Chapter 121: Late Stage!
"Dong!"
The fierce attack obliterated every shred of spiritual energy defense on Wu Tong's body. His body shot backward like a kite with its string cut, battered beyond recognition.
A blood-red wound cleaved through his chest. Amidst the frantic spray of blood, his body traced a thousand-zhang-long arc across the sky, finally slamming into a giant pillar.
The pillar itself cracked all over from the impact, teetering as if about to collapse at any moment.
Wu Tong's corpse lay blood-soaked beneath the giant pillar. In an instant, the flesh and blood within his entire body had been utterly incinerated into nothingness by the terrifying flames. Rubble pressed down upon his body, burying him. His aura dissipated within the chamber.
The thunderous sounds gradually ceased within the pill chamber. The energy shockwaves scattered. Then, the pill chamber fell into an instant hush.
Even the major squads that had been battling the Pill Beasts moments ago now stared at Jiang Yun, uncertain and bewildered. Gaze after gaze brimmed with thick, unconcealable shock.
Glancing at the corpse buried under the pile of stones, who could have imagined that the Spiritual Power Tribulation expert, who had just moments ago seemed like a demon god, would now... be reduced to this.
Zhong Shan and his group looked at Jiang Yun's trio with shifting, uncertain gazes—the focus being Jiang Yun. He had actually defeated a Spiritual Power Tribulation expert. They had to remember, Jiang Yun was only at the middle stage of the Heaven-Connecting Realm.
This world was not lacking in those capable of fighting above their level. At first, a few of them hadn't believed it, but now, seeing was believing. These people, without exception, were freaks among geniuses. Such freaks were indeed difficult to measure by common sense.
And Jiang Yun was likely one of them!
Now, I couldn't say whether their luck was good or bad. To stumble upon such a prodigy just casually exploring some hidden realm.
Among them, Zhong Shan was still somewhat hesitant. Just moments ago, he had put Jiang Yun on the spot, even thinking of finding an opportunity to eliminate Jiang Yun and take the pills in his hands. Now, it seemed if the other party didn't come after them, they should already be thanking heaven and earth.
Facing the multitude of gazes, Jiang Yun, however, paid them no mind. Sensing the hollow emptiness of spiritual energy within him, he couldn't help but cover his mouth and cough lightly. That final innate divine ability, while profoundly mysterious, also came with an exceedingly terrifying consumption rate. By Jiang Yun's estimate, even at his peak, he could only sustain it for three to five breaths!
This innate divine ability of the Nine Divine Veins would likely require reaching Earthly Sovereign before it could barely sustain a battle. Only at Heavenly Sovereign could it become a conventional method, without worry over consumption.
"Xiao Yun, how are you?"
At that moment, Zi Yan and Medusa gathered around. Seeing Jiang Yun's pale complexion, they asked with some concern.
Medusa, her expression sharp, gripped her longsword, subtly shielding Jiang Yun behind her, watching the crowd with extreme vigilance.
"It's nothing. The spiritual energy was just drained too much in one go. I'll be fine in a moment."
After swallowing a recovery pill and circulating his cultivation art within him, Jiang Yun, having recovered some spiritual energy, no longer wore the pallid complexion from before. He gave Zi Yan and Medusa a reassuring look.
Then, indifferently sweeping his gaze over the wary crowd, glancing at the three battered, faltering Pill Beasts, Jiang Yun's gaze fell upon the dead Wu Tong. He curled his palm, suction force bursting forth. Amidst flying rubble, a light shot out from the latter's chest, finally landing in Jiang Yun's hand—it was precisely the opponent's storage bracelet.
Glancing at the contents inside, Jiang Yun turned his head and said to Zi Yan and Medusa, "Let's go. There's nothing left here worth exploring."
"Mm!" Hearing Jiang Yun's words, Zi Yan and Medusa nodded in succession.
They had already reaped enormous benefits. To vie with the crowd for those final three pills would be more loss than gain. And seeing everyone's wary eyes, this thankless task was best left at that.
The three swiftly headed out of the pill chamber. In the blink of an eye, they vanished!
After the three quickly departed, the crowd collectively sighed in relief. Even they themselves hadn't realized it: after witnessing the slaying of a Spiritual Power Tribulation expert, an intense sense of fear hovered in their hearts when looking at Jiang Yun.
That earlier battle—Jiang Yun had given them far too great a shock.
Who could have imagined? An expert at the Spiritual Power Tribulation, nearly invincible in the eyes of the crowd, had actually been defeated and killed at the hands of Jiang Yun, whose strength was merely at the middle stage of the Heaven-Connecting Realm.
