A slightly languid laugh seemed to drift in from beyond the void. As it rang out across the world, endless flames suddenly rolled out of nothingness, and a terrifying heat enveloped the Heavenly Emperor Mausoleum.
Under that heat, the demonic aura that had filled the Heavenly Emperor Mausoleum evaporated at an astonishing speed.
Space tore open beside the spatial passage Futu Yijing had blasted apart, and boundless flames roared out. Those flames were dazzlingly colorful, yet they also radiated a danger that made hearts tremble.
Within the sea of fire, a tall, slender figure walked slowly forward. With every step he took, even the surrounding space seemed to shudder, as though it could not bear his arrival.
He was a man dressed in black, tall and slender, with a slightly languid smile on his face. Brilliant flames burned over his body. From afar, he looked like a Flame God who commanded all fire, exuding an indescribable pressure.
Before he appeared, the Demon Emperor's demonic aura had all but shrouded the world, and even heaven and earth had trembled and bowed beneath his demonic might. Yet when the black-clad man arrived, everyone could feel that all-pervading demonic aura rapidly melting away. Even the Demon Emperor's might was being steadily suppressed.
Everyone still alive within the Heavenly Emperor Mausoleum stared at the newcomer in shock. They were clearly shaken. Who could this be, to suppress even a terrifying being like a Demon Emperor?
Futu Yijing slowly let out a breath of relief.
Things would not turn out too badly now.
"He's the Flame Emperor of the Endless Fire Domain!"
At last, a knowledgeable expert recognized the newcomer and could not help crying out, his voice thick with awe and reverence.
"The Flame Emperor?!"
A single stone stirred a thousand waves. Every expert present was dumbstruck. In the Great Thousand World, the Flame Emperor of the Endless Fire Domain was a living legend, one of the world's true pinnacle experts!
Behind Mu Chen, Xiao Xiao also lifted her pretty face to look at the figure who had finally appeared. Her rosy lips pursed, but her taut body quietly relaxed.
"You lousy dad, you finally showed up," Xiao Xiao said, pursing her lips in clear displeasure.
In all honesty, she was deeply unhappy with Xiao Yan's late arrival.
Had Futu Yijing not been able to take such a beating, drawing the Demon Emperor's attention single-handedly while still watching out for them, they would have died alongside the Ancient Heavenly Emperor today.
"Ahem, you little girl really won't listen to reason. I wasn't late on purpose. Pinpointing this space took some time!" A voice suddenly rang out, and the space before Xiao Xiao and the other two women warped. Xiao Yan appeared in front of them, shrugging helplessly, without a trace of the Flame Emperor's dignity.
Xiao Xiao merely gave a soft snort and ignored him.
Smiling, Xiao Yan reached out and ruffled Xiao Xiao's hair, then greeted Lin Jing and Nine Nether beside her. His gentle manner left both women momentarily stunned.
Then Xiao Yan patted Mu Chen, who had stood in front of the three women, on the shoulder. "Well done, young brother. You're a real man."
Mu Chen shrugged. "I couldn't very well let the women die before me."
Xiao Yan smiled and said nothing more.
Finally, he turned his gaze toward Futu Yijing in the distance. The Endless Light Body stood behind Futu Yijing, who stood upon a throne like a king of light.
"Your actions did justice to the title of the Great Thousand World's Demon-Slayer King. You fought a Demon Emperor for so long, yet your injuries still count as minor. That blade wound on you was inflicted by the Heaven-Slaying Demon Emperor, wasn't it?" Xiao Yan asked with a smile.
The Heaven-Slaying Demon Emperor was a pinnacle Heavenly Demon Emperor of the Outer Realm Evil Clan and the chief of the Blade Demon Clan.
"Yes." Futu Yijing nodded.
At Futu Yijing's confirmation, Xiao Yan clicked his tongue in amazement. Even he thought Futu Yijing's ability to take a beating was downright absurd.
A Demon Emperor whose strength was equivalent to a late-stage Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign had actually failed to kill this young man with a single slash.
But on second thought, unless it was someone like the Heaven-Slaying Demon Emperor, the Great Thousand World's pinnacle experts would never have tolerated a Demon Emperor chasing one of their people all over the continent.
"How did you get away?" Xiao Yan's interest was piqued now, and he paid no attention whatsoever to the grim-faced Demon Emperor nearby.
Escaping a Heavenly Demon Emperor while only in the Earthly Sovereign Realm-Xiao Yan searched his own heart and knew he could not have done it.
And Futu Yijing had evaded that Heavenly Demon Emperor for a very long time.
Escaping the Heaven-Slaying Demon Emperor had involved none of Futu Yijing's divine abilities or other methods. In fact, if he could have escaped through those means, he could have killed this Demon Emperor today before he fully revived.
There would have been no need for Xiao Yan to show up.
So, to satisfy the curiosity of his fellow Earthling, Futu Yijing hid nothing.
"I plunged into a space-time storm. I was lucky the first time and got transported into the territory of a minor race within the Outer Realm Evil Clan. Their strongest member was only a Complete Earthly Sovereign."
Heaven only knew how red Futu Yijing's eyes had grown when he discovered that the strongest member of that minor race was a Complete Earthly Sovereign.
He unleashed everything in the True Dragon Precious Technique and slaughtered the entire race, wiping them out!
Though he had partly been venting his anger, that minor race truly deserved extermination. They had captured many women from the Great Thousand World and used them as cultivation cauldrons, both to slake their lust and to cultivate.
But after Futu Yijing killed every member of that race, all the captive women chose to take their own lives. Not one chose to follow him back to the Great Thousand World.
It was then that the young man from Earth, who had always held goodwill and beautiful hopes for the world, transformed into the brave, battle-hardened Demon-Slayer King of the Great Thousand World he was today.
"It was like drawing lots. Whenever the Heaven-Slaying Demon Emperor was about to catch me, I'd plunge into another space-time storm and enter a random region of the Saint Abyss Continent. I kept repeating that, and my luck held up through many of the later attempts. He struck this blow when he got tired of playing cat and mouse."
Although Futu Yijing spoke as lightly as a breeze beneath clear skies, anyone could hear the hardship behind his words.
He had been like a crazed gambler, staking his own life on the wager that his luck would hold!
"I'm really not envious of how strong this guy is anymore," Xiao Xiao murmured somewhat dazedly after hearing Futu Yijing's account.
Mu Chen and the others nodded in agreement. Even someone like Mu Chen, who did not know exactly how powerful the Heaven-Slaying Demon Emperor was, could tell from the Flame Emperor's tone that he was a being who gave even the Great Thousand World's pinnacle experts headaches.
No wonder he could take such a beating. If he could not, he would have died long ago relying on luck alone.
Had they known that Futu Yijing had always lived by the creed, "Attack without defending, and stand unrivaled beneath heaven,"
They would have said, "When you can take a beating like that, what do you need defense for?"
With his curiosity satisfied, Xiao Yan turned his gaze toward the Demon Emperor and took a step forward.
The very air of heaven and earth seemed to change in that instant, as an invisible pressure began to envelop the world.
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