Serpent Ancestor

In ancient times, cultivators focused on the Dao of the primordial spirit. When the primordial spirit roamed the great void and merged with heaven and earth, they could completely transcend the shackles of the physical body. The Five Elemental Spiritual Roots would unite, achieving immortality and endless lifespan.

This is the path of refining the spirit to return to the void!

A Void Refinement cultivator could, with a flick of a finger, harness the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth for personal use, split mountains, divide seas, shatter the void, and manipulate the trajectory of stars. Even if their physical body was destroyed, they could reincarnate through special methods, making them extremely difficult to kill.

The gap between Void Refinement and Divine Transformation is as vast as heaven and earth.

In the near ancient era, countless Divine Transformation cultivators emerged on the seven cultivation stars, yet none succeeded in ascending. The closest was the Thousand-Eyed King, who attempted to use the Nine Extremes Return to Origin technique but ultimately failed.

This shows how incredibly difficult it is to break through Divine Transformation!

Xu Hei, using the Nine Extremes Return to Origin, forged nine crystal cores and embarked on the path of proving the Dao through strength, only to fail as well.

The Nine Transformations of the True Dragon, inherited from the era of the Ancestral Dragon, was the most ancient Void Refinement technique Xu Hei cultivated.

Gathering nine strands of Dragon Qi, the Nine Dragons Unite, surpassing even the ancient unification of the Five Elemental Spiritual Roots, this is the path to the heavens.

Beyond the nine heavens, a terrifying thunder dragon descended from the sky, striking Xu Hei's primordial spirit. In an instant, space shattered, tsunamis surged, volcanoes erupted, and the entire star trembled.

Such a tribulation was beyond human resistance!

From within Xu Hei's primordial spirit, a small cauldron flew out, absorbing all the purple lightning in the heavens and earth. In the blink of an eye, the first tribulation of the Six Nine Tribulation was effortlessly neutralized.

"This Demon God Cauldron is too terrifying; I can't delay any longer!"

Jiang Bufan raised a pagoda, crushing downwards, releasing a phoenix-shaped flame, the tower spirit of the Phoenix King Pagoda, which pounced on Hei Huang's scattered flesh.

"Ow!!"

Hei Huang let out a dog-like yelp, fleeing a hundred thousand miles in an instant, as his scattered flesh reassembled, only to be engulfed by the flames, setting his entire body ablaze.

His pitch-black demon armor melted like a candle, the flames penetrating his body, black smoke rising.

"Boom!!"

Suddenly, a divine thunder from the nine heavens struck, a Void Refinement tribulation, without warning, hitting Hei Huang's location.

The space shattered instantly, creating a bottomless abyss, and Hei Huang's physical body vanished, along with the tower spirit of the Phoenix King Pagoda.

"What?!"

Jiang Bufan's eyes widened; he couldn't sense the tower spirit's presence, nor Hei Huang's aura. Did this mean the tower spirit and Hei Huang perished together?

Just as he was about to investigate, another lightning tribulation struck without warning.

"Boom!!"

Jiang Bufan was hit squarely on the forehead, his robes charred black, even his hair burned away, blood spurting out. He pulled out a lightning absorption talisman, absorbing the lightning cleanly.

He looked up, filled with disbelief.

"The tribulation is actually targeting me!"

Jiang Bufan seemed to realize something, his gaze shifting to Tian Jizi in the distance.

At this moment, the old Taoist was forming hand seals, muttering incantations, his eyes slightly closed, appearing calm and composed. However, beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.

"So that's it, this old Taoist redirected the tribulation onto me! Such a fate-transferring technique actually exists in the mortal realm!"

Jiang Bufan's gaze turned extremely menacing.

He realized he had targeted the wrong person; this old Taoist was the one who should have been eliminated first, even more threatening than Hei Huang.

At this moment, Tian Jizi formed another seal, and the Void Shattering tribulation descended once more, unsurprisingly targeting Jiang Bufan.

Jiang Bufan raised the Sky Phoenix Pagoda, absorbing most of the tribulation's power, yet still struck by the overflowing tribulation, his body plummeting from the high heavens, crashing into a massive abyss ten thousand zhang wide.

The Dao of fate is one of the supreme Daos; if one can glimpse even a fraction, they can wield earth-shattering power.

"Buzz!!"

At the same time, a beam of green light shone, and Hei Huang's blood and flesh, just scattered, sprouted from the ground like bamboo shoots after rain, reassembling into his human form, as if uninjured, though his aura was slightly weakened.

Witnessing such a scene, Jiang Bufan's heart was in turmoil.

The Heavenly Demon Scattered Person wasn't dead and could even be resurrected by the Green Emperor!

