Chapter 3779: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada
The Evil Emperor's Underground Palace rose from the seabed, seemingly weightless, floating on the blood-red water's surface. Yet the aura it emitted was vast and mighty, alarming all cultivators in the Chia Realm. Everyone turned to gaze toward the direction of the Tassel Fire Sea.
All evil cultivators above the Great Saint realm immediately set out, rushing toward the Tassel Fire Sea.
After all, this was one of the top ten major worlds of the Heavenly Court Universe, with experts as numerous as clouds.
The evil Dao rules between heaven and earth became unusually active, evil qi surging, blood light enveloping the entire major world.
Standing in the cosmos, looking from afar, the Chia Realm seemed to have transformed into a giant blood cocoon beneath the starry sky.
On the boiling sea surface, dense talisman pattern imprints flew around the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace, producing piercing wind-breaking sounds.
These talisman pattern imprints were not real talismans but naturally condensed under the influence of the talisman Dao aura from within the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace.
Murong Tailai wore a wide-sleeved azure Daoist robe, stepped on blue auspicious cloud divine radiance, and held the divine artifact "Stainless Dust Whisk." His sideburns reached his waist, drifting ethereally like a banished immortal.
Behind him were two Infinite Realm powerhouses of the Murong Clan: Mountain River Divine King and Ice Talisman Divine Master.
The Evil Emperor's Underground Palace was ten thousand zhang tall, more majestic than mountains, its entire body crystalline like forged blood jade.
Ice Talisman Divine Master was extremely excited, flying over first, with nine divine talismans protecting his body.
"Bang! Bang!"
The talisman pattern imprints outside the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace, like arrows, continuously attacked Ice Talisman Divine Master, all shattered by the protective divine talismans.
After a moment, Ice Talisman Divine Master landed on the square outside the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace. Using his formidable spiritual power, he tore open the domain space left behind by Blood Talisman Evil Emperor during his lifetime, stepping heavily upward toward the palace gates.
With each step, spatial ripples rippled outward, breaking many prohibition measures.
Mountain River Divine King slightly frowned, saying, "Tai Lai Heavenly Lord, something's not right! Even if endless years have passed and the prohibitions of the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace have been corroded by time, it shouldn't be this easy to break through."
"Ice Talisman Divine Master's spiritual power has reached the eighty-seventh rank. Under Murong Huan, he is the strongest in spiritual power and talisman Dao attainment within the Murong Clan. We should have confidence in him."
Murong Tailai's eyes were deep like black abyssal pools, giving people a chilling sensation.
Mountain River Divine King thought for a moment and also felt he was being overly suspicious.
Walking to the gate of the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace, Ice Talisman Divine Master suddenly saw a blur, discovering a graceful and peerless figure walking past him, entering the door before him.
"Who is it?"
Between Ice Talisman Divine Master's index and middle fingers, a talisman appeared. Just as he was about to strike, all images vanished.
The palace gate remained tightly shut, with no other cultivator in sight.
Only on the blood jade-like ground was there a shallow footprint.
"A shadow left across time and space! Someone has entered the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace before us? That figure seems to be... Kong Yinxue."
Ice Talisman Divine Master had a bad premonition. It was known throughout the world that Kong Yinxue had excavated many strong individuals' tombs to refine the Snow Domain Star Sea Divine Army.
If she had already visited the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace, the Imperial Talisman and Blood Talisman Evil Emperor's original corpse would surely have been taken by her.
Just as Ice Talisman Divine Master was about to convey this news to Murong Tailai and Mountain River Divine King, suddenly, a Radiant Divine Arrow, exceeding the speed of light, flew out from the clouds above the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace, heading straight for him.
Too fast!
The moment Ice Talisman Divine Master sensed it, he struck out with the talisman in his hand...
Too late!
The Radiant Divine Arrow entered Ice Talisman Divine Master's spiritual power domain before the talisman, piercing through the protective divine talismans blocking its path.
"Pfft!"
The Radiant Divine Arrow struck Ice Talisman Divine Master's chest.
