Chapter 445: Interracial War

A blazing sun hung above the sky of the Cosmic Skies Continent.

Zhou Wenhao advanced through the territories of the Red Mountain Sect, carving a path forward with dazzling streaks of sword light.

Disciples and protectors of the Sword Pavilion led the way, with disciples from the Red Mountain Sect following closely behind.

The towering crimson mountain that Zhou Qingchen regarded as the pillar of faith and symbol of the Red Mountain Sect's authority had fallen to the foreign races.

Liu Lingyun, the Sect Master of the Red Mountain Sect and Li Zhaotian's confidante, had died to a powerful Ghost Race warrior.

A Vicious Beast had completely devoured her body, leaving nothing behind.

Zhou Wenhao, in the mid-stage of the Nirvana Realm, caught sight of several Sword Boats anchored ahead.

"Almost there!" he cried.

As long as they could board the Sword Boats, they could escape the pursuit of the foreign race warriors.

Altars built from skeletons dotted the verdant hills along their path. A Rank Eight Ghost Race warrior chanted incantations at one of these bone altars.

"Soul Suppression!"

Six bone altars burned with ghastly white flames.

The souls of countless human cultivators wailed within the eerie flames, generating rippling waves of despair and fear.

These ghostly white ripples spread from the altars and intertwined with one another, merging into a soul suppression domain that bore down on the souls of Zhou Wenhao's group.

The disciples of the Sword Pavilion and the Red Mountain Sect could do nothing to defend themselves.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Their souls wavered before bursting like bubbles.

The sea of consciousness of cultivators below the Spirit Condensation Realm instantly succumbed to the Ghost Race warrior's soul techniques.

"Jiang Yang!"

"Song Zihe!"

"Zeng Yulan!"

Qi Qingsong and Zhuang Yuyan let out muffled cries as they watched their close allies collapse to the ground with black smoke streaming from their eye sockets.

Jiang Yang from Enlightenment Peak, Duan Jing and Xu Xuanlun from Breakthrough Peak, Tang Can from Elusive Peak, and Zeng Yulan and Song Zihe from Fate Severing Peak—all those close to Qi Qingsong and Zhuang Yuyan had fallen in battle.

They were the last survivors of their group.

The brutality of the war had erased all of Qi Qingsong's usual nonchalance. His bloodshot eyes filled with rage.

He had lost track of how many foreign race warriors and Vicious Beasts he had slain along the way, eventually growing numb to the bloodshed.

However, Jiang Yang's death brought him back to his senses. It was a painful reminder that he was still a person of flesh and blood, not a merciless sword driven solely by slaughter.

"Those still alive, follow me!"

The once refined Zhou Wenhao now charged forward with disheveled hair. Waves of sword light and sword intent tore through the ground, shattering the soul suppression domain as he carved a path forward.

Blood streamed from his sword-wielding arm.

Internal sect rivalries were long forgotten as he led his fellow disciples through the battlefield.

He had recognized the cold reality before his master, Jiang Ran, ever could. Petty sect disputes meant nothing in the face of the overwhelming invasion from the Fifth World.

There was no point vying for power in the Sword Pavilion if the sect itself ceased to exist.

The battles on the Cosmic Skies Continent were like a harsh wake-up call to Zhou Wenhao.

He no longer discriminated against Qi Qingsong and Zhuang Yuyan and treated all disciples of the Sword Pavilion equally. Even the junior disciples he once viewed with suspicion were now under his protection.

Pushing himself beyond his limits, Zhou Wenhao drained his spiritual sea and determinedly carved a path forward with his sword.

***

On the Dark Abyss Continent, Chen Weihuang of the Sword Pavilion led a similar charge with his fiery spirit sword.

He was guiding a group toward a designated extraction point where large flying vessels awaited.

Behind him were outer and inner disciples of the Sword Pavilion, as well as several rogue cultivators.

He had arrived on the Dark Abyss Continent to assist his junior brother and sister, only to discover that Pang Jian and Hu Yuanfei had already departed.

Instead of following them, he chose to stay behind and join the battles in the Third World.

"Mister Chen, why haven't the Immortal Realm cultivators joined the battle?" asked a rogue cultivator in the Soul Wandering Realm.

He had joined Chen Weihuang's group after losing a close friend and narrowly escaping an ambush from the Black Horn Race and Demon Bull Race.

"There's an unspoken agreement," Chen Weihuang replied curtly.

The dozens of survivors stared at him with dazed expressions.

Among them were rogue cultivators like Lei Kun and Han Ting.

When the battle broke out, they joined forces with the Armor-Breaking Army and cultivators from the Ghost Sacrifice Sect and the Nine Tribes Sect to intercept the invading Vicious Beasts on the outskirts of the Dark Abyss Continent.

At first, the situation seemed manageable, with both sides evenly matched.

However, as stronger foreign race warriors and Vicious Beasts entered the fray, the human race's flying vessels were destroyed, and the number of casualties around them steadily grew.

They were barely holding on and were now retreating toward the extraction points after receiving permission to withdraw from the higher-ups.

Along the way, they watched as their comrades were killed one after another.

Liang Feng and Gao Yuan were dead.

Vicious Beasts had also slaughtered many more rogue cultivators and elders from noble families.

