A Night of Desperation

Chapter 377: Resentment 375 Part One

At the very moment all the Sky Stabilizing Plates shattered.

The sky above the Sealing and Sacrifice Platform darkened.

"Come forth, Pool of Ten Thousand Spirits!!" Zuo Yunfeng raised his hand high, his voice booming.

In the sky above the three of them, new changes began to emerge once again.

The instant the Sky Stabilizing Plates broke, an irregularly shaped pool flickering with colorful phosphorescence slowly emerged.

The pool was only over ten meters in length and width, like a tiny dot from this distance.

Yet the radiance it emitted was enough to illuminate the mountains and lands within dozens of kilometers below.

Under the glow, numerous insects swarmed out from underground, swarming into the air, as if stimulated by the light, and rushed towards this place.

"Now, it’s just you left." Zuo Yunfeng lowered his head, looking at Long Qingzi floating in mid-air. "I’ve let you loose for decades, it’s time to come back, my catalyst."

Long Qingzi was covered in wounds, and the purple light on his body also seemed much dimmer. But he showed no sign of panic, instead, his eyes madly looked up.

"Teacher, do you really think your disciple has just been self-destructive all these years?"

Below him, countless insects turned into a black cloud, swiftly approaching him, seemingly ready to devour him and become the harbinger of the Pool of Ten Thousand Spirits’ descent.

"But a mere Spirit Disaster, even without the Sky Stabilizing Plates, dare to act recklessly!" With a flap of the four wings on his back, he flew upwards a distance.

Buzz!

In an instant, his hands came together in prayer, and suddenly a red Jade Pendant appeared in his palms, brightening with a dazzling red light.

"Spirit Domain·Pocket World Jade!"

This was a special Dao Artifact he had refined after decades of imitating the principles of the Sky Stabilizing Plate, drawing its power from a strand of Divine Intent from the Fen Tian Star Lord in Heaven.

However, the usage of this Divine Intent differed from the Inheritance Dao Artifact; instead, it was to be completely incinerated as fuel in a one-time fashion, combined with his own magic, to release the strongest blaze of fire.

Towering waves of red light shone downward, wave after wave, instantly incinerating all the ascending insects and causing them to fall.

It was as if the souls within the insects were instantly annihilated under this red light, completely perishing.

"You have no say in it." Zuo Yunfeng’s hand reached behind him and unexpectedly drew a sword completely red and with a phoenix as its guard, directly out of thin air.

It was actually the Chi Xiao Sword of Ku Chan from Zihe Palace!

"Spirit Realm·Mortal Shadow!"

Instantly, a vast expanse of black shadows burst forth from his body, turning into phoenixes enwrapped in black flames, and rushed towards Long Qingzi.

The black phoenix shadows and the red light were like two waves of different colors clashing in mid-air.

The phoenixes were clearly much stronger, advancing rapidly forward, suppressing the red light.

The two resumed their struggle. Despite Zuo Yunfeng being able to suppress Long Qingzi head-on, the latter was exceptionally elusive, always managing to use various means to avoid capture by the Pool’s insects at critical moments.

The situation suddenly became somewhat stalemate.

But Xu Chong below, already rapidly weakening and coughing up blood, noticed something amiss.

Lying on his back among the broken rocks on the mountaintop, his accumulated wounds began to erupt on a large scale.

"Something’s wrong with the Spirit Disaster!! Zuo Yunfeng... You shouldn’t have destroyed the Sky Stabilizing Plate... This world... will suffer consequences..."

He finally began to worry about the Source Disaster.

"No need to worry, once my wish is fulfilled, I will deal with the Spirit Disaster Black Disaster, and restore everything to its original state," said Zuo Yunfeng coldly, "By then, I will achieve immortality, and with the life of eternity, I will reshape the glory of the Taoist Sect anew! Everything is under my control."

"But before that, some necessary sacrifices are needed."

"You’re... insane..." Xu Chong uttered with blood, his eyes gradually dimming.

"I just want to live the life I desire, where lies the wrong?" Zuo Yunfeng’s expressionless face continued to watch Long Qingzi, whose avoidance was becoming increasingly difficult.

Meanwhile, in a distant Yin Qi Sky Pillar unnoticed by the three of them.

With the shattering of all the Sky Stabilizing Plates, a concealed black crack within the Heavenly Pillar began to rapidly spread, lengthening and widening.

Within the crack, the giant Cai Jing Taoist slowly lifted his head, as if a certain suppressing bond had been released, and a gray halo slowly lit up behind him. That halo condensed into a ring, standing still.

The already terrifying Spiritual Suppression on him climbed once more.

If Yu Hong were here, he would see that the spiritual value on the multimeter from a distance had reached over two million.

Not just that, the countless Golden Armor Dragon-men behind the Cai Jing Taoist also saw their aura rise layer by layer, faint golden flames igniting around their armor.

Crack.

Suddenly, the Cai Jing Taoist quietly stretched out a large hand, pulling at the edge of the crack.

Leaning forward, his body began to slowly shift out.

As soon as a small part of his body emerged from the crack.

Ahh!!!

Accompanied by a shrill scream like that of a baby.

A wave of semi-transparent Spiritual Suppression burst forth from him, spreading from the crack, and with the crack as the center, it exploded violently.

This suppressive force covered dozens of kilometers in the blink of an eye with the speed of light.

Within a radius of dozens of kilometers, all creatures felt a sudden heaviness at that moment, ethereal heavenly music in their ears, and a strong, uncontrollable fear rose in their hearts, rendering them immobile.

In the midst of the struggle, Zuo Yunfeng’s expression shifted slightly, turning his head to look towards the direction of the crack.

