The year that passed was absolutely grueling for this world, a slow, painful grind of survival and fear.
Having already lost the oceans to the impurity beasts, they were once again utterly confined to the land, their horizons shrinking further. Global communications were severely damaged, with most networks down, and a palpable sense of desolation spread everywhere, a quiet despair hanging over the cities and towns.
However, compared to the civilians, who were focused on daily survival, the Cultivator Alliance was even more troubled. The area where the Bloodfiend Old Demon resided remained shrouded by that massive, impenetrable formation, a dome of blood red energy that even Su Min had declared she could not break through, let alone them with their far lesser power.
They had even, in a moment of desperation, launched over a dozen hydrogen bombs in succession at the barrier, yet none could even scratch its surface. In the end, they could only throw up their hands in helpless resignation, waiting quietly for a death that felt inevitable. The gap in strength was so vast that it was despair inducing. No schemes or clever tricks were of any use against such a raw display of power.
This was the general situation on Su Min's home continent as well, where complex schemes and deceptions were almost nonexistent in high level conflicts. Most conflicts were resolved through sheer power disparity, with the most elaborate tactics being something like Su Min's approach to the Future Maitreya Mountain: quietly forming a team and then charging straight at the enemy's front gate.
Thus, humanity on this world could do nothing but wait. Moreover, if the terrifying truth were revealed to the public, it would likely trigger even greater panic and chaos. Therefore, the higher ups tacitly agreed to conceal the truth, resulting in a complete divide between the informed few and the ignorant masses.
As for Su Min, none of this daily strife concerned her. Her strength destined her to stand above all living beings here, allowing her to remain detached and observe everything with a calm, almost cold indifference. This was not due to heartlessness, she simply had more important, immediate matters to attend to, namely the impending battle.
"According to our observations, the energy occasionally leaking from that formation has grown even more intense recently, to the point where its aura has clearly surpassed the Divine Transformation stage." An alliance report confirmed what Su Min already felt in her bones.
Standing atop a high rise building, Su Min watched the chaotic crowd in the streets below with a detached interest. A year of tension had not yet pushed society completely past its breaking point, and the absolute power of the cultivators kept things within controllable limits. However, this was not a sustainable situation. Life had already been difficult after the loss of the oceans, and now it had only worsened. With the disappearance of satellites, many professions and supply chains had nearly vanished.
"He is about to emerge. I must head to the vicinity now. If I do not kill him, I will not be able to return home." With that thought, Su Min stood up and vanished from the rooftop without a trace.
At the same time, deep within the formation, the Bloodfiend Old Demon slowly opened his eyes, a crimson light flickering within them. His cultivation had now painfully recovered to the early Dao Comprehension stage. But this was far from enough for him. Worse still, without the large number of Qilin he had prepared in advance as core nourishment, he was severely lacking in the blood sacrifices needed to fuel a faster recovery.
Moreover, this planet was not the resource rich Heavenly Continent. Both its total population and the number of high level cultivators were far too few. Even if he devoured every last living soul, he would not be able to restore himself to the Unity stage. This meant he could not safely traverse the vast sea of stars to reach the Heavenly Continent, a far greater hunting ground. While a Dao Comprehension stage existence could theoretically cross the stars, two major, insurmountable problems stood in his way:
First, the universe was vast and boundless, and the vacuum of space contained no spiritual energy to replenish one's core. Without reaching the Unity stage and condensing a self sustaining Dharma Body, one could not form an internal energy source. This made it terrifyingly easy to exhaust one's spiritual power in the void, falling into a state of eternal, frozen stasis, neither truly alive nor dead.
Second, he had no reliable coordinates to return to the Heavenly Continent. The ancient battlefield gateway was now inaccessible due to his current cultivation level and the planetary seal, and the spatial marks he had left there had long since faded with the passage of time. Moreover, celestial bodies were in constant motion; over the countless years, everything had shifted beyond recognition.
Thus, he was trapped. He had to recover to the Unity stage on this very planet before he could act. Until then, he had to carefully manage and preserve this world, his only remaining larder. This realization frustrated him immensely. His original plan had been so perfect: awaken, quickly restore himself to the Unity stage using the Qilin energy, and then immediately depart for the Heavenly Continent to hunt high level cultivators. As for this backwater world, he had intended to devour it whole upon awakening as a final snack.
But now, everything was ruined. He would have to meticulously cultivate this world for many, many years, a tedious and slow process.
Su Min, however, had already overcome these two obstacles for her own eventual departure. Before leaving her homeland, she had prepared ample spatial markers. With the near infinite spiritual energy recovery provided by the little gourd and the environmental assistance of the Northern Water's Profound Origin, she could traverse the void directly. The only problem was that she was now locked on the planet's surface by his barrier.
"A Dao Comprehension stage woman... a Buddhist cultivator... Those useless fools did not gather any useful information and even lost my weapon!" The Bloodfiend Old Demon's expression darkened further as he realized that the Heaven rank treasure he had left as a trump card had been seized by Su Min. After devouring the memories of his subordinates, his face twisted in fury; they had known nothing substantive about her.
