Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Treasure Art vs. Ancient Emperor Seal (1 / 2)

"The Misty Cloud Sect is under my protection."

"Yun Yun is my woman."

"You want to destroy the Misty Cloud Sect and kill my woman—did you ask my permission!?"

Boundless Dou Qi poured out, his limitless aura unleashed in full. Gu Yuan immediately felt the pressure.

There was no mistaking it. This aura definitely belonged to a Nine-Star Dou Sheng.

Yet among the Nine-Star Dou Shengs he knew, there were only the Soul Clan's Clan Chief, Hun Tiandi, and Zhu Kun, the Ancient Void Dragon's Old Dragon Emperor, who had disappeared without a trace many years ago.

Facing another Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint, Gu Yuan dared not be careless in the slightest. He stopped suppressing his aura and unleashed it completely.

The two mighty auras met in the air, beginning an invisible tug-of-war.

Chen Yang's gaze was icy as he raised one hand, streaks of purple lightning flickering in his palm.

"Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Treasure Art, thirty-sixth art: Thunderclap Hand!"

Bolts of lightning manifested, and a pair of enormous purple lightning hands burst through the air from behind Chen Yang.

The lightning shattered everything. Everything within sight lay within its attack range.

Chen Yang clenched his hand into a fist and punched.

The purple lightning hands behind him struck at Gu Yuan with the power of absolute destruction.

Realizing that Chen Yang was serious and that this blow came with the intent to kill, Gu Yuan's pupils trembled. He dared not show the slightest arrogance.

"Ancient Emperor Seal—five seals as one!"

Gu Yuan gathered all the Dou Qi in his body into his palms, and five gleaming golden energy seals appeared above them.

In an instant, the Mountain Splitting Seal, Sea Overturning Seal, Earth Covering Seal, Heaven Annihilating Seal, and Ancient Emperor Seal fused into one great seal, attacking Chen Yang's thirty-sixth art of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Treasure Art: Thunderclap Hand.

The two vast powers collided in midair, unleashing a terrifying shock wave.

The shock wave spread outward with tremendous destructive force, leveling countless peaks of the Misty Cloud Sect.

Fortunately, at the last moment, Chen Yang diverted some of his power in time to protect the Misty Cloud Sect's main peaks, sparing them from being caught in the blast and reduced to rubble.

While Chen Yang handled it as calmly as a gentle breeze beneath drifting clouds, Gu Yuan staggered back a step, nearly suffering internal injuries from the impact. His eyes filled with disbelief.

The Ancient Emperor Seal's five-seals-as-one attack rivaled a mid-level heaven-tier Dou Technique, yet it could not match the thirty-sixth art of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Treasure Art: Thunderclap Hand, which he had never even heard of.

Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his temple. For the first time in his life, Gu Yuan felt fear.

Thunderclap Hand was so powerful, yet it ranked only thirty-sixth among the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Treasure Art. Just how terrifying were the arts above it?

At that moment, Gu Yuan no longer wanted to be Chen Yang's enemy.

Making an enemy of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng at his own level, or even stronger in combat, for no reason at all was irrational no matter how he looked at it.

What Gu Yuan did not know, however, was that Chen Yang's Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Treasure Art was actually a skill library that gathered all its skills together. The skills within it were not solely offensive; they also included defensive skills and all sorts of support skills.

Gu Yuan had guessed one thing correctly: the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Treasure Art was indeed ranked by grade. The higher the rank, the more terrifying the art.

Chen Yang had chosen the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Treasure Art back then because the System Sprite had told him that its most terrifying arts rivaled the techniques of sages. Some could control the laws of heaven and earth, or even recreate heaven and earth.

However, Chen Yang had yet to unlock those few terrifying Heavenly Stems treasure arts.

Seeing Gu Yuan fall short and retreat a step, Chen Yang immediately struck while the iron was hot.

"Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Treasure Art, thirty-second art: Dusk Judgment Finger!"

Chen Yang shifted his hold on Yun Yun, wrapping just one arm around her.

