Imperial God Emperor

In the Void ahead he suddenly discovered that an extremely strange power had appeared. The air became thick like never before, as if the party had fallen into a swamp and their speed of advance was being stifled.

Upon close inspection, he further discovered that faint silver ripples undulated all around the Void. Despite looking as fine as gauze, they were replete with surging ancient power.

This was a formation.

Formational power?!

He activated the [Cloud Top Cauldron] to withstand the murderous spirit, before defiantly forcing his way into and out of the formation.

This blockade was enough to slow down the entire party.

"Dammit, what's going on? How could this Void contain such a formation?!" Sheng Yan yelled. Seeing that the Doors of Life in the distance were about to close, he was so frightened that his voice changed and every piece of fat on his body shuddered.

As Ye Qingyu and the Celestial Phoenix Maiden exchanged glances, both saw the shock and anger in each other's eyes.

However, the strange occurrence was not yet over.

Less than a hundred meters after they charged out of the formation, a similar formation appeared in front of them. The Void was stagnant and silted out, and thus reduced their speed of advance once again.

Shouting while wildly activating his [Cloud Top Cauldron], Ye Qingyu continued to charge forth.

He made another dash-through.

After that, yet another silted-up blockading formation appeared.

Seeing these repeatedly-appearing formations, Ye Qingyu immediately realized that they were not accidental occurrences but blockades deliberately left behind by someone to obstruct others from escaping.

Raging, he persistently activated his [Cloud Top Cauldron] and wildly rammed his way through the formations. This was the only possible method at this time.

Although these scattered formations could not truly prevent the party's advance, they nevertheless curtailed the party's speed.

At such a critical time, even a moment's delay brought them one step closer to death.

"It must be that bitch... I'll absolutely slay the Four Stars Sect if I'm able to get out." The Little Princess of the Black Demon Race, who had not spoken a word, suddenly cursed in a chilly voice which disclosed not only a hint of hatred but also an undisguisedly-terrifying murderous spirit.

Taken aback, Ye Qingyu suddenly understood what she meant.

He carefully felt the aura that was surging in the formation.

Indeed, he could feel an extremely familiar aura among the densely-packed formations.

The Four Stars holy girl!

She set up these formations while making her way out.

"Dammit... this vicious woman... is determined to prevent our escape!"

He could not help cursing.

To one side, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's eyes became somber for the first time as she revealed a sulk, "She isn't targeting just us, and wants everyone else to die here as well... She must have planned this from the start. I've fought against her several times, and know for sure that beneath her holy façade is a mind of malicious thoughts and unscrupulous tactics."

"Brother... what should we do now..." Sheng Yan put on a weeping face and seemed completely bereft of all sense of propriety.

"What else can we do but charge! This is the time to see how tough our lives are," Ye Qingyu shouted as he stimulated the [Cloud Top Cauldron] and charged frenziedly toward the Doors of Life in the distance.

Speed.

Time.

These two factors would ultimately decide the fate of Ye Qingyu’s group.

All they could do was to try their best and leave the rest up to Heaven.

Taowu Mountain Range.

Fierce Beast Peak.

Outside the Doors of Life.

Like a billowy sea, the surging Black Demon qi continuously eddied in the sky. The entire place remained as dark as thick ink. Six enormous demon qi-formed whirlpools spun gently like black holes in the vast cosmos. These were none other than the six widely-opened Doors of Life.

Several thousand experts were already gathered on the Fierce Beast Peak.

Apart from the guardian Saints of the five super large sects who had barely moved from this place over these three days and occupied the most prominent positions, there was, on the ridges a short distance away from the Doors of Life, also a distribution of other fairly-renowned sects and forces from the myriad domains, as well as spectating experts who had come from the Black Demon Pool to watch the fun.

They took up different positions around the Fierce Beast Peak and surrounded it.

The smell of blood still pervaded the Taowu Mountain Range, on which killings happened every now and then.

However, it was somewhat calmer compared to three days ago when the Doors of Life had not opened. After all, the experts of different origins who eventually arrived here each possessed a considerable strength and were not easy to meddle with. Hence, there was a relative balance and peace among them.

Black Demon qi lingered in mid-air.

The yuan qi splendor of the pinnacle experts suffused throughout in a variegated manner, resembling layers of colored clouds. The confrontations among them formed a piercingly-cold and oppressive force field which strangled one's heart.

Time had flown by.

The three-day period was about to end.

Regardless of their sect, status, or strength, every one of these thousands of experts looked tense and impatient. Their gazes were fixed watching the black whirlpools that were slowly spinning in the Void. As time passed, more and more experts from other districts of the Black Demon Pool came to spectate.

"Has anyone come out yet?"

"No. Perhaps there are so many opportunities in there that remain to be picked up... hahaha... But the fact that no one has come out could also mean... some unfortunate events have taken place. This is, after all, the eighteenth district of the Black Demon Pool, where even Quasi-emperors have met their doom."

"Could they all have died in there..."

"That can't be... Wasn't it said that it won't be dangerous in there while the Doors of Life are wide open..."

