Chapter 349: Irreconcilable Feud With the Sword Cultivators!
Chapter 349: Irreconcilable Feud With the Sword Cultivators!
The creation of the Blood Oath Curse had come at a great cost to most involved.
Now, seeing the vital essence they had sacrificed spill futilely onto the ground was, understandably, a bitter pill to swallow.
"What is happening" For a long while, those powerful beings of the seven hells, taken aback by Pale Revenant's actions, found themselves at a loss to accept this reality.
Not just them, even the Wick Devil and the Talisman Emperor, close at hand, struggled to comprehend, shaking their heads in disbelief.
"Have you lost your mind? Do you realize what you've done?" the Wick Devil roared, eyes bloodshot, his heart bleeding at the sight.
Pale Revenant cast him a bland look, her face devoid of emotion, evidently unwilling to entertain any further discourse.
"Do your actions honor the billions of resentment spirits from the Undead Depths who support you? the Talisman Emperor pressed her, his voice chillingly cold.
"Pale Revenant!" The 40 or so resentment demons of the Heaven Sanctuary Realm converged around her, their gazes filled with incomprehension.
One among them, a spherical entity covered in dark red eyes, known as Wraith Eye, voiced his indignation, "You owe the Talisman Emperor and the Wick Devil an explanation!"
Once the ruler of the Undead Depths, Wraith Eye had been surpassed in power by Pale Revenant in recent years, willingly ceding his throne to her. He even claimed to have nurtured her rise.
To this day, Wraith Eye held immense prestige within the Undead Depths, representing the core interests of all resentment demons.
"Right!" The resentment demons, too, had just offered up their vital essence for the Blood Oath Curse. Watching Pale Revenant squander such a powerful tool, they were all seething with anger. Everyone was up in arms, except for the merfolk, Yin Devils, and land demons.
Their trump card, gone in a puff!
Confronted by the threatening aura of over a hundred powerful beings, including the resentment demons, Pale Revenant remained silent but suddenly made her move.
With a cold gaze, she swept her hand dramatically! A buzzing sound filled the air, and from her slender frame burst forth endless tidal waves!
In an instant, the entire space of the dark hall was engulfed by a raging sea, the tumultuous waves carrying countless pale wisps of resentment, the immense power sending shockwaves throughout!
BOOM! The encroaching powerful beings of the Heaven Sanctuary Realm were swept away, tumbling through the angry sea in utter disarray.
Such vast oceanic force, mingled with the cries from the abyss, resentment, and demonic energy, instantly transformed the place into a deep-sea hell, suffocating and terrifying all who were caught in it.
"So strong!" The War Princess, clutching onto a pillar with her Weeping Netherblood whip to stabilize herself.
Her dark red eyes sparkled as she observed the chaotic seascape before her. She noticed the remnants of the Blood Oath Curse, now being dissolved into the sea, on the verge of complete eradication.
"Hey, aren't you going to seize the opportunity?" she urged, impatiently. No sooner had her voice faded than the Mortal Dust Blood Calamity surged within her, turning her delicate form into a vortex of blood.
BUZZ! The scattered blood of humans, devils, and demons in the vast sea, which should have dispersed, was now being frantically drawn towards the War Princess.
The deafening roars filled the entire area, causing chaos and confusion, with bodies flipping over in disarray. Amidst this turmoil, no one noticed the transformation of the War Princess.
"A tenth of the blood essence from about 170 strong beings in the Heaven Sanctuary Realm. That's not a small amount," the War Princess mused with a hint of surprise.
Her cultivation, which had been at a standstill, unexpectedly surged forward. The Wick Devil's supposedly unbeatable forbidden move not only failed but backfired, injuring them and, inadvertently, bolstering her own power.
She found herself lying down, marveling at the rapid advancement of her combat abilities.
"It's peculiar, isn't it? Why would that deep-sea corpse demon aid him? Wasn't she out for his blood just a while ago?" The War Princess was thoroughly baffled by this turn of events.
She had thought that this moment might force her to reveal her connection with Moon Fairy, but even then, it wasn't certain that they could neutralize the Blood Oath Curse. Puzzled and without any other plausible explanation, she mused, "That fellow must have some unique way of dealing with women. I'll have to be more cautious around him."
With no other explanation forthcoming, she concluded, "Breaking through two stages, I've reached the Late Heaven Sanctuary Realm! With my current strength, I'm virtually invincible below the Genesis Spirit Realm."
The War Princess felt as though she was on a wild horseback ride, with the horse galloping beneath her, yet it was her own power that soared. A complete windfall!
Only when the tumultuous sea within the dark hall finally calmed did she reflect on her unexpected gains.
After the seawater receded, the black hall lay in ruins, its grandeur lost to chaos and destruction.
"That sea corpse demon fled, and so did the merfolk?" The War Princess scanned the wreckage but found no one.
The grim faces of the Yang Devils, Inscription Cultivators, and resentment demons were a clear sign. The plan had been completely botched.
"Regardless, it seems the Reverie Abyss has openly sided with him," the War Princess couldn't help but marvel.
