Li Yan and Gong Chenying flew straight toward the center. Strangely enough, they encountered no one else along the way.
"It seems everyone is rushing to the center. I wonder where Mei Bucai and the others are." Gong Chenying now stood at the prow of the White Jade Skiff , having banished Li Yan to the skiff's deck. She had grown irritated under his gaze, and her mood had soured completely thanks to the strange, periodic smiles that touched his face. The series of mysteries surrounding Li Yan had initially filled her with a secret delight, making her think he might be of great help to her in the future. But in the wake of his wicked smirks, all that goodwill had vanished into thin air. If not for their shared sect affiliation—and more importantly, the damnable male-supremacist rules of her Tianli Clan —she would have kicked him off long ago. In the end, once she had recovered about sixty percent of her strength, she simply stood up, pulled Li Yan into the skiff's interior, and took the helm herself.
Li Yan felt aggrieved. He couldn't help but rub his nose, thinking to himself, 'This Senior Sister is truly unreasonable. I've already explained the situation, yet she's still so angry.'
Hearing Gong Chenying's cold voice from the front, Li Yan just shook his head. He had no idea where Mei Bucai's group was either. They had been searching as they traveled, but aside from endless mountains and forests, they hadn't seen a single soul. For now, however, he could at least confirm that Mei Bucai and the others were still alive, though their location remained a mystery. On their way here, Li Yan had used the core within Gong Chenying's blue rhomboid crystal to confirm the presence of sixteen light dots. Subtracting the two of them, it meant that Mei Bucai's group of six and the eight people in the Spirit-Storing Pouch were currently still living. This was relatively good news, so they decided to continue searching as they headed for the central region.
For a time, an awkward silence stretched between them as they sped toward the center.
In the heart of the region, atop a colossal mountain, a metallic sphere shimmered dazzlingly as it slowly rotated. A massive platform extended from one edge of this sphere. At this very moment, three teams were locked in a furious battle upon it. One of the three teams consisted of human cultivators; the other two were demonic cultivators. To be more precise, two teams of the demonic race were working together to attack the human cultivators. However, these two demonic clans were not of the same kind, and they maintained a certain distance from each other, as if mutually on guard.
One team belonged to the Green Crystal Centipede clan, led by the man with the beastly head, Wu Wu'an . His head was a motley of black, green, and red. When his great mouth opened, it split all the way to his ears, cleaving his grotesque face into upper and lower halves, leaving nothing but a dark, gaping maw of a throat—an utterly savage sight. As he led the attack, he continuously spat out a dense, sinister black fog, which quickly shrouded the platform in rolling, gloomy mist.
The other team was of the Golden Flame Saint Lion clan. Their leader was a lion-faced giant standing over ten feet tall, imposing and powerful. A golden robe billowed wildly without any wind as he attacked. This was the second-tier demonic beast named Jin Chuiyan . With every move, he stirred up monstrous waves of fire. Behind him, a troop of Flame Lions followed like a great swathe of crimson-gold flame, causing the entire platform to steam with scorching heat. Even the nearby Green Crystal Centipede clan was forced to constantly evade them, which caused the faces of these creatures, who naturally favored yin and cold, to turn ashen.
The target of their joint attack was none other than the thirty-odd disciples led by Baili Yuan and Gan Shi of the Malevolent Spirit Sect . For a time, the two sides were inextricably locked in a deadly struggle. Behind Baili Yuan's group, on the platform extending from the metal sphere, was a semicircular archway that pulsed with a constant yellow light.
After meeting Mei Bucai's group of six, Baili Yuan and Gan Shi had searched for Gong Chenying for some time to no avail. After a discussion, they concluded that Gong Chenying had either managed to avoid them and press on, or she had met with disaster. Neither said it aloud, but in their hearts, they leaned toward the latter possibility. They had already scoured a thousand-li radius. Apart from some early traces of battle, they had found nothing. Thus, the two had no choice but to summon their respective flying magical artifacts and lead their contingent toward the center. This decision left Mei Bucai, Cheng Jingnian , and the others quite resentful, but they didn't dare voice their complaints.
When they reached the central region, they discovered the massive platform extending from the slowly rotating metal sphere atop the cloud-piercing peak. Where the platform connected to the sphere, a semicircular archway glowed with light. Two teams of demonic cultivators were already on the platform, their battle cries shaking the heavens. However, the instant Baili Yuan's group arrived, the two teams abruptly ceased their fighting and turned in unison to stare at them.
Baili Yuan and Gan Shi exchanged a glance. They were both exceedingly clever. A single look at the scene was all they needed to understand the situation. The semicircular archway on the platform was undoubtedly the only entrance into the metal sphere. Because they had been delayed, these two teams of demonic cultivators had arrived first. But clearly, both demonic teams wanted to enter first to secure one of the top three spots, which had led them to blows. Demonic cultivators were truly hot-blooded; in the short time before Baili Yuan's group arrived, three or four of their demonic beasts had already been killed, leaving the platform slick with blood.
These two demonic cultivator clans were the Golden Flame Saint Lion clan and the Green Crystal Centipede clan. A layer of golden flame rolled off Jin Chuiyan's body as he glared viciously at Baili Yuan's group. Nearby, Wu Wu'an was shrouded in a fluctuating black aura. He too had stopped fighting and was now staring sinisterly at the newcomers.
No one spoke. After a few breaths, Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wu'an exchanged a few words via voice transmission, then began to spread out, forming a vague encirclement around Baili Yuan's party. Baili Yuan and Gan Shi exchanged another look. The demonic cultivators obviously intended to eliminate their common enemy first.
