Other cultivators would take their time to write their last will before facing the heavenly flame tribulation, knowing that there was a real possibility that they would lose their life in the cultivation ordeal. Yet, this fellow dived into it again and again as if he was enjoying a hot spring, going at it the day before yesterday, yesterday, and today…
Is it really alright to toy with the powers of the heavens like that?
While other cultivators had to put their lives on the line to overcome cultivation ordeals, when it came to Zhang Xuan, it felt like he was going on a leisurely tour instead!
And in truth, the ones who were surprised were not only Luo Ganzhen and the others. The heavenly flame in the sky was stupefied as well.
Freak, it’s this fellow!
Freaking hell, it’s this fellow again!
Holy freaking hell, why the heck is it this fellow again?
Bro, can’t you just allow me to rest for a day?
You are making me work overtime day after day! Can’t you have some sympathy for me?
I already ran to the otherworldly battlefield in order to avoid you, but you still came chasing after me…
…
The crowd could not make sense out of why Zhang Xuan was able to challenge the heavenly flame tribulation thrice, and they could not comprehend why it was the Empyrean Heavenly Flame each and every time. Eventually, they could only give up on trying to understand this inconceivable phenomenon and focused their attention on watching the cultivation ordeal instead.
Ferocious black flames billowed within the clouds in the sky. At the start, they had still been roaring fiendishly, as if they would bring utter annihilation upon the world.
But as Zhang Xuan dived in, the ominous clouds suddenly began shuddering and twitching. Even that feral roar seemed to have turned into helpless moans.
By the ten-minute mark, the tribulation had already turned tail and fled, leaving a revitalized and satisfied Zhang Xuan floating in the air.
Modifying his dantian and altering his meridian network had taken quite a while, nearly an entire day, but its effects were remarkable. Otherwise, he would not have been able to push for a breakthrough to the Aureate Body realm so quickly.
With two prior experiences of dealing with the heavenly flame tribulation, he had opened up all of his acupoints and devoured the flames without any hesitation. With the augmentation of various cultivation resources, he had actually managed to advance to Aureate Body realm consummation within a short ten minutes!
Driving his zhenqi, a golden sheen swiftly enveloped his body. It was as if an incarnation of Buddha had descended upon the world.
After overcoming his heavenly flame tribulation, Zhang Xuan descended to where the crowd was and asked, “Why are you all here?”
Logically speaking, Luo Ganzhen, Jiang Fangyou, Ren Qingyuan, and Luo Ruoxin should have been in different Subterranean Galleries, fending off the invasion of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. Why had they gathered in the otherworldly battlefield, to watch his cultivation ordeal?
“We noticed some peculiar movements from the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, so we came over to scout the situation. Were you the one… who killed these Otherworldly Demons?”
Even though Ren Qingyuan had vaguely guessed the story, he still found it hard to believe that something like this was possible. Thus, he pointed to the heaps of corpses scattered around.
“Oh. When I first arrived, these scoundrels were planning to launch a decisive invasion on the Master Teacher Continent. In order to stop them, I played on the tension between the two factions that made up the army and stoked them into fighting against one another. Fortunately, everything went according to plan!” Zhang Xuan said.
The desire for slaughter could be said to be coded into the genes of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. If they entered the Master Teacher Continent, many innocent humans would surely be killed under their barbarity. It did weigh on Zhang Xuan’s heart to claim so many lives callously, but he felt that it was necessary.
Benevolence toward the enemy in war was no different from malevolence toward one’s allies.
“You were able to make the two factions come to blows with one another?”
The lips of Ren Qingyuan and the others twitched as they listened to Zhang Xuan’s story.
While the latter had phrased it very casually, they understood the difficulties in trying to pull something like this off.
The Otherworldly Demons were not mindless creatures of power. They were shrewd as well, which made them particularly difficult opponents to deal with. Otherwise, the Master Teacher Pavilion would not have had so much trouble trying to deal with them.
“It must have taken you quite a bit of effort to turn them against one another…” Ren Qingyuan remarked.
“You’re right, it took me one whole hour to do so! I’m feeling really beat now!” Zhang Xuan nodded.
He had needed to switch between multiple identities again and again, which was truly no easy feat. Even with his strength, he could not help but feel completely drained by the time he managed to pull everything off.
It had indeed been rather difficult on him.
“An hour?”
Ren Qingyuan and the others suddenly felt utter helplessness weighing down on them.
If they had been in Zhang Xuan’s shoes, it would have cost them much more in order to deepen the tension between the two factions and force them to clash with one another. At the very least, it would have taken them years of careful preparation.
