Watching the Battle Unfold

Along a battle line spanning nearly ten thousand li, an all-out war erupted, all sparked by Wei Yuan lightly turning over his palm. The cause of the conflict defied everyone's expectations, including those of the immortals. Even Yanshi had not detected the slightest thread of cause and effect beforehand, as if Wei Yuan's decision had arisen out of thin air—truly random, in the terminology of Qingming mathematics. With nearly a double-digit tally of immortals taking the field, the clash naturally tore the heavens and shattered the earth. Immortals differed from Scenery Command cultivators: as they traded blows, they also had to stabilize their native realm and block the gaze from beyond the heavens. Thus, only immortals could fight all out in this world, whereas Scenery Command cultivators could not. Yet the current situation was entirely different. The Mountain Folk Immortal Monarchs were frantically stabilizing space, while the human immortals fought with reckless abandon. This was because they were in the Mountain domain, the territory of the Bloodline Faction, surrounded by several sacred grounds. The Mountain Folk Immortal Monarchs dared not let the celestial vault shatter. After all, in their eyes, the human occupation was merely temporary; without enough boundary stones to pave a continuous path to the human domain, this region would sooner or later return to Mountain Folk hands. This was their own home, and they naturally could not allow it to be trashed. Moreover, as the chaotic battle unfolded, that gaze from beyond the heavens grew distinctly closer; some unknown colossus was rushing toward them at full speed. At this moment, the two immortal bone puppets were tenaciously grappling with the Mountain Folk Immortal Monarchs—or more precisely, hounding them across the field. The Mountain Folk monarchs were all rock giants and intrinsically not very agile, leaving them thoroughly battered as they dodged and parried. The immortal power within the bone puppets was slowly declining, yet the crimson light upon them grew increasingly uncanny and eerie, even showing signs of breaking free from the skeletons to act on its own. Several Mountain Folk monarchs could see that once touched by this crimson light of catastrophe, it would erode straight through their dharma bodies all the way to their divine souls. Any kind of dharmic power or Daoist art had negligible effect on it; it could be scattered, but annihilating it was exceedingly difficult. Scattered crimson light was still crimson light; even the tiniest speck could swiftly infect their dharmic power and bolster itself. Once tainted by such power of catastrophe, the only recourse was to carve out that chunk of their dharma body. Yet the infection of the light of catastrophe did not depend on physical contact alone; what made it truly terrifying was its ability to spread along cause and effect. To be touched by it was to form a karmic connection, leaving one steeped in perpetual terror from then on, never knowing when the light of catastrophe might manifest at one's side again. Furthermore, this light of catastrophe was no trivial matter; the horrific behemoth beyond the heavens had clearly sensed its call and was hurtling forward at full throttle. Even if kept outside the realm, it could still establish a connection with the crimson light across the void. Attempting to eradicate the crimson light then would be tantamount to indirectly confronting that entity beyond the sky. The Mountain Folk monarchs naturally possessed remarkable insight, and their understanding of the realm beyond far surpassed that of the human immortals, so they were well aware of how terrifying the light of catastrophe was. The two Mountain Folk monarchs scrambled frantically, adamantly refusing to let the crimson light touch them; whenever evasion proved impossible, they detonated a section of their own dharma bodies to blow the crimson light away. The situation was utter chaos, yet the Fifth High Mountain grew calm. Bolts of thunder crashed down like a torrential storm, suppressing Xuanyue under relentless assault. Xuanyue had not even had time to stabilize his immortal foundation, and facing the Fifth High Mountain, who had ascended to immortality thousands of years ago, he was far outmatched in immortal power. Nevertheless, relying on an entire ensemble of external contraptions—a metal cage, lightning whips, and transformers—he held his ground. Though at a disadvantage, he showed no signs of defeat. The Fifth High Mountain also had grievances he could not voice. He was a lightning cultivator whose dharma body was stone tempered by thunder, which was why he could withstand