272: Chapter 272: The Sea of ​​Stars

A golden shackle, barely visible to the naked eye, descended with the supreme pressure of the Heavenly Dao, binding tightly around the Divine Soul of Jian Tanghuang—

This was a punishment from the Heavenly Dao that would result in the annihilation of the Divine Soul and the collapse of the Dao if the oath were broken; its Aura was vast and heart-palpitating.

At the same time, a halo as cold as moonlight emerged from the Void Realm, connecting one end to the center of Jian Tanghuang's brow, while the other end precisely merged into the ball of extreme cold in Fairy Xihua's palm.

The two connected, their lights merging; the contract was formed, unbreakable—

A bond that transcended Divine Soul and Bloodline quietly permeated the great hall.

The Taiyin Phoenix Blood Alliance, formed! The Heavenly Dao oath, established!

Fairy Xihua lowered her gaze, staring at the drop of tribulation blood still burning in her palm—the crimson-gold flame danced in her icy palm, yet it was not extinguished by her Taiyin Origin; instead, there was a faint rhythm of mutual resonance.

Her fingertips moved slightly as she felt the connection of the alliance that spanned Divine Soul and Bloodline, and a trace of extremely subtle loosening finally appeared on her frost-cold face.

Between her frozen brows, a flash of surprise and movement seemed to flicker by.

She slowly withdrew the ball of extreme cold in her palm and looked deeply at Jian Tanghuang. In those eyes, which had been silent for ten thousand years and filled with cold rivers, a ripple finally emerged—a sign of ice and snow melting.

"Phoenix Lord... what courage."

This time, her tone lacked the previous needle-like confrontation and bone-chilling coldness, replaced instead by an indescribable complexity.

This was heartfelt admiration, admiration for her solitary courage and decisiveness; perhaps, it also hid a trace of the sorrow of two trapped beasts, unable to control their own fates—both pushed forward by destiny, forced to stake everything.

Jian Tanghuang withdrew her finger; the wound on her fingertip, scorched by the Phoenix True Fire, healed instantly, leaving only a faint red mark that vanished in an instant.

She seemed completely unconcerned about the blood oath she had just sworn, which was enough to sink her into eternal damnation, as if it were merely an insignificant promise.

She simply raised her eyes, her gaze once again cast toward the north, where Demonic Qi filled the air. In those Phoenix eyes, killing intent gathered anew, three parts stronger than before, sharp enough to pierce the Nine Heavens clouds—penetrating the layers of barriers of the Myriad Demon Palace, unstoppable.

"The alliance is established, the oath is set."

"Palace Master, can we send out the troops now?"

Fairy Xihua took a deep breath, the last trace of hesitation in her chest completely severed, leaving only slaughter and decisiveness in her eyes.

She turned abruptly, her cold voice suddenly rising, piercing through the dome of the great hall, spreading to every inch of the Guanghan Immortal Palace, and resounding through the clouds—even the frozen earth beneath the sea of clouds seemed to tremble at this command:

"Transmit my final decree: Guanghan Immortal Palace, enter the 'Taiyin Conquest' state immediately! All Elders in seclusion, guest masters, and True Disciples, emerge from seclusion! Assemble all 'Xuanshuang Guards' and 'Moon Shadow Guards'! Open the secret vault, take out all war Magical Artifacts, Grade Seven Medicinal Pills, and Heaven Rank Talismans!"

"Target—Northern Nether Demon Realm, Myriad Demon Palace!"

"In this battle, I am invincible! Those who offend the dignity of my Immortal Palace, those who block my Phoenix Lord from saving her kin—"

Fairy Xihua's voice rose sharply, each word like ice beads striking gold and stone, carrying the killing Aura of a thousand miles of frozen land, bearing the majesty of the Guanghan Immortal Palace's ten-thousand-year Legacy, shaking the entire Guanghan Immortal Palace, causing the sea of clouds to surge and moonlight to swell! "Slay them all!"

"We obey the Palace Master's decree!!!"

This response had no further hesitation, no further distractions, like a thunderclap, shaking the heavens and the earth.

All the Elders in the hall, including Granny Hanmei and Elder Shuangning, who had previously been frowning with concern, bowed solemnly, their waists bent to the extreme arc, their voices like booming bells, shaking the great hall—and spreading throughout the mountain peaks, sea of clouds, and jade palaces of the Immortal Palace.

In an instant, a Battle Intent soaring to the sky erupted from the Guanghan Immortal Palace, rushing straight to the Nine Heavens, scattering the clouds of the Northern Territory—revealing a clear and cold firmament.

This Battle Intent condensed into substance, carrying the bitterness of the Taiyin Origin and the decisiveness of the Cultivators, vast and mighty, suppressing all directions.

Jian Tanghuang curled her lips into a cold arc, killing intent fierce in her eyes.

She raised her hand and gripped; the golden Divine Fire in her palm rose again. This time, the flame was more intense and solid than before, condensing in her hand into a flaming longsword over a zhang long—on the sword body, a Phoenix phantom circled endlessly, the Divine Phoenix shrieking, shaking the Void Realm into ripples, the power to burn the heavens and boil the seas rushing toward them.

