Within the nine boxes, Long Ye, Shi Zongyue and company appeared worse and worse.
Shi Zongyue, the Guanchong Swordmaster and the Sirius Grand Sage appeared extremely weak. Long Ye had returned to her original form as a Celestial Jade Tree while the Virtuous Zen Master was no longer able to conjure his Golden Form. The Stellar Holy Man was in the worst shape; he was almost dead.
While they were extremely weakened, not only did Long Ye and the Sirius Grand Sage who had known about this beforehand, but also Shi Zongyue and company, recognized the source of the purple light coming from the black hole in the center of the plate.
The purple light grew in intensity as it became increasingly eye-catching. It shook the entire Cloud Forest World as its terrifying power spread and caused the very Multiverse to quiver.
The Guanchong Swordmaster looked at the purple light with a terrible expression on his face. "The Hades' Dark Mantra!"
His status on Mount Shu was one of the highest and in terms age, he was one of the oldest cultivators in the Divine Lands. He personally experienced the war between Man and Demons all those years back and also witnessed with his own eyes the final battle at the Great Thunderclap Temple.
With his mastery then, the Guanchong Swordmaster stayed far away from the battlefield. He only battled with the other demon cultivators at the edge of the battlefield and was nowhere near its center.
Only Third Level Immortal Soul cultivators could battle there. For cultivators below that level, it was a killing field. Whoever tried to take a single step there would be killed almost instantly.
Even so, as he watched the battle from afar, the Guanchong Swordmaster could feel the terrible power of the Hades' Dark Mantra tearing apart the very heaven and earth.
He personally witnessed the Holy Demonic Emperor using the Hades' Dark Mantra to directly force his way into the Divine Lands. It literally tore the sky open like a deep cut.
Afte the Guanchong Swordmaster saw the terrible purple light tearing open the void, he then saw it wreck chaos throughout the void as it destroyed numerous worlds.
He personally saw a Middle World destroyed by it.
With the power to bring about doomsday, the Guanchong Swordmaster's former master, the Master of the Mount Shu Sword Sect and the most powerful sword cultivator of the Divine Lands, was killed. At that time, it shook some of the Guanchong Swordmaster's core beliefs.
4000 years had passed and the Hades Emperor had fallen. The Hades Tribe had disappeared without a trace and the first part of the Demonic Book of the Heavenly Tao was lost. The Barren Expanses never saw a next Holy Demonic Emperor or the Hades' Dark Mantra again. During the final battle at the Great Thunderclap Temple, this powerful mantra was lost.
The memories of all these were slowly fading in the Guanchong Swordmaster's mind. Today, however, the Hades' Dark Mantra appeared before him once again. Then, he realized that the purple light had already turned into his nightmare. He would never forget it.
Shi Zongyue's gaze became unspeakably serious too. He stared at the demonic purple light in the black hole that was becoming stronger and said, "The Hades' Dark Mantra. It really is the Hades' Dark Mantra. Only it could give off such power!"
Many years ago, Shi Zongyue was only a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. He was nowhere near the Guanchong Swordmaster's mastery and could not even participate in the Battle of the Great Thunderclap Temple. Under the protection of his seniors, he watched the whole battle from afar as a learning experience.
However, that day was like Judgement Day. The Hades' Dark Mantra ripped through the heavens while murdering living souls. He would never forget the power with which the Hades' Dark Mantra killed off the most powerful cultivators of the land.
Up till today, while Shi Zongyue had progressed from a Nascent Soul stage cultivator to a Second Level Immortal Soul cultivator, he was still shocked to the core when faced with this powerful purple light.
Of course, the purple light before him was unable to compare against the power that the Holy Demonic Emperor possessed all those years back. The Hades' Dark Mantra before him was just a shadow of its true self. However, the return of the Hades' Dark Mantra to the world was already shocking enough.
Even the weakened Virtuous Zen Master and the Stellar Holy Man opened their eyes wide and stared at the ray of purple light. They did not personally take part in the war all those years ago but they too had heard of the Hades' Dark Mantra. They knew what terrible power came along with it.
The Sirius Grand Sage stared at the Hades' Dark Mantra with a complicated expression. It was envy, desire, fear and aspiration all rolled into one.
He coughed and said, "Parasol Granny, it's time for action. if not, all of us will be sucked dry and then, we will truly have become sacrifices."
Long Ye's gaze shifted from the Hades' Dark Mantra and onto the Golden Roc Grand Sage.
His entire body was covered with runes which dazzled brightly. They rumbled together with the Hades' Dark Mantra in the plate.
Even if Lin Feng and Yan Mingyue continued to approach and allowed the Golden Roc Grand Sage to lock onto their positions, he probably would not care.
Lin Feng and Yan Mingyue were now at the periphery of the center of the canopy. They could feel a terrifying tremor from the purple light and were both deeply shocked.
Yan Mingyue took in a deep breath and said, "It really is the Hades' Dark Mantra. The Golden Roc Grand Sage had succeeded."
Lin Feng fell silent and said nothing. Suddenly, he looked at the ancient leaves beneath his feet and he stared at it intently without blinking.
After he saw nothing, his pupils contracted and he said, "They really did it."
Yan Mingyue followed Lin Feng's gaze and she exclaimed, "It's really up to the Parasol Fairy then!"
