The Stars Beyond

Chapter 307: A New Path

Amidst their conversation, centered around the Silver Bat, a special energy ripple expanded. This was his racial divine ability, an extraordinary sonic wave, capable of demolishing everything in its path. The furniture and the living room exploded, and the building shattered!

The sonic wave took on a physical form, sweeping towards Zhao Zejun and Wang Xuan, with supernatural energy surging like fairy mist or rosy clouds, wreaking havoc everywhere.

Even the courtyard near Wang Xuan was being torn apart, with turf flying into the sky and black cracks, one to two feet wide, appearing on the ground. Even the void was distorted by the extraordinary ripples.

Old Chen didn't show up, waiting outside to back them up. Led by Wang Xuan, and with several close calls, Zhao Zejun managed to escape from the main living room where the demon resided.

"You really dared to come. What's most important is how informed and sharp you are. I'm beginning to wonder if someone inside is tipping you off."

Hei Lian spoke up, stepping forward and looking at Wang Xuan, who stood amidst the ruins not far away, with a cold expression, indifferent to Zhao Zejun escaping his grasp.

In fact, their primary target was still Wang Xuan, eyeing his powerful weapons and his special Inner Scenery, which could serve as a cross-realm passage for the Demon Ancestor Qi Yi.

"Wang Xuan!" Zhao Zejun spoke weakly. He hadn't expected someone to rescue him. But he understood clearly, the preparations were thorough and disadvantageous for Wang Xuan.

He wanted to advise Wang Xuan not to worry about him, a burden at this critical moment, and to escape first.

Wang Xuan gestured for him not to say more, assuring him he had it under control. He quickly infused a stream of mysterious energy into Zhao's body to alleviate his state of vital energy depletion.

Simultaneously, a flying boat appeared, onto which he placed Zhao Zejun. With a whoosh, he pushed the flying boat out of the courtyard, gliding it towards where Old Chen was.

He himself remained motionless because blood-colored patterns had appeared on his body, with several demonic fairy chains connected, binding him.

This was why the demon remained nonchalant, not rushing to act; Hei Lian, Silver Bat, and Green Wolf were well-prepared.

"We were still wondering how to lure you here. Unexpectedly, you took the initiative to come to us, almost catching us off guard."

Silver Bat smiled, looking at the young man in the courtyard, feeling somewhat sentimental, "You're quite remarkable yourself. As a mere mortal, by chance and coincidence in this special era, you've slain numerous demonic immortals and possess several legendary divine artifacts."

Below the split turf in the courtyard lay a demonic tribe's altar, with demonic energy billowing, founded on five true bones embedded in the rough stone.

"The Great Demon Binding Immortal Array was already prepared," Green Wolf grinned, his laughter thunderous and deafening.

"Not this again!" Wang Xuan looked at the crimson demonic chains binding him. Indeed, this was a killer move that could threaten his life.

The demonic tribe used stolen immortal bones and the residual supernatural laws within them to set up such an array.

From afar, Chen Yongjie secretly maneuvered the flying boat to send Zhao Zejun away from the area, fearing the battle would affect him.

In the realm beyond, this was an array capable of binding even immortals! Though despicable, the demons were experienced and cautious in their enemy dealings.

At this moment, there was nothing to hold back. Wang Xuan would give his all; today, either these demons would perish, or he would be buried here.

A floating ancient lamp protected him from the demons' assaults, while a yellow gourd aimed at the altar was ready to destroy its source.

Crucially, Wang Xuan was channeling supreme scriptures to counter this array that touched upon the fringes of supernatural laws, drawing on his experience from a previous encounter.

Light beams shot from the gourd towards the altar, which autonomously shone, disintegrating the attack.

Next, a golden tree appeared in front of Wang Xuan, also for protection and ready to activate for killing.

Then, he pulled out a stack of talisman papers. Having previously utilized sword talismans and thunder talismans with astonishing power, he now directly activated one, aiming it at the altar.

It was a Light Talisman, carrying boiling supermatter and dazzling runes, that struck the altar, causing a heaven-shattering explosion. The altar was partially damaged, with one corner sheared off by the divine light.

"A Taoist Light Talisman?!" The demons were perturbed, for such a talisman was exceedingly rare, and yet their opponent managed to produce one.

