Chapter 1056 - Fifth-Level Spirit Profound Realm

The Demonic Purgatory Chains rampaged through the void, piercing the three clans' elders. Each strike drained the true essence and laws, leaving the elders hollow and helpless.

"Liu Wuxie is going to make another breakthrough!" someone cried out in alarm.

In an instant, Liu Wuxie refined three elders at the seventh-level Earth Profound Realm, devouring their immense laws. As the Desolate Devouring Art surged through him, spiritual energy across Astral Glory City converged toward him like rivers drawn to the sea.

"Can anyone tell me what that cultivation technique is? It's draining the entire city's spiritual energy!" a bewildered voice muttered amid the crowd.

They had witnessed powerful cultivation methods before, but none matched the scale or madness of what Liu Wuxie now displayed.

"His body... It's like a bottomless pit. Any other person would've exploded after absorbing the energy from three seventh-level Earth Profound cultivators. How is he breaking through without harm?" another cultivator gasped.

Typically, refining the laws of higher realm cultivators would overwhelm the physical body. But Liu Wuxie showed no strain.

Watching their elders fall, the surviving members of the three clans felt despair seep into their bones. Wang Yuanhou's face turned ghostly pale as his wounds worsened.

"Demon! You're a demon!" an elder howled moments before death claimed him. He could feel his laws vanishing, drawn away and consumed as if by a void.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Wuxie refined and swallowed the entirety of his cultivation. It was the terrifying might of the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, capable of refining all things under heaven.

With a deafening crash, the Heavenly Dragon Seal descended from the sky, obliterating two more elders instantly.

As more bodies fell, Liu Wuxie and the nine elders honed their control over the Ten-Sided Annihilation Array. With every heartbeat, their control sharpened, and their dominion over the battlefield expanded.

Wang Yuanhou stepped forward, his voice trembling as he offered to surrender, "Liu Wuxie, release them! We'll retreat and never offend the Heavenly Dao Society again!" He was begging for mercy, desperate to save the remaining Wang Clan elders still trapped within the spiritual array.

The clan couldn't endure such devastating losses. With Wang Chen's betrayal already shaking their foundation, Wang Yuanhou knew that if all their elders perished there, he would have no choice but to commit suicide. He wouldn't dare to return home.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. No one had expected the once-dominant three great clans to beg for mercy.

"Too late," Liu Wuxie said coldly, his tone devoid of emotion.

He raised his hand once more. With a single motion, Liu Wuxie slew several more elders inside the spiritual array on the spot. He showed no mercy and offered no forgiveness.

At that very moment, Liu Wuxie's cultivation surged, breaking through to the fifth-level Spirit Profound Realm. The breakthrough didn't just empower him, but it fed directly into the spiritual array, amplifying its strength. At its core, his rise in power caused the Ten-Sided Annihilation Array to burn even brighter, its destructive force growing more terrifying than ever.

The massacre didn't slow down. Fewer than five elders remained inside the array now.

The elders stopped resisting. They let their weapons hang at their sides and stood in silence, eyes hollow with resignation. None had imagined they would meet their end in this manner.

The surrounding sects and clans watched with grim expressions. A silent dread settled over them. Inwardly, they all felt the same relief, thankful they hadn't sided with the three clans. Otherwise, they, too, would have been annihilated in this merciless slaughter.

Finally, when the last elder collapsed in the array's light, Liu Wuxie released the Ten-Sided Annihilation Array, letting it dissolve. Its energy dissipated into the void, leaving only silence and the stench of blood behind.

The nine elders who had agreed to aid the Heavenly Dao Society landed heavily on the ground. Each one appeared exhausted, drained of almost all their true essence and laws.

Without delay, they pulled out pills and elixirs, trying to recover their strength while staying alert for any remaining threats.

Liu Wuxie stood in the center of it all, taking a deep breath. He absorbed the final remnants of laws and spiritual energy from the battlefield, refining them into his body. His cultivation surged once more, stabilizing at the pinnacle of the fifth-level Spirit Profound Realm.

When his eyes opened and swept across the battlefield, no one dared to meet his gaze. Not the sect masters or the cultivators, and even those who once stood tall among the powerful clans averted their gaze.

