Chapter 49: Gathering Together

To the south of the Equatorial Earth Rift, the elders from the Five Sects—Yingtian Sect, Biyan Peak, BaiShou Peak, Xianyue Cliff, and Jiugong Island—flew in.
BaiShou Peak, Xianyue Cliff, and Jiugong Island were originally allied, so it was natural for them to enter the rift together. However, as soon as the elders from Yingtian Sect and Biyan Peak entered, they immediately regretted it.
It turned out that the wall of flames had divided the rift into north and south sections, making it impossible for cultivators to pass through!
Realizing thespecialness of this wall of flames, the elders from Yingtian Sect and Biyan Peak tried to fly out of the rift and re-enter from the north. But at that moment, the elders from the three demon cultivator sects were mocking them from above.
Seeing the elders from Yingtian Sect and Biyan Peak attempting to leave, the elders from BaiShou Peak, Xianyue Cliff, and Jiugong Island refused to let them go. They immediately reverted to their true forms and launched attacks.
For BaiShou Peak, the leader’s true form was a Howling Wind Beast, resembling a leopard but far more powerful and ferocious, especially with its two white fangs sticking out of its mouth, which were terrifying. The other ten elders were four Wind-Flame Beasts, three Earth-Scale Leopards, and three Cloud-Stepping Tigers.
At Xianyue Cliff, the leader’s true form was a Golden-Eyed Thunder Eagle, over twenty meters long with white feathers dotted with stars, extremely fierce, especially its two blue eyes that seemed to emit electric sparks at all times. The other ten elders were four Heaven-Shattering Apes, three Ice Bat Dragons, and three Golden Rhinoceros Eagles.
On Jiugong Island, the leader’s true form was a Sea-Stabilizing Dragon, fifty meters long when transformed, with waves swirling around its body, and the sound of waves accompanying every breath—it was truly awe-inspiring. The other ten elders were four Dark Heaven Snakes, three Sea-Turning Whales, and three Sky-Enveloping Beasts.
Indeed, these three demon cultivator sects had agreed to unite since the Six Plateau Stars, so the demon beasts they sent were all born together and skilled in coordinated attacks. The demon beasts from these sects grouped together by species to launch joint attacks.
The intense flames emitted by the Wind-Flame Beasts, carried by the wind, enveloped the elders from Yingtian Sect and Biyan Peak. The Earth-Scale Leopards and Cloud-Stepping Tigers waited for the wind-fire magic to fade before suddenly pouncing in a surprise attack.
On the huge palms of the Heaven-Shattering Apes, a true energy sphere glowing with yellow light appeared and was thrown at the elders from Yingtian Sect and Biyan Peak, covering all twenty-two of them as well. The fast-moving Ice Bat Dragons and Golden Rhinoceros Eagles also waited for the true energy sphere to explode before attacking the elders of those two sects.

The four Dark Heaven Snakes, each fifty meters long, were pitch-black and shiny, utterly terrifying. Suddenly, their tails entwined, and all four heads simultaneously emitted yellow Genuine Qi spheres, rapidly forming a vast net that covered the elders of the Ying Tian Sect and Bi Yan Peak. The three Sea-Turning Wyverns also spat out blue water, pouring an ocean’s worth of water toward the elders of these two sects. The three Sky-Wrapping Beasts spread their black, flesh-like wings and, with a single swirl, generated three gale forces as powerful as those that could sweep across the world, intent on tearing apart the elders of both the Ying Tian Sect and Bi Yan Peak.

The elders of the Ying Tian Sect and Bi Yan Peak saw the monstrous beasts from these three demon cultivation sects acting so tyrannically and violently. Without time to attack, they could only defend themselves with their own strength.

The Ying Tian Sect specialized in earth-based cultivation techniques. All eleven elders took out yellow needles as thick as arms. With the activation of their Genuine Qi, these needles grew larger and thicker, standing like towering pillars around them. Soon, the earth-based Genuine Qi flowing through these eleven pillar-like needles transformed the entire space into a cylindrical realm, providing tight protection for the sect’s elders.

The wind, fire, Genuine Qi spheres, the sky net, the sea water, and the sky-splitting gales all struck this cylindrical space, only to be either bounced back or dispersed by the energy within it.

These eleven yellow needles were the Ying Tian Sect’s ultimate defensive trump card—the Virtual Sky Needles. They were magical artifacts that, when activated with Genuine Qi, could turn the space they formed into an independent realm, immune to external influences, offering excellent defensive effects. Even powerful cultivators at the Tribulation stage would need immense effort to break through it.

Indeed, no matter how the monstrous beasts from the Bai Shou Peak, Xian Yue Ya, and Jiu Gong Dao attacked, the space created by the Virtual Sky Needles remained unbreakable.

Elsewhere, the eleven elders of Bi Yan Peak also took out red flags—their ultimate defensive trump card this time, the Fire-Attracting Flags.

The eleven elders waved their flags, channeling fire-based Genuine Qi into them. Immediately, towering fire dragons surged around them, surrounding the entire space. From the outside, it appeared as a rolling giant fireball, with fire dragons roaring atop it constantly.

This giant fireball directly faced the attacks of wind, fire, Genuine Qi spheres, the sky net, the sea water, and the sky-splitting gales. The fire dragons burned, incinerated, and destroyed these spells one by one.

The eleven elders of Bi Yan Peak also managed to resist the attacks from the three demon cultivation sects.

The collision of these two immense energies instantly turned the entire space into a storm of energy, with all forces churning wildly.

