Chapter 537: The First Jinx of the Imperial Heaven Realm (Third Update!)
Imperial Yue's head steamed with rising clouds of qi—this was the phenomenon formed when his primordial spirit inhaled and exhaled primal qi. At this moment, his gaze fell upon the figure atop the mountain, and the clouds above his head suddenly swelled to half a mu in circumference.
The primal qi within the clouds seemed to condense into water droplets, and faintly visible raindrops like the most perfect beads of water fell with a tinkling patter, landing on his head before evaporating back into clouds, cycling endlessly.
Imperial Yue climbed the mountain. The mountain was not tall—after all, it was manifested by the Woodcutter Sage and Bound Sun Luo using their own primal qi runes, not true creation. In a few steps he reached the summit, stopping when he was still over forty zhang from Zhe Huali.
"On the battlefield, I encountered you and nearly died at your hands."
Imperial Yue's aura exploded, his battle intent surging to the heavens. Even having once been defeated by this opponent, he felt not the slightest fear—instead, it ignited within him an inexhaustible fighting spirit!
He was a martial fanatic, knowing no fear!
"I have been searching for you, waiting for the chance to wash away this humiliation."
Imperial Yue said excitedly: "I beg you, senior brother, to give me this opportunity!"
Zhe Huali turned, his gaze falling upon him. The demon eye on the hilt of the demon saber behind his back did not open, remaining closed.
His right foot suddenly shifted, toes pointing diagonally, his stance neither square nor eight-shaped. His left foot pointed at Imperial Yue, while the direction his right toes indicated showed a woman climbing the mountain, appearing before them.
Imperial Yue's expression darkened, and he said coldly: "Chan Yuan, do not interfere in my affairs, or I will kill you too!"
The woman Chan Yuan was also a supernatural power user of the Imperial Heaven Realm. She had entered this sandbox world together with Imperial Yue and the others. Earlier they had rushed toward the place where the axe and spear crossed, but since everyone was running there, that location lost its meaning as a contested ground, so they all went into hiding.
However, the only one who did not hide was Qin Mu.
Qin Mu sprinted through midair, and because of his extreme speed, he left cloud trails in the sky, dragging smoke all the way as he ran to the edge of the sandbox world, giving everyone a direction.
Then Qin Mu still didn't settle down—he started forging iron at his hiding spot, attracting many demon clan experts to go there to hunt him.
When the demon clan experts went to hunt Qin Mu, for the experts of the Imperial Heaven Realm, this was a rare opportunity, so they hunted the demon experts along the way.
Chan Yuan also realized this, so she guarded the only path leading to Qin Mu's location. She spotted Zhe Huali standing atop the mountain, and also saw Imperial Yue. Delighted, she climbed the mountain, intending to join forces with Imperial Yue, the third-ranked expert, to eliminate Zhe Huali.
"Senior brother Imperial Yue, you and senior sister Yu He are both disciples of True God Pang Yu. You should understand that the greater picture matters."
Chan Yuan stared fixedly at Zhe Huali, her expression grave, and said in a low voice: "This duel is not your personal grudge, nor your chance to pursue the ultimate in dao techniques and supernatural powers. It concerns the ownership of Li City, the fate of our Imperial Heaven Realm. Neither you nor I can defeat this man alone, but if we join forces, we can take him down!"
"I will not join forces with you. Withdraw."
Imperial Yue's expression was resolute, shaking his head: "Considering that we are both supernatural power users of the Imperial Heaven Realm, I will not kill you. However, if you take the opportunity to strike at him while I am dueling senior brother Zhe Huali, do not blame me for being ruthless."
His gaze was firm, falling upon Zhe Huali, his heart of seeking the dao burning intensely. He chuckled: "If I win, he dies by my hand. If I lose, he will also be gravely wounded, and you can take your chance then—it won't delay the ownership of Li City! You only need to watch, or else do not blame me for being merciless!"
