187: Two to five

A blood-red streak arrived in an instant, its speed almost beyond visual capture.

The blood-red streak dissipated, revealing an old man dressed in a dark red demonic robe, with a withered face but eyes as sharp as an eagle.

He exuded the powerful demonic pressure of the Early Tribulation Crossing Stage, which, though not as tyrannical as Yuan Tian's, carried the chilling Evil Qi of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. This was Blood Vulture, the Protector Elder of the Slaughter Demon Palace in the Boundless Green Sea!

Blood Vulture immediately saw Tu Lie (Slaughter Ferocity) in the mountain wall, his life unknown, and the four disfigured, dying Inner Sect Disciples in the distance. His eyes glowed with blood-red light, and with a grab in the air from his withered hand, a long spear, entirely crimson and seemingly forged from congealed blood, instantly materialized. The spearhead pulsed with a heart-palpitating destructive fluctuation.

"Blood Prison Divine Spear! Die!"

The blood spear transformed into a crimson lightning bolt that tore through space, carrying the mournful wails of ghosts and gods, and shot directly at Yuan Tian's glabella!

This strike contained Blood Vulture's fury and killing intent, its power far exceeding Tu Lie (Slaughter Ferocity)'s by a hundredfold!

The golden light in Yuan Tian's eyes surged. He did not dodge, but let out a low roar, striking out with both fists. Dark golden scales suddenly lit up on his fist-Peaks, as if covered by a layer of solid armor, and he smashed them fiercely towards the crimson lightning!

"Boom!!!"

An explosion ten times more violent than before erupted! Crimson and dark golden light intertwined and devoured each other wildly.

The violent energy storm blasted a huge pit in the ground, and smoke and dust shot into the sky.

As the light dissipated, Yuan Tian's burly figure slid back over ten zhang, ploughing two deep furrows in the ground. The scales on his fist-Peaks were somewhat charred, but his Aura remained immense.

Meanwhile, Blood Vulture's Blood Prison Divine Spear was forcefully knocked aside, embedding itself diagonally in the ground in the distance, its shaft trembling incessantly.

"What a beast! Its Physical Body is actually this formidable!" Blood Vulture's heart was greatly shaken; his full-power strike failed to inflict fundamental damage.

But he was old and cunning, and instantly realized that fighting alone was no match for this beast.

"Fellow Daoists! This fiend is vicious and cannot be subdued by one person! The Myriad Ages Evergreen Realm is about to open; how can we allow a beast to cause trouble here? Quickly join forces with me and suppress it!" Blood Vulture's sharp cry, imbued with magical power, instantly spread in all directions.

After a brief silence, responses echoed one after another.

"Hehe! Blood Vulture, I can help you this time, but not for free!" A sinister voice rang out, black mist surged, and an old man holding a white bone soul banner with deeply sunken eyes appeared. This was Hun Xiao (Soul Owl), the Protector Elder of the Soul Refining Sect who had been observing until now.

"Hmph, with the Opportunity of the Myriad Ages Evergreen Realm before us, our task is to remove some obstacles for the juniors. This beast's demon core is mine!" A patch of sickly green poisonous mist spread, and a figure in a green robe with an indistinct face quietly appeared, exuding a chilling Aura that corroded all things. It was a Protector from the Yellow Springs Valley, in the Early Tribulation Crossing Stage!

"Roar! Fighting? Count me, the Desolate God Dao, in!" A roar like muffled thunder came, the earth shook, and a giant, nearly half a head taller than the previous Desolate God Dao giant, with muscles like cast bronze and covered in profound totems, crashed to the ground. This was Pan Shan (Mountain Anchor), the Protector of the Desolate God Dao! He was in the Middle Tribulation Crossing Stage!

A black coffin descended from the sky. A young man with ashen, corpse-like skin stepped down, treading on the coffin. He said nothing, and the coffin lid slowly opened. Black corpse Qi permeated from within, and a withered hand reached out from the black coffin, followed by a mummified but extremely fierce and powerful Corpse Refining (refining corpse) rising from the coffin.

Clearly, with the Myriad Ages Evergreen Realm about to open, the Five Great Sects did not want any unexpected incidents.

They intended to suppress Yuan Tian together.

"Screech—!"

Just as the pressure from the five Undergoing Tribulation Stage powerhouses was about to converge, like a net cast from heaven and earth, enveloping Yuan Tian, a piercing, clear, and soaring Phoenix cry suddenly erupted from deep within the Immortal Cave!

