Deterrence

Chapter 279 Deterrence
"Ok?"

Gu Xianyi's secret technique was not only extremely fast, but the energy transformation process also made his aura disappear silently from everyone's perception.

So much so that Li Xian overlooked the fact that there was actually a Heavenly Lord lurking nearby, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

"As expected of the third strongest person on the Dao Realm Ranking, he escaped without even me noticing. How many experts are there in the world?"

The next moment, his body twisted, and the Great Chaos Technique, drawing upon the power of the Chaos Dao Body, crashed down, disintegrating all the magical power that Sheng Yang had condensed. The Primordial Floating Dawn True Body and the Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi followed suit, striking Sheng Yang's Nine Heavens Dharma Body once again.

Unable to muster any strength to resist, Sheng Yang had no choice but to activate the formation again, diverting most of the power of the Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi to another True Lord.

"Ancient Immortal One!"

An barely suppressed resentment flashed in his eyes.

Many more regretted not heeding the advice of this elder of the immortal sect.

Knowing full well that Zhang Taiyuan's death was related to Li Xian, he refused to believe that Li Xian had the strength to kill him. Instead, he unwillingly delivered himself to Li Xian's doorstep, wanting to take revenge.

Looking back now, how ridiculous this trip and this action seem?

The Nine Heavens Holy Land's powerful foundation, far surpassing that of the other major immortal sects, had led them to believe that everyone outside, except for Tianyuan Daoist, should be lambs to the slaughter under their blades. They never expected that since Tianyuan Daoist could emerge from the Immortal Realm and overwhelm the Nine Heavens Holy Land, why couldn't another peerless figure emerge from the Dao Realm to defeat all the strongmen of the Nine Heavens Holy Land?
"Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival; arrogance is..."

"Boom!"

Sheng Yang's Nine Heavens Dharma Body clashed with yet another Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi. The vast sword light, energy, and chaotic energy flowed wildly in all directions, only to be devoured by Li Xian's Great Devouring Technique, nourishing itself and restoring its magical power.

Seeing that three top True Monarchs had fallen on his side, while Li Xian's condition remained unaffected, this Heavenly Monarch of the Nine Heavens Holy Land finally gave up all hope.

At this moment, he could no longer use the self-deceptive methods he had used at the beginning to boost morale and claim that they still had hope of defeating Li Xian.

"Escape! Scatter and escape! We must bring back the message left by Senior Brother Zhang before he died!"

He suddenly unleashed his Nine Heavens Dharma Body and was the first to head towards the horizon at top speed.

The other top True Monarchs had long been intimidated by the overwhelming power Li Xian displayed, which offered no hope whatsoever. If Sheng Yang hadn't used an array to unite their forces, they would have scattered and fled long ago.

As soon as the Sheng Yang Formation loosened, everyone unleashed their secret techniques at top speed and fled frantically in all directions.

however……

"Since we're already here, why are we leaving?"

Behind Li Xian, the Zixiao Dao Palace, which had returned to his hands and was floating in the direction of the Immortal Realm Gate, was slowly raised.

As a visible ripple spread from this treasure, the space within a radius of hundreds of miles froze as if a pause button had been pressed, leaving no further ripples.

Oh, Sheng Yang, who possesses the combat power of a Heavenly Monarch, is struggling to break free from this spatial suppression by relying on that superior-grade Dao artifact-level Dao flag and activating its Dao rhyme.

but……

too slow.

Even though he was a Heavenly Lord, he couldn't possibly break through the suppression of the Purple Cloud Palace in less than a breath or two.

Li Xian clearly wouldn't give him even a breath or two.

As he propelled his body forward, supporting the Primordial Chaos True Body, a Great Chaos Technique swept over Sheng Yang's body first, disintegrating the spell he had condensed inch by inch.

Immediately afterwards, a streak of dark golden light...

Do not!
It's not a flowing light!

It's a fine sword!
A top-grade Dao artifact-level sword!
To prevent Sheng Yang from drawing out the Daoist essence from that top-grade banner artifact before his death and retaliating, thus needlessly losing a top-grade Dao artifact that was practically his, he directly summoned the Flowing Void Sword.

Furthermore, as he unleashed the Flowing Void Sword, a black sun appeared behind him. The black sun collapsed, causing a terrifying spatial distortion, as if it wanted to pull Sheng Yang's mind into it.

Besides his Nine Heavens Dharma Body, Sheng Yang's greatest skill lay in mental techniques, so he quickly broke free from the Candlelight Sword Intent, but...

What he thought would be quick actually took far longer than he imagined, due to the distorted time created by the interplay of candlelight and sword intent.

