Fierce Battle

If he had not been hiding anything, it would have been one thing. Though he might not have been a match for him, he would still have been confident in protecting himself.

But if the old man possessed a top-grade innate spirit treasure, even self-preservation might prove difficult.

Yet even in peril, Yuan Jie was not overly flustered, much less did he feel the slightest fear.

True, he was no match for the old man, but he was not alone.

Yuan Lun and Yuan Ling had also broken through to the mid-stage Da Luo Golden Immortal realm. The treasures in their hands were no fewer than his own, and Yuan Lun even possessed a top-grade innate spirit treasure. His combat strength was certainly no weaker than Yuan Jie's, perhaps even greater.

His true body had already broken through to the late-stage Da Luo Golden Immortal realm and possessed two top-grade innate spirit treasures. Unless his opponent also possessed a top-grade innate spirit treasure, even an ordinary perfected Da Luo Golden Immortal would be no match for him.

Once the three of them arrived and joined forces with him, what was there to fear from a perfected Da Luo Golden Immortal?

Even if they could not kill him, they could still easily defeat him.

In the blink of an eye, Yuan Jie secretly used the indistinct, origin-born connection between the four of them to instantly transmit a message to Yuan Lun, Yuan Ling, and his true body. He informed them of his situation and the enemy's cultivation, telling them to cross the void and come to his aid as swiftly as possible.

After doing all this, the chill in Yuan Jie's eyes deepened. He raised his gaze toward the sinister old man opposite him, the aura around him not retreating in the slightest.

Seeing that Yuan Jie, though at a disadvantage beneath the pressure of his Great Dao aura, still possessed an unwavering Dao heart and showed no fear, the old man's eyes flashed with surprise before greed and arrogance replaced it.

He held a jet-black longsword, its tip slanting toward Yuan Jie. The pressure of a perfected Da Luo Golden Immortal spread forth completely as he spoke coldly, his voice brimming with the arrogance and dominance of one who controlled everything. "Junior, you are no match for this Ancestor! Hand over the innate spirit treasures in your possession, and this Ancestor may spare your life and leave you a way out."

The greed in the old man's words was undisguised. His gaze remained fixed on the World Cauldron above Yuan Jie's head and the Cosmos Pearl before him, the avarice in his eyes nearly overflowing.

Two high-grade innate spirit treasures were an enormous temptation to him.

If he could obtain them and comprehend the Great Dao principles within them, using them to verify his own Dao, he might have a chance to advance further, break through to the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm, and become a true great power!

"Heh! Spare my life? You?" Yuan Jie sneered coldly, a contemptuous curl appearing on his lips.

Leaving aside who would ultimately prevail, even if he truly lost and was willing to hand over his treasures, would this old man really let him go?

He was not that naive!

"Good! Good! Very good!"

"Junior, you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Since you seek death yourself, do not blame this Ancestor for being ruthless!"

"Once this Ancestor captures you, I will surely cast your true spirit into the Nine Netherworld Flames and roast it for hundreds of millions of years, until you can neither live nor die!"

At once, the old man no longer wished to waste words. Although Yuan Jie possessed several high-grade innate spirit treasures to protect himself, with his mere mid-stage Da Luo Golden Immortal cultivation, he simply could not fully unleash their true might.

He was a genuine perfected Da Luo Golden Immortal who had immersed himself in this realm for countless years, his foundation incomparably deep. Could he truly fail to subdue a mere mid-stage Da Luo Golden Immortal?

With that thought, the old man's gaze darkened. A sinister poisonous mist churned in his eyes as he held nothing back. The Great Dao of Netherworld Poison circulated madly around him, and his vast Dao power poured entirely into the Netherworld Venom Dragon Sword in his hand. Endless Nine Netherworld poison and the resentment of hundreds of millions of yin souls coiled around the blade layer upon layer. In an instant, the black sword erupted with soaring black light, poisonous waves sweeping across the eight wildernesses.

"Black Venom Sword Qi!"

