Boundless golden light erupted from the long spear, illuminating the dim, lightless void like a sun.
Di Hong watched Yun Ming's counterattack with disdain. How could a mere pirated spirit skill compare to his authentic one? The power in his claws surged, the Silver Moon Impact grew three times more potent, and it slammed violently into the light of the Atlas Sun Shooting. The Silver Moon Impact, representing the power of a top-tier space element beast, and the Sun Shooting, representing the Atlas Divine Power, began a head-on clash in the most direct manner possible.
The moment the gold and silver lights touched, they erupted into a collision of terrifying, unimaginable intensity, like fire meeting ice. Within a ten-mile radius of the two, all meteorites and Void Astral Winds were pulverized into nothingness by the initial shockwave.
Facing Di Hong's all-out burst, the Ukiyo-e patterns across Yun Ming's body were fully activated—a sign that he was giving his all. The energy level Di Hong currently possessed was significantly higher than his own; all Yun Ming could do was pour everything—his soul core, spear light, and will, excluding his life force—into the spear in his hand. Yet, even so, Yun Ming could only barely maintain a stalemate, and the clash of the two impacts still showed the Silver Moon swallowing the Golden Sun.
However, this result clearly did not satisfy Di Hong. Before, it was one thing—Yun Ming had played tricks, and Di Hong couldn't land a hit due to poor control—but now they were engaged in a direct clash of energy that tested raw power. The fact that he couldn't suppress Yun Ming in one go while using divine power inherited from his Father meant that the original was losing to the copy, and that Yun Ming was using the bestowed power more effectively than the one who granted it. To him, this was a resounding slap to the face!
A flash of madness crossed Di Hong's eyes. The silver aura around him turned cherry-pink, and bloodstains began to appear on his skin as his momentum climbed once more. He was accelerating the circulation of the Blood Refinement Art, screaming desperately in his heart.
"Break for me!"
As the silver shockwave was dyed a layer of pink, accompanied by Di Hong's life-risking burst, its power rose once again.
Di Hong's final escalation became the straw that broke the balance. This time, the Silver Moon finally displayed the power of the original version and successfully overwhelmed the Golden Sun. The Silver Moon expanded rapidly in Yun Ming's eyes; he only had time to summon his Battle Armor before he was completely engulfed by the Silver Moon Impact.
Watching Yun Ming being swallowed by his attack, Di Hong let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over; he had won in the end!
The Silver Moon Impact traveled an unknown distance through the void, eventually breaking the boundary between the void and the real world, and crashed into a nameless island.
"Rumble—"
The once vibrant, though seemingly uninhabited, wild island immediately met with a catastrophic disaster. Accompanied by a heaven-shaking roar, the lush island was instantly dissolved, the landmass shattered, and the seawater rushed back in, forming a massive whirlpool a hundred miles in diameter.
To check the results and collect his spoils, Di Hong endured the agony of his body feeling as if it were about to explode and flew in the direction the impact had traveled, returning to the real plane. The first thing Di Hong did upon returning was to quickly deactivate the Blood Refinement Art; his body had reached its limit, and if he kept burning it, he would truly be finished.
As he stopped the secret technique, Di Hong's size and aura returned to normal, and his strength began to fade, leaving only the doubled intensity of the pain. The agony, far exceeding his tolerance, combined with the weakness of his power loss, made it impossible for him to control his body, and he fell straight downward.
"Splash—"
Fortunately, the spatial node he had punched through was not very high above the ground, and the area below was now covered by the sea whirlpool; otherwise, he might have become the first avian beast in Douluo history to be flattened into a pancake.
Aside from the initial sharp pain of hitting the water, Di Hong didn't feel much even under the high pressure of the vortex. His internal injuries were severe enough that a little more didn't matter, and he was somewhat numb to the pain.
It was his first time using the secret technique, and Di Hong hadn't estimated the consequences. Now, he could only dance along with the whirlpool and wait until he recovered some strength before finding a way to break free and look for the others. However, before he could act, he sensed a familiar fluctuation of soul power within the current.
Di Hong was shocked beyond belief. How could this be? How could that human still be alive! He couldn't believe anyone could withstand his lethal blow and survive, but that cluster of soul power, though weak, was steady, proving that Yun Ming was far from being in a life-threatening condition.
In fact, it wasn't just Di Hong who couldn't believe it; Yun Ming himself was surprised when he recalled the sudden accident.