After he had completely withstood Li Xian's sword intent and divine power, the Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi carried by the Flowing Void Sword had already reached him.

"Stop them!"

Facing the sword light that was almost within reach, Sheng Yang let out a long roar and unleashed all his skills.

but……

He couldn't even withstand the Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi unleashed by the Hunyuan Fuli True Body, so how could he possibly withstand the supreme sword qi shot out after unleashing the Liuxu Sword?

"Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!"

Sword energy crisscrossed.

Sheng Yang, the Heavenly Lord, had his entire body torn apart inch by inch by the Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi, until he was reduced to ashes.

The terrifying scene caused the expressions of Yuan Feijue and the others from the Divine Firmament Sect to change drastically.

"go!"

He dared not hesitate any longer and led the Shenxiao Sect members to escape at top speed.

Although they belong to two different sects from the Nine Heavens Holy Land, the fact that the Divine Firmament Sect has submitted to the Nine Heavens Holy Land is almost an open secret. He couldn't guarantee that after Li Xian killed Sheng Yang and the others, he wouldn't drag them into it and deal with them as well.

The gentleman does not stand under the wall.

Getting away from Li Xian, this newly promoted Dao Realm Supreme Expert, as soon as possible is clearly the wisest choice.

Seeing Yuan Feijue and the others from the Shenxiao Sect leave, Yi Yuanshi, Lueying, and the others hesitated for a moment but did not stop them.

On the one hand, the Shenxiao Sect did not break off relations with the Daluo Immortal Sect.

on the other hand……

In the Immortal Realm, besides the nine major Immortal Sects, there are also six major Demonic Sects, the Silent Ancient Temple, the Twilight Divine Court, and experts from the Demon Race.

These are the true threats to the human race and the nine great immortal sects.

Seeing the Shenxiao Sect members leave, other sects and forces in the surrounding area also dared not linger and turned to leave.

As they departed, everyone shared a common understanding.

"go!"

"When I heard Zhang Taiyuan's dying message, I already foresaw that things were about to change, but I never expected... it would actually be true!"

"Li Xian...it's truly unbelievable! He's only been cultivating for a little over thirty years, yet he's already become so powerful! How fortunate the Great Luo Immortal Sect is to have unearthed such a dazzling prodigy!"

"Sheng Yang set up an array, assembling a lineup that was said to be able to spar with Zhang Taiyuan, but it was utterly crushed by Li Xian... Li Xian has replaced Zhang Taiyuan and become the new number one in the Dao Realm, invincible in the Dao Realm!"

"In this battle of the Immortal Realm, Li Xian will likely unilaterally seize control of the Immortal Sect. We can only scavenge the remains of the scattered immortals that he couldn't intercept, and find some scraps from them..."

Many of the True Lords departed one after another.

And Mr. Li...

Relying on the Purple Cloud Palace's methods of suppressing the void, they also swiftly and decisively killed the remaining True Monarchs one by one.

The fall of each top True Monarch caused Lu Baishan, Yuan Jie, and others to shudder.

after all……

That's a top-tier True Lord.

They all claimed to possess the strength of top-tier True Monarchs, but they knew perfectly well what was going on in their hearts.

At best, they can only entangle the top-tier True Lords.

A life-or-death struggle?

They are definitely the ones who will die.

Moreover...

Even the most powerful True Monarchs were no match for Li Xian; they were as easy as cutting melons and vegetables. If it were them, even if ten or eight of them rushed at him, they probably wouldn't be able to stop Li Xian's few Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi.

At this point, everyone in the Great Luo Immortal Sect was completely convinced of Li Xian's abilities.

"The quality of True Monarchs and Heavenly Monarchs in this Immortal Realm War is truly unprecedented."

The Shadow Sword Immortal sighed, "In the previous two sessions, the Heavenly Monarchs were basically the epitome of peak strength and invincibility, and there were only a handful of them. But this time... not only are there at least two palms' worth of suspected Heavenly Monarchs, but several have already fallen on the very first day the Immortal Realm opened..."

Yi Yuanshi glanced at Li Xian and nodded with a smile.

At that moment, a powerful tremor suddenly emanated from the direction of the gate to the immortal realm.

"This is……"

"Watch out, the void ripples are coming!"

"How could it be so fast?! Less than two hours later, the void ripples have returned? At this rate, it must happen seven or eight times a day!"

Amidst gasps of surprise, the gate to the celestial realm, so close yet seemingly so far away, suddenly merged with their own celestial domain, becoming one with it.

