When Tianyi saw Tai Wuling flying toward him, followed by the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala, he suppressed an audible groan. 'Come on, Yan Nie, where's your power as the protagonist? You're going to let Tai Wuling get away.'
Tai Wuling further aggravated Tianyi when he shouted, "Help! As allies, we should team up and get rid of this threat!"
Tianyi almost attacked Tai Wuling then and there. And some parts of him regretted not acting on said impulse. As the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala flew toward him, he released the Cosmos Chaoswater bred inside his inner cosmos.
The Cosmos Chaoswater was just an arbitrary name he came up with in the spur of the moment for the liquid he developed using his immortal essence, the Law of Water, the Law of Five Phases, and the materials of the Nine Heavens Universe.
The Five Element World Incinerating Mandala clashed head-on against the Cosmos Chaoswater. Unlike when Tai Wuling attacked with whatever thing he summoned, steam was not released. Instead, the Cosmos Chaoswater acted almost like flames and consumed the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala.
The amount of time it took for the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala to disappear exceeded Tianyi's expectations but didn't surprise him. If Yan Nie couldn't accomplish this much against him, whose attack had firmly reached the immortal emperor threshold, he would have been sorely disappointed.
Still, the situation devolved into a stand-off between the two sides. Tianyi planned to retreat. He was just here as insurance against possible betrayal the Eight Pillar Sect imposed. Strictly speaking, he only had to be present and didn't need to do anything.
Tianyi and the other Buzhou Immortal Sect members didn't even need to throw a single punch or spell. However, it seemed Jadewill, Jinshu, and their lot had different ideas, ruining his plans.
The five people, who Tianyi gifted the Five Element Morphers, stepped forward and activated them. In order to activate them, the user had to perform a specific sequence of pose and password while resonating their qi with the morphers.
Radiant immortal qi of fire burst out of the Fire Element Morpher on Jinshu's waist. The qi formed a fiery shroud that encapsulated his form and made him appear like a featureless doll. Jinshu started spinning, forming a fire tornado that shielded him from prying eyes.
The same thing happened to the rest of the immortals with the Five Element Morphers but using their respective element instead of fire. Jadewill formed a whirlpool, Southfist created a sandstorm, Shadowbark unleashed a petal storm, and Fairy Firefly danced within a swirl of steel shards.
The whirlpool of fire, water, sand, petal, and steel shards burst apart, transforming back to qi that dissolved in the air. All the onlookers finally had a good look at the five.
Jinshu was clad in red armor with white accents. However, he now had a helmet in the shape of a crow's head. Jadewill was much the same, except he had black instead of red and wore a helmet modeled after a turtle's head. Southfist had a qilin-shaped helmet and wore yellow, while Shadowbark had green robes with a dragon-shaped helmet. Fairy Firefly's robes were noticeably a female's dress with pink highlights, and her head was covered in a tiger-shaped helmet that still allowed her hair to flow out.
"Red Crow Ranger!" shouted Jinshu.
"Black Turtle Ranger!" followed by Jadewill.
"Yellow Qilin Ranger!" blasted Southfist.
"Green Dragon Ranger!" softly said Shadowbark.
"White Tiger Ranger!" Fairy Firefly coquettishly said.
All the onlookers' gazes condensed, especially Yan Nie. Before, he could sense the five were true immortals. In the blink of an eye, they now exuded the aura of immortal monarchs. As their color and previous show expressed, each one exuded monarch-level qi of the respective element.
Tai Wuling’s reaction was no different. Originally, he only thought Tianyi had the power of an immortal monarch, but out of nowhere, five more popped out. Was this one of the Buzhou Immortal Sect's trump cards? An artifact that allowed true immortals to have the power of an immortal monarch? Could the same be accomplished for them to produce combatants with an immortal emperor's power out of immortal monarchs?
'No, if they had such means, they would not have struggled so much with the Tripartite Alliance and Anti-Heaven Alliance. There must be some drawback!' Tai Wuling concluded. He recalled the ritual the five performed and the artifacts worn around their waist. 'Since they relied on external means, one of the weaknesses must be energy. As long as the energy runs out, they won't be able to display the power of a monarch anymore!'
