# Chapter 2346: The Death of Lan Ying
"If you want to kill me, you will pay a heavy price."
Lan Ying's face was twisted to the extreme, with silver demonic patterns appearing across his features.
The power of nothingness continuously devoured the chaotic qi and divine qi within his body, making him increasingly weaker. If he continued to wait passively, he would surely be ground to death by Que.
Rather than that, it was better to fight back desperately.
"Chaos first opens, Shura emerges from the world."
The Ashura Sword left his hand and flew out, suspending itself above Lan Ying's head, emitting an enchanting blood-red radiance.
The sword light transformed into streaks of sword qi, forming a circular sword domain.
Within the sword domain, Lan Ying's missing arm regrew. Then, his body became chaotic and indistinct, like a human-shaped nine-colored universe.
Three hundred years ago, Lan Ying had absorbed all the divine qi and killing qi from an ancient battlefield relic before breaking out of his egg and being born.
The moment he was born, he was already at the Saint realm.
Although he had already cultivated to the Great Saint realm, a vast amount of divine qi and killing qi still remained hidden deep within his body.
Now, Lan Ying activated a secret technique, burning divine qi to draw out that hidden power.
Que sensed Lan Ying's aura growing stronger and knew he was about to fight for his life. His eyes sharpened, and he took two quick steps forward. The Shadow Dan Sword in his hand dragged a long sword mark, slashing across the Ashura Sword Domain.
"Sssss."
The blood-red sword domain was torn open, creating a four-zhang-long rift.
"In the face of absolute power, burning divine qi is useless."
Que raised his sword and charged into the sword domain, thrusting it like a beam of light toward Lan Ying's brow.
"Is that so?"
Standing at the center of the chaotic light, Lan Ying suddenly opened his eyes. From his pupils flew two beams of nine-light, eighteen-color radiance, colliding with the oncoming sword light.
"Boom rumble."
The two powerful forces clashed, shaking the sword domain until it collapsed.
Que retreated backward, all the way beyond the chaotic mist, before stabilizing himself. He stared at Lan Ying and muttered to himself, "He's actually become this much stronger?"
Burning divine qi meant burning the foundation of one's path to godhood, exchanging it for temporary powerful strength.
Lan Ying's killing qi surged violently. He grabbed the Ashura Sword and pursued.
"As long as I kill you, I'll be number one on the Hundred Shackles Great Perfection Ranking."
Lan Ying's momentum was ferocious. He raised his sword vertically and slashed downward.
Que used his speed to flee rapidly, refusing to confront Lan Ying head-on.
Burning divine qi came at a tremendous cost. As long as he could stall Lan Ying for a while, he would collapse on his own.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Lan Ying raised the Ashura Sword above his head. In the sky, sword qi and killing qi condensed into a Shura Hell. As he swung the sword downward, the blood-red Shura Hell pressed down with it.
As Que fled into the distance, he glanced upward and immediately mobilized the power of nothingness.
"Whoosh!"
In an instant, his body became ethereal and vanished from the ground.
The Shura Hell pressed down, causing the earth for a thousand li around to tremble violently.
The Ashura Sword's qi was like a blood-red heavenly path of extreme light, piercing through this golden land from north to south.
"Pfft!"
Que emerged from nothingness, struck by the Ashura Sword's qi. His body was split in two, flying left and right, with large amounts of blood spilling onto the ground.
However, his two halves quickly climbed back up from the ground.
Both halves of his body emitted dazzling light, growing the other half. Instantly, two identical figures stood side by side, as if he had used a doppelganger technique.
Both Ques raised their heads simultaneously, their eyes sharp as they stared at the eastern sky.
In the sky hung a blazing sun.
The light emitted by the sun was precisely the light of the Origin.
At the center of the sun floated a heroic figure—it was Yan Wushen, who had disappeared earlier.
If not for Yan Wushen using the light of the Origin at the critical moment to force him out of nothingness, even if Lan Ying's attack were stronger, it wouldn't have harmed him.
Lan Ying let out a sinister laugh as he walked forward step by step. "Killing qi has already invaded your body. Today, you are doomed to lose. Hand over the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill, and I'll let you live."
"The Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill was already swallowed by me long ago." Que's two bodies spoke simultaneously, producing a series of overlapping sounds.
"What did you say?"
Lan Ying's killing qi grew even more intense, his eyes seeming ready to pop out of their sockets, enraged to the extreme.
Burning divine qi came at a tremendous cost. He had hoped to seize the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill to compensate for his losses.
If Que had already swallowed the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill, then for Lan Ying, there was only one path left.
