Translator: CinderTL
Li Chunjun!
Hong Yan didn't need to be told.
Ever since she learned that Li Chunjun had destroyed their Hong Clan Ancestral Grounds and killed her closest relatives—Hong Tu, Hong Guang, and Hong Feng—every moment of her flight had been filled with a burning desire to grind him to ashes.
She would recognize him even if he were reduced to dust.
Although Hong Qianjue had never met Li Chunjun, after reuniting with Hong Yan and hearing her accounts, he had also come to know him quite well.
Therefore, when they saw the figure, both of them recognized him almost simultaneously.
Li Chunjun!
But...
"How is this possible!?"
Hong Yan's eyes widened in shock, filled with terror and disbelief.
Li Chunjun had been on the Star Brilliance List just a few years ago!
Though he was the Star Brilliance First Rank, possessing formidable combat power, he had only been at the Nascent Soul Realm back then!
The gap between the Nascent Soul Realm and Void Refining was vast beyond measure!
It was like comparing heaven and earth, or clouds and mud.
When he destroyed the Hong Clan, he had already displayed Cosmic Light Peak-level combat power, leaving her deeply puzzled about what miraculous encounter he had experienced. But now...
How much time had passed!?
In just two or three years, he had skyrocketed from Cosmic Light Peak-level combat power all the way to the Void Refinement Realm!?
Such a leap was beyond her wildest dreams!
Yet Li Chunjun had truly achieved it.
Not only Hong Yan, but Hong Qianjue himself felt his understanding of the world being turned upside down as he gazed at the figure before him.
What shocked him most wasn't just Li Chunjun's meteoric rise from the Star Brilliance First Rank to the Void Refining Realm in a mere few years. Even more terrifying was that, despite having only recently achieved Void Refining, Li Chunjun was already displaying combat prowess at the Peak of the Void Refinement Realm!
As a result, Hong Qianjue's Yin-Yang Annihilation Finger had failed to gain any advantage in their direct confrontation. In fact...
It had even been slightly outmatched, leading to the destruction of the Pathseeker!
A few years!
It had truly been only a few years!
Not only had Li Chunjun ascended from the Nascent Soul Realm to Void Refining, but he now possessed combat strength that surpassed Hong Qianjue's own, reaching the Peak of the Void Refinement Realm!?
This...
Even with cheat codes, it was too absurd!
At least, Hong Qianjue couldn't even begin to imagine such a scenario.
Either Li Chunjun possessed a Supreme Treasure of the highest caliber, or he had inherited a Dao Unification Realm-level legacy!
Or perhaps...
His outstanding performance on the Star Brilliance List had caught the attention of a Great Power, who had seized his body and replaced him!
Regardless of the truth, the fact remained: Li Chunjun had destroyed the Hong Clan, making this a feud that would never end!
"Even if your Qi and Dao cultivation are higher, I refuse to believe you can surpass me in divine abilities and techniques!"
Hong Qianjue clasped his hands together.
Beneath him, a massive Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram materialized.
The pattern swelled in the wind, instantly spreading across tens of thousands of miles!
This was his lifebound dao artifact, the Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram, forged over tens of thousands of years of accumulation and countless expeditions.
As the dao artifact was activated, a certain dao technique drew the Yin-Yang energies together. They rapidly converged, collided, condensed, and expanded, threatening to transform into an Yin-Yang Domain that would annihilate all life within.
"Great Yin-Yang Grinding Wheel!"
The Yin-Yang energies surged and churned, instantly engulfing Li Chunjun. The constant collision, fusion, and transformation of the two forces within would make even ordinary Void Refining Heavenly Monarchs pale.
But Li Chunjun...
"My divine abilities and techniques may be slightly inferior to yours, but..."
He formed a sword with his fingers and pointed it forcefully at the approaching Great Yin-Yang Grinding Wheel.
"Sword Qi Long River! Go!"
In the next moment, Mind Power projected the Sword Qi Long River, carried by the Scarlet Sky Sword. It surged forward with unstoppable force, manifesting in its full glory.
In the year and more since leaving the Profound Yellow Great World, passing through the Land of Buried Demons, and returning to the Immortal Great Wall with the people from the Azure Star Minor Realm, he had completely reforged the Scarlet Sky Sword!
In his hands now, this High-Grade Dao Artifact was no longer a set-type dao artifact composed of tens of thousands of quasi-dao artifacts. It could truly unleash its full power as a High-Grade Dao Artifact!
Moreover, this Dao Artifact was originally forged by the Jade Glaze Gang for Li Chunjun as the core of his Void Storm Dharma Aspect. Now, bearing the Sword Qi Long River, it directly displayed a hint of the Void Storm's grandeur.
Countless strands of Sword Qi intertwined into a dense, surging river, crashing against Hong Qianjue's dao technique—the Great Yin-Yang Grinding Wheel—which he had conjured using the Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram.
In an instant, the Sword Qi that had initially penetrated the grinding wheel was almost instantly annihilated by the Yin-Yang Force within. Countless sparks and terrifying energy fluctuations erupted from the collision, each release of energy from the clash between Sword Qi and Yin-Yang Qi surpassing even the most powerful hydrogen bomb!
And these collisions between Sword Qi and Yin-Yang Qi occurred tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of times in a single moment.
If this Sword Qi were to accidentally fall into a Lesser Thousand World...
A top-tier Lesser Thousand World spanning over a million miles might fare slightly better.
But for ordinary Lesser Thousand Worlds, merely tens of thousands of miles across, the energy contained within a single strand of Sword Qi could ignite the entire realm, turning all civilizations, matter, and life within it to ashes.
The terrifying energy collision and release left both Hong Yan of the Hong Clan and the crew of the Golden Crow Battleship, who had hastily taken to the skies in the Lesser Thousand World, utterly stunned.
