Five Immortal Sects
Chapter 138: The Sky-Breaking Beetle

Just as Li Yan was passing in and out of the passageway, deep within the core of the Wheel of Life and Death, in a space at the very heart of the orb, a thunderous aged voice suddenly resounded, stirring up the dense yellow mist in violent surges.

"This little fellow actually possesses a cycling Five Elements spiritual root, clearly the power of Guishui. After several million years, someone from the Guishui Immortal Sect has finally arrived.

Such an interesting child, he has discovered the little mechanism left behind for disciples of the Five Immortal Sects to temper themselves. But aside from him, how have hundreds of other Five Elements spiritual roots appeared? All inferior, all low-blooded beings, harboring ambition shall bring only death."

The ancient voice echoed throughout the space, gradually growing deeper and fainter. Yet, it pierced through space and reached the multicolored realm within the Wheel of Life and Death.

As Li Yan was soaring through the brilliant five-colored space, his body suddenly jolted. He seemed to hear a voice resonating in his mind, an aged voice commanding him to slaughter all who bore the Five Elements spiritual roots here.

This voice carried a kind of bewitching power that stirred a surge of killing intent in Li Yan's heart. For a moment, waves of emotion surged within him, his consciousness nearly losing control, and his eyes began to fill with blood.

Within his body, the power of Guishui began to circulate faster under the influence of that voice. A surge of spiritual energy rushed straight toward his Niwan Palace. With a shiver, Li Yan snapped back to clarity.

His heart was filled with shock. He immediately scattered his divine sense in every direction, but after a brief sweep, he frowned in confusion. Aside from the dancing ribbons of light, there was not a single anomaly to be found.

“What a bizarre place... I must double my cautiousness!”

Li Yan slowed his flight, heightening his vigilance as his divine sense monitored his surroundings.

Rather than immediately seeking out the other two purple ribbons of light, he flew toward the yellow ribbon. From his earlier observations, that yellow ribbon seemed to be approaching his location at a slightly faster pace.

This indicated that Gong Chenying and the others might intersect with that yellow light ribbon during this trial. Yellow was not one of the four sect colors, it most likely belonged to the beasts.

As for the pure white ribbon of light, it should be the color chosen by the Ten Step Court. Before searching for Bai Liyuan and the others, Li Yan intended to cause some trouble for the cultivators on these two paths.

At the same time, he wanted to confirm whether he could enter other light ribbons safely, and what kind of reaction his presence might provoke.

In this five-colored sky, even at a slower speed, Li Yan crossed the ten-odd li in just a few breaths and arrived near the ribbon. He stepped onto the yellow ribbon in a single stride, his figure bobbing slightly as he settled.

Drawing forth the blue prism crystal, he quickly immersed his divine sense. In an instant, his consciousness entered the core, where he once again saw the ten semicircular archways rising from the winding path below.

Examining the interior with care, he confirmed his earlier deduction: the closer the blue prism crystal was to a light ribbon, the more its internal map would shift to reflect the current terrain of that ribbon.

Relieved to have confirmed this, Li Yan felt reassured. Otherwise, how could he locate Bai Liyuan, Gan Shi, and the others?

With that settled, he turned his divine sense toward the brightest gate: the fifth gate, indicating that the beasts within had already traversed over five li.

In the five-colored world outside, however, Li Yan flew swiftly toward the seventh gate. Within moments, he had reached it.

In that short time, the sixth gate’s lower portion lit up within the core, showing that the beasts were advancing rapidly.

Without delay, Li Yan activated the Guishui True Scripture. The blue prism crystal in his hand blazed with a piercing cyan light. In the next instant, he vanished from the outer space of the light ribbon.

Three breaths later, Li Yan reappeared just outside the yellow ribbon, still expressionless and holding the crystal in his hand.

“So they really are flying-type spirit beasts. No wonder their advance is so swift. Though I dared not probe too closely into the divine sense of that late-stage second-rank beast, the lack of a blue prism crystal in its hand confirms they have no need to maintain elemental balance.

The beast faction truly didn’t ally with the Three Sects. Judging by their numbers, ten first-rank beasts remain but by the time they encounter Sixth Senior Sister, how many will still be left is anyone’s guess.”

A faint smile curled Li Yan’s lips, but within the multicolored glow, it appeared rather sinister.

Upon entering, he had quickly swept his divine sense toward the enemy, releasing and withdrawing it instantly, so swiftly that the second-rank beast, the sky-breaking longhorn beetle, hadn’t even noticed.

This was precisely why Li Yan chose the seventh gate. After experiencing three trials, he understood that those within were unlikely to scan far ahead with their divine sense.

Instead, they focused their attention either behind, monitoring the enormous shadow in the sky or immediately around them, to handle the waves of relentless attacks. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator could fall if caught off guard.