He pointed a finger with his other hand. Vast energy condensed into a single point at his fingertip, then shot toward Gu Yuan at the speed of light without losing any of its power.

Gu Yuan was about to ask for peace, but Chen Yang gave him no such opportunity.

When fighting an opponent of equal rank, the greatest taboo was allowing oneself to become distracted.

That was because experts of equal rank struck with the intent to kill or, at the very least, injure their opponent. The slightest carelessness could lead to death.

Considering that Dusk Judgment Finger was the thirty-second Heavenly Stems treasure art, a full four ranks above the thirty-sixth art, Thunderclap Hand, Gu Yuan dared not hold anything back. He immediately unleashed his trump card.

"Ancient Emperor Shattering Nirvana Finger!"

Gu Yuan gave a sharp cry. An ancient, timeworn aura burst from his eyes as all the Dou Qi in his body flowed through his meridians toward a single point, gathering in his right index finger.

As his Dou Qi gathered, Gu Yuan's aura rose steadily. Even a phantom of an Ancient Emperor appeared behind him.

Gu Yuan turned his palm and pointed downward.

A finger appeared high in the heavens. Beneath it, the earth seemed so insignificant.

The Ancient Emperor Shattering Nirvana Finger had the power to shatter mountains and rivers. Unleashed with the full strength of Gu Yuan, a Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint, no one below Dou Di could withstand it.

Gu Yuan also hoped that this Ancient Emperor Shattering Nirvana Finger could finish Chen Yang, destroy the Misty Cloud Sect, and put an end to everything.

The Gu Clan and Soul Clan each had a Nine-Star Dou Sheng. The scales were already balanced.

They kept each other in check, so neither dared act rashly.

That was because the outcome of a fight between him and Hun Tiandi would directly determine the fate of their two clans.

Without absolute confidence, neither he nor Hun Tiandi dared fight the other recklessly.

But if a new Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint entered the picture, the situation would change.

The original balance would be broken, and the scales of victory would tilt toward whichever side this newly emerged Nine-Star Dou Sheng favored more.

In the end, Gu Yuan had still overestimated his Ancient Emperor Shattering Nirvana Finger.

This supposedly strongest Dou Technique below Dou Di was crushed by Chen Yang's thirty-second Heavenly Stems treasure art: Dusk Judgment Finger. At the same time, Gu Yuan lost the use of an arm because he failed to dodge in time.

It all happened in a flash. The moment Gu Yuan realized he could not withstand it, he tried to twist aside and dodge.

But his dodging speed was utterly inadequate before Dusk Judgment Finger's speed, which rivaled that of light.

A beam of dusk-colored energy struck his right arm, leaving the entire limb hanging limp like a mass of mud.

Being injured meant his combat strength would be greatly diminished.

Gu Yuan gritted his teeth and used his uninjured left hand to tear open a spatial rift and flee.

He fled in disgrace equal to the arrogance with which he had arrived.

If a Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint was determined to escape, even Chen Yang would struggle to keep him there.

Thus, Chen Yang did not immediately give chase.

Watching the spatial rift slowly close, Chen Yang fell into thought.

On the Dou Qi Continent, there were currently only three Nine-Star Dou Shengs.

They were Zhu Kun, the Ancient Dragon Clan's Old Dragon Emperor, Hun Tiandi, the Soul Clan's Clan Chief, and Gu Yuan, the Ancient Clan Chief.

Zhu Kun was trapped at the entrance to the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion and could not possibly appear here. Hun Tiandi almost never left the Soul Realm. That left only the Ancient Clan Chief, Gu Yuan.

Moreover, the Ancient Emperor Seal—five seals as one—and the Ancient Emperor Shattering Nirvana Finger he had used earlier had both exposed Gu Yuan's identity.

There was just one thing Chen Yang could not understand: why had Gu Yuan left his perfectly good Gu Clan to come to his Misty Cloud Sect?

Just to destroy the Misty Cloud Sect and kill his woman?