Aspiring to the Immortal Path
Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 658: Divine Division Battle (3)

The blazing saber energy swept toward the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor in a resplendent wave.

Even someone as strong as Silver Eyes didn't dare to underestimate this terrifying strike, preparing to resist it with all his might.

But as the saber energy was about to strike, it disappeared.

As Silver Eyes froze in surprise, Tang Jie unleashed another attack, this time attacking from his side.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor's Thousand Hands spread out, releasing a barrier.

But again, the saber energy disappeared before making impact.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was again taken aback. Just when he was wondering what Tang Jie was up to, Tang Jie unleashed another blow.

The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was mentally prepared this time, and as expected, the saber energy disappeared before it reached him.

Like a maniac, Tang Jie continued to swing his saber, each one fierce and savage. Silver Eyes was incensed by this behavior. "This is your strongest move? An illusion?"

"No! The Dao of Time!" Tang Jie coldly replied after making his fourteenth swing.

He threw aside the saber and punched!

"Devil Crushing Fist!"

A berserk roar rang out as Tang Jie put all of his strength into this punch.

Immense power instantly locked down the space around the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, and he suddenly felt an unprecedented danger approaching.

This danger had come so quickly and so fiercely that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor didn't even have time to defend.

Ten thousand arts with a thought still requiring thinking.

He had just begun to form this thought when the vanished saber energies reappeared, attacking the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor from various angles.

"NOOO!" the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor crazily yelled.

The Thousand Hands instantly radiated a blinding light.

But this attack backed by the entirety of Tang Jie's power wasn't so easy to block. Those hands shattered under those blazing saber energies, instantly obliterated, and the sharp blades easily sliced through the silver barrier.

The saber energies twisted together!

Crying out, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor unleashed black torrents of energy to contend against the saber energies.

It was a savage collision, and then a violent explosion so savage that it threatened to tear apart the heavens spread out from the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, after which blood filled the air.

"Awooo!" The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor let out a mighty howl, in the most pain he had ever suffered in this life. At least seven of the Nine Extinctions Blades had broken through the black torrents to strike him. Even when weakened by the black torrents, they still dealt him heavy damage.

Law cultivators would never have as good bodies as body cultivators, and the Nine Extinctions Blade was far stronger than the average spell art. These seven strikes had been a severe blow for the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, three of them even cutting him open.

But this was not the full extent of his wounds, for Tang Jie's Devil Crushing Fist had come right behind. The power of this attack was already at the Violet Palace level, and this one punch pulverized many of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor's bones.

Blood gushed out, and a crimson light rushed out to devour the Fiend Emperor's essence blood so that it could be turned against him.

"Shameless! Despicable!" the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor cursed.

He knew that he had fallen for Tang Jie's trap after all.

The Dao of Time!

Who could have expected this guy to have comprehended a Dao Will of Time? And it was a Dao Will that allowed him to concentrate all his attacks at a certain point in time.

While this was a powerful trick, the extremely long preparation time made it impractical, and there was also the location restriction. The opponent moving even slightly would cause everything to be for naught.

But he had been arrogant and wanted to see what Tang Jie was capable of, so he had only defended and not attacked, which gave Tang Jie the opportunity to use a divine ability that he should never have been able to use in normal circumstances.

Truly, his arrogance had been his undoing.

But it was too late to rue his decision. The terrifying punch had shattered all his bones, and the fierce blades had sliced him into four pieces. And before his immense vitality had a chance to show its power, a flame rushed in, transforming into a phoenix, tiger, lion, and crane, each one engulfing a part of his body so that they couldn't come together. Meanwhile, the Flesh Millstone crazily absorbed his blood, and Tang Jie even used his remaining strength to throw out the Deicide Flame. This flame that could burn all things fell on a piece of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor's body and swiftly set it alight.

Killing the enemy until there was nothing left!

This time, Tang Jie really did use everything he had.

He knew how powerful the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was, and he knew that this guy still had many more tricks that he hadn't had the time to use.

But this was why he had to kill him before then.

He had to die a frustrated death!

Show off as much as you want!

Show off and eat lightning!

Even though the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was still doing his best to resist, his silver eyes flashing as he cast arts to heal himself, the twin assault of blood and fire made all his efforts futile.

Who cares about your heavenly abilities, your ability to cast with a thought, your vast life force, your divine might!?

If you don't have the chance to use them, you'll just be tormented to death.

Tang Jie regurgitated the Herding Yang Pearl and watched the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor wail within the blood and fire. "Farewell, Your Majesty!"

――――――――

Inkcloud Abyss, the Blackwater River.

Once Tang Jie and the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor flew out, all that was left were the fiends led by the twelve fiend kings and the humans led by five Soul Transformation cultivators.

