Huang Tian had succeeded, while the Wuji Sect Master had met his end.
From the moment the Blood Filth Divine Light erupted, the Heaven-Traversing Alliance had suffered devastating losses, with even Daoist Zhenyi's horsetail whisk caught in the blast.
Though lengthy to recount, all of these upheavals had unfolded in the blink of an eye.
Almost in that exact same breath, the fiends of the Sin Abyss struck. They were practically upon them, ghostly figures lunging forward from within the roiling demonic energy.
Both sides were exceptionally decisive.
Even though an unexpected turn had occurred with the Wuji Sect Master, failing to ruin the magic treasures of the Lesser Cold Domain's cultivators according to plan, it did nothing to shake the Sin Abyss's resolve to attack.
Old Demon Ye barked, "Slaughter the Heaven-Traversing Alliance!"
Without the slightest hesitation, the cultivators of the Sin Abyss abandoned the Lesser Cold Domain and pounced as one upon the Heaven-Traversing Alliance.
Evidently, they understood that the Lesser Cold Domain remained at full strength. Capable of fighting back, they would be far harder to deal with. Once embroiled in a chaotic melee, getting bogged down by the Lesser Cold Domain would make securing any meaningful victory difficult. Their time was limited, and wiping out both domains in a single stroke was no longer feasible.
By contrast, the Heaven-Traversing Alliance's strongest magic treasures had suffered catastrophic damage, slashing their combat prowess. Moreover, their battle line had been thrown into complete disarray by Huang Tian, reducing them to scattered sand. There could not have been a better opportunity.
The Sin Abyss viewed both the Lesser Cold Domain and the Heaven-Traversing Alliance as mortal foes. To cripple the Heaven-Traversing Alliance now meant that even if the two domains joined hands in the future, they would pose no real threat. Their painstaking efforts in hatching such a venomous scheme would not be in vain!
At Old Demon Ye's command, the phantoms of magic treasures suddenly rose from the Sin Abyss's ranks.
Most were wicked implements of demonic cultivators—banners and command tokens. Roiling demonic energy churned in the darkness amidst countless living souls and thronging specters, turning the immortal formation into what seemed like a nether ghostly realm.
The Sin Abyss had plotted this for a long time. These magic treasures had already gathered their full momentum in advance, and the moment they appeared, they unleashed their most ferocious attacks, striking in unison toward the cultivators of the Heaven-Traversing Alliance.
An overwhelming deluge of attacks from countless treasures dazzled the eyes, ultimately merging with the demonic energy into a demonic tide that surged forth with unfathomable darkness and malice.
At the same time, a six-armed demonic shadow rose behind the Sin Abyss cultivators. The figure was colossal, standing a full hundred zhang tall, reaching from earth to heaven.
Its eyes were like copper bells, sinister and terrifying enough to wrench away souls.
As the demonic shadow stood upright, its towering height allowed it to look down upon the Lesser Beichen Star Element Formation. Thrashing its six arms, it roared toward the heavens. The demonic roar drilled into their minds, inducing vertigo and making their blood churn.
Neither Daoist Zhenyi nor the Red-Haired Ancestor had ever seen this demonic shadow before, having no idea what manner of technique it was.
Yet one could deduce that the Sin Abyss cultivators were surely relying on this entity to remain unharmed by the immortal formation's winds of nothingness; it was likely even responsible for breaching the immortal formation's passage in the first place.
"What ancient demon has the Sin Abyss summoned?"
Everyone was thoroughly shaken.
Right then, a vicious light flared in the demonic shadow's eyes. It swung all six arms, smashing down ruthlessly toward the star chart.
*Boom!*
Beichen blazed with brilliant radiance, rivaling the demonic shadow's glow.
Four people had originally maintained the Lesser Beichen Star Element Formation, but with Huang Tian having fled, only three remained, and the formation was already showing signs of instability. Though it blocked the demonic shadow's arms, it inevitably ground to a halt.
The Sin Abyss cultivators' barrage arrived right on its heels, seizing the opening to strike!
Daoist Zhenyi's expression changed drastically.
The Nascent Soul cultivators who had entered Ziwei Palace this time comprised nearly all the top experts of their Heaven-Traversing Alliance. If these people died here, the alliance would effectively be wiped out. Moreover, Daoist Zhenyi stood at the very front, bearing the brunt of the assault!
