Who Says Semi-Spectralization Can't Be Used

Ascension Hall.

It was only three thousand li away from them.

For Earthly Immortals,

three thousand li was but a single step.

Yet within the Immortal Reception City,

space had long since become distorted.

They had walked for half an hour,

but the scene around them remained unchanged.

The immortal towers that had been destroyed

would always reappear ahead of them.

On the ground,

the scorched traces left by the gaunt Earthly Immortal

had already appeared seven times.

They had been circling in place all along.

The Taixuan Heavenly Immortal stopped.

“We can’t keep going.”

“This street is alive.”

Wang Hao looked toward the Immortal Reception Envoy.

“How do we get out?”

The envoy wore a gentle smile.

“Please proceed to the Ascension Hall, ascender.”

Wang Hao asked,

“Where is the road?”

“Please proceed to the Ascension Hall, ascender.”

Wang Hao raised the new Son of Heaven Sword.

“One last chance.”

The Immortal Reception Envoy showed no fear.

“Please proceed to—”

The blade pierced its chest.

Wang Hao twisted his wrist.

The Stainless Sacred Flame spread along the envoy’s immortal body.

The little door in its chest shook violently.

Countless ascenders’ screams came from within.

The smile finally vanished from the Immortal Reception Envoy’s face.

“Stop.”

Wang Hao said,

“The road.”

The envoy raised a shattered arm

and pointed upward.

“There is no road in the city.”

“The Immortal Realm is already dead.”

“Only through the inside of the corpse

can one travel.”

All the immortals looked up at once.

Dark crimson flesh above them rose and fell constantly.

Enormous blood vessels

ran through the entire Immortal Reception City.

The long street they had been walking upon

was, in truth, the surface of a corpse.

The real path to the Ascension Hall

lay inside the body.

The silver-haired youth wore a complicated expression.

“We have to crawl inside?”

Wang Hao said,

“Don’t you enjoy eating?”

The silver-haired youth shook his head repeatedly.

“I’m not hungry this time.”

The Taixuan Heavenly Immortal struck the flesh overhead with a palm.

Northern Abyss frost froze everything for ten thousand li.

The flesh stiffened rapidly,

then exploded with a deafening crash.

A blood vessel reeking of stench

appeared before them.

Within it,

countless white figures drifted slowly,

like fetuses awaiting birth.

The Withered-and-Blooming Heavenly Immortal said solemnly,

“Must we go in?”

Wang Hao looked at the Immortal Reception Envoy.

“Is there another route?”

“Ascend.”

“Offer up everything.”

“Then you may naturally reach anywhere.”

“So there isn’t.”

Wang Hao raised a hand

and had the golden-armored immortal soldiers enter first.

But the moment the first soldier stepped into the blood vessel,

his body was wrapped in flesh.

Countless fingers quickly grew

across the surface of his golden armor.

The fingers pried open the gaps in the armor

and wormed inside.

A moment later,

the golden-armored immortal soldier turned around.

From beneath his helmet,

a pure white flower emerged.

At the center of its petals

grew the face of a crying infant.

It suddenly raised its immortal halberd

and thrust it at Wang Hao.

Bang!

The Taixuan Heavenly Immortal struck from afar with his palm,

smashing it into pieces.

More than ten thousand golden-armored immortal soldiers

turned their heads at the same time.

In perfect unison, they looked toward the corpse.

The next instant,

the cries of infants rang out

from inside all their immortal armor.

The Immortal Reception Envoy said gently,

“The reception immortal soldiers

are undergoing ascension.”

Wang Hao immediately raised the Immortal Seal.

“Stop the ascension.”

The bodies of the more than ten thousand golden-armored immortal soldiers shuddered.

The crying within their armor gradually weakened,

but did not disappear entirely.

The Immortal Reception Seal

could command their bodies,

but it could not command the things

that had already burrowed inside them.

Wang Hao’s gaze turned cold.

“All immortal soldiers.”

“Remain where you are.”

“Do not move.”

More than ten thousand golden-armored immortal soldiers lowered their weapons at once.

They could no longer be used.

At least,

not after entering the blood vessel.

Wang Hao withdrew his gaze.

“We’ll go in ourselves.”

The Taixuan Heavenly Immortal frowned.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“The immortal soldiers went in for less than three breaths.”

“And they were already corrupted.”

Wang Hao took out an Immortal Plague Isolation Talisman.

The barrier formed by the talisman paper had already dimmed by more than half.

“This talisman can still hold for ten hours.”

“The immortal soldiers had no talismans to protect them.”

“We do.”

“And besides…”

Wang Hao looked toward the ever-contracting long street.

“If we stay outside…”

“We’re only waiting to die.”

None of the immortals spoke.

Only after entering the Immortal Realm

did they truly understand

what it meant to be driven into a desperate corner.

The contamination in the cultivation world

was terrifying,

but it still followed discernible patterns.

The Immortal Realm was different.

Every stone here,

every wisp of wind,

even every ray of light,

might turn them into monsters the very next instant.