In that extremely short time of merging, a powerful ripple, strong enough to sweep away everything, burst forth from the depths of the gate to the immortal realm, like a nuclear shockwave.

Not to mention Yi Yuanshi, Lueying, Lu Baishan, Yuanjie and others, even Li Xian was involuntarily thrown away by this terrifying shock and impact.

However, while being thrown away, Li Xian had already pushed the Purple Cloud Dao Palace to its limit, using the power of this supreme treasure to firmly nail himself to the gate of the Immortal Realm like a nail.

As for the others...

The spatial ripples had the effect of traversing the void, and soon the shadows that were blown away could no longer be seen.

This ripple and impact lasted for a moment, and then a beam of celestial light suddenly burst forth from the gate to the celestial realm.

Li Xian suddenly looked up, his divine sense bursting forth. He stared intently at the celestial light, even following the light as the gate to the celestial realm and the celestial domain met, looking into the depths of this majestic gate.

Inside the gate to the celestial realm is a road.

A starry road filled with endless starlight, seemingly containing a vast universe.

One can vaguely see that along that star path, there lie countless enormous corpses.

Nobody knows how many.

Even if Li Xian had developed his divine sense, he couldn't possibly count how many corpses of wandering immortals were there in a single glance.

Ten thousand? Thirty thousand? One hundred thousand? Three hundred thousand? Or one million!?
Those powerful enough to be revered as Supreme Elders by the Nine Great Immortal Sects, and regarded as pillars of stability by the weaker sects among the Four Great Immortal Dynasties and even the Six Great Demonic Sects, were everywhere there.

These wandering immortals are mostly native cultivators of the True Immortal Great World, but the majority are wandering immortals from outside the True Immortal Great World who invade during each great calamity of the era.

They forged the path to ascension with their flesh and blood, and sought that sliver of opportunity to become immortals with their souls.

Over countless years, the accumulation of countless corpses has created the mountain of bones along the path to ascension to the Immortal Realm.

Each time the Immortal Realm opens, only a very small number of people can actually break through the gates. For example, the corpse of a rogue immortal that Li Xian discovered not long ago, although human, did not belong to any force in the True Immortal Great World, and judging from its clothing and attire, it could be traced back hundreds of thousands of years.

While lost in thought, Li Xian's speed was by no means slow.

His figure soared through the air, darting swiftly through the ripples of the void, employing techniques to solidify the void.

Before long, they had frozen the corpse of that wandering immortal and captured it.

However, this was not the only scattered immortal corpse that rushed out of the gate to the immortal realm at the same time.

As he captured this corpse, another corpse was swept away and drifted into the distance.

Before Li Xian could give chase, the third corpse of a wandering immortal was quickly ejected from within.

To avoid neglecting one thing for another, he turned and intercepted the third corpse of a wandering immortal.

"Buzz!"

The tremors at the gates to the celestial realm continue.

In a very short time, a total of seven corpses of wandering immortals were thrown out.

Three of these immortal corpses were intercepted by Li Xian, who was blocking the entrance, but the other four were thrown in all directions at great speed along with the ripples in the void.

"Six times last time, and this time there are seven corpses?"

Li was somewhat surprised.

Before entering the Immortal Realm, they had read the information about it. Each time the Immortal Realm opened, the number of corpses of scattered immortals rushing out of it was generally between two hundred and four hundred.

The two times he has experienced so far are six bodies and seven bodies respectively.

Each time the Immortal Realm opens, the resulting ripples in the void often last for about a hundred times. If this trend continues, the final number of scattered immortal corpses will likely exceed six hundred.

"The faster the ripples in the void, the stronger the impact coming from inside the gate to the immortal realm. It is reasonable that the number of scattered immortal corpses that eventually rushed out would increase."

He quickly turned his gaze to the three corpses he had intercepted.

The first one...

It was not human, but a bull demon.

"Celestial Demons... they are similar to human body cultivators, constantly refining themselves and incorporating various rare and precious materials, making themselves the most valuable treasures. Each Celestial Demon often represents hundreds of billions, or even trillions, of profits..."

Unfortunately, the corpse of this celestial demon in front of us has probably been dead for hundreds of thousands of years. Its physical vitality has almost completely disappeared. After some refining, it would be good if we could get a hundred billion in the end.

He quickly turned his gaze to the second corpse.

This corpse was also that of a powerful immortal.

After examining him for a moment, a ribbon with a faint Daoist aura quickly appeared in his hand.

