Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

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Above the Nine Ceremony, the position reserved for the Heavenly Venerable, where Xu Yang sat in observation, watching the battlefield with a cold and detached gaze.

War is like a horse race, each level with its counterpart, soldier to soldier, general to general, king to king.

The order cannot be chaotic; a single misstep creates an opening for the enemy to exploit, resulting in the collapse of the entire strategy.

Therefore, he cannot act just yet.

But if he does not intervene, can the cultivators of the academy alone withstand the great forces of the Heavenly Court?

Let's compare the strength of both sides.

On the upper echelon are the Calamity Immortals of the Heavenly Court, including the Gods of the Big and Small Dipper, the Fire God, the Plague Lord, and the Thunder Department's Western Extreme, totaling nineteen Calamity Immortals with Cultivations ranging from one to six Tribulations, their strength formidable.

In contrast, the Wandao School only has twenty-eight Mahayanas. Despite possessing Immortal Spirit Mecha, the strongest among them are on par with Phoenix Song, capable of withstanding the power of three Tribulations.

Faced with the nineteen great Calamity Immortals of the Heavenly Court, even with the aid of the early-deployed Nine Ceremony Great Formation, they still hold no advantage, even finding themselves at a disadvantage.

Currently, only the Five Stars of the Dipper Department, the five Lords of the Thunder Department, and the Two Gods of Fire and Plague have made their move. The most critical White Tiger Seven Constellations have yet to act, and already all the upper-level combat power of the Wandao School has been forced out into a fierce battle.

With that, how could the academy monks stand against the Calamity Immortals of the Heavenly Court?

They rely on their life's worth and the depth of their potential.

Behind Xu Yang lies support from more than just one world.

Over tens of thousands of years, the World of Dao and Law has developed rapidly, and the Divine Martial World has not fallen behind.

Unlike the World of Dao and Law, the Divine Martial World has the War God's Atlas, which has already changed heaven and earth. The status of the world has significantly risen, with no issue of being unable to accommodate Mahayana.

With tens of thousands of years of hard work, Xu Qingyang, who walked the dual path of Immortal Martial, has already stepped into the Divine Martial Mahayana Realm. He has further delved into the secrets of the War God's Atlas and grasped deeper principles of the Void.

With this, he has constructed this special monument within the Ascension Academy.

Why say constructed?

Because this monument is also a mech armor, a top-grade Immortal Spirit Mech Armor. Taking the "Broken Void Stele" as its core—a superior Immortal Implement—comprised of countless artifacts of the Void Spirit as components, it is thus constructed.

This monument, this mech armor, possesses no frontal combat power, because Xu Yang has focused all its functions on one aspect: spatial transposition.

It can be viewed as a super-large, highly efficient spirit transposition formation, one end connected to all the great Immortal Spirit Mecha, the other to this Ascension Academy. When necessary, it can activate the spatial transposition to transport battle-engaged Immortal Spirit Mecha back and forth.

Hence, the top-grade Immortal Spirit Mech Armor operated by academy monks, although only boasting the strength of one to three Tribulations, holds a strong advantage not even Immortals of six Tribulations possess: battlefield maintenance and logistical supply.

All battle-damaged Immortal Spirit Mecha can swiftly exit the battlefield using the power of the Broken Void, return to the Ascension Academy, replace damaged parts, and restore combat capabilities—unless they are destroyed in a single blow, their combat power will be inexhaustible.

Who can shatter an Immortal Spirit Mech Armor with the power of Tribulations in a single hit?

At least, it would take a Calamity Immortal of five Tribulations exerting full force, employing a killing move, to possibly achieve that.

How many of the nineteen Calamity Immortals of the Heavenly Court are of five Tribulations?

Just a few, such as Si Ming, Fire Virtue, Plague God, White Tiger, and so on, not even making up thirty percent.

Thus, Xu Yang is set on this course of action: to wear them down, to deplete them.

To use the foundation of the Wandao School to whittle away the path of these Calamity Immortals.

Although the Heavenly Court has invested heavily this time, providing a portion of superior-grade Flat Peaches to empower these Calamity Immortals, the Flat Peaches can only weaken the power of Immortal Tribulations, not completely erase them.

If they overexert, suffer too much depletion, or the impact is too profound, the involvement of karma too heavy, then even superior-grade Flat Peaches will struggle to guard the path of the Calamity Immortals.

Now the fate of this battle hangs on whether these Heavenly Court Calamity Immortals are willing to gamble their future paths against the livelihood and potential of the Wandao School.

The Wandao School has his Upper Realm's millennium of accumulation and the Lower Realm's ten thousand years of development, particularly the recent few hundred years, where he has frequently traveled between the two realms.

