Slaying a Supreme

While Yuangeng battled Emperor Jun, at the other end of the universe, on a life-bearing star woven with azure and emerald, an equally exalted figure watched the supreme battlefield at every moment.

He was a man as upright and unyielding as an ancient pine, his long, gray-white hair hanging loose. He wore a dignified Qilin Treads the Heavens robe, and his slightest movements accorded with the myriad Daos, calm and natural.

Though his gray-white hair showed that he was no longer young, a closer appraisal revealed not the slightest decline in his might. That peerless confidence, composure, and domineering presence only further proclaimed his standing as one whose majesty held sway over the universe.

The reigning sovereign-the Qilin Emperor!

At that moment, the Qilin Emperor raised his head, his gaze piercing the void as he watched the two beings locked in mortal combat at the end of the starry sky. Only after a long while did worry cross his face, and he sighed softly:

"Emperor Jun... what kind of monster did he dig up...?"

In a battle between Supremes, especially for one whose vitality had run dry like Emperor Jun, every instant after ultimate sublimation was extraordinarily precious. The battle between the two Supremes had reached a fever pitch from its very outset, its intensity unmatched.

On the battlefield, Emperor Jun had already driven his Dao and arts to their utmost limits. As he stood there, the five great secret realms-the Sea of Bitterness, Dao Palace, Four Extremes, Dragon Transformation, and Immortal Platform-resembled five unfathomable black holes, their might surging to the heavens.

Clearly, this ancient sovereign who had once swept across the universe was no longer in as good a condition as at the start. His aura had begun to grow erratic. Though his vitality still towered into the heavens, close scrutiny revealed that the roots of his silver hair had begun to turn pale.

This was, after all, a battle fought through ultimate sublimation. The expenditure was simply too great.

Opposite him, Yuangeng stood with his hands behind his back beneath the manifestation of the Lunar Essence Black Qilin. He said nothing, looking down at Emperor Jun with an indifferent expression. That invisible might and oppressive presence remained suffocating.

In truth, Yuangeng was quite interested in this cultivator of the human body secret realms. Within those five great secret realms, developed to their utmost limits, he seemed to have glimpsed a trace of the Desolate Heaven Emperor's splendor.

"What other means do you have?"

Seeing Emperor Jun's aura subtly weakening, he sent out a calm ripple of divine sense. The Qilin Method manifestation behind him also stepped forward, the might of an Extreme Dao Supreme growing ever heavier. He wanted to force out more of his opponent's techniques, so he could better understand the mysteries of the human body secret realm method.

"Heh, heh, heh! Hahahahaha!"

At those words, brilliant light blazed in Emperor Jun's eyes. A low laugh escaped his lips, while the rumbling of the five great secret realms of the human body shook the heavens, cruel and cold.

"I refuse to yield! I will fight to my dying breath!"

As he spoke, the pounding of this sovereign's heart echoed throughout the heavens. The five great secret realms within him projected five entirely different visions into the sky, like five universes opening heaven and earth, their might growing ever more lofty.

Rumble!

Under Emperor Jun's imperial will, all five universes exploded. Imperial Dao laws spread everywhere, and their fragments immediately began to fuse and reassemble, merging at astonishing speed into a single humanoid universe.

Then that humanoid universe rose from nothingness. It stepped forward slowly and overlapped with Emperor Jun's figure, causing the Ancient Emperor's aura to surge uncontrollably once more.

"Quite impressive!"

Even Yuangeng was briefly astonished by this move. Originally, Emperor Jun had hardly counted among the strongest Extreme Dao Supremes, but the ways in which he had developed and wielded the five great secret realms of the human body were enough to earn Yuangeng's appreciation.

Unfortunately, an enemy was an enemy. His opponent made no attempt to conceal his malice and greed toward Yuangeng, so Yuangeng naturally had no reason to hold back.