He sensed it briefly and his eyes lit up: "A superior Dao artifact of the Flowing Light Dao? Its Dao essence is almost dried up. If it had been born a thousand years later, its internal Dao essence would have been completely destroyed. But now, as long as we are willing to invest in the nourishment of the Great Dao Profound Crystal, it can be restored in a few years."

The Great Dao Mystic Crystal is the primary currency used by powerful beings in the Immortal Realm for bartering.

Immortal beings, through their comprehension of the Great Dao, collect Dao essence, encapsulate it with special materials, and transform it into Xuanjing (mysterious crystals) for daily transactions.

These Dao Crystals can be used to assist cultivators in comprehending the Great Dao, and can also be used to repair Dao artifacts and immortal artifacts, restoring the Dao essence consumed within them.

One Dao Xuanjing is equivalent to one hundred million taels of red gold.

After carefully putting away the artifact, Li Xian turned to the third corpse.

The corpse clearly had a Dao artifact armor on it, but the armor was pierced by some kind of force, and the body also died under this force.

Li Xian sensed it briefly...

"The Great Path of Life!"

It turned out that life had been erased by the Great Dao of Life.

The Daoist aura on the artifact was also erased.

The person who made the move is definitely a top-tier figure among the wandering immortals.

It is estimated that he was too old to become a true immortal, and unwilling to merge with the Dao with his body, so he could only place his hopes on the gate of the immortal realm and ascend to the immortal realm.

The immortal realm is filled with pure yang immortal energy, which can greatly extend the lifespan of wandering immortals through refining it.

"The Dao artifact armor is completely damaged and can only be used to recycle materials. The storage ring contains... a lot of miscellaneous items, but almost nothing of value... Of course, it's only not considered valuable compared to a loose immortal. These miscellaneous items combined are worth hundreds of billions."

Li Xianqing took stock of the items.

It's not surprising that there weren't any good items in the storage ring.

"Anyone who aspires to ascension will either leave their possessions to their descendants or exchange as many of their resources as possible for recovery pills to ensure they can safely traverse the path to ascension... and recovery pills... were already used at the gates of the immortal realm."

As Li Xian spoke, he took out some jade slips.

Storage rings contain few treasures, but some jade slips record many ingenious techniques passed down through generations.

Although these inherited techniques may not be comparable to the many immortal techniques collected within the Great Luo Immortal Sect, but...

Stones from other hills, can learn.

The jade stone in Mr. Li's hand tells the story of a human immortal's journey from the Great World of Light.

This human immortal, along with thirty-five other immortals from the Great World of Light who had no hope of attaining the Dao, proving the Dao, or being reincarnated, were collectively known as the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals Immortals. Fifteen thousand years ago, when the gates of the Immortal Realm opened, they rushed to the Great World of True Immortals to participate in this epochal battle for the chance to ascend.

“He was a participant in the Great Calamity of the previous 150,000 years ago. No wonder his superior Dao artifact, the Dazzling Gauze, still retains a trace of Dao charm.”

Li Xian flipped through the jade slip.

Besides his biography, the above also includes an introduction to the Great World of Light.

The entire Great World of Light is ruled by a force called the Immortal Dynasty of Light, and that force...

It is said that there are six True Immortals who have reached the Dao, whose power overwhelms the entire realm.

"This strength... is not bad. None of the four great immortal dynasties or the six great demon sects can compare with it... No, the Supreme Demon Sect may not be able to produce six Dao-Merging True Demons, but six thousand years ago, a True Demon who attained the Dao Fruit was born, known as the Supreme True Demon... This Dao-Merging True Demon was able to overpower the Bright Immortal Dynasty."

As Li Xian flipped through this information, it effectively broadened his horizons.

……

Just as Li Xian was crouching at the gate of the immortal realm staring at the corpses of the scattered immortals, the people outside had already chased after the four corpses of scattered immortals that had flown out at full speed.

Even if the remains of a wandering immortal are worthless, if they can still retain their shape and be washed out, they represent at least tens of billions of dollars in value.

If it is preserved even slightly intact, it will be worth hundreds of billions or trillions.

While there is a significant difference in strength between True Monarchs and Refining Gods, their income may not be much higher. Even someone as powerful as the Shadow Sword Immortal only earns a few hundred million a year.

Obtaining even a well-preserved corpse of a wandering immortal would be equivalent to half a lifetime's savings for her.

Under these circumstances, everyone naturally went all out in their pursuit of the immortal's remains.

Because she was close to the gate to the immortal realm, this former number one sword immortal of the Great Luo Immortal Sect quickly caught up with the corpse of a rogue immortal with her team.

Almost at the same time she caught up with the corpse of the immortal, a team also arrived in quick succession.

