Using the momentum, Yu Tianheng shifted his body to the side, avoiding the halberd's edge. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he thrust his divine sword straight at the King of Slaughter's heart, the tip of the sword carrying a sharp whistling sound that tore through the air, as fast as lightning.
The King of Slaughter reacted extremely quickly. With a flap of his six wings, he retreated several feet, while simultaneously swinging his halberd back to defend, precisely blocking his chest. "Clang—" Another deafening collision resounded, the sound of metal clashing echoing across the sky. The energy ripples around the two spread outwards, even shaking the clouds high in the sky.
One wielded the Asura God Sword, its silver light flashing with murderous intent; the other gripped a blood-red halberd, its surging red light exuding a violent aura. They clashed back and forth in the sky, the cold light of their swords and halberds colliding and the explosive sounds of their colliding energies disturbing the peace of the entire sky. Each clash was enough to make the ground below tremble.
Dark clouds rolled across the battlefield, the purplish-black Soul Power and the scarlet killing aura intertwined to form a sky-covering canopy, every wisp of air carrying a sharp sound of tearing through the air.
Nine Soul Ring floated around Yu Tianheng, and dark golden divine patterns meandered on his bare arms. When he gripped the hilt of the Asura God Sword tightly with both hands, the blade hummed and actually cut fine cracks in the surrounding space.
His pupils surged with the murderous intent of Asura God, yet he hesitated without the slightest hesitation—from the moment he decided to hold nothing back, this duel became a matter of life and death.
The King of Slaughter hovered ten feet away, his entire body stained a suffocating dark red.
His withered palm formed a strange hand seal in front of his chest, and the ground instantly cracked open with countless bloody fissures. Thousands of remnant souls crawled out from the bloody fissures and gathered into a blood-red giant claw that was hundreds of feet tall. The blood droplets dripping from the claw tip landed on the rocks and actually corroded the hard rocks into deep pits.
"You brat, how dare you call yourself a god before me? Today I'll show you the true meaning of the path of slaughter!" With a hoarse roar, the blood-red giant claw, carrying the power to devour everything, slammed down towards Yu Tianheng.
" Asura Annihilation Slash!" Yu Tianheng's roar shattered the clouds as he thrust his sword upwards with both hands.
The Asura God Sword suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light, and a huge Asura phantom instantly condensed on its blade. The phantom moved in sync with Yu Tianheng, and the Sword of Divine Punishment in his hand slashed through the sky, unleashing a dark golden sword aura several meters wide. Wherever it passed, the air was completely sucked away, and even the light was swallowed up by the sword aura.
The two powerful attacks collided violently in the center of the battlefield.
The moment the dark golden sword energy made contact with the blood-red giant claw, there was no earth-shattering explosion, but instead a brief silence—the energy barrier formed by the clash of their forces froze all the surrounding rubble and remnant souls in mid-air.
The next second, the energy barrier exploded, and dark red and dark gold shockwaves spread out in a ring, plowing out a deep trench dozens of miles long on the ground, and distant mountains collapsed in the shockwave.
Yu Tianheng's arms bulged with veins, and Asura Divine Power flowed continuously into the divine sword. The dark golden sword energy gradually overwhelmed the blood-red giant claw. A bloodthirsty red light flashed in the eyes of the Asura phantom on the sword. The sword energy suddenly accelerated and slashed straight at the King of Slaughter.
The King of Slaughter's expression changed drastically. He brandished his blood-red halberd, trying to mobilize more killing power to resist, but the primal power within his body had been injured by the sword energy in the previous clash. His blood-red giant claws quickly dimmed and shattered inch by inch under the sword energy.
"No--!" The King of Slaughter roared in despair, trying to turn and flee, only to find his body locked onto by sword energy.
The dark golden sword energy instantly pierced through his defenses, slashing diagonally from his left shoulder to his right abdomen. The Asura God Sword's edge did not stop, carrying the remaining divine power as it slashed into the distant mountain range, splitting the entire mountain peak in two.
The King of Slaughter stood frozen in place, golden patterns beginning to emerge from his wounds— the Asura Divine Power destroying his very essence.
He looked down at his severed body, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror. He wanted to say something, but could only spit out a mouthful of black blood.
The next second, his body was completely separated from the wound, and the two halves of his body crashed heavily to the ground. Crimson blood stained the ground, and the killing essence within him, under the erosion of the Asura Divine Power, turned into wisps of black smoke and dissipated into the air.
Yu Tianheng knelt on one knee, leaning on the Asura God Sword, his chest heaving violently, and the light of his divine halo dimmed slightly, but his gaze toward the corpse of the King of Slaughter was now completely devoid of emotion.
The distant clouds gradually dispersed, and a ray of sunlight pierced through the sky, landing on the blade of the Asura God Sword, reflecting Yu Tianheng's blood-stained yet still upright figure—from this moment on, there would be no more King of Slaughter on the Douluo Continent.
Yu Tianheng's arm, which was supporting the Asura God Sword, trembled slightly. The dull thud of the King of Slaughter's two halves hitting the ground had not yet dissipated, and the lingering stench of blood and the scorching heat from the clash of divine power still churned in the air. Just as he was about to get up and adjust his breathing, a voice suddenly rang in his mind—a voice that was not human, but more like the clear ringing of countless metallic runes colliding, carrying the unique majesty and weight of a deity, piercing straight into the depths of his consciousness.
" The Eighth Trial of the Asura God: Slay heretics on the path of slaughter and purify the chaos of the very source of slaughter."
"Assessment target: The King of Slaughter has fallen."
Performance Evaluation: Perfect.
" The Eighth Trial of the Asura God is complete."
The three short sentences echoed in Yu Tianheng's mind like a thunderclap. He suddenly looked up at the Asura God Sword in his hand—the restless phantoms of vengeful spirits on the sword's body had gradually calmed down, and fine divine runes appeared on the dark golden blade. As the runes flowed, a purer Asura Divine Power surged into his body along the hilt. The divine power he had lost during the battle was recovering at a visible speed, and even the soreness in his arm was rapidly subsiding.
The surrounding space seemed to change as well. Under the sky that had been torn apart by the battle, golden particles of light gathered and condensed into a blurry phantom of the Asura God above his head.
The phantom made no extra movements, but simply nodded slightly to him, then turned into specks of golden light and merged into his divine rings—three of the originally dim nine divine rings now shone with a richer dark golden luster, and the killing patterns on the rings became clearer.
Yu Tianheng gripped the sword hilt tightly, feeling the divine power within his body growing ever stronger, and the lingering echo of the voice in his mind.
The last trace of solemnity in his eyes dissipated—this was not only the end of a life-or-death duel, but also an important step on his path to Asura a god.
The Eighth Trial has passed, and I am one step closer to the supreme Asura Godhood.
After a period of rest, Yu Tianheng's Asura Divine Power had fully recovered, and even advanced to a higher level due to the perfect assessment of the Eighth Trial.
On this day, he stepped into the trial space deep within the Asura God Temple —a place devoid of heaven and earth, only a chaotic gray mist, with a trial platform beneath his feet bearing dark gold patterns, the very place where the Ninth Trial of the Asura God, "Facing One's True Self," was initiated.