Chapter 1495 - Chaos

The instant Liu Wuxie unleashed the Divine Eternal Fist, the laws of heaven and earth unraveled, and the battlefield's center caved into primal chaos.

"What kind of fist technique is that? It has already surpassed ordinary mythical arts!"

Many cultivators at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm felt their eyelids twitch violently. If they had been the target, they knew they wouldn't have escaped.

"The punch was strange and infinitely close to an immortal art," Yan Guichou said. As a Quasi-Immortal, he belonged to the same generation as Hua Feiyu.

Bewildered expressions rippled through the crowd, for everyone knew that only immortals could comprehend immortal arts. Someone finally voiced the question on everyone’s mind: "How is that possible? Liu Wuxie still has a long way to go to reach the Immortal Realm. How did he comprehend an immortal art?"

"There's a possibility that Liu Wuxie was an immortal to begin with," Yan Guichou replied with a shrug, looking less like a sect master and more like an ordinary onlooker watching a spectacle unfold.

Everyone fell silent at his words.

Perhaps Liu Wuxie truly was the reincarnation of an immortal they didn't recognize, and more than one ancient figure among the spectators had already reached the same conclusion after having lived for hundreds of thousands of years.

A violent impact slammed outward, yanking everyone back to reality. The force of the Eternal Fist surged like a river and swallowed the four elders, and no matter how they thrashed, they still couldn't break free from its suppression.

With space already shattered, a ray of light speared through endless darkness and illuminated the entire starry sky. No earth-shattering commotion followed, nor did any suffocating burst of power erupt outward. Instead, everything felt as though it had sunk into eternity, including the four elders of the Grand Unity Sect, who slowly froze in place.

Then the Heretic Blade flashed into existence and severed them cleanly, sending their heads flying into the air while they remained utterly unable to resist.

The moment they fell, the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron appeared and devoured all four of them, and Liu Wuxie collapsed right after. The Divine Eternal Fist had wrung every strand of true essence from him, even draining his strength.

Not long after the four elders died, a powerful shockwave rolled through Mount Dragon City. Chaos exploded at once as a stampede broke out, and people trampled one another in panic.

A crack split across the barrier raised by the hundred Heavenly Dragon Sect's elders, and the force slipped through that gap and swept outward.

In the blink of an eye, countless experts at the low levels of the Earth Immortal Realm spat blood as the entire street flipped into ruin. Only those at the high levels of the Earth Immortal Realm managed to endure the impact barely, and the aftershock lingered for three breaths before fading, leaving everyone shaken to the core.

"How terrifying! Had that barrier not been there, we would've already turned to dust by now," said the cultivators at the low levels of the Earth Immortal Realm as they struggled back to their feet, fear shining in their eyes as they looked at Liu Wuxie.

"Let's go before we get dragged into this mess!" They had come only to watch the fight and nearly died for it, and many people immediately fled, not daring to linger for another moment.

Only then did the farce truly end, sealing Heavenly Dao Society's victory. News from Mount Dragon City spread like wildfire across the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain, and when countless people heard that Liu Wuxie had slain thirteen experts at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm, even ancient beings in seclusion jolted as if someone had stepped on their tails.

After suffering such devastating losses, everyone expected the Grand Unity Sect to declare war. Instead, it fell into dead silence. The reason was obvious: they had started the incident themselves, and launching a war now would only make them a laughingstock.

Besides, the Grand Unity Sect held no advantage, and even if they started a war, could they really win?

Back when they had ambushed the Heavenly Dragon Sect, they had only succeeded because the Heavenly Dragon Sect had exhausted most of its strength resisting other forces, giving the Grand Unity Sect an opening to exploit.

But now everything had changed, because the Heavenly Dragon Sect stood steady as an ironclad fortress after that incident. If a war broke out between the Heavenly Dragon Sect and the Grand Unity Sect, the outcome would not mirror the past.

This battle also hammered the Heavenly Dao Society's foundation into the astral domain. Before this day, many people had stubbornly believed that the Heavenly Dao Society's achievements were owed solely to the support of the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

Now, in retrospect, everyone could see that the Heavenly Dao Society had mostly relied on itself to reach its current height, even if the Heavenly Dragon Sect had helped here and there. With this incident, it also became obvious that the Heavenly Dao Society's pills would become even more popular.

"What? You're not allowed to buy pills from the Heavenly Dao Society if you buy from the Divine Alchemy Sect?"

The moment news spread that the Heavenly Dao Society had announced this rule, the crowd erupted in shock as the move shoved the Divine Alchemy Sect closer to a dead end.

Announcements followed one after another, forcing every cultivator in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain to pick a side.

"Sects who cooperated with the Divine Alchemy Sect couldn't cooperate with the Heavenly Dao Society as well."

When the second announcement spread, it instantly plunged the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain into chaos. That was the world's cruelty in plain sight: the strong wrote the rules, and Liu Wuxie now forced every sect to choose between the Heavenly Dao Society and the Divine Alchemy Sect, because anyone who bought from the Divine Alchemy Sect would lose access to the Heavenly Dao Society forever.

No one minded kicking the Divine Alchemy Sect while it lay wounded, and after witnessing Liu Wuxie's strength, everyone chose the Heavenly Dao Society without hesitation.

After all, the Heavenly Dao Society stood far above the Divine Alchemy Sect, in long-term prospects and pill quality.

