Divine Emperor of Death

Founder Rocksunder waited for a few seconds before he saw that there were no objections.

He nodded, "That decides it. We will now proceed east. Try not to get separated even if we meet Crystal Beasts hordes on the way. It is unlikely we'll meet Empyrean Crystal Beasts in the direction we're heading, but Peak-Level Immortal Emperor Beasts are still a valid threat to us. Only Noctis and I could deal with them."

"Understood."

Everyone echoed.

They then left the mountain cave and made their way east.

Unbeknownst to them, many cultivators were also fleeing towards the east.

Amongst them, there were a few members who glowed brighter than the others in terms of influence as they commanded the other inheritors. The surprising matter was that the inheritors listened to these people, making it clear that they possessed extraordinary strength.

"Release!"

A woman's melodious voice echoed out in a commanding tone as she waved her hand toward the pursuing crystal beast horde.

Instantly, the sky was set ablaze with hundreds of different hues. They were like arrows raining upon the hundreds of crystal beasts that intended to kill them. These beasts held a crimson glow in their eyes as though they had malevolent jewels for eyes. They roared and charged forward, not knowing fear.

*BOOOM!~*

Countless techniques fell on them and exploded into a wide array of light, causing the crystalline body of the crystal beasts to shatter.

Over fifty Late Stage Immortal Emperor Crystal Beasts fell to that attack, and hundreds Mid Stage Immortal Emperor Crystal Beasts exploded into fragments while the Early Stage Immortal Emperor Crystal Beasts barely left their cores behind.

Their cores were seemingly harmed, leaking energy.

However, the cultivators didn't seem to mind.

They quickly gathered all the cores they could before continuing to retreat in an orderly manner. Such a scene couldn't be seen in the entire Candidacy, but a woman and two men managed to accomplish such a feat.

This was actually the third wave of crystal beasts to besiege them upon retreat.

A few minutes later, a fourth wave came from a different direction. However, they still weren't caught off guard, managing to unleash a torrent of attacks and a few Divine Techniques to clear them.

However, they weren't the ones to withstand the crash.

Instead, it was the three people who appeared as the leaders of this group of hundred and twelve cultivators.

The three of them were all Level Four Immortal Emperors, their prowess all reaching the level of supreme geniuses. However, the armaments they held in their hands made everyone shudder.

Two of these trio joined forces and unleashed a swirling vortex of fire arrows and a lightning blade slash that incinerated anything in its path. The screams of the dying beasts echoed throughout the battlefield before the others finished them off.

After collecting their cores, they once again retreated to the east.

They salivated at the number of cores they obtained. After all, each of these precious cores allowed their cultivation bases to increase so fast that they imagined it wouldn't be long before they reached their peak again.

They could remember the pride they felt when they all reached Level Nine Immortal Emperor Stage before they felt the need to go sleep in the Heavenly Ice Stasis Valley. Not only did they have to sacrifice their glory in their era, they also had to sleep for a long time. To them, it may seem like a short time since they went to sleep and just woke up the next day, but it was an undeniable truth that they slept for thousands or even millions of years, depending on the era they went to sleep in.

They were frustrated and reluctant.

The people they knew were no longer present, a significant number of them having ascended, including their spouses and children, and even if there were still some present, only their corpses or their emaciated bodies devoid of blood essence were present.

It made them want reparations, have their strength back and these crystal beast cores gave them exactly what they wanted.

A way to earn back their cultivation base in the fastest way possible. As for the rest, they could do it by themselves.

Still, their expressions were not good as they saw the three inheritors with strange armaments.

They collected all the crystal cores, saying distribution would be done later. This also forced them to listen to their words.

"Oh no, it's the Empyrean Stage Crystal Beast Turtle. It caught up!"

Suddenly, someone cried out in horror.

A huge turtle, easily triple the size of a Peak Stage Immortal Emperor Crystal Beast, came chasing them down. It was humongous, as tall as a mountain and wide as a river. Each step it took made the land tremble, and it was even able to hop, causing massive cracks to spread across the land as trees were crushed or uprooted in the shockwave.

"Form up! Don't let them break the lines, or we will all be hunted down!"

A golden-haired man waved his hand as he pointed his giant hammer against the Empyrean Stage Crystal Beast, but even as he said it, his hand couldn't help but tremble.

Seeing this scene, the inheritors knew it was time to escape, as they had once escaped from the First Hidden Pagoda, which these creatures had besieged. It was impossible for them to battle against an Empyrean Stage entity, not to mention the gap in their powers and the unfamiliarity over the Empyrean Stage didn't allow them to differentiate between an Early Stage and a Mid Stage Empyrean Beast.

