Chapter 3258: Heart of Heaven and Earth
Desolate Heaven manifested his giant divine body, his stone form towering like a majestic divine mountain. The Dark Divine Sword, driven by divine qi, grew to a thousand zhang in length. Under the influence of the sword's dark power, any light that shone upon it was devoured by the blade.
With a cultivation level approaching the Boundless realm, wielding a divine artifact allowed its full power to erupt. In a single thought, he could destroy a realm and throw an entire star domain into chaos.
The vast starry sky shifted endlessly between darkness and brilliance.
"Boom!"
After countless rounds of fierce combat, Desolate Heaven's sword sliced through Xuan Yi's Killing Dao rule defense field, clashing directly against his arm.
Thunderous sounds echoed from the bones of Xuan Yi's arm.
His bones had once been refined with a Thunder Clan divine artifact, yet they still could not withstand the blow. His body flew backward in a straight line for several thousand li. The bones did not break, but his skin and flesh were cut open by the Dark Divine Sword, spilling vast amounts of divine blood.
Desolate Heaven pressed the attack, his divine sword dragging a long river-like trail across the starry sky.
In terms of speed, even compared to Xuan Yi, who ranked first on the speed list, Desolate Heaven was now in no way inferior.
"Bam!"
"Bam!"
...
There was no technique, no use of Sword Dao divine abilities—just pure divine artifact power driving each sword strike. Every blow was like a peerless divine ability.
After a hundred consecutive strikes, Xuan Yi's physical body was battered and broken, covered in shocking bloody wounds.
His bones, flowing with lightning, remained relatively intact.
He had never suffered such severe injuries, never imagined he could be wounded by a cultivator of the same realm.
"Rumble!"
Xuan Yi's killing intent surged. As he rapidly retreated, he used the Heart of Heaven and Earth divine path to mobilize planets, spinning them at high speed and crashing them down upon Desolate Heaven.
Once this divine path was activated, no matter where he was, Xuan Yi instantly became the heart of heaven and earth. All matter in space converged toward him, revolving around him, quickly forming its own galaxy.
During their earlier exchange, over a hundred planets had already been orbiting Xuan Yi. Now, they all fell upon Desolate Heaven!
Each planet crashing down felt like a heavy punch.
Finally, Xuan Yi broke free from Desolate Heaven's suppression. He formed hand seals with both hands, and Radiant Divine Power seeped from his blood, healing his wounds in an instant.
At the same time, the divine blood scattered across the starry sky emitted radiant particles and ignited.
He struck out with a palm, sending forth a long river as vast and magnificent as the Santu River—a River of Time—hurtling toward the pursuing Desolate Heaven.
The Bright Mirror Platform flew out from behind Desolate Heaven, emitting melodious Buddhist chants. The grand phantom Buddha shadow of the Sixth Patriarch manifested in the universe. Planets appeared as tiny as grains of sand beneath the phantom shadow.
The Sixth Patriarch pressed down with one palm, his five fingers gleaming with golden light.
"Boom!"
The River of Time collapsed. Xuan Yi raised both hands, and stars condensed in the void, forming a galaxy to resist the Sixth Patriarch's palm seal.
But divine artifacts had their hierarchies. How could the Bright Mirror Platform's strike be so easily withstood?
Xuan Yi's physical body soon became covered in dense cracks, as if it would shatter into pieces.
With two divine artifacts, Desolate Heaven compensated for the gap in divine ability foundation between himself and Xuan Yi.
No one understood better than Zhang Ruochen just how powerful Xuan Yi's physical body was. If even his body could not withstand it, then the power unleashed by the Bright Mirror Platform was truly terrifying.
Hun Qi had been pursuing Desolate Heaven and Xuan Yi through nearby star domains, following like a shadow. His war blade flickered occasionally, eager to strike.
He was a disciple of the Heavenly Venerable, the strongest in Fengdu Ghost City, and a top-ten presence on the "Divine Theory" comprehensive ranking. Yet he could find no opportunity to intervene.
After watching for some time, Hun Qi's belief in his own invincibility began to waver. He felt the gap between himself and Desolate Heaven and Xuan Yi.
