Chapter 1449: Cooperation

Ye Chen suddenly shouted, "Go!"

With his Xian Yan, he could clearly see that beneath the ground lay a massive tomb, a burial site for countless beings. Piles of bones belonged to the gods of the Hong Huang era.

The chaos of the past had spilled blood across this land, tainting it with the malicious and evil thoughts of those ancient gods, giving birth to Xie Ling that awakened the most primal urge for slaughter.

As he spoke, wailing sounds erupted, eerie howls piercing the air, all emanating from underground. It was as if hell itself lay below, with the malevolent spirits of the Nine You roaring, desperate to claw their way out.

With a thunderous boom, the earth trembled violently, and the ground split open. Massive cracks spread endlessly in all directions, and many cultivators lost their footing and fell in.

Screams filled the air as those who tumbled into the fissures were drained into withered husks before they could even climb out.

Dark mist then surged from the cracks, engulfing everything in its path and sweeping along hordes of monsters.

These creatures were grotesquely terrifying, their bodies pitch-black and not human-like at all. Having three heads and six arms was child's play; their blood-red eyes burned with savage bloodlust, their forms menacing beyond words. They were Xie Ling, vast in number, enough to make one's scalp tingle, covering the ground like a sea.

"What... what are these things?" All the cultivators turned pale, instinctively retreating. In that brief moment of daze, many were overwhelmed by the Xie Ling, their bodies sucked dry into shriveled corpses, and even their escaping Yuan Shen were consumed by the dark energy, becoming fodder for the spirits.

The cultivators from all sides fled in terror, scattering in every direction. Even the Xian Clan Shen Zi and Feng Huang Shen Zi, who had been left gravely wounded, forced themselves up and escaped at top speed.

The Quasi-Emperors who had been reduced to ruins earlier were no different; one moment they were barely hanging on, the next they were fully revived at the sight of the approaching Xie Ling, fleeing with impressive flair.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen leaped through the void, trying to escape this realm, only to face an incoming Xie Ling head-on.

This Xie Ling had no fixed form, shifting between a single eye and three pupils, its head enormous with a gaping maw, body jet-black and wreathed in dark mist, utterly distorted by malicious thoughts.

Fortunately, this Xie Ling was not as overwhelmingly powerful as the monsters in the wild forest before.

Ye Chen struck out, smashing it with a palm that left it bloody and broken, then splitting it apart with a resounding Zheng Ming from his Chi Xiao sword.

His attack drew more Xie Ling, swarming in waves, their numbers so vast as to numb the scalp, their appearances chilling with blood eyes full of rage and malice.

Ye Chen activated his Dao of Magic, summoning his Golden Shen Hai to surge and roll, devouring wave after wave.

Like him, the other cultivators were locked in fierce combat amid the Xie Ling. The weak fell in droves, their bodies drained and Yuan Shen extinguished, the scene bloody and devastatingly costly.

Blood once again stained the land red, screams echoing nonstop, mingling with the Xie Ling's wails and howls, turning this place into a true hell.

The entire ruins' ground had fractured, cracks visible everywhere, the underground filled with bones shrouded in dark energy, from which Xie Ling crawled forth one after another.

It was a horrifying sight; even veteran cultivators turned pale, let alone the younger ones, who had never witnessed such dreadful Xie Ling that devoured people without leaving a trace.

Lives were as worthless as grass; tens of thousands had entered seeking treasures, yet they were dragged into the Nine You Huang Quan in droves, even Quasi-Emperor level ones being torn apart into dust by the Xie Ling.

In the void, Ye Chen slew another Xie Ling and used a Great Shift to reach Ji Ningshuang's side.

The two stood back to back, Ye Chen summoning his Hun Dun Shen Ding while Ji Ningshuang called forth the Yao Chi Xian Jian. The divine cauldron and immortal sword resonated, cutting down the oncoming Xie Ling in swaths.

Behind them, Nan Di, Bei Sheng, Xi Zun, Zhong Huang, Di Jia Jiu Xian, and Long Zu Shen Zi followed suit, brandishing their weapons and artifacts to hold off the Xie Ling from both flanks.

At this, many cultivators rushed over, clinging to these formidable figures for survival. In the ruins' suppression of cultivation, only these prodigies could lead them out alive.

"Guard your Yuan Shen," Ye Chen warned without pause, having fought Xie Ling before and knowing their terror; once they infiltrated the Yuan Shen, one would be dragged into an abyss in an instant.

Despite his warning, many still perished, swallowed en masse by the Xie Ling, their bodies withered and Yuan Shen obliterated by malicious thoughts.

Ye Chen didn't dare linger, joining forces with Ji Ningshuang to carve a bloody path through the horde.

Their coordination was seamless, leading the group in a desperate charge, with Nan Di and the others providing strong support from behind, their auxiliary attacks fierce and unrelenting.

This band of prodigies united was a force to be reckoned with, like a sharp blade cutting through all obstacles. The Xie Ling fell in droves, unable to block their advance, their roars shaking the heavens.

"This damn place isn't a ruins—it's a freaking tomb," Long Zu Shen Zi bellowed, his blood energy surging as he gripped his Ba Long Dao, staying close behind Ye Chen and slashing out blade waves.