The elders of the Yingtian Sect and the Biyan Peak immediately withdrew their Virtual Sky Needles and Fire-Attracting Flags upon noticing the chaotic energy around them. Then, all the elders descended swiftly toward the bottom of the fissure.

The demonic beasts from the three demonic cultivation sects, seeing the elders of the two sects fleeing downward, also rushed after them with murderous intent.

The five sects and three factions continued flying toward the bottom of the fissure. After a whole day of flight, they finally reached the bottom, where they saw a red energy cloud.

The elders of the Yingtian Sect and the Biyan Peak suddenly stopped above the energy cloud, not daring to fly further into it. The atmosphere here was too eerie and mysterious, making it too risky to proceed.

The elders of the BaiShou Peak, XianYue Cliff, and Jiugong Island also arrived at the bottom of the fissure. After seeing everything there, they hovered calmly in the air, not daring to take any further action.

“Xiaofeng Beast, Golden-Eye Thunder Eagle, and Sea-Stabilizing Dragon, don’t go too far. Everything here is extremely strange. Don’t act recklessly,” Tan Yu, the leader of the Yingtian Sect, shouted coldly.

While shouting, the elders of the Yingtian Sect and Biyan Peak still held their magical artifacts, ready to resist the attacks from the three demonic cultivation sects.

The Xiaofeng Beast sensed the energy cloud with its spiritual awareness and found no signs of turmoil. It immediately concluded that this was just a natural phenomenon underground, nothing unusual or dangerous.

Thus, the leaders of the three demonic cultivation sects secretly exchanged spiritual signals before ordering their demonic beasts to attack immediately.

The Wind-Fire Beast, Sky-Shattering Ape, Mysterious Sky Snake, Sea-Turning Whale, and Heaven-Enveloping Beast unleashed their spells once again, attacking the elders of the Yingtian Sect and Biyan Peak together.

Undoubtedly, the elders of the Yingtian Sect once again used their Virtual Sky Needles, while those from Biyan Peak waved their Fire-Attracting Flags, managing to withstand this wave of attacks once more.

The energy generated from the collision of spells was immediately projected into the energy cloud.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Fifty-five red energy streams suddenly surged within the energy cloud. Like thick ropes, they simultaneously bound all the elders from the five sects. With a sharp pull, they dragged all fifty-five elders into the energy cloud, causing them to disappear.

Beneath the red energy layer, in the chaotic energy layer, fifty-five void bubbles appeared, locking the fifty-five elders who had been pulled in within these chaotic energy streams.

Inside these chaotic energy streams, the elders tried to shout but found their voices couldn’t carry. They tried to look around but saw nothing. Even when they tried to use communication tokens, no messages could be sent. Everything was utterly desolate.

In the layer of chaotic energy, Qu Yi was alone, striving hard to condense chaotic energy and rapidly forming chunks of chaotic crystals. Throughout the underground realm, this chaotic energy occupied almost the entire core of Tianyi Star, appearing endless. However, given Qu Yi’s intense efforts, it would be depleted soon. As he condensed the chaotic crystals, more and more chaotic energy flowed toward him, along with the elders from the Nine Sects, who were trapped within it. Hollow bubbles enveloped the elders from the Nine Sects, slowly moving toward Qu Yi. Qu Yi was unaware of all this, as the chaotic energy completely isolated his spiritual senses, and its nature lacked any energy fluctuations. Thus, although he could absorb the chaotic energy, he couldn’t sense anything within it. Naturally, he also had no idea where the elders from the Nine Sects were. Time passed slowly, and six months slipped by in the blink of an eye. During these six months, Qu Yi had been busy collecting chaotic energy to form chaotic crystals for future use. By his estimate, there were now around 20,000 chaotic crystals, filling his space ring to capacity, forcing him to store them all inside the Dimension Sphere. The Artifact God no longer lay on the soft chair; instead, he spent his days inside the Dimension Sphere, circling around the chaotic crystals in an attempt to understand something from this peculiar energy. Yet, despite trying many methods, the Artifact God still couldn’t figure out the nature and purpose of the chaotic energy. “This chaotic energy is truly mysterious. Even I, the Artifact God, can’t discern its characteristics. It’s clear there are many things in this world I don’t know,” the Artifact God finally gave up on studying the chaotic crystals with a sigh. Then, like a corpse, he lay back on the soft chair and continued to sleep. Recently, while collecting chaotic energy, Qu Yi sensed that it would now take much longer to form new chaotic crystals. If before he could produce 1,000 crystals a day, now he could only produce 500. “It seems the chaotic energy here will soon be completely exhausted by me,” Qu Yi thought to himself. Suddenly, the entire underground realm trembled, as if Tianyi Star itself was about to split apart. The world shook! Qu Yi suddenly realized he could no longer condense chaotic energy. It seemed the energy had dispersed, flying into the space between heaven and earth, or perhaps it had vanished entirely.

At that moment, Qu Yi was even more astonished to discover that there were ninety-nine bubbles in the space around him. Those bubbles started out light gray and gradually turned red, just like the energy clouds underground before. Without hesitation, Qu Yi immediately entered the Inch Realm Ball. At the same time, the colors on the surfaces of those ninety-nine bubbles faded, and they burst open, revealing the people inside—none other than the elders of the nine sects. All ninety-nine elders from the nine sects in the cultivation world had gathered together, standing mixed among each other. “Attack!” As soon as the elders of the various sects saw the people around them, they immediately took out their magical treasures and launched attacks.