Xu Yang has sent resources collected from the Earth Immortal Realm to the Wandao School, using the difference in time flow between the Upper and Lower Realms to refine a large number of Magical Treasures.

These serve as components for the mech armor, supplementing battle capabilities. Coupled with the massive number of Spirit Communication Precious Jade he pilfered during his recent chaos in the Heavenly Palace for energy supply, with such a fortune at stake, can they outlast the enemy?

It all depends on how much courage and determination the opponents possess!

...

Outside the Heavenly Palace, amidst the battlefield.

Lord Plague God withdrew the Xing Tian Stamp, producing a Plague Poison Banner and hastening to Fire Virtue Star's aid.

As the Lord of the Plague Department and a high ranking deity, his personal wealth was considerable, the Plague Poison Banner also a superior Immortal Implement.

He brandished the plague banner, releasing a ferocious miasma that surged like dragons and snakes, wrapping directly towards the Five-Colored Luan Phoenix.

Seeing this, Fire Virtue Star also redoubled his cultivation power, aiming to retract the Li Fire Banner, his life-bound Immortal Instrument.

If he could reclaim the Li Fire Banner, then even if the opponent had the Ground-Departing Flame Light Banner, they would no longer have such a hold over him, a Five Calamity Immortal.

However...

"Boom!!!"

Like a falling star, a burst of Heavenly Thunder Earthly Fire descended once again onto the battlefield, engulfing the Plague Lord's toxic miasma.

"Hm!?"

Lord Plague God's eyes narrowed in shock and anger as he rapidly waved the Plague Poison Banner to attack the Thunderbolt Overturning Sky General.

"How can this be?"

"Such swift recovery?"

"Heavenly Craftsmen, Immortal Spirit Mech Armor?"

"We cannot let them keep escaping and regenerating; otherwise, this endless attrition will wear us out!"

Seeing the Celestial General return to the fray, the host of Calamity Immortals all have a realization and immediately intensify their attacks, aiming to destroy the mech armor decisively.

But with the opponent having a large number of combatants, twenty-eight Mahayanas, twenty-eight mech armors, and excluding those managing the formation to suppress the Heavenly Court's forces, nearly twenty are entangled with their seven Calamity Immortals—the odds nearly three to one.

Even if they are ready to pay the price and go all out, against a force nearly triple their number, they find it difficult to shift the circumstances immediately.

"Ah!!!"

Fire Virtue Star roared in fury, pushing his cultivation of Fire Virtue to the limit, but he still couldn't withstand the Ground-Departing Flame Light's power to invert the Five Elements. The Li Fire Banner, as if a wild dragon struggling, slipped from his grip, swept up by the Five Colors Divine Light of the Phoenix, vanishing into the Glazed Treasure Banner in an instant.

"Ahh!!!"

"Return my treasure!"

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As his life-bound immortal instrument was reclaimed, even an Immortal Monarch of the Tribulation Realm couldn't help but cry out in pain. Firedrive Star rose in great fury, with red hair and beard aflame, akin to a dragon's reverse scales standing on end, recklessly attacking the Five Elements Caifeng.

Seeing this, Caifeng, quite unexpectedly, showed no fear. Spreading her celestial wings, she unleashed the grandeur of the Five Elements Divine Light. The power of the Li Ground Flame Light Banner was fully displayed. Amidst billions of magical treasures and a vast sea of spiritual sources, she fiercely battled the Fire Department's Immortal Monarch.

"Screech!!!"

Another cry sounded, and it was the Great Peng spreading its wings, casting out one hundred and eight thousand sword lights, grinding the Big Dipper Pojun Star to bits.

"Boom!!!"

Once again, the purple sun rose in the east, scorching the heavens and boiling the seas, like an alchemy cauldron refining all, trapping the Beidou Silu Star.

There were also myriads of swords crisscrossing, flowers blooming in unison, some attacking, some defending, each performing their duty, fiercely battling the seven great Calamity Immortals.

Fight, fight, fight; wild, wild, wild; Calamity Immortals clashing with mech armors, the Heavenly Court battling Dao palaces!

As such…

Tens of thousands of miles away, outsiders watched the battlefield from a distance, with indescribable shock in their hearts.

"This…"

"Wuzhuang Temple actually has such potentiality?"

"Nineteen Calamity Immortals and a million Celestial Soldiers, all trapped within the formation?"

"Brother Zhen Yuan…"

Although they had some premonitions and glimpsed the clues, when faced with this scene, everyone still couldn't hide their shock and some also felt an indescribable regret.

"Is that… the Great Roc King?"

"True Person Ziyang, Pure Jun Sword Lord!"

"And the Peony Fairy…"

"Brother Dao...!"

