In the Nine Netherworld Fire rift, Nine Netherworld Fire spewed out like a fountain, and the blazing flames dyed the entire sky a deep purple, as if the end of the world had arrived.
Lu Qingyang stepped on a fragment of the Ferrying Calamity Boat, streaking across the sky like a meteor, quickly passing over the lava river. Beneath his feet, the Chaos Green Lotus bloomed into a thirty-six-petal lotus platform, emitting endless green light, forming a stark contrast with the surrounding Nine Netherworld Fire.
As the lotus petals swept past, three Netherworld Yakshas, lurking in the shadows, suddenly let out 慘 howls. Their bodies were torn apart by an invisible force, instantly exploding into clusters of phosphorescent flames that burned out in the air.
In the firelight, Leng Yuehan's figure flickered in and out of the illusory ice mirror projection from Tianshuang Pavilion. Her voice came clearly: "The Myriad Tribulation Banner of the Soul Devouring Sect is planted on the seventh layer of the rift."
At this moment, Cold Moon stood before a massive ice coffin, the Sword Qi in her hand dancing like a carving knife on the ice coffin. Inside the ice coffin, the Nascent Soul of the Star Dome Steward was clearly sealed, emitting a faint glow, seemingly in slumber.
"News from the Ghost Market says that the Myriad Clan Alliance is..." Leng Yuehan had not finished speaking when the Ferrying Calamity Boat suddenly trembled violently, as if struck by a tremendous impact.
Lu Qingyang frowned, flipped his hand, and unleashed a palm strike, instantly shattering the incoming Nine Netherworld Fire meteor. However, this was just the beginning. Twelve colossal bronze statues suddenly rose from the lava river, each several tens of feet tall, like towering mountains.
Embedded in the center of the brow of each of these bronze colossi were the core essences of different races—Witch Race totems, Yao Race inner cores, Demon Race bone spurs... Under the illumination of the eerie light, they glowed in interwoven splendor, emanating a heart-pounding aura.
"Daoist Lu, wait!" Suddenly, a clear and pleasant female voice, as if capable of piercing one's Soul, came from behind the giant idol. Immediately after, the Saintess of the Witch Race, with bare feet, lightly stepped on a Soul Banner, drifting over like a Fairy.
The Nine Li bells hanging from her earlobes jingled softly with her movements, producing a crisp sound. This sound was like heavenly music, yet it contained infinite power, causing the surging lava river to flow backward, stirring up giant waves three zhang high.
"The Myriad Clan Alliance offers three primeval star shards as a gift, specifically inviting Fellow Daoist to jointly comprehend the profound mysteries of the Nine Netherworld." The Witch Race Saintess's voice was melodious and lingering, yet carried an irresistible authority.
Seeing this, Lu Qingyang's lips curved slightly into a half-smile. With a gentle flick of the copper coin sword in his hand, the lava, as if by magic, quickly condensed into an exquisite tea cup. Then, unhurriedly, he scooped up a cup of fire marrow from the lava river and slowly poured it into the tea cup.
"Witch Xian, your Heart-Bewitching Art has improved quite a bit compared to three months ago," Lu Qingyang said casually, as if completely unconcerned by the Witch Race Saintess's methods.
However, just as he finished speaking, the magma in the tea cup suddenly seemed to come alive, rapidly condensing into a small sword that, with lightning speed, pierced through the Soul Devouring Gu hidden in the Witch Race Saintess's sleeve.
"It's just that, Mr. Lu truly cannot enjoy this kind of hospitality," Lu Qingyang's tone remained calm, even carrying a hint of playful mockery.
Before his words faded, a thunderous roar echoed, and the bronze colossi suddenly began to converge, trapping Lu Qingyang in the center. At the same time, the Yao Race warriors also made their moves. The halberds in their hands, like lightning, tore open spatial rifts, striking directly at Lu Qingyang.
However, just as the halberd tips were about to touch the green lotus on Lu Qingyang's body, his figure, like a ghost, suddenly vanished from the spot without a trace.
The next moment, as everyone looked around in astonishment for his figure, they found that he had, at some unknown point, settled steadily on the shoulder of one of the colossal bronze statues, a faint smile still playing on his lips.
"Friend of the Hou Race, the ink on the judge's brush of the Ghost Scholar you carry on your back doesn't seem to be dry yet," Lu Qingyang's voice came from above, carrying a hint of playful mockery.
