"He really was in his later years, but his strength was simply outrageously great." Source God and Source Ghost let out terrible roars together, their hands constantly forming seals as they unleashed the most fearsome curse.
Inside the formation, a dense layer of red hair immediately grew from Xiao Ping'an's body. It was over a foot long and looked terrifying.
This Supreme-level curse was already a kind of Great Dao, as well as a Great Dao rule and secret art. It was mysterious and unorthodox indeed; its users had truly attained the Dao through a deviant path.
Such cultivation methods and secret arts were wondrous and hard to detect. They often directly invoked the rules of the entire universe to suppress and injure their enemies, leaving them struck without a sound or a trace.
"A mere curse. What can it do to me?" Xiao Ping'an said coldly.
The heavenly sound of the Great Dao rumbled within his body, and countless Great Dao Runes soared into the sky, sacred and dazzling.
The nine mysterious Great Dao Runes contained within the Heavenly Venerable scriptures, all of which belonged to Xiao Ping'an, instantly suppressed the curse and sent the dreadful Great Dao rule flying back, reversing it into a counter-curse.
Although Xiao Ping'an had entered his later years, his strength was not something these Supremes could fathom.
Rumble.
The Tyrant Bell repeatedly slammed into the Heavenly Venerable Formation Diagram, making it tremble as though it would be torn apart at any moment.
Xiao Ping'an roared, divine light flowing over his body. His hands formed seals, and a terrifying presence burst from him.
His left hand traced a Great Dao Rune in the void. With a thunderous boom, a Great Dao rule rune representing time appeared and shattered the world around it. The sound of the river of time surging and roaring rang out; time in that realm fell into chaos, and heaven and earth blurred.
It was as if nothing existed anymore, everything extinguished in the river of time and vanished completely.
His right hand formed a seal and traced a dazzling, enormous rune. It was a rune of the Space Great Dao. In an instant, the universe's space collapsed, and the starry sky shook violently.
The power of space spread everywhere, overturning the space within the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable Formation Diagram in the blink of an eye. That entire realm trembled.
That force, which could destroy heaven and earth and sweep all before it, shattered space and put it back together, only to shatter it again.
Xiao Ping'an pressed both hands gently forward. Time ahead fell into disorder, and space exploded. The four blood demons shot backward, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
Xiao Ping'an brought his hands together. Time and space seemed to fuse into a torrent of spacetime, as though creating and destroying a world.
One hand severed time, the other severed space. Heaven and earth exploded, and cracks appeared directly across the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable Formation Diagram with a series of cracking sounds.
Then it exploded with a boom.
Xiao Ping'an had forcibly torn Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's formation diagram in two.
He shot skyward, flying out of the collapsing universe, and slammed a fist into the Desolate Pagoda, sending it flying.
He had broken out of the formation.
At that moment, Xiao Ping'an was awe-inspiring in his divine might.
His long white hair danced in the wind. With an immortal's bearing and bones, white hair and a youthful face, he looked every bit a deity.
The realm fell silent in an instant. All eight Dark Supremes had been left dumbstruck.
What kind of combat power was this? Was the Nine Secrets: Ba really so powerful and mysterious?
Xiao Ping'an had forcibly broken through the First Killing Formation of all time so quickly. Four Dark Supremes had personally controlled it, while another four had stood by to support them.
Even so, they had failed to trap Xiao Ping'an.
"I am the Overlord Heavenly Venerable. Above heaven and below, I alone reign supreme!"
Xiao Ping'an's words echoed through the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. Heaven and earth shook violently, and everyone who heard them felt a surge of fear.
The Overlord Heavenly Venerable, a powerhouse who had held sway over the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands for more than fifty thousand years, now displayed the bearing of one truly invincible under heaven.
The eight Dark Supremes roared as one and attacked Xiao Ping'an together.
They had truly made a spectacle of themselves just now, standing there too shocked to move.
Now they struck together. They refused to believe Xiao Ping'an could still fight for long after growing old and feeble.
They had clearly seen that Xiao Ping'an's vital blood was about to run dry.
Source God and Source Ghost were covered in long hair, one white and the other blood-red.
One looked utterly sacred, the other ferocious and terrifying. They truly were a perfect pair.
They charged at the front, attacking Xiao Ping'an in a frenzy.
Xiao Ping'an's vital blood burned fiercely throughout his body. His left and right hands formed seals at the same time, one representing space and the other time. Their collision unleashed the most dazzling light.
Spacetime collapsed, and the river of time flowed straight through it.
Xiao Ping'an stood supreme, untouched by the myriad arts.
His fists struck out separately, one at Source God and the other at Source Ghost.
With a thunderous boom, blood sprayed across thirty thousand li. Source God's and Source Ghost's bodies burst apart, and their fragments broke inch by inch into mangled pieces. A rain of blood poured down.
The two let out screams that shook heaven and earth.
