When the light and smoke had slightly dispersed, everyone who managed to see the centre of the battlefield gasped in unison, their hearts turning to dead ash.
The heaven-blotting demonic palm was still there!
Though it had become somewhat illusory, and a deep fissure had been carved across its centre by Chen Ping’s world-defying sword, causing countless strands of demonic qi to leak out, it had not completely vanished!
Chen Ping was on one knee at the bottom of a massive crater where he had originally stood.
His clothes were completely shredded, his body covered in criss-crossing wounds that exposed bone. He looked like a porcelain figure that had been smashed and crudely pieced back together. Blood had almost dyed him entirely crimson.
The Dragon-Slaying Sword was stabbed into the ground beside him, its glow dim, the dragon’s chant so faint it was barely audible.
He coughed up blood in great mouthfuls, fragments of internal organs mixed in with each cough. His aura had withered to the extreme; he was clearly on the verge of burning out completely.
His strongest strike, one that had drawn on everything he had and even exceeded his limits, had only barely shaken the casual attack of Soul-Devouring Venerable. He had failed to destroy it utterly!
The gap in strength was too great, great enough to drive one to despair!
Soul-Devouring Venerable gazed at Chen Ping, who was still barely holding himself upright in the crater. A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes, only to be replaced by even deeper coldness.
“To receive a palm from this Venerable and not die, you are the first in the Human Immortal realm. Unfortunately, this is as far as you go.”
As his words fell, the demonic palm hovering in the air, though translucent, still radiating terrifying fluctuations, began to press downward once more!
This time it moved slowly, carrying the playful cruelty of a cat toying with a mouse and an absolute will to kill, intending to erase Chen Ping and the entire crater from existence.
At the edge of the crater, Liu Xue struggled to raise her head. She looked at the blood-soaked figure at the bottom, tears mingling with blood until her vision blurred, letting out a silent wail.
Yan Nantian, embedded in the wall, moved his fingers slightly, yet lacked even the strength to lift an arm. His eyes were filled with boundless fury and powerlessness.
Every surviving disciple of Yama Heaven Sect watched the slowly descending demonic palm with ashen faces.
Watching that figure in the crater seemingly fated for destruction, an icy chill and irresistible terror coiled around every heart like cold, venomous snakes, choking their breath.
It was over… completely over…
Even Mr Chen… had been defeated…
Who else could… save them?
Despair, like the densest darkness, swallowed every last spark of hope.
“Mr Chen, hurry and call out the person behind you, otherwise we’re all going to die.”
The gravely wounded Yan Nantian looked at Chen Ping and spoke.
Hearing Yan Nantian’s words, everyone’s gaze fell upon Chen Ping, because they knew that whether they lived or died now depended entirely on whether Chen Ping could summon help.
“Hahaha, I’ll give you the chance. Go ahead and call the person backing you.”
Soul-Devouring Venerable said with utmost contempt.
Chen Ping slowly stood up, took out the jade pendant that Shen Zhiyin had given him, and crushed it with all his strength.
The seemingly ordinary jade pendant turned to dust in his hand, fine fragments slipping through his fingers like the shattering of their final hope.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant. Only the heaven-blotting demonic palm continued its inexorable descent, carrying the irresistible will of death toward Chen Ping in the crater.
The mocking curve at the corner of Soul-Devouring Venerable’s mouth grew even more pronounced; he seemed already to see Chen Ping reduced to minced meat.
However, just as the demonic palm was about to brush Chen Ping’s hair, at that critical moment,
“Hum!!!!!!”
A strange humming sound rang out. It did not come from the battlefield, but from a far deeper void, as though the laws of heaven and earth themselves had been gently plucked.