Now, after the three left, the chamber remained silent for a moment. The crowd looked at one another, glanced at the shattered Pill Beasts, and once again raised the weapons in their hands. The cries of battle rose once more.
Inside a secluded hall, Jiang Yun sat quietly, cross-legged, looking at the dragon-eye-like pill in his hand. Sensing the two women guarding outside the door, he murmured, "Time is tight. Better make it quick."
Then, he gently placed that dragon-eye pill into his mouth.
"Boom!"
The moment the pill entered his mouth, Jiang Yun's face flushed crimson almost instantly. He could feel an exceptionally vast, vigorous medicinal force erupting within his body at that moment.
The terrifying medicinal force rampaged through every part of his body. Jiang Yun clearly felt spasms of pain from within. His meridians, under that onslaught, emitted faint creaking sounds.
This pill was one of their spoils this time. According to the description found in the pill chamber, this was a Heaven-Connecting Pill. Upon consumption, it could raise a Heaven-Connecting Realm cultivator by one level.
Jiang Yun had already reached the middle stage of the Heaven-Connecting Realm and had subsequently gone through a series of fierce battles, solidifying his realm thoroughly. He could break through at any time!
As for Zi Yan and Medusa—the former had just made a massive leap. Without a major opportunity, Zi Yan likely wouldn't advance so rapidly for a while. As for Medusa, she still had some distance to go before the Fleshly Tribulation.
Tch tch!
Black-and-white flames rapidly surged from within Jiang Yun's body. Jiang Yun circulated the Saint Demon Flame, beginning to refine the medicinal force within him at high speed.
Boom boom!
The vast medicinal force, like galloping floodwaters, roared through Jiang Yun's limbs and bones. A wave of dry heat rose and spread, like steam, permeating Jiang Yun's interior.
As the Saint Demon Flame swiftly refined the medicinal force within, drop after drop of pure spiritual energy emerged, ultimately all settling into Jiang Yun's dantian.
And Jiang Yun's aura began to steadily rise. The late stage of the Heaven-Connecting Realm was right before his eyes!
Along with a muffled sound, a vast aura flickered and vanished within the hall, ultimately returning to normalcy.
"Success!"
Seeing Jiang Yun open his eyes, Zi Yan, who had walked in, asked with delight in her eyes.
"Breakthrough went smoothly!" Jiang Yun smiled at Zi Yan, then looked toward Medusa, who was leaning obliquely against the doorway, her perfect figure on display, and nodded with a smile.
"Are we still exploring the city then?" Looking at Jiang Yun, who had just broken through, Zi Yan asked.
Medusa also cast an inquiring look. They had already gained quite a few benefits, but they had also lost time in the process. By now, the things within the city were likely already carved up clean by the others.
Judging by the current situation, it was best to press deeper, to see if they could encounter the so-called inheritance they had heard people mention!
"No rush. It should be able to give us an answer." Jiang Yun smiled and took out an item.
Zi Yan and Medusa looked at Jiang Yun, puzzled. This was Wu Tong's storage bracelet from just now. Aside from a few pills and the Divine Art, Thunder Path—Nine Heavens, there was nothing else inside that had caught their eye.
Under their confused gazes, Jiang Yun produced a map from within it. The map exuded an ancient aura, its entire surface covered in profound and mysterious runes. Faint light flickered, lending it an air of mystery.
Jiang Yun channeled spiritual energy from within him and poured it in. As the spiritual energy flowed in, the mysterious runes on the map suddenly seemed to activate, radiating brilliant light.
"Weng—"
Just then, a beam of profound light shot out violently. Instantly, a projection, magnified countless times, appeared within the great hall.
It was a series of ancient images. Within the images stood a cluster of towering, ancient hall complexes. Each of those great halls was even more massive than the one currently beneath their feet.
Moreover, they were all constructed from special materials, their entire bodies exuding an intimidating aura, incomparably sturdy.
This was a considerably ancient, colossal ruin.
And Jiang Yun could say with certainty that this was the appearance of this battlefield's hall complexes when it was intact. As his soul power swept over it, he spotted at a single glance a corner of the ruins where they were located.
Deeper within this city, Jiang Yun saw an enormous mountain range. At the mountain's base stood a magnificent, grand great hall. And its peak was shrouded in a blanket of mist.
His gaze fell upon the great hall. Within it were countless dazzling clusters of light. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that within those clusters of light were actually all sorts of heavenly treasures, spiritual rarities. These treasures breathed in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, radiating fluctuations of exceedingly pure spiritual energy.
This was practically a mountain of treasure. It was a pity—Jiang Yun estimated that most of it had been destroyed in that great battle!