Hun Qi understood clearly how difficult it was to advance further at his current height. But Desolate Heaven and Xuan Yi were stronger than him by more than just a single step.
"The foundation during the Great Saint period is too important—so important that even after becoming a god and cultivating bitterly for hundreds of thousands of years, it remains difficult to make up for." Hun Qi deeply regretted it. If he had a chance to cultivate anew, even if it meant spending ten thousand years in the Hundred Shackles realm, he would have cultivated a perfect Second-Rank Sacred Intent.
A mere few thousand years of cultivation in the Saint realm determined far too much.
At the other end of the starry sky, Hun Qi spotted the figure of Jue Miao Chan Nu. She held the Mani Pearl, serene and at ease, her entire body radiating white Buddhist light.
The battle between Jue Miao Chan Nu and Xuan Yi at Xinghuantian had been recorded in images by a God King-level existence, brought back to Fengdu Ghost City for him to observe.
At the time, Hun Qi had judged that Jue Miao Chan Nu, wielding the Mani Pearl, had no clear victory or defeat with Xuan Yi—only a difference in superiority. Because no decisive outcome could be reached!
One held absolute initiative within ten zhang, the other held absolute initiative beyond ten zhang.
The reason Jue Miao Chan Nu had been at a disadvantage and passive at the time was because she had to stop Xuan Yi from killing Zhang Ruochen. In a peak duel, trying to save someone at the same time was undoubtedly binding one's own hands.
In terms of superiority, Xuan Yi was naturally one or two levels above Jue Miao Chan Nu, as his power came entirely from himself.
Now, Jue Miao Chan Nu had cultivated the "Underworld Soldier Volume," achieving the Underworld Dharma Five Phases, and had taken command of the divine corpse army left by Yinsnow Heaven. If she fought Xuan Yi now, the outcome of victory or defeat was hard to predict!
After the Underworld Ancestor, among those below the Boundless realm, the gods who could simultaneously cultivate the five volumes of the "Underworld Scripture" and achieve the Underworld Dharma Five Phases were few and far between. Each of them had achieved extraordinary things in the future—some were sealed as Heavenly Gods, others called Ancestors.
This showed Hun Qi a path!
The bitter cultivation after becoming a god might not necessarily fail to make up for the deficiencies of the Saint realm—it just required ten times, a hundred times, or even more effort. It required seeking peerless texts like the "Underworld Scripture"!
...
A large number of Hell Realm cultivators from the Santu River basin rushed to the chaotic zone, peering into the divine battle in the starry sky, where divine power fluctuations surged and the rules of heaven and earth were in disarray.
News of the divine battle spread through secret passages in the tributaries of the Santu River to the various realms of the Heavenly Court.
Some Heavenly Court gods secretly made their way there.
"How infuriating! Xuan Yi is the number one expert of the Heavenly Court, yet he is being besieged by multiple gods from Hell Realm. Quickly send word back—today, the various realms of our Heavenly Court will settle the score with the Hell Realm Yin Gods in the chaotic zone!" said a middle-aged man in a blue martial robe, standing in the chaos, exuding the aura of a Great God.
He came from the "True Martial Realm" of the Northern Universe, known for his hatred of evil. His iron palms had slain countless Corpse Clan and Rakshasa beings.
A god whispered, "It is said that Xuan Yi is a Quantity Envoy of the Quantity Organization."
The middle-aged man in the blue martial robe grew even angrier. "Hell Realm truly stops at nothing to kill people, using this framing tactic again. They clearly intend to divide the Heavenly Court gods, making us timid and hesitant."
"Exactly! That's how Murong Hengkong was forced to death back then. In the end, it was revealed to be the work of Hell Realm's shadows."
Another god said, "Alas, True God Xuan Yi is unmatched in cultivation below the Boundless realm. With him in command, the Heavenly Court would not have had to retreat to the second Starry Sky Defense Line. What a pity, what a pity..."
All the gods present understood the implication in his words, hinting at something. After all, Xuanyuan Lian inviting the Five Great Divine Monks to deal with Xuan Yi had already caused an uproar in the Heavenly Court, with many gods dissatisfied.
No one dared to respond, and a brief silence fell.
"This is unbearable! Heavenly Court gods are being besieged, and we can only watch from the sidelines. There is no more cowardly thing in the world!"