With a slight stir of his thoughts, the four-horned black qilin manifestation behind Yuangeng vanished in an instant. His mind united with the Dao Seed within him, while he resonated with the world outside. Standing amid a sky full of Lunar Essence immortal light, he resembled a True Immortal beyond mortal dust, transcendent and apart from the world.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

As the Dao Seed within him pulsed, all that Lunar Essence immortal light, so dense it seemed impossible to dissolve, gathered and flowed into Yuangeng's body, making his presence ever more unfathomable.

Yuangeng formed several hand seals in the void. All that Lunar Essence mystic light gathered upon one of his hands, permeating it until everything from skin to bone turned the deepest black in existence, cold to the utmost extreme.

"Lunar Essence Finger!"

He softly intoned the name of the move. In an instant, visions gathered upon that pitch-black index finger: an Ancient Qilin Immortal descending from beyond the heavens with a trampling strike, a Lunar Essence Immortal Crow with a beak that pierced all things, and a Kun Immortal swinging its fish tail from the boundless void...

At last, all the visions united, becoming that single pitch-black index finger as it thrust toward Emperor Jun.

"Roar!"

Emperor Jun roared. He had completely fused with the humanoid universe, and the heaven-and-earth-cleaving Platinum Battle Axe in his hands had awakened to its utmost limit. Man and axe strode toward that dazzlingly brilliant black finger and met it with a savage blow.

Boom!

The instant the battle axe struck the finger, even the supreme battlefield could scarcely withstand it. Heaven and earth overturned, the ground shattered, and the ancient Supreme formation patterns within it failed to resist such might, vast swaths of them being ground away.

At the same time, throughout the universe, every Quasi-Emperor watching that battlefield felt a tearing agony. Many secret treasures cracked as well. Mere aftershocks of the battle had inflicted terrible harm even across the starry sky.

Elsewhere, on the Qilin's life-bearing star, the Qilin Emperor had risen to his feet at some point. The reigning sovereign narrowed his eyes slightly, inwardly calculating the fighting strength and limits of the two Supremes.

Hum!

Imperial Dao laws flowed, and a Qilin Staff cast from azure immortal gold appeared beside the old sovereign's hand. This was the Qilin Emperor's Extreme Dao Weapon, forged from the purest eternal blue gold. Cultivated alongside his own life, it had long since awakened its own spirit.

Weapon and sovereign shared a bond of mind. The Qilin Emperor knew that his Emperor Weapon was worried for him, but a confident smile remained on his face as he planted the eternal blue gold staff beside him.

Man and staff watched that battlefield, waiting patiently. Only when the surging ultimate Dao laws upon the supreme battlefield dispersed did their emotions stir slightly.

At the Cosmic Frontier, the supreme battlefield, said to date back to the age of the Heavenly Court, had been battered into ruin. Nearly half of it had collapsed, and the Supreme formation patterns inscribed within had almost completely vanished, leaving it unable to regain its former state.

Only the man in the pitch-black robe stood at ease upon the battlefield. United with the Dao, he resembled a True Immortal freed from mortal dust. One hand rested behind his back, while the other held half an axe haft cast from platinum. He seemed to be pondering, or perhaps savoring the battle that had just ended.

As for Emperor Jun, the sovereign who had slumbered for endless years deep within the Primordial Ancient Mine had vanished completely. The collision of imperial Dao laws had been too fierce. Not only was there no corpse, but not even a puddle of blood remained.

"What a truly terrifying ancient creature!"

The Qilin Emperor gazed at that battlefield. Only after a long while did he let out a quiet sigh. He shook out his qilin robe, and the myriad Daos rippled as a golden bridge immediately extended beneath his feet,

leading straight into the starry sky.

Then the gray-haired old sovereign stepped forward. Leaning on the Qilin Staff, he strode toward the supreme battlefield.

The Qilin Emperor understood full well that, regardless of who won or lost this battle, he had to appear. Extreme Dao beings were profoundly unstable existences. As the reigning sovereign who protected all living beings, he had to keep these unstable elements under control.