Wound His Body, Crush His Spirit

Boom—!

The moment the Evil Soul Realm gate opened, a wave of blood-red energy erupted from Xiao Feng's body. In an instant, the God Master pressure suppressing him was greatly reduced!

At that moment, Ximen Qing's Ice Soul Sword, carrying bone-piercing cold might, stabbed fiercely toward Xiao Feng. The Hurricane Sword instantly appeared in his hand, and he swung it with his right hand to meet the incoming Ice Soul Sword...

Clang!

The two swords collided, but contrary to Ximen Qing's expectations, the crushing advantage he had anticipated did not occur. Instead, an unimaginable force burst forth from the front...

Bang!!

He was blasted away viciously, then crashed heavily to the ground in an extremely miserable state.

Before he could steady himself, Xiao Feng had already arrived before him, bringing the Hurricane Sword down fiercely. Ximen Qing could only raise his sword in haste to block it.

But in his rush, he could not fully mobilize his strength. In their second clash, his entire body was blasted away once more, smashing heavily into the ground and kicking up dust that filled the sky.

"God... Master!" Ximen Qing staggered to his feet, crying out in disbelief.

He repeatedly sized up Xiao Feng, seemingly unable to believe it. Clearly, Xiao Feng's mystic power was still at the God Monarch Realm, so why was the mystic pressure he released unmistakably at the same level as his own... the God Master Realm!?

"Could you also be a disciple of the sect?" That thought instinctively surfaced in Ximen Qing's mind. In his eyes, only the Creation God Sect could accomplish such a thing.

"No... How could that be possible!" But he quickly rejected the thought. No matter what, Xiao Feng could not possibly be a disciple of the Creation God Sect!

The shock in Ximen Qing's heart and soul at this moment was beyond description.

After all, how could Ximen Qing possibly understand a heaven-defying divine art born from such a paradox?

Xiao Feng offered no explanation, nor did he give him even the slightest chance. At once, blazing Vermilion Bird Blaze ignited upon the Hurricane Sword, and firelight surged wildly. This was the first time his Vermilion Bird Blaze had burned since his tribulation!

Sacred Flame Slash!

He swung the Hurricane Sword down fiercely, and the blazing sword light, carrying explosive waves of heat, slashed viciously toward Ximen Qing!

Before the sword light even arrived, the terrifying heat had already made his skin sting. He hurriedly mobilized his mystic power, and rows upon rows of Icy Barrier Walls hastily appeared before him, forming a barrier.

But how could the Icy Barrier Walls erected in haste withstand the Vermilion Bird's sacred flames? The frigid barriers could only halt the sword light for a moment. As layer after layer of Icy Barrier Walls melted through, the sword light slammed fiercely into Ximen Qing's body.

Bang!!

Ximen Qing was blasted away viciously. At that moment, the Vermilion Bird Blaze clung to his body like maggots on a corpse. The searing pain instantly drained the color from his face. He instinctively wanted to scream, but at the thought of Xiao Feng standing before him, he forcibly held it in.

The cold aura around his body began to surge wildly, and white vapor rose from him.

"Didn't you say you felt warm before? I'm giving you another grand gift!"

Ximen Qing's utterly contemptuous words from before Xiao Feng's tribulation were still fresh in his memory.

Xiao Feng raised his left hand. A cluster of crimson-gold flames containing scarlet light flared forth in an instant. With a gentle downward wave of his left hand, the one-foot-wide fireball continuously expanded as it descended, transforming in the blink of an eye into a massive domain of fire.

The Mystic Skill bestowed by the fifth level of the Vermillion Bird Requiem—Divine Annihilation!

After the fire domain descended, it seemed to possess tracking ability, continuously following the Vermilion Bird Blaze attached to Ximen Qing's body, leaving him nowhere to flee.

"Arghhhhh!"

The fire domain, spanning an entire li, forced Ximen Qing to endure scorching, burning agony across every inch of his body.

He could no longer endure it and began to scream miserably. At that moment, it was as though he had fallen into an endless inferno...

His miserable cries did not evoke even a trace of pity from Xiao Feng.

He deserved to die! No... even ten thousand deaths would not atone for his crimes!

Second Realm, Heartburn—open!

Each time the Evil God Realm gate opened another layer, the rampage of mystic power increased exponentially, along with his strength!

The instant Heartburn opened, the waves of mystic energy around him became violent once more. His body shot forward, and he swung the Hurricane Sword fiercely toward Ximen Qing's fingers.

Ximen Qing was trapped within the fire domain. The scorching pain made it impossible for him to fully gather his mystic power. Facing the sword light from the Hurricane Sword, he could only barely mobilize his power to block it.

But the mystic power he hastily circulated was like tattered cloth before the sword light, easily torn apart by its sharp edge. Yet the blade was not aimed at his head, but at his fingers.

Slash— The sword light flashed, and Ximen Qing's pinky was severed directly! It left his body and was instantly annihilated within the vast fire domain, leaving nothing behind.

