Chapter 566 - 489: Xinghu, Battle of the Grotto Heaven

Chapter 566: Chapter 489: Xinghu, Battle of the Grotto Heaven

Based on this display, Xinghu was likely just one step away from the late-stage Nascent Soul realm!

’A formidable foe...’

Shishanzi sighed inwardly.

Still, he cupped his hands in a salute and said,

"Fellow Daoists, I am Shishanzi."

"Nanshan, it has been many years since our trip to the Cloud Cliff Sea Region..."

Shishanzi smiled, making pleasantries and trying to build rapport.

"Shishanzi, long time no see... I still vividly remember our travels in the sea region, when we joined forces with several other Daoists to slay the Nine-headed Serpent Emperor."

Nanshan cupped his hands, his attitude gentle and humble.

He and Shishanzi had some shared history.

Xinghu, however, remained expressionless. Showing no interest in pleasantries, he cut right to the chase. "Did you have a hand in the Grotto Heaven’s early arrival?"

As he spoke, an invisible pressure spread out!

TWANG.

The sound of a zither rang out.

Qixia’s brow furrowed slightly as her fair hand plucked the strings.

The sound waves spread out, neutralizing Xinghu’s oppressive aura.

Qixia had a lazy disposition, but she was by no means weak.

At this moment, Shishanzi explained, "The anomaly with the Volcano Grotto Heaven has nothing to do with us. I suspect it’s highly likely that the Demon Palace remnants who infiltrated the Grotto Heaven earlier did something in secret."

"Right now, the priority is to conquer the Volcano Grotto Heaven and eliminate the Demon Palace remnants."

"As for the spoils from the Grotto Heaven, we can divide them based on contribution."

Shishanzi spoke with a sincere and serious tone.

Eradicating the Demon Palace remnants was a common mission for the Nine Sects of the Inner Sea!

Compared to that, the conflict with the Star Casting Hall could be set aside... The Demon Palace remnants had been stirring up trouble recently, making Shishanzi extremely wary!

He was especially concerned that the Demon Palace remnants had somehow managed to corrupt Chi Weixuan... turning a true disciple of the Jade Void Sword Sect into a monster!

This incident had utterly shocked him!

Therefore, Shishanzi had made the elimination of the Blood Moon Demon Palace remnants his top priority.

He wanted to extend their cooperation agreement, expanding the previous pact between the Jade Void Sword Sect and the Star Casting Hall from the Golden Core level to the Nascent Soul level.

To achieve this, he was even willing to cede some of the benefits and abandon the idea of monopolizing the Volcano Grotto Heaven!

Upon hearing this, a divine light flickered in Xinghu’s eyes.

He fell silent for a moment as if in thought.

"Fine."

"I agree."

"Gather your cultivators. We’re entering the Volcano Grotto Heaven."

Xinghu declared.

A Heartless Path True Monarch, possessing a mind of absolute rationality, had no psychological baggage about joining forces with the Jade Void Sword Sect.

So long as it was in his interest, forming an alliance with Xinghu was actually easier than with any other Nascent Soul cultivator from the Star Casting Hall.

Of course, Shishanzi was also well aware.

If the situation changed, Xinghu would turn on and backstab them faster than anyone!

’So... I must always be on guard...’

Shishanzi thought.

As for conquering the Grotto Heaven, he didn’t see that as much of a challenge.

With the Grotto Heaven having descended upon the world, its suppressive power was gone. It was now being targeted by this world’s Celestial Dao. With the combined strength of their seven Nascent Soul cultivators, they had more than enough power to flatten this Grotto Heaven!

...

The Nascent Soul True Monarchs had reached an agreement.

The seven Nascent Soul True Monarchs set foot in Volcano State and sent out Communication Talismans to summon their cultivators.

When the Nascent Soul True Monarchs gave a command, the Golden Core cultivators naturally wouldn’t dare to refuse.

Soon, the Golden Core cultivators from both factions had finished assembling.

The Nine Sects of the Inner Sea had incredibly deep foundations. Even after losing a host of Golden Core cultivators to the environment of the Volcano Grotto Heaven and man-made disasters like Su Ye,

they could still muster thirty Golden Core cultivators.

After all, Golden Core cultivators didn’t require the consumption of Spirit Veins to be trained. With the resources of the Nine Sects of the Inner Sea, nurturing single-path Golden Core cultivators wasn’t a particularly difficult task.

In fact, the Nine Sects of the Inner Sea weren’t even taking this seriously yet.

If they were, they had many other methods at their disposal.

For example, they could conscript Golden Core cultivators from their vassal forces, or they could release certain tribulation resources and Secret Techniques to cultivate the Crystal-formation cultivators in the sea region who had pledged allegiance to the Nine Sects.