Glaring at Sun Shuming, the Ghostface King snarled, "Let's see what tricks you have to win a five-versus-twelve."

"Hey, ugly, what do you mean, 'five versus twelve'? There's still us," Shentu Yuan grumbled.

Ye Xiao pulled on him. "Be quiet, would you?"

"What are you afraid of? Humans and fiends are enemies, so fighting is only natural. We just die at most, but at least it's better than cowering like a turtle. We should learn from Tang Jie. Even if we're no match, we still have to have the courage to face the enemy!" Shentu Yuan stubbornly said, not backing down despite the disparity in forces.

Sun Shuming nodded in approval. "Good, good. This mindset means that my human race still has hope and my meticulous preparations for this battle were not in vain."

"What did you say?" Shentu Yuan and the Ghostface King were both taken aback by these words.

His tone made it seem like he didn't come here solely to take the Umbra Cactus Flower.

Sun Shuming chuckled. "Do you really think I would come here with no preparations whatsoever and sacrifice countless lives solely for the sake of a single flower?"

The fiends all suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sun Shuming slapped the ground and roared, "Detonate!"

As he roared, the upper reaches of the Inkcloud Abyss shuddered.

They were located at the very bottom of the Inkcloud Abyss, with steep cliffs on both sides, and the Blackwater River running through.

An explosion blasted through the Inkcloud Abyss, and countless boulders tumbled from the cliffs above, plummeting to the abyss below.

"Oh no!" The Ghostface King paled.

Before entering, they had scanned the area with their Fiend Wills, but other than the Stellarite used to expand the passage, they had found no traps.

But Sun Shuming had been cunning, placing the traps in the upper reaches of the abyss rather than the bottom.

This explosion was now sending a mass of debris right down toward them.

The impact of these stones wouldn't do much to the fiends, but the uproar from above was so great that it seemed like half of the Inkcloud Abyss had collapsed. This sheer tonnage of debris was enough to bury everyone alive. And even if the fiends survived, the terrain below would be destroyed, and maybe even the Blackwater River would be finished.

The Ghostface King was shocked and enraged. "Sun Shuming, have you gone mad? This might not even kill us, but the Blackwater River will be finished, and the Umbra Cactus Flower will grow no longer."

"It's better than letting it fall into your hands," Sun Shuming sinisterly said.

"What?" The fiends were aghast.

They finally understood what was going on.

Sun Shuming hadn't come to pick the flower.

He had come to destroy the flower!

Yes, from the very beginning, Sun Shuming had realized that it would be very difficult to get the Umbra Cactus Flower from fiend territory. The fiends were just too powerful to hope that they could snatch food from their jaws.

Since he couldn't get it, he wouldn't let his enemy get it either!

The gap in strength compelled the humans to boldly choose to destroy everything.

There was never any species more ruthless and determined than humans, and only humans could destroy what they could not have. While fiends were strong, even they were inferior to the humans when it came to cunning and ruthlessness.

Not only that, the humans wanted to use this chance to kill all the fiends who came after the flower!

As rocks plummeted from above, Sun Shuming pointed forward and shouted, "All things are born and die; the cycle is ever-changing. All living things suffer, and hell is eternal… March of the Hundred Ghosts, rise!"

The Stellarite in the Nether River passage flashed and then exploded.

The collapse of the Inkcloud Abyss had already destabilized the passage, and this instantly caused the passage to collapse.

But it did not simply vanish. Before the space completely collapsed, Sun Shuming converted its energy and summoned a giant door. This door was made from countless white bones and radiated ghostly energy. The Ghostface King cried out in shock upon seeing the door. "A Nether Gate! You've opened a Nether Gate!"

"How else could I destroy all of you?" Sun Shuming answered with clenched teeth.

The Nether Gate opened, and countless ghost soldiers, generals, and kings rushed out.

If the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had been here, he could have used his divine power to undo the spell art and close the Nether Gate, which was why Sun Shuming had despaired upon seeing him. Fortunately, Tang Jie had lured him away, so there was no one left to stop this frenzied assault from the Nether Domain.

Stones were raining down from above as the Inkcloud Abyss collapsed, and down below, ghosts surged and the giant Blackwater Snake roared.

The fiends, facing the double threat of being buried alive and devoured by ghosts, had lost all their cockiness.

The Ghostface King shouted, "Hurry, leave this place!"

The Nether Gate couldn't last for long, so they had to get out of here quickly. Once the spell art ended, they could return.

But while he wanted to leave, Sun Shuming wanted him to stay.

He shouted, "Stay right there!"

He threw up a mouthful of blood.

