Below, across the Nine Provinces, countless living beings looked up and saw only two "suns" colliding wildly above the clouds, shining so brightly that day and night became indistinguishable.
They were evenly matched.
The longer Hongjun fought, the heavier his heart became.
Though this incarnation of his was not his true body, it still possessed the might of a Peak Ancestor God. He had thought that dealing with a Shennong reduced to a remnant soul would be effortless, but Shennong had embraced death. Burning his remnant soul, he had actually fought Hongjun to a standstill. There would be no victor in the short term.
"Shennong, you cannot protect them." Hongjun forced his opponent back with one palm strike. His majestic voice, carrying Divine Sense, swept through the void in every direction. "Ancestral Dragon of the Dragon Clan! How long do you intend to hide?! Will you just watch this remnant soul dissipate for your sake?!"
The thunderous challenge pierced the void and resounded through every corner of the world.
Shennong staggered to steady himself after being driven back. His divine body flickered in and out, and soul-blood-like divine radiance dripped from the hem of his ancient robe.
The battle high in the sky had reached its fiercest point.
Beneath the shattered heavens, Shennong and Hongjun fought with no end in sight. Palm winds and divine laws repeatedly smashed the void apart. Neither could break free, and neither could suppress the other.
At that moment, an overpowering stench of blood suddenly surged into the sky from the direction of the Demon Plains. Even the two men battling hundreds of miles away could smell it clearly.
Hongjun drove Shennong back with another palm strike. The radiance around him abruptly expanded, illuminating clouds for a thousand miles as he let out a cold