Chapter 288: Catastrophe

The entire ancient Xixia country had been experiencing an unprecedented and massive catastrophe when the second round of competition for the sea-trip had been in full swing like a raging fire....

The two biggest forces of the Eastern continent had been sweeping away many strongholds and sub-altars of the Dark Moon Cult with overwhelming strength... as if a whirlwind had been trying to sweep away the clouds.

The Dark Moon Cult was revered as the national cult of the ancient Xixia country. And, it had strived hard for thousands of years. Therefore, the domestic believers of this Cult had naturally reached an unprecedented number.

These believers didn't possess much rebellious power. Still, they had been obliterated in this catastrophe along with the disciples of the Dark Moon Cult.

After all, eradication of heresies alone was a sufficient reason to kill people for the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Immortal Cult. In fact, it didn't even matter to the attackers whether the target possessed martial strength or not...

However, this kind of behavior seemed just and plausible to the attackers... especially after that incident at the Heavenly Yu City's Immortal auction. In fact, this incident had wiped out even the last bits of scruples that resided in their hearts.

The entire ancient Xixia country had been flooded with the blood of the victims.

These two mighty forces had finally arrived at their destination today... the Gloomy Corpse Mountains. The Main altar of the Dark Moon Cult was located under the Pangu Peak.

The tall and erect Pangu Peak seemed to be touching the sky. It was shrouded by a layer of enormous grey light-screen at the moment. This light-screen seemed to be made of a real substance. Numerous magic characters were flowing on its surface. Moreover, a grey mist had thoroughly pervaded the air around the peak.

A large number of disciples of the Dark Moon Cult could be vaguely seen through the translucent grey light-screen. They stood on the mountain peak. Every single one of them was dressed in a grey robe. There were approximately ten-thousand people on the peak. And, they were arranged in a strict battle array to meet the imminent challenge.

These people included the disciples who had withdrawn from the arena after they had been eliminated in the second round of competition. Those disciples had been sent to the Main altar through the Teleportation spell. They looked toward the numerous dense shadows of the people that had occupied the surrounding mountainous regions of the Pangu Peak with a flabbergasted and horrified look in their eyes.

The majority of people on the northern side of the Pangu Peak were dressed in black robes, while the southern region was crowded with blue-robed people. However, the number of people on either side was almost the same. There were around five or six thousand people on either side.

The disciples of the Dark Moon Cult noticed that the black-robed and the blue-robed silhouettes were still converging respectively from the north and the south like two unending streams.

This process continued for a while.

The number of people on either side had reached above ten-thousand after all the black-robed and blue-robed people had arrived below the peak.

Two huge semi-circles — one black and one blue — could be seen below from the peak. They had encircled the Pangu Peak in such a manner that it seemed that not even a drop could trickle through.

On the southern side of Pangu Peak... the transcending Heaven Immortal Cult's disciples could be seen in the air as far as the eye could see. They were floating on a massive blue bottle gourd. A white-haired elderly man was also seated on top of it. He was clad in a trigram Taoist-robe. He had a child-like face and crane-like white hair. His eyes were closed, and there was a horsetail whisk in his hand that leant on his shoulder in a casual manner.

This person was Old Man Wu Chen — the Head of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult.

Six Taoist people were seated behind him.

Old Man Wu Chen's lips slightly moved... as if he had transmitted something.

After that, three Taoist escorts sprang up from a crowd of a dozen or more people. They cupped their hands toward Old Man Wu in a submissive manner, and jumped down the bottle gourd.

This scene soon sparked off a tumultuous reaction in the disciples underneath. Then, a troop of over a thousand people of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult branched out of the crowd, and advanced toward Qu Yang City that was located not far toward the south.

On the northern side of Pangu Peak... over ten-thousand black-robed disciples were floating high up in the air. They were floating on a massive palm-leaf-fan that was more than two-hundred feet in size. A mass of black mist was curling around the surface of the palm-leaf-fan. A man and a woman stood side by side in the front.

The man was seemingly thirty-or-forty years old. He was dressed in a scholarly robe, and had simple and elegant facial features. There was a calm and contented look on his face at the moment. He was gazing toward the gigantic grey mountain peak in front of him.

The woman was clad in a black cloak. However, golden apparel could be faintly seen inside the cape. A hint of mesmerizing charm added a graceful aura to her exquisite appearance.

These two people were Prior Hao — the Head of the Heavenly Demon Sect, and Jin Xiao Chai.

