Chapter 23: Attacking Planets

Qu Yi flew into the Five Elements Extreme Realm. As soon as he broke through that energy membrane of ripples, he felt that the energy fluctuations in this realm were vastly different from the spiritual energy in the cultivation world.
In the cultivation world, the density of spiritual energy varied little across different places; only in areas with spiritual vein minerals was the concentration much higher.
But in this Five Elements Extreme Realm, the concentration of spiritual energy seemed to be stratified. Starting from outer space, the concentration was very low, almost non-existent. The closer one got to the planet, the higher the concentration became—changing from gaseous form to misty form. On the surface of the planet, it was liquid spiritual energy, while inside the planet, it seemed to be spiritual energy in a solidified state.
At the same time, Qu Yi’s spiritual sense also detected traces of chaotic energy mixed within the energy emanating from inside the planet.
Because his spiritual sense was under some invisible suppression here, Qu Yi couldn’t teleport and could only fly through space. As a result, it took a long time before he passed through even one planet. Yet as he flew, his spiritual sense sensed the conditions of these planets everywhere—he saw that spiritual energy was extremely thin in outer space but grew denser as one approached the planet.
“Haha, Qu Yi, it can now be declared—that the cores of these planets must all contain chaotic energy,” the Artifact God suddenly transmitted through his spiritual sense.
Qu Yi stopped above a planet.
“Artifact God, it seems you’re right. Standing on the surface of this planet, my own body has also sensed the chaotic energy coming from within,” Qu Yi said happily.
Soon, the Artifact God transmitted a message in a mysterious tone: “Qu Yi, do you have any insights after descending from outer space to this planet?”
Insights?
Qu Yi didn’t understand what the Artifact God meant at first and fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he replied, “Artifact God, are you saying that these changes in spiritual energy concentration correspond to the energy changes in cultivators’ bodies during their cultivation? In outer space, that concentration is equivalent to the true energy of the Qi Introduction stage. The misty form of spiritual energy corresponds to the true energy of the Foundation Building stage, while the liquid form corresponds to that of the Golden Core stage. By the time one reaches the surface of the planet, the concentration is equivalent to the primordial energy of the Spirit Splitting stage. Then, surely, deeper inside the planet, the concentration would be equivalent to the primordial energy of the Calamity Crossing stage.”

The Artifact God immediately laughed and replied, “Qu Yi, your analogy is somewhat on the right track. But you still haven’t grasped the essence of cultivation. For example, spiritual energy is composed of individual spheres, each with nine layers. During the Qi Attraction stage, these complete spheres are drawn into the body to form true qi. During the Foundation Building stage, the outermost layer of energy from these spheres is removed, leaving the remaining spheres to form true qi. The same process applies during the Golden Core stage, Nascent Soul stage, Soul Departure stage, Spirit Splitting stage, Reunion stage, and Calamity Crossing stage—each time the outer layers of energy from the spheres are removed, leaving the core to form primordial energy. The core of the sphere is the original energy.”

After hearing this, Qu Yi felt as if a light had shone upon him, suddenly understanding the essence of cultivation for cultivators in the realm of cultivation.

The nine layers of energy in the spheres become increasingly concentrated and pure as one moves inward, until reaching the ultimate original energy. These spheres are also categorized into five types: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. For each of these five types, the core layer corresponds to the original energy of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, respectively.

“Artifact God, I understand original energy now, but you said that the chaotic energy within my true body is even more advanced than original energy. How did you come to that conclusion?” Qu Yi suddenly asked.

Qu Yi was confused about chaotic energy, which did not fall under the five elements.

The Artifact God remained silent for a moment before slowly saying, “I’ve never encountered chaotic energy either; I’ve only heard of it occasionally. But I’m certain it is several levels higher than the five elements. Qu Yi, have you ever thought about why the realm of cultivation is derived from the five elements, yet where do those five elements come from? I believe chaotic energy could be a breakthrough point.”

Qu Yi was shocked and kept reflecting on the Artifact God’s words.

Chaos energy giving rise to the five elements?

Such a thought suddenly flashed through Qu Yi’s mind, though he was still very confused. It was beyond his current ability to figure out.

As Qu Yi pondered, an energy fluctuation arose in the sky, with many powerful auras descending from above.

The ten figures from the upper realm, along with the Great Perfection-stage cultivators from the ten sects, had already chased after them.

“Qu Yi, those guys are coming after us,” the Artifact God immediately transmitted a message to him through his spiritual sense.

Hearing this, Qu Yi quickly snapped out of his daze, soared into the air, and saw that those people had been accurately following him the whole time. Determined, he suddenly dived into the planet.

As soon as he entered the planet, Qu Yi took out his mid-grade immortal artifact, the Earth-Diving Shuttle.

The speed of the Subterranean Shuttle in the ground was extremely fast, as if there was no soil or rocks ahead, moving through the underground at the highest speed. Moreover, it was Qu Yi’s Earth Element clone controlling the Subterranean Shuttle, powered by the essence energy of Earth Element, making its speed comparable to teleportation.

