Chapter 454 - 406: Zuo Xuan Displays His Might, The Great War Begins, Horror

At this thought, the fighting spirit of the White Tiger Army surged. Their eyes burned with an immense desire for survival. They were willing to follow the Bloodthirsty White Tiger, to fight the Thunder Clan, and to seize a victory for themselves!

WHOOM—

A subtle aura washed in from beyond the Thunder Restricted Area. In an instant, the heavens and earth changed color. The shimmering figure of a giant bathed in red light appeared, like a celestial god standing at the world’s edge, gazing down upon the mortal plane. It faced the Thunder-forged White Tiger head from afar, but given their colossal sizes, it was more like an intimate, face-to-face glare. The killing intent was overwhelming!

"Could... could that be the Venerable Zuo Xuan taking action?"

A particularly knowledgeable cultivator at the Peak of the Fusion Realm within the White Tiger Army reacted quickly. Although he had never personally witnessed an expert of Venerable Zuo Xuan’s level take action, he had his own ways of judging. He’d heard too many tales, and considering the present circumstances, it was easy to deduce what was going on.

A battle at the Venerable Level, on par with those in the Nine Venerable Great Realm—the highest tier of combat in the entire Primordial world cluster—would inevitably draw upon the world will of a supreme Great Realm. That colossal, crimson celestial god was a phantom condensed from the will of the Nine Venerable Great Realm, channeled through Zuo Xuan. Its surging pressure completely overshadowed the Dharma Aspect of the Thunder White Tiger!

Indeed. As the world will of the Nine Venerable Great Realm, even the slightest fraction of its power, once unleashed, dealt a devastating blow to its enemies—it was like a flood sweeping away ants.

After all, among the hundreds of millions of worlds, supreme Great Realms were exceedingly rare—their numbers barely reached double digits. They were the stage for those who stood at the apex of existence. It was easy to imagine how powerful the will that controlled such a vast world must be.

On another note, to achieve Unity in a supreme Great Realm, one had to gain the recognition of that world’s will. The same principle applied to all worlds, but the requirements for supreme Great Realms were absurdly high.

Take the Yin Yang Great Realm, which Jiang Qiu once visited, for example. Achieving Unity there required the approval of its world will—the Yin Yang itself. The Yin Yang genuinely commanded the souls of all native life, a top-down dominion that none dared to resist.

The world will of the Nine Venerable Great Realm was a similar entity. While it didn’t typically express its own thoughts or allow cultivators to perceive any unique perspective, its very existence was integrated into the souls of all living beings. It was the collective wisdom and power of an entire world’s creatures. It’s just that the Yin Yang of the Yin Yang Great Realm had been given a concrete name, a situation rarely seen in other worlds.

Now, within the Thunder Restricted Area—just a single region in the merely well-known Thunder Great Realm—it was facing the assault of a sliver of world will from the Nine Venerable Great Realm. The Laws instantly erupted into a roiling frenzy, like a red-hot iron ball dropped into a cup of water. Flames blazed on the surface of the water and iron, and it even seemed as if fire was burning from within the water itself.

This was precisely the situation at hand. The world-ending Thunder recoiled in fear before the world will of the Nine Venerable Great Realm. The White Tiger head, which had just started to take shape, began to fade away, as if an invisible, giant hand was peeling back the dark clouds above the Thunder Restricted Area.

BOOM—

A torrent of wind rushed into the Restricted Area, kicking up sand and stone across thousands of miles of barren mountains. High in the sky, Zuo Xuan suppressed the void with a single hand, his movements seeming to align with the indescribably vast, red celestial figure behind him. Chen Gold Spirit Charm flowed across his body as a primeval aura radiated outward. As the terrifying power of the Peak of the Unity Realm was unleashed, the expressions of the Thunder Clan’s Unity Realm masters not far from him turned to shock, then delighted surprise.

’This power... it’s not like that of an ordinary Unity Realm cultivator!’

’We’re both at the Peak of the Unity Realm, but he’s so much stronger than I am!’

They sensed in him the aloof pride and power of a Venerable. It was like a god peering down at an ant, casually brushing aside the Laws of the Thunder Restricted Area.

