Shen Ming wasn’t the only one who had come.
While Shen Ming was pulling Ye Yang to safety, the sky-covering Kunpeng crashed into the altar. The altar didn’t budge, but the sacrifices bound below it were jolted loose in the chaos. What followed was a frantic scramble — captured animals scattered in disarray, demon spirits of the same clan helped each other as they scrambled to escape, and mixed in among them were even a few ordinary humans who had no idea what was happening.
Fortunately, they were quickly gathered together again by a powerful force and protected within a barrier.
Behind them, several formation cultivators were racing against time to study the boundary structure of the secret realm, trying to build a safe teleportation channel as fast as possible to send these weak demon spirits away.
After arranging the rescued group, Yu Bei immediately went to stand beside Shen Ming.
His expression was grim, carrying a trace of barely suppressed anxiety: “The ritual can’t be stopped or reversed.”
Shen Ming nodded. At least this wasn’t the worst-case scenario.
He glanced at the phantom image of Zhuque in midair: “Subdue all these heretical cultivators. Without enough energy, Zhuque won’t be able to descend.” Time was tight — they could figure out how to destroy the altar later.
Ying Zhao and Liu Chen stood less than ten meters away, listening to them openly strategize. They showed no fear — only annoyance and anger that their plans had been disrupted. Clearly, they still had a backup.
“ROOOAR — !!” A furious roar shook the earth. Giant bird wings covered in tiger stripes whipped up a fierce wind — Ying Zhao had revealed his true form!
Shen Ming and Yu Bei raised their hands simultaneously, but Ying Zhao didn’t attack them at all. With a cold laugh, he turned and aimed directly at the heretical cultivators behind him.
“City Lord?!”
Ignoring the shocked and terrified looks in the eyes of Zhuque’s followers, Ying Zhao didn’t hesitate. He swept up dozens of people and hurled them straight onto the altar.
Yu Bei immediately moved to stop him — but he quickly realized that these heretical cultivators were different from the sacrifices they had just rescued. There was a strange attraction between them and the altar. Once they got close to it, Yu Bei’s spells couldn’t even touch them anymore.
Just like when he had crashed into the altar earlier — an invisible, unshakable force completely blocked his spiritual energy from getting through.
Ye Yang was pressed against the barrier, his eyes wide with horror. No wonder Liu Chen and the others had been standing so far from the altar — they had always planned to sacrifice these heretical followers!
He had still underestimated just how deranged they were.
Shen Ming’s already expressionless face grew even colder. His aura sank, and divine power arrived in an instant, easily suppressing Ying Zhao before he could make another move.
“Boom!” Ying Zhao’s massive body crashed down from midair, grazing Liu Chen as it slammed deep into the ground. Several heretical cultivators who couldn’t dodge in time were crushed underneath — there wasn’t even a scream.
The ground beneath his feet cracked open, and Liu Chen stumbled.
Though he considered himself fearless, anyone could see that facing Shen Ming, Liu Chen could barely maintain even a facade of composure.
His hood had long since fallen off amid the fierce winds and violent movements stirred up by Ying Zhao. His face, disfigured by an explosion, showed no discernible expression — but the determination in his eyes grew ever stronger.
He ignored Shen Ming’s movements entirely. Seizing the moment when Shen Ming was striking Ying Zhao and Yu Bei’s line of sight was blocked, he acted without hesitation. Stumbling but resolute, he raised both hands high, sucked in all the heretical cultivators around him, and — amid their screams — shoved them into the altar.
“All of you, get in there!” It didn’t matter that the sacrifices had been taken — these followers were always meant to be fuel for Lord Zhuque’s resurrection anyway. Surely they were more than willing to give their lives for Lord Zhuque’s revival, weren’t they?
Even as Shen Ming’s furious divine power pressed him deep into the ground, Liu Chen’s remaining eye still burned with fanatical light. No matter what, Lord Zhuque’s resurrection must not be disturbed!
“Lord Zhuque will destroy every last one of you! Hahahahahaha!”
The few remaining heretical cultivators were stunned by the sudden upheaval. Their fanatical expressions instantly faded, their eyes turning clear with panic. They scrambled and crawled away, instinctively distancing themselves from Liu Chen and the altar — but with nowhere left to run.
Not that anyone paid them any mind. The heretical cultivators Liu Chen had thrown in perfectly supplied the last bit of energy the altar needed. The dark crimson glow suddenly blazed bright, casting everything in red light. Zhuque’s phantom began to solidify, and an invisible force pressed down on every person present.
Shen Ming’s expression grew grave as well. His injuries had never fully healed to begin with, and he was no match for Zhuque. Although this descending evil god — this Zhuque — hadn’t yet directly confronted them, the chaotic fluctuations of the surrounding spiritual energy hinted that its power absolutely surpassed the original Zhuque’s.
“Urgh —”
Yu Bei’s knees suddenly gave way, and he collapsed straight to the ground.
His Kunpeng dharma image — shattered instantly under the shadow of Zhuque!
Fragments of spiritual energy rained down. Zhuque’s shadow devoured the Kunpeng’s power and suddenly swelled. The temperature inside the secret realm rose sharply, becoming unbearable even for demons and spirits.
For Ye Yang, a water creature, his injuries worsened. In an instant, he couldn’t maintain his true form. The tiny sea hare fell into Little Thirteen’s palm.
The little otter quickly cast a water-based spell, desperately gathering what little moisture remained in the air to wet Ye Yang’s body.
At the same time, the earth shook and the skies trembled. Even the protective barrier set up by the YCG grand cultivators began to sway. The demon and spirit clans that had just been rescued grew panicked again, huddling tightly around the few sword cultivators, whose foreheads were drenched in sweat.
