For a third-rank Heaven-Mending cultivator, the master of a Cavern of Heaven, closing their gates meant complete sovereignty.
Even a second-rank grandmaster would find it nearly impossible to breach that defense in a short time.
Thus, when Thousand-Leaf Buddha Chrysanthemum finally fled back into the Great Wood Cavern, it exhaled a long, shuddering breath of relief.
It was, without question, a traitor of Yanfudao.
Once, as the sole remaining Protector Deity stationed in this realm, it had abandoned its post when Yanfudao provoked terrible enemies, choosing flight over duty.
Because of that cowardice, it no longer dared to face any Yanfuzhi, even one whose cultivation was far below its own.
Now, safely back in its cavern, it hid and trembled while issuing a death order to the Mirror Cloud Shrine, commanding the shrine's two Star-Seizers and all Earth-Fiends to march immediately on Hunzhou.
Being stripped of its Protector Deity title under Yanfudao was, for Thousand-Leaf Buddha Chrysanthemum, no less than a wound to the very core of its Dao foundation.
For such demon-spirits, the title of Protector was a true Daoic fortune, a divine connection to the great karmic wheel.
Once severed, the only thing that awaited was slow decay.
The enormous demon, with its grotesque Buddha mask, collapsed within its cavern, struggling desperately to heal.
Yet in its panic, the Thousand-Hand Ghost Buddha failed to notice that, though its commands had gone out, not a single figure in the entire Mirror Cloud Shrine moved.
No soldiers, no acolytes, no stir of war.
Had it only looked back toward its own mountain gate, it would have seen the entire shrine wrapped tight in a web of shimmering karmic threads.
Inside those walls, countless great ghosts had already gathered.
At that moment, Saintess Shengji stepped from her cave dwelling, leading two towering ghosts toward the back mountain.
They stopped before an immense bronze mirror, its surface rippling like dark water.
She bowed slightly and said:
"My lords, this mirror holds the Cavern beacon; it connects directly to the Great Wood Cavern.
It is our sect's hidden path.
I can only guide you here.
My master is about to begin his heavenly ascent, so the battlefield within Mirror Cloud Shrine is yours to command."
Before her stood a ghost emperor in a black dragon robe and a bride-spirit in gold-threaded wedding garb, the brother-sister rulers of the Sea of Wraiths, the Emperor of Wuchang and Princess Ping'an.
The Emperor smiled faintly.
"You've done well, priestess.
Born with the title Daughter of Witch and Ghost, your gift in the Ghost Dao is extraordinary.
Perhaps I'll speak with the Yanfuzhi himself and bring you to cultivate within my Sea of Wraiths.
When my sister inherits the Great Wood Cavern and relocates to Yingzhou,
I'll have vast resources freed enough to support your rise to the third rank of Heaven-Mending."
But Shengji shook her head.
"I thank the Emperor for his kindness, yet my bond with the Yanfuzhi runs deep; his honor is my honor, his loss my loss.
I will give everything to help him attain the Dao."
With that, she tore open a rift in space and vanished.
Princess Ping'an snorted, arms crossed.
"I'm still standing right here, and you're already picking my replacement?
Truly heartless, brother."
The Ghost Emperor laughed aloud.
"Just a passing jest!
You've endured three thousand years of torment, and now your path finally clears. You even gained the Protector Deity seal of Yanfudao!
When the next contest of destiny begins,
you'll have the advantage. Two blessings in one!"
As they spoke, the siblings stepped into the bronze mirror.
Moments later, the Great Wood Cavern erupted with an ocean of ghostly qi.
A terrifying ghost emperor manifested his true form and, with a single kick, sent the crippled Buddha Chrysanthemum crashing to the ground.
Then, with a sweep of her wedding gown,
Princess Ping'an enveloped the fallen demon entirely, devouring its power and essence without mercy.
Armed now with its Protector Deity title and the refined Thousand-Hand Mandate, she began to break through the final barrier of her cultivation
at last rising to the third rank of Heaven-Mending.
The Sea of Wraiths' involvement in the struggle
between Pure Yang Heaven and the Lower Three Sects was no charity. It was a pact, a precise, equal exchange among Shang Xi, Jing Qian,
and the Wuchang Emperor himself.
The Sea of Wraiths offered:
one third-rank Ghost Phoenix,
complete erasure of its karmic debt to Jing Qian, and
a secret route into the Great Wood Cavern,
In return for Jing Qian, once enthroned as Yanfuzhi, reassigning the Protector Deity seal
from Thousand-Leaf Buddha Chrysanthemum to Princess Ping'an.
