Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

”Tu Shanhe was defeated?”

”That’s impossible, isn’t it? He’s a powerhouse at the Union Palace Realm Ninth Stage!”

”Did you see that last sword strike? Jiang Chen’s mastery of the Sword Dao is simply terrifying. How old is he? How can he possess such horrifying strength?”

”Now *that’s* a true monstrous genius. Compared to him, the Lan Haichen of yesteryear was just trash you wouldn’t even bother to pick up off the street!”

”Jiang Chen is a golden scale, a dragon in waiting. He had yet to meet a storm, but now that the winds and clouds have gathered, he is destined to transform and soar through the Nine Heavens. No one can stand in his way anymore. It’s a pity we never had the chance to befriend him...”

On Martial Saint Mountain, everyone’s thoughts grew incredibly complex as they watched the young man bathed in golden light.

From within the crowd, a dejected young man looked up at the youth standing in the air, his eyes filled with bewilderment and regret.

If Jiang Chen had been there,

he would have surely recognized this person. It was none other than Si Xiaosheng, the friend he had made back in Yulan Mansion.

However, for the sake of that woman, he had chosen to betray their friendship.

Standing beside Si Xiaosheng was Yulan Tianpeng. He glanced at his friend, then up at the godlike young man in the Celestial Vault, and sighed softly. ”Little Saint, stop looking. The Jiang Chen of today is already an existence far beyond our reach...”

”Tianpeng, do you think... if we could join his Heaven-Soaring Alliance, would Yunxia come back to me?” Si Xiaosheng asked.

Lu Yunxia was the woman who had made him betray Jiang Chen.

Yulan Tianpeng froze. He gave Si Xiaosheng a deep look, then revealed a bitter smile, shook his head, and sighed. ”The Heaven-Soaring Alliance? The Alliance today is no longer something we can just join!”

”...”

Si Xiaosheng’s face was a mask of regret and anguish.

Once, Jiang Chen had called them brothers, but they themselves had thrown away such an opportunity.

Just look at Lui Yifa. Back then, he was just a boy who had barely qualified to enter the Saint Martial Sword Sect. But now, his cultivation had long since broken through to the Heavenly Destiny Realm. He could fight shoulder-to-shoulder with Jiang Chen, exchanging several moves with that powerhouse without being defeated!

And then look at the two of them...

Their cultivation was still stuck in the True Martial Realm, and Si Xiaosheng had become completely dejected.

The twists and turns of life are just that wondrous.

Often, a single choice can lead to a completely different life.

Only one thing was certain: there were no remedies for regret in this world. The moment they betrayed Jiang Chen, they were doomed to suffer these bitter fruits of remorse.

The crowd’s chatter did nothing to hinder the battle between Jiang Chen and Tu Shanhe.

Wielding the Spirit-Slaying Sword, Jiang Chen shot after Tu Shanhe at his top speed the moment his opponent was slammed into the mountainside.

In one hand, he held his sword, unleashing a heaven-shaking Sword Technique.

With the other, he executed a Finger Technique, dense as a blanket of stars!

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Peerless Sword Auras combined into torrents of sword light that blasted forward. Each ray was incomparably sharp, easily slicing through and pulverizing the rock of Martial Saint Mountain.

Surging beams of energy continuously shot out from his fingertips.

Everywhere they passed, a deafening roar echoed endlessly!

Martial Saint Mountain thundered nonstop as cracks appeared from within, spreading outward across its surface.

In the heart of the mountain, Tu Shanhe was surrounded by a pulsing, blood-red glow. Gales of crimson wind enveloped his body, preventing any of the finger beams or Sword Techniques from getting near him.

Tu Shanhe slowly raised his head, his cold, blood-colored eyes fixing on Jiang Chen with a bloodthirsty glint. ”As expected of Jiang Taixu’s son. That last strike was actually powerful enough to threaten me. Fortunately, I have broken through to the Union Palace Realm Ninth Stage. My Saint Martial Origin Technique is cultivated to its peak, and with my Body Protection Secret Technique, I was able to avoid injury.”

”I will not underestimate you again. You won’t get another chance!”

BOOM—

The moment his words fell, Tu Shanhe’s arms shook violently. The blood-red storm whirling around him suddenly expanded, blasting outward in all directions.

BOOM!

On Martial Saint Mountain,

suddenly, a pair of blood-red rays burst from the mountainside, shooting in opposite directions to the east and west. A second volley followed, then a third...

More and more rays of blood-red light erupted from the body of Martial Saint Mountain.

RUMBLE...

Under the assault of the blood-red light, the entirety of Martial Saint Mountain was forcefully cut apart, its body bursting from the strain.

To the east, a five-hundred-meter-tall chunk of the mountain shattered and began to slide toward the base. But before it could hit the ground, it was struck by the blinding rays of blood-red light and completely disintegrated, turning into a sky full of rock dust, sending sand and stone flying.

To the west, a fissure several thousand meters high appeared. Its narrowest part was over ten meters wide, while its widest point spanned a full kilometer.

The entire western face of Martial Saint Mountain had been practically torn open.

To the south and north,

the mountain constantly exploded under the force of the blood-red storm. The rock face shattered, and massive boulders were launched several thousand meters away before crashing to the ground, gouging out huge craters.

The Earth Martial Hall, the Celestial Martial Hall...

...palace after palace, pavilion after pavilion, all were obliterated in the blood-red storm!

”Run!”

”It’s like the end of the world!”

”This is the power of the Union Palace Realm Ninth Stage? Tu Shanhe is too strong! Retreat!”

One expert after another retreated explosively, flying up toward the Nine Heavens to escape.

The Grand Array that had been trapping Yuwen Zheng and the others also vanished with the collapse of Martial Saint Mountain. But Yuwen Zheng, Xue Junlin, and the rest didn’t dare hesitate for a moment, fleeing into the distance.

Mu Feiyang’s expression changed drastically. ”Bai Lingfei, we’ll fight again next time!”

With that, he turned and fled, watching the battle from tens of thousands of meters away.

Bai Lingfei swept his sleeve, enveloping Bai Ling and the others to make a quick escape.

Of course, some experts weren’t fast enough to escape and were still within the range of Martial Saint Mountain.

Just then, a pillar of blood-red light shot into the sky, closely followed by a golden Sword Aura.

Blood-red and gold.

One righteous, one evil, they clashed relentlessly in the air. The two moved so fast that their figures were no longer visible. All that could be seen were two long trails of light, one blood-red and one gold, colliding again and again. Each impact was enough to make mountains crumble and the earth split.

”Celestial Essence Destruction!”

Tu Shanhe’s voice boomed from within the blood-red light.

BOOM...

A ten-thousand-zhang Blood Sword heavily struck the golden light. A colossal bang echoed as the golden light instantly shattered, and Jiang Chen’s figure was sent flying backward.

BOOM!

His body slammed directly into a group of Celestial Alliance experts who hadn’t gotten far enough away.

Under the force of Jiang Chen’s impact, the bodies of these hundred-some experts from the Celestial Alliance exploded, turning into clouds of blood mist that obscured the Celestial Vault.

”Flee!”

”Fuck, this fight between them is too terrifying! We have to get far away, or we’ll be collateral damage!”

However, just as this group of Celestial Alliance experts prepared to flee, they suddenly heard an icy voice ring out in the void. What followed was a scene that would be seared into their memories for the rest of their lives...

”Devouring God - Domain!”