They noticed that a patch on the glowing white tree branch had turned deep-brown. It directly covered the white light and it appeared as if the ancient tree branch had shed a layer of skin. It was like a ringworm on a human's skin.
Looking at it carefully, an entire patch of brown mushrooms grew on that tree branch.
These mushrooms looked ordinary and did not brim with spiritual energy. Neither did they exhibit the bloodthirstiness of regular demons. Instead, they were just plain, brown mushrooms. However, they were able to completely remove the white light from the tree branch where they were growing on.
Lin Feng lifted his head and noticed that more brown spots were appearing. Initially, it was only a tiny dot but soon, it became an entire stretch. Finally, these brown spots combined together and covered the entire canopy.
The white light dimmed and the canopy level became a sea of brown. Every single ancient tree was now covered with brown mushrooms.
In the center of the canopy, a giant mushroom began growing. It extended through the thick canopy of the Cloud Forest Trees and was tall enough to cover the sun.
The stalk of the mushroom was extremely thick. It was much thicker than a single Cloud Forest Tree.
Lin Feng looked at this scene and realized, "So that's the Parasol Fairy's most powerful ability."
The Parasol Fairy was a mushroom-type demon. Like how a mushroom is shaped like a parasol, a mushroom contained numerous amount of spores in it. In the short time that she spent on the Cloud Forest World, the Parasol Fairy managed to spread her demon powers-imbued spores far and wide. It spread in the air and soon, covered the entire Cloud Forest World.
With a twitch of her heart, she was able to turn these countless spores into brown mushrooms. They were all like avatars for her. She could claim to possess tens of thousands of forms now.
With the help of these avatars, the Parasol Fairy was able to seize control over the Middle World from the Golden Roc Grand Sage!
A First Level Undying Demon Soul demon who had yet to form her original true spirit was actually able to seize control of the Cloud Forest World from a Third Level Undying Demon Soul demon who had formed a syncretic star soul. Such an idea was absurd to everyone.
However, the Parasol Fairy was able to pull it off. Furthermore, it appeared to be effective.
"This is the trump card of this demon and also its strongest power," said Yan Mingyue softly. "I'm afraid that throughout the entire Grand Celestial World, no one else could take over control of an entire Middle World with the level of a First Level Undying Demon Soul."
"No wonder the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage sent her to the frontline."
Demons were different from human cultivators in the sense that they focused on cultivating their tribe's innate abilities into powerful attacks. Many of their ultimate attacks were based on their innate abilities, such as the Tao Tie Tribe's 'Devour' and the Qiong Qi Demon Tribe's 'Corrupt'.
However, some of these ultimate moves were not meant for offense but they may have other uses. In the right time and place, using them would achieve miraculous results.
The Parasol Fairy was just like that now. While her battling abilities were not as good, she was able to fight for control over the Middle World with the Golden Roc Grand Sage.
Lin Feng stared at the huge mushroom and said, "Based solely on her own abilities, she could maybe occupy a Small World with her own powers. A Middle World would be more difficult. She should thank the Golden Roc Grand Sage for the dozens of Cloud Forest Trees that helped supplement spiritual energy which also made her job a lot easier."
"Other than that, she received help from the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage too."
At the center of the top of the mushroom, there was a ball of oddly-colored light. A mystical and vast power came from it. The demonic power that it exuded was similar to Long Ye's when she used the Hunyuan Demonic Code but much more powerful.
That was the original true spirit of the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage that she had hidden within the Parasol Fairy's demon soul. If she had hidden it in an avatar, it would surely have been detected by the Golden Roc Grand Sage.
However, with that tiny original true spirit, nothing much would happen. Her mastery was way superior to that of the Golden Roc Grand Sage and by hiding that tiny bit in the Parasol Fairy's demon soul, she was able to fool him.
Here, the original true spirit kicked in. It successfully helped the Parasol Fairy to seize control over the Cloud Forest World from the Golden Roc Grand Sage.
She did not need to seize complete control. She just needed to mess it up for the Golden Roc Grand Sage and caused his control over the Cloud Forest World to drop. This would weaken the seal he had cast over this world.
The Heavenly Charms Grand Sage herself was outside and waiting for the exact moment to come rushing in!
The demons under the Golden Roc Grand Sage's command, such as the Heavenly Wheels Golden Roc, the Deep Sea Dragon Hawk and even the Grand Sage of Qiong Qi were all incensed beyond words. They rushed towards the Parasol Fairy.
At that moment, on the plate, the parts of the original true spirit of the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage that was hidden in the Sirius Grand Sage and Long Ye both burst forth and were able to break free from the imprisonment of the light pillars. This interrupted the Holy Fire Sacrificial Rites.
In that instance, the Golden Roc Grand Sage's entire plan was derailed. Earlier on, he was brimming with confidence as he was about to bring the Hades' Dark Mantra back onto this world. In the next moment, he faced both external and internal troubles.
The Golden Roc Grand Sage looked towards the void as he noticed the seal he cast was weakening. The outline of the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage became clearer and clearer.
Looking at this scene, the Golden Roc Grand Sage's ice-cold eyes dazzled with a demonic golden light. There was no panic or rage, but just a deep, deep chill.