The Asura Heavenly Monarch was bloodthirsty by nature. Though he felt some surprise at Yan Zhen’s sudden leap from half-saint to Mystic Saint, it wasn’t enough to make him fearful. Instead, it ignited an even fiercer killing desire within him.
“Very good, Human Race brat,” he said. “This Monarch loves nothing more than crushing so-called geniuses like you. Every one’s dying expression is like a work of art—truly worth collecting!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the massive sword embedded behind his throne sensed its master’s battle intent. It bloomed with bloody light, unsheathed itself automatically, and came to a halt right in front of him.
The Asura Heavenly Monarch rose slowly to his feet and grasped his lifebound sword, Kill Life, leveling it at Yan Zhen.
In the next instant, the two of them transformed—one into bloody light, the other into starlight—and collided like meteors streaking across the heavens.
Boom!
A deafening explosion echoed through the entire Bloodthirsty Grotto-Heaven. The blood-red sword qi and the multicolored golden sword qi spread outward like intersecting ripples, shattering space wherever they passed before it repaired itself.
The Kill Life greatsword clashed fiercely against the Extreme Emperor Sword, forming a black hole that devoured everything in its path. As both combatants’ mystic power surged, the vortex gradually expanded.
“Black-White Boundary!”
Heavenly Saint Yan Zhen uttered the four words flatly. The blood-colored world immediately split in two, with the Extreme Emperor Sword as the dividing line: blinding brightness like midday on the left, pitch-black night on the right.
The terrifying severing force tore the mystic power black hole apart, shattering its delicate balance.
“What?!”
The Asura Heavenly Monarch’s eyes widened.
Boom!
The black hole collapsed and detonated. The unparalleled shockwave sent the Asura Heavenly Monarch hurtling backward, crashing into the mountain of corpses below.
In the blink of an eye, he leaped back into the air atop a pile of bones. Raising his head, he gazed at Yan Zhen hovering above, clad in imperial armor, his eyes burning with ever-greater fervor.
“What a sword! It belongs to This Monarch now!”
Yan Zhen looked down at the Asura Heavenly Monarch with indifference.
“You aren’t worthy of my sword.”
The Asura Heavenly Monarch brimmed with absolute confidence.
“There is no sword This Monarch cannot wield!”
He swung Kill Life, unleashing a sword-qi blood river that spanned the horizon. Countless blood swords erupted from it, hurtling toward Yan Zhen like a volley of ten thousand arrows.
Yan Zhen stomped down with one foot. Flames instantly engulfed the entire sky, forming his Cave Heaven World, the Firmament Fire Domain. Tongues of fire swept outward, devouring the sky-filling rain of blood swords.
At last, the Asura Heavenly Monarch’s expression changed.
“You can actually open your own Cave Heaven inside This Monarch’s Bloodthirsty Grotto-Heaven?!”
Battles between Mystic Saint experts were contests of Cave Heaven Worlds. Once dragged into an opponent’s Cave Heaven, one would be at a severe disadvantage.
That was exactly what had happened when the Evil Consort had been tricked into the Fire Refining Starry Sky. She could barely protect herself with her own Cave Heaven, but Yan Zhen had forcibly unfurled the Firmament Fire Domain, as if intent on shattering the Bloodthirsty Grotto-Heaven outright—an act of sheer dominance!
The Asura Heavenly Monarch felt humiliated. He threw his head back and let out a mad howl. From the blood sea above him emerged a blood-red asura figure, standing like a guardian deity behind him, wielding a similar blood-colored greatsword.
“Asura Slash!”
The Asura Heavenly Monarch swung Kill Life, and the blood-red asura behind him slashed down with its greatsword as well. The pair drew upon the power of the Bloodthirsty Grotto-Heaven, unleashing two matchless streams of sword qi that fused into one as they surged forward.
It was as if the entire Bloodthirsty Grotto-Heaven were crashing down upon them.
Without hesitation, Yan Zhen wrapped the Extreme Emperor Sword in Xuan Huang Dual Qi Flame, perfectly integrating its space-rending power and mountain-like weight into his strike.
“Flame Extinction Without Embers: Realm King Slash!”
The sword qi collided—one red, one gray. The blood-red qi was easily torn apart and scattered into formless wisps. The gray sword qi pressed on undiminished, ripping a massive gash across the Cave Heaven’s boundary before slashing viciously at the Asura Heavenly Monarch. Even the blood-red asura behind him was cleaved in two!
