Chapter 173: Half a Year Later

In the pale red cave mansion, thunderous rumbles could be heard from time to time, extremely harsh, causing the void to ripple.

Yang Tian was like a great drum being struck, his life force surging forth, resembling a flood dragon, his blood energy astonishing.

Within his qi sea, winds howled and drums thundered. Yang Tian sat cross-legged beside three ancient trees, immersed in viscous primordial qi.

Inside the Ancestral Dragon Ring, the space now spanned about five thousand zhang, and the gathered primordial qi was extremely formidable. All the spiritual herbs harvested from the Martial Dao Mountain had been planted.

The five-colored medicinal field at the central area emitted a hazy mist, with auspicious clouds swirling and divine radiance cascading down. Among the several Dragon Beard Grasses in the center, one had already been dug up.

In a corner of the five-colored medicinal field, a fluffy white thing curled up like a snowball, lying beneath the Dragon Beard Grass. The demonic aura it emitted was extremely fierce. It had been over a month since Little White fell asleep after devouring the Dragon Beard Grass.

Now, the time ratio within the Ancestral Dragon Ring had been adjusted to one to four; cultivating inside for four days meant only one day had passed outside!

Yang Xiao's ethereal body was much better than before. He too had fallen into a deep slumber, recuperating.

Within Yang Tian's body, starlight scattered everywhere, like a dream. Rumbling sounds continuously exploded, and battle qi shimmered like fine jade. Above the river of blood energy, starlight burst forth.

The sky was filled with twinkling stars, among which one star shone the brightest, like a great star. Yang Tian absorbed the medicinal power of the Star Condensing Pill, turning it into specks of starlight, most of which were absorbed by that star.

The seven stars: Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, and Yaoguang! The moment the Tianshu star condensed, the phenomenon of Stars Shining Upon the Nine Heavens would begin to take shape!

When all seven stars converge, they will manifest the Chart of the Heavenly Stars, gazing from afar at the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper in the sky. By borrowing the power of countless stars, they can suppress the heavens!

According to Yang Xiao, the founding ancestor of the Ancient Star Sect once condensed the Chart of the Heavenly Stars, shocking the entire continent. The celestial phenomenon of stars shining over the azure sky was one of the rarest, and the Chart of the Heavenly Stars was but a fleeting glimpse in ancient times!

There were also rumors that the Star Chart was a technique created by the Star Sect's ancestor. Yang Xiao was not very familiar with such esoteric knowledge, and the Star Chart remains a mystery to this day.

Before Yang Tian, pills piled up like mountains. He would occasionally inhale several pills, which turned into surging energy flowing into his body, enhancing his overall aura.

Starlight flickered, and the entire interior of the Ancestral Dragon Ring echoed with the sound of energy amplification.

Outside, half a year slowly passed...

About a month ago, a group of people arrived at the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Mountains. A legion named the Demon Slayers stirred up a tremendous upheaval in the Ten Thousand Mountains, and the disciples of the Ancient Li Clan suffered heavy losses.

Dozens of disciples vanished without a trace overnight on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Mountains. The entire Ancient Li Clan was enraged, suspecting Yang Tian's hand in it, and sent out powerful experts to investigate.

But something unexpected happened: a War King was killed on the spot, and another War Emperor was severely wounded before barely escaping.

This Demon Slayer legion had members ranging from the lowest, the Tongxuan realm, to the highest, the eighth level of War King. A hundred of them could form a large combined attack formation, and twelve could form a small one, enough to contend with War Emperor-level experts.

This group came and went without a trace, possessing a spatial translocation technique. The disciples of the Ancient Li Clan suffered repeated devastating blows. An ancient fossil-level figure of the Li Clan emerged from seclusion, vowing to kill these audacious individuals.

What drew the most attention was the killing formation these black-clad men employed. The combined killing mechanism they set up boosted their cultivation not by a small margin, attracting the interest of many major powers.

Today, the entire Fallen Demon Land stirred once more. Emperor-level experts from the three holy lands and super forces emerged, along with over a dozen half-step Emperor-level experts, to attack the Fallen Demon Land.

For an entire day, the Fallen Demon Land was dark and chaotic. The entire sky collapsed, and three peak-tier celestial artifacts fully awakened, unleashing overwhelming might.

The piercing sonic boom made even the people in Zhenyao City's ears ache; some with weaker cultivation had their eardrums ruptured, and a few were even shaken to death.

Everyone's gaze converged on the Demon Fall Land, all concerned about whether they had broken in and whether there was a divine object at the center of the Demon Fall Land. Even Yang Xiao was unwilling to say more.