The middle-aged man in the blue martial robe circulated his divine qi, stepped forward, and his body gradually grew taller.
Though the Hell Realm gods were gathered before him, he felt no fear. Even if he died, he would drag a group of Hell Realm gods down with him.
Qingyu Shengshu approached with an umbrella, crossing through layers of space to block him.
The golden chariot was hidden in the distance, not revealing itself.
...
Heart Stop was the third stop of the Grand Void peak and the most difficult to break through. In history, even beings with the potential to become Heavenly Venerables had been trapped at Heart Stop for hundreds of thousands of years.
Under the suppression of the Bright Mirror Platform, Xuan Yi's entire body of flesh and blood exploded into mist, leaving only his lightning-shrouded skeleton intact.
Forcibly breaking through Heart Stop was clearly no longer possible.
If he persisted, he might fall today.
Hun Qi stepped forward, crossing ten thousand li in a single stride, appearing at the edge of the Sixth Patriarch's hand seal. He swung his blade.
He had already understood that this battle was not about pride or personal grudges—it was about eliminating a great enemy for Hell Realm. There was no need for a fair one-on-one duel; what was needed was to completely kill Xuan Yi.
The blade light was as bright as a full moon, landing on Xuan Yi.
"Crack!"
Xuan Yi's spine was severed. Even with a divine artifact refined into his body, he could not withstand such a blow. The war blade in Hun Qi's hand was also a divine artifact, albeit incomplete, but its power was extraordinary.
Xuan Yi's two halves of skeletal body flew apart, quickly reforming and merging with his blood and qi. He was heavily injured, but the killing intent in his eyes was fierce as he faced the approaching Hun Qi.
Hun Qi struck a second time, unleashing a perfected Boundless Blade Dao divine ability.
"Whoosh!"
Xuan Yi burst forth with incredible speed, dodging the blade light, and struck Hun Qi's neck with a palm.
With that single blow, half of Hun Qi's body was shattered. His ghostly body could not withstand it, and his protective field was as good as nonexistent against Xuan Yi.
Hun Qi immediately changed his technique, swinging his blade horizontally.
Xuan Yi was faster, grabbing his arm that held the blade.
One of Hun Qi's heads spat out blue divine flames, but that head was punched to pieces by Xuan Yi.
"Bam! Bam!"
Hun Qi and Xuan Yi were within arm's reach, exchanging blows at lightning speed. In an instant, they clashed dozens of times.
After a single breath, Hun Qi's ghostly body was completely shattered, and his war blade was snatched away by Xuan Yi.
Xuan Yi directly thrust the war blade into his own chest, refining it as he charged toward the gathering of Ghost Clan gods.
"Stop him! Xuan Yi is trying to break through and escape!" Zhang Ruochen said.
Hai Shang You Ruo wanted to rush over, but Zhang Ruochen grabbed her delicate wrist, holding her in place.
Zhang Ruochen said impatiently, "Didn't you see that even someone as strong as Hun Qi only lasted a moment against Xuan Yi? He was shattered in a single breath. If you go over, can you withstand even one of his strikes?"
"We can join forces," Hai Shang You Ruo said.
"Killing Xuan Yi is Hell Realm's business. It has nothing to do with me." Changing his tone, Zhang Ruochen said softly, "But your safety is my concern. After all, you are my sister!"
Hai Shang You Ruo's figure was light and graceful, her face as pure as a young girl's. She let out a heavy snort.
She understood Zhang Ruochen. This guy was very different from those scheming gods. He was deep and calculating toward his enemies, but in front of those he cared about, he was like a big boy, not steady at all.
All those ambiguous words he had spoken were just to tease her, but he had no romantic feelings for her. It was possible he truly saw her as a sister.
A being born only two thousand years ago, yet he was intent on being her big brother?
"Bam! Bam!"
Screams rang out endlessly in the starry sky.
No one had expected Hun Qi to fall so quickly at Xuan Yi's hands. This caught the Hell Realm gods off guard, allowing Xuan Yi to charge into the midst of the Ghost Clan gods.
Like a wolf among sheep, one Ghost Clan god after another was blasted into soul mist.