The altar shook, but the blood-red demonic chains it released turned even more crimson, as if dripping blood, binding Wang Xuan tightly and pulling with force, attempting to tear him apart.

With a swish, another talisman burned, unleashing a dark light that blasted off another corner of the altar. This was the Five Yin Thunder Talisman, its power astonishing.

In an instant, Wang Xuan activated another talisman, the Southern Ming Li Fire Talisman, with raging flames that seemed like a fiery phoenix spreading its wings, diving towards the altar.

Boom! The altar was engulfed in red, parts of it turning into magma that flowed on the ground.

"How many divine talismans does he have?" Green Wolf was shocked.

Wang Xuan spared no expense. These items, if not used soon, would turn into ordinary paper, their potency lost. It was best to utilize them where they could make a difference.

The altar, an inanimate object, couldn't dodge, making it a perfect target for the talismans.

At the same time, Wang Xuan was channeling supreme scriptures, striving with all his might to break free from the demonic chains.

After the fourth talisman was deployed, the altar collapsed significantly, but the five immortal bones still exerted their power, maintaining the formation temporarily intact.

Then, Chen Yongjie returned, striking instantly. Blowing the snow-white conch, layers of swastika characters emerged, bombarding the altar.

Simultaneously, he wielded a black long sword, leaping forward to strike at the five immortal bones!

The swastika characters roared, the sword light split the sky, causing the altar to crack, and the immortal bones trembled violently.

"Take him down!" The three demons charged out, aiming to hunt down Chen Yongjie.

Boom! The Soul Locking Bell roared intensely, its silver ripples undulating like a vast ocean, repelling the three demons. Then, Chen swung his black greatsword again, aiming to cleave the immortal bones.

He bit down on the conch, blowing it incessantly, as swastika characters fell like boulders, bombarding the altar.

The immortal bones trembled, and the altar shattered under his assault.

"This monk is quite fierce!" Black Maned Wolf was annoyed, especially since the opponent wielded powerful weapons that had repelled them.

"Kill him!" Silver Bat growled, utilizing the ancestral blood from their demonic pool. The strange blood appeared and floated in front of him, charging towards Chen Yongjie.

Black Maned Wolf coldly added, "We'll kill you first. Today, as long as we get the Soul Locking Bell, the Golden Tree, and the conch, even using up the ancestral blood will be worth it." He wielded a mace, his body covered in black fur, with a drop of terrifying ancestral blood floating in front of his forehead, targeting Chen Yongjie.

Meanwhile, Wang Xuan unleashed several talismans, shattering the altar. However, the true bones remained, still suppressing him mid-air.

The red demonic chains tightened around his body, causing bloody marks to appear and blood to flow, demonstrating their lethal force.

With a thud, he activated the Golden Tree, smashing it against the five immortal bones. Nine golden birds chirped in unison, flying out to peck at the true bones.

This was a major spiritual realm weapon, not implying it couldn't conduct physical attacks, but clearly, it didn't wield as immense power as when strangling spiritual entities.

"Damn, the consumption's too fast, I'm running out of supermatter!" Chen Yongjie exclaimed. His conch and Soul Locking Bell were rapidly depleted while contending against the ancestral blood of the demonic progenitor, directly drying up.

He quickly retracted his weapons, using the black greatsword to slash at the three great demons. However, facing any of these demons, who were all four minor realms above him, was a life-threatening challenge. With all three attacking together, he truly couldn't hold them off.

Black Maned Wolf swung his mace. Being at the eighth realm in the mortal world, he was far too superior to Chen Yongjie. When his mace came crashing down, it nearly knocked the greatsword from Chen's grip, causing his palm to bleed and his arm nearly to fracture.

"Roar!" Green Wolf howled, its massive paw clashing with Chen Yongjie's kicked foot, causing Chen's face to nearly contort from pain as his foot bones cracked.

The three demons were all early-stage experts of the eighth realm, which in the current world, practically allowed them to roam unchallenged.

On the other side, Wang Xuan's expression also darkened as the environment of the current world continued to deteriorate. The supermatter within the Golden Tree also ran out, dimming and falling to the ground.

"Haha... Thank you all, for the Soul Locking Bell and the Golden Tree, both legendary divine items from ancient times. Really, such good people," Black Maned Wolf laughed loudly.

