In the deep reaches of the vast northwest desert.
Towering sandstorms, connecting heaven and earth with terrifying might, rampaged through this desolate wasteland. The colors of these sandstorms were all a heart-palpitating deep black, booming thunderously as if ancient gods and demons were roaring and howling in fury.
The tempests here were exceedingly dreadful not only for ordinary beings but also possessed a killing force that cultivators couldn’t resist. The pitch-black sandstorms contained an incredibly dense amount of earth’s evil and turbid energy. A re wisp, faint in its intensity, could cause the physical body of an Initiate Realm cultivator to decay and his soul to degenerate, while the energy within the sandstorms surged like raging tides.
Let alone those in the Initiate or Bloodstain realms, even a Dao Expert swept up by the storms would have their physical body corrupted and their soul ruined if they could not escape in ti, slowly decaying into a withering corpse.
Therefore, the depths of this northwest wilderness and the surrounding area of nearly ten thousand miles remained a forbidden land devoid of human presence, staunchly avoided by all fifty-five tribes.
Yet today, this fearso land of death welcod trails of Escape Light, as aggressive as flying rainbows, with robust and unrivaled auras.
The Valley of Deceased Gods had opened!
Great cultivators at the Blood-Stained Peak from all over Great Xuan’s Twelve Provinces, and even from Shangjing and the entire region of Jiangnan, flocked here with the bones of divine beings, ready to enter this Divine Marvel.
After all, the Valley of Deceased Gods was open for only one year. To enter a day early was to gain an extra day within. Almost all of those who ca for this quest were venerable cultivators whose lifespans were nearing their end; ti was exceedingly precious to them, and they wouldn’t want to waste even a single day.
"Quite a few people have co," Qi Xiu thought, standing quietly in an inconspicuous corner, in contrast to those cultivators who loudly traversed the sky on their Escape Light, practically announcing their peak cultivations for all to see. Clouds of light swirled around him, concealing his figure so thoroughly that even a Dao Expert would struggle to perceive his presence.
His gaze swept slowly across the hanging Escape Lights in the sky, Qi Xiu’s fingers subtly moved as he counted.
"Seventeen."
Having morized the aura of these cultivators in plain sight, Qi Xiu shifted his gaze, observing his surroundings. The cultivators coming to the Valley of Deceased Gods were definitely not limited to these seventeen.
Entering the Valley of Deceased Gods was a privilege only Primordial Spirit Bosses possessed, excluding the quotas controlled by the Great Profound Royal Family. With the Twelve Great Provinces, along with the powerful families and sects from Jiangnan and Shangjing, the number of Primordial Spirit True Honors in Great Xuan should be around eighty or so.
The Valley of Deceased Gods was treacherous, and not everyone was willing to risk their lives to co here. But even if so quotas were forfeited, there would be more than rely these seventeen people.
With age cos wisdom, and most of the Bloodstain cultivators who made it here had lived for hundreds of years, sly and experienced. Aside from the seventeen show-offs above, the rest were likely observing in secret.
Returning his gaze, Qi Xiu took out a divine finger bone from the Golden Cry Jade Beads. The finger bone was jade-green with tiny cracks spanning its surface. Countless years had passed, yet one could still sense a dense and pure aura of Cangmu and nature emanating from it. Clearly, the original owner of this finger bone was a divine being proficient in the natural Dao.
While Qi Xiu was still handling the divine bone, the sandstorm in front of him suddenly burst open. A heaven-reaching surge of earth erupted, and a ten-colored pulse beam, like a supernova explosion, pierced through the layers of the void, striking the Sky Do above. In an instant, it seed as if stars had detonated, twisting and spreading, blooming with billions of divine light halos, leveling everything in heaven and on earth.
Swept up by this overwhelmingly powerful airwave, the gathered great cultivators wore grave expressions, casting spells in unison to stabilize their forms and prevent being blown away.
How powerful! The re might of the Valley of Deceased Gods opening could obliterate ordinary Bloodstain cultivators nurous tis over. Without the cultivation of the Blood-Stained Peak, one would likely not even be able to enter the gates of the Valley of Deceased Gods.
The dazzling pillar of light gradually extinguished, and beneath the turbulent, evaporating halo, a huge whirlpool over a hundred kiloters in diater, continuously sinking, slowly erged.
"The Valley of Deceased Gods is open, fellow Daoists, hurry and charge in!" a brawny man with flaming red hair and beard, carrying an enormous gourd, shouted. He exploded into layers of firelight on the spot, transforming into a streak of blazing light as he plunged headfirst into the whirlpool.
Seeing the bearded man taking the lead, the remaining people, not wanting to fall behind, manipulated their spells, transford into streaks of Escape Light, and, holding divine bones, surged toward the whirlpool leading to the Valley of Deceased Gods.
Clutching the divine finger bone in his palm, Qi Xiu stepped forward, and rising clouds of mist carried him straight towards the whirlpool.
As soon as he entered the whirlpool, he was surrounded by a darkness so total it was as if he had fallen into a bottomless abyss. A chilling, bone-piercing atmosphere, like needles, enveloped him, accompanied by an increasingly oppressive feeling of being dragged down by invisible hands.
The energy of earth’s evil and turbidity?
Sensing the oddity around him, Qi Xiu’s eyes flickered. With a turn of his Hunyuan Apertures within, he instantly absorbed the earth’s evil and turbid energy clinging to him. At this mont, the divine finger bone in his hand shone again, pointing him in a direction within this endless abyss.