"Old Demon Ye, I am no man if I do not avenge this!"
With bloodshot eyes, Daoist Zhenyi let out a shrill scream and abruptly raised the horsetail whisk in his hand.
His whisk had only been grazed by the fringe of the Blood Filth Divine Light, sustaining minor damage that could easily be restored with a bit of sacrificial refinement, but the current situation left him no time to repair his treasure.
As Daoist Zhenyi raised the whisk to confront the combined assault of the Sin Abyss cultivators, he appeared terribly fragile, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The whisk's hairs splayed outward, unfurling a colossal web like heavenly maidens scattering blossoms, surging against the tide to actively meet the Sin Abyss cultivators.
Every strand gleamed with a bizarre, wondrous light, razor-sharp like a blade.
At the ends of the threads, an anomaly suddenly materialized: countless Five Elements Divine Swords appeared, releasing infinite streams of sword qi that danced like coiling dragons. Permeating everywhere, they seemed to unfold a miniature world formed of flying swords, intent on swallowing the Sin Abyss cultivators' attack whole.
At the same time, the handle of the horsetail whisk was grinding away bit by bit, until the whisk vanished entirely.
Daoist Zhenyi was actually detonating his life magic treasure to hold back the Sin Abyss's attack.
This horsetail whisk was his life magic treasure, a companion at his side ever since he had first formed his core. Now, he was a pinnacle mid-Nascent Soul expert, merely a single step away from the late Nascent Soul stage.
Over the course of several centuries, he had encountered countless perils, and his life magic treasure had suffered damage many times, yet he had never once been driven to the point of detonating it.
Never had he imagined that after rising to the ranks of pinnacle cultivators, he would find himself in such a desperate plight.
His life magic treasure was destroyed.
Bound to his heart and blood, Daoist Zhenyi coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face turning an ashen gray. The hatred in his eyes deepened, etched into his very bones, harboring an abhorrence for the Sin Abyss that pierced to his core.
"Haha..."
Old Demon Ye laughed insolently, remarking coldly, "Old bull-nose, you have your day too! But wanting to stop this old man with a single magic treasure is nothing but a pipe dream!"
*Boom!*
Before his voice had even faded, an earth-shattering boom erupted ahead.
The anomaly of flying swords produced by the self-detonating whisk lasted only a brief moment against the onslaught before collapsing into ruin.
It was a clash of extreme violence, both sides possessing world-shaking might. The moment they collided, a terrifying, chaotic tempest of qi burst forth, sending countless shattered swords flying about before disintegrating completely.
No matter how strong Daoist Zhenyi was, he was still only one man.
The Sin Abyss cultivators' combined attack had been diminished somewhat, yet it still retained horrifying power.
Daoist Zhenyi's eyes nearly split with fury, but all that remained was despair. He had no choice but to flash aside and evade; otherwise, even he would not survive. Yet the moment he fled, those behind him would bear the full brunt of the disaster.
This time, who knew how many cultivators of the Heaven-Traversing Alliance would escape alive?
Where would the alliance go from here?
Unexpectedly, right at that moment, a scorching aura brushed past him.
This heat originated from an enormous, crimson fist phantom. Exceptionally solid and blazing with roaring flames, it unleashed a pure-yang aura refined to the absolute extreme.
The fist phantom shot past Daoist Zhenyi, replacing the world of flying swords conjured by the whisk to form a second barrier.
Overjoyed, Daoist Zhenyi whipped his head around.
He saw the Red-Haired Ancestor with tiger eyes wide and hair bristling with rage, poised in a striking stance. Flames soared from both of his hands, and inextinguishable fire burned across his entire body. These were not ordinary flames, but the physical manifestation of pure-yang power refined to its pinnacle.
The Red-Haired Ancestor resembled a god of fire descended upon the world, his imposing aura subjugating all living beings.
That fist phantom just now had come from none other than his hands!
The fist phantom was likewise shattered by the Sin Abyss cultivators' treasures, yet it weakened the onslaught by another fraction, buying a chance for several more Heaven-Traversing Alliance members to survive.
At the same time, the Red-Haired Ancestor roared toward the heavens, "Save them!"
The tides of battle shifted in the blink of an eye, and all three commanders had made the most decisive choices.
Without a moment's hesitation, the Red-Haired Ancestor chose to save them!
Chapter 566