The instant the thirteen drops of Undying True Blood coalesced, it was like throwing ice water into a pot of boiling oil. The atmosphere in the cavern exploded.

"Attack!"

It was impossible to tell who let out the short, thunderous roar, but the sound was still echoing off the walls.

More than twenty powerful auras, which had long been gathering force, erupted like long-suppressed volcanoes!

RUMBLE!

The first to bear the brunt were the two Sword Cultivators from the Cyan Sect.

Facing the swarm of figures descending upon them, one of the cultivators, his face grim, held two fingers together like a sword and swiped lightly at the empty air.

"With the Cyan Netherworld as my guide, Sword Qi shall form!"

SHING!

A nearly transparent cyan Sword Gang, condensed to the absolute limit, shot out from his fingertips.

At first, it was as thin as a hair, but it swelled in the wind, instantly transforming into a massive blade of light hundreds of feet long that sundered the very void!

Where the Sword Gang passed, it didn’t just tear through the air. It carved a gash in space itself, a wound that refused to heal.

The incomparably sharp Sword Intent felt tangible, causing the skin of several Loose Cultivator Masters trying to approach from the side to prickle with pain. Their Escape Lights faltered.

Almost simultaneously, the other Cyan Sect Master’s sleeve billowed.

Countless cyan Light Needles, as fine as hairs, sprayed out like a sudden squall.

These Light Needles didn’t fly straight. They weaved and crisscrossed in mid-air, instantly deploying a grim sword formation that enveloped nearly half the Magic Altar!

The needles swam through the air with a sharp, hissing sound that made one’s scalp tingle, forcibly repelling several Escape Lights that were trying to flank them and snatch the Blood Beads.

"You petty thieves from the Cyan Sect dare to hog the prize?!"

A Fengduo Master clad in crimson feathered robes, her phoenix-like eyes filled with killing intent, gave a sharp cry. She spread her arms, and a massive phantom of a Divine Bird, formed entirely from boundless Divine Fire, appeared in the void behind her!

The Divine Bird spread its wings, its flames scorching the sky. The searing heatwave caused the stalactites on the cavern ceiling to melt and drip.

It didn’t attack directly, but instead craned its neck and let out a long cry.

The sound wave, mixed with a Divine Fire True Intent that could incinerate all things, crashed like a monstrous, invisible wave into the Sword Domain laid down by the Cyan Sect!

SCREECH!

The Li Fire Sound Wave slammed into the grim Sword Domain. Blindingly intense cyan and crimson light frantically devoured and annihilated one another. The resulting torrents of chaotic power swept across the cavern walls like rampaging flood dragons, leaving behind bottomless scorch marks and sword holes!

"The path to the Netherworld is long; the Yellow Springs will be your guide!"

The Masters from the Yellow Springs Netherworld were not to be outdone.

Their leader, his face ashen white as paper, formed a bizarre Dharma Seal with his hands. The Ghost Qi around him surged skyward like signal smoke, coalescing above his head into a hundreds-of-feet-tall Evil Ghost Dharma Aspect!

The Dharma Aspect had three heads and six arms, wielding Nether Artifacts such as the Bone Lock Chain, Soul-Attracting Banner, and Soul-Loss Bell, which it swung fiercely.

WOO... WOO... WOO...

A low, mournful Ghost’s Wail echoed through the cavern as visible gray ripples spread out like a tide.

This was no physical attack; it struck directly at the Divine Soul.

Several Loose Cultivators with weaker Cultivation immediately grunted, their faces paling. Their Escape Lights flickered, and they nearly plummeted from the sky.

A burly Body Cultivator let out a wild roar, his body suddenly swelling to a height of sixty feet.

Ancient, densely packed totems appeared on his bronze skin. Relying on no Magical Artifact, just his bare fists, he unleashed a power capable of shattering mountains and cracking the earth, smashing it toward a Yellow Springs Netherworld Master blocking his path!

The force of his punch created a visible concussive blast in the air!

Another Loose Cultivator, wearing an Eight Trigrams Daoist Robe, summoned a simple Bronze Mirror. With a flash of light, it froze a sinister, Ghost Qi-infused black chain flying toward him.

The mirror’s surface then inverted, reflecting the black chain right back where it came from, its power increased threefold!

The scene instantly descended into utter chaos!

