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Chapter 496: Emperor's Fall
🕑 Added 2024-08-12 13:00:13 +0000 UTCTianyi paused. ‘I feel like I’m becoming more insidious, like a villain. Bah, what villain? This is just a matter of perspective and interests!’
He quickly adjusted his mental state. Tianyi didn’t answer Demon Emperor Redraco’s question and vanished into the void. His strength had actually plummeted. The boundary connecting him to the Nine Heavens Universe had weakened to the point that he dare not take the attacks of demon emperors like Redraco. If he received too much damage, the boundary would collapse and his conduit would start dissipating. At that point, it would be more conservative to abandon the conduit and create a new one.
“Coward!” Demon Emperor Redraco shouted. However, he didn’t have time to seek out Tianyi as Sword Empress Snowsword reached him and slashed down.
If Sword Empress Snowsword’s previous technique relied on death by ten thousand cuts, then her current technique condensed them all into one. In other words, ten thousand cuts in one slash. Unfortunately for the sword empress, her attack only left a faint mark on Demon Emperor Redraco’s scales.
From the faint mark, ice condensed onto the blood red scales. With each passing moment, the ice grew and enveloped more of Demon Emperor Redraco’s body. Soon, it wouldn’t be long before it covered his entire figure. To expedite the process Sword Empress Snowsword unleashed several slashes.
Just as it seemed Demon Emperor Redraco would become encased in ice, his blood red scales took on an azure hue, making his body appear violet. His realm artifact, the Realm Dragon Scales, had fully manifested on his body. A short vibration later, the ice shattered, and the demon emperor counterattacked.
Like before, when his two whiskers struck Sword Empress Snowsword, they only left faint marks on her body. Instead of striking cloth and flesh, Demon Emperor Redraco felt like he was attacking an incredibly hard piece of metal. Not even his innate ability could affect the sword empress. In his senses, she had transformed from flesh and blood to a lifeform entirely composed of ice.
Both Demon Emperor Redraco and Sword Empress Snowsword saw that neither could do anything to the other. Sword Empress Snowsword wanted to change her target. Although Xuanwu didn’t possess an armor realm artifact, he was likely almost as hard to kill. That only left this generation’s White Tiger and Vermillion Bird.
“Don’t even think about it!” Although Demon Emperor Redraco didn’t know how perilous Sword Empress Snowsword’s state was, he knew that it was impossible for her to gain such power without a price. As long as he stopped her, she would be akin to a fish on a chopping block once her forbidden technique ended.
However, before he could chase, several “stars” struck his body. Once they made contact, they immediately exploded and caused catastrophic changes. The impact sent Demon Emperor Redraco vaulting back. When he finally stopped, he couldn’t help but fearfully look at the void where the attack had come from. ‘Damn. The Nine Heavens Emperor is hiding in the void and I can’t sense him at all. If I can’t sense him, we can’t lock onto him with our innate abilities. We shouldn’t have canceled the Five Element Annihilation so soon! I’m going to ask Senior Xuanwu if he can sense that human.’
Unfortunately, Xuanwu could not sense Tianyi’s location at all. If he was in the Divine Realm, he could brute force it to sense Tianyi, but even if he reached the Demon Sovereign Realm, it would be difficult. He had all but confirmed that Tianyi had started mastering the Law of Spacetime. Once he fully mastered it, he had a high chance of entering the Divine Realm.
Endless killing intent emerged from Xuanwu’s eyes. Unfortunately, he was bombarded by Stellar Silences like Demon Emperor Redraco. Although Demon Emperor Redraco could withstand the Stellar Silence without any problem thanks to his Realm Dragon Scales, he couldn’t hold his ground and was constantly sent flying. Xuanwu could withstand Tianyi’s spell without moving, but only that. In essence, he was trapped in place.
Taking this chance, Sword Empress Snowsword already charged toward Demon Empress Bluefeather. In the deep recesses of her eyes, a fragile unwillingness flickered behind the seemingly endless ruthlessness. Even someone with as strong of a willpower as she could not help but harbor regret at her own death. Still, that did not deter her from her final act of sacrifice.
The sword empress left a mesmerizing trail of snow behind her as she shot toward Demon Empress Bluefeather. The trail resembled a comet and enticed everyone. Instinctively, the humans know that this was likely going to be the most brilliant moment of Sword Empress Snowsword’s life. They couldn’t help but lament.
Contrary to the humans, a deep fear penetrated Demon Empress Bluefeather’s heart. She could sense the chilling killing intent in the sword empress’s eyes. Acting on instinct, the demon empress activated her realm artifact, the Sacred Fire Grotto. A fiery bubble started expanding from her body, but before it reached far, a snow white sword had already pierced Demon Empress Bluefeather’s chest.
Compared to her body, the blade that pierced her chest was miniscule, but Demon Empress Bluefeather felt an unprecedented crisis. A chill emanated from the blade, one that quickly filled her entire body. The chill was so cold that she even felt her soul freezing under its influence. Accompanying that chill was the growing stagnation of her thoughts.
The demon empress used all her willpower to mobilize her demon qi in order to control the Sacred Fire Grotto and expel the snow-white sword from her chest. However, her stagnating thoughts made her qi flow like mud, incredibly slow. ‘No, the slow mobilization of my qi isn’t the result of my slowing thoughts, but because my qi is actually freezing!’
No matter how hopeless the situation turned, Demon Empress Bluefeather struggled with all her strength. After what seemed like a full minute, she expanded the Sacred Fire Grotto to attack the white-haired sword immortal. In reality, it had taken the demon empress a full five minutes.
