It would be impossible for the same move to work on Xiao Chen twice.
“Glug! Glug!”
After the move failed, the bodies of all the demons started coalescing without pause, turning into a humongous demon the size of a small mountain; it looked as disgusting as it could possibly be.
However, the more shocking thing came next. The mountain-like demon kept changing shapes until it became a black-clad man that was Xiao Chen’s spitting image.
This black-clad man exuded a sinister air and held a black saber in his hands. He gave Xiao Chen a familiar yet strange feeling. “Who are you?”
The black-clad man smiled and replied, “I am you and you are me. However, because your mental state is very stable, I normally do not get a chance to appear.”
This answer suddenly startled Xiao Chen awake. He understood. This was the desire and all sorts of negative emotions in his heart gathered into another him.
Everyone had good and evil sides; this was unavoidable. Naturally, Xiao Chen was no exception.
This was rather problematic. His evil side was being strengthened by the seven Peak Grade Demon Fiend Rocks. He did not know how strong his evil side was now. If he died here, he would be completely wiped out.
“Thank you for your arrogance, which gave me a chance to appear. You can rest in peace now. I will take on your desires and live on properly.”
The black-clad man showed a sinister smile. Then, his figure flashed as he charged towards Xiao Chen.
The Saber Technique that this person used was one of the moves that Xiao Chen was skilled at—Flawless Bright Moon. However, the moon that appeared was a sinister black moon filled with evil intent, inspiring fear in others.
Fast!
In the time it took for a spark to fly, Xiao Chen quickly executed Flawless Bright Moon as well.
The two moons contested against each other as two strands of saber Qi—one black and one white—clashed. Xiao Chen’s saber Qi instantly crumbled.
The black saber Qi contained a berserk killing intent as it sent Xiao Chen flying and vomiting blood.
“Why is it like that?” Xiao Chen asked suspiciously.
The black-clad person walked over, step by step. He smiled and replied, “I know everything that you know. I also have this boundless evil intent and killing intent that I can use. However, you can only defend your mind. How can you compete with me?!”
“Whoosh!”
The black-clad person did not give Xiao Chen a chance to turn things around. He charged over and started attacking Xiao Chen and suppressing him.
The black-clad person executed the various killing moves that Xiao Chen normally used with even more brutality, which resulted in each of these moves being more powerful than they originally were.
“Too weak. This is not how you use this move.
“You want to finish walking your Emperor’s Road with just this much capability? How naive!”
In less than ten moves, Xiao Chen was already riddled with wounds. On the other hand, the black-clad man appeared organized, moving skillfully and easily. With every exchange Xiao Chen lost, the black-clad man ridiculed Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen calmed down and thought of another move, Instant of Glory. That was right, Instant of Glory. This was a move that he personally comprehended and required his experience before it could be executed.
As the other party was made of evil intent, it definitely would not expect it.
A saber light flickered, and all sorts of mysterious phenomena gathered to form a scene of Xiao Chen proudly standing on a mountain peak, a glorious painting where many fell before him.
The black-clad man smiled and said, “That is the glory that you understand. However, in my heart, true glory is like this!”
After saying that, the black-clad man also executed Instant of Glory. A similar painting appeared. However, it depicted a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood heaped with white bones behind a black-clad Xiao Chen, everything turning into desiccated bones!
The two paintings clashed intensely with each other. The two of them extended their hands at the same time and muttered, “Break!”
“Whoosh!”
Space shattered, and the paintings interlaced with each other, starting an intense clash that resulted in both sides being evenly matched.
This outcome startled the black-clad man this time. “What’s going on? My glory used the bones and corpses of the various heroes to form a blood sea. How can your glory compare to mine?”
A bright light flashed in Xiao Chen’s eyes as he became surer of his thoughts. He smiled and said, “Indeed, it is as I expected. You simply do not understand me. You do not understand my glory. You do not understand my hot-bloodedness. At the same time, you do not understand my grief!”
---
From the Immortal Spirit Ring, Ao Jiao noticed the killing intent slowly fading from Xiao Chen’s eyes. As a result, she revealed an expression of pleasant surprise. Although the Demonic Qi had not disappeared yet, Xiao Chen already regained his senses. The foot that stepped into the deep abyss got pulled back in the end.
Suddenly, a beam of starlight charged up the peak. Its speed was beyond what the human eye could follow. One moment, this person was still at the foot of the peak. In the next moment, he appeared at the summit.
The afterimages of this person did not even scatter, creating an illusion of a bright beam of starlight raying over without breaking.
The starlight coalesced into an old man with a goatee before Xiao Chen. This old man wore clothes embroidered with stars.
The goateed old man looked at Xiao Chen and revealed an expression of shock. He muttered, “The Azure Dragon King is truly impressive. Even after taking half a step into the deep abyss, he is able to pull himself back. It is worth my wasting a Nine Star Divine Movement Talisman in order to agitate the killing intent in your heart and completely push you into the deep abyss.”
After saying that, the goateed old man started storing up power, preparing to attack Xiao Chen’s body and agitate Xiao Chen’s killing intent.
“Scram!”
Just then, a golden light bloomed from a ring on Xiao Chen’s finger. Ao Jiao stood on Little Yellow Feather, bathed in golden flame. She charged out, looking like a goddess.
This development stunned the goateed old man somewhat. However, when he noticed that Ao Jiao appeared to be only a Great Perfection quasi-Emperor, he immediately revealed a cold smile.
