Translator: CinderTL
The battle lasted only a few minutes before the Divine Spirits' vanguard, led by the Holy Spirits, collapsed.
The Nascent Soul True Lords around True Monarch Dong Xuan were utterly baffled.
These Holy Spirits seemed to be acting, suddenly retreating despite the battle's relatively low intensity.
Some Nascent Soul True Lords, engaged in combat with a particular Holy Spirit, even witnessed a hole inexplicably appear in the Holy Spirit's head mid-fight, sending it plummeting to the ground.
The Scarlet Sky Sword's Great Void Destruction Sword Intent didn't just affect the Holy Spirits it targeted. Nascent Soul True Lords with weaker Sword Intent resistance, caught in the shockwaves, would unconsciously ignore its existence.
In this situation, as the Holy Spirits suffered heavy losses and frantically retreated, some cautious and bewildered Nascent Soul True Lords shouted warnings: "Don't pursue a cornered enemy! Beware of a trap!"
"These Holy Spirits are likely feigning defeat! I suspect an ambush lies ahead!"
"Consolidate our gains! Don't advance recklessly!"
"Better safe than sorry! Send scouts ahead to investigate!"
Amidst the chaos of Divine Sense communication, the scene descended into pandemonium.
Despite the Holy Spirits having lost more than half their numbers in just a few minutes, and the Human Race Nascent Soul True Lords regaining a numerical advantage, the forty-odd True Lords remained exceedingly cautious, bordering on extreme caution.
Xuan Zhu, Wu Gang, Zhao Yu Pan, and others naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass.
They charged into the ranks of Divine Spirits that had lost their Apex Divine Spirit's protection, unleashing a slaughter and quickly racking up Merit Points.
Despite the twenty-three Divine Spirits still fleeing, their confidence in their own strength and absolute trust in Li Chunjun, the "Sword Prodigy," emboldened them to pursue the fleeing Divine Spirits relentlessly.
Once the Divine Spirits were nearly annihilated, they even turned their attention to the slower-retreating Servitors.
Servitors in retreat struggled to maintain formation and concentrate their attacks. Facing the sudden assault of these Mid- and Late-Stage Nascent Soul True Lords, they had little chance of resistance.
For Nascent Soul True Lords, their Mystical Arts were lethal to Servitors—touching meant death, brushing meant injury.
Under these circumstances, everyone's Merit Points soared.
This scene left True Monarch Dong Xuan dumbfounded.
"W-what's going on? Aren't they being too aggressive?"
True Monarch Dong Xuan caught up with Zhao Yu Pan, whom he knew slightly, his face a mask of astonishment.
"Hahaha! Just know this is the Sword Prodigy Li's Flying Sword Mystical Power! Hurry, the harvest season has arrived! Gather as many Merit Points as you can!"
Zhao Yu Pan laughed as he explained, then plunged back into the slaughter of Servitors.
Hearing Zhao Yu Pan's reminder, True Monarch Dong Xuan focused his Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivation to carefully observe the battlefield. Finally...
He noticed something.
"Flying Sword!"
Li Chunjun's Flying Sword!
Only at this moment did he realize that Sword Prodigy Li's Flying Sword had been weaving through the chaos of battle, slaughtering one Divine Spirit after another.
The battlefield was so chaotic, and Sword Prodigy Li's Flying Sword moved so swiftly, that most people hadn't even noticed its presence.
Once he realized this, the Perfected Great Lord of Late Nascent Soul Stage was enlightened. He stopped overthinking and joined Zhao Yu Pan and the others in clearing out the Servitors.
But before even a breath had passed, True Monarch Dong Xuan suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Wait!"
The Perfected Great Lord of Late Nascent Soul Stage broke out in a cold sweat. "It's not that most people didn't notice the Flying Sword. It's that when faced with other high-threat targets, anyone who focused their attention on this sword, or even on Sword Prodigy Li himself, would instinctively overlook the Flying Sword—and even him entirely..."
Just now, after he thought he understood the "truth," he had instinctively dismissed the Scarlet Sky Sword as unimportant and intended to ignore it.
"Mystical Powers!? This must be Sword Prodigy Li's Mystical Powers!"
