94: Two-front bloody battle, the first generation awakens

The moment the Corpse Spirit opened its eyes, the Guixu Sea Eye seemed to come alive.

Billions of ghost shadows formed from Qi hissed and lunged, each containing the terrifying might of the Early Stage of Undergoing Tribulation, blotting out the sky and sealing all paths of retreat.

They took various forms—some were the aggregation of the grievances of billions of beings when stars collapsed, some were the twisted remnants of ancient gods who had fallen, and others were the manifestation of despair left behind by devoured civilizations.

"Eternal Suppression of the Returning Ruins, Open!" Lu Qingxuan shouted in a low voice, and his Domain fully expanded.

A greyish, bronze-tinged Domain expanded rapidly from him as the center, instantly enveloping a radius of a thousand miles.

Within the Domain, the dual Dao laws of Death Decay and Bronze Town Ruins intertwined, and those lunging ghost shadows hit the Domain, they felt as if they had fallen into a quagmire.

"Suppress!" Lu Qingxuan gripped the air with his five fingers, and countless bronze chains emerged from the Void Realm within the Domain, piercing and entangling the ghost shadows one by one.

The bronze Dao patterns on the chains lit up, and the ghost shadows let out shrill wails as their bodies rapidly "petrified," then crumbled into grey dust, completely annihilated by the power of Death Decay within the Domain.

But there were simply too many ghost shadows, wave after wave, and the edge of the Domain began to tremble violently.

"Qingxuan, I'm going to repair the array base!" Su Linger's figure transformed into a stream of Purple Firmament light, avoiding the densest areas of ghost shadows and rushing straight toward the damaged bronze stele at the edge of the crack.

"Stop her!" The Corpse Spirit's whisper echoed in the corpse Qi.

Three more strands of viscous, ink-like corpse Qi surged from the crack, transforming into three thousand-foot-tall corpse Qi statues, their aura actually reaching the Middle Stage of Undergoing Tribulation, surrounding Su Linger in a triangular formation.

"Your opponent is me." Lu Qingxuan stepped out, his figure appearing like a ghost in front of the three statues, his Chaos Sword sweeping across.

The sword light turned into a greyish long river, containing the power of the Eternal Suppression of the Returning Ruins Domain, and collided violently with the three statues.

Boom!

The energy explosion kicked up monstrous waves in the surrounding ten thousand miles of Annihilation seawater, with countless fragments of time and space churning within the waves.

Lu Qingxuan let out a muffled groan, the webbing between his thumb and index finger splitting, but the blood was repaired by the Chaos Qi before it could even drip down.

Meanwhile, the three statues retreated in unison, their bodies covered in dense cracks.

"Not enough... still not enough..." The Corpse Spirit's whisper carried a strange sense of excitement.

"The successor of the Tomb Keeper... your power is just right to serve as a sacrifice for my complete awakening..."

Deep within the crack, those scarlet giant eyes turned slightly, and a dark red beam of light shot out suddenly, ignoring spatial distance and shining directly at the center of Lu Qingxuan's brows!

"Soul Devour."

The beam contained extreme resentment and a devouring will.

If an ordinary Cultivator at the Undergoing Tribulation stage were hit, their Divine Soul would be instantly polluted and assimilated, becoming a Puppet of the Corpse Spirit.

Lu Qingxuan's pupils constricted, but he did not dodge.

The Exquisite Dao Heart at the center of his brows shone brightly, and a Soul Fire protective barrier emerged.

Sizzle—!

The dark red beam hit the barrier, erupting with a harsh corrosive sound.

The barrier trembled violently, cracks appearing on its surface, but the wisp of pale green Soul Fire burned crazily, actually incinerating the resentment within the beam bit by bit.

"Soul Fire? The Origin of the Mourner of the Departed..." A trace of fluctuation appeared in the Corpse Spirit's whisper for the first time.

"You killed him... Very good... His Soul Fire should have belonged to me..."

Before it finished speaking, dozens more dark red beams shot out from the crack, covering Lu Qingxuan like a net.

At the same time, the three corpse Qi statues lunged again, six giant fists smashing down.

Each punch invoked the power of Annihilation from the Guixu Sea Eye, and wherever the fist wind passed, space was annihilated inch by inch.

Lu Qingxuan was caught in a pincer attack.

His eyes were cold, and his Chaos Ancient God Dao Body exploded with full power.

The Chaos Qi around his body roared like an angry Dragon, actually forcing the incoming beams and fist energy to a momentary halt.

"Linger, hurry!"

"Give me three breaths!" Su Linger had reached the bronze stele, her hands forming seals.

Her Purple Firmament Reincarnation Body bloomed with unprecedented light, and a phantom of the Purple Firmament Sovereign Lord's Dao seal appeared at the center of her brows.

She bit her tongue and sprayed a mouthful of her life essence blood onto the bronze stele.

