At the critical moment, Lu Chen finally finished allocating his points.
His face was ice-cold as he gripped the Golden Divine Sword.
Strands of Imperial Dao aura coiled around his body like something tangible, sending ripples of golden light spreading in every direction... covering all eight horizons, shrouding heaven and earth, suppressing mountains and rivers for thousands of miles...
Everyone suddenly felt as if an invisible hand had seized their hearts in a death grip.
Their bodies trembled, and they could barely breathe.
Under this aura, they seemed unable to resist dropping to their knees, shivering as they could only worship.
"A Divine Emperor—a true Divine Emperor..."
Xiao Wanfeng's lips were dry, his eyes filled with terror.
"You... broke through."
"He actually broke through..."
Li Wangxu muttered as well.
The silver blade man in midair fixed his cold, lightning-like gaze upon Lu Chen.
Streams of razor-sharp Blade Qi spread from his body, shaking heaven and earth.
"Good, good, good. You actually succeeded in breaking through at such a critical moment."
"No wonder you dared to barge into my domain!"
His voice was cold, and the Blade Qi around him trembled.
"Today, I am leaving. No one can stop me!"
Lu Chen's voice was clear as he looked toward the bizarre silver blade man.
Layers of brilliant white light lit up across the silver blade man's body, like a blazing silver sun.
Its blazing radiance spread outward, carrying an aura of supreme eternity.
The countless blades on his body clanged sharply as well...
Layer upon layer of Imperial Dao aura radiated from him, scarcely weaker than Lu Chen's!
"If you want to leave this place, you will have to show me what you are truly capable of!"
The silver blade man stared coldly at Lu Chen.
Whoosh!
His body vanished in an instant.
A supreme and majestic Imperial Dao aura suddenly erupted from his body, like chaos being split open and heaven and earth being destroyed. An ultimate killing aura covered the world.
The entire region shook violently.
All tangible matter rapidly shattered.
Li Wangxu, Venerable Chiyan, Xiao Wanfeng, and the other Divine Kings all revealed looks of horror, feeling as though their souls were about to leave their bodies.
This aura was not even directed at them. It had merely spread slightly, yet they were already unable to withstand it.
This was a Divine Emperor!
The might of a Divine Emperor could not be provoked!
However.
Lu Chen remained unmoved. A glimmer of gold emerged within his dark, profound pupils, while the Imperial Dao aura around him surged forth like countless great suns appearing across the heavens.
Blinding golden divine light erupted from his body in waves.
His countless pores seemed to transform into dazzling, resplendent suns, from which Great Sun Sword Qi flew out and filled the sky.
At this moment, he seemed to become the origin of the universe, the destination to which all Daos returned.
He stepped forward, and the golden sword light carried a strange, demonic gleam, as though it had become the eternal "One." In an instant, it flashed past and hacked fiercely toward the void to one side.
There.
The silver blade man's body appeared almost instantly, and a dazzling, terrifying blade light hurtled straight toward Lu Chen.
With one slash, all kinds of terrifying phenomena arose.
A bright moon rose above the sea; though at the ends of the earth, all shared this moment.
It was as though a silver moon had cleaved down from heaven and earth. Its Blade Qi was peerless, seeking to cover everything, shatter heaven and earth, and destroy all things.
Their swordsmanship and blade techniques collided in that instant.
It was like two utterly different worlds crashing into one another.
Boom!
Incomparably dazzling radiance exploded between heaven and earth.
Countless Sword Qi and Blade Qi filled the air, seeming ready to split open heaven and earth and destroy everything.
The ground nearly collapsed in an instant, and innumerable boulders turned to dust.
The Divine Kings were all terrified as they fled at high speed. The aftershocks alone were enough to pulverize their bodies.
The scarlet eyes in the sky all watched Lu Chen's side with keen interest.
It was as if the battle here had drawn the attention of every Three-Faced Being.
Those densely packed eyes resembled blood-colored stars spread across the sky.
The Divine Kings were terrified to the extreme as they looked back.
"This is a supreme collision at the Divine Emperor level. Others truly cannot compare!"
"A true Divine Emperor is simply far too terrifying..."