Radiant power and arrow Dao power spread like flames, causing Ice Talisman Divine Master's physical body to explode directly. The blood mist, like a blood-red smoke ring, heavily slammed against the palace gate, pushing the already unsealed door open.
"Whoosh!"
Dense talismans converged into a river of light, flying out from within the hall.
These talismans, as if possessing spiritual intelligence, immediately fled far from the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace, flying to various parts of the Chia Realm.
Murong Tailai raised his head, his gaze piercing through the thick blood-red evil clouds in the sky. He let out a fierce roar, striking out with the Stainless Dust Whisk in his hand like a sword.
"Whoosh!"
The silver whisk strands not only possessed Heavenly Venerable-level divine power but also released spiritual power attacks capable of shattering divine souls.
These whisk strands were refined from the hair of the Bu Huo Ancestor.
At the peak of Bu Huo Ancestor's power, a single strand of hair could kill a Divine King or Divine Venerable.
A Fuya held a zhang-long crystal bow, stepping on a vast white snowstorm continent as she descended from the blood-red evil clouds.
Three hundred and sixty formation flags were inserted at various positions on the continent, releasing formation inscriptions as brilliant as star rivers.
Qingcheng Yun stood with his hands behind his back beside A Fuya.
It was he who had just used the Way of Flowing Light to help A Fuya shoot that supremely powerful arrow.
The arrow had broken the light speed rule, carrying Light Esoterica, making it impossible for Ice Talisman Divine Master to evade. One arrow had severely wounded him.
If it had struck his divine heart, that one arrow would have made him fall.
"Boom!"
The silver light beam struck out by the Stainless Dust Whisk tore through the space of the Chia Realm, colliding with the snowstorm continent.
On the snowstorm continent, snow mountains collapsed one after another.
The power of the divine artifact, transmitted through the formation, reached within the formation.
"Impressive, worthy of being a Heavenly Venerable! Defeating him won't be easy."
Qingcheng Yun looked at A Fuya, saying, "Does the First Queen have confidence in defeating him?"
A Fuya gently shook her head, saying, "Murong Tailai has profound cultivation, only one step away from Indestructible Infinite. He also wields a divine artifact like the Stainless Dust Whisk. In a one-on-one duel, I would surely lose. To seize the Sundial and the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace from him, we three must join forces. If you and Krusa still intend to hide your strength, then let's not fight today. I am more interested in the Fire Dao Esoterica of the Netherworld Sect Leader."
Krusa appeared diagonally above the snowstorm continent, his black wings spread behind him, saying, "The First Queen is too modest! With your Ancestor divine soul and Ancestor-level methods, combined with the snowstorm continent divine formation, you can definitely contend with Murong Tailai."
"Shua!"
Krusa transformed into a black streak of light, ignoring Murong Tailai and Mountain River Divine King, flying toward the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace.
"First seize the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace and the Sundial. Then Xi Tian and I will help you suppress the Netherworld Sect Leader. Rest assured, I possess a wisp of the Netherworld Sect Leader's divine soul. He cannot escape!"
Leaving these words behind, Qingcheng Yun vanished from the snowstorm continent, his speed surpassing light, surpassing visual discernment.
The next moment, he appeared to Murong Tailai's upper right, striking out with the "Desolate Flowing Light Finger" from the Eight Desolate Techniques.
Qingcheng Yun's speed was undeniably fast. Among those below the Infinite Realm, even if not first, he could rank in the top three.
Combining his movement technique with the Desolate Flowing Light Finger naturally made it even more formidable, piercing through Murong Tailai's layers of protective rules, heading straight for his brow.
Just as this finger was about to pierce through Murong Tailai's head.
"Bang!"
Qingcheng Yun was sent flying by a palm strike from Murong Tailai, his body horizontally crashing heavily onto the square of the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace. His right arm and right shoulder collapsed, flesh and blood mangled.
The gap was too great!
"Boom!"
Murong Tailai stomped down on the spot where Qingcheng Yun had fallen, crushing his afterimage to pieces.
