Chapter 254: Ruling the World (23)

The disturbance across the yin fiend land had long since settled by the time Xiao Yi led a group of Demonic Path cultivators along the path of golden light Jiuyou had just traveled.

The group had sprinted at top speed, not daring to slacken their pace, yet to Jiuyou's eyes, they remained pitifully slow. The gap in their realms laid it bare: a Nascent Soul cultivator's utmost speed was ultimately nothing more than a leisurely stroll to a Deity Transformation grandmaster.

Jiuyou casually stowed away the captured nascent soul and flicked his fingers, tossing the mangled remains of Fang Buxin's divided soul to the ground. He gave a brief order for the crowd to clean up the aftermath and erase all traces of the battle. The moment his voice faded, his figure blurred, vanishing into thin air within Yin Fiend Valley without a trace.

The cultivators left behind stared at the empty sky, their minds reeling.

They had long known the world of difference between the Deity Transformation and Nascent Soul realms, but witnessing a mysterious cultivator—one who had slaughtered five Middle Nascent Soul Stage experts in a row and roamed the Heavenly Abyss Sea unchecked—die so effortlessly at Jiuyou's hands still filled them with sheer terror.

The mighty power of a Deity Transformation grandmaster looked down upon all living things. Wiping out a Nascent Soul expert with a mere raise of a hand was truly terrifying.

Elsewhere, Jiuyou stopped and opened his palm, revealing an ancient communication jade slip. Faint specks of starlight swirled across its surface. This was a high-tier communication token specially forged by Bai Xuanyi for his fellow Deity Transformation peers, capable of transmitting messages across a distance of 2.5 million li.

Just a moment ago, he had received a voice transmission from Hongce.

Evidently, the veteran Deity Transformation elder had already arrived in the Heavenly Abyss Sea.

Jiuyou lingered no longer. Golden radiance flared around him once more as he transformed into a sky-piercing streak of light, skimming rapidly across the ocean. A distance of two million li was practically a stone's throw for the flight speed of a Deity Transformation grandmaster; he crossed it entirely in just a few quarters of an hour.

Meanwhile, in the airspace above Endless Island.

An aged figure faintly dotted with starlight silently materialized. He stirred neither wind nor wave, making no sound as he pierced the air. His aura was so perfectly concealed that ordinary cultivators had no hope of detecting him.

The elder lightly stroked his long beard, his gaze leisurely sweeping over Endless Island's landscape and formation networks. On his way to the Heavenly Abyss Sea, he had already taken the opportunity to inspect Lingchuan and the territory of the Heaven and Earth Alliance, and a glint of approval naturally rose in his eyes.

'To completely recover from the devastation of the past great war in a mere two hundred years is truly rare. The various factions mutually exchange what they have for what they lack, drawing on strengths to offset weaknesses, allowing this territory to prosper to such a degree.'

Scarcely had the elder finished his private musings when the island's patrolling cultivators noticed the anomaly in the sky.

Several Nascent Soul cultivators, leading a group of Golden Core guards, quickly surrounded him. Everyone's expression was taut with high alert. They did not attack rashly; someone who could step into Endless Island's core airspace without a sound, bypassing all defensive formations and lookouts, possessed a depth of cultivation far beyond what they could fight.

Seeing this, Hongce was not annoyed in the slightest. Instead, he stroked his beard and chuckled softly, his tone leisurely and amiable. "Haha, quite the enthusiastic welcoming etiquette. I suppose this must be the foundational territory of the Demonic Path Alliance overseen by Daoist Jiuyou. Truly interesting."

As he spoke, his gaze pierced through the layers of surrounding figures, looking out toward the distant horizon of the Outer Sea.

At the far edge of the ocean horizon, a brilliant golden light tore through the sky. It moved at blinding speed, reaching the airspace above Endless Island in the blink of an eye.

The golden light faded, revealing Jiuyou's steady figure hovering in midair above the sea.

Hongce took a slow step forward with a hearty smile, speaking in a teasing tone. "I was wondering which top-tier grandmaster was overseeing this sea region. It turns out to be the illustrious Demon Venerable Nine Nether. When we first met back then, Daoist, you possessed an awe-inspiring righteousness and a transcendent bearing without a single trace of the Demonic Path. You completely fooled my eyes as to your Demonic Path origins. You hid yourself incredibly well."

