37: All souls were annihilated.

You perceive the fear in everyone's eyes and realize it's a bad sign—some have already lost their nerve before the battle has even begun.

You roar at the top of your lungs: "Stay steady, everyone! Guard your hearts and minds, don't give them an opening!"

"These fellows who style themselves as Immortals..." You take a sudden step forward, your voice booming like thunder, "treat billions upon billions of living beings as mere blades of grass!"

"Is the crumbling of mountains and rivers, the devastation of all life, what they tout as the 'Dao' of the Immortals?!"

"Cultivators are heartless, viewing all things as straw dogs; we shall act on behalf of heaven to carry out this injustice!"

With a "shing," you draw your blade, pointing it straight at the firmament, the cold light reflecting on their angry faces:

"They descended upon this world, destroyed our homes, and slaughtered our kin!"

"We have endured humiliation and shouldered heavy burdens, waiting for this very day—to make these high-and-mighty beasts understand that the spine of a Mortal can still hold up this sky!"

Behind you, the ringing of blades being drawn sounds out, and over two hundred weapons simultaneously flash with cold light.

Feeling the boiling Battle Intent, you continue to roar:

"They laugh at us as ants? Then we shall use the teeth of ants to bite through their throats!"

"They want to record this on a shadow recording stone? Then let all the heavens and myriad worlds see—when a Martial Artist swings their blade, even Immortals will bleed and howl in agony!"

The mocking laughter from the spirit boat comes to an abrupt halt.

You seize this brief silence to let out a final battle cry:

"Everyone! We Martial Artists are born to crush this unjust world!"

"If we win today, the sparks of humanity will reignite; if we die today—on the road to the Yellow Springs, our two hundred heroic souls shall fight the King of Hell once more!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

In an instant, the sound shakes the heavens...

The roar erupting from behind you, accompanied by overwhelming killing intent, collapses half of the city wall, and two hundred streaks of blood-red smoke pierce toward the spirit boat like sharp swords.

The boy on the spirit boat merely curls the corners of his lips upward and casually tosses out a glowing glass bead. Inside the bead is a Small World, densely packed with all kinds of Yao Beasts.

"Go." He flicks his finger lightly.

In an instant, countless Yao Beasts swarm out from the bead, blotting out the sky as they pounce toward every corner of the Tianhuang Continent.

You recognize these Yao Beasts—Three-Tailed Spirit Foxes, Thunder-Patterned Mountain Mandrills, Crimson Poison Scorpions, Green-Scaled Flying Cranes... The smallest are two or three meters in size, while the largest are hundreds of meters long.

These Yao Beasts, comparable to Grandmasters, Great Grandmasters, or even those in the Heavenly Human Realm, leave devastation in their wake, as if engaging in a bloody feast.

In the blink of an eye, the entire Tianhuang Continent descends into a purgatory overrun by Yao Beasts.

The boy turns to the Cultivators behind him and says: "This training session will be of great benefit to you; take it all in."

Over two thousand Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Cultivators, unable to restrain themselves any longer, dive down like a meteor shower.

You and your two hundred-plus people instantly clash with the two thousand Cultivators.

Thunder and lightning flash between heaven and earth, interwoven with the gleam of blades and shadows of swords. Countless streaks of light crisscross, and mutilated corpses fall continuously from the sky.

You hurriedly scan the battlefield—

Cheng Wenbo's long blade had just slashed into a Cultivator's shoulder when flying needles shot from the opponent's sleeve, corroding half of Cheng Wenbo's face down to the bone.

Xue Miaoyun's spear pierced the center of a female Cultivator's brow, but three poisonous centipedes flew out from the burst skull and burrowed into Xue Miaoyun's nostrils.

The moment Ye Wuhen struck a Cultivator dead with a palm strike, the "Flame Explosion Talisman" in the opponent's hand detonated, and green flames burned them both to ashes.

