Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Streaks of blackish-green light shot into the sky.

Those who were unaware of the truth might have thought that the Graveyard Spirits were the ones behind this phenomenon.

However, Su Chen knew that this actually meant that the hidden Astrals were finally making their move.

The Astrals were proficient in not only consciousness enslavement techniques, but also Arcana Techniques. After realizing that their consciousness techniques were, by and large all useless against the Boundless Sect, they had finally changed tactics.

These blackish-green streaks of light were pure Arcana Techniques — Reverse Shooting Stars.

It was a Seventh-Ring Arcana Technique with powerful corrosive properties. Though the technique was originally meant to be used against a single target, casting thousands of them at once made it suitable for use against a large group of enemies.

The Astrals had also chosen an extremely appropriate Arcana Technique to use in this situation. The Reverse Shooting Stars were powerful not necessarily just because of their killing power, but also because of their ability to easily eat through any defensive barriers. This was extremely effective against the Boundless Sect, whose primary form of defense was barriers.

When Su Chen saw the Reverse Shooting Stars soaring through the sky, he harrumphed and jabbed out with his finger. A spatial fluctuation appeared in the sky.

Boom!

A violent wave of spatial energy burst in the bath of the Reverse Shooting Stars, immediately destroying almost 90% of them.

This spatial fluctuation was incredibly powerful, as evidenced by the fact that Su Chen had managed to single-handedly nullify most of the attacks of a few thousand Astrals. Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw this.

The Boundless Sect’s disciples all cheered joyously. “The Sect Master’s strength is peerless!”

Su Chen, however, sighed as he glanced at the jade slip in his hand that had lost its luster. “What a pity. There goes another one of my spatial consumables.”

Zhu Xianyao chuckled, “Don’t be so anxious, my husband. We have plenty of them with us.”

But Su Chen continued to sigh lamentably. “Our treasury is not limitless. If we aren’t frugal enough with our expenditures, we will soon find ourselves bankrupt.”

As he spoke, the soldiers in the sky and the soldiers on the ground began another round of exchanges.

The Beasts and the subservient races charged forward at this moment, linking up with the gargantuan Graveyard Spirit to face off against the Boundless Sect.

This was the second time that the Boundless Sect was directly facing off against the Astrals’ forces since entering Gloom Kingdom, but this time, the opponent was much stronger.

At Specter’s Garden, the Astrals were actually trying to lead them into a trap, so that frontal fight had actually just been a front. At Reaper’s Temple, however, the Astrals were taking the fight seriously for the first time.

The Astrals were relying on the gargantuan Graveyard Spirit to pose a sizeable threat. Put plainly, they were using this giant meatshield as cover while unleashing their own attacks from the back lines.

The Astrals’ ability to unleash Arcana Techniques in rapid succession was truly quite shocking.

These Astrals had all been alive for an astoundingly long period of time. Thus, their Origin Energy reserves were incredibly vast, and any low-tier Astral was capable of casually unleashing Fourth and Fifth-Ring Arcana Techniques, while high-tier Astrals could unleash Eighth-Ring Arcana Techniques and above. Currently, the Boundless Sect was the only army strong enough to compete with the Astrals in this regard.

As the race with the highest proportion of powerful warriors, the Astrals were truly unlucky to be suppressed so heavily by the humans. Because of their vastly inferior numbers, even their strength advantage had slipped away, dooming them to a fate of defeat.

The gargantuan Graveyard Spirit was still howling and roaring indignantly. It continued to charge forwards recklessly like an unkillable beast. Even Gu Qingluo’s Shining Dragon Bloodline was being suppressed by it.

But even though it was strong, it couldn’t break through the Boundless Sect’s formation. The Boundless Sect was now committing twenty thousand soldiers to withstand its onslaught. With double the numbers compared to before, they were able to easily nullify the gargantuan Graveyard Spirit’s attacks while the others slaughtered the Beasts and the subservient races.

Even though the Astral forces seemed to be almost overwhelming in number, the Boundless Sect still actually held the initiative.

As if they had also realized this, a fluctuation of energy suddenly burst forth from the center of the city.

A strange consciousness fluctuation permeated the atmosphere. Strangely enough, it was tinged with sorrow and desolation. Even Li Chongshan and the others felt a wave of melancholy wash over them.

“So they’re finally pulling out the big guns?” Su Chen harrumphed coldly.

He hadn’t believed for a second that the gargantuan Graveyard Spirit and the Astral encirclement were the Astrals’ final trump cards. Since the Astrals dared to fight against them head-on, they definitely had an even stronger crutch to rely on.

After that mournful consciousness cry echoes throughout the battlefield, the Astrals began to fly through the air and towards the giant Graveyard Spirit.

They flew extremely slowly, as if they were merely out to do some errands.

Su Chen frowned as he felt an ominous portent from their movements. “Stop them!”

Gu Qingluo unfurled her sleeves. A blazing ray of intense light shone forth, simultaneously encompassing both the gargantuan Graveyard Spirit and the Astrals.

This was the Breath of the Shining Dragon. The real Shining Dragon had wiped out entire branches of the Arcana Empire’s army with a single breath in the past. Even though Gu Qingluo was not quite at that level yet, even the one-thousandth of that strength that she could tap into was frightening enough.

Even so, when this ray of light appeared, the Astrals’ bodies suddenly shimmered as they transformed into streaks of light that instantly shot forwards, piercing into the gargantuan abomination’s body.

The giant’s body suddenly began to emit a brilliant red light.

Gu Qingluo’s Shining Dragon Bloodline attack had also slammed into the giant’s upper body. Under normal circumstances, her attack should have been able to completely destroy the giant’s upper half.

