"How could this be...."

Qin Chaotian opened his eyes and stared blankly at Tianming. Tianming was now fighting the ninetail blaze scorpion, forcing it out of its hell barrier formation. Meanwhile, Ying Huo and Meow Meow were teaming up on the nine-eyed gold suanni's hell barrier formation to force it out, too. Qin Chaotian was unquestionably defeated.

"What in the world did he do to me? He managed to seal my power!" Qin Chaotian said.

"It can kill you, too," Tianming said with a smirk.

"What?!"

Tianming ignored him and charged toward the hell tree of the Biritual Demon Sect. Raising his sword, he destroyed it before a huge audience. Almost immediately, Qin Chaotian and his lifebound beasts all began brightly glowing. His goal had been achieved.

"Li Tianming, don't bother! All your efforts won't change anything!" Qin Chaotian said, laughing. He was laughing at his own tragic self, who couldn't change anything himself either.

"Why should I care what a dead man thinks?" Tianming had only left him alive to test out the effects of destroying the hell tree. Now that Qian Chaotian was glowing bright like Jiang Wuxin's, that was all the confirmation he needed.

"You must be afraid. Haha, you Monorigin Sect folks call yourself the Archaion Sect. You think you'll last forever? One day, Taiji Peak Lake will definitely return to the hands of my sect!"

"Dream on in your next life!" Tianming wrapped Archfiend around his head, causing the hell barrier formation to appear to protect him. However, the Imperial Sword Prison was still sealing up his body. "Looks like not even the hell barrier formation is able to block the Imperial Sword Prison."

He smiled and willed the formation to activate, causing thousands of swords to manifest and pierce Qin Chaotian's heart.

"Ugh...." He slumped powerlessly on the ground, but the hell barrier formation persisted, funnily enough.

"The Yinyang Demon Sect's disciples now have nowhere to run. It'll be their turn to die next!"

Tianming looked into the distance and saw a few of them within the lightning layer of the Nether Battlefield. They had come with quite a lot of people, so it took quite some time for the many of them who had gone about on their own to regroup. Some of them were still trying to contact others to rejoin them, but it was no longer necessary as the bright lights coming from their bodies easily revealed their locations to each other. Yet the very same lights also made them the perfect prey. There were around thirty Biritual disciples near Jiang Wuxin, as well as another ten or so further away from them.

"Let's go." Tianming finished dealing with Qin Chaotian's lifebound beasts, got on Meow Meow, and charged away. "It's time to hunt!"

......

In the viewing area of the Biritual Demon Sect, a group of ten or so elites were sitting not far away from Beigong Linlan. The two sitting in the highest seats were the sect masters, Solar Master Qin Fengyang and Lunar Master Li Caiwei. Qin Fengyang looked like a brave soul, with both his eyes shining bright like suns amidst his pale skin. His black hair flowed like a waterfall, much like Qin Chaotian's own. He was just as impressive as the other sect masters there. However, whenever he stood next to his female counterpart, nobody would set their eyes on him.

The Lunar Master commanded too much attention. Even when she was sitting, she looked like the ultimate empress. Her comfortable posture and luscious curves were enough to give young men bloody noses. Such was the sheer charisma and charm she commanded. The slightest grin or gaze would be enough to incite a flurry of confusing emotions.

Her life story was one of endless drama. Far too many men in the Biritual Demon Sect had fawned over her for her looks, only to be messed around like a toy in her hands. Now that she was the empress of the sect, even Qin Fengyang had to grovel beneath her feet. She was also easily the youngest among her peers of the same rank as her. It was said that the number of men she had scandalous relations with were innumerable. However, no man in the present day could stand on the same level as her to marvel at her beauty.

She was often said to be the most ambitious woman on the whole continent, a rose with poisonous thorns that brought no good end to the men that picked her. Her name, Li Caiwei, was humble and elegant, drawing a picture of a gentle young girl smiling innocently in a field of flowers, but reality was anything but. Her smile sent chills down one's spine and, by extension, their lower body. The only reason their camp was still so silent was because she hasn't spoken yet.

"Brother Fengyang, looks like your son is no more," she said, winking her pink eyelids. Though much of her thighs were exposed from being crossed, nobody dared to hazard a look.

"That's right." Qin Fengyang nodded.

"I bet you’re filled with the desire for revenge. When the war starts, why don't I let the Solar House of Qin take the vanguard?" Gentle as the suggestion may have sounded, nobody dared to take it as anything but an order.

"Very well."

"The Solar House of Qin will no doubt earn the credit of reclaiming Taiji Peak Lake."

"We wouldn't dare. The credit is all yours, Sister," he said with his head lowered.

......

