Chapter 318 – Isolated Southern Divine Continent, Land of Great Desolation

If it were merely an ordinary Golden Core Stage cultivator, the Earth Deity who had transformed into a Human-faced Tiger would naturally have nothing to fear.

After all, not only did it currently possess Golden Core cultivation, but it also wielded the power of a mountain deity.

This was equivalent to indirectly obtaining a weakened version of a Great Divine Power from the Transformation Dao Realm.

With such strength, let alone the Golden Core realm,

Even ordinary Nascent Soul realm cultivators would be helpless against it.

If we further consider its bizarre, demonized physique,

The Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity appeared to be only at the Golden Core Stage, but its actual combat power was absolutely comparable to an ordinary Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

This was also why Jiang Tiange and his sister joining forces still couldn’t deal with it.

However, all of the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity’s advantages vanished when facing Lu Chen in his current state.

Because whatever the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity could do, Lu Chen could do as well.

And what’s more, Lu Chen could do it better.

The Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity only possessed mountain deity power comparable to a Great Divine Power from the Transformation Dao Realm.

Lu Chen, on the other hand, possessed genuine Great Divine Powers – and more than one at that.

Not to mention Lu Chen’s Transcendent Golden Core, which despite appearing to be merely a Golden Core, contained spiritual power that even ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivators couldn’t match.

If the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity was a monster, then Lu Chen was a monster among monsters.

As Lu Chen looked at his opponent, his inner suspicions seemed to be confirmed.

Thus, he no longer planned to hold back.

Earlier he had noticed that the Karma covering thousands of miles around Bloodflame Mountain was quite different from ordinary Karma.

This Karma carried a strong personal will.

Clearly just a manifestation of someone’s power.

As for who that someone was, Lu Chen found the answer after only brief consideration.

Naturally, it was the corpse of the Immortal that had suddenly fallen from the sky thirty years ago.

Though the Immortal had died, its Physical Body refused to dissipate so easily.

Even Golden Core Stage Cultivators, after death, could return from death and transform into Jiangshi or spirits under certain conditions.

Let alone a legendary Immortal.

The current Earth Deity was undoubtedly influenced by the ‘Corpse Qi’ emanating from the Immortal’s corpse.

This caused its spiritual nature to be contaminated, along with changes to its physical form.

After all, in a certain sense, an Earth Deity is the embodiment of a specific territory.

The entire Bloodflame Mountain had been completely transformed by the Immortal’s corpse.

As the Earth Deity of Bloodflame Mountain’s southern region,

It naturally couldn’t escape unaffected.

What somewhat surprised Lu Chen was that the current Bloodflame Mountain seemed to have adapted to that special Corpse Qi.

And had even given birth to an entirely new ecosystem.

Normally, to replenish itself, the Immortal’s corpse should continuously drain all life force within thousands of miles.

Why had it left so many ‘survivors’?

Lu Chen wasn’t certain of the reason for all this, but it didn’t matter.

Because by following the direction of that Corpse Qi, he would soon find the answer.

In an Instance where he could resurrect infinitely, he didn’t need to worry too much.

Because he had unlimited room for error.

Great Divine Power… Fiend-Slaying Sword Formation.

Terrifying Divine Ability power erupted from Lu Chen’s body as four Immortal Swords that seemed to hail from primordial times materialized around the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity.

As Lu Chen’s cultivation grew higher, the ‘Severing Heaven-Earth Connection’ created by his current Great Divine Power had become increasingly realistic.

This also meant that the Dao power Lu Chen could wield within this area was becoming more and more complete.Unlike the dark crimson infernal landscape of Bloodflame Mountain,

the world conjured by the Fiend-Slaying Sword Formation was a bizarre and wondrous realm of shimmering light.

Behind the Fiend-Slaughter Sword, representing slaughter, hung a bright blood-red moon.

Behind the Fiend-Severing Sword, representing transformation, stretched an endless starry sky.

Behind the Fiend-Trapping Sword, representing confinement, lay a blooming lotus pond.

At the center of the pond was a colossal lotus, vast as a celestial body.

Finally, behind the Immortal Slaughtering Sword stood a magnificent Immortal Palace,

its gates guarded by a massive black true dragon coiling in the air.

Within this environment, the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity felt utterly insignificant.

The Karma within him seemed suppressed, completely unmovable.

He no longer resembled a mountain deity in the slightest, appearing as feeble as a Mortal without any cultivation.

If even the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity was in such a state, the other Demons nearby were faring far worse.

They had long knelt on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

Lu Chen observed them and pressed down with his sword finger.

In the next instant, the surroundings grew illusory.

A Fiend Sword then soared into the air, hovering above the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity’s head before descending slowly, like divine punishment.

Boom!

After a violent tremor, the entire Bloodflame Mountain shook fiercely, as if struck by a magnitude-eight earthquake.

When the commotion subsided, not only had the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity vanished, but the dilapidated shrine nearby had disappeared as well,

replaced by a massive crater.

Witnessing this from afar, Jiang Tiange and his sister were left speechless in awe.

Though Lu Chen was at the same Golden Core Stage as them,

his Golden Core seemed entirely different from theirs.

When they faced the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity, they had been nearly powerless.

Yet, against Lu Chen, the same Earth Deity was as feeble as an ant.

No wonder their master always warned them that there were always greater experts beyond the known world.

After witnessing Lu Chen’s Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation and Samadhi True Fire firsthand,

Jiang Tiange and his sister truly understood the meaning of a world of difference.

After dealing with the Human-faced Tiger Earth Deity, Lu Chen approached the siblings.

“Can you still move?”

Taken aback by the question, Jiang Tiange quickly replied, “We’re fine.”

Lu Chen nodded and gestured for them to follow, as he had some questions for them.

Not only was Lu Chen their savior,

but the power he had just displayed left them no room for refusal.

In the Immortal Cultivation World, strength commanded respect.

In a county town outside Bloodflame Mountain,

“So… Fellow Daoist, you’ve only recently arrived in our Southern Divine Continent?”

Hearing that Lu Chen had just reached the Southern Divine Continent, Jiang Tiange and his sister exchanged glances,

their eyes reflecting mutual astonishment, as if this were something unbelievable.

Though Lu Chen remained outwardly calm,

he was inwardly slightly puzzled.

Since they were in an Instance, Lu Chen had no reservations and asked directly, “Is there something wrong with that?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Tiange explained the truth to him.

It turned out that the Southern Divine Continent they were in existed in an era following a massive invasion by Gu Xian.Unlike the Central Divine Continent where major sects stand like forests, the other four continents’ strength is significantly weaker by more than just a notch compared to the Central Divine Continent.

By the late stage, most schools in the Central Divine Continent had already fallen.

At this point, the four spirit power-deficient Divine Continents instead became retreat routes for the major sects of the Central Divine Continent.

The Southern Divine Continent was one such retreat.

According to Jiang Tiange and his younger sister, the Immortals, in order to preserve some sparks for the Immortal Cultivation World, used great magical power to isolate the four Divine Continents from the Central Province, constituting an advanced version of the Severing Heaven-Earth Connection method.

However, while this prevented the Immortal Fiends outside from entering the Southern Divine Continent, it also trapped those inside the Southern Divine Continent.

Moreover, Immortal relics would fall into the Southern Divine Continent every few days.

Generally, what fell into the Southern Divine Continent were damaged Celestial Artifacts or other miscellaneous items.

But what fell thirty years ago was a complete Immortal’s corpse.

For the cultivators of the Southern Divine Continent, this was both a great Opportunity and a great disaster.

Because if an Immortal’s corpse underwent corpse transformation, its destructive power would be incomparable to that of an ordinary corpse.

Unfortunately, during the previous “Great Severance Heaven” performed by the Immortals, many cultivators within the Southern Divine Continent participated in that earth-shattering great war.

Although they weren’t the main force in that war, they still suffered heavy losses.

If not for the fact that many schools currently in the Southern Divine Continent had migrated from the Central Province in earlier years, it’s possible that not even a single Golden Core realm cultivator could be found in the current Southern Divine Continent.

Therefore, although the cultivators of the Southern Divine Continent had heard about the situation at Bloodflame Mountain, few schools dared to send people over.

This was because they clearly understood that with their strength, dealing with an Immortal’s corpse that had undergone corpse transformation was nearly impossible.

Until today…

“My younger sister and I come from the Myriad Enterprises Immortal Sect in the Southern Divine Continent, and this place is not far from our sect’s location. So after my younger sister achieved a breakthrough to the Golden Core realm, we conceived the idea of exploring Bloodflame Mountain.”

“Though I originally wanted to make more preparations, my younger sister is impatient by nature, so she came early.”

“Although I felt it was somewhat inappropriate, I still followed her.”

“Never did I expect that even the outskirts of Bloodflame Mountain would harbor such powerful demons.”

“If not for Fellow Daoist’s rescue, my younger sister and I would likely have found it difficult to retreat unscathed. Once again, I thank Fellow Daoist for saving our lives.”

Saying this, Jiang Tiange downed the wine cup in front of him in one gulp.

Then he looked at Lu Chen and tentatively asked: “Fellow Daoist says you come from outside the Southern Divine Continent. Could it be that the Great Severance Heaven’s Seal has loosened?”

Although Jiang Tiange tried his best to ask in a calm tone, his slightly nervous appearance clearly showed he cared deeply about this answer.

Because if the Great Severance Heaven’s Seal had indeed loosened, it would absolutely be a major event for the Southern Divine Continent.

After all, this would not only mean they could leave this place and go to other parts of the Immortal Cultivation World, but also that people from other places could come here.

If all who came were cultivators like Lu Chen, that would be fine.

But if what came were Immortal Fiends, or even descended ancient Immortal Fiends like Gu Xian, then things would undoubtedly become troublesome.

Given the current situation in the Southern Divine Continent, not to mention descended ancient Immortal Fiends comparable to Mortal Realm Immortals – even just a great master at the Deity Transformation Stage would be enough to bloodily purge the current Southern Divine Continent.

Fortunately, Lu Chen’s answer allowed Jiang Tiange to breathe a sigh of relief.Although Lu Chen did not explicitly state it, he had hinted to the two of them that his method of arriving in the Southern Divine Continent was quite unique and difficult for outsiders to replicate.

Though it was unclear exactly how Lu Chen had accomplished this, Jiang Tiange and his sister did not press further.

After all, given the disparity in cultivation between them and Lu Chen, pressing the matter would only invite trouble.

Even if others were unwilling to tell them, what could they do about it?

Thus, Jiang Tiange and his sister put on an appearance of fully believing Lu Chen’s words.

As for how much of it was true and how much was false, only they themselves knew.

Lu Chen was naturally aware of this as well.

But he did not mind.

Instead, he was very interested in the two’s sect.

“You mentioned you are from the Myriad Enterprises Immortal Sect. As far as I know, the Myriad Enterprises Immortal Sect isn’t a local sect of the Southern Divine Continent, is it?”

Jiang Tiange and his sister were taken aback, then looked at Lu Chen with confusion and said, “Fellow Daoist, why do you say that? Could it be that you know the origins of our Myriad Enterprises Immortal Sect?”

Lu Chen was quite surprised that Jiang Tiange and his sister were unaware of the true origins of the Myriad Enterprises Immortal Sect.

Upon careful consideration, it was likely either because the founder of the Myriad Enterprises Immortal Sect had deliberately concealed this information for some reason, or because Jiang Tiange and his sister had joined the sect relatively late and thus were not privy to such knowledge.

Perhaps both reasons played a part.

Since the two were unaware of the true origins of the Myriad Enterprises Immortal Sect, Lu Chen did not press further on the topic.

Instead, he inquired about more details regarding the Great Severance Heaven from a thousand years ago.

However, Jiang Tiange and his sister were born after the Great Severance Heaven had already been cast upon the Southern Divine Continent.

Thus, they knew very little about the circumstances from a thousand years ago, having only occasional glimpses from ancient texts and records, and were unable to provide Lu Chen with much useful information.

Lu Chen was not surprised by this.

After confirming that the two had little of the information he sought, Lu Chen said indifferently, “For now, you should avoid going to Bloodflame Mountain. The dangers of that place are beyond ordinary imagination.”

“That Earth Deity was merely the tip of the iceberg of Bloodflame Mountain. The Corpse Qi of that mountain has fused with heaven and earth, transforming into a unique form of Karma.”

“Although your cultivation is not weak, it would still be difficult for you to resist the erosion of this Karma.”

“If you stay on the mountain for too long, you are likely to become entangled in this Karma, leading to irreversible consequences.”

“I have said all I need to say. Whether you heed my advice is up to you.”

With that, Lu Chen immediately stood up and walked out of the tavern.

And the direction he headed after leaving the tavern was unmistakably toward Bloodflame Mountain.

Watching Lu Chen’s retreating figure, Jiang Tiange thought for a moment and said, “Little sister, let’s return to our sect first.”

Having just experienced a life-and-death crisis, Jiang Changqing’s Heart-Nature had been greatly tempered.

Thus, she did not argue with Jiang Tiange.

She understood clearly that just because Lu Chen was capable of navigating Bloodflame Mountain did not mean they could do the same.

Although she very much wanted to explore Bloodflame Mountain with Lu Chen, even if she was reluctant to admit it, she would only be a burden if she went with him.

Informing others in the Immortal Sect about the situation in Bloodflame Mountain and discussing how to resolve it together was undoubtedly the best course of action.

However, Jiang Tiange and his sister had a feeling that by the time they returned to their sect, Bloodflame Mountain might have already undergone earth-shattering changes.After all, Lu Chen’s appearance clearly wasn’t for a mountain outing.

Ordinary people might have no way to deal with the immortal corpse in the mountains.

But for Lu Chen, that might not be the case.

Perhaps matters others couldn’t resolve, this mysterious outsider Cultivator might be able to handle alone…

(End of Chapter)