To them, it was all the same. They were given only one choice— to run.

*Whoosh!~*

"Dammit!"

Looking at everyone fleeing, a red-haired man cursed.

He was none other than the man who possessed a blade wrapped with lightning. It was long and appeared like a saber.

"Let them go. Those who flee will not have any rights to the cores we collected." The woman who had a commanding presence declared.

The man turned to look at her and gazed at her red hair swaying in the breeze while her spirit crown radiated a fiery glow. She raised her crimson hand and held a terrifying armament. It was a bow. She held the bowstring and nocked the arrow, pulling the string back with her three fingers in one smooth motion as though she had practiced it millions of times.

*Bzzz!~*

At that moment, an incredible might spread across the land.

The huge turtle that was chasing them abruptly smashed its limbs on the ground as it slid on the surface, sliding all the way until it came to a stop. It then took a few steps back, seemingly terrified of the bow.

The golden-haired man and the red-haired man also raised their armaments, intimidating it.

It caused the turtle to turn around and flee, causing the three of them to gasp for breath.

"Heavens…" The red-haired man gasped, "… just activating its aura alone costs me an extreme amount of energy…"

"Why are these Empyrean Stage Crystal Beasts afraid of us? It's not like we can use these Empyrean Grade Armaments…" The golden-haired man asked.

If it weren't for these three armaments, they wouldn't have been able to escape, much less gather everyone under their command.

"Perhaps someone already ingrained the fear of these armaments in them."

The red-haired woman lowered her hands and strapped the bow, allowing the bow to rest over her shoulder. She could feel how heavy it was, barely allowing her to fly.

It was an Empyrean Grade Bow capable of killing Empyrean Stage beings. Only, she wasn't powerful enough to use it. She imagined that when she becomes a Level Nine Immortal Emperor, she would barely be able to use its power and hunt down Empyrean Stage Crystal Beasts.

At that time, she guessed she should be unrivaled in the Candidacy.

However, she narrowed her eyes, "Hunting these Empyrean Stage Crystal Beasts should earn us points. Don't you think so, brother Southstar?"

She asked the golden-haired man, causing him to furrow his brows.

"Maybe." He shrugged, "Even if we do gain points from killing them, it would be of no use if we could not kill them even after reaching the peak of the Immortal Emperor Stage."

He looked at the Fiery Starburst Inferno Spirit, a Heaven-Tier Spirit recorded first in the Immortal Grade Fire Essence Ranking. It was hard to believe such a spirit had manifested long back and gained an inheritance to participate in the Candidacy.

He didn't know her name.

Turning to look at the red-haired man who was only a King-Tier Fey of the Voltstar Thunder Roc, his lips curling, "We're lucky to be even alive, aren't we, Raigen?"

"Hahaha! You got that right, brother Southstar. It's just… we won't survive if we keep this up and that turtle or other Empyrean Stage Crystal Beasts find out we can't use these armaments."

Raigen laughed, his mannerisms cheerful. He was starting to love this group as all three of them were somehow connected to stars, either in their names or race.

The three of them then continued heading east, wanting to move away as soon as possible. They came across a few corpses of the inheritors and the carcasses of the crystal beasts, knowing another horde attacked them.

"That's why we told them to stay together… sigh…" Raigen sighed before he grinned, "It's a pity they lost their lives, but it's less competition for us."

"Indeed."

Southstar commented, his expression indifferent.

Perhaps the fleeing inheritors attracted the horde away from the direction they were heading, making their path devoid of any living Crystal Beasts.

Soon, they reached a shore, their expressions turning a bit confused.

They couldn't go back, so their only choice was to go around the sea or into the sea.

It was unknown what kind of dangers lurked in there. Just as they prepared themselves, Raigen abruptly raised his hand and pointed towards the distance.

"Wait… isn't that Zenova Artoria?"

"Who?" Southstar scratched his head.

Embarrassingly, he didn't bother about learning his opponents but that also translated into his confidence, arrogantly so.

"You know… that woman known as Blazing Thunderlight Sect's Founder, rumored to be a Divergent near the Stairway of Regression…"

"Ah, that woman…"

"If she's a confirmed Divergent, should we kill her then?" The Fiery Starburst Inferno Spirit asked, causing the both of them to contemplate.

"…"

However, they were a bit confused… seeing that a mere Immortal King was heading towards them.