Chapter 67
The unusual phenomenon in the Ten Thousand Mountains undoubtedly caught the attention of many cultivators.
When people looked again, they saw a place shrouded in clouds and mist, like a fairyland or a celestial pool, transcending the mundane.
Some tried to venture into the dense fog, only to lose their sense of direction instantly, ending up right back where they started.
Even bolder individuals who managed to catch a glimpse of the Ten Thousand Heavenly Court deep within the fog were stopped by an ancient, verdant celestial tree.
Its roots coiled like giant serpents, capable of crushing mountains and splitting rocks.
The tree exuded a terrifying aura, instilling fear even in fourth-tier cultivators.
"The Ten Thousand Heavenly Court, do not trespass!"
These eight words spread like the wind. From then on,
the Ten Thousand Heavenly Court became a revered and feared celestial land.
Not only because the mist could confuse minds and obscure directions, but also due to the intimidating ancient celestial tree hidden within, deterring further approach.
"It seems that someone is about to ascend to the realm of immortal gods, transcending the mortal world."
Gu Fang frowned slightly upon hearing the news, his eyes revealing a longing for the Ten Thousand Heavenly Court.
He recalled his first venture into the Ten Thousand Mountains, where the spiritual energy far surpassed other places.
There, celestial trees towered high, revealing traces of the Great Dao.
Gu Fang firmly believed that cultivating near these celestial trees would significantly accelerate his progress.
Originally,
Gu Fang had planned to enter the Ten Thousand Mountains to cultivate after dealing with the beast plague. However, this wish now seemed unlikely to come true.
He put aside thoughts of the Ten Thousand Heavenly Court and focused on the collapsed mountains before him, where numerous beast corpses lay.
Not long ago,
a secret realm emerged in the Northern Region, releasing countless beasts, led by several fourth-tier beasts.
The strongest among them had reached the mid-fourth tier. Gu Fang led the Ninth Alliance's elite to respond quickly, launching an extermination campaign against the beasts.
After a fierce battle, the Ninth Alliance lost two early fourth-tier cultivators and over a hundred third-tier cultivators.
Finally, they killed all the beasts, preventing them from escaping and causing widespread havoc.
"Ensure all fallen comrades are properly buried. Everyone who participated in this battle will be rewarded when we return to the Ninth Alliance!"
Gu Fang's words were low and powerful.
The numerous beast corpses were difficult to store entirely.
After all, storage bags weren't cheap items in the Heavenly Market.
But rewarding on the spot was also impractical.
Thus, Gu Fang offered all the beast corpses as sacrifices, converting them into offering points.
When the battle concluded, the rewards could be distributed accordingly.
At this moment, a communication device suddenly vibrated. Gu Fang connected it, his expression growing grim.
"Commander Gu, has something happened?"
An early fourth-tier cultivator asked. Though the others remained silent, their eyes were fixed on Gu Fang.
Judging by his changing expression, they could tell the news wasn't good.
Gu Fang spoke in a deep voice, "Urgent news from the Third Alliance. A late fourth-tier beast has appeared in the Northern Region. It's using the power of blood rain to break through to the fourth-tier perfect stage."
"The Third Alliance is currently doing everything to stop this beast's advancement. We must rush to assist immediately. If it breaks through, it will become a major threat to the alliance!"
A late fourth-tier beast!
Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.
They had fought and killed a late fourth-tier beast before.
To eliminate it, they had sacrificed nearly ten early fourth-tier cultivators and many others were severely injured.
This showed the terrifying power of such beasts.
If it were to break through to the fourth-tier perfect stage, its power would be even more horrifying, consuming countless lives.
Massacre!
The entire Qingyang Realm was engulfed in endless slaughter.
Numerous secret realms shattered, releasing hordes of beasts. Combined with the native beasts' uprising and sea beasts' invasion, this beast tide was fiercer than any before.
Fortunately,
the Human Alliance's strength had vastly improved.
Despite the overwhelming tide, they held their ground. Eighteen alliances formed a defensive line, vowing to stop the beasts from advancing.
Meanwhile,
top cultivators penetrated the beast tide, executing decapitation strikes, diving into the ocean and traveling across regions to hunt fourth-tier beasts, weakening the beast tide from within.
From the perspective of the Heavenly Dao's agent, Lu Qingyang clearly saw the ferocity of this battle. Almost every minute, both humans and beasts were falling.
The battlefield between the beast tide and the alliance had turned into a massive meat grinder.
In this era of universal cultivation, ancient and wild magical treasures were seldom used.
More often, it was close combat between cultivators and beasts.
There were spellmasters wielding talismans and staffs, chanting incantations from the rear, summoning spells that rained down like divine judgment, purifying the world's sins with dense lightning.
There were qi refiners controlling flying swords, spitting sword lights, and wielding thunderbolts to slay beasts.
Body refining cultivators turned their blood into dragons, their physical strength rivaling that of beasts of the same tier, fighting barehanded and shaking mountains and rivers.
"In this battle, the Human Federation Alliance will not fall!"
Lu Qingyang, with a single glance, could see the whole picture.
The emergence of the Heavenly Court chat group had significantly bolstered the Human Alliance's foundation, making their strength incomparable to the past.
If not for this unusual blood rain, the beasts would have had no chance of forming a tide.
Even now, the tide couldn't truly shake the foundation of the alliance.
The collapse of the beast tide was only a matter of time.
However,
to completely crush the beast tide, the alliance would also have to pay a corresponding price.
"For the current alliance, the beast tide is merely a minor trial. The real bloody baptism will come from the invasion of another world."
The otherworld, sharing the same Heavenly Dao, held unknown depths and mysteries.
If it harbored other ninth-tier powerhouses, the Qingyang Realm would face great peril!
As the agent of the Heavenly Dao, Lu Qingyang saw both beasts and humans as indispensable parts of the Qingyang Realm.
Yet the two were in a life-and-death conflict.
Compared to the beasts that knew only slaughter and had no emotions or ethics, humans were clearly more valuable.
If the Human Alliance couldn't even handle a beast tide, how could they be qualified to resist an otherworldly invasion?
In the void, Lu Qingyang sensed the aura of the otherworld.
It was the otherworldly Heavenly Dao, using divine abilities to cross the infinite void and target this world for invasion.
Although the otherworldly Heavenly Dao was severely injured and slumbering, its remaining power was quietly opening the passage between the two worlds.
Lu Qingyang couldn't stop this.
After all, his power was vastly inferior to the otherworldly Heavenly Dao.
When the passage was fully opened, the invasion would begin.
4o