Boom!

The green-robed man’s hands exploded and he stared incredulously at Wang Shu.

“How is this possible?!” He’d already killed a third level mortal realm ant! Though sacred palace disciples had a plethora of tricks at their disciple, the gap between cultivation levels was an insurmountable one.

Six second level mortal realm ants had defeated him in a toe-to-toe collision?!

Toe-to-toe!

Without leaving him any room to maneuver!

Horrified realization dawned at what it truly meant to be a disciple of a sacred palace, but all was too late. There might’ve been some hope for him if he hadn’t brought out the great axe, but once he did, there was no chance of reconciliation between the two parties.

……

Wang Shu was losing his mind.

Jushan was a stunning genius of Burgeon Palace, a talent that the Burgeon monarch highly treasured even over Wang Shu. The two of them had made this trip together and were both second level mortal realm, but Jushan had broken through after entering the tomb and reached third level.

And now, he was dead!

The six pillars of light focused on Wang Shu’s body and created a wall around him that looked like flames. Lu Yun, Ying Luo, Li Xue, Wei Yuan, and You Huoran were one with the formation, supporting Wang Shu like his personal shadows.

This was the formation’s true display of strength—that it could collect all six powers and concentrate them on one person. Wang Shu’s longsword traced rainbows arcs through the void, stabbing forward with ten million rays of sword light in one move and churning the man’s body to pieces.

His anguished screams lingered in the air even as the great axe Chaser flew into Wang Shu’s hands. The genius fell to his knees, panting heavily.

“Dead… he’s really dead.” Wang Shu stared at the treasure, grief-stricken.

Jushan’s mental brand inside Chaser was proof that the treasure had an owner. That brand wouldn’t vanish if Jushan resurrected from a soul lamp upon his death, and a mere fourth level mortal realm cultivator wouldn’t be able to break the seal of the sacred palace.

However, all was empty inside Chaser. It was a treasure without an owner.

“Senior brother!!” Wang Shu couldn’t find the tears to cry, though he desperately wanted to.

“The dead have passed on. It’s more important that you’re alive.” Lu Yun disengaged from the formation and patted Wang Shu’s shoulder.

“Mm.” Wang Shu nodded.

“Didn’t you say that the testing ground rules allow only beings of the same cultivation level to be in the same spot? Why did we just encounter someone at fourth level mortal realm?” You Huoran was pale. If he hadn’t shared the formation with the rest, the six of them would be cannon fodder right now.

“This is the last stage, not only will we see others at fourth level mortal realm, but we’ll even see people at sixth level mortal realm.” Lu Yun swept a glance over You Huoran.

“Do you mean that… everyone in the mortal realm will come here?” Li Xue frowned slightly.

“Yes.” Lu Yun nodded. “Our path to this place has vanished, which means there’s more than one path that arrives here.”

This was a strange area that seemed boundless without end. There was no corpse qi, pungent stench, zombies, or ghouls. As they fought their way to the final stage, Lu Yun had run formula dao on some of the clues he’d found. Surprisingly, he’d actually found some answers!

This Tomb of Heaven and Earth stemmed from the mythological realm; whoever set it up had commanded power beyond belief. Lu Yun hadn’t thought that he’d be able to derive anything with his rudimentary grasp of formula dao and other arts.

“So what if even those of the sixth level come? With our formation, we may not lose even if we have to fight them!” Li Xue declared.

Though they were unable to reach their destination when they were assembled in formation, it also kept them safe from danger. In fact, being second level mortal realm was their best cover. Sometimes, playing the pig to eat the tiger could result in unexpected gains.

The rest of the group nodded in agreement and set off again. Wang Shu put his sorrow out of his mind and carefully stowed the great axe, following the others forward.

They began to see signs of other life as they moved on, signs of combat and struggle. Meanwhile, the killing intent in the air continued to intensify.

……

“I’ve sensed the presence of the Nirvana contingent... I don’t want to meet up with them,” Wei Yuan suddenly said.

“Eh?” The others blinked.

As a disciple of Nirvana Palace, Wei Yuan was abnormally sensitive to its energy. He was able to identify its power even when hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. But now, he didn’t want to encounter others of his faction.

Instead of asking questions, the group simply looked at Wei Yuan.

“Lu Yun is from the Inception Palace and he uses the combat arts of chaos dragons. Previously, a chaos dragon expert threw Chi Wuxia of the fire elemental land into the tomb. No one knows if he’s dead or alive, so my palace is treating anyone having to do with the chaos dragons as the enemy,” explained Wei Yuan as he looked at Lu Yun.

He’d also viewed Lu Yun as the enemy the first time they’d met. The hostility didn’t dissipate until Lu Yun enlightened him and sent him down the bloody path again.

“We should circle around them. If those of my palace see Lu Yun, they’ll certainly attack him,” Wei Yuan concluded.

“I think… we should really form an alliance, not just work together for this stage. A true alliance, one of life and death!” Li Xue suddenly proposed. “We’ll swear friendship to each other and we’ll still be allies even after we leave the tomb. The Thousand Obliteration Formation of the Six Royals will exist wherever we are!

“Legends of the Six Royals exist in the mythological realm and this formation probably has something to do with them. Let us be the new Six Royals! What do you guys think?” She looked at the rest of them after this rousing suggestion.

She would’ve never proposed this before, but when she saw that Wei Yuan wanted to avoid his own faction out of consideration for Lu Yun, she felt that this was the right moment.

“I’m in.” You Huoran was the first to agree. He’d found the formation in the tomb, but it was essentially useless. He wouldn’t receive any rewards for it after bringing it back to Opposition Palace. It was far better to find a group of like minded friends and form his own team.

“Yeah, yeah! I’ve been thinking about this for a while!” Ying Luo cheered.

There were no objections from the rest. The six had helped and supported each other on the way here, protecting each other’s backs down in the trenches. True friendship had formed long ago. If Li Xue hadn’t mentioned this, someone would’ve brought it up regardless.