Chapter 1294: I Want Them All! (1)

Boom! Boom!

Several figures burst into the void temple, their powerful auras washing over the crowd of True Saints. Wu Yuan's mana body was in the lead, followed closely by True Saint Meng Guan, True Saint Qi Guang, and four others.

"True Saint Ming Jian has arrived.”

"And True Saint Meng Guan and True Saint Qi Guang too.”

"It seems True Saint Meng Guan and the others helped True Saint Ming Jian secure that Chaos Nucleus."

The hundreds of True Saints within the temple turned to look at the newcomers, though their gazes inevitably landed on that white-robed figure.

The thousands of True Saints present recognized True Saint Ming Jian’s terrifying reputation. He was far more intimidating than True Saint Yan Huo.

"Is he going to join the contest?"

"True Saint Shen Yan, True Saint Pu Yang, and the others have already reached the latter stages of their channel, and True Saint Yan Huo is advancing even faster."

"If True Saint Ming Jian joins forces with True Saint Shen Yan and the others, they might get past the three hundred puppets in record time." Throughout the temple, numerous True Saints communicated telepathically while watching Ming Jian's every movement, many assuming he would participate.

"Nonsense! True Saint Pu Yang is one matter; the Eldritch Court maintains good relations with True Saint Ming Jian and might cooperate. True Saint Meng Guan's assistance goes without saying, but why would True Saint Shen Yan willingly help True Saint Ming Jian?"

"You're all forgetting that True Saint Ming Jian's rise to prominence began with his battle against True Saint Shen Yan."

"Just keep watching. The more fiercely these top-ranking True Saints compete, the more opportunities fall to us."

If the Chaos Nucleus fell into the hands of those at True Saint Meng Guan or True Saint Qi Guang’s level, the other True Saints would likely gang up on them to seize the prize. This explained why True Saints like Qing Yan and He Wu, who had obtained Chaos Jade Crystals, remained conspicuously absent; they feared getting surrounded and overwhelmed.

Only super powerhouses like Wu Yuan and True Saint Yan Huo, who had taken the fourth step of their self-created Daos, possessed enough strength to dismiss such concerns.

...

At the temple’s entrance, True Saint Meng Guan transmitted his voice to Wu Yuan: "Junior Brother, shall we compete with the others? Several channels are occupied by our Blood Dream Alliance members. I can have them withdraw and secure those channels for us."

"Senior Brother, patience," Wu Yuan replied with a gentle smile.

After days of interaction, Wu Yuan had found True Saint Meng Guan surprisingly amiable. He seemed unbothered that Wu Yuan had claimed the position of Spacetime Dao Master. Though Wu Yuan's qi refiner self nominally belonged to the Blood Dream Alliance, his cultivation time had been too brief to establish meaningful connections with other True Saints. Despite his formidable strength, he commanded little respect among the Alliance's ranks.

True Saint Meng Guan was different. Over countless years, he had maintained his position as the Blood Dream Alliance's top True Saint, earning deep respect and trust from other members. He had long served as the Spacetime Dao Master's spokesperson within the Alliance, and at minimum, the True Saints of the Spacetime Dao Master's lineage would heed his commands.

This revealed the vast gulf between Wu Yuan and the veteran True Saints and Dao Zenithels—his cultivation time was too short, his influence minimal, and his network of connections sparse.

"Junior Brother, if we delay too long, this opportunity will vanish," True Saint Meng Guan pressed.

"Indeed, it's already too late to compete," Wu Yuan agreed with a faint smile. "Even if we join forces, we would need two or three days to break through."

He pointed toward one of the channels. "Meanwhile, True Saint Yan Huo is about to succeed."

True Saint Meng Guan's attention snapped to the indicated void channel, where nearly three hundred puppets besieged True Saint Yan Huo in a frenzied assault. Both sides fought with desperate intensity.

The other nine Immortal Court True Saints provided minimal assistance, distracting fewer than twenty puppets while focusing primarily on their own survival.

These void channels were extremely dangerous. Since the competition for the Chaos Nucleus began, over thirty True Saints had fallen under the puppets' relentless attacks. One either needed overwhelming power or exceptional survival skills; otherwise, once trapped within the encirclement of hundreds of puppets, escape became nearly impossible.

