93: A crisis on two fronts, the Holy Lord makes a decision

Inside the Hall of Rebirth, the chest cavity of the ancient god corpse was utterly silent.

The remnants of the three Apostles were slowly decaying in the Eternal Silence Domain, eventually turning into nothingness. Three fragments of the black key were firmly suppressed by the gravediggers mark at the heart, echoing the fragment that escaped when the Dragon Bone self-destructed earlier, forming a subtle balance — four fragments here, three fragments unknown.

The figure of the Gravedigger Heroic Spirit had faded to transparency. It looked at Lu Qingxuan, its gaze from beneath the bronze mask weary yet resolute: "Junior... four fragments are here, the Seal is temporarily stable. But the Corpse Spirit at the Guixu Sea Eye has partially awakened. Before it fully breaks free, the fragments must be thoroughly refined into the core of the Immortal Palace to restart the 'Seven Absolutes Town Ruins Grand Array'."

Lu Qingxuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His Chaos Ancient God Dao Body operated at full power, rapidly recovering from the consumption of the previous fierce battle. He looked at Su Linger, whose face was pale, but her Purple Firmament Reincarnation Body glowed, deeply resonating with the reincarnation sapling, making her aura even more solid.

"Ling'er, can you fight again?"

"Yes." Su Linger said without hesitation, her eyes firm. "Senior Purple Firmament Sovereign Lord's remnant thought has partially fused with me. I know how to activate the power of the gravediggers mark."

Lu Qingxuan nodded, his gaze turning to the shattered communication jade talisman in his hand. Jin Wanxiang's voice still echoed in his ears, and almost simultaneously—

The Holy Land Origin imprint on his glabella pulsed violently!

It was an early warning that the Grand Void Holy Land's mountain-protecting grand array was under a large-scale attack!

"Sword Dust!" Lu Qingxuan immediately contacted Elder Sword Dust, who was leading troops, through their Blood Pact Dao Seal.

"Holy Master!" Sword Dust's voice was urgent and stern. "This subordinate just led a hundred Soul Transformation cultivators to the outer Star Domain of the Hall of Rebirth when an urgent message from the Holy Land arrived—the Void Abyss has gathered all military forces from three corrupted Star Domains, a total of 1.5 million allied troops, led by at least eight Early Stage Undergoing Tribulation cultivators, and has broken through the eastern region's border defenses, heading straight for the Holy Land!"

"How is the Holy Land now?"

"Holy Master Lu Mingdao has activated the Grand Array of Stars, all Disciples and Elders are in position, and the defensive Magic Treasures left by Chief Steward Jin Wanxiang and Pavilion Master Mo Yuan have also been activated. However, the enemy's forces are too strong, and they possess several strange corrosive supreme treasures. The grand array can only last... five days."

Five days.

Lu Qingxuan's eyes were icy cold.

The Corpse Spirit of the Guixu Sea Eye would affect the life-bearing Star Domains in three days, yet the Holy Land could only hold for five days.

A two-front crisis, both dead ends.

"Qingxuan, we must return to reinforce," Su Linger urged. "The Holy Land is our Foundation. If the Holy Land is destroyed, even if the Corpse Spirit is sealed, the Eastern Domain will be completely lost."

The Gravedigger Heroic Spirit, however, shook its head: "No. Once the Corpse Spirit fully awakens, let alone the Eastern Domain, the entire myriad heavens will gradually be devoured. At that time, the Holy Land will not be able to survive alone."

It looked at Lu Qingxuan: "Junior, you are the Tomb Keeper's Legacy successor; you should know what is important. The Guixu Sea Eye is the key battlefield that determines everything."

Lu Qingxuan fell silent.

In his Divine Sense, the myriad ages demon suppressing star chart automatically unfolded—in the direction of the Eastern Domain, dense red dots, like a crimson tide, had surrounded the star where the Grand Void Holy Land was located. In the direction of the Guixu Sea Eye, that black area representing "unknown danger" continuously spread gray ripples. Wherever they passed, the stars marked on the star chart dimmed and extinguished one after another.

Both crises required his personal presence.

But how could one person split into two?

[System, scan Gravedigger Heroic Spirit entry]

The light screen unfolded, data streams scrolling:

[Target: Gravedigger Heroic Spirit (Remnant Thought)]

[Entries: [Bronze Town Ruins (Chaos·Incomplete)], [Ancient God Resonance (Gold)], [Seal Mastery (Gold)], [Heroic Spirit Undying (Special)]]

[Status: Energy almost depleted, will dissipate in three quarters of an hour]

[Hint: Can copy [Bronze Town Ruins (Chaos·Incomplete)], requires 20 million dao rhyme value]

Lu Qingxuan's eyes flickered slightly.

