C853 The Heavens Opened Its Mouth!
"The Array of Unholy Might!"
The cultivators of Eshvehona, including Chou Muge, Lyu Geng, and the Dark Herald from the Devil Palace, all had their expressions shift dramatically.
The Skyblight Cult's protective circle was confirmed to be of the sixth level, on par with the Soulforge Matrix before its advancement.
Such a formidable rune circle could confine cultivators beneath the Unbound Realm or archdemons below the ninth level, rendering escape nearly impossible for those who dared to intrude.
Attempting to break through the formation would result in death or severe injury, especially for those in the Solar Spirit or Spirit Walk stages.
And this was without the presence of the rune circle's master.
Yun Hao, however, as the leader of the Skyblight Cult and the rightful possessor of the Skytaint Orb, was a late-stage Unbound cultivator who had merged with the Dao of this realm.
With him present, the might of the Array of Unholy Might was not limited to affecting only those of the Solar Spirit level.
He was the primary force, with the rune circle serving as his aid.
The Spiritvein beneath the mountains, the towering peaks, the streams and deep pools in the valleys, and even the birds and insects seemed to be in harmony with Yun Hao, echoing his triumph.
Various artifacts, divine rainbows, and lightning, along with the Bane and goast, coalesced into spiritual energy, forming Divine Weapons and Generals that arrayed themselves in the sky with formidable presence.
Yu Yuan looked up and could almost see an ethereal ancient divine palace atop the boundless sea of clouds.
From it, an array of cultivators in golden and silver celestial robes descended in an orderly fashion.
An overwhelming aura, capable of pulverizing mountains and rivers, bore down upon them with crushing force.
Boom!
Yu Yuan felt as if the space around Eshvehona had been infused with molten gold and silver, solidifying in an instant to form impenetrable walls of precious metals.
Even Yan Qiling's most potent mystique would likely falter against such an unyielding space.
"Yu Yuan, standing with this person, your affiliation with Boulderdawn is beyond question," declared Yun Hao, conclusively linking Yu Yuan to Boulderdawn. He gestured towards Yan Qiling and proclaimed, "The power of evil!"
One by one, beams filled with infinite intricacies emerged from the depths of the cloud sea.
Shafts of light, whether they belonged to transcendent evil masters, venerable sages channeling the essence of Aetherius, or emperors of the empire, were all resurrected by the Skyblight Cult, transforming into Divine Weapons.
The myriad beams of light carried with them various profound forces, as the cosmic order thundered.
"Ugh!"
Above Yu Yuan's head, the Crucible of Evil immediately unleashed a purer, more concentrated magical shield to defend his position.
In his eyes, Yun Hao of the Skyblight Cult seemed to have become the sole deity of this realm, his words manifesting law, instantly determining Yan Qiling's demise.
The Way of Heaven is one with divine punishment.
Yun Hao's short, stocky figure appeared to swell, his presence seeming to blanket every corner, becoming one with the mountains. Strands of Soul Power intertwined with the verdant ancient woods, while the spiritual energy from the Spiritvein below mingled and refined.
"The Unbound Realm, merging with this world, I'm truly terrified," Yan Qiling said with a light laugh. Suddenly, an inch of space above his head began to unfold into a new, peculiar little world.
It was a world awash with black and white, void and desolate, chilling like the Star River in the extraterrestrial realm.
At the very heart of this world hung an ancient black character of unimaginable size — Extreme.
Like a vast, ink-black sun!
This character, Extreme, occupied a third of the heavens and earth, radiating a might that sent shivers through the soul.
"Extreme!"
Yu Yuan's complexion turned ashen with alarm.
That character, "Extreme," was one of the four ancient black characters suspended in the singular space beneath the Soulforge Pool in the Moonfall Sanctuary.
"To Know All is to Suffer All."
It seemed that Yan Qiling had refined the character "Extreme," incorporating it into his own little world, making it a part of that realm, flawlessly integrating with his soul, his spells, and the mysteries of space.
"Come forth."
With Yan Qiling's mocking sneer, the colossal character, Extreme, burst forth from the little world above his head into the skies over Eshvehona.
It entered the real, external world.
The strokes of the character, Extreme, eerily split apart into the simplest of lines — horizontal and vertical — revealing the most ultimate aspect.
