In the massive dark cave underground somewhere within the outer rim of the secret land.
"Brother Long… those monsters are heading for the rift. What should we do?" one of the few remaining disciples from the Iron Hall group said, his tone grim as uncertainty loomed over them.
"I don't know!" Bao Long roared.
Bao Long held his head, wracking his brain as he tried to think of a solution. Their plans and preparations had all crumbled in the face of the overwhelming power of those three monsters—two men with Dao Hearts and one Demon Beast cat.
Jin Da-Shan's group at the rift wouldn't survive for long. There was no way he and his subordinates could handle all three monsters at the same time, since even one of them was already bad enough—especially the Demon Beast cat, who seemed exponentially stronger than any True Body Realm cultivator Bao Long had ever known.
Even though millions of God Spawns guarded the Rift, in his opinion, it still wasn't enough against those monsters. At some point, Jin Da-Shan would eventually fall, and the Elemental Seal would be taken back by its owner.
Also, they don't even have a single card left to play.
There was no more solution.
They were doomed.
"AHHHH!!!" Bao Long screamed. His outburst only made his juniors feel even more desperate—everyone here understood the situation all too well.
Bao Long's thought flashed as if he finally thought of the solution, and then he spoke.
"Let's run away"
Hearing Bao Long's words, his junior brother and sister turned confused.
"Haha…" One of the juniors laughed dryly.
"Where could we run away Brother Long, we were trapped here…" One of Junior said.
Bao Long closed his eyes and focused on his thoughts. He was not like Jin Da-Shan or the other cultists who signed up for this mess themselves. Whether it was the Wu God's promise or the world without the Heavenly Dao, he didn't care—but he didn't have a choice.
Since his faction had already chosen this path, if he hadn't followed, he would have been dead long ago.
He was not willing to throw his life away for this worthless mission.
In response to his junior's question, Bao Long brought out something that he had hidden from the very start.
A golden talisman with profound runes carved into it appeared in his hand.
Bao Long's junior brothers and sisters widened their eyes in shock when they saw what Bao Long had brought out.
"Brother Long! You have another Immortal Talisman!"
"That's right, I kept it—just in case," Bao Long said.
"Brother Long, why don't you use it to kill that demon cat?" one of the juniors said.
Bao Long became angry when he heard this.
"Because I'm not stupid!" Bao Long slapped the head of the one who asked the foolish question.
"Ow! Please stop, Brother Long!" a junior begged for mercy.
Bao Long continued to hit him three more times before stopping.
"Remember! Be careful with your words!" Bao Long said.
The reason he did not use it to attack living beings was simple: the talisman wasn't crafted for killing.
The juniors didn't know the details. They only knew it was a powerful Immortal-tier talisman.
This Immortal-tier Talisman was called the Heaven-Earth Severing Talisman. Its primary function was to sever the pathflow of Heaven and Earth Qi. As a result, most formations that relied on Heaven and Earth's Qi would become unstable and collapse.
Even with its immense power, It didn't possess any direct means to kill individuals.
Besides, activating an Immortal-tier talisman required a large amount of Qi—at least that of a Dao Threshold Realm cultivator—to use it without suffering serious backlash.
For a Spiritual Foundation Realm cultivator like him, activating it would be suicide. He alone wouldn't be able to provide the amount of Qi required—it would take at least ten cultivators of the same cultivation realm as him just to activate the talisman at its minimum power.
Bao Long explained how the talisman worked to his juniors to ease their confusion.
Their faces turned pale when they heard that at least ten people would have to sacrifice their lives to activate it.
"NO! Brother Long!" some screamed. They had only fifteen people left after the battle at the Metal Seal Station—meaning most of them would likely end up as the sacrifice.
"Shut up! Our group has died enough. I don't need any more worthless deaths… Besides, I have a method to activate it without costing lives," Bao Long said.
"Brother Long…" they murmured mournfully.
"B-Brother Long, then how are you going to use the talisman?" one junior asked.
"We'll use it to get out of here!" Bao Long exclaimed.
