Everyone was utterly shocked.
From the looks of it, the strange ancient city had been defeated? It fled in panic?
Whoosh!
At that moment, another figure burst out from the void fissure.
It was covered in blood, flesh mangled beyond recognition. If not for the countless branching antlers still growing from its head, no one would have recognised it.
The blood-soaked figure was none other than the king of the beast horde who had unleashed the tide of creatures. Yet now it was gravely wounded and fleeing from the void fissure in this wretched state.
“We’ve been tricked!”
After rushing out, the antlered youth spat the words in deep frustration, then vanished into the horizon at extreme speed, disappearing from everyone’s sight.
The crowd was shocked once more. The beast king had escaped with heavy injuries, and not a single spirit beast followed?
In other words, of that vast beast tide, only one had emerged alive while all the rest had perished inside?
What on earth had happened in there?
“The time is not yet ripe, the time is not yet ripe, ah!”
At this point, an aged, neither-male-nor-female sigh echoed faintly. A colossal tree slid sideways out of the void fissure.
Half the tree was now broken off. Only the lower trunk and roots emerged, countless branches and leaves withered and ruined. The hundred-zhang-thick limbs were split almost to the base, the surface covered in countless cracks.
The Yin Demon that had been pinned in its centre had vanished.
As soon as the tree appeared, it shot away through the sky and soon disappeared from view.
Lin Xiao and the others were stunned again.
The tree could speak? Had it truly lived so long that it gained intelligence and become a tree demon?
Of course, its condition made it clear that this giant tree had also been defeated and was fleeing with severe injuries.
Whoosh!
After the tree escaped, the Yin Demon rushed out as well. Its already tattered body showed little further change.
Yet it was clearly in a sorry state. The moment it appeared, it sped off in another direction and vanished beyond the horizon.
Even the true arch-devil Yin Demon had been forced to flee.
Following the Yin Demon, a thousand-zhang golden Buddha charged out from another part of the void fissure.
Countless cracks now marred the statue; it looked on the verge of shattering completely.
At the same time, from yet another section of the fissure, a single teardrop shot forth.
The tear was tiny, almost imperceptible.
Yet it carried a desolate aura that let everyone sense clearly that another colossal abomination had emerged.
Only this time, it was just a teardrop, which left them baffled.
“The Deathly Female Ghost has been defeated too!” Others might not know, but Lin Xiao recognised it instantly and could not help crying out in shock.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
After the golden Buddha and the Deathly Female Ghost escaped, a dozen or so skeletons flew out.
Some had lost arms or legs; all were badly damaged.
Clearly these were a few of the commanders that had led the hundred-thousand-strong skeleton army.
Of that entire force, only a dozen skeletons had made it out. One could imagine how brutal the battle inside had been.
From another part of the void fissure, a thousand-zhang flower calyx drifted out.
It too was in ruins: dozens of petals torn away, the bloom riddled with holes, and an unknown number of stamens broken.
Immediately afterwards, a mass of blood-red water dozens or even hundreds of li across surged from the fissure. Within it lurked the gigantic eight-clawed sea beast, now dyed crimson.
Six of its enormous claws had been severed; blood poured continuously from the stumps into the surrounding water.
Countless wounds covered its body, blood flowing freely.
The onlookers could not discern its exact shape, only that it was immensely huge. Wrapped in that vast flood of blood, it fled the area.
After the sea beast, a heart soared through the air.
The one-zhang black heart had turned blood-red and streaked across the sky like a crimson beam, vanishing beyond the horizon.
Thus, nine of the ten colossal abominations had escaped with grievous wounds.
Only the floating heavenly palace remained.
Yet it too was not spared. Moments later, the thousand-zhang floating heavenly palace shot out from the fissure, hurtling straight toward the crowd.
At that instant, Zhan Meng, Ji Lian, and Long Tutian all fixed their gazes upon it, inwardly weighing their chances.
“Strike!”
When the palace was only a few dozen li away, Ji Lian gave a cold shout. Peerless sword radiance carrying the terrifying pressure of a Martial Saint erupted and slashed toward the palace.
Zhan Meng attacked at the same instant, an equally horrifying blade beam cleaving down.
Regardless of whether the palace was truly one of the abominations or controlled by something within, they had to test it.
Even if something inside was controlling it, that entity must now be gravely injured now, the perfect moment to strike.
If it truly was a supreme treasure, seizing it would bring them enormous gain.
Having mobilised such forces to enter the Domain of Evil, they had no intention of leaving empty-handed.
Long Tutian did not attack immediately but prepared a follow-up move.
Boom! Boom!
Enormous explosions rang out. The sword and blade beams slammed into the oncoming thousand-zhang palace. Heaven-shaking shockwaves erupted, engulfing hundreds of li and sending terrifying ripples through heaven and earth.
The floating heavenly palace was swallowed by the raging waves of qi.
Whoosh!
Yet amid the billowing shockwaves, something roughly as thick as a fist suddenly shot out.
It glowed with golden brilliance and did not head toward the two attacking Martial Saints, but streaked like lightning toward Lin Xiao in another direction, leaving a golden trail in the air.
Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed. He raised the Yaoguang Fragment to block.
Long Tutian, beside him, was about to strike with his palm to intercept, but at that moment the golden object abruptly halted and stopped advancing.
Both Long Tutian and Lin Xiao were startled.
That golden object was none other than the floating heavenly palace itself.
Now it was only the size of a fist, and no floating clouds or restrictive formations surrounded it any longer.
Neither of them understood why it had suddenly stopped.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At that instant, Zhan Meng and Ji Lian, not far away, moved. They shot toward the fist-sized palace.
Their eyes were incredibly sharp, their reactions lightning fast. The moment they saw the palace shrink, they raced to seize it.
“Take it!” Long Tutian swept Lin Xiao forward with him toward the palace and gave a low command.
Seeing that no restrictions remained, Lin Xiao instantly circulated his spiritual power. While flying forward at top speed, he also willed the palace to fly toward him.
Long Tutian’s speed was astonishing. Combined with Lin Xiao’s spiritual control pulling from the opposite direction, the floating heavenly palace reached Lin Xiao’s side in the blink of an eye.
Lin Xiao reached out and, without hesitation, stored it directly into his storage ring.
By then Zhan Meng and Ji Lian had already arrived. Seeing Lin Xiao secure the palace, they immediately attacked him.
Long Tutian stepped in front of Lin Xiao, stretched out both fists, and met their blade and sword head-on.
Clang! Clang!
Long Tutian’s bare fists collided directly with their weapons. Two earth-shattering explosions rang out. Terrifying qi burst forth, and the two attackers were actually forced back.
Lin Xiao was dumbfounded.
Fighting weapons bare-handed? Long Tutian could do that too?
Just how terrifying was Long Tutian’s physical body?
Not only Lin Xiao, everyone present was stunned.
No matter how you looked at it, Zhan Meng and Ji Lian were Martial Saints. Even if those strikes were not their full power, the force was still appalling. Yet Long Tutian had relied purely on his flesh to repel both of them with his fists?
That was simply too overpowering.
“In my opinion, the two of you should turn back and go home,” Long Tutian said to them at that moment.
