In an instant, Ling Xiao unleashed one of the Yellow Springs Evil Emperor's ultimate techniques, Twilight of All Heavens.
The story unfolds in three phases: the Epoch Finale, Lawless, Great Dao Decay, culminating in the ultimate mystery of the Twilight of All Heavens.
Once unleashed, the entire world descends into twilight, progressing through three stages until finally, everything Destruction.
This was the first time he had used all three major techniques in their entirety, and it was also the result of Ling Xiao's seclusion during this period of time. He had finally mastered the third stage, the most difficult to cultivate, the Great Dao Decay.
When the Great Dao Decay, the will of Twilight of All Heavens descends upon the heavens.
Whoosh whoosh...
Between heaven and earth, howling winds and wailing ghosts filled the air; the clouds dispersed, and the laws of nature raged.
"Holy crap! What happened? What kind of move is that?"
The gods were all shocked. The entire world before them darkened, and even their Divine Eye could not see anything up close, as everything was obscured by a mysterious force. They had no idea what had happened.
"Terrible, I can't see anything at all."
"I can feel the power of the laws collapsing and decaying!"
The old temple master's eyes widened, his heart trembling. The power of this move was unparalleled in the world, extremely terrifying, and unimaginable that it would appear in this duel.
Boom... whoosh...
A short while later, the booming sound in the heavens and earth disappeared, dawn broke, and everything calmed down, as if nothing had happened.
However, at this Houtu, Houtu suffered a severe blow. The seven paths of Reincarnation behind her head shattered. Her body appeared intact, but her inner self was deeply wounded.
At this point, she was barely alive.
In contrast, Ling Xiao remained calm and composed, as if nothing had happened. In fact, he was perfectly fine and in perfect condition.
Seeing this, the gods gasped in shock; the Reincarnation God General, on whom they had placed such high hopes, had actually been defeated.
Moreover, the defeat was so humiliating that they didn't even manage to scratch their opponent.
This was something no one had expected.
After all, Houtu was the Palace Master's disciple, an extraordinary person, ranking second, yet it was still of little use.
The stark contrast left the gods feeling as if they'd been slapped across the face, leaving them completely stunned.
"Reincarnation God General, do you still have the strength to fight again?"
Ling Xiao gazed at Houtu's broken body and asked softly, a touch of melancholy in his heart.
Houtu was unaware of his true identity, little did she know that the one who defeated her was still that old friend.
I wonder what she will think when the truth comes out.
"You won. I'm exhausted. I gave it my all, but you're still the same. The gap between us is huge. There's no point in continuing."
Houtu's expression was sorrowful and helpless, her eyes somewhat vacant. Even with her proud seventh Reincarnation and eight transcendent powers, she still couldn't defeat her opponent.
The key issue is that her opponent is at the sixth level of the Great Dao, and she can't defeat him with either upper or lower attacks.
This unprecedented sense of frustration drove her to the brink of madness.
"You're right, you've never been able to beat me, not even once."
Ling Xiao nodded and said this.
Has it always been like this?
Houtu was slightly taken aback, then somewhat annoyed. Wasn't that a bit too arrogant?
What does "always been this way" mean?
You're talking as if I've ever lost to you before.
Ling Xiao ignored her and looked at the old palace master, asking with a smile.
"Am I going to be the second Divine General from now on?"
The old temple master paused for a moment, then stood up from his cloud throne. "Of course, you defeated Reincarnation, so you should succeed to the position of the Second Divine General."
He composed himself and spoke loudly.
The result was unsatisfactory, but as the temple master, I couldn't say much.
Ling Xiao cupped his hands in response.
"Ye Chen, there's no time like the present, let's settle this once and for all!"
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out, Shen Wuxu stepped forward, shouting with a serious expression.
"You want to challenge me?" Ling Xiao laughed, looking at him in surprise, not expecting this guy to step forward on his own initiative.
"Enough with the nonsense, it's only a matter of time. Don't you want the position of the First Divine General?"
"You have earned my approval and are fully qualified to be my opponent."
Shen Wuxu shouted loudly, his imposing manner seemingly unstoppable. In reality, he knew he would be challenged sooner or later, so he might as well take the initiative.
He was unsure of himself, feeling that Ling Xiao's strength was somewhat excessive, but a short, sharp pain was better than a long, drawn-out one. If things dragged on like this, he might lose even more opportunities.
Therefore, Shen Wuxu intends to settle things now.
"Alright, let's have a showdown then."
Ling Xiao nodded slightly.
"Take this!"
Shen Wuxu ceasing, like an Ancient God emperor, with overwhelming momentum.
Based solely on this aura, Ling Xiao could determine that Shen Wuxu was stronger than Houtu.
While both are at the realm of mastering the power of the eight transcendent paths, Shen Wuxu's mastery is far more profound.
"Divine Stele Palm!"
Shen Wuxu's heart pounded as if the voice of the Great Dao resonated within him. With a roar, he unleashed a massive hand, his magical power coalescing into a divine stele. This stele, inscribed with Daoist script, stretched across the heavens and the universe, its size astonishing.
Once it comes down, it can smash everything to pieces.
This is an extremely powerful and domineering force, capable of turning the universe into paper.
Faced with such a domineering palm strike, Ling Xiao retaliated in kind, raising his hand and conjuring up thousands of palm shadows. These palm shadows roared out, capable of annihilating the heavens.
The slightest movement produced a rumbling sound like a giant millstone crushing something; each palm strike seemed light and powerless, but in reality, it was as heavy as heaven and earth.
To overcome the strong with the weak, to use minimal force to achieve maximum effect.
Boom...
A terrifying power swept across the heavens and earth, shaking the vast Divine Hall.
Ling Xiao remained unmoved, defusing the opponent's attack with every move.
Immediately afterwards, he transformed his palm into a fist and unleashed a powerful punch. Divine light shot out, terrifying and awe-inspiring, truly causing the sky to collapse and the earth to cave in.
The boundless and limitless power was transmitted outwards. Before Shen Wuxu could even react, the terrifying fist intent sent him flying backwards, with explosions occurring repeatedly on his body.
"Ah..."
Shen Wuxu roared, his body erupting with boiling magical power. If it weren't for the special domain protecting the Divine Hall, it would have collapsed and turned to ashes long ago.
"Fire calamity!"
Ling Xiao opened his mouth and spat out a ball of divine fire, forming the character "fire." The vast sea of fire instantly enveloped his opponent. This was the fire of the heart, the Origin Fire. No one could escape once enveloped by it.
The battle between the two quickly reached a fever pitch. Shen Wuxu lived up to his reputation as the number one divine general; even though Ling Xiao was very strong, he couldn't easily gain the upper hand.
The opponent's resistance was initially quite strong.
However, there was a difference in strength between the two. After a battle, Shen Wuxu was at a disadvantage and his scalp tingled from the blows.
"I give up, I give up, please stop fighting!"
Finally, after a period of inner struggle, Shen Wuxu relinquished his last shred of dignity and chose to admit defeat.
The gods were not overly surprised, because it was obvious to anyone with eyes that there was a difference in strength between the two.
Shen Wuxu's decision to concede defeat was indeed a wise move.
Under the witness of the gods in the Avici Divine Hall, Ling Xiao ascended to the top and became the First Divine General.
What no one knew was that this was merely one of his clones.