Under the corrosion of the Xuan Huang Dual Qi Flame, the Bloodthirsty Grotto-Heaven struggled to repair itself. The corpse mountains and blood sea churned chaotically.
Yet the bisected Asura Heavenly Monarch split into two separate beings, each with a single fleshly horn, their strength unchanged at six-star Mystic Saint level!
Yan Zhen wasn’t surprised. The Asura Heavenly Monarch naturally possessed dual aspects: the blood asura he normally showed, and a hidden bone asura.
The blood sea within the Cave Heaven represented the blood asura’s power, while the corpse mountains stemmed from the bone asura.
The blood asura wielded a blood sword; the bone asura hefted a bone sword.
“You’ve enraged This Monarch, Human Race brat! Die swiftly—This Monarch will etch your dying expression into the Cave Heaven itself!”
The two spoke in unison, their voices overlapping like an echo.
With that, the pair lunged at Yan Zhen, swords flashing.
The corpse mountains erupted, the blood sea roiled, and the entire Cave Heaven burst forth with matchless sword qi, engulfing the Firmament Fire Domain and leaving Yan Zhen nowhere to dodge.
Yan Zhen didn’t dare grow careless.
His current cultivation was at six-star heavenly saint. Against two six-star Mystic Saints, he no longer held the advantage. Moreover, to slay the Asura Heavenly Monarch, he had to extinguish both at once. Spare one, and it could resurrect the other.
Because his own body likewise harbored more than just his own power.
His Extreme Flame Mystic Power suddenly withdrew from his body. Black death-patterns emerged on his chest, white lotus-patterns on his back.
The Evil Consort’s Death Mystic Force and the Jialan Fairy’s Spirit Mystic Force both manifested under Yan Zhen’s control. Death in his left hand, life in his right—he grasped both, fearing neither ghosts nor gods!
Yan Zhen gripped life and death, raising the Extreme Emperor Sword high. Black and white mystic powers enveloped the blade simultaneously, achieving delicate balance through his pure Fire Mystic Power as the medium.
Two massive illusory figures appeared behind Yan Zhen like gigantic wings: the Evil Consort and the Jialan Fairy.
“Try this—Sacred Evil Dual Extreme Slash!”
Black and white streaked across the sky. The endless blood-red sword qi froze in place. The corpse mountains stilled, the blood sea ceased its surging—even the blood and bone asuras halted.
Life and death intertwined, feigning the stasis of time.
This slash briefly severed the flow of time itself.
The laws of time—or the power of the ages—were something nine-star great saints only began to touch, and only imperial sovereign powerhouses could truly master.
Yet Yan Zhen had unleashed it through clever means. A mere six-star Mystic Saint like the Asura Heavenly Monarch had no way to resist!
Yan Zhen sheathed the Extreme Emperor Sword and summoned the eight Extreme Flames with both hands, fusing them into one. He unleashed his ultimate Mystic technique—
“Eight Flames Extreme Incineration, Starry Sky Divination!”
When time resumed its flow, the blood and bone asuras reacted—but Yan Zhen had already built up his power.
Flames in his palm formed the eight trigrams; behind him, the stars wheeled through the heavens.
Within the Cave Heaven, be it corpse mountains or blood sea, everything crumbled to nothingness under the horrifying destructive force of the Extreme Flames.
Outside the Cave Heaven, the people of Evergreen Holy Land had long since retreated several li away. They gazed uncertainly at the murderously roiling Cave Heaven World, baffled as to whose it could be.
—When did the holy land gain another Mystic Saint expert?
The Seven Swords were as puzzled as the other disciples. The two old men who knew the truth wore worried expressions: Remnant Sword Ancestor looked anxious, while Heavenly Sword Old Ancestor was grim-faced. The pair continued clashing in midair, laws-light flickering unsteadily.
“Heavenly Sword, you deserve to die!”
Remnant Sword Ancestor was furious beyond measure, but Heavenly Sword Old Ancestor remained utterly calm.
He hadn’t expected the Asura Heavenly Monarch to fully deploy his Cave Heaven World. That meant he intended to openly overthrow Evergreen Holy Land. Even with the Jialan Fairy’s protection, that Jialan Holy Son was surely doomed.
Once the Asura Heavenly Monarch emerged from the Cave Heaven, everything would be over!