As for scanning the space ahead, divine sense typically extended only a few dozen zhang at most, just enough to clear the path. Any farther was meaningless, for that stretch was always silent and dead.

Earlier, upon entering the light ribbon, Li Yan had found himself atop a crimson wall several dozen zhang tall, part of a palace corridor. Below was a winding alley hemmed in on both sides by similar red walls.

The moment he appeared, he sensed that it was on the verge of triggering. Not daring to linger, he once again summoned the blue prism crystal, its azure glow surging forth. At the same time, he raised his hand skyward, sending over a dozen venomous wasp puppets flying from his beast pouch.

And with that, his figure vanished once again from the passage.

...

The crimson palace walls soared endlessly high. Looking up, one would feel as if they were trapped within a cold, desolate imperial palace, only a narrow strip of sky visible overhead.

A burly man clad in jet-black crimson-etched armor wielded a massive halberd, sweeping it through the air like a storm. Behind him, two immense black wings beat with thunderous force, propelling him swiftly forward.

The man's armor was already in tatters, his back bearing a massive dent where something heavy had struck, shattering through the plates and embedding into the bone. Yet his momentum was unbroken, his spirit still fierce and unyielding.

From both sides of the palace alleyway, streaks of red light continuously shot forth, as though the red skin of the walls were being peeled away. These scarlet shadows had flat bodies, triangular heads, and blood basin-like mouths, three parts resembling the Crimson Blood Demon Bat.

But their attacks were several times sharper than those bats’. As they bit and tore, they also spat out clouds of crimson mist. The narrow passageway between the palace walls was quickly shrouded in drifting red fog.

The figure clad in that dark red armor was named Sky-Breaker, a prodigy among the Longhorn Beetle clan, a powerful lineage within the beast race. His strength could move mountains, and his cultivation had reached the peak of the late second rank, equivalent to the Pseudo Core stage of human cultivators.

Ten more beasts followed behind him, comprising both the beetles and the sacred light moths. At this moment, Sky-Breaker’s dark face had turned slightly purple, and guttural growls rumbled from his throat.

“Those human cultivators in the last trial were truly despicable. I don’t know what technique they used to gather so many at once. I lost fifteen of my sons to them! In the first trial, even battling the Black Wind Demon Wolves, I only lost five!”

Thinking of this, he glanced hatefully over his shoulder. Only six sky-breaking beetles and four sacred light moths remained, each wounded, their bodies scarred. Yet true to their beastly nature, none showed fatigue, instead, their eyes burned with a wild, frenzied gleam.

“That monk leading them, his Six-Character Mantra was treacherously powerful. It muddled my spirit. If I hadn’t summoned my natal spiritual light at the last moment, that strike would’ve taken my life.

Now, I’ve already burned one of my two natal lights… my realm has fallen from its peak back to the late stage. Vile! Damn it! Cursed Humans! Cursed, cursed, cursed!”

He cursed aloud, spitting “cursed” several times in succession, clear proof of the hatred seething in his heart.

A beast’s natal spiritual light was the distilled essence of its cultivation, second only in importance to the demon core.

At the time, when those forty-plus human cultivators had suddenly appeared, Sky-Breaker had been stunned. The Foundation Establishment monk seized the opportunity to unleash his Six-Character Mantra, locking down Sky-Breaker’s mind.

That monk struck without mercy, wielding the Ninefold Zen Staff with a force that shattered the armor on Sky-Breaker’s back, breaking several vertebrae and damaging his internal organs. In desperation, Sky-Breaker was forced to unleash one of his natal lights…

In the end, although he managed to slaughter every last human, his side was left with only ten first-rank beasts, and he himself was gravely wounded. Thankfully, each trial allowed two hours of recovery, and they had barely managed to regain a semblance of strength.

But just thinking about those underhanded human tactics, and his lost cultivation, filled Sky-Breaker with seething fury. It would take at least ten years to recover even that one natal light!

With his power, he had been confident that his team would place among the top three in the Wheel of Life and Death. He had every right to believe it. The ferocity of the Tongtian Longhorn Beetle race, combined with the agility of the sacred light moths, if not for the misfortune of encountering two sects’ worth of forty-plus cultivators, Sky-Breaker would have had no equal.

“Children, five more li and we’ll reach the ten-li mark again. Be cautious this time!”

The endless swarms of red creatures launching from both walls had long forced them to hold their breath. Though the crimson mist wasn’t instantly fatal, the sheer volume expelled by these monsters was enough to endanger their lives.

As Sky-Breaker’s enormous black wings beat furiously, a burst of black radiance suddenly shot from the center of his brow, sweeping toward the clouds of red mist hanging in the air.

(Chapter End)