"System, copy [Bronze Town Ruins (Chaos·Incomplete)]."

[Consuming 20 million dao rhyme value, copying...]

[Copy successful! Obtained entry: [Bronze Town Ruins (Chaos·Incomplete)]]

"Immediately fuse with the Eternal Silence Domain and deduce the new Domain form."

[Fusion begins... Detecting compatibility between the Origin of Death and Decay and the power of Bronze Town Ruins: 91%]

[Consuming 15 million dao rhyme value, deducing...]

Lu Qingxuan's aura suddenly changed. Within the gray stillness of the Eternal Silence Domain, ancient bronze Dao Pattern began to emerge. These Dao Pattern, like chains, wove through the gray mist. The power of death and decay intertwined with the power of bronze suppression, forming an even more eerie and majestic Domain aura—as if it could bury all things and suppress eternity.

[Deduction successful! Obtained new fused Domain: Eternal Suppressing Guixu Domain (Chaos·Advanced Prototype)]

[Eternal Suppressing Guixu Domain: Fuses the dual Origins of Death and Decay and Bronze Town Ruins. All things within the Domain can be suppressed and buried. Damage to Void Abyss-type units increased by 800%, and an additional 'Seal Erosion' effect is applied to Corpse Spirit-type existences.]

Lu Qingxuan felt the power of the new Domain, a sharp glint in his eyes.

"Sword Dust."

"This subordinate is here!"

"You lead a hundred Soul Transformation cultivators and immediately return to reinforce the Holy Land via the Star Domain Teleportation Array. Upon arrival, hand this item to Holy Master Lu Mingdao." Lu Qingxuan flipped his hand, producing a rune Seal condensed from Chaos Qi, within which a wisp of the Origin of the [ten thousand ruins Purification Mark] was sealed. "Integrate it into the core of the Grand Array of Stars; it can significantly enhance the array's resistance to corrosive power."

"Yes!"

"Furthermore." Lu Qingxuan then looked at the Gravedigger Heroic Spirit. "Senior, can you spare a wisp of your Heroic Spirit Mark to accompany them to the Holy Land? No need for combat, just to guard the array core and guide them in using the Tomb Keeper lineage's sealing techniques to strengthen the defenses."

The Gravedigger Heroic Spirit nodded, and a wisp of bronze light flew from its glabella, landing in Sword Dust's hand: "This mark can last for twelve hours, which is enough."

Sword Dust solemnly accepted it, led the hundred Soul Transformation cultivators in a bow, and turned to step into the still-open Star Domain Teleportation Array. With a flash of light, they vanished.

"Ling'er, come with me to the Guixu Sea Eye." Lu Qingxuan held Su Linger's hand.

"Mhm." Su Linger brought the reincarnation sapling into her body. The Purple Firmament Reincarnation Body glowed, resonating with Lu Qingxuan's Chaos aura.

The Gravedigger Heroic Spirit took one last look at the four fragments in the heart of the ancient god corpse, its figure slowly dissipating: "Junior... do not disgrace the name of the Tomb Keeper."

As its voice faded, the Heroic Spirit completely returned to nothingness.

Lu Qingxuan took a deep breath, and the bronze immortal palace imprint on his glabella lit up again.

"Palace Spirit, activate Immortal Palace travel. Coordinates—outer region of the Guixu Sea Eye, where Jin Wanxiang is."

"Boy, have you thought it through?" The Palace Spirit's voice echoed in his consciousness. "The Guixu Sea Eye is a forbidden zone of the myriad heavens; its spatial structure is extremely unstable. Immortal Palace travel will consume several times more energy than before, and you might encounter unknown spatial-temporal turbulence."

"It's fine." Lu Qingxuan injected all his remaining dao rhyme value—only 6 million left—into the imprint. "Go."

Boom!

The phantom of the bronze immortal palace descended again. The moment its doors opened, the internal spatial-temporal passage twisted like a vortex, and even fragments of shattered stars could be seen tumbling at the edges of the passage.

Lu Qingxuan pulled Su Linger and stepped in.

Spatial-temporal travel, this time the feeling was completely different.

It was no longer a stable passage, but like a small boat in a raging sea, surrounded by endless darkness and chaotic spatial-temporal fragments. Occasionally, ferocious Void Realm beast shadows lunged, but upon touching the bronze light of the Immortal Palace phantom, they screamed and dissipated.

"The Guixu Sea Eye... is the 'end point' of the myriad realms," the Palace Spirit's voice came amidst violent tremors. "All stars, worlds, and living beings will eventually return here, turning into nothingness. And the corpse of that Chaos fierce beast is sealed in the deepest part of the Sea Eye, suppressed by the power of the annihilation of billions of stars."