The warrior turned back in horror, only to see a shocking blood curse in the shape of the character "叛" (rebel) inexplicably appearing on his back. The blood curse wriggled like a living thing on the warrior's back, emitting a nauseating bloody stench.
And at this moment, the Ghost Scholar, like a phantom, strolled out of the Void Realm. He lightly fanned himself with a folding fan, a playful smile on his lips, as if everything was under his control.
"Brother Lu has keen eyesight," the Ghost Scholar chuckled, saying, "This fool wasn't so alert when he secretly drank huangquan water." His voice was light and airy, yet carried a chilling sensation.
"Bullshit!" The Yao Race warrior was furious, his roar shaking the surrounding rock walls, causing stones to fall. However, the halberd in his hand instantly changed direction, striking the Saintess like lightning.
"Witch Xian! You actually planted a curse on me!" The Yao Race warrior's eyes were wide, almost splitting open, clearly unprepared for this sudden turn of events.
In this chaotic instant, fragments of the Ferrying Calamity Boat suddenly erupted with a powerful torrent of star marrow. The torrent, like the Milky Way pouring down, surged forth, instantly engulfing the entire battlefield.
And within this torrent of star marrow, Lu Qingyang's figure flickered in and out of view, as if he could be swallowed by the current at any moment. However, his voice came through clearly: "The three of you, please fight amongst yourselves; Mr. Lu still needs to collect interest from the Soul Devouring Sect."
Saying that, he casually threw out three bronze coffin fragments. The fragments spun rapidly in the air, streaking across the Void Realm like meteors, flying directly towards the supreme treasures of the various races.
What was astonishing was that the moment the three bronze coffin fragments touched the supreme treasures of the various races, they triggered an earth-shattering Bloodline resonance. The resonance was like a great bell, ringing in everyone's hearts, deafening, leaving them deeply shaken.
The Witch Race Saintess suddenly crushed the Nine Li bells, and the sound waves formed an impenetrable barrier: "Wait! Daoist Lu, do you know that the Soul Devouring Sect has already refined your innate Green Lotus into the Nine Netherworld Great Array?" A phantom of a destiny plate appeared on her fingertip, clearly showing the Green Lotus tightly bound by nine Netherworld chains. "At midnight, three days from now, will be..." "Will be the time for your Myriad Clan Alliance to activate the Immortal Refining Array?"
Lu Qingyang suddenly threw out the core of the Ferrying Calamity Boat. The fragments of the boat body, like a Phoenix in Nirvana, reassembled into a compass amidst the Nine Netherworld Fire. As the needle spun wildly, it projected a scene of the Soul Devouring Sect Master conspiring with various Clan Chiefs. "Using my Green Lotus as the array core, taking Leng Yuehan's ice-essence body as a sacrifice—your calculations are truly exquisite, everyone."
The Ghost Scholar's folding fan suddenly paused, and thousands of vengeful Souls, like hungry tigers pouncing on prey, suddenly lunged at the Yao Race warrior: "You dared to collude with the Soul Devouring Sect behind the Alliance Leader's back!" "You're full of..." The warrior's furious curses were mercilessly cut off by the Witch Race Saintess's Soul Banner.
The moment the banner unfurled, the secret arts of the three races collided in the air like meteors, evaporating the lava river into a sky full of blood rain. Lu Qingyang seized the opportunity, slipping into the seventh layer of the rift like a loach. As the Green Lotus roots pierced into the rock wall, he suddenly caught a familiar scent of fox.
Nine fox tails burning with ethereal flames swept away the blood mist, and Su Meiniang gracefully stepped out of the Void Realm: "Little Lord, your knack for causing trouble has grown." The golden bell at the tip of her tail jingled softly, shattering the lurking Soul-Devouring Insects. "The Myriad Clan Alliance has set up the Three Talents Void Refining Array in the Nine Netherworld, and Su Jiejie is here specifically to..."
"To collect a toll?" Lu Qingyang suddenly threw out the Yin Yang Jade Pendant. The jade pendant transformed into a cage, trapping the attacking Ghost General. "Su Jiejie's Nine Netherworld Fire is quite unique when burning Soul-Devouring Insects."
