Chapter 360 – Great Cultivators Gather, Two Realms Begin, No One Exempt Under the Great Era

Central Province, three years later.

The Central Province of today no longer possessed the peace it had three years ago.

Three years prior, though there were frictions among the ten major sects led by the Azure Cloud Sect, they maintained a certain tacit understanding: to avoid escalating conflicts to excessive intensity.

The most evident sign was that Nascent Soul Stage cultivators were the highest-level practitioners one would commonly encounter back then.

But three years later, this was no longer the case.

Now in the Central Province, Golden Core cultivators were as common as the streets, and Nascent Soul Stage experts were as plentiful as rain.

Many Golden Core and Nascent Soul Stage cultivators who had been in seclusion or traveling were urgently recalled by their respective schools.

Such a massive mobilization served only one purpose:

To resist the invasion from the Nine Realms.

After three years, only six of the original ten major sects remained.

Among them, Martial God Mountain and East Sea Gate were destroyed three years ago.

Little Thunderclap Temple and Bright Moon Pavilion fell within the last two years.

Little Thunderclap Temple’s downfall occurred after their Buddha completely lost contact after entering the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms.

Though rumors suggested Yama was merely trapped within the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms, even this confinement caused immense panic within Little Thunderclap Temple.

Two years ago, one night, the Great Thousand Mountains and Black Lotus Sect from the Nine Realms joined forces, catching Little Thunderclap Temple completely off guard.

This final blow completely destroyed the already severely weakened temple.

The fall of Bright Moon Pavilion was even more mysterious.

As one of Central Province’s ten major sects, Bright Moon Pavilion not only possessed a Great Vehicle Stage ancestor but also maintained means to communicate with the Upper Realm.

In times of crisis, they could directly contact the Upper Realm to summon Immortals to descend and resolve emergencies.

But when other Central Province sects noticed Bright Moon Pavilion’s prolonged absence and went to investigate, they discovered the entire pavilion completely empty.

All possessions within the sect remained intact, showing no signs of attack.

Yet not a single person could be found within Bright Moon Pavilion.

Even their Great Vehicle Stage ancestor had vanished without a trace.

This bizarre situation immediately put all Central Province sects on high alert.

Even now, they still don’t understand what truly happened to Bright Moon Pavilion, nor how to prevent such occurrences.

Though Bright Moon Pavilion wasn’t ranked among the top sects, it was by no means weak.

For such a sect to disappear without a trace undoubtedly indicated the involvement of Immortal-level power.

Fortunately, Central Province has only witnessed this single case with Bright Moon Pavilion so far.

Had similar incidents occurred elsewhere, the hundred sects of Central Province might have lost all will to resist.

Despite losing four of the ten major sects, the remaining Central Province factions have united completely.

Led by the Azure Cloud Sect, the Central Province sects have decided to use the Ten Thousand Mountains, East Sea, and Tongtian River as defensive lines against the Nine Realms’ invasion.

In this great war sweeping through the entire Immortal Cultivation World, almost no one can escape unaffected.

Because losing this war would mean the complete fall of Central Province to the Nine Realms.

At that point, aside from those capable of Ascending to the Upper Realm, everyone else would become subjects of the Nine Realms.As long as there remained even a ten-thousandth chance, the Cultivators of Central Province refused to resort to such extremes.

Central Province, Eastern Front.

By that time, the East Sea had completely fallen under the dominion of Corpse Fiend Cave.

Over these three years, the Schools of Central Province had clashed repeatedly with Corpse Fiend Cave.

Their understanding of these adversaries grew increasingly profound.

Unlike conventional Corpse Manipulation techniques,

the methods employed by Corpse Fiend Cave were profoundly peculiar.

Ordinary Corpse Manipulation primarily focused on Corpse Refinement.

Yet the Corpse Refinement practiced by Corpse Fiend Cave was not entirely conventional.

For their “corpses” were none other than their own “Three Corpses.”

The Corpse Fiends refined through this method not only shared a mental connection with their masters, capable of wielding the Divine Abilities and techniques of Corpse Fiend Cave Disciples,

but could also rapidly evolve by absorbing vast quantities of Corpse Qi, subsequently nourishing the Corpse Fiend Cave Disciples in return.

In practical terms, if Central Province Cultivators unfortunately fell to Corpse Fiend Cave Disciples,

their corpses would swiftly be assimilated by these Disciples.

Those with average Aptitude would directly become nourishment for the Corpse Fiends of Corpse Fiend Cave Disciples, merging into their being.

Those with exceptional Aptitude would first have their corpses refined into new Corpse Fiends, after which the original Corpse Fiends would be sacrificed as sustenance to feed the newly acquired ones.