...

"Die!" roared the puppets, their voices a thunderous chorus.

Nearly three hundred puppets attacked with a singular purpose, their weapons swinging in perfect synchronization to create a terrifying offensive wave, repeatedly attempting to annihilate True Saint Yan Huo.

Whoosh!

True Saint Yan Huo's aura surged skyward. His nine massive staves swept outward in devastating arcs. Endless flames encircled his form, transforming him into the primordial essence of fire itself.

Bang! Bang!

The impacts shook the void channel. Even with True Saint Yan Huo exerting his full might, the coordinated assault of hundreds of puppets easily suppressed him, repeatedly blasting him backward.

This was the power of overwhelming numbers, quantitative advantages creating qualitative superiority.

A single puppet might be sent flying with one swing of True Saint Yan Huo's staff, but their combined strengths had reduced the powerful cultivator to a wretched state.

"Fire! Absolute World!" True Saint Yan Huo unleashed one of his ultimate techniques.

In that instant, the void rippled.

Staff silhouettes layered upon one another as the void channel trembled. Five clones of True Saint Yan Huo manifested spontaneously, each indistinguishable from his true body. Not a single flaw could be detected. Countless staff silhouettes intertwined, distorting this extraordinarily stable spacetime.

Clearly, after taking the fourth step of his self-created Dao, the profundities and power of True Saint Yan Huo's ultimate technique had evolved to unprecedented heights.

"Destroy the clones!"

"Sweep them away!"

The more than two hundred puppets surged forward as one unified mass. Regardless of their weapons, they employed the simplest movements with terrifying power, intending to obliterate everything. They struck all six True Saint Yan Huos simultaneously.

Poof! Poof!

One by one, the clones shattered under the assault. In an instant, five of the six True Saint Yan Huos vanished. Only his true body remained standing against the onslaught.

Now!

True Saint Yan Huo's eyes blazed as he swung his nine long staves in perfect unison.

Fire Universe!

His ultimate technique, Fire Universe, exploded with limitless power. The flames that had spread across tens of millions of li in radius instantly flowed back into the nine Blazebringer Staves.

The nine staves shone with brilliant light, their power unlimited as they stretched across the sky. True Saint Yan Huo's speed suddenly multiplied as each staff crushed forward, sending unsuspecting puppets flying in all directions.

In a moment, over sixty puppets were blasted to both sides. Powerful as this move was, however, its momentum quickly waned.

"Attack!" The over two hundred remaining puppets regrouped. Though their formation had been broken by the impact, they continued their siege.

At this critical moment, the nine Immortal Court True Saints, whose strengths had seemed unremarkable until now, suddenly flared with power, their auras intensifying and expanding. They charged toward the puppets with reckless abandon, their strengths visibly skyrocketing as they fought with complete disregard for their own safety.

Their desperate assault occupied over fifty puppets, creating momentary chaos among the opponents’ ranks.

"They've burned their Saint Realms’ essences," observed one of the watching True Saints with widened pupils.

"They've gone mad.”

"Once trapped in that encirclement, they'll never escape."

"They're sacrificing themselves!" The multitude of True Saints in the temple, and the countless observers viewing the battle through various voidrealms, instantly recognized the Immortal Court's strategy: True Saint Yan Huo would first unleash his power to disrupt the puppets' formation, then the nine Immortal Court True Saints would spare no cost, using all their strength to distract the disorganized puppets, creating a narrow window of opportunity for True Saint Yan Huo.

Simple in concept, yet it required nine True Saints willing to disregard their own lives, a feat few could orchestrate.

"Fire Universe!" True Saint Yan Huo erupted once more with his ultimate technique.

The puppets capable of obstructing him now numbered just over 150, the pressure significantly reduced. True Saint Yan Huo recognized clearly that this opportunity would come only once. If he failed, the Immortal Court True Saints trapped in the encirclement would be picked off one by one.

His entire body blazed with crimson flames as he transformed into a streak of fire, instantly blasting away over thirty puppets and finally seizing the gap in their encirclement.

