Chapter 989: Divine Battle
An existence who had slain gods, having killed two members of the divine race in the ancient past, walked step by step from the edge of the earth. His body seemed to merge into the void, harmonizing with the Dao.
He held a dragon spear in one hand. Before he even arrived, a bone-piercing killing intent surged forth, causing all living beings to tremble, as if facing a deity who had walked down from the ancient era.
The people were horrified. Were the Pope’s words true? Some ancient families were especially terrified. If even gods dared to be killed, then what exactly was the Vatican venerating!
He drew closer, approaching from the horizon. A person’s aura sometimes said everything. He seemed to have merged with the Dao, standing there like an immortal monument.
Whether it was the Holy See or the many lineages that had come to aid them, a vast number of people trembled in reverence, wanting to kneel down.
This person appeared to be around fifty years old. His long golden hair was still relatively thick but had already dimmed somewhat. His skin was fair, like pure white jade, with sharp, chiseled features.
Looking at him like this, it was impossible to discern his actual age. Only through his eyes could some clues be seen—his pupils were like oceans, deep and weathered.
This was definitely not a person of the present age. He had clearly lived through a long span of time. As for how long, no one could say, and even within the Vatican, few knew.
The number one expert under the entire Western Starry Sky!
Ye Fan narrowed his eyes. This was indeed a powerful person. He had existed for a very long time, having survived from ancient times without choosing to leave this world.
This was a Dao Cutter. His true strength was difficult to gauge, but he should be very strong—more terrifying than the divine race members he had slain, possessing enough deterrent force.
Since the ancient era, he was the only Divine Knight of the Western Lands!
A person so powerful that seeing him made one tremble. He possessed unparalleled combat strength, and experts from all races felt genuine awe upon seeing him.
“The strongest under the starry sky!”
“Heavenly might!”
“The number one expert under the entire starry sky!”
The people shouted. The various great families who had come to rescue the Vatican all cried out, their voices rising and falling like ocean waves, deafening.
This was a powerful momentum. When a person stood there with an undefeatable posture, it was enough to show how terrifying he was, able to manifest the great might of heaven and earth!
The Divine Knight merged with the Dao, naturally close to the Way. His figure was both real and illusory, blurry and indistinct, giving people the Eastern feeling of unity between heaven and man.
The Dao did not distinguish between regions. The strong possessed the same realization. This person’s spiritual level was very high, and his own cultivation had reached an extraordinary and transcendent realm.
“Woo…”
He suddenly launched an attack, moving at extreme speed. In the blink of an eye, he crossed from the other side of the earth to Ye Fan’s side. The dragon spear in his hand thrust forward, emitting a dragon’s roar that shook the nine heavens, accompanied by the resonance of the Dao.
Ye Fan’s left hand formed a blade-like strike, chopping horizontally at the dragon spear. At the same time, his right hand clenched into a fist, a golden divine fist smashing toward the man’s head, swift as the wind and fierce as thunder.
“Clang!”
The dragon spear trembled, receiving Ye Fan’s palm strike, then spun around to block his golden fist. It burst forth with ten thousand rays of light, producing a sound like crashing waves.
Ye Fan was astonished. He had never expected to encounter such a figure on Earth, someone who could engage in close-quarters combat with him. The strength of his physical body exceeded all imagination!
Could this person be a descendant of an ancient Sacred Emperor? He was truly amazed. This man far surpassed other Dao Cutters. In such close combat, he could definitely pierce other kings to death with his dragon spear.
The two turned into lightning. Palms, fingers, and the dragon spear clashed, producing a series of metallic sounds that made people’s eardrums and hearts feel like they were splitting, unbearable.
“Boom!”
With a final loud crash, the two separated. The surrounding mountains and rivers roared. Although they were inscribed with ancient Dao marks, some fine cracks still appeared, causing everyone present to change color.
“Swish!”
The Pope raised his hand, shifting fifty great mountains into place. They represented the number of the Heavenly Dao, ancient divine peaks with the laws of ancient sages, sealing off the battlefield to prevent damage to the outside world and the destruction of sacred halls and other holy grounds.
“The reputation of the Central Land’s demon is well-deserved. This trouble is truly great this time,” an old man beside the Pope muttered to himself.