The entire massive cavern had become a battlefield where more than twenty Foundation Establishment Masters unleashed their immense powers without restraint!

The roar of colliding Magical Power was like a ceaseless heavenly thunderstorm, shaking the entire mountain so violently that countless bits of rock rained down from the ceiling.

Before they could even hit the ground, they were pulverized into dust by the crisscrossing aftershocks!

Everyone’s eyes were red with bloodlust. Their Divine Senses swept out frantically, locking onto the thirteen floating Blood Beads and any opponent who might get near them.

At the edge of this utterly chaotic battlefield, Qi Yun and Qian Xin Master had not yet been drawn into the heart of the vortex.

Qian Xin Master was wreathed in a dark red Red Dust Evil Mist. The roiling mist concealed both him and Qi Yun, making them seem as if they weren’t part of reality.

This was none other than Qian Xin Master’s Foundation Establishment Divine Technique—Red Dust Separation.

Under this Divine Technique, he and Qi Yun were hidden within the mortal dust. The other Foundation Establishment Masters present simply overlooked them, not even recalling that the two of them were there.

The reason Holy Sect Masters had such a reputation was precisely because of bizarre techniques like this one!

"The time isn’t right. Let them fight it out amongst themselves first!"

Qi Yun nodded slightly, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, his aura as calm and deep as an abyss.

In the depths of his profound eyes, the phantom of the Hundred Li Fire Cloud faintly swirled.

...

Only when the tide recedes are the reefs revealed. The situation on the battlefield suddenly became clear, but also far more perilous.

The five Loose Cultivator Masters had all been defeated.

Although they had used a variety of techniques, creating a dazzling and lively spectacle for a time, their foundations were shallow. Most had forged only Lower Grade Dao Foundations. Their Magical Power was impure, and their Dao Positions were low.

At first, they were able to hold their own through sheer grit.

But once the battle became a stalemate, the gulf in their Dao Foundation grades was revealed to be an insurmountable chasm.

A hazy cyan Sword Thread streaked past like a roaming dragon.

A Profound Gold Shield protecting one of the Loose Cultivator Masters was pierced as if it were made of paper, and a large chunk of his shoulder was sliced off along with it, splattering blood across the sky.

On another side, the Divine Bird phantom manifested by the Fengduo Master merely flapped its wings. The searing Divine Fire True Intent clung to a Loose Cultivator Master like a plague, singeing his hair and beard and shattering his Protective Gang Qi inch by inch. He fell from the sky with a scream.

The Yellow Springs Netherworld’s Evil Ghost Dharma Aspect was even more savage. Its Bone Lock Chain shot out like a venomous python from its lair, entangling a Body Cultivation Loose Cultivator. Despite his astonishing Divine Power, which cracked the very rock as he struggled, he was still corrupted by the Netherworld Filth Qi infused in the chains. His face turned ashen, and he collapsed to the ground, utterly drained.

In just over a dozen breaths, the five Loose Cultivator Masters were all either wounded or had fled, cleared from the core of the battle.

They could only watch from a distance, their eyes filled with unwillingness and horror.

Next, the Pink Miasma from Hehuan Palace, the Night Parade of Hundred Demons from Black King Stronghold, the Thousandfold Mountain Seal from Moya Cliffside Manor... the Masters from these second-rate powers also displayed their ultimate techniques, trying to get a piece of the pie.

However, under the tacit pressure from the three titans—the Cyan Sect, Fengduo, and the Yellow Springs Netherworld—though their Divine Techniques were profound, they were like waves crashing against a monolithic rock, ultimately unable to truly change the situation.

After paying a small price, they too were forced to withdraw from the central contest.

At this moment, above the ruined Magic Altar, the atmosphere was as heavy as iron.

Only seven figures remained, facing each other from a distance.

Two Sword Cultivators in fluttering cyan robes, two Fengduo Masters in crimson feathered robes, and three Cultivators from the Yellow Springs Netherworld wreathed in Ghost Qi.

The two from the Cyan Sect exchanged a glance and held back no longer.

The elder Sword Cultivator touched the spot between his eyebrows with his fingers, and the void behind him suddenly split open.

Endless Sword Qi surged forth, evolving into a vast mirage of mountains, rivers, plants, and creatures—as if a miniature world of the Sword Dao had descended.