Chan Yuan frowned slightly and took a step back.
Imperial Yue grew excited, his aura intensifying: "Zhe Huali, please enlighten me!"
"You are no match for me. What your Imperial Heaven Realm calls young true gods has been, in my eyes, a joke from beginning to end."
Zhe Huali's expression was indifferent as he calmly looked at him, saying: "You people simply do not understand the meaning of true godhood. You think that just because your physical body reaches the level of a young true god, you are destined to become a true god. Little do you know, you are still far off. The achievements of a young true god number three: the physical body, the primordial spirit, and dao techniques. You have only obtained one. I am different."
The demon saber behind his back vibrated gently, emitting a series of saber hums. He said leisurely: "Before descending to the lower realm, I had already obtained two of them, leaving only dao techniques incomplete. This descent, taking Bound Sun Luo as my teacher, is my cultivation in seeking the dao. Imperial Yue, you are obsessed with dao techniques and supernatural powers, about to obtain the second. I appreciate this determination of yours. You should both come at me together, so as not to throw away your lives for nothing."
"Do not look down on me! My dao techniques and supernatural powers—no breakthrough, no establishment! The stronger the enemy, the stronger I become! Broken Army Mountain!"
Imperial Yue let out a long cry and charged with all his might. The moment his feet moved, his attack was already unleashed. His fist technique transformed into supernatural power, and in an instant, countless fist shadows appeared, stacking like a mountain, and in the next moment they stacked into a single Broken Army Star!
His fist was so heavy that the fist wind compressed the air, producing a series of explosions like ten thousand thunderclaps rolling.
This strike displayed Imperial Yue's astonishing mastery in fist technique supernatural powers. In his battle with Zhe Huali on the battlefield, he had realized his shortcomings. Now facing Zhe Huali again, under the pressure of a powerful enemy, he had actually advanced another step—the Broken Army Mountain supernatural power was about to reach perfection.
Behind Zhe Huali, the demon saber suddenly opened its eye. The eye rotated, expanded, and turned blood-red.
Zhe Huali reached back and drew the saber, slashing down against the Broken Army Mountain supernatural power. Saber light erupted in the air, colliding with the fist shadows of Broken Army Mountain, rebounding—and in an instant, it seemed to transform into ten thousand saber glints, forming a mountain of sabers that cleaved through Broken Army Mountain with exhilarating ease!
The ten thousand saber glints suddenly merged into one, arriving above Imperial Yue's head.
Imperial Yue brought his hands together, catching the saber light. Suddenly the demon saber split into two, and Imperial Yue's expression shifted. Flesh grew from his armpits, sprouting two extra arms that caught the second descending saber light.
He caught the two demon sabers, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the two sabers split into four.
Imperial Yue roared, flesh bursting from his armpits as four more arms grew, catching the descending saber lights.
Then, in despair, he watched as the four saber lights split into eight, slashing down toward him.
Ssss ssss ssss ssss.
The other four saber lights fell. Imperial Yue lowered his head, staring blankly at the saber lights that vanished upon hitting the ground. Four straight bloody lines appeared on his face, growing longer and wider.
Zhe Huali vibrated the demon saber, drawing it out gently from his hands, and sheathed it behind his back. Imperial Yue split into four pieces.
Zhe Huali looked at Chan Yuan. Her expression was grave as she slowly retreated.
"Go. I do not kill women." Zhe Huali said calmly.
Chan Yuan did not relax in the slightest, continuing to retreat at a measured pace. Only after retreating over a li did she turn and sprint away. The moment she turned, Zhe Huali's muscles bulged across his entire body. He exploded into motion, breaking the sound barrier with a thunderous boom, both hands drawing the saber and bringing it down in a vertical slash!
The saber shadow arrived behind Chan Yuan in an instant. She turned in midair, her sword pellet flying out, expanding outward with a clanging sound. Before the flying swords could even burst forth, the saber shadow slashed down from above her head!