Their figures flickered in and out of the rift; wherever they passed, array patterns shattered. When Su Meiniang's fox tail wrapped around the array core of the seventh layer, the entire Nine Netherworld suddenly fell silent—the Soul Devouring Sect's Myriad Tribulation Banner moved without wind, and beneath it sat a white-haired young man brewing tea.
"Brother Lu, come taste this Soul tea." The young man's tea-making movements were fluid and graceful, but what floated in the tea was shattered Nascent Souls. "Three hundred years ago, you slew my evil Clone. Now, I return the favor with the Nine Netherworld Great Array. Is that fair?"
In Lu Qingyang's pupils, the Green Lotus bloomed, seeing through to the truth deep within the tea: "To refine an evil Clone into an array spirit, and conceal the main body within a Heavenly Dao rift—Soul Devouring Sect Master, what audacity." The copper coin sword lifted the tea cup, and he drank it all. Sword Qi flowed upstream along the tea, "It's a pity this Clone can only last for half an incense stick."
The white-haired young man's figure suddenly blurred, and the Myriad Tribulation Banner, gathering the Origin of the Nine Netherworld, smashed down: "Half an incense stick is enough to extract your Soul!" Three thousand ghostly hands extended from the banner, each palm engraved with the secret patterns of various races.
Su Meiniang's nine tails formed a lotus seal, and her Fox Fire condensed into the Burning Sky Silk: "That old man's Myriad Tribulation Banner is indeed worthy of my Rebirth Fire!" The moment the silk wrapped around the ghostly hands, Lu Qingyang's Chaos Green Lotus suddenly surged, and the Eye of Heavenly Dao that opened in its core revealed the spatial coordinates where the Soul Devouring Sect Master was hidden.
"Found you," Lu Qingyang said softly, a slight smile playing on his lips. His voice was not loud, yet it echoed through this world like the tolling of a morning and evening bell.
He pointed his right hand like a sword and thrust it forward abruptly. A fierce and unparalleled Sword Qi roared out, like a meteor streaking across the night sky, rushing directly towards a certain spot in the Void Realm.
This Sword Qi seemed to possess infinite penetrating power, instantly piercing through nine layers of barriers, and like a destructive force, it triggered an earth-shattering explosion in a certain Forbidden Land in the Immortal Realm.
Accompanied by a loud bang, a ten-thousand-zhang gully suddenly split open deep within the Forbidden Land, dust flying, shattered stones scattering. From the depths of the gully, a muffled groan faintly echoed, clearly indicating that someone had been severely injured by the Sword Qi.
And at this moment, the white-haired young man's Clone suddenly seemed to ignite, instantly bursting into flames, turning into a pile of ashes in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, the Nine Netherworld rift began to tremble violently, as if it could collapse at any moment. The bronze colossi of the Myriad Clan Alliance also seemed to lose their support, disintegrating one after another, turning into countless fragments scattered across the ground.
Seeing this, the Witch Race Saintess's face drastically changed. She unhesitatingly tore open a spatial rift, attempting to escape. However, just as she was about to step into the spatial rift, a bone-chilling Sword Qi struck like lightning, instantly freezing her feet to the spot.
"It's time to settle accounts with the hidden spies you all planted in Guanghan Palace," Leng Yuehan's voice rang out in the chaotic scene, cold and merciless.
Lu Qingyang smiled faintly at the sight. He stepped on a green lotus, slowly ascending to the top of the Nine Netherworld rift, looking down at the scattered Cultivators of the Myriad Clan Alliance below, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.
"Go back and tell your Alliance Leader that Mr. Lu has claimed those three primeval star shards," Lu Qingyang's voice was calm and firm, yet carried an irresistible authority.
With that, he casually tossed out three bronze tokens. These three tokens, like meteors, accurately embedded themselves into the supreme treasures of the Witch, Yao, and Ghost races.
In an instant, three towering pillars of light suddenly rose, like bridges connecting heaven and earth, piercing through the Three Realms.
The moment the pillars of light connected the Three Realms, a distant and melodious bell chime suddenly echoed from a certain part of the Immortal Realm, crisp and pleasant, yet seemingly containing endless profound meaning.
Lu Qingyang narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at the end of the pillars of light, the smile on his lips deepening. He gently caressed the bud of the newly born Green Lotus in his hand, as if feeling the power contained within it.
"It's time to collect the true interest..." Lu Qingyang murmured to himself, and then his figure, like a ghost, instantly vanished into the Void Realm.