Chapter 148: Mizar

You dare to kill my junior brother and junior sister? Ten thousand deaths would not suffice to redeem your sins!

Brother Ye's expression shifted. Though he could not compare with Xu Zhong in the mastery of Azure Dragon spells, that did not mean he lagged behind in other aspects.

In terms of cultivation realm, he pressed a level above Xu Zhong.

A vertical pupil bloomed between Brother Ye's brows, shooting forth a beam of nine-colored flame that seemed capable of incinerating everything.

These nine colors corresponded to Yin and Yang, Life and Death, and the Dao.

The nine-colored flame flew at blinding speed, dazzling and resplendent.

Xu Zhong remained calm and unruffled, summoning the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cauldron.

The cauldron surged with crimson clouds, transforming into three fire dragons that rushed outward, filling the sky with Samadhi True Fire like a tidal wave.

The quality of Xu Zhong's Samadhi True Fire was far too high, instantly suppressing the nine-colored flame. The three fire dragons looped head to tail, directly engulfing the nine-colored flame and surging together back into the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cauldron.

In the Dao of Flame, he was actually not inferior to Xu Zhong at all.

This caused Brother Ye to feel a trace of apprehension.

"We hail from the Starry Sect, and my junior brother carries the bloodline of the Holy Emperor. How dare you make a move against us?"

"The Starry Sect?" Xu Zhong was slightly surprised. Apart from Ying Xiantian, this was his first contact with people from a formal sect.

The "Cosmic Star Formula" he practiced originated precisely from the Starry Sect.

Only, that method of Dao had long since been modified by him beyond recognition.

"Since you know of the Starry Sect, how could you still dare to strike at us?" Murderous intent billowed from Brother Ye's body, and the divine soul power between his brows extended outward through that vertical pupil.

"So the Qi refiners of the Starry Sect are this weak?" Xu Zhong scoffed with mockery.

"Audacious!" Brother Ye's expression turned chilling as he let out a furious shout.

With a sweep of his broad sleeve, a sky-full of starlight shot out from within his robes, resembling a Milky Way cascading across the heavens.

Moreover, his divine soul power transformed into a murderous Grimstone Reaper, tearing open a slit in Xu Zhong's Heavenly Gate and stepping straight into the Muddy Pill Palace.

Before that murderous Reaper could even approach the human soul—hardly a fraction of a moment after it set foot inside—it was pierced clean through by the power of the Divine Pivot Azure Firmament Thunder Pagoda.

Lightning flickered within Xu Zhong's eyes, the lingering remnant power of the Divine Pivot Azure Firmament Thunder Pagoda.

Surging thunder radiance pulsed within the secret storehouses of his physical body, perfectly complementing this expanse of lightning.

Xu Zhong formed a thunder seal.

With a single incantation, a sheet of lightning descended from beyond the heavens, pressing down upon this place with overwhelming momentum and boundless murderous intent.

Brother Ye trembled violently, feeling sheer terror emanating from that spell.

Boom!

With a deafening crash, karmic calamity descended alongside the thunderbolts. A thunder dragon washed over Brother Ye for a fraction of a second. Instantly, he was ignited by the thunder of karmic calamity, leaving not even a single hair behind.

"Such formidable thunder magic!" Though Yun Yong had remained silent, he had kept his attention fixed on Xu Zhong all along.

They had assumed Xu Zhong's greatest strength lay in swordsmanship, but the thunder magic he displayed at this moment was even more powerful than his sword.

Xu Zhong was well aware of this, but he rarely employed thunder magic, fearing that his thunder techniques might be branded by the Thunder Rain, awaiting future harvest.

Generally, he only resorted to thunder magic when facing Qi refiners a full realm higher than himself, or when forced into a situation where he could not win by other means.

"Let's go!" He beckoned to those behind him, and the rest followed closely.

"This path was likely occupied by the Qi refiners of the Starry Sect." Yue Yue hailed from a native faction of the Yu Kingdom and possessed a thorough understanding of the Starry Sect's organization: "The few people you saw just now should merely be ordinary inner sect disciples of the Starry Sect, not true inheritance disciples."

"Their realms are hollow, and their bodies are clogged with elixir toxins. You can tell at a glance they forced their way up by popping pills," Tang Yuan slowly remarked: "In the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, such individuals aren't even fit to be outer sect disciples, let alone inner sect."

Xu Zhong's calamity thunder magic had ignited the elixir toxins within Brother Ye's body, causing him to perish by his own arts.

