C854 It Was like a Nightmare Had Descended upon Him
From the heart of the mountains, a piercing shriek rent the air.
Cultivators of the Fiend Sect emerged from their sealed caves and burst from their grand palaces, gazing skyward in disbelief.
They beheld the Devaputras, each with a body uniquely forged and shaped.
They witnessed an Earth Demon, solid as rock, crash into a mountain peak, causing it to quake violently as if merging with the creature.
They saw Earth Demons, which human cultivators should have transformed into Artifact Souls, brazenly emerge and mock them with their smiles.
"My God!"
A Fiend Sect elder, who had ventured to the Galaxy Battlefield and ascended to the Yang God Stage, cried out, his voice quivering, "What on earth did I just witness?"
"Good heavens! Outland Devaputras, Earth Demons with corporeal forms!"
"Members of the Rock Clan! The might of the Rock Clan's warriors!"
Another Yang God Stage expert, emerging from decades of seclusion in search of a breakthrough, rubbed his eyes in disbelief, exclaiming, "Has my mind been tainted by a heart demon? Am I hallucinating?"
He rubbed his eyes desperately, trying to ensure that the visions before him were not mere phantoms.
He had secluded himself for so long that he was unaware the Divine Soul Sect, absent for nearly ten thousand years, had officially begun its return.
He could never have imagined that Outland Devaputras and Rock Clan warriors would join forces to invade the Boundless Land.
Such a scenario, with foreign beings from beyond the Boundless Land appearing en masse, belonged only in the darkest of nightmares.
After all, this realm had always been under the vigilant watch of the three upper sects, the Demon Palace, and the Devil Palace.
For millennia, human cultivators, allied with demon legions, had dominated the distant reaches of the galaxy, taking pride in hunting Devaputras and slaughtering alien warriors.
The Devaputras and alien races had never dared to approach the Boundless Land's Void Barrier in significant numbers.
Only scattered few, braving deadly risks, would slip through hidden and unstable spatial rifts into the Boundless Land.
Quickly, they would be hunted down or secretly detained by the five supreme forces.
Never could outsiders stir great upheaval in the Boundless Land.
The notion of a coalition of Devaputras and alien races boldly invading the sects of the Boundless Land was unthinkable. How could such a thing be possible?
Until...
A colossal Winged Dragon from the outer realms suddenly swelled in size, its razor-sharp wings slicing through a Dwarf Mountain. It was only when the mountain crumbled with a thunderous roar that everyone grasped the reality of the situation.
This was no nightmare.
This was happening in the real world!
"Yan Qiling, Yu Yuan, you are the eternal sinners of the Boundless Land!" Yun Hao shivered uncontrollably in terror as he witnessed a vast chasm open in the sky. Heavenly Devils and foreign experts surged into the Fiend Sect's mountains like a flood through the Chaos Abyss, and his psyche shattered.
He was not alone.
All those in Evil Town who could still stand, who had not been felled by the battle between Yan Qiling and himself, were wailing in despair.
A catastrophe of this magnitude was unprecedented in ten thousand years, and it was unfolding at the Fiend Sect!
All because Lee Tihai had imprisoned Yu Yuan's mother's soul, coercing Yu Yuan to come with the "Soul Ignition" method!
Lee Tihai, the independent cultivator, and Yun Hao, the Sect Master, were the true architects of the Fiend Sect's disaster!
Countless eyes, filled with resentment and dissatisfaction, turned towards Lee Tihai.
Lee Tihai felt a chill throughout his body, equally terrified by the supernatural phenomena above the mountains. He was merely an independent cultivator, not yet having been invited by the Fiend Sect to venture into the outer star seas as a Yang God.
He had never encountered a devil before, nor had he seen such fierce alien warriors.
Was it just the imprisonment of Yu Yuan's mother's soul?
He couldn't fathom how such a minor provocation, an attempt to curry favor with Sect Master Yun Hao, could bring about the Fiend Sect's annihilation.
"Mr. Yan?"
Yu Yuan, now engulfed by the Evil Cauldron and rising into the air, gazed deeply at the tumult in the distant mountains, his face somber. "Was it necessary to cause such an uproar?"
The Fiend Sect's former Sect Master, the ancestor of this era—the Evil King Yu Xi—had opened a new spatial gateway with the help of Yan Qiling. Evil creatures from the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area and the Crimson Desert swarmed toward the mountains in a relentless tide.
