Before the Turbulence Sea channel of the Immortal-Slaying City, the once-calm void suddenly collapsed. At the center of this collapse, a black hole appeared, seemingly devouring everything in its vicinity.
Immediately after, a massive, pitch-black demonic claw reached out from within.
Most horrifying of all were the dense, countless eyeballs embedded within every single scale on the claw. Wherever these eyes looked, eerie explosions would occur. Even the ancient, hardened stones that had withstood eons were obliterated into dust, vanishing without a trace.
The super-formation protecting the Immortal-Slaying City and the Star-Sea Sect likewise suffered countless spontaneous explosions. Had it not been for the formation's presence, the Star-Sea Continent's forces would have suffered catastrophic casualties in an instant.
"It is a Void Refinement stage Thousand-Eyed Troll!"
"What terrifying power! Is that the innate divine ability of the Thousand-Eyed Trolls?"
Because knowledge concerning various demon types had been popularized over the years, the experts of the Star-Sea Continent recognized this famous monster at a single glance.
(TN: Thousand-Eyed Troll: A demon of the Royal King-rank bloodline. One of the most dangerous attackers among the demon race. Its innate demonic eye ability can cause massive area-of-effect specialized attacks in an instant, capable of exterminating any enemy of a lower cultivation realm. Even those of the same realm with weaker defenses may be killed instantly.)
The sheer deterrent force brought by the Thousand-Eyed Troll's initial display of power was overwhelming.
"A show of strength to intimidate us?" Qi Ping snorted coldly.
Sending out a demon of this caliber from the start and attacking the moment it emerged from the channel was clearly intended to break their spirits.
Qi Ping had to admit the tactic was effective. As the Thousand-Eyed Troll fully stepped out of the channel, its natural pressure as a high-ranking demon and its Law-Form surpassed all physical defenses. It struck directly at the hearts and minds of the cultivators, threatening to shatter their will to cultivate.
In historical records, Thousand-Eyed Trolls had been known to cause the Dao-hearts of tens of thousands of cultivators to collapse simply by standing still, causing their magical power to spiral out of control until they died. This demon was one of the enemies that had historically dealt the heaviest blows to the cultivation world.
Some even speculated that this monster was specifically born to counter the Dao-heart system. As long as they stood there, they were a nightmare for countless cultivators. Only those with exceptionally firm Dao-hearts could resist this bizarre power.
Fortunately, the moment the demonic claw appeared, Qi Ping had ordered everyone to seal their divine sense and all other senses. Otherwise, the Immortal-Slaying City would already be a field of corpses.
However, Qi Ping added a caveat: though the Thousand-Eyed Troll's power to detonate the Dao-heart was terrifying, if its power could not bypass the Star-Sea Formation, those with firm wills could still choose to witness it. They might even use this crisis as an opportunity to break through their bottlenecks.
After the brief sealing of divine senses, a portion of the cultivators opened their eyes. Most were spirited young geniuses, though there were also elderly cultivators seeking a breakthrough before their lifespans expired.
To everyone's surprise, more than half of the force chose this path!
The moment they opened their eyes, a gargantuan pressure slammed into their souls! In an instant, their magical powers began to riot. Some were suppressed immediately, causing their Dao-heart realms to rise rapidly as they overcame the pressure. Others, however, began to lose control; if left alone, they would surely perish.
At this moment, the disparity in their Dao-heart realms became immediately apparent.
Qi Ping had anticipated this. He and those capable of withstanding the soul-pressure began to assist the cultivators whose power was spiraling out of control, resealing their senses and stabilizing their magical power. These cultivators were the foundation of the world-war, and Qi Ping would not allow them to die in such numbers so early.
Others who were not assigned specific tasks by Qi Ping began to spontaneously help their comrades suppress the rioting energy, demonstrating exceptional discipline and quality.
Remarkably, almost the entire Qing-God Army managed to withstand this level of mental pressure!
The Qing-God Army truly lived up to its reputation as one of the Star-Sea Continent's supreme trump cards. Not only did most of them withstand the soul-pressure, but they also had enough strength to spare to help the Star-Sea Academy disciples and rogue cultivators around them.
Qi Ping nodded inwardly at the sight. This was the correct atmosphere. If they could not even achieve unity, their survival in this terrifying world would depend entirely on the charity and mercy of their enemies.
Despite the rescues, a small number of cultivators still died before they could be reached.
However, many more had used the experience to achieve breakthroughs and growth in their Dao-hearts. The death of a few did not lower morale; instead, it fueled the combat intent of the Star-Sea forces.
Even a Rank 2 Danger-level demon, a Void Refinement Great Demon, was not something they could not look upon! If they could withstand the pressure, wasn't this monster just a giant cultivation catalyst?
The strong became stronger, a reality that began to manifest in real-time. It was easy to foresee that the cultivators who withstood the pressure would be the ones to make the most rapid progress in the coming war.
The Thousand-Eyed Troll, having just emerged from the channel, saw that its usually invincible soul-pressure had only killed a handful of cultivators. Instead of a deterrent, it had become a growth-booster for its enemies. Its massive body paused, and its countless eyes turned blood-red with rage.
In previous invasions of other domains, its mere appearance usually slaughtered countless cultivators. This not only eliminated enemies but also weakened the world-power of the target domain and dealt a crushing blow to their morale.
But here, it had failed. To complete its mission, the Thousand-Eyed Troll prepared to focus its innate divine ability on specific cultivators to unleash an even more terrifying mental suppression.
But how could Qi Ping let it succeed?
"Fellow Daoist Bai Liyun, kill it. If we don't slaughter this thing, we will be at a severe disadvantage," Qi Ping said, looking at the man beside him—Bai Liyun, the man with exaggerated muscles and the Demon Blade on his back.
"No problem. Watch me bring its corpse back to you, Star-Emperor!"
As the words fell, Bai Liyun's figure exploded forward! He was like a world-destroying Demon Blade; his terrifying blade-intent instantly spanned across the horizon.
"A Thousand-Eyed Troll of the Royal bloodline? I want to see if you can stop the Demon Blade in my hand!"
Bai Liyun's voice was filled with overbearing arrogance. Endless blade-intent swept out with his words. Simultaneously, the black Demon Blade appeared in his hand, and a pillar of blade-energy rose to the heavens, seemingly splitting the sky in two!
The Thousand-Eyed Troll's countless eyes all focused on Bai Liyun. A terrifying, oppressive power instantly converged on him. Even before the monster attacked, Bai Liyun's protective spiritual energy began to explode and disintegrate.
'Foolish!' the Thousand-Eyed Troll sneered internally.
Though they spoke different tongues, at this level, any language could be translated instantly unless it utilized the unique power of Ancient Tongues. It felt no fear. With a single blink of its myriad eyes, they all turned a sinister crimson. A bizarre red light, faster than any blade, enveloped Bai Liyun completely.