12: Defeating the enemy with divine thoughts

When the order from the Heavens was issued, the Xuanhuang World trembled!

The Fallen God Wasteland, that desolate land that had been silent for eons, now became the focal point of the entire realm. Countless streaks of light, some fervent, some greedy, some doubtful, tore through the sky like moths to a flame, converging towards the depths of that deathly silence.

Atop the All Heavens Star Palace, Lin Xuan stood with his hands behind his back. His dark robes remained still beneath the swirling Star River dome, his gaze as profound as an abyss, yet his divine sense had already transformed into an invisible giant net, covering an area of one hundred thousand miles! The speed, aura, and even the greed and apprehension in the hearts of the cultivators in every streak of light on the outskirts of the wasteland were vividly reflected in his Nascent Soul's sea of consciousness.

"Ants dare to peek at the heavens?" A cold smirk played on his lips, carrying the indifference of one looking down upon all living beings.

Ten days later.

The first batch of brave ones had arrived a thousand miles from the Chaos Barrier.

The three leading streaks of light were the most prominent!

One streak of Sword Qi soared into the sky, tearing through the ominous clouds, its Sword Intent as clear and resonant as a dragon's roar. It was a hundred-zhang-long azure sword boat! Standing at the bow of the boat was a young man in white robes, whiter than snow, with an ancient sword on his back. His face was stern, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, and Sword Qi surged around him, revealing a cultivation at the peak of the Golden Core realm! Behind him, two old men stood with hands clasped, their auras as deep as the sea, clearly at the early Nascent Soul stage! The boat's body was emblazoned with the Nine Heavens Sword紋, a symbol of the Xuanhuang World's top Sword Dao sect, the Nine Heavens Sword Pavilion! The prodigy, Ling Jiuxiao!

Another streak was accompanied by a beast's roar that shook the heavens, forcing the ominous winds to retreat! A ferocious beast with two wings on its ribs and a body covered in dark golden scales broke through the air! On its back, a burly man with red hair and a thick beard, his muscles bulging like cast iron, toyed with a pair of meteor hammers burning with blood-red flames. His aura was violent, also at the peak of the Golden Core realm! Beside him, a gaunt old man sat cross-legged on a beast-hide rug adorned with swirling runes, exuding the fierce aura of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. This was the Myriad Beast Mountain's Young Mountain Lord, Li Kuang! And his Dao Protector Elder, Blood Butcher!

The last streak was a continuously swirling mass of dark demonic clouds, permeated with an eerie ghostly aura, causing vegetation to wither wherever it passed! Above the demonic clouds, a pale-faced, deep-set-eyed effeminate young man held a white bone banner, from which countless wailing souls emerged. His aura was sinister, at the late Golden Core stage! Beside him, a figure shrouded in a large black robe, revealing only two points of eerie green ghost fire, had a profound aura, subtly carrying the deathly stillness of a late Nascent Soul cultivator. These were the Netherworld Sect's Saint Son and Protector!

The three major top forces, accompanied by Nascent Soul Dao Protectors, arrived together! Behind them, hundreds of weaker streaks of light followed, all pawns sent by various forces to scout ahead.

A thousand miles was but an instant for these cultivators. The three main streaks of light hovered a hundred miles outside the Chaos Barrier, and terrifying Nascent Soul pressure unreservedly spread out, like three invisible mountains, pressing heavily upon the mysterious region enveloped by chaotic starlight!

"Hmph! Playing tricks!" Li Kuang's voice boomed like a bell. He slammed his blood-red meteor hammers together, unleashing a circle of blood-red shockwaves that dispersed the ominous Qi ahead. "What Invincible Sect of the Heavens? Hiding your head and showing your tail! Get out here, you old man!"

"Amitabha, the ominous Qi here is profound, likely not a good place. It would be best to reveal your true form sooner rather than later," the gaunt Blood Butcher raised his eyelids slightly, his voice hoarse, yet carrying an undeniable sinister ruthlessness. The runes on the beast-hide rug beneath him flickered, and a fierce demonic beast aura locked onto the barrier.

Ling Jiuxiao said nothing, only the ancient sword on his back hummed, its sharp Sword Intent pointing distantly towards the Star Palace at the core of the barrier, carrying a strong sense of provocation. The two Nascent Soul sword cultivators beside him had eyes like lightning, their Qi contained but ready to erupt.

The Netherworld Son, however, let out a sinister chuckle, gently shaking the white bone banner in his hand. Countless twisted resentful soul phantoms shrieked and rushed out, like a black tide surging towards the Chaos Barrier, testing the starlight-shrouded barrier. "Hehe, such abundant vitality and chaotic aura, perfect nourishment for my Myriad Soul Banner."

Below the barrier.

Yun Qingyao's pretty face was slightly pale, the Nascent Soul pressure making it difficult for her to breathe. Chu Xinghe gripped the formation plate tightly, sweat beading on his forehead, fully maintaining the operation of the Nine Nether Extinction Chaos Formation, where several Golden Core evil spirits at the formation's core shrieked under the pressure. Leng Yuechan's back was straight, her clear, cold eyes fixed on the tide of resentful souls surging from the white bone banner. The Chaos Sword Bone within her body let out an unwilling hum, and a hint of sharp Sword Intent emanated from her, subtly clashing with Ling Jiuxiao's Sword Intent from afar!

The Lie Tian Divine Tiger crouched low, its amber eyes burning with crimson-gold divine flames, a threatening growl rumbling in its throat. The Earth-Rending Demonic Ape cub, however, was exceptionally irritable, pounding its chest and roaring at the golden-winged dragon-scaled beast. Only the Little Candle Dragon, newly hatched, coiled at Lie Tian Divine Tiger's feet, its eerie blue dragon eyes curiously examining the 'food' outside, its slender tail tip unconsciously flicking, creating tiny ice crystals.

Atop the barrier, Lin Xuan remained still. He didn't even spare a glance for the three major forces, his gaze fixed on the nirvana vermilion bird grass in the medicinal garden, which had become even more divine after absorbing the God Transformation realm essence blood, crimson-gold divine patterns now covering most of its leaves.

"Master," Yun Qingyao couldn't help but transmit a message, a hint of worry in her voice.

Lin Xuan's divine sense responded calmly, echoing directly in the seas of consciousness of the three disciples and one beast: "Mere clowns, disturbing my peace. Qing Yao, water the medicinal garden. Xinghe, stabilize the formation's core. Yue Chan, calmly sense that little brat Jiuxiao's Sword Intent, discard its dross, and hone your own. As for those outside..."

He paused, his divine sense sweeping over the surging black tide of resentful souls, the blood-red shockwaves, and Ling Jiuxiao's poised Sword Intent, as if sweeping away a few specks of dust.

"...Noisy."

As his voice fell!

Lin Xuan didn't even raise a hand; it was merely the inch-tall figure sitting atop the Chaos Nascent Soul in his sea of consciousness, its eyes opening and closing!

Buzz!

A terrifying divine sense, vast as a sea of stars and heavy as a returning ruin, descended with a crash!

This was not pressure! This was a purely materialized divine sense impact! Like an invisible divine mountain, or a collapsing Star River!

Bearing the brunt!

The black tide, composed of thousands of resentful souls, unleashed by the Netherworld Son, was like hitting an invisible wall of sighs!

Puff puff puff!

Not even a ripple was stirred! Thousands of resentful soul phantoms, like snowflakes thrown into the core of a star, didn't even have time to wail before they were instantly crushed, purified, and reduced to nothingness by that unimaginably vast divine sense power! The white bone banner trembled violently, its surface instantly dimming. The Netherworld Son was struck by a heavy blow, spitting out a mouthful of black blood, his aura instantly wilting as he stared at the barrier with utter terror!

Immediately after!

The blood-red shockwave unleashed by Li Kuang was fiercely gripped by an invisible giant palm about fifty miles from the barrier!

"Pop!"

A soft sound, like a bursting bubble. The violent blood-red energy, along with the fierce beastly ominous Qi contained within, was instantly compressed and annihilated by the divine sense power! Li Kuang's sneer froze on his face. He felt an irresistible immense force coming from across the void. The pair of blood-flame meteor hammers, which he was so proud of, let out a groan of unbearable strain, and their surfaces were instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks! He grunted, his tiger's mouth splitting open, bleeding profusely!

Finally!

Ling Jiuxiao's poised, incomparably sharp Sword Intent was like striking a bottomless sea of chaotic stars!

"Clang!"

The ancient sword on his back let out a mournful wail, its blade trembling violently! Ling Jiuxiao only felt an indescribable heaviness and vastness instantly backlash, as if what he had thrust out was not Sword Intent, but a blade of grass trying to shake a towering pillar! His face instantly turned ashen, and he staggered back three steps, a sweetness in his throat. He forcefully suppressed the surging blood, and his gaze towards the barrier was now filled with horror and disbelief!

With one divine sense, the three prodigies were completely defeated!

"Hiss!"

