Chapter 1009: Absorbing Sibyl

As he collapsed, Xiao Nanfeng opened his Heartgate, releasing the gathered supreme cultivators from his world of the heart.

"Nanfeng!" the three women cried out, rushing toward him.

The others glanced at the bisected Sibyl in shock.

"Did Xiao Nanfeng really manage to take down Sibyl?"

"Quick, let's finish Sibyl off in case he isn't dead just yet."

The supreme cultivators lunged toward Sibyl, blasting his body apart and ensuring that it could no longer stitch back together.

And indeed, Sibyl hadn't yet perished. Though his body had been cleaved in two and immense energy was leaking out from within, his consciousness yet remained. He attempted to regain control of his body and regenerate, but his soul had already been shattered, and he could no longer exert much strength. How could he possibly resist this group of supreme cultivators?

"If I weren't injured, I'd crush you all with a single finger!" Sibyl roared in fury.

"And you'll no longer have that chance," the Immortal Emperor of Daru replied coldly.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

With a thunderous explosion, he and several supreme cultivators activated their respective world trees, bombarding Sibyl and preventing his two halves from rejoining.

"We'll suppress Sibyl. All of you, rescue the Yuqing Grandmaster! Destroy that starship," the Immortal Emperor of Daru commanded.

"Don't! Right now, we hold a significant advantage. The starship may be of great use to us. Instead of destroying it, we should infiltrate it and rescue the Yuqing Grandmaster. We can use it to study the Darkborn," another supreme cultivator suggested.

"Agreed!" several others responded.

Sibyl growled in anger. "You think you can take control of my starship? Dream on. Starship, detonate!"

With a deafening explosion, the distant starship erupted, sending flames soaring into the sky and engulfing everything in the surroundings. Many nearby cultivators and sandworms were caught in the blast and suffered heavy casualties.

The supreme cultivators who had been preparing to charge forward halted, glaring at Sibyl.

The stellar cannons were naturally also destroyed. The laser beam directed at the Yuqing Grandmaster dissipated in its entirety.

With a hum, the Yuqing Grandmaster was freed. The protective purple barrier around him vanished. His clothes were tattered, and there were clear wounds on his body. He was heavily injured.

Even so, the Yuqing Grandmaster couldn't rest just yet. He flashed over to Sibyl.

Sibyl sneered. "You were lucky. If not for that bastard, you'd be dead right now."

The Yuqing Grandmaster glanced toward Sibyl. "Even without Xiao Nanfeng, you would have perished."

"As if!" Sibyl snarled.

The Yuqing Grandmaster didn't bother explaining himself. He asked, "Ten thousand years ago, why did you release the seal on the nine domains of heavenly law on our world? What are you planning?"

"Ha! Trying to extract information from me, are you? Dream on. You're all doomed. My whole clan knows that you've killed Sathia, and they're all on their way here. I was just the first to arrive because I was closest. The rest are coming, and when they get here, you'll all perish!" Sibyl cackled maniacally.

The supreme cultivators blanched. More representatives of the heavens were coming?

The Yuqing Grandmaster's eyes turned cold. "Let them come. We'll kill them all. As for you—you can join Sathia in death!"

Murderous intent surged around the Yuqing Grandmaster as he prepared to deliver the final blow to Sibyl.

"I've already absorbed countless cursed kings. Once my clan arrives, I'll be reborn—just in time to watch all of you die, haha!" Sibyl roared.

The Yuqing Grandmaster's eyes flared with anger as he made to kill Sibyl.

"Hold it!" a voice suddenly shouted.

Everyone turned to see that Madam Rouge had interjected.

"Sibyl's body is filled with the energy of natural law. This energy is useful to Nanfeng—it can help him recover from his injuries and might even allow him to break through," Madam Rouge began.

She no longer concealed the fact that Xiao Nanfeng was able to absorb heavenly energy. Now that Xiao Nanfeng had exposed his golden tree, what use was hiding his other secrets? What was more, Xiao Nanfeng had managed to deal Sibyl a crippling blow. Who would dare plot against him now?

"Xiao Nanfeng can absorb Sibyl's power?" The crowd was astonished.

The Yuqing Grandmaster narrowed his eyes at Xiao Nanfeng. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "I will help him extract Sibyl's energy."

"Very well," Madam Rouge said, nodding.

None of the cultivators dared object. Some coveted his golden tree in private, but they knew that no one would dare act against Xiao Nanfeng with so many witnesses.

The Yuqing Grandmaster exerted immense force on the two halves of Sibyl's body, causing him to groan in pain.

The Yuqing Grandmaster extracted spools of silvery-white energy from his body, gathering them together into a silver orb.

