“What? Brother Tianta, the Yokai are storming the pass?”
The Tianta Dao Lord’s words instantly drew expressions of surprise from the other Dao Lords.
But the Tianta Dao Lord did not reply. Instead, he pinched his fingers to form a seal and summoned a Linglong Treasure Tower from his glabella.
The Linglong Treasure Tower spun in the air, pulling the Tianta Dao Lord inside. It then emitted a low, vibrating hum, and in an instant, a terrifying aura erupted from it.
A streak of seven-colored light flashed across the sky. The stabilized space within the Dao Lord’s grotto-heaven shattered layer by layer, and the Linglong Treasure Tower vanished without a trace.
The Tianta Dao Lord’s reckless behavior served as indirect proof that his words were true.
The remaining Immortal Dao Lords released their senses, focusing their attention on the Immortal-Yokai Minor Realm.
“This... so many demons and yokai. Do those Yokai Venerables intend to repeat the Immortal-Yokai Calamity?!”
The Huangtian Dao Lord shouted in anger, his voice filled with resentment.
The Hunyuan Dao Lord raised his whisk and swept it through the air. A mysterious ripple spread out, smoothing over the area. The shattered space slowly began to mend.
“Everyone, the Yokai have suddenly mobilized their forces. There must be a deeper scheme behind this. We should go to the border with Brother Tianta to bolster our defenses.”
The Hunyuan Dao Lord looked at the others and made his suggestion.
The Taihao Dao Lord nodded in agreement.
“Alas, I hope no further strife arises. I have not yet forgotten the horrors of the Immortal-Yokai Calamity.”
The Kunong Dao Lord stood up directly and took his leave from the other Dao Lords.
“Fellow Daoists, since ancient times, provisions have been the most important aspect of warfare. This holds true for both mortals and transcendents.
“With the Yokai making such a massive move, I fear they may have hidden a secondary force to infiltrate my Agriculture Realm and cause widespread destruction.
“I intend to return to the Agriculture Realm to oversee it personally, lest any accidents occur.”
“Brother Kunong makes a valid point. You should head back first; the rest of us will go to support Brother Tianta.”
After the Kunong Dao Lord bid them farewell one by one, he took a seed from his robes. He activated it with his celestial qi, causing a flower bud to sprout and envelop him. A spatial ripple passed through the area, and the bud gradually became transparent, carrying the Kunong Dao Lord away.
Afterward, the Hunyuan Dao Lord turned to Li Taiji and Chen Xu, speaking with a hint of apology.
“Brother Li, Fellow Daoist Chen, this situation arose quite suddenly. Please forgive my poor hospitality. I must go to the Immortal-Yokai Minor Realm with the others to prevent the situation from escalating.
“Brother Li, I already have a lead on how to treat the Dao wounds your disciples suffered. I have already asked Brother Kunong to urgently grow the few missing medicinal ingredients.
“It won’t be long before that corruption can be healed.
“Fellow Daoist Chen, the Mother of Hell is by no means benevolent. Since our Immortal Dao cannot spare any hands due to this Yokai invasion, and the Martial Path has already been wounded by her, I must trouble you and the Lord of Heaven to handle matters for the time being.”
“Fellow Daoist Hunyuan, I will go with you. The threat of the Mother of Hell has not been eliminated. With me present, the Yokai might be more wary, which could perhaps bring the fighting to a halt.”
Li Taiji was excited to hear there was a way to save his disciples. Thus, he volunteered to join the Hunyuan Dao Lord and the others at the site of the conflict, hoping to quell the war.
“Excellent. Many thanks, Brother Li.”
Chen Xu lowered his head in thought, deciding it was best for him not to show his face.
Heaven only knew if the Secret Treasure Palace’s theft method would leave behind the aura of the Undead Dao Court. If he appeared and those powerful Yokai sensed his presence, they might go into a frenzy on the spot, leading to an immediate escalation of the conflict.
Therefore, Chen Xu directly took his leave.
“Then I shall depart as well.”
With that, Chen Xu opened a spatial gate and returned to the Undead Dao Court, secretly recording the coordinates of this location to prevent himself from accidentally wandering back in the future.
Back at the Undead Dao Court, Chen Xu began to reflect on the conversation between the Immortal Dao Lords.
The Immortal and Yokai paths seemed to have long-standing grievances. It looked reasonable for it to explode at such a sensitive time after years of accumulation, but Chen Xu felt there was a black hand pushing things from behind.
First, the Martial Path fell into a trap, causing its providence to be linked to Hell.
Then, the large group of corrupted disciples forced the Martial Dao Lords to seek help from the Hunyuan Dao Lord, which naturally involved the Immortal Dao.