"I'll devour you."
From within Lan Ying's body surged vast, rolling chaotic mist, emitting nine lights and eighteen colors, spinning rapidly.
Even a large part of Lan Ying's body turned into mist, enveloping Que's two bodies and pulling them toward the center of the vortex.
Devouring was Lan Ying's innate divine ability.
Any powerful being, once absorbed into his body, could not escape being refined, unable to break free. Because Lan Ying's body was born from killing qi—he was the spirit of slaughter.
If one couldn't break through the killing qi, there was no escape.
Que remained extremely calm. "Thinking of devouring me will only lead to your own destruction."
The Que standing on the left activated the Path of Flowing Light, charging at maximum speed toward the center of the vortex. His body radiated blinding light and then exploded.
"Return to nothingness."
Lan Ying let out a terrified cry: "You want to perish together..."
"Boom!"
After Que's body exploded, the power of nothingness formed swallowed the nine-colored chaotic light that stretched for hundreds of li, instantly turning it into nothingness.
Even the golden soil on the ground, and even space itself, disappeared.
A region hundreds of li in diameter directly became a void space. At the edge of the void space was a zone of spatial fragmentation, half golden and half black.
Lan Ying had fallen.
No one would have thought that Lan Ying, who should have had infinite potential and the possibility of becoming a divine realm powerhouse, would die here.
Que's other body stood at the edge of the void space, holding the Shadow Dan Sword, staring at the sun in the eastern sky. "How do you want to die?"
Yan Wushen was deeply shocked, still unable to accept the fact of Lan Ying's fall. After a long time, he calmed down and said, "You blew up half your body to kill Lan Ying. Your combat power must have dropped significantly. Do you think you can still kill me?"
Que said, "Does blowing up half your body necessarily mean your combat power will drop? Your understanding of me is still too shallow."
Que's battle intent did not diminish. He activated his ultimate speed and charged straight at Yan Wushen.
The Shadow Dan Sword thrust out like a meteor streaking through the sky. In front of the sword tip, a void space manifested.
"Six Paths Reincarnation."
Behind Yan Wushen materialized the enormous phantom of the Yama Ancestor. He threw a punch, creating the scene of six paths reincarnation, causing heaven and earth to tremble.
The Shadow Dan Sword, with irresistible force, broke through the six paths reincarnation. The sword grazed Yan Wushen's face, leaving a deep bloody gash.
Que quickly changed his technique, sweeping the sword horizontally.
Yan Wushen solidified space, forming layers of spatial shield seals, but Que still struck him with the sword, leaving a bloody wound on his abdomen, nearly cutting him in half.
"Boom!"
Yan Wushen heavily crashed to the ground, creating a crater dozens of meters in diameter.
"Having blown up half his body, how is he not weakened at all?" Yan Wushen flipped over, supporting himself with one hand on the ground, his Origin divine eyes fixed on Que floating in midair, trying to see through his true state.
"This era is ultimately my era. It's over. You and Lan Ying can travel together."
Que held the sword with both hands, raising the white light sword above his head. Streaks of lightning-like white light connected the sword body to the sky, making him appear like a divine being.
Just as he was about to slash down, Que detected a spatial fluctuation.
Above his head, a palm-sized spatial wormhole mirror surface appeared.
A black droplet flew out from the mirror surface.
"Boom!"
The black droplet exploded, forming a terrifying destructive fluctuation, containing three different attack powers: darkness, space, and time.
Even though Que's reaction speed was extremely fast, instantly fleeing several li away, a spatial rift still pierced through his chest and abdomen, with darkness and time power invading his body.
In the large crater, Yan Wushen had already activated the Naihe Bridge main body in his brow, preparing to fight Que to the death.
The sudden explosion made him pause slightly. He looked upward.
There, a patch of crimson fire cloud appeared.
Every cloud seemed like a clump of divine flame, burning fiercely, releasing a terrifying power that made one's heart tremble.
The sea of fire clouds covered the entire sky, with no end in sight.
A foot as huge as a mountain broke through the clouds, pressing down on Que's head.
"Zhang... Ruo... chen... chen..."
Que felt a powerful and scorching air pressure pressing down on him, making his whole body unable to move.
Having been attacked by the dark space-time substance, Que was now extremely weak. He immediately activated the power of nothingness, his body rapidly becoming ethereal. Only by becoming completely nothing could he neutralize the power of Zhang Ruochen's kick.
"I knew you wouldn't die so early."
Yan Wushen laughed while coughing up blood, simultaneously releasing the light of the Origin and the spatial true domain, pressing down on Que, forcing him unable to fully become nothing.
