Translator: CinderTL
Though Universal Transformation Venerable and Vermilion Bird Supreme Sage had ordered Li Chunjun's arrest, they dared not violate the rules set by Venerable Yuanguang.
The ones sent out were all Dharma Aspect Realm Venerables—specifically, those whose Qi levels were between 40,000 and 50,000, and who couldn't cause widespread destruction to the Star Abyss.
The Heavenly Palace dispatched three Venerables, while the Wu Ji Sect sent six.
Nine Venerables joining forces to hunt down a Void Refining cultivator—even Universal Transformation Venerable, a top-tier Dharma Manifestation cultivator, would struggle against such a lineup.
As the nine Venerables launched their attack, the Three Sages of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity exchanged glances, each seeing the urgency in the others' eyes.
"What do we do!?"
"We can't unleash our full power to destroy the Star Abyss. We'll control our strength! Remember, our true goal has always been to act as Senior Brother Li's Dao Protectors. After we strike, we'll immediately take him and flee at full speed."
With this consensus reached, Heavenly Sage Venerable and Earth Sage Venerable simultaneously moved to intercept Vermilion Bird Sage.
Human Sage Venerable, skilled in escape techniques, transformed into a streak of light, hurtling straight toward Li Chunjun.
Even though he couldn't unleash his Qi fluctuations to their fullest extent, his superior methods as a Supreme Sage still allowed him to swiftly overtake the nine Venerables from the Heavenly Palace and the Wu Ji Sect.
The scene before them caused the Universal Transformation Venerable and the Vermilion Bird Sage's expressions to shift.
"How dare you?!"
"The Profound Yellow Sect truly has audacity! They're blatantly disregarding Venerable Yuanguang's order that Supreme Sages must not intervene, showing utter contempt for the Heavenly Principles Sect and the Supreme Truth Sovereign!"
"We can't let them damage the Star Abyss! Take them down!"
Several Sages from the Wu Ji Sect simultaneously launched their attacks, converging on the Heavenly Sage Venerable and the Earth Sage Venerable.
Unlike the Three Sages of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, who had shown some restraint in their initial strikes, the Wu Ji Sect Sages moved with unrestrained force.
A barely concealed excitement flickered in their eyes.
The Three Sages of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity had been the first to violate the rules. Even if their transgression wasn't complete, what did it matter?
How could they be certain the Three Sages of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity were holding back?
What if, mid-battle, they suddenly unleashed their full power?
Therefore, the Wu Ji Sect Sages not only fought with everything they had but deliberately steered the battle toward the Star Abyss.
While they wouldn't dare to "accidentally" shake the Star Abyss, as long as it wasn't a deliberate act, there was nothing wrong with it.
In contrast, the Three Sages of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, who had struck first, were forced to hold back. When they unleashed their divine abilities and techniques, they had to ensure they could repel the Wu Ji Sect's Supreme Sages without damaging the Star Abyss. Furthermore, their strength was already half a step inferior to the Wu Ji Sect's Supreme Sages, so they were forced into a disadvantage from the very start.
Even the Human Sage Venerable, who had intended to immediately join Li Chunjun and rescue him, was blocked by the Wu Ji Sect's Xuan Wu Supreme Sage.
In that moment, the Human Sage Venerable had no choice but to send a hasty message: "Senior Brother Li, don't get bogged down in the fight. Quickly meet me. Once we're together, I'll take you away from the battlefield as fast as possible."
At that moment, Li Chunjun had just emerged from the Star Abyss.
He had anticipated dangers outside, but he hadn't expected such a grand spectacle right away.
A battle between Supreme Sages!
But...
Something felt off about the fight.
Not only did the battle between the Supreme Sages seem awkward, but every dharma manifestation charging at him had only four or five thousand years of Qi.
Top-tier dharma manifestations like Universal Transformation Venerable were watching from a distance, too afraid to approach the Star Abyss.
"What's going on?" he couldn't help but ask.
The Human Supreme Sovereign briefly condensed the information into mental power and transmitted it to Li Chunjun.
After assessing the situation, Li Chunjun quickly sensed the state of the Profound Yellow Key. His heart steadied.
Although the Star Abyss didn't belong to the Profound Yellow Great World, it wasn't particularly far away.
If he could activate the key's power in the Azure Sea Domain, doing so here would be even easier.
