Chapter 375: Chapter 373: Passed Away
RUMBLE!
The Bronze War Chariot let out a series of deafening rumbles.
It sounded like heavy metal grinding against metal as a surge of Holy Light Treasure Qi erupted from within the Bronze War Chariot.
A black silhouette suddenly materialized amidst the blinding light.
The figure was not tall or imposing; in fact, he appeared rather slender. He was clad in Black Armor, and on his chest was a ferocious Taotie Beast Head with its cavernous mouth wide open, as if to devour everything.
The moment he appeared...
everything in the surroundings seemed to fall silent.
It was as if time and space themselves had frozen.
"Tu Shanhe, how goes the matter I entrusted to you?" the young man in Black Armor, Xiang Tianwen, asked as he looked at Tu Shanhe.
His words were calm and his gaze gentle, yet he exuded an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Just speaking to him seemed to be an immense torment!
Under this suffocating and oppressive pressure, even someone as strong as Tu Shanhe couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat. He hastily said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. This subordinate was incompetent and has failed to live up to your trust."
"Hmph!"
Xiang Tianwen snorted coldly, his placid gaze suddenly turning sharp.
That single cold snort was enough to make Tu Shanhe’s legs give way. He dropped to his knees, kowtowed, and pleaded for mercy, "Your Highness, quell your anger! This subordinate and my disciple, Lan Haichen, did everything we could. Haochen also performed exceptionally well, achieving the rank of the number one young Venerable of the Ten Great Dynasties before entering the Celestial Fate Ancient Realm. It should have been a foolproof plan, but a mishap occurred at the very end. My young disciple was ambushed by a treacherous villain and died a miserable death inside the Celestial Fate Ancient Realm..."
"No wonder I felt I lost my connection with Lan Haichen a few days ago. I thought he was receiving the Divine Blood Inheritance, but it turns out he was killed."
Xiang Tianwen nodded. His icy gaze shifted from Tu Shanhe and swept over Jiang Chen and the others. He frowned slightly. "Who are all these people? And why is the Saint Martial Sword Sect in such a state?"
Xiang Tianwen was like an invincible Monarch.
Every question he asked demanded a meticulous answer.
Any unsatisfactory response would be met with his thunderous wrath.
Therefore...
After carefully choosing his words, Tu Shanhe swept his venomous gaze over Jiang Chen and the others, a hint of vengeful glee in his eyes. "Reporting to Your Highness, these people are experts from the Ten Great Dynasties of the Cloud Domain. Those few over there are from the Saint Martial Sword Sect, but they have already betrayed the Sect. They are the ones who forced this subordinate to have no choice but to request Your Highness’s personal descent!"
Tu Shanhe’s finger pointed toward Qii Daotian, Jiang Chen, Lui Chuanchang, and the others.
The expressions on Jiang Chen and the others changed slightly.
Xiang Tianwen’s arrival was simply too shocking. Nine Black Dragons, each stronger than a Union Palace Realm titan, pulled his Bronze War Chariot. This was an invincible existence, someone who could sweep through the entire Cloud Domain alone. Even in the whole Eastern Continent, few could stand against him!
If they were to face this Xiang Tianwen, even Qii Daotian would feel immense pressure!
"Hm?"
Xiang Tianwen frowned.
His gaze paused on Jiang Chen for a moment. He frowned and said, "So you’re the one who obtained the Divine Blood from this Trial Ancient Realm. How displeasing. The Divine Blood... what a magnificent and precious existence. Only a true prodigy, a True Dragon, is worthy of possessing it. For you to have refined it means it has become polluted, tainted blood. You have desecrated the Divine Blood that belongs to me. That is a crime punishable by death!"
ROAR!
ROAR!
ROOOAR—
The nine Black Dragons, shimmering with black light, all raised their heads to the sky and let out a series of resonant draconic cries.
The sound of the roars shook the heavens and the earth, causing the collapsed Martial Saint Mountain to erupt once more. Rubble shot into the air, and the ground cracked and split.
Suddenly, Xiang Tianwen pointed a finger.
WENG...
Within this part of the world, all the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi began to surge wildly, gathering at the tip of his finger.
Before this single finger, the world seemed to become as fragile as paper.
CRACK CRACK CRACK...
A sharp beam of light from his finger tore through the heavens and the earth.
Before everyone’s eyes, the Celestial Vault suddenly collapsed. The void seemed to have been violently ripped apart, and terrifying spatial storms gushed out from the fissures.
The fissures grew larger and larger.
They spread out in all directions like the cracks on a shattered mirror.
The clear, bright day instantly turned into an apocalypse!
The Celestial Vault was covered in countless cracks, like an infinite spiderweb!
This one finger was Gai Shi, Wudi!
Like a finger strike from a Divine Spirit!
Wushuang!
"Th-this finger..."
Jiang Chen’s pupils contracted violently. He wanted to circulate his Profound Technique to resist.
However...
he was already incredibly weak. Facing this finger strike, he was completely powerless to fight back.
"Disciple, be careful!"
At the critical moment, Qii Daotian’s figure flashed, weaving through the chaotic spatial storms to block Jiang Chen’s path.
His long white hair fluttered around him, his Daoist robes whipping in the wind.
The roaring sounds were incessant.
He brought his hands together before his body, and the surging True Essence Power within him continuously gathered in front, forming a massive True Essence Light Shield.
BOOM!
The terrifying finger strike merely tapped the light shield—a shield so powerful that even an expert at the Peak of Union Palace Realm couldn’t break it—and with a "CRACK," it shattered.
BANG...
The Spirit Star Finger slammed heavily into Qii Daotian’s body.
"WAUGH..."
The Daoist robes around Qii Daotian’s body exploded, his chest caved in, and his figure stumbled backward continuously.
