The Foreign Realm, the Immortal Hall.
This place was not resplendent with gold and jade, but sunk in eternal gloom and oppression.
The hall had been cast from the world cores of countless conquered realms across innumerable epochs; on its walls were congealed illusory shadows of wailing souls.
Dark-red energy, like blood, flowed across the floor.
The colossal pillars supporting the palace were, shockingly, the bones of ancient giant beasts that had long since lost all vitality and been refined into immortal puppets.
Dark matter so dense it could not disperse writhed through the air like living things, while the few figures seated at the highest point of the hall emanated a pressure that caused even this incomparably sturdy space to twist and keen faintly.
The one occupying the central seat of honor was none other than one of the present rulers of the Foreign Realm, the titan—Kundi!
His figure was indistinct, shrouded in layer upon layer of dark runes. Only his eyes could be seen, like two cosmic black holes on the verge of extinction—profound, ancient, filled with calculation and indifference.
In his hand, he toyed with a string of prayer beads refined from nine shrunken stars. Each star had once been the core of a prosperous great realm.
To his left sat a figure with a violent aura, fragments of time around him thrown into chaos—the Scarlet King.
He had once been heavily wounded by the Wu Zhong Immortal King. Though he had yet to fully recover, that seething killing intent and the bizarre fluctuations of the laws of time still made others dare not look directly at him.
To his right was a majestic existence who emanated an aura as though ten thousand laws could not invade him—Wushang.
He possessed the innate divine ability of magical immunity, and was one of the strongest spears and shields of the Foreign Realm.
Below them sat Pu Demon King, Blade King, as well as several Immortal Kings who had survived the previous great war or newly risen to power, such as Qu Chong and Xuankong.
Almost all of the Foreign Realm’s highest-level combat power had gathered here.
The atmosphere was as heavy as cast iron.
“Tens of thousands of years…”
Kundi’s hoarse voice sounded.
“That Lu Xuan, and that so-called method of his, ‘Severing the Three Corpses’… not only has it not fallen silent, it has instead stirred up no small storm over in the Immortal Domain and the Primordial Ancient Realm.”
With a flick of his finger, an image condensed from dark energy appeared, within which the strange Dao rhythm flowing above the Golden Crow Clan’s land could be vaguely seen, along with scenes of certain geniuses from the Primordial Ancient Realm going there to comprehend the Dao.
“According to the intelligence sent back by our hidden agents, this method is no small matter.”
Pu Demon King took up the conversation. Demon sunflower seeds swayed around him, emanating an aura of corruption and temptation.
“It does not directly increase combat power, but points straight at a cultivator’s heart, making clear good, evil, and the self. It is said to greatly increase the probability of breaking through to the King Realm. If this continues, the quasi-king level of the Immortal Domain and the Ancient Realm may well see an explosive surge!”
“Hmph! A method of mystification and deceit!”
The Scarlet King growled irritably, the power of time surging around him.
“If it truly had such miraculous effects, then why, after tens of thousands of years, has not one of the Golden Crow Clan’s seven quasi-kings broken through? In my view, it is nothing more than an evil art that bewilders the mind!”
“Scarlet King, it must not be underestimated.”
Wushang slowly spoke, his voice deep and metallic.
“Lu Xuan cannot be judged by common sense. The fact that he could create a method capable of drawing down a tribulation of the Great Dao already proves its worth. Even if this method has limitations, or is difficult to cultivate, the ‘direction’ it represents is an enormous threat to our realm.”
Blade King’s eyes opened and closed, a strand of imperial might circulating from him, causing the minds of all the Immortal Kings present to tense.
He said in a deep voice, “I have personally felt his power before. The opening of chaos is no trivial matter. Since this method was created by him, it must contain the essence of his Dao rhythm. If we can glimpse even a thing or two, we may be able to find the key to restraining his Dao of Chaos.”
This was the true reason they had gathered here!
