111: Ancient Battlefield

The scene ahead was bizarre.

Above a vast, boundless swamp, space was like a shattered mirror, filled with twisted cracks.

Behind the cracks, it was not the pitch-black Void Realm, but the faint phantom image of an ancient land—broken, desolate, and permeated with the scent of blood and smoke!

That aura of sorrow, unyielding spirit, and intense Battle Intent emanated from this phantom of the land.

At this moment, experts from various forces had already gathered around this area.

Thunder Emperor Palace, Netherworld Hells, Great Brahma Pure Land, Ten Thousand Demon Ancestral Court, Yaoguang Immortal Domain, Limitless Sword Sect... nearly all the well-known ancient imperial clans had dispatched heavyweights, with leaders being at least Elders at the Middle Stage of the Saint King Realm, followed by elite Disciples.

Furthermore, Lin Dao sensed several obscure and profound auras hidden in the shadows, nearly as strong as Grand Elder Zhukun in his prime.

The arrival of Lin Dao and his group immediately attracted many gazes.

Especially Lin Dao; although his aura was restrained, the news of his forceful killing of Zhukun and suppression of Jian Wuya had already spread, and no one dared to underestimate him.

"Fellow Daoist Lin has also come," the Qionghua Saint King of the Yaoguang Immortal Domain spoke first. Her temperament remained cold and aloof, but her tone was relatively peaceful.

"For such a grand event, naturally I had to come and join the fun," Lin Dao replied indifferently, his gaze sweeping over the others.

A burly man from the Thunder Emperor Palace, wrapped in purple lightning snakes, snorted coldly. He was the Thunder Roar Saint King of the Thunder Emperor Palace, at the sixth level of the Saint King Realm, and seemed to have no goodwill towards Lin Dao.

On the side of the Netherworld Hells, a gaunt old man shrouded in thick Death Qi, known as the Nether Bone Saint King, did not even bother to hide the killing intent in his eyes.

The Cihang Saint King of the Great Brahma Pure Land chanted a low Buddhist mantra, his emotions unreadable.

The remaining eight heads of the Nine-Headed Lion Saint King from the Ten Thousand Demon Ancestral Court all stared at Lin Dao with fierce eyes.

The person who came from the Limitless Sword Sect was a stranger carrying a sword, whose aura was more steady and sharp than Jian Wuya's. He was the Punishment Elder of the Limitless Sword Sect, the Sword Aura Saint King, at the seventh level of the Saint King Realm!

Just then, the shattered spatial cracks trembled violently, and their expansion speed suddenly accelerated!

The phantom of the blood-colored land became clearer, and one could even see collapsed giant cities, broken divine weapons, and... countless bones as large as mountains!

There were those of the Human Race, the Yao Race, gods and demons... various races mixed together, recounting the tragedy of that ancient war!

At the same time, a clearer and grander fragment of will surged out like a tide, impacting the minds of all the experts present!

"...Cannot hold it anymore..."

"...For the sake of the race..."

"...Emperor blood stains the firmament..."

"...Dao collapses... Laws perish..."

"...The final spark..."

"...Waiting... for the return..."

The intermittent roars, shouts, and whispers were filled with despair, unwillingness, sacrifice, and a faint glimmer of hope.

"It is a fragment of a main battlefield from the ancient war between gods and demons!" exclaimed an old monster with vast knowledge, "And, looking at the scale, I fear it is one of the core battlefields near the final decisive battle!"

The main battlefield of the ancient war between gods and demons! A place near the final decisive battle!

This news caused everyone's breathing to quicken!

In a battlefield of that level, countless experts had fallen; lost Legacies, divine weapons, and even the remains of Great Emperors might exist!

Its value was simply immeasurable!

Boom!!!

Finally, when the spatial cracks expanded to their limit, with a loud bang, a massive portal spanning tens of thousands of miles fully formed!

Behind the portal, that blood-colored, desolate ancient battlefield was presented before everyone's eyes in reality!

The thick, impenetrable aura of blood and malevolence, mixed with the indestructible Dao Rhyme left behind after the fall of various top-tier experts, formed a terrifying storm, raging at the portal entrance!

"The Opportunity is right before us!"

Someone shouted, and the Cultivators from all sides, who could no longer hold back, rushed frantically toward the huge portal like a swarm of locusts!

Many, the moment they touched the energy storm at the entrance, screamed and were torn to pieces, or had their Divine Souls destroyed by the impact of the chaotic Dao Rhyme!

But this could not stop the madness of those who followed.

Experts of the Saint King Realm took action one after another, protecting their own Disciples, forcibly breaking through the energy storm, and plunging into the portal.

Lin Dao said to the Seven Saint Sons: "Follow me closely."

The Chaos Qi naturally flowed around his body, forming a stable protective shield that enveloped the seven of them. Taking a step forward, he ignored the raging energy storm and stepped directly into the ancient battlefield.

As soon as they entered, a heavy, oppressive pressure filled with the aura of death and destruction rushed toward them.

Underfoot was dark red soil that seemed to have been soaked in blood for countless years, and the air was filled with the smell of rust and decay.

