The middle-aged burly man’s expression changed. He quickly used wind遁 to take away three tribesmen whose pháp tướng had been destroyed and were heavily injured. He stared intently at the blood-colored nine-petaled flower and said, "Who are you? Hiding your strength here? Please reveal yourself!"
The nine-petaled blood flower slowly rotated, its nine petals blooming as if about to drip blood.
A blurry red human figure emerged from it, surrounded by a hazy red light. The figure was indistinct, only a silhouette without features.
However, the blood-red light emanating from the figure instilled a deep unease in everyone, a sense of ominous disaster.
"You should all retreat quickly, or you will remain here for eternity."
The blood-colored figure’s voice was indifferent.
The middle-aged burly man scoffed, "You have a big mouth. Even if you are a Taiyi, can you stop the advance of our clan?"
The blood-colored figure remained as still as dead water, merely murmuring to itself, "A pity for a tribe, reduced to cannon fodder."
The blood-colored figure said no more. Its form dispersed, blooming into a myriad of blood-red flowers. The crimson light, more vivid than fresh blood, momentarily blinded everyone.
Even the middle-aged burly man’s eyes narrowed, golden light erupting to shield the Golden Immortals behind him.
When the blood-red mist dissipated, the thirteen tribesmen had vanished.
The blood-colored figure flung itself into the giant boundary stele ten thousand zhang away.
Immediately, the boundary stele glowed with blood-colored patterns, which flowed into the green vines entwined around it.
The middle-aged burly man, the clan leader of the Liejin Eagle tribe, Lie Jing, waved his hand and said, "Everyone, follow me into Dugguang!"
The thirty-five Golden Immortal tribesmen revealed their true forms. Enormous divine eagles flapped their wings like the wind, about to storm into the land of Dugguang.
But at this moment, thousands of green vines shot out from beneath the boundary stele, coiling around the thirty-five giant eagles like countless pythons.
Ten thousand zhang ahead, countless green vines burst from the earth, resembling a catastrophic flood of pythons. The green vines intertwined and coiled like serpent bodies.
Perhaps due to prolonged proximity to pythons, they had also picked up some of their habits, always twisting when they moved.
Lie Jing’s expression darkened. He raised and lowered his right arm, gripping a golden long saber.
He concentrated his energy, his hands tightly grasping the saber hilt. The golden saber instantly emanated a terrifying sharpness. Its golden light was dazzling, as if it could cleave the heavens themselves. As the golden saber emerged, ten thousand miles of heaven and earth were filled with golden light. A golden rainbow sliced through the void, shattering everything in its path.
"Boom—"
A tremendous roar, like thunder and lightning, or the clash of metal, erupted with a piercing resonance.
The golden light dispersed, the golden rainbow vanished, and the green giant vines fell to the ground.
Lie Jing let out a soft sigh, his internal mana calming. Looking at the piles of broken green vines, he chuckled, "Nothing more than that."
The thirty-five Golden Immortal Venerables all praised, "Clan leader possesses great divine power!"
Lie Jing smiled proudly and led the way towards Dugguang, saying, "Are you not following?"
However, the moment he stepped forward, the broken green vines began to writhe. They reassembled, rising straight up to surround Lie Jing so tightly that there was no escape.
The faces of the thirty-five Golden Immortal Venerables changed drastically. They rushed forward, each employing their own methods to help their clan leader break free.
Beside them, the Black Panther let out a long roar, forcing back the woman in golden armor and arriving beside Bei Xu, who was beneath the golden pagoda. It said anxiously, "Bei Xu, why hasn't the Dao Master God made a move yet? Even this boundary stele can't stop dozens of Golden Immortals!"
Beneath the golden pagoda, Bei Xu’s head was adorned with a sea of white flowers that supported the golden pagoda, creating a stalemate with the old man sitting cross-legged at the pagoda’s summit. "Perhaps something unexpected has happened at the Dao Master’s location as well."
The Black Panther asked again, "Can we summon the guardians of the southwest regions to assist?"
"No!" Bei Xu stopped it, "If they leave, the southwest regions will be exposed, and the enemy will take advantage to invade."
The Black Panther felt a sense of unease, saying, "Then what should we do?"
Bei Xu chuckled, "Black Panther, you wouldn't be thinking of abandoning us when disaster strikes, would you?"
The Black Panther’s face instantly flushed with anger, "What nonsense are you spouting? Without the Dao Master's teachings for over ten Yuanhui, how could I, Black Panther, have achieved my current Taiyi cultivation? How could I be such a betrayer of kindness?"
