"Ant." At the sight of Wine Fox charging toward him, the Evil Emperor immediately unleashed one of his signature skills, Evil Eye Gaze.
Immense spiritual power battered her Sea of Consciousness, making her lose focus instantly. But a moment later, a Totem of Undying shattered, restoring her at once.
"Fifth Soul Skill, Wind Shadow!"
Wine Fox split into nine figures that attacked the Evil Emperor from different directions. Unfortunately, before an opponent who specialized in spiritual power, such tricks were exposed almost instantly, her true body laid bare.
But Wine Fox had never intended to confuse him with her clones.
"Eighth Soul Skill, Wind-Eroding Wither and Flourishing!"
Her true body and all eight clones unleashed the Soul Skill together. Forty-five fine needles of compressed wind shot out, piercing his tentacles and plunging into the Evil Emperor's enormous eyeball before exploding.
"Humans, you have truly enraged me!"
Against a human, an attack that exploded inside their organs would have inflicted severe injuries even if it failed to kill them. Against the Evil Emperor's enormous body, however, that damage fell somewhat short.
"Fourth Soul Skill, Withering Touch!"
Space rippled around the Evil Emperor, and several pitch-black tentacles emerged. He could sense a deadly threat from every one of them.
"How is this possible?!"
One of his tentacles shriveled the instant it touched them, and roughly one percent of his Soul Power was instantly dissolved.
Looking at the pitch-black tentacles surrounding him, each far more dangerous than that level-97 Super Douluo, the Evil Emperor made an immediate decision and swiftly assumed human form.
"Fifth Soul Skill, Cursed Laser!"
Li Chen raised his hand and fired a purple laser. The Evil Emperor had only just dodged it when Wine Fox appeared beside him.
"Ninth Soul Skill, Space-Time Turbulence!"
In Wine Fox's eyes, the world seemed frozen. Holding her Netherite Sword, she flashed past the Evil Emperor nine times before returning to her original position.
The entire process took less than a second. Although her Ninth Soul Skill's name included space-time, its true nature was extreme speed that left the outside world in a state of relative stillness.
Several bloody cuts instantly appeared across the Evil Emperor's body, with a power lingering in the wounds that prevented them from healing.
I can't drag this out any longer. The Evil Emperor had realized that these two were anything but ordinary, and immediately unleashed his strongest ability, Light of Time and Space.
A deep-blue light appeared. Everything around him instantly froze as it continued spreading. Within its range, the sky turned deep blue, the earth turned deep blue, and everything seemed to become deep blue in that instant.
Just as the Evil Emperor thought he could finish the pair off, he discovered that neither of them had been affected in the slightest.
"Evil Emperor, let me show you what a real Time Stop looks like."
With that, Li Chen unleashed the Command Block's Third Soul Skill. The entire world instantly turned gray and white, freezing the Evil Emperor's terrified expression in place.
Wine Fox stepped forward and drove her sword into his heart. Then, with several more slashes, she severed his hands, feet, waist, and neck.
Since the Evil Emperor possessed a time-stopping ability himself, his consciousness had not been frozen along with his body. But he could only watch, unable to resist.
Li Chen did not remain idle either. He raised his hand and sent another Cursed Laser through the Evil Emperor's body. This attack actually dealt no damage; instead, it dissolved Soul Power.
At the same time, thanks to the Wither Storm Martial Soul's passive ability, any successful hit could inflict the "Wither" effect on its target.
Countless tentacles then wrapped around the Evil Emperor's limbs. Under Time Stop, however, all their effects would only take effect simultaneously once the stopped time ended.
Seven seconds passed in a flash. Color returned to the world, and the Evil Emperor was battered straight back into his original form. Seven wither tentacles coiled around his body, rapidly devouring his life force.
The Evil Emperor's body rapidly shrank. Li Chen kept feeling that something was wrong, and sure enough, a moment later, the Evil Emperor vanished before his eyes. At the same time, a spiritual blast erupted in both his and Wine Fox's Seas of Consciousness.
Under the protection of "Invincibility," not even a ripple stirred within him, while another of Wine Fox's Totems of Undying shattered.
Seeing that the Evil Emperor had vanished, he had no intention of giving chase. He had refrained from using "Zeroing" this time only because, after his Martial Soul Evolution, he had wanted a thoroughly satisfying fight.
"Evil Emperor, I know you can hear me. From now on, the ten square kilometers around this stele belong to me. This is a notification."
After speaking, Li Chen activated the Teleportation Stele. This time, it took a while before his Soul Power connected to the other teleportation nodes.
After some thought, he decided to head to the Mandarin Duck Pot and get some immortal herbs.
Only after confirming that the pair's auras had disappeared did the Evil Emperor, who had hidden back in his lair, breathe a sigh of relief.
"What kind of monsters were those two humans? How can beings like that exist in this world?" Even now, the Evil Emperor still felt his heart tremble.
He had clearly surveyed this entire continent before, and its strongest individual had only been level 93. But those two humans were not human at all.
It was bad enough that a Soul Saint had withstood his tentacle attacks head-on, but he could even stop time. At that thought, the Evil Emperor suddenly froze again.
He had suddenly recalled the many times over the past two years when the entire world had been paused. It had been exactly like the Time Stop his opponent had just used.
He had come to this world through a space-time fissure and unexpectedly mastered Light of Time and Space, yet even that could only stop time within a limited area.
"Hiss-" The Evil Emperor sucked in a cold breath. If things truly were as he suspected, then even the Demon God Emperor could not stop time across the entire world for several seconds. He dared not think any further.
He hurriedly warned his offspring not to approach the area around the Nether Portal, then hid deeper within his lair to begin recovering from his injuries.
The instant the teleportation light faded, a rich herbal fragrance mingled with the smell of sulfur rushed to greet them.
"Remember, Yanyan, although this Nine-Section Changpu can cure a hundred poisons, it..."
Dugu Bo, who was teaching his granddaughter, sensed a disturbance from the Teleportation Stele beside him. He stopped and looked at the two people who had suddenly appeared.
Li Chen had changed so much that Dugu Bo failed to recognize him at first. Wine Fox, however, had barely changed, and he still recognized her.
"Are you that brat Li Chen?" Dugu Bo asked uncertainly.
"Yes. A little accident happened, so I came to get some more immortal herbs." Li Chen then looked at Dugu Yan and asked a question he already knew the answer to. "Old Poison, is this your granddaughter?"
At the mention of his granddaughter, Dugu Bo's face filled with pride.
"That's right. This is my granddaughter, Dugu Yan! Exceptionally gifted, she has already broken through level thirty at just fifteen years old. Yanyan inherited my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul. Her future achievements will be limitless!"
As Li Chen looked at Dugu Yan before him, his eyes shifted and another mischievous idea came to mind. He took out an Enchanted Golden Apple and said, "Come on, call me big brother, and I'll give you a present."
Dugu Yan looked Li Chen over. The young man before her appeared to be in his early twenties, with handsome features that nevertheless carried a wicked air.
Although he seemed to be on very good terms with her grandfather, even daring to address him that way, there was no way she would call him big brother on that basis alone.
"Hmph. If you want me to call you that, we'll have to see whether you have what it takes. I only acknowledge strength. If you can beat me..."
Before you continue