The Four Heavenly Kings Arrive Together, Yang Jian Tears the Heavenly Net with One Finger!
Nine Heavens Thunder Sea crashed down on Peach Mountain.
Yang Jian raised his hand to shield Yao Ji, and fifty Divine Elephant Particles shuddered in unison.
The next instant, the first layer of the lightning sea shattered before his palm.
Boom!
Lightning surged backward, illuminating the entire split-open Peach Mountain.
Tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers stood atop the clouds, their battle banners forming an unbroken expanse. Thunder Department sigils, Dipper Department starlight, and Heavenly River Water Aura—the three forces pressed down on the surrounding void.
Yao Ji's face paled slightly.
After years of suppression, she had less than a tenth of her immortal power left. At her peak, she could still have protected Yang Jian for a time.
But now, all she could do was watch the Heavenly Court's army surround Peach Mountain so tightly that not even water could seep through.
"Jian..."
Yang Jian did not look back.
He merely said softly, "Mother, stand behind me."
As his words fell, four figures stepped out from behind the thunderclouds.
Eastern Holding the Kingdom.
Southern Growth.
Western Wide Vision.
Northern Much Learning.
All four were guardian heavenly kings personally appointed by Haotian, charged with guarding the Heavenly Gate. Their renown spread throughout the Thirty-Three Heavens.
Now, clad in divine armor and wielding magical treasures, they stood side by side before the formation atop the clouds.
The Heavenly King of Growth held his blue-edged sword horizontally, and its light pressed down a thousand feet.
"Yang Jian!"
"You forcibly broke open Peach Mountain, destroyed the Heavenly Emperor's decree, and abducted Fairy Yunhua, Yao Ji."
"The Heavenly Emperor's Edict has been issued."
"Hand over Yao Ji, sever both your arms, and follow us to heaven to answer for your crimes. You may yet suffer less of the Thunder Prison Soul-Refining Punishment."
"If you continue to defy the command, all of Peach Mountain shall fall beneath Heavenly Punishment!"
His voice rolled down, carrying the oppressive weight of a Heavenly Court divine general's laws.
An ordinary immortal would have felt their mind reel beneath the pressure of those words.
Yang Jian looked up.
His eyes were cold, without the slightest ripple.
These so-called heavenly kings were no different from the heavenly soldiers who had hunted him and his sister.
They were all crushing others beneath Haotian's heel.
They all deserved to be smashed.
"Shut up."
The two words fell.
Boom!
Fifty Divine Elephant Particles shuddered in unison.
Terrifying blood energy shot skyward, becoming a dark-gold plume of beacon smoke that slammed straight into the oppressive force of the Heavenly King of Growth's laws.
Crack!
That voice of judgment, bearing the might of heaven itself, collapsed on the spot.
The Heavenly King of Growth went pale. The clouds beneath his feet exploded, and the impact sent him staggering several steps backward.
Even his sword hand had gone slightly numb.
"Blood energy alone can break my voice of law?"
Shock finally surfaced in the Heavenly King of Growth's eyes.
He had thought Yang Jian had merely used some evil art to forcibly split Peach Mountain.
But now, the power inside this youth seemed dense and weighty to an almost absurd degree.
Killing intent flashed in the Heavenly King of Wide Vision's eyes.
"No need to persuade him further."
"By the edict, subdue Yang Jian first, then shackle Yao Ji!"
The Heavenly King of Much Learning immediately raised his hand.
Tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers activated their magical power at once.
Boom!
The Heavenly Net Formation fully unfurled.
Thunder Department sigils anchored the net's heart, Dipper Department starlight sealed every direction, and Heavenly River Water Aura became layer upon layer of chains, winding around the void over Peach Mountain.
This Heavenly Net was no longer an ordinary magical treasure.
Even an ordinary Golden Immortal caught inside would be held for dozens of breaths.
And those dozens of breaths would be enough for the Heavenly Court's main force to complete the encirclement.
