Aspiring to the Immortal Path

The sky above the Rosecloud Domain had never been so clear before.

In the past, the Domain Astral Winds had covered all, creating a rosy glow wherever one looked. Only a few stars ever managed to penetrate the rosy clouds, appearing as little pinpricks of light.

But today, the sky was glorious.

Never before had the starry sky been so clear, bright, dazzling, enchanting.

When that dark and boundless universe appeared before them, its majesty left them momentarily stunned.

Not even Tang Jie could have imagined that the domain migration formation would manifest in this fashion, and he was enchanted by its grandeur and majesty. While the arts of the ancients might not have been able to match the present in terms of excellence, in terms of boldness and daring, the ancients were still far greater!

Despite his emotions, Tang Jie kept busy, pouring power into the millstone. With each turn the millstone made, the Rosecloud Domain received a powerful push that made the Ning Beast faster and stronger.

The Blood River Domain and Rosecloud Domain were so close as to be neighbors, and with all those cultivators united in purpose, the Ning Beast almost instantly crossed the gap between them, its jaws opening up and biting down on the Blood River Domain's barrier.

But the reaction this time was very different.

As the Ning Beast bit down, a crimson wave swept up from the Blood River Domain.

Churning clouds could be seen within the blood-colored wave, and then a large section of red clouds broke off and rose into the air. In the end, the bite had been blocked by the Blood Flame protecting the domain.

As the Blood Flames blocked the attack, a giant figure rose out of the Blood River Domain, blotting out the skies of this world as it let out a mighty roar.

"RAAAAA! Who dares to intrude upon my borders!?"

It was the Lord of the Blood River!

At this moment, his body consisted entirely of raging red waves, appearing just as mighty and intimidating as the Ning Beast. The Titans of the Blood River Domain gazed upward and trembled in terror.

Everyone knew that the Lord of the Blood River was strongest in the Blood River Domain, but in the end, he was just an Earth Immortal. How could he possibly be this strong?

But when Tang Jie saw this, he simply smirked and muttered, "So you finally showed your true form?"

While he had failed to dig out the trump cards of the fiends and demons, his efforts hadn't been completely fruitless. He knew that if the fiends had any trump cards, they would be connected to the Lord of the Blood River. After all, there had to be a reason he was able to become the number one Titan of the Blood River Domain.

Thus, the moment the Lord of the Blood River appeared, rather than being surprised, he activated his Celestial Eye. At the same time, Yun Tianlan's eyes also shone with a divine light as he peered at the Lord of the Blood River. While he didn't have the Eye of Insight like Tang Jie, he was still a Supreme True Immortal.

As the two of them looked, they both gasped in surprise.

Yun Tianlan said, "He's clearly only at Earth Immortal, but his aura is on par with mine. How strange."

Tang Jie commented, "His power seems to come from the entire Blood River Domain."

Yun Tianlan frowned as if realizing something. "You're saying…"

Tang Jie chuckled. "His name is Lord of the Blood River, so you can take it as being the master of that Blood River, or you could also take it as meaning he's master of the entire Blood River Domain. What's more likely is that the Blood River is itself the soul river of the Blood River Domain. Since the Lord of the Blood River is the monsterized Blood River, since he can control the Blood River, he can also borrow power from the entire Blood River Domain."

These words exposed the secret behind the Lord of the Blood River's power.

His greatest weakness was that his original body, the Blood River, couldn't move, but his greatest strength was that he could lengthen his body and harness the power of the entire Blood River Domain.

Yun Tianlan laughed. "I see! But what does it matter if he can use the entire power of the domain? In the end, he's just the operator, so he can be defeated!"

Yun Tianlan then announced, "Tyrannical fiends and demons have assaulted my fellow humans. Now, the cultivators of my Rosecloud Domain, as allies of my friend Guang Yuan, have come to execute the fiends and demons and uphold righteousness! My fellow cultivators, join me in exterminating the demons and upholding justice!"

Countless cultivators flew out of the Rosecloud Domain.

With the Gold Ignis Astral Winds removed, there was no distinction between "inside the domain" and "outside the domain", and cultivators could easily fly beyond the heavens. Under Yun Tianlan's command, more power was poured into the millstone, and the Ning Beast let out a world-shaking bellow and once more bit at the Blood River Domain. At this moment, the Blood River Domain was like a delicious apple that the Ning Beast wanted to eat up.

"Impudent!" The Lord of the Blood River roared as the enormous figure spread out its arms and pushed at the Ning Beast. This was no longer the Infant Tending Blood River Lord Tang Jie had first encountered, but the Blood River Lord at his peak.

This cultivator war had started with a clash of its apex powers!

Just when those hands of blood were about to strike the Ning Beast, Yun Tianlan waved his hand.

It was a simple wave, but then his reflections appeared all across this space, like a breeze was blowing through. The hands fell apart in the wind, transforming into countless drops of blood that rained over the world.

"A Supreme True Immortal?" A look of disbelief appeared in Blood River's eyes.

He could tell that this wasn't some feigned act, but truly a simple wave of the hand. Despite that, it was bursting with profundity, far above any Divine Connection. This was the essence of a True Immortal, the myriad arts embodied in a single act.

But the Lord of the Blood River did not fear a True Immortal.

He was the manifestation of the Blood River, and so long as the Blood River was not destroyed, he would live forever. So long as he was in the Blood River Domain, even a Supreme True Immortal couldn't kill him.

With another roar, the entire Blood River rose into the air, an ocean in the heavens that churned with towering waves.

