Chapter 537: The Greatest Jinx of the Grand Heaven (Third Update!)
Above Emperor Yue's head, clouds of vapor churned—an extraordinary phenomenon formed as his primordial spirit exhaled and inhaled primal energy. At this moment, his gaze fell upon the figure atop the mountain, and the clouds above him suddenly swelled, covering half an acre.
The primal energy within the clouds seemed to condense into droplets, faintly visible as raindrops, each like a perfect bead of water, pattering down. They fell upon his head, then steamed back up into clouds, cycling endlessly.
Emperor Yue ascended the mountain. The mountain was not tall, after all, it was formed from the primal energy runes of the Woodcutter Saint and Furi Riu, not a true creation. In a few steps, he reached the summit and stopped about forty zhang away from Zhe Huali.
"On the battlefield, I encountered you and nearly died at your hands."
Emperor Yue's aura surged, his battle intent overwhelming. Even though he had once been defeated by his opponent, he felt no fear—instead, it ignited an unquenchable fighting spirit within him!
He was a martial fanatic, fearless!
"I have been searching for you, waiting for the chance to wash away my shame."
Emperor Yue said excitedly, "Please, senior brother, grant me this opportunity!"
Zhe Huali turned, his gaze falling upon him. The demon eye on the hilt of the demon sword at his back remained closed, not opening.
Suddenly, he shifted his right foot, the toe pointing diagonally, his feet neither in a T nor a V stance. His left foot pointed at Emperor Yue, while his right foot's toe aimed at a woman climbing the mountain ahead of them.
Emperor Yue's expression darkened, and he said coldly, "Chanyuan, don't interfere in my affairs, or I'll kill you too!"
The woman, Chanyuan, was also a divine ability practitioner of the Grand Heaven. She had entered this sand table world with Emperor Yue and the others. Earlier, they had rushed toward the place where the axe and spear crossed, but since everyone was running there, that location lost its significance as a contested ground, so they all went into hiding.
However, the only one who didn't hide was Qin Mu.
Qin Mu sprinted through the air, his speed so great that he left cloud trails behind him, dragging smoke all the way to the edge of the sand table world, pointing everyone in a direction.
Then, Qin Mu didn't stop. He started forging iron at his hiding spot, luring many demon experts to hunt him.
When the demon experts went after Qin Mu, it became a rare opportunity for the Grand Heaven's experts to hunt the demons along the way.
Chanyuan realized this too, so she guarded the only path leading to Qin Mu's location. Spotting Zhe Huali standing on the mountaintop and then seeing Emperor Yue, she was delighted and climbed the mountain, intending to join forces with Emperor Yue, the third-ranked powerhouse, to eliminate Zhe Huali.
"Senior brother Emperor Yue, you and senior sister Yuhe are both disciples of True God Pangyu. You should know the greater good."
Chanyuan stared intently at Zhe Huali, her expression grave, and said solemnly, "This confrontation isn't about your personal grudges, nor is it your chance to pursue the pinnacle of techniques and divine abilities. It concerns the ownership of Li City and the fate of our Grand Heaven. Neither you nor I can defeat this man alone, but together, we can take him down!"
"I won't join forces with you. Withdraw."
Emperor Yue's expression was resolute, shaking his head. "Considering we are both divine ability practitioners of the Grand Heaven, I won't kill you. But if you take the chance to strike at Zhe Huali while I'm dueling him, don't blame me for being ruthless."
His gaze was firm, fixed on Zhe Huali, his desire for the Dao burning fiercely. He chuckled darkly, "If I win, he dies by my hand. If I lose, he'll be severely wounded, and you can take your chance then—it won't delay the ownership of Li City! Just watch, or don't blame me for being merciless!"
Chanyuan frowned slightly and took a step back.
Emperor Yue grew excited, his aura intensifying. "Zhe Huali, please enlighten me!"
"You are no match for me. What you people of the Grand Heaven call a young true god has always been a joke in my eyes."
Zhe Huali's expression was indifferent as he calmly looked at him. "You don't understand the true meaning of a true god. You think that reaching the level of a young true god in the physical body guarantees becoming a true god, but you're far from it. The achievements of a young true god are threefold: the physical body, the primordial spirit, and the Dao techniques. You have only attained one. I am different."
The demon sword at his back vibrated softly, emitting a series of blade hums. He said leisurely, "Before descending to the lower realm, I had already attained two of them. Only the Dao techniques were incomplete. This descent and taking Furi Riu as my teacher is my cultivation of the Dao. Emperor Yue, you are obsessed with Dao techniques and divine abilities, on the verge of attaining the second. I admire your resolve, but you should both come at me together. Don't throw your lives away for nothing."
"Don't look down on me! My Dao techniques and divine abilities—without breaking, there is no establishing! They grow stronger against the strong! Broken Army Mountain!"
Emperor Yue let out a long roar, charging forward with all his might. As his foot moved, his attack was already launched. His fist techniques transformed into divine abilities, and in an instant, countless fist shadows appeared, stacking up like a mountain. The next moment, they piled up into a single Broken Army Star!
His fist was so heavy that the wind from it compressed the air, causing a series of explosions like rolling thunder.
This strike showcased Emperor Yue's astonishing mastery of fist technique divine abilities. After his battle with Zhe Huali on the battlefield, he had realized his shortcomings. Now, facing Zhe Huali again under the pressure of a strong enemy, he had taken another step forward, his Broken Army Mountain technique nearing perfection.
Behind Zhe Huali, the demon sword suddenly opened its eye. The eye spun, expanded, and turned blood-red.
