260: Chapter 259 I'm here

"Ranged combat techniques are ineffective, close-quarters combat! Destroy his Spiritual Qi Foundation, break his Dao Body!" the black-clothed Dou Emperor roared fiercely, his figure exploding outward again. He engaged in close-quarters combat, his fist strikes tyrannical and savage, each punch carrying ten thousand catties of force, specializing in attacking the weak points of Dongfang Mu's Spiritual Qi barrier and the Meridians throughout his body.

The blue-clothed Dou Emperor followed closely, his palm wind scorching the heavens and eroding bones. His Dou Qi was condensed like substance, palm shadows filling the sky, sealing all directions. He coordinated with the black-clothed Dou Emperor in a frenzied assault, engaging in close-quarters entanglement, pressing forward step by step.

For a time, above the Imperial Dynasty, fists and feet flew, light and shadows exploded, and shockwaves rose. The yellowish-brown violent Dou Qi and the cyan, gentle Spiritual Qi crazily intertwined, collided, annihilated, and countered, each exchange setting off energy storms that filled the sky.

Fortune Spirit had long since silently activated the protective barrier, shielding the entire Imperial Dynasty. Although the fighting above was intense, the area below was not affected in the slightest.

Dongfang Mu fought one against two without a hint of fear, moving with grace and control. His figure turned and shifted, agile and elegant. Relying on the exquisite movement techniques of the Immortal Dao, he dodged and shifted amidst the storm-like onslaught, calmly evading all fatal bombardments. At the same time, his sword techniques never stopped, his hand seals changing. Sometimes sword rain poured down, sometimes Spiritual techniques suppressed, sometimes Spiritual Qi impacted, and sometimes he condensed force into stabs. Every Move was tricky, every style exquisite.

Ding-dang, bang-boom, crackle-pop!

The extremely dangerous close-quarters slaughter continued for over a hundred Moves, the three of them trading blows, attacking and defending, deadlocked, unable to determine a victor.

The two Dou Emperors' offensives were violent, their explosive power monstrous, each strike possessing the might to shatter mountains and split seas. Their Moves were rigid, tyrannical, and sharp, yet they were always unable to break through Dongfang Mu's Immortal Dao defense or inflict heavy damage on their opponent. Dongfang Mu's Foundation was profound, his defense stable, and his counterattacks tricky and agile. His ability to pull and contain was extreme, yet he was also unable to quickly break through the two men's Dou Qi armor or suppress the two powerful enemies.

It was a complete stalemate, a match of equals, a deadlock!

The Dragon Clan guards gripped their weapons tightly, whispering in admiration: "Dean Dongfang is still too strong! With the cultivation of a seventh-tribulation Loose Cultivator, his strength is no less than that of our Dragon Clan."

The commoners of the Imperial Dynasty cheered incessantly, their hearts stirred: "Too domineering! So what if they are experts from outside the territory? Daring to step onto our Canglan Domain territory, they are still being held firmly in check!"

Venerable Ling Yue was already burning with anxiety, unable to sit still: "The longer the stalemate, the more dangerous it becomes! Dou Qi consumes too much, the two Elders will eventually be defeated. Besides, there are other experts eyeing us covetously. What should we do!"

Would he be sent back in with the two of them right after coming out?

Having figured out all the core principles, Yuan Chen spoke slowly, his tone indifferent and lazy, softly instructing Zhao Miao who stood silently to the side: "That is enough."

"The two have been entangled for thousands of Moves. Dongfang Mu cannot take down his opponents in a short time. Continuing to consume energy like this is just meaningless waste."

"Make your Move, suppress them."

Hearing this, Zhao Miao slowly curled his lips into a faint, indifferent smile. His voice was clear and resonant, untainted by slaughter: "Since the Dragon Emperor has spoken, this old man will bully the young for a little bit."

He had watched this battle outside the mortal realm the entire time. In the eyes of ordinary Cultivators, it was an earth-shattering, evenly matched peerless slaughter, but in the eyes of an Immortal Envoy from the Upper Realm like him, it was nothing more than crude brawling, full of flaws, and not worth mentioning.

