Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 711 - 695: Celestial Corpse Ascendant and [Profound Armored Celestial Corpse]

According to the intelligence obtained from Murong Qing, the information could not satisfy Xu Tianlin, Zhouyang, and the others who came to support.

They were not suspecting Murong Qing of any concealment.

As long as Murong Qing had not lost his mind, it was impossible for him to hide anything from them.

Since Murong Qing had not concealed anything, it could only mean that the situation in the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm was far more severe than they had initially expected.

Thus, opinions within the team became divided.

Led by Xu Tianlin, including Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang, one group decided to first rush to the frontline battlefield to assist in stabilizing the defense line and then find their own ways to investigate and obtain more intelligence.

The other group believed that since the situation was unclear, they should stay put and wait for the cultivators from other cultivation realms like the Donghua Continent Cultivation Realm to arrive before setting out together.

These two opinions had no right or wrong, but were simply different choices.

Although Xu Tianlin was nominally the leader of this support team, he could not truly force those with differing opinions to act according to his own ideas.

Therefore, after trying to persuade others unsuccessfully, he took the cultivators who agreed with him and left Snow Peak, heading to the battlefield frontline.

Among those who left, there were ten Nascent Soul Stage cultivators and thirty-seven Golden Core Stage cultivators.

Speed was crucial, so to quickly reach the frontline, everyone boarded a Tier Six Flying Ship Spiritual Artifact mastered by Xu Tianlin. Guided by a cultivator arranged by Murong Qing, they reached the battlefield frontline in just twenty days.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, and all other Fellow Daoists, on behalf of countless cultivators and mortals of the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm, I thank you for coming a long way to aid us without regard for personal life and honor. The grace of all Fellow Daoists, we, the cultivators of the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm, shall never forget in eternity!"

Outside an ice city formed by frozen ice, to welcome the recently arrived group of Xu Tianlin, the Grand Elder of the Profound Nether Immortal Sect, Nie Yushuang, personally led the seven Nascent Soul Stage cultivators stationed within the ice city to welcome them hundreds of miles away.

The Profound Nether Immortal Sect became the largest force in the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm because of Nie Yushuang, the only Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul "Half-Step True Immortal" realm cultivator there.

Facing such a presence, even Xu Tianlin among the Eighth-Layer Nascent Soul cultivators dared not show any disrespect.

With a serious expression, Xu Tianlin righteously responded, "Fellow Daoist Nie, you are too polite. As fellow cultivators, it is our inherent duty to exterminate demons and protect the Dao. Now that the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm faces a demonic calamity, since we know, there is absolutely no reason to sit idly by!"

"Fellow Daoist Xu is magnanimous and righteous, I admire him." Nie Yushuang, with a slim face, blue glowing eyes, and two long eyebrows, glancing past Xu Tianlin and the cultivators behind him, deeply bowed to express gratitude for their assistance.

Afterward, they entered the ice city together, meeting and introducing the cultivators from both sides, discussing the matters of demon extermination.

Five days later, Nie Yushuang personally led the team, taking ten Liuyun Continent Nascent Soul Stage cultivators and three Beiting Continent Nascent Soul Stage cultivators straight into a Demon Cultivator base.

This surprise attack plan was jointly formulated, aiming to strike the demon cultivators hard before they could discern the actual number of reinforcements.

The chosen Demon Cultivator base was once a large Immortal City of the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm, [Ice Wave Immortal City], where forty to fifty thousand cultivators and two to three million mortals lived.

After the demon chaos occurred, this large Immortal City was forcibly breached by demon cultivators with superior forces, resulting in the near total demise of cultivators and mortals under the hands of the demon cultivators.

Even though it had been over two years since the city was massacred, Zhouyang and his group, upon arriving near the city, could feel the lingering resentful qi even from a thousand miles away.

The demon cultivators used the method of blood sacrifice slaughter to transform the originally blessed lands into the Land of Resentful Spirits suitable for demonic cultivators to practice.

