Refining the Otherworld Ancestral God

"Flay me alive?" Otherworld Ancestral God Babera's voice dripped with cold mockery. "You are not worthy."

"Ah…"

Otherworld Ancestral God Babera roared in agony. His shattered body was slowly crushed by the immense pressure of the six Heavenly Steles.

"Your hands are stained with the blood of an Ancestral God," Xiao Chen's voice was ice itself. "Today, I will repay you in kind." Since learning that Babera had caused the blood-soaked tragedy of Sovereign Youchao and plotted the death of the Martial Ancestor, his heart had been filled with a cold fury.

"Boom!"

The six Heavenly Steles suppressed the earth, erupting with heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sounds.

Most of the reddish-brown mountains on the surface had not been reinforced by divine power. At this moment, dozens of hard stone peaks collapsed with a thunderous roar.

Farther away, even more mountains split open, chasms splitting the land.

One could imagine the terrifying crushing force of the six Heavenly Steles deep within the earth.

"You…" Otherworld Ancestral God Babera bellowed. "Despicable insect! You will regret everything you have done!"

"You are about to die, yet you remain so stubborn." Xiao Chen's entire body blazed with intense light. Mysterious patterns surfaced around him, and the Heavenly Steles radiated with even greater brilliance, appearing more majestic and unattainable.

As his words ended, the six Heavenly Steles emitted a dreadful resonance, trembling unceasingly. All the terrifying power of annihilation converged towards the center.

Otherworld Ancestral God Babera's torn body instantly shattered, dissolving into a vast cloud of blood mist. The sealed space was dyed completely crimson. Babera roared unceasingly, but he could not break free.

"Human, you have angered me! Do not give me an opportunity, or I will shatter this world, unleash a great flood, utterly destroy everything, and you will suffer eternal torment!"

Babera's voice was a sinister curse, icy cold, a chill that seeped into the very bones.

Xiao Chen remained unmoved. "I will not give you that chance. You are no longer the Babera of old. In your current state, you cannot harm me."

"I am eternal and indestructible across ten thousand ages! You cannot kill me!" Babera's voice was filled with resentment, cold and terrifying. "I will make you understand the meaning of regret!"

"After your fall, if you had even a shred of an Ancestral God's power left, you would not have been devoured by rats. You would not have had to hide your shattered consciousness, not daring to let the original owner of this body discover you. If it were not for me, you would never have taken control of this body." Xiao Chen's voice was equally cold. He then shouted, merciless and indifferent, "I will refine you!"

"Boom!"

The light of the six Heavenly Steles blazed even brighter. An ancient, desolate aura flooded the world. The inscriptions etched upon them seemed to come alive.

The blood mist trapped within the space was immediately enveloped by the stele's beams. A sizzling sound arose as white smoke curled up.

One could clearly see the blood mist dimming, vast amounts of pure divine power being refined away.

"Damn it!" Otherworld Ancestral God Babera was furious and terrified.

The steles shook. The War Swords within hummed, arranging into a mysterious sword formation, cutting off the blood mist layer by layer, radiating divine splendor, and refining the blood within.

This was a bitter, protracted battle. Although sealed, Babera struggled madly, trying to escape, several times shaking the steles askew. But each time, Xiao Chen forcibly blocked and sealed him back.

Xiao Chen sat cross-legged by the Corpse River, motionless. His entire body blazed with intense light like a sun. Mysterious patterns emerged all around him. His profound art was pushed to its absolute limit. He exhausted every means to control the Heavenly Steles and War Swords, determined to completely eliminate this great threat.

Agonized howls echoed endlessly by the Corpse River. Ancestral God Babera had fallen into the most dangerous situation.

Xiao Chen had done exactly as he said: he had flayed Babera alive, shattering his flesh and blood. But truly killing him was proving extremely difficult.

He could clearly feel his own strength waning. Manifesting these six great Heavenly Steles consumed an astonishing amount of vital energy. Even as powerful as he was, he could not sustain it much longer.

However, the combination of the Heavenly Steles and the War Swords was undeniably devastating. Even the monster's body, which had devoured the flesh and blood of an Ancestral God, was no longer an immortal body. It was shattered and refined, half of it already destroyed.

Half an hour later, no more sounds came from within the six Heavenly Steles. It was plunged into a deathly silence. Otherworld Ancestral God Babera seemed to have been completely refined.

At this point, Xiao Chen felt utterly exhausted. But he dared not relax. He summoned the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree into his body, using its divine light to replenish his energy.