They were mighty Dark Supremes, yet they could not help screaming so wretchedly. That showed what agony the Great Dao rules had made them endure.
The power of time and space flickered, and nine earth runes shone, rumbling like divine thunder splitting heaven and earth apart.
Source God and Source Ghost had only just managed to re-form their bodies when they exploded again in the blink of an eye. They had been locked down and firmly suppressed by Xiao Ping'an's forbidden secret art, the Nine Secrets: Ba.
Rumble.
With two earthshaking booms, Source God's and Source Ghost's bodies exploded once more and burst into fierce flames. Their primordial spirits were burned completely to ashes.
The deaths of Source God and Source Ghost shocked the other six Dark Supremes.
The Overlord Heavenly Venerable was truly overbearing, worthy of the word "overlord" in his name.
The Overlord Heavenly Venerable's power was unfathomable and unimaginable. He could not be opposed.
With a thunderous boom and a long howl, Xiao Ping'an stepped upon time and charged forward, sweeping all before him like rotten wood.
In the blink of an eye, the six Dark Supremes were coughing up mouthfuls of blood, their bodies nearly bursting apart.
One of his hands severed time, the other severed space. They were densely covered in Great Dao Runes, with divine light crisscrossing them. With a puff, he struck Lust Ghost Supreme into ash, his primordial spirit reduced entirely to ash.
In his later years, Xiao Ping'an had clearly created a legend. Facing eight Dark Supremes alone, he moved as though through an empty land, like a tiger among sheep.
"Impossible! How can the Overlord Heavenly Venerable be so strong?"
"His vital blood dried up long ago. Why is he still so powerful?"
"He forcibly broke through the Heavenly Venerable Formation Diagram. I thought it would have exhausted him terribly, but he's still this fierce and valiant. Why does he still have so much divine power?"
The other five Dark Supremes looked utterly grim.
None of them had expected that, after eight of them came together to kill Xiao Ping'an, three would fall in the blink of an eye.
A sense of impending catastrophe suddenly rose in their hearts, leaving every one of them looking grim.
"Nothing is impossible," Xiao Ping'an said. "You are too weak. You are not worthy of being my opponents."
Xiao Ping'an's gaze, which looked down upon the world with utter disdain, stung the five Dark Supremes deeply.
For the first time, they felt that a Heavenly Venerable could not be insulted. Even after growing old, they remained unmatched.
Was the gap between a Supreme and a Heavenly Venerable really so vast?
The five remaining Dark Supremes were going to fight for their lives. They burned their source essence blood madly, as though they would melt and burn down the entire universe.
They had no choice but to fight for their lives, for they had no way out.
The battle continued. Terrifying Great Dao laws intertwined, and their clash shattered heaven and earth. With a thunderous boom, Xiao Ping'an smashed another Extreme Dao Weapon, its fragments flying across the universe like suns.
Xiao Ping'an casually caught the fragments and put them away.
The Dark Supremes' hearts grew heavy at the sight. Xiao Ping'an still had not used his full strength; even while fighting with all his might, he had power to spare to collect weapon fragments.
"Everyone, hold nothing back. Today we can only fight to the death. Only by killing the Overlord Heavenly Venerable and consuming his Heavenly Venerable essence blood can we live on," said Lust Demon, who held the Desolate Pagoda.
Lust Demon was the first to bring out the Desolate Pagoda. The immortal artifact blazed with divine light and bore down on Xiao Ping'an as though it carried an entire vast world.
Countless immortal Dao runes flickered, blotting out heaven and sun, threatening to destroy the whole starry sky.
The immortal Dao runes were dazzling, their might incomparably overbearing. They definitely possessed the power to kill a Heavenly Venerable.
Xiao Ping'an traced patterns with both hands, his countenance solemn and majestic. The runes of time and space appeared in succession, and a terrifying presence filled heaven and earth.
Flowers of the Spacetime Great Dao bloomed one after another, all derived from the Nine Secrets: Ba. Crystal-clear and brilliant, they danced across the sky and rushed toward the Desolate Pagoda.
Kill, kill, kill.
Xiao Ping'an pointed gently at the eldest of the blood demons. A beam of intensely blazing spacetime light became an incomparably radiant spacetime flower and tore through the universe.
All things were extinguished. Nothing could stop it.
The spacetime flower instantly smashed into the eldest of the Blood Demons.
The spacetime flower bloomed, and crystalline rosy light soared into the sky.
Blood-red light burst from the eldest demon. His body was pierced, then exploded and burned fiercely. Just like that, he died.
Flowers of the Spacetime Great Dao filled the sky, constantly blooming. The entire realm shook violently as they all rushed toward the Desolate Pagoda.
Clang, clang, clang.
The crystalline, dazzling Desolate Pagoda trembled violently. After suffering the continuous attacks of the Spacetime Great Dao flowers, it suddenly seemed to awaken. Once it was sent flying, it tore straight through the void and fled.
It was hard to imagine that the Desolate Pagoda had actually fled as though running for its life.
