Chapter 632: It Must Have Been Ao Can Who Got There First and Took the Jade Slip

But Shen Mo had already sensed the power of the Black-Yellow Battle Dragon Flag from the description on Shi Tianhao’s life panel—the scale and claw entry.

Put simply, this was a flag capable of creating a domain advantageous to the wielder.

As long as it was planted, within a radius of a thousand li, the user and anything beneficial to them would continuously receive all-around empowerment from the Black-Yellow Battle Dragon Flag!

Moreover, the longer it stood, the stronger and more fierce the empowerment would become!

However, the flag had to be nourished with vital blood essence at all times.

And each time it was activated, it would consume a vast amount of blood essence.

Even the Cangqing Supreme, with his boundless reserves of blood energy, found it difficult to sustain.

On top of that, since the Cangqing Supreme had already obtained an even stronger top-grade saint artifact, he sealed this one away and rarely used it.

But for Shen Mo, that was not a problem.

Consumes blood essence?

He had plenty of it—no need to hold back.

He immediately selected the Black-Yellow Battle Dragon Flag.

Only then did the surrounding azure light rapidly fade.

Shen Mo’s vision shifted, and he found himself standing in the exact same spot as before—nothing had changed.

Without lingering, he continued forward toward the towering mountain range ahead.

That was where the third trial awaited: “Climbing Azure Peak.”

On the other side—

Shi Tianhao, arriving behind the others, hurried to reach the seven-thousand-zhang mark.

After walking just a few steps, he discovered the damaged Cold Soul Jade brick.

However, when he reached inside with his fingers, he touched nothing.

It was completely empty.

Shi Tianhao was stunned.

Nothing?

Impossible!

His mother’s last words had clearly stated that it was hidden inside a damaged Cold Soul Jade brick at the seven-thousand-zhang point on the Jade Bridge.

This Cangqing Grotto had never been opened before, and no one had ever entered.

There was no way that jade slip could have vanished!

“Which jade brick was it? Could I have picked the wrong one? I’ll search again.”

Shi Tianhao frowned deeply and rechecked all the Cold Soul Jade bricks around the seven-thousand-zhang mark.

However, the damaged one was clearly just that single piece.

And inside it—absolutely empty.

“Could someone have gotten here before me?”

Shi Tianhao suddenly snapped to awareness.

If someone had gotten here first, it had to be one of the few who were ahead of him.

But those people—were they not all chosen prodigies, peerless talents?

How could he dare to fight them for anything?

“Ao Can is a true dragon—the one most likely to sense the presence of the jade slip. It must’ve been him.”

“Damn it… he’s a true dragon, and I’m just a lowly dragonkin. There’s no way I could take the jade slip from him.”

Shi Tianhao clenched his teeth in frustration.

This feeling was unbearable.

He had prepared for so long, all for the sake of obtaining the technique within that jade slip.

When the jade slip had seemed so close, his heart was full of hope.

But now he was being told it was gone—taken by someone else.

Who could endure such a blow?

The shift from hope to despair, the rise and fall, was enough to drive someone mad!

“I have to find a chance to take it back from Ao Can!”

Shi Tianhao took a deep breath, fixed his eyes coldly on Ao Can’s back.

…

At that moment, above the Spirit Sea.

A group of Five Thunder Mountain Sect cultivators had already surrounded the cultivators of the Rare Treasures Alliance.

Leading the Five Thunder Mountain Sect were its Grand Chief Zhao Zhenting and Third Chief Mo Huanghai.

And among the surrounded cultivators of the Rare Treasures Alliance was none other than their alliance leader, Wang Chengfu.

Wang Chengfu shouted in shock and anger, “Chief Zhao, Chief Mo, why are you attacking us instead of participating in the proper trial? Are you out of your minds?”

Zhao Zhenting and Mo Huanghai only sneered coldly.

With a wave of the hand, all the Five Thunder Mountain Sect cultivators swarmed forward, slaughtering the heavily injured Rare Treasures Alliance cultivators completely.

Even Wang Chengfu himself fell, struck down in a pincer attack by Zhao Zhenting and Mo Huanghai.

