Chapter 1274: Pursuit and Killing

Wisps of clear wind swirled in the air like ropes, effortlessly suppressing the Giant Kun avatar of the Master of the Central Demonic Path.

In Chen Mobai's eyes, the almost irresistible Grand Dao of Strength was effortlessly controlled by Spirit Venerable's Grand Dao of Wind.

This was the power of a Void Refinement cultivator.

Although both were sixth-tier Grand Dao powers, with the Grand Dao of Strength being inherently superior, Spirit Transformation cultivators could at most utilize the power they had refined. Void Refinement cultivators, however, had fully entered the Grand Dao.

Once one entered a Grand Dao, power became boundless.

The only difference was how much one could withstand and control.

The Grand Dao of Strength wielded by the Master of the Central Demonic Path originated from the Giant Kun avatar's bloodline, augmented by the power drawn from the Asura Plate. As the physical body was merely fifth-tier, even at its peak, it could only momentarily reach the lower limit of Void Refinement power.

Spirit Venerable, having observed Chen Mobai's Sword of Tranquil Peace battling the Grand Dao of Strength from the sky, had already discerned the Master of the Central Demonic Path's true capabilities. With a subtle flick, he dissipated the explosive force and subdued him in a single move.

"My true body will avenge this," the Master of the Central Demonic Path declared.

Under these circumstances, the Master of the Central Demonic Path ceased struggling. After uttering those words, he directly severed this inner demon.

Although the situation within the Dharma Realm could not be transmitted to his true body, the fact that the peak fifth-tier Giant Kun avatar, refined by the Beast Plate, along with the peak sixth-tier Asura Plate, were both defeated by Chen Mobai, indicated that the Azure Emperor of the East Wilds' strength was at least comparable to a Grand Void Immortal, possibly even a Void Refinement cultivator.

Therefore, the next time the Master of the Central Demonic Path made a move, he would undoubtedly prepare a more powerful setup than today.

He might even wait until he reached Void Refinement before trying again.

*Next time we meet, my strength won't be limited to this,* Chen Mobai thought to himself.

This encounter with the Master of the Central Demonic Path involved only his second primordial spirit, and the Primordial Yang Sword was merely a low-grade sixth-tier artifact. It was thus normal for it to be unable to defeat the Giant Kun avatar, which wielded a peak sixth-tier Asura Plate.

If his true body had been present, wielding the Primal Chaos Bell, the outcome would have been uncertain.

Realizing this, Chen Mobai recalled what the Master of the Central Demonic Path had said. Not only he, but other Spirit Transformation cultivators had also come to Mount Panghuang to ambush his true body.

Although he was confident in the Sky Curtain and Earth Net Grand Formation, he bid farewell to Spirit Venerable just in case.

Spirit Venerable replied, "Leave this place to me. If you need anything, you can call me out at any time."

After the inner demon within the Giant Kun avatar vanished, its two Grand Dao powers were left without spiritual control. While the Grand Dao of Water remained stable, the Grand Dao of Strength began to backlash, causing its massive body to continuously crack and even provoking violent tremors in the Cangliu Sea.

Compared to when the inner demon was present, Spirit Venerable found it slightly more strenuous to suppress, as he had to prevent the Giant Kun avatar from completely disintegrating.

"This alternate world has order rules set by a great power; it can only accommodate up to Spirit Transformation cultivators. Once someone reaches Void Refinement, they will be forced to ascend and undergo the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation. Therefore, Senior, it would be best if you do not rashly leave my Dharma Realm,"

Chen Mobai emphasized this point, lest Spirit Venerable, unable to bear the solitude, stepped out of the Dharma Realm while Chen Mobai happened to be in the Heavenly River Realm.

If the ascension aura descended, it would already be under the watchful eyes of the great powers in the Spirit Void Immortal Realm. At that point, even if Chen Mobai were to take Spirit Venerable back into the Dharma Realm, it would likely be seen through by those True Immortals and Dao Lords.

"Is that so..."

Spirit Venerable was slightly surprised to hear this but quickly accepted it, considering it might be an alternate world created by a Pure Yang Grand Power.

Mount Panghuang.

Chen Mobai's true body looked towards the horizon with a hint of surprise.

A faint rumble of thunder lit up the seamless expanse of sea and sky. As the sound was heard, the sky had already dimmed, becoming lightless. Only a single-footed, horned azure ox, glowing with clear light and eyes like the sun and moon, strode on thunderclouds, step by step, towards Mount Panghuang.

With each step the azure ox took, the coastline of Dongyi trembled for a moment.

It seemed as if the entire Eastern Continent could not bear the presence of such a creature, trembling in fear.

"A Kui Beast!"

Upon seeing this azure ox, the image of Thunder Venerable, one of the nine True Spirits of the Heavenly River Realm, immediately flashed in Chen Mobai's mind.

*Isn't this True Monarch Tianling's spirit beast!*

*Was it this beast that the Tongtian Blessing warned about?*

As Chen Mobai considered this, he had already activated the Sky Curtain and Earth Net Grand Formation.

He had discerned that sixth-tier true thunder was brewing within the thunderclouds beneath the Kui Beast's hooves.

Although trapping it within the Sky Curtain and Earth Net Grand Formation would virtually guarantee its demise, doing so would affect the territory of the Five Elements Sect.

Zhuo Ming had toiled for decades along the Dongyi coast, painstakingly building sea barriers and dams and developing various underwater spirit fields. Chen Mobai was unwilling to see all that hard work turn to naught.

As for why the Kui Beast had come, Chen Mobai understood with a moment's thought.

It must be that the matter of killing Su Taifeng had been exposed.

After all, Su Taifeng was a Daoist Son of the Myriad Spirit Sect, a personal disciple of True Monarch Tianling, and his death also involved the loss of a fifth-tier Li Li beast.