The juniors were briefly excited, but their expressions soon turned gloomy when they thought about what would come next.
"Brother Long… Even if we escape from here, the cult won't spare us for failing…" one of them muttered.
Bao Long shook his head and said, "We won't return to the continent."
"What?!"
Bao Long pointed his finger at the group. "We will leave this realm!" he shouted.
"B-Brother Long, please calm down…" Some of them looked at Bao Long with pitiful eyes, thinking their Brother Long had already lost his mind.
Bao Long gazed at the juniors. They clearly didn't understand what he intended to do. It was understandable—he came from a noble clan within the Iron Edge Hall and had access to more knowledge than most of them.
"Let me tell you—where we are now is the Realm core. It's the foundation of the entire realm!" Bao Long continued, explaining his plan.
"I will use the talisman to attack the Realm core itself! HAHAHA!" Bao Long laughed as if he had already gone mad.
"What?! Brother Long, are you going to destroy the realm?! That's great karma—you wouldn't be able to bear the consequences!" one of them shouted in shock.
"What are you talking about? I couldn't even if I wanted to. Even the strongest True Immortal couldn't destroy the realm with just one move—let alone with one talisman," Bao Long said calmly.
"Then what do you mean by attacking the realm?" another asked.
"You know the Realm core—the place that holds the essence of the entire realm. That's why it's so abundant with Qi—no place on the surface can compare. But it doesn't just hold the realm's essence—it's also where the entrance to Astral Web is located!"
The Astral Web was the cosmic structure that held the countless dimensional worlds together—an astral network linking universes, realms, and pocket dimensions within the Void, forming the foundational structure of the Heavenly Dao World Multiverse.
"With the talisman's power, it will sever the space and reveal the entrance to the Astral Web for us. Then we'll use it to leave this realm!" Bao Long said.
"Is that true? Won't it be dangerous? I thought only those at a high cultivation realm could withstand void erosion," someone asked, worried.
Bao Long explained, "We're not facing the void directly. Through the Astral Web, it's completely safe!"
"Let's not waste any more time. We don't know when those monsters will find us," Bao Long said.
The juniors nodded, agreeing to follow Bao Long to the end.
"Don't resist, whatever happens," Bao Long spoke in a serious tone.
Gulp
The juniors sensed the seriousness of what their brother Long was about to do.
Bao Long took a deep breath, preparing for the backlash of what he was about to do. But it was all for survival. Staying here meant certain death, and they could no longer return home. Their fate was now in their hands.
Bao Long raised his hand toward his juniors and did something similar to what Jin Da-Shan had done to his group.
The Wu Dao seed within his Lower Dantian emitted a powerful aura, and then…
The Wu Qi within his junior brothers and sisters were forcefully pulled, and the Wu Qi rose from their bodies, causing them immense pain.
"AHHHHHHHHH! BROTHER LONG, PLEASE HAVE MERCY!" some screamed, thinking they were about to become sacrifices. They could feel their cultivation base being reduced to Qi Gathering Realm and continuing to drop.
Sweat appeared on Bao Long's forehead as he tried his best to control the process.
The Wu Dao Seed within him glowed with a powerful chakra, as if it were ready to explode any time. Bao Long stopped draining the Qi from his juniors.
He left them lying on the ground, tears leaking from their eyes as they sensed their cultivation was almost completely ruined. Their hard work was reduced to nearly nothing.
Bao Long steeled his heart, lowered his hand, and moved it to his belly.
"AHHHH!!" Bao Long screamed, just as his juniors had earlier, feeling the immense pain from extracting the Wu Dao Seed.
Soon, the golden lotus seed appeared in Bao Long's hand. He felt very weak, as his cultivation base was now nearly ruined. His hand trembled, but he continued what he had started.
He placed the Wu Dao Seed on the Immortal-tier talisman, using the Wu Dao Seed's energy to activate it. He sent his will to the talisman, telling it what he wanted.
The talisman glowed with golden light, and then it activated.
Manifested a powerful Golden Sword in mid-air.
Bao Long looked at it with hope.