Chapter 880 - 715: Earth-Shattering Battle

Celestial Abyss, First Layer, Weisu District, Yinfeng Valley.

The valley was surrounded by a pervasive gray mist, almost as if one couldn’t see their fingers reaching out, with a visibility far lower than the native red mist of the Celestial Abyss.

Occasionally, a bone-chilling mysterious airflow would sweep through, capable of instantly turning top-grade defensive spiritual artifacts into fragments.

Ordinary Second Realm cultivators, even if they are at the Sixth or Seventh Layer of the Spirit Platform, would lose half their life if lightly touched by this.

Terrifying roars occasionally emanated from within the gray mist, seeming both distant and blasting right next to one’s ear, causing bodies to stiffen in fear, utterly shocked.

Lou Yi followed Jia Hong into this mysterious forbidden land.

Jia Hong raised a simple gray wooden box, half a foot long, with her fair jade-like hand.

The surrounding gray mist seemed to encounter its nemesis, rapidly dispersing to either side.

An automatic mist-free path a yard wide formed, winding and unknown where it led.

After they moved on, the path was quickly filled again by an ever-flowing gray mist.

After walking for a while, they arrived in front of a gray-white statue towering fifty to sixty yards high.

This statue was full of cracks and gaps, humanoid but missing its head.

On its sides were countless arms, possibly hundreds or thousands.

Some arms pointed to the sky, some to the ground, while others were bent as if ready to strike.

Almost all the arms were incomplete, with only one arm having a relatively complete hand, as big as a millstone.

On the palm were eight fingers, one slightly shorter as if a small segment was missing.

Jia Hong approached the statue’s front, and sincerely knelt three times and kowtowed nine times in a grand ceremony.

Then she raised the wooden box high above her head and chanted ancient spells, the sound peculiar and the pace rapid, causing intense resonance in the surrounding air.

The wooden box slowly opened on its own, revealing its contents, a small piece of dried black-red finger.

The black-red finger flew up, enlarged several times in transit, landed on the statue’s sole intact hand, and clicked into place.

"First drop a bit of refined blood on it, then chant the divine spell with me.

The crowned one will soon sense your sincerity, and bestow favor upon you. Join me in the sect." Jia Hong said to Lou Yi.

"Alright." Lou Yi nodded expressionlessly.

A droplet-shaped purple-red refined blood suddenly flew out from him, emitting a rich qi-blood glow, displaying its abundant energy.

The refined blood fell onto the dried finger and was swiftly absorbed, visibly causing the finger to become plump.

A shallow red light emerged on it, gradually spreading along the palm across the fragmented statue.

The originally lifeless and dim statue seemed illuminated, gradually giving birth to a faint vitality.

’Is Jia Hong’s backer going to possess it now?’ Lou Yi thought, watching the scene unfold.

The refined blood he threw over was naturally not his own, but from a powerful royal-blood demon clan he had previously hunted.

Yet, this eerie finger seemed not picky, accepting whatever it received?

Lou Yi looked at Jia Hong, noticing her smiling face, seemingly unconcerned about the source of the refined blood, confident and fearless.

’If it truly is the Demon God worshiped by the Yellow Springs Sect descending, any deception will be futile upon its arrival.’ A moment of clarity flashed in Lou Yi’s heart.

According to Jia Hong, the crowned one was the Demon God mentioned in the Yellow Springs Sect teachings.

Only such a being could arrive at the First Layer of the Celestial Abyss.

’Rumble!’

At this moment, the statue seemed to tremble slightly, as massive gray dust and powder cascaded down.

Clearly, the Demon God’s complete descent was drawing near.

Seeing Lou Yi occasionally turning to look at the far-away sky, Jia Hong smiled confidently: "Red Hero, no need to worry, the crowned one will soon arrive.

Even if the Allied Immortal Path or Ten Thousand Demon Mountain send experts at this time, they would merely be offerings.

In the presence of the supreme crowned one, even mighty True Monarchs and Demon Kings can only bow down."

"Is that so, how long exactly must we wait?" Lou Yi persistently asked.

"From my experience, no more than a hundred breaths." Jia Hong’s tone grew slightly impatient.

Feeling the famed Red Hero was in fact overrated, his courage far too small.

"That’s dragging on too long, it’s not easy to manage." Lou Yi frowned.

"Why?" Jia Hong was somewhat puzzled, unable to grasp his meaning, then suddenly clenched her eyes.

Above them, the wind and clouds transformed instantly!

A massive quantity of gray mist was cleared, lightning flashed and thunder roared, forming distinct layers of spatial ripples in the void.

Two figures silently appeared, floating in mid-air.

One figure emanated dazzling multicolor light, the other shone brilliantly like a golden sun.

As the light faded, their appearances became clear.

One figure was of the human race, an elderly woman of Taiyi Sect with white hair, a golden crown, and a dragon-shaped cane.

