Vanora quickly half-turned her body to face Yao Jun's incoming attack, but since the Crestborne King was still holding onto her remaining axe, she couldn't use it to block. She quickly let go of the axe and swiped her interspatial ring, taking out a blue triangular shield with rounded edges, hiding her body behind it and channeling her Qi into it.
But how could her hastily prepared defense stand against Yao Jun's full-powered attack? Yao Jun stabbed out with the first technique he had learned from Crumbling The Nine Heaven's, One sword to free the heart, his sword clashing with the shield and sending sparks flying.
The shield was able to block his attack for a second, but then cracks quickly started to spread on it, before it quickly shattered and blew apart from the force. Yao Jun's attack continued straight for Vanora, who could only place one of her two remaining arms in front of the sword to block it.
His sword pierced into her arm, only stopping when it pierced halfway into her bone, the myriad of elements that were swirling around the blade invading her arm, tearing it apart and shredding it. Vanora quickly used the force of the attack to jump backward, shouting at Yao Jun in a loud voice.
"My Master is Peyton Eluard, the 7th Lord of Life and the 5th Young Master of the Merged Heaven Clan. He wishes for the body of this beast so that he may advance his cultivation, if you are willing to simply leave, I am certain that you will be rewarded handsomely!"
Had this been a normal situation, Vanora would simply have killed Yao Jun, rather than try to bargain with him. But right now, not only was she heavily wounded, but she also had to secure the Crestborne King for her Master, so trying to fight Yao Jun in this situation was far too disadvantageous to her mission.
She thought that the enemy would hesitate after hearing the name of her Master and his clan, but he didn't even bat an eye, nor did he give her a response, he simply charged at her and sent out another attack. A deep blue flame appeared in the air between Vanora and Yao Jun, a strong wind gathering around the flame and causing it to explode in strength, turning into a thick pillar as it charged at Vanora.
Vanora's expression quickly dropped. As someone who used the law of plants and the law of wood, the law of fire was her arch-enemy. Even worse for her was that Yao Jun had used the law of fire to drastically increase the heat of Zhuyin's flames, causing them to turn from crimson with a tinge of blue to completely blue.
But Vanora was after all still someone at the late stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, even when she was heavily wounded, she was still able to resist Yao Jun. She did her best to jump back even further, waving her only remaining arm to launch a counterattack while also producing a quick defense.
Roots shot up from the ground in front of her, coiling together to form a thick tree that blocked in front of the pillar of flames. At the same time, the grass beneath Yao Jun started to rapidly grow, twining around his legs to tie down his movements. As the grass twined around his legs, thick roots also sprouted from the ground and charged toward his chest, their tips sharp enough to pierce most metals. Once Yao Jun's pillar of flame hit her tree and started to burn through it, Vanora quickly called out to the other people from the Merged Heaven clan.
"Assist me!"
Borin and the three others, who were still a bit shocked after getting caught off guard by the quick sneak attack, quickly reacted and prepared to join Vanora. But how could Yao Jun simply let them do as he pleased? Since he had been observing the battle for so long, he was of course prepared for them trying to join up with Vanora.
Yao Jun waved his left arm, space in the area starting to shimmer and ripple. The roots that Vanora had sent to pierce his chest hit one of the ripples, vanishing from sight, shocking Ferrand and the others. But before they could figure out where the roots had ended up, the tall and black-skinned Ferrand and the goat-legged Borin felt a piercing pain in their chests.
They quickly lowered their heads, only to see that the roots that had vanished had suddenly appeared behind them, piercing through their chests and crushing their hearts. All they could do was spit out a mouthful of blood and collapse to the ground, dead.
This was a type of attack that Yao Jun had used once before, during the final battle he had taken part in with the World Tree clan. He simply created a tunnel in space, swallowing the attacks that were sent at him and causing them to appear somewhere else.
Had Vanora been in her peak state, she could have given the attacks enough force to simply pierce through the tunnel Yao Jun had created, but in her wounded state, she was unable to do so. Because of how much energy it cost to transfer an attack through space, Yao Jun couldn't do it as he pleased, but it was perfectly suited for sneak attacks like this.
Vanora watched Borin and Ferrand die, but there was nothing she could do about it. The pillar of blue flames was continuously burning the tree she had set up as a defense, so she was forced to channel all her energy into the tree to keep up her defense. Because of this, she could only shout out a loud warning when she saw Yao Jun turn his gaze onto the two remaining people she had brought along, the winged Joane, and the three-armed Renard.