Especially now that he was a direct disciple of a Supreme Sovereign, the key's performance had been enhanced. Activating it now might cause a slight delay, but returning to the Profound Yellow Grotto-Heaven afterward would be no problem.
This was even with the interference of a "Dao Unification" level power like the Star Abyss.
Once he moved further away from the Star Abyss, the key's activation efficiency would increase even more.
Without hesitation, he said, "Hold off these dharma manifestations for me. Buy me a few breaths of time. As long as I have a few moments, I can use the Profound Yellow Key to return to the Profound Yellow Grotto-Heaven."
"The Profound Yellow Cave Heaven Key?"
Human Sage Venerable was both astonished and delighted. "The Profound Yellow Key can be used here!?"
"Yes!"
"Excellent!"
Human Sage Venerable held nothing back. "Leave it to me!"
With a wave of his hand, several metal puppets resembling armored mechs materialized.
As these metal puppets appeared, they ignited energy sources within them that burned like stellar furnaces, continuously channeling power throughout every inch of their bodies. Under this infusion of energy, the metal puppets rapidly grew, expanding from a dozen meters to dozens of kilometers in an instant, and continuing to grow to hundreds or even thousands of kilometers.
By the time their colossal forms reached tens of thousands of kilometers in size, the terrifying energy fluctuations radiating from them were already rivaling those of high-grade dharma manifestations.
"Eighth-Tier mechanical lifeforms!? And Eighth-Tier Top-Tier mechanical lifeforms at that!?"
The many Void Refining and Dharma Aspect Realm cultivators present, who were well-versed in such matters, immediately recognized the origin of these metal puppets.
They were special existences, similar to the Golden Crow Battleship.
However, compared to the Golden Crow Battleship, these metal puppets were clearly far more powerful.
The moment they appeared, they blocked the Nine Great Dharma Manifestations that were closing in on Li Chunjun.
Seizing this opportunity, Li Chunjun didn't hesitate to produce the Profound Yellow Key and instantly activate it.
Ripples of unique spatial frequencies emanated from his body, silently transmitting deep into the Profound Yellow Great World, resonating with a special existence within it.
However, the profound yellow key was far from an obscure artifact.
Over the millennia, the profound yellow supreme had only taken a handful of direct disciples, but he had thousands of nominal disciples. As a result, many people had heard of the profound yellow key, especially those from the wu ji sect.
The closest profound yellow supreme sage immediately sensed the unique spatial frequency emanating from li chunjun and realized what was happening. "It's the profound yellow key! He's planning to use the profound yellow cave heaven key to draw upon the power of the profound yellow spirit lapis jade and return to the profound yellow grotto-heaven!"
At these words, the expressions of everyone from the heavenly palace and the wu ji sect darkened simultaneously.
The profound yellow spirit lapis jade...
It was a quasi-tenth-tier lifeform!
In the entire profound yellow great world, only two beings currently possessed such power.
One was the profound yellow spirit lapis jade itself!
It represented the face of the profound yellow supreme!
Precisely because of liu yu's existence, even if the wu ji sect managed to defeat the profound yellow sect, they could never completely eradicate it.
The profound yellow sect had the profound yellow grotto-heaven as a retreat. As long as they retreated there, the wu ji sect's efforts would be in vain.
The other quasi-tenth-tier lifeform was the heaven origin sword master of the taixu sword sect.
Hailed as the greatest expert of the Taixu Sword Sect, he was also revered as the number one expert in the Profound Yellow Great World.
His most glorious achievement was leading sixteen Taixu Sword Sect Supreme Elders to shatter the Immortal Alliance's one hundred and eight Supreme Sages!
Even after forces like the Wu Ji Sect and the Chiyang Sword Sect joined the Immortal Alliance and gained its support, the Taixu Sword Sect held out for over ten thousand years thanks to the existence of this Sword Master.
The Profound Yellow Key could unleash the power of such a Quasi-Tenth-Tier existence...
"Stop him!"
"We absolutely cannot let Li Chunjun escape! After killing two to three hundred Void Refining cultivators from our Heavenly Palace and the Wu Ji Sect, and even deploying several Supreme Sages, we still can't subdue him. If he gets away now, the Heavenly Palace and the Wu Ji Sect will never be able to hold their heads high again in the Profound Yellow Great World!"
