Chapter 543: The Battle of Little Five

Upon hearing this, everyone was deeply grieved.

Immortal Luo's eyes reddened as she said, "Wujiu was such a pitiful child. His master, Yu Changbai, died without anyone knowing how, with neither body nor trace to be found. And now he too has perished in the furnace... These are troubled times for our Despair Slope."

The moment these words were spoken, they struck the raw wounds of everyone on Despair Slope.

In recent days, Despair Slope had suffered one calamity after another. First, Celestial Way Walkers like Yu Changbai and Lin Taixu died under mysterious circumstances. Then the Celestial Venerable was inexplicably injured, Kou Xianren was killed by the Demon Emperor's hand, and then Feng Ruotong, Wen Daoist, and others lost their lives at the hands of the Demon Emperor.

Now, to refine the heavenly soldiers, a good child like Zhuang Wujiu had also perished.

Since ancient times, Despair Slope had always enjoyed smooth sailing. Though there had been casualties in the past, they were usually one or two people at most. Even during the True King's Era, when the True King himself came to Despair Slope, no one there had been injured or died tragically because of it.

Now, without anyone even realizing it, half of the Celestial Way Immortals had been lost, and dozens of Celestial Way Walkers had also fallen.

"When a dynasty is about to fall, monsters are sure to appear."

Little Duan Immortal sighed and said, "Everyone, is this the time for self-pity and blame? The greater the calamity, the more we must steel ourselves. Let us hasten to refine this batch of heavenly soldiers and share the Celestial Venerable's burdens!"

The crowd was stirred to solemnity and said in unison, "Immortal Palace's admonishment is correct! We are ashamed. Just now we were overcome by grief and let it affect our Dao Hearts."

They were deeply remorseful and immediately activated the Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace with great dedication.

Wen Wuyu blinked her eyes and thought to herself, "Little Ten brother is even more like Immortal Palace than Immortal Palace herself."

Little Duan Immortal sat by the Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace, her gaze flickering. She was actually thinking about how, when the battle between Wu Qi and the Celestial Venerable began, she could steal this treasure away without anyone noticing.

If this treasure were gone, then the Celestial Venerable would have one fewer trump card.

"I wonder if my husband has managed to comprehend the mysteries of the Celestial Venerable's techniques?"

Her mind stirred slightly, and her consciousness quietly descended into the small temple. There she saw Chen Shi sitting on the miniature shrine, eyes closed in deep concentration, completely still, yet his aura growing stronger and stronger.

During this period, he had already fused five cultivation techniques together, and the Celestial Venerable's technique was beginning to show its outline.

However, fusing six techniques to reconstruct the Celestial Venerable's profound art was extremely difficult. Chen Shi was currently expending all his mental energy on this task, completely unaware of what was happening in the outside world.

Little Duan Immortal thought to herself, "My husband doesn't yet know how much I've accomplished during this time."

She blinked her eyes, and when she thought of Wen Wuyu, who was utterly devoted to her, she felt a twinge of guilt.

If Chen Shi woke up and learned of this, he would probably fly into a rage, wouldn't he?

"I wonder how Fifth Uncle is faring in the furnace?" She was letting her thoughts wander, so she quickly steadied her mind and focused on refining the black flame mark shrouding her heart.

Within the furnace's hidden world.

Creation Little Five was truly in his element. In a short span of time, his cultivation and strength had soared dramatically.

Little Duan Immortal feared the black flame mark of the Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace, but he did not. He was himself a creation; the reason he could walk and jump was thanks to the creation mark bestowed upon him by Chen Yindu. For him, the more marks, the better!

And in the furnace world, the fastest way to enhance one's mark was to kill other Little Fives and seize the black flame mark shrouding their hearts.

As he devoured more and more black flame marks, his strength grew greater and greater. He carved his way forward, sweeping across three thousand li in all directions, unstoppable wherever he went.