Those two announcements hammered the Divine Alchemy Sect into panic. Within just a few hours, thousands of people canceled their cooperation and withdrew their orders.

The Divine Alchemy Sect didn't shatter outright, but internal conflict still erupted, and many elders chose to abandon it.

Not long after the Heavenly Dao Society's moves, the Grand Unity Sect also announced its own, declaring it would purge the Heavenly Dao Society. As for spiritual herbs, the Grand Unity Sect claimed it had resolved the supply issue and would purchase them from the Laman Astral Domain.

The Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain was too vast for the Heavenly Dao Society to control everyone, so many people remained loyal to the Grand Unity Sect and continued supporting pills produced by the Divine Alchemy Sect. Still, it counted as success if the Heavenly Dao Society swayed half the population, because once the devouring process began, the rest became a matter of time.

As the auction approached, it dulled the immediate impact of the recent events, and people began to focus on the auction. That was especially true for those at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm and the Heaven Gaze Realm, because chances like this rarely appeared.

The once-a-century auction drew crowds no less massive than the Myriad Race Ceremony, and countless experts flocked to attend.

It wasn't unprecedented for the Heavenly Dao Society to receive an invitation, because only second-tier sects qualified under the rules, and the Heavenly Dao Society had now stepped into the ranks of second-tier sects.

Every sect prepared for the auction by mobilizing vast amounts of astral crystals, as the consumption of astral crystals in the past years had already reached a terrifying scale.

The Heaven Gaze Realm experts followed the same frenzy.

Heavenly Dao Society's revenue had surged over the past few days because Soul Pills had sold far better in the Spirit Martial Astral Domain than Liu Wuxie had expected. By his calculations, they could easily sell 150,000 pills in half a year.

Between the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain and the Spirit Martial Astral Domain, the Heavenly Dao Society profited close to one million astral crystals in just over a month.

Of that sum, blacksmithing runes, array runes, and spiritual runes brought in two hundred thousand astral crystals. In comparison, pill sales within the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain contributed three hundred thousand astral crystals. The remaining 500,000 astral crystals flowed in from the Spirit Martial Astral Domain.

In the end, Liu Wuxie had underestimated the Spirit Martial Astral Domain's purchasing power. Even so, he understood the first six months would be the explosive phase, because many sects would buy Soul Pills to stockpile them, and sales would gradually normalise afterward.

"Wuxie, these are all the resources the Heavenly Dao Society can mobilize, a total of 1,100,000 astral crystals," Mu Tianli said. He understood exactly how important this auction was.

The Heavenly Dao Society would only have a future if Liu Wuxe grew stronger, and they already felt satisfied with what they had achieved so far.

Liu Wuxie's purpose in founding the Heavenly Dao Society was finally beginning to bear fruit. How could he have possibly gathered so many astral crystals in such a short time on his own? Even if he could plunder astral crystals from others, that path would never be sustainable.

He had also collected two hundred thousand astral crystals from the thirteen experts at the pinnacle of the Earth Immortal Realm. When he added them to the four hundred thousand from the Outer Astral Spacetime, he now carried over 1,700,000 astral crystals.

If word of that sum spread, it would shock countless people. Even the Heavenly Dragon Sect had no idea Liu Wuxie had accumulated so many astral crystals in so short a span.

"It's still too little," Liu Wuxie said as his gaze settled on the pile of astral crystals.

For major sects with long-standing legacies, a few million astral crystals amounted to little. If the Heavenly Dao Society wanted to seize treasures at the auction, their current reserves still wouldn't be enough.

If the other sects learned what Liu Wuxie was thinking, they would likely feel the urge to smash their heads against a wall. Those sects had spent millions of years accumulating their wealth, yet the Heavenly Dao Society had gathered over a million astral stones in mere months and still considered it insufficient.

"Wuxie, this is already all our harvest," Mu Tianli replied with a wry smile.

Borrowing astral crystals from the Heavenly Dragon Sect also wouldn't work, because they had their own resources to purchase. Even if Liu Wuxie stood as Hua Feiyu's disciple, the Heavenly Dragon Sect's resources didn't belong to Hua Feiyu alone.

"Wuxie, I might know a place where we can borrow astral crystals," Luo Hai said as he suddenly interjected.

With only three days left until the auction, every sect scrambled to gather more astral crystals, and none of them would lend at a time like this.

"What is this place?" Liu Wuxie asked, because anywhere that could lend astral crystals now had to be extraordinary.

"The Death Mountain," Luo Hai said, fear flickering across his face. If Liu Wuxie hadn't urgently needed astral crystals, he wouldn't have mentioned that place.

"What is this place? Why haven't I heard of it before?" Liu Wuxie asked with a deep frown, because even after having read countless books, he couldn't recall that name.

"It's natural that you don't know about it. Various sects have destroyed all information regarding Death Mountain to prevent their disciples from learning about it. There aren't many in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain who know about this place," Luo Hai replied.

Back when he had traveled with his granddaughter seeking treatment, a senior had once told him that Death Mountain could save her life. He had gone there, only to be turned away, and had nearly lost his life in the process.

"Elaborate more on Death Mountain's origin," Liu Wuxie said, because if objects from the Primeval Era truly appeared there, the various sects would tear each other apart for them.

Since the Grand Unity Sect had announced it would go after him, Liu Wuxie had to seize every chance to raise his cultivation as quickly as possible. This auction was that chance, and he could purchase a few treasures to help him reach the Earth Immortal Realm.