The Atlas Divine Spear detached from Yun Ming's hand, transforming into a golden light that vanished into the void.
Before the Shura Sword could descend, Tang Chen felt a familiar yet far more magnificent and vast Spear Intent locking onto him. Faced with this Spear Intent, the weakened Tang Chen found his movements paralyzed, unable to stir even an inch.
"Hah--"
Tang Chen let out a furious roar, seemingly attempting to force out more power to resist Yun Ming's Spear Intent, but it was futile; he could not squeeze out any more strength. Even Soul Power had to follow the basic laws of nature.
"Dee--"
A piercing cry of a bird exploded, and Tian Ling appeared, carrying Yun Ming far away from Tang Chen.
Tang Chen struggled to resist the Spear Intent that threatened to crush everything, looking up at the bleeding yet calm Yun Ming as if waking from a dream, and said solemnly.
"You calculated this situation, didn't you? You knew you couldn't block my Sword Art!"
It was unreasonable for Yun Ming, who lacked even the strength to control his body in mid-air, to be able to use his Ninth Soul Skill now; therefore, he must have been prepared long ago. Although Tang Chen did not know how Yun Ming achieved this, he was certain that this power must have been prepared in advance and stored in a place he could not perceive.
Yun Ming resisted the dangerous signals constantly sent by his body's instincts, struggling to remain conscious, and gave an affirmative reply to Tang Chen's guess.
"Yes."
Yun Ming had not lied about the previous three moves; his remaining total Soul Power was indeed only enough for three moves, so to achieve final victory, every move had to count.
The point-blank kill combining the Severing Boundary and Eternity was genuine. If the premonition had not come to pass and Tang Chen had failed to block Eternity, the Severing Boundary strike would have surely crippled him. Afterward, relying on his previous understanding of Tang Chen's swordsmanship, Yun Ming was confident he could have steadily stabbed him to death, spear strike by spear strike.
It was a pity that the premonition came true, and Tang Chen, relying on the Power of the Gods within the Shura Sword, blocked Eternity. Thus, he had to risk being killed by Tang Chen's sword to consume Tang Chen's power, in order to complete his final spear strike. As for how the Soul Power was saved, it was simply stored in advance within the Soul Spirit.
Sensing the terrifying power in the void, Tang Chen sighed.
"Truly an opponent not to be underestimated!"
"Junior, what is your name?"
Yun Ming: "Yun Ming. You take this. I die!"
Yun Ming was too weak, so weak that he could only speak in keywords.
"Yun Ming, a name untainted by the mortal world!"
"I will remember it."
As he spoke, all seven of Tang Chen's remaining Spirit Rings appeared, shook, and then shattered, transforming into seven blood-colored ribbons that surged into the Shura Sword.
The explosion of the seven Spirit Rings caused Tang Chen's cheeks, which had been pale from exhaustion, to flush a deep red. It wasn't just his face; the surrounding air even began to change color as a thick Blood Mist spread from his body.
Clearly, detonating seven Spirit Rings at once placed immense pressure on his body. But in return, Tang Chen's power, which had been completely depleted, not only fully recovered but also crossed the final threshold between mortal and god, shedding his mortal coil to become divine!
The Atlas Spear Intent could no longer suppress Tang Chen, and he regained his freedom.
"With this final sword, the grudges between you and my Clear Sky Sect are settled!"
Once this sword was used, regardless of whether Yun Ming died, Tang Chen would certainly die today. And since he would be gone, wouldn't that mean it was settled!
As for whether it was worth going to such lengths, the answer was, of course! Even without this battle, he only had ten days of life left; the erosion from the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King was too severe, and it was beyond medical help. As long as he could slay Yun Ming, he could abandon everything, including his remaining lifespan and his dying wish to see Bo Saixi one last time.
As Tang Chen spoke his final words, blood flames surged over his entire body. Above his head, a massive Blood-Colored Divine Temple slowly took shape. On the temple sat an empty throne, and beneath the throne stood eighty-one armored Divine Generals with indistinct features, yet whose auras and temperaments were far from mortal.
