Chapter 573: Chapter 548: Emperor Qing Takes Action
"Lu Yan, I went mad with cultivation yesterday and injured myself, so I’m not in good shape today. Let’s postpone our fight to another day."
As Zhao Qiankun’s soul fluctuated, he shouted loudly.
But Lu Yan’s eyes were cold and indifferent, ignoring him completely as he put all his effort into driving the Five Elements Field to eradicate Zhao Qiankun’s protective talisman.
The talisman began to tremble.
Crack!
Finally, a crack appeared on the light screen, and a wisp of Chaos Light Flame surged into the crack, evolving into a blade of light that struck Zhao Qiankun, piercing straight through his field and cutting off one of his arms.
"I concede, I’m not in good shape, I concede, I’ve conceded..."
Zhao Qiankun shouted in terror.
"A duel determines superiority, as well as life and death."
Lu Yan spoke indifferently, pressing his palm downward as another crack appeared on the light screen. A stream of Chaos Light Flame entered and swept past Zhao Qiankun, slashing a deep wound into his chest that reached his innards.
Zhao Qiankun coughed up a mouthful of blood, feeling the life force within him draining away.
"Save me, someone save me..."
Zhao Qiankun, unwilling to accept his fate, sent out a soul-wrenching wail.
"Stop."
Suddenly, from within the Three Emperors Alliance headquarters, a loud command was heard, and an enormous hand appeared out of thin air, reaching towards Lu Yan.
The hand wasn’t large, but it seemed capable of grasping the entire world in its grip.
Lu Yan’s expression changed immediately.
There was no escape, no avoidance.
This grasp, vastly surpassing his strength by countless times, meant certain death for him upon its descent.
There was no doubt, an entity from the Creator Realm had intervened, and not just at the first step.
Lu Yan’s cultivation level had already reached the pinnacle of the Tao Fifth Layer, gradually nearing the Creator Realm, already able to glimpse its fringe. The first step of the Creator Realm wasn’t this strong.
However, he was not panicked.
The experts of the Dragon Alliance wouldn’t just watch him be killed.
Indeed, endless formation patterns suddenly pervaded around him.
Interweaving formation patterns transformed into a gigantic sword, which slashed downwards.
Spurt!
The giant hand was cleaved in half, and the arm swiftly retracted.
"A grand entity from the second step of the Creator Realm actually attacking a junior, initiating and retreating at will. Do you really think I’m just for show?"
Above Lu Yan, a young man wearing a Taoist robe appeared with a gloomy face, staring unpleasantly at the Three Emperors Alliance headquarters.
He looked exactly like Mr. World.
But of course, he was not Mr. World, he was the Formation Ancestor.
"Come out."
Mr. World reached out his hand into the air, and endless formation patterns spread, wrapping around the retracting arm. Then, with a pull, a panicked elder was dragged out.
"Old fellow, it’s you. Interfering in the juniors’ duel, I’ll cripple you," the Formation Ancestor coldly shouted, as the grand array spread out, ready to envelop the elder.
But at that moment, from the Three Emperors Alliance headquarters, a flaming battle saber flew out, cleaving through the air and ripping space apart. The Formation Ancestor’s patterns were torn away one by one, and the elder quickly retreated, escaping the range of the Formation Ancestor’s formation.
Behind the elder, a middle-aged man with a flame mark on his forehead and fiery red hair fluttering in the wind appeared.
"Yanchi, you loser, you dare to show your face? Are you looking for a beating?"
The Formation Ancestor’s face was grim as formation patterns emerged ceaselessly beneath his feet, turning into an Eight Diagrams Map that spun continuously.
Yanchi, son of the Flame Emperor, had long reached the pinnacle of the second step in cultivation, but he was grave and careful in the face of the Formation Ancestor, neither attacking nor retreating.
Suddenly, a crack in the void opened, and a withered claw, grayish-green in color, reached out towards Lu Yan.
But just as the ghostly claw was about to seize him, it passed through Lu Yan’s body as if through an illusion.
And Lu Yan remained unharmed.
He himself was surprised.
"The way of time and space."
Not far away, a wild-haired and ghostly woman appeared.
This woman was evidently not the Ghost Emperor but one of his disciples, a pinnacle second-step being in the Creator Realm and one of the top powerhouses in the Three Emperors Alliance.
Her gaze lingered on someone behind Lu Yan without blinking.
Behind Lu Yan, a beautiful girl appeared soundlessly.
"Sure enough, it’s you, the Time-space Spiritual Mouse."
The ghostly woman spoke coldly.
The girl smiled, "With me here, you can’t touch Lu Yan."
"We shall see about that."
The ghostly woman shouted coldly as a black river gushed out with a flicker of light.
In the black river, the water was pitch-black and stinking, with countless corpses and tortured souls floating and wailing within, surging towards Lu Yan.
Lu Yan felt his scalp tingle at the sight. If he were to be caught in this black river, he would be left with nothing.
However, he did not move, continuing to operate the Five Elements Field, combating Zhao Qiankun and eradicating his protective talisman.
He firmly believed that the Dragon Alliance would protect him.
As expected, the black river disappeared just as it neared Lu Yan, then surged out from somewhere high above, turning its direction towards Yanchi instead.
Yanchi’s face changed, and he had to retreat to dodge.
The ghostly woman clenched her teeth and pulled, directing the black river towards Lu Yan again, but still to no avail, and the river nearly hit the Three Emperors Alliance headquarters instead.
"Impressive. Who is this girl? She doesn’t seem to be one of the Nine Dragon Temples’ temple masters," Lu Yan marveled.