They had been played for fools until the very end, only realizing Su Min's true strength when it was too late. The only consolation was that Su Min had revealed her law when seizing the last Qilin egg. But this small comfort lasted only a few seconds, as he realized that knowing her law made little practical difference against its power.
The Law of Time. In all his long and ancient memories, no one he knew of had ever truly comprehended this law. It was universally regarded as the most mysterious and formidable of all, with no records detailing its specific workings or weaknesses.
"Hmm?" At that moment, he clearly sensed an overwhelming threat descending from the sky, a cold, focused, and murderous gaze fixed directly upon him through his formation. Dao Comprehension stage. A mysterious existence who had reached the Dao Comprehension stage in such a resource poor environment. Even though he had once been at the mighty Mahayana stage, he had now declined to such a pitiful state that he might not even be a match for her.
"Hmph." Seeing Su Min's icy, determined demeanor through the energy veil, the Bloodfiend Old Demon knew he had no choice but to fight. Staring at each other across the formation was meaningless. A Dao Comprehension stage cultivator had a natural lifespan of about five thousand years, and Su Min had reached this stage step by step in her prime, her vitality was flourishing. Meanwhile, his own foundation was less than a thousandth of its former glory, and his remaining lifespan was rapidly dwindling like sand in an hourglass.
A Mahayana stage existence had a lifespan of fifty thousand years, and he had originally had forty thousand left. But after severing his foundation and sealing himself away, only about twenty thousand remained, and even that was now draining away at an accelerated rate due to his damaged state. He could not afford to drag this out. Thus, with a grimace of pure hatred, he opened the formation.
In that instant, the violent, clashing energy released by the confrontation between two Dao Comprehension stage experts swept across the entire planet like a psychic tsunami. From the few Divine Transformation stage experts down to the ordinary people, everyone felt an indescribable, soul deep sense of oppression, a weight that made it hard to breathe.
"Release the planetary formation. How about we take this battle to the stars?" Su Min spoke calmly as she observed the withered, gaunt old man before her. She had destroyed nearly all of his backup plans, leaving him in an extremely weakened and desperate state.
Because of this, he would inevitably value this planet's resources greatly. A full scale battle between the two of them on the surface would trigger a global catastrophe. Regardless of who won, the planet's vitality would be extinguished, its biosphere shattered. Su Min had no desire to slaughter billions of innocents, and the Bloodfiend Old Demon needed to preserve his "pasture" and "flock." Their interests, for once, aligned.
The moment Su Min finished speaking, the sky's bloody seal dissipated. Two figures then transformed into streaks of light, one golden, one crimson, shooting straight up through the upper atmosphere and into the void. The Bloodfiend Old Demon, in particular, was filled with a cold, determined rage, hell bent on killing the woman who had ruined his grand plans.
At the same time, down on the planet, all signals that had been cut off for a year were suddenly restored. After the initial shock, the masses, unaware of the true reason, erupted into celebration, thinking the crisis had passed.
Yet amidst the jubilant cheers, the alliance's higher ups gathered in their war room fell into a deathly silence. The large meeting room was so quiet that a pin drop could have been heard. Whether it was Lin Yao or the leaders of the four great families, all held their breaths, their faces pale. Being weak and having their fates entirely in another's hands was an unbearably dreadful feeling. Now, they could only pray like ordinary mortals, their power meaningless. The gap between Su Min's strength and even the strongest among them was an insurmountable chasm, one so vast it inspired absolute despair. If Su Min lost, she might still escape and survive by fleeing into the cosmos. But none of them could, Lin Yao included. Su Min had no confidence in bringing anyone else safely across the stars.
Meanwhile, in the cold, dark space beyond the atmosphere, despite being in the midst of a pre battle standoff, Su Min took a moment to admire the beautiful, blue and white swirled planet beside her. This was the first time she had flown so high under her own power. Divine Transformation stage cultivators could briefly enter space, but only those at the Dao Comprehension stage, protected by their own laws, could move and fight freely in the void.
Moreover, the effects of her "Shrinking the Earth to an Inch" movement technique were even more pronounced in the emptiness of space. Su Min theorized she could use this technique to achieve faster than light speeds, assuming no one interfered with her spiritual energy flow.
Gurgle, a strange, organic sound echoed in the vacuum, transmitted by spiritual energy.
However, Su Min soon averted her gaze from the planet. The fallen cultivator before her had already made his move. In the blink of an eye, a thick, crimson glow erupted from him, enveloping the surrounding space in a bloody mist that defied physics.
Down on the planet, people instinctively looked up. The sky, which had just cleared, had once again turned a disturbing blood red.