The cultivators were overwhelmed with emotions, their thoughts in turmoil.

Elsewhere…

"Amitabha, this battle… I fear it won't end well!"

Above the auspicious clouds, a lotus throne emerged.

The Great Mercy Bodhisattva sighed softly, while the Eighteen Arhats remained silent.

Calamity Immortals are constrained by karma.

What is karma?

Every action and deed, its impact on the world, on heaven and earth, on all living beings, creates ripples that deepen the challenges faced by cultivators on their path to immortality imposed by the Heavenly Dao.

Because heaven and earth are in fact composed of all living beings: immortals, Buddhas, demons, fiends, humans, beasts, plants, trees—all these various entities are part of the Heavenly Dao and hold certain powers within it.

Your actions influence them, leading to karmic entanglements, inviting retribution from the Heavenly Dao.

This is why Buddhism has always planned for the southward spread of Buddhist Law to prosper, for once Buddhism thrives, its authority within the system of the Heavenly Dao will increase, lessening the insurmountable obstacles. Not only Calamity Immortals, but True Immortals will benefit from it.

The southward spread of Buddhist Law is critical, but they still cannot intervene because the Eighteen Arhats were defeated and have already promised not to interfere with this matter. The cultivators of South Observance are witnesses, and openly breaking their promise would not only bring about the demon of the heart but also karmic backlash, which they cannot afford.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Court is only engaged in fierce battle, not yet revealing signs of defeat.

Even…

The Bodhisattva raised her hand and looked towards the north, her gaze profound.

Looking back at the scene.

The battle between the Calamity Immortals was intense and closely fought, with no clear victor in sight.

"We cannot interfere with the battle of the Calamity Immortals."

"Let's destroy the pivotal points of the formation and dispel this Heavenly Thunder Earthly Fire."

"Once Heavenly Thunder Earthly Fire is dispelled, the Five Gods of the Thunder Department will be free to act."

"Attack!"

Seeing that the upper echelons were locked in battle, the Heavenly Gang Earth Sha and the Nine Luminaries Star Officers decisively sprang into action, flying towards the Celestial Patrol Warship which acted as a node for the great array and triggered the Heavenly Thunder Earthly Fire.

The art of war is a game of chess.

With the top tier abstaining and the upper echelons caught up in a stalemate, it was up to them, the middle tier, to fight vigorously and change the course of the battle.

The Heavenly Gang Earth Sha and the Nine Luminaries Star Officers, along with over a hundred Mahayana, launched an attack on the Celestial Patrol Warship.

But unexpectedly…

"Attack!!!"

Within the warship, amidst the formations, several Integration cultivators leapt out, instantly summoning a torrent of dazzling lights, conjuring mecha bodies, forming beings hundreds of feet tall, some even a thousand feet in stature, meeting the charge of the Heavenly Gang Earth Sha and the Nine Luminaries Evil Star.

Not just Integration, there were also Return to Void cultivators, mid-grade Immortal Spirit a thousand feet tall, and lower-grade Immortal Spirit a hundred feet tall, forming a formation of three thousand armored mechas, rushing towards the Heavenly Gang Earth Sha and the Nine Luminaries Evil Star. Find your next read on empire

The Ascension Academy brought cultivators from the Lower Realm, totaling more than a hundred Integration, three thousand Return to Void, and a million Deity Transformation with a hundred thousand Nascent Souls, all dragons among men, pride of the Lower Realm.

Since arriving in the Earth Immortal Realm a hundred years ago, relying on the great Spirit Mountains and Daoist institutions of South Observance to aid their cultivation with Immortal Spirit Mechanisms, they all made breakthroughs. Deity Transformation broke through to Return to Void, Return to Void advanced to Integration, Integration stepped up to Mahayana.

Now there were eight hundred Integration cultivators, six thousand Return to Void, each piloting mid and lower-grade Immortal Spirit Mecha Armor, thus constituting the middle-tier fighting force.

The Dipper Department forms the upper echelons of the Heavenly Court, and both Heavenly Gang Earth Sha and Nine Luminaries Star Officers have Mahayana bodies. They are all dedicated to combat and are extremely powerful, with some nearly as venerable as Calamity Immortals. Even against mid-grade mech armor, it is challenging to stand alone.

It was a dangerous and fierce battle formation!

Yet, even as three thousand armored mechas formed their own formation, they were fearless, pressing forward bravely.

This battle was the Ascension Academy's defining moment!

The Academy had governed for myriad ages, spreading Dao and teaching without discrimination, bestowing blessings to all beings, its kindness beyond words.

Today was the time to repay that kindness with their own bodies, and for the sake of future generations to forge a path. Their hearts were like iron, unregretful even through nine deaths!

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