The Might of the Profound Art: Beating Ran Deng Down and Seizing the Heaven-Earth Ruler!

Seeing the Spirit Coffin Lamp buzzing and trembling, a crack already cleaved into it, Ran Deng's face filled with incredulous shock!

One had to know that the Spirit Coffin Lamp was one of the Four Primordial Spirit Lamps. Its defensive power was among the very best of Upper-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures. Yet even so, it had been directly cracked by a single blow, nearly shattered apart.

Thinking of this, he instinctively looked at the simple purple ruler, an unbelievable guess rising in his heart.

"Is this... a Slaughter Supreme Treasure?"

Ran Deng cried out in shock. He was so stunned that his expression had become somewhat twisted.

Looking at Zhao Gongming before him, stormy waves churned in his heart!

A Slaughter Supreme Treasure!

Even some Heavenly Dao Sages did not possess a single Supreme Treasure!

Yet Zhao Gongming before him was merely a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal. It would have been one thing for him to possess such a Peak-Grade Innate Defensive Spiritual Treasure, but he even had a Slaughter Supreme Treasure like this!

Just what was this fellow's background?

Crack!

Just as Ran Deng stood frozen in shock, the terrifying sharp radiance manifested by the Hongmeng Heaven-Measuring Ruler descended once more. With another cracking sound, the fractures on the Spirit Coffin Lamp grew increasingly dense. But just as Ran Deng began to feel his heart tremble in fear, after striking twice in succession, the Hongmeng Heaven-Measuring Ruler turned into a streak of light and returned to Zhao Gongming's hand. Even the protective white radiance surrounding Zhao Gongming slowly faded away.

"A Slaughter Supreme Treasure consumes far too much mana!"

Zhao Gongming's expression remained calm, but he inwardly thought, Only Heavenly Dao Sages can truly wield a Supreme Treasure and unleash its full power.

A Primordial Unity Golden Immortal could only perform a preliminary refinement of the Hongmeng Heaven-Measuring Ruler, and the power he could unleash was likely not even one ten-thousandth of its true might. Likewise, such a Supreme Treasure consumed an astonishing amount of mana. If he had not cultivated the Nine Revolutions Profound Art, with the Five Qi circulating within his chest and mana far surpassing that of an ordinary Perfected Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, even a single strike might have drained him dry. Not to mention that maintaining the Twelfth-Rank Purifying World White Lotus, such a Peak-Grade Innate Defensive Spiritual Treasure, consumed an equally astounding amount of mana.

In the Primordial World, fighting across realms had always been extraordinarily difficult. Even with a Supreme Treasure in hand, if one could not activate it and unleash its power, its usefulness would still be limited.

Especially when the gap was as vast as a chasm, like that between a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal and a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

"This fellow... has exhausted his mana?"

Ran Deng had just recovered from his shock. Seeing the Hongmeng Heaven-Measuring Ruler return to Zhao Gongming's hand and the white light around him vanish, how could he fail to understand what had happened? A Supreme Treasure was not something a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal could wield. Once one's mana was exhausted, even a Supreme Treasure would find it difficult to display any power.

"Die!"

Almost instinctively, Ran Deng immediately sacrificed the Heaven-Earth Ruler. It turned into a streak of light, carrying terrifying might as it slashed viciously straight toward Zhao Gongming.

Strike him while he was sick—take his life.

Naturally, he would not foolishly wait for Zhao Gongming to recover his mana.

Whoosh!

The Heaven-Earth Ruler swirled with currents of heaven and earth, radiating sharp light as it reached Zhao Gongming in an instant.

Yet facing this fierce strike, Zhao Gongming seemed to have been frightened stupid. He merely stood there without moving, not even attempting to evade!

"He's dead for sure!"

Ran Deng looked supremely confident. How could a mere Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, without a defensive spiritual treasure, withstand his Heaven-Earth Ruler? Once Zhao Gongming fell, both that Slaughter Supreme Treasure and the Peak-Grade Innate Defensive Spiritual Treasure would naturally fall into his possession. For a mere Primordial Unity Golden Immortal to possess such opportunities, he surely carried no small secret. If Ran Deng learned that secret, perhaps he too might gain that sliver of an opportunity to become a Saint!