Zhe Huali reached back, drew the sword, and slashed it down against the Broken Army Mountain technique. In an instant, blade light erupted in the air, colliding with the fist shadows of Broken Army Mountain and rebounding. It seemed to transform into ten thousand streaks of blade light, forming a mountain of blades that cleaved through Broken Army Mountain with ease!
The ten thousand streaks of blade light suddenly merged into one, descending toward Emperor Yue's head.
Emperor Yue brought his hands together, clamping down on the blade light. Suddenly, the demon sword split into two. Emperor Yue's expression shifted, and flesh sprouted from his armpits, growing two extra arms to clamp down on the second descending blade light.
He caught both demon swords, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the two swords split into four.
Emperor Yue roared, flesh bursting from his armpits as he grew four more arms, catching the descending blade light.
Then, he watched in despair as the four streaks of blade light split into eight, descending upon him.
Chii, chii, chii, chii.
The other four streaks of blade light fell. Emperor Yue lowered his head, staring blankly at the blade light that vanished upon hitting the ground. Four straight blood lines appeared on his face, growing longer and wider.
Zhe Huali vibrated the demon sword, gently pulling it from his hands, and sheathed it behind his back. Emperor Yue split into four pieces.
Zhe Huali looked at Chanyuan. Her expression was grim as she slowly backed away.
"Go. I don't kill women," Zhe Huali said calmly.
Chanyuan didn't relax at all, continuing to retreat unhurriedly. When she had retreated about a li away, she turned and sprinted away. The moment she turned, Zhe Huali's muscles bulged across his entire body. He charged forward with explosive force, surpassing the speed of sound with a boom. He drew his sword with both hands and brought it down vertically!
The blade shadow reached behind Chanyuan in an instant. She spun in midair, and her sword orb flew out, expanding with a clang. Before the countless flying swords could burst forth, the blade shadow slashed down from above her head!
Zhe Huali stopped, sheathed his sword, and turned to leave.
"I still need to invite the figure in the painting to see my master's blade technique, so I can't afford to be injured. That's why I struck you from behind."
His expression remained calm as he listened intently, following the sound of forging iron. "Woman, the moment you turn, your weakness is greatest. Never show me your back."
Behind him, Chanyuan fell.
Elsewhere, stretches of mountain ranges collapsed as two figures fought fiercely among the peaks. Steep, knife-like mountains were pierced through, vanishing into thin air as broken runes.
The battle ended quickly. Yuhe touched the wound on her face. Her opponent had been killed, but he had still managed to wound her.
This woman looked up and saw a flash of blade light in the sky, vanishing in an instant. She frowned.
"Zhe Huali, you're as flashy as that blacksmith. But I don't have full confidence in defeating you!"
She turned and left. "I need to find the other junior brothers and sisters, then eliminate you!"
The sand table world was vast, making it difficult to find others.
Elsewhere in the sand table world, battles erupted in several more mountain ranges. When Grand Heaven's divine ability practitioners encountered demon experts, they naturally did their utmost, using every means to kill their opponents.
Thus, when enemies met, battles often ended in a very short time. Divine ability practitioners were killed or maimed, a brutal affair.
But even in that short time, they could cover over ten li of ground, piercing through mountains and even causing collapses and destruction, leaving considerable damage.
Some even used great divine abilities to devastate a hundred li radius, an extremely terrifying feat.
Of course, this was within the sand table world, not the real world. Outside, these Seven Stars realm divine ability practitioners, though possessing considerable abilities, wouldn't have such destructive power.
The place where the axe and spear crossed, however, remained peaceful.
Sang Hua excitedly set up her traps and lay in ambush, quietly waiting for an enemy to fall into her deadly snare.
Time passed bit by bit. An hour later, the girl poked her head out from her hiding spot, her two long braids hanging down.
Another hour passed. Sang Hua sat on the axe head, her chin resting on her palm, swinging her legs in boredom.
Another hour later. Sang Hua lay on the axe's back, staring up at the sky.
"Where is everyone?"
She suddenly sat up, a bit frustrated. "Isn't this supposed to be a contested ground? Come on, enemy or friend, at least show up!"
Outside the sand painting world, gods and demons watched the battles within, some pleased, some worried. Before long, battles in the sand table world had nearly erupted everywhere.
When Qin Mu killed three in a row and lay feigning death, luring a fourth opponent, many demon gods grew tense, sweating for the demoness lurking on a nearby mountaintop.
Fortunately, the demoness didn't take the bait and turned away, allowing the gods on the temple roof to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Master, she truly is a disciple cut from the same cloth as you!" Black Tiger God's excited voice came through.
The Woodcutter Saint remained expressionless, while Furi Riu showed a faint smile. Their gazes met, then shifted away.
When they saw Zhe Huali kill Emperor Yue and Chanyuan, two young experts, with two strikes of his blade, many gods of the Grand Heaven broke out in a cold sweat, truly worried for the other divine ability practitioners of the Grand Heaven.
But the most worried was Sang Hua's father, Venerable God Sang Ye. Sang Ye clenched his fists nervously, his palms slick with cold sweat.
"Good daughter, stay put, just stay there..."
Venerable God Sang Ye stared intently at the axe-and-spear crossing in the sand table world. When he saw Sang Hua jump off the axe, his expression changed, and he silently prayed, "Don't go out, whatever you do, don't go out..."
Sang Hua ran outward.
"Don't run into an enemy, don't run into an enemy..."
Ahead of Sang Hua, a demoness was walking in her direction.
Venerable God Sang Ye nearly fainted. "I'm done for..."
——Three updates again! There will be more updates after midnight~