Yao Ji's expression changed.
"Jian, be careful!"
Yet Yang Jian did not retreat.
He looked up at the vast net blotting out the sky, a glint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
"The net's heart lies in the lightning sigils."
"The formation's anchors lie in the star positions."
"The water vapor only seals the escape routes."
He slowly raised his right hand, holding his fingers together like a blade.
"Three new layers of skin, but the bones are just as brittle."
Before his words had faded,
the Hell Furnace compressed the power of fifty Divine Elephant Particles into a single line, channeling all of it into his fingertips.
He slashed toward the sky.
No immortal light exploded.
No divine ability manifested.
There was only a dark-gold streak of power, cleaving toward the Thunder Department sigils at the very heart of the Heavenly Net.
Within distant cloud shadows, Yu Ding Zhenren's pupils contracted slightly.
In his eyes, Yang Jian's finger strike had already become more than brute force.
It was the embryonic form of the law of power.
Simple.
Direct.
Yet terrifyingly precise.
The next instant,
Rip!
The Heavenly Net split open from its heart.
The Thunder Department sigils shattered on the spot. The Dipper Department starlight fell into chaos, and the Heavenly River Water Aura was forcibly torn apart.
Tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers grunted in unison.
Many spat blood on the spot, and one corner of the battle formation instantly collapsed.
Atop the clouds, the expressions of all four heavenly kings changed drastically.
One finger.
Just one finger.
The formation they had laid together with tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers had been torn open by Yang Jian at its most crucial point.
"What art is this?"
The Heavenly King of Much Learning's fingers abruptly tightened around his umbrella.
He could not understand it.
That finger strike bore neither the immortal light of the Mystic Gate nor the divine markings of the Heavenly Court.
It held nothing but power, pure to the utmost extreme.
Yang Jian's voice sounded beside his ear.
"This is merely the application of power."
A chill struck the Heavenly King of Much Learning's heart.
He snapped his head up.
Yang Jian had already passed through the torn Heavenly Net and appeared before the four of them.
He was too fast.
So fast that the four heavenly kings had not even managed to react immediately.
The Heavenly King Who Holds the Kingdom attacked first.
His fingertips plucked the Soul-Suppressing Pipa.
Clang!
A piercing demonic note became an invisible tide, rushing straight toward Yang Jian's divine soul.
This pipa was a soul-suppressing magical instrument forged by the Heavenly Court, designed specifically to harm the primordial spirit. Once its sound invaded the sea of consciousness, it could make the victim lose control of their mind at best, or shatter their soul at worst.
Yang Jian frowned.
"Noisy."
He raised his hand and slammed his palm down.
Boom!
The palm wind crushed the soul-suppressing demonic sound.
The spiritual markings on the pipa exploded layer by layer, and the Heavenly King Who Holds the Kingdom's arm holding the strings ruptured with them.
"Aah!"
The Heavenly King Who Holds the Kingdom screamed, hurtling ten thousand feet backward and crashing hard into the cloud formation.
One palm broke the sound.
One blow shattered the instrument.
Silence fell over the clouds for an instant.
Growth
and the Heavenly King of Wide Vision attacked simultaneously.
Growth no longer dared approach. His blue-edged sword turned, and ten thousand streams of sword light sealed Yang Jian's retreat.
The Red Dragon rose from the Heavenly King of Wide Vision's palm. The dragon's phantom coiled through the void, seeking to bind Yang Jian's limbs.
One sealed.
One bound.
The two heavenly kings coordinated with tremendous speed, clearly possessing a long-established joint attack.
Yet Yang Jian did not even spare them another glance.
He stepped forward.
The sword light struck his body, failing even to cut his skin.
The Red Dragon's phantom had barely coiled around his arm when the blood energy erupting from fifty Divine Elephant Particles blasted its scales into disarray.
Yang Jian seized the sword light with his left hand.
His right hand clamped onto the dragon's phantom.
All five fingers tightened at once.