“A mantis trying to stop a chariot. You are just a Great Perfection quasi-Emperor, and you dare to tell me to scram? Begone!”
With a flip of the old man’s hand, a North Star Banner appeared in his grasp. Then, he swung it at the approaching Little Yellow Feather like he was chasing away a housefly with a casual swat. Surging starlight gathered, kicking up a small starlight hurricane.
The starlight materialized into a howling wind. Everywhere it blew, it opened cracks in space.
Ao Jiao did not panic. Her expression turned grave as Little Yellow Feather burned brightly with a brilliant light. Its aura suddenly soared as it spat out a clump of flame.
This golden clump of flame was extraordinary. One could vaguely see the sun in there; it looked like a newborn sun.
Strictly speaking, the sun was a star as well. In the Cyclic Astral Palace, the Astral Palace ranked at the top was the Sun Palace.
The flame that Little Yellow Feather spat out was the product of a secret technique passed down through the Golden Crow Race, Solar Astral Fire. It was said that a powerful adult Golden Crow could spit out a miniature sun puissant enough to blast away a continent.
Although this Solar Astral Fire was far from comparable to the one in the legend, it already possessed some similarities.
Before the Solar Astral Fire, the North Star’s starlight slowly melted, assimilated into the Solar Astral Fire.
When the goateed old man saw this scene, it stunned him. “A Golden Crow Holy Beast?”
The Golden Crow Holy Beast was born in the sun. From the moment it was born, it carried the might of the sun and was known as the lord of the stars. Any starlight would pale before it.
It was a Holy Beast that cultivators who cultivated Astral Energy sought in their dreams. However, it was also the nemesis of all who cultivated Astral Energy.
Wild joy shone in the goateed old man’s eyes. “A young Golden Crow. The heavens are helping me. My use of the Nine Star Divine Movement Talisman was indeed timely. Otherwise, I would not be able to obtain this Golden Crow.”
“Bang!”
The goateed old man spun the Astral Banner around, now putting in his complete focus. He no longer acted casually as he had earlier. With this one strike, he used eighty percent of his Primordial Energy to drive the Astral Banner in his hand, using it to shatter the Solar Astral Fire with a loud report.
When the flames shattered, fire rained down from above the peak, flickering in the sky.
“Little Yellow Feather, it’s all up to you.” Determination flashed in Ao Jiao’s eyes. Then, she pushed off its back, soaring into the sky.
Little Yellow Feather chirped twice as if it was telling Ao Jiao not to worry. Then, its figure trembled, and its body suddenly turned into countless golden flaming feathers.
The thousands of flaming feathers enrobed Ao Jiao, becoming like a golden Battle Armor blazing with a fiery divine light.
“Life Sacrifice! The forbidden art of the Golden Crow Race. What is the origin of this little Golden Crow?”
The goateed old man’s gaze turned suspicious. Golden Crows could obtain the inheritance of their ancestors through their bloodline, learning everything without a master and comprehending all sorts of secret techniques. However, this Life Sacrifice was a forbidden art that only the kings of the Golden Crow Race could execute.
After Ao Jiao obtained the golden Battle Armor from Little Yellow Feather’s Life Sacrifice, her aura became incredibly strong.
She hovered in the air and looked into the distance, glittering with golden light and wrapped in flames. She looked holy and dignified like a legendary ancient war goddess.
Ao Jiao narrowed her eyes, holding twin sabers in her hands. Then, she moved quickly, describing a flaming golden line in the air as she charged towards the goateed old man.
The might of the sun surged over. The goateed old man discovered that the Astral Energy that he controlled was completely suppressed.
To the goateed old man, this was, without a doubt, mortal danger. Since he was born into the Cyclic Astral Palace, all the Martial Techniques that he knew were related to Astral Energy. Having his Astral Energy suppressed was like half his strength getting sealed off.
I need to hold on for now. A Life Sacrifice has a time limit. Once that time passes, I will be able to finish this insignificant Great Perfection quasi-Emperor with one move.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Golden lights flickered continuously in the air. Ao Jiao’s exquisite figure drew light lines in the sky, as she zipped around the goateed old man, attacking him relentlessly.
This was a spectacular battle, eye-dazzling and overwhelming.
The seconds and minutes ticked by. Ao Jiao’s might did not decrease. The goateed old man calmly brandished the North Star Banner.
“I’ll let you be arrogant first. Let’s see how long you can last.” The goateed old man did not panic at all even though he was in a miserable state because he knew that when the Life Sacrifice reached its time limit, Ao Jiao would revert to her original form. At that time, he would be able to use Astral Energy and finish this girl off in one move.
Just at this moment, a strong killing Qi surrounded the goateed old man.
Before the goateed old man could react, he saw many flickering saber lights appear in his surroundings.
Up, down, left, right, forward, and backward—they all sparked with electricity, forming a world of only sabers. Boundless and limitless.
“Saber Domain! What’s going on?”
For the first time, a look of horror flashed in the goateed old man’s eyes. Martial Emperors who could comprehend a Saber Domain were all capable of killing those above their cultivation grade and were extremely horrifying.
Lan Chaofeng! Lan Chaofeng must have charged over already. The Life Requisitor Asura had killed countless Martial Emperors in his day, inspiring fear in Sovereign Martial Emperors because he comprehended a Saber Domain.