Five minutes may seem short for mortals, much less immortals and demons, but the amount of things an immortal or demon could accomplish was astronomical in this seemingly short amount of time. Luckily for Demon Empress Bluefeather, the sword empress did not defend at all.
Once the realm artifact acted, the sword empress didn’t resist at all. Rather, thousands of tiny fractures appeared on her skin. With pitter patter, a shard of skin fell off. Underneath Sword Empress Snowsword’s skin was not flesh, but ice.
The cracks from the surface of her body spread into the ice. Soon, the ice broke apart into little snowflakes. In less than a minute, Sword Empress Snowsword’s entire body dissolved into snow, leaving behind a single snow-white sword embedded into Demon Empress Bluefeather. Less than a second later, the hilt snapped off the blade, and the blade also turned to snow.
Although Sword Empress Snowsword perished, Demon Empress Bluefeather didn’t show any signs of joy. Rather, a depressive aura emanated from her. ‘No, not good. I can feel my consciousness growing blurrier. I won’t be able to hold on for much longer. Once I faint, even an immortal monarch can kill or seal me!’
No matter how much she struggled, the demon empress could not stop the inevitable.
Simultaneously, the number of Stellar Silences shooting toward Demon Emperor Redraco decreased and diverted toward the demon empress. The Crimsonblood Dragon wanted to stop it, but he was powerless in the face of Tianyi’s offense.
Unconscious and unable to defend, Demon Empress Bluefeather would only meet one result if she suffered a barrage of Stellar Silences. Just as miniature suns were about to strike the qingluan, space shifted, causing them to change trajectory and miss.
“This is too exaggerated,” Tianyi couldn’t help but mutter.
As the original Black Tortoise, Xuanwu was already huge. His sheer length did not exceed Demon Emperor Redraco, but his pure mass was over a hundred times greater. Not anymore. He had suddenly grown to a mind-boggling size, one that even dwarfed Donghai Longzi’s true size. Tianyi estimated that it reached or surpassed a million kilometers.
Xuanwu’s sheer mass affected spacetime and formed a powerful gravity without him even consciously controlling it. Not only did it save Empress Bluefeather, but it also diverted many Stellar Silences away from Demon Emperor Redraco, giving him a chance to breathe. As for the Stellar Silences that changed trajectory and struck Xuanwu, they popped like bubbles once they made contact.
Tianyi frowned. He thought that he could at least kill Demon Empress Bluefeather and Demon Emperor Blacktiger, but his hopes were too high. He glanced toward Demon Emperor Blacktiger, who was still struggling to resist his attack and the unconscious demon empress.
His eyes turned firm. Without any warning, he charged toward the two demon emperors. Xuanwu opened his mouth and emitted a powerful suction force. Even with Tianyi’s mastery over spacetime, his route became affected.
Tianyi sighed. He could only get this close. Without warning, he exploded.
A massive amount of black mist filled with countless tiny motes of light poured out from Tianyi’s body. It engulfed the unconscious demon empress and struggling demon emperor. However, it only covered up thirty percent of the massive Black Tortoise.
“Stop!” Xuanwu commanded, but how could Tianyi listen to him?
The immortal qi of primordial chaos gurgled as it exuded a heart palpitating rhythm. Then, they detonated. The color reversed, becoming a pure white that expanded like a supernova, engulfing the entire body of Xuanwu.
The power of the supernova lasted for three minutes. When it dissipated, it revealed the singed body of Xuanwu. Demon Emperor Redraco appeared uninjured, but his aura had plummeted. It was obvious that he had suffered even with the protection of the Dragon Scale realm artifact. Demon Empress Bluefeather had become unrecognizable. Were it not for the faint trace of vitality, Xuanwu would have thought she was just a giant lump of coal.
But the worst was definitely Demon Emperor Blacktiger. He kept his form, but his entire body resembled charcoal. The most damning thing was that he had lost all signs of life.
“Damn humans!” Demon Emperor Redraco roared in grief and anger.
Xuanwu said nothing, but his body trembled, affecting space itself. He reached out to grab the corpse of his fallen comrade. “What?”
Just as he reached out, a man wearing a gold coronet and purple robes appeared and grabbed it before him. “Nine Heavens Emperor, how are you still alive and unharmed?!”
Demon Emperor Redraco couldn’t believe it. They paid such a high price, yet Tianyi appeared once more in front of them in peak condition.
“Haha, that’s for me to know and you to never find out!” Tianyi said as he opened a portal to his inner universe. He wanted to suck in Demon Emperor Blacktiger’s corpse and take the realm artifact. However, he met a terrible resistance. ‘Isn’t Blacktiger dead?’
While Tianyi struggled, Xuanwu had already taken the unconscious demon empress under his shell. He and Demon Emperor Redraco actually started to retreat. Not just them, but the entire demon army retreated. The immortals did not give chase. Despite the high-intensity battle between the two sides’ emperors, the combatants at the monarch and true immortal level remained balanced with no heavy losses aside from the start.
Originally, Xuanwu and Demon Emperor Redraco wanted to unleash their fury on the humans despite their conditions, but Tianyi’s appearance changed that. They didn’t even collect Demon Emperor Blacktiger’s corpse.
Tianyi frowned. His body froze, as if shackled in place. A powerful pressure exploded from the fallen demon emperor’s body. Under his gaze, white blood flowed out of the charcoal-like body and formed into a single drop of blood. He wanted to move and grab it, but before he could, it escaped and flew toward Xuanwu and Demon Emperor Redraco.
He did not give chase. With the departure of the white blood, Tianyi no longer encountered any resistance and successfully stored the corpse and realm artifact in his inner universe. While he watched the demons retreat, he couldn’t help but furrow his brow. ‘Was that the White Tiger’s blood essence?’