"With the blood of the Purple Firmament, awaken the spirit of the array base!"

As the essence blood touched the stele, the dim Dao patterns absorbed it as if thirsty, and then—Hum!

The bronze stele shook violently.

The corrosion marks on the surface of the stele began to fall off, and a faint bronze radiance lit up from within, like an ancient artifact that had slept for endless years, slowly awakening.

But would the Corpse Spirit sit by and watch?

"Delusional!"

From the crack, a giant claw covered in pitch-black scales suddenly reached out, grabbing toward Su Linger!

The giant claw was so large it was comparable to a star, and the corpse Qi entangled on the claw tips was so thick it turned into liquid, evaporating even the Annihilation seawater wherever it passed.

Su Linger's face turned deathly pale.

The power of this claw had already surpassed the Late Stage of Undergoing Tribulation; if she took it head-on, she would surely die.

"Your opponent hasn't changed yet."

Lu Qingxuan's icy voice rang out.

He had actually forced open a gap amidst the siege of the three statues and dozens of light beams, his figure transforming into a greyish stream of light, arriving before the giant claw despite starting later.

He held his Chaos Sword high above his head.

On the sword body, the power of the Eternal Suppression of the Returning Ruins Domain was crazily compressed and condensed.

The greyish and bronze dual-colored radiance intertwined, finally forming a sword energy only a Zhang long.

The sword energy was as solid as reality, and within it, countless phantoms of bronze chains could be vaguely seen intertwining.

"Sever."

As the word was uttered, the sword energy fell.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling light.

The moment the sword energy made contact with the giant claw, time seemed to stand still.

Then, the pitch-black scales on the surface of the giant claw began to "age," mottled rust appearing, and then crumbling inch by inch.

The crumbling trend spread like a Plague, extending along the giant claw toward the depths of the crack.

The Corpse Spirit let out a painful hiss, and the giant claw retracted sharply into the crack, but one-third of the front part had been completely "buried and annihilated" by the sword energy, turning into nothingness.

"Eternal Suppression of the Returning Ruins... you actually fused the power of the Tomb Keeper's Town Ruins!"

The Corpse Spirit's whisper carried shock and anger.

"But this changes nothing... My power originates from the Returning Ruins itself... The more you bury and annihilate, the stronger the backlash of the Returning Ruins will be..."

Sure enough, after Lu Qingxuan unleashed that sword, his face turned pale instantly, and the blood spilling from the corner of his mouth was no longer bright red but carried a hint of grey—a sign of the backlash from the power of the Annihilation of the Returning Ruins.

He wiped away the blood, but his eyes were even sharper: "Then, before you fully awaken, I will seal you again."

He turned to look at the bronze stele.

At this moment, the stele was already thirty percent lit.

Su Linger was using her Purple Firmament Reincarnation Body as a conduit, continuously injecting her own Dao laws into the stele to repair the damaged Dao patterns.

"How much longer?"

"Thirty breaths at the fastest!"

Su Linger's forehead was covered in sweat, and the light of her Purple Firmament Reincarnation Body began to dim—her consumption was too great.

Lu Qingxuan nodded and looked at the three statues lunging again and the next wave of attacks brewing in the crack.

"Thirty breaths... I can hold on."

He took a deep breath, and his Chaos Ancient God Dao Body circulated wildly, his injuries recovering rapidly.

At the same time, three entry-level light orbs appeared in his palm—they were the 【Mirror Myriad Heavens】, 【Source of Plague】, and 【Desire Sinkhole】 he had just obtained from killing Mirror Erosion, Plague, and Lust.

"System, burn these three entries temporarily and convert them into Domain reinforcement."

【Consumed 3 entries, converted into temporary Domain amplification: Domain range increased by 50%, suppression effect increased by 80%, duration: 60 breaths】

Boom!

The Eternal Suppression of the Returning Ruins Domain expanded again, the greyish and bronze radiance flaring up.

The number of bronze chains within the Domain tripled, dancing wildly like countless tentacles, tightly binding the three incoming statues and suppressing them crazily.

The attacks brewing in the crack were also blocked by the power of the Domain, and for a moment, they were deadlocked.

But Lu Qingxuan could feel that the consumption of the Domain was increasing geometrically.

Every breath was burning a massive amount of Dao rhyme and Divine Soul power.

Twenty breaths.

The Domain began to shrink, and cracks appeared on the bronze chains.

Twenty-five breaths.

The three statues broke free from some of the chains and smashed a fist onto Lu Qingxuan's chest, knocking him flying for a thousand miles.

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of his Chaos Ancient God Dao Body.

"Qingxuan!" Su Linger exclaimed.

"Continue!" Lu Qingxuan coughed up blood but rushed back again, forcibly propping up the Domain.

Twenty-eight breaths.

Deep in the crack, those scarlet giant eyes suddenly shone brightly.

