A fairy descends to the mortal realm, while demonic energy attempts to block the heavens.
Stardust turns the tide, and battle falls from the highest heavens.
Looking at the white, graceful figure plummeting at extreme speed, the Demon Ancestor wore a bloodthirsty smile at the corners of his mouth and casually pointed his index finger downward.
"Boom!"
A vast surge of spiritual energy shot out, blasting toward the rapidly falling figure.
"Hum!"
Right at that moment, within the spiritual-mist-shrouded mountain grotto, a wave of water-like spiritual energy escaped. Like ripples on water, it spread outward in concentric circles.
Though it looked extremely slow, it arrived in a flash, colliding instantly with the vast spiritual energy pointed out by the Demon Ancestor.
"Rumble..."
As the spiritual energies collided, mountains and rivers wept, and the starry river inverted.
Both attacks shattered simultaneously, and violent ripples of spiritual energy oscillated, spreading in all directions.
Turbulent currents of spiritual energy escaped, snapping towering ancient trees straight through at the waist.
Wild beasts whimpered continuously, prostrating themselves within the mountains and trembling violently.
Over Half-Moon Lake, a blood-soaked, picturesque figure plummeted downward at high speed.
Blue lotuses suddenly rose within the lake, petals dancing across the sky to wrap around Yu Yanran's delicate body as she flew toward the largest blue lotus at the center of the lake.
The flower shapes arrived in an instant, flying into the giant lotus. As the lotus petals danced, they slowly closed into a flower bud, then drifted slowly down toward the bottom of the lake.
Seeing this, the old man did not attack again. Instead, his eyes narrowed as he looked toward the towering peak.
The peak was wreathed in clouds and mist, filled with spiritual energy, and contained a naturally formed grotto within.
Inside the grotto, a white figure sat cross-legged on a stone platform. Steam billowed behind him, and celestial sounds resonated as if he were about to face a breakthrough.
Yet, the events unfolding outside the grotto made it impossible for him to calm his mind, and the murderous intent in his heart could not be suppressed.
Sensing the Demon Ancestor's fierce strike, he had no choice but to intervene and block it, otherwise Yu Yanran would have perished completely.
Yet precisely because of this, his vital energy and blood surged furiously at that moment. The spiritual energy inside his body rippled madly, rampaging through his meridians like a wild dragon.
Instantly, Qin Xingchen felt his blood rush backward, and he violently spat out a mouthful of blood. Following that, the wisps of celestial energy lingering around his body quietly began to dissipate.
The advancement had failed!
Qin Xingchen stood up in agony, his internal aura volatile, clearly having suffered severe internal injuries.
"It seems that what must come will eventually come!"
Qin Xingchen flipped his hand, and a radiant divine herb—the Fire Spirit Immortal Phoenix Grass—hung quietly above his palm.
A phantom of a fire phoenix danced incessantly around the divine herb, emitting wave after wave of peculiar, refreshing fragrance. It was clearly a rare and precious divine herb.
Qin Xingchen shook his palm, and the Fire Spirit Immortal Phoenix Grass transformed into crystal-clear medicinal liquid that he swallowed into his stomach.
Immediately, a divine glow lit up around his body, and his chaotic aura gradually calmed down.
Under the stabilization of the divine herb, Qin Xingchen's cultivation finally settled at the Great Perfection of the ninth stage of the Star Monarch Realm.
He had been merely a step away from entering the legendary realm of the True Immortal, but because of this final mishap, everything fell apart at the last hurdle.
However, owing to having consumed the divine herb, although he failed to advance to a True Immortal, he nonetheless stabilized his footing at the ninth-stage Great Perfection.
Qin Xingchen took a single step forward, raising his hand to dismantle the array of creation. With a flash of his figure, he vanished from within the grotto.
The moment Qin Xingchen dismantled the grand array, the Demon Ancestor standing in the void seemed to sense his aura. His bearded lips slowly moved.
"Little beast, finally willing to show your face?"