"Kill this monk first!" Silver Bat coldly ordered, unleashing a superhuman sonic wave from his mouth, causing Chen Yongjie to spurt blood from his mouth and be thrown sideways.

"Die!" Black Maned Wolf yelled, swinging his mace towards Chen Yongjie's head.

Chen Yongjie swung his black greatsword in defense. With a clang, the mace was damaged, sparks flying, nearly breaking, but Chen was left with a fractured arm from the impact of the powerful demon.

The force was too powerful; demons of the eighth realm in the mortal world, surpassing Chen Yongjie by four realms, even his exceptional talent couldn't withstand it.

"Supernatural beast, come forth!" Green Wolf opened its gaping maw and pounced forward.

A talisman flew in, bursting upon arrival, covering the giant wolf with frost and momentarily freezing it, causing physical damage.

However, with the eighth realm's strength of Green Wolf, one talisman wasn't enough to kill it. It shattered the profound ice in an instant, roaring as it charged out, its fur bloodied, nearly shedding with the ice.

"Forget about me, free yourself first!" Chen Yongjie yelled, once again swinging his black greatsword to fend off the three demons.

Wang Xuan threw out five talismans in one breath, exploding upon the true bones, finally causing the formation to begin disintegrating, the true bones slowly separating.

"Kill!" Silver Bat shouted, continuously emitting supermaterial sonic waves to attack Chen Yongjie, causing him to cough up blood and fly out tremulously.

He also attacked Wang Xuan, sweeping towards him with energy ripples, not wanting him to break free.

Black Maned Wolf hammered down on Chen again. When Chen used his greatsword to defend, his other intact arm fractured, and a piece of the broken mace fiercely fell onto his chest, splashing blood.

Black Maned Wolf's kick sent Chen flying, and a swipe of his wolf claw left Chen's flesh mangled and ribs fractured.

Wang Xuan activated the slate scriptures and Pre-Qin golden bamboo slips, breaking several slightly dimmed demonic ties.

He also vigorously stimulated the Slaying God Banner, causing it to rapidly expand into a large banner, a method he used for the first time, powerfully smashing towards the gradually disintegrating five true bones.

Boom!

Some true bones fractured, others flew away, the formation disintegrated. At this, all the demonic ties binding him burst open and vanished cleanly.

He charged towards Chen Yongjie, brandishing the large banner and slamming it down.

Green Wolf swiped its massive claw, attempting to tear through the banner, only to let out a strange cry as a portion of its spirit was torn apart, pulled from its flesh.

Boom!

At that moment, a terrifying beam of light flew in, targeting Silver Bat, Green Wolf, and Black Maned Wolf. It was Zhao Zejun acting from outside, coordinating with the Zhao family to bombard the demons.

Having just suffered damage to its spirit, Green Wolf was slowest to react. With a burst, one of its large claws exploded, obliterated by the attack.

Silver Bat quickly picked it up, tossing it out of the battlefield, as Silver Bat and Black Maned Wolf rapidly mobilized the blood of the Demon Ancestor to counter the Slaying God Banner, launching another attack.

Chen Yongjie gasped for air, the day proving particularly brutal. To buy time for Wang Xuan, he suffered multiple fractures, his bones shattered by the tremendous force of the great demons!

Black Maned Wolf and Silver Bat, vowing to capture the powerful weapons from Wang Xuan and Chen Yongjie, aimed to lock down Wang Xuan and kill Chen Yongjie, with even the limb-lost Green Wolf rejoining the fray.

The blood of the Demon Ancestor formed a faint blood shadow, coldly overlooking them as if from another great world.

Unafraid, Wang Xuan wielded the Slaying God Banner, sweeping forward to counter the true blood of the Demon Ancestor and directly confronting the three great demons.

Chen Yongjie, wiping the blood from his mouth, also charged back into the fray.

As the battle raged, Wang Xuan began to cough up blood, his chest heaving violently as his supermaterial boiled and burned.

Chen Yongjie turned pale, staggering.

Wang Xuan deployed his last two talismans, injuring Silver Bat and Black Maned Wolf, causing them to bleed profusely, but failing to kill them.

His heart sank as the supermaterial of the Slaying God Banner was about to run dry, a situation he had never faced before.

However, Silver Bat, Black Maned Wolf, and Green Wolf were even more anxious as the blood of the Demon Ancestor dimmed completely, drained of power, causing their expressions to change drastically.