A dozen or more tall figures also stood behind the two people. Their whole bodies seemed to be covered by a layer of black fog. A cold and indifferent look could be seen in their eyes, while their faces were smeared with a kind of stern yet dull expression.

"Prior, is this the Dark Moon Cult's Main Altar?" Jin Xiao Chai asked.

"To be more accurate... this is the Main altar of the Dark Moon Cult in the Eastern continent," Prior Hao replied.

"Is it possible that they have power in the Western Continent as well?" Jin Xiao Chai was startled.

"Yes. This is only a glimpse of the Dark Moon Cult's power! ... Xiao Chai, aren't you looking for someone? The boy should be in the Qu Yang City as far as I know," Prior Hao nodded and changed the thread of conversation before she could ask another question.

"Prior, you had promised me something before. Please let him go in case you bump into him by chance," Jin Xiao Chai said.

"That boy is a disciple of my Heavenly Demon Sect. So, I won't make things difficult for him if he hasn't overstepped the bounds of righteousness. You have the strength of a Xian Tian advanced stage warrior now. However, Wu Chen has already dispatched a group of people to encircle and suppress the Qu Yang City. So, I think it would be better to send two Heavenly Demon guards along with you there in order to guard against any contingencies," Prior Hao waved his hand while talking to her. The next moment, two lofty silhouettes walked out from behind, and stood behind Jin Xiao Chai.

"Thank you so much, Prior. Xiao Chai takes her leave now." Jin Xiao Chai turned her head and glanced at the two silhouettes behind. Then, she said.

After that, Jin Xiao Chai jumped down the gigantic palm-leaf-fan. The two Heavenly Demon Guards didn't speak anything, and followed her closely.

Suddenly, a burst of loud and sonorous bugle horns rang out from below.

After that, more than twenty puppets of the ferocious beasts appeared in the midst of the disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect that stood at the foot of the mountain. These puppets were hundreds of feet in size, and they bore a great resemblance to all kinds of ominous beats in terms of shape and appearance. Moreover, their whole bodies were covered with a layer of either black or gray scales. And, those scales were emanating waves of strong spiritual pressure.

These beast-shaped puppets were the eminent spirit-tool-ranked fighter-puppets of the Black Demon Sect. They were very famous in the entire Eastern continent. Each one of them required a group of ten Star-ranked magicians to control them. In addition, a plentiful amount of spirit stones had to be fed to them just to activate them. Their movement was fairly slow. However, they were capable of destroying the fiercest of defenses. In fact, their strength couldn't be considered inferior to an ordinary Earth-ranked powerhouse.

"Attack!" Prior Hao's voice spread from above. His voice wasn't very loud, but it still reached everyone's ears in a crisp and clear manner.

The facial expression of these people brightened up with enthusiasm as they heard these words. The magic tools and sharp weapons in these people's hands appeared as if they were dancing. Then, they crowded around the cluster of beasts-shaped puppets, and slowly advanced towards the hilltop. Looking from afar, it seemed as if a black ocean was spreading towards the top of the mountain.

These people were still some distance away from the summit of the hill which was shrouded by a Great Protection Formula when they started to launch their attacks. The beast-shaped puppets started to spout light beams of assorted colors from their mouths. These light beams were as thick as a water jar. In addition, a few magicians and some Xian Tian warriors also moved into action. The grey light screen started to exude bursts of deafening rumbling sounds as these attacks started to fall on it one after another.

The surface of the grey light-screen gleamed whenever the light beams touched it. The light beams then turned into tiny crystal lights, and subsequently dispersed in the air.

Simultaneously, numerous and densely packed miraculous lights and magic spells gushed out of the massive light-curtain in response. These lights and spells poured down like a torrential rain... as if they wanted to deliver a frontal attack on the approaching disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

However, the Heavenly Demon Sect's disciples were also well-prepared. They immediately cast a magic spell, and a large-scale protective shield emerged in front of them. Simultaneously, some Earth-ranked martial warriors flew out, and displayed various kinds of incredible techniques to provide extra protection to their fellow disciples.

Most of the counter-attacks were blocked by these disciples. However, there were a lot of flaws in their plan. And so, many disciples collapsed and toppled.

Almost at the same time, a loud rumbling sound burst out on the other side of the peak. After that, numerous magic power waves proliferated in all directions. Apparently, the people of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult had also started to mount their attack.

The war was now on the brink of eruption!

