquis Ziyi let out a breath of relief. "Nothing serious. But I never imagined this legendary Perfected Person Nuxiang would possess such formidable strength."
Perfected Person Nuxiang was Shixiang's Daoist title. Compared to his true name, more cultivators in the Southern Border knew him by this title.
The Hidden Sword Tower Master, Fan Wujiu, felt the same way, especially as he gazed upon the tiny perforations dotting his sword leaves; an expression of deep heartache surfaced on his face.
These Sword Leaf Gu were treasures he had painstakingly refined through immense effort and exorbitant cost.
He had never expected that in a single clash, twenty to thirty percent of them would be ruined.
Heavenly Master Li took it as a matter of course. "Shixiang is not only a Great Cultivator of long-established renown, but was once also a true disciple of a holy land. It is hardly surprising that he can handle you with ease."
Marquis Ziyi and Fan Wujiu looked at each other, left momentarily speechless.
Were disciples of the holy lands truly this terrifying?
They considered themselves overlords in the outside world, standout figures among their peers. Yet whether in realm or methods, they had been utterly suppressed by Shixiang.
This gulf in power...
"It is finished!"
From behind, a voice laden with relief suddenly sounded.
Everyone turned to look as Granny Hongye stepped out from the glow of a formation.
She exhaled a breath of turbid air. Though fatigue hung on her face, delight was far more prominent.
"The formations of the Gate of Life and Death are truly distinct from the outside world. This brief study has brought this old woman immense gains."
Heavenly Master Li had no interest in hearing that and cut straight to the point: "Is the boundary complete?"
A boundary?
Luo Chen's heart stirred upon hearing that term.
Restrictions, formations, and boundaries existed in a progressive hierarchy.
Restrictions formed the bedrock of formations, while boundaries were the high-order derivation of formations.
A great host of restrictions pooled together to create a formation, and a well-orchestrated deployment of formations gave rise to a boundary.
However, the latter was extraordinarily rare because its deployment was far too cumbersome. It was useless in the heat of battle and was typically set up only within the inner domains of major sects.
Oh, there was one other circumstance.
The genesis of many ancient cultivator ruins came from the formations laid during their lifetimes naturally intertwining over long centuries with the surrounding geography and heavenly veins, eventually coalescing into a boundary.
Because of this, many secret realms were often titled "Realms."
He had previously assumed Granny Hongye was merely setting up a formation, but casting his gaze around now, it was unmistakably a small boundary that completely enveloped the three-li perimeter around the bronze gate.
Granny Hongye smiled. "This old woman has studied the Kongming Boundary you gave me for several decades. Though pressed for time today, I have not failed my mission. With this Kongming Boundary in place, outsiders cannot enter, and those within cannot leave!"
Heavenly Master Li was overjoyed.
"In that case, this Yin-Yang Fragmented Realm is a turtle trapped in a jar. As long as you all assist me in opening the Death Gate and entering the Netherworld where Almighty Yin-Yang Zi passed away, our undertaking will be a complete success!"
Hearing these words, Meng Shentong grumbled unhappily beside them, "Why must it be so troublesome?"
Luo Chen found it rather troublesome as well.
A realm within a realm was one thing, but how could there be a Netherworld within this Yin-Yang Realm?
Inversely, did that mean where they stood right now was the Yang Realm?
Heavenly Master Li's answer directly confirmed Luo Chen's suspicion.
"When an almighty figure of a generation is dragged down to his demise, how immense must his resentment be? If two realms were not established to isolate the interior from the exterior, do you truly believe these cultivators of the Gate of Life and Death could suppress an almighty figure's lingering grievance?" Heavenly Master Li retorted.
Meng Shentong was left speechless.
"Let us go! Once I enter the Netherworld and obtain the Gu recipe, this journey will be declared a success. The favors you all owe me will also be written off!"
Heavenly Master Li waved his hand and strode forward.
Meng Shentong asked curiously, "Do you know the way?"
Heavenly Master Li answered with complete confidence, "Of course I do not. After all, when I strayed into the Yin-Yang Realm back then, I entered straight into the Netherworld. However, the Yin-Chasing Flying Ants I painstakingly modified have already picked up some clues. For now, they have pinpointed roughly three locations suspected to be where the Death Gate lies."
Meng Shentong came to a sudden realization.
He had thought those flying ants from before looked remarkably like Soul-Chasing Flying Ants. It turned out the old fellow had modified them himself.
Yin-Chasing? Quite fitting indeed!
Just as the group prepared to set off, the ground suddenly began to tremble.
Gusts of yellow wind rolled in from all directions.
