Chapter 678 - 51: The Outcome Is Determined, but Life and Death Are Not

But strangely, the Starlight Array immediately collapsed.

Fang Cheng’s expression darkened.

The Starlight Transmission Array he had left in the Sealed Ancient Land of the Chixiao Domain had been destroyed.

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「Chixiao Domain.」

「Sealed Ancient Land.」

Inside the Treasure Tower Array, a tall, hunchbacked old man was nailed to the void by seven long, pitch-black spikes.

His face was as red as fire, his hair and beard standing on end, and his expression was a mask of pain and fury.

Before him stood a young woman in Daoist robes, as beautiful as a Celestial Immortal.

The young woman was as lovely as a peach blossom, yet her temperament was as cold as ice. She was the closed-door disciple of Divine Camel Zhao Huang, hailed as the number one expert of the Dharma Realm in the Chixiao Domain.

As one of the five Hall Masters of the Red Profound Association, Zhao Huang was naturally aware that there were traitors and spies within their ranks.

He had suspected many and been wary of many, but he had never doubted this disciple, whom he had raised since she was a child.

All the Cultivators who had entered the Treasure Tower Array were currently "protected" on the first floor of the Treasure Pagoda. It was absolutely impossible for an ordinary Cultivator to reach the Grand Array’s hub on the ninth floor.

Furthermore, this place was guarded by Fang Cheng’s Golden Crow Incarnation and himself, an expert who had just passed the Eighth Celestial Tribulation. It should have been impregnable.

’Besides, this woman only has a Dharma Cultivation. Even if she betrayed me, she could hardly accomplish anything...’

He looked at the radiant young woman before him and asked in a low voice, "How could you..."

But a hoarse, aged voice came from the young woman’s mouth. "Chao Dog, your time has come."

Zhao Huang’s expression froze. "Bitter Elder!"

"That’s right," the young woman said flatly, her voice ancient. "I was granted a method by the Demon Lord and mastered the Heavenly Demon Possession Technique, allowing me to finally deceive you all and infiltrate this place."

Despair washed over Zhao Huang’s heart.

’This was an overt scheme.’

The Demon Lord’s incarnation had attacked the five Sealed Ancient Lands in succession, forcing all the Cultivators into the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Treasure Tower Formation, all for this very moment.

The Bitter Elder was the most mysterious of the Demon Lord’s four Demon Servants. Aside from rescuing the Night Queen and severely wounding the Dragon Elephant Wanderer back then, there was no other record of him taking action.

Perhaps other Demon Servants of the Demon Lord were lying in wait in the other Sealed Ancient Lands, but they ultimately never found a suitable opportunity to strike.

The young woman’s tone was calm, but her aged voice was filled with intense hatred. "The Celestial Dao is cyclical, and retribution is certain. When you slaughtered my entire sect and murdered my wife and children, did you ever imagine you would face this retribution today?"

Zhao Huang sighed. "My greatest regret in this life is that I failed to cut the weeds and pull up the roots by killing you along with them."

The young woman let out a low laugh, and a long, pitch-black banner wreathed in Demon Fog appeared behind her.

With a single shake of the Long Banner, countless demons flew out. They swarmed Zhao Huang, devouring his flesh and blood before burrowing into his Qi Sea and sea of consciousness to gnaw on his Dharma Aspect and divine soul.

Pinned by the seven long spikes, Zhao Huang’s Magical Power and Divine Techniques were completely sealed. He could only watch helplessly in endless agony as his physical body, Dharma Aspect, and divine soul were devoured by the innumerable demons.

A look of ecstatic vengeance appeared on the young woman’s face. Once Zhao Huang was completely consumed, she performed a spell and abruptly detonated the Demon Banner behind her.

BOOM!

A blinding ball of Demonic Light erupted within the Treasure Tower Array.

「At the same time.」

Outside the Treasure Tower Array, a 100,000-foot-tall demonic body appeared. It raised a Profound Gold Demon Pattern Long Saber with both hands and viciously cleaved down at the Treasure Pagoda.

...

「Half a day later.」

The Golden Crow Incarnation appeared in the Sealed Ancient Land of the Chixiao Domain.

The Profound Yellow Exquisite Treasure Pagoda that once stood majestically between heaven and earth had vanished without a trace.

In its place on the ground was a bottomless crater, from which thick Demon Fog billowed as if it would never dissipate.

High in the sky, a right arm as massive as a mountain range stretched out wantonly. Infinite Demonic Light flickered, forming hundreds of millions of runes that danced and spiraled around it.

A young man in a white shirt stood with his hands behind his back in the palm of the right hand, looking down upon the newly arrived Golden Crow Incarnation.

"All the Cultivators here have been converted by me," the Demon Lord said nonchalantly.

Behind him, Demonic Light flowed and transformed into a Demon Realm where tens of thousands of Cultivators sat in meditation, circulating their Heart Methods.

Behind the white-shirted young man’s head, nine rings of Demonic Light were stacked one upon the other, spinning endlessly and containing infinite Profound Mechanisms.

Fang Cheng’s intuition told him that the Demon Lord was now much more powerful than he had been just half a day ago.

"Fang Cheng, even if you ascend to the Spiritual Sky Realm, I will follow you there and convert you."

The white-shirted young man’s gaze was profound, as if he were sizing up his prey.

The Golden Crow Incarnation sneered. "I’ll be waiting."

With that, he crushed a Starlight Talisman and vanished in a burst of starlight.

The white-shirted young man gazed into the distance, the demonic wheels behind his head spinning as he silently refined the massive arm beneath his feet.

...

「Mingxiao Domain.」

The tribulation clouds in the sky had completely dispersed.

Fang Cheng gracefully returned to the Heaven Crossing Hall and entered seclusion to consolidate his Cultivation.

Inside the grand hall, a Profound Light flickered erratically behind him. Within a fissure in the void, a majestic gateway stood wide open, and a torrent of Spiritual Qi poured down. It was ferociously devoured by his Netherworld Giant Kun Dharma Aspect and completely refined.

Fang Cheng sat motionless as the aura of his power rose steadily.

In just over a month, his practice reached completion. He had fully attained the Nine Tribulations Great Success Realm. His aura became whole, and his Magical Power surged several times over once more.

At this point, he could clearly sense a repulsive force from the world around him.

If he wished, he only needed to follow this faint sensation, sit in meditation to comprehend the Profound Mechanisms, and perhaps in just a few years, he could ascend to the Spiritual Sky Realm.

Since he transmigrated to this world and began his journey of Cultivation, he had progressed through the Sensing Realm, the Life Talisman Realm, the Life Soul Realm, the Dharma Realm, and the Tribulation Realm. In the blink of an eye, several hundred years had passed.

The years were long, the path of the Dao endless. The finish line before him was but another starting point.

He focused his mind, brought out the Immortal Copper Treasure Box, and directed his Netherworld Giant Kun Dharma Aspect to leap inside it.