"Crack..."
The void seemed like a shattered mirror, splitting open with one pitch-black crack after another.
A gaunt figure stumbled out of the nothingness.
The man had a thin, withered face, high cheekbones, deep-set eyes, and a look of shock and terror written across his features.
He wore a dusty gray Daoist robe, and an icy, decayed aura swirled around him.
In one hand, he held that ancient bronze lamp, its wick extinguished and its light dim.
In his other hand, the Universe Ruler flew back toward him. He barely managed to catch it, but the sharp aura on its body—the power that could shatter anything—had already faded by more than half.
Su Ming's gaze fell coldly upon the man.
Daoist Burning Lamp!
Even though his opponent had not announced his identity, Su Ming recognized him instantly from the iconic Spirit Coffin Palace Lantern and that sinister, mean-looking face.
A notorious shameless scoundrel in the Primordial Wilderness, the vice leader of the Elucidating Sect, and the future Ancient Buddha Burning Lamp.
A treacherous villain who could betray his sect and sell out his fellow cultivators without the slightest hesitation for his own benefit.
Su Ming had not the slightest favorable impression of such a person. He felt only endless killing intent.
He had ambushed him and still wanted to live?
Daoist Burning Lamp's heart had already been rocked by tempestuous waves!
What had he seen?
A pair of fleshly fists!
A pair of utterly ordinary fists that had not even revealed the slightest fluctuation of magic power had actually blasted away both of his High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures!
How was this possible?
These were High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures! They were not some common, low-grade acquired magical treasures!
Even if an Ancestral Wu had personally arrived, even an Ancestral Wu renowned for the strength of its physical body, it would not dare be so arrogant as to use its flesh and blood to withstand the edge of the Universe Ruler and the burning Divine Fire of the Spirit Coffin Lamp!
What exactly was Su Ming's physical body made from?
Could it be Chaos Divine Iron?
Fear was like a cold venomous snake, climbing all the way up his spine and leaving his entire body icy cold.
He had calculated everything perfectly: the timing, the location, and Su Ming's condition.
But he had made one mistake—the only thing he had miscalculated was Su Ming's strength!
This was no cultivator in the early stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!
That tyrannical, domineering physical power, seemingly standing above the myriad laws of Heaven and Earth, made him feel an unprecedented threat of death!
"Cough, cough..."
Daoist Burning Lamp forcefully suppressed his surging qi and blood, forcing a smile onto his withered face that looked worse than crying.
"Fellow Daoist, it's a misunderstanding. This was all a misunderstanding!"
He cupped his hands toward Su Ming from afar, his posture extremely humble and his tone incomparably sincere.
"I am Burning Lamp. I have long heard of Fellow Daoist's illustrious reputation. Seeing you today, I find that it is indeed well deserved. What happened just now was merely a joke I played with Fellow Daoist. I only wanted to test your divine abilities. I had absolutely no ill intent!"
His words were so grand and righteous that it seemed the sure-kill strike he had unleashed moments ago really had only been a joke between friends.
Such shamelessness truly befitted Burning Lamp.
However, Su Ming merely looked at him in silence, his eyes cold and without the slightest emotional fluctuation.
"A joke?"
Su Ming finally spoke. His voice was not loud, yet it was like a heavy hammer smashing viciously into Daoist Burning Lamp's heart.
"This is a joke you can't afford to make!"
Before his voice had even faded, Su Ming's figure vanished from where he stood!
"Not good!"
Daoist Burning Lamp's scalp exploded in an instant, and an extreme sense of danger enveloped his entire body!
Without even thinking, he frantically poured all his magic power into the Universe Ruler and Spirit Coffin Palace Lantern in his hands!
"Om!"
The two Spiritual Treasures, which had just been beaten dim, once again erupted with dazzling divine light. One attacked and the other defended, protecting him from all sides.
The Universe Ruler transformed into a divine-light barrier that reached from Heaven to Earth and stretched across the space before him.
The Spirit Coffin Palace Lantern reignited its dim Divine Fire, forming a sea of flames that burned all techniques!
Yet all of this was futile.
A fist.
A fist wrapped in a Mysterious Yellow Halo ignored the distance of space and the obstruction of laws, striking directly against the divine-light barrier.
"Crack!"
A crisp shattering sound rang out.
The barrier evolved from the Universe Ruler was as fragile as thin paper before that fist. It shattered instantly!
The force of the punch did not diminish. It continued forward!
"Pfft!"
The protective Divine Fire of the Spirit Coffin Palace Lantern was instantly extinguished when struck by that overbearing power!
Daoist Burning Lamp was struck as if by thunder. He spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward.
The terror in his eyes had already solidified into despair.
Too strong!
Strong to the point of being unreasonable!
His High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure was no different from paper before those fists!
"Fellow Daoist, spare my life! I am willing to offer up my Spiritual Treasures. I only ask that you spare me!"
At the critical moment between life and death, Daoist Burning Lamp could no longer care about his dignity and began to howl miserably.
To stay alive, he was even willing to abandon his Companion Spiritual Treasure!
"You only thought to beg for mercy now? Too late!"
Su Ming's gaze remained cold.
He took one step forward, his figure following like a shadow, and once again caught up to Burning Lamp. Then he threw another punch straight at his face!
This punch sealed off every path of retreat and contained the intent to kill!
"You insolent brat, you're bullying me too far!"
Seeing that begging for mercy was useless, a trace of mad, vicious ruthlessness burst from Daoist Burning Lamp's eyes.
He suddenly opened his mouth and spat something out.
It was not a magical treasure, but a... coffin board!
A coffin board as black as ink, radiating endless decay and an aura of death!
This was his true body—the innate spirit coffin born between Heaven and Earth—and the fated object he had refined from it!
The moment this object appeared, Daoist Burning Lamp's aura instantly weakened. Yet unprecedented black light erupted from the coffin board, blocking his body.
"Boom!!!"
Su Ming's fist struck the coffin board solidly.
A muffled boom echoed throughout Heaven and Earth!
That indestructible coffin board, reputed to remain unscathed through ten thousand tribulations, trembled violently from the punch. Clear cracks appeared across its surface!
"Pfft—"
With his fated object damaged, Daoist Burning Lamp spat out another large mouthful of heart blood. His aura declined to its weakest point, and his entire body fell toward the earth below like a kite with a severed string.
Yet a trace of relief after surviving a calamity flashed through his eyes.
It had blocked it!
He had finally used his true body to block that fatal punch!
As long as he did not die, there would still be a chance!
However, at the very moment this thought arose, a terrifying pressure that froze even his soul suddenly descended!
Su Ming stood proudly in the void, his expression indifferent.
He looked at the battered Daoist Burning Lamp and slowly spread open his palm.
The next moment.
Twelve beads, each the size of a dragon's eye, rose slowly from his palm. They radiated boundless light and an aura that suppressed the myriad heavens and stabilized the entire universe.
The moment these twelve beads appeared, each one evolved into a Great Thousand World!
Within the worlds were the sun, moon, and stars; mountains, rivers, plants, and trees; and the rise and extinction of all living things. Interlinked and resonating with one another, they formed a vast and boundless Illusion of Myriad Worlds that enveloped Su Ming.
That pressure even surpassed that of a High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure!
Before you continue