"The demon array guarding Ice Wave City comprises two types. One is the [Nine Nether White Bone Array] set by a White Bone Demon Dao demon using the fallen cultivators' and mortals' skeletons. The other is the [Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul-Devouring Array] by a Ghost Demon Dao demon using the fallen cultivators' divine souls and the million mortal souls."

"We've tested various methods and determined that under the controller's direction, the [Nine Nether White Bone Array] can at most simultaneously manifest nine Tier Six combat power White Bone Demon Kings. However, once propelled to such extent, all other effects of the array vanish, and the nine White Bone Demon Kings can last only half a day."

"Also, the [Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul-Devouring Array] can similarly create a Tier Six Ghost King with Tier Six combat power, but its true killing move is sacrificing one million ghosts within the array to trigger [Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul Devouring] Divine Technique. This technique is exceedingly evil and can potentially kill even Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivators once activated."

"It's important to note that these two arrays are not the entirety of the defensive forces we probed. We are also unaware of other hidden array killing moves within Ice Wave City."

Outside Ice Wave City, the cultivators halted in mid-air, gazing at the demon city masked by gray-black resentful qi, with Nie Yushuang introducing the situation of the demon city to Xu Tianlin and the others.

After his words were finished, before the others could speak, Master Cyan Yang raised his eyebrows and was the first to speak: "Based on my Profound Sun Immortal Sect's experience of battling with these demon cultivators over the past ten thousand years, once the sects of the Demon Dao unite in action, it won't be limited to the two methods Fellow Daoist Nie mentioned."

As he said this, a trace of ridicule flashed across his face, and he sneered: "Demonic cultivators are all selfish and insidious; they can't possibly entrust their own safety to arrays arranged by others, so I dare say, within that Demon City, there must be setups arranged by Blood Demon Dao cultivators. Likewise, Corpse Demon Dao's demon heads couldn't possibly have no arrangements at all."

Xu Tianlin, upon hearing this, also nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Fellow Daoist Cyan Yang has made a point. Back when your sect destroyed the Blood Slaughter Demon Sect, I heard that Blood Demon Dao had a Forbidden Array, the All Heaven Blood Killing Array, which was tremendously powerful, capable of killing even Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivators. If such an array was secretly set up in the Demon City, we indeed need to be extremely cautious!"

"This worry from Fellow Daoist Xu is unnecessary; that All Heaven Blood Killing Array is exceedingly difficult to set up. The Blood Slaughter Demon Sect could lay down this array because they spent thousands of years refining twelve array banners comparable to Tier Six spiritual artifacts. However, those demon artifacts were mostly shattered in that battle by Senior Brother Lu with the Tier Seven Immortal Artifact, Red Sky Divine Spear. It cannot be refined again in just a few hundred years!"

Master Cyan Yang slightly shook his head, denying Xu Tianlin's assumption, revealing a secret unknown to outsiders.

Zhouyang's eyes flickered slightly upon hearing the words Blood Slaughter Demon Sect, as he had some past grievances with this already destroyed Demonic Sect.

To speak the truth, the last inheritor of this Demonic Sect died because of him.

However, those were events from hundreds of years ago; he did not intend to interrupt with this matter at this time.

Despite having his assumption refuted by Master Cyan Yang, Xu Tianlin showed no anger at all, instead asked Master Cyan Yang pleasantly: "Then, what does Fellow Daoist Cyan Yang think might be hidden within the Demon City?"

Master Cyan Yang responded cautiously to these words: "I dare not speak recklessly about which specific means, but the Demon Dao techniques that can pose a threat to us are actually not many. I'll share with you all the Demon Dao techniques my Profound Sun Immortal Sect has verified over ten thousand years, hoping that you all will have some preparation if encountering them."

"If so, we shall thank Fellow Daoist Cyan Yang first."

This time, Nie Yushuang chimed in.

Thus, Master Cyan Yang began to give a lesson to the Nascent Soul cultivators present.

Meanwhile, the demon cultivators within the Demon City had already noticed Nie Yushuang and her group arriving.