“Indeed. The strongest under the starry sky couldn’t suppress him immediately. Especially in physical confrontation, he didn’t gain the upper hand and was even slightly inferior. That’s quite shocking.”
“A sinner bathed in divine blood should have an invincible physical body. How could he meet someone who matches him evenly?”
A group of old men grew suspicious, feeling a chill run through their bodies. This was the first time they had seen someone whose physical body could contend with the strongest under the starry sky.
Outsiders didn’t know, but a few major figures in the Vatican were well aware of the Divine Knight’s origins. He was extremely legendary. Although he had killed divine race members and slain invading ancient demons, his merits and faults were balanced.
Legend had it that the Vatican, far back in the ancient era, was a pure land of the gods, the most famous cave heaven in the West. It preserved a jar of ancient divine blood.
Generations of ancient sages had refined it countless times, removing everything that could harm the human body. Then they added endless spiritual medicines, mixing them into the divine blood, repeatedly boiling and refining it for who knows how many years, turning it into a supremely sacred and holy treasure, left for future generations.
The Divine Knight, in his youth, was exceptionally talented, a prodigy who looked down on all others. He was raised as a divine son, his aptitude hailed as the best in the Western Lands in tens of thousands of years! But he was too mischievous, often playing in the sacred halls. Once, he accidentally knocked over a holy cup that had just been unsealed.
In that incident, he caused a great disaster. But he was bathed in divine blood, his physical body absorbing all the treasure medicine, reaching the pinnacle and becoming an indestructible body.
The Vatican was shaken. All the major figures were both shocked and furious, but there was nothing they could do. The divine blood was lost, and it had all gone to this mischievous prodigy.
Afterward, he was branded a sinner. He could only cultivate in hardship every day, forever dwelling in darkness, never receiving glory, only silently guarding the Vatican.
An ancient sage from the ancient era had branded him, sentencing him as a sinner. Therefore, he could not receive faith power. From ancient times to the present, he relied solely on himself, breaking through to this realm step by step.
Thus, although he was only a Dao Cutter, far from a Greatly Accomplished King, he was still quite terrifying, having reached the extreme of power. After all, this was the Age of Ending Dharma, and he had cultivated through his own strength.
Cultivating silently from ancient times to the present, as the essence of heaven and earth slowly dried up, he had difficulty severing the Dao. He was the only one who had crossed the heavenly tribulation when the world began to stagnate a few hundred years ago. After that, his cultivation barely moved, but his Dao base was incredibly solid. His understanding of the Dao was beyond ordinary comprehension, extremely powerful.
“A sinner bathed in divine blood, the most powerful Divine Knight of the Vatican, the strongest under the Western starry sky. Pierce the enemy with your dragon spear, and wash away your sins with his blood,” the Pope said softly.
The Divine Knight’s expression was calm and silent, showing neither joy nor sorrow. He stood in the distance, holding his spear in one hand. The first attack was just a probe. The opponent’s strength exceeded his expectations.
“Dao wounds have injured my body. My life is short. Let this be my final battle before sitting in nirvana!”
Finally, he spoke. To have survived from ancient times to the present without relying on faith power for cultivation, achieving such profound Dao cultivation, was no easy feat. It could be called a miracle.
But time was merciless. At this point, he was nearing the end. The world had dried up, and severing the Dao had injured him. Even granting him faith power could not extend his life.
“Hum!”
The void trembled. The dragon spear in his hand pierced through heaven and earth. The sky split open, wind and clouds surged. He charged forward like a heavenly god, thrusting toward Ye Fan’s chest.
This dragon spear was very special. No one knew from what era it had been left behind or who had forged it. It lacked the world-destroying power of a saint weapon but possessed an immortal divine nature. No one had ever been able to shatter it.
The dragon spear was originally dull and lusterless, but when the Divine Knight activated it, it seemed to come alive, transforming into a sky-piercing divine spear, its sharpness fully revealed, piercing through the heavens.
Even Ye Fan was moved. For such a person, such a Divine Knight, to survive to the present was truly an anomaly. He surpassed the divine race experts and was indeed a formidable opponent. Ye Fan formed seals with his left hand and clenched his fist with his right, engaging in a great battle with this man. This was the first time he had been so serious and solemn since returning to this side of the starry sky.
