The palm strike caused an illusory golden wave to sweep through the air, and thunder to boom up above. It contained the power of Bai Xiaochun’s Heaven-Dao Gold Core, as well as fleshly body power that had already made contact with the second shackle. It was a domineering power that no one in the same cultivation stage as him could possibly stand up to.

The young Core Formation cultivator let out a howl like a caged animal. The sensation of deadly crisis he felt caused his heart to tremble. In his madness, he realized that he couldn’t flee, and that his only chance to get out of the situation alive was to withstand this palm strike. Suddenly, he was in almost the exact opposite situation as before!

There was little time to consider the situation at the moment. Howling, he slapped his bag of holding to produce a vast array of magical items. Then he performed an incantation gesture, and stabbed his finger toward Bai Xiaochun. He even went to the lengths of spitting his own Earth Core out of his mouth!

“I refuse to believe that you can kill me right after you stepped into Core Formation!!” he shrieked.

Bai Xiaochun’s eyes shone with intense coldness as his hand shot forward with lightning-like speed. When it made contact with the magical items, they couldn’t stand up to the power for even a moment. They were destroyed like dried twigs as Bai Xiaochun’s palm sped forward to the young man.

Then the palm made contact with the young man’s extended finger, and it was almost instantly blotted out of existence. As the golden Heaven-Dao power reduced it to ashes, the young man screamed miserably. However, Bai Xiaochun didn’t pause for even a moment; his palm continued forward, smashing into the young man’s Earth Core!

Instantly, rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth, and the Earth Core collapsed into nothing more than fragments. Blood sprayed out of the young man’s mouth, and a look of despair filled his eyes as Bai Xiaochun’s palm made contact with his chest!

“You want me dead? How about I kill you first!?” Bai Xiaochun’s words were spoken softly, but they were filled with a ferocity that could chill the soul.

Even before he finished speaking, his words were drowned out by a blood-curdling scream....

The young man was shoved backward, tumbling through the air. Before he could come to a stop, his body exploded, sending a rain of blood spattering all over the Sky River Court Core Formation cultivators who had come to aid him.

From the moment Bai Xiaochun began to strike out until the end of the fight, only a moment had passed. Quick and efficient!

The Core Formation cultivators who had just arrived were clearly shocked. Only now did they understand how truly frightening a Heaven-Dao Gold Core expert was!

He had only just stepped into Core Formation, and could already cut down someone in the same level. Furthermore, he had completely dominated his opponent. How could these other Core Formation cultivators be anything other than astonished?

Everything went silent for a moment, after which the River-Defying Sect cultivators began to cheer again as their fighting spirits rose. As for Bai Xiaochun, he hovered there, looking up at the Nascent Soul cultivators some distance off.

For the first time, he felt that he wasn’t so far removed from them after all.

Master Godwind from the Blood Stream Division threw his head back and laughed uproariously. “Children of the River-Defying Sect,” he cried, “attack with full force! Storm the Sky River Court!”

In response, the River-Defying Sect cultivators located in the jungle on either side of the river all roared and began to attack!

Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, and then caused a blood-colored light to explode out from him that vastly exceeded what he was capable of in Foundation Establishment. As it spread out, the cultivators of the Blood Stream Division yet again found their battle prowess increasing!!

Rumbling could be heard as the fighting resumed in full force, and in ever more bitter and deadly fashion than before!

From high up in the air, it was possible to see River-Defying Sect cultivators swarming through the jungle on both banks of the river. They were like two sharp blades, slicing toward the Sky River Court headquarters with deadly abandon.

The Sky River Court couldn’t fight back for much longer. They were being pushed back relentlessly, and the signs of imminent defeat were clear!

That was when an emerald green lantern suddenly flew out from the Sky River Court. As it rose into the air, it grew larger and larger, until it was fully 300 meters tall, and emanated shocking pressure. Surrounding the lantern were countless vengeful spirits, who let out vicious screams as they flew with the lantern toward the left bank of the river.

That lantern was none other than one of the Sky River Court’s precious treasures!