At that thought, the sneer on Ran Deng's face nearly solidified into substance. But at that very moment—

Clang!

"What?"

A crisp clash of metal rang out, and the smile on Ran Deng's face abruptly froze. In the next instant, with an expression as though he had seen a ghost, he watched the incomparably sharp Heaven-Earth Ruler strike Zhao Gongming's body viciously. Yet it was as though it had struck a Great Witch, leaving only a faint white mark. It could not even break through his defenses in the slightest!

"How is that possible?! Are you a Great Witch of the Witch Race?"

Ran Deng's eyes widened as a guess instinctively surfaced in his heart. In the Primordial World, only the Witch Race possessed such terrifying physical bodies!

But he quickly shook his head again. After all, the Witch Race had no Primordial Spirit!

"Not of the Witch Race, yet his body is terrifying to such a degree!"

"A... a Body-Refining Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal?"

Ran Deng suddenly stiffened. As though he had thought of something, he sharply looked at Zhao Gongming, the shock on his face nearly becoming tangible!

Other than a Body-Refining Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, he could think of no other possibility!

But body refinement in the Primordial World consumed resources at a truly horrifying rate. The resources required to become a Body-Refining Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal were enough to make even a Heavenly Dao Sage's heart ache!

It would have been one thing for this fellow to possess a Slaughter Supreme Treasure, but he had even cultivated his physical body to the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal level. Even a direct disciple of a Saint could not be this terrifying, could they?

"Fellow Daoist, what happened earlier was all a misunderstanding..."

Ran Deng forced a smile onto his face, but retreat had already taken root in his heart. What a joke. A Body-Refining Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal was practically invincible among those of the same realm.

Even with his full power unleashed, he could not break Zhao Gongming's defenses. Meanwhile, Zhao Gongming only needed one punch to beat him half to death!

How was he supposed to fight this?

"A misunderstanding?"

Zhao Gongming smiled without smiling. As the Profound Technique within his body circulated, a fist shrouded in hazy clear light smashed down viciously.

If that earlier strike had landed on any other Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, they would likely have perished in an instant. Coupled with the fated karmic entanglement between them, Zhao Gongming naturally would not show even the slightest mercy. As this punch descended, Myriad Heavens Worlds rumbled. The power of a full Twenty-Four Heavens Worlds blessed his body, driving the might of this punch nearly to its limit. Even space itself was smashed apart layer after layer!

"What?!"

Feeling the terrifying power contained within that punch, a crazed warning rose in Ran Deng's heart. Almost instinctively, he activated the Heaven-Earth Ruler again, trying to block it. But at the very instant the two collided, Zhao Gongming's punch sent the Heaven-Earth Ruler flying away. Then, without losing any momentum, that fist smashed viciously into the Spirit Coffin Lamp once more!

Crack!

The Spirit Coffin Lamp had already been covered in cracks, nearly split apart by the Hongmeng Heaven-Measuring Ruler. Now, as Zhao Gongming's terrifying punch landed, it finally could endure no more. With a crisp sound, it was blasted apart by Zhao Gongming's fist before Ran Deng's horrified eyes. Then the fist wreathed in hazy clear light struck Ran Deng squarely in the face.

"Ah!"

Ran Deng felt as though a Great Witch had smashed him head-on. Darkness flashed before his eyes, and his face was directly caved in by the blow. The terrifying pain made him cry out miserably, and he nearly passed out from it. If he had not been the first coffin between heaven and earth to take form, with an exceptionally sturdy body, that one punch might have killed him on the spot.

Even so, a single punch had gravely injured him, leaving him in unbearable agony!

But before Ran Deng could even catch his breath, fists wreathed in hazy clear light shattered space and rained down upon him in a relentless barrage.

Bang! Bang! Bang!