Nine Astra Skies

Within the body of the Giant Bat, laid a clump of spirit-like substance that was located somewhere around its upper back.

Ye Chen's heart skipped a beat. 'Could this be its weakness?'

With that thought in mind, Ye Chen then hopped onto a giant boulder and peered closely at the Giant Bat's weak point. At the sound of a "woosh", Ye Chen lobbied yet another Celestial Chi Flying Dagger.

Spurt!

The Celestial Chi Flying Dagger penetrated the Giant Bat's head, traveling down its body and striking the spot on its upper back.

"Boom!"

With a dull "Bam", the Celestial Chi Flying Dagger exploded within the Giant Bat's back, causing it to shriek with agony. The light within its eyes shone no more and as it gradually dimmed, its body began to collapse as if it had lost support.

Ye Chen could no longer sense the spirit-mass that was contained within the Giant Bat's body.

'So, it really was its weakness!'

Ye Chen heaved a relieved sigh as he had finally gotten rid of the beast. Moreover, it was only then that he realized the Giant Bat had turned into a hunk of scrap metal upon its defeat. He thought to himself, 'I wonder what kind of metal is this Giant Bat made of? Although the metal isn't that great, the fact that it was able to survive a punch from Little Wingsy would mean that it was of decent quality.'

'Moreover, how on earth was this Giant Bat even built?' Feeling curious, Ye Chen hoisted up the carcass of the Giant Bat and placed it within his armguard.

Naturally, Ye Chen would never carry out heinous acts such as learning how to create his Human Puppets. However, there was also no harm in trying to understand it better.

Rumble… Rumble…

Suddenly, the ground on which they stood began to quake vigorously, similar to a high magnitude earthquake. The terrifying vibrations were enough to give them a scare and thoughts such as the crumbling of the cave, and the reasons for the vibrations began to fill their minds.

Ye Chen's Astral Body flew at breakneck speeds as it dived into the depths of the cave.

Ye Chen was greeted with a surge of moist air as if he had come face-to-face with a raging wave.

At first, Ye Chen was unsure where the Water-type Celestial Chi had stemmed from but as his Astral Body traveled deeper into the cave, Ye Chen finally saw it. His heart skipped a beat as he thought, 'So, it was her!'

To Ye Chen's surprise, Tantai Ling had appeared in the depths of the Exclusion Zone. Her translucent blue silk clothes fluttered in the air as she held the divine trident in her hand. She emanated a frigid aura and her noble features were ornamented with her exposed jade-like arms, along with her delicate collarbone, and her supple bosoms. Had she kept her identity as a Sea Demon secret and her strength hidden, her looks alone would have been enough to down countless men.

'Why is she here?' Ye Chen furrowed his brow. Suddenly, he remembered he was located in the North Sea and Tantai Ling had once told him that he would be able to find her there!

Furthermore, Ye Chen was clueless as to how she had made her way down there but as he continued to observe her, Tantai Ling vanished from her spot. The next time she appeared, she was already several dozen meters away. She slammed her trident downward, striking a top Mystique Venerable Rank Human Puppet and with a "boom", the Human Puppet let out an explosive shriek before exploding into several pieces later.

'All it took was a single strike from her trident to kill that top Mystique Venerable Rank Human Puppet. That's impressive!'

Tantai Ling lifted her feet and began to travel through the air when suddenly, she turned her head around. In that instant, her eyes that were as clear as autumn waters looked as if they had pierced through space itself.

"Why are you here?" Tantai Ling's tone was cold and there was not a trace of movement on her face as her voice echoed into Ye Chen's eardrums. Tantai Ling had detected Ye Chen's Astral Body and the fact that she was able to easily do so while projecting her voice to him had proven how powerful she was. It was clear that she was much more powerful than even the Leo King, Tong Tian.

"What's happening here? Why would anyone raise dark spirits here?" Ye Chen did not immediately answer Tantai Ling's question. After all, it was clear from Tantai Ling's presence and the way she was eradicating the Human Puppets that she in no way related to the mastermind behind the operation.

Tantai Ling raised her brow and with a slightly unhappy tone, she answered, "The situation here isn't something you can deal with. Hurry and turn back, otherwise, you might lose your life!"

Had Ye Chen not taught her about the true meaning of Dao in the past, Tantai Ling would never have issued the warning. After all, after Ye Chen's lecture about Dao being the originator, Tantai Ling had gone back and mulled over his words carefully. From there, she had realized the essence of his words and since then, her cultivation base which had stagnated had begun to advance instead. Somewhere within her, she realized that Ye Chen was the catalyst for her growth and as such, if he were to die here, she would find it quite a waste.

"To think that someone would dare to conjure up these vile creatures in my territory, the North Sea and to think that I haven't noticed it!" Tantai Ling was slightly miffed and while she talked, she continued picking off the Human Puppets one by one.

As Ye Chen was unable to beat the Human Puppets, it was ludicrous to even consider fighting the powerful dark spirit. However, if Tantai Ling were to face off against the dark spirit, it could turn into a heaven-stirring and earth-shattering battle.

Just as Tantai Ling had mentioned, the situation down here was not something Ye Chen could handle!

Ye Chen's abilities were just far too weak!

Although Ye Chen was aware that he was leagues below Tantai Ling and the dark spirits, he was still curious to see how Tantai Ling and the dark spirits' battle would look like. Who knew, it might even be beneficial for the advancement of his Dao.

Seeing that Ye Chen had no intention of leaving, Tantai Ling had decided not to convince him anymore. Instead, she directed her cold gaze toward the dark spirit before her and began to charge her divine trident with a rainbow-colored light.

