Chapter 48: The Dark True Immortal-Modo Criativo do MC: Máquina Perpétua de Todos os Mundos em Atacado(De vez em quando, relaxo um pouco no trabalho.)

The grand fortress of laws that once guarded the entrance to the Immortal-Ascension Road had been reversed in orientation.

Its front gates no longer faced the entrance of the Immortal Road, but instead turned backward to confront the depths of what was once the Immortal Road.

And that deeper stretch of the former Immortal Road no longer retained its past appearance, having been eroded by an endless expanse of darkness.

Taiyin could clearly see that at the far end of the darkness, the churning ripples of shattered worlds within the Boundary Sea were completely engulfed by profound pitch-blackness.

Dark, oppressive mists constantly churned throughout the Boundary Sea, encroaching relentlessly toward this side of the Immortal Road.

If one were to view the entire universe of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands as a sphere, then the Immortal Road was like a valve—a vent allowing passage to the outside world.

It was a checkpoint that made it easier for outsiders to enter when the boundary walls remained self-sealed.

Once, this fortress of laws would spontaneously attack any intruder from the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands who dared to force their way into the Immortal Road. Yet now, it was strangely peaceful.

Millions of phantom gods and demons, possessing battle prowess at the pinnacle of the Ninth Heavenly Layer of the Quasi-Emperor realm, stood guard atop the massive city walls, paying no heed whatsoever to the arrival of Taiyin and the others.

Entering the fortress of laws, they were greeted along the way by several more supreme entities of the Emperor rank.

Taiyin could sense an extraordinarily dense aura of blood and slaughter permeating the entire fortress.

This indicated that a terrifying battle had taken place here not long ago.

At the very center of the legal fortress lay an unimaginably vast pool of blood—or rather, an entity akin to a lake of blood.

It was a creation left behind long ago by Fang Zheng, formed from a mystical cube capable of gushing forth endless quantities of the primordial blood of Taiyin.

It was a reservoir of pure blood that could not possibly be squeezed out, even if one were to drain a million, or tens of millions, of Taiyin Holy Emperors dry.

Several Emperor-level figures, whom Taiyin found somewhat unfamiliar, were currently submerged within this blood pool.

Their bodies were covered in wounds, and their weapons of Dao-proclamation were nearly shattered, yet they were still circulating secret arts to absorb the Taiyin blood from the pool as rapidly as possible, desperate to heal their injuries and those of their weapons.

Taiyin noticed that the wounds on their bodies and weapons were rather peculiar; they did not appear to have been inflicted by external foes, but rather self-inflicted.

Clang...

As a toll of a bell rang out, Taiyin heard himself murmuring: "Is it time again? Then let us go forth to battle."

The Taiyin Holy Emperor, the Sun Holy Emperor, the Wushi Great Emperor, the Ruthless Great Emperor, the Undead Heavenly Emperor...

Several Heavenly Emperor-class powerhouses, some born within the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and others who had grown within this universe, walked together toward the gates of the legal fortress.

......

Amidst the swirling black fog, a storm suddenly erupted, out of which dropped a blood-stained coffin made of dark iron.

Immediately afterward, the coffin cracked open a fraction.

Instantly, a dark river of stars poured forth from the fissure, accompanied by countless warships carrying dense swarms of armies that poured outward, charging murderously toward the fortress of laws.

At the same time, heavy footsteps echoed from within the darkness.

Over three hundred figures clad in battle armor, radiating an aura of immortality, walked out from the coffin.

Every single one of them exuded the laws of the True Immortal realm.

Their expressions were blank and their eyes hollow, devoid of any apparent intellect—mere empty shells of flesh.

Boundless darkness surged as more than three hundred powerhouses, each capable of contending with a Great Emperor, launched a coordinated onslaught.

This was not an overwhelmingly difficult battle, but it was deeply troublesome.

Amidst the clash, the past Taiyin could perceive that these dark True Immortals, devoid of apparent intellect, were not actually exceptionally strong.

Nor did they practice the secret realm cultivation system of Taiyin; instead, they employed one unfamiliar, ancient cultivation method after another.

Compared to the secret realm system, their battle prowess was slightly inferior.

They seemed to originate from a strange world entirely different from the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

Despite possessing Immortal Dao laws and exceptionally formidable physical bodies and primordial spirits—barely grazing the threshold of an ordinary first-generation Great Emperor—their primordial spirits remained in a state of dull-witted ignorance.

