Calamity of Tomorrow

Zhou Bai's eyes were fixed on Li Xiuzhu atop the mountain peak, where the once rich, grassland-like aura of heavenly favor that surrounded the other had vanished without a trace, replaced by a white fortune that made him seem like an ordinary person.

"Damn... Li Xiuzhu without his teal aura is completely lacking in presence. He's gone from a movie protagonist to just another face in the crowd."

Zhou Bai frowned as he watched Li Xiuzhu's figure, regretting that he hadn't taken advantage of the other's absence of teal aura to shave him bald before.

"What on earth has happened to Li Xiuzhu? Why has his teal aura disappeared?"

Christina, residing within Zhou Bai's sea of consciousness, watched Li Xiuzhu curiously and commented with a touch of strangeness, "The Li Xiuzhu now... for some reason, he feels somewhat familiar to me."

"Familiar?" Zhou Bai was puzzled, "We've seen him so many times, isn't it normal to feel familiar?"

"No, it's different," Christina furrowed her brows, as if trying to recall something yet unable to pin it down, "This sense of familiarity is older, more distant... He now gives me the impression that I've known him a long time ago."

Zhou Bai's eyes flashed with insight, "You're suggesting that this Li Xiuzhu might be an impostor?"

Christina was taken aback, "Huh? An impostor? Then who could he be?"

"I don't know, but in any case, we must communicate with him to figure out what's going on."

Thinking this, Zhou Bai had already decided to project his Primordial Spirit.

He instructed Christina, "Tina, you take over my body next. I'll project my Primordial Spirit to get closer and see if I can talk to him."

As he spoke, Zhou Bai's Primordial Spirit spread out from his sea of consciousness, along his body, burrowed into the ground beneath his feet, and left the location of the pagoda.

Lin Xiang saw Zhou Bai beside her body suddenly quiver, assuming the little monk from West Mountain City had been frightened by Li Xiuzhu's overwhelming Heavenly Demon might, and reassured him, "Don't worry, Qin Hao, that arena has some mysterious properties. No matter who fights on it, we won't be harmed."

Christina adapted to Zhou Bai's body and began by stretching expansively with a yawn, loosening her limbs.

Hearing what Lin Xiang had said, she turned to look with a sneer in her heart, "Hmph, a mere nobody, trying to strike up a conversation with Zhou Bai?"

When Lin Xiang caught Christina's glance, she felt a hint of... contempt?

She was bewildered, "Qin Hao looks down on me? Why would he look down on me? Am I imagining it?"

...

As Ming Yue the Immortal lightly touched down on the arena, brilliant beams of white light burst forth from it, lifting into the air and hovering.

At the same time, the arena stretched rapidly both in length and width, quickly transforming into a colossal fighting stage thousands of kilometers across.

This was the true form of the Heavenly Arena when warfare commenced, practically immovable and indestructible, providing a tremendous space for the combatants.

Meanwhile, Ming Yue the Immortal felt her body scanned by an invisible force, followed by the characters for "Qi Sea, Myriad Arms, Invisible Evil" emerging from her, which then slowly drifted into the air and disappeared.

This was a clone of her Daoist magic created by the Heavenly Arena.

Ming Yue, the Immortal, hailed from the already extinct great Daoist sect, Zhengyi Dao Palace, yet her studies didn't focus on the highest Daoist magic of the Zhengyi Dao Palace, the "Nine Heavens Demon Clearing Thunder Technique." Instead, she specialized in the "Qi Sea Aura Soldiers with Invisible Evil," a technique dedicated to condensing soldierly evil and crafting puppets.

Although this Daoist magic didn't hold the same status as the "Nine Heavens Demon Clearing Thunder Technique" within the Zhengyi Dao Palace, it was in no way less famous and represented the top method of soldierly evil condensation in the world.

"Indeed, it would clone my most powerful Daoist magic," Ming Yue thought, "Then this arena must have already cloned over two hundred martial arts or Daoist magics. However, the most formidable amongst them is ultimately my 'Qi Sea Aura Soldiers with Invisible Evil.'

Ming Yue then saw the Immortal's sleeves unfurl from her arms, and with the roar of a thousand arms, and the clash of golden spears and iron horses, waves of white Qi surged out, transforming into myriads of soldiers and horses.

The "Qi Sea Aura Soldiers with Invisible Evil" that Ming Yue practiced was a fusion of seven types of tangible and intangible calamities and disasters.

The soldierly evil that ultimately condensed not only possessed intelligence and could wield martial arts and artifacts but also harbored battle intent and disruptive Qi, designed specifically to break the Daoist magic of all sects in the world.

With a flutter of Ming Yue's long sleeves, her soldierly evil filled half of the arena, and some even flew above it, converging toward Li Xiuzhu.

After several days of probing, Ming Yue had also learned that the airspace up to ten thousand meters above the Heavenly Arena was also within the combat zone, a space that the combatants couldn't break through.

Gazing upon the overwhelming force of the soldierly evil army, Li Xiuzhu clenched the Blood Transformation Divine Sword in his hand and softly said, "Zhengyi Dao Palace's technique of soldierly evil is renowned across the world. Today, I shall experience it firsthand."

The next moment, Li Xiuzhu transformed into a radiance of blood-red light and charged straight into the vast army before him.

Li Xiuzhu's human ancestry had been entirely changed by the Primordial Yinglong Armor, but his Primordial Spirit and Immortal cultivation remained, even though they could no longer improve.

Although the path of the Immortal Dao was cut off, the way of demons and monsters had opened to him.

The Yinglong bloodline in his body greatly strengthened his physique, allowing him to wield massive strength with each punch and kick, as if he had the power to move mountains and overturn seas.

One could see that above the arena, the cries of battle echoed to the heavens. Thousands of soldierly evils each exhibited different martial arts, bombarding Li Xiuzhu with their attacks.

The weaker soldierly evils possessed the power of only four or five realms, while the strongest had the power of eight or nine realms. Together, they created a sky filled with fists and palm shadow assaults that struck from every direction.

Even more impressive, each of them possessed significant intelligence. With every move they performed, it was as if countless grandmasters of martial arts had descended.

Faced with this scene, Li Xiuzhu knew he couldn't compete one by one in martial arts against these soldierly evils.

Thus, the Blood Transformation Divine Sword in his hand suddenly burst forth with a blood-red blade light tens of meters long, enveloping his body.

Alone with his sword, wherever he passed, regardless of the moves or martial arts used against him, he would cut through with the most fierce power and the most violent speed. With a single slash, layers of soldierly evils were cleaved in two, turning into a sky of flesh and blood raining down from above.

But Ming Yue had cultivated for hundreds of years, and it was unknown just how many soldierly evils she had condensed; they seemed to be endless. For every soldierly evil that Li Xiuzhu slaughtered, ten more would surge forth.

And every time a soldierly evil was killed, the disruptive Qi inside them would erupt, dissolving the power of Li Xiuzhu's Primordial Spirit and the blade light of the Blood Transformation Divine Sword.

In an instant, the speed of Li Xiuzhu's advance diminished, and like a clay ox entering the sea, he became increasingly surrounded by more and more soldierly evils.