That alone showed the might of the Overlord Heavenly Venerable.
The Dark Supremes watched, their hair standing on end.
They too had once been Supremes unrivaled above heaven and below. Now they had joined forces to attack the Overlord Heavenly Venerable, yet the gap in strength was unexpectedly so great, the Great Dao separating them like an impassable chasm.
After Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's formation diagram was torn apart, countless rays of chaotic light shone around it.
Seeing the Desolate Pagoda flee, the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable Formation Diagram fused back into one amid the chaos, and its weapon spirit seemed to awaken as well.
It followed right after, tearing through the void and fleeing too.
Xiao Ping'an could not catch the Desolate Pagoda and the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable Formation Diagram in time, and could only watch them escape.
He could not help thinking it a pity.
Two clones shot out and gave chase.
He had searched the starry sky for a long time for these two treasures without finding them.
Both the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable Formation Diagram and the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords, as well as the Desolate Pagoda, were treasures Xiao Ping'an coveted.
Now they had slipped through his fingers. It was truly a pity.
Xiao Ping'an punched at Lust Demon, venting all his anger on him.
Lust Demon's weapon instantly shattered, its pieces scattering like blazing suns.
Lust Demon Supreme himself coughed up mouthfuls of blood, and his body exploded.
"The old thief's body is quite sturdy," Xiao Ping'an remarked in praise.
Hearing Xiao Ping'an's assessment, Lust Demon Supreme, who had re-formed his body, felt deeply looked down upon.
His immortal artifact, the Desolate Pagoda, had fled. He was both shocked and furious, yet helpless.
No matter how he summoned it, the Desolate Pagoda did not respond.
Rumble.
Blood-red light shone, and blood-colored weapons filled the sky. All were treasures born from the blood sea, and all rushed toward Xiao Ping'an.
Three of the Four Demons of the Blood Sea had made their move.
This was a forbidden secret art jointly developed by the four blood demon Supremes: as long as the blood sea did not dry up, the blood demons would not die.
Blood demons appeared one after another, each possessing the power of a Dark Supreme's full-strength blow. Bearing the profound mysteries of the blood demons, they charged at Xiao Ping'an.
Xiao Ping'an remained utterly calm in the face of these blood demons. The Tyrant Bell above his head flew out, smashing blood demons and blood-colored weapons one after another.
A cloud of spacetime power flew from Xiao Ping'an's hand, dreamlike and illusory. It instantly broke through the barrier of space and rushed toward Lust Demon.
Lust Demon was stunned and dodged with all his might, but the dreamlike cloud of spacetime power enveloped him and locked onto him completely.
With a puff, blood-red light burst out. Lust Demon was struck into ash, his primordial spirit utterly destroyed.
At last, the sins of Lust Demon's life had met their retribution, and he was completely reduced to ash.
Xiao Ping'an cultivated the power of spacetime and was even faster than Carefree Heavenly Venerate, who cultivated the Nine Secrets: Xing. Seeing the Three Demons of the Blood Sea about to ride the blood sea away, he immediately gave chase.
He stepped forward and planted his foot on the Second Demon of the Blood Sea's head. No matter how the demon struggled, he could not break free.
With a puff, Xiao Ping'an crushed his head underfoot. The primordial spirit in his Immortal Platform was instantly reduced to ash, and he met a violent death.
Many powerhouses had already witnessed Xiao Ping'an's battle through their heaven-reaching eyes.
They were all stunned to see Xiao Ping'an slaughtering in every direction.
What tremendous power did the Overlord Heavenly Venerable possess? He alone was pursuing eight Dark Supremes.
His strength could truly be called the absolute pinnacle of the human path, having reached its very summit.
The last two blood demon Supremes were now scared out of their souls and filled with regret.
Even if they wanted to flee, they could no longer do so. Xiao Ping'an had locked firmly onto them.
The gap in their strength was simply too great.
"I understand!" a blood demon roared. "The Overlord Heavenly Venerable is forcibly squeezing out his own essence blood and consuming the longevity essence within his body. Although he now has peak Heavenly Venerable-level combat power, he will certainly die after this battle."
"He has used up all the longevity essence he painstakingly accumulated. He cannot live another Lifetime. If we die, the Overlord Heavenly Venerable won't survive either."
"Fellow Supreme Daoists, why not emerge and divide the spoils together? Take the Overlord Heavenly Venerable's essence blood, seize his Heavenly Venerable imprint, and claim his longevity essence!" the blood demon roared. His words were meant for the Dark Supremes lying in hiding.
The two blood demons invoked the Great Dao rules within the blood sea and joined forces to unleash their strongest blow in history, the most powerful attack of their lives.
A stream of blood soared into the sky, its crimson light blazing upward. It was clearly like a blood-red divine sword, setting that part of the universe ablaze.
They ignited the fire of Dao transformation. They intended to perish together with Xiao Ping'an.
(End of chapter)