Even then, no Immortal Realm cultivators from the major factions joined the battle.

If the Immortal Realm cultivators had fought, they would not have suffered so miserably, forced to flee to the extraction points in such disgrace.

"An unspoken agreement? With the foreign races?" A rogue cultivator shouted angrily.

Chen Weihuang's expression remained unreadable as he nodded and carefully explained, "The human race has not deployed Immortal Realm cultivators. In turn, the enemy's Rank Nine warriors have also refrained from joining the battle.

"This is a balance—a tacit understanding upheld between both sides.

"The Abyss has only two intact continents left in the Third World. The rest are fragmented lands.

"Think carefully about how those fragmented lands came to be."

Many fell silent at his words.

"A single Immortal Realm cultivator or Rank Nine foreign race warrior could turn these continents into wastelands.

"If this unspoken agreement was broken, and Immortal Realm cultivators and Rank Nine foreign race warriors were to join the battle, the Dark Abyss and Cosmic Skies Continents would undoubtedly break apart.

"There are already so few continents left intact In the Abyss. Neither we nor the foreign races wish to inherit a ruined world after victory."

With that, Chen Weihuang resumed his lead.

The survivors behind him could do nothing but quietly accept the reality of his words.

***

Dong Tianze stood on a fragmented land named Hollow Yin in the Second World, staring at a Ghost Altar.

It had long been set up but had yet to receive any messages.

"Something has delayed Pang Jian," he muttered.

"The Cosmic Skies and Dark Abyss Continents below are under relentless assaults from the foreign races," Zhou Qingchen said solemnly.

After parting ways with Pang Jian, the two chose a random direction to head in and eventually arrived at Hollow Yin.

Hollow Yin was a refuge for cultivators from the Sinister Soul Temple and the Red Mountain Sect, as well as members of various clans from the Fourth World.

Of the three continents in the Second World, only the Demon Abyss and Heaven Awakening Continents were under the human race's control.

Unfortunately, these two continents alone could not accommodate all the lower-world refugees, and many of those escaping upward were forced to find shelter on the fragmented lands.

The two had planned to wait for Pang Jian's message, but it had been a long time and there was still no word.

They could not help but hesitate, debating whether to find a way to descend and fulfill their duties as fellow disciples, when an inner disciple of the Demon Sect overseeing this fragmented land approached them with devastating news.

The Sect Master of the Red Mountain Sect, Liu Lingyun, had fallen in battle.

Foreign race warriors had taken over the entire Sinister Soul Temple, and Cult Leader Han Zhiyuan had also been killed in the fight.

After the Demon Sect disciple left, Dong Tianze and Zhou Qingchen sat slumped against the cold rock wall, stunned and speechless for hours.

"Sect Master Liu..." Zhou Qingchen licked his dry lips, struggling to control his breathing as he despaired. "The Red Mountain Sect is done for!"

Dong Tianze remained silent.

He recalled his master's final, heartfelt words after solemnly handing him the Sinister Soul Blood Halberd.

"Tianze, I only hope that you can look after the disciples of the Sinister Soul Temple in the future."

Only now did Dong Tianze realize that his master had foreseen his own demise.

Whoosh!

He took out the Sinister Soul Blood Halberd and held it gently with both hands. His lips moved slightly, muttering something so faint that even Zhou Qingchen could not make it out.

"I'll do my best."

***

The Ice Armor Eel Dragon dragged Long Zhan's corpse back into his palace at the bottom of the lake in Absolute Heaven.

The Bee Sovereign and its swarm of golden bees carried the Five-Clawed Gold Dragon's soul into the beehive.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian stared at the Abyssal Demon Sword skewering the golden horn and the sharp dragon claws scattered on the ground.

He hesitated, torn between staying to allow the sword to absorb the horn and claws or leaving immediately.

Through the Abyssal Demon, Pang Jian learned that the sword required a wielder nearby to function as the sword itself had no autonomous ability to act.

In other words, he could not simply leave the sword to absorb the materials on its own as it would stop once he left.

Even so, Pang Jian had commitments to keep—his agreement with the black turtle and his promise to contact Zhou Qingchen and Dong Tianze. He had already spent too much time in the bizarre mist.

The ancient Thunder Dragon will sense the Five-Clawed Gold Dragon's claws and horns when they leave the bizarre mist, the Abyssal Demon warned. That True God has no such fear and dares to carry the horn in the Abyss with impunity.

But you can't do the same. If the horn or claws appear in the Abyss, that ancient Thunder Dragon will inevitably sense them unless you let me fully absorb them.

Pang Jian furrowed his brows and pondered for a very long time.

Then, a spark of inspiration struck him.

There is a place where even that ancient Thunder Dragon can't sense anything. In fact, it's one you're very well-acquainted with.

Before the Abyssal Demon could respond, Pang Jian retrieved the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest and—ignoring the Abyssal Demon's terrified shrieks—shoved the sword, the horn, and the claws inside.

Unfortunately, Pang Jian could not store the copper chest in his spatial bracelet while those items were inside, so he had to carry it by hand.

He then used the golden bees to repeatedly teleport through the bizarre mist. After exiting, he used the black turtle's scute to head directly to the wooden hut on the Resolute Expanse.

With that, Pang Jian successfully returned to the Abyss.