“Dang! Dang! Dang!”
The saber hums that echoed in the air sounded like the most wonderous zither music. Xiao Chen knocked away Chen Ming’s saber and closed in on him. Without giving Chen Ming a chance to react, he smashed his shoulder into Chen Ming’s body.
A horrifying saber wound appeared on Chen Ming’s chest, and he vomited a mouthful of blood. Severely injured, he fell to the ground, no longer able to fight.
It was just that Xiao Chen had not made a move. Once he made a move, he would not give this group of people any chances.
Someone charged at Xiao Chen from the left. With a swing of Xiao Chen’s arm, a saber light immediately chopped off the arm this person was using to wield his weapon. However, Xiao Chen clearly had not drawn the saber in his right hand.
Xiao Chen continued moving, dashing forward. With every step he took, a boundless saber light flashed. Everywhere he went, saber lights appeared endlessly. The scene looked brilliant and varied, with snow dancing in the wind.
No one could block Xiao Chen’s progress. With every step, he knocked someone back, inflicting severe injuries and causing them to vomit and lose all their combat prowess.
By the time Xiao Chen took seven steps, the seven quasi-Emperors had all fallen to the ground, unable to get up again. They lay there, moaning in agony. Those with lighter injuries got away with a broken arm or leg. The ones with graver injuries fainted from the pain.
When Xiao Chen attacked, he did not hold back at all.
Without pause, his figure flashed and arrived before a stunned Zhuang Zhenghe.
At this moment, Xiao Chen had defeated seven people in one go, and his momentum was at its peak. With just one movement, it seemed like he brought along the entire world.
Zhuang Zhenghe had been waiting for Xiao Chen to draw his saber and looking for an opening to deal a quick fatal blow. This charge caught him off guard and knocked him into the air.
However, Zhuang Zhenghe’s cultivation was now extremely horrifying, much stronger than that of the newly advanced Great Perfection quasi-Emperor Xiao Chen.
Zhuang Zhenghe’s face sank as he landed heavily on his feet. The ground beneath him moved, and a scarlet bodhi tree grew and rooted there, supporting him. Rings of scarlet Buddha halo lights appeared behind him.
The sound of Buddhist scriptures boomed out, and the bodhi tree swayed amid the still air.
Zhuang Zhenghe stretched out his hand, wanting to throw a palm strike to suppress Xiao Chen’s aura.
However, how could Xiao Chen, who was in his peak state, give him such an opportunity? The instant Zhuang Zhenghe landed, Xiao Chen immediately drew the Lunar Shadow Saber, which he had kept sheathed all the while.
The hum of a saber sang in the air; a resplendent saber light made the world look dull in comparison.
Spring flowers and winter snow, summer sun and autumn wind; the Azure Dragon broke out of the sea, and the bright moon soared into the sky. Boundless mysterious phenomena materialized in that instant, creating a grand scene of glory as the saber light shot out.
The scarlet bodhi tree instantly crumbled. This saber strike knocked Zhuang Zhenghe back one kilometer. The Buddha halo lights vanished, and he looked to be in a sorry state. From the wound on his chest, the blow had almost cut him in half.
Seven steps and one saber strike. With just this, Xiao Chen quickly inflicted grievous damage on this group of people.
Despite seeing Zhuang Zhenghe fly back pathetically, Xiao Chen did not relax his guard.
The Amitabha Buddha image hidden in the clouds was the greatest threat to the entire Heavenly Star Island. Given that such a long time had passed, it should have already recovered from Xiao Chen’s attack.
After all, Xiao Chen only sliced the palm, which was not a severe injury. If its wielder was willing to exhaust of power of faith, it could even recover in moments.
However, Xiao Chen wondered why Zhuang Zhenghe did not make the Buddha image reveal itself. Even after he neutralized the leaders of the eight factions, Zhuang Zhenghe still did not use it.
Perhaps to Zhuang Zhenghe, these factions were just pawns for him to move. Their lives or deaths had nothing to do with him.