"I recognize that cultivator in the silver feather cloak. He's the second leading figure of the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm's Liuyun Commerce Alliance, Xu Tianlin, skilled in the Great Divine Technique, Purifying Spirit Profound Light, extremely restraining to our demon techniques."

A pale-eyed, thin elder demon wearing a gray cloth robe with a white skull pattern surveyed the crowd outside the city, his gaze resting on Xu Tianlin, revealing his background in a single breath.

Hardly had his words fallen when a chilling woman's voice echoed from behind him.

"Compared to your mention of Xu Tianlin, Old Venerable Nether Bone, this one believes we should be more wary of that handsome young fellow. If this one isn't mistaken, that person should be the recently renowned figure in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, Master Qianyang, Zhouyang. His mastery of Qianyang True Flame is truly a natural bane to us demon cultivators!"

The thin elder's expression changed upon hearing this, slightly turning his gaze, discovering an ugly old woman with green and black spots on her face had unknowingly appeared behind him at a distance of a dozen yards.

He styled himself as "Venerable Nether Bone," the highest cultivated individual of the White Bone Demon Dao, possessing Fifth-Layer Nascent Soul cultivation.

Yet, the ugly old woman behind him had even higher cultivation; she was an elder of the major sect Ghost Demon Dao's Ten Thousand Ghost Cave, her prowess surpassing his by a margin.

With cautious eye contact with the old woman, he asked quietly, testing: "Granny Ma, is what you said true? If so, when that kid attacks, who should handle him?"

Unexpectedly, the old woman laughed strangely: "Hehe, it's none of my business. Anyway, I'm stationed at the Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul-Devouring Array, I can't move lightly."

Venerable Nether Bone's face stiffened immediately, remaining silent.

After a while, an icy voice interrupted the quietness.

"Let my two Ice Corpses deal with that kid possessing the Qianyang Treasure Body. Let's see if his Qianyang True Flame is formidable or if my Qianlan Corpse Flame surpasses it!"

Upon hearing this sentence, both Venerable Nether Bone and Granny Ma's expressions changed with respect, promptly bowing towards the source of the voice: "Nether Bone (Ma Rong) pays respect to Ascendant."

"No need for courtesy, Fellow Daoists."

A calm voice sounded, as a figure completely hidden within a magic robe drifted out silently from the darkness.

This person wore a black cloak, wrapped further by a black magic robe, with only two grey-white eyes exposed, even hands wrapped in black cloth, resembling a corpse tightly wrapped in a shroud.

Yet anyone knowing this person's origin wouldn't dare to underestimate him at all.

Because this one is a rare Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul "Half-Step True Demon" realm demon cultivator in this realm, the supreme demon head ruling the entire Corpse Demon Dao, "Celestial Corpse Ascendant."

In several previous encounters, this demon had consecutively defeated Nie Yushuang, a "half-step True Immortal" cultivator at the Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul. Of the eight Nascent Soul cultivators who fell in the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm, three were killed by him personally.

Even the millennium-old demons like the Nether Bone Old Demon and Granny Ma dared not show the slightest disrespect in front of this supreme demon.

At this moment, the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant," after observing the cultivators outside the city for a while, coldly said, "Cultivators from the Liuyun Continent have come to aid. Nie Yushuang must be aiming to eradicate this stronghold in one fell swoop; since that's the case, let's fulfill his wish!"

After speaking, he glanced back at the two demons and instructed solemnly, "Nether Bone, Ma Rong, you can now use everything you've prepared!"

The Nether Bone Old Demon and Granny Ma exchanged a brief glance and then each looked away, responding in unison, "Yes, we obey the Ascendant's orders."

While the demons in Demon City were actively preparing for battle, outside the city, Master Cyan Yang explained the various methods of the demon cultivators. The many cultivators processed the knowledge gained and continued moving towards Demon City.

Soon, the cultivators stopped again outside the influence range of the Demon City's grand array.

"Fellow Daoists, you can start now."

