At this moment, the group of crippled immortals had their eyes locked onto the passage ahead, each of them itching to charge forward. Meanwhile, Su Min, who had been peacefully secluded in her sect refining her miniature world, suddenly opened her eyes.
"The energy storm is about to dissipate. Those bastards should be making their move soon."
Narrowing her eyes slightly, a trace of killing intent flickered in Su Min's pupils. After leaving the Dark Domain, she had left a monitoring artifact behind. Now, as time passed, the energy disturbances left by the seven immortals who had forcibly descended were finally settling.
With the powerful anchor mark in place, those people would undoubtedly act. Sure enough, in the next moment, three auras appeared above her sect.
Yao Xian'er, Tian Yang, and Tian Hao—these three, along with Su Min, were the strongest in this universe.
The divine beasts were still far from fully matured. Even the little Golden Crow had only reached the early Mahayana stage, so they weren't yet qualified to participate in this battle.
"Can you feel it? The storm is about to vanish. When it does, new enemies will descend, and it will be a catastrophe for us."
Yao Xian'er's expression was grave this time. Last time, only a single true immortal had descended. But this time, it might be different. She was being extremely cautious.
Of course, if they were just crippled immortals, there would be no need for such concern.
"No problem. But just in case, set up defenses at the edge of the Dark Universe. Even if a true immortal comes, I'll make sure they stay here forever."
As she spoke, a cold smirk crossed Su Min's lips. She wasn't afraid even if immortals came. At most, they were just immortals. Now that she had reached the late Mahayana stage and her Chaos Body had reached perfection, she had no fear of them. Moreover, this was her home turf.
She had drained a significant amount of energy from the Dark Universe, reducing its size to less than half of what it once was. Even the Dark Continent had completely detached from the Dark Universe, and now, major sects—including immortal sects—had settled there.
With so many top-tier forces joining, the Dark Continent was now full of vitality. More importantly, because it was so close to the rift, it had become a forward outpost.
Thus, they had detected the anomaly not long after Su Min.
"What are you planning? The number of enemies this time is likely substantial, and there might even be true immortals among them. I already know about what happened in the Nether Prison. Even though you've reached the late Mahayana stage, the gap between a true immortal and a half-immortal might not be as large as you think."
"Don't worry. If I had only progressed from mid-Mahayana to late-Mahayana, I wouldn't be this confident. But you've almost forgotten, my Chaos Body has reached perfection."
Su Min smiled indifferently, her face full of confidence. Back then, the Five Elements Emperor had slain a half-immortal at the late Mahayana stage. She was now far stronger than he had been.
Besides, the passage wasn't that large. Only one or two could come through at a time. She just needed to block the entrance. Of course, they still needed to set up defenses.
The combined forces of the universe could hold off a true immortal, but any more than that would be impossible. Fortunately, the anchor mark wasn't stable enough, so sending even a single half-immortal would already be difficult.
But now, it seemed they had paid a heavy price to curse her and turn her into their anchor. At least, that was Su Min's speculation based on the information she had.
"..."
Hearing her words, the three exchanged glances but said nothing. None of them had ever seen a true Chaos Body before.
But even Su Min's incomplete Chaos Body had been terrifyingly powerful. Now that it was complete, it seemed to have undergone another transformation, something beyond their expectations.
Soon, deep within the Dark Universe, the core area's dark energy had been almost completely stripped away due to Su Min's previous alchemy.
Thus, the moment those people descended, they would immediately face the suppression of the Heavenly Dao. Here, Su Min held an absolute advantage—though even without it, she wouldn't be afraid.
"I can sense their numbers. All of them are true immortals, and there are quite a few."
Su Min narrowed her eyes as she assessed the situation. This wasn't just her perception—no ordinary perception could penetrate the dimensional rift.
Instead, it was the unique ability of the Chaos Body to communicate with the world, allowing her to sense their strength. But as soon as she spoke, the expressions of the other three changed.
Ten immortals—this was an unprecedented force. Were they planning to end everything in one battle, swallowing the entire world in a single strike?
"No problem. Coordinate with the alliance and set up defenses. A great battle is coming, and I just hope the universe won't suffer too much damage."
Su Min paid no attention to their expressions. She planned to block the entrance and slaughter them one by one. None of them would leave unscathed. If necessary, she might even charge into the rift itself. After all, as a favored child of the Heavenly Dao, the Chaos Body granted her the privilege of traversing worlds without restriction.
"Then be careful."
Hearing her words, the three didn't know what else to say. Even Yao Xian'er had her limits, she could at best fight a true immortal one-on-one. But with ten of them coming, that was beyond her capabilities. She could hold off two at most, and even that wasn't guaranteed.
So now, everything depended on Su Min. As for the other two, they were even less capable—dealing with crippled immortals was already their limit.
"Deploy all the Imperial Artifacts to form a massive defensive array. Just make sure they can't run wild."
Su Min spoke calmly. Imperial Artifacts were the embryos of immortal tools. Only by bathing in enough immortal blood could they advance further. Even so, their combined power could still hold off an immortal—at least for a while. Among them, the Golden Crow Clan's strongest Imperial Artifact, the Eastern Emperor Bell, was the most effective.
