The Saint Spirit's Tragic Death

Clang! Clang! Clang...

The cauldron rang out with the sound of the Myriad Daos. The four Supreme Beings struck with the force to split heaven and earth, while the Immortal Cauldron bore the light of the Great Dao and chaotic qi. Every blow landed on the furnace surrounding Meng Chuan, ringing against it.

Then something shocking happened. The furnace absorbed every Dao law and divine pattern, turning them into fuel for the flames tempering that peerless Emperor Body.

The Four Supreme Beings sucked in cold breaths. This defied belief. They had formed a supreme array and brought a supreme Immortal Artifact to bear, yet they still could not hurt him?

"How is that possible? It's only an incomplete technique!" An Xuan cried. Against everything they had unleashed, Dao Shi had blocked them with an incomplete technique?

The four Supreme Beings had established an array and added a supreme Immortal Artifact refined by a Quasi-Immortal King. Who in the Human Dao Realm could withstand them? Only the Immortals of Legend!

"Have the cracks on the furnace Dao Shi became vanished?" Wu Yu murmured, staring at the Dao Fire Furnace, which now radiated an aura of perfection.

"Was he toying with us just now?" Yu Qiong roared. The four had come to believe Dao Shi's technique had been complete from the start. The cracks must have been something this Heaven's Mandate Supreme Being had deliberately shown them.

No one could perfect a supreme technique in an instant!

Divine light flared in Kungu's eyes as he studied the furnace. He no longer cared whether the technique had been incomplete. He wanted to know what the furnace was, and at last he discerned something of its mysteries.

"Terrifying. He's refining our Daos, turning them into nourishment for his body, his Yuan spirit, and his own Dao. If he succeeds, he could all but push open the Immortal Gate!" Kungu sighed. Only someone of heaven-shaking talent could have created such a technique.

Kungu and the other three had lived for ages and seen no shortage of dazzling geniuses. They had seen similar techniques, too.

But those techniques only forged the user's body. The most remarkable tempered both the Yuan spirit and the Supreme Being's body. They had never seen a supreme technique like Dao Shi's.

To turn another's Dao into nourishment and strengthen every part of oneself was unheard of!

Such a technique had no place in the Human Dao Realm!

An Xuan's expression changed drastically. "He's stealing our Daos!"

"Not stealing," Yu Qiong said darkly. "Taking them by force..."

"His transformation needs time. Kill him now! If he succeeds, none of us will leave this place!"

"My Heart Replaces Heaven's Heart!"

"Three Lives Abiding in the Body!"

The four roared and unleashed their strongest Supreme Techniques. They drove the Immortal Cauldron to awaken its divine power, then smashed it down with overwhelming force. Chaos split apart, and Meng Chuan's body finally gave way, shattering once more.

Far away, Qingyue covered her mouth. This battle between emperors kept turning without warning, and she was desperately worried.

The divine sound of the Great Dao rang out as chaotic light surged. Meng Chuan struggled to reassemble his Emperor Body. Divine lights of every Dao whirled into a furnace that enclosed him again. Dao Shi's Dao Fire blazed, never once going out.

Scripture filled the air, as though three thousand Buddhas chanted for Meng Chuan, a hundred thousand gods and demons roared beside his ears, and all the ancient peoples held a sacrifice together. It was mysterious and terrifying. A powerful aura spread.

"Dao Shi! Even at death's door, you're trying to perfect your Dao and undergo your ultimate transformation. You'd make us your nourishment? You don't know how high the heavens are!" Kungu shouted.

Meng Chuan was audacious beyond measure. Even trapped in a desperate situation, he continued developing the Dao Fire Crucible. All things and all Daos were firewood for Dao Shi's Dao Fire, tempering his body and soul and advancing his understanding of the Great Dao.

"He really has grasped parts of our Supreme Daos. Even the Secret Techniques we strike him with are absorbed. If this continues, he might break free and make that final leap!" Wu Yu frowned.

"He is the most dazzling genius I have ever seen, among the very strongest Supreme Beings. But he has no chance. So what if he has absorbed and refined parts of our Daos? His transformation will take long enough for us to kill him," Kungu said.

The technique was indeed supreme. A successful ultimate transformation might even let him push open the Immortal Gate. But he had chosen the wrong moment. He could never succeed!

Their assault began anew. Again and again they awakened the Immortal Cauldron's divine power and unleashed every method they possessed. No one could withstand such an onslaught. Meng Chuan burst apart several times. Only a thin layer of Dao Shi's Dao Fire remained alight, and each time he reassembled his Emperor Body, it took tremendous effort.

"You overestimate yourself! Did you think you alone could stand against the four of us and this supreme Immortal Artifact?!"

The outcome was settled, and the Four Supreme Beings breathed easier. In moments, Meng Chuan would surely die. Even his Dao had grown unstable!

Yet this Heaven's Mandate Supreme Being from a universe in the Age of Dharma's Decline still shook them. To have held out so long was a defiance of heaven.

"Ah!"

A scream suddenly rang across the Eternal Starry Sky, drawing every eye. Even the four, poised to press their advantage in one final surge, could not help looking over.

"Hm? That Saint Spirit born from a Stone Fetus? Dao Shi's Emperor Weapon pinned him there with a casual strike?" An Xuan sounded almost mocking as he recalled the scene.

"Hm?"

"What's happening to him?!" Yu Qiong exclaimed. The change before him was astonishing.

A Saint Spirit at Great Perfection should have had a towering Saint Body brimming with the Great Dao. But now?

The Stone Fetus Saint Spirit's body shriveled at frightening speed. He looked less like a Saint Spirit at Great Perfection than an ordinary old man, his skin wrinkled and utterly dull.

Then his Yuan spirit rapidly withered until it was so faint it could barely be seen.

That was what had made the Stone Fetus scream.

"Dao Shi!" the Stone Fetus Saint Spirit wailed. The hatred in his voice pierced the universe, sending a chill through everyone who heard it.

Again and again, the Stone Fetus Saint Spirit roared Dao Shi's name and hurled every curse he knew. Blood-red color appeared across heaven and earth, with lightning flickering within it. This was the power of a Child of Heaven and Earth.

Bang!

At last, the Stone Fetus Saint Spirit turned to ash. Born only recently, this Saint Spirit at Great Perfection should have ruled the world and held ten thousand races in awe. Instead, he died here.

"What's that?" An Xuan stared in alarm at the white light that appeared where the Stone Fetus Saint Spirit had died.

"Not good!" Kungu's expression changed. He reached out with a hand that blotted out the sky, trying to scatter the light.

The colossal hand, capable of destroying an entire world, struck empty space. The white light vanished, then reappeared before the furnace in the cosmic starfield and merged with it.

Boom!

The Dao Fire, nearly extinguished a moment before, erupted and spread across a whole region of the starry sky.

The Great Dao's Voice rang throughout the universe. Mortal and cultivator alike turned toward it.

"Bastard!" Kungu's face went cold as he stared at the furnace.

"One last strike. If we can't kill Dao Shi, we leave through the Space-Time Passage at once!" Kungu said quickly. The other three paled. They remembered Meng Chuan telling the Stone Fetus Saint Spirit that he still had some use for him, and understood what had happened.

"Awaken the Immortal Cauldron's Ultimate Divine Mystery! Recreate its Supreme Might!"

"But..." An Xuan began. He was reluctant to do as Kungu said.

"No buts. Do it, and we might live. Refuse, and we will die!"

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