Seeing this, Heavenly Master Li flew into a rage. "What insolence! This old man has not gone looking for trouble with you, yet you dare take the initiative to strike?"
To Luo Chen's ears, this voice sounded very close, yet it was also impossibly fleeting—as if right before his eyes one moment, and beyond the horizon the next.
His expression shifted slightly. He took a step forward, intending to draw closer to Heavenly Master Li.
Yet after that single step, the yellow wind continued to billow violently, and not a soul was in sight.
*Is this that Shixiang's doing?*
Frowning, Luo Chen brought his fingers together and wiped them across his brow and eyes.
*Open!*
His Scarlet Eyes and Golden Pupils manifested, illuminating the obscure reaches of heaven and earth.
Yet beneath his gaze, there was no one.
Luo Chen opened his mouth, suddenly realizing what had happened.
"A spatial shift method—so close yet a thousand li apart!"
Evidently, during all the years the cultivators of the Golden Lion Empire had occupied this Yin-Yang Realm, they had not been idling.
They had even arranged a grand spatial shifting formation across this land, capable of forcibly teleporting people away when their guard was down.
But if so, didn't that mean everyone had been separated?
Recalling Shixiang's earlier attitude, a chill gripped Luo Chen's heart.
*Scatter us by shifting, then defeat us one by one!*
For a moment, as he looked around, a sinister aura seemed to permeate the air, as if countless pairs of eyes were coldly watching him from within the swirling yellow wind.
***
Inside a towering palace.
Shixiang and another old man dressed in brocade robes stood before a bronze mirror, their faces gloomy to the extreme.
"Fourth Brother is dead, while Third Brother and Fifth Sister are locked outside. Now, only the two of us remain within the Yin-Yang Realm. I have used the shifting method to forcibly separate them, but this method can only hold for seven days at most. After seven days, the Yellow Wind Formation will collapse on its own, and they will surely have communication methods to assemble rapidly. Thus, these seven days are our final chance. Second Brother, what are your thoughts?"
"Either we open the Death Gate and hide in the Netherworld, or we pick them off one by one," the Golden Lion Second Ancestor offered the expected answers.
However, Shixiang rejected the first suggestion immediately.
"The Death Gate cannot be opened. Things are not as they used to be; the Life Gate and the Death Gate are intimately linked. At present, our sect's mountain gates are closed. If the Death Gate opens, a flaw will appear in the Life Gate as well. Furthermore, it is glaringly obvious that old bastard Heavenly Master Li is after the Netherworld behind the Death Gate. Once the Death Gate is unsealed, the disturbance will be enormous, and he will surely follow the sound straight to us."
"Then kill them?" The Golden Lion Second Ancestor hesitated slightly.
Shixiang countered, "Is that not our primary duty? To suppress the Yin-Yang Realm and prevent outsiders from stealing Patriarch Yin-Yang Zi's research findings."
The Second Ancestor voiced some concern. "Yet none of those seven are individuals to be trifled with!"
Indeed, they were formidable opponents.
Heavenly Master Li possessed immense prestige and exceptional rallying power in the Southern Border.
An ordinary secret realm exploration usually involved only a few Nascent Souls, and in Soul Formation secret realms, ordinary Nascent Souls dared not even tread.
Yet through favors, transactions, and inducements, Heavenly Master Li had forcibly assembled a luxurious lineup consisting of three Great Cultivators, three mid Nascent Soul powerhouses, and one body refinement expert.
Not a single one among them was simple.
Shixiang pressed, "Do you mean to say you do not wish to avenge Fourth Brother?"
The Golden Lion Second Ancestor fell silent.
Though they addressed one another as brothers and sisters, they shared no blood ties.
All had hailed from the Gate of Life and Death; naturally, some relations among them were warm while others were cold.
He had never shared much camaraderie with the Fourth Ancestor.
"Enough. You need not deal with those three—Heavenly Master Li, Meng Shentong, and Hongye. This old man shall handle them! As for the remaining four, eliminate them one by one. You must be swift; brook no delay."
"That is manageable." A glint of interest showed in the Second Ancestor's eyes. He was, after all, in the mid Nascent Soul stage and hailed from a holy land; he harbored no dread against peers of the same realm. Yet he could not help asking, "Dividing our strength leaves us weak. Why not join forces to strike them down together?"
"Absurd! Do you not know that this Yellow Wind Formation arranged by Patriarch Youli permits only a single person per localized pocket of space? Leveraging the formation's power, we can forcibly break in, but it allows only one of us at a time," Shixiang reprimanded.
The Second Ancestor came to an abrupt realization. Then, he immediately thought of something. "Then I request to awaken the dragon lions to aid me!"