Past events flickered vividly in his mind; recalling his granddaughter's dying state, a wave of hatred instantly surged into his heart.
Without a word, he brought a palm crashing down toward the mountain range below.
That terrifying pressure descended, and the rolling mountain range was instantly crushed flat, turning into dust filling the sky.
Looking at the mountain reduced to powder, the old man wore a sneer at the corner of his mouth.
He was confident that under his full-force suppression at the seventh heaven of the Star Monarch Realm, even if that little beast did not die, he would lose all combat capability and be left entirely at his mercy.
However, the smile quickly froze on his face. He saw that right above the demonic faction behind him, a white figure stood proudly,
"Humph, let's collect some interest first."
With that, he punched toward the demonic faction below. The terrifying spiritual energy transformed into a giant white fist that arrived in the blink of an eye, instantly obliterating one-tenth of the young demonic disciples.
In an instant, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and space trembled.
Though it sounded complex, all of this actually happened in the span of a single breath.
By the time the old man reacted, that one-tenth of the demonic disciples had already been blasted into fragments beyond recovery.
"Old man, aren't you lacking any self-respect? Bullying a junior and launching a sneak attack to boot—have all these years you've lived gone to the dogs?"
Clad in elegant, ethereal white robes, Qin Xingchen spoke with detached indifference and mockery.
The Demon Ancestor's eyes narrowed, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth as he spoke calmly: "Such a sharp-tongued boy. What, have you forgotten the painful lesson from last time?"
"Heh, so what? The current me can suppress you with ease."
As he spoke, Qin Xingchen flashed through the air to appear directly opposite the Demon Ancestor.
The aura of the Great Perfection of the ninth stage of the Star Monarch Realm instantly erupted.
A trace of shock flashed across the old man's face. Even now, he was only at the Great Perfection of the seventh stage of the Star Monarch Realm, yet this brat had actually reached the ninth-stage Great Perfection—a full two minor realms ahead of him.
This forced him to marvel at how heaven-defying this child's cultivation speed truly was.
During their last clash, this young man seemed to be only at the Great Perfection of the seventh stage of the Spirit Wandering Realm. Scarcely any time had passed, and he had already reached the threshold of a True Immortal. Such a cultivation speed could only be described as terrifying.
Yet so what? The enmity between them was beyond reconciliation.
"Since it has come to this, what need is there for idle talk?"
With those words, the old man gave his arm a fierce shake, causing a heavy black sword to materialize before him. His wrinkled hand grabbed it fiercely, lifting the heavy sword as he stood proudly in the void, radiating an aura of overriding the firmament!
Who could have imagined that an old man appearing on the verge of twilight could project such heroic fighting spirit?
"In that case, excellent."
Qin Xingchen spoke calmly. Then, forming a sword finger with his right hand, a beam of brilliant light shot out from between his brows, transforming into a flashing silver longsword that hovered before him.
Dao patterns flickered upon it, and various phantoms surfaced, as if evolving a realm of three thousand grand DAOs.
Qin Xingchen pointed his sword finger forward. The Three-Life Sword shifted its sharpness and turned into a shooting star, fiercely hurtling toward the old man.
In the blink of an eye, it had arrived within ten feet of the old man.
The old man did not dodge or evade, hacking fiercely upward with his sword.
The Black-Gold Dragon-Patterned Sword flashed and glinted, a phantom of a giant dragon baring its claws and fangs, carrying majestic momentum as it lunged toward the silver-gray sword beam.
"Clang!"
With a resounding clang of swords, the two blades collided, producing a deafening roar that instantly made mountains and rivers lose their color and the earth shake!
The offensive was entirely neutralized, and the Three-Life Sword flew backward, spinning a wondrous sword flower in midair before returning to Qin Xingchen's hand.
Qin Xingchen's star-like eyes were piercing, divine light flashing within them as if carrying an aura that wished to battle the heavens of all realms.
"Clank, clank, clank!"
The old man retreated several steps before stabilizing his footing.
At this moment, his arm was trembling slightly, and his heart was shaken to the core.