Thus, they essentially sustained their warfare through combat itself.

Even if each major battle left Corpse Fiend Cave with numerous Corpse Fiends,

so long as Central Province failed to retrieve all the corpses,

once these bodies fell into the hands of Corpse Fiend Cave Disciples,

they would swiftly become part of the enemy’s forces.

To counter this threat, Central Province ultimately assembled a Cultivator army centered around the “Hundred Refinements Sect” and “Azure Fire Valley” to hold back Corpse Fiend Cave.

As Central Province’s most powerful Artifact Refining Sect,

Hundred Refinements Sect Disciples excelled in the Puppet Mechanism Technique.

Although these Puppets were generally no match for Corpse Fiend Cave’s Corpse Fiends in combat,

their capture by Corpse Fiend Cave caused minimal repercussions,

thereby somewhat neutralizing Corpse Fiend Cave’s advantages.

Meanwhile, Azure Fire Valley, as Central Province’s foremost fire cultivation School,

produced Disciples who might lack in other areas but whose battlefield impact far surpassed that of ordinary Cultivators.

Moreover, Hundred Refinements Sect required substantial Mystical Flames to assist in refining Materials for their Puppets,

a need that Azure Fire Valley perfectly complemented.

Their synergy achieved an effect greater than the sum of its parts.

Thus emerged a Cultivator army led by Hundred Refinements Sect and Azure Fire Valley, supported by other Schools.

To better contain Corpse Fiend Cave within the East Sea,

Hundred Refinements Sect and Azure Fire Valley invested immense resources to construct a massive Mechanism City along the eastern coastline.

In essence, this Mechanism City resembled a Celestial Ark,

but the resources expended and technology embedded within far exceeded those of ordinary Celestial Arks.

Most notably, the Mechanism City required control by a Great Vehicle Stage Cultivator to unleash its full potential.

The Great Vehicle Stage expert currently commanding the Mechanism City was Perfected Azure Flame from Azure Fire Valley.

Although the combined forces of Hundred Refinements Sect and Azure Fire Valley temporarily suppressed Corpse Fiend Cave with the aid of the Mechanism City,

neither Sect expressed excessive optimism about the situation.Although the Corpse Fiend Cave forces were currently unable to penetrate deep into the Central Province, being blocked at the periphery,

the defenders likewise had no effective means to deal with them, finding no opportunity to completely drive them out.

Thus, the situation reached a stalemate.

To maintain pressure on the Central Province,

the Corpse Fiend Cave launched attacks at regular intervals.

This directly turned the East Sea’s Mechanism City into one of the Central Province’s three major meat grinders.

Within three years, over a hundred cultivators at the Golden Core Stage had fallen at Mechanism City.

More than ten Nascent Soul Stage cultivators had also perished.

Even a Revered One at the Deity Transformation Stage had met their end.

The ferocity of the battles was evident.

To gather intelligence and prepare for a future counterattack against the Corpse Fiend Cave,

the Hundred Refinements Sect and Azure Fire Valley used their Great Divine Power to create several small islands in the East Sea.

These islands stood like nails driven firmly into the East Sea,

serving as outposts and relay stations for Mechanism City.

However, as the intensity of the fighting escalated, the original dozen or so artificial islands

were now reduced to just five.

Even these five faced the imminent danger of being destroyed.

East Sea, Ghost Reef Island.

“Damn it, hasn’t the Sect sent anyone yet?”

“If this continues, we won’t be able to hold out much longer.”

Wei Gang, a Golden Core Stage cultivator from the Hundred Refinements Sect, controlled his Mechanism Beast as he once again repelled an attack from the Corpse Fiend Cave,

then turned to his fellow daoists nearby with his question.

At Wei Gang’s words, everyone’s expressions turned grave.

As one of the few remaining East Sea islands under Mechanism City’s control,

Ghost Reef Island originally housed a permanent garrison of one Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, ten Golden Core Stage cultivators, and a hundred Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators.

With such strength, while they couldn’t launch a counterattack against the Corpse Fiend Cave’s occupied East Sea territories,

they could rely on the island’s formations and mechanisms

to hold out for some time even against a Deity Transformation Level existence.

After the great battle a year ago,

although the Hundred Refinements Sect lost one Elder at the Deity Transformation Stage,

the Corpse Fiend Cave paid the price of two Celestial Corpse Immortals,

equivalent to losing two Deity Transformation Level beings.

Such losses were undeniably heavy for the Corpse Fiend Cave as well.

Consequently, throughout this past year, the Corpse Fiend Cave rarely deployed cultivators at the Deity Transformation Level,

or even at the Nascent Soul Level.

This had given the defenders some breathing room.

Under normal circumstances, even if besieged, Ghost Reef Island wouldn’t have allowed the Corpse Fiend Cave’s cannon-fodder Walking Corpses to easily storm the island.

But somehow, the Corpse Fiend Cave learned that today was Ghost Reef Island’s maintenance day.

Just as half of the island’s mechanisms were shut down for repairs on damaged equipment,

they launched a sudden assault.

This caught everyone on Ghost Reef Island completely off guard.

Without half their mechanisms operational, the defenders quickly found themselves in a desperate fight.

Had it not been for the Nascent Soul Stage cultivator from Azure Fire Valley activating some hidden mechanisms on Ghost Reef Island,

temporarily driving back the Corpse Fiend Cave’s attack,

the island would likely have been completely overrun by now.

Even so, Ghost Reef Island paid a heavy price.

Of the ten Golden Core Stage cultivators, four had fallen.

The Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators suffered even greater losses, with more than half perishing.It could be said that Ghost Reef Island had now lost over half of its active forces in one fell swoop.

Although they had activated the island’s protective formation, it could not be sustained for long. Once its energy was depleted, relying solely on the island’s incomplete mechanisms would make it impossible to withstand the attacks from the Corpse Fiend Cave.

At this point, even if they wanted to leave, they couldn’t. Ghost Reef Island was now completely surrounded by the Corpse Fiend Cave. Their only hope was to wait for reinforcements from the Hundred Refinements Sect and Azure Fire Valley, which might allow them to break through the encirclement.

However, after three years of conflict with the Corpse Fiend Cave, they were well aware of how underhanded these foes could be. It was possible that the enemy was deliberately waiting for other sects to send reinforcements, planning to ambush them while they were vulnerable.

This thought weighed heavily on the minds of everyone on Ghost Reef Island.

The Corpse Fiend Cave gave the island’s cultivators little time to catch their breath.

“Look over there! What is that?” shouted a cultivator stationed on the city wall, his expression grim as he pointed into the distance.

In the distance, a swarm of black dots was slowly advancing toward Ghost Reef Island. As they drew closer, the dots grew larger until their forms became clear—they were a horde of massive, grotesque Corpse Orcas.

These Corpse Orcas measured at least a hundred meters in length, with the largest reaching several hundred meters. Their sheer size alone imposed an overwhelming sense of dread on the island’s defenders.

Even without taking any special action, the colossal creatures could easily demolish Ghost Reef Island just by crashing into it. And with so many of them, the threat was magnified.

“Form up!” came the command from their Nascent Soul Stage leader.

Snapping out of their shock, the defenders quickly regained their composure. Soon, all of the island’s defensive mechanisms were reactivated.

Before long, the Corpse Orcas slammed into Ghost Reef Island. The tremendous impact sent violent tremors through the entire island, while waves dozens of meters high surged around them, creating a scene of chaos.

Despite their immense size, the Corpse Orcas seemed to lack intelligence, mindlessly hurling their bodies against the island’s defenses. Had they possessed any Divine Abilities or spells, their terrifying bulk alone would have been enough to obliterate Ghost Reef Island in a single assault.

Even so, after repeated collisions and the loss of over a dozen Corpse Orcas, the island’s formation was finally shattered.

Not long after the formation fell, a massive Flame Avatar appeared above Ghost Reef Island, engaging the Corpse Orcas in fierce combat. For a time, the sea churned violently, and blood and flesh flew everywhere.

But under the Corpse Fiend Cave’s well-prepared assault, Ghost Reef Island was ultimately destroyed. Only a handful of cultivators managed to escape with the help of the Nascent Soul Stage expert from Azure Fire Valley.

Similar events were not confined to the East Sea. In the Western Ten Thousand Mountains and along the Southern Tongtian River, comparable tragedies were unfolding. Countless cultivators and Immortal Fiends from the Nine Realms perished in the great conflict, with both sides suffering heavy losses.

For a time, the entire Central Province was transformed into a living hell.

And it wasn’t just the Immortal Cultivation World that was affected—even the mortal realm felt the repercussions. Immortals, once a rare sight seen only once in a century, now frequently streaked across the skies above.Even a Mortal who knew nothing about the Immortal Cultivation World would understand upon witnessing this scene that something momentous was unfolding.

Whether in the Central Province or across the Nine Realms,

all recognized this stalemate would not last long.

What they saw now was merely probing.

Once both sides deemed themselves prepared,

the final battle… would erupt at any moment.

That would be the instant when true trump cards were revealed—

the decisive clash to determine victory.

(End of Chapter)