Yet, that fellow only took an hour…
The more they talked to the other party, the more stifled they felt on the inside.
Can you go easier on our hearts?
“There should have been several dozen Sempiternal realm commanders within this army of a hundred thousand, right? Did you… kill them as well?” Jiang Fangyou asked.
“I did. It took me a while, but I managed to assassinate all of them!” Zhang Xuan nodded earnestly. “I ended up staining my armor in order to do so…”
In order to make his disguise more lifelike, he had cleaned his dirtied armor over and over again. By now, his armor was already completely soaked in blood, such that no amount of wiping would be able to get the blood out of it.
“…”
Jiang Fangyou felt suffocated.
Even Yang shi would be forced to flee as far as he could when faced with several dozen Sempiternal realm cultivators. Yet, you actually managed to assassinate all of them without sustaining any major injuries, and you are even complaining about how they stained your clothes…
All of a sudden, Jiang Fangyou could not help but feel a little bit of pity for the Otherworldly Demon experts who had died at Zhang Xuan’s hand.
…
An imposing palace towered in the depths of the otherworldly battlefield, far away from where Zhang Xuan and the others were.
Two middle-aged men were seated opposite one another with wine cups in their hands.
The middle-aged man seated on the left wore a flowing golden robe. With a hearty laugh, he raised his cup and said, “A toast to our alliance! May our tribesmen reclaim the land that belongs to us!”
He was one of the Three Sovereigns of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, Sovereign Chen Ling!
Opposite to him was a middle-aged man dressed in a long, violet robe—Sovereign Chen Xing!
“May your words come to be!” Sovereign Chen Xing nodded in a dignified manner as he sipped on the wine, savoring its deep fragrance.
He had to admit that the wine prepared by Sovereign Chen Ling was truly fine. Even as one of the Sovereigns, it was not a flavor that he could taste too often.
“Rest assured, there’s no way the humans stand a chance against our allied army. Once this matter comes to be, mankind will no longer pose a threat to us. We shall return to our land of prosperity and bring our Otherworldly Demonic Tribe to greatness once more,” Sovereign Chen Ling roared joyfully.
However, the next instant, his expression froze, and it slowly turned into a frown. Without any warning, he dashed out of the room.
Noting Sovereign Chen Ling’s queer movements, Sovereign Chen Xing realized that something major must have happened as well. Thus, he quickly left the room and followed Sovereign Chen Ling.
Before long, the two of them arrived before a vast altar.
Countless jade tokens floated in the air above the vast altar.
It was a tradition of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe to extract a sliver of each soldier’s will and forge it into a jade token before the army departed for battle. This jade token indicated the condition of the individual. If a jade token shattered, it meant that the individual had already breathed his last breath.
This served as an effective method for the Sovereigns to gauge the status of the army and family members of the soldiers to keep track of the condition of their loved ones.
Whenever a major battle broke out, the jade tokens would swiftly shatter one after another. This would mean that the brave soldiers of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe were laying down their bodies and souls to further the cause of their tribe.
These men would be regarded as heroes, and they would be honored for their valiance. Their deeds would go down in history, and their name tablets would be placed on the God’s Altar.
By the time that the two Sovereigns had arrived before the altar, the jade tokens had already begun shattering one after another. As beings who stood at the very top of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, they had already seen their fair share of deaths. If it had just been a normal battle, such a shattering of jade tokens would not have even fazed them. However…
Pipipah! Pipipah! Pipah pipah pipipah!
The jade tokens shattered with beautiful rhythm, reminiscent of an orchestral performance. It was baffling to think of it in such a manner, but there was a mysterious charm to the melody. From time to time, as if the melody struck a climax, there would be an extraordinarily powerful note that played on the heartstrings of the listeners.
Within the short span of a few minutes, the hundred thousand jade tokens floating above the altar had been reduced to a pile of dust on the ground. Nothing was left at all.
“Our army of a hundred thousand…”
Sovereign Chen Ling staggered weakly as the wine cup in his hand fell to the ground. His face paled in disbelief as he shook his head in incredulity.
An army of a hundred thousand elites should have been sufficient to push their way through the Subterranean Gallery and bring havoc upon the Master Teacher Continent… They had expected great casualties in the midst of doing so, but they were confident that victory was in their grasp. Yet, barely after they had confirmed their alliance, before their allied army could even make their way out of the Subterranean Gallery, it had already been wiped out.
For the jade tokens to shatter one another so determinedly and relentlessly…
What in the world was going on?
In an instant, the two Sovereigns were left completely stunned.