Nie Yushuang coldly looked at the Demon City engulfed in dense ghost fog ahead, waved his hand, and first unleashed a bluish-white ice light that shot into it.

Instantly, wherever the bluish-white ice light passed, the ghost fog was completely frozen into solid blocks of ice that fell to the ground, creating a narrow gap in the sky above the Demon City.

Zhouyang peered through the gap and first saw dozens of towering white bone corpse mountains, formed from the bones of tens of thousands of cultivators and mortals in the city, and these were the node bases of the Nine Nether White Bone Array.

However, due to the presence of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul-Devouring Array, the gap created by Nie Yushuang's divine technique was quickly filled by ghost fog regenerated by the array, preventing them from fully seeing the mysteries inside the city.

But Nie Yushuang merely initiated the attack; the real assault was launched by Zhouyang and the reinforcements.

Zhouyang did not shy away from showing his mastery of the Qianyang True Flame, directly condensing a golden fire dragon to hurl at the grand array.

As the golden fire dragon landed amidst the ghost fog, it was as if boiling oil had been poured into cold water, causing an explosion.

Massive sheets of ghost fog were completely incinerated by the golden true flame, and even Nie Yushuang's previous attack paled in comparison to Zhouyang's result, let alone the others.

And Zhouyang's techniques did not stop there.

With a wave of his sleeve, a purple-red copper mirror flew into the air, and after forming a spell with his hands, a purple pillar of flame shot out from the mirror, directly hitting the grand array of the Demon City, similarly incinerating large amounts of ghost fog.

Not only him, but people like Xu Tianlin and Master Cyan Yang also displayed their techniques, successively attacking to weaken the power of the Demon City's grand array.

Inside the city, Nether Bone Old Demon and others naturally would not stand idly by, immediately either activating the grand array to resist the external attacks or deploying magic artifact divine techniques to intercept the attacks from the cultivators outside.

However, their numbers were ultimately not as great as those of the cultivators outside the city, and many of their techniques were restrained, resulting in their inability to intercept many attacks.

But their advantage lay in holding the terrain; as long as the grand array remained unbroken, they did not have to fear being injured by the enemy, and they could attack the cultivators outside with full force.

Therefore, once the actual combat began, the demon cultivator side was only slightly at a disadvantage.

Nevertheless, even Nascent Soul cultivators do not have endless magical power. After maintaining a high-intensity assault for a while, Zhouyang and others took out Spirit Marrow Stones to replenish their magical power.

The Spirit Marrow Stones used by the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm reinforcements this time were all provided by Nie Yushuang on behalf of the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm, with each person receiving five pieces before the battle.

If they were not exhausted in this battle, the remaining Spirit Marrow Stones would be considered a kind of benefit.

Once the cultivators' magical power was restored to over eighty percent, Nie Yushuang took the lead and shouted, "Fellow Daoists, follow me into the array to exterminate the demons!"

Before the words were finished, he charged into the Demon City still shrouded in thin ghost fog, protected by a bluish-white circular magic artifact.

The accompanying Nascent Soul cultivators from Beiting Continent saw this and, without hesitation, followed suit, wielding magical artifacts to enter the city from various points.

"Let's go, we also head into the array!"

Surrounded by silvery-white light, Xu Tianlin looked like a deity descending upon the world. With a low shout, he too rushed into the Demon City.

It was clearly visible that where Xu Tianlin passed, the thin ghostly mist was purified by the silver-white pure light surrounding his body, almost like early snow encountering a scorching sun.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, let us enter the array together, so that we can look out for each other."

Master Cyan Yang glanced at Zhouyang and spoke with meaningful undertones.

Zhouyang understood the implication behind his words.

Earlier, while attacking the grand array, he sensed that he was being watched by a formidable presence within the Demon City. Through the intelligence shared by Nie Yushuang, he understood exactly who had their eyes on him.

Master Cyan Yang's offer was a gesture of pure goodwill.

