Chapter 1483 : Divine Artifacts and Dragon's Fall

After establishing his authority with the Gale Wind God-Slaying Gourd, Eldrin Chen felt a slight sense of reassurance settle within him.

Immediately, he channeled the Celestial Abyss Twin Swords and the Bulwark Earth Sovereign Bell to engage the enemy. With a flick of his sleeve, he then summoned forth the Ancient Crimson Dragon Cauldron.

With the might of the Ancient Crimson Dragon Cauldron, even an existence at the Earth Immortal Great Perfection realm would struggle to withstand it, let alone a mere Primordial Era Nether Dragon conjured from an Ancient Talisman.

In the very first clash, one of the Primordial Era Nether Dragon phantoms was refined into a cloud of Heavenly Tribulation ashes.

Following closely, Eldrin Chen once again activated the Primordial One Energy Grasping Hand. With a single raised palm, he suppressed the third Primordial Era Nether Dragon phantom.

Boundless Primordial Solar Heavenly Flame surged down, utterly annihilating it in an instant.

The remaining two Primordial Era Nether Dragon phantoms were now far from being a match for Eldrin Chen.

"Perish!"

At that very moment, Ancient Ruins Nether Lord seized the opportunity. He commanded his four Netherworld Nether Antiquity Treasure artifacts to strike out horizontally, crushing a Ghost Ancestor [a powerful spectral cultivator] who was at the Earth Immortal Great Perfection realm.

By this point, the grand formation of the Three Thousand Ghost Cities lay in tatters. Deprived of much of its power source, the Nether Sea Pearl could no longer effectively suppress Exquisite Jiang.

The remaining four Earth Immortal Great Perfection Ghost Ancestor [powerful spectral cultivators who have reached the peak of the Earth Immortal realm] understood that the tide of battle had irrevocably turned. They immediately retreated toward the core region, leading countless Ghost Immortal [spectral cultivators who have attained immortality] in their wake.

The allied forces gave relentless chase, cutting down the majority of the fleeing Ghost Immortal and Ghost Ancestor. They pursued all the way to the very edge of the core region before finally halting their advance.

"Regroup and reorganize. Tally our gains and our losses."

After a glance toward the core region ahead, Eldrin Chen gave the order.

The battle's results were soon tallied. When Eldrin Chen reviewed the report, a look of solemn gravity settled upon his features.

He gathered the various Earth Immortal [cultivators who have attained immortality tied to the earthly realm] and presented the report to the assembled Mortal Path [cultivators who follow the path of mortality to immortality]. "Our spoils from this battle are greater than the first, yet our losses have also grown significantly heavier."

Exquisite Jiang took the report and read it, her expression mirroring his grave concern.

This engagement had been far more protracted and brutal than the initial clash.

In this battle, they had slain the masters of Three Thousand Ghost Cities, two thousand Ghost Immortal, and forty Earth Immortal-realm Ghost Ancestor.

Yet their own losses were grievous. Over six hundred Divine Spirits [powerful beings who have ascended to a divine state] had fallen in battle, and the number of fallen figures at the Imperial Lord [a lordly rank among powerful cultivators] level had reached twelve.

Here, the situation was relatively acceptable, with only a little over thirty Divine Spirits [powerful spiritual beings born from a cultivator's inner world] having fallen in battle. The Six Heavens and Seven Realms Imperial Lord [a powerful entity governing six heavenly and seven earthly realms] suffered no losses, but most of the remaining forces had incurred significant casualties.

Among them, the Earth Immortal World [the personal inner world cultivated by an Earth Immortal] of six individuals—Verdant Consort, Nyssa Qu, Ethan Chen, Energy Abyss Chen, Ancient Ruins Nether Lord, and Violet Consort Yan—each witnessed the death of a figure at the Imperial Lord [a sovereign-level cultivator] level.

The forces under Kael Chen, Lila, and Heaven Abyss Path Master fared even worse, each losing two Imperial Lord figures.

Particularly for Lila and Heaven Abyss Path Master, who had already lost one Imperial Lord in the previous great battle, the loss of two more this time had significantly depleted their foundational essence [the vital life force and spiritual foundation of a cultivator].

They were all prodigies who had opened Ninefold Heaven [a supreme level of inner world cultivation], but the massive loss of Divine Spirits within them, coupled with the deaths of three Imperial Lord existences, had severely damaged their foundational essence.

By now, their combat prowess had diminished by at least twenty percent.

"Twelve Imperial Lord and over six hundred Divine Spirits,"

"To resurrect them all would require foundational essence equivalent to at least seventy-two vials of the Galaxy Star Sand Pill [a supreme elixir condensed from the essence of stars and galaxies]."

Exquisite Jiang murmured softly, a sigh escaping her heart.

Though this battle ended in victory, the price paid was undeniably immense.

Merely procuring this batch of Galaxy Star Sand Pill would require a staggering seven million two hundred thousand Immortal Source [a highly concentrated and pure form of spiritual energy used by high-level cultivators].

Considering this, Exquisite Jiang inquired, "What should we do next? Should we immediately assault the core region?"