With a series of sharp tearing sounds, the heavens, suppressed by Yun Hao's Array of Unholy Might, were being shredded apart as if by a tailor's keen scissors, the space forged from molten goldsteel torn asunder.
A wave of profound discomfort washed over everyone present. Numerous cultivators from Eshvehona, those of the Veil Breaking and Subtlety Realms, collapsed in agony, clutching their chests and bleeding from their eyes, their moans of pain barely audible.
Qi Nandou was among them, spitting blood and pressing his face to the ground, too fearful to gaze upon the bizarre spectacle above or to perceive it with his Lunar Spirit.
Yu Yuan, observing the chaos overhead, felt an acute distress in both his chest and soul. Yet, after mentally commanding "Open the Third Eye," the strange power assailing his body and spirit was purged.
"When immortals clash, mortals bear the brunt," he mused, quickly realizing that the conflict between two titans like Yun Hao and Yan Qiling, with their use of enigmatic mystiques, had shattered the spatial seals, subjecting everyone in the vicinity to the rule-bending forces unleashed by their struggle.
Many residents of Eshvehona were relatives of the Skyblight Cult's formidable members, with relatively modest levels of cultivation. How could they possibly endure such a turbulent surge of energy?
"Has Yan Qiling grown so powerful?" he wondered, his gaze shifting involuntarily to the striking man, feeling a sudden sense of unfamiliarity.
Yan Qiling, once a soul fragment, had been in the form of a soul spirit, with the one in the bronze coffin as his former master. Upon gaining his freedom, Yan Qiling had advanced swiftly in his cultivation as a soul spirit.
Particularly after his encounter in the singular space inscribed with the ominous words "To Know All is to Suffer All," his mastery of space magic had grown exponentially.
Yet, even with such progress, it seemed inconceivable that he could have acquired the might to stand against Yun Hao in such a short span. Yun Hao, in the late period of the Unbound realm and within his own domain of Eshvehona, had the advantage of being on his home ground. What could possibly enable Yan Qiling to break through the celestial seals imposed by Yun Hao?
As he grappled with confusion, a horsetail whisk materialized from what appeared to be a shattered space.
The instant Yu Yuan caught sight of the whisk, he grasped the situation.
Yu Yuan, a master of space magic, surpassed even Yan Qiling in skill. It was he who had broken free from Sword Prison and, in concert with Yan Qiling, shattered the cosmic seals.
"Hehe!"
Zhou You's malevolent chuckle echoed suddenly in the mountainous stronghold of the Skyblight Cult.
It was as if the sky had been abruptly punctured!
From the gaping hole poured a cascade of radiant light, unleashing ferocious Sky Fiends, menacing Earth Fiends, and the Otherkin warriors Yu Yuan had encountered in the Scarlet Dunes.
By the looks of it, there were easily hundreds, if not thousands!
What would become of the Skyblight Cult's mountains with such an influx of Sky Fiends, savage Terra Fiends, and Otherkin warriors?
"Zhou You!"
Yun Hao watched in horror as the sky split open and a staggering number of Star-Spawned Terror and Otherkin warriors flooded in, his complexion turning deathly pale.
"You've harnessed the power of the Array of Unholy Might and directed it at Eshvehona, exposing a vulnerability in our own sect," Zhou You, hovering above the Skytaint Orb, called out to Yu Yuan with a sly grin, a twisted form of salutation. "Eshvehona and those mountains are not one and the same."
"We can't keep skulking in the shadows now that we're back. Having conquered Moonfall Sanctuary, it's time to reclaim what rightfully belongs to us, wouldn't you agree?" Yan Qiling squinted her eyes, her smile radiant. "The Terror Claws, linked to us by fate and by the previous sect master's dealings with Boulderdawn in the extraterrestrial realms."
"Subsequently, the Terror Claws perished in civil strife, suffered a devastating blow on the Euwrea Continent, and that directly led to their downfall."
Yan Qiling's words were delivered with nonchalance.
Yu Yuan, now the keeper of the Crucible of Evil, suddenly realized that the fall of the Terror Claws was no mere accident, but the result of a concerted effort by the three upper sects, the Devil Palace, and Shadow's Keep!
On the surface, the Terror Claws seemed to have vanished amid the strife between good and evil on the Land of Quiescence and Euwrea. In truth, it was their association with Boulderdawn that sealed their fate.
"He's right," Yu Yiyi, the Cauldron Spirit, chimed in at just the right moment.
"So that's how it is."
