In the skies above the Eastern Mulberry Region, the air itself screamed as a massive, swirling black hole suddenly tore open. The very fabric of space seemed to bleed darkness.
The next moment, two truly terrifying auras erupted from within the vortex, instantly shaking the entire region. The overwhelming pressure was immense, far surpassing anything a Nascent Soul cultivator could produce. It was a force the people here had never experienced before.
"Eastern Mulberry Region truly is a blessed land," Mu Kui, one of the invaders, sneered coldly as he looked down at the sprawling sect beneath him. "Only our Blood Puppet Sect is worthy of such a place. How dare a mere minor sect occupy it?"
With a contemptuous wave of his hand, spiritual energy coalesced into an enormous, blood red palm that blotted out the sky, descending upon the sect's core structures with world crushing force. His attack was utterly ruthless, clearly intending to annihilate the sect and everyone in it in a single blow. In an instant, pure terror gripped everyone below. The colossal hand cast a deep, suffocating shadow of death over them, and they felt their very souls tremble.
None of them had ever experienced the full, unrestrained might of a Divine Transformation stage expert. Though the Golden Crow was also at that level, she usually kept her aura suppressed to the bare minimum, never unleashing it recklessly upon her home.
But just as despair threatened to consume them, a cold, clear snort cut through the air.
"Five Elements Annihilation Slash!!!"
A figure shot out from the heart of the sect like a fired arrow. A radiant sword in her hand burst with multicolored brilliance, weaving together the power of all five elements. The brilliant sword light shot upward, clashing fiercely against the descending palm.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion rocked the heavens as the massive hand and the five colored light collided. The figure was sent flying backward through the air, tumbling several times before stabilizing. But the enormous palm shattered and dissipated into nothingness. The oppressive sense of imminent death vanished, and the people below finally dared to breathe again, their hearts still pounding.
Meanwhile, the invaders hovering in the sky, including Mu Kui himself, were utterly stunned.
"So you are the one ranked first on the Heavenly Leaderboard?" Mu Kui's voice was a low growl of disbelief. "A mere early stage Nascent Soul cultivator, yet you blocked my attack. Truly worthy of being a Five Elements Holy Body… but unfortunately, you must die today."
After his initial shock, his expression darkened into one of overwhelming, icy killing intent. Su Min had genuinely made him feel threatened. He was a peak Divine Transformation expert, a being who could dominate a region, yet an early stage Nascent Soul cultivator had withstood his casual strike. That was not a good sign at all. If she were allowed to reach the Divine Transformation stage herself, who knew how powerful she would become? His murderous intent was now overflowing, a tangible force in the air.
"Tsk, you want to kill me?"
Su Min casually wiped the thin trail of blood from the corner of her lips before popping a fifth grade healing pill into her mouth. She had only suffered minor internal injuries from that exchange, partly because she had wanted to test the real gap between herself and a genuine Divine Transformation expert. That was why she had not immediately signaled for the Golden Crow to intervene.
The result? She could barely withstand a few direct attacks, and that was when her opponent was not even going all out.
"Oh? With just four Nascent Soul cultivators?" Mu Kui scoffed arrogantly at her words.
But his expression abruptly changed in the next instant. A terrifying, deep rooted energy erupted from the sect below as a massive, intricate formation lit up across the ground and sky, its lines burning with golden light. The grand formation activated with a resonant hum, sealing the entire area in a powerful barrier. Even the spatial tunnel they had just emerged from flickered violently and was forcibly closed, cutting off their retreat.
In an instant, over a hundred Blood Puppet Sect members were trapped like rats. But that was not what truly alarmed Mu Kui. At the very center of the glowing formation, an even more oppressive, scorching aura flared to life, its golden light so intense it illuminated the heavens. A massive, divine golden bird, wreathed in living flame, soared into the sky, circling ominously as it let out a cry that shook the soul.
"Three Legged Golden Crow!!!"
Both Mu Kui and Mu Xue exclaimed in unison, their voices filled with shock and dawning horror.
But before they could process this disaster, the golden figure shrank rapidly, transforming into a dazzling female warrior clad in ornate golden battle armor, a radiant sun forged sword in her hand. Though her cultivation was only at the early Divine Transformation stage, her divine presence alone was suffocating, making both Mu Kui at peak Divine Transformation and Mu Xue at mid Divine Transformation feel insignificant.
Moreover, from her majestic aura, they sensed two terrifying, legendary things.
"Solar True Flame… Fusang Divine Tree… Golden Crow Emperor, do you truly intend to make an enemy of our Blood Puppet Sect for the sake of this woman?"
Their faces twisted with deep unease. Without even fighting, they knew in their bones that the two of them together stood no chance. If possible, they desperately wanted to avoid this battle. But the Golden Crow had no intention of humoring them. Divine beasts were innately proud, and she always kept her promises to her Big Sis.
Without a single word of hesitation, she shot forward in a blaze of golden light, her sword slashing out in a beautiful, deadly arc. A colossal, fiery golden bird materialized in the sky, screeching as it crashed down upon the clustered Blood Puppet Sect members.
BOOM!!!
The explosion that followed was cataclysmic, a sun blooming at the battlefield's center. The Blood Puppet Sect's members hastily activated a joint defensive formation, a bloody shield barely managing to block the direct impact of the attack. Several of the weaker Golden Core cultivators at the edges were instantly vaporized, while even the two Divine Transformation experts were sent reeling backward through the air, their robes scorched.
"Guh—!!!"
