Daqin Zhentiansi

Three hundred li to the southeast lies Meteor Gorge.

"Fire Seed Crystal! Send it quickly!"

Lei Zhen's voice tore through the demon's howl. His face was covered in blood and mud, one eye was covered by congealed blood scabs, leaving only the other eye as red as charcoal.

He slashed at a Bone-Eating Demon that lunged at him with his sword, and without pausing, charged toward the silent altar ruins deep in the canyon.

The narrow passage leading to the altar was blocked by several moving hills—Gravity Rock Demons.

Their skin was like weathered black rock, and their heavy footsteps caused the ground to sink and twist like water. An invisible pressure suddenly descended, making the charging warriors catch their breath and their steps feel like they were filled with molten lead.

"Rift Abyss Camp!" Lei Zhen roared, his voice hoarse, "Target: Rock Demon! Open fire!"

He was the first to draw his bow, his arm muscles bulging, and the bowstring groaned as if it were about to snap.

An arrow, enveloped in a pale blue arc of lightning and a faint green light, was released from the bowstring, piercing the heavy air and precisely penetrating the murky giant eye of the rock demon at the forefront.

"Pfft!"

"boom!"

Half of the stone skull exploded, spraying out a splatter of filthy black liquid.

The Rock Demon's massive body swayed and collapsed.

When the breach appeared, the soldiers did not cheer, but charged silently.

Braving the falling boulders, struggling forward in the fluctuating gravity field, each step landing on the bodies of fallen companions, crushing unknown bone armor or monster remains.

The smell of blood was so strong it was almost overwhelming.

When they reached the base of the altar, less than 30% of those who had set out were still alive.

Everyone was wounded, their armor shattered, and their breathing was like that of a broken bellows.

"Hold the line! Ignite!"

Lei Zhen roared and charged toward the main array eye.

In the chaos, a Pan Shi Camp warrior had just managed to embed a Fire Seed Crystal into a flank node when a shadow silently emerged from the rocky ground beneath his feet—

The shadowy blade pierced his chest in an instant, emerging from his back.

The soldier's body stiffened abruptly, and blood gushed from his mouth.

He didn't scream. Instead, with all his remaining strength, he gripped the Shadow Blade Demon General, who was trying to draw his sword and escape, with his arms like iron clamps. A muffled but stubborn roar escaped his throat: "Light, light it! Quickly—!"

Lei Zhen turned around and saw this scene.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a beastly roar as he charged forward, slicing the Shadow Blade Demon General and the warrior's remains away with a single strike.

Without the slightest pause, he turned and pounced on the main array eye of the altar, his palms covered in lightning and blood, and slammed the fire crystal containing the core power into the cold rune groove!

"Om-!"

A deep yet clear resonance, as if a sleeping heart had been awakened.

Immediately afterwards, a blinding golden beam of light shot up from the core of the altar, instantly piercing through the turbid demonic clouds rolling above the canyon!
The pure will of Heaven spread out, dispelling the dense demonic miasma.

Lei Zhen, leaning on his sword, knelt on one knee beside the altar where a pillar of light rose.

He looked up at the light that tore through the darkness, his facial muscles twitching, revealing a smile that was a mixture of exhaustion, madness, and the realization that he had finally achieved his goal.

Northwest Rift Valley.

As Xuanlan Gongzi pointed his sword, the mixed force of elite Celestial Race soldiers and remnants of the Human Race behind him, like a sharp awl, pierced the weak point of the demonic tide.

Sword energy crisscrossed, magical artifacts shimmered, and the roars of demons and severed limbs flew continuously along the path of the advancing team.

The mountain valley where the target altar was located was now in sight.

"How could mere demons possibly hinder the progress of my Heavenly Palace!"

Young Master Xuanlan's voice was clear and melodious, carrying the natural arrogance of the Celestial Race bloodline and the sharp edge of his first victory. His sword light was like a waterfall, tearing a charging Bone-Eating Demon General to pieces.

However, when the team finally arrived at the altar base and attempted to embed the "Fire Seed Crystal," which contained the primordial vitality and the will to break through demons, into the core array eye, a sudden change occurred!
Something's wrong with this altar.

The dark gray moss, like congealed blood, tightly covered the ancient runes.

The true essence that Young Master Xuanlan inputted was like a mud ox entering the sea; the moment the crystal touched the array's core, the entire altar convulsed violently!
The runes etched into the ground were no longer flickering, but convulsing wildly like the nerves of a dying beast. A cold, viscous, and hateful will, like an invisible tentacle reaching out from the abyss, gripped the core of the altar tightly!
"What's going on?!" A Celestial Elite's expression changed drastically. The Fire Crystal in his hand dimmed rapidly, as if it were being swallowed by an invisible black hole. "The crystal's power is draining away!"