Not long ago, when the energy impact hit him, Yun Ming had also thought he would be severely wounded on the spot. He hadn't expected that Di Hong—or rather, that portion of divine power belonging to his Father—would strike his breastplate and trigger the predatory instinct of his External Spirit Bone. The back armor formed by the External Spirit Bone began to frantically devour the divine power within the strike.
Most of the divine power was consumed before it even touched Yun Ming, naturally causing him far less damage. Moreover, as the divine power was absorbed, the form of the Battle Armor changed, turning into four wings like Di Hong's before entering the sea. Ultimately, protected by these wings, he avoided another heavy injury from slamming into the earth.
After spinning in the seabed with the vortex for half an hour, Yun Ming finally stabilized his condition with his soul core. A flash of silver light appeared on his body, and he vanished, reappearing high in the sky. Fortunately, their auras were formidable, and no Sea Soul Beast dared to approach, or they might have really capsized in the gutter.
"Haa—"
Back in the sky, Yun Ming spread his four wings and breathed in the fresh air. After repeating this several times to expel the turbid air from his body and finally feeling much more comfortable, Yun Ming slowed his breathing. Between the void and the seabed, even if his strength allowed him to hold his breath for a short time, he couldn't do it forever!
Having finished his own need for air, Yun Ming finally had time to deal with Di Hong. He looked at Di Hong, who was still being carried by the vortex and "surfing" at full power. Silver light lit up in his eyes, and an invisible void hand reached deep into the sea, dragging out the equally scarred and bloated beast.
The backlash of the Blood Refinement Art was far from over, and Di Hong remained unable to move. He looked at Yun Ming with complex eyes, but in the end, he didn't ask the questions in his heart. Regardless of the reason, they had fought a great battle; Yun Ming was not severely injured and could still move, while he was immobilized—that alone meant he had lost.
He, a descendant of a divine beast with 300,000 years of cultivation, had used his father's divine power and still lost to this newly-reached level 90 reborn quasi-god. Di Hong's 300,000 years of cultivation were roughly equivalent to a level 97 or 98 human Soul Master, and with the aid of divine power, losing despite such a large gap in raw strength was a heavy blow to Di Hong, who had never tasted defeat before. He retreated into his own shell.
Yun Ming didn't speak as he watched Di Hong's state, simply teleporting them to another nearby deserted island to land.
After landing, Yun Ming tossed him aside and ignored him, taking out a Pill and sitting cross-legged to circulate his energy and heal. He couldn't be bothered to coddle a child! He wasn't Na'er; Di Hong wasn't cute at all, and he was a jerk to boot. Not shooting him with his spear right now was already giving the future Di Hong some face.
Di Hong, having entered a state of self-seclusion, lay on the ground without moving. This was partly because his physical condition didn't allow it, and partly because his will was shattered. The Chaos Qi above his head drifted listlessly, just like his confused and broken Dao heart at that moment.
Sunsets and moonrises passed, and a night went by. With the synergy of the Pill and his soul core, Yun Ming sorted out his internal injuries and stabilized them before opening his eyes again. Seeing Di Hong in the same state as when they arrived, Yun Ming finally spoke.
"What! You're crushed by this?"
Hearing Yun Ming's words, Di Hong remained silent.
Yun Ming looked at him and shook his head.
"If you can't even handle this, you'd better stay on your Di Jiang Mountain in the future and never come out, lest you get beaten by Di Tian and the others again."
Di Hong was startled by Yun Ming's implication and spoke up.
"You aren't going to kill this Emperor?"
He had seen the memories of Yun Ming waking up Tian Ling and knew that waking up his future self only required his Spirit Ring, not his sacrifice. That Yun Ming wouldn't kill him even now surprised him.
Seeing Di Hong, who was clearly more capable of speech after being beaten, Yun Ming said flatly.
"You aren't that important to me, and my ninth Spirit Ring doesn't necessarily have to be you."
"Even if you aren't willing to choose the old path and even caused me to be injured again, for the sake of the future Di Hong, I will let you go this time."
Di Hong didn't understand Yun Ming's actions. He had lived alone for thousands of years and had seen those Soul Masters in the Far North fighting each other for the Spirit Rings of weak beasts. Now that Yun Ming was passing up the Spirit Ring of a super beast like him, it was hard for a loner like him to understand! If he didn't understand, he asked.
