The grand hall inside the palace of Shangri-La was dead silent. Most of the true immortals couldn’t keep up with the battle in the Vast Void between the two immortal emperors, and even monarchs could only barely discern what happened. Still, it was not what happened in the battle that caused nearly all the immortals in the hall to become still.
No, the reason was the suffocating killing intent that emerged from Sovereign Xi, the mother of Xi Tianyi.
Sovereign Yanxu’s grip on the Immortal Slaughtering Sword’s scabbard tightened as he glanced at his fellow immortal sovereign. He never felt such killing intent from Xi Mengfei before, not even when they clashed outside the Broken Primordial World.
“Sovereign Xi, it’s just a spar, no need to get so riled over it,” Sovereign Yanxu said. “Look, your son’s actions also embroiled my disciple, but I haven’t acted so irrational as you. I believe in my disciple and your son. At most, both sides will be slightly injured. This is hardly enough to keep them down.”
Xi Mengfei’s killing intent did not go down at all. If anything, it only rose.
“I hate to agree with Sovereign Yanxu, but he is right,” Minister Vastlight said. “This is something each cultivator must go through. If you intervene now, you are only harming Grand Elder Nine Heavens.”
Xi Mengfei paid no need to Minister Vastlight’s words. He recalled the words of Grand Elder Xia before leaving, but he’d brushed them off. Now, he finally knew how Grand Elder Xia felt all those times Xi Mengfei acted out because of Xi Tianyi.
Thankfully, for all those involved, Xi Mengfei’s killing intent died down. It didn’t completely disappear. It just hid itself, simmering below the surface, ready to erupt at a moment’s notice. While Minister Vastlight internally sighed in relief at avoiding a diplomatic incident, Xi Mengfei brushed her fingers against her inner sleeves. After performing the action, the killing intent calmed down, and no longer simmered.
While this happened, Sovereign Yanxu’s eyes flashed with hidden thoughts. ‘It seems her son’s position in her heart is not light. It’s no wonder. Sovereign Xi isn’t even five thousand years old, so it’s only natural to place more importance on her family, especially her son.’
The mind of the Numinous Sword Sect’s grand elder spun. ‘We can use this. Compared to Sovereign Xi herself, Xi Tianyi is much easier to subdue and capture. If we have him in our hands, then Xi Mengfei’s action will be greatly restricted. If we’re luckier, she might become our greatest mole. But if he decides to self-detonate instead of being captured alive…’
Images of the beautiful immortal sovereign going crazy and causing untold havoc, her bewitching eyes filled with madness, appeared in Sovereign Yanxu’s mind.
‘It’s unlikely for an inner devil to kill Sovereign Xi. Most likely, she will throw all her anger at us. Still, it’s not impossible to use this to our advantage. It might cause us untold casualties, but a mad sovereign is easier to deal with than a clear-headed sovereign. Once she and Xi Tianyi fall, the Buzhou Immortal Court’s morale will be severely affected.’ Sovereign Yanxu glanced up and resumed watching the battle.
Honestly, Bao Ling’s power gave him a pleasant surprise. No matter how talented Bao Ling was, he should be stuck in the Early Extremity Immortal Realm for a few thousand years. His finesse rivaled many seasoned immortal emperors. If Sovereign Yanxu was completely honest with himself, he would say that Bao Ling accomplished many things he himself couldn’t in the same realm.
Equally as surprising was Xi Tianyi’s sheer power and the many laws he mastered. He saw signs of the five elemental laws, the Law of Space, the Law of Time, the Law of Light, the Law of Darkness, the Law of Death and many more. The most shocking law he saw was the Law of Spacetime.
Ba Shifang had already been added to the Numinous Sword Sect’s kill list because of his mastery of the Law of Five Phases. The Law of Spacetime was equally as amazing and made the user even harder to kill.
Although Sovereign Yanxu was surprised by the sheer number of laws mastered by Xi Tianyi, each individual law wasn’t that amazing. Comparatively, the Law of Spacetime was Xi Tianyi’s true card, and he didn’t know what made the new immortal emperor go out of his way to master so many laws and delay his cultivation.