Such a loss was already very significant for the Myriad Spirit Sect. The last time they suffered such a loss was during an attack by the Demonic Beast Royal Court.

Had it not been for the extremely unique nature of the Eastern Continent, True Monarch Tianling would have personally intervened the moment he received the news, as would have been the case in other sacred lands in the Western, Southern, or even Central Continents.

However, the opportunity of the Six Paths of Reincarnation was far too important to True Monarch Tianling. Therefore, even though the Eastern Continent was forbidden territory for the Myriad Spirit Sect, he still came.

Yet, True Monarch Tianling knew that even if he ascended, he would have to face his own Grand Ancestor, unless he completely aligned with the Demonic Path and went to the Outer Regions. Thus, he chose to remain hidden.

After the Master of the Central Demonic Path gave the signal, True Monarch Tianling stopped above the Profound Sea and dispatched his old companion.

After unlocking the true wondrous uses of the Beast Plate, the Kui Beast, through his continuous refinement, had long since reverted its bloodline to its primordial state. It had not only mastered the Grand Dao of Thunder but had also cultivated the Grand Dao of Armor and the Grand Dao of Strength.

Had it not been for True Monarch Tianling's restraint, the Kui Beast could have even directly attempted ascension.

It was precisely for this reason that True Monarch Tianling dared to cooperate with the Master of the Central Demonic Path.

In the Heavenly River Realm, with no Void Refinement cultivators appearing, the Kui Beast was virtually invincible.

Therefore, True Monarch Tianling believed that by sending the Kui Beast, he could exhaust Chen Mobai to death, even if Chen Mobai had the Primal Chaos Bell for protection.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Kui Beast stepped closer to the Eastern Continent across the sea, and the sky rumbled with thunder.

Such astonishing commotion naturally attracted the attention of cultivators along the Dongyi coast.

Any cultivator who looked up at that moment could see dark clouds covering the sky, with streaks of dazzling blue lightning rolling within them, like flashing thunder-dragons, carrying an aura of tribulation that struck fear into the hearts of cultivators.

Many cultivators with unstable minds experienced disordered spiritual power at this moment.

For instance, Luo Yixuan in Mount Panghuang turned pale, feeling as if the Yellow Spring spiritual power within her body had encountered a natural predator. Old Woman Ming, too, was trembling incessantly.

"What a terrifying Heavenly Tribulation!"

Luo Yixuan, who had undergone a Heavenly Tribulation when forming her Core, could sense that the thunderclouds above contained power originating from the same source as her own tribulation, yet it was hundreds, even thousands of times more potent.

It was not just Luo Yixuan; within the Dongyi region, all Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators changed their expressions dramatically at this moment.

They all saw the terrifying lightning from their own past tribulations, with some even believing that this was *their* Heavenly Tribulation.

The reason for this belief was that the Kui Beast had directly drawn the first layer of thunder tribulation from the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation down upon the Eastern Continent.

As soon as he reached Spirit Transformation, True Monarch Tianling could use the Kui Beast's bloodline power to freely enter and exit the thunder tribulation.

After the Kui Beast's bloodline reverted to its primordial state, it directly controlled the power of this layer of thunder tribulation, as if it were the one who had originally set it up.

"Truly worthy of being called Thunder Venerable!"

With Chen Mobai's cultivation level, he naturally saw this and couldn't help but be greatly astonished.

One must understand that the power of this Heavenly Tribulation was formed by extracting the power of nine Grand Daos.

The fact that the Kui Beast could now directly command the descent of the first layer of thunder clearly indicated that it could step into the Grand Dao of Thunder at any time.

In other words, what True Monarch Wuchen had warned about earlier was very likely to come to pass.

Moreover, the Kui Beast's arrival caused such immense commotion, directly triggering the descent of the first layer of thunder tribulation, that it had probably alerted many Spirit Transformation cultivators across the Five Continents and Four Seas who were highly sensitive to the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation.

After all, many Spirit Transformation cultivators regularly gathered pure spiritual immortal qi within the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation.

It was quite possible that many primordial spirits were now manifesting above the Ninth Heaven, observing this impending battle.

Under these circumstances, if Chen Mobai were to use his Dharma Realm, Grand Void Immortals would likely rush over by the time he subdued the Kui Beast.

Therefore, Chen Mobai not only had to defend against the Kui Beast, ideally without revealing his Dharma Realm, but also had to prevent the Kui Beast from making a breakthrough during the battle and attempting to drag him along in its desperate ascension.

The simplest method was to directly block it with the grand formation.

With the sixth-tier Sky Curtain and Earth Net, unless the Kui Beast was willing to sacrifice the three frontier regions of the Eastern Continent by turning them into ruins with its thunder tribulation, Chen Mobai, while inside the formation, would not suffer any harm.

So, he first activated the grand formation.

Of course, keeping the enemy outside the gates would be ideal.

With this thought, Chen Mobai's spiritual sense stirred, and his Myriad Sword Dharma Body, cultivated for centuries, rose from behind him. Between flashes of sword light, it transformed into a thousand-meter-tall giant, landing on the Profound Sea outside Mount Panghuang, blocking the Kui Beast's path.

Utilizing the Primal Chaos Grand Dao, Chen Mobai could fuse pure spiritual immortal qi. Through persistent refinement, he finally elevated his Myriad Sword Dharma Body to a flawless state three years ago.

It was precisely because of this that he no longer needed the Primal Chaos Dao Fruit to manifest a One-Element Dao Body.

This was because his Myriad Sword Dharma Body had also reached the equivalent of perfected Spirit Transformation, and it was more compatible with the current Primal Chaos Bell than the One-Element Dao Body.