"This Emperor and that future version of him are not the same bird, and that person hasn't even earned this Emperor's approval. Why would you let this Emperor go because of him?"
Yun Ming: "No reason, I just don't want to."
Di Hong continued to ask.
"Then why am I not that important? Do you look down on this Emperor?!"
Yun Ming: "Something like that."
The future Di Hong had already strengthened the Atlas Divine Spear once; according to previous experience, absorbing another one wouldn't be very useful. Moreover, Di Hong's 300,000 years of cultivation wasn't that high; the main point was that he could awaken the Di Hong within him, which was why Yun Ming had targeted him. Otherwise, the ninth Spirit Ring Yun Ming actually preferred was the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. As for the problem of not being able to beat him right now? If you can't beat a beast you want to hunt, can't you just hire someone? Yun Ming had no psychological burden about hiring help to kill a beast.
Di Hong, who had been feeling somewhat dejected, regained his spirit upon hearing what Yun Ming said. He could doubt himself, but others could not look down on him; when it came to personal pride, he, Di Hong, could not tolerate such provocation.
The Chaos Qi above Di Hong's head began to surge violently once more, and his tone returned to its original state.
"Human, what did you say?!"
"Nothing."
Yun Ming replied casually and intended to leave, but his indifferent attitude once again plucked at Di Hong's sensitive nerves.
"You bastard human, I will definitely kill you!!"
Di Hong roared, struggling to stand up as the familiar red light began to ignite on his body again. After resting for a night, the initial backlash had passed, but his injuries remained severe and his strength was still far from its peak. To kill now, he had no choice but to activate the Blood Refinement Art once more.
Feeling the familiar power erupting around him again, Yun Ming felt a headache coming on. Why was he so easily provoked?
Just as Yun Ming intended to take out the Atlas Divine Spear to play with him a bit more, Di Hong's physical body began to crack extensively from the renewed blood refinement. A massive amount of blood sprayed out, dyeing the earth crimson, and his aura plummeted instantly as his body collapsed heavily onto the ground, unable to rise again. Without even needing to sense it carefully, Yun Ming could feel Di Hong's Life force rapidly fading.
Seeing this, Yun Ming injected a strand of Soul Power into his body to check the extent of his injuries. Upon doing so, Yun Ming discovered that the damage inside was beyond medical help. His body had already reached its limit from bearing divine power and the previous battle; now, his renewed outburst had clearly shattered the final balance of this fragile vessel, leading to an irreversible result.
Yun Ming had not expected that Di Hong would end up dying from his own secret technique due to a verbal spat. He raised his hand and injected Soul Power into Di Hong's body to sustain his final breath of Life.
Clinging to his last breath, Di Hong endured the agony and cursed.
"This body is truly a disgrace to me! To think it would let me die in such a pathetic state."
Yun Ming: "."
He didn't know what to say to a man who would even curse himself. After a moment of thought, he finally spoke.
"Do you have any last words?"
Di Hong coughed up blood and said coldly.
"I want you to hand over my origin. Will you agree?"
Yun Ming: "Ask for something possible."
Di Hong: "Hypocrite!"
Yun Ming did not refute him. The beast was dying; why bother arguing?
Di Hong reflected on his life—short and plain, yet it had moments of extreme brilliance. It seemed acceptable enough. The only thing that could be considered a regret was that he had not reached the god-level to restore the glory of his race. Thinking of this, Di Hong made a decision.
"Human, I will give you my Spirit Ring, but how about you let me fight a battle to the death against the other version of myself?"
Hearing this, Yun Ming frowned tightly. This was not the direction he expected things to go!
"Why? If you want to live, there is still time. What I said earlier still stands."
Di Hong laughed heartily.
"Of course, it is because I will never submit!!"
Yun Ming explained.
"I do not need you to submit to me. If I become a god, I will certainly grant you your freedom!"
Di Hong shouted.
"I don't believe you."
Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Di Hong urged him.
"Stop with the nonsense. Just tell me if you agree or not!"
Yun Ming still did not understand the reasoning behind Di Hong's inexplicably firm will, but for now, he had to at least preserve Di Hong's soul intact!
"Fine! I agree."
Upon hearing Yun Ming's affirmative reply, a layer of red light emerged from Di Hong's body, transforming into a red halo that instantly expanded. Wherever the red light passed, everything was stained blood-red, and everything froze in that moment. The sacrifice had begun.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader