Chapter 3670: Demon Pillar Soars into the Sky
With a spiritual power of the ninety-second rank, when fully prepared, one's combat strength is absolutely not inferior to an Indestructible Infinite peak existence.
However, the battle between Imperial Quantity Emperor and Hao Tian ended too quickly. It was a complete crushing, a disparity in strength that was shocking.
"Is this the strength of the number one under heaven?"
Zhang Ruochen felt as if he could see an unclimbable divine peak standing before him.
Fortunately, he could now see it.
Zhang Ruochen could sense powerful divine thoughts and spiritual powers from across the universe, peering into Sea Stone Star Dock from across time and space.
Without a doubt, some formidable Heavenly Venerables from the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm were already on their way.
In this battle, Hao Tian, with the power of one man and an invincible momentum, had nearly wiped out the Quantity Organization, which would surely have far-reaching consequences.
This was eliminating hidden dangers for the entire world.
As for the Starry Sky Battlefield and the Heavenly Court side, Hao Tian had presumably made thorough preparations before setting out, so there was no need to worry about the Hell Realm and ancient powerhouses making a move at this time.
...
Imperial Quantity Emperor's spiritual consciousness mist transformed into twelve invisible qi rivers, fleeing in all directions. Some of these qi rivers passed through space rifts, flying toward Lihentian and the Void World.
His spiritual power was among the most supreme in the world today, and he had hidden his heart sea very deeply.
Unless a Half-Ancestor appeared, no one could quickly decipher which qi river contained his heart sea.
"Sir, I'm afraid it won't be so easy for you to leave."
Hao Tian's true body stood still, and twelve doppelgangers shot out from within him, chasing after the twelve rivers of spiritual consciousness.
Among them, the river of spiritual consciousness that contained the Primordial Lamp received Hao Tian's special attention. Not only did a doppelganger pursue it, but his true body also acted immediately, unleashing the Heavenly Venerable divine ability "Life-Sealing Seal."
A blue divine seal covering a nebula appeared above Sea Stone Star Dock, deepening from light to dark, fixing space, and pressing down directly toward that river of spiritual consciousness.
It must be noted that any of these rivers of spiritual consciousness separated by Imperial Quantity Emperor were extraordinary, and even an ordinary Heavenly Venerable might not be able to stop them. But facing the Life-Sealing Seal, there was no escape, as if locked into a millstone, constantly being ground away.
"It's not in this river of spiritual consciousness."
Hao Tian remained very calm, his true body not moving a single step, continuing to unleash divine abilities.
After successively destroying three rivers of spiritual consciousness, he still could not find the heart sea.
The other eight rivers of spiritual consciousness had already fled to a hundred billion miles away, making it difficult for divine abilities and battle artifacts to exert destructive effects.
A ninety-second rank Perfect Roundness was no ordinary being. Even if a Half-Ancestor acted alone, they might not necessarily be able to kill them.
Even if all of Imperial Quantity Emperor's rivers of spiritual consciousness escaped, Hao Tian considered it a minor matter. But he had to leave behind his heart sea!
The heart sea was the foundation of a spiritual power cultivator.
Although a Perfect Roundness spiritual power cultivator could gradually break free from dependence on the heart sea, just as an Indestructible Infinite would do everything possible to reduce their reliance on divine sources and break the foundation they themselves had created—because a foundation was also a shackle.
Spiritual power cultivators entrusted their power to spiritual consciousness.
Martial cultivators refined their power into their physical bodies and divine souls.
Only in this way, even if they lost their divine source and heart sea, their cultivation and strength would not plummet into the abyss.
Ultimately, for powerhouses at the Indestructible level, the heart sea and divine source were the most fatal weaknesses, and they would use various methods to hide and protect them.
But even a Heavenly Venerable-level existence could not completely break free from dependence on the divine source and heart sea. Once damaged, their cultivation would suffer greatly.
Therefore, as long as Imperial Quantity Emperor's heart sea was left behind, even if part of his spiritual consciousness escaped, he would forever lose the chance to return to Perfect Roundness.
