Chapter 214: Ants?

Yu Jiangwei stood atop the mountain peak, her robes fluttering like an immortal's. The latent Dao Origin rippling around her brought the clouds and mist within several zhang to a standstill, keeping them from drifting an inch closer.

She tilted her head slightly. Her gaze pierced through layers of the void, landing on the distant horizon.

There, two towering presences clashed madly.

The impact sent earth-shattering booms ringing out. Spiritual light and Dao Origin intertwined, dyeing half the sky a magnificent, terrifying crimson-gold.

With her profound divine ability, even from such a vast distance, she could clearly see Daoist Shu Rong—[Chi Jianshu]—wielding the Star-Illuminating Palace Great Divine Ability!

A phantom of the Big Dipper hung high in the sky, casting down brilliant starlight that continuously clashed with the Ehai expert.

The starlight and the power of Ehai eroded and wore each other down; for a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

"Daoist Shu Rong's Great Divine Ability carries quite a heavy murderous aura. It truly lives up to being a [Killing Power Great Divine Ability]."

Yu Jiangwei's thoughts flickered, and she turned her gaze back to the screen of light in the void.

On the screen, within Nanchi Prefecture City, Jiang Xiu and Wei Qingran were still barely holding off the two Ehai cultivators by relying on that profound spiritual artifact.

Runes flowed across the artifact. Although it was already riddled with cracks, it doggedly held on, refusing to let those two advance a single step.

But Daoist Huotuo had already reached the final Starlight Restriction surrounding the Great Ferrying Array.

The crimson flames around him burned madly like living creatures, wrapping his entire body in a blinding glare. His hands formed seals, and profound flame spells poured down on the restriction like a torrential rain.

Under such a fierce offensive, the restriction trembled violently. Its starlight dimmed and cracks riddled its surface; it would be completely breached at any moment.

Watching this, Yu Jiangwei shook her head slightly.

"Under-Dao Academy was the first orthodox sect to arrive in this Grotto-Heaven," she said softly. "But they were dragged down by various matters. Their Great Projection Array is far from profound, and they missed the best opportunity."

Thinking this, she lost interest in the situation in Nanche Prefecture City.

Chi Jianshu was pinned down by the Ehai expert. Jiang Xiu and Wei Qingran were merely projection avatars at the Twelve Floors of Qi Circulation; they wouldn't last long against Daoist Huotuo.

Once Daoist Huotuo broke that restriction, the Great Ferrying Array would become like fish on the chopping block, completely at the mercy of others.

Once this array was destroyed, Under-Dao Academy's many schemes in this world would go down the drain, leaving them no room to turn the tables.

'Ehai has the upper hand,' she murmured inwardly. 'They will definitely modify Under-Dao Academy's Great Ferrying Array and use it as a springboard to bring down more experts. By then, the situation in this world will be completely different.'

Her thoughts settled, she turned around. Her dark robes fluttered slightly in the wind as she prepared to leave with the people behind her.

"Ehai has the upper hand, and they will definitely modify Under-Dao Academy's Great Ferrying Array... We will return after Ehai finishes altering the array."

She issued the command with unquestionable majesty.

Hearing this, the male and female cultivators from Zhuran Star both respectfully agreed.

The azure mark on the man's forehead flashed, and the faint purple mist surrounding the woman slightly retracted.

The two of them possessed extraordinary cultivation, but in front of Yu Jiangwei, they didn't dare overstep in the slightest.

Lin Longyue stood to the side and bowed as well.

"Under-Dao Academy is no longer as prosperous as before," the cultivator with the azure mark said slowly, his tone carrying a bit of emotion, yet also a touch of matter-of-fact indifference.

The cultivation world was just like this. Rise and fall, prosperity and decline—these were merely common occurrences.

Even behemoths overseen by True Lords would inevitably see a day when their fortunes declined.

Thinking this, he turned around, preparing to leave with Yu Jiangwei.

But right at this moment!

Suddenly, a bolt of thunder bloomed in the distant void previously obscured by firelight and smoke!

The horizon, which a moment ago was a stretch of dark chaos, was abruptly cleaved apart by a dazzling ray of thunder!

The thunder light was unbearably blazing and magnificent. Like a startling thunderbolt in the void, it tore through layers of clouds and mist, pierced the pervasive smoke and dust, and illuminated the entire sky!

Yu Jiangwei paused mid-step.

She turned back, a flash of surprise crossing her eyes.

Then she raised her head, her gaze piercing the churning clouds and the lingering thunder light to land on the source of the eruption.

In the distant dark void, a trail of cloud energy was piercing through the air!

