Taowu roared, its sharp claws wrapped in Chaos Sha as it struck back, the force of its claws tearing through space.
At that moment—
"Xuanyaun Controlling Water Flag, suppress!"
With a thought from Guiyuan, a surge of black light burst from within him. The small black flag grew in the wind, transforming into a curtain of water that blotted out the sky and descended over them!
Within the curtain, the phantom image of an endless ocean appeared. Waves surged, space turned upside down, and a powerful binding force like a quagmire abruptly slowed Taowu's movements!
"Yuantu! Abi!"
Styx gave a sharp cry at the same time. For the first time, the true forms of the twin swords behind him appeared in full!
Blood-red sword light shot into the sky, carrying a pure killing intent that slaughtered all beings without incurring karmic consequences. Like two venomous dragons, they darted toward the joints and old wounds all over Taowu's body with vicious precision!
From the very first exchange, the three fought in perfect coordination, unleashing their spiritual treasures and divine abilities together. In an instant, they forced the already gravely wounded Taowu onto the defensive!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Xuanming's iron fists slammed into the bloody holes in Taowu's body, while icy baleful energy furiously ate away at it.
Styx's killing swords left deep, bone-revealing gashes across its body, their sword energy constantly grinding away at its ferocious essence.
Taowu howled in pain again and again, madness and desperation flashing in its scarlet eyes!
"Roar—!"
It let out another piercing howl, summoning its kin!
Throughout Changbai Mountain, the surviving Ferocious Beasts of the Taowu kind spontaneously exploded one after another, transforming into torrents of pure blood-and-baleful energy that surged recklessly into the Taowu King's body!
Its aura erupted like a volcano, soaring with a thunderous roar!
Black light surged through the bloody hole in its chest, temporarily sealing it. A trace of power unique to the Daluo level was forcibly drawn out.
Though still unstable, it carried an essential pressure that surpassed Taiyi!
"Watch out! It's going all out!" Guiyuan warned urgently.
The next moment—
Taowu's scarlet eyes locked onto the three of them, and its massive claws swung once more.
But this time, its attack was completely different!
Before the force of its claws could even arrive, a terrifying power from beyond the visible world descended!
Guiyuan felt the "present" he occupied being squeezed by an invisible force.
A killing intent pursued him from the "past," while a shadow of destruction descended from the "future"!
Past! Present! Future!
All three dimensions of time were under attack at once!
At that moment, power underwent a qualitative transformation!
So that's how it is! Guiyuan was shaken to his core as he instantly understood why Xuanming had been defeated so swiftly back then.
No matter how powerful Taiyi's strength was, it had limits. Like numbers, it could be a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, even a million, but it was ultimately "finite."
Daluo, on the other hand, even when touching only the slightest trace of its properties, gained the possibility of "infinity" by stepping into the river of time.
Taowu's attack was now stacking the power of three points in time and unleashing it in a single instant!
This was no longer a simple clash of strength. It was an overwhelming difference in levels!
Even though Taowu was gravely wounded and on the verge of death, unable to wield the full properties of Daluo, the combined force unleashed in that "instant" was still more than an ordinary Taiyi could withstand!
"Xuanyaun Controlling Water Flag! Calm the seas and gather the rivers!" Guiyuan snorted, pouring his magic power madly into the black flag above his head.
The curtain of water swelled, its ocean surging as it tried to still the chaotic space-time and forcibly pull the attacks from different dimensions into the "present"!
At the same time, baleful energy soared around him, and thirty-three streaks of black light shot out from within his body!
Swords, spears, blades, halberds, bells, towers, mirrors, banners... thirty-three phantoms of ferocious treasures appeared in all!
Carrying the baleful energy of refining countless ferocious beings and the intent of calamity, they were like thirty-three ancient demonic mountains, crashing down upon Taowu!
"Suppress it for me!!!"
Rumble—!
Treasure light and baleful energy intertwined, twisting time and space.
"Boom—!"
The thirty-three ferocious treasures fell like meteors, crashing heavily into Taowu's swinging claws.
Ferocious energy collided violently with ferocious energy, producing a grating sound of tearing and rending.
Taowu cried out in pain. Its massive body was actually forced to stagger backward two steps by the immense force.
At the same time, Guiyuan's treasures and Styx's red lotus absorbed most of the power behind Taowu's enraged strike.
Though Xuanming was also left with surging blood and qi after being knocked back, dozens of fine wounds burst open across her True Form of the Ancestral Wu, spattering drops of blood. Her aura abruptly weakened, but nowhere near as severely as when she had been gravely injured in an instant last time.
The damage was still within what her physical body could endure.
The light of the Karma Red Lotus beneath Styx's feet flowed, dissipating the force of the counterattack. His face was pale as he stared at Taowu, growing more frenzied at the heart of the baleful energy, his expression grave.
"Roar—!!!"
Seeing that even after successive attacks it had failed to crush these three "bugs," Taowu's fury finally shattered what remained of its reason.
It threw back its head and let out a third roar. But this roar was unlike the others: it was no longer merely a wave of sound, but a force that stirred some kind of chaotic, distorted source power!
Hum!
An invisible ripple abruptly spread outward, with Taowu at its center!
Styx's expression changed drastically. "The Great Dao of this place... it's in chaos!"
To his horror, he found his connection to the Great Dao of Slaughter growing indistinct, as if it had been forcibly cut off by a layer of chaotic mist!
Xuanming also groaned. The bloodline laws she relied on to control icy rain and baleful energy were now mired in a quagmire, sluggish and greatly diminished in power.
The Great Dao of "chaos"—the Great Dao of Chaos—had revealed its might!
It disrupted all laws and threw Qiankun into disorder!
The instant the three were hampered in their Dao arts, Taowu's massive claws tore through the chaotic void once more. Carrying chaotic currents that annihilated order, they slammed toward them with even greater fury!
"Karma flames, go!"
Styx forced his magic power to surge. The flames of the red lotus beneath his feet rose in a vast sea of fire and crashed into the giant claws. Red lotus karmic fire and Chaos Sha collided fiercely, hissing and crackling.
Guiyuan also violently shook the Xuanyaun Controlling Water Flag. Black light blazed as he tried to forcefully regulate the water element and stabilize order in one part of this world shrouded in chaos.
"Boom!"
Another deafening crash erupted as the turbulent currents ran wild.
Caught off guard and hampered in their Dao arts, the three were once again sent flying by the heavy impact.
Xuanming fared the worst.
Eighty percent of her strength relied on her physical body and bloodline laws. Now that the Great Dao had been suppressed by chaos, four or five tenths of her power were gone. Forced to withstand the blow with her physical body alone, she suffered even graver injuries.
Cracks spread across her True Form of the Ancestral Wu. She spat out a large mouthful of blood, and her aura visibly weakened.
Styx steadied himself atop the red lotus.
Watching Taowu, its baleful energy soaring as it frantically absorbed power to recover, his expression shifted. He said urgently, "This beast is savage, and its strange Great Dao is far too troublesome! Shouldn't we avoid its strongest attacks for now?"
"No need!"
"I'll take the lead!"
Guiyuan's voice was hard and cold.
Xuanming wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Her voice was weak. "Without me holding it back head-on... your physical body is weaker than mine. With only your Innate Sacred bodies, you won't withstand more than a few of its claws!"
Guiyuan glanced at her, his tone calm.
"Who said my physical body was weaker than yours?"
Before his words had even faded—
"Hum!!!"
An aura far more ancient, vast, and heavy than the True Form of the Ancestral Wu—or even the Taowu King—erupted from Guiyuan, like a slumbering giant beast abruptly awakening!
Before you continue