Most of these Little Fives possessed cultivations at the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, or Spirit Transformation levels. The more skilled ones were at Body Unification, Three Corpses, or Spirit Refining levels, all far inferior to him.

He had only encountered five Little Fives comparable to Great Completion.

Suddenly, Creation Little Five sensed an aura that made his heart tremble with dread. He looked up and was struck dumb with amazement.

There, in the sky, a tribulation cloud was rapidly forming!

This furnace world actually had its own unique Celestial Way system, and it was even possible to cross the tribulation and ascend!

He was thrilled beyond measure. Without regard for causing a stir, he shot into the air with a whoosh, heading straight for the area shrouded by the tribulation cloud.

"Beneath that tribulation cloud, a heavenly soldier must be forming! If I seize his cultivation, I too can cross the tribulation and ascend!"

However, this heavenly tribulation arrived ferociously but ended just as quickly. By the time he reached the spot, the tribulation had already erupted and was in its final stage.

The tribulation cloud dispersed, replaced by all sorts of Dao patterns descending from the sky.

These Dao patterns were combined with the Phoenix Profound Flame, as well as grand talismans flying out from within the Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace itself. The talismans were exceedingly numerous, interweaving to form the Dao patterns.

Creation Little Five stared with wide eyes and charged straight for the Dao patterns.

In the years since Chen Yindu had returned from the underworld, inspired by the shamanic ritual markings, his research focus had shifted away from the Universal Sacrificial Rite. Instead, he was attempting to compile talismans into written language, trying to use this written language to explain the mysteries of the Great Dao.

The Universal Sacrificial Rite had three thousand six hundred deities, corresponding to three thousand six hundred Talisman Scripts, equivalent to three thousand six hundred characters. They could absolutely be compiled into a complete language system.

This was the Dao pattern!

Among the immortal techniques passed down from the True King's Era, many Dao patterns could be found, but they were obscure and secretive, extremely troublesome to comprehend. That was why Chen Yindu planned to compile his own set, and his assistant was, naturally, Creation Little Five.

However, this project was extraordinarily vast and complex. Accurate divine language had to be derived, and the connections between different Divinities, as well as their mutual restraint and generation, also needed to be clarified. It had consumed an enormous amount of energy from the father and son.

And now, Creation Little Five discovered these Dao patterns, so of course he was overjoyed. Obtaining these Dao patterns meant he could avoid many detours.

If he handed these Dao patterns to Chen Yindu for research, they could bring great inspiration to his father!

However, these Dao patterns falling from the sky belonged to the Little Five who had just crossed the tribulation. How could he allow his Dao patterns to be taken?

The two creations collided thunderously in mid-air. Creation Little Five's vicious nature surged, and the moment he made his move, he unleashed the Universal Heavenly Descent, born from the Universal Sacrificial Rite. Three thousand six hundred deities formed the Celestial Court, condensing into a supreme power that met the other Little Five head-on!

That Little Five radiated brilliant light from his entire body, various strange Dao patterns of the Great Way surfacing around him, leaving Creation Little Five staring in astonishment.

"The immortal body of a creation!"

"Boom!"

The two pushed their cultivation to the absolute limit and collided with earth-shattering force. Although the other Little Five had crossed the tribulation and possessed an immortal body, he was still no match for Creation Little Five's divine abilities. With a crack, one of his arms snapped.

He flew up and continued his assault, feeling no pain.

Creation Little Five had no time to unleash the Luo Heaven Sacrificial Rite. He hurriedly executed the Three Ghost and God Startling Variations, causing the surrounding space to crisscross chaotically as he tried to put distance between himself and the other Little Five.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

That Little Five smashed through layer after layer of space, almost without any resistance, and appeared right before him.

"The immortal body is so strong!"

Creation Little Five took the blow head-on. Three of his fingers snapped, bending backward at a shocking angle. Then that Little Five slammed into his chest, and his ribs let out crackling sounds.

As he was sent flying backward, he saw that Little Five charging at him with incredible speed.

Creation Little Five steadied himself, raised his hand to the sky, and surging Phoenix Profound Flame poured down from above, slamming onto that Little Five.

The other Little Five's immortal body was ignited by the strange flame, but he felt no pain whatsoever and continued his assault.

The distance was too close. Creation Little Five only had time to unleash the Luo Heaven Fall, but in the next instant, it was broken through.

The two Little Fives engaged in close combat, trading blow for blow at blinding speed. Creation Little Five suddenly activated the Yin-Yang Dao Field, inverting yin and yang and evolving a world of the underworld within this furnace world. Half of that Little Five's body sank into the underworld, and just as he tried to leap out, Creation Little Five twisted his neck and killed him on the spot!

The moment that Little Five died, the Dao patterns around his body flew up along with the black flame mark on his heart. Creation Little Five ignored his injuries and hastily absorbed both the Dao patterns and the black flame mark.

But the most precious of all were the Dao patterns that had fallen from the sky. They were the key to allowing a creation to cultivate an immortal physical body and Primordial Spirit.

As Creation Little Five absorbed and refined the Dao patterns, he thought to himself, "The heavenly soldiers were designed by Gong Wanqing. But that doesn't seem right either. She shouldn't have the wisdom to lay out a Celestial Way within the furnace or design strange things like tribulation crossing and ascension. Even if Father and I joined forces, we wouldn't have that kind of wisdom. This furnace world already had its own unique Celestial Way system. What Gong Wanqing did was probably just comprehend a portion of the Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace's functions and design things based on that."

His cultivation and strength climbed higher and higher, and then he suddenly thought of something else.

"Such a treasure, unprecedented in my experience, how did it end up in the Western Ox New Continent?"

He was deeply puzzled. Just then, a strange force came from the sky, and a beam of radiant light shone down upon him.

Creation Little Five looked up and was stunned. Amidst the layers of the sea of fire, a massive whirlpool had appeared, and the radiant light was shining through it, landing on him.

"This is a beam of guiding radiant light!"

Creation Little Five was caught between laughter and tears. When cultivators crossed the tribulation and ascended, radiant light would fall from the immortal realm to guide them upward, allowing them to become true immortals.

The Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace even had ascension built in!

"If I didn't know that even after ascending, I'd still be inside the furnace and would be refined and controlled by those people outside, I might not be able to resist ascending myself." He thought to himself.

He suppressed the ascension power emanating from the radiant light and continued absorbing the Dao patterns.

By the time he had fully absorbed the Dao patterns, his physical body and Primordial Spirit were approaching the level of an immortal body.

"This furnace is too strange, but the Celestial Way that governs the world inside seems to have many loopholes."

Creation Little Five blinked his eyes. "I can avoid the Celestial Way and not ascend. So then, can I control the Celestial Way?"

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. With a strange yell, he dashed off into the distance.

Outside the Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace, an immortal frowned slightly and said, "Strange. Why hasn't this heavenly soldier ascended yet? Immortal Palace, another strange thing has happened in the furnace. There's a creation about to become a heavenly soldier, but it absolutely refuses to ascend. Just now we repeatedly activated the Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace, yet it still hasn't ascended."

A heavenly soldier's ascension was the process of refinement.

After refinement, a heavenly soldier would possess cultivation equivalent to the Celestial Immortal Realm, extraordinarily powerful, and controlled by its master.

But the strange thing was that this heavenly soldier seemed to completely ignore the guiding radiant light!

Little Duan Immortal furrowed her delicate brows and said, "Is that so? I went into the furnace earlier and expended too much of myself. Would any fellow Daoist be willing to go down and investigate?"

The immortals hesitated. If it weren't for the black flames, they might have dared to investigate. But with the Phoenix Profound Flame now present, if they rashly charged into the sea of fire, they would likely be burned to death.

Just then, Chen Shi's voice reached Little Duan Immortal's ear: "The Celestial Venerable's technique... it's done!"