Chapter 1952: A Heavy Price
The God Dao Sect Master had already discerned the intentions of Saint Long and the others. With complete composure, he smiled toward the crowd and said, "If you wish to drive me and the others away, relying strictly on yourselves will not suffice. It will require Monarch Fang to mobilize the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower. But with our strength, it won’t be difficult to grind down the Yin Soldiers suppressed within the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower. By then, the situation in the Floating Pagoda Realm still won’t develop as you wish. For Motian Dizang to succeed to the throne of the Heavenly Dao will become extremely difficult."
Everyone’s expressions turned exceptionally grave. They had originally thought that today would merely involve settling the score with the God Dao Sect and that they wouldn't encounter any overly fierce resistance. Who could have expected that it would once again evolve into a dispute over the Heavenly Dao?
The opposing side was thoroughly unwilling to have a Heavenly Dao emerge within the Nine Realms, as that would interfere with the process of taking over the Nine Realms once the outsiders descended. Meanwhile, they absolutely needed a Heavenly Dao to emerge within the Nine Realms to stabilize its situation and prevent them from losing their freedom and becoming slave soldiers.
Shao Mengyuan swung the God Slaying Sword with a heavy expression. A rift immediately opened in the void, and thirty thousand soldiers of the God Slaying Army marched out from within.
Everyone could tell Shao Mengyuan intended to use his full strength. Clearly, he had also realized just how critical the situation was.
Yet when the Master of the God Dao Sect looked at the God Slaying Army, his gaze remained calm, without the slightest hint of fear.
"Truly beyond expectations. Encountering a predicament here at the God Dao Sect that is even more grueling than facing the Ancient Demon."
"Supposing the opposing side can truly mobilize the strength of an Inner Domain, then wouldn't they be the same as the Ancient Demon? And there are several old fellows on the mountain who can do the same. How is this battle supposed to be fought?"
"Can’t we just refuse to fight and leave them alone?"
"That’s out of the question. If existences of this level are allowed to exercise remote command right from within the God Dao Sect, Motian Dizang’s path toward ascending to the position of the Heavenly Dao will inevitably be prolonged severalfold. By then, she may not have enough time to succeed to the position before the outsiders descend."
They were caught between a rock and a hard place.
Everyone's faces turned completely solemn.
Perhaps sensing the change in everyone’s mentality, the Master of the God Dao Sect—who had previously seemed cornered and at a disadvantage—revealed a faint smile upon his honest face. "You all ought to have figured out the internal connections by now. Whether to make meaningless sacrifices or not, let it be determined strictly by your own intentions."
He turned his gaze toward Saint Long. "I heard you once possessed an unimaginably lofty status. Yet confronting a situation like this, are you truly going to exhaust yourself to fight to the end for a foreign race?"
Saint Long let out a soft chuckle. "There is no such thing as a meaningless sacrifice in this world. Lurking right behind a sacrifice, there will invariably be certain things that you desire. I made a deal with Yang Gods. And that deal will determine the future path of the Ancient Dragon God Palace moving forward."
Hmm?
Shao Mengyuan and Lang Daochun froze slightly, turning their gazes toward Saint Long with thoroughly strange expressions.
The God Dao Sect Master's brow furrowed subtly. "What exact benefits could they possibly still bring out that are worthy of you fighting with everything you have?"
Even with his knowledge spanning ancient and modern times, he could not imagine what benefits those Yang Gods could possibly offer Saint Long to warrant such a deal.
Saint Long called out indifferently, "Cultivators of the Ancient Dragon God Palace, heed my command."
Every single cultivator of the Ancient Dragon God Palace manifested an air of absolute solemnity. The massive scales upon their towering physiques seemed to shimmer with cascading, brilliant flows of light.
"Do you wish to cast your eyes upon Longsheng City once more?!"
"WE DO!!!"
Countless cultivators of the Ancient Dragon God Palace let out deafening, earth-shattering roars of fury.
A look of shock crossed Lang Daochun's face. "Longsheng City?! Can Saint Long truly reopen that specific Inner Domain?!"
The God Dao Sect Master's gaze also turned incredibly solemn. "Dragon God, pulling off such a move will cause you to pay an exceptionally expensive price."
"Compared to the benefits, it cannot count as overly expensive."