The speed of that cloud was unimaginably fast. Like a pale golden shooting star surging against the current, it trailed a long streak of light as it crashed toward Nanche Prefecture City!

And atop that cloud stood a youth in black!

The youth had a handsome face and looked only in his early twenties, yet the deep, heavy aura surrounding him was entirely unlike anything a person his age should possess.

His presence was at its absolute peak. Spiritual qi rolled turbulently around him, making him resemble a walking furnace that scorched and distorted the air wherever he passed.

He stood at the head of the cloud, his robes fluttering and his long hair dancing wildly in the wind. His whole being was like a deity stepping out of the Thunder Pool, his might unparalleled!

Yu Jiangwei raised her eyebrows.

The other two experts from Zhuran Star also noticed the incoming cloud at the same time, their faces mirroring her astonishment.

The man with the azure mark narrowed his eyes. A dark light flowed in the depths of his pupils—he was clearly operating a probing technique.

The woman surrounded by faint purple mist also looked up, a gleam of interest flashing in her cold eyes.

"Who is this person?" the purple-misted woman spoke first, her voice carrying a hint of surprise. "Ehai is attacking Under-Dao Academy. How dare he come to Nanche Prefecture City all alone? Could it be that Under-Dao Academy is hiding a trump card?"

As she spoke, her gaze remained fixed on the Azure Cloud drawing closer and closer, her eyes full of confusion.

A strange golden light suddenly shone from the male Zhuran Star cultivator's eyes, piercing through the void and landing on the black-clothed youth.

He focused for a moment, then let out a soft exclamation. His tone grew even more surprised. "This person is rather strange... The aura around him appears magnificent, but upon closer investigation, he is actually an expert who has seized a body, not an avatar born out of thin air..."

He paused, his frown deepening. "However... although this person has stepped onto the Twelve Floors of Qi Circulation and has a Dao Seed suspended in his qi sea, he has yet to condense a Dao Platform."

"Has yet to condense a Dao Platform?" Hearing this, the surprise in the purple-misted woman's eyes thickened. "A Dao Seed cultivator dares to come to this battlefield and interfere in the gamble between Ehai and the Dao Palace?"

She paused. "Then this person shouldn't be from Under-Dao Academy... He must be a figure from Ehai coming to assist Daoist Huotuo and ensure nothing goes wrong."

She turned to look at Yu Jiangwei, as if seeking a definitive answer from the Zhuran Star expert.

Right at this moment, the consistently silent Lin Longyue suddenly had a slight change in expression, a trace of deep astonishment flashing in her eyes.

She stared fixedly at the figure treading the clouds in the void, at that face she couldn't be more familiar with, her breath catching.

What kind of figure was Yu Jiangwei? Even if the change in Lin Longyue's expression lasted only a split second, how could it escape her perception?

She turned her head, her deep eyes falling on Lin Longyue. Her gaze was calm, yet it carried an invisible pressure.

Sensing the immortal's gaze, Lin Longyue's heart shuddered, and she swallowed hard.

Not daring to hide anything, she said, "I... I know this person."

"His name is Chen Lingxi, and just like me... he is a native of this Weiji Grotto-Heaven!"

Chen Lingxi?

As these words fell on everyone's ears, the male and female cultivators from Zhuran Star both revealed strange expressions.

The man with the azure mark reacted first. He raised his head and looked at the Celestial Ranking towering majestically in the firmament.

Purple qi lingered around the Celestial Ranking, and names flowed across it.

His gaze swept downward, ultimately freezing on the twenty-eighth position.

The characters engraved there in faint purple light were exactly "Chen Lingxi," and his origin prominently displayed the words "Weiji Grotto-Heaven."

"A native of Weiji Grotto-Heaven?" the man repeated in a low voice, his tone tinged with surprise. "A native creature of a mere Qi-Depleted Grotto-Heaven actually managed to cultivate to the Twelve Floors of Qi Circulation, and even ascend to twenty-eighth place on the Celestial Ranking? This..."

He didn't finish speaking, but his disbelief was plain.

"Since he isn't a figure from Ehai," the purple-misted woman chimed in, "and he is only at the Twelve Floors of Qi Circulation without a Dao Platform, yet barged into Nanche Prefecture City all alone like this... Daoist Huotuo's avatar has already condensed a Dao Platform. His combat strength is absolutely not something a Qi Circulation Dao Seed cultivator can match.

"Isn't going there just throwing his life away for nothing?"

Hearing this, a heavy look of worry flashed in Lin Longyue's eyes.

She watched the Azure Cloud drift further away, staring at the black-clothed youth standing at its head as her emotions churned like a tide.