"To kill an existence like Imperial Quantity Emperor, besides needing a powerhouse like Hao Tian who can crush him in strength, at least ten Great Unbound Infinite cultivators must be stationed on the periphery to have a ten percent certainty. Spiritual power cultivators are too skilled at hiding; in a short time, the location of the heart sea simply cannot be deciphered."
Zhang Ruochen was eager to try, wanting to intercept one of Imperial Quantity Emperor's rivers of spiritual consciousness, but he quickly cut off this thought.
This was a psychological battle!
Imperial Quantity Emperor undoubtedly hoped that Hao Tian's true body would chase after one of the rivers of spiritual consciousness, searching one by one. Only then would the river of spiritual consciousness hiding the heart sea have a greater chance of escape.
If Hao Tian's true body did not move, he would not dare to rashly expose the power in his heart sea to escape.
As this stalemate continued, although the various rivers of spiritual consciousness were getting farther and farther from Hao Tian's true body, powerhouses from the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm were also on their way.
One of the rivers of spiritual consciousness condensed into Imperial Quantity Emperor's body. While fighting with Hao Tian's doppelganger, he still laughed loudly: "The Heavenly Venerable's cultivation is indeed unfathomable, but relying on mere doppelgangers to try to keep me here is underestimating the cultivators of the world!"
This Imperial Quantity Emperor had already penetrated deep into the Void World, reaching hundreds of billions of miles away, the farthest from Hao Tian's true body.
"Chi chi!"
His spiritual power burned, and this Imperial Quantity Emperor turned blood-red, repelling Hao Tian's doppelganger and rapidly fleeing deeper into the void.
The other seven Imperial Quantity Emperors condensed from rivers of spiritual consciousness followed suit, all burning their spiritual power, greatly increasing their combat strength, and breaking free from Hao Tian's doppelgangers.
"You hid in the Destiny Temple for so many years, your state of mind should be extremely steady. I thought I wouldn't be able to capture you today, but I didn't expect you to lose your composure so quickly. Even if you disrupted the heavenly secrets, when you burn your spiritual power, the aura of your heart sea will still leak out."
Hao Tian's true body moved. On his arm, Xuan Huang Qi emerged.
His arm was like a blade, cleaving through the clouds.
"Hua!"
Void space spanning hundreds of billions of miles was split open by this blade, like a knife cutting through water. The entire universe seemed to be divided in two. Lihentian, the Real World, and the Void World—all three realms were cut open.
Hao Tian flew out, crossing hundreds of billions of miles in an instant, catching up to one of Imperial Quantity Emperor's spiritual bodies.
That Imperial Quantity Emperor's spiritual body no longer hid its heart sea, fleeing rapidly through Lihentian, a look of panic appearing in its eyes: "How could you possibly sense it... Could it be... have you already reached the Half-Ancestor realm? No, you shouldn't have."
"To slay you, I brought the Truth Divine Mountain. How could I let you escape?"
Hao Tian held the Truth Divine Mountain in his left hand, a rudimentary cosmic form taking shape beneath his feet, and had already reached close to Imperial Quantity Emperor.
"Don't forget, I still have one last move." Imperial Quantity Emperor's face became quite ferocious, his killing intent fierce.
"Too late, you can no longer self-destruct your divine heart."
Hao Tian arrived even closer, striking out with the Truth Divine Mountain, pressing down.
"What's happening? Why... why has space begun to boil?"
Zhang Ruochen's face changed dramatically. He felt his body sink as if into a quagmire, and even raising his arm became extremely difficult.
Looking toward Lihentian, hundreds of billions of miles away, he saw a demon pillar sweeping out from the depths of the universe.
The demon pillar seemed as massive as Shura Star Pillar Realm, its surface covered with profound patterns, with a statue of the Supreme Pillar "Baal."
Compared to it, stars were like pearl specks, pulled along by the demon pillar's qi force.
As for the planets and cosmic rocks, they all shattered, turning into nebula dust.
Hao Tian's long beard fluttered as he looked up, as if he had been waiting all along. His eyes shone with a clear radiance: "You've finally shown yourself!"
"Chi chi!"