Their Immortal Dao laws could be easily resisted and even suppressed by the ultimate Dao laws of Emperor-level figures like Taiyin and the others.

Because of their clouded intellects, they could not maintain the state of Divine Prohibition indefinitely like Taiyin and the other supreme emperors, managing at best to brush the eighth-tier prohibition level.

If placed within the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, such characters would never have achieved true immortality; they would likely have been casually swatted to death by proud prodigies contending along the Emperor's Road during their early trials.

In single combat, or even multiple-on-one skirmishes, Heavenly Emperor-level figures capable of permanently dwelling within Divine Prohibition, such as the Taiyin Holy Emperor, could casually slaughter them.

However, their numbers were simply too vast, and coupled with their ability to form complex battle formations, this largely compensated for their lack of tactical awareness.

During the fray, Taiyin and the Sun Holy Emperor stood shoulder to shoulder, their forces of ultimate Yin and ultimate Yang combining to manifest the Great Yin-Yang Grinding Mill, reducing the flesh and blood dripping with black true blood into pulverized sludge.

The Wushi Bell tolled, freezing a swath of spacetime as the Wushi Great Emperor formed fist seals and blasted outward.

The Ruthless Great Emperor executed the Flying Immortal Technique, turning the extraordinary into the ordinary, piercing through skulls with her jade-like palms and reducing primordial spirits to fine powder.

The Undead Heavenly Emperor wielded his heavenly saber, lopping off heads while the true flames of Phoenix Nirvana burned their primordial spirits down to nothingness...

Every single Emperor-level powerhouse was locked in desperate combat.

Taiyin and the Sun alone slaughtered nearly a hundred dark True Immortals in this single engagement.

When the battle concluded, all the powerhouses who had sortied from the city were utterly exhausted and severely wounded.

Yet, the greater part of their grave injuries were self-inflicted.

Slaughtering these dark True Immortals was not difficult; the true challenge lay in the form of contamination they carried.

Indeed, the emperors suspected that these ceaselessly attacking dark True Immortals were sent specifically for them to kill, purely to corrode them with darkness.

Once infected by this corruption, both flesh and soul would be deeply and imperceptibly eroded over time.

Only by acting with decisive ruthlessness—slicing away and pulverizing the tainted flesh and soul before the corruption took hold—could potential risks be minimized.

Fortunately, within the fortress of laws, there was an inexhaustible supply of the Taiyin Holy Emperor's primordial blood to serve as a miraculous panacea for replenishment; otherwise, healing alone would have consumed an unreckonable amount of time.

After the battle, the Taiyin from the past could hear the sigh of the future Taiyin: "Their numbers have increased again."

The Sun Holy Emperor also lamented, "Indeed. The number of these dark True Immortals grows ever greater, and their strength is steadily rising as well."

"Ever since the first dark storm began its encroachment, a single dark Quasi-Emperor came accompanied by an army, only to be wiped out by the fortress of laws."

"When the second storm blew, there were two."

"When the third storm blew, there were three..."

"The frequency of the dark storms has continuously increased, the intervals between them have grown shorter, and the dark creatures emerging from them have grown ever stronger."

"Until recently, dark entities weaker than the Quasi-Emperor realm ceased to come altogether; now, only an endless succession of Immortal-tier powerhouses assault us."

Sighing, the Sun Holy Emperor said, "These are likely the very enemies that shattered the ancient Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and the Immortal Domain, reducing them to what they are today."

He then let out a self-deprecating chuckle. "Yet, these beings have probably never once regarded us—or the former Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and Immortal Domain—as true enemies."

"They are merely arrogant, calmly grinding us to death by piling up more and more increasingly powerful dark True Immortals."

Looking out into the distance, the black fog beyond the fortress of laws grew even denser. Another blood-stained warship dropped out from it, and over five hundred dark True Immortals stepped forth.

Clang!

The bells signaling yet another battle tolled once more, and the Sun Holy Emperor let out a weary sigh.

"Are two successive waves of dark storms descending upon us this time? The Universe Ark is about to set sail; we can only continue to fight. Let us hope we can hold out until then."

Immediately afterward, another round of combat commenced.

The unending, relentless slaughter made the various emperors feel almost numb.

Gradually, during the recuperation periods following the battles, Taiyin finally learned from the conversations among the emperors just how this future had come to pass.