It was not merely because they feared the Immortal Domain and Ancient Realm gaining a few more Immortal Kings, but because they wanted to peer into the secrets of Lu Xuan’s Great Dao and find his weaknesses!
“Seizing it by force is impossible.”
Kundi coldly delivered his conclusion.
“With Lu Xuan presiding there, unless the ancient ancestors awaken, or unless we are willing to pay an unbearable price to launch a frontal assault, it will be difficult to succeed.”
“Then what should we do?” Qu Chong asked.
A幽 glow flickered in Kundi’s eyes, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.
“Do they not have quasi-kings cultivating this method? Then we will also send quasi-kings to ‘seek instruction’ from them.”
“You mean… to deliberately provoke warfare at the quasi-king level?”
Xuankong frowned.
“I fear that would be exactly what they want. It would allow them to temper their quasi-kings.”
“It will not be all-out war.” A cruel arc curled at the corner of Kundi’s mouth.
“It will be an ‘exchange,’ a ‘discussion of the Dao’! We will use certain ownerless ancient ruins in the Realm Sea, or ancient realms on the verge of destruction, as battlefields. We will demarcate the area and limit the numbers, and have the quasi-Immortal Kings of our realm meet those quasi-Immortal Kings of theirs who have cultivated the ‘Severing the Three Corpses’ method!”
His gaze swept over the kings present.
“On the one hand, in real combat, they can personally experience the profundities and weaknesses of that ‘Three Corpses’ method. On the other hand…”
He paused, his voice becoming even colder and more sinister.
“If, during that so-called process of ‘illuminating the heart and seeing one’s nature,’ we use our realm’s supreme secret arts to stir the evil thoughts within them, causing them to lose control and fall in battle, or even… reverse-corrupt that ‘Three Corpses’ method! To turn their hope into the source of their despair—would that not be delightful?”
Within the hall, cruel and excited lights lit up in the eyes of the Immortal Kings.
“A most excellent plan!” Pu Demon King cackled strangely.
“It just so happens that the sons of our realm have been dormant for too long. It is time to use the blood of the Immortal Domain’s geniuses to temper their war halberds!”
“Choose the most elite quasi-Immortal Kings, those most skilled at corroding the mind, to enter battle!” The Scarlet King licked his lips, killing intent chilling.
“They may be ordered to carry ‘Heart-Bewitching Demon Seeds’ and ‘Dark Source Blood,’ and act when the opportunity arises,” Wushang added, proposing concrete and vicious methods.
A vast conspiracy aimed at the “Severing the Three Corpses” method, intended to probe its secrets, was thus settled within the Foreign Realm’s Immortal Hall.
Very soon, an “exchange” team composed of several top-tier quasi-Immortal Kings would carry malice and their mission into the Realm Sea, seeking their “prey.”
And their primary targets would very likely be those genius quasi-kings from the Immortal Domain and the Ancient Realm who were currently on the outskirts of the Golden Crow Clan’s land and needed real combat to temper themselves.
Among them, the Thunder Emperor, whose aura was unique and who was struggling to balance the good and evil of thunder, was undoubtedly an exceptionally tempting and challenging target.
The storm, in another form, came surging once more.
The Realm Sea churned, turbid waves surging into the sky. A killing aura suppressed to the extreme, like an invisible storm, swept over from the far shore of the Realm Sea and finally congealed before the Immortal Domain’s border pass—the Imperial City!
This ancient mighty pass, which had stood for who knew how many epochs and had been stained with the blood of Immortal Kings and Immortal Kings of the Foreign Realm alike, now felt an unprecedented pressure.
Upon the city walls, mottled marks left by blades and swords and traces scorched by laws seemed to come alive once more amid the pervasive killing intent, emitting low whimpers.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
It was not the sound of war drums, but the dull rumble made by countless dark legions advancing in perfect order, trampling the void, as though each thud struck the heart of every soldier guarding the pass.
A black mass of troops, like a spreading tide, emerged from the mist of the Realm Sea, banners unfurling.