Ye Chen's Astral Body had detected the burning battle hunger coming off of Tantai Ling and it was enough to send him quivering in his boots.

It was clear that Tantai Ling had already attained the Absolute Martial Truth as her trident had now looked as if it was an extension of her own body.

'Could this be the rumored Amalgamation of Man and Heaven?'

It was then that Ye Chen realized he had underestimated Tantai Ling's abilities severely.

As if it had sensed the pressure exuded by Tantai Ling's battle spirit, the dark spirit that was chained down at a distance began to manifest several human faces on its body. The emotions that appeared on the bodies had ranged from panic, terror, and malice. The expressions were so varied that it had made for a weird sight to take in.

"I want to kill! Kill Kill!" The dark spirit's shrill cry filled the room, causing dark winds to rise. A mere instant later, the temperature within the cave plunged by several dozen degrees and the stone walls of the cave were coated with a thin layer of ice.

A strong eroding power was contained within these dark winds - one that had threatened to consume all lives with it.

Upon making contact with the chilly power, Ye Chen's Astral Body could not help but take a few steps back. Moreover, from that brief contact it had made, the Astral Body had grown slightly stiff.

"Member of the Tribunal Council, I can't believe you'd breed such a vile creature!" A trace of anger flashed on Tantai Ling's usually calm face as she spoke those words. She spun the divine trident in her hand and vanished a moment later. When she reappeared, she was already several dozen meters from her original position and she had lunged her trident forward at the dark spirit.

Although the lunge had appeared to be slow, it was unbelievably fast. As the trident spun rapidly like a windmill, the rainbow-colored divine light erupted. A seemingly endless profoundness seemed to be contained within her attack as if she had integrated the entirety of her Absolute Martial Truth into that one strike.

'Oh, so you can use the Absolute Martial Truth this way as well, huh!' Ye Chen was washed over by a wave of awe. Compared to his shabby understanding of the Martial Truth, Tantai Ling was leaps and bounds above him. It turned out that once a Martial Truth was cultivated to its highest level, the Absolute Martial Truth would be integrated into every one of the martial artist's actions, even small and seemingly random ones! It was at this moment that Ye Chen had realized something else. Back then, when Tantai Ling had fought against Little Wingsy, she had only been using a fraction of her power, but now, she was displaying her full strength.

The trident contained an endless well of power.

Boom!

With that strike alone, Tantai Ling had cleaved the dark spirit into two halves.

The dark spirit let out a piercing howl, causing the ground to tremble violently. Meanwhile, the other half of the dark spirit rapidly reattached itself and before long, the dark spirit had returned to its complete form.

Despite that, Tantai Ling's trident was still stuck within the initial dark spirit's body. For every second it was contained within it, curls of dark energy began to wrap around the trident, threatening to consume the divine light cloaking it.

Panic began to stir within Tantai Ling's heart when she saw the situation. She attempted to pull out the trident but she quickly realized that it was in the firm grip of the dark spirit.

"Burst!" Tantai Ling shouted. With a "Boom", the prongs of the trident exploded, sending the dark spirit hurtling backward and providing Tantai Ling an opportunity to reclaim her trident.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Endless bloodlust surged from the dark spirit's body as it formed a massive limb that clawed at Tantai Ling.

Tantai Ling raised her trident to intercept the strike.

Kaboom!

A thunderous explosion rocked the scene. It was not a stretch to describe the battle between Tantai Ling and the dark spirit as earth-shattering. As the two continued to exchange divine light and dark chi, explosions continued to erupt, and with each explosion created, the Exclusion Zone quaked as well. However, it seemed that the dark spirit had the upper hand.

The fact that Tantai Ling was no match for the dark spirit was a worrisome scene.

The more Ye Chen thought about it, the more he had realized how terrifying the Tribunal Council was.

The fierce battle continued and as Ye Chen observed from afar, he was suddenly struck with another realization. Whenever experts dueled, each of their strikes had carried a deep profoundness to them.

Upon hearing Ye Chen's description of the battle below, Little Tanuki and Little Wingsy exchanged glances.

"Big Brother Ye Chen, is that dark spirit really that powerful?" Little Wingsy asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Ye Chen nodded. Even though the dark spirit was bound by metal chains, it had already displayed an unbelievable amount of strength. Should it be set free, it would only become more terrifying!

At the eastern end of the Exclusion Zone.

Great Emperor Mingwu, Nie Qingyun, the Eclipsing Firebird in the form of an old man, and the Golden Sun Condor had charged at Zuoqiu Gongye. From their perspective, Zuoqiu Gongye was caught in a dead-end and his death was certain. However, they did not notice that they had already stepped into an array.

Aside from an extraordinarily elite few, no ordinary person would be able to tell that it was an array.

The moment Zuoqiu Gongye saw Great Emperor Mingwu and the others entering the array, he snickered maliciously. With a swipe of his right palm, the giant boulders within the formation shifted two meters to the right.

The scenery before Nie Qingyun and the others suddenly changed. Zuoqiu Gongye had vanished without a trace and they were now surrounded by dense fog. They had lost their bearings.

"What happened?" Great Emperor Mingwu was shocked and he dawned on the horrifying realization that they might have stumbled into an array.

"Haha, Old Man Mingwu and gang, I bet you didn't expect this, huh?" Zuoqiu Gongye burst with laughter. As he had sustained some injuries earlier, he sat beside the array and began to recover his strength.

Great Emperor Mingwu and his squad attempted to break through the array several times. However, they soon realized that it was all for naught. No matter what they did, they would always return to their original position.