"The demonic energy isn't just eroding the surface!" The only human array master in the team who had studied ancient arrays trembled as he painstakingly touched the crack in the altar's foundation with his fingertips. A bone-chilling cold and despair instantly spread through his body. "Its essence has been corrupted by something deeper!"

"It's like a mark from the abyss! This altar is 'locked' shut! We... can't light it!"

The last few words were filled with endless despair and fear.

Unable to ignite the altar, the surrounding primordial power of the Heavenly Dao could not be connected.

All previously occupied positions must be abandoned, and all outer defense lines must be withdrawn.

They're probably going to die here!
The handsome face of Young Master Xuanlan instantly lost all color.

He roared, and the power of his Celestial Race bloodline surged wildly within him, attempting to forcefully communicate with the remaining resonance of the barrier using his own primal will.

But the core of the altar was as cold and hard as a stubborn rock forged from ancient ice. No matter how he tried to break through it, it remained completely silent and unresponsive.

Finished!

A heavy sense of defeat and a profound feeling of betrayal of Zhang Yuan's trust gripped Xuan Lan Gongzi's heart.

Everyone will die!
"Roar—!"

As if sensing the chaotic opportunity brought about by the altar's anomaly, the monsters that had been temporarily repelled in the distance, as well as the more shadows summoned by that cold will, surged wildly from the darkness of the rift valley from all directions, like a swarm of sharks smelling blood!

The gap that had just been torn open was instantly filled with hideous demonic shadows, and the team was trapped under the altar base, in dire straits!
The sword light was exhausted from its frantic advance, and the magic weapon's radiance teetered on the brink of collapse under the onslaught of the demonic tide.

Casualties began to appear, and despair, like an icy tide, began to engulf this once spirited team.

Young Master Xuanlan's eyes were bloodshot as he watched the approaching demonic claws and sharp teeth, his heart filled with only a cold, bewildered feeling.

Just when all hope seemed lost, the altar was doomed, and the entire party was about to be swallowed by the demonic tide—

Dozens of miles away, there is a small outpost ruin that has long been forgotten and is now just broken walls and ruins.

From the pile of corpses, a hand covered in filth and dried blood suddenly stretched out!

An old cultivator, his beard and hair already matted with blood and mud, and one leg twisted and severed at a bizarre angle, struggled to crawl out. His breath was as faint as a flickering candle, each gasp laced with blood.

His cloudy eyes struggled to move, staring intently towards the northwest rift valley.

There, the faint light of Xuanlan Gongzi and his companions struggling in blood, the twitching runes of the altar, was a hope about to be extinguished.

The old monk's face, etched with wrinkles and bloodstains, revealed an extremely complex expression.

There is compassion for the celestial elites in the distance, and an understanding of one's own fate, but deepest within is an obsession etched into one's bones, a conviction that will not cease until death.

"Ha, Heaven, Palace, little children..." He made a hoarse, low, almost inaudible sound, like a broken bellows, "...guarding this fortress, for a lifetime..."

"In the end... what's the difference between celestial beings and humans..."

His withered, bony hands dug into the scorched earth beneath him, as if trying to grasp something for support.

His cloudy eyes were fixed on the center of the ruins.

There, the ancient foundation stone, half broken and cracked, was almost completely buried.

That was another equally abandoned, smaller, and more inconspicuous altar node!

"How can I allow this last spark of hope to be extinguished before my very eyes..."

"Roar--!!!"

A roar that sounded neither human nor like the final roar of a burning soul suddenly exploded from his chest!

The old cultivator's tattered armor shattered inch by inch, and his withered body erupted with an incredible light—

That was the flame that ignited the very source of life, the remnants of the soul, and the last drop of blood that refused to be silenced!

He transformed into a resolute streak of fire, crashing headlong into the half-buried altar foundation!

"boom--!"

It wasn't a deafening explosion, but a muffled, heart-pounding roar, like a heavy sigh from the depths of the earth, or the beating of a tenacious heart in dire straits!

A faint, yet purest golden flame stubbornly and silently shot up from the crack in the half-foundation!
Although the flame was as small as a bean, it was like a spark thrown into boiling oil!
Almost at the same moment—

The golden pillar of light that pierced through the heavens and earth in Black Wind Rift Valley and the dazzling and indomitable beacon light in Meteor Gorge seemed to have received the deepest call and lament of their shared bloodline!

"Boom!!!"

Two mighty Heavenly Wills surged forth, flowing through the invisible barrier and across space!

It did not directly impact the main altar in the Northwest Rift Valley, but rather, precisely, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, it merged into the tiny pillar of light on the ruins that had just been ignited by the old cultivator with his life!

"Boom—!!!"