"Depart."

She said softly, and before her voice had faded, her figure had transformed into a line of fire that burned through the Void Realm, carrying the power to incinerate the heavens and destroy the earth, rushing out of the Guanghan Hall first—pointing directly at the direction of the Myriad Demon Palace in the north, where Demonic Qi soared and obscured the sky.

Behind her, Fairy Xihua's robes fluttered, transforming into a cold and bright moonlight, following closely. Where the moonlight passed, the cold air was biting, killing intent hidden, and the Void Realm froze into ice—fully displaying the majesty of the Palace Master.

Following that, the terrifying war machine that the Guanghan Immortal Palace had accumulated for hundreds of millions of years roared to life!

Tens of thousands of Xuanshuang Guards and Moon Shadow Guards, wearing ice-patterned battle armor, holding cold-light divine weapons, stepped on the biting gale, rising from all parts of the Immortal Palace, their formations neat, their momentum like a rainbow—the sound of their footsteps causing the sea of clouds to churn.

Immortal ships engraved with Taiyin Talismans, constructed entirely from ten-thousand-year cold jade, slowly sailed out from the depths of the sea of clouds. On the ship bodies, divine light flowed, and the pressure was overwhelming—the cold moon phantom carved on the bow emitted a chill that froze everything.

Elders who had been in seclusion for many years broke through their seclusion, surrounded by immortal light, their Auras vast, some stepping on immortal swords, others riding spiritual birds, following closely behind the immortal ships.

The bone-chilling torrent of slaughter followed the resolute line of fire, sweeping out mightily, like a giant dragon intertwined with ice and fire, rushing toward the vast Northern Territory firmament—wherever it passed, the wind and clouds changed color, and the heavens and earth were moved!

When the immortal ships tore through the firmament of the Northern Territory, emitting a deafening roar, in the far west of the Central Plains, the powerhouses of the hidden Sects and ancient families who had been dormant for many years were startled by this earth-shattering momentum.

One by one, they appeared in the clouds or stood at the peaks of their mountain gates, looking at the Guanghan army that covered the sky and obscured half the heavens, their faces full of disbelief—their eyes filled with shock and fear.

"Guanghan Immortal Palace... what are they doing? To not hesitate to send out their entire nest? Even the Grand Elder in seclusion has come out!"

"Look! That is the Taiyin Conquest Order! It is the highest-level conquest order that the Guanghan Immortal Palace has never opened since the Ancient Moon War! Once opened, it is a situation of life and death!"

"Their direction... is the Myriad Demon Palace in the Northern Nether Demon Realm! Crazy, truly crazy! Is the Guanghan Immortal Palace going to fight the Myriad Demon Palace to the death, a full-scale war? If these two giants go to war, the entire Central Plains will be reduced to scorched earth!"

The discussions intertwined and surged in the sky of the Northern Territory where the wind and snow whistled. Countless powerful Divine Senses probed like a tide, wanting to see what was happening, but upon touching the Taiyin pressure emitted by the Guanghan immortal ships and the tribulation fire Aura of Jian Tanghuang, they quickly withdrew, not daring to stay for even a moment—fearing to be affected by this impending catastrophe.

No one dared to easily intervene in the life-and-death duel between these two giant forces. After all, once this battle started, it was destined to turn the world upside down, with rivers of blood—and mountains of corpses!

The winds and clouds of the Central Plains were already completely boiling; an earth-shattering battle that would sweep across the Central Plains was about to officially begin at the Myriad Demon Palace in the Northern Nether Demon Realm!

Northern Nether Demon Realm, Burial Star Sea!

This sea area was covered by ink-colored Demonic Qi all year round, the thick, inseparable fog as viscous as asphalt, the surging waves carrying a fishy and foul blood Aura; this was the baleful energy accumulated from the slaughter of Yao Race Cultivators and the fall of living beings over hundreds of millions of years.

On the seabed slept countless huge Yao Race skeletons, some revealing blackened bone spurs piercing the sea surface, others half-buried in black mud, exuding a chilling ghostly Aura.

Even the sunlight above the Nine Heavens was swallowed by this monstrous Demonic Qi. Within the sea area, there was no daylight all year round, only the ghostly green phosphorus fire that occasionally flashed in the Demonic Qi—making this dead and silent place appear increasingly gloomy and terrifying.

But at this moment, a roar that shook the universe suddenly exploded—

A terrifying Void Realm crack, fully ten thousand zhang long, was forcibly torn open from the chaotic and violent Void Realm turbulence above the Burial Star Sea!

On the edge of the pitch-black crack, eerie emerald-gold lightning danced, the electric light crackling, and every flash was accompanied by the pouring down of world-destroying pressure—as if even the Heavenly Dao was trembling in the face of this power.

Rolling arcs of thunder gushed out along the crack, instantly dyeing the surrounding hundred miles of sea area into a blinding golden-red.