They knew that Lu Chen had previously possessed combat power comparable to a Divine Emperor.
Once such combat power broke through and became that of a true Divine Emperor, it would be far beyond what ordinary Divine Emperors could compare with.
The facts proved that this was indeed the case.
Heaven and earth were bright and radiant.
Within that brilliance, two figures battled at high speed. Swordsmanship and blade techniques collided at their ultimate limits, producing ear-piercing clangs. Their bodies could no longer be seen clearly, and every strike made heaven and earth tremble.
It was like two supreme taboos dueling.
Everything else vanished.
Only they became eternity between heaven and earth!
Boom!
After another clash, both bodies were blasted backward and landed in the distance.
Layers of Imperial Dao aura spread from their bodies, surging like vast waves.
Whether it was the silver blade man or Lu Chen, each seemed to be surrounded by a hazy little world.
This was their Dao, their law!
Having reached the Divine Emperor realm, one had to reconsolidate their former laws and divine power, fixing them into a unique Great Dao and great law. They could even evolve a small world, granting them supreme wondrous uses.
The region between the two had become desolate.
The mountain range had been leveled.
The stronghold had been crushed.
An indescribable destructive aura filled heaven and earth. Any Divine King who approached would certainly die, erased in an instant by that terrifying aura.
All ten directions fell silent!
The Divine Kings who had just retreated were all horrified, chilled from head to toe.
The gap was too vast.
So vast that no secret treasure could bridge it.
How could anyone else contend with them?
In this trial, they were destined to have no chance against Lu Chen.
"Your swordsmanship is indeed unique."
The silver blade man said coldly, "But you will not escape today. Even if I do not kill you, the other Emperors will execute you. This region does not permit the appearance of any Emperor. That is a rule set by the lords!"
"A rule?"
Lu Chen narrowed his eyes and almost instinctively thought of those dense eyes in the sky.
Without a doubt.
The lords the other party spoke of were those Three-Faced Beings.
Surging fury rose in his heart.
One day, he would drag these Three-Faced Beings down from their altars and trample them beneath his feet.
"Then come!"
Lu Chen roared and struck first. Divine light flared across his body, as though a Sword Emperor of an age had awakened. Sword Qi soared into the sky and shook all eight directions as he immediately unleashed his strongest secret technique.
Roar!
The silver blade man let out a long howl. Blade Qi swept out from his body, covering heaven and earth in dazzling radiance as he charged forward to kill. Nearly every organ in his body was a terrifying supreme divine blade.
Boom!
The two collided, and the sky collapsed once more.
An aura of great annihilation and great pulverization erupted from this place.
Both had pushed their killing techniques to the limit. Their bodies burned, emitting hundreds of millions of rays of light.
"They are going to use their trump cards!"
"They may very well decide life and death!"
"This is too terrifying!"
All the Divine Kings revealed looks of terror.
At this moment, no one chose to flee immediately.
They all wanted to see the final outcome.
Among the Divine Kings who had entered this time, too many were like Lu Chen, stuck at the threshold and on the verge of breaking through.
Once they all broke through, what hope would the others have?
They would still die.
Boom!
Their blades and swords clashed, and the profound meanings and laws contained within them collided as well, releasing sounds like the roar of the Great Dao. Endless destruction spread outward.
The entire ground was nearly transformed into a wasteland.
Who knew how many miles had been reduced to ruins.
Bang! Bang!
Their bodies were blasted backward once again.
But after being sent flying back, Lu Chen's eyes turned cold. The sword technique in his hand changed again, and an incomparably strange aura of the Great Dao sinking into ruin spread from his swordsmanship—utter sorrow, utter despair.
It was like heaven collapsing, earth splitting, and the six paths of reincarnation crumbling...
It was as though, in the blink of an eye, they had arrived in an age of the Five Decays of Heaven and Man. His entire body changed with it, seeming to merge into one with the sword light. All karma, all traces, and all aura suddenly vanished.
At the same time.
The silver blade man seemed to sense that Lu Chen was unleashing his ultimate move. His entire body began spinning in place, and an equally terrifying aura spread from him.
