Translator: Sparrow Translations  Editor: Sparrow Translations

Lin Feng’s Avatar of Ares landed amongst the rows of structures that resembled a pile of rubble. His brows furrowed slightly as he began to feel the lines of spiritual energy flowing inside the area.

The Void Battleground consisted of mostly chaotic turbulences and spatial hurricanes. Every strand of spiritual energy was intertwined together in a tumultuous mess.

Lin Feng had to scrutinize the situation carefully. He just felt a subtle trickle of w.a.n.g Lin’s mana previously.

"This feeling is not just purely mana," a flash of anxiety came over Lin Feng’s face as he thought to himself, "Besides mana, there’s also touch of blood…"

w.a.n.g Lin was a pure spell cultivator. His spells and mantras were sharp and acute, but his physical body was relatively weaker. Due to the effects of the powers of the Destructive Stage of the River of Styx, the strength of his physical body paled in comparison to his seniors and juniors. This was still true even when compared to cultivators from other sects.

Therefore, it was not possible that the traces and remnants of his spell power could leak out of his physical body like the other cultivators.

The only possibility that there were traces of his essence and spell power here was that he was injured – and his physical body was injured. Furthermore, the injuries were not light.

w.a.n.g Lin was crystal clear about his own shortcomings. He was always careful to protect his own physical body when engaging in battle with others, and the fact that he was physically injured at this very moment proved the danger he just faced in battle.

Lin Feng had w.a.n.g Lin’s Natal Light with him. He had just detected that, for a period of time, the light of the fire became extremely weak, as if it could just extinguish any time.

Only after a prolonged period of time did the fire flourish once again – this showed that he had just experienced a close shave with death.

Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi, w.a.n.g Lin and s.h.i.+ Tianhao may be different in their styles of battle and the powers of their mantras and abhijnas in their respective levels of mastery, so there could be some variances in the outcomes of real battle. However, their integrated standards were all pretty much on the same line.

Xiao Yan and s.h.i.+ Tianhao proved that they could hold off most other nascent soul beginner stage grandmasters with the help of nascent soul stage magic items when they were only in the aurous core beginner stage.

When they were in the aurous core intermediate stage, they could barely manage nascent soul intermediate stage cultivators. If the other party refused to escape and both parties fought to the death, Xiao Yan and the others would have to sustain severe injuries in order to defeat and kill their opponents.

Still, once they reached the aurous core advanced stage, they had no trouble overcoming a great majority of nascent soul advanced stage grandmasters one-on-one, and the formidable powers of the cosmic forms were no threat to them at all.

Then Lin Feng considered the problem at hand. When w.a.n.g Lin first entered the Void Battleground, Lin Feng had checked on him before with a strand of his consciousness. He could tell from the remnants of the spiritual energy and mana auras that w.a.n.g Lin had, after long days of cultivation, experienced the tribulations of the Yin Fire, and was well on his way to advancing to the aurous core intermediate stage.

The spatial and time turbulences within the Void Battleground were complicated and extremely convoluted. Time was also perceived differently in different spatial regions.

It was very likely that w.a.n.g Lin had stayed in an

area where time pa.s.sed a lot quicker than normal, which gave him more sufficient time for cultivation.

When Lin Feng observed the mana and spiritual energies of the pile of rubble again, he could tell that w.a.n.g Lin had successfully advanced to the aurous core intermediate stage.

The only problem as that his opponent was a nascent soul advanced stage grandmaster – an individual that had already materialized his cosmic form.

Lin Feng mulled over the transformations of the mana remnants and made a judgment in his mind. "It’s the same b.a.s.t.a.r.d that landed w.a.n.g Lin into the Void Battleground."

Even though Lin Feng knew that w.a.n.g Lin’s life was no longer at risk by checking his Natal Light, he was well aware that the Void Battleground was an exceptionally dangerous place even for nascent soul stage cultivators. Besides his original adversary, w.a.n.g Lin was at risk of facing other dangers, including other powerhouses who entered the Void Battleground.

"There seems to be something hidden within this pile of rubble…" An idea came to his head as he stepped around with his feet. The ground beneath him crumbled away as the entire pile of rubble seemed to implode entirely.