This world was not inert. Every blade of grass and every tree was formed from Sword Qi, containing both infinite life and boundless killing intent. It bore down on the five cultivators from Fengduo and the Yellow Springs Netherworld!

The other Cyan Sect Master was more direct. With a long cry, his entire being transformed into a cyan rainbow, pure and condensed to the absolute extreme!

The rainbow pierced Heaven and Earth, ignoring the distance of space. Its sharpness was so intense that it made the Divine Sense of every Master present sting with pain!

SWISH! SWISH!

The cyan rainbow shot through the air like lightning. Under the cover of the Sword Domain, it streaked with perfect precision over the Giant Bronze Cauldron.

Like a Divine Bird snatching a pearl, in a flash, it swept up two drops of dark green and gold Undying True Blood in its sword-light!

Having succeeded, the cyan rainbow didn’t linger for a moment. It smashed right through the cavern’s ceiling, opening a path to escape into the distance!

Its decisiveness and horrifying speed left no time for anyone to even try to stop it!

"That wretched Cyan Sect! Utterly shameless!" The leader of the feather-robed Masters from Fengduo, Liu Mei, bristled with anger as she cursed.

Though shocked and enraged, her reaction was extremely fast.

"Profound truth is undying, True Fire Nirvana! Let’s go!"

Amidst her sharp cry, the auras of the two of them connected, and they transformed into an even more solid Divine Bird.

It spread its wings, incinerating the obstacles before it. With the same lightning speed, it dove toward the Giant Cauldron, snatched two drops of Undying True Blood, and then, in a shower of fiery feathers, transformed into a long rainbow of flowing fire, breaking through the air and escaping right after the Cyan Sect!

In the blink of an eye, two of the four great powers were gone.

And they had taken four drops of Undying True Blood with them!

"Hmph!"

The three Masters from the Yellow Springs Netherworld snorted coldly in unison, their Ghost Qi churning.

They were clearly furious that the Cyan Sect and Fengduo had struck first and escaped.

But as they looked at the nine drops of Undying True Blood remaining in the cauldron, their eyes were instantly filled with greed and fervor.

"It seems this good fortune is destined for my Netherworld!" the ashen-faced leader rasped, flicking his sleeve.

A massive Netherworld Ghost Hand, formed from countless wailing Soul Spirits, appeared out of thin air. It blotted out the sky as it reached for the entire Giant Bronze Cauldron, intending to snatch all the remaining Blood Beads in one go!

But just as the Netherworld Ghost Hand was about to touch the Giant Cauldron...

VMMMMM!

An extreme cold descended without any warning!

The temperature in the entire cavern plummeted to below freezing.

Countless tiny ice crystals condensed in the air. Even the churning Ghost Qi and the lingering embers of Divine Fire were frozen solid by this cold!

The next moment, an immense and profound Talisman, formed entirely from roiling frost and billions of ice crystals, appeared with a boom between the Giant Cauldron and the Netherworld Ghost Hand, descending like the Nine Heavens Ice River!

On the Talisman, the eight ancient Daoist words, "True King of the Three Rivers’ Bitter Cold," shimmered with a cold, blue-white light, radiating a supreme majesty that could freeze mountains and annihilate all life!

The Three Rivers Bitter Cold True King Talisman!

"This item is fated to be with my Holy Sect. This humble Daoist has come to collect it."

The mortal dust swirled, and out stepped a smiling Qian Xin Master and a serene Qi Yun, the two figures standing side by side.

Seeing the sudden appearance of Qian Xin Master and Qi Yun, a Yellow Springs Netherworld Master couldn’t help but sneer.

"The Holy Sect is as shameless as ever. I was wondering what I’d forgotten. I wonder where you two Fellow Daoists were hiding in your shells like cowards just now."

Faced with the Yellow Springs Netherworld’s taunts, Qian Xin Master and Qi Yun exchanged a look and then smiled in perfect understanding.

"You praise us too highly, Fellow Daoist.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong, reaping without sowing.

These are the consistent virtues of my Holy Sect.

Since you three Fellow Daoists understand, we won’t waste any more words."

With that, Qi Yun and Qian Xin Master slowly took a step forward, and an immense pressure swept out.

Looking down upon the three Yellow Springs Netherworld Masters before them, the two spoke in unison, their voices like the rumble of heaven, shaking the world around them:

"Now, either you scram... or you die!"

...