A being at the limit of the second step of the Creator Realm was being toyed with by the girl; in his eyes, her strength was simply unfathomable.
Indeed, the Dragon Alliance was filled with experts.
A fleeting distraction passed, and Lu Yan continued to drive the Five Elements Field against Zhao Qiankun.
At that moment, the light screen on Zhao Qiankun’s body bore more and more cracks, and the wounds on his body multiplied, even his Primordial Spirit had been severely damaged, wilting and listless.
"Enough."
Just then, a cold command sounded from the void.
The voice wasn’t loud, yet it made heaven and earth tremble, and the Magic River quivered.
In that moment, it seemed as if all other sounds in heaven and earth had vanished, leaving only this cold command.
The girl behind Lu Yan’s face changed dramatically, her hands pushed forward, invisible power enveloping Lu Yan as if he were in another void.
But as the cold command fell, the void around Lu Yan exploded, and the girl behind him was forced to retreat seven steps in rapid succession, her lovely face paling slightly.
A figure emerged from the void.
Suddenly, he became the sole focus of the scene.
All eyes, as if by agreement, converged on him.
Ghost Emperor!
Someone whispered, taking a sharp breath.
It was unexpected that even the Ghost Emperor had appeared.
Creator Realm Third Step, without a doubt, the most pinnacle existence across the entire Origin Continent, including the boundless starry sky.
Those who could suppress him, only the True One.
But True One State, how many are there in the world?
Without True One, Creator Realm Third Step is invincible.
"Lu Yan, I ordered you to stop, didn’t you hear?"
The Ghost Emperor’s sinister pupils turned toward Lu Yan.
But Lu Yan acted as if he heard nothing and continued refining Zhao Qiankun.
A flicker of murderous intent passed through the Ghost Emperor’s eyes. As he was about to take action, he suddenly felt an alarm and looked towards the distance.
There stood a tall figure in the distant sky, dressed in azure robes, fluttering in the wind.
Emperor Qing!
Someone exclaimed, utterly unaware of how Emperor Qing had appeared.
It was as if, from the very beginning, he had always stood there.
"Ghost Emperor, let’s not concern ourselves with the life-and-death battle of the young, it’s beneath our dignity,"
Emperor Qing said indifferently.
"Easy for you to say, the one dying isn’t from your Dragon Alliance,"
The Ghost Emperor retorted coldly.
Zhao Qiankun, ranked second among the disciples of the Three Emperors Alliance, his Cultivation Level already at the peak of the Tao Realm, just one step away from breaking through to the Creator Realm.
With his talent, it was quite normal for him to step into the Creator Realm Second Step in the future.
To raise a Zhao Qiankun, who knows how many resources had been spent; how could they easily give up?
"Why waste words with him? Attack, and exterminate them,"
A deep and brutal voice came through as the void split open, a gigantic fist engulfed in surging flames smashed towards Lu Yan.
"Flame Emperor."
Emperor Qing’s eyes turned cold. With a flick of his finger in the air, a stream of azure Sword Qi shot out, colliding with the flaming fist.
At the same time, he stepped through the air, taking three steps in succession, and in front of the flaming fist, a huge azure lotus appeared.
The azure lotus spun rapidly, emitting endless Sword Qi, clashing with the flaming fist continuously.
Just then, the Ghost Emperor made his move as well.
He shook his arms, and a sky full of ghostly Qi pressed down towards Lu Yan.
They not only aimed to rescue Zhao Qiankun, but also sought to kill Lu Yan together.
"The Three Emperors Alliance, is that all you amount to?"
The cold light flickered in Emperor Qing’s eyes as the Measureless Azure Energy surged to the sky, resonating with the Magic River. In the void, azure lotuses kept emerging.
The second one, the third, the fourth...
In an instant, the void was filled with azure lotuses.
Emperor Qing stood amidst the lotuses, surrounded by countless blossoms, each one an attack easily blocking the advances from the Ghost Emperor.
Boom!
Sky-high intense flames poured down.
As the Flame Emperor’s onslaught was stalled, he strode across the void, his stature as tall as the heavens, fists swinging, like two massive stars, hammering down at Emperor Qing.
At the same time, the Ghost Emperor wielded a black banner, waving it as ghosts wailed and wolves howled, and endless ghostly Qi spread towards Emperor Qing.
"Retreat!"
The surrounding onlookers frantically moved back, fast as lightning, fearing being caught up if they were a moment too late.
Fortunately, the Flame Emperor and the Ghost Emperor dared not harm others recklessly; after all, those nearby were either from the True One Force or the Pseudo-Zhenyi Force, and they did not dare to offend indiscriminately.
"Lu Yan, focus on killing your opponent. Don’t worry about anything else,"
Emperor Qing’s steady voice rang out.
As his words fell, Emperor Qing’s body underwent a radical transformation, from human to dragon in the blink of an eye.
The next moment, a colossal Azure Dragon appeared in the sky, with a nine-clawed belly, exuding an overwhelming dragon might.
A dragon’s roar split the air, and his claws tore through the void, blocking the attacks from both the Flame Emperor and the Ghost Emperor simultaneously.
"Ye Qing, you, alone, think you can stop the two of us? That’s delusional."
The Flame Emperor roared, his flames growing more intense as if they were about to burn through the universe. Around his body, a phantom of the Magic Long River circled, which he grasped in his hand, turning into a battle saber, slashing towards Emperor Qing.
But Emperor Qing was fearless. With a claw strike, he blocked the Flame Emperor’s attack.
Boom, boom, boom...
Three great masters exchanged dozens of blows in an instant.