Under the force of Lin Feng’s stimulation, the deathly quiet pile of rubble came of life with flashes of red light.

This red light was incredibly fierce; it was filled with evil, ominous, agonizing and poisonous concepts of power.

Lin Feng raised an eyebrow subtly. He did nothing else but pushed out his palms and cast the Fences of the Heavens, the Heavens Arrest spell and instantly cast the flas.h.i.+ng red light in an iron grip and fixed it in place.

A giant figure gradually appeared from within the red light. Boundless energies of evil and catastrophic evil emanated from it.

This was a giant that was over a hundred feet tall. His body was impeccable; there was not a single blemish in the tonality of his body.

The figure was ripped and the features of his body looked like they were carved. His face was calm and no emotion could be detected from it. When his eyes opened, the universe trembled like the original chaos from the beginning of history.

There was a calamitous, destructive and brutal energy all about the gargantuan figure that instilled fear into the hearts of all witnesses.

A look of shock came over Lin Feng’s face. "This is the aura and energy remnants of a shattered Virtual Ent.i.ty of an immortal soul stage cultivator. It has also integrated with the mantras of a satanic sect cultivator…?"

"Oh, what a profound demonic mantra. Mantras such as this are rarely seen in the Divine Lands today."

Lin Feng scrutinized the giant figure with amus.e.m.e.nt as he began to feel the violent powers of mana from the satanic sects.

After reaching the immortal soul stage, the power in Lin Feng’s original body was transferred into the Avatar of Ares. The Avatar of Ares was unafraid of taking on an immortal soul second stage cultivator one-on-one – and now all it was up against was the remains of mana stores.

He suppressed the figure mercilessly, and after mulling over the profundity of the mantras hidden within and referencing system resources, he began to form a picture in his head. "It’s quite remarkable indeed. It’s originated from the original satanic sect?"

A millennium ago, the human cultivators of the Divine Lands were disharmoniously coexisting with the satanic sects. There were some extremely influential and powerful satanic sects that existed for a time.

The most powerful one amongst the satanic sects was the original satanic sect. They were the leaders of the demonic world and reigned supreme over the Grand Celestial World.

When they were in their prime, even the Mount Shu Sword Sect and the Great Thunderclap Temple had to treat them seriously. They were one of the only few superpowers in history that dared to challenge the Great Void Sect’s authority.

Right now, the figure that Lin Feng was holding down was that of an elder from the Ancient Satanic Sect who practiced a mantra called the Avici Scripture. Upon mastering the scripture and ascending to the immortal soul stage, he also formed his own Virtual Ent.i.ty.

The only problem was that the Void Battleground was a dire place to be in, and even immortal soul stage cultivators could not confidently ensure their own safety. This satanic sect elder had also experienced multiple calamitous obstacles and, while it was still unknown whether he was still alive or not, his Virtual Ent.i.ty had been shattered. At the very least, he had stumbled back to the immortal soul first stage from the second level.

His shattered Virtual Ent.i.ty’s power remained condensed together as such instead of dissipating away completely due to the effects of the turbulences within the Void Battleground.

If there was n.o.body to control it, this figure would have continued to rise in power and could even hatch a copy of the consciousness of the original owner and become one of his avatars.

Lin Feng held down the figure as he contemplated the issue. "The Avici Scripture may not be the most powerful ancient mantras of the Ancient Satanic Sect, but it’s definitely not inferior to any one of the Tathagata Dharmas of the Compa.s.s. Its profundity is boundless."

"Anybody that masters the Avici Scripture below the immortal soul stage could materialize the Avici Undying Body. Even though it isn’t true undeath, these people could use the satanic power of the Avici to re-forge a new physical body that is identical to the original one. They won’t be afraid of injury and they will live endless lives as their physical bodies will never decay."

"In ancient times, the Ancient Satanic Sect disciples who possessed the Avici Undying Body were extremely dominant and powerful when they faced off human cultivators. The majority of their battle prowess was reliant on this particular abhijna." Lin Feng looked up into the void. "I wonder how w.a.n.g Lin is now? With his level of luck, he should have no problem finding all the mantras in this area."