According to Yang Xiao, not only was a demon suppressed inside, but also the demon dragon clan! However, there were things inside that Yang Tian's strength was not yet sufficient to delve into.

No one wanted the answer more than them; the Qingyang Empire and the Thundercloud Sect were the most relaxed. Yang Tian had once said this place was a land of great peril. If they really obtained three peak celestial artifacts, it would be the moment of their own destruction!

Ahead, the sky and earth were dim. The forces mobilized this time were beyond imagination, capable of annihilating any faction. Those super forces were also quite worried, fearing the fall of another half-step emperor realm expert.

At night, when the news spread, the entire city was shaken. Apart from the celestial artifacts of the three holy lands, the Huanggu Li family deployed the Qianyuan Divine Furnace, the Murong family deployed the Mountain and River Treasure Fan, the Hehuan Sect deployed an imitation of the Yin-Yang Unity Divine Furnace, and the Huanglong Valley produced a Purple Copper Divine Mirror.

A total of seven high-quality celestial artifacts, plus seven emperor realm experts, enough to topple any force.

But the result was shocking: they declared failure, and two half-step emperor realm experts from the Hehuan Sect and the Murong family were beaten to death!

The Hehuan Sect and the Murong family suffered heavy losses. Each of them had at most three half-step emperor realm experts, and now two had fallen.

Several factions gathered, unsure of what to do. Some pointed fingers at the Qingyang Empire, the Thundercloud Sect, and the Meng family, which had not mobilized or participated, arousing suspicion.

The Demon Fall Land itself had some connection to Yang Tian; he was the only one who had entered it. And Yang Tian was on good terms with the three major forces, making them afraid to think further.

The entire Eastern Continent was in turmoil, causing other great families to sense that peace in the Eastern Continent would not last long. Moreover, people from other continents were secretly arriving, all searching for Yang Tian.

Some rumored that Yang Tian had not appeared for half a year and had been killed by heroes from other continents.

Inside the Ancestral Dragon Ring, another month passed. Yang Tian had been in seclusion for two years, and his divine soul cultivation had broken through to the mid-stage of Refining Power. Over the two years, Yang Tian periodically opened the furnace to refine pills. Now, he could easily refine some second-grade pills, and the success rate for third-grade pills was also very high.

But he had exhausted all his spiritual herbs; otherwise, his alchemy could have improved a bit more.

After more than two years without stepping out, Yang Xiao's divine soul body had recovered to nearly its former state. Little White had fallen asleep three times in a row, emitting a very terrifying aura. There was a loud drumming inside its body, consuming a large amount of Life Water. Four Dragon Beard Grasses had been cultivated, and Little White's physical body was now extremely formidable.

Above Yang Tian's river of blood and qi, the Tianshu Star was already brilliant. Of the hundreds of thousands of Star Pills, Yang Tian had devoured most of them. His physical body constantly overflowed with starlight, and his bones were nearly transforming into a starlight hue.

"Hoo..." He slowly opened his eyes, starlight dancing within. Yang Tian exhaled a breath of candlelight and slowly stood up. His entire spine was like a great dragon; as it twisted, it shattered the vacuum.

His mind focused on his body, Yang Tian sensed the Tianshu Star and couldn't help but smack his lips. This intensity was almost enough to trigger the medicinal power of the pills.

After moving around for a while, Yang Tian glanced around and then walked into the cave dwelling. The items inside were left by Yang Xiao; most had lost their essence, leaving only a very small amount of usable refining materials.

He pushed open the stone door of the alchemy room, and a wave of scorching heat rushed at him. The entire alchemy room was fiery red, the temperature inside extremely high, and the surrounding rocks were baked to a fiery color.

At the center of the alchemy room stood a fiery red furnace, a hundred zhang in size, wreathed in divine patterns, spewing blazing waves of fire.

This was a furnace Yang Xiao had once used, already at the Dao artifact level. After countless ages, the furnace showed no damage, and its quality had improved by a level.

Yang Tian pressed his palm on the furnace lid; as his qi force burst forth, he lifted the entire furnace lid, sending out myriad beams of firelight.

Inside the furnace was scorching hot; Yang Tian's whole body broke out in hot sweat. At this moment, his fiery gaze fixed on the interior, where a wisp of purple dan fire flickered, emitting a destructive aura.

At the center of this purple thunderbolt was a blazing flame, constantly devouring the surrounding fire. Within this furnace, a fire spirit had condensed, and its quality had reached the level of Profound Fire.