Zhao Miao did not form seals, did not accumulate power, did not urge vast Immortal techniques, and did not even Move half a step. He just very casually and gently lifted his fair, slender right hand.

Hum—!

In an instant, the Nine Heavens changed color, and all sounds of nature went silent!

The originally churning and restless Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and the violently raging Dou Qi from outside the territory instantly solidified and stopped! The strong wind ceased abruptly, the shockwaves dissipated, the smoke and dust fell to the ground, and the world fell into extreme silence!

Ten thousand miles above the sky, endless clouds gathered crazily, golden light blazed, and Dao rhymes were monstrous. A vast golden giant hand phantom covering a thousand miles of the firmament slowly condensed and took shape, descending into the mortal world!

The giant hand was boundless, sacred and majestic, with strict order. Every inch of its texture was engraved with the orthodox Dao rules of the Immortal Realm and the supreme power of order of the heavens, carrying the supreme might to suppress the ages and overlook all living beings!

The supreme Immortal might poured down violently, crushing the four wildernesses and eight desolate regions, enveloping the entire Far North wasteland!

The three experts who were fighting fiercely were instantly locked tightly by this terrifying pressure that felt like a dimensional crushing. Their bodies stiffened, unable to Move, their blood flow stagnated, and their spiritual power was imprisoned!

The pupils of the two early-stage Dou Emperor experts shrank to the extreme. Their Dou Qi instantly became chaotic and shattered, their blood flowed backwards, and extreme fear and despair surged from the bottom of their hearts!

"This... what power is this?!"

"It's not Spiritual Qi! It's not Dou Qi! It's a higher-level Order Immortal power! It's the power of the Upper Realm!!"

The two roared in terror, their faces full of disbelief and extreme horror. They had roamed the heavens in planes of the same level, fought for a lifetime, and seen countless experts and countless cultivation systems, but they had never felt such absolute, crushing, and terrifying power that left no room for resistance!

In front of this golden giant hand, their proud Dou Emperor physical bodies, tyrannical Dou Qi, and battle-hardened techniques were as small as ants, as fragile as glass, and could not withstand a single blow!

Boom—!

The golden giant hand slowly pressed down, its movement slow and gentle, unhurried, yet it carried the supreme might to suppress the heavens and crush all things. It was unrivaled, unavoidable, and impossible to resist!

The two Dou Emperor experts were completely panicked. Regardless of everything, they desperately urged all their remaining Dou Qi. Yellow-brown blood smoke shot into the sky, and they exhausted their life's cultivation to construct layers of Dou Qi defenses, struggling crazily to resist: "No! Protect the body with all your might! Hurry, join forces to defend!"

"Activate Dou Emperor Origin fully!!"

But all struggles were futile!

Crack! Crack!

The thick and tough Dou Qi armor instantly shattered and annihilated. The sky full of violent Dou Qi dissipated into nothingness, and the majestic, boiling blood completely fell silent!

Pfft! Pfft!

The two early-stage Dou Emperor experts who shook Xuan Continent spat out blood, their bodies losing strength, and they smashed heavily onto the ground. They were tightly suppressed on the ground by the Golden Immortal power, their limbs stiff, unable to Move, and their Meridians and Dou Qi Origin were completely sealed and imprisoned, with no power to resist!

A simple lift of a hand, a single Immortal seal, without earth-shattering precursors or violent momentum, easily suppressed two top experts from outside the territory who had fought for a hundred Moves and were evenly matched. The dimensional crushing and rule suppression made the gap clear at a glance!

"Immortal Envoy! Immortal Envoy!"

The Imperial Dynasty was filled with cheers.

Zhao Miao stood with his hands behind his back, the corners of his mouth slightly curled. This was the bearing an Immortal should have; the regret from last time was finally recovered here.

Dongfang Mu to the side instantly withdrew his offensive and hovered in mid-air, his face full of shock, his heart stirred. He felt awe for the power of the Immortal Envoy and completely understood the heaven-and-earth difference between the mortal and Immortal levels!

Last time, when Golden Immortal Ao Li was bullied by Fortune Spirit like that, he thought Immortals weren't much!