A young man, seemingly without lifting a finger, had garnered the allegiance of an entire hell... That's some feat.
As for the resentment demons of the Undead Depths, pillars of the Nine Hells' oceanic domain, rebellion against Pale Revenant was out of the question!
"Talisman Emperor, Wick Devil!" Wraith Eye, with a sour expression, addressed the crowd alongside his fellow resentment demons. "We had no inkling of her motives. This debacle was unforeseen... Now, all we can do is decipher her intentions. Rest assured, there's no chance we'd bow to a mere human Sword Cultivator!"
"Her path leads only to her demise. Her thoughts matter little now. Should the opportunity arise, we'll end this traitor And you, Wraith Eye, may reclaim your throne," the Wick Devil snarled, clearly incensed.
The resentment demon exchanged glances, their faces a mask of chilling resolve, choosing to remain silent.
"Yun Xiao's primary identity is that of a Sword Cultivator, and Sword Cultivators detest demons above all. As leaders of the demons, should Sword Cultivators rise, we'd surely be oppressed... For our descendants, retreat is not an option in this battle!" Wraith Eye declared grimly to the other resentful spirits.
Their grudges and hatred ran deep, fueling their resolve.
"You're right," the Phoenix Empress added coldly, "Pale Revenant enjoyed the resources of the Undead Depths yet betrayed us, a crime deserving of death. She may seek refuge with that fiend, but we cannot. We stand for all demonkind, and without Yun Xiao's demise, peace will elude us all!"
"Even without Pale Revenant and the merfolk, our core strength in the seven hells alliance remains intact. There's no need for despair," Ao Yuan offered words of comfort.
Among them, only the Netherworld Emperor and the Yin Devils had remained mostly silent.
"The problem now is, with the Blood Oath Curse gone, our only chance to eliminate him is in the upcoming round," the Phoenix Empress stated coldly.
"Whether we can kill him depends on the rules set by the Immortal Asylum... It's just uncertain what those rules might be this time," Ao Yuan pondered.
In fact, the rules of the Fate Ocean Battle Supremacy had been pretty favorable to them, offering them an opportunity to almost assassinate Yun Xiao.
"We'll see!" the Wick Devil declared, his brow furrowed in a storm of fury, as he exchanged glances with the Talisman Emperor. It was clear they were backed into a corner with nowhere to turn.
"The rules of the next round are a gamble," the Wick Devil intoned ominously. "If they fail us, then at the end of this competition, each realm shall unleash a million troops to storm the Eternal Sword Prison. What say you all?"
His gaze swept across the room, pausing on the figures of the Phoenix Empress, Netherworld Emperor, Ao Yuan, and Wraith Eye.
"A million from each? Six million in total, just to lay siege to the Sword Ruins?" The Phoenix Empress raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Not the Sword Ruins," the Wick Devil growled. "We'll target the ten cities of the Eternal Sword Prison, forcing Yun Xiao out of hiding to atone for the deaths of countless Sword Cultivators."
His words cast a chilling silence over the assembly.
"It's been millennia since the Nine Hells waged a war that engulfed the innocent," the Netherworld Emperor remarked from the shadows, his voice detached.
"Blame the Exiled Sword Immortal for sparking this conflict; he's a scourge on history." The Wick Devil chuckled coldly.
"The path of cultivation is a battle against fate itself," the Netherworld Emperor said gravely. "To oppress the weak and sacrifice the innocent is to defy the heavens and disrupt the world's balance."
"Is that so? Then the Endless Netherworld can opt out, just like the merfolk," the Wick Devil sneered. "Brother, it was the obstinate Sword Cultivators who courted annihilation. If you wish to play the saint, you risk dooming your own kind. Is it worth it?"
The Netherworld Emperor hesitated, then offered a wry smile. "You joke, Brother Wick. Our feud with the Sword Cultivators is irreconcilable. We're not out for bloodshed, just to corner that fiend Yun Xiao... If he refuses to die, their blood is on his hands, not ours."
"The Netherworld Emperor speaks wisely!" Ao Yuan whispered in admiration.
"Indeed! He's a true brother of our devil kind," Wick Devil replied, a slight smirk on his lips, his gaze intense.
"Let's prepare then," the Talisman Emperor added, his voice carrying an icy finality.
"It all hinges on the rules of the final showdown. If favorable, we might just send him to his doom," the Wick Devil mused, aware of Yun Xiao's lifeline.
"As long as the battlefield is sealed, even the tightest shell has its breaking point. Then, peace will reign in the Nine Hells, and the people will find tranquility."
"History will remember our contribution."
With their pact sealed, the newly formed six hells alliance returned to the arena, awaiting the start of the next round.
Along the way, the War Princess casually tossed a Bag of Holding into a corner. It contained a portion of the rare beads from the Endless Netherworld, more than she needed for now.
Before long, a silver-haired figure strolled by, discreetly picking up the bag and tucking it away.
"Stay close. Don't wander off," the Phoenix Empress chided, glancing back at him.
With a slight smile, Moon Fairy nodded in assent.