Even so, as the red wave of light shined in all directions, the Shining Dragon’s breath disappeared without a trace.

In fact, the giant Graveyard Spirit’s aura suddenly surged even more.

Its eyes glowed with a powerful, intense light.

Before, its movements had been wooden and puppetlike, and it had primarily relied on its unassailable body to do battle. Once the hundreds of Astrals poured into its body, however, the giant had undergone a complete transformation.

Suddenly, now that it had gained consciousness and intelligence, its vigor also surged.

This phenomenon was hard to describe. The opponent’s aura was now bloodthirsty, sinister, and malevolent.

Its eyes glowed balefully as it balled up its fist.

Bang, bang, bang, bang. Four quick punches in rapid succession.

It did four times the amount of its previous attacks, as if its damage output had suddenly been quadrupled.

The Boundless Sect’s disciples didn’t even have enough time to get into formation before the four successive attacks landed.

The violent waves of force immediately put the Boundless Sect’s disciples up against a cliff. The blood in their body roiled violently as Origin Energy whizzed around them chaotically.

Before they had a chance to react, the malevolent giant had already jumped into the air, using its massive body to crush the ground before flipping onto its hands and kicking out at the same time with its powerful legs. The giant had just unleashed a number of vicious yet precise attacks in rapid succession.

The giant’s sudden surge in strength was unprecedented. Its sudden agility and skill in close-quarters combat was astounding.

The Boundless Sect’s disciples were caught completely off-guard by this fierce chain of attacks, and their defenses finally crumbled.

“Reaper! Reaper!”

The Astrals within the city began to chant this name feverishly.

This Graveyard Spirit, which had been dubbed “Reaper,” howled again and swung its arm through the air.

If this attack were to land, it would probably cause thousands of disciples to explode into red mist.

At that critical moment, all of the Boundless Sect’s powerful experts made their stand.

Su Chen, Gu Qingluo, Li Chongshan, Chu Yingwan, and the others all flew forth.

“Seven Bloodlines Microcosm, open!” Su Chen unleashed his Seven Bloodlines Microcosm Aspect to the maximum level.

Gu Qingluo raised her Shining Dragon Bloodline’s power to the limit as well.

Earth-shaking Origin Skill after Origin Skill slammed into the Reaper’s arm. Su Chen himself unleashed six Dimensional Slashes in rapid succession, but despite leaving six holes in the giant’s arm, his attacks were unable to actually cleave its arm off.

It was as if the giant’s arm had been bound together with many thin strands. It was clearly moving only with great difficulty, but it was still moving nonetheless.

Spatial barriers, crystal walls, and burning flames all appeared.

Then, a faint fragrance of incense began to waft through the air.

Su Chen and Gu Qingluo had activated their Lifesource Candles.

In that moment, their strengths began to drastically surge.

In particular, Su Chen’s cultivation base jumped into the Ultimate Emperor Realm for just a moment. And in that moment, he felt like he had entered a completely different realm of existence. Everything was different.

He could grasp the world in his hands!

Then, he punched.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

He unleashed eighteen barbaric punches in a row. Each punch was imbued with spatial power and precisely targeted at one of the giant’s pre-existing wounds.

Finally.

Bang!

The Reaper’s arm was finally severed from its body.

The giant arm, however, continued to fly forwards with reduced momentum, slamming into hundreds of Boundless Sect disciples.

But without the Reaper’s enormous physical strength driving the arm forward, the force of the impact was greatly lessened. Even so, most of the disciples were seriously injured, and around thirty of them died on the spot.

The giant howled and retreated a few steps. Its severed arm actually didn’t immediately regenerate.

Su Chen’s eyes lit up. “In its Reaper form, this creature cannot regenerate!”

So even though this evolved Graveyard Spirit was incredibly powerful, it could not regenerate itself while in this state? Everyone was immediately excited by this implication.

Another ten-thousand-man battalion joined the battle against the Reaper.

“All hands on defense!” Lin Shaoxuan roared.

At the same time, the Reaper jumped into the air again, kicking at the Boundless Sect soldiers six times in a row.

The Reaper’s attacks felt like they were ten times as powerful as before, and its intelligence had increased greatly as well. Its strikes had become both vicious and precise, and its combat strength seemed to be on par with that of a Desolate Beast. It was no wonder the Astrals were confident in being able to take on the Boundless Sect here.

But just as the ten-thousand-man battalion seemed like they were going to be scattered again, just as the Reaper’s intense flurry cut off any chance for a counterattack, another twenty thousand soldiers charged forwards. The now thirty thousand soldiers joined forces in an attempt to block the Reaper’s attack.

There was no point in keeping anything hidden at this pivotal moment of the battle.

As such, all of the disciples took to the battlefield at the same time, unleashing their full might.

They would fight bitterly to their dying breath.

At this point, any and all fancy techniques were pointless. The victor would be determined solely through exchanging drop of blood for drop of blood and seeing who would last to the very end.

The Boundless Sect was now using thirty thousand soldiers to block the Reaper’s attack and the other thirty thousand to hold back the Beasts, Astrals, and subservient races.

The battlefield devolved into complete bedlam. Blood poured down from the sky, and every so often, a soldier would plummet from the sky like a dying star.

This was the most brutal battle that the Boundless Sect had ever fought to date, and it would also be the one where they suffered the greatest losses.

Origin Skills, Arcana Techniques, and sword light flew everywhere. The sky itself seemed to be on fire, and cries and yells of rage, agitation, and despair echoed ceaselessly throughout the battlefield.

All Su Chen could see was a storm of blood……