"There is no need for haste."

Eldrin Chen shook his head and spoke, "Our combat strength has been severely depleted. To rashly attack the core region now would be unwise."

"It would be better to swiftly recover our strength before making a move against what lies within."

Hearing this, everyone nodded slightly. The Ancient Ruins Nether Lord pondered for a moment and said, "During the battles in the inner and outer regions, we seized a considerable number of rare Spiritual Object [objects imbued with spiritual energy or special properties]."

"Even excluding the World-Opening Marvel [a treasure of immense value used in world-creation rituals], the value of the remaining treasures is at least several tens of millions of Immortal Source."

"If we could sell them all and convert everything into Immortal Source, it would be more than sufficient for all of us to fully recover."

Upon hearing this, Nyssa Qu frowned slightly and said, "Such a vast quantity of treasures, and all of them are items from the Netherworld [the realm of the dead and spirits] within this Netherworld Small Universe [a pocket dimension connected to the Netherworld]. Selling them would surely draw unwanted attention."

"Furthermore, within the Netherworld, only entities of at least the Half-Step Celestial Immortal Realm [a realm just below that of a true Celestial Immortal] would likely have the capacity to absorb such a massive transaction."

Upon hearing this, the brows of the several individuals involuntarily furrowed slightly.

The treasures they had obtained this time were truly immense. They had seized tens of thousands of Netherworld Ghost Treasure [enchanted artifacts forged from the essence of the Netherworld] alone, not to mention vast quantities of Netherworld Immortal Herb [spiritual herbs native to the Netherworld], Incense Offering Celestial Silver [a special silver alloy used in sacred rituals and offerings], and Eighth Rank Rare Treasure [objects of the eighth rank, possessing rare and wondrous properties].

Such a vast amount of resources would be more than sufficient for Ancient Ruins Nether Lord to cultivate all the way to the Half-Step Celestial Immortal Realm [a realm just shy of becoming a true Celestial Immortal], and was enough to stir the heart of even a Celestial Immortal Great Power [an immortal who has ascended to the Celestial Immortal realm and possesses formidable power].

It could be said that if this wealth were to be sold off, it would likely attract the attention of a Celestial Immortal Great Power.

After all, this was not during a Great Tribulation [a cataclysmic era of conflict and upheaval]. Disposing of tens of thousands of Netherworld Ghost Treasure at once was no simple matter.

After much deliberation, Eldrin Chen finally spoke. "We cannot expose this wealth. If it were exposed, our current strength would be insufficient to protect it. Moreover, it could very well lead to the exposure of the Netherworld Small Universe [a pocket dimension within the Netherworld]."

"Here is my proposal," he continued. "We shall leave the Netherworld Ghost Treasure and Immortal Herb untouched for now. We will only take out the Incense Offering Celestial Silver to purchase Galaxy Star Sand Pill [elixirs refined from the essence of galactic star-sand]."

The others nodded slightly upon hearing this.

Ancient Ruins Nether Lord calculated for a moment before speaking. "From the two major battles, we have seized a total of ninety thousand pieces of Incense Offering Celestial Silver. This is more than enough to purchase seventy-two vials of Galaxy Star Sand Pill."

Exquisite Jiang gave a slight nod of agreement, then added thoughtfully, "Ninety thousand pieces of Incense Offering Celestial Silver is also no small sum. Its value approaches ten million Immortal Source [a concentrated source of immortal energy, a high-level currency]. We cannot risk exposing such a large amount of wealth all at once."

"It would be better to divide it into three portions," Eldrin Chen suggested. "Our Chen Clan, Fellow Daoist Heaven Abyss, and Fellow Daoist Ancient Ruins can each take a share and separately visit the major Heavenly Domain to exchange them for Galaxy Star Sand Pill before returning."

"There is no need to traverse every single Heavenly Domain," he added.

Seeing this, Ancient Ruins Nether Lord spoke up. "The Incense Offering Celestial Silver [a special silver used in rituals and offerings to deities and ancestors] is more sought-after within the Netherworld Hell. If we visit a few of the Ninth Rank Ghost City [powerful cities ruled by ghosts in the deepest parts of the underworld] within the Netherworld Ghost Domain, we should be able to exchange for a sufficient quantity of Galaxy Star Sand Pill."

Seeing the logic in this, Eldrin Chen nodded in agreement. "Very well, then. The matter is settled."

"Heaven Abyss, Ancient Ruins, and Kael—the three of you shall make the journey to the Lunar Domain. The rest shall remain here with me to guard our position."

Kael Chen nodded upon hearing this. Possessing a Demon Monarch Path Fruit [a profound demonic cultivation attainment that grants affinity with the underworld], he could move through the Netherworld as easily as a fish through water, making him particularly suited for venturing into its depths. He gave a slight bow of his head. "Agreed."

With their plan finalized, the three of them departed the Small Universe [a pocket dimension or miniature world] and set off towards the Nine Tribulations [the ninth and penultimate major tribulation stage for an immortal] ghost cities located in the Depths of the Netherworld.