"These mortals will die sooner or later, why not let us take them back to the Divine Realm."
Xuan Shang laughed heartily, spreading his hands. The demons beneath him seemed to be held by a spell.
What happened next was incredible.
All the demonic energy from the demons surged towards Xuan Shang.
Those engaged in fierce battle were stunned by this sight, their movements faltering as they slowly retreated.
Chu Lingwei, seeing this, was shocked. What was happening? Was this person named Xuan Shang planning to absorb all the spiritual energy of everyone here?
The demons fighting sensed their demonic energy gradually dissipating. They looked up at the scene in the sky, their hearts filled with dread.
Once their demonic energy was completely drained, they would turn into dust.
Fear filled everyone's hearts.
"Xuan Yuan, look. If we want their spiritual energy, they don't even have a chance to resist," Xuan Shang's voice echoed across the battlefield. Now, everyone knew their fate.
"How dare you?"
Some cultivators were furious. Such a Sovereign Realm powerhouse could not possibly stand by and watch their spiritual energy vanish. Just as they were about to charge at Xuan Shang, their bodies were sent flying by a powerful force before they could even move.
"Overestimating yourselves."
Xuan Shang scoffed. Having not seen anyone from the Divine Realm for so long, these people had become utterly arrogant.
"Xuan Shang, you will incur karma by doing this," Xuan Yuan said, his lips moving slightly.
"Do you think I fear that?" They were originally demons, so why fear karma? Xuan Shang laughed, his hand tightening, and a large number of demonic cultivators fell to the ground.
Chu Lingwei watched the demons on the ground struggling in agony. She had just intended to slay all these demons with her sword, but now seeing them powerless to resist and desperately pleading for help, her heart felt heavy.
Because once the demons' demonic energy was absorbed, the next in line would be them. Everyone knew that the person above could casually swat away even Sovereign Realm powerhouses, let alone lower-level cultivators like them.
"Xuan Shang, die."
Xuan Yuan glanced at Xuan Shang. After a thousand years, he was still so arrogant.
"Xuan Yuan, how dare you interrupt me?" Xuan Shang retreated rapidly. He had thought Xuan Yuan had agreed to his terms. "Don't you want to leave here and return to the Divine Realm?"
"You cannot return to the Divine Realm," Xuan Yuan replied decisively.
"Xuan Yuan, I will make sure you die." Xuan Shang's eyes flared, and dark mist immediately rose, engulfing himself and Xuan Yuan.
Chu Lingwei's heart was in her throat. She prayed silently, hoping her Senior Brother would destroy that monster.
Wind and thunder erupted, and the entire world changed color.
The sky seemed to shatter and press down upon them. Chu Lingwei felt a powerful force bearing down on her, her body weakening as she collapsed heavily onto the ground.
"Weiwei, are you alright?" Huan Mao saw Chu Lingwei fall and tried to rush forward to help, but in an instant, he too collapsed. The oppressive force was too great; they couldn't even get up.
"I'm fine."
Chu Lingwei shook her head. She forced herself to look up, wanting to see her Senior Brother's situation. Suddenly, she felt a tightness in her throat, as if someone was choking her, and a sense of suffocation enveloped her.
Death had never felt so close to Chu Lingwei.
"Dare to touch her, you're asking for death."
Just as Chu Lingwei thought she was about to die here, the pressure on her neck loosened, and fresh air entered her mouth and nose.
It was as if she had come back to life.
"Weiwei."
Chu Lingwei lay on the ground, shaking her head. She was fine.
"Xuan Shang, you are finished."
Xuan Yuan gathered a vast amount of divine power in his hand, transforming it into a sharp sword and thrusting it deeply into Xuan Shang's body.
"Xuan Yuan, you..."
Xuan Shang looked at the sword in his chest, disbelieving. How could an ordinary sword pierce his body?
"To let you live for a thousand years more, do you really think I couldn't kill you back then?" Xuan Yuan chuckled lightly. He could have killed him a thousand years ago.
Xuan Shang's body slowly became ethereal and floated towards the sky.
As his body drifted above the heavens, the sky suddenly shone with golden light, enveloping all the cultivators on the ground.
"The passage to the Divine Realm has opened?"
Chu Lingwei didn't know who spoke, but everyone's hearts began to boil.
The opening of the passage between the Profound Sky Continent and the Divine Realm meant that as long as Sovereign Realm cultivators successfully passed their tribulation, they could ascend to the Divine Realm instead of dying of old age.
Unlike their excitement, Chu Lingwei felt an unprecedented sadness and reluctance.
She sensed her Senior Brother flying towards that golden light. He was ascending.
"Weiwei, wait for me."
Leng Xingzhi's voice reached her. His body began to grow, transforming into a golden light that soared into the sky.
As that golden light gradually dissipated, the spiritual energy of the entire Profound Sky Continent suddenly became richer.
"Weiwei, are you alright?"
Nangong Luo saw his junior sister sitting on the ground and quickly stepped forward to help her up.
"I'm fine." Chu Lingwei's voice was tinged with tears. Senior Brother had just left her.
"Weiwei, let's leave here first." Nangong Luo led Chu Lingwei away. By the time Chu Lingwei regained her senses, they had already arrived at their stationed camp at the border.
"Second Senior Brother, if we leave now, will Master blame us?"
Chu Lingwei slowly calmed down. The great battle was not yet over, and it was improper for them to sneak away.
"With the ascension passage opened, this war naturally cannot continue," Nangong Luo shook his head. Moreover, all the demonic cultivators had their cultivation absorbed by that demon; they could only surrender.
Chu Lingwei lowered her head, never expecting that the path to ascension would be opened in this manner, and her Senior Brother would depart from her.
"Little Junior Sister, believe that Senior Brother will definitely return," Nangong Luo sighed softly, seeing his junior sister's sadness, and comforted her. kuAiδugg
No one had anticipated Senior Brother's departure.
Chu Lingwei managed a smile that was more bitter than sorrow. Senior Brother had asked her to wait for him before leaving, but she harbored a sliver of uncertainty as to when he would return.
One year later.
Chu Lingwei stood beneath the lightning tribulation, enduring its repeated cleansing.
After she was brought back to their camp by her Second Senior Brother, the war had indeed ceased, and all the sects had taken their disciples back to their respective mountains.
Upon returning to the sect with her Master and the others, Chu Lingwei felt that her breakthrough was imminent. She immediately entered seclusion to break through to the Heaven Transformation Realm.
"Congratulations, Little Junior Sister. You are now a Heaven-Piercing Realm cultivator."
Nangong Luo was the first to come and congratulate her. "Junior Sister, with your talent, how can I, your Second Senior Brother, not feel inadequate?"