Additionally, the Ghost Emperor pledged to block any interference from the Mirror Cloud Shrine while Shang Xi underwent his celestial ascension.
Both sides walked away satisfied, each gaining exactly what they needed.
For Shang Xi and his disciple,
the only true threats to the ascension ritual
were the Lower Three Sects.
To aid the master's rise, one must not only seize a main star but also keep the three sects' lords at bay during the vulnerable hour when Shang Xi's spirit would be wholly absorbed in transcendence.
That task fell to others.
Thankfully, by drawing the Sea of Wraiths to their side, the two had already neutralized one-third of their foes, and the Mirror Cloud Shrine was contained.
Meanwhile, chaos erupted within the Impermanence Cavern.
Shang Xi stormed in like a dragon, his sword blazing with yin-yang light.
Against the Joyous Dharma Bodhisattva Miaoyin, his strikes were devastating; each one, outside the cavern, would have been a mortal blow capable of shattering bone and soul alike.
But within her own domain, Miaoyin could draw upon the boundless reserves of her cavern's essence, dissolving and deflecting each sword strike.
With her cavern's power to shift her presence at will, she could appear anywhere inside, untouchable for a time.
To kill her, Shang Xi had but one path
He must destroy the Impermanence Cavern itself.
And that was precisely what he intended to do.
Wielding the Second-Rank Twofold Annihilation Sword, Shang Xi gathered the essence of three thousand years of sword qi, the power he had refined by squeezing dry two second-rank great fiends.
All that fury and radiance condensed into one ruthless strike.
But instead of aiming at Miaoyin Bodhisattva, his sword turned upward and slashed straight toward the outer shell of the Impermanence Cavern.
With a thunderous roar, the sword light pierced through, tearing open a rift across a third of the entire cavern membrane.
From that wound, torrents of primordial qi gushed outward in violent waves.
One sword had already carved out a third.
Two more such strikes, and the entire Impermanence Cavern
Miaoyin's foundation of existence would collapse.
And when that happened, so too would her life end.
But at that very instant, a giant pagoda suddenly materialized outside the wound, pressing down upon it with divine weight, sealing the breach tight.
Four powerful auras flared from within the pagoda, and four cultivators soared out.
The leader was a Heaven-Appointed Third-Rank Spirit Official, one of the Divine Dynasty's strongest sentinels, chief guardian of the Heavenly Gang Tower, and himself a third-rank Heaven-Mending expert known as Tian Yan.
He spoke in a measured tone:
"Master Shang Xi, forgive our intrusion.
The Divine Dynasty has no intention of meddling in Pure Yang Heaven's affairs.
Yet the protection of the realm's membrane is our sworn duty.
We cannot permit you to destroy the Impermanence Cavern."
Among the four, there were two third-rank and two fourth-rank cultivators.
Individually, none of them was worth Shang Xi's attention; he could have slain the four together with a flick of his wrist.
But the Heavenly Gang Tower they commanded was no ordinary artifact; it was a second-rank Spirit Construct, capable of drawing on the strength of numerous caverns simultaneously.
Four men and one tower that combination amounted to the might of a second-rank entity.
Thus, when the Heavenly Gang Tower descended, it truly altered the balance of the battlefield.
Shang Xi did not attack again.
He simply stood there, sword in hand, his gaze cold and unblinking, as if waiting for something or someone.
...
Meanwhile, in the distant land of Hunzhou, the Dao Son raised his sword.
After the Thousand-Leaf Buddha Chrysanthemum had fled, only Blood-Robe remained, commanding an endless river of blood that surged toward the island.
Though Blood-Robe was a third-rank cavern master, a being of immense power, Jing Qian showed not a trace of fear.
The addition of his newly earned mid-tier title had multiplied his strength once again.
The Six Paths Three-Life Eye opened wide upon his brow, locking eyes with Blood-Robe across a distance of one hundred thousand li.
Since his enemy had dared to leave the Blood Pool Cavern, he had no intention of letting him return.
A shrill phoenix cry split the sky.
Good Corn, riding the black Ghost Phoenix, transformed into a streak of dark light and dove straight into the churning blood river.
There, it clashed with Blood-Robe's tide head-on, equal in might, neither yielding an inch.
While they fought, Jing Qian vanished from sight.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared through the Three-Life Eye's vision gate, descending directly into the Blood River Sect's headquarters in Youzhou.
The sect was in complete chaos.
Word had spread like wildfire:
Yanfudao had reappeared in the world, its new Yanfuzhi shaking the entire realm with his deeds.
Under Blood-Robe's orders, every cultivator of significance had gathered, preparing to march on Hunzhou.
