Chapter 23: Fierce Battle

With a thunderous crash, the Great Sun Manifestation collided with the Blade Shadow Manifestation. In the end, the Great Sun prevailed, erasing its opponent. This was astonishing—Ji Heng, a leading figure among the younger generation of the Hengjiu Sect, was actually no match for the cold-faced youth in purple. As Ji Heng watched the Great Sun Manifestation press down upon him, he narrowly escaped in a flash of radiant light, dodging at the very last moment.

“Who are you? Clearly, you are no nameless wanderer,” Ji Heng asked.

“Shi Sansheng, Holy Son of the Trifold Life Sect. Remember the name of your killer,” Shi Sansheng replied icily.

As he spoke, Shi Sansheng’s manifestation shifted once again, becoming even more substantial. Within the blazing sun, the faint image of an ancient Golden Crow appeared.

“True Sun Illuminates the Nine Heavens.”

Ji Heng could not help but exclaim. “True Sun Illuminates the Nine Heavens” was a manifestation from antiquity, rumored since ancient times. To achieve it was no easy feat; one required first the appropriate constitution—the Supreme Yang Body—and then, during the Dust-Refining Realm, had to cultivate the corresponding arts and methods before it could take shape in the Manifestation Realm.

The Dust-Refining Realm was no simple stage—it was the foundation of cultivation. Achievement in the Manifestation Realm depended on one’s accomplishments in the Dust-Refining Realm. If this stage were not so crucial, the ancient great ones would not have created special castes devoted solely to its mastery. Moreover, the Dust-Refining Realm was closely tied to what lay beyond the Manifestation Realm.

The True Sun Manifestation bore down on Ji Heng, compressing space until it seemed frozen. Ji Heng knew he had no choice but to meet this blow head-on; evasion was impossible.

At that moment, the manifestation behind Ji Heng grew hazy, as if the primordial chaos had just parted. In the midst of that ethereal form, a pitch-black Heavenly Blade could be glimpsed.

“Creation Conceals the Heavenly Blade.”

This manifestation, too, was extraordinary, able to contend with the True Sun Manifestation. To cultivate it, one needed the Tyrant God Body—a constitution of supreme rarity, famed since before the Desolate Age. In those times, terrifying figures had risen to prominence by virtue of this very body.

The Heavenly Blade behind Ji Heng unleashed a dazzling beam, as if to cleave the heavens and open the earth, forging a new world. With no other recourse, Ji Heng used the ultimate technique his manifestation could muster. The blade’s brilliance struck the True Sun Manifestation, and a deafening sound resounded.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The enormous clash thundered, shaking the heavens. In the end, Ji Heng’s Creation Conceals the Heavenly Blade gained the upper hand, wearing down the True Sun Manifestation until it vanished. Yet the blade’s power was nearly spent as well.

While the people of the Hengjiu Sect and the Trifold Life Sect battled, Li Ruoyu and Jing Hong had already slipped close to the Ice Valley. The thunderous echoes from within reached their ears as they crept closer. Li Ruoyu peered into the valley, discovering the two sects locked in fierce combat. Across the icy surface, many from both sides had already fallen.

Jing Hong and Li Ruoyu exchanged glances, each understanding the other’s thoughts—they held their ground. Though Jing Hong often bickered with Li Ruoyu, two months of traveling together had forged a subtle rapport. Now, with the Trifold Life Sect’s numbers far exceeding those of the Hengjiu Sect, any attempt at rescue would likely spell their own doom.

Within the valley, it was not only the manifestations that clashed. Shi Sansheng and Ji Heng were locked in physical combat as well. Their unique constitutions bestowed upon them formidable bodies; at the Manifestation Realm, aside from rare treasures, the true measure of strength lay in one’s manifestation and physical form. The power of the body could be a matter of life and death. This was why those with rare constitutions were always prioritized for cultivation by their sects—not only did they outstrip ordinary cultivators at the Manifestation Realm, but as their cultivation advanced, the gap only widened. Such was the reason Ling Jiuyue had been so astonished upon discovering Wang Bo’s Gluttonous Body.

Gradually, the Hengjiu Sect’s numbers began to dwindle—from more than twenty to ten, then just five. The Trifold Life Sect, too, had lost over a dozen, but still had more than fifty remaining. The difference was daunting; unless one were a true prodigy or monster, there was little hope of turning the tide.

Originally, Li Ruoyu planned to flee with Jing Hong at this point, but suddenly spotted several new groups arriving outside the Ice Valley. More than twenty from the Gate of Lifelessness, and among them, Hengjiu Sect disciples Ling Wuchang, Feng Ruoxian, Mang Gu, as well as people from the Dream Sect, Corpse Sect, even the Grand Unity Sect, Sword Sect, Heavenly Clothes Gate, Ancient Sect, Putuo Monastery, the Yan Kingdom’s royal family, the Demon Sect, and the Meng family of the Nether Demon Valley—all were converging upon the scene.

Among the newcomers, Li Ruoyu spotted Wang Bo and immediately made his way toward him.

“Fatty, it’s me!” Li Ruoyu’s approach startled Wang Bo.

Wang Bo had already reached the Manifestation Realm. “Why have so many people come?” Li Ruoyu asked.