"All hands on deck!"
One after another, Dharma Aspects and Supreme Sages unleashed their ultimate techniques!
Not only did the Nine Great Dharma Manifestations that had charged down earlier join the fray, but even those with over fifty thousand years of Qi also intervened, heedless of whether they might shatter the Star Abyss.
Even the Heavenly Palace's Universal Transformation Venerable wielded a Superior Dao Artifact, unleashing a great void technique to completely disrupt the Void where Li Chunjun stood.
In any case, the main responsibility lies with the Three Sages of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Moreover, these three Supreme Sages are relatively easy to manipulate. If the Supreme Truth Sovereign truly demands accountability, handing them over should suffice.
A convergence of various dao techniques stirred the Void, indeed disrupting the fluctuations emanating from the Profound Yellow Key.
However, Li Chunjun wasn't a sitting duck. He used Void Power to teleport and evade attacks. Moreover, the Human Sage Venerable held nothing back to block the dao techniques aimed at Li Chunjun, while eighth-tier mechanical lifeforms formed an unyielding wall of metal, fearlessly sacrificing themselves...
For a full breath, not a single dao technique, Mystical Power, or Dao Artifact managed to harm Li Chunjun in the slightest.
Instead, the Profound Yellow Key on his person began to flash involuntarily.
The spatial fluctuations intensified.
The dharma manifestations and Supreme Sages, who were well-versed in the Profound Yellow Key, immediately realized that the Profound Yellow Grotto-Heaven had sensed the key's earlier signal and was now using it to pinpoint the keyholder's location!
"Damn it!"
"How could it be so fast!? While this isn't far from the Profound Yellow Great World, it's certainly not close either. In just a breath, the Profound Yellow Grotto-Heaven has already locked onto the coordinates?"
"Hurry! Hurry! Use your full strength! Otherwise, it will be too late!"
Panic, resentment, and chaotic mental power filled the area.
For a moment, not only the dharma manifestations and Supreme Sages of the Heavenly Palace but even the Void Refining cultivators unleashed all their techniques.
Even if they couldn't defeat Li Chunjun, they had to at least cause him some trouble.
However, the three great sages of heaven, earth, and humanity also realized that this was the most critical moment. They erupted with their full power, unleashing tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years of magic power, amplified by their high-grade dharma manifestations, to produce combat power exceeding 200,000.
The terrifying aura and residual magic power alone, even when sweeping past some dharma manifestations, sent them reeling.
Even a top-tier dharma manifestation like Universal Transformation Venerable could only retreat far away, utterly unwilling to confront their might head-on.
The Human Sage Venerable and Xuan Wu Supreme Sage, who were closer to the Star Abyss, unleashed such intense power during their clash that the abyss below churned violently. Many areas were swept clean by the raging magic power, leaving nothing behind.
This scene turned Venerable Yuanguang's face grim.
But faced with the Supreme Sage's genuine fury, he, a mere Venerable, had no effective means to stop him. He could only silently vow to settle the score with the Profound Yellow Sect and even the Wu Ji Sect.
As the three great sages of heaven, earth, and humanity, who had cultivated for nearly a hundred thousand years, unleashed their full power, even the so-called dharma manifestations proved useless.
Li Chunjun was whisked away by the Profound Yellow Grotto-Heaven, escaping the battlefield. It seemed inevitable that the Heavenly Palace and the Wu Ji Sect, who had mobilized such a massive force to hunt him down, would become the laughingstock of the world...
Just then, a streak of light descended from the heavens.
The moment it reached the battlefield, it transformed into a massive taiji diagram, enveloping the entire starry sky.
Instantly, Yin and Yang were reversed, the Void twisted, and celestial secrets disrupted.
Everything was warped and reshaped!
Even the connection between the Profound Yellow Key and the Profound Yellow Grotto-Heaven, weakened by distance, was severed and extinguished by the profound mysteries unleashed by the massive taiji diagram.
"A Top-Tier Dao Artifact, the taiji diagram!?"
Heavenly Sage Venerable's pupils contracted as he sensed the "ruling-class" aura emanating from this Supreme Treasure.
"Yuan Taiji!"
(End of the Chapter)
---
📖Read (MI) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c452. [+3.9k]
🔑Early Access at $5.
✍Translated (6) Series, (4.1K+) Chapters, (5.8M+) Words.