Here, while steadily fighting, Liu Xie, after dozens of rounds, seemed to sense something, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved upwards.
Following this, he tilted his head back, slowly raised his hands, and let out a series of manic laughter as if driven mad, as if something extremely joyful had just happened.
...
Although they were opponents, Wang Quanguan and Kong Xiangxi, who were familiar with Liu Xie's personality, felt no joy upon seeing him in this state.
Instead, they felt an inexplicable chill rise from the depths of their hearts.
...
Especially Wang Quanguan, who had clashed with Liu Xie before, felt the sense of unease even more intensely.
However, it was too late for them to react...
The next second, a deafening sound that could travel for miles reverberated through the heavens and earth, shaking the eight directions.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
One after another, thunderous roars erupted, the four directions trembled, and a continuous, unending tremor pulsed from top to bottom, left to right.
The incessantly shaking ground and sky filled everyone with terror, as if the world was being destroyed, the apocalypse had arrived, and the heavens and earth were returning to a primordial state of chaos!
Since that first deafening roar, for tens of thousands of miles around the imperial capital of Chang'an, spatial rifts had appeared in both the sky and the earth!
A power so immense that it surpassed everyone's imagination was ceaselessly churning the surroundings. The unease that Wang Quanguan and Kong Xiangxi had felt in their hearts now intensified to an unprecedented degree.
Although they didn't know what had happened, recalling Liu Xie's exceedingly bizarre laughter earlier, they could only surmise that he was responsible for whatever was transpiring...
Currently, though danger had not yet fully descended, the increasingly palpable sense of peril was enough to make the millions of cultivators engaged in battle stop fighting in unison.
All their gazes, sharp and focused, fell upon Liu Xie, who had become the center of everyone's attention.
However, Liu Xie was in no mood to attend to them at this moment.
His entire focus was now on the area behind the imperial capital of Chang'an.
Suddenly, within the imperial palace at the very heart of Chang'an, a terrifying scene of an earth dragon turning over and the ground shaking violently unfolded!
"Crack... crack... crack..."
At the core of Chang'an's dragon脉, vast swathes of land cracked open, forming one colossal chasm after another.
Streams of scarlet, blood-like light leaked out through these immense fissures, transforming into massive, dense masses of blood-red light that enshrouded a vast expanse of the sky.
This led to a sight that shocked and terrified the millions of cultivators in this blood-soaked land.
Before their astonished eyes, these dense clusters of blood-red light formed an incredibly colossal blood-red well opening in the sky!
Even more unsettling, after its formation, this blood-red well opening began to continuously absorb the souls, blood, and bones of all the deceased cultivators on the battlefield.
At this moment, witnessing this utterly terrifying spectacle, cultivators from both sides simultaneously ceased their actions.
...
In this instant, aside from astonishment, terror, and unease, all that remained in their hearts was confusion.
They could neither see nor understand any part of this series of changes.
More than ninety-nine percent of the millions of cultivators in the field had no idea what was happening...
They had no clue what had transpired, nor what the high-ranking members of the Liu clan had done!
Even a large portion of the Liu clan members themselves were unaware of the meaning behind this scene!
This was supposed to be the stage for the conclusive battle between organized cultivator legions, but judging by the current situation, these millions of cultivators seemed to have become mere supporting characters...
Who could have imagined that millions of cultivators would play a supporting role...
If this scene had occurred elsewhere, a significant number of these cultivators would have turned and fled immediately.
After all, how many cultivators, after living for so many years, wouldn't possess a sharp mind?
Knowing there was danger, sensing something amiss, and yet hesitating instead of running?!
But this was, after all, a battlefield.
The final outcome of this battle concerned the ultimate dominance of the Zi Prefecture's cultivation world. Neither the four great families nor any other faction would easily withdraw.
The area within tens of thousands of miles, with the imperial palace of Chang'an as the center of the horizon, showed signs of abnormality.
Starting from the imperial palace as a single point, lines radiated outward in a straight, pentagram-like pattern, with distinct angles, continuously spreading in all directions!
Wherever the pentagram reached, everything was utterly devoured, leaving not a single trace behind...
Or rather, this suddenly appearing pentagram was born with the sole purpose of devouring everything.