Twelve Fifth-Rank Earth-Fiend Elders stood assembled, their ranks the accumulation of thousands of years of heritage.
But before they could even move, a lone figure appeared among them, brow marked by a vertical black eye, a black sword in hand.
The moment he arrived, infinite sword qi burst from his body.
A Minor Heavenly Gang Sword Formation unfolded around him, engulfing all twelve elders.
Within the array, blades danced like storms grinding, slicing, refining.
Those too slow to defend were instantly flayed to ribbons.
In moments, eight of the twelve lay dead.
Only four remained, trapped and helpless, their resistance shredded by the circling blades.
To Jing Qian, they were nothing more than targets.
He raised the embryonic Immortal Sword, and in four flashing strikes, beheaded them all.
The Blood River Sect's entire Earth-Fiend cadre, with its centuries of accumulated power, was annihilated in a breath.
None among them bore any divine title; their strength was far too meager to challenge him.
With the sect's core cultivators destroyed, the rest were little more than frightened mortals.
Jing Qian waved a hand, summoning Xili the Cat Demon and Shengji.
Both were fifth-rank beings, and Shengji, bearing the title Daughter of Witch and Ghost, commanded the formidable Ox-Head Blood Tear Spirit Construct of the fourth rank.
Either one alone could have flattened what remained of the Blood River Sect.
Jing Qian gave his command:
"Leave no survivors.
Erase every trace of this sect from the mountain.
Take all resources, artifacts, and scriptures, and move them into the Void Realm."
Then, without another word, he vanished once more, reappearing deep within one of the sect's mountain peaks.
At the base of that mountain lay a cavern, and within it, a sealed blood pool.
Jing Qian descended, sliced open the seal with a single stroke, and leapt in.
He moved through the complex like a man in his own home, every twist, every ward familiar to him.
That was thanks to the whispering voice in his mind, Blood Cang.
In life, Blood Cang had been the third elder of the Blood River Sect, second only to the missing patriarch Blood River and the reclusive master Blood-Robe.
He knew every secret of the sect's foundations.
When Jing Qian had asked how to bring the Blood River Sect to ruin,
Blood Cang had produced, in record time, an efficient and ruthless plan of destruction.
Jing Qian followed it step by step, and it worked flawlessly.
At the bottom of the cavern, within the blood pool, lay a cavern beacon connecting directly to the Blood Pool Cavern itself.
Channeling his Sumeru power and guided by Blood Cang's memories,
Jing Qian touched the beacon and, with a shimmer, his figure vanished.
He had entered the core of the Blood Pool Cavern, the heart of the Blood River Sect, where all their treasures, their legacies, their dark arts were kept.
The air itself writhed as if alive; the very atmosphere pulsed like flesh.
And when Jing Qian set foot inside, a suffocating wave of metallic, coppery stench hit his face, the smell of blood so thick, it was almost tangible.
The stench inside was unlike ordinary blood.
It was the rancid sweetness of marrow and rot as though tens of thousands of corpses had been rendered into grease, boiled together until the scent itself turned into something alive, worming its way up one's nostrils, burrowing straight into the brain.
Underfoot lay a translucent, crimson gel that squelched with every step, oozing sticky blood with a nauseating hiss.
Beneath that surface, countless half-formed human faces pressed upward and writhed, all of them once-cultivators, now transformed into hateful spirits, forever trapped beneath the surface of the Blood Pool Cavern.
As Jing Qian drew near, skeletal hands reached up through the blood-gel, bony fingers clawing at his ankles and leaving slick trails of red.
Fortunately, his body was wrapped in a layer of Sumeru Ghost Skin, blocking all external corruption and devouring blood energy.
For anyone who had not cultivated the Flesh Banquet Arts, this place was pure hell.
Its power seeped into the flesh like cancer, rotting blood and gnawing away spiritual force until nothing remained.
But Jing Qian, guided by Blood Cang's whispered knowledge, knew the hidden paths within this nightmare.
He transformed into a streak of light and shot across half the cavern realm, heading straight toward a colossal, pulsating blood sphere.
The Immortal Sword Embryo in his hand descended like a surgeon's scalpel, splitting the sphere cleanly in two.
Inside lay a secret chamber.
A crimson candle as thick as an arm burned fiercely, its unnatural flame sending blood-colored ripples through the air.
A lone Blood Nether cultivator sat cross-legged before it, using the candle's divine resonance to transmit a message outward.
Jing Qian didn't even pause.
His black jade sword traced a beautiful arc, its tip aimed straight for the man's throat.
At the same time, a whirl of sword-qi erupted from him, weaving into a formation that sealed the chamber tight.