The Confucian robe on Hao Tian burned away, and a suit of Xuan Huang armor attached itself to his body. He raised his arm, forming a seal in his palm, and clashed with the demon pillar swinging down.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen had long since stored the stars he had moved out of Sea Stone Star Dock into his Divine Realm World. Now, protected by the Bright Mirror Platform and the Earth Cauldron, he immediately fled far away.
But he still suffered the impact, his body falling into Sea Stone Star Dock.
By the time Zhang Ruochen flew up again and looked toward the cosmic void, the battle had already ended.
Hao Tian stood alone atop the Truth Divine Mountain, his armor bright, a clear radiance above his head, Xuan Huang Qi beneath his feet, his gaze fixed on Yellow Spring Star River, as if facing the vast and boundless heavens and earth.
Zhang Ruochen climbed onto the Truth Divine Mountain and asked: "Was it the Supreme Fourth Pillar Baal?"
Hao Tian nodded.
Zhang Ruochen said: "Has his cultivation recovered to its peak? Where is he now?"
"If his cultivation had recovered to its peak, he wouldn't need to hide!" Hao Tian gently shook his head. "He didn't intend to emerge now. He only acted to save Imperial Quantity Emperor. After saving him, he retreated."
Zhang Ruochen's heart felt heavy.
Before, it was only suspicion, and that worry wasn't too strong.
But now that he truly knew a Half-Ancestor had appeared in this era and was closely related to the Quantity Organization, this pressure was enough to suffocate countless gods.
Baal was not like Di, who was half-crippled.
To be able to rescue Imperial Quantity Emperor from Hao Tian's hands, his cultivation must have recovered to the Heavenly Venerable level. With his Half-Ancestor physical body, divine soul, and cultivation insights, how powerful would his combat strength be?
What Zhang Ruochen worried about most was Heavenly Mother and Feng Tian.
For these ancient powerhouses, the biggest shortcoming was Esoterica.
Baal had hidden for so many years, so the amount of Esoterica he had accumulated was certainly not small. But since he couldn't emerge openly, the amount of Esoterica couldn't be too much.
He cultivated the Path of Fate and the Demon Path.
Feng Tian and Heavenly Mother held the most of these two types of Esoterica.
Hao Tian saw Zhang Ruochen's worry and smiled: "Why are you so worried? You just need to cultivate well. Even if the sky truly falls, our generation will hold it up. I can sense that the one in White Clothes Valley has already pursued him. It won't be so easy for Baal to continue hiding and recovering his cultivation!"
Four of Imperial Quantity Emperor's rivers of spiritual consciousness were drawn over by Hao Tian, appearing above the Truth Divine Mountain.
The Primordial Lamp fell into Hao Tian's hands.
Sea Stone Star Dock had calmed down, and the formation inscriptions that Imperial Quantity Emperor had arranged in the void of the star dock had all been erased by Hao Tian.
Zhang Ruochen said: "Can this hidden danger of Sea Stone Star Dock not be eliminated?"
Hao Tian shook his head and sighed: "Yu Linsheng spent his whole life fishing here, wasn't he guarding it? You don't need to worry too much. Detonating Sea Stone Star Dock is no easy task. Moreover, its existence is also bait to lure the fish. Otherwise, if they truly wanted to hide, finding them wouldn't be easy."
"Hua!"
Void Heaven stepped on a rain of swords, arriving first, appearing in the distant starry sky, showing a disdainful expression: "The so-called number one under heaven can't even keep a single Destiny Temple God Venerable. All reputation, no substance."
Hao Tian showed no intention of fighting, saying calmly: "Baal has already emerged. For the Destiny Temple, it's hard to tell whether it's a blessing or a calamity."
"Do I need you to tell me? Once I comprehend Sword Twenty-Four and use the Sword Dao to break through the final barrier of Indestructible Infinite, then the Hell Realm will bow to me. First, I'll fight you! Second, I'll fight him! No, I'll go fight him now!"
Void Heaven left behind this harsh remark and departed directly.
Zhang Ruochen felt that Void Heaven had given him a sharp glare before leaving. Was this old fellow still thinking about the Sword Heart?
(Chapter End)