"I have suppressed the Laws of the Thunder Restricted Area with a sliver of the Nine Venerable Great Realm’s world will! It will hold for three days at most. You can charge in now!"

The mighty roar sounded like the wrath of a god. The million-strong army trembled as their blood instantly began to boil. Howling, they responded to Zuo Xuan’s call. Led by the powerhouses of the Thunder Clan, they surged into the depths of the Thunder Restricted Area like a swarm of locusts devouring a field of stalks.

Meanwhile, Zuo Xuan remained expressionless, his gaze fixed on the depths of the Thunder Restricted Area, as if meeting the eyes of some powerful entity far away. Amid his icy composure was a hint of astonishment. ’How could it have traced back its White Tiger Bloodline?’

An ordinary Unity Realm cultivator might not have been able to discern the nature of the transformation his opponent had undergone. But he was from the Nine Venerable Great Realm, one of the Nine Venerables themselves. He shared an extraordinary connection with the world will and was privy to many secrets others were not.

He had sensed the White Tiger Bloodline in the instant he had released the world will to probe the area. To be more precise, it was the very detection of the White Tiger Bloodline that had caused that sliver of world will to react with such agitation.

The White Tiger Bloodline belonged to one of the legendary Ten Great Demon Clans of antiquity, a race that was said to have vanished for countless eons. The secrets it held were, needless to say, profound.

The most astonishing thing was that this so-called Bloodthirsty White Tiger had actually managed to achieve Unity in such a short period and even awakened its White Tiger Bloodline. At the very moment of its breakthrough, even Zuo Xuan’s own soul had trembled, as if he felt the gaze of an existence on the level of an Ancestor.

This threat was unprecedented. Not since achieving the status of Venerable had he felt such a subtle sense of fear. He didn’t feel this way even when facing the other eight Venerables. Or perhaps, it was more accurate to say he never considered the other eight to be stronger than him, so there was nothing to fear.

But now, a Bloodthirsty White Tiger that had just reached the Unity Realm had stirred fear within him. Even if it was just for an instant, just a flicker, it signified an immense threat!

Besides, the Thunder Clan had exchanged a vast amount of resources for his intervention. He had to kill the Bloodthirsty White Tiger!

At this thought, Zuo Xuan took a deep breath to regulate his Spirit Charm, his gaze never leaving the figures of the Thunder Clan’s Unity Realm masters as they charged into the depths of the Restricted Area.

’When facing an unknown enemy, it’s best to let others test the waters first.’ Arrogance could often lead to one’s demise. In his own explorations, he had encountered his fair share of Restricted Areas that had almost claimed his life, and he was deeply aware of the terror the unknown could hold.

He even began to wonder if a mere sliver of world will could truly suppress the Thunder Restricted Area for three full days.

Having expended that sliver of world will, his own spiritual energy was massively drained. He was far from his peak condition. If he were to face an enemy on his own level right now, defeat would be certain.

’For now, I can only observe the Thunder Clan’s condition and see what kind of tricks this so-called Bloodthirsty White Tiger, the one that awakened the White Tiger Bloodline, really has...’

Yet just as his thoughts reached this point, his pupils trembled violently, and his heart gave an extra, heavy THUMP. The auras of the more than a dozen Unity Realm experts who had just charged forward vanished without a trace. An intense feeling of dread flooded his heart.

"How did their auras just disappear?!"

As an existence at the Peak of the Unity Realm, he knew exactly how formidable Unity Realm cultivators were. Even he, who was vastly stronger than those at the Initial Tier of the Unity Realm, wouldn’t attack one lightly. This was because even in death, they could unleash a final, tremendous burst of power, making them too troublesome to handle.

In other words, killing a Unity Realm cultivator often meant facing a suicidal, mutually destructive final gambit. Unless it was an instant kill—one so fast the target couldn’t even form a thought—the killer would suffer a severe backlash and be heavily wounded.

But now, within Zuo Xuan’s perception, the auras of those Unity Realm cultivators had vanished in a flash. And it didn’t seem to be the result of any spatio-temporal fluctuations.

This meant they hadn’t just stumbled into some strange pocket of space-time. Rather, in a single instant, their lives, their Realms, and their very auras had been utterly stripped away...