Birds and beasts took flight in the valley, but the moment they tried to escape this dreadful place, they shattered into clouds of blood. Killing intent sharpened into blades, gathering into a domain.
Every part of Heavenly Blade's body became a piece of a great killing weapon, as though a peerless instrument of slaughter was about to emerge.
"When the demonic blade appears, all beneath heaven tremble; no slaughter can exhaust my enemies' blood."
He let out a long howl, then drove his five fingers savagely into his spine and drew out a blood-drenched, eerily beautiful demonic blade.
Nurturing a demonic weapon within the body-this was a forbidden secret art.
It had circulated throughout the world, but the Heavenly Blade Mantis were its foremost practitioners, the most ferocious and sinister of all.
The instant this demonic blade emerged, demonic winds howled and layers of bloody shadows rose, displaying a ferocity that shook the heavens.
"Have you any last words?" Heavenly Blade gave the demonic blade in his hand a sinister lick.
"Never mind. Take them to hell." Heavenly Blade grinned viciously at the silent figure before him. Even his mind seemed to have fallen under the demonic blade's influence.
The snow-white blade flashed out, cleaving the sky. Boundless blade light wove into a terrifying art of slaughter, like an ocean pouring backward, like floodwaters drowning Golden Mountain, reaching everywhere.
"The body alone is indestructible!" He Xian shouted, raising his hand to strike.
Clang!
Vast swathes of symbols embodying the laws appeared, revealing the most fundamental essence of heaven and earth. He Xian met the demonic blade with both hands. His body was the hardest of weapons.
In the blink of an eye, his fists collided with the demonic blade dozens of times, sweeping upward and blocking downward. Iron hands met the blade's edge head-on, scattering sparks with every impact. Each spark made the void waver, blazing hot and brilliant.
He Xian seemed even fiercer, attacking relentlessly with broad, sweeping movements. His hands became palms, fists, and seals, his indestructible golden body proving its worth again and again, with strength to uproot mountains and a spirit that overshadowed the world.
"Your physical body?" Even Heavenly Blade began to look astonished.
"Is this from the supreme scripture brought back from that feeble land?" he asked.
All the great Emperor Clans knew that, in the final years of Immortal Ancient, He Wushuang had brought an undying scripture back from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
So it was this astonishing.
They had all underestimated that scripture.
"You dare let your mind wander? Take my fist!"
What extraordinary talent He Xian possessed! His genius for battle was at its peak, and he naturally spotted the opening left by that fleeting distraction. He gathered his strength into a blow, and terrifying power erupted forth as blood energy that blanketed the stars poured down.
Boom!
The tremendous crash shook the heavens. He Xian punched the back of the blade, and the terrifying shock waves sent heaven and earth trembling wildly, blasting the entire domain apart.
Pfft! At last, blood was drawn.
Heavenly Blade's sword-wielding upper arm split open, spilling strings of bloody blossoms.
"Good! Good! Good! Let this meaningless contest end. Let us decide who lives and who dies." Heavenly Blade's pupils blazed, and the demonic blade in his hand radiated a lurid, bloody glow. Everything around him dimmed, leaving only surging colors, accompanied by a peculiar power that stalled thought and made the primordial spirit feel as though it had sunk into a mire.
Slow! Slow! Slow! Heavenly Blade's movements seemed to slow down. Even his blade seemed to turn limp and soft, without the slightest power to attack.
This was a terrifying notion, a terrifying train of thought.
"Heaven and earth, however enduring, will one day end; this hatred stretches on without cease!"
Heavenly Blade unleashed his strike. It was an interrogation of the Dao heart, an interrogation of the Great Dao.
He had forged a path of his own. He sought to influence He Xian with his own Dao and turn him into a slave in his grasp.
"Commanding the Great Dao with the blade. Good! Good!" He Xian cheered. At last, he had seen something different.
Naturally, however, he would not fall into his opponent's rhythm.
Universal Indestructible Golden Light, unfold!
This was a supreme divine ability he had comprehended from the Indestructible Scripture: a golden-body domain, Ten Thousand Laws Cannot Invade, nothing could break it, a brilliant expanse of radiance.
"Good." He Xian praised him again. He wanted to attack, only to discover that a terrifying power had sealed and enveloped him, leaving his entire body barely able to move.
"To think your body could reach such a level through a scripture alone. Truly inconceivable." Heavenly Blade loosened his tight grip on the blade as he spoke. He had never expected this outcome.
He had already brought out his weapon. By all rights, he should have held the advantage at every turn. How could this be happening?
After all, according to his earlier judgment, his opponent should merely have been somewhat stronger in body. He should absolutely have been able to break through.
After all, the demonic blade within him had been nurtured since his birth. Not only had he fed it with King Blood day and night, it was also the tangible embodiment of all his Dao and cultivation. From childhood, he had practiced no other divine abilities. There was only the blade!
"Nothing is impossible. Even the curse that no one can become a Supreme within five hundred years will someday be broken. You must understand that beyond the heavens lie other heavens, and beyond every great person stands another. Only then can you know yourself." He Xian spoke calmly, almost as though an elder were offering guidance to a junior.
"Good! Well said."
"I was a frog at the bottom of a well, gazing up at the sun and moon." For once, Heavenly Blade did not grow angry. Instead, he spoke with an expression of wholehearted agreement.
"But you will not defeat me! Victory will belong to me in the end."
He Xian said nothing, merely watching him in silence. Golden hair swept across his cross-shaped pupils, and an unrivaled aura rose from him, like an invincible being returned from the age of myth, with the conviction to pierce through every obstacle.
Their eyes met. Each sensed the other's resolve. Neither would permit himself to lose; each sought to be the sole voyager to cross the boundless sea of this great age.
Roar!!!
The next instant, both let out long howls. Their hair stood on end, their power erupting skyward, their auras roaring without pause. The mountain forests within the valley heaved and tumbled like waves of straw as both stepped into another realm of might!
"I shall bar the path of every prodigy in this era," He Xian murmured. Unprecedented conviction filled his eyes, which crackled with arcs of lightning. He resembled a forbidden god or demon born within golden light.
He loosely curled his five fingers, and the undying golden light around him formed an invincible heavenly blade, identical to his opponent's. He intended to defeat his enemy fair and square in the very field where that enemy excelled.
"After this battle, I shall go straight out into the world. I will no longer be that frog at the bottom of a well!" Heavenly Blade drew a deep breath. Roaring blood-colored flames ignited on the demonic blade in his hand, enveloping it completely in a horrifying, forbidden bloody radiance.
"Take another strike from me."
In an instant, Heavenly Blade's eyes blazed. Though he already stood at his peak, his aura rose rapidly, and he unleashed a strike that shook heaven and earth.
The sun and moon lost their light. It seemed that only a single line remained between heaven and earth, with nothingness on either side.
What terrifying power was this? Even a great cultivator of the Escape One Realm would likely suffer grievous injuries from taking this strike!
Among those of his own level, scarcely anyone could withstand it. Though it looked casual, this strike gathered all of Heavenly Blade's essence, energy, and spirit.
The demonic blade descended. Beneath its tip, everything became as fragile as paper-the Great Dao, vitality, time, the primordial spirit. Even the watching Supremes felt a chill. This strike could draw their blood.
Facing such a terrifying blow, He Xian naturally sensed its menace and sharpness. His body could not help leaning backward, inclined to avoid its cutting edge. In the end, however, he chose not to evade the strike.
He chose to withstand it head-on. He wanted to experience that feeling of standing on the edge between life and death.