Another streak of sword light flashed from Xiao Feng. This time, the upper section of Ximen Qing's ring finger was brutally sliced off. Ximen Qing had only managed to use Instant Shift and dodge sideways in time, preventing his entire ring finger from being severed...

"Why... You..." Ximen Qing could no longer trust his own Spiritual Sense. Why did Xiao Feng feel several times stronger than before!?

He had clearly not killed anyone. He had clearly paid no price at all!

He himself had slaughtered his relatives and buried the residents of the city in death, yet Xiao Feng... had done nothing!

The enormous disparity filled Ximen Qing's heart with intense resentment!

But what answered him was a third streak of sword light. This time, his entire middle finger was severed, then annihilated once more...

Under the burning Vermilion Bird Blaze, he could barely feel the pain of his severed fingers, but the torn wounds were exposed to the flames...

In an instant, an even more piercing burning pain seemed to flood into his lungs and organs, as if a lotus of fire had bloomed within his viscera...

"Urgh... Aahh!!" A piercing scream burst from his mouth, but he immediately forced it down and used Instant Shift to escape the fire domain. The moment he left it, without any hesitation, he frantically circulated the Ice Soul Art.

"Frozen Confinement!"

The cold might around his body erupted with full force in an instant, but it did not envelop Xiao Feng. Instead, it enveloped himself.

In merely an instant, his body was wrapped in dense Ice Crystal, and the Vermilion Bird Blaze burning upon him finally went out...

Watching Ximen Qing bind himself in a cocoon, Xiao Feng revealed a cold smile. He raised the Hurricane Sword, and Vermilion Bird Blaze erupted around him. A phantom image of the Vermilion Bird slowly appeared above Xiao Feng...

"Vermilion God!"

As the Vermilion Bird's strongest single-target Mystic Skill, when unleashed with Xiao Feng's current strength, its power and crimson flames were beyond measure!

After gathering power for several breaths, the Vermilion Bird's phantom, together with a solid flame ray barely an inch wide, stabbed fiercely toward Ximen Qing...

Before Vermilion God was even released, Ximen Qing's body had already begun trembling uncontrollably. Seeing Vermilion God strike toward him, he hurriedly turned the Ice Crystal surrounding him into water, then used Instant Shift, trying to evade it.

But... the Ice Crystal he had formed was too thick, and there was simply not enough time. As he staggered aside in an attempt to dodge, the residual force still swept across him. That residual force alone directly took away half of one of his feet!

Terror filled his expression, but at that moment, another immense surge of Divine Source Power poured in from all around, flowing endlessly into Ximen Qing's body...

Seeing this, Xiao Feng's brows furrowed slightly, but he did not step forward to interrupt him.

If his guess was correct, the fact that Divine Source Power was still flowing toward Ximen Qing meant that someone else had died and was being refined and sacrificed by some unknown method, allowing Ximen Qing to seize their Divine Source Power.

Although he was only at the God Monarch Realm, after opening the Evil God Realm gate, he could already clearly sense the speed of the God Master Realm. He now had a rough estimate as well.

When Qing Yun broke the City Defense Mystic Array, there were still so many people inside the city. They were not stationary targets waiting to be killed. Even a God Master would need quite some time to slaughter them all, so it was impossible for Ximen Qing to have caught up to them so quickly.

And since Ximen Qing had caught up with them this quickly, it meant he had not massacred everyone in the city. Then... where had this Divine Source Power come from?

After Ximen Qing absorbed that immense Divine Source Power, the mystic pressure he released had astonishingly reached level seven of the God Master Realm!

The leap was so immense that even though Xiao Feng had been prepared, his brows still knitted tightly.

This leap in mystic power could no longer be described by any words. It simply should not exist in this world!

He could contend with God Masters through the Evil God Art only because his current strength was at the Peak God Lord level, but Ximen Qing's mystic power had only been at the God Spirit level!

But before he could sort out the thoughts in his heart, a crazed laugh interrupted him.

"Ha ha ha ha... Xiao Feng, didn't you say the heavens wanted me dead? I'll return those words to you—the heavens want you dead!" Ximen Qing seemed to have been completely eroded in mind by the Divine Source Power. All that remained was his hatred for Xiao Feng.

And that hatred contained countless emotions. Since childhood, he had aspired to become the strongest, and he cared immensely about his pride. Yet Xiao Feng had ruthlessly trampled that pride, and he himself... had even been defeated by Xiao Feng across realms!

To him, that was simply the greatest humiliation!

The two things he cared about most had both been taken from him because of Xiao Feng!

How could he not hate him! And now, seeing Xiao Feng receive heaven's blessing, intense unwillingness also surged within him... Why could Xiao Feng obtain what he could not!?

Xiao Feng did not respond. His gaze was calm, but the chill within it was enough to make anyone who looked into his eyes shudder uncontrollably.

If Ximen Qing were allowed to die so quickly, that would be letting him off too easily!

For Xiao Feng, it was not enough to inflict unforgettable pain upon his body. He would also crush and shatter his spirit!

Wound his body, crush his spirit!

Third Realm Gate, Purgatory—open!