Chapter 1557 - Sixth-Level Earth Immortal Realm

The Heart-Refining Flame resisted refinement and thrashed violently, trying to break free of the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. Liu Wuxie would never allow it to escape.

Among the five elements, he had already collected the Great Dao of Water, Wood, and Metal. Now that he had finally seized fire, he only needed to find earth next. Once he obtained the fragment of the Great Dao of Earth, he believed the Great Five Elemental Mythical Art would manifest a trace of an immortal art.

The Divine Purgatory Palace and the Gate of Darkness descended from the sky. As those powers gathered again and again, the Heart-Refining Flame finally settled, broke down into countless laws, and surged into the desolate world.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The gateway to the sixth-level Earth Immortal Realm appeared. As long as he broke through it, he would step to a whole new level. His true essence began to wane while his immortal energy swelled. Even before he reached the Heaven Gaze Realm, the immortal energy in his desolate world already rivaled the lower levels of the Heaven Gaze Realm.

It was unbelievable because unleashing immortal arts and activating immortal artifacts required immortal energy. Under the nourishment of boundless immortal energy, the Heart-Refining Flame finally became willing to be refined, since it gained plenty of benefits by staying with Liu Wuxie.

The Emperor Refinement Cauldron was too massive, and taking it for himself would not be easy. Moreover, a powerhouse at the Quasi-Immortal Realm stood there. The moment Liu Wuxie had collected the Heart-Refining Flame, that quasi-immortal had already sensed it.

There was no flow of time inside the Heavenly Deity Monument, and decades passed in what felt like a split moment. Liu Wuxie's aura surged as terrifying immortal energy manifested into a divine dragon, carried boundless laws, and slammed forward in a thunderous charge.

With a loud explosion, the gate to the sixth-level Earth Immortal Realm finally shattered. It turned into countless laws of the Earth Immortal Realm and flowed into the desolate world.

The instant Liu Wuxie broke through, over three million astral crystals detonated, releasing a torrent of liquid energy that poured into the desolate world. The resources required for each breakthrough kept climbing with every breakthrough.

After losing the Heart-Refining Flame, the flames around the Emperor Refinement Cauldron began to dim, and people had already noticed the change.

"Quick, topple the Emperor Refinement Cauldron!" More than a hundred people had been responsible for feeding the flame, and over half of them charged forward and used every bit of strength they had to topple the Emperor Refinement Cauldron.

Everything happened too quickly, and someone had already drawn most of the guards away.

"All of you are courting death!" Guards still lurked in the dark to prevent chaos, and they struck at once.

With a single palm strike, more than a dozen people exploded on the spot and became blood rain. The scene turned terrifying because if the Emperor Refinement Cauldron fell, it would destroy the entire building.

"Charge!" Everyone went mad. They would rather die than remain trapped here any longer. Staying meant death in the end, but toppling the Emperor Refinement Cauldron still left them a sliver of hope.

The remaining people rushed in together and unleashed their true essence. The Emperor Refinement Cauldron began to creak and groan under the impact. More people from the surrounding area arrived and rushed in to help topple the cauldron.

The massacre began because even that many people still weren't enough. The guards started slaughtering the rioters one after another.

Right then, a deafening explosion erupted from outside, and the mysterious gate stood on the verge of being broken through.

"This is bad!" The guards stopped caring about the people here and rushed toward the mysterious gate to prevent those outside from breaking in. If outsiders entered, they would expose every secret here to the world.

The quasi-immortal responsible for guarding this place woke up and unleashed a terrifying aura outward. That pressure immobilized many people and stopped them from toppling the Emperor Refinement Cauldron.

Li San grew anxious and helpless.

"Kill them all!" The quasi-immortal stepped out, masked in black from head to toe.

The guards who had gone to the main hall returned and moved to slaughter everyone there. They could not leave any clues behind, and this place was no longer merely a workshop refining Soul Pills.

The assault outside kept raging, striking with full force while no one defended against it.

Most of the alchemists here were ordinary people, and they couldn't resist at all. In the blink of an eye, over thirty people were cut down.

"Brother Wu, where did you go?" Li San asked anxiously as he stood on the chain bridge. In just three breaths, many people had already died.

Over a hundred black-clad guards surged in from all directions and began sweeping through the area.

Just as that quasi-immortal moved to collect the Emperor Refinement Cauldron, a terrifying aura erupted from nowhere. With a single palm strike, Liu Wuxie killed many of the black-clad guards.

Liu Wuxie emerged from the Heavenly Deity Monument like a deity. The instant Li San saw him, his emotions surged so hard that he nearly burst into tears.

"I'll hold them off while you topple the Emperor Refinement Cauldron!" Liu Wuxie roared, unleashing various mythical arts to restrain the black-clad guards.

"Charge!" Many people who had hesitated earlier finally snapped when they learned the black-clad guards intended to slaughter everyone. They joined hands and pushed the Emperor Refinement Cauldron.

The quasi-immortal boiled with rage and abandoned the attempt to collect the Emperor Refinement Cauldron, striking at Liu Wuxie instead. Liu Wuxie was the strongest person there, and he had even slain several powerhouses at the lower levels of the Heaven Gaze Realm.

With a loud rumble, the mysterious gate opened, and dazzling light flooded in. On the streets above, hundreds of thousands of cultivators had gathered outside, and it was a rare sight for experts at the pinnacle of the Heaven Gaze Realm to make a move.

More people gathered from the surrounding area, drawn by curiosity about what was happening. Even under the suppression of a quasi-immortal, Liu Wuxie stayed indifferent.

"Soul Spear! Soul Fire! Nether God Harvest!" Liu Wuxie could only unleash his soul techniques now because his soul energy already rivaled experts at the pinnacle of the Heaven Gaze Realm. Even if he couldn't kill a quasi-immortal, he could still suppress the other party for a brief moment.

The quasi-immortal's expression tightened. He clearly hadn't expected Liu Wuxie's soul energy to be so powerful that it could exert oppressive force on him.

Liu Wuxie had no intention of killing the quasi-immortal. He only needed to stall him for a moment because the experts outside had already stormed in. The instant the gate opened, countless cultivators rushed into the place, convinced they had found a treasure.

"Heretic Blade, lend them a hand," Liu Wuxie said.

The Heretic Blade flew out, became a comet, and struck the Emperor Refinement Cauldron.

With a deafening rumble, the Emperor Refinement Cauldron began to tilt, and nothing could stop it. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and the quasi-immortal screamed in frustration, fury tearing out of his throat.

The quasi-immortal flashed in front of Liu Wuxie and dodged Liu Wuxie's soul attacks with ease.

"I want you dead!"

Right at that moment, a powerful palm appeared and blocked the quasi-immortal's strike. Another quasi-immortal joined the battle, and boundless ripples spread outward, forcing the quasi-immortal who tried to kill Liu Wuxie to stagger backward.

The moment a quasi-immortal appeared, everyone had only one option.

"Everyone retreat!"

They couldn't even spare a thought for the Emperor Refinement Cauldron.

With a thunderous collapse, the Emperor Refinement Cauldron toppled like the heavens falling and the earth crumbling. The massive building started to disintegrate, replaced by a gigantic black hole. The black hole devoured the surrounding buildings as screams rang out across the area, while survivors fled through the cracked ground.

Without the quasi-immortal's suppression, Liu Wuxie reached out and executed the Dragon-Grasping Hand, seized five black-clad men, and threw them into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. He needed living captives to find the mastermind.

The black-clad men tried to flee into the darkness as well.

"Catch as many as you can," Liu Wuxie yelled to the crowd that had rushed in.

Those who arrived had concealed their identities, but their cultivation was high. They didn't hesitate and began capturing black-clad men alive.

The quasi-immortal guarding this place couldn't do anything with another quasi-immortal lurking nearby. He knew that if he acted, the other party would strike without hesitation.

Liu Wuxie relied on the Dragon-Grasping Hand and captured twenty black-clad men, including a few at the lower levels of the Heaven Gaze Realm.

"You're Liu Wuxie?" The quasi-immortal guarding this place finally recognized him from the Dragon-Grasping Hand.

On top of that, Liu Wuxie had unleashed various mythical arts, and that made recognition inevitable. Liu Wuxie didn't find it strange that someone had exposed his identity. The Heavenly Saint Guild had likely spread news of his arrival in the Spirit Martial Astral Domain, but the information hadn't reached Kaya City yet.

"Kill Liu Wuxie with everything you have!" The quasi-immortal originally planned to flee, but rage boiled over when he realized Liu Wuxie had been the one who had ruined everything.

"Young Master Liu, we'll cover your retreat!" Su Ling's familiar voice echoed from the shadows, warning Liu Wuxie. As long as Liu Wuxie escaped, everyone would remain safe, and what happened here would soon be exposed to the world.

This time, the Skyward Gate had invited a quasi-immortal over. Without another quasi-immortal present, Liu Wuxie would have found it hard to break free.

The Skyward Gate had poured countless resources into Soul Pills. If they couldn't sell them, the blow would devastate them. That meant they had to destroy the counterfeit Soul Pills, so their authentic pills could regain hope. For today's operation, the Skyward Gate had paid a staggering price.

"Fine," Liu Wuxie said, understanding at once. If the battle dragged on, both sides would suffer heavy losses.

He had no time to seize the Emperor Refinement Cauldron. Without the Heart-Refining Flame, it was nothing but scrap metal. Since the Skyward Gate had come masked and hidden, they clearly didn't want to fall out with the other party.

Liu Wuxie shot out like a meteor under the quasi-immortal's cover and slipped through the fractures at the gate.

The quasi-immortal overseeing the underground operation watched Liu Wuxie flee and screamed in frustration, yet he could do nothing.

Many alchemists escaped through the cracks as well. Seeing daylight again felt like salvation. Once they stumbled out, the cultivators who had gathered to watch couldn't comprehend what they were seeing and began questioning the fleeing captives.

When they learned counterfeit Soul Pills were being refined in this underground world, shock swept through the crowd. Hearing the captives' experiences and how their captors had treated them like slaves set anger blazing like wildfire.

Many of the captured alchemists came from various sects, and someone had tricked every one of them into working in that wretched place. Once their sects learned of it, their fury would erupt. From that alone, the mastermind's insanity became clear. He had stopped at nothing for the sake of refining Soul Pills.

After all, hundreds of alchemists had died in the Emperor Refinement Cauldron over the past few months.

"Retreat!" The Skyward Gate experts saw that Liu Wuxie had escaped danger, and they withdrew at once. They left as quickly as they had come. Their objective had been to rescue people, not to fight the enemy to the death.

The quasi-immortal guarding this place and the remaining black-clad guards stared at the ruined underground world and the toppled Emperor Refinement Cauldron, grinding their teeth in frustration.

The Emperor Refinement Cauldron rose into the air at that moment as the quasi-immortal collected it. He then gathered the remaining black-clad men and fled into the distance without any hesitation.

No one stepped out to stop them, not even the Skyward Gate.