True Monarch Dong Xuan recalled the grand spectacle Zhao Yu Pan and the others had unleashed when they attacked...
At first, he'd assumed this was simply their fighting style.
But now it was clear...
The overwhelming display was deliberately orchestrated to complement Sword Prodigy Li's Flying Sword maneuvers.
It was precisely because of their coordinated efforts that the Scarlet Sky Sword had been able to silently slaughter most of the Divine Spirits in such a short time, forcing them into a complete rout.
"Hiss!"
Having finally grasped the truth, True Monarch Dong Xuan couldn't help but gasp in shock.
This was Sword Prodigy Li's true strength!?
No wonder so many Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivators willingly followed and cooperated with him.
Just as True Monarch Dong Xuan understood the situation and quickly caught up to Zhao Yu Pan, a Message Jade Talisman on his person began to vibrate violently.
He swept his Divine Sense across it and immediately heard the voice of a Nascent Soul True Lord he was friendly with: "True Lord, there's an ambush! There really is an ambush here... Fifty or sixty Divine Spirits are waiting to receive the Divine Race's retreating forces..."
An ambush!?
True Monarch Dong Xuan's expression changed. He quickly caught up to Li Chunjun: "Sword Prodigy Li, there's an ambush to the south..."
Li Chunjun's Divine Sense instantly crossed the Void, surging forward like a tidal wave.
In the blink of an eye, Li Chunjun's Divine Sense had swept over four hundred miles, revealing fifty or sixty Divine Spirits who had been accidentally exposed.
Though he didn't know why these Divine Spirits were here, it didn't affect his decision.
"Xuan Zhu, Zhao Yu Pan, Wu Gang, come with me!"
Li Chunjun called out to the group and immediately headed toward the direction his Divine Sense had detected.
"I'm not your subordinate. What right do you have to order me around?" Xuan Zhu grumbled, but he quickly followed Li Chunjun. "Ah, well, for the sake of the Two Worlds Mountain Battlefield, I'll cooperate."
The others, of course, obeyed Li Chunjun without hesitation.
"Sword Prodigy Li, the enemy is strong. We'll go with you," True Monarch Dong Xuan said, quickly gathering a dozen others to join True Lord Yuanhai and True Lord Liu Feng's ranks.
The thirty-one of them tore through the Void at a speed of over ten miles per breath, covering nearly three hundred miles in moments. They intercepted the fifty or sixty Divine Spirits who were also rushing toward them.
But when True Monarch Dong Xuan saw the leader of the Divine Spirits, his expression changed dramatically. "That's... Divine Spirit Envoy Ming Feng!?"
"Divine Spirit Envoy!?"
The three words sent a chill through everyone present.
No wonder these fifty or sixty Divine Spirits dared to come even after the previous Apex Divine Spirit and eighty-plus Divine Spirits were defeated—they had a Divine Spirit Envoy among them!
In that instant, everyone's gaze involuntarily turned to Li Chunjun.
"A Divine Spirit Envoy? I've killed them before."
Li Chunjun's expression remained calm, his voice clear and resolute. "Leave it to me!"
As Li Chunjun locked eyes with the Divine Spirit Envoy, the envoy fixed his gaze on Li Chunjun as well.
"We can ignore the other Human Race Nascent Soul cultivators. Li Chunjun must die!"
The envoy transformed into a streak of light, unleashing a vast aura as he wielded his war halberd. He resembled a black dragon piercing through all things, charging directly at Li Chunjun.
"The Black Dragon Halberd! The Dao Artifact Divine Weapon of the God King of Ending! He created a Divine Art centered around this Dao Artifact—the Black Dragon Halberd!"
True Monarch Dong Xuan exclaimed, "This Divine Art is one of the most powerful offensive techniques in the God King of Ending's lineage. Every Divine Spirit Envoy who masters it is considered peerless in combat. Sword Prodigy Li, be careful..."
Before he could finish, Li Chunjun had already taken the lead. Infused with Sword Qi, his Scarlet Sky Sword radiated a destructive aura akin to the end of days, striking directly at the black dragon formed by the Black Dragon Halberd.