An endless series of popping sounds erupted from his body as mists of blood shot into the air. Even Qii Daotian, an expert at the Union Palace Realm Ninth Stage, was completely powerless against Xiang Tianwen’s finger strike.
This single finger had caused the skin all over Qii Daotian’s body to split open.
He looked like a man made of blood.
Yet he still grit his teeth, resisting the terrifying finger strike to shield Jiang Chen behind him.
When all the light finally dissipated...
Qii Daotian spat out a mouthful of blood with a "WAUGH," his legs gave way, and he knelt on the ground. That single finger strike had already left him gravely injured!
"Master, are you alright?" Jiang Chen dragged his weakened body to Qii Daotian’s side, his pale face filled with deep worry and gratitude.
He had never imagined that under such circumstances, Qii Daotian would risk his life to protect him.
Qii Daotian looked sideways at Jiang Chen, blood streaming from his seven orifices. He cracked a helpless smile. "Disciple... your master once said that even if you pierced the heavens, I would hold them up for you. It’s just a pity... your master is useless. I couldn’t even block a single finger strike."
"No... Master, you are the strongest. In your disciple’s heart, you will always be the strongest master," Jiang Chen said, shaking his head.
His eyes were crimson, and tears of blood seemed to well within them.
"The strongest?"
A look of gratification crossed Qii Daotian’s face. The movement pulled at his wounds, causing him to spit out several more mouthfuls of blood. Growing weaker, he stared intently at Jiang Chen and said, "Disciple, the proudest thing your master has done in this lifetime was accepting you as my disciple. Today, even if I die, your master will not let you come to any harm!"
"Master, what... what are you going to do?" Jiang Chen froze.
An incredibly strong sense of unease filled his heart.
BOOM...
A peerless energy surged from Qii Daotian’s body. A gentle force pushed Jiang Chen away.
Behind Qii Daotian, a Holy Soul suddenly appeared, hovering in the air.
It was the very same Holy Soul he had seized within Martial Saint Mountain!
At this moment...
the Holy Soul was surrounded by streams of Soul Fire.
’He’s burning the Holy Soul!’
Qii Daotian was actually using his own Martial Soul and spirit as a catalyst to burn the Holy Soul, forcibly increasing his power. He was planning to risk it all!
"No... Master, don’t..." Jiang Chen roared hysterically.
Bathed in the radiance of the Holy Soul, Qii Daotian slowly rose into the air. He looked sideways at Jiang Chen, his eyes full of gratification and kindness. "Little one, since I am your master, even if the sky falls, it is my duty to hold it up first. Your master’s abilities are limited; I cannot hold up a clear, bright sky for you. So today, let me, your master, show you my greatest strength one last time!"
The smile on Qii Daotian’s face grew brighter and brighter.
But Jiang Chen’s heart was trembling, bleeding, and screaming helplessly.
Infinite sorrow, like an invisible hand, choked his throat, preventing any sound from escaping.
"Hm? Burning a Holy Soul? You’re certainly willing to part with it!"
In the void, Xiang Tianwen narrowed his eyes, then a look of utter disdain appeared on his face. He said nonchalantly, "A pity. Let’s not even mention that you’re only burning a fragmented, incomplete Holy Soul. Even if you had a complete Holy Soul in your possession, unless you were a Demigod incarnate, you still couldn’t block a single finger from me!"
With that said,
Xiang Tianwen pointed his finger again.
This beam of light shot forward like a rainbow-streaked meteor.
Even though the aura fluctuating from Qii Daotian’s body had now far surpassed the limits of the Union Palace Realm...
Even though he could now single-handedly annihilate a Union Palace Realm titan like Tu Shanhe...
...when faced with this peerless beam of light, he still seemed so small and insignificant.
Light pulsed around Qii Daotian as the Holy Soul burned completely. He became like a blazing sun. His very body began to combust in the flames of the Holy Soul, turning him into a giant of fire.
Terrifying flames engulfed his body. As the licking tongues of fire crept toward his head, they revealed his aged and kind face.
"Disciple..." Qii Daotian looked at Jiang Chen and smiled faintly. "From now on, you must walk the path on your own!"
Jiang Chen looked up at Qii Daotian, who was gradually being enveloped by flames. He opened his mouth, but felt as if he were mute, unable to make a sound. Tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes.
"Ah... ah..."
Jiang Chen roared desperately, like a mute person trying to scream.
However...
it was all useless!
"My disciple will be protected by me! Celestial Wave Slash!"
As that familiar voice rang out, an incredibly terrifying Giant Sword of flame appeared in the sky. Qii Daotian himself transformed into a longsword, hurtling toward Xiang Tianwen.
BANG!
The finger strike trembled violently.
The beam of light shattered, and half of Qii Daotian’s body exploded, scattering into motes of light.
Fearless of death, he continued to charge at Xiang Tianwen, wreathed in blazing holy light.
"You’re courting death!"
Xiang Tianwen snorted coldly and slapped down with his palm.
BOOM!
A Palm Seal resembling the hand of a Divine Spirit descended from the sky. It was immense, and it snatched Qii Daotian directly into its palm. The five fingers clenched tight. With a deafening "BANG," Qii Daotian, still wrapped in holy light, was instantly crushed to pieces, obliterated without a trace...
A mighty expert of a generation had fallen!
Watching a tattered piece of the Daoist robe flutter down from the void, Jiang Chen weakly reached out his hand, trying to catch it. But the moment the fabric touched his palm, it instantly turned to ash.
Jiang Chen’s heart convulsed, and his soul trembled. An incomparably intense sorrow transformed into a heaven-storming rage...
"Xiang Tianwen, give me back my master..."
