On Qilin Mountain, the auras of the Li family members, held aloft by the Old Tree's roots, continued to swell.
The Old Tree, which had lain dormant in Merit City for nearly two hundred years, saw its branches and leaves grow increasingly lush, its trunk growing ever thicker and stronger until it shot straight into the heavens, a full kilometer high. Its scarlet canopy now shone even more brilliantly than the crimson moon hanging high above.
ROAR!
The Raging Sky Flood Dragon soared around the Old Tree. The lightning and firelight within its translucent body mingled with the scarlet of the leaves as it let out a furious, joyous roar!
Every member of the Li family formed hand seals, aiding the "Ancestor Spirit Formation Diagram" and the "Essence Harvesting Death Formation" in siphoning away Tian Xing's power.
They floated, suspended in the sky, allowing the Old Tree's roots to carry them forward.
Before them, a colossal, scarlet wall of blood formed as they advanced, step by step, towards the battlefield where their Old Ancestor and Tian Xing were locked in a duel of techniques.
"AHHH!!!"
Lin Wudao was roaring in fury.
He, who had once commanded a hundred Domains and controlled all manner of Rules, was now unable to draw upon the essence Qi from across the world.
His Domain could no longer be sustained!
From over a hundred Domains, a power that could encompass 500 miles, it had now shrunk to a mere 0.5 miles.
Within his pitch-black Domain, a Qilin covered in grievous wounds could be seen roaring.
They appeared formidable, yet both Lin Wudao and that Qilin were already spent forces, an arrow at the end of its flight.
Li Wei, whom he had once regarded as a mere ant, now saw his Yin-Yang Diagram expand continuously until it spanned 5 miles, tightly besieging Lin Wudao's Qilin Domain.
The Yin-Yang carp radiated two contradictory omens, one auspicious, one sinister, as they swam freely through the black and white ocean of the diagram.
Whenever the Qilin within Lin Wudao's Domain attempted to leap out, it would be struck by the two carp and knocked back inside.
This caused Lin Wudao's Domain to shrink continuously, and the injuries on both him and the Qilin phantom grew ever more severe.
The Mark of Tian Xing on his forehead flickered without cease, as if angrily rebuking his incompetence.
It seemed to want to flee his body, yet it had nowhere to run, for the avatars held by the Li family were all being manipulated by the Old Tree!
"Shameless vermin! Ahhh!!!"
Lin Wudao roared in fury at the approaching black-misted figure, and the Li family members held aloft by the blood tree.
He watched with his own eyes as that essence Qi poured continuously into their bodies.
Originally, it was he who should have been growing ever stronger, but now, it was the Li family.
He watched with his own eyes as, right before him, the Li family plundered everything he had schemed for over ten thousand years.
And those Li family members, they simply watched him calmly, as if mocking his incompetence.
This was a torment worse than death!
Until...
"Defeat is defeat," a voice said. "You should accept this outcome, just as we once had to accept you invading our homeland, slaughtering our descendants, and forcing our people to become fugitives."
In an instant!
Li Wei had already appeared before Lin Wudao.
Under Lin Wudao's terrified yet furious gaze, the North Star Spirit-Breaking Spear pierced deep into his body.
Its power suppressed Lin Wudao completely, rendering him utterly unable to move.
The Old Tree's roots tore through the void, piercing into Lin Wudao's body!
Li Wei stared fixedly into Lin Wudao's eyes.
"It's a pity," he said, his voice cold. "Back then, you couldn't kill all of us. But we... we will not be giving you any second chances."
"I've lost... I've lost???"
Lin Wudao stared with vacant eyes at the black-misted figure before him.
One by one, the Li family members were lifted up until they hovered behind him.
The people of this clan gazed down at him with indifference, just as he himself had once looked down upon all things in the world.
He suddenly let out a roar. "No! I have not been defeated yet! I still have my Master's! Hahaha!"
Bulging, ferocious veins popped out on his forehead.
The Mark of Tian Xing, knowing there was truly no escape, merged completely into Lin Wudao's body.
In this final moment, Lin Wudao was Tian Xing, and Tian Xing was Lin Wudao!
This peerless prodigy, who had schemed for ten thousand years and done as he pleased throughout the lands of Eternal Sun Prefecture, began to laugh wildly.
"I have not been defeated!"
"You think that by taking me down, you can ruin my ten-thousand-year grand plan?
You think this is my true body? My core isn't here! As long as the core survives, so do I!"
"The Tian Xing Cultivator Abode! The Tian Xing Cultivator Abode still exists! I can start all over again!
Your Li family descendants are still trapped inside, and Bai Rourou is still on Azure Mist Mountain!"
"Didn't see that coming, did you? Hahaha! You can't defeat me!"
Tian Xing laughed wildly, yet the Li family members just continued to watch him in silence.
This made him begin to doubt the last sliver of hope in his own heart, but still, he roared, "Master, save me!"
"Our ten-thousand-year plan! You and I, Master and disciple, we were supposed to ascend the Great Dao together! To break through the Body Integration realm, enter Mahayana, and ascend to the Immortal Realm!!!"
Tian Xing's voice traveled beyond Qilin Mountain, reverberating throughout all of Eternal Sun Prefecture and echoing upon Azure Mist Mountain.
Below Qilin Mountain, the expressions of all the onlookers from Eternal Sun Prefecture changed, and Prince Feiheng was no exception.
Azure Mist Mountain was a most unique existence within Eternal Sun Prefecture, for it was home to a Void Refining cultivator—Venerable Elder Baimei!
If Venerable Elder Baimei were to appear...
At that moment, a shadow of gloom fell over the faces of all the people from Azure Cloud.
If Venerable Elder Baimei was truly the one pulling the strings behind everything Tian Xing had done, then their predicament today would become even more difficult.
However, what set their minds at ease was that the Li family members were still just calmly gazing at Tian Xing.
In the distance, figure after figure began to appear, causing the many people from Azure Cloud, already wary of Baimei, to start in surprise.
"Them???"
As the newcomers drew closer, Feng Chunlin's face lit up with joy.
"Changsheng? Changyao?" he cried out. "You... how did you get out of the Tian Xing Cultivator Abode?!!"
"What?"
Seeing the Li family members approaching from a distance, the numerous masters all turned to look, and one familiar figure after another came into view.
But the brother and sister pair, Li Changsheng and Li Changyao, were still rushing forward at great speed.
They only gave their uncle a brief nod before Li Changsheng, pulling Li Changyao along, charged towards Qilin Mountain like the wind, his voice echoing across its slopes.
"Help, Old Ancestor, help!" his voice rang out. "That old ghost Baimei, he's definitely here!"
Li Changsheng was clearly unharmed, yet his voice was filled with such misery.
Before anyone present could even begin to understand what was happening, the other members of the Li family arrived, one group after another.
The Seven Ironclads handed over the geniuses they had been leading like slaves, then, swaggering like mountain chieftains just released from prison, they launched themselves into Qilin Mountain.
Li Tianyi and Li Tianqi arrived, dragging the bound Li Tianming with them.
The trio cursed as they walked, with the one in the middle, a madman who seemed to have been driven insane by his confinement, shouting and laughing wildly as they let down their "kite."
The moment Nangong Yazhi was set down, she crawled on the ground to the Nangong family's Old Ancestor and began to wail her heart out.
Fortunately, there were still Li Yunlin and Li Tianyue, as well as the couple Li Yaotie and Bai Rourou, to act as the normal ones.
"It seems," someone murmured, "that being trapped has driven them all mad."
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