However, Xiao Chen severely injured Zhuang Zhenghe. If Zhuang Zhenghe still did not bring out the Amitabha Buddha image, Xiao Chen would end up killing him. Even if he did not want to bring it out, he had no other choice.
Xiao Chen held up his saber and stood upright. He did not give chase and just waited quietly.
Xiao Chen now had a completed Heavenly Seal, shaped like an Azure Dragon, in his dantian. As it pulsated, strands of formless Heavenly Laws appeared behind him, a total of ten thousand of them. They looked like a vast river sweeping through the place.
Before reaching Martial Emperor, there was no way to close the Heavenly Laws in a loop to form a circle. One also could not use the power of the world as one pleased, unable to control it freely.
Now that Xiao Chen had advanced to Great Perfection quasi-Emperor, a bit of the foundation that he laid before advancing to quasi-Emperor revealed itself today in a sudden display.
With ten thousand Heavenly Laws, how horrifying was the power of the world that Xiao Chen could move with a thought? It could break mountains and rivers and shatter the sky.
With Xiao Chen’s every action, the formless aura pressured cultivators of the same cultivation realm. With one glance, he could make his opponent tremble in fear.
Zhuang Zhenghe might have long been a quasi-Emperor and had even used a ceremony to strengthen himself further, his cultivation clearly significantly higher than Xiao Chen’s, but his Heavenly Laws were far from Xiao Chen’s in terms of quality, quantity, and aura.
This difference was due to the disparity in their respective foundations and accumulations. Such a difference would only become increasingly obvious the further one went. When one reached Martial Emperor, this difference would be even greater.
“Hu chi!”
As Xiao Chen watched, a light suddenly shot down from the sky, encasing Zhuang Zhenghe. Then, this light started healing Zhuang Zhenghe’s injuries.
The horrifying saber wound on Zhuang Zhenghe’s chest recovered at a visible rate in the light.
After suffering from one saber strike, Zhuang Zhenghe did not show any rage on his face. Now that he had seen Xiao Chen’s strength clearly, he started laughing maniacally.
Zhuang Zhenghe slowly walked over in the air. Then, he said coldly, “Xiao Chen, is this all your strength? If so, then you will not be able to escape death today. The Buddha is benevolent. However, when the Buddha is angered, no one can block him!”
The sound of Buddhist scriptures rang out again, causing the incredibly horrifying Amitabha Buddha above Heavenly Star Island to break through the clouds and reappear.
A bright golden light descended, shining on every corner of the already ruined Heavenly Star City.
Right after Zhuang Zhenghe spoke, the Amitabha Buddha threw another palm strike that covered the sky. If this palm strike really landed, everyone in the ruins of Heavenly Star City would probably be injured.
The palm absolutely could not be allowed to land. Xiao Chen could not let the many people of Heavenly Star Island suffer further injury.
Xiao Chen roared angrily and executed the Dragon Tone Art. Then, he materialized the Azure Dragon Battle Armor and soared into the sky with the Lunar Shadow Saber in hand, clashing head-on.
“Boom!”
A resplendent saber light surged out and split the gigantic palm in half again. This time, the Buddha did not retreat. Instead, it shot out its left palm, looking like it was bringing the sky down along with its palm. With this attack, it seemed like the height of the entire sky lowered.
“Die!”
Zhuang Zhenghe already had a good understanding of Xiao Chen’s strength. Xiao Chen was unrivaled among Great Perfection quasi-Emperors. However, he was still no match for Consummation quasi-Emperors.
The Dragon Tone Art could not be used constantly. However, the Amitabha Buddha could press its attack, grinding down Xiao Chen, as long as it had that inexhaustible power of faith. This palm strike would eventually succeed in dealing severe injuries to Xiao Chen.
However, just as this overwhelming palm was about to hit Xiao Chen, an ancient Buddha image appeared behind him. This image had eight arms and protected all the vital points.
This Buddha image was not gigantic like the Amitabha Buddha. However, it had an ancient aura that was subdued and peaceful, filled with benevolence.