On the ground, the two Dou Emperor experts trembled all over, their faces pale, their eyes full of fear. They stared fixedly at the white-clothed, transcendent Immortal figure in the high sky, their voices hoarse and trembling, full of unbelievable questioning: "Who... who exactly are you people?!"

"This is clearly a mortal plane of the same level, why would there be experts from the Immortal Realm?!"

Ignoring the other party, Zhao Miao withdrew the Immortal power from his raised hand. His white clothes were spotless, and the supreme Immortal might that had just suppressed the two Dou Emperors was completely restrained, returning to his cold and transcendent appearance.

He lowered his eyes to look at the two Cultivators from outside the territory who were tightly sealed and unable to Move below. With a hint of doubt and confusion between his brows, he turned to look at Yuan Chen beside him and asked softly.

"Dragon Emperor, I have a matter in my heart that is quite puzzling. What is going on with these two? People from other Cultivation Worlds?"

Yuan Chen looked into the distance, his expression indifferent, and slowly stated his speculation.

"This matter is mostly related to you."

Zhao Miao was slightly startled, raising his eyebrows in confusion: "Related to me?"

"That's right." Yuan Chen nodded slightly and continued to explain logically, "I have read the surviving ancient historical records of Canglan Domain. Throughout history, whenever multiple Immortals or high-level Immortal Envoys frequently traveled to the Lower Realm, and the channels between the two realms were opened repeatedly, it would cause the loosening of the plane barrier and the chaos of the Heavenly Dao rules."

Dongfang Mu on the side: "..."

Was it not me who looked it up?

"The Immortal-Mortal channel is originally a Void Realm path forcibly pierced through. Every round trip across the border will subtly wear down the plane barrier and dissolve the isolation power between the two realms. You, together with Golden Immortal Ao Li, have descended to the Lower Realm three times in total, repeatedly opening the Mortal-Immortal channel. The high-frequency cross-border pulling has long since worn the Origin barrier of the Canglan Domain world thin bit by bit."

"The barrier thins, the isolation power decays, and the originally mutually exclusive parallel Cultivation Worlds will naturally experience channel overlap, rule interoperability, and plane attraction."

Speaking to this point, Yuan Chen's eyes deepened, and he stated an even more astonishing prediction.

"According to this trend, if you and other Upper Realm Cultivators come a few more times and cross the border repeatedly, it won't be long before the barriers between Canglan Domain and Xuan Continent will completely collapse, and the two independent Cultivation Worlds will completely merge into one world."

"You fell down once not long after you left before, and now you've come again, and the speed has increased quite a bit."

As he said this, Yuan Chen pursed his lips and pointed at Venerable Ling Yue in the distance: "Look, isn't that one!"

Hearing this, Zhao Miao raised his eyebrows, his tone carrying a hint of surprise: "There is such a thing?."

Standing quietly in place, after a moment, his eyes suddenly froze, a look of realization flashed in his eyes, and he nodded gently.

"Hiss, your conjecture... might actually be right."

Hearing this, Yuan Chen immediately turned his head to look, his eyes full of curiosity and inquiry, waiting for the rest.

Zhao Miao organized his thoughts and spoke slowly, telling a legend widely known in Liuyun Heaven.

"My Upper Realm Liuyun Heaven's Immortal Emperor Wuhen is a top-tier great power, with monstrous Foundation and world-shaking prestige. And this Immortal Emperor Wuhen was not born with an Immortal fetus or native to the Upper Realm; he ascended from a mortal plane in the Lower Realm."

"According to rumors, before Immortal Emperor Wuhen ascended, the mortal Cultivation World he was in was completely merged with another parallel plane."

"At that time, the barriers between the two worlds collapsed, heaven and earth merged, countless Cultivators, races, and forces mixed and collided. Resource competition, Dao lineage slaughter, and territorial conquest swept through the entire region. The war between the two worlds lasted for ten thousand years, blood flowing like rivers, bones piling up. It was an extremely tragic chaotic age of the heavens."

"It was precisely that world-sweeping, epoch-making slaughter that tempered the Dao Heart, polished the Foundation with the fires of war, and accumulated Luck in the chaotic world, allowing Immortal Emperor Wuhen to stand out among countless Prodigies. After experiencing ten thousand blood battles and rising from desperate situations, his Foundation, Dao Heart, combat power, and Luck all suppressed all other ascenders of the same era."

