Chapter 566: In other words, the greater the boost in strength, the smaller the gain.
Ding!
The sword slash harmlessly scrapes against the chain, leaving no scratch at all. The pitch-black chains still drag the Divine Monarch cultivator toward the Immortal Fire’s divine consciousness.
Bai Feng, seeing this, immediately turned to Zuo Qiu and barked, “Don’t cut the chains! Cut the person!”
They weren’t trying to rescue these Celestial, but rather prevent the divine consciousness from swiping the divine Monarch cultivators’ spiritual power. Why bother wasting effort smashing an indestructible chain? Just eliminate the troublemaker directly.
“Yes, Young Master!”
Zuo Qiu nodded, then unleashed a blaze of fire aimed straight at the cultivator at the end of the chain.
In normal circumstances, even if a cultivator in the Great Ascension period had Spirit Power to shield themselves, a brief fusion with Immortal Fire wouldn’t be enough to k*ll a Great Ascension cultivator. But these chained Great Ascension cultivators had all lost their ability to fight back—no Spirit Power, no shouting, no cursing. They were as helpless as newborn chicks.
Because of that, when Zuo Qiu’s attack came, the Divine Monarch’s Great Ascension cultivator could only watch as flames engulfed him, burning his body and the demonic energy inside him.
Hearing this, everyone from the Holy Land also changed tactics—they swung their swords and knives at the end of the chains, chopping away without a second thought.
“Insufferable!”
The divine consciousness of the Immortal instantly released even more demonic energy and chains to stop the Holy Land’s cultivators from taking out the divine Monarch cultivators early.
But the three Tribulation-stage celestial artifacts nearby wouldn’t just idly watch. Controlling divine artifacts, they forcibly suppressed the divine consciousness. The unwell divine consciousness had to divert most of its strength to resist the Tribulation cultivators, only dispatching a tiny fraction to protect the chained divine Monarch cultivators.
“This scene feels kinda funny,” Bai Feng muttered under his breath. Before, the divine consciousness should’ve been trying to k*ll and consume those divine Monarch cultivators. Now, it’s so busy protecting them that it’s all upside down. Whether those controlled divine Monarchs are happy or scared? Hard to tell.
“No, he’s probably stalling,” Tian Yan shook his head. “Those chained cultivators are getting weaker, their demonic energy and Spirit Power inside them are being drained and devoured by the chains.”
“That’s right,” Yun Yue Yao nodded. “It looks like the divine person absorbs the divine Monarch cultivators’ Spirit Power and gets stronger, but that also weakens the divine Monarchs, making them d*e even faster. So the more their strength increases, the less they grow—small gains, tiny increments, you get the drill.”
“…Very well said. Don’t say more next time,” Bai Feng half-smirked. Yun Yue Yao really had picked up some weird knowledge from him.
After inwardly grumbling for a bit, Bai Feng looked at the dwindling number of divine Monarch cultivators and shook his head lightly: “Wasn’t expecting the divine Monarchs to fall prey to their own people.”
The divine Monarchs had been hunted by the Holy Land for so many years, only to d*e in the hands of their own celestial; or perhaps the immortals created the divine Monarchs just for this purpose. From the mark on their bodies since stepping into the divine Monarch’s realm, they were probably just sacrificial bait for the immortals.
Plus, the divine Monarchs’ swift reactions seemed suspicious. The Black Lotus leaders and other high-ups? Not to mention the scarce Great Ascension cultivators—they all rushed over, which hints that maybe the divine consciousness of the immortals was intentionally orchestrating this.
At this moment, the divine consciousness, having regained some strength, lowered his head and muttered, “Not enough.”
He slowly raised his head, fixating on the divine Monarch cultivator he’d deliberately spared—the remaining three high-level divine Monarchs.
Jin Shi was the first to sense danger. As he retreated, suddenly three chains appeared out of nowhere. Two pierced the hearts of the other two escaping divine Monarch leaders, clutching their magical energies, while the third shot past harmlessly.
Instead of dragging away their corpses, the chains pulled back swiftly with the hearts that contained most of their demonic energy—layered in layers of demonic aura—shrinking into his hand. Though everyone responded quickly, their small hearts, covered in magical layers, were difficult to destroy. Even with Immortal Fire, only a single layer of demonic aura could be burned away in this short span.
“Huff…”
The divine consciousness let out a satisfied sound. After consuming the two hearts, his strength was subtly enhanced again.
He lifted his hand—seemingly containing terrifying power—and slapped the three Tribulation-stage cultivators flying.
But he didn’t pursue the retreating Jin Shi. Instead, he looked at the surviving Jin Shi with a faint smile: “Congratulations, Crow Immortal, for regaining some strength.”
“Haha,” Crow Immortal chuckled. “I feel I can recover even more. Want to give me another round of applause?”
Jin Shi’s smile wavered slightly. He hurriedly nodded, “Then I’ll summon all remaining divine Monarch cultivators!”
“Eh, no need to bother. Look—here’s a living divine Monarch cultivator,” Crow Immortal’s head, formed from demonic energy and shadow, slowly cracked open a grin like a smiling mouth.
Jin Shi’s smile faltered. He quickly shook his head, “Crow Immortal, if I were still around, I could gather the remaining divine Monarch cultivators and send at least a hundred geniuses each year! I’d be more useful alive than dead!”
“Next time I get hungry, I’ll just grab you and eat you,” Crow Immortal said with a grin. “You think I don’t know the current cultivation world has no immortals anymore?”
He chuckled again. “Don’t overestimate yourself. There are plenty of cultivators out there. I only need a few to add to my power when the time comes. Right now, your main task is to join others and become part of my strength—help me return.”
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Jin Shi clenched his fists slowly. “I think Crow Immortal should reconsider.”
“So, you’re not willing?”
Crow Immortal’s cold voice sounded in his ear. In the next moment, without a moment’s hesitation, Jin Shi backed away.
Like Black Lotus and all the other high-level leaders among the divine Monarchs, he harbored dark schemes, but unlike Black Lotus and others, he had found a way to break the mark inside him and had been suppressing it ever since—preventing its activation. That way, Crow Immortal couldn’t control him through the mark…
Suddenly, Jin Shi felt his body malfunction. His eyes widened as he saw the mark he’d been suppressing turn into fragments and spread over his entire body. He could only watch helplessly as chains shot through his chest.
“W-why?”
“Fool. You really thought your pathetic skills could suppress the divine Monarch’s mark?” Crow Immortal sneered. It seemed the immortals had been gone so long that these cultivators had forgotten the power of true immortals.
In the next instant, Jin Shi’s heart flew out of his chest, landing in his hand.
Looking at the heart with a flicker of excitement even for an immortal, he knew: they built the divine Monarchs for today. Even if the Holy Land interrupted prematurely and woke him early, even if most divine Monarch cultivators had been devoured and their strength hadn’t fully recovered, it was enough to face this declining cultivation world.
He slowly brought the heart to his mouth and swallowed it whole.
After swallowing, his aura surged stronger, and his demonic-formed body became clearer—not just a faceless humanoid.
“Huff…”
He—she—stretched her beautifully contoured body, black eyes gleaming, and a faint smile appeared. “What’s the matter? Are you all too scared to make a move?”
“No, I was just making some preparations while you were eating,” Bai Feng’s voice came from behind her. She slowly turned around, but her smile instantly froze.
She stared fixedly at Bai Feng, her voice leaking from clenched teeth: “Zhu Xian Sword Array?”