The hand protecting Xiao Chen’s chest smacked the Amitabha Buddha’s gigantic hand, sending it back.
When the two Buddha hands clashed, the entire sky shook violently, looking like the sea with waves stirred up. Boundless clouds scattered.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The Amitabha Buddha had used its power of faith and soaked in the light to restore its right hand. Thus, it sent down another palm strike. Nevertheless, the hand protecting Xiao Chen smacked it back.
This happened eight times, exhausting a large amount of power of faith. However, none of the Amitabha Buddha image’s eight attacks succeeded.
On the other hand, as the Amitabha Buddha image expended the power of faith, the Buddhist halo lights dimmed significantly. The originally loud and resonant Buddhist scriptures became like the buzzing of mosquitoes, not conveying any might at all.
Zhuang Zhenghe appeared extremely shocked, even distracted. “This is a Buddhist holy item, the Eight-Armed Buddha Amulet. Why is it in your hands?”
Xiao Chen did not reply to Zhuang Zhenghe. He knew that this was his best chance to strike. Whether the Amitabha Buddha image could be destroyed or not would depend on this attack.
If the other side managed to recover, he would be in trouble, as the eight chances from the Buddhist amulet were already used up.
Xiao Chen pushed off the air and sent out a saber strike. Eighteen Azure Dragons circled him, roaring together, scattering the lingering sound of Buddhist scripture.
This was his strongest saber strike, Subduing Dragon Profound Slash!
As Xiao Chen chopped, a saber light that connected the sky to the ground chopped at the Amitabha Buddha image, seeking to destroy it in one move.
“You want to destroy it with one blow? You have to go through me first!”
Seeing the situation, Zhuang Zhenghe roared furiously. He leaped up, wanting to help the Amitabha Buddha image block this saber light.
As long as the Amitabha Buddha image remained, no matter how severely injured Zhuang Zhenghe was, he could recover.
When Lan Shaobai, Jin Lin, and the others saw this scene, their expressions changed. They all knew that at this critical moment, they could not let Zhuang Zhenghe do what he wanted. Otherwise, when the Buddha image recovered, things would end badly for them.
They all soared up and launched their strongest moves at Zhuang Zhenghe. As long as he dared to continue, many Profound Martial Techniques would strike him, killing him on the spot.
“Damn it!”
Zhuang Zhenghe cursed and stopped, letting the attacks of Lan Shaobai and the others pass by overhead.
Two loud explosions resounded at the same time. Using his full power, Zhuang Zhenghe knocked back Lan Shaobai’s group.
However, on the other side, Xiao Chen chopped the Amitabha Buddha image in the air in half. All the Buddha halo lights instantly vanished, along with the irritating sound of Buddhist scripture.
“Bang!”
Xiao Chen descended and hacked down on Zhuang Zhenghe amid the boundless saber light. After a hundred moves, he sent Zhuang Zhenghe flying with a kick.
Without waiting for Zhuang Zhenghe to get up, Xiao Chen went over and set the Lunar Shadow Saber on Zhuang Zhenghe’s neck.
Zhuang Zhenghe coughed once and vomited a large amount of blood. A smile appeared on his somewhat sinister face as he said, “You can’t kill me. My Dharmic Body is on Black Flame Island. As long as my Dharmic Body is not destroyed, this is just a husk.”
When Lan Shaobai and the others came over and heard this, it shocked them greatly. They finally managed to suppress him after so much effort, but in the end, they could not do anything to him. That was too unreasonable.
“Xiao Chen, is that so?” the group asked anxiously.
Xiao Chen nodded. “That is right. However, soon, he will not be able to keep laughing.”
Zhuang Zhenghe cackled maniacally, “Why won’t I be able to laugh? I will self-detonate now, and you will all die with me. When I rise again, Heavenly Star Island will be mine.”
After Zhuang Zhenghe said that, his body swelled up like a balloon. The veins on his skin were starkly visible. Horrifying and overwhelming energy brewed in his body.