He soared skyward, breaking free.

"Success!" A hint of triumph flashed across True Saint Yan Huo's face as he broke through the void channel. The Chaos Nucleus lay just ahead.

"Damn it, he broke through!"

"Kill all the other challengers!"

"Attack!"

The hundreds of puppets roared in frustration, angry yet powerless. The void temple operated under strict rules: once someone made it through a void channel, pursuers could no longer follow.

The puppets immediately redirected their rage toward the nine Immortal Court True Saints.

"Attack!"

"Kill them all!"

The assault was equivalent to hundreds of True Saints attacking with unified purpose. The nine Immortal Court cultivators, who had already depleted most of their mana, were completely overwhelmed.

Under normal circumstances, True Saints in the void channels would fight while retreating, fleeing at the first sign of danger. That explained why only about thirty True Saints had fallen after such an extended period.

But these nine Immortal Court True Saints had acted recklessly in their efforts to tie up as many puppets as possible. Now they were completely trapped, with virtually no chance of escape.

"Ah!"

"Damn it!"

In the blink of an eye, four of the nine True Saints perished, their bodies torn asunder while the remaining five struggled desperately against inevitable doom. The scene sent chills through the observing True Saints.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of observers remained focused on True Saint Yan Huo, who had successfully claimed the third Chaos Nucleus.

Got it.

Yan Huo murmured, clutching his prize.

He cast a regretful glance toward the Immortal Court True Saints caught in the deadly encirclement.

What a pity, so many good friends have died.

He knew they had acted on orders from the Dao Zenithels. Their purpose had been to shield him, helping him secure the final Chaos Nucleus.

Of the three Chaos Nuclei, I've claimed two.

True Saint Yan Huo reflected.

It must be fate! True Saint Luan Hai, Wu Yuan and the others have all gone to fight for the Xuanhuang Dao Treasure, and I happened to take the fourth step at precisely this moment.

His eyes gleamed with conviction.

It's the guidance of the Primordium that granted me this destined opportunity.

True Saint Yan Huo surveyed his surroundings before shooting upward like a bolt of lightning, rushing toward the temple’s entrance.

Now, as long as I break through the final encirclement and bring these two Chaos Nuclei back to the Immortal Court, all these sacrifices will prove worthwhile.

He thought.

He spared no further effort trying to save the five remaining Immortal Court True Saints. Powerful cultivators like True Saint Shen Yan, True Saint Pu Yang, and many others, seeing that the Chaos Nuclei had been claimed, were now retreating from their channels with desperate urgency, attempting to return to the entrance to intercept True Saint Yan Huo.

However, entangled with numerous puppets, these True Saints who had ventured deep into the channels retreated painfully slowly. Thanks to the temple's rules, those who seized the Chaos Nuclei could fly directly through the gaps between void channels at extraordinary speed.

This created True Saint Yan Huo's opportunity. Currently, he faced only those already at the entrance like True Saint Ming Jian and True Saint Meng Guan. The others posed minimal threat. But any delay, allowing True Saint Shen Yan and the other top-ranking True Saints to arrive, would spell disaster.

As powerful as True Saint Yan Huo had become, he hadn't reached True Saint Luan Hai's level. Even Luan Hai himself, if surrounded and attacked by hundreds of True Saints including some ranked among the top ten of the True Saint Rankings, would eventually fall in a protracted battle.

"Hand over the Chaos Nucleus."

"You’re far too greedy, Yan Huo," True Saint Meng Guan snarled. He descended like a hawk, flanked by True Saint Qi Guang and several other formidable True Saints.

"Surrender one of them!" shouted several True Saints, their voices thick with rage.

"Get him!"

"Hand over both Chaos Nuclei!"

"Form a perimeter!"

"So what if he’s a fourth step powerhouse?" With this battle cry, True Saints from every faction abandoned their hesitation. They surged toward True Saint Yan Huo like a tsunami, their combined might darkening the sky.

Raw greed had consumed these True Saints' hearts.

Everyone recognized that this was their final opportunity. Should True Saint Yan Huo slip away, they would never corner him again.