372: Or perhaps our Qingxuan Sect's foundation is too weak?

After a fleeting moment of shock and greed, the true struggle reached a fever pitch in a matter of breaths!

"This scripture belongs to my Southern Domain!"

With a domineering roar, the Demon Lord of the Southern Domain didn't even move his body; instead, a massive claw covered in azure scales and entwined with Chaos Demonic Qi tore through the Void Realm.

Ignoring spatial distance, it appeared directly above the stone platform. Its five fingers acted like a cage, clawing fiercely toward that dark gold emperor scripture!

Wherever the demonic claw passed, the Law wailed, as if he intended to gouge out that piece of space along with the emperor scripture!

"Hmph! How dare you, you monster!"

Almost at the same instant the demonic claw appeared, several peerlessly sharp attacks arrived first despite being launched later!

A majestic and grand Imperial Dragon Qi, carrying the weight of the state, lashed out at the demonic claw's wrist like a furious dragon's tail!

A clear and cold Taiyin Moonlight, capable of freezing the Void Realm, transformed into an invisible cold tide to stall the closing of the demonic claw!

Furthermore, several streaks of Sword Qi, palm winds, and Talisman divine lights from different directions struck that demonic claw like a tempest, carrying the rage and determination of their respective masters!

BOOM—!!!

The demonic claw shook violently, its surface scales exploding as the Chaos Demonic Qi was blasted into scattered mist.

The Demon Lord of the Southern Domain let out a muffled groan and had no choice but to retract his palm like a flash of lightning. Having failed his attempt, he had instead suffered a minor loss.

In the momentary gap just as the demonic claw retracted and the aftershocks of the crowd's attacks had yet to dissipate!

The Imperial Lord of Great Zhou seized this fleeting opportunity. The crown atop his head radiated divine light, and an Imperial True Dragon, condensed to the extreme as if cast from red gold, whistled forth.

With incomparable speed, its dragon tail swept out, intending to pull the emperor scripture into its embrace!

The Dragon Qi, carrying the domineering will of an Imperial Dynasty's ruler, actually managed to temporarily suppress the surrounding energy into a slight stagnation.

"The Imperial Lord is far too impatient! Such a Great Dao belongs to those destined for it!"

An ancient Buddhist chant rang out, causing the movements of the Imperial True Dragon to become inexplicably sluggish for a moment.

A Buddha from the Western Domain, holding a string of simple prayer beads that had appeared in his hand at some unknown point, gave them a light swing, attacking the Imperial Lord of Great Zhou.

Lingxiao Holy Land Master Ling Canglan slashed out an extremely condensed and brilliant sword light between the Imperial True Dragon and the emperor scripture!

This sword strike aimed to sever the weak connection of suction between the Imperial Dragon Qi and the emperor scripture!

The Imperial True Dragon let out an angry and unwilling roar. Its body was interfered with and slashed by several forces, forcing it to release its tail and circle back to protect its master.

The Imperial Lord of Great Zhou's expression darkened; the second attempt at seizure had also failed.

Taking advantage of this, the Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion sent an ancient compass flying from his sleeve. It spun rapidly, instantly freezing a section of time and space as he sought to snatch it amidst the Chaos.

"Roar—!"

Immediately following that, the head of an Desolate Ancient Family summoned a phantom of an Ancestral Weapon, manifesting an ancient phenomenon to isolate the area and forcibly seize the scripture.

There were also Loose Cultivator old monsters with concealed auras who used bizarre movement techniques to approach the stone platform like ghosts, only to be immediately locked onto by several Divine Senses. Divine Abilities descended upon them, forcing them back in a pathetic state, coughing up blood... The scene had spiraled completely out of control, yet it maintained a bizarre equilibrium.

Everyone wanted to snatch it, but everyone was also staring deathly at everyone else.

If any single person attempted to truly touch the emperor scripture, they would immediately become the public enemy of everyone else, facing the combined obstruction of at least three or four existences of the same rank!

Offense and defense, snatching and intercepting, played out within a tiny space at a dizzying speed.