"Kill them all!" Tian Xing roared, leading the Heavenly Dao Society's forces in a relentless charge against the surviving remnants of the three clans.

The remaining elders were old, wounded, and defenseless. Cutting them down was no more difficult than slicing through dried leaves. From the moment the three clans had declared war, the Heavenly Dao Society had abandoned all thoughts of mercy. Liu Wuxie swore to spare not a single soul.

Amidst the chaos, Miao Jianying cornered Yuan Zilong, his sword pinning him down.

"Wait up!" Yuan Zilong shouted just as the sword was about to pierce his neck.

"Any final words?" Miao Jianying asked, the tip of his blade trembling with lethal energy.

"I have one request before I die," Yuan Zilong said calmly. He accepted that Liu Wuxie had sealed his fate and saw no point in resisting any longer.

"Speak," Miao Jianying replied.

"I wish to die by Liu Wuxie's hand. Will you allow it?" Yuan Zilong asked.

No one laughed at him.

Everyone knew that even experts at the seventh-level Earth Profound Realm had fallen to Liu Wuxie today. Yuan Zilong's request didn't seem ridiculous.

More importantly, those who had witnessed the battle at the Sacred Ground remembered how Yuan Zilong had narrowly escaped death at Liu Wuxie's hands. That had planted a seed in his heart, a shadow that had grown into a demon. Perhaps dying by Liu Wuxie's hand was the only way to find peace.

He regretted having escaped back then. If he had died alongside Mu Yuanyi and the others, he wouldn't have to face the humiliation he carried today.

Miao Jianying turned and looked toward Liu Wuxie. The others followed, their eyes silently seeking his response.

Liu Wuxie stood still, his expression unreadable.

He understood Yuan Zilong's thoughts all too well. The events at the Sacred Ground had become an inescapable demon in Yuan Zilong's heart. That demon could only be vanquished in one of two ways: either Yuan Zilong killed Liu Wuxie, or Liu Wuxie killed him.

"You wish to seek peace, but have you ever thought of the disciples killed by your Yuan Clan? Who will grant them peace?" Liu Wuxie asked softly, his voice tinged with sorrow.

Miao Jianying didn't hesitate. With a swift motion, his sword flashed through the air and severed Yuan Zilong's life. Yuan Zilong collapsed, eyes open with lingering regret and sorrow etched across his face.

Yuan Huaiguang saw his son die and let out a guttural, heart-wrenching roar. Grief twisted into rage, and he threw himself against the encirclement, trying desperately to break free.

However, before he could escape, three elders from the Nine Profound Sect intercepted him, halting his charge with ease.

"Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me!" Yuan Ziping shrieked as he dropped to his knees, kowtowing in terror, blood staining his forehead.

"Trash," someone spat.

A sword flashed past mercilessly. Yuan Ziping's head fell from his shoulders, rolling across the blood-soaked ground. The arrogant clown who had strutted so proudly during the commerce fair met his end as nothing more than a pathetic beggar.

One by one, the death toll rose. Now, only the three patriarchs continued to fight, each resisting bitterly with the last remnants of their strength.

"Out of respect for your status as the clan patriarchs, take your own lives," Liu Wuxie said coldly, his tone devoid of emotion. It was a rare gesture of leaving them some dignity amidst a massacre.

The elders from the Nine Profound Sect stepped aside at Liu Wuxie's word. Members of the Heavenly Dao Society also withdrew, surrounding the area without striking again. Despite the scale of the battle, they had suffered no casualties and only light injuries.

No one could understand it.

In a war of this magnitude, to suffer zero casualties was beyond belief. The world had seen weak forces topple strong ones before, but always at a tremendous cost.

"Hahaha..." Patriarch Liao laughed bitterly.

Under Patriarch Liao's leadership, the Liao Clan had once risen to the pinnacle of power, the strongest among the four great clans. And yet now, he stood defeated, forced to take his own life at the command of someone still in the Spirit Profound Realm. He suffered the ultimate disgrace.

"Take your own lives. At least that way, you'll die with dignity," someone suggested from the crowd.