And now, right at this moment, the Yokai path had mobilized its troops to crusade against the Immortal Dao. It was a complete mess.
How could there be so many coincidences in the world? Although the Myriad Worlds were not peaceful, they had never been this chaotic.
“Something is wrong—extremely wrong. I should talk to the Lord of Heaven and see what he thinks.”
Chen Xu wasn’t being overly sensitive; when it came to the Mother of Hell, it was better to be cautious.
Chen Xu raised his left hand, gathering mental strength in his palm to open a spatial gate.
At that moment, a majestic aura surged into the sky. A blazing battle intent pierced the clouds as grey-white ghost fire burned violently, treating everything around it as fuel.
The necrotic breath in the air and the water of the Inverted Sea above crackled under the intense heat of this battle-hungry ghost fire.
“So soon?”
Chen Xu dispelled the mental strength in his left hand and stepped forward, arriving near Bone Guard One.
This commotion was coming from him.
At this moment, Bone Guard One had stood up. He held his sword and shield in his hands, and the banner behind him fluttered in the air.
As the ghost fire continued to burn, the banner gradually became transparent.
In a flash, it dissolved into bubbles.
Then, the grey-white ghost fire erupting from Bone Guard One actually began to spread to the other skeleton heroes.
“Huh? Why am I on fire? Did Yan the Third fail at crafting again?”
“No, the aura of this flame feels a bit like Lord Bone Guard One.”
The skeleton heroes looked at each other in confusion. In the next moment, as if receiving some sort of guidance, they all turned in unison to look toward Bone Guard One.
Only the skeleton heroes with artisan-type classes remained unaffected.
Bone Guard One suddenly raised his bone sword. All the combat-type skeleton heroes instantly dissolved, turning into clumps of ghost fire that slammed into Bone Guard One, merging into one.
Bone Guard One’s aura continued to skyrocket. The rate of its ascent even made Chen Xu look on in surprise.
“Wu?”
Kunpeng also poked its head out of the Inverted Sea, its eyes filled with confusion as it looked down at Bone Guard One.
Within the dragon territory, Sindragosa stopped her modifications of the ten golden dragons and came to the peak of the mountains to look toward Bone Guard One.
“Heh, such a commotion. It really gave this dragon a fright.”
Seeing that Bone Guard One’s aura was still surging, Sindragosa’s brow gradually furrowed.
She had thought her only competitor was Kunpeng, but she hadn't expected Bone Guard One to suddenly emerge as well.
The identity of the second-in-command of the Undead Dao Court had become even more uncertain.
After all, the latter had always followed the path of a commander, which was a different route than the one she and Kunpeng took.
How could his aura surge so exaggeratedly now that he was breaking through to the Eternal-tier?
If it kept rising, his aura would become even more massive than hers and Kunpeng’s.
Fortunately, Bone Guard One’s aura stopped surging. As the final clump of ghost fire finished merging, his presence gradually stabilized.
Bone Guard One placed his sword in front of his shield and struck them together. The ghost fire on his body suddenly exploded outward, scattering across the ground as his terrifying aura rapidly receded.
The ghost fire that hit the ground transformed back into the various skeleton heroes. They appeared no different than before.
However, if one observed these skeleton heroes from a soul perspective, they would find that their soul frequencies had synchronized with Bone Guard One’s with the help of the ghost fire.
In other words, under the radiation of the ghost fire, Bone Guard One could direct these skeleton heroes as easily as he could move his own mental strength. Wherever his will went, the skeletons followed.
More importantly, these ghost fires could also provide protection, granting them immunity to a large number of mental-based attacks.
From a functional standpoint, he had likely taken a bit of inspiration from the Mother of Hell’s hellfire.
Adapting the enemy’s strengths to overcome them—Bone Guard One truly lived up to his study of military strategy.
As the ghost fire slowly extinguished, the unique shield in Bone Guard One’s hand also underwent a change.
The original ten beast heads had been consumed by the ghost fire and merged into the shield.
The upper half of the shield’s surface now depicted Chen Xu’s Overlord’s Castle. The lower half showed Bone Guard One and a host of skeletons, weapons in hand, guarding the castle behind them.
As Bone Guard One’s advancement reward, 【Headhunter’s Glory】 had provided a massive amount of simple, practical bonuses that helped Chen Xu crush numerous dungeon enemies in the early stages.
Now, as Bone Guard One ascended to the Eternal-tier, this exclusive equipment had completed its advancement simultaneously.
【Bone Guard One’s Shield of Glory】
【Equipment Description: There are countless divine artifacts and treasures in the world. Those that are remembered for generations and become famous across the lands are all known because of the name of a hero.】
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