Energy collided and annihilated frantically, yet was deathly restricted to this core area by the Emperor Array, causing the pressure here to reach a terrifying extreme.

The emperor scripture still lay quietly on the stone platform, but the small area around it had become the most dangerous and energy-violent forbidden zone in the entire Xuanhuang Great World!

Without peerless strength, a perfect opportunity, and the confidence to survive the siege of the crowd, no one could truly seize it!

While numerous Holy Land Masters and giants were fighting so hard the heavens and earth were collapsing for the sake of the emperor scripture, in a shadowed corner further out where the energy turbulence was relatively thin...

Three figures with their auras retracted to the limit, dressed like ordinary Loose Cultivator old men, were huddled together.

They were the three Old Ancestors of the Azure Profound Sect.

The Third Ancestor squinted his eyes at the distant battle and smacked his lips. "Tsk, it's really lively. Guess who this treasure will end up with?"

The Second Ancestor scanned the crowd. "Hard to say, hard to say. None of these old fellows are easy to deal with. But I think that old schemer from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion has a good chance."

He spoke toward a flickering figure in the sky holding a compass.

"Look at him, slippery as an eel. Every time he acts, it's at a critical juncture. He doesn't look like he's snatching it; he looks like he's stirring the pot. He's probably planning something bad."

The Fourth Ancestor crossed his arms and said in a muffled voice, "I think that Yaochi Holy Master is also quite fierce. If it really comes down to a life-and-death struggle, it's hard to say who would win or lose."

He continued, "It's just that her heart seems a bit soft. Just now, she actually got distracted to block the aftershocks that were spreading below."

He was referring to Ji Qingyi's earlier move of conveniently protecting a group of low-level Cultivators near the stone wall area.

"Who cares who gets it!"

The Third Ancestor's eyes widened as he lowered his voice. "We just need to keep a close watch! See which direction the treasure flies in at the end, and get ready..."

He made a downward chopping motion with his hand. "To knock them out from behind midway!"

Hearing this, the Fourth Ancestor glanced at the faintly visible, heart-palpitating Supreme Emperor Weapon auras around those figures in the sky and said dully, "That's tough."

"Didn't you see that several of those old fellows are keeping their Supreme Emperor Weapon auras primed but unreleased?"

"They're waiting for the critical moment to use them for protection or a killing blow. We three old sets of bones, we're going to use our heads to knock out someone with a Supreme Emperor Weapon? Let's not get ourselves killed."

The Second Ancestor looked up at the heart-palpitating phantoms of the Supreme Emperor Weapons in the sky and the world-destroying power of the Holy Land Masters' combat, finally shaking his head and letting out a low, realistic sigh.

"Ultimately, it's because our Azure Profound Sect's foundation is too thin and our establishment too recent. Without a Supreme Emperor Weapon to hold the fort, we are missing the hardest bone."

"Look at them. No matter how fiercely they fight, they have confidence in their hearts. Once it reaches a life-and-death moment and the Supreme Emperor Weapons awaken, that will be an entirely different realm."

"Indeed,"

The Fourth Ancestor also sighed rarely, his voice heavy.

"Without a Supreme Emperor Weapon, even if we really spot an opportunity and want to knock... cough, want to take action, we have to constantly be wary of others flipping the table. We lack confidence."

The Third Ancestor didn't speak, but his eyes were flickering, clearly also brooding over the flaw of not having a Supreme Emperor Weapon.

Without this ultimate deterrent, the risk index of many 'sneaky' behaviors would skyrocket.

The three of them could only silently drop the idea. If they weren't certain, they absolutely wouldn't do it.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the hall, Gu Changge's gaze nonchalantly swept over the three ancestors who had given up on snatching due to the lack of a Supreme Emperor Weapon's protection.

He then looked at the Holy Land Masters in the sky fighting to the death for the emperor scripture, and then at the mountain of Supreme Emperor Weapons in his System space.

"It's rare to see these few old fellows so dejected. Oh well, I'll 'pick up' a couple of items for them later to use for protection, so they don't have to be on edge all day."