# Chapter 656: Killing in a Single Breath
Infinite Green lay fallen in the puddle of water on the ground.
Her Daoist robe was burned through, her face pale, her entire body soaked through, looking utterly miserable.
Yet she couldn't care about any of this, screaming desperately.
She knew that her husband had used the Little Red Flower to save her life, and must have paid an enormous price for it.
The situation was now clear: the person the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress wanted to kill was never her, but... him.
Distinctive Red heard his wife's words, and of course he understood the current situation even better. The destruction of the Little Red Flower had left him at his weakest moment.
But he couldn't leave, because the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress had already arrived.
Black phoenix wings appeared in the night, like the shadow of death itself.
Nothing could be faster than her—neither Infinite Green's warning nor Distinctive Red's thoughts.
A pure white, somewhat delicate-looking fist appeared before Distinctive Red.
This fist seemed to contain all the power between heaven and earth, directly enveloping the entire surroundings.
Distinctive Red had a feeling that no matter where he went, he couldn't avoid it, unless he could ascend to heaven or burrow into the earth.
But the earth was solid, and the restrictions of the Heavenly Book Mound prevented even Sacred Domain level experts from flying. How could he dodge?
His pinky finger gently flicked, and the rope that had been tied to the Little Red Flower began to swing.
In the night, it seemed as if an invisible rope hung down from the starry sky all the way to the Heavenly Book Mound, tied to his body.
His body flew upward in a way that was difficult to comprehend.
Just as his feet left the ground, that pure white fist arrived.
It seemed he hadn't gained much, but in truth this was crucial, because the fist didn't land on his face, but on his chest.
At that moment, the thin rope on his pinky finger also swung to his chest.
A thunderous explosion erupted within the Heavenly Book Mound. Countless cracks appeared on the stone platform, and all the water in the channels evaporated instantly, turning into a mist.
Within the mist, a clear path appeared, extending toward the night forest of the Heavenly Book Mound.
In the night forest, another clear path appeared, with fallen trees covering the ground.
The path's end extended to the river outside the Heavenly Book Mound. At the bottom of the long-dry riverbed, a large pit had formed, containing the imitation Heavenly Book Stele broken into several pieces.
Distinctive Red lay before those broken steles, his chest already caved in, his entire body covered in blood.
The black phoenix wings swept away the night, and that pure white fist appeared again in the night sky, smashing toward Distinctive Red, clearly not giving him any chance to catch his breath.
Infinite Green screamed and charged madly toward that spot.
The blizzard and shooting stars were still locked in confrontation at the end of the Divine Path. The Stargazer's ordinary face showed a hint of ferocity.
He hadn't expected that even with Distinctive Red's level of cultivation, he still couldn't withstand a single punch from the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress.
He couldn't let the situation develop like this. If the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress truly killed Distinctive Red in one blow, then she would surely come for him next.
Countless tiny shooting stars suddenly turned in the night sky, carrying starlight as they surged toward the river outside the Heavenly Book Mound, directly attacking the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress's back!
The blizzard swept in, instantly leaving countless cracks on the Stargazer's body—all wounds cut by sword intent.
Between the stars, there seemed to be connections—that was fate. Within the star domains, there were naturally channels—that was change.
In an instant, the countless shooting stars that enveloped the riverbank and attacked the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress seemed densely packed beyond description, but they were ultimately not a true sea of stars, and of course had gaps.
No one could find the gaps between those shooting stars in such a short time.
The Stargazer was confident in this, so he firmly believed that the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress would have to turn around to receive his full-force strike.
He chose to use his powerful cultivation to withstand Han Qing's Blizzard Sword, letting the countless shooting stars fall toward that direction, precisely to give Distinctive Red a chance to survive.
This choice seemed brave and wise from any angle, but in hindsight, it was the biggest mistake he made in this battle of Sacred Domain experts.
Because the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress's target had always been... him.
The Heavenly Sea Saint Empress didn't turn around. Instead, she continued flying into the night sky, then vanished without a trace.
Two streams of black light suddenly appeared among the countless shooting stars—this was the sign of the phoenix wings tearing through space.
Between the countless stars, there were channels; fate could be reversed. How could she not see through the gaps between these shooting stars?
A clear, supremely proud phoenix cry rang out before the Heavenly Book Mound.
A true phoenix split open a channel between the stars and arrived before the Stargazer.
This was a black phoenix, incredibly enormous, as if it could cover half the sky.
The Stargazer let out a fierce shout, no longer caring about the sword intent within the blizzard. His right palm turned and pressed toward the night sky.
As his palm struck out, countless stars in the night sky brightened—these were the stars he had watched for countless years by the Western Sea, his companions.
Unfortunately, the black phoenix spread its wings, blocking his eyes and also blocking those stars.
The night representing death descended from the heavens like this.
With a soft crack.
The Heavenly Sea Saint Empress's palm landed on the Stargazer's palm.
Silently.
The Stargazer's palm was intact, but his wrist bones were shattered.
As a Sacred Domain expert who had observed the stars for centuries, his flesh and bones had long since completely jade-transformed, with strength comparable to ordinary divine artifacts.
Yet now, they shattered like rotten wood.
Then, the Stargazer's arm shattered, followed by his shoulder.
Crystal-like flesh, jade-like bones, star-dust-like blood splattered in all directions through the night sky.
The Stargazer's body kept shrinking, kept shattering.
With a thunderous roar!
That palm suspended in the night finally shattered as well.
The Stargazer became a pile of debris on the ground.
The night wind howled, sweeping the debris in all directions, up into the night sky, disappearing to who knows where.
In the night sky, the enormous black phoenix gradually faded away.
The Heavenly Sea Saint Empress returned to the top of the Heavenly Book Mound.
She stood at the edge of the Divine Path, slowly clasping her hands behind her back.
She closed her eyes, then opened them, once again gazing upon her world.
She was very calm, as if nothing had happened.
And so, the entire world fell silent.
At the moment the Heavenly Sea Saint Empress closed and opened her eyes, her divine soul once again traveled ten thousand miles away, arriving at the small stream behind the old temple in Xining Town.
The treetops still swayed gently under the night wind's caress.
The blood lotus on the stream's surface drifted aimlessly in all directions.
That monk still sat by the stream, his bare feet still in the water, not withdrawn.
"This is My world. Since you've come, you cannot leave again."
The Heavenly Sea Saint Empress looked at him and said, "And I can come and go as I please."
...
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(Arrived in Shanghai. See you tomorrow at Fuzhou Road Shanghai Book City.)