“This ends now.” The words were barely out of Lu Xuan’s mouth before he activated a Supreme Great Emperor Formation Pattern. A soft ‘whoosh’ was all that marked his departure, his form vanishing like a phantom.
Meanwhile, the Stabbing Heaven Palace assassins remained hidden, their presences completely erased from the world, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Their unique Turtle Breath Great Law rendered them virtually undetectable, their vital energies seemingly nonexistent within the fabric of reality. But to Lu Xuan, it was all utterly transparent.
Suddenly, a panicked spiritual message echoed, “Report! I’ve lost all trace of the White Robe Great Emperor—”
The message cut off abruptly.
Boom!
Lu Xuan’s hand, impossibly, was already clamped around the speaker’s head. The Great Emperor stared up, eyes wide with terror and disbelief. “How… how is this possible?” he stammered, his mind reeling. They had unleashed the Night Feast! Within this domain, all other Great Emperors, even Nine-star Great Emperors, were suppressed—their speed, their Divine Sense, their very connection to Heaven and Earth power. Yet, the White Robe Great Emperor had defied every single restriction!
Lu Xuan’s face remained impassive. With a casual squeeze, a sickening squelch echoed through the darkness. The Great Emperor’s head exploded, a geyser of Emperor Blood erupting into the void.
Instant Kill!
Like a wraith, Lu Xuan vanished once more.
Another splash of crimson. A splat like an overripe melon bursting.
Pfft!
Another Nine-star Great Emperor of the Stabbing Heaven Palace had his head detonate, a silent, gruesome explosion. His headless body plummeted from the sky, a testament to the speed of his demise.
Witnessing this, Xiao Ke’s serene facade finally cracked. A flicker of lethal intent danced in her beautiful eyes, momentarily engulfing Lu Xuan. She now harbored a grave suspicion: this White Robe Great Emperor could somehow discern the workings of their Night Feast! But it was impossible! This technique was an ancient inheritance from Dark Shadow Island, a power so profound that only a Divine Sense transcending the Nine-star Great Emperor realm could bypass it—and the Heaven and Earth Change, which would allow such breakthroughs, hadn’t even begun! How was the White Robe Great Emperor achieving this? It defied all logic!
Lu Xuan was a phantom of death. Fear gripped the remaining Stabbing Heaven Palace Great Emperors. Wherever he appeared, a Great Emperor fell. Boom! Boom! Boom! In that moment, the Stabbing Heaven Palace members experienced a terror unlike any they had ever known. They couldn’t even pinpoint Lu Xuan’s origin, his movements as traceless as smoke. It was utterly horrifying! The White Robe Great Emperor, once their target, had become the ultimate hunter. Unlike their own meticulous assassinations, which required perfect timing, for the White Robe Great Emperor, his mere presence signaled Instant Kill. Even fellow Nine-star Great Emperors were nothing more than Ants before him!
Splat, splat, splat! High-star Great Emperors, like insignificant insects, were being mercilessly crushed by Lu Xuan.
Emperor Blood rained down from the void, staining the air. Below, the cultivators in the Blackflame Mountain Range cried out in terror. “Blood! Whose blood is this, raining from the sky?”
“What in the world is going on? Tianyuan Old Ancestor and Jiujun Old Ancestor were just teleported away! Is the White Robe Great Emperor fighting alone?”
They remained utterly clueless about the unfolding carnage. The endless darkness of the Night Feast still clung to the sky, a suffocating, eternal night. The sheer terror was so profound that no one dared to touch the roasted Red Serpent meat.
Meanwhile, Lu Xuan, a white specter of death, continued his relentless harvest of Stabbing Heaven Palace lives. Many assassins desperately deployed their defensive Emperor Weapons, ancient Dao patterns swirling with immense power, hoping to stem the tide.
It was useless.
Utterly useless.
Lu Xuan was a phantom, his movements defying all logic. Emperor Weapons, talismans, ultimate defensive treasures—all shattered like brittle paper upon contact with him. Every strike was an Instant Kill. He was invincible!
Finally, the Stabbing Heaven Palace Great Emperors broke. Their screams of pure terror echoed through the dark.
“Where is the White Robe Great Emperor?”
“Force him out! Make him show himself!”
“Master, please! We can’t hold him back any longer!”
Only then did the observers on the ground grasp the terrifying truth: the White Robe Great Emperor was the undisputed master of this battlefield.