"Then how should we divide the battle roles?"
"No need. I'll handle it. Just make sure the battle's aftermath doesn't spread. And—hmm?!"
At that moment, Su Min stretched lazily, her perfect curves on full display. She felt a bit rusty. Ever since reaching the late Mahayana stage and perfecting her Chaos Body, she hadn't yet fully unleashed her power. Now that these people were coming, it was a good opportunity.
Seeing Su Min take everything upon herself, the three exchanged surprised glances.
They knew her personality, she was usually quite cautious. Even when she could crush her enemies outright, she preferred roundabout methods. So if she was this confident now, it meant she had absolute certainty. With that in mind, they said nothing more and withdrew, gathering the strongest experts to set up defenses outside.
They prepared to withstand the potential shockwaves, creating a colosseum-like space for Su Min.
"Feels nostalgic..."
Looking at the barriers around her, Su Min felt a twinge of nostalgia. Back during the Golden Core Avenue and the Sect Tournament, she had fought in similar arenas.
But as her power grew, ordinary treasures could no longer contain her destructive force. Now, not even the Heavenly Continent or the Dark Continent—the two most stable landmasses—could withstand her attacks. A single casual strike from her could reduce an entire region to nothingness.
If she struck the Dark Continent with full force, the entire landmass would tremble. Even Imperial Artifacts couldn't block her full-powered attacks. The current barrier was formed by nearly all the Imperial Artifacts combined.
"They're coming, huh? Heh... some things never change."
Su Min nearly laughed. The passage suddenly erupted with chaotic fluctuations—not because they were resisting the storm, but because they were fighting among themselves.
Even at a time like this, they were still bickering. It was almost comical.
What Su Min didn't know was that the five royal families of the Burial Netherlands had always been at odds. The ones she had fought before belonged to a single family, but if multiple families teamed up, they'd be lucky not to kill each other first.
To the five families, their relationship could be described—in religious terms—as mutual heresy. Especially now, when it involved the essence of a universe's destruction. World essence was the foundation of their families' power. Normally, each family would target a different universe, reaping benefits at their own pace.
But this time, the five families had paid too great a price, forcing them to act together. Hence, the current situation. Of course, while the Tiger and Crane families could cooperate in joint attacks, that only worked below the immortal level. Once they reached immortality, such tactics became useless.
Moreover, there was only one world essence—only one winner.
So under Su Min's exasperated gaze, they started fighting even before arriving.
And judging by the violent fluctuations, they had already lost their tempers.
The reality wasn't far off. Inside the passage—
"Tiger Family!!!"
A furious roar echoed as two figures clashed with full force. In an instant, a terrifying shockwave rippled through the passage, neither side willing to yield.
"Be careful! If you trigger an energy backlash, we'll all die!"
But before the speaker could finish, someone stabbed him from behind, making him spit blood.
"Should I retreat? No. I can't rely on the enemy's infighting. Once they snap out of it, they'll still gang up on me. So..."
In that instant, Su Min slowly drew her weapon. After melting an immortal artifact and reforging it, her sword had reached the level of an Imperial Artifact—even surpassing ordinary ones, now on par with the Eastern Emperor Bell.
"Bastards!!!"
The next moment, another roar rang out. A bloodied figure covered in wounds rushed out of the passage, then turned and slapped the person behind him, sending them flying back in.
But before he could even smirk in satisfaction, his face froze.
A sword had already pierced through his chest. And the terrifying power contained within it instantly annihilated all his vitality.
"You... it's you?"
At the last moment, the immortal stiffly turned his head, his eyes widening in shock. The person behind him was only at the late Mahayana stage. Even if he was injured, a normal late-Mahayana cultivator shouldn't have been able to do this. Then, as if remembering something, his expression slowly slackened.
"These old bastards really..."
Seeing how easily she had killed this immortal—thanks to her sneak attack and the Chaos Qi severing his life force—Su Min's expression darkened. Despite his miserable appearance, his injuries were minor. They hadn't even started fighting seriously yet.
Meaning, if she let all of them out, she'd be swarmed. These people would likely only start a life-and-death struggle over the spoils after destroying this world.
So before that... Su Min quietly positioned herself at the entrance.
Inside, the remaining nine immortals were stunned—especially the one from the same family as the slain immortal, his face darkening. The ten of them had been divided into five groups. Now that one of his own was dead, he was at a severe disadvantage.
More importantly—who could kill a true immortal like that?
Their earlier scuffle had just been probing. No one wanted to go all out, as the passage wasn't stable enough. Fighting recklessly here would mean certain death for all of them.
Yet someone outside had killed a true immortal? Impossible! According to their intel, this place shouldn't even have many late-Mahayana cultivators, let alone someone capable of this.
But in the next moment, all nine faces stiffened.
"This can't be!!!"
Because standing at the entrance was Su Min—a face they all recognized. Her image had spread throughout the five families after she had caused the deaths of several high-ranking immortals.
But wasn't she supposed to be under the Zhexian Curse? And given how strong the anchor mark was, the curse should have succeeded.
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Zhexian = Immortal-Severing