The grand cultivators were maintaining the barrier and couldn’t spare any attention to help.
Inside the barrier, only Ye Yang, Little Thirteen, and Ji Qing were still watching the battle outside.
At this moment, apart from those inside the barrier, Shen Ming was the only one still standing on the open ground.
His figure wasn’t particularly tall or imposing — in fact, it could be described as somewhat lean — yet it gave off an immense sense of security, as if his mere presence meant there was still a chance to turn things around.
Only Ye Yang — Ye Yang watched Shen Ming standing alone, saw the growing disturbance on the altar, and felt an increasingly strong sense of foreboding in his heart.
Ji Qing tried to comfort him: “Heal your injuries first. Don’t worry, Lord Xuanwu is here.”
Ye Yang’s heart was frantic, but his injuries were too severe for him to be of any help. If Ji Qing and Little Thirteen hadn’t been sustaining him with their own spiritual energy, he would have struggled just to stay conscious.
Ye Yang’s premonition was correct.
With one hand pinning down Liu Chen, Shen Ming slowly raised his head to look at the altar. Only he knew — there was no longer any way to stop Zhuque’s resurrection.
The terrifying divine power at his vital gate grew stronger and stronger. Facing death, Liu Chen suddenly became calm: “Go ahead, kill me. It doesn’t matter. Lord Zhuque will revive me again —”
“Pfft —”
Without giving Liu Chen another chance to speak, a Nascent Soul-level self-destruction was gently crushed by divine power. The sound of a soul scattering to nothing was quieter than the pop of a balloon.
Zhuque’s oppressive pressure grew heavier. Shen Ming had no time to waste on these nameless heretical cultivators.
His figure suddenly vanished. In midair, Xuanwu’s phantom solidified again and grew even larger. A wave of cool wind swept over the people on the ground, instantly dispelling eight-tenths of the unbearable heat.
Ji Qing’s expression relaxed: “See? I told you. With Lord Xuanwu here, everything will be fine!”
Before his words faded, disaster struck —
“Rumble —” Accompanied by a continuous, deafening roar, even more violent than before, the altar split open.
The Zhuque in midair bore down on the newly risen Xuanwu turtle. Its speed was neither fast nor slow, yet Shen Ming had no ability to resist.
The Xuanwu’s shell — impervious to blades, spells, and weapons alike — was merely grazed by Zhuque’s feathers. Yet the scorching heat sent waves of intense pain through Shen Ming. His old wound lay on his back, and when Zhuque directed a stream of flames imbued with the evil god’s divine power at it, the wound immediately began to burn.
It all happened so suddenly that the people on the ground could only watch as the light around them dimmed, their expressions frozen before they could even change.
The grand cultivators braced themselves, gritting their teeth as they increased their spiritual energy output, but deep down, they had no confidence in the barrier’s strength at all.
Finally, just as Xuanwu was about to make contact with the barrier, Shen Ming unleashed the spiritual energy he had been secretly accumulating. The giant Xuanwu turtle flipped over violently, sending Zhuque flying.
After this strike, Shen Ming could no longer maintain his form. He fell from the sky — and amid everyone’s cries of alarm — used the last of his strength to shift into human form, colliding against the barrier.
Ye Yang watched helplessly as Shen Ming slid down the barrier in front of him. In his desperation, he suddenly coughed up blood and grew even weaker.
Ji Qing could no longer offer words of comfort. He silently transferred more spiritual energy to Ye Yang, though his own complexion worsened considerably. As a Si (a type of mythical creature), he didn’t know healing techniques — only that using large amounts of spiritual energy could slowly repair Ye Yang’s body.
Little Thirteen had been channeling spiritual energy to Ye Yang this entire time. By now, he no longer had the strength to speak.
The situation outside the barrier was even more tragic — even despairing.
Zhuque had been sent flying by Shen Ming’s full-powered strike, but not far. She quickly steadied herself. Then, with an elegant transformation, she took the form of a slender, delicate, strikingly beautiful woman. A sharp, dangerous smile played on her lips as she landed steadily on the ground.
The moment she touched the ground, she casually drained the last remaining heretical cultivators into dry husks. Her greedy gaze swept over the barrier, sending chills down the spines of the grand cultivators.
Then her eyes locked onto Shen Ming, who had just managed to get back on his feet. She walked toward him slowly, step by step, her red hair streaming behind her. Her striking beauty, combined with the intense malice in her eyes, created a strangely eerie aura. An invisible pressure made the entire secret realm grow even quieter.
Shen Ming, struggling to support himself, stood facing Zhuque from afar. Neither of them moved, but the air was filled with two completely opposite divine forces, clashing endlessly.
The altar had completely collapsed. Fragments of stone and bits of corpses clung to the barrier not far away, staining the colorless barrier patches of red and gray. The divine powers of Xuanwu and Zhuque brought with them drastic temperature changes, causing the blood on the barrier to dry and then melt again — solidifying for a few seconds before quickly liquefying once more, flowing down along the barrier’s surface until it disappeared into the cracks in the earth.
“Let me see, who do we have here?”
Zhuque’s voice was light and ethereal, like that of an innocent young girl. But her words cut like knives.
“So it’s you, little turtle. Turtles do live long lives, don’t they? Still not dead after all this time.”
Suddenly, her expression twisted into something ferocious: “I’ve died once already — so why are you still alive?!”
With her sudden outburst, the entire secret realm shook. The ordinary humans protected inside the barrier had long since fainted from fear. The remaining demon and spirit clans trembled, not daring to look directly at the scene outside.
Just a few strands of divine power carried in her words — such immense energy!
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