Lin Feng’s only worry was whether w.a.n.g Lin’s destiny would experience unforeseen changes.

The human figure was retrieved into his possession and the pile of rubble no longer held any value. Lin Feng directed the Avatar of Ares and flew into the air and back into the spatial turbulence above.

"Besides w.a.n.g Lin’s, the situation of Tianhao’s parents is also extremely worrying…"

...….

A large army was stationed at the Western edge of the Great Zhou Empire’s, right at the border of the Great Qin Empire. There was a formidable aura surrounding the army.

The person anchoring this great army was the number one figure of the Great Zhou Empire military’s Youth Blood Faction, the Marquis of Jinghuan.

A giant black banner was positioned outside the leader’s tent. The banner swayed in the wind with flowing pride and elegance. Every soldier that laid his eyes upon the giant banner immediately swelled with pride and honor.

The Marquis of Jinghuan stood upright inside the tent with his hands behind his back, and was looking at a map in the corner of the tent. There were several other people standing behind him.

Of the two right at the front, one was an armored soldier, and the other was a middle-aged man wearing a dragging white robe. Both of them had intimidating mannerisms, and their mana ripples were also extremely fearsome. They were the two nascent soul advanced stage powerhouses under the wing of the Marquis of Jinghuan.

The white-robed male opened his mouth and spoke with a deep voice. "Sir, these are troubled times. If you venture into the Void Battleground now and something happens back in the Greater World, you may not be able to get back in time."

The Marquis of Jinghuan shook his head in disagreement. "That’s not a problem. My entry and exit from the Void Battleground is a lot easier than most others. Even though I cannot proceed back and forth at whim, it’s nothing too difficult."

"There are many treasures and items waiting for me to retrieve inside the Void Battleground. It’s precisely because these are troubled times that we have to prepare for the storm ahead."

He laughed a little and continued, "Furthermore, a lady that I have eyes for is also going into the Void Battleground. She is finally out of the protection of her family, and I will not let an opportunity such as this go.

The armored soldier said, "Sir, let me accompany you."

The Marquis of Jinghuan waved his hand at the soldier. "You shall anchor down the camp while I’m gone. I will leave the G.o.d-Slayer Puppet in your hands for your convenience in handling things should they happen."

He turned to look at the white-robed middle-aged man. "This time, may I request Mr. Bai to accompany me instead."

The armored soldier and the middle-aged man nodded their heads in acknowledgment. "As you wish, sir."

Over at an ancient and barren middle world, a grand and sprawling city stood alone at the end of the plains. Even though the pavilions within the city were not gilded with jewels or sparkling with gold, the aura they possessed was proud and arrogant. There was an unusual antiquity about everything.

A royal air permeated from within, much like that from a royal palace.

The fact that this ‘royal air’ came from a patch of barren plains caused it to appear a little decayed and broken. However, upon closer inspection, there was a trace of a nirvana-like aura that was nurturing within as it laid in wait for the return of the king.

A young girl wearing a light-green skirt was standing inside one of the halls. She was slim and elegant, and thin purple belt was strapped around her waist. This accessory made her hips a lot more attractive.

Smooth and flowing hair reached below her shoulders, almost right down to her waist. Her long and attractive body was pure and clean, and she resembled a green lotus flower blooming in the human world – out of the norm, yet still full of vigor and life.

A person was high-kneeling in front of her respectfully, and was quietly recounting a story. "… Afterwards, the leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders forced back the Xuanlin Holy Man of the Great Void Sect before he left. Mr. Xiao followed him back."

A bright smile immediately flashed across the young lady’s face. "My Xiao Yan, is now a world-renowned figure!"

The person in front of her watched her momentarily and hesitated before he continued. "Everybody has already recognized Mr. Xiao Yan’s power. Since that’s already the case, you… you still want to enter the Void Battleground?"

The young lady answered softly. "Of course. Xiao Yan is getting stronger by the day, and I have to follow in his footsteps. If I remain in this place without moving forward, how can I accompany him for eternity?"