Everyone knew that if Liu Wuxie made the final move, he wouldn't simply kill them, but he would refine their true essence and laws, erasing them.

"Enough... enough!" Yuan Huaiguang's voice trembled as he raised his sword to his neck.

By now, even if reinforcements from their clans arrived, it was already too late.

"Liu Wuxie, even if we die today, it won't shake the foundation of our clans. Sooner or later, they will wipe all of you out!" Wang Yuanhou roared, his eyes bloodshot. The pain in his abdomen flared again, forcing a hiss of agony through his clenched teeth.

"If this battle can't make your clans wake up, then you're welcome to come again," Liu Wuxie replied coldly.

Liu Wuxie intended today's massacre to serve as a warning. If the lesson weren't clear enough, he wouldn't hesitate to uproot the three clans entirely.

Yuan Huaiguang's sword slid cleanly across his throat.

The weapon, an earth-spirit artifact, let out a mournful wail as its master fell to the ground. It chose to shatter on the spot rather than live on without him. Sword and master perished together.

Sighs rippled through the crowd. It was unclear whether they mourned the death of Yuan Huaiguang or the loss of the artifact spirit.

Wang Yuanhou stood silent, stunned by the sight of his old ally's death. The reality settled on him heavily. There was no escape, not with so many powerful experts surrounding them.

His hatred burned as he turned his glare on Wang Chen.

"Wang Chen, you traitor! You'll face retribution!" he spat, venom laced in every word.

However, Wang Chen remained silent, his face calm and emotionless.

Many in the crowd could understand Liu Wuxie's tactics, including the spiritual talismans, arrays, and the beast horde, but how he had managed to turn a member of the Wang Clan and command assassins from the Black Plume Pavilion remained a mystery none could unravel.

Without another word, Wang Yuanhou drove a dagger into his heart and collapsed backward, eyes wide with lingering resentment.

With that, another patriarch of a once-prominent clan had drawn his final breath.

Only the patriarch of the Liao Clan remained. He trembled, no longer from anger but from the primal fear of death. No matter how powerful a cultivator became, death always inspired dread.

"Liu Wuxie, you won," Patriarch Liao said, at last, his voice strained with reluctant admiration. Though he despised acknowledging it, the truth was undeniable. Liu Wuxie had claimed victory, completely and without a single casualty.

"Thank you for the praise," Liu Wuxie replied evenly.

Their exchange sounded less like that of bitter enemies and more like a farewell between long-separated acquaintances.

With that, the last patriarch severed his heart meridian. He slumped backward, a thin trail of blood trickling from the corner of his lips.

And so ended the brutal war between the Heavenly Dao Society and the three great clans.

"From today onward, another superpower has risen in the Central Plains," someone whispered in awe.

The name Heavenly Dao Society would spread like wildfire across the True Martial Continent.

Yet, not all were optimistic.

"If they can survive," murmured a worried voice. "Don't forget, all three clans have ancestors in the Heaven Profound Realm. Their ancestors will learn about the death of their patriarchs immediately."

Indeed, despite the astonishing rise of the Heavenly Dao Society, its foundations remained fragile when compared to the ancient might of the three clans.

......

Far away, in the ancestral shrines of the Wang, Yuan, and Liao Clans, their patriarchs' soul tablets shattered one after another.

The sound of cracking jade echoed like thunder in the hearts of the clans. Countless disciples fell to the ground, wailing before the ancestral altars, overcome by grief and dread.

Their patriarchs were dead.

The shockwave surged through the clan estates, reaching even the most undisturbed corners where their ancestors had secluded themselves in cultivation.

And then, one after another, overwhelming Heaven Profound Realm auras surged from the depths of each clan's sacred grounds. Three towering figures emerged into the sky above their respective clans, wearing grim expressions.

"In ten thousand years, our Wang Clan has only lost one patriarch... What happened?!" roared the Wang Clan's ancestor, his gaze fixed on the shattered soul tablet before him.

The Yuan and Liao Clans found themselves in the same stunned horror.

Just as the poisoning of Liu Xiucheng had once thrown the Liu Clan into chaos, the deaths of their patriarchs now shook the three great clans to their very core. The ground itself seemed to mourn their fall.