Chapter 717: Chapter 717: The Masterpiece Performance
Ethan stepped back past the outer doors and began testing the obsidian ring. He directed a small squad of skeletons to move, march, and halt. They obeyed instantly, their movements stiff but precise.
Crul was fascinated. [This is incredible, Master. They are not entirely soulless husks. With this ring, I can interface with them and control them like automated drones, as long as they remain within the radius of your spiritual sense.]
"Excellent," Ethan muttered. "Let’s prepare the stage."
He surveyed the frontline units he had selected for the trap: several bone giants, elite skeleton knights, and a few lesser liches, all radiating an aura superior to the Spirit Sea realm. Following Ethan’s mental commands, the monsters began violently smashing the stone walls and pillars, intentionally collapsing parts of the chamber to bury any remaining evidence of how Heidy had actually died.
Once the structural damage was done, Ethan sealed his newly advanced cultivation aura back down to his previous baseline. He turned and sprinted toward the surface at maximum speed. Behind him, the echoes of rhythmic impacts continued to shatter the tunnels.
The moment he broke through the main cave entrance into the valley, he saw the Invictus battleships hovering in strict battle formations, their cannons primed. Ethan didn’t slow down; he stumbled forward toward the command deck, his face twisted in a look of simulated terror.
The Vice Sect Leader flew down from the flagship, landing hard on the grass. "What is happening down there?!"
"Elder Heidy!" Ethan gasped, his voice cracking with masterful desperation as he pointed back toward the dark abyss. "Help her! She is surrounded! There are far too many of them! Go, now...!"
The Vice Leader saw the sheer panic in Ethan’s eyes and hesitated for a second before roaring, "Forward!"
He threw himself toward the cave entrance, with General Boros and the second general charging directly behind him. But just as they reached the perimeter of the cavern mouth, a massive, necrotic explosion erupted from the depths, forcing the three powerful cultivators to violently recoil through the air.
A gut-wrenching roar ripped through the valley as thousands of screaming zombies and armored skeletons poured out of the mountain. The battlefield instantly dissolved into chaos. Up in the sky, the Invictus ships opened fire, unleashing a barrage of concentrated spiritual energy.
However, one of the massive skeleton generals stepped into the vanguard. With a casual wave of its giant bone blade, it shattered the descending energy blasts into harmless sparks. The ship’s artillery lacked the destructive capacity to neutralize a creature at the peak of the Spirit Sea realm.
The valley quickly became a slaughterhouse.
"Form the vanguard ranks! Do not let them advance!" the Vice Sect Leader roared, his voice cracking under the strain as his sword aura cut down a dozen zombies. But for every corpse he shattered, three more crawled out of the dark fissure, their teeth tearing into the flesh of the front-line cultivators.
Screams of agony filled the air. Elite disciples were dragged into the dark tide, their protective barriers popping like glass before they were ripped apart. The smell of copper and rotting meat grew suffocating. Realizing the extreme severity of the crisis, the Vice Sect Leader fired three blood-red emergency flares into the sky, sending urgent distress signals back to the main headquarters.
"Retreat to the secondary line!" a commander screamed just before a bone giant stepped on him, crushing his torso into a pulp.
Within hours, massive reinforcements mobilized across the region. Heavily armored battalions, elite elders, and dozens of war vessels converged on the valley. The sky darkened with incoming ships, but the ground remained a meat grinder. The lesser liches unleashed waves of corrosive green fire, melting through the armor of the arriving reinforcement soldiers.
Standing atop the bow of the primary flagship was the supreme leader of the faction—the young woman whose piercing eyes contained diagonally divided pupils. She looked down at the blood bath, her expression cold as she unsheathed a slender blade, preparing to dive into the chaos.
She leaped from the flagship, her movement a blur as she descended into the chaotic fray.
Below her, the Vice Sect Leader was fighting at maximum capacity against an elite skeleton knight, his spiritual energy exploding with every clash, yet he was unable to defeat it. Nearby, the two generals were barely keeping a lesser lich at bay, while a towering bone giant swept its massive club across the field, obliterating entire squads of disciples.
"Where is the medic?!" she yelled, her voice cutting through the din of battle.
"He is on the main flagship!" the Vice Sect Leader shouted back, parrying a heavy blow. "We made sure he was protected!"
"Everyone, retreat!" she commanded, her aura erupting to cover their withdrawal.
The moment the generals turned to execute the retreat order, the lesser lich extended its skeletal hand, unleashing a stream of dark, corrosive curse energy. General Henry managed to twist his body, narrowly dodging the black bolt, but Boros was a fraction of a second too slow.
The curse slammed directly into his shoulder. He screamed in agony as his armor and flesh instantly dissolved, the dark energy eating through his bone like concentrated acid.
Annie’s eyes flashed with rage as Boros’s agonizing scream tore through the battlefield. Her unique pupils spun rapidly, and a massive spiritual manifestation erupted behind her.
If Heidy’s crane had seemed like a faint, barely visible illusion, Annie’s manifestation appeared entirely physical, a colossal, majestic crane that stretched its wings until it almost blocked out the sun.
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From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.
Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.
Body Refinement Realm
Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement
Spiritual Gathering Realm
Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation
Spiritual Core Realm
Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)
Spiritual Soul Realm
Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion
Golden Core Realm
Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction
Spiritual Sea Realm
The Melting Tide / The Tidal Horizon / The Sea Mist Ascension
Dao Manifestation Realm
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
Spiritual Transcendence
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
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Sword mastery levels
Sword Intent.
Sword Aura.
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