This was not some illusory Blood River, but the real Blood River that was blotting out the heavens. It used the Blood Sea Divine Connection as its foundation, but it was far more powerful than that. A moment later, a crimson cloud rose up from the sea toward Yun Tianlan.

Yun Tianlan waved his sleeve, sending out a light breeze. This breeze turned into a green ray of light that struck the crimson cloud. In response, the cloud turned into a howling tornado, which the green ray of light simply blasted through, sending blood raining down from the sky.

But while the green ray of light gradually weakened, the Blood Sea of the Lord of the Blood River continued to rise up in resistance. After traveling a little more, the green ray of light was worn down to nothing by the frenzied Blood Sea.

A hint of solemnity appeared on Yun Tianlan's face.

He waved his hand and then thrust out a finger.

The Lord of the Blood River howled and summoned a fist of blood to meet Yun Tianlan's finger.

With one strike, the finger obliterated the fist and continued forward, obliterating the arm behind it. But when this arm of blood fell, several more rose up to take its place, and just like before, the finger strike was worn down until nothing was left.

Yun Tianlan had attacked three times now, each more serious than the last, but he had yet to get the upper hand over the Lord of the Blood River.

Scowling, he snorted and said, "I see you have some skill. Again!"

He swatted a palm at the Lord of the Blood River.

This attack was many times more powerful than his previous ones.

The Lord of the Blood River simply laughed. "So what if you're a Supreme True Immortal? I'm the protector of Blood River, and all of the domain's power is at my beck and call. So long as I'm around, don't even think about getting through! Break!"

With a roar, several hundred fists rose out of the crimson sea.

You have quality, and I have quantity!

The Lord of the Blood River finally showed what it meant for an Earth Immortal to have all of the Blood River Domain's power under their control. When facing a Supreme True Immortal, he boldly charged in and managed to hold things at a stalemate, leaving all the watching cultivators stunned.

The Lord of the Blood River truly had the strength to back up his title. Thankfully, he could only use this power when protecting the domain and couldn't move himself, or else he would have united the entire domain long ago.

And it was fortunate he was only an Earth Immortal. If he were wielding the power of Blood River as a True Immortal, there would probably be no one who could stop him.

Even so, the Lord of the Blood River had now become a major obstacle to the domain merging. While fierce, the Ning Beast was ultimately only a phantom, and it lacked actual combat power. In this battle of two Immortals, it could only howl and roar, not daring to get close.

As for the other cultivators, they were even less inclined to approach. This was a True Immortal battle where both sides were unleashing all their might, so the aftershock could easily inflict casualties in the thousands. To avoid excess losses, nobody dared to get close. Only the Earth Immortals were truly able to approach.

Someone suddenly rushed out from the Rosecloud Domain side and attacked the Lord of the Blood River: Huang Wuji! In response, someone emerged from the Blood River Domain and blocked Huang Wuji's strike. This was Reverend Evil Cloud, an Earth Immortal of the fiend race, and the black fog he unleashed mixed together with Huang Wuji's yellow cloud as they contended against each other.

Another person emerged from the Rosecloud Domain: Godhead Palace's Ye Yun. Although the Basking Moon Sect had suppressed Godhead Palace and the Beast Refining Gate, this only made them more proactive when it came to the invasion, for they knew that the only way they would get new territory was if the Blood River Domain were conquered, which would give them more opportunities to develop. So long as they were patient and bided their time, they still had the chance to come back in the future. And to use their strength, Yun Tianlan didn't mind offering them a little reward. In the view of Yun Tianlan, keeping some competitors around was beneficial to a sect's development.

In response to Ye Yun, another person emerged from the Blood River Domain, surrounded in black energy and demonic flames that marked him as a demon cultivator. With the entire domain in peril, the fiends and demons had put aside their grudges to join hands against this common foe.

The Rosecloud Domain sent one, and then Blood River sent another, but this time, it was the Flame Celestial Sovereign. As Tang Jie's spy, until he received an order from Tang Jie, he naturally had to take part in the war as part of the Blood River Domain side, his Origin Flame sweeping out to scourge his enemies.

The Rosecloud Domain sent forth its Earth Immortals, and the Blood River Domain sent out its own in response. Originally, the Blood River had seven Earth Immortals—three for the fiends, two for the demons, one for the humans, and the last being the Flame Celestial Sovereign. The humans had turned traitor while the Lord of the Blood River was busy dealing with Yun Tianlan, so the fiends and demons were cut down to four, and with the Flame Celestial Sovereign, they had five. As for the Rosecloud Domain side, with Huang Wuji joining, they had six if one didn't count Tang Jie.

The Rosecloud Domain had sent all six now, but the Blood River Domain lacked a person to send out.

The Immortal with a free hand was the ancestor of the Beast Refining Gate, Mu Ziyang. As he laughed, the phantoms of several fiends appeared behind his head, each of them that of a peak Divine Division great fiend. These merged with Mu Ziyang, who let out a howl and then charged at Reverend Evil Cloud.

The cunning Mu Ziyang knew that the Lord of the Blood River wasn't something he could deal with, so he decided to clip his wings instead.

In a two-versus-one, Reverend Evil Cloud was soon hard-pressed.

At this moment, a beam of sword energy shot toward Mu Ziyang.

Mu Ziyang was alarmed, and the phantom fiends behind him howled and transformed into an eight-armed, three-headed giant fiend, all eight arms thundering at the sword. There was a brilliant burst, and Mu Ziyang was sent flying.

As the smoke cleared, a person stood tall in the air.

The Blood River Immortals called out in surprise, "Jin Tianya? How is it you?"