The ten people from the Upper Realm followed Qu Yi. Seeing him dive into the ground, they hesitated none before diving in as well. However, though full of confidence that they could block Qu Yi underground, once they entered, they could no longer sense his presence.

“That’s impossible!”

“This must be a joke.”

“My eyes are blinded, my soul is confused—how did Qu Yi disappear like this?”…

The ten people stood there in shock, cursing angrily, their frustration beyond description.

After calming down, Zong Xi said with a cold expression, “Everyone, it seems Qu Yi used some flying immortal artifact. This Five Elements Extreme Realm blocks our spiritual sensing, limiting our detection range to only ten miles, which allowed him to escape.”

The spiritual sensing of cultivators in the cultivation world is called Ling Shi, while that of powerful beings in the Immortal Realm, Demon Realm, and Monster Realm is called Xian Shi, Mo Shi, and Yao Shi respectively.

“It seems there’s only one way to find Qu Yi—shatter this planet,” Yi Xi exclaimed, her eyes gleaming.

This statement resonated with the other nine people. Having been repeatedly toyed with by Qu Yi, they were filled with rage. After all, these were all powerful beings—human immortals, human demons, and primordial monsters—who had been manipulated by a mere cultivation realm practitioner at the Tribulation stage. Even if they returned after completing their mission, they would be laughed at by those from the Immortal Realm, Demon Realm, and Monster Realm.

Therefore, the ten of them would never let Qu Yi go.

“Good!” they all shouted in unison.

Suddenly, the ten people from the Upper Realm flew out of the ground and split into three groups: the cultivators, the demon cultivators, and the monster cultivators.

“You twenty people, form groups of ten each and use the Two Elements Thousand Transformations Death Technique. Together with us four, we’ll shatter the entire planet,” Zong Xi called out to the Great Perfection-stage beings from the four factions.

With a total of twenty-four Great Perfection-stage beings from the four factions, they could form two groups to use the Two Elements Thousand Transformations Death Technique simultaneously, equivalent to two human immortals in power.

“You ten people, combine forces to use the Ten Directions Demon Essence Blood Technique. Together with us three, we’ll break this planet,” Yi Xi said to the Great Perfection-stage beings from the three demon cultivation factions.

With a total of fifteen Great Perfection-stage beings from the three factions, they could only form ten people to use this combined skill, whose power was equivalent to one human demon.

“You ten, use the Nine Heavens Demon Essence Star-Slicing Technique together—make sure to split the entire planet in two,” Jun Wei shouted at the three demon cultivation sects’ Great Perfection-stage cultivators, his expression merciless.

The three sects together had seventeen Great Perfection-stage cultivators, so only ten could be deployed to use this combined skill, whose strength was equivalent to that of a Yuan Demon. After giving orders to all these forces, the ten cultivators from the upper realm, along with the forty Great Perfection-stage cultivators who would use their skills, flew into the air and launched an attack on the planet together.

Zong Xi took out a golden sword, Feng Qu took out a green long staff, Yan Xuan took out a red trident, and Qiu Rui took out a yellow ten-pronged rake, all of which they swung at the planet below simultaneously. The magical weapons in these four people’s hands were all mid-grade immortal artifacts.

A sword beam flashed, and wherever it struck, it seemed as though pieces of space collapsed. When it hit the planet, the land there vanished entirely, as if swallowed by another dimension. The sword beam was tens of thousands of meters long, and as it struck the ground, it kept creating deep fissures, with no sign of stopping.

With a strike of the long staff, a ten-thousand-meter-long green energy column hit the ground, immediately forming fissures, and the land around them seemed to be swallowed by another dimension as well.

When the trident was activated, three flames in the form of vines rushed into the ground, turning the planet’s surface into a sea of molten rock. Soon, that molten rock disappeared as well, seemingly carried away by another dimension.

As the ten-pronged rake struck downward, ten yellow spikes penetrated the planet’s surface, lifting the ground and causing the underlying soil to soften and collapse rapidly.

With these four immortal cultivators acting together, four bottomless pits were created on the planet’s surface, seemingly reaching all the way to its core.

At the same time, twenty Great Perfection-stage cultivators from four other cultivation sects joined forces with the four of them to unleash two instances of the “Two Principles Thousand Transformations Heaven-Slaying Technique,” striking the planet’s surface at the same time.

Once the Two Principles Thousand Transformations Heaven-Slaying Technique was activated, a grid suddenly appeared in the sky, divided equally between black and white. This grid rapidly changed, forming thousands of smaller grids. Under the command of the Great Perfection-stage cultivators, these smaller grids assembled into a giant sword that was tens of thousands of meters long.

When this giant sword struck the ground, the surface became as soft as cotton, offering no resistance. Immediately, a long fissure appeared, and the sword continued to cut downward, creating an extremely deep chasm.

This chasm was also approaching the planet’s core.

At the same time, the Demon Cultivators and the Fiend Cultivators also launched attacks on the planet’s surface.