What made him a major threat aside from his Law of Spacetime was the unending immortal qi. The power pumped into each technique made it a major threat, even if the principle behind them was juvenile.
If Sovereign Yanxu hadn’t detected that the qi used by Xi Tianyi was the immortal qi of chaos and not essence qi, he would have thought Xi Tianyi was an immortal sovereign from the sheer amount of qi he possessed. In fact, Sovereign Yanxu dare not say he could expend as much qi as Xi Tianyi, even if his qi was of higher quality.
Sovereign Yanxu’s brows twitched when he saw Tianyi burst out of the explosion and throw an attack comprised of eight orbs orbiting one larger one. ‘A technique that fuses nine different laws, impossible! No, the fusion is just barely tenable. It’s only being held in place. I take back what I said. Xi Tianyi, what a terrifying talent.’
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In the Vast Void, Tianyi flew out of the explosion. Not a hair on his body was harmed by the detonation of his immortal qi of primordial chaos. The only injury on his body was from Bao Ling’s slash, which was still recovering.
Tianyi aimed his hand forward, and his palm turned black. No, it wasn’t black, but a reflection of the night sky filled with countless stars and planets. A miniature sun orbited by eight miniature planets flew out of his palm and into the still detonating explosion.
Nine Heavens Art - Constellation Cessation
Normally, it would take Tianyi at least a few minutes to form the most basic level of this technique before launching, but he had just accomplished it in an instant. It wasn’t that his mastery of the technique or speed of forming increased, but because he used a loophole.
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It was true that it took a long time for Tianyi to form the Constellation Cessation, but that was only on the outside. Inside his Nine Heavens Universe, he could form it much more easily. Although it was faster, it wouldn’t be instantaneous, but he just needed to speed up the time within his inner universe, making the final completion time a matter of semantics. His Heavenly Dao Clone just needed to form it, and Tianyi just needed to open a portal to launch the technique.
Tianyi watched as his second strongest technique entered the explosion. With his conscious control, the explosions died down, just in time for his technique to enter. His Constellation Cessation was a volatile art. Once an attack above a certain threshold hit it, it would explode before hitting the target.
Soon, the Constellation Cessation reached Bao Ling.
When the explosion cleared, Bao Ling had his sword ready to face Tianyi’s powerful technique, as if expecting it. It wasn’t a surprise, since the Constellation Cessation practically announced its presence with how much qi rolled off of it. Even if his senses were disturbed by the explosions and the immortal qi of primordial chaos, it was practically impossible not to sense it.
Anyone who became an immortal emperor can be considered a genius of several eras, but even they would be severely injured if they took the Constellation Cessation head on. The offensive power was terrifying, and even more horrifying was its range.
Bao Ling slashed out with his cyan-colored sword. Like with the Stellar Silence, he sliced through the ninth sphere without detonating. The ninth sphere may not have exploded, but its change caused the other eight spheres to become unstable and exploded.
A great giant sphere of destruction descended. Compared to the destruction of the Eight Pillar Sect, the current Constellation Cessation was fifty percent stronger. The light radiating off of it illuminated hundreds of thousands of kilometers in the Vast Void. Even Shangri-La was dyed white with light to the point that no shadow existed anywhere on it.
Tianyi watched at the perimeter of the sphere of destruction. When the light disappeared, he frowned. Bao Ling was standing in the center of the explosion, unharmed except for some singed ends on his robes and the tip of his hair.
“It’s amazing,” Bao Ling said. “The sheer number of laws you mastered reminds me of him. However, your depth is a bit lacking.”
“I don’t need you to tell me,” Tianyi said. He waved his hand and an oblong portal appeared. From within the portal, three Constellation Cessations shot out.
Facing the barrage of Constellation Cessations, Bao Ling’s expression didn’t even twitch. He waved his arm and steel-colored qi shot out.
