All of it happened in the blink of an eye.
A dark shadow the size of a small hill hurtled toward Qiao Dong.
In that instant, Qiao Dong found himself unable to move. He could only scream: "Elder Liu, save me!"
Liu Zhuanshen materialized before Qiao Dong in a flash, his entire body radiating blinding white light that dissolved the shadow completely.
"Hei Tiesheng, with me here, you won't lay a finger on Qiao Dong." Liu Zhuanshen turned toward the newcomer, eyes blazing with undisguised hostility.
The Gu Immortals began to stir restlessly.
Neither the Dragon Eagles nor the Harmonizing Eagles mattered anymore.
What mattered was that the Hei family Gu Immortals had finally appeared!
At their head was the Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal Hei Tiesheng, followed by seven or eight Sixth Transformation Gu Immortals, standing before the assembled immortals.
Hei Tiesheng swept his gaze across the crowd, then his eyes settled on Liu Zhuanshen. He smiled coldly and shot back: "Is that so?"
Liu Zhuanshen's expression shifted in alarm, and he turned to look behind him.
Qiao Dong was still standing there, still suspended in midair — but his face was frozen in a mask of pure terror. There was not a shred of vitality left in him. He was thoroughly dead.
"Immortal Path killer move — Life-Stealing Nether Darkness!" Liu Zhuanshen cried out in shock, then a surge of fury rose in his heart. But the anger vanished just as quickly, replaced by a faint sorrow and a grudging sense of respect.
He and Hei Tiesheng were old adversaries. They had fought each other no fewer than a hundred times over the course of their lives. He knew in his heart that while the Life-Stealing Nether Darkness was powerful, it could not be used carelessly — each invocation exacted a tremendous price.
Never before had Liu Zhuanshen seen Hei Tiesheng resort to such a trump card at the very start of battle.
From this, Liu Zhuanshen immediately understood: his old rival of a lifetime had already made peace with death, resolved to take as many with him as he could.
Hei Tiesheng had killed Qiao Dong. The Hei family Gu Immortals behind him were instantly galvanized.
Hei Tiesheng was a veteran of a hundred battles. Seizing the moment, he immediately deployed his forces.
In an instant, the Harmonizing Eagles formed orderly formations. Each Hei family Gu Immortal occupied a position, coordinating offense and defense.
With the Gu Immortals commanding them, the second defensive line stabilized immediately, becoming far more troublesome to break.
This infuriated the Righteous and Demonic Gu Immortals besieging the Hei family.
Blocking someone's fortune was like murdering their parents!
The enmity this aroused was boundless. Besides, the Hei family was weak — their only Immortal Gu House, the Black Cage, was already gone. The only thing they truly feared was the Qingcheng Zongheng. The grand outcome had already been decided; the Hei family Gu Immortals were merely struggling in their death throes.
"Let me take you on!" Pi Shuihan was the first to charge forward.
He swept his hand through the air. Boundless waves materialized from nothing, surging toward Hei Tiesheng.
The waves froze into a glacier halfway through the air, and the temperature plummeted in an instant.
"Careful — that's Pi Shuihan's signature killer move: Flowing River!" shouted one of the Hei family's Sixth Transformation Gu Immortals.
Hei Tiesheng chuckled softly. He had his own grudge against Pi Shuihan, so the man's attack came as no surprise.
"A defeated foe — what is there to boast about?" Hei Tiesheng's eyes flashed with an eerie dark glow. His body didn't move; he merely looked.
A layer of black water rapidly spread across the white-frost glacier. Within a few breaths, it crumbled apart and disintegrated.
Pi Shuihan grunted. Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood and plummeted from the sky.
"With enemies on all sides, chaining killer moves one after another isn't exactly wise." A figure suddenly materialized behind Hei Tiesheng's head.
It was none other than Huang Di!
This was the very Seventh Transformation Demonic Path Gu Immortal who had contacted other Demonic cultivators and rushed into the Iron Eagle Blessed Land ahead of the Righteous Path, seizing the initiative.
He had already made a fortune. Now, spotting an opening, he struck without hesitation, aiming to take Hei Tiesheng's head!
Hei Tiesheng didn't move. He didn't even turn to look. He merely flicked his great sleeve backward.
A tide of dark light surged forth, overwhelming and terrifying, sweeping Huang Di up and flinging him a great distance away.
Huang Di struggled free of the black tide with enormous difficulty, his face a picture of shock. Black blood sprayed from all seven orifices. Without a backward glance, he burrowed into the earth and vanished.