Behind them, from the hundreds of watching streaks of light, there was a chorus of gasps! Everyone was dumbfounded, unable to believe what had just happened before their eyes! The prodigies of the three major top forces, wielding the might of Nascent Soul Dao Protectors, were crushed from afar by a single divine sense before they even got close to the opponent's sect gate?

"Who are you? Hiding your head and showing your tail, bullying the juniors!" One of the Nascent Soul sword cultivators from the Nine Heavens Sword Pavilion shouted in anger and shock, his Sword Intent erupting, ready to strike!

"Playing tricks! Get out here, old man!" The Blood Butcher's eyes from Myriad Beast Mountain glowed fiercely. He slapped the beast-hide rug beneath him with his withered claw. The runes on the rug instantly lit up with dazzling blood-red light, and a hundred-zhang-tall blood-red giant wolf phantom, formed from countless resentful beast souls, roared out, carrying monstrous ferocity, and lunged towards the Chaos Barrier! A furious strike from a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, its power was world-shaking!

The Netherworld Sect's black-robed protector also moved! With a flick of his wide sleeve, a ghastly green water dragon, entirely condensed from viscous Yellow Spring water and exuding a soul-freezing aura, silently tore through space, arriving first and directly biting towards Lin Xuan atop the Star Palace! The Yellow Spring Nether Dragon! A technique of a late Nascent Soul cultivator!

The three Nascent Souls struck simultaneously! Their target was the dark-robed figure atop the barrier!

Facing this terrifying combined attack, which would make even a peak Nascent Soul cultivator change color, Lin Xuan finally moved.

Not to strike.

But his gaze, for the first time, truly fell upon the three of them. His eyes were calm, like watching three moths fly into a flame.

"Stubborn."

He spoke indifferently, his voice not loud, yet it clearly resonated deep within everyone's soul.

This time, he still didn't use any magical power, nor did he use the innate divine ability of the Chaos Nascent Soul.

He merely had a thought.

"Little Candle Dragon."

A thought was transmitted into the sea of consciousness of the curiously watching Nether Candle Dragon cub at his feet.

"Oowoo~ !"

The Little Candle Dragon's eerie blue dragon eyes instantly lit up! It seemed to understand, its tender dragon roar carrying an excitement that originated from its bloodline! Its tiny body suddenly darted out from beside Lie Tian Divine Tiger's feet, its four small paws treading on the void as if on solid ground!

Facing the ghastly green Yellow Spring Nether Dragon that lunged first, exuding a soul-freezing aura, the Little Candle Dragon did not dodge. Instead, it opened its small mouth, which was utterly disproportionate to its size!

An invisible, terrifying suction force, originating from the primordial netherworld, suddenly erupted!

The viscous Yellow Spring Nether Dragon, fully condensed by the late Nascent Soul Netherworld Protector and capable of freezing a Nascent Soul to death, seemed to have met its nemesis! Its massive dragon body suddenly stiffened, twisting and shrinking uncontrollably, transforming into a viscous ghastly green stream of water. It let out a desperate hiss and was swallowed whole by the Little Candle Dragon!

"Burp~"

The Little Candle Dragon let out a satisfied burp, a few wisps of cold Yellow Spring aura escaping from its mouth. A rich, ghastly green light instantly flowed over its eerie blue scales, and its body seemed to swell a size, its aura suddenly rising, subtly reaching the early Golden Core stage! Its eerie blue dragon eyes looked at the charging blood-red giant wolf and the sharp sword light from the Nine Heavens Sword Pavilion, filled with eager "appetite"!

"What?!" The Netherworld Sect's black-robed protector shrieked, his voice filled with boundless terror! His renowned Yellow Spring Nether Dragon was actually... eaten as a snack by a newly hatched cub? What kind of monster was this?

However, something even more terrifying was yet to come!

Lin Xuan's gaze swept over the charging blood-red giant wolf and the sharp sword light that followed closely behind.

He still stood with his hands behind his back, but in the right eye of the Chaos Nascent Soul suspended in his sea of consciousness, that eternally unextinguished chaotic sword glow flickered gently.

Buzz!

An invisible and intangible, yet seemingly capable of severing karma and shattering all laws, Chaos Sword Intent silently traversed space!

There was no earth-shattering Sword Qi, no ear-piercing sword roar like a dragon's cry.

Only!

"Pfft!"