Looking around, broken walls and ruins were visible everywhere, huge bones stretched out like mountain ranges, and in some places, there remained unextinguished flames of Divine Abilities or corrosive energy swamps.

What was even more terrifying was that the space of this battlefield was extremely unstable, occasionally producing invisible spatial cracks or forbidden zones formed by the condensed killing intent of residual experts.

"Be careful, everyone. This place is fraught with crises; Opportunity often coexists with danger," Lin Dao warned, while his Divine Thought spread out like a spider web, cautiously probing the surroundings.

They chose a direction and moved forward.

Along the way, they saw many Cultivators fighting fiercely to compete for a damaged Saint King weapon or Legacy bone fragments scattered beside some powerful skeleton.

Lin Dao ignored these; his goal was clearer.

He sensed that deep in this battlefield, there were several unusually powerful and unique energy fluctuations; those were likely the core legacies of this battlefield.

After traveling about a thousand miles, they came to a relatively open basin.

In the center of the basin stood a half-collapsed black giant tower, its body covered with traces of sword slashes and axe marks, radiating a heart-palpitating power of suppression.

And beneath the giant tower, there actually grew a small tree that was completely blood-red, only three feet tall, yet radiating vast life essence and an inextinguishable Battle Intent!

"That is... the legendary 'War God Blood Tree' born from bathing in Emperor blood?!" Ye Chen's eyes widened, his breathing quickening.

The power of Qi and blood contained in this War God Blood Tree had immeasurable benefits for the improvement of his Ancient Desolate Sacred Body!

However, at this moment, several groups of people had already gathered around the basin.

People from the Thunder Emperor Palace, Netherworld Hells, and Ten Thousand Demon Ancestral Court were all there; they had clearly also discovered this divine tree, and were confronting each other, with swords drawn and bows bent.

The arrival of Lin Dao and his group immediately broke this fragile balance.

"Lin Dao!" The Thunder Roar Saint King's eyes narrowed, "We discovered this place first; do you want to intervene?"

The Nether Bone Saint King said sinisterly: "The War God Blood Tree is good, but you need to have the life to take it."

The Nine-Headed Lion Saint King even let out a threatening low growl.

Lin Dao's gaze swept over the War God Blood Tree, then looked at the half-collapsed black giant tower, a flash of realization appearing in his eyes.

This giant tower seemed to be an object of suppression, and the War God Blood Tree was more like it had grown by absorbing the Qi, blood, and Battle Intent of the suppressed entity.

"This tree has an affinity with my clan," Lin Dao said calmly, not stopping his steps, and continued walking toward the center of the basin.

"Arrogant!"

"Attack!"

The Thunder Roar Saint King, Nether Bone Saint King, and Nine-Headed Lion Saint King were furious to see Lin Dao ignoring them like this, and attacked almost simultaneously!

The Thunder Roar Saint King invoked the divine thunder of the Nine Heavens, transforming it into a ten-thousand-foot-long lightning Dragon that swooped down!

The Nether Bone Saint King offered up a white bone banner, and billions of vengeful souls roared!

The Nine-Headed Lion Saint King's eight heads roared together, the sound waves turning into tangible ripples of destruction!

The three Saint Kings joined forces, their power shaking the heavens and the earth!

Lin Dao's eyes turned cold, and he was about to strike.

Suddenly!

Boom!!!

The half-collapsed black giant tower suddenly shook violently!

On the tower, those traces of sword slashes and axe marks suddenly lit up with blinding blood-red light!

A vast will, far more terrifying than all the Saint Kings present, filled with tyranny, madness, and unwillingness, like a fierce demon that had slept for eternity, suddenly awakened!

"Roar——!!!"

A roar that seemed to come from the Nine Nether Hell erupted from the depths of the tower, shaking the entire basin until it collapsed!

The sound wave formed by the roar directly dispersed the joint attack of the three Saint Kings, and even shook them until their Qi and blood churned, causing them to retreat repeatedly!

"Not good! There is something suppressed under this tower!" The Cihang Saint King's expression changed drastically.

From the cracks in the black giant tower, thick, ink-like Devilish Qi surged out, and a giant claw covered in black scales, as large as a mountain, suddenly reached out from the bottom of the tower, fiercely grabbing at the nearest Ten Thousand Demon Ancestral Court team!

"Save me!" A Yao Race Saint King screamed in terror, but was instantly crushed by the giant claw, and even his Divine Soul was devoured by the Devilish Qi!

The owner of the giant claw seemed to be an ancient great demon suppressed here!

Its strength likely already surpassed the Saint King Realm and reached the Great Saint Realm!

Although it had been suppressed for eternity and had less than one percent of its power left, its might was still something that ordinary Saint Kings could not withstand!

The sudden change caused everyone's expressions to change drastically!

And the War God Blood Tree, upon feeling this Devilish Qi and the roar of the great demon, suddenly shone brightly, as if it had resonated with it in some way!

Lin Dao's gaze narrowed, and he instantly understood.

This War God Blood Tree, I fear, did not merely bathe in Emperor blood; it was more likely that it had absorbed the Qi, blood, and Battle Intent of this suppressed ancient great demon!

It was both an Opportunity and potentially the key to unlocking the Seal!