Boom!
Mi Lianshan’s colossal frame crashed down like a cannonball into the ruins of the Heavenly Venerable Palace, his laughter ringing out ceaselessly.
His eyes, each the size of a human head blazed with excitement and heat as he stared at the Blackheart Demon Lord, exactly as though gazing upon a peerless beauty stripped bare.
Battling deities of the Infernal Court, one could not fight to the death.
For a combat maniac like Mi Lianshan, that was utterly unsatisfying.
Now facing deities of the Heavenly Court, especially mighty figures such as Shang Hong and the Blackheart Demon Lord, he was naturally thrilled beyond measure. He wished he could fight for nine days and nine nights, through ten heavens of ice and fire.
Yan Yu and Xue Tu emerged one after another from the darkness, taking positions behind Hai Shang Ming Gong and Mi Lianshan, one to the south, one to the north.
The four gods formed a fan-shaped array, clearly intending to block any escape route for the Blackheart Demon Lord.
Divine fire on Xue Tu’s back condensed into phoenix feathers. He laughed with soaring heroism, “Senior Brother, Xue Tu is here to lend a hand. Together we shall battle a great deity of the Heavenly Court.”
Xue Tu naturally understood that, with his cultivation, blocking even a single strike from the Blackheart Demon Lord was nigh impossible. Yet the main combatants were Hai Shang Ming Gong and Mi Lianshan; he and Yan Yu needed only to harass the enemy should he attempt to flee.
The arrival of Hai Shang Ming Gong and Mi Lianshan caused the Blackheart Demon Lord’s heart to sink. He truly could not understand how the ruins of the Heavenly Venerable Palace, which could disperse battle fluctuations, had still failed to alert the other deities in the Heavenly Goddess Tower.
There was only one possibility.
While still inside the Heavenly Goddess Tower, Zhang Ruochen had already detected his aura and secretly contacted Hai Shang Ming Gong and Mi Lianshan.
That boy’s spiritual sense and perception were simply too terrifying. Even a great deity’s concealment was nothing before him.
Hai Shang Ming Gong was in no hurry to attack. He said, “Speak. Why come to Xinghuan Heaven and infiltrate the Heavenly Goddess Tower? What exactly are you plotting?”
The Blackheart Demon Lord was exceedingly shrewd. He immediately guessed that these seemingly pointless questions were meant to buy time.
They must have already sent word to Qian Mo Sang and Mo Jie beyond the boundary.
The time left to him was running out.
“No more idle talk. Let this seat weigh the mettle of an ancient god’s descendant.”
The Blackheart Demon Lord raised his right arm and swung the six-sided war hammer.
The hammer grew massively in the wind, becoming enormous like an iron divine mountain, erupting with unparalleled might.
“I’ll fight you!”
Clad in black iron armour, Mi Lianshan threw a punch. Lightning crackled as it collided heavily with the six-sided war hammer.
Boom!
Mi Lianshan was sent tumbling backward, crashing into an area covered with ancient array markings. Even the divinised earth shattered, forming countless fissures.
Divine fire reaching nearly a hundred million degrees surged from the array markings and swallowed Mi Lianshan whole.
The Blackheart Demon Lord gave a cold, grim smile. “Ignorant fool. You do not even understand the gulf between a superior god and a great deity.”
Though the divine fire did not spread far, every deity standing in the ruins of the Heavenly Venerable Palace still felt its terror. Their divine bodies seemed about to ignite from afar.
A temperature of nearly a hundred million degrees could incinerate everything in existence. Even a great deity might not withstand it.
Xue Tu’s expression changed drastically. He retreated a few steps, ready to flee at any moment.
Even Mi Lianshan had been killed with a single hammer blow. How could they continue this fight?
“Haha!”
Mi Lianshan’s laughter rang out from within the divine fire.
His towering figure strode forth from the ancient array markings. The black iron armour on his body had been burned crimson. He roared, “That felt good! Too good! Again!”
He stamped the ground and shot forward like a cannonball.
“Fight across the heavens, fists unrivalled!”
Mi Lianshan clenched his five fingers into a fist. Heaven and earth trembled.