Even the five who transformed using the Five Elemental Morphers gifted by Tianyi couldn't help but marvel at their hands in awe of the welling power in their body. It was intoxicating. Of the five, Jadewill was the first to break out of the state. Power, not one's own, wasn't power at all.
While everyone marveled at the situation, Tianyi distinctly felt a stare boring into him as if to ask, "really?" He tried really hard not to pay attention to Daoyi's gaze.
"I'm surprised you only made them shout their titles instead of adding some weird sentai poses," Daoyi said.
Tiayi coughed into his fist and made a point not to look at her. "I hadn't managed to program them into the morphers yet."
"Wait, are you telling me that the reason they shouted those titles is because you programmed it into the artifacts and not because you instructed them to?" Daoyi stared at Tianyi for a good minute before finding her voice. "Don't tell me you managed to build a combining mecha for them too."
"I didn't have enough resources or time," Tianyi belatedly said. "The belts are easy. Most of the energy is fueled by my Nine Heavens Universe, but I don't have the resources to build a combining mecha."
"So you did plan to," Daoyi said, almost like an accusation. "You know what I said about you surviving the apocalypse? I’ll take that back."
Tianyi had no words of refutation.
While Tianyi and Daoyi conversed, the battle resumed. The tentatively named Five Phase Rangers charged and clashed with the Allbeast Sect's War Formations.
Jinshu was the first to attack. He pointed at one incoming immortal-level war formation and unleashed a colossal flamethrower. The Fire Element Morpher possessed the greatest firepower among the five, so when the fire touched the war formation, it halted the latter in its steps. The war formation gained a fiery red color and collapsed, the flame incinerating the sole true immortal and other participants.
Next, Jadewill flashed forward in front of the attacks of three war formations. He raised both arms forward and produced a giant hexagonal barrier of water. Of the Five Phase Rangers, the Black Turtle Ranger possessed the strongest shield. The three attacks slammed into the water barrier, but although the barrier deformed, it held firm. Not only did it hold, but it returned to its normal shape and negated the three attacks.
"My turn!" Southfist shouted. The Yellow Qilin Ranger possessed the sturdiest physical capabilities of the five. Southfist reared his fist back and charged at the closest war formation. His very movement caused a sonic boom from breaking the sound barrier.
Southfist punched through the center of one War Formation, leaving a gaping hole that soon led to its collapse. "Hah!"
However, he had forgotten about the other two war formations. They closed in on him, vengeance in their gaze. Southfist crossed his arms in front of his torso in preparation to defend. "Crap."
The two war formations suddenly halted in their movements. Moments later, tree branches and roots burst out of them, with the bark coated in the blood of the cultivators that formed the war formations. A shadow-clad figure appeared next to Southfist out of nowhere. "You shouldn't lose your head and let yourself be controlled by this power. Master it, and make it your own."
When Tianyi created the Wood Element Morpher, he not only infused it with the Law of Wood, but also his insights into the Law of Life and the Law of Death. As such, it suited Shadowbark well, who gained insights into the concepts under the Law of Darkness, such as the Concept of Shadow, allowing him to conceal his presence.
"Sorry, I just never expected to be able to wield a monarch's power so quickly," Southfist said. "What about Firefly, she's probably worse than me, right? Right?"
Shadowbark didn't say anything and stared into the distance. Southfist followed his gaze. "Oh, come on!"
The White Tiger Ranger didn't possess the firepower of the Red Crow Ranger, the defense of the Black Turtle Ranger, the powerful physique of the Yellow Qilin Ranger, or the regenerative abilities of the Green Dragon Ranger. Instead, she possessed the greatest cutting ability.
Three long, sharp claws formed of immortal qi of metal grew out of her knuckles. With each wave, she slashed through every war formation she came across, laughing in delight all while doing so.