Crack!
The blue-edged sword light broke apart inch by inch.
The Red Dragon's phantom collapsed on the spot, becoming countless motes of spiritual light that winked out in midair.
The Heavenly King of Growth's expression changed sharply.
The Heavenly King of Wide Vision was just about to retreat when Yang Jian appeared before them.
Thud!
Thud!
Two heavy impacts rang out.
The divine armor over the Heavenly King of Growth's chest caved in. Blood spurted from his mouth as he hurtled backward.
A single palm strike crushed the Heavenly King of Wide Vision's protective divine light and slammed him into the clouds below, his fate unknown.
In the blink of an eye,
three of the four heavenly kings had fallen.
The tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers watched with their scalps prickling.
They had once believed that the personal arrival of the four heavenly kings would be enough to subdue Peach Mountain.
But now, Yang Jian stood atop the clouds without the slightest immortal light on his body, yet his presence pressed down on the entire Heavenly Court battle formation until no one dared advance.
The Heavenly King of Much Learning's face was deathly pale.
Without hesitation, he flipped his hand and opened the Primordial Pearl Umbrella.
Runes spun wildly across its canopy.
A force capable of drawing in all things swept toward Yang Jian.
"Absorb!"
The Heavenly King of Much Learning barked the command.
The space within the Primordial Pearl Umbrella opened, seeking to swallow Yang Jian along with the surrounding void.
Yang Jian lifted his eyes.
"You think you're worthy of capturing me?"
He reached out and made a grasping motion toward the umbrella's canopy.
Fifty Divine Elephant Particles trembled with a thunderous surge.
Power pressed through the patterns on the canopy and into the umbrella's ribs.
Crack!
The first rib snapped.
Then the second, the third, and the fourth.
The space within the Primordial Pearl Umbrella instantly destabilized, and the force of the backlash came roaring back.
Blood seeped from the Heavenly King of Much Learning's mouth and nose, and his arms shook violently.
"Impossible!"
He tried to pull back.
But Yang Jian's fingers had already tightened around him from afar.
An irresistible force enveloped the Heavenly King of Much Learning and dragged him bodily from the clouds.
Bang!
The Primordial Pearl Umbrella shattered completely.
Yang Jian seized the Heavenly King of Much Learning by the throat and held him in midair.
His feet dangled above the ground, and cracks webbed his divine armor.
Tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers gripped their spears and halberds, yet not one dared step forward.
Yao Ji stood at the rift in Peach Mountain, staring blankly at Yang Jian's back.
The Jian'er she remembered had been just a child who clung to her sleeve and refused to let go.
Now, he could stand before the Heavenly Court's vast army and shield her from the entire storm of slaughter.
Yu Ding Zhenren stood in the distance, his fingers tightening slightly within his sleeves.
He finally understood that Yang Jian's path had changed completely.
This youth no longer needed anyone else to arrange his fate for him.
With his own fists, he was smashing the fate decreed by the Heavenly Court to pieces, bit by bit.
Yang Jian looked at the Heavenly King of Much Learning in his grasp, his voice chillingly cold.
"Speak."
"Who else did Haotian send besides you?"
The Heavenly King of Much Learning's throat trembled, his eyes filled with terror.
He struggled to speak.
"The commander of the Thunder Department..."
"The Star Lords of the Dipper Department..."
"The Marshal of the Heavenly River..."
Yang Jian tightened his fingers slightly.
"Who else?"
The Heavenly King of Much Learning's face turned purple, and he could barely force out a sound.
"And... the Heavenly Emperor’s Prison-Suppressing Talisman..."
"It's already descending..."
The moment his words fell silent, something happened.
Above the Thirty-Three Heavens, a golden talismanic decree tore through the sea of clouds.
Terrifying Emperor's Might descended upon Peach Mountain.
Yang Jian jerked his head up.
Haotian's icy voice rang out from within the talismanic decree.
"Yang Jian."
"Kneel."