Countless fist-path rules converged upon him, condensing on his fists. His battle aura climbed steadily higher.
Zhang Ruochen and Bai Qing’er, who had retreated farther away, were rocked unsteadily by the fist wind. Alarm filled their hearts.
“What terrifying ability to mobilise fist-path rules. Mi Lianshan must be a fist-path emissary who commands a vast amount of profound meanings,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Bai Qing’er replied, “If he had not achieved outstanding mastery in the fist path, how would he dare to challenge Shang Hong, who is called the foremost beneath great deity level? Mi Lianshan, Shang Hong, Hai Shang Ming Gong, these people are all destined to become great deities, perhaps even to assail divine venerable level.”
“In a single Yuanhui, the universe births countless trillions of cultivators, yet figures of their calibre can be counted on one’s fingers.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded lightly and said, “Mi Lianshan’s armour is rather extraordinary. It actually withstood divine fire of nearly a hundred million degrees.”
“That is the ancestral Lianshan Divine Armour of his clan! Legend says that an ancestor at divine venerable level, on the verge of death from old age, refined all his divine blood into it, hoping to evolve it into a divine artefact. Unfortunately, he failed,” Bai Qing’er said.
Zhang Ruochen inwardly marvelled at how formidable the intelligence network of the Twelve Goddess Booths truly was. They had clearly investigated Mi Lianshan thoroughly; otherwise they could not possess such detailed knowledge.
Whoosh!
A Gate of Destiny manifested in mid-air. The light it emitted greatly weakened the divine power emanating from the Blackheart Demon Lord.
At the same time, spear-path rules of heaven and earth gathered toward Hai Shang Ming Gong.
Swish!
Man and spear became one.
Hai Shang Ming Gong transformed into a streak of fiery light and attacked the Blackheart Demon Lord from the opposite direction.
Bang! Bang! Bang…
The Blackheart Demon Lord fought one against two, clashing with Mi Lianshan’s iron fists and Hai Shang Ming Gong’s flaming white-bone spear. Space shuddered. Vast numbers of Heavenly Venerable divine markings appeared once more.
They dodged the divine markings while fighting for their lives. The battle was breathtaking; every strike met head-on.
“Spear-path emissary!”
A faint smile touched Zhang Ruochen’s lips. He was not surprised. If Hai Shang Ming Gong and Mi Lianshan had not attained extraordinary mastery in their respective paths and commanded vast profound meanings, how could they possess the strength to clash directly with a great deity?
How else could they hope to assail divine venerable level in future?
Boom!
A tremendous explosion. Divine power fluctuations surged outward, sending Xue Tu and Yan Yu flying.
Even Zhang Ruochen and Bai Qing’er, whose cultivation was higher, were forced to retreat repeatedly until they reached a ruined hall.
At the centre of the battlefield, divine markings interwove like lightning, divine fire blazed fiercely, and dust filled the air.
Zhang Ruochen fixed his gaze and saw, to his shock, that the Blackheart Demon Lord had actually been forced back by Mi Lianshan and Hai Shang Ming Gong. He was half-kneeling on the ground. Ahead of the demonic cloud, the earth cracked inch by inch, utterly devastated.
Mi Lianshan raised a fist the size of a water vat and laughed. “Already done? Blackheart Demon Lord, and you call yourself a great deity?”
“Brother Shan, that’s a bit humiliating for him! In my royal opinion, the Blackheart Demon Lord deserves the title of weakest great deity,” Xue Tu’s voice rang out from afar.
“Haha! Weakest great deity. I like that title,” Mi Lianshan roared with laughter.
The Blackheart Demon Lord’s eyes were savage and icy. Slowly, he rose once more.
“Impressive!” Zhang Ruochen exclaimed.
Bai Qing’er’s gaze was cold and supremely proud. “Nothing to envy. They cultivated for a hundred thousand years to reach this level. I am confident that in merely ten thousand years, I can attain the same.”
Zhang Ruochen’s brows suddenly furrowed, his expression turning puzzled.
“What is it?” Bai Qing’er asked.