The two conversed with ease, standing as absolute equals. Both exuded the calm, unhurried bearing of fellow Deity Transformation grandmasters.

Down below, the Demonic Path cultivators stood with bated breath, turbulent waves crashing in their hearts.

Only now did the crowd confirm that this seemingly casual, amiable elder was actually a second Deity Transformation grandmaster on the same level as Jiuyou. Furthermore, when did their Demon Venerable Nine Nether ever become a figure of the Righteous Path?

It was shocking—completely inconceivable!

A faint premonition began to surface in everyone's minds.

The Heavenly Abyss Sea, peaceful and stable for countless years, would never know tranquility again. With two great Deity Transformation grandmasters gathered here, endless storms and infinite variables were bound to follow. The power dynamic across the entire sea region was likely on the brink of an earth-shattering upheaval.

High in the sky, Jiuyou's expression remained indifferent, not a single ripple stirring in his eyes. He merely cast a faint glance at Hongce beside him and gave a cold snort laced with profound meaning. "Daoist Hong, your state of mind is quite leisurely. With such a major matter looming, you actually still have the free time to sightsee."

He spoke at a measured pace. "You have spent a lifetime mastering star-chess deduction, divining the heavens and calculating fate to a degree unmatched in history. Yet, this time, the heavenly secrets are obscured, the traces hard to find. I suppose your Great Dao of deduction still has its flaws and has yet to fully grasp the heart of heaven. For a mere Nascent Soul junior to actually conceal his tracks and evade your divination of fate—that is quite a novelty."

A few brief words, a flat critique.

Hongce's relaxed smile stiffened slightly at those words, his eyes darkening a fraction. As an old monster who had lived for over a thousand years, he instantly caught the subtle jab. Naturally, he wouldn't let himself look embarrassed in public. He merely let out a slow, low chuckle, his tone deep and obscure. "The heavenly fate is vast, and the affairs of the world are impermanent. Daoist Jiuyou, there is no need to tease me over this."

He looked up, gazing into the distance at the black mist rolling over the sea, his tone turning grave and enigmatic. "This man is treacherous by nature. He harbors strange arts and excels at concealing his fate, hiding his tracks, and scrambling the heavenly numbers. When I first performed my divinations, I only caught the phantom of a divided soul. All other threads of his fate were hazy and dark, as if separated by thousands of miles of smoke and clouds. I could never see them clearly."

"It wasn't until recently, when that divided soul began to decay and its aura scattered, that I finally noticed something was wrong. I reopened the star compass to recalculate, but it remained shrouded in thick fog. The hexagrams were fractured and incomplete."

Hongce slowly explained the situation, his tone profound. "I rushed over this time because I wanted to see with my own eyes just what kind of bizarre secret art could blind my eyes and deceive the profound mysteries of heaven and earth. Unfortunately, I was still a step behind you. I wonder, did Daoist manage to glean any secrets from that wisp of a remnant soul?"

Jiuyou shook his head slightly. His expression remained as placid as water, and he offered no details.

Then, pushing off the empty air, he began to stroll leisurely forward. He headed slowly toward the main hall on Endless Island's main peak, his bearing perfectly calm and detached.

Hongce understood his meaning implicitly. He silently followed suit, and the two walked side by side through the sky. The wind fluttered their sleeves in a heavy, somber atmosphere.

As they walked, Hongce lowered his voice even further. With the meticulous calculation unique to an old monster who had lived a millennium, he spoke slowly. "Even though the heavenly secrets in that divination were chaotic and all manifestations were obscured, making it impossible to see the full picture, I still managed to deduce part of the root cause."

"For that brat to slaughter several great Nascent Soul cultivators in this sea region in a row—it was absolutely no random killing spree. In my view, he was likely using the lives and fates of many as a catalyst to scramble the heavenly networks of this area. He borrowed the fates of countless cultivators to mask his own tracks and karma. It seems highly probable that he is aware of my existence."

His gaze darkened slightly. "The hexagrams may be fractured, but the broader picture isn't wrong. He planted his foundation in this sea region long ago. His true body has never left. I fear he may have been lying dormant here in the Heavenly Abyss for a century, hiding his tracks and plotting in the shadows as he waits for the right time."

"However, compared to the grand undertaking we are about to begin, this matter is barely worth mentioning. Daoist, do not let these trivial issues distract you."