Meanwhile, on the other side, above the dense forest on the southern border of Dugguang, nearly a thousand giants, each a thousand zhang tall and possessing a single eye, faced an army of puppets emerging from the forest. At the very top, a blue-robed youth stood with his hands behind his back, eleven Golden Immortal spiritual puppets respectfully awaiting orders behind him.
The foremost giant let out a thunderous roar, like the rumble of thunder, "Daoist You, though you are a puppet, you have already developed spiritual awareness and intelligence. Why must you obey that person’s orders?"
Before You could speak, the eleven spiritual puppets behind him stepped forward in unison, shouting, "Insolence! How dare you be disrespectful to the Dao Master!"
A smile flickered across You's lips. These eleven spiritual puppets, through over a million years of spiritual energy and creation, had actually developed intelligence. Though it was only infant-level intelligence, they had also stepped into the realm of Golden Immortals.
As for himself, he had not only developed intelligence through the spiritual energy of the Jianmu tree but had also broken through the shackles of Golden Immortality and entered Taiyi. After all, fifteen Yuanhui was a very long time.
You waved his hand, stopping the impetuous eleven puppets, and said with a faint smile, "If you can sever the Jianmu at the center of Dugguang, I will not only abandon my master but also serve you as my lord!"
The leader of the one-eyed giants was stunned and said, "Since that is the case, Daoist You, please let us pass."
You shook his head and smiled, "Then you must first get past me."
The giant leader was puzzled, "Since you are willing to change your mind, why are you still opposing me?"
You replied, "If you don't cut down the Jianmu, how can I abandon my master and follow you?"
"But if you block me here, how can I go and cut down the Jianmu?"
"If you don't sever the Jianmu, how can I obey your command and let you pass?"
...
In the vast canyon on the western side of Dugguang, spirit mice, in large numbers, scurried towards the center of the Dugguang plains.
But on the mountain walls on both sides of the canyon, countless pairs of white eyes suddenly lit up in the darkness.
Bats, one after another, flew out from the mountain walls, spreading their wings and diving into the mouse swarms, tearing apart the spirit mice.
Bai Fu stood in the sky above the canyon, surrounded by nine elders of the Yellow Spirit Mouse tribe, all dressed in yellow, with him in the center. Beneath their feet was an intricate formation that, with the combined power of nine Golden Immortal Venerables, used the earth’s divine power to trap one Taiyi.
"You are also a divine being. Why do you need to risk your life for that person? As long as you leave, we will not trouble you, and we are willing to offer you a congenital spiritual treasure!"
Bai Fu scoffed, "A tribe that lacks even a Taiyi grand cultivator, can it possibly possess congenital spiritual treasures?"
An elder stroked his beard and smiled, "Naturally, our tribe does not, but this is a promise from the lord behind us."
Bai Fu was shocked inwardly but maintained his smile outwardly, asking, "May I know which lord is behind you, fellow daoists?"
The long-bearded elder did not mind his probing and smiled, "The heavens and earth are divided into three tribes, and the southwest has a overlord."
In the center of Dugguang, beneath the majestic Jianmu, Qing Ling sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, as if he had not moved for fifteen Yuanhui.
Ten thousand zhang above him, the figure of an old man occupied half the sky, blocking out the sun and the sky.
The old man's colossal form faced Qing Ling from afar. In front of the giant pháp tướng projection, Qing Ling seemed like a speck of dust, so small as to be almost nonexistent.
The old man stood in the firmament, as if propping up the heavens and grounding the earth, as majestic as the sky above his head. He smiled faintly, "Daoist friend, you are breaking the rules by taking action."
As his words fell, red light flashed and bloomed in front of Qing Ling, revealing the figures of thirteen Heavenly-ranked tribesmen. They all looked at the scene with bewilderment.
Qing Ling, without opening his eyes, still closed, replied, "The Luosheng Flower is an item of my clan that I once gifted, and that wisp of divine sense was also laid down earlier. When did I take action?"
The white-bearded old man chuckled, "If Daoist friend says it doesn't count, then so be it."
Qing Ling spoke indifferently, as if devoid of emotion, "Your schemes are many, and you have gone to great lengths."
The old man smiled proudly, "To defeat you once was truly not easy.
I have been setting up this game for ten thousand years, but even now, at the four boundaries, none have succeeded.
This old man admires you."
Upon hearing this, Qing Ling said no more. Every ten thousand years, he would bestow the life force of wood upon his descendants in the clan to help them break through to Golden Immortal. He had not expected that this time, he would encounter this great power from the Phoenix tribe, who had exploited every loophole and almost caused him to lose everything.
The stakes of this game, the winning or losing, were his entire fortune and life!