Long Qingzi also unwittingly stopped dodging, and the smile on his face became stagnant.

"What is... that?"

Both had never seen such exaggerated Spiritual Suppression before.

Such intensity had far exceeded the limits of their imagination!

"There’s such a thing in the Spirit Disaster!?" Zuo Yunfeng furrowed his brows, slowly clenched his fists, his eyes showing for the first time a hint of shock and confusion over losing control of the situation.

*

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Qian’an Sanitarium.

The underground life support hall.

Yu Hong and Qing Huang, along with the newly joined former Vice Alliance Hierarch Zhao Jingtang of the Seven Evil Alliance, the three quietly stood in the center of the hall, waiting for the final moment.

"It’s coming!"

Suddenly, Yu Hong sensed the fluctuations of Spirit Light beginning to stabilize and slow down, understanding that this signified the final stage of bodily repair.

He squinted his eyes, a strong yearning flickering within. His body leaned forward as he cupped one hand in the other before his chest in salute.

"Youngster Zheng Rou pays respect to the senior for returning to the peak, shining like the sun in the sky."

"Congratulations to the senior!" The other two also hurriedly followed suit with the same gesture.

Hoo...

A gentle breeze appeared out of nowhere, brushing past the three of them.

Qing Huang and Zhao Jingtang had not yet grasped what had happened when they heard a certain voice.

Thump!!

It sounded like the heavy beat of a war drum exploding in their minds.

"My heartbeat..."

A gentle young woman’s voice echoed out of nowhere in their minds.

"Has never felt so young..."

Thump!

The second heartbeat exploded anew.

Rings of substantial shockwaves, with the underground Hall of Life as the center, instantaneously spread to the surroundings, rushing out of the sanatorium, rippling over large expanses of mountains, lakes, and highways like waves on water.

Above the sanatorium, countless currents of air converged from nowhere, twisting and dancing, vaguely rolling up dust, and condensing into a massive yet indistinct crane.

That crane stretched from heaven to earth, reaching heights beyond ten thousand meters. Its mere appearance set off a chorus, and as quickly as it emerged, it silently fragmented into countless strands of airflow that flew toward the sanatorium below.

Countless strands of airflow slipped through every crack, quickly converging at the center of the underground hall.

Thump!

The third heartbeat.

In an instant, everything within tens of kilometers returned to normal.

The air currents dissipated, the life support system halted, and the doors of the room slowly opened. It was as though everything that had occurred was but an illusion.

"In this world, gains must always be accompanied by losses."

A pleasant female voice floated from inside the door.

*

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Below the cliff, in the depths of a pool.

A figure that had been soaking for a long time slowly opened their eyes.

He was tightly embracing a headless female corpse, standing at the bottom of the pool in darkness, lifting his head.

Boom!!

A thunderous noise.

The figure disappeared in place, a stream of white water surged upward, breaking through the water with a purple glow wrapping around it, stepping through the air, flying towards the direction where the Chi Xiao Sword beckoned.

*

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*

Beneath the pitch-black sky.

One by one, black rifts appeared in the sky, from which countless swarming black insects emerged, resembling grains of sand.

Those were the Gates of Despair of the Black Disaster, which could hardly wait to enter this world the moment the Sky Stabilizing Plate shattered.

As for the largest black rift within the Yin Qi Sky Pillar, it suddenly tore further open.

The Cai Jing Taoist within the pillar slowly extended his upper body through the rift.

By now, his stature had grown far larger than when he first appeared, with just the upper body alone rising tens of meters high.

Accompanying his emergence was an incessant cacophony of sharp cries, resembling those of infants, that rang out wildly in the surroundings.

"No matter what you are... Taoist Zuo Yunfeng has ascetically practiced for a hundred years, pursuing immortality. I absolutely cannot fail this final step!"

Zuo Yunfeng witnessed this scene, his expression unshaken, his eyes flashing with resolve.

He raised the Chi Xiao Sword upright, and his body suddenly transformed its Daoist Skills, switching to the inheritance skills of Zihe Palace. Rings of purple-red flames ignited from his right arm, spreading to the Chi Xiao Sword.

After years of cultivation, in pursuit of immortality and to break through to new levels, he not only practiced the Daoist Skills of Zihe Palace but also mastered those of the other Eight Sects.

Aaang!

A resounding phoenix cry echoed.

"Spiritual Domain·Skyfire Interplay."

Swoosh!

He lifted the Chi Xiao Sword high, tremendous Dao Breath madly flooded into it, weaving a transparent net that covered the entire Chi Xiao Sword and his body.

Boom!!

Two seconds later.

The Chi Xiao Sword flew out of his hand, shooting into the sky, transforming into a blindingly bright purple-red phoenix that shot straight towards the Cai Jing Taoist.

Wherever it passed, purple flames expanded and sparks scattered, igniting everything in its path into a trail of purple fire.

As the purple fire phoenix neared the Cai Jing Taoist, the flames on its body became increasingly tumultuous as the distance closed.

However, when the phoenix was less than a hundred meters away.

Thump thump thump thump thump!

An intense drumming exploded.

A tide of gold surged crazily from behind the Cai Jing Taoist.

A large number of Golden Armor Dragon-men flew out in neat formation, charging towards the phoenix.

They raised their banners high, each inscribed with an immense, twisted, ancient, blood-red character.

Some beat drums from behind, some waved signal flags in the middle, others rode horses at the front. Clouds and fog enshrouded them, lifting the military array.

A vast golden army, like a golden tide, crashed heavily against the incoming purple fire phoenix.

Without a sound.

The purple fire phoenix seemed to be swallowed whole, effortlessly torn apart by the army, dissipating into countless purple-red sparks.