He knew the Fiend Sect stood no chance of holding its ground.
Though he was naturally detached and bore no fondness for Yun Hao or Lee Tihai, there were still those like Lü Geng and Chiu Muge, and many who revered the Evil King Yu Xi.
He was concerned...
"I know what's on your mind," Yan Qiling said with a slight smile. "We've discussed this when you were in Horror Land. I've mentioned their entirely new philosophy to you. Whether it be Devaputras or other race's strong figures that you've seen flooding into the mountains, none intend to slaughter the innocent."
"We have our own code of conduct."
"That mountain range is set to become a major trading hub rooted in the Quietus Continent, akin to the Babel Chamber of Commerce's headquarters! The difference is, there will be no taboo in who we trade with. Humans, Devaputras, other race's powerhouses—any intelligent being can frequent this place."
"However, one must secure the Divine Soul Sect's permission, and in turn, we will offer protection."
Yan Qiling hinted at a deeper strategy.
He, or rather the Divine Soul Sect, intended to leverage the Fiend Sect to advance their distinctive ideas.
The Fiend Sect was chosen for its location in the Quietus Continent, where many practitioners of the Evil Dao, with their unconventional thoughts, might be open to embracing their concepts.
This was unlike the Heavenly Source Continent, where traditions were rigidly upheld, and minds were thoroughly indoctrinated by the three upper sects.
"I..."
Yu Yuan was about to respond when he noticed the foreign Devaputras and other formidable beings refraining from immediately attacking the Fiend Sect's people.
Unless, of course, the Fiend Sect sought their own demise.
He also observed that some of the powerful, corporeal Devaputras were persuading the fearful Fiend Sect disciples in human speech.
"This land once belonged to the Evil Sect, not to you! Your Fiend Sect is located not here in the mountains, but across from Evil Town in that forest."
"Vacate this unfamiliar territory and seek out your sect master."
"As long as you refrain from violence and do not seek death, you are free to leave."
"Please, don't compel us to take aggressive action against you."
The arriving Devaputras and other race's powerhouses were unexpectedly composed, keeping their innate savagery and bloodlust at bay.
"See for yourself," Yan Qiling said, gesturing towards the mountains to Yu Yuan. "These individuals have all sworn oaths on their ancestors' honor, having signed contracts with us. Yu Yuan, you may not realize it, but they possess a commitment to their word that surpasses even that of the three upper sects."
"Yun Hao, it's time for you to retreat to the Fiend Sect's original lands and take your people with you. Leave while you can," Zhou You, with a horsetail whisk in hand, called out from the depths of the cloud sea, his round face breaking into a playful grin. "You're well aware of where the Fiend Sect's old grounds are. Oh, and we've spared your loyal followers this time. We want to give them the opportunity to choose their own path."
He paused, his gaze drifting into the distance.
"This is also an opportunity for every sect and power on the Quietus Continent, aside from the Devil Palace and the Demon Palace, to make a choice!"
He declared these words with resounding conviction.
"It looks like there's no need for me to guard them from the shadows any longer."
Luo Yue, clutching a flower basket, manifested in her soul spirit form beside Yu Yuan's Evil Cauldron, tucked away beneath Evil Town, ready to emerge should Yu Yuan face danger.
She hovered high above, observing the gathering of Sky Devils and other races deep within the mountain ranges.
Luo Yue's face bore a peculiar expression. In her wildest dreams, she never imagined witnessing such an eerie tableau unfold in the Boundless Land.
Was the Divine Soul Sect initiating a grand fusion with the Life Race?
Yu Yuan inhaled deeply within the Evil Cauldron, his eyes suddenly fixing on the Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle and the shadow-shrouded Devil Envoy.
Why was there no sign of action from the Devil Palace?
Surely, the seismic disturbances on the Quietus Continent hadn't gone unnoticed by them.
For a Primordial Spirit Stage expert, a mere thought could traverse countless miles in a blink.
The Devil Palace and the Demon Palace, fully aware of the events transpiring within the Fiend Sect, how could they possibly stand by?
In a flash of insight, he realized a truth that had already crystallized.
The era dominated by the three upper sects, the Devil Palace, and the Demon Palace, was on the brink of collapse.