"What I mean to say is, do not underestimate other Qi refiners of the Starry Sect simply because of these few good-for-nothings, especially those true inheritance disciples who have received the genuine legacy." Yue Yue herself was a true inheritor, her mastery of formations endless: "Under the same realm, they are not necessarily inferior to you!"

"That goes without saying!" Yun Yong nodded: "Several of the younger generation I saw previously in the Yu Kingdom were not a whit inferior to me."

Yun Yong had, after all, been personally nurtured by his elder sister.

To be considered not inferior to him was already high praise.

They continued forward. Before their arrival, many people had walked this path, but now that they were truly traversing it, they hardly saw a soul.

They had presumably already been purged by the Starry Sect's Qi refiners.

"The bricks and stones on this long bridge carry such heavy blood and vital energy!" Tang Yuan squatted down to feel them.

Surging vital energy boiled violently within the bricks and stones.

He opened his physical body, treating his flesh as a furnace, his internal secret storehouses as the artisan, Yin and Yang as charcoal, and his blood and vital energy as copper.

Rumbling sounds echoed ceaselessly from within his body. At first barely audible, as time passed, it sounded like mosquitoes buzzing their wings, but before long it roared with the tremendous din of an industrial forge, while plumes of black smoke drifted outward from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

His golden core was firmly planted upon his elixir field, rooting deeply as the master of his physical furnace.

It measured the body's limits, methodically driving this "chariot" steadily forward.

"Brother Tang, this place can truly be called a sacred ground for cultivation!" Yun Yong teased.

Yet the next moment, Yun Yong saw three acupoints on Tang Yuan's body—the Heavenly Gate, Baihui, and Yuzhen—begin to gleam with light. Deeper within his body, acupoints such as the Divine Path, Spirit Platform, and Ziyang hummed resonantly.

Boom!

A muffled explosion resounded.

The three gateways of the Heavenly Gate, Baihui, and Yuzhen blasted wide open, faintly revealing the Muddy Pill Palace.

Tang Yuan had already achieved the True-Preservation Realm!

His blood and vital energy swirled around his head, bypassing sensitive nerves to pour into the Muddy Pill Palace, suppressing the seven souls that sought to flee in all directions.

"Hoo~" Tang Yuan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, sensing the changes within his Muddy Pill Palace.

"Congratulations to Brother Tang on stepping into True-Preservation!" Yun Yong smiled, his heart filled with envy.

Just yesterday, Tang Yuan had plucked the Blood Bodhi and refined it into a golden core; today, he had split the Sea of Chaos, illuminated the Muddy Pill Palace, and crossed into True-Preservation. Such speed and fortuitous encounters provoked deep envy.

Yet upon careful reflection, it was entirely reasonable.

Tang Yuan practiced vital energy arts, and this place provided a Heart of Divinity for him to comprehend, alongside immensely pure vital energy for him to absorb. If he hadn't progressed this quickly, they would have had to wonder if the Heart of Divinity was fake.

"Congratulations to us both, congratulations to us both!" Tang Yuan laughed heartily.

A true dragon of vital energy flew out from his mouth, separating from his physical form to engender the creation of Yin and Yang.

Tang Yuan hastily covered his nose and mouth, recalling the vital energy dragon.

At this moment, his physical body had undergone an ultimate sublimation, comparable to a scorching sun, radiating light just like the sun with every pulse of his blood circulation.

"Hahahahaha!" Seeing his flustered appearance, Yun Yong couldn't help mocking him: "Brother Tang's realm doesn't seem stable! Be careful lest your cultivation drops!"

Tang Yuan chuckled lightly, then gathered his primal essence and steadied his mind, using his golden core to suppress his surging blood and vital energy.

The group bantered and laughed, and before long, they caught sight of the exit.

A vast expanse of vital energy hung mistily around the exit, intermingling into a cloud of crimson mist suspended in the sky.

Beneath the crimson clouds were a number of Starry Sect Qi refiners. They were methodically dissecting the skin, membranes, tendons, and bones of the Jiuying, gathering its blood, marrow, golden core, and all other treasures contained within its body.

Aside from these people, another group was recording the Dao rhythms upon the Jiuying, noting its form and spirit in order to refine them into various spells.

"That Jiuying should be the blood puppet that originally guarded the portal, right?" Xu Zhong muttered softly.

Their arrival immediately drew the attention of the Starry Sect members.

The Qi refiners recording the Dao rhythms looked at one another before finally pushing forward a disheveled young man with a gloomy expression.