This had become his new combat rhythm:
Trap with the formation, decapitate with the sword.
So far, it had proven unstoppable.
Once he entered striking range, the first-grade Immortal Sword Embryo's power was absolute; nothing could resist it.
The Blood Nether cultivator before him was no weakling, a fourth-rank Star-Seizer of considerable cultivation.
But he had no divine title, his strength barely a third of Blood Cang's, perhaps equal to Qiongqi, and certainly inferior to the Thunderbird, Son of Lightning.
He hadn't even reacted before Jing Qian's sword cleaved him in two.
With that, the Blood River Sect's entire presence within the realm was wiped out by Jing Qian alone.
Before dying, the Blood Nether cultivator spat his final curse:
"Wretched child... I've already sent word to the Patriarch.
He'll return soon from beyond the realm...
and he will purge all remnants of Yanfudao!"
Jing Qian shook his head slightly.
"You're already dead," he murmured. "Why worry about ghosts?"
Future threats meant nothing.
The one in front of him mattered most.
The Blood River Patriarch, though a second-rank grandmaster,
was still far from the monstrous might of beings like No-Eyes.
He might compare to the Wuchang Ghost Emperor, but no more.
He had climbed the Mountain of Immortal Breath, etched his Fate Monument, and attained the undying rank of the eternal.
But even among second-ranks, there were worlds of difference.
And no matter what message the Blood Nether had sent, it would take at least half a year for the Patriarch to return from beyond the world.
By then, Shang Xi would already have ascended to Star-Seizer.
With such a powerful ally, Jing Qian had no reason for fear.
He opened his Three-Life Eye to glance beyond the cavern wall outside. Blood-Robe was still locked in battle with Good Corn and the Ghost Phoenix, their clash sending towering tsunamis sweeping across the endless sea.
Neither could gain the upper hand.
That stalemate was all Jing Qian needed.
So long as Blood-Robe was pinned outside, his next steps could proceed undisturbed.
Following Blood Cang's guidance, he moved deeper into the Blood Pool Cavern, arriving before another enormous, throbbing blood sphere.
Once again, he drove the Immortal Sword Embryo down.
The sphere split open, revealing an inner chamber.
Inside, chains of living flesh bound a spherical black shadow, runes and talisman papers covering every link, sealing and suppressing whatever was trapped within.
Jing Qian didn't hesitate.
His black jade sword flared, and with a storm of sparks and crackling light, he hacked through the chains and talismans alike.
None of them could withstand even a single stroke of his first-grade sword.
The bindings shattered, and the black shadow was finally freed.
In an instant, it surged upward, racing through the cavern ceiling and bursting through the world's membrane, vanishing into the boundless void.
Jing Qian raised his Three-Life Eye, watching as the figure ascended higher and higher, soaring through the heavens until, five hundred million li above the Yingfutu Realm, it exploded.
That eruption unfurled across the cosmos, and beneath its vast shadow shone a single main star, the star once bound by the Blood River Sect.
That black shadow had been the Patriarch's seal, a fragment of Dao intent carved from the main star itself, used to dominate and imprison it.
Without that seal, the star had been little more than a mirage visible from within the realm, but unreachable, unreflected, unclaimed.
Now, Jing Qian had shattered its bindings.
The main star blazed in full clarity, visible to all within the realm.
The truth was laid bare.
Pure Yang Heaven's ultimate goal had emerged at last: to claim the main star, to secure Shang Xi's ascension.
The revelation struck the entire Yingfutu Realm like thunder.
Across the heavens, the great sects and cavern lords stirred.
For they all knew a dying Pure Yangzi and an ascended Star-Seizer Pure Yangzi were two utterly different beings.
And the difference would shake the balance of the entire world.
For three thousand years, every faction that had ever made an enemy of Pure Yang Heaven had lived in restless dread, watching, waiting, sharpening their blades for the moment to strike.
But before any of them could act, a shocking surge erupted from the land of Haizhou.
A colossal stalk of Cloud Bamboo pierced the sky, and with it, an endless tide of power swept across the seas, shaking the entire realm.
From Yunzhou, a great phoenix rose into the heavens, trailing five-colored radiance as it soared beyond the clouds into the Divine Dynasty's domain.
Meanwhile, within Taizhou, at the mountain gate of Lingluo Sect, a massive golden-jade Spirit Gong was struck.
The resounding note rolled through the air; every cultivator above the fifth rank throughout the realm heard its echo within their minds.
In that single moment, the "Three Sects of the Living World" declared their stance.
Their foundations laid bare, their full might awakened, they were ready for war.
They would support Shang Xi's ascension, no matter the cost.
