Chapter 48: The Three Major Factions Arrive at the Doorstep

The testing continued.

"Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!"

Six consecutive bell chimes echoed through the valley. A full thirty-seven people had rung the bell six times!

While these disciples lacked the earth-shattering, peerless talents of Lin Wan'er and Qin Feng, each possessed their own specialized expertise.

When some pressed their palms against the body of the bell, an earthy-yellow halo flickered, revealing formidable body-refining aptitude; when others triggered the bell chimes, they carried the fresh fragrance of vegetation, clearly showing an exceptionally high affinity for spiritual flora.

"Zhang Lei, enter the outer sect, granted ten Body-Refining Pills and an incomplete scroll of the *Vajra Indestructible Art*!"

"Li Miao, enter the outer sect, rewarded with one mu of tier-two spiritual soil and the *Flora Heart Sutra*!"

…………

Ye Chentian's voice was neither hurried nor slow, bestowing rewards according to each individual's unique traits.

"I never imagined that a single round of disciple recruitment would yield so many fine talents! The Profound Heaven Sect is truly about to soar to the skies!"

"Ringing the bell six times would make anyone a key seed disciple in any sect, yet here they've recruited thirty-seven at once! Sect Master Ye certainly possesses extraordinary boldness!"

Discussions buzzed endlessly among the crowd, while those thirty-seven new disciples suppressed their excitement, standing neatly beside Qin Feng and Lin Wan'er. Although slightly restrained, their eyes flickered with a longing for the future.

Ye Chentian's gaze swept across these vibrant faces, then glanced briefly at the gradually dispersing dark clouds in the sky, his fingertips tapping gently on the armrest: "Recruitment is concluded. Xiao Yi, take the new disciples to complete their sect admission procedures and distribute the rewards."

"Understood, Master!" Xiao Yi stepped forward and said in a clear voice, "New disciples, follow me!"

The thirty-seven new disciples responded in unison, crowding around Lin Wan'er and Qin Feng as they followed closely behind. Although their backs were youthful, they exuded the sharp, unyielding spirit of newborn calves.

At that exact moment, the firmament was abruptly torn apart by three banks of dark clouds!

The thunder-patterned dark robes of the Myriad Thunder Valley were wrapped in raging purple lightning; the bloody Gu banners of the Nether Gu Palace flaunted billowing poison mists; and the frosty sword shadows of the Azure Peak Sword Sect carried a bone-chilling air capable of splitting the void.

Three heaven-destroying pressures, carrying an overwhelming momentum that crushed everything in their path, bore down directly upon Ye Chentian.

Yet to Ye Chentian, these pressures were like mud cows entering the sea, failing to affect him in the slightest.

"Ye Chentian! Get out here and pay with your life!"

Lei Xiaotian's furious roar exploded, laced with Purple Firmament Divine Thunder.

"My son Jingxian died within the Immortal-Sinking Secret Realm. Ye Chentian, even if you possess heaven-defying abilities, could you possibly withstand the entire might of my Myriad Thunder Valley coming forth in full force? Today, I will utterly obliterate your soul and body to appease the pain of losing my son!"

"Hehehehehe..." "Your disciple Xiao Yi of the Profound Heaven Sect killed my daughter Qianrou. This deity will strip your skin and refine you into living Gu, making you taste the agony of a myriad ants devouring your heart for all eternity!"

Yin Mei's bone fan fluttered out thousands of threads of green silk Gu, and the Gu insects within the black fog wove a poison net that blotted out the sky, hissing in a way that made one's scalp tingle.

"Qinghan! As your master, I am resolved to avenge you! How can the century-old reputation of the Azure Peak Sword Sect be trampled upon by an unknown, humble sect? Ye Chentian, even if you possess heaven-reaching methods, can you contend with the foundational heritage of three major powers?"

Xie Xuan's Azure Underworld Sword buzzed as it violently expanded a thousand zhang, the frost along its spine freezing the air with cracking sounds.

The newly arrived disciples were pressed so hard by this overwhelming pressure that they could barely breathe, and only Xiao Yi and the other two managed to barely hold on by relying on their cultivation techniques.

Three Void-Integration Ninth-Layer masters took the lead, followed by hundreds of Integration-Realm elders. The dense crowd filled the entire mountain col!

The observing cultivators were scared out of their wits, scrambling and tumbling as they fled down the mountain.