These four Superior Immortals, besides fighting the Five Elemental Heavenly Corpse, could also spare hands to cooperate and join forces against him!

What was his Five Elemental Heavenly Corpse doing?

Jiang Bufan suddenly had a bad premonition, focusing his attention on Gongshu Zi.

A celestial chessboard had appeared in the sky at some point, filled with pieces, occupying specific positions on the board.

Gongshu Zi, at the formation's core, manipulated hand seals, and the chessboard's area expanded, gradually encompassing heaven and earth.

This was the Thousand Mechanisms Grand Formation!

The seal of the Thousand Mechanisms Grand Formation had been unlocked at some point, falling into Gongshu Zi's hands, and the formation's area had already encompassed the entire Five Elemental Heavenly Corpse.

"Using heaven and earth as the chessboard, all beings as pieces, oneself as the formation's core, and puppets to enter the Dao, proving the myriad mechanisms!"

Gongshu Zi sat cross-legged, muttering incantations, raising his hand to point.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

One puppet after another flew out from his storage ring, landing precisely on the chessboard of the Thousand Mechanisms Grand Formation.

As the chessboard expanded, more and more puppets appeared, all former elders and disciples of the Divine Puppet Sect, not only at the Divine Transformation stage but also at the Elemental Infant stage.

Every elite disciple who had died was refined into a puppet by Gongshu Zi, lifelike and vivid, as if they were still alive, not dead.

Even the likenesses of Xiao Chou and Wang Ding appeared within the formation.

These were not corpses but crafted from metal materials, infused with the spiritual essence of the deceased. Regardless of their cultivation level, anyone who had made significant contributions to the Divine Puppet Sect became part of the formation.

Gathering the fortune of all beings, proving the myriad mechanisms, this was no longer the complete form of the Thousand Mechanisms Grand Formation but had surpassed it, reaching a higher level!

"Myriad mechanisms, seal!"

Gongshu Zi changed his hand gesture, and all the puppets in the formation changed their hand gestures, assuming sealing postures.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

In an instant, countless pillars descended from the sky, landing at various positions of the Five Elemental Heavenly Corpse. Chains flew out from the pillars, piercing through the corpse's body and limbs, binding it to the pillars.

"Myriad mechanisms, suppress!"

Gongshu Zi activated once more, and mountains descended from the sky and earth, crashing onto the head of the Five Elemental Heavenly Corpse, instantly crushing it into the ground, buried by the mountains.

"Rumble..."

Terrifying tremors echoed as the Five Elemental Heavenly Corpse struggled, emitting multicolored light, the power of laws surging forth, impacting the sealing formation.

Jiang Bufan's gaze turned sinister, directly burning his primordial spirit to forcibly control the Five Elemental Heavenly Corpse.

"Boom!!"

Suddenly, another heavenly thunder descended, striking his head, and Jiang Bufan was once again knocked into the abyss.

"The so-called Superior Immortals of the Divine Continent Star, I underestimated you. I didn't intend to use this move, but you forced my hand!"

Jiang Bufan's eyes turned ruthless, flashing with a murderous intent and a hint of madness.

He bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of essence blood, marking it on his forehead, then burned his primordial spirit. In the void, a phantom of a heavenly phoenix appeared.

The moment the heavenly phoenix phantom appeared, the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth boiled, continuously drawn towards the heavenly phoenix phantom.

A tremendous sense of oppression enveloped everyone, stopping their breath, blanking their minds, even losing their sense of Spiritual Qi.

Everyone's gaze was fixated on the heavenly phoenix phantom.

"What is that?"

Facing the heavenly phoenix phantom, everyone felt like ants facing a tsunami, overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, heart palpitations, fear, panic... various emotions arose uncontrollably.

This wasn't due to a lack of willpower or fear of death; those who survived in the Divine Puppet Sect were all people of great determination, having long placed life and death aside.

This was an instinctive fear of a lower being facing a higher one, an oppression stemming from bloodline and race.

The Jiang family of the human race had deep ties with the heavenly phoenix clan. Not only Fengming Mountain, but many direct descendants of the Jiang family also carried the heavenly phoenix bloodline.

The Jiang family would assess the potential of their clan members based on the concentration of the heavenly phoenix bloodline.

At this moment, Jiang Bufan sacrificed the true blood of the heavenly phoenix, summoning the true spirit of the heavenly phoenix to descend. This was a method of burning bloodline and discarding potential, which could turn a genius into a waste, something almost no Jiang family member would willingly do!

Jiang Bufan's true blood of the heavenly phoenix was accumulated through countless merits and rewards from the family.

Now, to achieve his goal, he sacrificed it all at once!

"Heavenly phoenix true spirit..." Night Owl murmured, gazing at the sky.