Unlike the decayed Lower Three Sects, the three righteous sects Lingluo Sect, Cihang Monastery, and Feathering Gate had never severed their ancestral bloodlines.
Though their fortunes had waned alongside Pure Yang Heaven's decline, their loyalty never wavered.
They knew that once Shang Xi ascended, their devotion would be rewarded.
...
Within the Blood Pool Cavern, Jing Qian watched through his Three-Life Eye as the three sects made their move.
At last, he allowed himself to relax.
With those three powers taking the field, no petty opportunists would dare intervene.
By now, Shang Xi's plan, three millennia in the making, had unfolded to perfection.
Every ounce of Pure Yang Heaven's hidden strength had been called forth.
All that remained was his own trial, the final step toward transcendence.
Jing Qian's mission, meanwhile, was complete.
Now he could focus on claiming his greatest reward.
Unleashing his full cultivation, his Sumeru Power merged with the divine title Lord of Ten Thousand Phenomena Sumeru.
The air trembled as he tore open a vast spatial rift within the Blood Pool Cavern.
Instantly, torrents of qi, matter, and raw power were drawn into it; everything within the cavern was devoured by his personal Sumeru Dimension.
The Blood Pool Cavern dwarfed the Void Realm by thousands of times in strength and substance.
To consume such a realm whole was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a metamorphosis that would transform Jing Qian's cultivation itself.
Had Shang Xi not prepared every step so precisely, he would never have had a chance to claim one of the twenty-three greatest Caverns of Heaven in the entire Yingfutu Realm.
The opportunity was priceless; he would not waste it.
When the Blood River Sect's main star appeared in the heavens,
Shang Xi, still within the Impermanence Cavern, immediately sensed it.
The moment he had waited three thousand years for had finally come.
Yet now he found himself hemmed in the Heavenly Gang Tower, blocked above, the Crimson Lace Bodhisattva Miaoyin clinging below.
All the plans were in place, all allies performing their parts, and yet, the rhythm of the battle was not perfect.
Then, beside him, Ling Ling the Mother Yaksha materialized in excitement.
"See? Didn't I say so?" she laughed.
"My Shang Xi Brother can't manage without me!"
"Go seize your star. Leave everything behind you to me."
At the critical instant, Shang Xi showed no trace of panic.
He looked around at the assembled foes and said evenly:
"My friends, forgive me.
I have suppressed the Mother Yaksha for too long; my strength nears its limit.
Since Bodhisattva Miaoyin and the four guardians of the Heavenly Gang Tower are all present, each of you is stronger than I,
I shall not struggle any longer.
Please… grant me release."
Then, he grasped the sword hilt protruding from Ling Ling's back.
With a metallic clang, he drew forth the Great Wei Sword that had been embedded in her chest.
His life-bound Spirit Construct, sealed away for three millennia, was finally in his hand once more.
In that instant, the seal on the Mother Yaksha shattered.
She was free at last.
An infinite wave of corpse-qi burst from her body, flooding the Impermanence Cavern and rolling outward toward the distant Heavenly Gang Tower.
"Shang Xi! Are you mad?!"
Tian Yan, the First Guardian of the Tower, was aghast.
No one had expected that mere pressure would drive Shang Xi to flip the entire table.
Now that the monstrous fiend was free, devouring the cavern membrane itself, disaster was inevitable if she went unchecked.
Without hesitation, the four guardians drove the Heavenly Gang Tower forward, plunging into the Impermanence Cavern to subdue her.
But within the swirling storm, the Mother Yaksha revealed her hundred-zhang true form, murderous eyes gleaming beneath a blood-red veil, silver bracelets binding her demonic arms, crimson silks gleaming like firelight on armor.
She struck once with her left fist, a blow that cracked against the Heavenly Gang Tower, then swept out her right arm, snatching Bodhisattva Miaoyin from midair and shoving her straight into her mouth.
One crunch of blood and light exploded like fireworks.
Ling Ling threw back her head and howled to the heavens, her voice rolling like thunder, annihilating mountains, no longer the coquettish girl who once clung to Shang Xi's side.
Inside the Impermanence Cavern, three forces of second-rank power clashed in chaos, the battle collapsing space itself.
And while they fought, Shang Xi had already retreated far away back to the membrane of Pure Yang Cavern.
His Eye of Rebirth and Illusion opened upon his brow, gazing five hundred million li into the void, locking upon that radiant main star unveiled by Jing Qian.
He raised his hand.
The sword case he had refined for millennia, the Xiwei Sword Box, transformed into a torrent of sword-light, rising like a dragon toward the heavens.
The Day of Star-Seizing had come.
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