Late stage Nine Star Dou Sheng? Still a 50/50 split!

Deep in the desert, a bright moon hung in the sky. The ten-thousand-mile sea of sand was deathly silent, save for the wind, which cut like a blade.

The two men stood facing each other across a thousand-zhang dune.

The last trace of polite warmth slowly faded from the face of Gu Yuan.

"Your Excellency Qing Di, please."

As the words fell, Gu Yuan spoke no more, his aura shifting violently!

"BOOM--!!!"

An indescribable, blazing golden light erupted suddenly from within Gu Yuan's body!

The night sky above the endless desert was brutally torn asunder; golden light flooded the heavens and earth, as if day had returned once more!

The pressure of a late-stage Nine-Star Dou Sheng, standing at the true pinnacle of the Dou Qi Continent, permeated the air without reservation.

"Crack, crack..."

With Gu Yuan as the center, the void beneath his feet began to shatter inch by inch, like glass struck by an invisible giant hammer!

Pitch-black spatial rifts spread like spiderwebs, devouring light and sand, only to be constantly mended and regenerated by the immense power controlled by the Dou Sheng, creating a terrifying zone of destruction that repeated in an endless cycle.

The mere release of his aura was enough to alter the heavens and shatter the void!

The pressure, vast as a falling sea of stars, descended upon Ning Chen in an instant.

The ordinary green robe he wore was pulled taut by an invisible force, snapping violently in the wind as if it might turn to dust at any moment.

The sand beneath his feet collapsed silently, forming a massive, bowl-shaped crater, the grains crushed into the finest powder.

Yet, Ning Chen stood at the center of the pressure storm, his figure as immovable as an ancient mountain.

His expression remained calm; even in his clear eyes, which reflected the sky-filling golden light and the shattered void, there was not a single ripple.

"What?!"

Gu Yuan's heart gave a sudden jolt.

His pressure, while not his full strength, was certainly a serious display.

Before him, the only difference between a Seven-Star Dou Sheng and a mere Dou Zhe was the ability to self-destruct and die with dignity.

Below the Nine-Star Dou Sheng, all were but ants.

And yet, this "Qing Di" had not even furrowed his brow!

He was truly unfathomable!

The last shred of contempt in Gu Yuan's heart vanished completely, replaced by unprecedented gravity.

This man was absolutely qualified to make him go all out, to verify the authenticity of his title of "Emperor"!

"You have great composure, Excellency." Gu Yuan's voice was deep and resonant, echoing through the golden world. "In that case, Gu shall show my respect with one of my clan's ancestral Dou Skills!"

He slowly raised his hands, his movements archaic and solemn.

Endless golden light surged from the void, gathering at his palms as an ancient, noble, and domineering aura began to awaken.

"Di Yin Jue... Five Seals in One, Gu Di Yin!"

"HUM--!"

A grand, resonant hum echoed through the world!

Between Gu Yuan's hands, a seal of extreme brilliance and complexity rapidly took shape.

At the center of the seal, a vague, majestic shadow of an emperor appeared, head touching the heavens and feet treading upon the Nine Netherworlds!

The moment the Gu Di Yin took form, the ten-thousand-mile desert fell into sudden, deathly silence!

The wind stopped, the sand settled, and even the sound of the shattering space vanished.

Only that seal remained, becoming the sole center of the world, absorbing all light, all sound, and all existence!

"Go!"

Golden light erupted from Gu Yuan's eyes as he pressed his hands forward.

The "Gu Di Yin," capable of causing an ordinary Dou Sheng to perish instantly, transformed into a golden stream of light that pierced through time and space, slowly imprinting itself toward Ning Chen.

It was called slow because its trajectory was clear, but in reality, it was fast, sealing off all directions—above, below, and all around—leaving no room to dodge or escape!

A deep, eternal trail of darkness, accompanied by terrifying fluctuations that made the earth tremble, spread toward Ning Chen!

Ning Chen's pupils contracted sharply, his heart nearly stopping for that single instant!

Damn it!

Even with the system, the pressure of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng was too heart-wrenching, making him feel a bit shaky inside.

System... please, don't fail me now!

Ning Chen roared internally, his back instantly soaked in cold sweat.

But there was no turning back now, and he could not afford to show weakness!

Once his momentum was lost, even if the system took effect, its impact would be greatly diminished.

He forcibly squeezed the Dou Qi within his body, which was as insignificant as dust in the face of such an attack, and circulated it frantically.

System! Max out the special effects for me!!!

Ning Chen roared in his heart, gritted his teeth, and unleashed his full Dou Qi!

"Lotus blooms... in a single thought!"

BOOM!!!

In an instant, a burst of Dou Qi that did not fall behind Gu Yuan in the slightest erupted!

A cyan flame manifested out of thin air from the palm of Ning Chen's hand.

Initially, it was only the size of a bean, flickering weakly, yet the moment it appeared, it drew Gu Yuan's gaze, which changed abruptly!

The flame was not scorching; instead, it gave off a feeling of being gentle, ancient, and endlessly enduring.

The flame grew in the wind, instantly transforming into a lifelike cyan lotus bud, shielding Ning Chen at its center.

The Green Lotus Core Flame rotated slowly, its petals unfurling to diffuse a unique aura of eternal existence, as if it had stood since the dawn of time!

"This is... the Green Lotus Core Flame?" Gu Yuan's eyes widened sharply, his expression one of having seen a ghost.

"No, that's not right... the Green Lotus Core Flame cannot possess such might! What kind of technique is this?!"

No sooner said than done, the Golden Ancient Emperor Seal that pierced through the void was already closing in on him.

At this critical juncture, Ning Chen exhaled a deep breath of turbid air and then suddenly opened his eyes.

Deep within his pupils, cyan divine flames erupted like a volcanic explosion.

He slowly raised his right arm, extended a slender finger, and pointed it from afar toward the life-taking Emperor Seal that was now within reach.

"Green Emperor Finger."

The voice was calm, yet every word carried the weight of a thousand jun.

"One finger..."

"Heaven Covering!"

The moment the word "Heaven" fell—

The deep, boundless night sky above the two was suddenly filled with a cyan phantom of indescribable magnitude!

The phantom stood tens of thousands of feet tall, its head touching the firmament and its feet treading upon the void; its face was blurred, yet vaguely, it bore a striking resemblance to the silhouette of Ning Chen!

The phantom lowered its gaze, devoid of sorrow or joy, like a deity overlooking the mortal world, and then similarly extended a giant finger that covered half the sky, pressing down slowly.

It obscured the ten-thousand-mile firmament and eclipsed the galaxy of stars!

The moment the two made contact, an unimaginable roar erupted!

"CRACK—BOOM!!!"

A thousand miles of void shattered inch by inch like a mirror, and the vast ten-thousand-mile sea of sand below was swept by the indescribable shockwave as if by the invisible palm of a god!

Billions of tons of sand were instantly annihilated, forming a terrifying crater with a diameter of over a hundred miles, deep and bottomless, with edges as smooth as a mirror!

Above the firmament, the thick clouds were completely torn apart and evaporated, revealing a deep blue night sky that was eerily clear.

Yet, that night sky was covered in fine, spiderweb-like black spatial cracks that refused to heal for a long time, as if the very dome of heaven had been shattered!

The mere aftermath had already altered the heavens and the earth, creating a scene akin to the apocalypse!

"He actually... really blocked it! And so... effortlessly?!"

Gu Yuan's heart shook violently, and a thought he found hard to believe himself surged wildly, "He might not have even used his full strength yet?!"