The old man roared sharply. A jet-black sword qi stretching hundreds of millions of miles suddenly condensed. Within it, countless savage Netherworld beasts and the phantoms of shrieking resentful souls churned and howled. Vast Netherworld poison blotted out the sky and sun, engulfing the surrounding hundred million miles in an instant and transforming them into a boundless black purgatory. All vitality between heaven and earth was corroded and plundered away in a moment.

At the same time, the old man's Dao power erupted completely. The Great Dao of Netherworld Poison became towering poisonous waves, sealing off the entire surrounding spacetime and cutting off every path through the void for Yuan Jie, leaving him no chance whatsoever to escape.

"Junior, today this Ancestor will let you understand that between the mid-stage and perfection of the Da Luo Golden Immortal realm lies an unbridgeable heavenly chasm!"

A cold shout resounded through the cosmos as the black sword qi descended with a force that could destroy heaven and earth. Wherever it passed, all things between heaven and earth were corroded and shattered by Netherworld Poison Dao power. Even the laws of the Great Dao of heaven and earth were contaminated and twisted by the poison, while spacetime collapsed layer upon layer. Fatal killing intent spread like a net cast over heaven and earth, completely locking onto Yuan Jie and leaving him nowhere to evade.

Yuan Jie's expression tightened, and a few traces of gravity appeared between his brows. He did not dare to be the slightest bit careless.

This strike was indeed terrifying, but with his cultivation foundation, he could easily withstand it. Still, he knew clearly that how could a perfected Da Luo Golden Immortal possibly possess only such methods?

The old man was surely concealing a killing move, merely waiting for the instant he let down his guard before unleashing a fatal trump card.

As thoughts flashed through his mind, Yuan Jie did not slow his movements. His own World Great Dao roared into motion and completely merged with the World Cauldron above him. The phantom of a complete world emerged, forming a world barrier that guarded his true body. Boundless World Great Dao power surged forth as he activated the Cosmos Pearl, and spacetime Dao power erupted in full, spreading in every direction.

Layer upon layer of spacetime stretched outward like tidal waves. One torrent of chaotic spacetime after another continuously scoured and wore away at the black sword qi, while turbulent spacetime power madly tore at the sword qi's origin. In but an instant, the menacing Black Venom Sword Qi was completely washed away.

Though he did not know what backup plan the old man possessed, passively taking blows was not his style.

"Kill!" With a cold shout, Yuan Yan poured all his power into the Cosmos Pearl, using the Spacetime Great Dao to rewrite the laws. The entire spacetime surrounding the old man suddenly underwent a devastating great annihilation. Space collapsed into ruins, shattering inch by inch into nothingness; time crumbled into ash, its scattered streams of light vanishing without a trace, completely trapping the old man in a dead end of extinction.

"Not good!" The old man's brow throbbed wildly as a fatal crisis rose from the depths of his soul, making every hair on his body stand on end. He did not dare hold anything back. The Great Dao of Netherworld Poison erupted to its peak, black poisonous power forming a heavy barrier that forcibly withstood the force of spacetime annihilation and held on for an instant.

Immediately afterward, he flipped his hand and sacrificed an ancient Netherworld Soul Banner. Its banner was black as ink and wreathed in the baleful aura of hundreds of millions of nether souls. It spread out a vast Netherworld Soul Domain, where nether souls were endlessly reborn and the barriers of the soul domain were unshakable.

Relying on the protection of the Netherworld Soul Banner, a mid-grade innate spirit treasure, the old man exhausted all his cultivation to forcibly blast through the annihilating spacetime.

"Kill!" Two chilling roars filled with killing intent rang out at once. Yuan Jie and the old man's gazes both turned piercingly cold, their killing intent soaring to the heavens. Without the slightest hesitation, they drove their respective Great Daos with all their might, unleashing one ultimate killing technique after another in a frenzied barrage. Every move was ruthless, each seeking to put the other to death.

The weight and inclusiveness of the World Great Dao, the profound extinction of the Spacetime Great Dao, the sinister corrosion of the Netherworld Poison Great Dao, and the treacherous savagery of the Netherworld Great Dao intertwined and collided madly. Every clash unleashed an energy storm capable of destroying heaven and earth.