Judging by that trend...
He's actually planning to directly break through this Divine Spirit Envoy's halberd art!
"Excellent!"
The Netherwind Holy Spirit Envoy roared, pouring his Qi into the Black Dragon, which grew even more ferocious and majestic. It resembled a true Dark Dragon, spanning dozens of miles and concentrating all its power into its claws. With a single swipe, it threatened to shatter the very Void itself.
"All things in this world must end! Kill!"
A killing strike!
This was his ultimate, most powerful killing move, forged by pouring all his Essence Qi, Qi, and mental energy into a single blow!
Since becoming a Divine Spirit Envoy, countless Human Race Great True Lords had perished under this ultimate "First Strike Kill."
The explosive Divine Sense, mixed with the Black Dragon's roar, reverberated through the Void. Even Xuan Zhu, who was following closely behind Li Chunjun, was shaken by the sheer power.
"This Divine Spirit Envoy... definitely possesses Sword Prodigy-level strength!"
Two Prodigy-level powerhouses clashing head-on...
Wouldn't it end in mutual destruction?
Just as the Black Dragon formed by the Black Dragon Halberd and the Scarlet Sky Sword's sword light, which pierced the heavens and earth, drew closer to collision, the Scarlet Sky Sword suddenly blurred in everyone's perception.
Then...
It vanished from everyone's senses.
Even though the Perfected Great Lords of Late Nascent Soul Stage, Apex Divine Spirits, and even Divine Spirit Envoy Ming Feng had all focused their minds on the Scarlet Sky Sword, it was immediately re-locked onto even after vanishing for a moment.
But...
Just as two people were locked in a deadly standoff, preparing to unleash their ultimate moves, one of them suddenly broke free from the lock.
This abrupt shift naturally caused chaos.
Even after re-locking onto the target, the divided attention inevitably prevented them from maintaining their attack's full power.
The ferocious roar of the Black Dragon's power faltered.
Yet at that very moment, the Grand Ruins Sword Intent emanating from the Scarlet Sky Sword erupted fully.
With Great Perfection-level Destruction Sword Intent as its core, supported by Lesser Perfection-level Void Sword Intent, and amplified by powerful Divine Sense and a nascent hint of Mind Power, it coalesced into a soul-shattering strike that instantly cleaved the Black Dragon's "Dragon Soul" in mid-air!
"Damn it!"
Ming Feng immediately sought to visualize the God-King in his mind, hoping to crush the impact of the Sword Intent with his fanatical faith.
But the Scarlet Sky Sword, carrying Profound Phoenix Sword Qi, had already followed up, slamming into his Black Dragon Halberd. The High-Grade Spirit Treasure-level blade shattered the halberd art instantly, its momentum carrying it onward to smash into his Spirit Treasure-level war halberd.
Boom!
Sparks erupted!
The air currents around the two figures seemed compressed by an unparalleled force, solidifying before exploding outward in a cataclysmic wave that swept away everything within a radius of dozens of miles.
In the Void, it was as if a low-yield nuclear bomb had detonated without the blinding flash.
The violent shockwave instantly pulverized a mountain peak several thousand meters away, then continued to carve hundreds of meters into the earth, leaving a massive crater over a thousand meters in diameter.
At the epicenter of the energy shockwave generated by this collision, the Divine Spirit Envoy Ming Feng was forced to retreat sideways, staggering back over a thousand meters.
Meanwhile...
Li Chunjun seemed to be in a similar state.
In their direct clash, the two had achieved a stalemate.
"This Divine Spirit Envoy... is incredibly strong!" Li Chunjun thought.
This Black Dragon Halberd Mystical Power had actually blocked his full-power Profound Phoenix Sword Qi!
True, his Profound Phoenix Sword Qi was probably only equivalent to a normal attack from an ordinary Sword Cultivator...
But this was a normal attack unleashed with his full Sword Intent!
For this Divine Spirit Envoy to achieve such a feat...
He was already remarkably formidable.
With this thought, Li Chunjun raised his hand, unleashing a torrent of Scarlet Sky Sword Qi. His second strike followed almost immediately, with no cooldown whatsoever.
(End of the Chapter)
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