“Something’s wrong!”
“What is wrong?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “The demonic qi emanating from the Blackheart Demon Lord has changed. It feels different now!”
A clear, cold voice sounded behind them. “The quality of his demonic qi has undergone a transformation. If I am not mistaken, it is evolving into world-ending demonic qi. It may even have already completed the transformation.”
Bai Qing’er turned and saw Lu Yi standing beneath the stone wall, her face cool and aloof, carrying an innate air of arrogance and nobility.
“So it is you. I was truly deceived earlier!” Bai Qing’er’s bright eyes flashed with unusual light.
Lu Yi said, “I once crossed blades with the Blackheart Demon Lord. At that time he was far from this strong; with my inferior-god cultivation I could hold him for a while. Now, even if Mi Lianshan and Hai Shang Ming Gong give their all, they may well not be his match. We must leave at once.”
Bai Qing’er’s gaze fixed upon Zhang Ruochen.
She now fully understood. The letter Chi Yao had carried away earlier was not a farewell letter at all, but Zhang Ruochen’s method of contacting Infernal Court deities to deal with the Blackheart Demon Lord.
This time, in sensing and responding to the crisis, she had lost to Zhang Ruochen at every turn.
After suffering many setbacks, Zhang Ruochen had learned how to handle more than one woman at once.
The best approach was to favour neither side and redirect the conflict outward.
Zhang Ruochen stared intently at the battlefield. “The Blackheart Demon Lord must have obtained part of the Heavenly Demon Stone Carvings in the Kunlun Realm. That is how he could convert his demonic qi into world-ending demonic qi. And that is precisely why he broke through to great-deity level so quickly. He hid it deeply indeed.”
Without the Heavenly Demon Stone Carvings and the conversion to world-ending demonic qi, the Blackheart Demon Lord at early Taiji realm would very likely have been the weakest great deity.
But now everything had changed!
Zhang Ruochen looked at Bai Qing’er. “Can the spatial teleportation array still be activated?”
“It should be possible. I will handle that. However, the array is rather close to where they are fighting, which poses a problem,” Bai Qing’er said.
“Leave that to me,” Zhang Ruochen replied.
They had to leave immediately. Once Qian Mo Sang and Mo Jie arrived, the variables would multiply.
Zhang Ruochen took out a rust-covered iron strip. His fingers brushed across it, and dazzling divine radiance instantly bloomed along its length.
It was Old Six, one of the six divine swords from the Temple of Origin.
“Old Six, now is the time to display your divine might!” Zhang Ruochen said.
Clang!
The rusty iron strip rang like a sword, leaping with joy.
Zhang Ruochen did not wield the divine sword himself. Instead he handed it to Jade Dragon Immortal. Only in her grasp could the sword unleash its full power.
Far away, the Blackheart Demon Lord’s grating laughter echoed through the ruins of the Heavenly Venerable Palace. “I did not wish to reveal this, but you forced my hand. Today I shall show you what a world-ending demon truly is!”
Whoosh!
Thick black demonic qi poured from both above his head and beneath his feet. Countless demonic markings flowed within the mist.
Hai Shang Ming Gong and Mi Lianshan exchanged a glance. Each unleashed their strongest spear-path and fist-path divine abilities, attacking from above and below.
“Dragons filling the sky!”
Hai Shang Ming Gong thrust his spear toward the heavens. Flames spread from the tip, transforming into hundreds upon thousands of fire dragons that descended from the sky toward the Blackheart Demon Lord.
Mi Lianshan roared ceaselessly. With every roar his body grew a zhang taller.
Boom! Boom!
His steel-like frame shook the earth. In an instant he reached the Blackheart Demon Lord.
He threw a punch.
Rules surged from his fist, manifesting visions of armoured riders, iron horses, and divine armies.
“In the presence of a divine artefact, what do your paltry techniques amount to?”
Disdain filled the Blackheart Demon Lord’s eyes. He struck lightly with his palm. A Heavenly Demon Stone Carving stele suspended in the rolling demonic qi flew from his hand. World-ending might pulverised every vision of fist-path energy.