Tianyi recognized his qi as an ordinary immortal metal qi, but for some reason, he felt it was not simple. It almost reminded him of his immortal qi of primordial chaos. The difference was that if his qi reverted to the past, Bao Ling’s qi was the future. It contained something extremely advanced and esoteric that Tianyi couldn’t comprehend.
Regardless of Tianyi’s thoughts, Bao Ling formed a single hand seal. His steel-colored qi condensed into ten thousand sword-shaped qis. “Arise, Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation.”
Ten sword qis rotated clockwise around Bao Ling. In the second layer, ninety sword qis rotated counterclockwise. Third layer had nine hundred sword qis rotating clockwise, and the fourth layer had nine thousand sword qis rotating counterclockwise. Once they started turning, it created a terrifying sword domain.
Once the Constellation Cessations touched the perimeter of the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation, they detonated. However, even though they expanded and turned into spheres of destruction, the parts that touched the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation would disappear.
No, Tianyi looked closer. He saw that the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation was actually grinding the energy of his Constellation Cessation and transforming it into pure qi for it to absorb. He was very interested in its mechanics, but the formation was too perfect and did not allow him to glean anything. ‘As expected of a formation created by the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures from the primordial era. Its power would have been even stronger if Bao Ling used immortal artifacts.’
Tianyi didn’t think it was amazing that Bao Ling could use such a formation, but the members of the Numinous Sword Sect were shocked. The Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation wasn’t something one person should have been able to unleash. It required at least ten immortals to activate, but Bao Ling activated the highest level alone. Even if he didn’t use immortal artifacts, this was already a miracle.
The three Constellation Cessations weren’t enough to destroy the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation and only strengthened it. Tianyi narrowed his eyes. ‘All things have a limit. I want to see if your formation breaks down from all the energy or I run out first.’
Naturally, it was practically impossible for Tianyi to run out, so it was a heads I win, tails you lose situation. Tianyi opened more portals into his inner universe and launched Constellation Cessation, one after the other.
Even Bao Ling, who had kept his composed expression throughout the battle, couldn’t help but twitch at the sheer firepower Tianyi was throwing at him. However, he did not waver and dealt with the endless barrage. While he did so, he continued to move forward. Had it not been for the time needed to deal with the Constellation Cessation, he would have already reached Tianyi.
His goal was to get Tianyi into his Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation. Using it to defeat Tianyi was impossible. He just wanted to disrupt Tianyi’s attack and get up and close to display his swordplay. But how could Tianyi let him accomplish his goal so easily?
While continuing to launch a barrage of Constellation Cessation, Tianyi prepared his strongest technique within his inner universe. Inside a remote location of the Nine Heavens Universe, one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred stars came into existence. Each of the stars exuded the same silver-gold light, but they were not all the same. Although they all had the silver-gold light, they also contained an additional essence.
One star flickered with a red fiery light, and another flickered with an earthy yellow radiance. Not all of the stars flickered with different variations, but most of them could be categorized into groups. They were all related to the laws Tianyi fully and partially mastered.
Back in the Vast Void, Tianyi stopped firing the Constellation Cessation and charged at the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation. Bao Ling was surprised, but he didn’t hesitate. He also increased his speed after dealing with the last Constellation Barrage.
The Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation had cracks littering every corner of it. It wasn’t because Tianyi’s technique had damaged it. Just the opposite. The cracks had appeared because of overflowing energy. If Tianyi continued, he could have caused the formation to collapse, but he didn’t want to win like that, nor did he think Bao Ling would be defeated because of that.
Just before Tianyi touched the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation, his skin turned black like the abyss. Then, one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred stars appeared on the surface. The myriad stars flew away from his body and into the distance. Even touching the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation only affected it.
“Nebulous Negation!”
To the shock of all the observers and Bao Ling, the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation started to break down. It wasn’t because of any external attacks, but the qi used to fuel it evaporated, causing it to become like a rootless duckweed. Not just the qi used for the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation, but the immortal qi in Bao Ling’s body also started to disappear.
“It’s my win!” Tianyi said as he appeared in front of Bao Ling with his fist reared back.
Bao Ling said nothing and swung his sword.