Lu Xuan moved with terrifying speed. His aura, temporarily boosted to Eight-star Great Emperor, surged like a boundless ocean, distorting the very fabric of space around him. Killing intent, palpable and overwhelming, radiated outward.
Witnessing this display, the numerous magnates watching the battle were utterly shocked. The White Robe Great Emperor was actually going to fight Duan Hunsheng while still carrying the massive Ye Family landmass! Who gave him this kind of confidence?
This was Duan Hunsheng, the man who had severely wounded the Tianyuan Old Ancestor! Wasn't this level of arrogance simply excessive?
Duan Hunsheng wore a look of theatrical derision, a cold smile playing on his lips. “What is this, a joke? You intend to fight me with only one hand? I’ve never encountered such an arrogant fool!”
Lu Xuan’s expression remained utterly placid. “One hand is more than enough to crush you.”
Duan Hunsheng swept his sleeve, pointing first at Lu Xuan, then sweeping his hand across the thousands of Emperor Realm Experts watching from Tianluo State. He threw his head back and roared with laughter. “Hahaha! This is my domain! Forget you—even if every single Great Emperor watching right now charged at me together, they wouldn’t be my match!”
The spectators were dumbfounded. The White Robe Great Emperor was arrogant, but Duan Hunsheng was even more so!
In a flash of lightning, Duan Hunsheng made his move. With a thought, he unleashed his ultimate weapon: the Nine-star Emperor Weapon, the Heavenly Net Token!
A deafening boom, like the tolling of an ancient celestial bell, shook the void. A massive, archaic projection materialized, rapidly expanding until the full Token was visible. It was inscribed with ancient script, condensing the ultimate power of the Dao and Stance, capable of crushing the firmament itself.
As the Heavenly Net Token appeared, hundreds of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers trembled. Space tore open, and the sky dimmed. The Token suppressed the Grand Terrain Stance of the world, unleashing endless lightning and thunder that wove together, bearing down on Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan’s momentum stuttered for a split second, but he gave a dismissive snort. A subtle, profound energy surged from within him, instantly neutralizing the crushing Stance of the Emperor Weapon. The Invincible Stance he had passively gained made any power below the Nine-star Emperor Realm useless against him.
Duan Hunsheng realized the truth and scoffed, “You are already a Nine-star Great Emperor! Why bother masquerading as an Eight-star Great Emperor?”
Nine-star Emperor Weapons possessed a unique Stance capable of suppressing Eight-star Great Emperors, yet it had failed against the White Robe Great Emperor. Clearly, Lu Xuan was not an Eight-star Great Emperor.
Duan Hunsheng swept his sleeve again, and a mysterious black mist surged from his body. His true form immediately concealed itself within the void as the crushing pressure of the Nine-star Emperor Realm erupted. With a thought, the Heavenly Net Token shot toward Lu Xuan like a colossal, world-shattering mountain.
Lu Xuan remained perfectly calm. He simply extended a massive hand, his palm swelling with explosive, divine energy. The resulting palm print was like a scorching sun rising in the sky, meeting the charging Heavenly Net Token head-on.
BOOM!
The two terrifying forces collided in a cataclysmic explosion, like the impact of colliding stars, tearing the heavens and shattering the earth. The devastating shockwave swept across the world like an infinite ocean overturning.
CRACK!
Fractures appeared instantly across the colossal black Heavenly Net Token. The endless Great Emperor Dao patterns inscribed upon it shattered and dissolved into nothingness.
In the next instant, the Nine-star Emperor Weapon, the Heavenly Net Token, exploded into countless fragments that shot out in all directions, plunging into the earth and tearing gaping, mile-long trenches into the ground.
Everyone was stunned. The world fell into a dead silence.
The White Robe Great Emperor, fighting with one hand, had shattered a Nine-star Emperor Weapon with a single palm strike? How was that possible? What kind of power was this?
A chill ran down everyone’s spines. They realized that Duan Hunsheng might be right—the White Robe Great Emperor was not an Eight-star Great Emperor. To destroy a Nine-star Emperor Weapon barehanded defied all known comprehension.
Even Duan Hunsheng was surprised, though he showed no fear. “Excellent! Excellent! If you were weak, killing you would be boring. This is far more interesting! Your physical body is truly formidable. Refining you into an Emperor Corpse would create a weapon stronger than any Emperor Weapon!”
Chen Changsheng, hidden nearby, transmitted a frantic spiritual message to Lu Xuan. “Master, he’s too confident! Be careful, that Heavenly Net Token isn’t even his true trump card!”
“No worries. Ants, that’s all,” Lu Xuan replied, standing tall in his billowing white robes. He looked toward Ji Fuyao, who was watching intently.
“Fuyao, watch closely!” He spoke the words slowly, deliberately: “The Heaven-Burning Art!”
In an instant, Lu Xuan’s terrifying power coalesced into a scorching Spirit Fire Torrent. He appeared as a sovereign of divine flame, an infinite river of crimson fire manifesting behind him. The intense heat boiled the very air, capable of refining and consuming Duan Hunsheng’s Nine-star Stance.
Everyone watched in profound shock.
Lu Xuan unleashed a single punch!
BOOM!
The punch summoned the power of the boundless spiritual fire, scorching the firmament. The vast energy poured out like a cosmic sea, engulfing the ominous black mist surrounding Duan Hunsheng. This single strike was capable of burning the heavens, destroying the earth, and refining all creation.
Duan Hunsheng’s face tightened, finally showing true caution. He immediately unleashed his ultimate killing move.
“Silent Destruction Power!”
Instantly, a completely different, sinister energy erupted, forming a massive Black Stele Phantom in the rolling black mist. The power of Silent Destruction surged from the stele. Wherever the black mist touched, spiritual energy dissolved, the heavens dimmed, and the spiritual wood on the ground instantly withered into ash. Within the mist’s range, the blood essence and souls of all living beings were stripped away.
The colossal stele phantom grew larger and larger, and the power of Silent Destruction poured out like a tide, forcing the thousands of spectators to retreat rapidly.
“That’s the power of the Silent Destruction Sect!” someone cried out in horror.
Lu Xuan’s overwhelming palm strike met the colossal black stele in the void. The two ultimate powers devoured and annihilated each other.
The brief balance shattered instantly. The boundless sea of fire was utterly irresistible, tearing through the Silent Destruction Power like paper.
“Agh!”
A scream of agony echoed from the endless black mist. Duan Hunsheng was violently slammed out of the sky and plummeted toward the ground, crashing directly into the Heavenly Net Hall’s main mountain gate.
BOOM! CRACK!
The black mist fell, the mountain gate shattered, and a massive crater appeared at the entrance of the Heavenly Net Mountain Range. Mountains collapsed, the earth tore open for miles, and scorching flames erupted everywhere.
Everyone was frozen in disbelief. They had never imagined this would be a crushing, one-sided battle. Even the mighty Duan Hunsheng was powerless to resist!
The Ye Family members felt a rush of disbelief. This was Duan Hunsheng—was he truly about to be annihilated by Peak Master Lu?
Ji Fuyao’s starry eyes shone, and her delicate lips parted. “Master is truly invincible!”
Lu Xuan gazed down into the smoking crater. “Duan Hunsheng is still breathing,” he stated calmly, noting the faint, mysterious power that had shielded the Nine-star Great Emperor from annihilation.
From the depths of the rubble, Duan Hunsheng’s voice, spectral and filled with desperate rage, echoed up: “If you have the guts, come down here and fight me!”