In less than half an hour, the great cultivators waiting outside had all surged into the massive whirlpool that seed capable of engulfing all things.
「re days later,」
THUD.
Ragged, soiled straw sandals stepped onto the dusty yellow soil as thick, surging clouds of demon mist darkened a vast expanse of the Sky Do. Over a hundred Great Demons erged slowly from a bizarre Magic Artifact, their eyes greedily fixed on the enormous whirlpool ahead.
"Is this... the Valley of Deceased Gods?" Clasping a bone staff adorned with seven skulls, an expressionless old man with a gaunt face and ash-white skin stared intently at the vortex in front of him, baring a mouthful of pitch-black teeth.
"Previously, the Human Race set a trap in Dianchuan and massacred so many of our disciples. Today, in this Valley of Deceased Gods, we’ll let them experience the sa pain," a Great Demon, resembling a Buddha but with a face full of loathing and a body overgrown with bloody flesh, slowly opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs still hanging with many strands of flesh.
"Don’t act recklessly. Mr. Li has already spoken, ordering us to follow the plan. Once the mission is complete, you may do as you please. But if you ruin Mr. Li’s plan, I fear not a single mber of your entire clan might be spared," the Bone Staff Elder spoke up, perceiving the murderous intent in the Blood-flesh Demon’s words. They had not co here rely for revenge. The incredibly precious Nine Heavens Ten Earths Shuttle could not even be made by a Primordial Spirit True Honor. If they truly failed this ti, they might not even have the chance to die. Because even if they were to die, that gentleman could retrieve them from the river of ti and continue to tornt them. They had seen such things with their own eyes.
"I understand. I was just talking big. I know what’s important and what’s not," the Blood-flesh Demon said, though he frowned slightly at the Bone Staff Elder’s preachy tone. If it weren’t for these critical tis, I’d flay this old thing alive and make a fine drum from his skin!
"That’s for the best." Hearing the coldness in the Blood-flesh Demon’s words, the Bone Staff Elder chuckled heartily, while the seven skulls on his staff all swiveled simultaneously to look towards the Blood-flesh Demon.
"The Shuttle brought us here, but it’s heavily burdened. I’m afraid we’ll need to wait a little while longer to enter the Valley of Deceased Gods. In the anti, I’d ask everyone to consu this pill."
Slowly turning around, the Bone Staff Elder took out a pouch filled with thumb-sized pills that glead with a glassy luster and emitted an unusual fragrance.
"What are these?"
"Soul Beckoning Elixirs. If you find yourselves outmatched by those Human Cultivators, you must choose to end your own lives. As you die, the Soul Beckoning Elixir will activate, preserving your souls while affixing a mark on those Human Cultivators. This mark will attract God’s Loathful Remnants, and at that point, those Human Cultivators will undoubtedly et their demise."
Hearing the effects of the Soul Beckoning Elixir, all the Demonic Evil Cultivators let out cold laughs. Although they had been inford that their role was to be a suicide squad, to so blatantly exchange their lives for those of the Human Cultivators still left them feeling sowhat dissatisfied. However, discontent as they were, the situation had reached a point where they could not refuse.
One by one, the Demonic Evil Cultivators stepped forward, took a Soul Beckoning Elixir from the pouch, and swallowed it.
As the number of Soul Beckoning Elixirs in the pouch dwindled, the Bone Staff Elder took one out and handed it to the Blood-flesh Demon next to him.
"No need for your false courtesy," the Blood-flesh Demon grunted, ignoring the Soul Beckoning Elixir offered by the Bone Staff Elder. He stepped forward, took an elixir from the pouch himself, and swallowed it.
Having his kindness crudely rejected, the Bone Staff Elder did not take offense. He chuckled, swallowed the elixir in his hand, and stored the pouch away.
What followed was a wait for the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Shuttle to recover, and then they could enter the Valley of Deceased Gods.
BOOM!
A massive fist, looming like a majestic mountain, thundered down violently. Qi Xiu stepped forward, a sleeve flickered, and he t it head-on with a forceful palm.
RUMBLE—
The earth trembled, the ground suddenly sank downwards, and a web of cracks spread rapidly, covering nearly a hundred miles in an instant.
Mu Kui, standing over a thousand feet tall, covered in flowers, grass, and vines, exuding an aura as mighty as a mountain, and emitting a domineering air in every move, collapsed backwards.
With a mighty crash accompanied by wild trembling, Qi Xiu withdrew his right hand, his two fingers forming a sword technique.
"Unsheathe!"
The Primordial Sword Gourd sang sharply as a roaring, rainbow-like Primordial Sword Mang burst forth, instantly forming a gigantic sword, a thousand feet long, in the void!
"Slash!"
Without hesitation, he swung the sword. The Primordial Sword Mang ferociously cut down, piercing Mu Kui’s head with a wet CRUNCH.
"AOW!!!"
The deafening scream gradually faded as Mu Kui’s body shrank wildly under the devouring Primordial Sword Mang. Its strength, not inferior to that of the Blood-Stained Peak, was completely absorbed.
When Mu Kui’s entire body was drained by the Primordial Sword Mang, his massive corpse suddenly turned to smoke and vanished. However, a streak of pure and rich erald light flew like a swallow returning to its nest directly into Qi Xiu’s hand.
Cradling the halo of light in his palm, Qi Xiu showed a surprised look.
So that was it. No wonder the various great Sect Aristocracies sent their cultivators who couldn’t break through to this place. In the Valley of Deceased Gods, one could so easily enhance their Dao comprehension. With such a redy, breaking through to the Dao Body Realm was no cause for concern!
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