Baili Yuan's eyes flickered for a moment. After his lips moved in a silent message to Gan Shi, he suddenly took the lead and charged into the encirclement. Gan Shi and the others followed close behind. This move stunned the two demonic cultivator teams. They had seen the human cultivators hovering at the edge of the platform and had worried their targets would flee before the encirclement was complete. Now, it seemed their opponents were so arrogant that they didn't even see the two teams as a threat, charging directly into the fray.
The demonic cultivators were enraged. In an instant, the two sides clashed. Once the battle began, the two demonic cultivator teams found themselves in a stifling situation. The Green Crystal Centipedes favored cold and dampness, and their techniques followed a path of yin, softness, and poison. The Golden Flame Saint Lions, on the other hand, followed a path of unyielding yang and ferocity, their techniques wide and powerful. Coordinating became a problem. When they attacked together, a good portion of their power was mutually nullified upon release. If they staggered their attacks, their overall might was greatly diminished. This gave the Malevolent Spirit Sect a huge advantage, and the battle fell into a stalemate that lasted for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
As time wore on, the two demonic cultivator teams gradually sensed that something was amiss. The human cultivator team had two Foundation Establishment cultivators and was also comprised of two squads; this much they had seen from the start. But now they realized that after the humans charged into the semi-encirclement, small formations had continuously appeared behind and around them. At first, the demonic cultivators paid them no mind. This was a common tactic used by human cultivators in group battles for auxiliary offense and defense, a typical strategy for overcoming a superior force. But as the fight wore on, more and more of these small formations appeared, eventually connecting to form a line. It seemed they were trying to create a buffer zone, sealing off the semicircular archway behind them.
At this point, how could Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wu'an not understand why the human cultivators had charged into their encirclement from the very beginning? Their plan was to rush the archway and use formations to seal the passage, preventing anyone from getting in. The two demons grew furious. The human cultivators were too cunning, resorting to such schemes even in a battle that was meant to be a contest of strength for rankings. But their realization came too late. A dozen or so yards from the semicircular archway , a nearly complete formation had taken shape. Only a gap of less than three yards remained on one side, not yet fully closed.
There was no way the two demons would let them seal that gap. They immediately intensified their assault. Baili Yuan's side, meanwhile, used the bulk of the formation and various poison mists to hold them off. By now, Gan Shi had recovered fifty to sixty percent of his cultivation. Aided by the formation and various toxins, he was able to hold his own against Wu Wu'an in a one-on-one fight. Although the demonic cultivators occupied the entrance to the gap, advancing further toward the passage would mean facing the attacks of Baili Yuan's group from behind the cover of their formation. For a time, the two sides were locked in a desperate struggle.
Only then did Baili Yuan finally let out a long sigh of relief. This was his strategy. He wasn't sure if other teams had entered before the two demonic cultivator squads, but seeing them fighting over it, he knew that at least the top three spots were not yet filled. He had to secure a place, no matter what, to bring the greatest benefit to the sect. Otherwise, after so many deaths and injuries in the Wheel of Life and Death , to come away with nothing would be a tremendous loss. So, after a brief discussion with Gan Shi, he took the risk and led his team directly into the encirclement. Though they were surrounded, they were now only about thirty yards from the entrance. Then, amidst the fierce battle, they had stealthily encroached, bit by bit, and began to secretly lay down the Malevolent Spirit Sect's most troublesome combination of poison mists and formations. Even so, under the combined assault of the two demonic cultivator teams, they had still suffered three deaths and six serious injuries in the initial phase of the battle. And this was only because the two demonic cultivator teams' techniques were fundamentally conflicting. Otherwise, the casualties would have been far greater. Nevertheless, for the benefit of the sect, Baili Yuan and Gan Shi had still chosen this course of action.
At the gap, after several dozen more breaths of fierce fighting, Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wu'an had to face a frustrating reality: the enemy's formations were growing denser. Finally, a small, looping barrier formed within the gap itself, completely blocking them out. The attacks coming from within the enemy formation then dwindled. This gave the two demons a bad feeling. Unleashing their divine abilities, magical treasures, and innate demonic talents, they bombarded the barrier. Only after nearly seven full breaths of relentless assault did the formations finally shatter with a series of deafening explosions. When the smoke cleared, there was not a single human cultivator in sight before the semicircular archway . The formation was empty; the people were long gone. Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wu'an were driven to the brink of madness. The human cultivators had clearly used the self-sustaining formation as a cover to enter the metal sphere. The two of them had arrived so early, fought for so long, and lost so many of their kin, only for the human cultivators to reap the benefits.
The two demons exchanged a glance and, without a word, simultaneously strode toward the semicircular archway . Upon entering the metal sphere, a single sweeping glance turned their faces ashen. The space inside the sphere was only about a hundred yards across. In the middle of this space, three slowly rotating discs were arranged in a descending, tiered formation. At this moment, however, the two higher discs were dark and devoid of any light. Only the disc on the lowest tier was still slowly spinning. There was not a soul in sight. It was obvious the discs on the top two tiers had already been used. And from the tiered layout, it was clear that the lowest tier represented the third and final place.
"Damn it! Damn it!" The flames around Jin Chuiyan's body swelled with a deafening roar. The wave of heat sent several demonic beasts near him flying. They landed heavily more than ten yards away, howling in agony.
Wu Wu'an's body also churned with black qi, as if ready to overturn rivers and seas. A few of the demonic beasts near him were instantly encased in thick frost with a series of cracking sounds, frozen solid with expressions of terror still etched on their faces.
Wu Wu'an didn't even glance at the demonic beasts by his side. Instead, his cold gaze fixed on the furiously raging Jin Chuiyan. The meaning was perfectly clear: only one disc remained. How would they resolve this?
At the same time, Jin Chuiyan whipped his head around to look at Wu Wu'an.