The leader was none other than Zhuo Buqun, the Heavenly Lord of the Creation Immortal Sect.

Compared to the thirteenth ranked Shadow Sword Immortal, Zhuo Buqun ranks eighth on the Dao Realm Supreme Ranking.

Moreover, the only True Monarch that the Shadow Sword Immortal has is Yuan Jie, who is close to the top True Monarch level. On the other hand, Zhuo Buqun has two top True Monarchs by his side.

In an instant, the Shadow Sword Immortal swiftly flashed his sword, the Dao-grade immortal sword temporarily bestowed by the sect gleaming coldly: "I was the first to discover this loose immortal's corpse, please make way."

As soon as she finished speaking, a top-tier True Monarch behind Zhuo Buqun sneered, "Since when did the ownership of the corpses of rogue immortals in the Immortal Realm become determined by first-come, first-served? This rogue immortal corpse..."

"Get out!"

He was interrupted by Zhuo Buqun before he could finish speaking.

"Elder Zhuo?"

The top True Monarch's expression changed.

Zhuo Buqun glanced at the Shadow Sword Immortal, then at the Immortal Realm Gate that wasn't far away. His expression shifted, and he finally spoke, "Li Tianjun of the Great Luo Immortal Sect killed the Demon Lord Rahu. My Creation Immortal Sect owes your sect a favor. We'll give this loose immortal's corpse to your sect."

With that, he waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"

He immediately flew away on his sword.

This scene surprised the two top True Monarchs slightly.

However, since Zhuo Buqun had already left, the two top True Monarchs were powerless against the Shadow Sword Immortal. They had no choice but to quickly chase after him, saying somewhat resentfully, "Elder Zhuo, what are you doing? Do you make it sound like we're afraid of the Great Luo Immortal Sect? That was the corpse of a Loose Immortal!"

"Yes, that immortal's corpse is of good quality. It has only been a few hundred thousand years since it fell. There should still be a lot of materials that can be extracted from its body. If we are lucky, we might even find a Dao artifact. How can we give away such a treasure?"

Another top-tier True Monarch couldn't help but speak up as well.

Zhuo Buqun glanced at them and said in a deep voice, "The magic you practice is good at defense rather than flight. You don't know what happened at the gate to the immortal realm just now..."

His eyes were filled with uncontrollable shock: "The Gate to the Immortal Realm was originally occupied by Zhang Taiyuan of the Nine Heavens Holy Land, and Zhang Taiyuan's strength... you can all know how powerful he is without me saying a word. Yet, such a powerful and invincible Dao Realm expert was just recently killed by Li Xian of the Great Luo Immortal Sect in front of the Gate to the Immortal Realm!"

"Li Xian!? The Li Xian that the outside world claims to have killed the Demon Lord Rahu!? He... killed Zhang Taiyuan!?"

"How is this possible?! That's the invincible Zhang Taiyuan!"

The two top True Lords couldn't help but widen their eyes.

"Zhang Taiyuan's death screams were clearly heard by everyone not far from the Gate of the Immortal Realm. Soon after, the two Heavenly Lords, Gu Xianyi and Sheng Yang, from the Nine Heavens Holy Land, along with twelve top-tier True Lords, stormed towards the Gate of the Immortal Realm, besieging Li Xian alone, seeking revenge for Zhang Taiyuan. The result…"

Zhuo Buqun took a deep breath: "Under my and everyone else's watchful eyes, Sheng Yang and the twelve top True Monarchs all perished. Only Gu Xianyi was slightly behind and escaped with his life. Otherwise, the two Heavenly Monarchs and the twelve top True Monarchs of the Nine Heavens Holy Land would have been completely wiped out."

"Two Heavenly Sovereigns and twelve top True Sovereigns joined forces to besiege Li Xian alone, and yet..."

"Gu Xianyi and Sheng Yang were ranked among the top five on the Dao Realm Supreme Ranking, yet they ended up with one dying and the other fleeing, despite having the assistance of twelve top True Monarchs!?"

The two top True Lords felt their voices tremble slightly.

"Indeed, the supreme power of the Dao Realm has changed hands. From now on, the True Immortal Great World will enter the era of Li Xian."

Zhuo Buqun calmed himself down: "We are not far from the gate to the immortal realm. Lueying is not a weakling either. If we cannot defeat her in a short time, and Li Xian arrives to help us in time, the consequences will be self-evident."

At this moment, they finally understood why Zhuo Buqun had backed down, and both of them gasped in shock.

"Li Xian is terrifyingly powerful!"

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(End of this chapter)