After the Five Thunder Mountain Sect cultivators slaughtered that batch of Rare Treasures Alliance cultivators, they did not discard the corpses at random.

Instead, they carefully collected the bodies and transported them to a nearby small island.

At this moment, the island was bustling with activity.

Cultivators from the Five Thunder Mountain Sect and the Bloodsun Sword Sect were arriving from all directions, bringing in the corpses of cultivators they had hunted down.

A pile of over a thousand bodies had already accumulated on the island.

And the number was still growing.

At this time, the Bloodsun Sword Sect’s sect master, Xiong Tianxing, was overseeing his disciples in constructing a formation.

Seeing Zhao Zhenting and Mo Huanghai return, Xiong Tianxing laughed heartily. “It seems the two of you achieved quite a harvest.”

Zhao Zhenting smiled. “It’s nothing much—just killed Wang Chengfu of the Rare Treasures Alliance.”

Xiong Tianxing raised an eyebrow. “Wang Chengfu was the alliance leader, a Nirvana Realm cultivator with sixty Dao patterns. You actually managed to kill him?”

Mo Huanghai burst into laughter. “Those sixty Dao patterns were just for show. He was nothing more than a merchant. With Brother Zhao and I flanking him, how could he not die?”

“Well said.” Xiong Tianxing nodded repeatedly.

Zhao Zhenting asked, “How many corpses have we gathered so far? Is it enough to activate the Myriad Corpses Soul Resurrection Grand Array?”

Xiong Tianxing nodded. “I just did a count. Including Wang Chengfu, we now have five corpses of cultivators with over fifty Dao patterns.”

“Those with twenty to fifty Dao patterns number over a hundred.”

“Below twenty Dao patterns, over four hundred.”

“As for half-step Nirvana Realm cultivators, there are even more.”

“These corpses are more than sufficient to awaken a great Demon Emperor who slumbers here.”

Zhao Zhenting was energized. “Good! Then let’s move quickly, before anything disrupts the plan.”

Xiong Tianxing laughed. “Naturally. We all serve the Corpse Division—why would we hinder one another?”

With that, the three exchanged a glance and solemnly declared:

“For the Corpse Division, for the great cause of the demon race!”

Their tone was devout and fervent.

On closer look, a flicker of dark purple light flashed through each of their eyes.

It seemed even their souls had already been tainted by demonic energy.

…

At the base of Azure Peak—

Shen Mo quietly reflected on the recent shifts shown in his life panel.

“Their collection of corpses and activation of the Myriad Corpses Soul Resurrection Grand Array happened several days earlier than expected.”

“Perhaps some of my actions have slightly altered the course of fate.”

Shen Mo pondered deeply.

Even before entering the grotto, he had known what would occur.

The Cangqing Supreme had chosen this location as his grotto, unaware that ten thousand zhang beneath it lay the slumbering remains of a Demon Supreme and several subordinate Demon Emperors.

So-called Demon Supremes were demon cultivators at the Supreme Realm, on par with Supreme-level human cultivators.

During the ancient war between gods and demons, this Demon Supreme had not completely died. In his final moments, he absorbed the vitality of all his followers, preserving a sliver of life force.

Now, tens of thousands of years later, that life force had gradually circulated through his body.

He was about to resurrect.

The demonic aura within the Cangqing Grotto originated from this very Demon Supreme.

“The demon race’s stronghold is in the Northern Province, right? If I recall, it’s called the Five Saints Demon Nation?”

Shen Mo mused.

The Five Saints Demon Nation did not literally have only five Demon Saints—it was merely divided into five factions.

Namely: the Umbral Division, the Filth Division, the Shadow Division, the Frenzy Division, and the Corpse Division.

Each division had at least one Demon Saint.

These details were things he had learned casually from conversations with Song Zhenfei, Liu Yuntian, and the others.

Although the Five Saints Demon Nation was located far in the Northern Province of the Sacred Profound World, the power of the demon race had never stopped infiltrating the Eastern Province, Central Province, and the Southern Archipelago.

The Five Thunder Mountain Sect and the Bloodsun Sword Sect were precisely pawns laid by the Five Saints Demon Nation in the Southern Archipelago!

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