He continued to refine.

Another half hour passed. Xiao Chen sensed no more spiritual fluctuations within the steles. It seemed entirely purified.

But Babera was a former Otherworld Ancestral God. He dared not be the slightest bit careless. With the power of the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree, he refined for another full hour.

Now, he could clearly sense that the space within the steles was completely empty. Nothing remained.

"Babera, you should never have continued to exist in this world. Today, find your eternal rest." Xiao Chen adjusted his own state as he continued refining.

It was not until three full hours had passed that he slowly began to relax.

But it was at that moment that Xiao Chen's expression drastically changed. A powerful enemy had arrived.

Babera's White-Bone body had broken through the blockade of the fourteen War Swords and was charging towards the depths of the earth.

Moments ago, Xiao Chen had been too focused. His control over the fourteen War Swords had momentarily slackened, and the Ancestral God's white-bone body had broken through.

"It should be completely refined by now…" Xiao Chen stood up. The Seven-Colored Sacred Tree emerged, once again protecting his head, auspicious radiance cascading down.

At the same time, the six Heavenly Steles gradually faded, then shook violently and disappeared completely, as if they had transcended back to the primordial age.

Thirteen War Swords flew back to Xiao Chen's side.

That space was now utterly empty. Nothing remained.

"Finally refined…" Xiao Chen let out a long breath.

It was then that a white light flashed. A terrifying figure appeared. Babera's White-Bone body had arrived. Eight white-bone spears stuck out from his sides like spider legs. His scorpion tail behind him was also dazzlingly white, its barb pointing to the sky.

At the same time, fourteen War Swords flew back, protecting Xiao Chen's side.

This white-bone body carried a remnant imprint, retaining its combat instinct. But without a consciousness to guide it, it posed little threat to Xiao Chen.

Suddenly, the void began to tremble.

Xiao Chen cried out in alarm. Twenty-seven War Swords slashed simultaneously towards the space where the Heavenly Steles had just sealed.

But it was too late. A fist-sized clump of blood burst with sky-piercing light, breaking free. It then transformed into a streak of blood light and shot into the white-bone body's skull.

"Despicable insect, you cannot kill me!" Otherworld Ancestral God Babera's voice rang out again.

After entering the white-bone body, he seemed much calmer, as if he had nothing to fear.

He had indeed suffered a devastating attack. The monster's undying body was completely destroyed, not even a trace of residue remaining.

Now, only this fist-sized clump of blood light remained. It was the purest Ancestral God blood, protecting his shattered consciousness, allowing him to escape this calamity.

"In the end, I failed to refine you. Truly regrettable." Although Xiao Chen said this, his expression showed no regret. He was calm and composed. "No matter, I can just refine you again."

"Hahaha…" Babera looked up and laughed heartily, as if he had heard the funniest joke. After a long time, he stopped, his voice cold and sinister. "You have no more chances. You think you can trap me with the Heavenly Steles again? Such a thing will not happen twice."

"I intend to make you fall into the same pit twice," Xiao Chen retorted sharply. "Do you still think you are the Babera of old? You are merely a shattered remnant of consciousness."

One could clearly see within the blood light in Babera's skull a divine spark the size of a fingernail, which was his remnant consciousness.

Yet this also highlighted his terror. Even with such a shattered imprint, he still possessed combat power at the Half-Ancestor level. One could imagine how terrifying the real Babera had been in his prime.

"Enough! The rat-monster's body I used earlier, for all its power, was ultimately not my own. Compared to it, I am only stronger in this Ancestral God's bone body. Killing you is more than enough."

With his powerful bone body acquired, Babera became much more composed. He began to examine the surrounding Corpse River, then let out a sound of surprise.

The yellow corpse water had calmed, but the surrounding area was still filled with howling yin winds and the cries of demons and ghosts, with corpse qi surging to the heavens.

Otherworld Ancestral God Babera took a step and appeared instantly by the riverbank, a hundred zhang away. He seemed very solemn. He crouched down, reaching out his skeletal hands towards the Corpse River, scooping up a handful of corpse water. He stared at it intently and carefully.

"This is…"

He jerked back as if stung by a scorpion. The corpse water splashed to the ground. He stumbled back more than ten steps.

"How can this be…"

Even though he was now just a white-bone body, the light shooting from his eye sockets betrayed his shock.