This brat really had some tricks up his sleeve. It seemed he would have to use his trump-card ultimate technique!
"Old man, stop struggling. The current you is no match for me. If you want to kill others, you must be prepared to be killed yourself."
" Shameless boast! This old man has roamed the Southern Territory for thousands of years; how could I possibly be defeated by a little beast like you!"
As the old man spoke, he swept wide his large sleeves, unleashing the "Universe in the Sleeve" technique.
A purple coiled-dragon seal flew out from his sleeve, expanding in the blink of an eye to a size of several thousand feet.
A braying, clawing coiled dragon flew around it, carrying a majestic momentum.
The coiled-dragon seal descended like a towering mountain, bearing the momentum of blotting out the sky as it crashed down toward Qin Xingchen.
As the seal pressed downward, the surrounding air was compressed and pushed outward in all directions, forming fierce, violent gales.
Watching the seal slowly pressing down, Qin Xingchen's face also revealed a grave expression.
This seal was the Nine-Heavens Coiled-Dragon Seal, likewise a sub-immortal-grade divine weapon, just like the Three-Life Sword in his hand.
However, the Three-Life Sword was a growth-type divine weapon; in terms of value, this seal naturally could not compare to it.
Rumor had it that this old man had once suppressed a quasi-immortal-grade supreme mighty figure with this divine weapon, showing just how extraordinary its power was.
"Then I'll let you old fellow understand that I, Qin Xingchen, am not to be trifled with either!"
With a thought, the brilliant divine ring behind him shone, and the Three-Life Sword flew up, splitting into three: one white, one black, and one gray. As the three swords orbited, a Taiji diagram manifested behind him, carrying an indomitable momentum as it fiercely collided with the Nine-Heavens Coiled-Dragon Seal.
The descending momentum of the seal was blocked, forming a delicate balance in midair.
"Rise for me!"
As the brilliant divine ring spun, vast surges of spiritual energy flew toward the Taiji formation diagram. The diagram emitted a dazzling light, and the three longswords spun faster and faster, their momentum growing ever more formidable.
The coiled-dragon seal was slowly lifted, retreating toward the sky as if it might be blasted away at the next moment.
"Humph! This old man underestimated you!"
Thinking things were turning bad, the old man bit his right index finger, causing a stream of pure vital blood to spill from his fingertip and shoot toward the seal, which was gradually falling into a disadvantageous position.
Nourished by the vital blood, the seal blazed with brilliant light, and the phantoms of nine giant dragons seemed to come alive, emitting wave after wave of dragon roars as they pushed the seal down to press the attack. With the infusion of spiritual energy and the nourishment of vital blood, the clash in the air intensified.
"Break for me!"
Qin Xingchen poured spiritual power frantically from his divine ring into the Taiji diagram. The Taiji diagram began to spin slowly, and instantly, a profound and mystical aura escaped outward.
As the three longswords spun, pattern after pattern was projected, slamming into that giant seal.
The falling seal was blasted upward at extreme speed.
Finally, accompanied by a resounding "boom," the phantom of the seal exploded directly, scattering into tiny points of starlight that drifted away.
Amidst that deafening explosion, a black coiled-dragon seal flew back into the old man's sleeve.
"Pfft! Boy, you truly deserve to be the monstrous prodigy of the Qin clan. It seems I still underestimated you."
The old man's aura withered instantly, and a mouthful of rebellious blood spewed forth.
The Coiled-Dragon Seal was his natal spiritual treasure; with the Coiled-Dragon seal damaged, the old man himself suffered the backlash.
This seal was a quasi-immortal-grade divine weapon. Although damaged in the recent clash, given time, it could still repair itself.
Qin Xingchen's complexion was not looking too good either, but he only needed a moment to recover, seeing as he was two minor realms higher than the old man.
At this moment, the Demon Ancestor's beard was white, his vital blood withered, and he fully manifested his aged state. Yet if anyone assumed he no longer had the strength to fight, they would surely suffer a heavy loss.