Most terrifying of all,

this contamination seemed to possess intelligence.

It could lure them,

deceive them,

sow discord among them,

and exploit the deepest obsessions in a living being’s heart.

The immortals entered the blood vessel one after another.

Wang Hao led the way.

The Taixuan Heavenly Immortal and the Withered-and-Blooming Heavenly Immortal guarded the flanks.

The Longevity Earth Immortal held the center of the formation.

The Crimson Mother Heavenly Immortal and the Faceless Heavenly Immortal brought up the rear.

The inner walls of the blood vessel writhed without pause.

With every step,

warm blood seeped up beneath their feet.

The barrier created by the Immortal Plague Isolation Talisman

clung tightly around their bodies,

keeping the blood and spores outside.

At first,

everything remained relatively calm.

But after they had traveled several hundred li,

the sound of chewing suddenly came from within the group.

Wang Hao stopped.

“Who’s eating?”

No one answered.

The chewing continued.

Smack.

Smack.

The silver-haired youth emerged from within the sword.

“It wasn’t me.”

“I know,” Wang Hao said.

The silver-haired youth was somewhat moved.

“Master trusts me that much?”

“You aren’t that quiet when you eat.”

The silver-haired youth’s face darkened.

The immortals inspected one another.

At last,

every gaze settled on a green-robed Earth Immortal.

The Earth Immortal’s name was Xuan He.

He was at the second level of the Earth Immortal Realm.

Before entering the Immortal Realm,

the Guiding Stele had shown that he was free of contamination.

At this moment,

his expression was calm.

His mouth was tightly shut.

Yet the chewing sound came from his abdomen.

Earth Immortal Xuan He lowered his head.

“It’s not me.”

The instant the words left his mouth,

his abdomen suddenly swelled.

A gigantic mouth tore through his robes.

It was chewing on a hand.

Earth Immortal Xuan He’s face went deathly pale.

He raised his right arm.

At some point,

his hand had vanished.

There was no blood at the severed stump.

Only densely packed, milky-white teeth.

The mouth in his abdomen swallowed the hand,

then let out a burp.

Afterward, it spoke.

“Still hungry.”

The voice

was exactly the same as Earth Immortal Xuan He’s.

Earth Immortal Xuan He staggered back in terror.

“When?”

“When did it enter my body?”

The Longevity Earth Immortal said gravely,

“Perhaps before we entered the city.”

“Perhaps from the moment you saw another version of yourself.”

“It may already have been inside your body then.”

The mouth in his abdomen opened again

and viciously bit toward Earth Immortal Xuan He’s left hand.

Earth Immortal Xuan He struck his own abdomen with his palm.

Boom!

Flesh and blood exploded.

The mouth in his abdomen was blasted to pieces.

But at the same time,

his shoulders,

chest,

and legs

all split open.

Mouths grew from them, one after another.

“Hungry.”

“So hungry.”

“Eat yourself.”

“Then you won’t be hungry.”

Dozens of mouths began gnawing at Earth Immortal Xuan He’s body at once.

He circulated his immortal power,

trying to suppress the contamination.

But the moment his immortal power began to flow,

an eye opened inside every one of his immortal apertures.

Three hundred and sixty eyes

simultaneously forced his immortal power to flow in reverse.

Earth Immortal Xuan He let out a miserable scream.

Yet his cultivation began to rise frantically.

Second level Earth Immortal.

Third level Earth Immortal.

Fourth level Earth Immortal!

In just a few breaths,

he had advanced by two minor realms.

The price was that

half his body no longer belonged to him.

“Kill him!”

an Earth Immortal shouted in alarm and fury.

“He’s already becoming aberrant!”

Terror appeared on what remained of Earth Immortal Xuan He’s face.

“No!”

“I’m still conscious!”

“I haven’t been completely corrupted!”

“Save me!”

All the immortals turned to Wang Hao.

Wang Hao did not act.

Instead, he asked,

“Which parts of your body can you still control?”

Earth Immortal Xuan He answered with difficulty,

“My head.

“My right arm.

“And half of my Dao Fruit.”

Wang Hao nodded.

“That’s enough.”

The Taixuan Heavenly Immortal frowned.

“What are you planning to do?”

Wang Hao looked deeper into the blood vessel.

A large mass of pale white figures was rapidly approaching.

The “fetuses” swimming through the blood

had discovered them.

The aura emanating from Earth Immortal Xuan He

seemed to hold an immense attraction for them.

Wang Hao seized Earth Immortal Xuan He’s right arm

and sent a thread of Immaculate Kindling into his body.

The Immaculate Kindling did not burn away the corruption.

Instead, within Earth Immortal Xuan He’s body,

it drew a boundary.

It protected his still-unaberrant head and right arm.

As for the rest of his body,

all restraints were completely released.

“You have half a quarter-hour.”

“After that,

“I will personally send you on your way.”

Earth Immortal Xuan He froze.

“You won’t kill me?”

