Chapter 1898: First Clash
The more orderly the vast army of the Nether Realm was, the faster it fell into chaos. The moment the overwhelming attack descended, their formation completely collapsed, and the momentum was entirely seized by the experts of the Nine Heavens.
Ji Shang did not continue to personally intervene. He stood proudly in the void, like a Azure Dragon king overlooking heaven and earth. The experts of the Nine Heavens surged forward with overwhelming force, while Lin Feng and the others frantically retreated. Watching the experts fall like weeds, they felt a great turmoil surging in their hearts.
"Don't lose your composure! Release Death Nether Force and attack collectively!" Yang Mian roared. The Nether Realm army wildly swung their techniques in resistance while frantically releasing death power. However, the undisciplined Death Nether Force attacks scattered chaotically onto the Nine Heavens Legion's experts, unable to concentrate their assault. Their power was thus limited, only managing to catch some unlucky individuals who were targeted by multiple enemies, causing death through erosion by the Death Law. But this was completely disproportionate to the casualties of the Nether Realm army.
"With this kind of fighting, this legion is doomed to lose," Lin Feng said. Around him were the experts of the Water Moon Cave Heaven. A small-scale force like theirs could hardly influence the outcome of such a vast battle. At this level of combat, it was no longer about individual strength. Once momentum fell into a disadvantage, they would be completely suppressed. At this moment, the Nether Realm army was being crushed relentlessly, in utter chaos, while the Nine Heavens Legion advanced, slaughtering ruthlessly.
Yang Mian's expression turned icy cold at this sight. His hands spun wildly, and a colossal ancient wheel seal appeared in the sky, as if devouring the essence of heaven and earth. It blasted forward with a roar, annihilating everything in its path. At the same time, Yang Mian's palms trembled repeatedly in the void, and an even more dazzling wheel seal burst forth with blinding light. The terrifying attacks that landed on it were violently reversed and rebounded.
"Kill!" Yang Mian bellowed. Everything ahead was extinguished. He stood alone against a hundred, his power boundless.
"A chaotic battle leads to defeat, and fleeing in defeat leaves no path to survival. At the very least, we must scatter them. A chaotic battle is also a trial!" Yang Mian roared. The Nether Realm army howled in response, and death power flooded the heavens, surging forward madly.
Lin Feng's mind moved. His palm trembled, and a Taiji Life-Death Diagram appeared before him. Without needing his command, the experts of the Water Moon Cave Heaven gathered their Death Nether Force into it. Then, Lin Feng pushed his palm forward, and the Death Taiji Diagram expanded wildly, rolling forward with overwhelming force.
"Gather your Death Nether Force into the Taiji halo!" the experts of the Water Moon Cave Heaven shouted. Many in the Nether Realm army noticed this rapidly expanding Life-Death Diagram and frantically channeled the power of the Death Law into it, making the Taiji Diagram more and more dazzling. The halo expanded wildly, covering the sky and earth as it swept forward.
The experts of the Nine Heavens Continent stared at the diagram in shock. Who was controlling this, able to devour death power?
"Die!" Lin Feng's mind moved, and the Life-Death Diagram instantly turned into a deathly gray. The terrifying death power seemed to annihilate even heaven and earth. Seeing this, the Nether Realm army became even more frenzied, pouring death power into it.
The colossal Taiji Life-Death Diagram swept across the void, enveloping a group of experts. Death power instantly eroded into them, and one after another, experts plummeted downward, dying instantly, throwing the entire central area into chaos.
"An opportunity!" Seeing this, the Nether Realm experts once again condensed Death Nether Force and surged forward. At the same time, their attacks tore through the sky, blasting toward the enemy to scatter the Nine Heavens Legion as well. If they didn't scatter, the enemy's coordinated assault formation would be unbreakable.
Ji Shang's eyes lifted slightly, landing on the rear of the Nether Realm army. He then found Lin Feng's figure, and his brow furrowed slightly. He thought to himself, "It's him!"
Ji Shang had met Lin Feng once before. When he had gone to the Divine Wood Valley to retrieve the Heavenly Marsh Divine Wood, Lin Feng had boldly declared his intention to take it, only to be ridiculed by some in the valley before leaving. He never expected to see Lin Feng here now.
Though it was only a brief encounter, Ji Shang trusted his judgment. How could he have forgotten in just a short year? Yet, he was puzzled. How had Lin Feng ended up in the Nether Realm?
There was no mark on Lin Feng's brow, meaning he belonged to the Heavenly River Battlefield side. How had this man, a member of the Nether Realm, reached it? Even his powerful Ji Clan didn't know the method to enter the Nether Realm. Rumors said there was a passage to the Nether Realm's underworld at the bottom of the Nine Nether Abyss, but the truth was unknown to anyone.