"Boom!"
In the end, Zhang Ruochen's Blazing God Leg clashed with Que's palms.
The golden earth could not withstand this impact, sinking into a large area. The powerful shockwave blasted Yan Wushen, who was standing far away, flying for over ten li.
When the various power fluctuations subsided, Yan Wushen focused his gaze. Zhang Ruochen stood imposingly on the ground, his left leg still burning with divine flame, the ten golden wings on his back like ten layers of clouds.
Que's aura had not disappeared, but it had become extremely weak.
"Whoosh!"
Que flew out from the bottom of the shattered earth, covered in bloodstains, standing opposite Zhang Ruochen. He then glanced at Yan Wushen in the distance, a strong unwillingness and coldness flowing in his eyes.
In today's battle, although he had killed Lan Ying, he never expected to end up being defeated by Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen, two cultivators whose cultivation levels were far from reaching the Hundred Shackles Great Perfection.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You're badly injured. Lan Ying's killing qi, the space, darkness, and time power of the dark space-time substance, and the divine flame power of the Blazing God Leg have all invaded your body, destroying your flesh and blood and sacred soul. Do you still want to continue fighting?"
"You seem to have become stronger."
Que could see that Zhang Ruochen had broken another eight shackles.
The total number of broken shackles had reached thirty-eight.
"All thanks to you," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yan Wushen approached from another direction, forming a triangular formation with Que and Zhang Ruochen.
Clearly, Yan Wushen no longer regarded Que as his greatest enemy and was also on guard against Zhang Ruochen.
Que knew that Yan Wushen still had trump cards he hadn't used and couldn't ignore him. He said, "Zhang Ruochen controls the dark space-time substance and has achieved a major breakthrough in cultivation. Why don't we join hands and kill him first?"
Yan Wushen said, "If you give me the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill, I'll join forces with you."
Then he added, "Don't tell me you've already eaten the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill. Only Lan Ying would believe that."
Zhang Ruochen lifted the Purple Gold Gourd, channeling sacred qi into it. Within the gourd, layers of supreme inscription runes awakened, releasing increasingly powerful might.
He said, "You'd better think clearly. This is the Yama Clan's home planet. Even if you and Yan Wushen join forces and kill me, you won't be able to escape. Only if the two of us join forces will we have a chance to survive today. I only want the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill, not your life."
Zhang Ruochen continued, "Right now, the Yama Clan cultivators outside must have set up a heavenly net and earth trap. Forcing your way out is impossible. Only by joining forces and capturing Yan Wushen can we make them hesitate to act."
Que said, "You want to cooperate with me?"
"There are no eternal enemies in the world, only eternal interests," Zhang Ruochen said.
Que took out the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill, holding it in his left palm. The pill was sealed inside a crystal, emitting dazzling light. Dense pill patterns spread outward, interweaving like a spider web.
Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen's eyes both tightened.
Que indeed hadn't swallowed the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill yet.
The Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill was rare throughout history, a treasure even the Tai Shang of alchemy found difficult to refine. No one knew what marvelous power it possessed. It might even help a cultivator condense a third-grade sacred will from a single path.
Any cultivator who saw it couldn't suppress the desire in their hearts.
Que smiled. "You both want the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill. Who should I give it to?"
Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen were both extraordinary individuals. They quickly restrained their emotions, forcing themselves to remain calm.
"How about I take it myself?"
Que's eyes turned cold. With a crack, he crushed the crystal on the surface of the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill, pinching the pill between two fingers and bringing it to his mouth.
"Space freeze."
Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen simultaneously activated their most powerful spatial power, pressing down on Que.
At the same time, from within the Purple Gold Gourd, a golden pillar of light formed by supreme power surged out, striking toward Que's chest.
Such a swift attack from Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen forced Que to be unable to swallow the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill. He had to use the Nothingness Sword Technique to break the frozen space. Then, he used his movement technique to evade the Purple Gold Gourd's attack.
"Spatial Sword Dance."
"Yama Hell."
Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen reached a tacit understanding, charging forward rapidly, each unleashing great techniques, determined to first kill Que before contending for the Imperial Grade Sacred Will Pill.
...
Because "The Ancient God Emperor" has been published in traditional Chinese, my editor and I discussed it. If nothing unexpected happens, for this QQ Reading event, the top twenty readers should all receive my signed book.
Consider this an additional reward!
After the event ends, I'll create a small QQ group and send them to everyone.
I'm not very familiar with this QQ Reading event, nor have I studied exactly how it works. There's an entrance on the big banner. I hope everyone will actively participate!