The hundred-zhang blood-red giant wolf, formed from resentful beast souls and exuding monstrous ferocity, suddenly froze in its pouncing motion! Its massive body, starting from its brow, silently split open with a smooth, mirror-like dark crack that ran from head to tail! Chaotic Qi swirled at the edges of the crack, annihilating all vitality! The next moment, the entire giant wolf phantom, like shattered porcelain, collapsed into its most primitive resentful soul particles, which were then completely swallowed and purified by the chaotic Qi!

The beast-hide rug beneath the Blood Butcher let out a "crack," splitting open with a huge gash, its spiritual light completely gone! He himself felt as if pierced by ten thousand arrows, spitting out a large mouthful of black blood mixed with internal organ fragments, his aura instantly withered to the extreme, his eyes filled with nothing but boundless fear!

"Hiss!"

The sharp sword light unleashed by the Nine Heavens Sword Pavilion's Nascent Soul sword cultivator, capable of splitting mountains and severing rivers, was gently touched by an invisible finger about thirty miles from the barrier! The sword light instantly solidified, then, starting from its tip, it disintegrated and annihilated inch by inch, like glazed glass thrown into a returning ruin! The Nascent Soul sword cultivator's magic sword let out a mournful "clang," and its tip actually disappeared into thin air! He grunted, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, his sword-wielding hand trembling uncontrollably, looking at Lin Xuan as if he had seen a ghost!

Divine sense crushed the prodigies! Little Candle Dragon swallowed the Yellow Spring! Sword Intent shattered the Nascent Soul!

In an instant, the three major top forces saw their prodigies severely wounded and their Nascent Soul Dao Protectors' techniques utterly broken!

Silence!

Absolute silence enveloped the hundred-mile wasteland!

All the cultivators who arrived later, whether elders of great sects or rogue cultivator magnates, were now like ducks whose necks had been squeezed, their faces filled with horror, silent as cicadas in winter! Their gazes towards the dark-robed figure atop the Chaos Barrier were filled with boundless awe and fear!

This... this was not establishing a sect? This was clearly a demon god descending upon the world!

Lin Xuan, however, seemed as if he had merely brushed away a few specks of dust. His gaze swept over the ashen-faced, weak-auraed Ling Jiuxiao, Li Kuang, and Netherworld Son below. His divine sense, like a cold decree, resounded through heaven and earth:

"Scram."

"Or, stay and be my slave."

"Three breaths."

His voice was calm, yet carried the indifference of one who controlled life and death, like a god's judgment!

Ling Jiuxiao's face was ashen, he gritted his teeth, his eyes a mix of humiliation and fear. Li Kuang looked at his cracked meteor hammers and the severely wounded Blood Butcher, trembling all over. The Netherworld Son was even paler, looking at the Little Candle Dragon as if it were his natural enemy.

"One." Lin Xuan's voice was utterly calm.

"Go!" Ling Jiuxiao was the first to make a decision, his voice hoarse. He suddenly turned, transforming into a dim sword light, and fled without looking back! The two Nascent Soul sword cultivators protected him, escaping in disarray.

"Retreat!" Li Kuang was also afraid. He glared fiercely at the barrier, grabbed the severely wounded Blood Butcher, and leaped onto the equally terrified golden-winged dragon-scaled beast, fleeing madly.

The Netherworld Son dared not linger for a moment, not even bothering with the black-robed protector, transforming into a wisp of black smoke and fleeing for his life.

Before three breaths were up, the three major top forces were utterly routed!

The hundreds of streaks of light behind them scattered like a disturbed hornet's nest, fleeing in terror, fearing that a moment's delay would leave them behind to be 'lit up'!

In the blink of an eye, outside the barrier, silence returned. Only the lingering energy ripples in the air, not yet fully dispersed, and the mess on the ground, silently told of the crushing terror that had just occurred.

Below the barrier, Yun Qingyao and the other two let out long breaths, looking at their Master's back with reverence, as if he were a god. The Lie Tian Divine Tiger snorted disdainfully. The Earth-Rending Demonic Ape cub excitedly pounded its chest. The Little Candle Dragon, however, licked the remaining Yellow Spring aura from its mouth with lingering satisfaction, its eerie blue dragon eyes gazing into the depths of the wasteland, seemingly searching for its next "meal."

Lin Xuan, however, had already withdrawn his gaze, as if he had merely shooed away a few flies. His divine sense pierced through the chaotic void, reaching several more distant places in the Xuanhuang World. There, several auras, far more powerful than Blood Butcher and the others, like sleeping giant dragons, seemed to have been startled by the commotion and were slowly awakening... "Old bones in seclusion," Lin Xuan's cold and devious smirk reappeared.

"It's time to loosen the soil."