However, even if damaged, the treasures within were still worth investigating. Moreover, based on the map's deductions, this was the location of this battlefield's greatest fortuitous encounter.
If even here didn't hold what everyone was seeking, then wanting to find fortune elsewhere would undoubtedly be like searching for a needle in the sea. Jiang Yun's trio would then have to consider whether it was worth continuing to spend time here.
After viewing the map, the three exchanged glances. The eager anticipation in their eyes reflected identical thoughts.
With a light laugh, three rainbow lights immediately shot swiftly toward the distance.
Within the void, a black flame blazed. A pitch-black rift instantly appeared at some corner of the battlefield. Figure after figure slowly emerged from the spatial rift.
Those figures were identical to humans in every way. But their hair all bore signs of burning—and the burning flames were a sinister, eerie black.
"What a weak world. Such thin evil qi. It's making me uncomfortable all over."
"Bear with it. This is just a battlefield ruin. The evil qi present here probably comes only from that lord."
"Heh—I heard quite a few people from the Great Thousand World have come this time. Let me see what they're made of!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Hearing the rampant, ear-piercing cackles of the few behind him, the burly man at the lead suddenly barked a stern reprimand.
Sure enough, upon hearing the man's rebuke, the group instantly fell silent as winter cicadas, looking at him fearfully.
"The most important thing for us this time is to retrieve that 'lord's' corpse. If your reckless actions lead to the mission's failure, this commander will personally rip off your heads, and your souls will suffer the agony of Myriad Flames Devouring the Soul!"
The man's hair likewise blazed with fierce black flames. But on his face were also engraved lines of flame markings.
"Understood!"
Hearing the man's words, the Flame Demon clansmen behind him immediately shouted in unison. Even though they were born with innate full talent in the path of flame, they still trembled at the mention of Myriad Flames Devouring the Soul.
Simultaneously, from all directions, countless cultivators radiating terrifying auras were also heading toward the very same direction Jiang Yun's trio was traveling.
The deeper into the center of the battlefield they went, the more intense the surrounding darkness became, nearly shrouding the entire heaven and earth.
Occasionally, faint, dim rays of light shone in, but in the blink of an eye, they were swallowed by the darkness. From far away, the sounds of violent, savage roars rang out intermittently, echoing endlessly between heaven and earth.
Swoosh!
Three streaks of light swiftly skimmed over the land, their gazes scanning their surroundings quite vigilantly. Vigorous, sharp auras permeated their entire beings.
Along the way, the three had also encountered strange demonic creatures formed from reanimated corpses and had seen treasure-seekers who had entered earlier. Those who could make it this far were no weaklings. Peak Heaven-Connecting Realm was everywhere. The Fleshly Tribulation and Spiritual Power Tribulation were no longer rare either.
However, the people here were all extremely wary. No reckless fools came looking for trouble with the three.
A long while later, the three finally reached their destination. This was a majestic, ancient structure. It stood silently, overlooking this vast land. In the ancient era, this place had been a command hub for the battlefield, responsible for coordinating various matters on this corner of the battlefield.
By now, quite a few figures had already gathered here. Although their numbers couldn't compare to that city earlier, the quality of these people was extremely high.
At a glance, Fleshly Tribulation experts were no longer the strong ones. Only Spiritual Power Tribulation experts could dominate. As for Divine Soul Tribulation experts, Jiang Yun hadn't spotted any yet for the moment, but later on, quite a few would likely appear.
The trio's arrival also drew the crowd's attention. After a glance at Jiang Yun's trio, they paid them no further mind.
When coming up, Zi Yan and Medusa had already changed into black robes. Light gauze veils covered their faces, obscuring the two women's peerless beauty.
Though the crowd was somewhat surprised by the two women's aura and their curvaceous, well-proportioned figures, there were clearly more important matters at hand right now.
Three mere Heaven-Connecting Realm—nothing to worry about!
Despite being ignored, Jiang Yun was rather pleased with that outcome. Leading Zi Yan and Medusa, he landed in a corner, listening to the discussions around them, gathering information on the crowd.
"Everyone's more or less arrived. We can't wait any longer. Let's join forces and break the spatial seal. What do the rest of you think?"
After a long while, a youth in white robes within the crowd swept his gaze around once. Confirming the situation, he spoke in a clear voice.
The youth's long hair was casually spread loose. A light breeze stirred his flowing locks. White robe, black hair drifting—he appeared quite dashing and carefree. His handsome face also wore a brilliant smile, making him seem exceptionally amiable.
As soon as he spoke, hushed murmurs immediately arose. "That's the fourteenth son of the Wu Family from the Yang Yan Continent in the Western Region—Wu Ming. To think even he has come!"