"Those people are the new batch of Heaven's pridelings of the myriad domains, which will be in for a massive shake-up if they all die in there."

"Whether they come out or not, there'll be a significant change in the situation of this upper domain..."

The discussions were plentiful.

Suddenly, a strange phenomenon arose in the Void.

Under the watch of the crowds, the six Doors of Life dimmed in unison.

All of the Black Demon qi, which resembled starry halos, once more gathered like cyclones around the outsides of these Doors of Life. They shrank and expanded with a certain frequency and at a visible speed. In the midst of the whirlpools, which brought to mind the pupils of a dark ancient demon, wisps of silver splendor began to flicker endlessly.

"The Doors of Life are about to close!" The eyes of the Black Demon guardian elder gleamed as he spoke in the heaviest of tones.

Despite his cultivation and status, he, too, grew somewhat impatient at this time.

Until now, not one of the Heaven's pridelings from the various super forces, nor any of the provisional guards who claimed an entry spot, have made their way out from within. Could an accident have really happened in there?

Everyone, be it the spectating experts or the various sect masters and disciples, appeared nervous like never before. Holding their breaths and focusing their attentions, they each barely moved an inch.

Even the guardian Saints of the super forces and the elders of the Black Demon Race waited with bated breath and wore grave expressions on their faces.

To the relatively second-rate large sects, particularly those who had clinched spots to enter the 18th district, those experts who had entered the Doors of Life as the guards of the Heaven's pridelings were considered pillar-like beings in the various sects and forces. If they truly perished within, these sects would be left without a leader and become devoid of vigor. The sects' future prestige and status would certainly be hardest hit.

Meanwhile, the Heaven's pridelings from the super forces who entered the Doors of Life were each a successor of a top-level large sect which expended many years of effort to choose and develop them. If they came to an untimely end, the losses to their sects would be disastrous.

As signs of the Doors of Life closing emerged, the atmosphere on the Fierce Beast Peak suddenly became tenser than ever.

Just then...

"Look at that Door in the middle... something's happening!"

An exclamation was suddenly heard from among the crowd of spectating experts.

Everyone was shocked.

Every pair of eyes immediately converged on the middlemost Door of Life.

A splendor flickered.

A beam of flowing light appeared from the depths of the Door of Life and gradually became clearer and clearer.

Swish!

The flowing light charged out.

In the Void, a skinny young man, who wore baggy black robes and whose red and yellow long hair flipped in the wind, bolted frenziedly out of a Door of Life. It was none other than the Young Lord of Sinful Pit.

"Master!"

When the Sinful Pit guardian Xie Liu, an equally-skinny Saint on whom a blood-red splendor circulated, saw this, he became overjoyed at once and his hanging heart could finally return to his chest.

Countless eye beams fell upon the Young Lord of the Sinful Pit.

"Go!"

Without studying his surroundings or greeting the people around him, he gave a loud shout as soon as he appeared and turned into a beam of red flowing light before charging at the periphery of the Fierce Beast Peak with the intent of leaving this place at once.

On the Fierce Beast Peak, two clouds of red mist quickly turned into flares and followed closely behind the flowing light as it charged into the Void. They were none other than the guardian Saint of Sinful Pit and another expert, both of whom were protecting the Young Lord.

For a time, nobody understood what was going on.

They did not know why the Young Lord of Sinful Pit was so eager to leave this place as soon as he exited the door.

Right at this moment, loud shouts were heard from below.

"Young Lord, what happened to my sect master?"

"Is the master of the Green Cloud Path alright?"

The experts of the Green Cloud Path and the Apocalyptic Sect raised their questions loudly with extreme nervousness. The masters of these two large forces had followed the Young Lord of Sinful Pit into the Doors of Life. Hence, when they did not emerge from the Doors of Life together with the latter, their sect's experts were bound to feel worried.

"What's the situation in there like?"

"Where are the others?"

The Saints of the Four Stars Sect and the Meteor Sky Sect were also unable to keep their cool and thus enquired urgently. Their voices gushed toward the Young Lord of the Sinful Pit like oceanic tides.

However, the Young Lord ignored them completely as he broke through the Void with thunderous force.

The Sinful Pit experts followed closely behind.

The flowing light formed from the trio instantly zipped into the sky several thousand kilometers away from the Fierce Beast Peak and looked to be on the verge of disappearing above Taowu Mountain Range.

Suddenly, a strange change occurred.

Billows of Black Demon qi suddenly boiled in the sky as a hard-to-describe and frightening power appeared without warning and rolled toward the three beams of flowing light. A majestic force spread across the entire Taowu Mountain Range, causing all of the experts within to feel a bout of oppression and involuntarily exert their powerful yuan qi.

A demonic wave surged.

A giant palm of demonic aura tore through the Void and reached out from the seething Black Demon qi at a seemingly-slow-yet-actually-fast speed. Covering the sky and the sun, it extended its pressure toward the three beams of flowing light.

"What's going on!"

"Someone is pulling a sneak attack on the Sinful Pit's men!"

Several people cried out in astonishment.

Countless pairs of eyes stared fixedly at the firmament in the distance.