"Therefore, after he ascended to the Upper Realm, his Foundation far exceeded his peers, and his growth rate was terrifying. In a short period of time, he reached the top of the Heavenly Dao, forged the Imperial throne, and became a giant of the heavens."

After hearing the whole secret, a flash of surprise crossed Yuan Chen's eyes. He raised his eyebrows slightly and muttered to himself: "So there is such a past, plane Fusion, chaotic times producing Emperors? It's quite fresh."

Yuan Chen's eyes turned slightly, and he casually raised his hand to probe. A gentle yet irresistible, vast suction force instantly pierced through the Void Realm.

Whoosh—!

A gray figure suddenly swept across the sky from the distant horizon. Without even a chance to struggle, he was instantly pulled to the Heaven Sacrificial Platform and landed steadily in front of Yuan Chen. It was Venerable Ling Yue, who had been anxiously watching the battle in the dungeon just now.

As soon as Venerable Ling Yue landed, he felt that his entire aura was firmly locked. He dared not make any unusual movements, his expression cautious and uneasy, subconsciously lowering his head and bowing.

Yuan Chen's eyes fell on him indifferently, his tone calm but carrying a sharpness that saw through everything: "Tell me, what is the situation."

"The two Dou Emperors were clearly aiming for you. What is this so-called 'Your Excellency' identity of yours all about? Tell me the truth."

Hearing this, Venerable Ling Yue's shoulders slumped slightly, a bitter smile of extreme helplessness appeared on his face, his expression awkward and embarrassed.

He knew that this matter could not be hidden from a figure like Yuan Chen, so he could only honestly explain: "My daughter, named Ling Tianjiao, is currently the current Sect Master of the top Dao Sect in Xuan Continent — the Qingxuan Dao Sect. She is also a genuine Peak Dou Emperor expert and is recognized as the number one expert of the entire Qingxuan Dao Sect, her prestige spanning the Southeast Xuan Domain."

"In Xuan Continent, I rely entirely on my daughter's protection and her prestige to be honored as 'Your Excellency' by various Cultivators. As for these two, they are both my daughter's subordinates..."

Yuan Chen understood instantly, a look of realization flashing in his eyes, and he nodded faintly: "So that's how it is."

No wonder Venerable Ling Yue's own cultivation was weak, yet he had the title of 'Your Excellency'. It was entirely because he was basking in his daughter's reflected glory.

He rubbed his chin, his expression lazy, and casually threw out a very jumpy question: "Hmm... Peak Dou Emperor, Sect Master, peerless talent, renowned, then let me ask you... is your daughter pretty?"

"Ah?"

Venerable Ling Yue was stunned.

And just at this moment, the urgent and sharp sound of breaking through the air came rapidly from the south of the Imperial Dynasty!

A Dragon Clan guard in black dragon-patterned armor, travel-worn and with a solemn expression, arrived at full speed. He landed heavily, knelt on one knee, and reported urgently and solemnly: "Dragon Emperor! Urgent report!"

"Just now, the spies investigating the entire region sent back urgent intelligence — in the sky over the thousand-mile sea area in the southeast of the Eastern Wasteland, a space crack several dozen meters long appeared! A large number of strange people from outside the territory have fallen into the mortal world! The number is unknown, the aura is mixed, and the Origin is unknown! Elder Hei Yan happens to be in that area. The enemies are too strong, requesting immediate support."

Boom!

A single sentence rang out like a thunderclap, shaking the whole scene!

Even Yuan Chen couldn't help but be slightly stunned. Could it be that there were also Golden Immortals descending on the other side?

Elder Hei Yan was a twelfth-tribulation Loose Cultivator, and yet he sent a distress signal?

But now was not the time to be suspicious. Yuan Chen stomped his feet: "Fortune Spirit, Fortune Spirit!"

Fortune Spirit appeared with a swish: "I am here!"

"Go and check the situation immediately."

"Received!"

As long as it was within the territory of the Daming Dynasty, Fortune Spirit could arrive in an instant. No one present could be faster than her.