Thus, Zhouyang did not reject it and promptly nodded in agreement: "Thank you for your kindness, Elder. Please be careful yourself as well."

Then, both of them summoned their magical artifacts to protect themselves and charged into the city from the same location.

As they entered the city, a powerful force attempted to separate Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang, but Master Cyan Yang deployed an unknown spirit talisman that immediately dispelled the force, allowing both to land together near a bone mountain inside the city.

"What a great opportunity! If this bone mountain can be destroyed, it will substantially weaken the power of the 'Nine Nether White Bone Array'!"

Zhouyang's eyes brightened as he looked at the towering bone mountain just a thousand feet away, ready to summon his magical artifact to crush the mountain.

But at that moment, his divine sense suddenly sensed two formidable auras swiftly approaching from afar.

Soon, he recognized the identities of those two auras.

To his surprise, they were two demonic corpses clad in dark blue battle armor!

Each of these demonic corpses exuded an aura comparable to a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Zhouyang was encountering such high-level demonic corpses for the first time.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, be careful! These are 'Profound Armored Celestial Corpses' refined by the 'Celestial Corpse Ascendant' using the secret techniques of the Celestial Corpse Sect. They are crafted from the flesh of Nascent Soul cultivators, fused with numerous spiritual objects. Not only do they possess several formidable demonic divine techniques, but they also know how to master magical artifacts, and their spiritual wisdom is incredibly high, almost akin to the external incarnation of a cultivator! Far superior to ordinary demonic corpses!"

Fearing Zhouyang might underestimate the two demonic corpses due to his mastery over the 'Qianyang True Flame,' Elder Cyan Yang anxiously warned and explained to him.

Zhouyang was touched, yet replied with confident assurance: "Elder need not worry for me. I shall take care of these two corpses, while Elder focuses on destroying the bone mountain!"

Elder Cyan Yang merely intended to remind Zhouyang not to underestimate his adversaries, knowing full well Zhouyang's strength.

Thus, upon hearing his response, Elder Cyan Yang said only a word of caution, "Be careful," and then concentrated on attacking the bone mountain as Zhouyang had suggested.

"Comparable to an external incarnation? Let Zhou try and see if these mere demonic corpses are truly as useful as an external incarnation!"

Zhouyang's gaze fixed on the approaching demonic corpses, his eyes flashed sharply. With a wave of his hand, he summoned his external incarnation.

The incarnation emerged, naturally attuned to Zhouyang's intent, and immediately summoned the 'Wood Thunder Element Token,' unleashing two thick cyan-red lightning bolts toward the demonic corpses.

The wood attribute belongs to Yang, and the divine thunder formed by wood energy has a strong counteracting effect on demonic entities like corpses, more so when powered by a mid-grade tier-six spiritual artifact.

When the cyan-red lightning struck, although the demonic corpses roared furiously and activated their dark blue battle armor to generate intense demon light for protection, they were still directly knocked to the ground with their auras scattered in disarray.

In reality, they were merely stripped of their magical power and demonic qi on their bodies, while the Corpse Kings' bodies, tempered for a thousand years in the extreme cold qi of the Ice Sea Demon Abyss, remained unscathed. It was clear that the power of the two 'Wood God Thunders' alone was insufficient to truly harm them.

"Such formidable demon bodies! Little wonder they dared send these demonic corpses, knowing full well I possess the 'Qianyang True Flame'!"

With a serious gaze, Zhouyang watched as the demonic corpses soared again, and directly pointed to the 'Haoyang Treasure Mirror' flying around him, releasing a purple-red flame column towards one of the demonic corpses.

Meanwhile, his external incarnation again cast a spell, wielding the 'Wood Thunder Element Token' to condense a massive cyan-red electrical orb, akin to a millstone, toward the other demonic corpse.

Roar!

This time, however, the two demonic corpses did not rely merely on their physical bodies to withstand the attack. With a howl, they each conjured a intensely cold blue flame on their bodies, melding it with the demon light from the dark blue battle armor, transforming into a protective blue flame barrier.