"Don't force my hand!"
Everyone among her group was wounded, so while they might be able to put up a fight when they were in their peak states, the current them posed no threat. But once again, Yao Jun simply ignored Vanora and charged at the two remaining Merged Heaven clan members. He didn't need to stay next to it to keep his pillar of flame going, it would continue to burn as long as he fed it Qi.
Yao Jun also glanced at the Crestborne King, as he hadn't forgotten about him. But the Crestborne King had already returned to the fang-shaped crystal, sitting down and leaning against it, breathing heavily as its skin continued to crack.
Renard and Joane did their best to resist Yao Jun, but they had already been heavily wounded by the Crestborne King and relied on pills to keep themselves going.
Joane was the first to be killed, not even able to ring her bell as the shadows within the bell had turned viscous and thick. She opened her mouth and let out a high-pitched shriek that caused the air to ripple as a wall of sound was sent at Yao Jun, Renard supporting her with arrows.
But even if that wall of sound was supported by her Qi, it was so weak that Yao Jun only had to stab out with another One sword to free the heart. His sword pierced through the wall of sound, shattering it and dispersing it. But his stab didn't stop, it vanished into a ripple in space, arriving in front of Joane and piercing into her forehead, turning her brain to mush.
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Renard didn't fare much better, his feet ending up frozen to the ground so that he couldn't even flee. The shadows beneath his arms stretched out and pierced through his body, turning him into a pincushion and reaping his life. With the four other people dead, the only one that remained was the desperately defending Vanora, who let out a loud taunt when she saw that Yao Jun turned back to her.
"Who are you?! You are willing to stand against the Merged Heaven Clan, so you certainly have the courage to tell me your name, right?!"
If she could at least get the name of this enemy, her Master would immediately learn about it, allowing him to not be caught off guard should they ever meet. But Yao Jun still refused to talk, stepping through space and once again arriving behind Vanora, stabbing at the back of her head. Vanora let out a deep growl, abandoning the tree she used to block the pillar of flame and jumping to the left.
"You have forced my hand!"
Vanora swiped her interspatial ring and pulled out a crimson piece of paper engraved with strange black runes. The moment the talisman appeared, Yao Jun felt a strong sense of danger assault him, far stronger than the sense of danger Vanora or the Crestborne King had given him.
The talisman lit up with flames and turned to ash, space around it cracking and shattering as it unleashed a horrifying amount of energy that turned into a thick crimson spear that burned with black flames. The spear shot at Yao Jun, sealing and collapsing space all around the area, preventing him from escaping through space to dodge. Yao Jun didn't hesitate in the slightest, pulling out an emerald piece of paper covered in serpentine runes.
This was one of the three talismans he had gotten from the World Tree clan. The first one could teleport him 200 kilometers through space, the second could launch an attack with the strength of someone at the 8th Xiantian Heaven, and this third one that he held now could block the attacks of someone at the late stage of the Eathly Deity realm for half a minute.
The first two had been given to him by Leylan right before he joined the war, and weren't too terribly useful to the current him. This third one had been given to him by Gilberd just before the final battle, and he had been saving it for a moment where his life was truly threatened, a moment like this.
The talisman turned to ash in his hands, an emerald screen of light appearing around him. The crimson spear hit the screen of light, a grating screeching sound ringing out and stinging Yao Jun's ears. The spear started to slowly lose strength after the first five seconds, so Yao Jun let out a quiet sigh of relief.
But just as he let out that sigh of relief, he felt a strange energy pass through the emerald light and enter his body, heading straight for his head. The energy didn't possess any force or attacking capabilities, so the screen of light didn't block it.
The screen of light and the crimson spear both started to slowly vanish, Yao Jun quickly doing his best to force the strange stream of energy out of his head. Once he used his mental energy, the stream of energy was quickly crushed, but it seemed like he had been too late. After the spear vanished, a familiar laugh sounded out from the direction where Vanora had been.
"Hahaha! So that's who you are, Yao Jun!"
Yao Jun's expression immediately sunk and turned gloomy. He turned towards Vanora, who was now lying on the ground and was covered in blood. It seemed like activating that talisman required quite a heavy price from her, a price the wounded her had been unable to shoulder. The voice she had laughed out with was different from her own voice, it was a voice that Yao Jun recognized.
"Peyton."