"It's exactly a tomb," Ye Chen replied, revealing an ancient secret from the Hong Huang era. "In ancient times, the Hong Lian Empress burned the gods of the Eight Wastelands right here."

At this revelation, those behind them all showed shocked expressions; such a secret was truly alarming.

"No more talk—let's fight our way out in one go," Ye Chen urged, maneuvering his Shen Ding to smash through the enemies.

Ji Ningshuang wielded the Yao Chi Xian Jian, her strikes simple yet devastatingly powerful. Those behind spared no effort, unleashing world-shaking divine abilities and terrifying artifacts to forge this bloody path onward.

Their persistence paid off; they battled to the ruins' exit, but from afar, they spotted a colossal behemoth blocking the way, roaring skyward with rage and resentment.

This giant was enormous, like a mountain range, with a terrifying form: nine massive heads, blood eyes the size of wine jars, its body covered in scales with dark mist swirling around it, infused with malicious and evil thoughts. Its eighteen arms each clutched an ancient, icy divine weapon.

"What a massive brute," Man Zu Shen Zi swallowed hard, thinking himself large but feeling like a tiny insect compared to this monster.

"Attack its Yuan Shen," Ye Chen charged first, merging his nine Shen Shang attacks in an instant.

"Immortal Extinction," Ji Ningshuang murmured softly, etching an immortal pattern on her brow and firing a brilliant immortal beam, also merging nine attacks. Its power was as terrifying as the Shen Clan Shen Shang.

The colossal monster was hit, but it roared back in an instant, swinging its war halberd to carve a dark, destructive river through the void, sending Ye Chen and Ji Ningshuang flying.

"Take this big one," Di Jia Jiu Xian lunged forward, gathering myriad immortal beams into their immortal sword and striking from eight hundred zhang away, severing one of the monster's arms on the spot.

"Even bigger," Long Zu Shen Zi soared to the Nine Heavens, gripping his blade with both hands overhead, unleashing a thousand-zhang blade beam straight down toward the monster's central head.

But it was awkward; though his strike was dominant, it only sparked off the monster's head like striking iron, and he was shaken back.

"You're not pulling off that pose well," Wu Zu Shen Zi swung his Wu Huang Zhan Mao like a club, smashing it down from the skies onto another of the monster's heads.

Yet, he fared no better, failing to harm it and being flung even farther, collapsing swaths of void space along the way.

"You're not pulling it off well either," Nan Di rushed in, his war halberd glowing with divine patterns, enhanced by Dao principles and various secret arts, piercing one of the monster's heads.

Zhong Huang and Xi Zun followed, wielding their divine weapons to land heavy blows on the colossal monster.

Seeing this, Wu Zu Shen Zi and Long Zu Shen Zi coughed awkwardly; though all Shen Zi, they paled in comparison to Nan Di and the others, their peak strikes left far behind.

The colossal monster was enraged, howling to the skies and flailing its arms, sending people flying left and right—even powerhouses like Ye Chen and Ji Ningshuang were not spared, let alone the rest.

The battle was brutally intense; to escape, they had to destroy this guardian at the exit.

No one could face the colossal monster alone, but with their numbers and the prodigies among them, one wave retreated while another advanced.

The weaker cultivators formed a perimeter, working together to fend off the incoming Xie Ling, buying time for Ye Chen and the others to take down the behemoth.

Even the Xian Clan Shen Zi and Feng Huang Shen Zi charged from another side, spotting Ye Chen from afar. Though they gritted their teeth in resentment, they had no choice but to join the fight for survival.

For the first time, the myriad supreme prodigies of Xuan Huang united in battle, creating a grand spectacle. Each beam of Yuan Shen light represented a powerful lineage, none weaker than the others.

With experts collaborating, their synergy was innate, their group assault nearly flawless.

The scene was bloody; the colossal monster was surrounded layer upon layer, brilliant immortal beams striking one after another, carving deep gashes into its body and staining the misty void red.

The monster finally knelt; though immensely powerful, it couldn't withstand the sheer numbers. Two of its heads were severed by Ye Chen and Ji Ningshuang, crumbling as they fell.

The other seven heads met the same fate: one by Zhong Huang, one by Xi Zun, one by Nan Di, one by Bei Sheng, one by Di Jia Jiu Xian, one by Ji Mie Shen Ti, and one by Xian Clan Shen Zi.

With all nine heads gone, the monster's massive body collapsed with a boom, its evil thoughts dissipating back into the world, once again etching into the ruins—fusing anew was only a matter of time.

With the guardian destroyed, Ye Chen stepped out of the ruins, followed by a flood of people emerging into the Hong Lian Ye Hai, crowding the void.

"Nearly got wiped out completely," Ye Chen pulled out his wine flask, glancing back at the ruins.

But at his look, Nan Di, Bei Sheng, and the others behind him turned into wisps of mist—or rather, they had been illusions all along.

At his side, the only one who remained real was Ji Ningshuang.

Ye Chen frowned, and Ji Ningshuang furrowed her brows slightly as they exchanged glances.

"Illusion?"