Even before Xiao Yan descended, the mocking expression on the distant Demon Emperor's face had vanished completely, replaced by solemnity.
He sensed an intensely dangerous aura from Xiao Yan, one that left him somewhat shaken.
The man before him seemed to pose an even greater threat than the Heavenly Emperor had all those years ago.
He found this hard to believe. He had never expected another such terrifying existence to emerge in the Great Thousand World. For the Outer Realm Evil Clan, this was hardly good news.
"To think that the Great Thousand World barely survived back then, even after staking nearly all its strongest beings, yet now someone like you has emerged again. What a pity," the Demon Emperor said in a low voice.
He drew a deep breath, his gaze darkening. "I am the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor. Who might you be?"
Behind him, towering demonic energy gradually surged. Even space began to shatter as a terrifying demonic might quietly spread.
Xiao Yan raised his hand. Resplendent flames gathered in his palm, gradually forming a slowly spinning fire lotus.
He smiled at the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor, and his calm voice rang out between heaven and earth.
"Flame Emperor, Xiao Yan."
When those words spread from the Heavenly Emperor Mausoleum, everyone abruptly felt the temperature of the world grow even more terrifying. The endless sea of fire sweeping through the void seemed to boil.
In the distance, the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor watched this scene with a grave expression. He stared at Xiao Yan standing atop the sea of fire, his eyes filled with wariness and dread.
"Then let me see whether the Heavenly Sovereigns of today's Great Thousand World have advanced or declined!"
The Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor spoke in a low voice, then abruptly stepped forward. Black ripples surged wildly from beneath his feet like enormous tidal waves.
"Demonize Heaven and Earth!"
At his thunderous shout, the land there rapidly turned pitch-black. Thick demonic energy rose ceaselessly from the ground, and within mere breaths, the land for hundreds of thousands of miles around had been transformed into demonic soil.
Everyone could sense that even the spiritual energy within that vast region had been tainted by demonic corruption. If they drew it into their bodies now, their own spiritual energy would inevitably be infected, gradually transforming them into demonic beings. It was tyrannical and evil to the extreme.
Facing the steadily expanding demonic soil, Xiao Yan merely smiled, extended a finger, and tapped the air.
Whoosh!
At the touch of his finger, the boundless sea of fire between heaven and earth roared forth, its flames blazing in resplendent colors.
The brilliant sea of fire swept across the land. Wherever it passed, the pitch-black demonic soil hissed piercingly, with faint shrieks rising from within. In its wake, the demonic soil was forcibly reduced to scorched earth.
In little more than a dozen breaths, nearly half the demonic soil created by the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor had been destroyed by the Flame Emperor's casual touch.
Despite losing much of his demonic soil, the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor showed little panic. Instead, he drew a deep breath and stamped his foot down again.
"Great Demon Art, Heaven-Devouring World-Destroying Hand!"
Boom!
The demonic soil spanning a hundred thousand miles shattered. The earth split open, and countless pillars of demonic energy tens of thousands of feet high shot into the sky. Amid that roiling energy, an indescribably enormous hand reached out from the depths of the earth.
"With strength like this, even though you are not at your peak right now, I find it somewhat surprising that you managed to best the Heavenly Emperor by a hair back then." Xiao Yan chuckled softly and extended his hand. A fire lotus slowly spun in his palm.
The fire lotus was breathtakingly beautiful, as exquisite as a work of art. Its colors were dazzling and varied, and a closer look would reveal that every petal was a different hue.
With a flick of his finger, the exquisite fire lotus flew out. It moved neither quickly nor slowly, yet seemed capable of ignoring distance itself. With a single sway, it appeared before the demonic hand, which stretched tens of thousands of miles across.
Compared to that demonic hand, the fire lotus was as tiny as a speck of dust.
Yet this dust-sized fire lotus made the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor's expression change drastically, a flash of shock crossing his eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he shot backward, boundless demonic energy forming millions of barriers before him.
Boom!
The fire lotus struck the demonic hand, and indescribable flames erupted. All of heaven and earth twisted. The roiling demonic energy evaporated almost instantly, while the terrifying impact of the flames blasted the demonic hand to pieces.
The endless, resplendent sea of fire swept onward, furiously destroying the millions of demonic barriers. At last, the shock wave pierced straight through space and engulfed the rapidly retreating Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor.
The space surrounding the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor was blasted into countless fragments, and the towering demonic energy evaporated without a trace.
At the site of the fire lotus's explosion, space had collapsed. The region for tens of thousands of miles around was pitch-black, as though everything within it had been destroyed by the blast.
Even after that terrifying explosion, a figure faintly appeared deep within the shattered space.
That figure was naturally the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor. However, cracks now covered the surface of his body. From a distance, he resembled a shattered porcelain doll.
Without hesitation, he transformed into a streak of pitch-black demonic energy, tore through space, and fled toward the space beyond the Heavenly Emperor Mausoleum at an astonishing speed.
However, his escape route led straight toward Futu Yijing.
Holding the Long Spear, Futu Yijing unleashed unprecedented radiance from his Endless Light Body, making the surrounding space even more solid.
Yet this degree of reinforcement could not stop the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor, who was intent on escaping.
"True Dragon Precious Technique: True Dragon Heaven-Binding Technique!"
A giant dragon roared forth, its enormous body coiling around the Devouring Heaven Demon Emperor. Against all expectations, it forcibly slowed his escape.
At that very instant, the space around them suddenly trembled violently. Then everyone saw it shatter as a huge hand seemed to pierce through from beyond space.
That enormous hand was extraordinarily wondrous, covered in azure dragon scales. An indescribable aura of majesty enveloped heaven and earth.
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