"Why was this place chosen?" Su Linger tightly held Lu Qingxuan's hand, her Purple Firmament Reincarnation Body extending a protective shield to resist the external pressure.

"Because only the 'Origin of Annihilation' of Guixu can counteract the 'Origin of Devourment' of the corpse," the Palace Spirit said. "But now, with the Corpse Spirit awakening and beginning to devour the power of annihilation in reverse, with one increasing and the other decreasing... the collapse of the Seal is only a matter of time."

The travel lasted for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

Ahead, a faint gray light appeared at the end of the passage.

"We're here!"

Lu Qingxuan and Su Linger rushed out of the passage, and the sight before them deeply shocked their minds.

There were no stars, no light, only an boundless gray "ocean." The ocean was composed of pure annihilation power, its surface eerily calm, but every wisp of seawater was enough to annihilate any existence below a True Immortal.

And in the center of the ocean was a massive vortex—the Guixu Sea Eye.

The vortex was billions of miles in diameter, bottomless, and a soul-shaking devouring force emanated from within. At this moment, a black crack, tens of thousands of miles long, was clearly visible at the edge of the vortex. Thick, substantial Corpse Qi continuously surged out of the crack. Wherever the Corpse Qi passed, even the annihilation seawater was "polluted," turning ink-black and spreading outwards.

Deep within the crack, a pair of crimson giant eyes could vaguely be seen, half-open and half-closed. Each tremor caused the entire Guixu Sea Eye to shake.

Hundreds of thousands of miles outside the Sea Eye, a temporarily constructed star fortress floated. The fortress's surface was covered in cracks, clearly having just endured a fierce impact.

Jin Wanxiang and Mo Yuan flew out of the fortress, their faces pale, their auras weak.

"Holy Master Lu!" Jin Wanxiang saw Lu Qingxuan as if he had seen a savior. "You've finally arrived! That Corpse Qi... it's too terrifying. Our thirty-six layers of monitoring grand arrays were instantly shattered by its impact, and the backlash severely wounded us both."

Mo Yuan, with blood at the corner of his mouth, pointed into the distance: "The Corpse Qi is spreading faster than estimated. At this rate, in at most two days, it will reach the nearest 'Qinglan Star Domain,' where billions of lives reside..."

Lu Qingxuan looked at the crack. The Eternal Suppressing Guixu Domain automatically unfolded. The gray, bronze-tinged Domain power collided with the escaping Corpse Qi, emitting sizzling corrosive sounds.

"You two return to the fortress to heal." Lu Qingxuan took out two bottles of Chaos Spirit Liquid and tossed them to the two. "Leave this place to me."

"Holy Master, be careful!" Jin Wanxiang gritted his teeth. "That Corpse Qi contains extremely strong resentment and devouring will; do not come into contact with it for too long."

The two retreated into the fortress.

Lu Qingxuan, with Su Linger, slowly approached the crack.

The closer they got, the stronger the suffocating pressure became. The Corpse Qi squirmed like a living thing, attempting to invade the Eternal Suppressing Guixu Domain, but the Bronze Town Ruins Dao Pattern within the Domain lit up, firmly holding it back.

"Ling'er, can you sense the 'Seal Node' mentioned by Senior Purple Firmament Sovereign Lord's remnant thought?" Lu Qingxuan asked.

Su Linger closed her eyes. Her Purple Firmament Reincarnation Body resonated with the reincarnation sapling, and her Divine Sense probed into the depths of the crack like a thread. Moments later, she suddenly opened her eyes, pointing to a certain spot in the crack:

"There! There's a damaged bronze array Foundation, which should be a corner of the Seven Absolutes Town Ruins Grand Array from back then! Although the array Foundation is incomplete, there's still a faint resonance. If it can be repaired... it might temporarily reinforce the crack!"

Lu Qingxuan looked in the direction she pointed.

Indeed, at the edge of the crack, a broken bronze stele floated in the Corpse Qi. The stele was covered with ancient Dao Pattern, but they were dim and lusterless, its surface riddled with black corrosive marks.

"I'll go repair it." Lu Qingxuan was about to move.

Suddenly—

Deep within the crack, those crimson giant eyes fully opened!

Om!!

A terrifying will swept out like a tsunami. The Corpse Qi rioted, transforming into billions of ferocious ghost shadows, howling as they lunged at Lu Qingxuan and Su Linger!

At the same time, a hoarse, chaotic voice, as if billions of living beings' wails overlapped, exploded directly in their Divine Souls:

"The aura... of the Tomb Keeper..."

"Die... you all... must die..."

"Devour... all things... Guixu..."