Mu Xue, the weaker of the two, vomited a mouthful of dark blood. His injuries were far worse than Su Min's, and unlike her, he did not have a priceless fifth grade healing pill. All he could do was swallow a common third grade one, which was barely enough to stabilize his raging qi.
"We have to use our trump card now," Mu Xue gritted his teeth, his face pale. "A divine beast is already stronger than a human of the same level, let alone a royal one. And now, with this amplifying formation and her divine artifacts, she alone could slaughter all of us."
Mu Xue was right. The Golden Crow's single, casual strike had injured their entire force, and that was not even her full power. Dragging this out would be suicide. No wonder Su Min had been so fearless, this Golden Crow alone was enough to wipe them all out.
Exchanging a grim glance, the two elders quickly formed a series of complex hand seals. In the next instant, the air grew heavy and cold as a massive, ancient stone coffin materialized in the sky above them, pulsing with a malevolent, bloody light.
"That is their trump card?"
Su Min's pupils constricted. This was something even the detailed intelligence from the Ancient Mansion Holy City had not known about.
"Don't let that thing awaken!!!"
The Golden Crow's expression shifted for the first time, a flicker of urgency in her golden eyes. She spread her wings of light, darting forward like a bolt of lightning to stop the coffin, but it was too late.
BOOM!!!
The coffin lid exploded outwards, shattering into dust. A thick, crimson aura erupted from within, dyeing half the sky a sinister blood red. From the coffin rose a withered, mummified corpse clad in ancient robes, its presence desolate and deadly.
"A puppet made from the corpse of a Unity stage expert?!"
The Golden Crow's face turned grave. Divine Transformation, Dao Comprehension, Unity, Mahayana, the gaps were vast. Even in death, a Unity stage expert's body was no joke. Even a cultivator at the Dao Comprehension stage would struggle against such a foe.
"Ancestor, we beseech you, slay this Golden Crow!"
The remaining Blood Puppet Sect members bowed deeply toward the corpse, their voices filled with desperate hope. Slowly, a faint, eerie red light flickered to life in its hollow eye sockets.
"There is still a trace of its spirit left… but it can barely distinguish friend from foe," the Golden Crow analyzed, her golden eyes gleaming with divine insight. "Still, the passage of time has eroded most of its essence. It probably has combat power comparable to an early Enlightenment stage expert now, stronger than that peak Divine Transformation cultivator."
Though she remained composed, she did not underestimate the puppet.
"Can you handle it?" Su Min asked, stepping forward to stand beside her. If necessary, she and Xie Yingying could join forces to hold off one of the Divine Transformation experts.
"No need. I want to see just how powerful this Unity stage corpse is."
The Golden Crow smirked, a confident, fiery light in her eyes. She possessed the complete inheritance of the Golden Crow lineage. The armor she wore was the Heavenly Golden Crow Battle Armor, a top tier Heaven grade treasure. In her hands was her clan's immortal weapon, passed down through generations. Even facing an Enlightenment stage opponent and two Divine Transformation experts, she held no fear.
Truth be told, even if Su Min reached the Divine Transformation stage, she would not be able to match the Golden Crow's sheer wealth of resources. The Golden Crow's lineage had been accumulating divine treasures and techniques for millennia, far beyond what a grassroots cultivator like Su Min could currently compare to.
Mu Kui and Mu Ling also realized this with sinking hearts.
"This is not enough," Mu Kui said rapidly, his mind working. "Though our ancestor willingly underwent the Blood Puppet Sect's secret arts to preserve his body, the erosion of time has drained too much of his essence. I will hold off the Golden Crow with the ancestor. You, seize that woman Su Min. Once we have her, both the Golden Crow and the others will hesitate to act."
Mu Kui's eyes gleamed with cold calculation. Though his interaction with Su Min had been brief, he could tell that the Golden Crow and the other Nascent Soul experts all deferred to her. He did not know how she had earned their loyalty, but capturing her was their only way out.
Their ancestor had died too long ago. As the Blood Puppet Sect's strongest expert in his time, he had sealed himself away to avoid the Heavenly Decay of Mortality. Before his final death, he used the sect's most forbidden arts to transform himself into a puppet, at the cost of nearly all his soul dissipating, leaving only a body that would slowly decay. Even with their best efforts to preserve it, most of its power had faded. At its peak, this puppet had been comparable to a peak Enlightenment stage expert, nearing true Unity stage combat power.
"Understood."
Mu Xue nodded grimly. As a mid Divine Transformation expert, he held an overwhelming advantage over Su Min's early Nascent Soul stage. His cold, venomous gaze locked onto her, brimming with killing intent.
"They are coming for me," Su Min said, her voice calm. She glanced at the Azure Dragon King and the Peacock King behind her. "You two, handle the other Nascent Soul cultivators."
She and Xie Yingying would deal with Mu Xue together.
"Leave them to us."
The two beast kings nodded in unison. They could tell that the Blood Puppet Sect's Nascent Soul experts were all artificially boosted, weaklings who relied on external means. Even fighting a dozen of them would not be an issue. As for the Golden Core cultivators, they were even less of a threat.
"Begin."
Almost simultaneously, both sides erupted into motion.
Hundreds of top tier cultivators clashed in the skies above Eastern Mulberry Land, their battle so intense the very air seemed to tear. Swords of light met bloody talons, elemental energies detonated against defensive barriers, and the roaring of techniques mixed with cries of pain. It was a scene of pure, unadulterated chaos, as if the apocalypse itself had arrived.