The third layer of the Nether Battlefield was covered in the dark of night. A group of seventy people was listlessly waiting there. Right at that moment, around thirty of them began brightly glowing like Jiang Wuxin.

"What's going on?!"

"It's our allies from the Biritual Demon Sect!"

"Was their hell tree destroyed?"

The Biritual disciples were all at a loss as to what was happening.

"Isn't Qin Chaotian guarding the tree?"

"Who would dare touch our hell tree? It can't be Octagram or Pentaphase; they're being dealt with.... Don't tell me it's Triflair?"

"There's no way those cowards would dare!"

"Then what do we do now?"

"We'll see what Junior Sister Chu decides."

At the center of the group was Jiang Wuxin and a girl in a light pink dress. Needless to say, she was a treat for the eyes. Her eyes were cute and made her look meek and easy to pick on. She was the kind of girl that inspired in men the desire to protect; she seemed just the right kind of 'weak', appearing like a harmless little bunny among the rest. Her hell barrier formation also started glowing, which marked her as one of the Biritual Demon Sect.

"Junior Sister Chu, that fool Qin Chaotian failed to guard the hell tree. What do we do now?" asked another Biritual disciple.

"That fellow is just useless. It doesn't help that he's usually so arrogant, too, sheesh," Chu Xiaoqi said.

"That's right. He doesn't work well in groups and thinks very highly of himself. Who knew he couldn't even do something as simple as protecting a tree? He's nothing like Junior Sister Chu."

"Our aim is still to regroup and attack the Monorigin Sect. Even though our hell tree was destroyed, it doesn't affect us much. But we at least have to know who was behind the destruction of the tree," she said.

"You're right, Junior Sister."

She was constantly surrounded by the male Biritual disciples. It was no surprise, considering she was the sole disciple of the Lunar Master in her generation.

"I believe Li Tianming was the one behind it," Jiang Wuxin coldly said.

"Why do you say that, Big Brother Jiang?" she asked with a sensual tone.

"Nobody else would dare."

"You seem to hold him in high regard, Big Brother."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I’d like to see him myself. If he's really as you say, he'll come for the rest of the Biritual disciples soon, right?"

"Yes. He'll definitely do that. Senior Brother Jiang said that he could even defeat fourth-level death samsarans. Though, I doubt he’d be able to defeat Qin Chaotian. Then again, Xuanyuan Yucheng could be working with him, but I wonder who's guarding their hell tree then."

"We still have some ten disciples down there. They're at a rather huge risk with their positions exposed."

The Biritual disciples turned to Chu Xiaoqi.

"How about this," she began, "Big Brother Jiang, Big Brother Changsun, since our hell tree was destroyed, we should go down and regroup with the rest now that our hell barrier formations are glowing. I believe our friends from Nonahall will soon finish dealing with the Octagram Heart Sect on the first layer. Once we join up with the rest, we'll come back up here, or maybe we can get the others to go down and join us."

"That works. However, if the Monorigin disciples are all together, there's no need for us to attack them for now," said Changsun Xingyue, the leader of the Heptastar disciples. He had a pair of starry eyes and seemed to glow in a myriad of colors.

"If Big Brother Changsun is worried for our safety, why don't you come with us?" she coquettishly asked.

"Forget it. We're still looking for the Pentaphase hell tree. Those fellows are too good at hiding. Maybe we should deal with them after wiping out the Monorigin Sect first...."

"If that's the case, we won't be fighting the Monorigin Sect directly then. I don't want us to suffer any losses whatsoever."

Jiang Wuxin bit his lip when he heard that. The Hexapath Sword Sect had only ended up like this because they charged in for a fight without much forethought, something that obviously unnerved the Biritual Demon Sect and Heptastar Aerial Sect. 

"When Nonahall finishes taking care of Octagram, do come down to join us!" Chu Xiaoqi said. The only benefit of having their hell barrier formations glow was that it made it easier for others to find them.

"Goodbye," Changsun Xingyue said.

......

"So, Junior Sister Chu, we should avoid fighting any Monorigin disciples we run into, right?"

"Of course. Why should it be up to us to fight? Didn't you see what happened to Hexapath?"

"What if they only have a few there?"

"We'll see. Let's focus on joining up with the others, first."

The thirty of them were traveling together, making them a shining beacon in the sky.

"What if they're the ones to chase us down?"

"Chase us?" Chu Xiaoqi smiled. "They're a huge group, so they can't possibly be that fast. If they try, we'll mount a fighting retreat as we rejoin Nonahall and Heptastar. They'll be led right into a trap."

"So, whatever the case may be, we won't have to suffer a humiliating loss like Hexapath."

"That's right. We won't be as stupid as Jiang Wuxin."

"Hahaha, only two of their forty-five remain! It's hilarious."