Another possibility was that this man bore an exact resemblance to the one he had seen before, but was a different person.
Lin Feng seemed to sense something. He looked up, and his eyes met Ji Shang's in the void.
"Boom!" The moment Lin Feng saw Ji Shang's gaze, his mind trembled. Those calm eyes were even more indifferent and serene than Ji Wuyou's, as if nothing could disturb them. But in that instant, those calm eyes suddenly blazed with divine light. Lin Feng felt as if heaven and earth were collapsing, mountains and rivers shattering, everything annihilated. His soul trembled violently, as if on the verge of destruction.
"Chi! Chi!" A dazzling darkness flashed in Lin Feng's eyes. An endless cycle of life emerged in his soul, stabilizing it like a mountain.
"Collapse!" Ji Shang's voice pierced directly through the battlefield. The moment this sound fell, it seemed the void itself was about to crumble, the world to collapse. An invisible Dao intent enveloped Lin Feng, filling his entire being with a terrifying force of annihilation. His blood surged, his body shook, as if on the verge of self-destruction.
"Ji Shang's Dao is far more formidable than Ju Xiao's. It's probably comparable to that innate immortal battle king body's slaughter Dao," Lin Feng murmured inwardly. Life and death cycled endlessly, his blood roared, and he stood firm like a mountain, steadily anchoring himself in the void. His eyes calmly met Ji Shang's.
This was Lin Feng's first confrontation with Ji Shang, the strongest Martial Emperor disciple of the War King Academy, a figure destined to be enfeoffed as a king, and a person he must surpass. To trample Ji Wuyou, to crush the Ji Gate, he would eventually have to clash with Ji Shang. Now, as they faced each other from a distance, the two legions in between had gradually descended into chaotic battle, surging endlessly.
Finally, Ji Shang's gaze left Lin Feng and turned to another battlefield. Though curious about Lin Feng, his current priority was dealing with Yang Mian. At this moment, Yang Mian was using his formidable strength to crush the Nine Heavens Legion's figures. The power of the Wheel Dao was boundless. If Ji Shang didn't act, almost no one in this legion could resist him.
Azure Dragon light illuminated the blue sky. Ji Shang's body surged toward Yang Mian like a rolling wave. The Azure Dragon cleared the path, heaven and earth collapsed, and everything in his way was crushed and annihilated. Rumbling sounds echoed continuously. One person tried to block the Azure Dragon path Ji Shang had opened, but in an instant, his body disintegrated, crushed into fragments by the Azure Dragon chariot. No one dared to intercept Ji Shang's path again.
Yang Mian naturally saw Ji Shang charging toward him. A look of gravity flashed in his eyes. This man was terrifying, definitely a great enemy.
"Chi!" Yang Mian's hand sliced through the void, as if pulling out a river of extinction, shattering the ancient path.
"Kill!" Ji Shang bellowed. A terrifying Dao intent shot from his pupils. The light of his soul surged, seeking to shatter Yang Mian's very soul. But at that moment, a brilliant light burst from Yang Mian's brow, as if a wheel seal had appeared. Behind him, an ancient king's figure materialized, forming an ancient seal in his hand, solemn and majestic—the king's wheel.
"Roar!" The Azure Dragon roared. Nine Azure Dragons bared their fangs, tearing at everything. The wheel's shadow surged forward, the ancient seal expanded into a boundless imprint, colliding with the Azure Dragons, causing extinction-level light to bloom in the void.
"Such powerful attacks. Apart from my Dao power, which can clash with theirs, if I use divine abilities to fight them, I will surely lose. I don't even have the qualifications to engage yet," Lin Feng thought, watching their clash. He knew his shortcomings. Not to mention Ji Shang, even someone like Ju Mo could suppress him with divine abilities. His success in the Ancient Demon Clan had relied solely on the Life-Death Dao and formations, along with the demon pool and other means. In terms of true strength, he still had a considerable gap compared to those peak Martial Emperor experts.
The chaotic battle had truly begun. The experts of both legions started to intermingle, spreading across the battlefield. Suddenly, a terrifying force tore toward Lin Feng. The experts of the Water Moon Cave Heaven immediately looked up, and their Death Nether Force simultaneously erupted outward.
"Annihilate!" Lin Feng suddenly looked up, spitting out a single word. His expression was icy cold, and death light seemed to shoot from his eyes. The attacker felt death energy invade his body, his life force stripped away. His face turned ashen, and he lost his life.
Watching the expert's body fall, Lin Feng unceremoniously stored it away. His gaze swept across the void, constantly seeing experts fall. A strange feeling arose in his heart. These were all figures who once dominated their realms, yet now they fell like this. To pursue the supreme path of martial arts, how difficult it was! Only by leveling everything could one achieve peerless grace.