"All Gods of Slaughter, hear my command: Offerings! Slay the Demon!!"
Tang Chen issued the divine decree, holding the Shura Sword high.
"Yes!" xN
The Divine Generals within the temple received the order, responding with majestic divine voices. They formed hand seals, and specks of divine light shone through their bodies, merging into the Shura Sword to assist Tang Chen in breaking the enemy.
As more and more divine light poured into the blade, the red-gold divine light on the Shura Sword became increasingly brilliant, illuminating the heavens like a slowly rising sun, though this sun brought only deathly silence and despair, with no warmth at all.
"Sumeru Extermination!"
With a violent shout from Tang Chen, the Shura Sword in his hand struck out with incomparable momentum, delivering the ultimate blow. A sword light that traversed heaven and earth descended from the sky, collapsing the firmament and the abyss, extinguishing thousands of gods and demons, carrying the power of the Mountain Sea Boundless and the intent to slay gods and suppress demons, pressing down upon Yun Ming.
Yun Ming looked at the attack and a smile appeared on his face. A powerful counterattack; it was just right for a life-or-death struggle! He thought to himself, and the final attack hidden within the void revealed itself.
In front of the sword qi, a spatial rift like a Natural Barrier appeared, and a Sky-Covering, Sun-Obscuring Atlas Divine Spear revealed itself. Within the spear, a Chaos Emperor River Bird flickered in and out of existence.
Dazzling golden Spear Light bloomed, standing toe-to-toe with the murderous sword qi.
Di Hong spoke on behalf of his master.
"Return to Origin · Sky Support Sun Shooting!"
Yun Ming's Ninth Soul Skill, 'Return to Origin', was an auxiliary soul skill. The effect was just as its name suggested: no bells and whistles, returning to the source, borrowing the power of the Great Void to limitlessly strengthen Yun Ming's next attack. As for how much it could be strengthened, it depended on one's personal control.
Right now, under Di Hong's control, the power was ten times that of a normal 'Sky Support Sun Shooting', reaching roughly the intensity of Yun Ming's desperate strike in his previous life.
As the source of both the Sky Support Sun Shooting and the Return to Origin soul skill, Di Hong, in Yun Ming's heavily injured state, unleashed this attack on his behalf—it was his final trump card.
The intensity of 'Return to Origin · Sky Support Sun Shooting' was also beyond Tang Chen's expectations. Yun Ming might not even have had enough Soul Power to launch an attack of this magnitude before the battle started! What was happening now? Was the basic law of energy conservation being completely ignored? It wasn't until he noticed the energy still pouring into the divine spear from the void that Tang Chen found the answer.
Countless scattered sword qi were forcibly sucked into mid-air, where red and gold colors collided, entangled, and constantly disintegrated and shattered.
Seeing this scene, Tian Ling did not dare to linger for a second, hurriedly carrying Yun Ming away.
Tang Chen did not stop him, and of course, he couldn't; the energy he was controlling now was too powerful. All he could do was attack, to sever the Sky Support Sun Shooting and also extinguish Yun Ming.
The light on his right hand dimmed, the Shura Sword descended from the sky, he formed a hand seal, and the blood light on his body surged to the extreme. He himself, like the slaughter gods of the Divine Temple before, turned into specks of light, merging into the sword qi and striking toward the divine spear.
Clear Sky's Final Echo, at this very moment.
Di Hong, inside the Atlas Divine Spear, was also shocked to see Tang Chen burning himself just to strike him. Boundless golden light erupted from the Atlas Divine Spear, attacking the sword light.
The brilliant golden light collided with the fierce blood light, and the entire sky turned into a white-hot color in an instant! Even though Yun Ming was being dragged away by Tian Ling, he still failed to escape the range of the aftermath and was swallowed by the sound of it.
All living beings under the white light could only crawl on the ground, suppressed by that terrifying energy. The white light lingered for a long time, just like the unyielding will of Tang Chen and Yun Ming.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader