Chapter 2475: A New Landscape
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In the Nine Heavens, after the Xuanjin Divine Temple suffered a fatal attack, the Fate Temple, Earth Divine Temple, Heavenly Sound Divine Temple, and the Ancient Realm Clan formed an alliance to oppose the Flame Temple, Void Divine Temple, and the other four temples of the six-temple alliance. Since the turmoil in Dayu City, this chaotic struggle seemed to be intensifying. This alliance made the other observing temples hesitant to wade into the muddy waters; one wrong step could be fatal.
Take the Xuanjin Divine Temple, for example. Even if the six-temple alliance won this chaotic struggle, the Xuanjin Divine Temple's future would surely fail to keep pace with the growth of the other five temples. Of course, this was the current situation; what would happen later, no one could predict.
At the same time, in the Nine Heavens Celestial Court, the scattered forces, with the intervention of powerful experts from various worlds that had been opened up, gradually began to coalesce into a unified momentum, like droplets gathering to form rivers. They seemed unwilling to remain mere spectators in this chaotic era, fearing that one day they might be carelessly annihilated by those lofty temples. Several forces, led by a few extremely formidable experts who had reached the Supreme Realm, had already begun to take shape.
Soon, shocking news spread: the Fate Temple, Heavenly Sound Divine Temple, and Earth Divine Temple all abandoned their headquarters—the temple castles that had stood in the Nine Heavens. They decisively gave them up, scattering into smaller units and dispersing across the various cities and regions of the Nine Heavens. Even if the Flame Temple alliance had overwhelming power, they could not possibly find every last person who had scattered. The true conflict, in reality, still revolved around the struggles among those at the Supreme Realm level.
As for the others, the various temples were waiting for them to grow, until the day they too stepped into the Supreme Realm and became qualified to join the battle.
The decisiveness of the Fate Temple alliance made people sigh inwardly. Even in terms of sheer power, the Flame Temple alliance was still stronger. However, with the Fate Temple's forces now scattered, it was enough to give the various factions of the Flame Temple alliance a headache. After all, they had to constantly guard against surprise attacks. The battle at the Xuanjin Divine Temple was a lesson from the past.
This conflict was destined to be a protracted war.
However, Lin Feng, who had spurred the formation of this chaotic era, seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth, leaving no trace. Time flowed endlessly. For many years, Lin Feng's name never resounded in the Nine Heavens again. He was like many of the older generation who had once shaken the Nine Heavens—appearing, then disappearing without a trace. Gradually, he was forgotten by people.
One day, in the Nine Heavens, at the Fate Temple—or rather, it was more fitting to call it the ruins of the Fate Temple, for it was now a barren wasteland, devoid of life, having been abandoned for many years—a figure stood atop the rubble. Gazing at this temple that had once stood tall in the Nine Heavens Celestial Court, he sighed inwardly, then quietly departed.
At the same time, in the lower realm, in the Holy City Central Continent, at the ruins of the Heavenly Terrace—once a thriving sect that had now also disappeared—a figure stood outside, lingering for a long time before turning and leaving.
Several hundred years ago, Lin Feng had already made the Heavenly Terrace vanish from the Holy City Central Continent. With the outbreak of the chaotic war in the Nine Heavens, Lin Feng had to take precautions. The temples had not hesitated to use his loved ones to coerce him before. So, before he truly returned, it was better for the Heavenly Terrace to temporarily disappear.
At the same moment, on Extinction Island, one of the Seven Forbidden Lands, the sky was dark and lusterless. Deep within Extinction Island, there was a massive vortex that devoured everything. At that moment, a figure stood at the edge of the vortex, watching as the endless destructive energy frantically flowed toward the chasm. He felt incredibly insignificant.
This figure's face would occasionally turn black, as if he were about to die. Yet, a faint light would always flicker on his body, preventing this death. He stood silently, enduring this power, until the figure completely turned into a black dot and was swallowed by the chasm vortex. Then, everything returned to its original state, with no trace of anyone left.
However, not long after, another identical figure arrived at this place, standing at the edge. He, too, could not endure for long before he was destroyed and swallowed. This cycle repeated endlessly, as if there were no end.
Over the long river of time, many similar figures appeared on Extinction Island. Moreover, the most common place they appeared was beside the source of power. And often, there were two of them, sitting facing each other. From these two identical figures, different auras would emanate—or rather, different source powers.
The world continued to turn; time continued to flow.
Five hundred years. For a mortal, it was several generations; for a weak martial cultivator, it was a lifetime. But for the entire Nine Heavens Celestial Court, it might be no more than a snap of the fingers.
In this special era, however, five hundred years were different, because during these five hundred years, many exceptionally talented individuals had emerged, and even a few terrifying Supreme Realm experts had been born.
Of course, in these five hundred years of chaos, too many had also fallen. The struggle between the temples continued, and during these five hundred years, one of the most earth-shattering events in tens of thousands of years occurred.
Three hundred and sixty years ago, the conflict between the Flame Temple's six-temple alliance and the Fate Temple alliance intensified, with assassinations happening everywhere. The six-temple alliance assassinated many Saint Realm experts, from Half-step Saints to Great Accomplishment Saint Kings. As long as they showed their faces, they risked being killed. Of course, the Fate Temple alliance also had many of their experts found and killed. It was brutal.
Until one day, a Supreme Realm expert from the Xuanjin Divine Temple and another from the Wind Divine Temple were ambushed and killed right at the temple gates. At the same time, the Xuanjin Divine Temple also killed a Supreme Realm expert from the Heavenly Sound Divine Temple. After this, the six-temple alliance could no longer sit still. They tried to pull the Soul Divine Temple into their alliance, but were refused.
The moment the Soul Divine Temple refused, the Heaven Sealing Chart enveloped the Soul Divine Temple. When the smoke cleared, there was no longer a Soul Divine Temple in the Nine Heavens Celestial Court.
The next day, the teleportation arrays in the Thunder Divine Temple all lit up simultaneously, and a message spread: the Thunder Divine Temple had joined the Flame Temple alliance.
One temple had been erased from existence.
And the events did not stop there; they continued to ferment.
After the destruction of the Soul Divine Temple and the Thunder Divine Temple's joining of the Flame Temple alliance, the temple landscape became: the Flame Temple, Ice and Snow Divine Temple, Void Divine Temple, Xuanjin Divine Temple, Thunder Divine Temple, Wind Divine Temple, and Demon Divine Temple—a seven-temple alliance, the strongest force.
Aside from them, the Fate Temple, Heavenly Sound Divine Temple, Earth Divine Temple, and Ancient Realm Clan formed the second-tier force.
The Buddha Divine Temple and Life Divine Temple still did not involve themselves in the temple struggle. The Nether Divine Temple did not enter the Nine Heavens. As for the Light Divine Temple, no one knew if it still existed.
At the same time, the Flame Temple alliance prepared to deal with the newly rising forces. Several Supreme Realm experts made a move, intending to forcefully suppress them. However, these forces formed a temporary alliance in response, joining hands to fight the temple alliance. The two sides then agreed to settle the matter with three battles. If the Flame Temple alliance won, the scattered forces would have to merge into the temple alliance. If the Flame Temple alliance lost, they would no longer interfere with their existence.
However, on the agreed-upon day, only two people appeared from the scattered cultivator alliance. What was even more shocking was that they won both battles decisively.
The temple alliance was unwilling to accept this and tried to detain the two, wanting them to join the temples. In the end, eight Supreme Realm experts made a move but failed to capture the two. Instead, one of their Supreme Realm experts was killed. From then on, the Flame Temple alliance no longer interfered with the scattered cultivator alliance.
This battle shook the Nine Heavens, and the names of those two men resounded throughout the Nine Heavens Celestial Court.
One of them was a completely unfamiliar figure, as if he had appeared out of nowhere. No one knew how long this old monster had been in hiding. He called himself Zi Zhu and was referred to by others as Zi Zhu the Supreme.
The other was a person who had been very famous many years ago. His name was Mo Sheng Di Xi.
Of course, this matter had passed long ago, but even to this day, it was still a topic of lively discussion, much like Lin Feng's battles in the past, occasionally brought up by people.
At this moment, in a tavern in the City of Fate, these two names were once again being mentioned.
Although the Fate Temple had disappeared, the City of Fate still remained. No matter how ruthless the Flame Temple alliance was, they would not go so far as to massacre an entire city. After all, the people of the City of Fate were at most outer disciples of the Fate Temple and their families, not core figures. If they were slaughtered, the Flame Temple alliance would truly incur public wrath. They would not do something unnecessary that would invite the hatred of others.
However, the City of Fate was now a mixed bag, with people from all sides. It was no longer as pure as before, when everyone was connected to the Fate Temple.
"This time, the Flame Temple's temple master has proposed another meeting. I wonder what he wants to do," someone in the tavern said.
"Do you even need to ask? Now that the scattered cultivator forces have gathered experts from all realms, many powerful beings from foreign worlds know that the temples in the Nine Heavens are supreme. Their cohesion has grown stronger and stronger. Over the years, their development has begun to threaten the existence of the temples. If it were back then, even one or two temples might not be as powerful as their forces."
"That's right. But with Zi Zhu the Supreme and Mo Sheng Di Xi around, I'm afraid this meeting won't yield any results either."
"That's not necessarily true. Last time, the temples didn't go all out. This time, the stakes are different. Zi Zhu the Supreme has already begun to gather all the scattered cultivator alliance members together. I'm afraid this is in response to the temple alliance."
These voices all fell into the ears of a young man sitting alone in the tavern, drinking. He raised his cup, took a light sip, and the corner of his mouth seemed to curl up slightly, revealing a sinister smile.