The young man walked over, muttering words under his breath like "good-for-nothings, truly a bunch of good-for-nothings."

Stopping when they were just ten paces apart, he issued a warning: "This place is occupied by my Starry Sect. You are not allowed to pass."

Hearing this, Yue Yue let out a cold snort: "Since when did this place become the territory of your Starry Sect?"

"You..." The Qi refiner wanted to retort, but upon recognizing Yue Yue, he called out toward the rear: "Senior Brother Yao, this is bad! It's the wicked witch of the Yellow Springs Demonic Sect!"

"If you don't know how to speak, then shut your mouth!"

Yue Yue flicked her finger, turning creation into artistry as divine light surged forth and landed upon the young Qi refiner.

In an instant, his upper and lower lips fused together, turning into unbroken skin. He groped at his mouth, stammering incoherently for a long time without being able to utter a single word.

"So it is Miss Yue Yue of the Yellow Springs Demonic Sect!" Senior Brother Yao's robes fluttered and his bearing was refined. He stepped out from the crowd, arriving beside the young Qi refiner with a small blade in hand. He sliced open the flesh sealing the young Qi refiner's mouth, exposing his lips once more: "Didn't Miss Yue Yue go to the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands? Why have you appeared in Mingzhao? And these unfamiliar faces—are they newly promoted true inheritance disciples of your esteemed sect?"

"What kind of thing are you?" Yue Yue spoke coldly, her dominance absolute: "Does it your turn to speak to me?"

Her astrolabe appeared in her palm, and array flags fluttered continuously.

Senior Brother Yao swallowed his anger. In terms of status, he truly was not qualified to speak with Yue Yue.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to argue, a powerful aura surged overwhelmingly from behind him. The newcomer wore a purple-gold crown, a golden holy suit of armor, and stepped upon a river of stars.

"So it is the Kaiyang God Child of the Starry Sect!" Yue Yue recognized the newcomer.

The Starry Sect revered the Seven Stars as God Children, and among the arrangement of the Seven Stars, Kaiyang ranked fourth.

The ranking of these Seven Stars was determined by their brilliance.

Among the seven, Yuheng was the brightest, Tianquan the dimmest, and the remaining stars varied in luster.

The Kaiyang God Child's cultivation was at the Vessel-Carrying Realm, nearing the External Scenery.

The acquired Qi around him had already transformed, and innate Qi was washing over him. It was simply unknown whether the materials for constructing his External Scenery had been fully prepared.

"Fellow Daoist Yue Yue!" The Kaiyang God Child bowed with a smile: "Have you lost your way from the other Qi refiners of your esteemed sect? Perhaps I can point the way for Fellow Daoist!"

Yue Yue chuckled lightly: "Is it truly just to point the way, or do you want to kill me?"

"If we were in the Yu Kingdom, I would kill you." The Kaiyang God Child made no attempt to conceal his intentions: "But here in Mingzhao, I will not."

"In the Yu Kingdom, I am the righteous path, and you are demonic scum!" He continued: "Yet here, you and I are both Qi refiners of the Dao Alliance, and we should branches of the same tree!"

"Let's hope so!" The array flags around Yue Yue fluttered even more fiercely and rapidly. Streams of divine light like willow branches drifted down, circling around her, ready to form an array at any moment, while a palpable murderous intent brewed.

"You don't believe me?" The Kaiyang God Child asked, observing Yue Yue's stance.

"Naturally, I believe you!" Yue Yue didn't even turn her head as she pointed to the Seven-Star Awls hovering above the heads of Xu Zhong and the others: "Yet your magical treasure is already suspended right above my friends' heads. Clearly, the 'branches of the same tree' you speak of does not include them."

"That is only natural!" The Kaiyang God Child looked toward Xu Zhong and the others: "I possess the ability of photographic memory; anyone I have seen once, I never forget. I have no impression of them whatsoever."

"Since they are not Qi refiners of our Dao Alliance, then the anger for killing my Starry Sect disciples should rightfully fall upon them."

Hearing this, Yue Yue laughed out loud: "Yet I am of the same branch as them."

"No room for discussion?" The Kaiyang God Child still wore a smile.

"No room for discussion!" Yue Yue replied.

"Then there is no help for it!" The Kaiyang God Child's eyes revealed murderous intent: "We can only test our true skills under our hands!"

Before his power could even be fully mobilized, the next moment, he exploded right before the eyes of Xu Zhong and the others, his flesh and blood returning entirely to nothingness.