He looked towards the upper reaches of the Corpse River, his eyes conveying extremely complex emotions: loathing, joy, hatred, tenderness, shock, fear…

"Wretched insect, it seems your mood is foul," Otherworld Ancestral God Babera turned back. "We will fight elsewhere. If we continue here and awaken the sleeper at the end of the Corpse River, neither of us will survive."

"So even you have someone you fear. Who is it?"

"You do not need to know." Babera's figure flickered like a dream, and in an instant, he vanished from the spot.

Xiao Chen's Six Heavenly Steles struck the void simultaneously, and he pursued.

When Xiao Chen arrived at the cavern above, Babera appeared without warning. Eight white-bone spears pierced through the void, all stabbing into Xiao Chen's body.

The Ancestral God War Armor immediately caved in. Xiao Chen felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his body flying backward.

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Xiao Chen landed. The Dark-Iron War Suit returned to its original shape. He stared at Babera. "Is that all? It seems that even merged with your bone body, you are nothing to fear."

"So it is the Ancestral God War Armor. No wonder you are so confident," Babera said, staring at the iron war suit on Xiao Chen. "But it changes nothing. Watch how I break it."

As he spoke, he raised his right arm horizontally. A bloody light surged to the heavens between his bone palms. An ancient war spear, filled with the stench of blood, slowly materialized.

"My Great Extinction War Spear can pierce not only everything in this world but also shatter entire worlds." The Ancestral God-level Great Extinction War Spear manifested in Babera's hand, its killing aura soaring to the heavens.

Xiao Chen remained unmoved. He shook his head. "A pity. You do not have the power to truly summon this war spear. Otherwise, I would have gained another treasure for my collection."

"You boast! Not even the Ancestral Gods of your human race dared speak to me like this. In the past, this war spear was stained with the blood of more than one Ancestral God!"

"You are the one who boasts." Xiao Chen swung his War Sword and charged. "Today, I will destroy you for the Ancestral Gods!"

The sword light stretched for over ten miles, blooming with dazzling radiance in the vast underground palace.

"Clang!"

Sword and spear clashed. Xiao Chen was sent flying five or six miles, while Babera was thrown back three miles.

"Let us fight outside!" Xiao Chen also feared awakening the terrifying existence upstream of the Corpse River. He was the first to rush towards the surface.

Soon, he burst out from deep underground. But at that moment, a colossal beam of light, over thirty miles long, suddenly erupted on the surface, engulfing Xiao Chen and sweeping him away.

The terrifying blood-colored beam shattered dozens of surrounding stone mountains.

This energy had traveled from deep underground, transmitted through the earth.

Xiao Chen coughed up blood and tumbled for dozens of miles before crashing into a stone forest. In this domain, it was difficult to fly through the air, as a mysterious formation suppressed everything here.

He pushed his speed to the absolute limit. In an instant, he crossed mountains and returned to where he had just been standing.

Only then did Babera emerge from underground, sneering. "In the past, I could wound your Ancestral God Youchao across a starry void, causing him to stain the earth with his blood. Even if I no longer possess that level of power, penetrating a mere layer of earth to injure you is more than sufficient."

At this moment, Babera posed a tremendous threat to Xiao Chen. Even protected by the Ancestral God War Armor, he would still suffer severe wounds. The partially summoned war spirit of the Great Extinction War Spear possessed unfathomable power.

Although Xiao Chen appeared calm on the surface, his mind was in turmoil. The might of an Otherworld Ancestral God was truly unimaginable. Fortunately, the being before him had long fallen from that realm. Otherwise, even a hundred of him combined would have been annihilated.

"Boom!"

Babera raised the Great Extinction War Spear with one hand and pierced the sky with a single thrust, opening a massive black hole. Then, in one step, he appeared before Xiao Chen and stabbed ferociously.

In that instant, blood-red light surged to the heavens like a raging inferno. For a hundred miles in every direction, the world was filled with blinding, dazzling radiance. The sky and earth were dyed completely red.

Babera's blood light pierced the clouds, towering like thousands of divine swords manifested behind him.

Facing this majestic, brutal, and domineering war spear, Xiao Chen dared not be careless. Even with the Ancestral God War Armor protecting him, he could not possibly take it head-on. He grabbed the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree from his head and channeled his profound art to its absolute limit. Not only did the six Heavenly Steles emerge around him, but the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree also blazed with towering light, and the strand of Ancestral Lord essence within it blazed like a dazzling sun, pressing down towards the Great Extinction War Spear.

A vast, incomparable wave of majestic power instantly spread between heaven and earth. The surrounding reddish-brown mountains continuously collapsed, vanishing into dust.