Saint Long laughed loudly. Between himself and the horde of Ancient Dragon God Palace cultivators under his command, a connection even more intimate than the connection created by the Dragon God Formation formed. The immense forces resting upon these Ancient Dragon God Palace cultivators were currently surging into Saint Long's body in a completely frenzied, chaotic manner.
Everyone was alarmed.
"This speed..."
The rate at which their power was surging into him had clearly exceeded the boundaries of what could be considered “safe.” The slightest mistake would be equivalent to sacrificing themselves.
In an instant, Saint Long's eyes transformed completely. They became a pair of eyes filled with ancient wisdom and the accumulation of countless years. His aura was multiplying again and again.
Vaguely, some people seemed to glimpse an enormous city flickering in and out of existence behind him.
"It truly is Longsheng City..." Lang Daochun murmured blankly to himself.
He was exceptionally well-acquainted with this city. Back then, it had been within the Saint Tower of this city that he had achieved a Saint Tower result impressive enough to look down proudly upon the entire Divine Realm.
Saint Long's personal cultivation level seemed to directly leap across several major boundaries, hovering indistinctly right at the edge of the Half-Saint realm. However, the Ancient Dragon God Palace cultivators under his command were dying one after the other. Their bodies turned into faint motes of light within the void before vanishing completely.
The cost of acquiring this strength was far too staggering. Even back when they were within the Underworld, Saint Long had refrained from unleashing this move. But now, he was willing to pay its heavy price and open up his Inner Domain.
Everyone grew increasingly curious about what the Yang Gods had promised Saint Long. What was so tempting that he would be willing to pay such a heavy price?
The God Dao Sect Master frowned. "What exactly did they offer you to act like this? Even if you barely manage to force open your Inner Domain, here, within the God Dao Sect’s own territory, you still cannot possibly defeat us."
The cultivators of the Ancient Dragon God Palace had already perished entirely. Only Saint Long's towering figure remained in the sky. From high above, he looked down upon the Master of the God Dao Sect, who appeared as tiny as an insect before him. "Whether we can win or not is not for you to decide—it is dictated by me."
Terrifying forces erupted and cascaded out from within the Inner Domain, continuously injecting into Saint Long's body. It was as if a world-ending catastrophe was sweeping relentlessly toward the God Dao Sect Master, alongside the ancestral sect site of the God Dao Sect resting right behind his back.
Horror gripped the crowd’s faces. This power seemed even stronger than when the Ancient Demon had battled the Yin Soldiers! This proved that Saint Long, in his present state, was at least a level stronger than the Ancient Demon!
"We few old fellows shall come to assist you!"
Four figures descended from the mountain and stood shoulder to shoulder with the God Dao Sect Master. Behind each of the five, a strange gateway seemed to emerge. Correspondingly, the terrifying forces of five Inner Domains swept out in unison. Once these five strands of power coalesced together, they clashed directly against the catastrophic force unleashed by Saint Long.
The forces of both sides continuously eroded one another. There were none of the terrifying shockwaves everyone had imagined. Instead, the eerie stillness resembled the calm before a storm. The moment either side’s power gained an overwhelming advantage, this entire place might be instantly destroyed and reduced directly to nothingness.
Everyone’s expressions became incredibly solemn, their hearts filled with both shock and concern.
They were shocked by Saint Long's present strength, which could actually shift from being inferior to the God Dao Sect Master to being capable of holding his ground against the combined forces of the God Dao Sect Master and the other four God Dao Sect ancestors. Yet they were worried about how long Saint Long could possibly sustain such power. The Ancient Demon’s fate was a warning from the recent past. If Saint Long lost, then the price required to purge the God Dao Sect would likely far exceed their imaginations.
"Perhaps Motian Dizang’s path to attaining the Dao won’t be as smooth as we thought," murmured Lang Daochun.
At the same time, his gaze fell upon the four elders standing behind the God Dao Sect Master.
The four elders’ hair had long since grown sparse, while their faces were covered in deep wrinkles and furrows. A faint aura of death lingered around their bodies. There was no telling exactly how long these existences had lived. Yet today, with the amplification of their Inner Domain, each of them unleashed strength no weaker than that of the God Dao Sect Master.
Lang Daochun's gaze grew increasingly grave. "If Saint Long weren’t here today, the question wouldn’t be whether we wanted to leave. It would be whether we were even capable of leaving."