The other figure was of the demon clan, shaped like an ant, standing in the void, donning golden armor, giving off an invincible impression.

"How is it possible, how can they be here already? Wasn’t there supposed to be at least two more days?" Jia Hong’s face showed a look of disbelief, her tone carrying a hint of exasperation.

The situation had completely slipped out of her control, and it felt terrible.

"How long until Your Majesty arrives?" Lou Yi continued to ask.

"At most, fifty breaths!" This time Jia Hong didn’t find him annoying and urgently said,

"You must do everything you can to stall them; otherwise, the ritual may be interrupted, and Your Majesty’s arrival will fail!"

"That’s only natural." Lou Yi looked up at the two figures in the sky and nodded.

Although he had used misinformation and concealed the truth from Jia Hong and her powers behind the scenes, he couldn’t achieve perfection.

For instance, the appearance timing of the so-called Demon God should ideally be in complete sync with the arrival time of the two enemy factions—the Celestial Dao Alliance and Ten Thousand Demon Mountain.

Only amidst chaos generated by a three-faction melee would he have a chance to survive.

With only a fifty-breath delay now, it’s already quite perfect.

During these fifty breaths, he had to rely completely on himself to navigate through, with no shortcuts.

Thinking of this, Lou Yi shouted loudly, "Who are you?"

"Red Hero, you little brat, you brought about the death of my descendant Zhao Wushuang; today, I will tear you to pieces!" The old woman named Zhao hissed coldly.

"You conspired with others to ambush my child Anran; today, I will crush you!" roared the Great Demon from the Unihorn Ant Clan.

"Zhao Wushuang and the Unihorn Ant were defeated by me in fair fights, only to be slain.

You target me with your Third Realm presence; isn’t that bullying the weak?

I refuse to submit!" Lou Yi roared at the sky, his voice filled with unwillingness.

"You refuse to submit?

In this world, power speaks, victors become kings, losers become outcasts; who cares if you submit or not?" The old Zhao woman sneered incessantly, eyes locked onto Lou Yi’s face, and hissed,

"Alright then, now kneel down and repent for my bloodline Wushuang, I’ll give you a quick death.

Otherwise, I’ll show you the meaning of seeking life yet unable to find death!"

"A warrior can be killed but not humiliated!" Lou Yi roared at the sky.

At this moment, in the Main World, the central hall of the Celestial Dao Alliance, a giant colorful screen was playing real-time scenes from Yinfeng Valley.

Seeing the interaction between the old Zhao woman and Red Hero, many big shots shook their heads.

"That Red Hero is quite a character; there’s no need to humiliate him like this, Zhao Wanchun has gone a bit overboard."

"Hey, if it was your most talented clan member that got killed, you’d probably be more anxious than she is!"

"Red Hero is certainly doomed, but he shouldn’t agree to this... um..."

The crowd was shocked to see Red Hero indeed moving forward, intending to kneel.

"What?!!"

Instantly, a jaw dropped on the scene.

After all, Red Hero could single-handedly slay the Great Demon’s demonic form; he’s arguably the strongest person in the Second Realm of recent history, comparable to the Ancient Era’s innate Human Race.

Such a heroic figure, a prodigy who achieved the feat of sweeping through the Celestial Abyss, destined to be recorded in history.

How could he succumb to threats?

"Since ancient times, the struggle for life has always been difficult and solitary..." A mighty figure sighed, his tone full of insight into human nature.

However, Red Hero merely made a gesture as if to kneel, but ultimately halted his action.

Yet afterward, he made another attempt to kneel, followed by hesitation again.

Numerous times, he never succeeded, continually torn between decisions.

"What’s this kid doing, stalling for time?" The giants of the Celestial Dao Alliance weren’t foolish, they saw through Lou Yi’s intentions from the footage.

On-site, the old Zhao woman’s expression changed from initial triumph to icy cold fury.

"You little brat, dare to toy with me?"

"Seems like something is moving behind him!" Beside him, Unihorn Ant Great Demon Anran’s gaze sparked with red light.

He noticed something hidden within the hazy grey mist down below, a grand statue undergoing transformation.

"Looks like a summoning spell!" The old Zhao woman exclaimed in anger and panic, "I suddenly have a bad feeling, interrupt him now!"

’Boom!’

Anran stomped the void, his figure instantly disappearing from its spot, reappearing in front of the dilapidated statue the next moment.

His expression was fierce, swinging his dozens of golden arms causing tremors in the void.

"Alas, only managed to stall for twenty breaths, these bunches are too sharp," Lou Yi shook his head with a sigh, his figure flickering, simultaneously appearing before Unihorn Ant Anran.

Seems like he’s about to confront the opponent head-on!

Upon seeing this, the old woman named Zhao paused, while the Unihorn Ant Great Demon revealed a cruel smile.

The crowd outside also widened their eyes in surprise.

...