Zhe Huali stopped, sheathed his saber, and turned to leave.
"I still need to invite the figure in the painting to see my master's saber technique, so I cannot be wounded. That is why I struck you from behind."
His expression remained calm as he listened intently, following the sound of forging: "Woman, the moment you turn around is when your defenses are weakest. In my presence, never show me your back."
Behind him, Chan Yuan fell.
On the other side, stretches of mountain ridges toppled over. Two figures fought fiercely among the peaks, mountains sharp as blades being punched through, shattering into broken runes that vanished into thin air.
The battle ended quickly. Yu He touched the wound on her face—her opponent had already lost his life, but he had still managed to wound her.
This woman looked up and saw the saber light that flashed and vanished in midair. She frowned slightly.
"Zhe Huali, you are as ostentatious as the blacksmith. However, I do not have complete confidence in defeating you!"
She turned and left: "I need to find the other junior brothers and sisters, and then eliminate you!"
The sandbox world was vast in territory, and finding others was not easy.
Within the sandbox world, battles erupted in several other mountain ranges. When supernatural power users of the Imperial Heaven Realm encountered demon clan experts, they naturally did everything in their power, using every means to slay their opponents.
Thus, when enemies met, battles often ended within a very short time. The supernatural power users died or were maimed—it was extremely brutal.
But even such a short time was enough for them to cover over ten li of ground. Wherever they passed, mountain ridges were punched through, even collapsing and crumbling, causing considerable destruction.
Some went even further, using great supernatural powers to devastate a hundred li in circumference—extremely terrifying.
Of course, this was within the sandbox world, not the real world. If it were outside, these Seven Stars realm supernatural power users, though their powers were considerable, would not have such destructive force.
At the place where the axe and spear crossed, however, it was completely calm.
Sang Hua excitedly set up her trap, then hid herself, quietly waiting for the enemy to fall into her killing trap.
Time passed bit by bit. An hour later, the girl poked her head out from her hiding spot, her two long braids hanging down.
Another hour passed. Sang Hua sat on the axe head, her palm supporting her chin, swinging her legs in boredom.
Another hour passed. Sang Hua lay on the axe's back, looking up at the sky.
"Where are the people?"
She suddenly sat up, somewhat frantic: "Where has everyone gone? Isn't this the contested ground? Whether enemy or friend, at least one of you should show up!"
Outside the sand painting world, gods and demons alike watched the battles within, some pleased, some worried. Before long, the battles in the sand painting world had nearly erupted across the board.
When Qin Mu killed three in a row, playing dead on the ground to lure a fourth opponent, many demon gods grew nervous, breaking out in cold sweat for the demoness lurking on the nearby mountain peak.
Fortunately, the demoness did not take the bait and turned away, and only then did the many demon gods on the temple roof breathe a sigh of relief.
"My lord, he truly is a successor cut from the same cloth as you!" Black Tiger God's excited voice came through.
The Woodcutter Sage remained expressionless, while Bound Sun Luo revealed a smile. The two exchanged glances, then looked away.
When they saw Zhe Huali slay both Imperial Yue and Chan Yuan, two young experts, with two saber strikes, many of the Imperial Heaven Realm's deities clenched their fists in cold sweat, truly worried for the other supernatural power users of their realm.
But the most worried of all was Sang Hua's father, the Venerable God Sang Ye. Sang Ye clenched his fists nervously, his palms slick with cold sweat.
"My dear daughter, don't come out. Stay right there..."
Venerable God Sang Ye stared fixedly at the axe-spear crossing in the sandbox world. When he saw Sang Hua jump down from the axe, his expression changed, and he silently recited: "Don't go out. Whatever you do, don't go out..."
Sang Hua ran outward.
"Don't meet any enemies. Don't meet any enemies..."
Ahead of Sang Hua, a demoness was walking this way.
Venerable God Sang Ye nearly fainted: "She's done for..."
————Three updates again! There will be more updates after midnight!