The cultivators on the battlefield trembled, instinctively distancing themselves from the heavenly phoenix phantom, avoiding the powerful being, a natural instinct.

"Roar!!"

Suddenly, from the depths of the Divine Puppet Sect's forbidden area, a loud dragon roar echoed.

In an instant, the bloodline pressure of the heavenly phoenix true spirit vanished, the pressure dissipated. That dragon roar seemed to challenge the heavenly phoenix true spirit, drawing its angry gaze towards the forbidden area.

"Screech!"

The heavenly phoenix true spirit, uncontrollable, ignored everyone, soaring towards the Divine Puppet Sect's forbidden area.

Jiang Bufan's pupils contracted, looking towards the forbidden area.

In the forbidden area, a massive dragon head phantom rose into the sky, opening its ferocious mouth, roaring at the heavenly phoenix.

The heavenly phoenix, unwilling to be outdone, spread its phoenix feathers, charging at the dragon head with an unstoppable force.

The phantoms of the two divine beasts engaged in a titanic battle.

Xu Hei's primordial spirit was underground.

Witnessing the scene, Xu Hei showed a puzzled expression.

The moment the heavenly phoenix true spirit descended, the true dragon sculpture on the Demon God Cauldron's surface came to life, exuding a terrifying will, forming into a solid entity, becoming the dragon head phantom.

Then, uncontrollably, it soared out to battle the heavenly phoenix.

The battle was earth-shattering, mountains and seas roared, the void shattered, the sun and moon lost their light.

The ancestral dragon sculpture on the Demon God Cauldron took action on its own, a first in history.

"What is that dragon-shaped phantom? Could it be the true spirit of the dragon clan?" Jiang Bufan was bewildered, unable to recognize what it was with his limited knowledge.

At this moment, the dragon head phantom was overwhelming the heavenly phoenix true spirit, completely outmatching it.

The phantom phoenix feathers were torn, its wings shredded, utterly powerless.

Before long, with an unwilling phoenix cry, the heavenly phoenix phantom was bitten by the dragon head, swallowed whole.

The dragon head shrank, returning to the surface of the Demon God Cauldron.

The pressure vanished, the boiling Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth disappeared.

Everything returned to calm.

From Jiang Bufan summoning the heavenly phoenix true spirit to its devouring, it was only a matter of a few breaths.

Everything happened so quickly that Jiang Bufan was left dumbfounded.

"How could... this happen?"

Jiang Bufan's face turned pale, words unable to describe his current feelings.

He had exhausted all means, sacrificing the true blood of the heavenly phoenix to summon the true spirit, only for it to be instantly annihilated. Was there any justice?

The Five Elemental Heavenly Corpse was suppressed, the heavenly phoenix true spirit extinguished, leaving him alone.

…………

In the distant depths of the void.

A pitch-black disc shadow hovered millions of miles outside the Moon Star, recording the scene on the Divine Continent Star clearly.

"Mo Xingtian failed, and Jiang Bufan is in trouble."

"This world is more troublesome than imagined!"

A conversation echoed from within the disc shadow.

"Can we intervene?"

"My task is only to observe and record, not to intervene. Our Shadow Clan has always adhered to contracts."

The conversation was interrupted here.

After a long pause, a cold voice spoke again, "There is no unbreakable contract, only a price that can't be met. Stop stalling, name your price."

"I've said, the contract is set, no price will change it. Jiang family's Seventh Ancestor, please leave. If you stay too long, be wary of being detected by the Flying Spirit Platform; even our Shadow Clan can't hide you," another voice replied.

With that, the disc fell into a long silence.

…………

"Hehehe... Hahaha!"

Jiang Bufan laughed maniacally, his hair disheveled, as waves of tribulation struck him, his robes shattered, flesh and blood mangled, not a single intact spot on his body.

Yet, he still didn't die.

Even his aura remained at its peak, seemingly hardly diminished.

This made everyone's faces turn extremely grim.

Tian Jizi's expression was solemn, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, even his usually calm face showing a hint of paleness.

Continuously transferring fate, directing the tribulation onto Jiang Bufan, he could endure for a short time, but as time dragged on, the backlash would be unbearable even for him.

"This Jiang Bufan is different from Mo Xingtian. This person has consumed a Spiritual Treasure of heaven and earth, tempering his physical body. His physique is extremely strong, even the tribulation can't harm him."

Xu Bai immediately saw through Jiang Bufan's condition. His physical body had definitely been tempered by a Spiritual Treasure of heaven and earth, a treasure far more valuable than Earth Core Stone Milk.

Though they held the upper hand, dismantling Jiang Bufan's methods, defeating him was wishful thinking.