**Rumble!**
Thunderous roars erupted as over a hundred Crimson Fire Explosion Pills detonated simultaneously at the five Martial Venerables’ position. The explosion was earth-shattering, the void trembling as if chaotic currents would erupt. Blinding light blazed like a sun, unleashing torrents of energy.
The blast’s power was immense, beyond what early First Realm Martial Venerables could withstand. Those too close were flung backward.
Amid the explosion, five mangled corpses were hurled outward, scattering into the distance.
The crowd stood dumbfounded.
Five Martial Venerables, dead just like that?
This defied all expectations. The Nether Heaven Demon Palace’s five Martial Venerables were supposed to shift the tide, yet they were obliterated moments after arriving.
The scene was staggering.
Nether Heaven Demon Palace disciples froze, stunned.
These were five prodigious talents, reaching Martial Venerable status by thirty—future pillars of the palace. Now, Lin Xiao had single-handedly annihilated them.
Fury surged among the palace disciples.
“Hahaha, I’m dying! This is too much!” Ma Bi roared with laughter, his voice echoing across the heavens.
“They died so miserably!” Niu Bi joined, cackling.
The palace disciples seethed, their killing intent erupting, poised to strike.
**Swoosh!** A golden streak—Lin Xiao—returned, staring at the scattered remains. “All dead?” he gasped, halting in the void.
He had prepared a follow-up assault, but the five were already gone. The combined might of a hundred explosion pills had exceeded his expectations, obliterating five powerful Martial Venerables.
His investment had paid off.
“Damn it, I didn’t even get a chance to act! These Martial Venerables were too fragile,” Hu Yue, who had paused mid-charge, cursed, feigning dissatisfaction.
“Kill them!” A Nether Heaven Demon Palace disciple snapped, charging at the Holy City, others targeting Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao’s eyes turned cold. “Let’s see who kills who. Today, we wipe out every Nether Heaven Demon Palace member here!” he roared.
His words shook the palace disciples, while Holy City fighters surged with battle lust. Lin Xiao’s slaying of five Martial Venerables, coupled with the palace’s depleted numbers and injuries, gave the Holy City a massive advantage—an opportunity to eradicate their foes.
“Kill!” Bai Moxuan bellowed, leading a charge against the palace disciples. Waves of power clashed, booming across the battlefield.
Onlookers, stunned, kept their distance, wary of the crossfire.
The Holy City’s assault overwhelmed the palace disciples, who now realized their dire disadvantage, struggling bitterly.
“Hmph, Bai Moxuan, our five Martial Venerables entered, meaning the crack is near our palace. More of our强者 will arrive, and you’ll be slaughtered!” Gu Shiyou, Bai Moxuan’s opponent, roared, rallying morale.
The shout bolstered the palace disciples. They didn’t need to win—just survive until stronger reinforcements arrived to reverse the tide.
“If the crack is near your palace, Saint Origin Academy will have countermeasures. The question is whether you can last that long,” Bai Moxuan countered loudly.
Such a commotion would alert the academy’s leaders. Even if they couldn’t send fighters, they’d activate teleportation arrays early, ensuring the Holy City’s survival against further palace reinforcements.
**Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!**
Radiant light poured from the void crack again, followed by five more figures descending.
As the glow faded, five mature youths, around thirty, appeared, clad in the same black robes, each exuding Second Realm Martial Venerable auras, each stronger than the last.
“Our palace’s senior brothers are here! Hahaha!” Zheng Fang, ranked twenty-seventh on the Heavenly Demon List, laughed wildly, ecstatic.
Holy City disciples frowned. Five Second Realm Martial Venerables—a terrifying force capable of flipping the battle.
But then, a purple-clad figure—Ziling—soared, nearing the five. She flung a batch of pill-like objects toward them.
“Die!” her voice thundered.
**Rumble!**
Explosions dwarfing the sun’s brilliance erupted, illuminating the heavens. Cataclysmic blasts centered on the five, unleashing torrents of energy like a boiling sea. Shockwaves rolled outward, an energy hurricane sweeping the battlefield, its pressure toppling slower-retreating fighters.
Had the explosion occurred at ground level, the consequences would have been catastrophic.
This blast was over twice as powerful as Lin Xiao’s.
No one could fathom that the delicate Ziling wielded such devastating explosion pills.
Amid shocked gazes, fragments of bodies scattered outward.
As the energy dissipated, the five’s former position was empty.
“Dead. Five Second Realm Martial Venerables, bombed to death,” the crowd murmured, hearts trembling.
Nether Heaven Demon Palace disciples were dumbstruck.
Holy City disciples gaped, then Ma Bi’s raucous laughter broke out. “Hahaha!”
“Bombed again! I’m dying!” Ma Bi clutched his stomach, his mocking voice echoing for miles.
The palace disciples felt like vomiting blood. Five more Second Realm Martial Venerables, gone.
—
**Heavenly Demon Mountain:**
Little Black’s undead phoenix form crushed the Bone Clan, two Venerables dead, the rest fleeing, suspecting a Great Saint. Zhang Ruochen parried the Golden Sun Twin Kings with his time swordsmanship and Hidden Mountain Demonic Mirror.
The space teetered on collapse. Little Black recalled its array, vowing annihilation.
The Twin Kings, wary of Little Black, fought cautiously.
Zhang Ruochen, sensing the space’s instability, planned to escape with Little Black, the *Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription* and mountain secured. Outside, without the sealing talisman, the battle would escalate.
—
**Thunder Storm Battlefield (Continued):**
The second explosion’s aftermath left the battlefield reeling. Ziling landed gracefully, her expression calm despite the devastation.
Lin Xiao, catching his breath, muttered, “She had that many explosion pills? No wonder she was so confident.”
Ziling shot him a glance. “You’re not the only one with tricks.”
The Nether Heaven Demon Palace’s morale collapsed. Ten Martial Venerables—five First Realm, five Second Realm—had been obliterated in moments. Their remaining fighters, outnumbered and wounded, faced annihilation.
Bai Moxuan pressed the attack, shouting, “No mercy! End them!”
Holy City forces surged, their momentum unstoppable. The palace disciples, demoralized, fought desperately, but their defeat was imminent.
Lin Xiao, Ziling, and Hu Yue regrouped, eyeing the storm. The relic’s pulses grew chaotic, roars intensifying.
“The Stone Clan youth took something, but the relic’s still active,” Lin Xiao said. “Those roars… a guardian beast, maybe. If it emerges, we use the chaos to retreat.”
Ziling nodded. “The crack’s letting in stronger foes. If more Martial Venerables arrive, we’re done unless the academy opens the arrays.”
The stone soldiers remained still, encircling the storm, as if awaiting the relic’s emergence. The battlefield’s tension spiked, all factions bracing for the storm’s next move and the potential unleash of a guardian beast.