However, before Fairy Firefly's rampage could continue for long, a black spear slammed into her and knocked her hundreds of meters away and into the ground. She floated back into the air while cradling her solar plexus. Yan Nie's spear bruised her abdomen, but it didn't pierce her ranger robes.
In less than a second, the other Five Phase Rangers appeared next to her as they stared at Yan Nie, the Divine Flame Monarch.
Yan Nie frowned and readied his spear again. He had already dissipated his flame domain. Although it was useful, it took too much willpower to differentiate between friend and foe. He wasn't only staring at the Five Phase Ranger but Tianyi too, in case the latter attacked. Among all the immortals present, he was the wariest of Tianyi for how easily he dealt with his prized Five Element World Incinerating Mandala.
Tianyi, for his part, frowned. He raised an arm at Yan Nie, intending to join the fray, but Jadewill shouted, "Senior Brother, leave him to us!"
He watched as the Five Phase Rangers clashed with Yan Nie. Tianyi pursed his lips. 'I should have waited to give you those morphers, even if it gave me a good show. Yan Nie isn't the enemy you should be focusing on.'
Regardless of his intent, the Buzhou Immortal Sect's true immortals started fighting against the Allbeast Sect's war formations and true immortals. Daoyi took a look and said, "I'm going to join. War is the best time for me to reap souls without consequences."
Even to Tianyi, Daoyi's presence turned faint. To others, her presence must become completely undetectable.
Daoyi took out her Nine Nether Note Guqin and began to play the Eighteen Songs of Hell - Sixteenth Song Volcanic Bedevilment. She used a low note so that only the true immortals could barely detect her song, but even if the unity venerables, saints, or earth immortals couldn't hear it, it didn't stop Volcanic Bedevilment's effect.
Without warning, most of the immortal-level war formations collapsed as the cultivators who formed them went berserk. Friend or foe, it didn't matter. The berserk cultivators attacked everyone in their sights like rabid beasts, relying solely on their bodies.
As time passed, some of the weaker-willed true immortals also showed signs of growing berserk. Most might not notice, but Tianyi could see the departed souls of all the dead congregating around Daoyi, who absorbed it into her gourd-shaped artifact.
Tianyi had to shiver at how easily Daoyi reaped the souls of so many cultivators. Well, not that he had any right to talk, considering that his body count was likely far higher than hers.
He turned toward Tai Wuling and coldly said, "What? Now that we started to help, you think you can just sit back and reap the reward?"
"Don't worry, I know how to pull my weight," Tai Wuling said with a snort. Soon, the White Iron Cudgel returned in his hands, and he returned to the battle. He avoided the battle between Yan Nie and the Five Phase Rangers.
In the battle between the Five Phase Rangers and Yan Nie, the latter had already resorted to forming a second Five Element World Incinierating Mandala.
Jadewill and the others had already seen how devastating Yan Nie's attack was. Although Tianyi easily dealt with it, it didn't mean they could replicate the same feat, even in their current state. "Everyone, let's use the ultimate combination attack!"
Jinshu, Southfist, Shadowbard, and Fairy Firefly all nodded. The five formed a circle around each other. The immortal qi of fire floated out of Jinshu's body and flowed into Southfist. Southfist expelled immortal qi of earth that flowed into Fairy Firefly. From earth to metal, metal to water, water to wood, and wood to fire.
A sable sphere appeared in the space between the five of them, created from the interaction of the five elements. This sphere was made of immortal qi of primordial chaos, Tianyi's signature energy. It started growing, and as it did so, tiny starlight flickered from it.
Once it reached its peak size, Yan Nie also finished merging the five true fires, and both sides shot their attacks simultaneously.
"Five Element World Incinerating Mandala!"
"""Supreme Chaos Canon!!!"""
Tianyi watched, interested in what the clash would result in, and ready to step in to save their lives in case any of them entered a perilous situation. However, someone spoiled his mood.
"Spawn of Xi, go to hell!"
Tianyi cast an annoyed glance toward the source of the sound. 'Wait, that sounds familiar.'