Qingcheng Yun, relying on his Flowing Light movement technique, barely managed to escape to the edge of the square, finally able to catch his breath, because Murong Tailai had turned his attack toward Krusa, who was trying to break into the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace.
"Apocalypse Heavenly Wheel!"
Krusa seemed to transform into a black hole, devouring all light, rules, and heat. The entire Tassel Fire Sea, including the territory of the Netherworld Evil Sect, instantly turned from day to night.
The Stainless Dust Whisk transformed into a silver crescent moon, striking out, tearing through the darkness, shattering the heavenly wheel.
After one exchange, Krusa flew backward, landing dozens of zhang away from Qingcheng Yun. A bloody wound appeared on his chest, piercing through to his back.
Qingcheng Yun's injuries had already healed. He stared at Krusa, shocked in his heart.
To withstand a blow from Murong Tailai and remain standing, Krusa's strength was above his.
So strong, this Xi Tian from three hundred thousand years ago—just how many residual souls had he left behind?
Murong Tailai stood outside the gate of the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace, his right hand lightly pressing on his left wrist, the whisk naturally drooping. He looked down at the two on the square below the steps, saying, "With just you two, you think you can contend with me for the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace?"
Krusa laughed, saying, "It's not just the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace, but also the Sundial. If you hand them over and leave, you can live today."
Murong Tailai's eyes became extremely ferocious. Thunder roared above his head, countless lightning bolts shuttling between him and the cosmos, with tails of electric light flickering even in the starry sky.
Qingcheng Yun shouted out a divine sound, saying, "Netherworld Sect Leader, why haven't you activated the Chia Realm's Zhou Tian Divine Formation yet? Help us suppress and kill Murong Tailai. He and Murong Huan are both members of the Quantity Organization, traitors to the Heavenly Court."
"Fine!"
From millions of li away, the Netherworld Sect Leader stood with his hands behind his back, proud as a green pine, on the Red Tide Cliff, a mocking smile on his face.
Within the Treasure Canopy Divine Mountain, millions of cultivators of the Netherworld Evil Sect, led by the gods, simultaneously released evil qi, activating the formation, connecting with the earth veins, merging with the celestial momentum.
Round formations appeared one after another, beams of light shooting into the sky, spreading from the Treasure Canopy Divine Mountain as the center throughout the entire Chia Realm.
But they did not immediately attack the Evil Emperor's Underground Palace, instead continuously gathering power.
Murong Tailai naturally would not sit idly by. He took the initiative to attack Qingcheng Yun and Krusa. In just a few exchanges, he wounded them again, sending them crashing into the Tassel Fire Sea.
Then, he smashed through space again, falling into the Void World.
"Boom!"
A Fuya controlled the snowstorm continent divine formation, colliding with Murong Tailai, forcing him back into the Real World.
Qingcheng Yun and Krusa attacked from left and right behind A Fuya, simultaneously unleashing divine abilities.
Finally, Murong Tailai fell into a disadvantage.
Under the combined attack of the three, he could only defend passively.
During the battle, Qingcheng Yun released his Divine Realm World.
Standing within the Divine Realm World, Zhang Ruochen was extremely puzzled, thinking to himself, "How strange. Why has Murong Tailai's strength declined so much?"
Zhang Ruochen had fought Murong Tailai before.
Although that battle had been interrupted by the Five Elements Temple Master and was extremely brief, Zhang Ruochen had very genuinely felt that Murong Tailai's cultivation was unfathomable.
However, holding himself as a Heavenly Venerable and an elder sage, he had fought with restraint. On the surface, it seemed as if Zhang Ruochen could exchange blows with him evenly.
But Zhang Ruochen knew his own situation. At that time, he had just broken through in realm. Even using two cauldrons, he likely would not have been his opponent.
Now, Murong Tailai's combat power had severely declined, even less than when he had fought Zhang Ruochen.
Moreover, his state and eyes were very abnormal, lacking that immortal-like bearing, with a heavy malevolent qi.
He had mere cultivation, but his demeanor was lost, his charm absent.
How was this like the Heavenly Venerable who had once made Zhang Ruochen regard him as a great enemy and whom the Dragon Lord had deeply respected?