"Heh heh, Sect Master of the Demon Sect, your cultivation may be a little low, but your foundation is quite solid. Once I eat a few more like you, I should be able to leave this continent." The fallen angel's lips twisted into an evil smile.
"What big words. A mere late-stage Martial Sovereign, yet you think you can eat me?" Although Zhou Qiong sensed that his opponent was clearly no ordinary late-stage Martial Sovereign, he was not particularly worried. He was no ordinary mid-stage Martial Sovereign either.
The wings on the fallen angel's back flapped effortlessly. At once, the space within hundreds of kilometers seemed to lock into place. Even Zhou Qiong felt a pressure that made it difficult to move, and the surrounding space began collapsing toward him, little by little.
The fallen angel watched Zhou Qiong with an evil smile, her gaze cold and crazed. She did not believe he could evade her attack. She thought nothing of anyone from a lower continent, even its strongest figures. Had she been at her peak, she could have shaken someone like Zhou Qiong to death with a sneeze.
As Zhou Qiong watched the collapsing space draw closer, black Qi slowly surged from his entire body. The surrounding pressure vanished, and fragments of collapsed space began flying into his body without cease.
He extended a palm and struck toward the fallen angel. A gigantic palm a hundred li across appeared in the sky, Life and Death Qi swirling over it, even faintly exuding a trace of a devouring presence. It instantly slammed toward the fallen angel. Space did not collapse; instead, it seemed to compress, making it difficult for the fallen angel beneath it to escape.
This was the strongest palm strike Zhou Qiong could currently unleash. He had deployed the Firmament Life and Death Hand at full power, mixing in the Heaven-Devouring Demon Art. Even an ordinary peak-stage Martial Sovereign would have found its offensive power difficult to withstand.
"What? You actually concealed your cultivation!" Below, disbelief covered the angel's face. Her wings instantly began beating without pause as she punched toward the gigantic palm, and thunderous booms rang through space.
With a deafening boom, a shock wave spread outward. Even the flying carriage, which had already flown hundreds of kilometers away, was struck and sent flying another hundred li. The Demon Sect members inside wore looks of disbelief.
"What kind of monster could fight the Sect Master to this extent? The Sect Master won't be in danger, will he?" the Fifth Protector asked worriedly.
"How could he be? The Sect Master's fortune rivals the heavens. Who in this world could be his match?" Beside him, the Demon Tiger King patted his head, but worry also appeared on his face.
"You're still alive? Quite tenacious." Zhou Qiong looked at the fallen angel lying on the ground, struggling to rise, and spoke mockingly.
The fallen angel coughed up blood repeatedly as she said in shock, "You didn't conceal your cultivation. Yet you could unleash a blow like that. Who exactly are you?"
"I don't like introducing myself twice. If you have any last words, hurry up and say them."
"To think that I, Luna, would lose to a native of a lower continent. You will pay for this."
The fallen angel Luna straightened up, chanting with conviction. A jade-white crown slowly rose above her head, and her presence began climbing again. In a single instant, it broke through the limits of Martial Sovereign, and a Divine Grade presence began radiating from her, surging straight into the clouds.
At the Great Yu Dynasty's court assembly, King Yu, who had been listening to a minister's report, suddenly looked east and murmured, "A Martial God? Has someone truly broken through to Martial God?"
The monk chanting scriptures at Golden Mountain Temple also stopped and looked east, his face grave.
All the continent's top experts turned their attention eastward. They sensed a powerful presence rising there, quite possibly one belonging to the Martial God Realm.
Zhou Qiong narrowed his eyes as well. He too sensed a threat, and even a trace of death seemed to circle him. It seems I really can't underestimate this damned angel. She actually has a way to raise herself to the Martial God Realm.
The silver-black lightning between his brows silently flickered with light, a black ring slowly rotating within it. Watching Luna, who was clearly gathering a major move to unleash, Zhou Qiong had no intention of giving him time. The lightning between his brows split open, revealing an eye.
A black ring instantly shot from the pitch-black pupil toward Luna. Before she could react, it had already trapped her, tightening instantly and leaving her unable to move. The crown above Luna's head shone at the black ring. The ring trembled continuously, and fine cracks gradually appeared across it. Clearly, its current state was somewhat beyond what it could bear.
Luna's shock was beyond description. What had she just seen? An eye had suddenly appeared between that man's brows, and a black ring had flown out and instantly trapped her. Her cultivation was currently at the mid-stage Martial God Realm!
Even the crown above her head had failed to destroy the black ring. The crown was a sacred relic of the Angel Clan. Even if she could not bring out much of its power, it was not something ordinary weapons could contend against.
She circulated her cultivation art at full power and even began burning her blood essence. She knew she might be in danger if this continued. Under the combined pressure of the crown and Luna, the cracks in the black ring immediately began widening.
Though it took long to describe, only a few brief breaths had actually passed since Luna's breakthrough. Luna suddenly looked up, sensing the threat of death. Zhou Qiong murmured, "Annihilation Pupil Light." The black eye between his brows instantly fired a beam of light that pierced through Luna's body.
The presence in the sky vanished, as did the black ring, and the black eye between Zhou Qiong's brows slowly closed.
Luna looked at Zhou Qiong in terror. "Just what are you-"
Before she could finish, her body turned directly to ash. Even in death, she could not believe she would die on such a lower continent. Only a crown remained, spinning in place. Zhou Qiong waved his hand, put the crown away, and vanished from the spot.
Hundreds of li away, the Demon Sect members stood silently aboard the demon dragon's flying carriage. Some faces showed shock, others worry. That presence beyond Martial Sovereign had been so powerful that they could not imagine it.
The Demon Tiger King had twice proposed going to investigate, only to be stopped both times. In a battle of this level, even the aftershocks were beyond what someone in the Martial Emperor Realm could endure. While everyone waited anxiously, the demon dragon gave a low growl, and a figure appeared aboard the flying carriage.
Everyone was overjoyed.
"Greetings, Sect Master."
"Rise."
The Demon Tiger King still could not help asking, "Sect Master, what happened to that person?"
"I reduced her to ash. Set off for headquarters." With those words, Zhou Qiong entered the flying carriage.
The demon dragon began pulling the flying carriage toward the Demon Sect's headquarters, while those aboard had yet to recover from their shock. The Demon Tiger King kept chuckling. "Didn't I say the Sect Master was invincible under heaven?"
The gazes the protectors cast into the flying carriage were also filled with fear. From the presence of that battle, they knew the Sect Master's power far surpassed everyone else's, but they had never expected him to be this powerful. It gave them a clearer understanding of their own place thereafter, and they referred to themselves as protectors all the more. If anyone addressed them incorrectly, they immediately corrected them.
After the flying carriage left, the people of Linhai City, dozens of li away, were also stunned. Although they had not seen anything, they too had sensed that presence, one far beyond Martial Sovereign. They had still been wondering whether both sides would suffer grievous wounds, or whether that birdman would kill the Demon Sect's Sect Master and then begin wreaking havoc upon the living.
And the result? They saw the Demon Sect's Sect Master return, seemingly completely unharmed. Instead, the birdman who had released that presence had disappeared entirely.