The massive grey light-curtain of the Great Protection Formula eventually started to tremble under the intense attack. In fact, the entire Pangu peak started to sway as if an earthquake was occurring. The peak seemed to be issuing a wailing sound at this moment.

A large number of middle and low-ranked disciples of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult and the Heavenly Demon Sect had arrived in front of the grey light-curtain by this time. They were all set to launch a wave of intense attacks on the Dark Moon Cult's Great Protection Formula. However, a puff of black smoke suddenly emerged in front of the grey light curtain.

Then, the Dead Spirit World's aura permeated the air as numerous grotesquely shaped zombies and human skeletons started to emerge out of thin air. A large number of human skeletons and black-furred zombies among these creatures were considerably powerful... so much so that they had even attained the Xian Tian-rank. In fact, the skeleton king and the zombie king among them even possessed a little strength of an Earth-ranked powerhouse.

These Dead Spirit creatures immediately rushed forth, and started to fight the middle and low-ranked disciples of both Sects.

A vicious and crazy look emerged on the faces of the Dark Moon Cult's disciples as they saw this scene. And, they started to issue attacks in an aggressive manner. They used their Real Qi and magic power without restraint, and slaughtered many disciples of the opposite party by working in coordination with these Dead Spirit creatures.

After all, it would be a dead end situation for them once their light shield had been broken by the opposite party.

However, the disparity between the two sides in terms of the number of people was too large. Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult and Heavenly Demon Sect paid a heavy price of thousands of disciples before they were gradually able to take the authority in this battle...

The gigantic grey light-curtain had also begun to fade since an increasing number of attacks had begun to get aimed at it.

...

In a certain large private room... in the main altar of the Dark Moon Cult.

A massive hexagonal magic array could be seen on the ground of this room. It was a thousand feet in size. Brilliant rays of light were flowing on the surface of this magic array, and the array-itself was emitting a faint blood-red radiance. In addition, numerous spirit stones were embedded all over the circle.

Furthermore, sixty-four disciples of the Dark Moon Cult were dispersed throughout the magic array. They were seated at each key node of the magic array with their legs crossed. Each of them held a blood-red skeleton's head in their hands. Numerous blood-red light beams were being shot from the skeleton heads from time to time. And, those light beams were submerging into the magic array at various places. But, the complexion of these people had started to fade out of exhaustion at such a speed that it was visible to the naked eye.

A white-haired old man sat cross-legged at the center of this large array. A deep-red round bead was floating in front of him. The surface of this bead was covered with numerous magic patterns.

This white-haired old man was the Right Wing Minister of the Dark Moon Cult.

He was making gestures with his hands and projecting magic arts in a constant manner. And, those magic arts were constantly hitting the dark-red bead in front of him.

Gradually, the magic pattern that was drawn on the surface of the bead brightened, and the bead started to spin. Its spinning speed grew faster with each passing second.

The white-haired old man then read a few lines of incantation. After that, he opened his mouth and puffed out a mouthful of refined blood on the red bead.

A red bead flashed magnificently, and a thick beam of blood-light darted out from within it. It went straight toward the void above the secret room, and disappeared after a moment.

"Liu An, I can only help you in coming here..."

The white-haired old man's complexion had paled after he had spouted a mouthful of blood. His life force had also started to deplete at a fast pace.

... ...

The battle on the Pangu mountain peak was still in full swing.

A thick layer of human corpses was spread outside the enormous grey light-screen around the entire Pangu Peak. Many disciples were also among them along with the Dead Spirit creatures.

However, neither Old Man Wu Chen nor Prior Hao had made any move so far. Old Man Wu Chen was still on the bottle gourd on the southern side of Pangu Peak, and Prior Hao was still on the huge palm-leaf-fan on the northern side. But, their facial expression looked almost unchanged. The battle's causalities hadn't affected them much.

A strange thing happened at this very moment!

The grey mist that had shrouded the mountain peak suddenly rolled and shrank. It then drew back toward the fierce wolf-or-tiger-like gigantic demon-beast skeleton that lay on the top of the mountain peak.

The demon beast's whole body gleamed with a splendid blood-red radiance. Then, two groups of pale-silver soul flames flared-up in the empty sockets of its eyes; these soul flames were several feet in size. Then, its head started to sway in a gentle manner... It seemed as if it had just woken up.

Suddenly, extremely powerful magic power waves spread in all directions like ripples. Also, a terrorizing and extremely imposing aura spread, and enveloped the whole mountain peak.