Xuanyue's lightning whips. Anyone else would likely have failed to endure even half a day. Fortunately, he had already discerned that as dreadful as the lights of catastrophe were, they relied on the immortal power within the bone puppets as sustenance to stay active. Once that power was exhausted, they would naturally vanish. The two bone puppets had been crafted with extraordinary mastery, but in an engagement of this intensity, they could hold out for a month at most. Meanwhile, by self-detonating parts of their dharma bodies, the Mountain Folk monarchs could each endure for a month as well. When the time came, they could swap opponents and grind the bone puppets down until they collapsed. Without the bone puppets, the humans would never withstand a coordinated siege from the Mountain Folk monarchs. Moreover, the Seventh High Mountain could return after just over a month. Victory remained firmly within their grasp. Having grasped the situation, the Fifth High Mountain was no longer in any hurry. He handled Xuanyue steadily, guarding against the dying old fellow lashing out in desperation. If Xuanyue managed to drag down an immortal monarch in the chaos—even the Ninth High Mountain—it would be a disastrous loss. The other Mountain Folk monarchs also came to see the situation in the same light and responded with composed defense. All they needed to do was stall for a month until the bone puppets fell apart on their own. Conversely, the human side grew anxious. Zhu Yan took risks several times but failed to gain ground, losing several pseudo-immortal artifacts for nothing and even suffering minor injuries. The wounds sobered him up. Shimmering in and out of sight, he began patiently biding his time for an opening. Yet the Mountain Folk monarchs present were all among the Ten Isolated Peaks; how could they leave any flaw to be exploited? Zhu Yan's heart sank steadily. He knew full well that if they kept fighting like this, let alone a month, they would not find a single opening even in years or decades. Wei Yuan stood above the boundary stone, quietly watching the battle unfold. Seeing the deadlock stabilize, the corners of his mouth suddenly curled upward into a peculiar, unhuman smile. He pointed downward, and a slender thread of crimson light shot from his fingertip—striking the boundary stone itself! The boundary stone was still expanding the realm's domain and possessed no defensive capability whatsoever. In an instant, the crimson light penetrated it, turning the entire stone blood-red. Its surface even undulated erratically, resembling a droplet of half-coagulated blood! In the blink of an eye, an invaluable boundary stone was transformed into a stone of catastrophe, and the domain it expanded naturally became a land of catastrophe. Whether human or Mountain Folk, any living being native to this realm lingering in this area would meet an untimely violent death. Given more time, this region would eventually turn into a dead zone where no creature of this realm could survive. The Fifth High Mountain was about to roar with laughter, thinking the humans had truly gone mad. What point was there in destroying their own boundary stone to create a land of catastrophe where no one could live? Yet in the next moment, he realized that the domain remained intact and the grand formation was still operating. Moreover, after transforming into a stone of catastrophe, its growth rate surged at a staggering pace. It no longer required three months—in just ten days, the grand formation would be fully spawned! At once, both the Mountain Folk and the human immortals were thrown into utter disarray, and the tide turned abruptly. Now it was the Mountain Folk monarchs who launched a frenzied assault, while the human immortals scrambled to hold them off. Naturally, immortals on both sides were cursing Wei Yuan in their hearts; this fellow took action without giving the slightest advance warning. Meanwhile, the Mountain Folk monarchs pursued by the bone puppets continued their frantic scrambling. The only forces capable of countering catastrophe were karmic luck and merit. Due to the innate nature of the Mountain Folk, their monarchs were mostly tyrannical and bloodthirsty by disposition; which of them had not slaughtered their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood? Furthermore, many Mountain Folk secret arts required a heavy accumulation of karmic debt to be wielded. Thus, every single Mountain Folk monarch present was steeped in karmic debt far worse than the last, while of karmic luck and merit, they possessed not a shred. At that moment, in the center of the grand formation, a pair of eyes slowly opened, completely dark yellow.