Right at this moment!

That lightning-wreathed cloud had already charged into the sky above Nanche Prefecture City.

Chen Lingxi stood at the head of the cloud like a falling star, his robes fluttering and the lightning around him blazing. Wrapped in a terrifying aura that—while not yet at the Dao Foundation—far exceeded that of ordinary Qi Circulation cultivators, he crashed down into Nanche Prefecture City!

In an instant, the flames rampaging through the prefecture city dimmed!

Daoist Huotuo was putting his full effort into breaking the final Starlight Restriction. His entire mind was tied to it, and he hadn't expected at all that someone would dare interfere behind his back.

By the time he detected the suddenly intruding presence, Chen Lingxi had already closed in like a ghost to within a hundred zhang of him!

Daoist Huotuo frowned. Forced to temporarily halt his offensive against the restriction, he turned around.

His flame-lit eyes fell on Chen Lingxi, sweeping him up and down before a trace of surprise flickered in them.

"A Qi Circulation Dao Seed... why have you come?"

And at this moment, Lin Suri, in front of the Great Ferrying Array, also sensed this familiar presence.

He abruptly opened his eyes, a trace of emotion in his gaze.

'Daoist Brother Chen truly shouldn't have come to this dangerous place,' he murmured inwardly. With no time to think further, he sank his entire mind back into the Great Ferrying Array, doing his utmost to maintain its operation.

Jiang Xiu and Wei Qingran similarly sensed Chen Lingxi's arrival.

"Chen Lingxi!"

"Daoist Friend Chen!"

The two exchanged a glance, a trace of pleasant surprise flashing in their eyes.

Seeing him actually dare to barge into this certain-death situation alone to lend a hand, their hearts were deeply shaken.

Daoist Huotuo naturally also heard their exclamations.

He looked at Chen Lingxi and suddenly spoke, "A native... of Weiji Grotto-Heaven?"

He shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of emotion. "For this Weiji Grotto-Heaven to actually birth a figure like this... it is rather interesting."

But immediately after, Daoist Huotuo felt a bit of pity.

Standing in front of the not-yet-fully-shattered Starlight Restriction, the flames around him surged, burning the ruins within several dozen zhang into molten lava.

He stared at Chen Lingxi, his tone carrying a bit of killing intent. "Are you here to rescue Under-Dao Academy?"

The cloud beneath Chen Lingxi's feet slowly dissipated.

He landed in front of that luxurious pavilion.

He didn't answer Daoist Huotuo. He merely stood there, but the aura around him flared to its absolute peak like a tidal wave.

Spiritual qi flowed madly within his body, letting out a rumble like muffled thunder!

He raised his head, meeting Daoist Huotuo's flame-lit eyes, his own gaze as calm as water.

Daoist Huotuo shook his head slightly, the pity in his eyes growing thicker.

He sighed, his voice echoing in this sea of fire. "The common people of a qi-depleted land are just like ants, destined from birth to struggle in the mud and eventually die without a sound.

"You had some karmic luck. To be able to cultivate to the Twelve Floors of Qi Circulation in this qi-depleted land can already be considered defying the heavens."

He paused, the crimson flames around his body abruptly flaring. "But you shouldn't have come here.

"You would have been like the other ants, dying in the cauldron flames of the Realm-Refining Furnace when this Grotto-Heaven is refined. That was your preordained fate.

"Yet you insist on involving yourself in this dispute, interfering in the affairs of my Ehai."

His voice suddenly rose, exploding in this sea of fire like a sudden thunderbolt. "This will only make you die faster!"

Before his voice had even faded, the flames around Daoist Huotuo abruptly erupted!

Daoist Huotuo's burly frame fiercely shook. The surging spiritual qi in his body, bolstered by his Dao Platform, poured out madly like a burst dam. Intertwining with his unique Ehai power, it transformed into a crimson pillar of fire that shot into the sky!

The pillar of fire was over a zhang thick and pierced straight into the firmament, burning a massive hole through the churning sea of clouds above.

The scorching shockwave from the fire pillar swept out in all directions like a tsunami. Wherever it passed, the broken wood and shattered beams in the ruins were instantly reduced to ash. The bluestone ground was scorched until it cracked, bulged, and turned into boiling magma.

Under the impact of this terrifying power, several surrounding streets began to melt and collapse!

Chen Lingxi stood right in the center of that sea of fire, his aura equally towering!

"Ants?" he suddenly spoke...

The very instant his words fell!

Within the crude Inner Divine Palace inside his body, the phantom of Great Sage Yaotian sitting cross-legged on the high platform suddenly opened its eyes!