"All evil is useless." Expressionless, Su Min observed the bloody mist, sensing an indescribable foulness and corruption within it. His laws had become twisted and rotten after his self severing, now deeply tainted with corruption and defilement upon reaching the Dao Comprehension stage. The fallen cultivator who had fought Xie Yingying back then had been the same; his corrupted laws had given her some trouble. But now, standing before Su Min, these things posed little threat. With a slight raise of her hand, a palm sized, brilliantly white firebird shot forth, streaking into the very heart of the bloody mist.
The next moment,
BOOM!
A massive, silent explosion rippled outwards through space, the shockwave visible as a distortion in the light. Su Min's body was instantly clad in her dark, spiked Black Tortoise armor as she charged straight at the Bloodfiend Old Demon. Given that he was once a Mahayana stage expert, her combat experience screamed at her not to recklessly unleash her strongest abilities immediately, especially when she did not fully understand her opponent's remaining tricks.
Though she possessed devastating trump cards, she chose not to use them immediately, not even her Great Buddha technique. Instead, she opted for the simplest and most brutal method: close quarters combat, to feel out his limits.
After obtaining the Western Metal's Sharp Gold, her Black Tortoise Armor had undergone another transformation. Sharp, gleaming blades now adorned the originally smooth black armor, and the Western Metal's Sharp Gold could liquefy at her will, allowing her to attach it to any part of her body, including forming instant weapons.
Thus, the next moment, the Bloodfiend Old Demon was in for a world of suffering. The instant he clashed with Su Min in melee, his expression changed drastically. He barely managed to leave behind a bloody, dissipating doppelgänger and fled backwards, his arm now sporting a deep gash.
Pfft, after running for a while, he could not help but spit out a mouthful of dark, coagulated blood, the shock of the impact rattling his organs.
"Southern Bright Blazing Fire, Western Metal Sharp Gold, Northern Water Profound Origin, Eastern Wood Azure… Five Elements Holy Body!!!" The Bloodfiend Old Demon's voice exploded directly in Su Min's mind, his teeth gnashing rage almost comical in its intensity.
"Correct." Su Min smirked but did not bother explaining further before charging at him again, a golden blur in the void.
Among the five supreme physiques, the Five Elements Holy Body had the widest gap between its upper and lower limits. Su Min was only one step away from its full mastery, but even now, it was enough to make the Bloodfiend Old Demon feel profoundly threatened. The problem was, even he, with his ancient knowledge, did not know the specifics of how the Five Elements Holy Body operated in combat; he had no idea how to counter it. Of course, Su Min could have told him: "Do not bother with fancy elemental tricks, just go pure physical bombardment." But unfortunately, he did not know that. So, his initial response to Su Min's relentless pursuit was simple,
Run!!! Not in a panicked rout, but in a tactical retreat, an attempt to stall her while his mind raced, searching for weaknesses in her physique's mechanics. Earlier, three of his most potent blood element attacks had landed on Su Min, only to be completely nullified, their energy dispersed harmlessly. They had carried strong elemental properties, but Su Min's absurd elemental resistances had simply shrugged them off.
"He actually ran…" Su Min found it somewhat amusing. At the same time, she casually popped a pill into her mouth, the motion fluid and practiced. This caused the Bloodfiend Old Demon's eyelids to twitch violently.
He recognized it, a 7th grade pill. He could almost read its name in the spiritual aura it emitted:
[Stormwind Thunder Pill (7th grade, mid tier): For a limited time, greatly increases movement speed.]
In an instant, she closed the distance he had just gained. Down on the planet, people could only watch as two bright points of light, like meteors, collided violently again and again in the sky. Each impact sent silent shockwaves of light rippling out, but thanks to the atmosphere's buffering and the two combatants' deliberate control, none of the destructive energy reached the surface. Otherwise, the world would have experienced true orbital bombardment, with no one capable of stopping it.
Back in space, the two continued their high speed, brutal exchanges. After several more clashes, the Bloodfiend Old Demon made another horrifying discovery. "The Law of Time… Lifespan erosion?!" In just over ten minutes of combat, thousands of years had been shaved off his already dwindling lifespan. Normally, his own laws would have protected him from such severe temporal erosion, but he was already in a state of rapid, unnatural decay. His lifespan was draining rapidly on its own, and now, he had run into Su Min, who specialized in accelerating that very process. He realized one terrifying thing: he could not afford a drawn out battle. Moreover, he had roughly figured out the nature of Su Min's physique. Extreme elemental resistance and powerful elemental offense.
Combined with her four divine treasures, her overall combat power reached terrifying levels. An ordinary, newly ascended Dao Comprehension stage cultivator would have died in their earlier exchanges. His own mastery of laws and combat techniques far surpassed that of a typical Dao Comprehension stage expert. But Su Min's brute force attributes and the bizarre, unpredictable Law of Time had completely negated that advantage. Worse yet, she could actively erode his lifespans. At that moment, he knew he had to go all out, to burn what little foundation he had left.
In such high level battles, the first to resort to desperate measures was usually at a disadvantage, revealing their hand, but he had no choice. If he did not fight with everything he had now, Su Min would simply grind him down to nothing, erasing him from existence through attrition.