If they did so, the number of Golden Core cultivators they could deploy would skyrocket!

The war potential of the Nine Sects was bottomless!

However, looking at the assembled Golden Core cultivators, the brows of the Nascent Soul True Monarchs furrowed slightly.

The reason was simple: there were too few people!

Before, the total number of Golden Core cultivators from both factions combined should have been thirty-four!

But now, there were only thirty!

Four were missing!

"Su Ye, Song Baiqing... these four Golden Core cultivators are gone..."

"Have any of you seen them?"

Li Jinhua frowned, questioning the other Golden Core cultivators.

Of the four missing Golden Core cultivators, two were from the True Treasure Pavilion... Song Baiqing was one thing, but Su Ye was also gone!

She was very concerned about this!

"We haven’t..."

"Their residences are empty, too..."

The other Golden Core cultivators shook their heads, answering in the negative.

"This..."

Li Jinhua’s expression turned grim, a hint of gloom clouding her face.

"Don’t waste time."

"Prepare to depart. We’re entering the Volcano Grotto Heaven."

Xinghu said coolly.

The other two missing Golden Core cultivators belonged to the Star Casting Hall.

But it was very obvious that Xinghu didn’t care.

"You..."

Li Jinhua glared at him.

"Mr. Li..."

Shishanzi raised a hand, his eyes shifting slightly as he gestured for Li Jinhua to stand down.

Xinghu was right. At a time like this, the Grotto Heaven was the priority.

The other minor details could be dealt with after the dust settled.

"With the Grotto Heaven manifesting, it’s possible the missing cultivators simply went ahead into the Grotto Heaven to seize opportunities for themselves."

"If we want to find them, entering the Volcano Grotto Heaven is the easiest way!"

Shishanzi tried to persuade her.

"But..."

"Fine..."

Li Jinhua reluctantly nodded.

WHOOSH!

The Dust Crossing Flying Boat’s engines flared to life!

The silvery-white spiritual ship, shaped like a longsword, lifted off the ground and soared into the sky!

The crowd of Golden Core cultivators and Nascent Soul True Monarchs rode the spiritual ship toward the Volcano Grotto Heaven!

At this moment, the illusory image of the Grotto Heaven had become almost solid.

No node was needed. Now, from anywhere in Volcano State, one could enter the Volcano Grotto Heaven simply by ascending to a certain altitude!

HUMMM.

The Dust Crossing Flying Boat made contact with the Grotto Heaven, and ripples spread through the void.

In an instant, the fourth-tier spiritual ship vanished, having entered the Grotto Heaven!

...

「A few breaths later.」

Volcano State.

On a barren hill.

GLUG.

A petroleum-like liquid oozed out from the rocky face of the hill.

The liquid squirmed and coalesced, forming a jet-black monster that stood upright and had a long tail.

—The Shadow Fiend.

Of course, the will currently controlling the body was Su Ye’s.

’Did they all go in?’ Su Ye looked up, gazing at the sky.

The oppressive auras of the Nascent Soul True Monarchs were gone; they had entered the Volcano Grotto Heaven.

’Looks like my disappearance didn’t cause much of a stir.’

’Good thing I took the trouble to casually slaughter a couple of unlucky schmucks.’

That’s right.

Besides Su Ye, the other three missing Golden Core cultivators had all been killed by him.

If he were the only one to disappear, it would be far too conspicuous.

So, he found a few "good brothers" to disappear with him.

Song Baiqing was an obvious target; Chi Weixuan’s memories had clearly shown Su Ye the secret plot he had hatched with Song Baiqing.

For a treacherous rat who attacked from the shadows, Su Ye felt that letting him live as long as he did was already an act of mercy.

This also fulfilled his promise to the He Family of Cangwu.

—eliminating the threat of Song Baiqing at its very root.

As for the other two, Su Ye had chosen them at random.

It was purely bad luck that they happened to run into him.

And then...

he killed them.

Nothing more to say about it.

Then, after waiting for an hour,

a burst of light erupted from the phantom of the Volcano Grotto Heaven in the sky!

This meant that inside the Grotto Heaven, the Dream-keepers and the invading cultivators had already engaged in a fierce battle!

’It’s about time...’

’Time for me to enter the Volcano Grotto Heaven as well.’

Su Ye looked up.

He couldn’t miss the final battle for the Volcano Grotto Heaven.

A ghostly light flashed from the Shadow Fiend as it shot into the air and entered the Grotto Heaven.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Outside Volcano State.

A stunningly beautiful figure quietly appeared, standing atop the clouds.

"Has it begun?"

she murmured softly.

In her palm, a miniature, golden-red spear danced like a swimming fish.

"Don’t be hasty..."

"It’s not your time to appear yet..."