“The southern part of Demonfall Valley has been picked clean after a year of fighting, so most have come to this unknown region. Just now, a great commotion erupted here, drawing everyone over,” Wang Bo explained.

Wang Bo then caught sight of Jing Hong at Li Ruoyu’s side.

“How did you end up together with Fairy Jing? Don’t tell me you two have something going on?” Wang Bo teased, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Don’t be ridiculous! What’s going on in your head all day?” Li Ruoyu glared at him in exasperation.

At that moment, Jing Hong wrapped her arm around Li Ruoyu’s neck, her breath fragrant against his ear as she whispered, “Heartless man, why are you so cold? You’ve broken my heart.”

“See, caught you in the act!” Wang Bo exclaimed in feigned astonishment.

Li Ruoyu, desperate to escape Jing Hong’s grasp but unable to break free without force, looked at Wang Bo with a face full of despair. “What a disaster!”

“Are you sure nothing’s going on?” Wang Bo eyed him suspiciously.

Quick to seize the moment, Wang Bo called out, “Greetings, sister-in-law!” Even the usually composed Li Ruoyu was nearly driven to cough up blood by his antics, utterly helpless before the two of them.

“Ling Wuchang, Feng Ruoxian, Mang Gu—quick, join me! Let’s slay the Holy Son of the Trifold Life Sect!” Ji Heng, noticing his fellows’ arrival, called out to them.

Ling Wuchang, an exceptional figure, brandished the broken sword at his back—orderly divine chains radiating from it—as he charged at Shi Sansheng. Feng Ruoxian, Mang Gu, and the others from the Hengjiu Sect also joined the fray against the Trifold Life Sect.

“Broken Sword Shatters the Firmament!”

Ling Wuchang, too, had entered the early Manifestation Realm, and summoned his own manifestation to challenge Shi Sansheng’s True Sun Manifestation. With the arrival of the Hengjiu Sect reinforcements, the tide of the battle began to turn.

Forced into a corner, Shi Sansheng tossed out a temptation none could resist: “Ji Heng possesses the Purest Cold Ice Marrow!” He hoped to draw the onlookers into the conflict.

Upon hearing this, the crowd moved as one, turning their attacks on Ji Heng and the Hengjiu Sect.

“The Purest Cold Ice Marrow is not with me! It lies beneath the ice!” Seeing the situation turn dire, Ji Heng had no choice but to reveal the location of the treasure.

But whether true or false, it made no difference—Trifold Life Sect, Grand Unity Sect, Sword Sect, Heavenly Clothes Gate, Ancient Sect, Putuo Monastery, the Yan royal family, Demon Sect, Meng family of Nether Demon Valley—all pressed their attack without hesitation. So long as there was a reason to eliminate a rival, no one cared if it was true. If Ji Heng lied, he must have the ice marrow; if he spoke the truth, after killing the Hengjiu Sect disciples, the others could still search beneath the ice. The onslaught became even more frenzied, intent on wiping out the Hengjiu Sect in a single stroke.

Li Ruoyu, Wang Bo, and Jing Hong each found themselves beset by three opponents. Wang Bo was especially fierce—his manifestation instantly slew all three attackers, a manifestation as extraordinary as a black hole.

“Devouring Starfield.”

This manifestation was unique to the Gluttonous Body, radiating waves of terrifying energy. The advantages of the Gluttonous Body were now clear. Li Ruoyu, a heartbeat behind Wang Bo, killed his three attackers from the Sword Sect, all at the Manifestation Realm. Then, together, he and Wang Bo dispatched those besieging Jing Hong, and Li Ruoyu prepared to break through the encirclement.

“Fatty, break out to the north—there are fewer people there,” Li Ruoyu said to Wang Bo.

Fighting as they retreated, Li Ruoyu, Wang Bo, and Jing Hong cut down more than twenty foes along the way. Just as Li Ruoyu was about to escape the battlefield, he felt a stirring in his mind from the World-Ending Pearl within his storage ring. He had obtained this pearl from the Ruins beyond the Hengjiu Sect, a relic of the Demon Daozi. When he’d tried to claim it with blood, it had shown no reaction, regardless of the method. He’d stored it away and forgotten about it—until now, when it suddenly responded so strongly.

“I must see what’s causing this,” Li Ruoyu thought, scanning the surroundings. He soon spotted an icy tunnel leading beneath the frozen surface—the very passage Ji Heng had previously carved.

“Could it be…?”

“Wang Bo, Jing Hong, go on ahead—I’ll catch up with you later,” Li Ruoyu sent a message to his companions, then darted into the tunnel.

Descending swiftly, Li Ruoyu first passed through layers of millennium-old ice, then through ten-thousand-year-old glacial sheets.

“The Purest Cold Ice Marrow…”

Li Ruoyu’s heart skipped a beat. Before him lay a mass of Purest Cold Ice Marrow, four yards across. He quickly retrieved his Great Soul Banner and cut off the chunk, storing it in the Sumeru Ring of the Great Evil Lord.

He had acquired this ring together with the Demon Daozi’s Sumeru Ring; its space was far larger, about forty square meters. Upon discovering it, Li Ruoyu had claimed it for himself, planning for contingencies. Now, that foresight had proven invaluable.

So it seemed, he thought to himself.