Everyone's gaze was fixed upon the terrifying pentagram. Regardless of their cultivation level, every cultivator felt a hallucination of distorted space and time, of a world in disarray.
Some low-level Qi Refining cultivators, their hearts shattered by fear, collapsed to the ground, reduced to mindless idiots with blank stares.
"Hiss..."
"What's going on? My spiritual energy is being restricted?"
"Damn it, are you guys experiencing this too?"
"No, what exactly is happening?"
"Liu, you scoundrels, what are you up to?!"
As one earth-shattering change after another occurred, a portion of the cultivators on the battlefield finally decided to seize the opportunity while everyone's attention was focused on the pentagram and attempt to retreat stealthily.
Of course, to their awkward predicament, these cultivators who harbored the same thought all collided with each other as they attempted to withdraw.
... Of course, if it were just this, it wouldn't be a major issue, as cultivators generally had thick skin.
Even if such a situation was embarrassing, as long as everyone acted as if they hadn't seen each other, it would be fine...
However, when numerous cultivators felt their spiritual power being suppressed, their mood instantly soured...
Many cultivators, their faces grim, shouted, and a cacophony of discussion erupted across the battlefield!
Wang Quanguan's expression changed drastically, his face looking so dreadful it could scare someone to death.
He stared intently at Liu Xie and said word by word, "Liu Xie, what exactly have you done? What mischief are you up to?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Xie's smile grew even more pronounced. He slightly raised his left hand, wiggled his middle finger, indicating his utter disdain!
Wang Quanguan was no incompetent individual. As the de facto leader of the four great families, his status was second to none.
Faced with such an insult, a cold glint flashed in Wang Quanguan's eyes, and an extremely chilling aura emanated from him, capable of freezing everything.
Just as Wang Quanguan was about to make a move, Qin Ruhuo, who had deeply researched life and death cycles, suddenly trembled all over, shaking like a sieve.
The muscles on his face twitched, and his eyes revealed a look of utter horror.
Pointing at the pentagram, Qin Ruhuo said with a trembling voice, "This appears to be the Art of Qi Luck Sacrifice. Liu Xie, have you gone mad..."
"Doing this will greatly deplete your Liu clan's original fortune. Are you truly not afraid of the nation's downfall?"
...
"Art of Qi Luck Sacrifice..."
When those six words were uttered by Qin Ruhuo, a portion of the millions of cultivators present collectively shuddered, their faces displaying disbelief.
Especially the high-level cultivators, who not only lived longer but were also more knowledgeable and erudite.
They hadn't initially considered it to be the Art of Qi Luck Sacrifice because they had fallen into a mental trap, their thoughts having gone astray.
After all, who would have imagined that the Liu clan would undermine itself, digging its own foundations...
With Qin Ruhuo's reminder, many cultivators began to understand everything.
Everyone turned their heads to look at the ever-expanding pentagram, their eyes fixed upon it, not daring to relax for a moment.
At this point, if they still didn't realize that a fatal crisis was imminent, their lives as cultivators would have been lived in vain.
All other thoughts in their minds were now cast aside by these cultivators.
Presently, these cultivators harbored a single thought: to quickly escape this battlefield that was clearly a trap.
Threatening and angry shouts continuously emanated from these cultivators.
"Liu, what exactly do you intend to do?"
"Do you think you alone can swallow millions of cultivators?"
"Your appetite is truly enormous, but aren't you afraid of indigestion?"
"Bastards, even if I die, I'll drag you down with me..."
"Despicable and shameless trash, unable to defeat us, you resort to such petty tactics..."
The cultivators on the side of the four great families simultaneously unleashed their killing intent, their cold gazes falling upon Liu Xie.
Millions of cultivators, coupled with the wrath of four top-tier Void Refinement realm experts, should have commanded even the Immortal Emperor Liu Xie's utmost attention and cautious handling.
Yet, strangely...
Even so, Liu Xie, floating in the air, still wore a full face of smiles, as if nothing had happened!
This smiling face, when seen by Wang Quanguan, Li Zihao, Kong Xiangxi, and Qin Ruhuo, instantly made them feel a prickling sensation on their scalps and cold sweat running down their backs...