Yao Jun removed the armor and the mask that hid his appearance, returning to his normal appearance. It seemed like Peyton had taken over Vanora's body after she lit up the talisman. That strange energy was likely Peyton's mental energy or the energy from his Supreme Law fragment. Since he had called out Yao Jun's name, something he shouldn't know, it was clear that he had gone through Yao Jun's memories. Peyton continued to laugh, Vanora's ruined body twitching all the while.
"Hahaha, I'll let you have the victory this time, but since you have not only gone against me, but also killed another one of my servants, I will have my revenge in the future!"
Yao Jun's expression was still dark as he walked over to the body of Vanora. He had pushed out the strange energy very quickly, but he didn't know just how much of his memories Peyton had been able to see, just what he had been able to learn. His worst fears quickly became reality as the voice of Peyton continued to curse at him.
"That Guo Luo, that Yun Yantian, your parents, I will find them and have all of them killed! I will cripple you and force you to watch as we ravish and kill them. I will have that girl of yours serve the Demonic beasts of my clan for hundreds of years before I allow her to die! And only when I have made you watch all of this will I allow you to die!"
Peyton was only using Vanora's body as a medium so that he could talk, so he wasn't able to actually feel anything that it was feeling. It was because of this that he wasn't able to feel even the air itself freeze after he delivered his threat. Vanora wore a vicious smile as Peyton was going to continue cursing.
"Mark my wor-!"
Before Peyton got to continue his cursing, a pitch black sword pierced through Vanora's voice and cut the words short. Vanora had a high cultivation, so even with her throat pierced, she was able to live a bit longer, allowing Peyton to see Yao Jun's ferocious face and hear his voice, which dripped with a bloodthirst Peyton had never heard before.
"Just. You. Fucking. Try."
Yao Jun tightly grasped the hilt of his sword, his energy flaring as space around him started to creak and tremble. Yao Jun had long ago already learned that the best fuel for his Demon God's Gate was his rage. So now that he was beyond furious, just the energy that his God Gate released was enough to cause space to tremble. Yao Jun twisted his sword a little, mutilating Vanora's throat as he told Peyton exactly what would happen if Peyton were to even think about harming Guo Luo and the others.
"If I find out that you have so much as harmed a single hair on their heads, then I will drown your entire Merged Heaven clan in blood. I will find every single one of your bases, I will slay every single one of your clansmen, I WILL WIPE YOUR ENTIRE FUCKING CLAN FROM THE FACE OF THIS UNIVERSE!"
Guo Luo and the others were the most important thing in the universe to him. If even a single hair on their heads were harmed, he would drown countless planets in blood for their revenge. He twisted the sword once more, flooding Vanora's body with fire and wind, causing it to explode and cutting off Peyton's vision.
Yao Jun took several deep breaths, his chest heaving up and down as he forced himself to calm down. The worst possible situation had arisen, Peyton had learned about him and his friends. But from his words, it seemed like Peyton hadn't been able to learn about the location of Yao Jun's home planet, so Guo Luo and the others should still be safe for now.
There was also the fact that his home planet was sealed away in the Sealed King's Tomb Hollow Waste, so Peyton might not be able to get there. After assuring himself that Guo Luo and the others were still safe for now, Yao Jun's eyes landed on the Crestborne King that was still leaning against the crystal.
He would have to increase his strength even faster, quickly reaching a stage where Peyton and his Merged Heaven clan wouldn't dare move against him. He opened his mouth to say something, but the Crestborne King shook his head, speaking out in a respectful tone before Yao Jun got to say anything.
"You don't need to say anything, my lord, I know that my death is already approaching. For me to fuse with one of the companions of the future Demon God, I am honored."
The Crestborne King had seen Yao Jun fight Vanora and the four others, and while he had indeed shown surprising strength, it hadn't been enough to cause the Crestborne King to submit. If Yao Jun were to try and force him to submit, he would rather detonate his dying body. But when Yao Jun became furious and the might of his Demon God's Gate was unleashed, the Crestborne King felt his very soul shiver in fear and reverence. He was a king, but what was a king in the face of a god?
Yao Jun was slightly caught off guard by the words of the Crestborne King, as he had seen the Crestborne King curse out Vanora when she told him to submit, so he had prepared himself for another battle. He walked up to the Crestborne King, placing his palm on its head and giving the dying king a slight nod.
"Thank you."
The king flashed a weak smile, its body turning into a stream of energy that flowed into Yao Jun's God Gate, heading directly for the body of Little Thunder, surrounding him in a crystalline cocoon.