"When the other Darkborn arrive, you'll all die! All of you!" Sibyl roared.

However, he no longer had the ability to resist. Under the Yuqing Grandmaster's suppression, he couldn't even self-destruct. The Yuqing Grandmaster continued to extract more and more of that silver energy from his body, causing it to shrivel up. He gradually dissipated away in a cloud of ash.

"The heavens have fallen again!" Many cultivators cheered.

They felt a renewed sense of hope. Even the heavens no longer seemed invincible.

The Yuqing Grandmaster handed the energy he had refined to Madam Rouge, who immediately rushed over to Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng was covered in blood, his body shattered and severely wounded.

Fortunately, the Records of Life and Death was continuously restoring his body. Liu Miaoyin and the Divine Emperor were channeling their energy into his back to help him heal.

At that moment, his ten golden crows quickly flocked into his body one after another.

After a full day, Xiao Nanfeng's injuries had improved to some extent.

"Nanfeng, this is the energy from Sibyl's body. Absorb it," Madam Rouge murmured.

Without hesitation, Xiao Nanfeng swallowed the silvery-white orb, which erupted as soon as it entered his body.

The three women pressed their hands against his back, helping him suppress and refine that energy.

Xiao Nanfeng's body creaked and groaned.

Much of that silver energy was absorbed by his golden tree, which grew even more robust.

Xiao Nanfeng's remaining injuries also healed rapidly.

The Yuqing Grandmaster and the other supreme cultivators remained, interested to see how Xiao Nanfeng would absorb Sibyl's power and worried about Sibyl's potential revival.

It took Xiao Nanfeng over a day to finish absorbing all the energy from Sibyl's body.

His bones and tendons suddenly emitted a resonant chime, and a vast surge of fiery energy exploded from his body. As he finally opened his eyes, the three women withdrew their hands.

"The ninth stage of the Boundless Immortal realm...?" Many of the cultivators were in disbelief.

"Even though much of Sibyl's energy dissipated, what remained was still incredibly potent. How could you only have advanced by a single minor stage?" The Yuqing Grandmaster frowned.

"My world tree absorbed the majority of it," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"Oh?"

Though he had been trapped by the stellar cannon's beam, he had still witnessed the battle outside. Xiao Nanfeng's golden tree shocked him greatly.

"Not only can your golden tree combine the energy from other world trees, it can even absorb heavenly energy. May I examine it?"

The other supreme cultivators all looked on with curiosity.

After a moment of contemplation, Xiao Nanfeng nodded. "Very well."

With a wave of his hand, the golden tree manifested. Without the power of the other nine world trees reinforcing it, it had shrunk considerably. Even so, it had now grown to a few thousand meters tall. The energy it had absorbed from the numerous Heaven's Hands, as well as Sibyl, had been potent nourishment that left the golden tree even more majestic than before.

The supreme cultivators moved closer to examine it.

The Yuqing Grandmaster even reached out to touch the golden tree. Golden light flared from it, seeming to resist his touch.

"It carries the aura of the heavens," the Yuqing Grandmaster exclaimed in surprise.

The other supreme cultivators were astonished as well.

"I obtained this golden tree from the world away during my True Immortal tribulation, which sent my consciousness there." Xiao Nanfeng briefly described what had happened.

"You obtained this golden tree through a tribulation?" Everyone looked incredulous.

The Yuqing Grandmaster furrowed his brows. Only the primordial altar's power can send you to the world away. Perhaps it blessed you."

The supreme cultivators glanced at Xiao Nanfeng enviously. After all, none of them had received such preferential treatment.

"Perhaps," Xiao Nanfeng replied, nodding. "Yuqing Grandmaster, where are the Shangqing and Taiqing Grandmasters? Why have they not appeared?"

The Yuqing Grandmaster gave him a serious look. "They've been conserving their strength while observing the battle. If you hadn't acted earlier, they would have stepped in when I was trapped. After seeing you take action, they chose to hold back and continue their preparations."

"Is that so?" Xiao Nanfeng nodded in understanding.

The supreme cultivators suddenly felt a budding sense of excitement.

"Yuqing Grandmaster, do you mean that the other two Qing Grandmasters are still alive? Are they as strong as you are?" someone asked eagerly.

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "Indeed."

"That's excellent news!" A wave of exhilaration swept through the crowd.

Before he died, Sibyl had warned that the Darkborn were on their way. The Yuqing Grandmaster and Xiao Nanfeng were just two cultivators; the odds still didn't seem to be in their favor. Knowing that there were at least two more cultivators with strength on par with the Yuqing Grandmaster bolstered their confidence greatly.