"Run!"

They broke through, blasting past Chen Yongjie, sending him flying.

Chen Yongjie, fueled by fury, relentlessly pursued the fleeing demons. With a swift strike of his indestructible black sword, he chopped off a thick wolf tail, splattering demonic blood everywhere.

"Ow!" The Green Wolf's face twisted in pain and humiliation as it turned back, swiping a claw at him, knocking him flying.

Wang Xuan, holding the large banner high, pursued them with a show of force. He utilized an ancient red lantern to emit beams of light that almost pierced through Black Maned Wolf and Silver Bat, causing their blood to spray.

It must be acknowledged, these three great demons were of high realm and incredibly powerful, enduring the assault with their supernatural abilities and treasures without succumbing.

They fled!

Thunderous explosions followed as energy cannons targeted them, under Zhao Zejun's command.

Struggling to his feet, Chen Yongjie was promptly supported by Wang Xuan, who ceased the pursuit as the Slaying God Banner was depleted of supermaterial.

"That last attack from the wolf cub triggered my hyper-sensitivity, opening my inner landscape!" Chen Yongjie whispered.

"First, heal your wounds!" Wang Xuan exclaimed, surprised. Then, wielding the large banner, he made a formidable entrance into the Zhao residence, causing several blood shadows to flee, daring not to possess bodies anymore.

Indeed, they had also ordered bombardments on Chen Yongjie and Wang Xuan. However, Zhao Zejun had forewarned the Zhao family about their treachery, advising against following their commands.

Within mere seconds, Wang Xuan brought Zhao Zejun back, quickly issued some commands, and then led his spirit into Chen Yongjie's inner landscape.

"Unexpectedly, at the brink of life and death today, I've opened my own inner landscape!" Chen Yongjie was overwhelmed with excitement, though the environment immediately brought him back to a state of absolute calm and clarity.

"Let's plant the Heavenly Medicine, break through, and then return to annihilate the demon clan!" Wang Xuan declared.

"Originally, I thought of honing for a while longer, but now that my inner landscape has opened, I can't suppress it anymore. It's time to break through!" Chen Yongjie declared.

In a moment, Chen Yongjie briefly returned to his physical body, embedding the seed of the Heavenly Medicine into the life soil, covering it with five-colored earth and watering it with immortal nectar. Instantly, he felt the fragrance of the medicine permeate his life soil before returning to his inner landscape.

Wang Xuan had not yet utilized the medicinal soil in his possession, one piece from the female alchemist and another belonging to the red-clothed demoness. He quickly applied both pieces of medicinal soil over the seeds of the Nine Tribulations Sky Lotus and watered them with immortal nectar.

Upon returning to his inner landscape, Wang Xuan informed Zhao Zejun that the mystical factors there could heal the physical body and advised him to focus solely on cultivation.

Then, he seated himself to the side, ready to break through and formally step into the next realm!

In Chen Yongjie's inner landscape, mystical factors continuously descended, far surpassing those of decaying inner landscapes, with an exceptionally rich presence of supermaterial.

One year, two years... Although it felt illusory, the effect was akin to having lived through many years, perfectly allowing them to polish and comprehend the intricate aspects of the Medicine Picking realm.

Medicine Picking involves harvesting the great medicine within oneself, the condensation of spirit, qi, and soul's essence, the automatic emergence of the body's secret power, and the extraordinary light of the inner self breaking through the life soil to illuminate one's being.

The presence of Heavenly Medicine, incorporating supreme external medicine, naturally enhances this process.

Born in the highest spiritual realms, Heavenly Medicine is no ordinary object, semi-materialized, mysterious, and with astonishing medicinal effects.

Inside Wang Xuan's body, the lotus seed exudes fragrance, and the essence of Heavenly Medicine is harvested, illuminating his entire body!

In his life soil, another Heavenly Medicine plant exudes silver light, baptizing his entire being.

Moreover, within the silver light, a tender sprout breaks through the soil, the main root of Heavenly Medicine sprouting, born in the life soil, enriching the vitality of the place.

Though there are no real years in the inner landscape, it feels as if "thirty years" have passed, or at least, the effects of cultivation seem to have reached that extent. Chen Yongjie mobilizes a vast amount of mystical factors, continually watering the life soil, fostering the lotus seeds, pouring into them his blood, cultivation will, and heart's effort!