Where the sound waves passed, the Slaughter Demonic Qi, sinister Soul Power, bone-eroding poisonous miasma, and even the barbaric ferocity permeating the air were instantly cleansed and purified as if ice and snow had met the sun!

A pure white, flawless light shot out from the Immortal Cave's Restriction, moving faster than the limit of Divine Sense's capture.

As the light receded, a woman in a flowing, plain white feather robe, with peerless beauty but an icy demeanor, hovered in mid-air.

She exuded a Middle Tribulation Crossing Stage Peak pressure completely different from Yuan Tian's—noble, sacred, and carrying a stern will to incinerate all defilement in the world. This was White Phoenix, another beast king under Xiao Zhuo!

Her cold Phoenix eyes swept over the five Protectors. She lightly raised her jade hand, and countless crystal-clear, yet sharp-edged crystal feathers, like divine weapons, condensed out of thin air, forming a white storm that swept across heaven and earth. It fiercely met the Blood Prison Divine Spear, the Myriad Soul Ghost Claws, the Bone-Eroding Poison Cloud, the Desolate God Fist Seal, and the corpse Evil Qi spewed from the black coffin's Corpse Refining (refining corpse)!

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Five deafening, terrifying explosions erupted almost simultaneously! The energy storm instantly transformed that area into a Chaos dead zone, space twisted, the earth collapsed, and ancient trees reaching the sky were instantly reduced to dust!

Yuan Tian let out a furious roar, seizing the Opportunity to erupt. Dark golden scales covered his entire body, and like an ancient fierce god, he charged into the center of the storm, his target directly at Hun Xiao (Soul Owl) of the Soul Refining Sect!

His iron fists stirred the wind and clouds, his pure Physical Body strength directly confronting the soul banner and ghost claws. Each strike made the soul banner wail and the ghost claws shatter!

White Phoenix's figure was ethereal. The crystal feather storm, under her control, was as agile as her arm, sometimes transforming into an indestructible feather shield to block the Yellow Springs Valley's poison cloud, and other times turning into light blades that tore through the sky, striking at the fist seals of Pan Shan (Mountain Anchor), the giant from the Desolate God Dao. At the same time, she also had to divide her attention to restrain the unusually fierce black coffin's Corpse Refining (refining corpse).

Two against five!

The two beast kings cooperated with great understanding. Yuan Tian was the main attacker, while White Phoenix was in charge of control and defense, unleashing earth-shattering combat power.

However, the Protector Elders of the Five Great Sects were not ordinary individuals either. Although they were not of one mind, under the goal of suppressing the threat, their attacks were continuous, ruthless, and cunning.

Blood Vulture's blood spear was eerie (eerie) and cunning, specifically targeting weak points; Hun Xiao (Soul Owl)'s soul banner's ghostly wails disturbed people's minds; the Yellow Springs Valley's poisonous mist was all-pervasive; Pan Shan (Mountain Anchor)'s fist seals were powerful and heavy; and the black coffin's Corpse Refining (refining corpse) was even more incredibly strong, its corpse Evil Qi polluting magical power.

After just a few breaths of intense clash, Yuan Tian already had several deep, bone-visible charred blood marks on his body. The edges of White Phoenix's feather robe were also stained with traces of gray corpse Qi and poisonous miasma, and the crystal feather storm's range was compressed.

Although the two beast kings were exceptionally brave, under the encirclement of five powerhouses of the same stage, they had already shown signs of being suppressed, barely able to hold on and protect the Immortal Cave's entrance.

"Two beasts! Stubbornly resisting! Today, I will skin you alive, pull out your tendons, and refine your demon cores into treasures!" Blood Vulture shrieked repeatedly, his attacks becoming even more ruthless.

The eyes of the others also flickered with greed and killing intent; the entire bodies of two Middle Tribulation Crossing Stage Peak beast kings were treasures!

Just as the five Protector Elders, full of momentum, were preparing to launch an even stronger attack to completely crush Yuan Tian and White Phoenix's defensive perimeter—

"Enough."

A calm and indifferent voice, yet carrying an undeniable authority, seemed to resound directly in the depths of everyone's Divine Soul.

The voice was not loud, but it instantly overpowered all the roars and shouts on the battlefield, causing both sides in the fierce battle to pause their actions.

An indescribable, noble pressure, as if originating from the very Origin of life, quietly permeated like an invisible ripple.

This pressure was not overbearing, yet it carried an ancient and profound quality that transcended the mundane, causing the magical power circulation within the five Protector Elders to slightly stagnate, and an inexplicable sense of reverence and submission, originating from their Bloodline, rose in their hearts.

A figure silently appeared at the top of an ancient tree on the edge of the battlefield.