Like a dormant volcano, it has been completely awakened!
The stubborn main altar in the Northwest Rift Valley, whose core runes had been twitching and lifeless, suddenly burst forth with an unprecedentedly dazzling light!
The cold, abyssal will that had been binding it was instantly swept away and destroyed by the resonance of this tiny spark, which originated from the sacrifice of its comrades and was empowered by the power of the two main altars, as if it had encountered its nemesis.
An unprecedented, thick and blazing golden beam of light, carrying the sorrow of sacrifice and the determination of protection, fiercely tore through the thick demonic clouds above the Northwest Rift Valley and soared into the sky!

The three main pillars of light, originating from the Black Wind, the Meteorite, and the Northwest Rift Valley, along with the tiny pillar of light ignited by the life of an unknown old cultivator, now shining brightly and unyielding, instantly intertwined, resonated, and connected!
A massive golden net of light, covering an area far exceeding that of the previous ones, suddenly unfolded above the Blood Millstone battlefield!

The golden light cascaded down like a tangible waterfall of molten gold!

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!"

The demonic energy swept by the golden light melted away like ice and snow. The demonic army that was besieging Xuan Lan and the others was like frost and snow under the scorching sun, letting out extremely shrill howls. Their bodies were rapidly annihilated and turned into ashes in the dazzling light!
The surging demonic tide crumbled instantly!

Xuanlan Gongzi's sword-wielding hand froze in mid-air.

He stared blankly up at the magnificent net of light woven from sacrifice and protection.

His gaze unconsciously drifted towards the spot where the tiny pillar of light was rising in the distance—

There was only a charred ruin there, devoid of any sign of life.

Looking down again, the stubborn altar beneath my feet was burning fiercely, releasing pure and powerful Heavenly Dao energy.

An indescribable torrent violently assaulted his soul.

Shocked by the immense power of heaven and earth ignited by that tiny spark, ashamed of my arrogance and powerlessness, and deeply moved by the nameless old cultivator's will to protect, which transcended the boundaries of race, and which he practiced with his life!

The Celestial Race's innate arrogance was utterly shattered and crushed into dust at this moment.

He abruptly wiped away the blood and demonic filth from his face, as if he were also removing some invisible shackles.

The longsword in his hand emitted a clear and resonant hum, its blade pointing directly at the remaining demonic tide that had fallen into great chaos due to the purification by the golden light.

His voice, no longer clear and melodious, but hoarse and choked with an unprecedented, heavy power, resounded throughout the battlefield:
"Kill—!! For the bulwark! For—the passing on of the torch!!!"

Golden flames intertwine between distant sacrifices and immediate protection, becoming one.

Jielu Pass.

The central hall.

On the global sandbox, four dazzling golden rays, representing the Black Wind Rift Valley, Meteor Gorge, Northwest Rift Valley, and the nameless ruins, are like eternal lighthouses piercing through the filthy night, firmly anchored on the front line of the churning chaotic demonic clouds.

Its light intertwined into a net, cleansing away the demonic atmosphere and forcefully creating a purified and reclaimed world in the Blood Mill Battle Zone!
The deathly silence before the sand table was shattered by an unprecedented tremor.

The burly Zhaowu Venerable leaned forward abruptly, his tiger-like eyes fixed on the four dazzling beams of light from the beacon towers, his hair and beard standing on end, his chest heaving violently.

His face, accustomed to battle and accustomed to death, was now a mixture of unparalleled shock and ecstasy, and his voice erupted like a volcano that had been suppressed for millennia:
"We've taken them back! Black Wind Rift Valley! And Meteor Gorge and Northwest Rift Cliff!"

"A thousand years of stagnation, an eternal demonic miasma... has actually been pierced through!"

"This is the first time in a thousand years since the ancient barrier collapsed that our Jielu Pass has truly recovered its lost territory! This feat of territorial expansion is an immense achievement!!"

He turned abruptly, his voice resounding throughout the palace: "Your Majesty! This Zhang Yuan led the remnants of the Panshi army deep into enemy territory, repeatedly lighting beacon towers and recovering lost land—an unprecedented feat since the defense of the pass began!"

"Send reinforcements immediately!"

"The elite troops of the Heavenly Palace and the powerful vassal clans will provide their full support! Let's make this three-fortress line the first sharp blade that our Boundary Barrier Pass will thrust into the Chaos Abyss!"

"With this foothold, the situation in the entire Blood Millstone and even the Cloud Ridge war zone will be reversed!"

However, this fervent proposal was like cold water poured into boiling oil, instantly provoking a strong backlash.

"absurd!"

Venerable Li Xing abruptly stood up, his icy sarcasm almost tangible, spreading out in a chilling aura.

The elites of the Heavenly Punishment Hall behind him, as well as several conservative Venerables, all showed expressions of disapproval. (End of Chapter)