Wang Hao said,

“Make full use of what you have.”

“You’re at the fourth level of the Earth Immortal realm now.

“You’re stronger than before.

“To kill you just like that

“would be a waste.”

The immortals wore strange expressions.

The words were shameless,

yet they made perfect sense.

Earth Immortal Xuan He clenched his teeth

and turned toward the depths of the blood vessel.

The pale white figures were drawing ever closer.

The fear in his eyes gradually faded,

replaced

by a flash of madness.

“Imperial Grandfather.”

“If I kill enough of them,

“can that offset my violation?”

Wang Hao replied,

“That depends on the number.”

Earth Immortal Xuan He laughed.

“Then watch closely!”

Boom!

He charged out of the protective barrier in a single step.

Without the protection of the Immortal Plague Isolation Talisman,

a massive amount of corruption instantly flooded into his body.

Earth Immortal Xuan He’s lower body exploded.

Countless fleshy tentacles sprouted forth.

At the end of every tentacle

was a mouth filled with sharp teeth.

His aura

broke through once more.

Fifth level Earth Immortal!

The Taixuan Heavenly Immortal’s gaze sharpened.

“He’s willingly embracing the corruption?”

Wang Hao said calmly,

“He was going to die anyway.

“He might as well die being worth something.”

Earth Immortal Xuan He plunged into the mass of pale white figures.

Thousands of tentacles lashed out at once.

Rumble!

Vast swaths of white fetuses were smashed to pieces.

Inside Earth Immortal Xuan He’s body,

dozens of mouths devoured wildly.

With every monster he swallowed,

the mutations on his body grew worse.

Before long,

eight more arms sprouted from his back.

A bleeding horn emerged from the crown of his head.

His two legs fused together,

becoming a gigantic tail covered in eyes.

Yet his right hand

remained clenched around his natal immortal sword.

It was the only part of him that still belonged to a human being.

“Kill!”

Earth Immortal Xuan He roared.

His immortal sword came down.

A black river

surged through the interior of the blood vessel.

Tens of thousands of pale white figures were swept into it.

Every drop of water in that river

turned into teeth that gnawed at flesh.

If the Immortal Realm was going to turn him into a monster,

then he would use a monster’s methods

to slaughter every monster before him!

The immortals followed behind him.

For a time,

they did not suffer a single attack.

The silver-haired youth stared, dumbfounded.

“You can fight like that?”

Wang Hao said,

“In war, you have to know how to make reasonable use of resources.”

The silver-haired youth asked,

“So does he count as a person, or a resource?”

“A temporary combat resource.”

Ahead of them,

Earth Immortal Xuan He’s body had already swollen to a colossal ten thousand zhang.

Alone, he blocked the entire blood vessel.

Tens of thousands of pale white fetuses

were swallowed into his body.

His cultivation level

was faintly approaching the sixth level of the Earth Immortal realm.

Yet the face that had once belonged to a human

was rapidly disappearing.

“Supreme Emperor!”

Earth Immortal Xuan He suddenly shouted.

“Is the time up?”

Wang Hao replied,

“Thirty breaths remain.”

“Enough!”

Earth Immortal Xuan He laughed loudly.

His only remaining right arm raised his immortal sword

and drove it viciously into the blood vessel beneath his feet.

“Xuan He Reverses the Flow!”

Boom!

The full power of an Earth Immortal at the fifth level

erupted in that instant.

The blood vessel beneath him exploded inch by inch.

Great quantities of foul blood were vaporized by immortal power.

A pale will hidden deep within the blood vessel

let out a pained shriek.

The entire Immortal Reception City

shuddered violently.

The barrier formed by the Immortal Plague Isolation Talisman

carried the immortals out of the blood vessel

and brought them before a magnificent great hall.

On the plaque above its doors,

three characters in the immortal script slowly writhed:

Feather Ascension Hall.

Behind them, the blood vessel began to heal.

Earth Immortal Xuan He’s enormous, aberrant body

was gradually swallowed by flesh and blood.

At the very last moment,

a right arm that still belonged to a human

reached out from a gap in the flesh.

It clenched an immortal sword tightly in its hand.

“Your Majesty.”

“Have I…”

“earned merit?”

It was the first time he had called himself this sovereign’s subject.

Wang Hao gripped the new Son of Heaven Sword.

“It counts.”

“Earth Immortal Xuan He.”

“In battle, you slew forty-three thousand six hundred enemies.”

“You are awarded first-class merit.”

From within the gap in the flesh came a relieved burst of laughter.

“Worth it!”

Wang Hao brought his sword down.

A silver sword-light pierced through the blood vessel.

The Immaculate Sacred Flame erupted with a roar.

Earth Immortal Xuan He’s laughter came to an abrupt end.

There was no pain.

No struggle.

Only a broken immortal sword

fell from the blood vessel.

Wang Hao reached out and caught it.

He planted it before the gates of Feather Ascension Hall.

Eighty-seven immortals

stood behind that sword.

For a long time, no one spoke.