Xiao Ke’s beautiful eyes narrowed, a strange glint within them. Her graceful steps quickened, and she moved like a shadow, silently closing in on Lu Xuan. With so many Nine-star Great Emperors and High-star Great Emperors of the Stabbing Heaven Palace already fallen, the Night Feast, deprived of its supporting Great Emperor Dao patterns, began to falter, unable to fully sustain its terrifying domain.
Screech!
The Night Feast’s oppressive illusion began to fracture, then shatter. The true Southern Wilds reappeared over the Blackflame Mountain Range, like a thunderclap ripping through the deepest night. Everyone threw up their hands, the sudden, blinding light assaulting their eyes. Though the Night Feast had lasted only moments, it had felt like an eternity of darkness. Now, the abrupt return of light brought tears to their eyes. This wasn’t merely a shift from dark to light; it was the clash of two overwhelming Daos and Stances, pressing down on every soul present. The Night Feast had collapsed, but its lingering essence still permeated the air.
Moments later, as their eyes adjusted, the crowd finally lowered their hands and took in the scene.
Corpses.
Several Nine-star Great Emperor corpses. A dozen more High-star Great Emperor bodies. All clad in the distinctive robes of the Stabbing Heaven Palace.
A collective gasp of shock rippled through the crowd. So many Great Emperors, dead! They stretched out their Divine Senses, searching for the White Robe Great Emperor, but found nothing. Instead, they saw Ji Fuyao, elegant and serene, still seated beside Ye Chen and Chen Changsheng, as if absolutely nothing had transpired. In fact, Ji Fuyao, Ye Chen, and Chen Changsheng—along with Lu Xuan’s Wooden Puppet Clone—were still calmly enjoying their Red Serpent meat.
The onlookers were dumbfounded, their minds reeling.
How could Lu Xuan and his three disciples be so utterly unconcerned?
Just then, within the remnants of the Night Feast’s illusion, Dao and Rhyme swirled wildly. Xiao Ke’s form, a mere flicker, moved with impossible stealth through the fractured Heaven and Earth power.
Lu Xuan simply stated, “Too weak.”
“Is that so?” Xiao Ke’s voice materialized, seemingly distant, yet in the same instant, she was already directly behind Lu Xuan.
Chh! Chh! Chh! Chh! Chh!
Eighteen Poisoned Silver Needles, each imbued with terrifying power and cloaked in dark Great Emperor Dao patterns, shot towards Lu Xuan. Their speed and force were pushed to the absolute peak of the Nine-star Emperor realm. It was a perfect angle, a flawless assassination.
But Lu Xuan merely shook his head, not even bothering to block. He allowed the eighteen venomous needles to strike.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Sounds like tiny hammers striking steel echoed through the void. A blinding divine radiance erupted from Lu Xuan’s body—Myriad Laws Immunity. The needles, unable to penetrate, instantly disintegrated into dust, scattering to the ground.
In the same breath, Xiao Ke’s form flickered again, placing her directly in front of Lu Xuan.
“You can die now,” Xiao Ke’s voice, deceptively soft, carried an undercurrent of absolute lethal intent.
Chink!
In her slender, jade-like hand, she wielded an Ultimate Emperor Weapon—the Broken Blade. It plunged directly towards Lu Xuan’s chest. The moment the Ultimate Emperor Weapon appeared, its ‘Extreme Dao’ power saturated the void, and towering Dao patterns erupted, twisting around them.
A shiver of pure dread ran through every observer. An Ultimate Emperor Weapon!
This terrifying Broken Blade, wielded to its absolute peak by Xiao Ke, the fearsome leader of the Stabbing Heaven Palace, unleashed horrifying fluctuations that shook Heaven and Earth. The violent artifact spirit sealed within roared to life, like a primordial beast awakening from eons of slumber. On the ground, the watching cultivators felt their scalps prickle, their Divine Souls threatened with tearing, their very blood boiling from the sheer pressure of the Extreme Dao. Xiao Ke’s power was at the pinnacle of the Nine-star Emperor realm, and this Ultimate Emperor Weapon also represented the absolute zenith of Emperor-tier artifacts!
Lu Xuan merely shook his head, a faint sigh escaping his lips. “Is this truly the legendary Stabbing Heaven Palace? You’re all just too weak.”
The Ultimate Emperor Weapon, the Broken Blade, struck Lu Xuan’s chest. Yet, he stood utterly unmoving, like an ancient, unshakeable mountain.
And then, impossibly, the Broken Blade itself began to crack.
Crack!
Crack!
…