"A mere rat, and you thought you could soar through the sky?" Hei Tiesheng sneered, surveying the battlefield with an imposing gaze. "Next!"
Nobody came.
Hei Tiesheng's combat prowess was staggering — a full tier above Pi Shuihan and the others.
Moreover, the assembled immortals could clearly see that this man had already accepted death. His will to fight surged like a tide, pressing forward without retreat. In such a state, his battle strength was even more terrifying.
What had the Gu Immortals come to the Iron Eagle Blessed Land for?
Fortune!
If it was fortune they sought, why fight this man to the death?
The Gu Immortals gave Hei Tiesheng a wide berth and charged toward other targets.
A great battle erupted.
On one side, the Righteous and Demonic Paths fought together, vast in number. On the other, the Hei family Gu Immortals held the advantage of terrain and commanded a massive host of wild Harmonizing Eagles.
The battle raged with furious intensity.
Nearly every Hei family Gu Immortal had resolved to die, fighting with fervent determination to protect their home.
The Righteous and Demonic Gu Immortals, driven by profit, were unwilling to fight to the bitter end, and inevitably held back.
The wisdom of Gu Immortals was, of course, far beyond that of Iron Crown Eagles.
For a time, the second defensive line appeared as impregnable as iron!
Seeing no one coming for him, Hei Tiesheng went on the offensive himself.
"Meng Ji, hand over your life!" Hei Tiesheng roared, charging at the nearest Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal of the Meng family.
"Humph — you think I fear you?" Meng Ji was a fiercely brave man, and he charged back.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two clashed, their blows tearing the sky apart and sending shockwaves rolling in every direction.
After just a few exchanges, Meng Ji — who prided himself on his bravery — turned and fled.
He was brave, true enough. But Hei Tiesheng was no longer merely brave. He was a madman who feared nothing, not even death!
Every move he made against Meng Ji was an exchange of wounds, an exchange of lives.
After only a handful of rounds, Meng Ji could endure no longer and retreated immediately.
Hei Tiesheng was about to give chase when he heard a Hei family Gu Immortal cry for help. He broke off and rushed to relieve the pressure.
"Guan Chou, take this!" Hei Tiesheng threw himself forward, dark light swirling around him, engulfing heaven and earth, swallowing everything in its path.
Guan Chou was a Transformation Path Gu Immortal. At that moment, he had transformed into a massive lion. With a tremendous roar, he slammed headlong into Hei Tiesheng.
The next instant, the lion Guan Chou had become was sent flying backward like a torn burlap sack.
Hei Tiesheng charged again.
Guan Chou let out a strange cry and rapidly shifted into a small bird, shooting away like a bolt of lightning.
"Coward!" Hei Tiesheng gave a cold snort when he saw he couldn't catch him.
His gaze swept swiftly across the battlefield and locked onto the nearest Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal — Liu Zhuanshen.
Liu Zhuanshen was far more shrewd!
The moment he saw Hei Tiesheng coming, he retreated.
Hei Tiesheng gave chase. Liu Zhuanshen lured him toward the Divine Lord Tiandu.
Divine Lord Tiandu's whole body shuddered with cold, and he promptly turned and ran.
Liu Zhuanshen then led Hei Tiesheng straight to the Free Scholar. The Free Scholar laughed coldly, and a three-way melee broke out.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Moments later, amid thunderous crashes, both Liu Zhuanshen and the Free Scholar were forced into successive retreats.
Hei Tiesheng then turned to fight across the entire battlefield, sweeping all before him.
High above, the Hei family's Supreme Grand Elder sighed: "Tiesheng, that boy…"
He knew that Hei Tiesheng possessed a forbidden technique — one that consumed his own lifespan to vastly amplify the power of his killer moves.
Right now, he was truly fighting with his life on the line!
It was true that the Righteous and Demonic Gu Immortals had no will to fight to the death. But that alone would never have been enough to achieve total dominance.
Hei Tiesheng had made every Gu Immortal taste bitter defeat.
None among them were lacking in cultivation or skill. The earlier competitions and battles had already eliminated the weaker immortals from the fray.
But no matter how formidable Hei Tiesheng was, he could not reach the level of an Eighth Transformation powerhouse.
Alone, he could not turn the tide.
One by one, the Harmonizing Eagles were captured or slain. One by one, Hei family Gu Immortals shed their blood across the sky.
Fight!
Fight to the death!
Fight to the last soldier, until only Hei Tiesheng remained.