"Goodness gracious! Is this array meant to signal the collapse of the heavens? The elites of all three major powers have come out in full force. Forget one Profound Heaven Sect, even ten would be ground into fine powder! Sect Master Ye is likely doomed this time!"

"Goodness gracious! These are the three major powers of the Great Qian Dynasty mobilizing in full force simultaneously! They are going to grind the Profound Heaven Sect into dust!"

"It's over, it's over! No matter how powerful Sect Master Ye is, can he withstand three Void-Integration Ninth-Layer masters plus hundreds of Integration-Realm experts?"

"I just wanted to latch onto the Profound Heaven Sect's coattails, and now it's collapsing! Had I known, I wouldn't have come to join the excitement. Being caught in the fallout means not even having a chance at reincarnation!"

"Run! Run quickly! If we get swept by the shockwave later, not even our ashes will remain!"

"A bunch of clowns, and you dare act presumptuously before this deity? Just in time to use this to establish some rules. Void Integration Ninth Layer? How are you any different from ants in my eyes?"

The gaze Ye Chentian cast upon them from the high platform was as indifferent as if looking at mere ants.

"Since I just took on disciples today, I shall use your blood to teach these new disciples a lesson."

"Arrogant! How dare you still utter such wild words before the three of us who are Void-Integration masters? Go to hell!"

Lei Xiaotian was the first to fly into a rage, slamming his palms together before pushing them outward. Dense, purple-golden lightning snakes instantly surged across his palms.

"Ye Chentian! Do you truly believe you can overturn the heavens? This Purple Firmament World-Extinguishing Thunder forces even Divine-Transformation realms to temporarily avoid its edge; today, I will blast you into charred cinders!"

"Purple Firmament World-Extinguishing Thunder! Shatter this wretched peak for me!"

Ten thousand lightning snakes intertwined in mid-air into a violent sea of thunder.

Where the lightning arcs landed, the mountain rocks directly exploded into charred fragments, and even the air was split with crackling sounds, as if the entire heaven and earth were about to be torn apart by this thunder.

"Ye Chentian! No matter how high your cultivation is, can you withstand my Myriad Gu Soul-Devouring? These Gu insects have been refined for a century using a hundred types of poisonous creatures; the moment you touch even a shred, your soul and body will be obliterated!"

"Myriad Gu Soul-Devouring!"

Seeing this, Yin Mei violently tossed her bone fan into the air. The fan's surface instantly expanded a hundredfold, and countless blood-red Gu insects poured out from it, every single one bearing hooked fangs.

The Gu insects instantly formed a massive black-red net canopy, sweeping toward the disciples of the Profound Heaven Sect. The canopy turned into a corrosive poisonous mist, eating dense holes right into the bluestone of the ground.

Xie Xuan gripped his sword with both hands, the tip pointing obliquely at the ground. The freezing aura around him surged violently, and three feet of ice crystals condensed along the length of his sword.

"The Azure Peak Mountain-Cleaving Slash is our sect's closely guarded secret technique; a single sword can sever a mountain! Ye Chentian, today I will use your head to sacrifice to Qinghan!"

"Azure Peak Mountain-Cleaving Slash!"

Accompanied by Xie Xuan's low shout, the ice-crystal long sword fiercely swept out an arc, and an ice-blue sword qi a thousand zhang long broke through the air.

Ancient trees along the path were instantly frozen into ice sculptures before shattering inch by inch, carrying the momentum to sever the mountain range at its waist as it lunged straight at Ye Chentian.

Three lethal ultimate techniques tore through the firmament. Amidst the collapsing mountains and shattering stones, everyone was so terrified their legs trembled, scrambling and crawling as they fled into the distance, terrified of being caught in the fallout of this heaven-destroying clash.

Some cowardly cultivators collapsed directly onto the ground, their complexions as pale as paper, continuously muttering, "It's over, it's completely over now";

Those with slightly higher cultivation could only focus on circulating their spiritual energy to protect themselves, their eyes filled with panic and despair, completely devoid of their earlier composure.

At this moment, Xiao Yi beside Ye Chentian activated his Heaven-Incinerating Battle Physique, driving the Heaven-Incinerating Imperial Flame to its absolute limit, only to have Ye Chentian press a hand down on his shoulder.

That palm looked gentle, yet it carried an irresistible force that instantly calmed the churning spiritual energy within his body.

"You all step back and watch as Master annihilates them."

Ye Chentian's voice was calm and waveless, as if the world-destroying ultimate moves before him were mere child's play.