“Heavenly Stance Divine Dance! He has actually cultivated to that legendary realm!” Many old men in the Vatican exclaimed, unable to help trembling as they spoke.
The Divine Knight’s power was beyond even their measure. At this moment, the dragon spear split the sky, shattering heaven and earth. At the tip of the spear, a deity appeared, dancing together with the blazing spear light!
Ye Fan blocked the dragon spear with his left hand and attacked the deity with his right fist, the battle unceasing. Their attacks were devastating. The ordinary mountains below had turned to powder and dust after their first clash, showing just how powerful their attacks were.
The fifty divine mountains of the Heavenly Dao, inscribed with the patterns of ancient sages, now roared. They all lit up, emitting the chanting sounds of ancient sages.
This was the voice of ancient saints. The Dao marks they left behind sensed the two’s power, interweaving and shining, manifesting myriad phenomena. In the sky, there were statues of war gods, shadows of light gods, and hammers of thunder gods, all connected in a scene of indescribable wonder—a divine miracle.
“Bang!”
Ye Fan fought fiercely against this Divine Knight, who had reached this level through his own efforts in the Age of Ending Dharma. Both fought to the point of madness. Their blood energy surged to the heavens. From the crown of each of their heads, a pillar of blood shot up, piercing through the clouds, terrifying beyond measure.
A single move shattered mountains and rivers. With their current momentum, if they fought in mortal lands, nothing would remain. A single roar from them would split mountains and rivers.
“Roar…”
With a long howl, the two forcefully broke out of the gaps between the fifty sacred mountains. Their astonishing momentum erupted, nearly breaking the ancient formation that separated the Vatican from the outside world!
“Pfft!”
Many people coughed blood. Quite a few who weren’t far enough away directly exploded, turning into clouds of blood mist. Several hundred people died in this manner.
This was a terrifying scene. A single roar caused contemporary experts to be unable to withstand it, turning into bloody mud. How could they even think of contending with these two?
The Pope’s face changed. He quickly used great power to move another fifty sacred mountains, representing the number of heaven and earth, sealing off the battlefield to prevent the complete destruction of this place. But even so, it was a bit late. At least dozens of magnificent sacred halls collapsed, and a stretch of mountains and rivers turned to dust. A single strike from the dragon spear turned them into a dead land, reduced to ashes!
And one punch from Ye Fan sank dozens of great lakes and a vast area of ancestral mountain ranges, turning them into barren land, completely erased from the earth.
The two fought together, turning into bolts of lightning. Every strike was devastating, swallowing mountains and rivers. This was a duel of peerless experts, like a divine battle.
Everyone was dazzled and dizzy. Such a battle had not occurred in thousands of years, unique in the world. To the crowd, this was a duel of deities. Because both had killed divine race members, they were the strongest people in the world today—a super divine battle!
On Earth, encountering such a worthy opponent, Ye Fan did not use the Black Arrow. He had recently gained much and wanted to test himself, so he only fought with true Dao cultivation.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, leaden clouds pressed down from the sky, darkening the area. A snow-white, crystalline giant hand slapped toward Ye Fan, vast and terrifying like an ocean. The Pope, who had been overlooking from the sacred mountain like a heavenly god, finally made his move.
At the same time, two powerful forbidden curse scrolls unfurled, enveloping Ye Fan. Two withered old men on the sacred mountain acted, unleashing forbidden curses equivalent to the attacks of half-saints.
At this moment, the Divine Knight made a move that no one expected. He raised his dragon spear with one hand and struck upward!
“Bang!”
He instantly shattered the sky, piercing through it. The dragon spear pointed straight up, blocking the snow-white, crystalline giant hand, stopping the Pope above.
“A man about to die seeks only a fair final battle with a clear conscience!”
The Divine Knight spoke with iron resolve, not accepting the Pope’s help. He pointed his dragon spear at the sky, blocking his hand.
“Boom!”
On the other side, Ye Fan struck with heavy force, unleashing the Weapon Art to its extreme. Standing on a peak, he reversed the two scrolls, blowing the two deeply cultivated holy mages to pieces and leveling a stretch of mountains and land!