His body spun faster and faster, becoming increasingly bizarre. In the end, it seemed to vanish completely, leaving behind only an extremely strange silver light that linked heaven and earth and tore apart everything.
This silver light seemed to become the origin of the universe.
It seemed to become the lurking specter of all living beings.
Whoosh!
The silver light spun as it shot straight toward Lu Chen.
At the same time, Lu Chen's transformation was finally complete. An aura of the six paths shattering and heaven and earth sinking into ruin suddenly erupted, and the golden sword light in his hand slashed down fiercely.
"Kill!"
Boom!
The bizarre sword light streaked across the sky in an instant and collided directly with the silver whirlwind. After barely a moment of resistance, it pierced straight through, passing out from within the silver whirlwind.
Pfft!
The entire silver whirlwind abruptly stopped.
Heaven and earth instantly became clear.
Even the silver blade man, who had been spinning moments ago, reappeared. His expression was blank, his body swaying, while countless cracks suddenly emerged across his silver-white form.
Crackling muffled sounds rang out.
"What sword?"
He muttered.
"Dao Severing!"
Lu Chen's tone was indifferent.
This move had already transcended the original [Sorrow of the Great Dao].
It was an evolution beyond [Sorrow of the Great Dao].
It was the supreme understanding Lu Chen had formed by integrating all his theories and knowledge of the sword. With a single strike, it annihilated everything.
"Dao Severing, Dao Severing..."
The silver blade man repeated under his breath. "You are stronger than me. I hope you can escape this cage and return to the real world soon..."
Crack, crack, crack!
Bang!
A muffled sound rang out. His body could no longer hold together, instantly shattering into countless silver fragments that densely scattered and dissipated into heaven and earth.
[...Merit Points +3,000,000!]
A line of numbers appeared.
In every direction, the blade men, souls, and tentacled beings finally revealed panic. Their fighting spirit vanished completely as they turned and fled in groups in all directions.
"Run!"
"The leader has been killed!"
"Retreat!"
The remaining Divine Kings changed expression and hurriedly charged at those monsters, seizing the opportunity to harvest as many as they could.
Even though they knew they had little chance in this trial, they still attacked with all their strength.
Lu Chen's eyes turned cold as well. His body shot out in an instant, charging toward a group of monsters.
Whoosh!
His sword light flashed, harvesting even faster than before.
Layers of bizarre sword light continuously folded and surged.
Almost every sword strike slew a monster.
Sheets upon sheets of Merit Points rapidly appeared before his eyes.
Just then.
Suddenly, another upheaval occurred across heaven and earth.
The sky, once black and deathly still, rapidly revealed an enormous ranking board. With a thunderous boom, it hung above everyone's heads.
Dense rows of names appeared upon it.
Behind every name, the corresponding score appeared.
In an instant, the scores of all the Divine Kings were laid bare.
Everyone was greatly alarmed and looked up.
"Heavens, I'm actually ranked two hundred and forty-third!"
"I'm in the three hundreds!"
"I've fallen this far behind already? How could this be?"
"Venerable Jiuyun is ranked first. He's broken through to Divine Emperor!"
"Old Man Ku is second, Huangfu Shang is third—Divine Emperors, they've all broken through to Divine Emperor..."
"Lu Chen, Lu Chen is ranked seventh!"
The crowd was instantly stunned.
These rankings not only displayed their positions, but even listed their cultivation levels.
Very soon, they discovered another even more terrifying thing.
Beneath the rankings, another line of writing had appeared.
[Points can be seized from one another. When a companion is personally killed, the points on their body will automatically transfer to the killer.] [Tokens can locate one another and sense each other.]
"Points can be seized, and the tokens can locate..."
Many people felt a chill run through their hearts.
This was bad!
These were newly established rules!
They wanted them to slaughter one another!
And here, the most terrifying one was Lu Chen.
If he wanted to kill everyone, no one would be able to escape...
Everyone shuddered. They no longer dared linger and hurriedly fled in all directions.
Even Venerable Chiyan and Li Wangxu's expressions changed drastically. They abruptly stopped, looked toward Lu Chen, and a thread of wariness rose in their hearts.
Before you continue