The Flying Swords controlled by three Cultivators blocked all of Cold Dustless's escape routes like a rainstorm, easily piercing even his True Essence shield.

A look of determination flashes in Cold Dustless's eyes, and he laughs wildly: "Hahaha, let's die together!"

The True Essence within his body goes berserk, and his body cracks and glows—

"Boom!"

A hundred-foot-tall mushroom cloud engulfs everything around it, and those three Cultivators are also reduced to dust.

Similar tragic slaughter plays out across the battlefield.

Everyone is blinded by killing intent, determined to drag someone down with them even in death.

For every ten people who fall, you advance a hundred feet closer to the spirit boat!

Your figure moves like lightning, instantly closing in on a Cultivator, and you punch out with a wind carrying the roar of tigers and the cries of dragons: "Die!"

"Bang!"

This Cultivator is struck by your massive True Essence and turns into a mist of blood on the spot.

Suddenly, three cold beams of light attack you from different directions.

You roar: "Indestructible Diamond Body!"

Your entire body suddenly erupts with brilliant golden light, and with a sweep of your golden palm, you knock all three Flying Swords away with three "clang" sounds.

You seize the opening to close in, condensing True Essence into a hand blade: "Formless Divine Art, Fifth Form—True Essence Blade!"

The True Essence blade, like an axe splitting the heavens, cleaves the Golden Core Cultivator in two.

You snatch a moment to scan the battlefield—

Chu Tianqi is currently unleashing the Body Manifests Myriad Forms Divine Ability, just in time to strike a Golden Core Cultivator dead with one palm.

However, ordinary Great Grandmasters like Duan Kun and Chang Qingyi are shredded into bloody fragments after only a few exchanges against the Magic Treasures flying all over the sky.

The battle situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable.

The boy on the spirit boat, however, only watches coldly, his expression blank.

You make a prompt decision and shout to Chu Tianqi and the others: "Kill that boy first!"

A dozen or so powerhouses in the Heavenly Human Realm understand and turn into streams of light, pouncing straight toward the spirit boat.

The boy curls the corners of his lips: "Hmph, do ants dare to defy an Immortal?"

He raises his hand and summons a small tower: "Suppress!"

A powerhouse in the Heavenly Human Realm is instantly crushed into a pulp of flesh.

This casual strike sends a chill through everyone's hearts.

You were prepared for this and shout: "Don't be afraid! If we get close, he won't have time to use his Magic Treasures!"

The boy laughs upon hearing this.

Just as you close in, his figure flickers, fast as lightning, and he retreats a hundred feet away.

He looks at you playfully, as if watching a group of comical monkeys.

"Surround him!" you shout urgently.

Before the words leave your lips, the boy has already flashed behind a Heavenly Human Realm expert and lands a light palm—

His Nascent Soul Power pierces directly through the True Essence shield.

"Bang!"

That person explodes into a mist of blood on the spot.

Chu Tianqi, his eyes splitting with rage, rushes to your side and shoves a warm jade pendant—a keepsake of his great-granddaughter—into your hand: "Remember your promise."

He turns and roars: "This old man didn't have much time left anyway; today, I shall set an example for you all!"

His withered body suddenly shines like the blazing sun: "Body Manifests Myriad Forms, Ninth Form—"

Countless phantoms emerge from the Void Realm, and each version of him is burning his own Lifespan.

"Myriad! Souls! Annihilated!"

The heavens and earth suddenly lose their color.

With the boy at the center, countless mushroom clouds erupt, and the entire sky turns into a sea of fire.

In the intense light, you see—

For the first time, cracks appear in the boy's protective golden light, a strand of his hair is scorched, and he takes half a step back.

The battlefield falls instantly silent.

As the dust and smoke dissipate, not even a corpse of Chu Tianqi remains.

The boy looks at the scorch mark on his sleeve and finally stops smiling: "I underestimated you all..."

Despair surges in your heart—

Even a sacrifice like this couldn't injure a single Nascent Soul Cultivator?