This blood was mixed with radiant golden particles—it was essence blood that contained Sun Shuming's power.

He dabbed his brush in this essence blood and wrote out four characters:

Heaven Canvas, Earth Net (天罗地网)!

A giant golden net formed in the air, sealing off this entire space.

This net didn't stop anyone from flying, only neutralized all escape arts.

Sun Shuming then used "Obliterate" from the Three Character True Talisman Classic.

As the Obliterate character appeared, it exerted an immense power on all the fiends.

This was Sun Shuming's strongest area attack, so powerful that even the likes of the fiend kings had to use all their power to deal with it.

Sun Shuming turned his head and said, "What are you just standing there for?"

Liu Yunshan's group was already prepared, immediately flying up once they heard this.

Shentu Yuan's group realized what was going on, but as they prepared to leave, they saw that Sun Shuming was still standing there.

"Sir Sun!" the four of them shouted.

Sun Shuming waved his hand. "The master must stay to entertain his guests."

They realized that Sun Shuming planned to sacrifice himself to bring down the fiends.

"Sir!" Shentu Yuan, Ximen Changfeng, Ice Phoenix, and Ye Xiao all cried out.

They were truly moved by this honored figure's resolve.

Liu Yunshan's group lost their patience, coming back and grabbing the four. "Hurry up! If you want to avenge Sir Sun, kill some more fiends in the future!"

They all turned into streaks of light and flew off.

The Ghostface King frantically flew upward. If he didn't take this chance now, he would never be able to escape in the future.

Swinging the Ironblood Saber, he let out a blue wave of energy that actually managed to destroy that Obliterate character.

But Sun Shuming had already written the third:

As the End character appeared, an even more tyrannical energy manifested, forcing the fiends to deal with it.

"You can't stop me!" the Ghostface King furiously howled.

A blue light erupted from his body. He was even willing to sacrifice his cultivation to break out of Sun Shuming's trap.

Boom! The Ironblood Saber clashed with the End character, annihilating it, and the Ghostface King flew out.

"Ghostface King, help me!" Down below, the Small Peach Queen wailed. While she was powerful, it wasn't easy to so quickly break free of Sun Shuming's spell art.

The Ghostface King ignored her and continued flying upward.

Meanwhile, Sun Shuming flicked a jade bottle at the distant Blackwater Snake. Several drops of fluid fell out of the bottle, which the Blackwater Snake delightedly caught in its mouth, after which it let out a pleased hiss and retreated into the water. The jade bottle then turned around, and the Umbra Cactus Flower flew into the bottle.

With a wave of his hand, the bottle returned to Sun Shuming.

"The Umbra Cactus Flower!" Only now did the Ghostface King realize that there was no need to kill the snake to get the flower.

Seized by greed, he flew over to Sun Shuming and stabbed the saber at him. Sun Shuming was using his Three Character Classic to suppress the fiends, and he had no strength to resist, so the saber stabbed into his chest.

Sun Shuming shuddered, but as he gazed at that saber, he smiled.

The Ghostface King grabbed the bottle in his hand.

Sun Shuming didn't try to struggle, simply saying, "I have cultivated for seven hundred years, seeking freedom and immortality. But when fiends and ghosts invade my homeland, I sacrifice this body to protect my home! Hahaha!"

He began to laugh as a brilliant light radiated from his body.

"Shit!" The Ghostface King knew he was in trouble. He hastily took on his original form, swallowed the bottle, and took off into the air.

But he was too late.

This resplendent light, infused with world-destroying energy, erupted from Sun Shuming's body.

Celestial Heart detonation!

And it was the Celestial Heart detonation of a Soul Transformation cultivator.

The fierce shockwave pushed all the fiends back down to the earth.

The Greenscale Ghost Serpent had half of its body blown away.

But he still wasn't dead, the powerful constitution of a fiend letting him survive this terrible blow, albeit in a grisly state. As he desperately waved his two foreclaws and flew upward, he suddenly had an ill foreboding.

He looked up and saw a giant boulder coming from above.

"NO!" the Ghostface King yelled.

The boulder slammed him to the ground.

He landed right next to the Small Peach Queen, who was drenched in blood. She looked at him and laughed. "In the end, you couldn't escape either, hahaha!"

"I'm not trash like you!" the Ghostface King shot back. Raising the Ironblood Saber in his right claw, he prepared to shatter the boulder. But at this moment, the Ironblood Saber hummed as if it realized what was about to happen. Breaking free of the Ghostface King's grip, it flew away.

"Come back!" the Ghostface King wailed in despair.

But no matter how he wailed, the saber wasn't coming back.

Looking back, he saw countless ghosts still flooding out of the Nether Gate, a dark tide consuming all the fiend kings…