Before the lantern could fly very far, a black sun shot up from the right bank of the river. Inside of the sun was a white raven, whose opened eyes emanated intensely cold light. It let out a cry that could shake the soul as it shot toward the lantern!

As the pace of the battle increased, the time had arrived for the River-Defying Sect to release their reserve powers. Of course, a reserve power like the black sun was little more than a precious treasure to the Sky River Court.

When the precious treasure and the reserve power closed in on each other, a huge gravestone, hundreds of meters tall, appeared in the air above the right bank. It instantly began to smash down toward the ground, emanating a profoundly archaic air. As it descended, the ground down below began to bulge up, as if it were forming a grave.

Then, a withered hand shot up from the dirt, and a hoarse howl echoed out over the right bank.

How could the River-Defying Sect not be prepared for something like this, though? As soon as the gravestone appeared, a white sun shot up over the right bank, within which was a black raven. It let out a piercing cry as it shot toward the gravestone. As it neared, the hand which had emerged from the dirt dissolved into ash, and a face floated out from the gravestone. Howling, the face shot toward the white sun as if to consume it.

The fighting was proceeding with utter intensity as reserve powers and precious treasures were unleashed. Cultivators fought fiercely with other cultivators. Slowly but surely, the River-Defying Sect was pushing the Sky River Court back, and getting closer and closer to the Sky River Court headquarters itself!

The time had come for the third offensive, the assault on the headquarters!

As the offensive proceeded, large numbers of River-Defying Sect cultivators poured out of the jungle and began to fight on the Dire Skybanyan itself!

Booms rang out. The light of magical techniques rose up into the air. Bitter screams echoed here and there.

The battle between the patriarchs was growing more intense. People on both sides were receiving grievous injuries, and yet none of them were willing to back down, and instead, began to fight with even more madness.

Battles were going on between the Gold Core cultivators everywhere, both on the river banks and within the sect headquarters itself!

Bai Xiaochun was no longer tangling with the Foundation Establishment cultivators. Instead, he was higher up, battling the Core Formation cultivators from the Sky River Court. The River-Defying Sect had already had the upper hand in that regard, so there was little danger involved for him. Furthermore, it was giving him valuable experience in fighting other Core Formation cultivators.

As his battle prowess continued to climb, the Core Formation cultivators of the Sky River Court were increasingly shocked.

**

Meanwhile, on a towering mountain some distance away from the Sky River Court, three figures materialized. Despite the distance, they were able to clearly see everything that was happening on the field of battle.

Two of those figures were men, and one was a woman. The woman was beautiful, and emanated an aura that resembled the starry sky itself. She was there in illusory form, sometimes taking clear shape, sometimes blurring visibly. Anyone who stared at her too long would feel themselves growing dizzy.

Of the other two men, one was middle-aged, and emanated a pulsing black mist that formed into the shape of numerous black skulls. The grass near the man was all dead, and even the rocks were beginning to decay. Clearly, that black mist contained shocking power, and closely resembled devil qi!

Finally, there was an old man wearing a Daoist robe. He bore the demeanor of a transcendent being, and possessed a profound and mysterious aura. Anyone who got close to him would be able to hear a faint sound like the music of a Dao.

These three people came from the other three great sects in the Middle Reaches, the Starry River Court, the Polarity River Court, and the Dao River Court!

The woman who was phasing in and out of visibility, she came from the Starry River Court, which was widely known to wield the power of the starry sky! The man with the devil qi came from the Polarity River Court, which was widely regarded as a devilish sect! As for the old man, he came from the top sect in the Middle Reaches, the Dao River Court!

“The Sky River Court will be defeated this day. Interesting.”

“It seems our new neighbors aren’t weaklings, either. That will make things a bit more fun.”

“They even have a Heaven-Dao Gold Core cultivator. The Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect will surely take note of that....”

“You know, since the Sky River Court is going to meet defeat, their shares will need to be redistributed....”

The three of them exchanged slight, knowing smiles. Apparently, their true hope was that neither side came out truly victorious.