A life-or-death battle between Void Refining Great Powers was a sight that over 99% of Primordial Spirit True Monarchs would never witness in their entire lives.
The sheer horror of the scene...
Many Primordial Spirit True Monarchs tried to imagine themselves in the situation. They realized that if they were even within ten thousand miles of the battlefield, they wouldn't stand a chance of survival. They would be instantly torn to shreds by the terrifying energy release.
Yet, despite the relentless barrage of Sword Qi, every single strike was blocked by the Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram and the Great Yin-Yang Grinding Wheel surrounding Hong Qianjue. At first glance, it seemed not a single strand of Sword Qi could even approach the Hong Clan Ancestor.
This sight sent morale soaring among Hong Yan and the Hong Clan members!
"Long live the Ancestor!"
Some couldn't help but shout in jubilation.
But this situation didn't last long. As the Sword Qi Long River, now a relentless torrent, continued to surge forward, gradually enveloping and encircling Hong Qianjue's form completely, the cheers gradually died down. The faces of those who had been cheering stiffened, and they found themselves holding their breath involuntarily.
Even Hong Yan, the Heaven's Chosen who had cultivated Mind Power, dared not utter another word.
Too many!
The Sword Qi that formed the Sword Qi Long River was simply overwhelming!
It exceeded the Great Yin-Yang Grinding Wheel's capacity to obliterate it.
This wasn't a victory of dao techniques or Mystical Powers, but a crushing display of Dao cultivation and Qi.
Their founding ancestor, despite possessing far more powerful dao techniques, had been forced from a position of advantage to one of disadvantage against this endless, almost infinite Sword Qi Long River.
Now, he was completely enveloped by the sword qi storm, which was tearing him apart with relentless ferocity...
"Damn it!"
Trapped within the Sword Qi Long River... no, the sword qi storm's relentless assault, Hong Qianjue roared in fury. The Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram's rotation abruptly accelerated, crashing head-on into a corner of the storm.
Just as he thought he could break free using the Dao Artifact's power, Li Chunjun suddenly pressed his hand down.
Countless strands of Sword Qi rapidly converged and condensed, forming even sharper sword beams that slammed into the area where the Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram was colliding with the storm.
The Sword Qi and the Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram clashed and sliced repeatedly, causing sparks to fly from the Dao Artifact. Some of the Yin-Yang energies were violently shattered and torn away from the Dao Artifact, exploding into the Void.
Such sharpness...
"A High-Grade Dao Artifact!"
Hong Qianjue roared in shock, fury, and resentment.
If Li Chunjun had relied solely on his immense Dao cultivation and Qi to overwhelm him, Hong Qianjue, even if defeated, could have retreated with ease.
With his mind set on escape, and given the narrow gap between them, Li Chunjun might not have been able to kill him.
But he never expected that, in addition to his astonishing Dao cultivation and Qi, the vessel Li Chunjun used to contain the Sword Qi Long River was also a High-Grade Dao Artifact.
This Dao Artifact, as it shredded the Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram, had already made Hong Qianjue feel a mortal threat.
"You're definitely not Li Chunjun! Li Chunjun could never have such cultivation! Who are you, really!?"
Hong Qianjue unleashed his Divine Sense, initiating communication with the man he had recently believed he could control as he pleased.
Unfortunately, Li Chunjun had no intention of exchanging words with him.
"If you don't kill a snake, it will bite you back."
The feud between them could not be resolved with a few words.
Though the other party was a Human Void Refining cultivator...
And though the Human Race had regulations forbidding Void Refining cultivators and above from killing each other...
In this remote, alien land—the Land of Buried Demons, a place teeming with Ultimate Heart Demons—the death of a Void Refining cultivator would be impossible to trace.
Therefore, Li Chunjun's goal was to unleash his full power, using ten thousand sword lights to utterly obliterate the Hong Clan Ancestor.
"It seems this is his full strength. If that's the case..."
There was no need to conserve energy to guard against a last-ditch counterattack.
Li Chunjun's Mind Power surged from the Fourth Layer to the Fifth Layer!
Heart Manifestation!
The Scarlet Sky Sword, a High-Grade Dao Artifact, unleashed its full might. More Sword Qi manifested, merging with the original Sword Qi to transform the Sword Qi Long River into a true sword qi storm, which swirled around the Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram, tearing the Hong Clan Ancestor to shreds!
Moreover...
The increased power of the Sword Qi didn't just double its lethality!
An attack of 10 points against a target with 9 points of defense only inflicts 1 point of damage.
But an attack of 20 points against the same target would deal 11 points of damage—a tenfold increase!
In an instant, Hong Qianjue, trapped at the center of the Yin-Yang Twofold Harmony Diagram, felt the final straw break the camel's back. The Great Yin-Yang Grinding Wheel dao technique, fueled by the power of annihilation, began to crumble.
"Stop! Li Chunjun, Human Void Refining cultivator, mortal combat is forbidden! I have a Soul Mirror placed within the Wu Ji Sect. If I die, the mirror will reveal the image of my killer! You will then be branded with the crime of slaying a fellow Human Void Refining cultivator and face severe punishment!"
Hong Qianjue finally tasted the fear of death and quickly added, "If you let me go, I swear I will never pursue this matter again. Our grievances will be settled, and I will even compensate you for the loss of the Golden Crow Battleship!"
Li Chunjun remained silent, but the Sword Qi Long River pressed down relentlessly, visibly crushing the Great Yin-Yang Grinding Wheel.
Boom!
In mere moments, this ultimate dao technique, unleashed by Hong Qianjue with a Dao Artifact as its foundation, shattered.
At that moment, the battle was decided!
(End of the Chapter)
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