"Enough."

The Corpse Spirit's whisper became clear and majestic, as if it had fully awakened from a slumber of billions of years.

"The game... ends here."

The crack suddenly expanded three times, and endless corpse Qi surged out like a tsunami, instantly collapsing the outer defense of the Eternal Suppression of the Returning Ruins Domain.

Within the Domain, the bronze chains shattered in pieces, and the greyish mist was eroded by the corpse Qi in reverse.

Lu Qingxuan was struck hard, blood leaking from his seven orifices, his figure staggering.

Twenty-nine breaths.

In front of Su Linger, the bronze stele finally lit up seventy percent.

The Dao patterns on the stele flowed, and an ancient and majestic sealing power began to diffuse.

The speed of the crack's expansion slowed down significantly.

"Just... a little more..." Su Linger gritted her teeth and injected the last bit of her Purple Firmament Reincarnation Origin into the stele.

Thirty breaths!

The bronze stele was completely lit!

Hum—!

The stele erupted with a bronze pillar of light that connected heaven and earth.

The light pillar shot straight into the depths of the crack, resonating with the damaged remnants of the Seven Absolutes Town Ruins Grand Array.

Instantly, countless bronze Dao patterns appeared on the edge of the crack, like a giant net, beginning to forcibly stitch the crack shut.

"No—!" The Corpse Spirit roared, and two destructive beams shot out from its scarlet giant eyes, one blasting toward the bronze stele and one aimed directly at Lu Qingxuan.

Lu Qingxuan had no strength left to dodge.

But his eyes were calm, and a cold sneer even curled the corner of his mouth.

Because at this very moment—

In the distant Eastern Region, Grand Void Holy Land.

The Universe Star Array was covered in cracks.

1.5 million Corrupted coalition forces were charging like a tide, and the array's light screen flickered, on the verge of collapse at any moment.

Sword Dust led a hundred Soul Transformation experts in a bloody battle.

Everyone was covered in wounds, but no one retreated.

"Hold on! The Holy Lord is fighting to the death at the Returning Ruins; we absolutely cannot lose the Holy Land!"

Sword Dust beheaded three Soul Transformation-level Corrupted commanders with one sword, but he himself was pierced through the abdomen by a sneak-attack bone spur, his robes stained with blood.

At the array eye, Holy Lord Lu Mingdao was deathly pale, having already burned thirty percent of his Origin to maintain the array.

"Old Ancestor... is the Grand Void Holy Land really going to perish in this battle..."

He looked toward the depths of the Holy Land, where the resting place of past Holy Lords lay.

As if responding to his call—

Ten thousand zhang deep beneath the Holy Land, an ancient Sword Tomb that had been sealed for a million years suddenly trembled.

In the tomb, nine rusty ancient swords were inserted.

At this moment, the ancient sword in the very center, with the characters "Chaos" engraved on the hilt, slowly opened a greyish eye at the guard.

"The aura of the Void Abyss..."

"My descendants... are fighting to the death..."

"Since that is the case... this wisp of my lingering thought... shall strike one last sword for Taixu..."

Boom!

The ground of the Holy Land cracked, and a Chaos sword light shot into the sky, ignoring the obstruction of the array, ignoring the million-strong coalition, and directly pierced into the firmament, disappearing into the depths of the starry sky.

And the target—was none other than the Guixu Sea Eye!

---

Guixu Sea Eye battlefield.

The Corpse Spirit's destructive beam had reached within three feet of Lu Qingxuan.

Su Linger closed her eyes in despair.

But at the very moment before the beam touched the center of Lu Qingxuan's brows—

From beyond the sky, a Chaos sword light broke through the air, arriving first despite starting later, and slashed onto the beam!

Ssh!

The beam dissolved and dissipated like snow meeting the spring sun.

The remaining momentum of the sword light did not diminish, slashing into the depths of the crack and striking that pair of scarlet giant eyes dead on!

"Ah—!!!"

The Corpse Spirit let out an unprecedentedly shrill scream.

A deep-to-the-bone wound was slashed into the giant eyes by the sword light, and dark golden blood sprayed out, each drop as heavy as a star, causing the Annihilation seawater to boil.

Under the sealing of the bronze stele and the strike of this Chaos sword light, the crack began to shrink rapidly.

Lu Qingxuan stared blankly at the source of the sword light, his heart shaken.

That Sword Intent... was of the same Origin as his Chaos Ancient God Dao Body, yet it was more ancient and purer.

And the Corpse Spirit, amidst its screams, whispered with extreme viciousness:

"Chaos Sword Master... you actually still have a lingering thought in the world..."

"The hatred of the betrayal back then... I... will definitely take revenge..."

Before the crack closed completely, Lu Qingxuan clearly saw that in those scarlet giant eyes, besides pain and viciousness, there was actually a trace of... indescribable sadness.