Shixiang looked at his junior brother, feeling helpless inside.
This Second Brother was truly overly cautious and terrified of death!
His abilities were clearly not weak, yet he never dared to stake everything on a decisive fight.
Shixiang nodded. "Very well. With the dragon lions assisting you, you should be able to resolve matters swiftly!"
The Second Ancestor was overjoyed!
He was already not inferior to those four, and with the dragon lions aiding him, he could even hold his ground against a Great Cultivator for a time.
"Act as early as possible, before they adapt to the Yellow Wind Formation," Shixiang urged.
"Understood." The Second Ancestor nodded. Before setting off, he asked casually, "Whom do you intend to target first?"
Wrath flooded Shixiang's face. "Naturally, that traitorous scoundrel, Heavenly Master Li!"
***
Amidst the billowing yellow wind, a dark silhouette walked alone.
Luo Chen had not opened his Scarlet Eyes and Golden Pupils again.
He had discovered that within this Yellow Wind Grand Formation, activating spirit eyes for any extended period caused a searing pain, making tears stream involuntarily down his face.
Wind and sand blinding the eyes—it was precisely that.
Not only ocular techniques, but even divine sense, as Luo Chen quietly tested, could not extend beyond ten li.
Such abnormal conditions put him on high alert.
Pinching a sachet in his left hand, Luo Chen marveled inward.
Heavenly Master Li's Gu refinement craft was truly marvelous.
In a state where sight could not reach and divine sense could not disperse, this Hundred Thoughts Sachet, beyond refreshing the mind, actually maintained a faint, threadlike connection.
Following the guidance of this tenuous link, he was currently making his way toward Heavenly Master Li and the others to regroup.
The Yin-Yang Realm was divided into the Yang Realm and the Netherworld.
Luo Chen did not yet know what the Netherworld was like, but from the looks of it, this Yang Realm was remarkably vast.
If he wanted to safely rendezvous with the others, it would take at least three to five days.
As for how to guarantee his safety?
Luo Chen's ears suddenly twitched!
The sound of rustling grit drifting down through the wind reached his ears.
That was unremarkable in itself, but accompanying it was a low, intimidating growl faintly carrying over.
"What is that?"
Luo Chen looked up. A hundred-zhang-tall golden lion statue crouching upon the earth was undergoing a bizarre transformation.
Grit cascaded down as golden light flared.
Suddenly, the golden lion opened its eyes and fixed its gaze upon Luo Chen.
The statue had actually come to life!
Luo Chen's expression shifted slightly, and he struck out directly with a palm.
*Boom!*
Having just awakened, the statue nevertheless displayed an agility entirely incongruous with its colossal form.
With a single roll, it evaded the palm strike.
Then, planting its paws, it lunged toward Luo Chen with an indomitable momentum.
*Thump!*
*Thump!*
*Thump!*
As the Golden Dragon Lion ran faster and faster, the billowing yellow wind seemed to turn into its propulsion, birthing clouds beneath its feet in an almost dreamlike display.
Luo Chen still did not retreat, allowing the Golden Dragon Lion to charge right before him.
Facing the paw swiping down at his head, he shot into the sky and unleashed a thunderous kick.
*Boom!*
With just a single kick, the previously awe-inspiring Golden Dragon Lion was struck as if by a cataclysmic blow.
Its massive body began to fracture inch by inch, crumbling like sand.
In the end, it disintegrated into a heap of shattered stones.
"Nothing more than an empty shell!"
Luo Chen shook his head, paying it no further heed.
Yet in the very next instant, his face darkened.
All because the rumbling thunder of galloping footfalls resonated in his ears.
He did not know how vast the Yang Realm of the Yin-Yang Realm truly was, but from the fleeting glance he had caught before the grand gate earlier, there had been no fewer than a dozen Golden Dragon Lion statues in sight.
At this moment, more and more Golden Dragon Lions were awakening, and all of them were charging in his direction.
If anyone claimed there was no one orchestrating this spectacle, Luo Chen would not believe it for a second.
"So, where is the true enemy hiding?"
Luo Chen drifted slowly into the air. Sweeping his hands past his tall crown, he retrieved two Life-Snatching Golden Plumes and held them in his grasp.
Looking down at the earth, where rolling clouds of dust heralded several dozen Golden Dragon Lions encircling him from all directions, a ruthless look settled on his face.
With a flick of both wrists—
*Crack!*
*Crack!*
Explosions ripped through the air as the Life-Snatching Golden Plumes extended without warning, transforming into two long whips.
"Once I slaughter all these mindless beasts, you will show yourself eventually!"
Chapter 958