In a mountain forest outside Chaoge City, before Imperial Emperor Xi Yu arrived:
Long Shenwu hid in the forest with a group of his subordinates. A young man stood beside him. If Gu Hai saw this young man, Gu Hai would recognize him. This was the youth that Long Shenwu sent to Nine-Five Island to invite Gu Hai to help deal with Duke Lu Yang’s music Dao army. Gu Hai had met this youth before meeting Long Wanyu for the first time and had met her together with him. This was Long Shenwu’s son, Long Sanqian.
“Five million zombies? Gu Hai truly profited a lot.” Long Shenwu looked at the distant zombie army enviously.
Long Sanqian wore a fur gown. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he said, “Five million zombies? They are just a bunch of dead objects, not worth mentioning. Unexpectedly, Gu Hai is so bold. Since yesterday, he has been standing on that floating island. Does he really want to face Imperial Emperor Xi Yu?”
Long Shenwu frowned slightly. “While he has the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s body, even if he used a special method to refine it, it is just force without form. At the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm, pure strength is no longer sufficient. His Holy Eminence is right. Gu Hai is playing with fire.”
“Father, this child noticed that His Holy Eminence seemed to be very confident in Gu Hai.” Long Sanqian looked at Long Shenwu in confusion.
Long Shenwu nodded. “Indeed.”
“How does His Holy Eminence want Father to help Gu Hai by sending you here?” Long Sanqian asked, feeling curious.
Long Shenwu looked at Long Sanqian and shook his head but did not explain.
Boom!
As everyone watched Gu Hai, a beam of light shot over from the horizon, kicking up a strong wind. Imperial Emperor Xi Yu and Qin Yun arrived.
Gu Hai and Imperial Emperor Xi Yu coldly faced each other south of Chaoge City before Imperial Emperor Xi Yu suddenly attacked.
Boom!
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s Third Cycle blocked Imperial Emperor Xi Yu’s palm strike.
“The Third Cycle? It is indeed a strange saber technique. To think that it could block Imperial Emperor Xi Yu?” Long Shenwu narrowed his eyes slightly.
Long Sanqian nodded as well.
“Unfortunately, Imperial Emperor Xi Yu only threw out a casual palm strike. Gu Hai overreached himself,” Long Shenwu sighed softly, appearing like he wanted to step forward.
Long Sanqian suddenly called out, “Father, wait a moment! Gu Hai does not seem to be cornered yet. Let’s keep watching and see how many trump cards he has.”
“Oh?”
Rumble…!
Countless zombies attacked Imperial Emperor Xi Yu in the distance.
Then, Imperial Emperor Xi Yu suddenly took out an edict.
“The Slaughter Heavenly Dynasty’s Investiture of the Gods? What is Imperial Emperor Xi Yu trying to do?” Long Shenwu’s face sank.
“It is just five million zombies. Although it is unfortunate, we do not care for them since we cannot use them!” Imperial Emperor Xi Yu said coldly.
When Imperial Emperor Xi Yu took out the Investiture of the Gods, the expressions of Chang Ming and Venerable Liu Nian changed. Gu Hai narrowed his eyes as well.
“Explode!” Imperial Emperor Xi Yu ripped the Investiture of the Gods.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
All at once, the zombies paused and exploded.
“Oh no!” Venerable Liu Nian’s expression changed.
Boom!
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor suddenly stepped forward and erected a strong force field that instantly covered the floating island.
When the Investiture of the Gods tore, all the yinggou zombies exploded.
However, Imperial Emperor Xi Yu extended his hand and protected Qin Yun as they flew to the side.
Rumble…!
The explosions were very powerful. Destructive shock waves surged out in all directions, leveling various mountains in the surroundings. Chaoge City was already ruined. Now, plenty of dirt, stone, and strong winds battered it, ravaging it further.
While Gu Hai’s ritual array protected the countless citizens, they still felt the ground quaking. Although they were safe, they showed shocked and horrified expressions.
However, Long Shenwu and his subordinates moved back.
In Imperial Emperor Xi Yu’s barrier:
Qin Yu said with a faintly bitter smile, “Your Reverence, why did you do that? Those zombies could not do anything to you with your skill and strength. If Your Reverence caught an opening and killed Gu Hai or destroyed the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s body, those zombies would still have belonged to Your Reverence.”
“But you would die,” Imperial Emperor Xi Yu said indifferently.
Qin Yun: “…”
After some silence, Qin Yun sighed softly, “Thank you, Your Reverence.”
However, Imperial Emperor Xi Yu did not care about that. Instead, he peered through the storm of shock waves at the distant floating island.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor raised his saber and blocked in front of Gu Hai, ensuring the safety of everyone on the island.
The self-detonation of a Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator was powerful. The self-detonation of five million Heavenly Palace Realm cultivators was extraordinarily powerful.
The five million zombies turned into fragments in the blink of an eye.
Some time after the surging shock waves swept through the surroundings, they gradually calmed down.
Far away, Long Shenwu’s eyelids twitched wildly. “Five million zombies? How unfortunate…”
Such a powerful army would be a horrifying force if used well.
At the side, Long Sanqian narrowed his eyes. “Imperial Emperor Xi Yu? To think that he could bear to? To think that he could bear to do this now?”
The shock waves scattered.
Gu Hai walked out slowly from behind the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor. Then, he narrowed his eyes slightly at Imperial Emperor Xi Yu.
“Imperial Emperor Xi Yu, isn’t it too late for you to come to your senses? Chang Sheng is already gone,” Gu Hai said sullenly.
Imperial Emperor Xi Yu looked at Gu Hai coldly and said, “It is not your place to lecture us. It is fine to lose five million zombies. As for the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s body? Humph! Let’s see if he can protect you or not!”
As Imperial Emperor Xi Yu spoke, he suddenly charged over.
“Hah!”
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor let out a roar as he swung his saber again.
“Heavy Snow Falling for Five Hundred Thousand Kilometers!” Imperial Emperor Xi Yu shouted, using his hand as a saber.
Snow started falling heavily for hundreds of kilometers around. A bright, white light appeared when he swung his knifehand, instantly lighting up the world.
Back when the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s souls came out of their seal, Imperial Emperor Xi Yu had used this move to defeat the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s soul. Of course, he had Blood Prison at that time. However, this move was not much inferior when executed with a knifehand.
This move still appeared powerful; this knifehand looked like it could split the world in half as the attack rushed towards the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s body.
The might of this attack was significantly stronger than the earlier palm strike.
In the distant mountain forest:
Long Shenwu’s face sank. He seemed poised to make a move.
“Father, wait for a while longer!” Long Sanqian immediately called out.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor also swung the Life Executioner Saber.
Buzz!
When the saber swung, it immediately unleashed a dazzling, purple light into the sky. The purple light clashed with Imperial Emperor Xi Yu’s white light, a halo forming where they clashed.
“Fourth Cycle!”
A force field formed by a saber domain had suddenly appeared around the Life Executioner Saber. Two hundred-odd sabers surrounded the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor—an extremely ferocious domain. The moment the saber qi appeared, they ripped the surroundings apart as they converged on the Life Executioner Saber.
Then, the Life Executioner Saber swung, unleashing a powerful saber aura that clashed with Imperial Emperor Xi Yu’s knifehand.
Boom!
A thunderous report rang out. Shock waves no weaker than when the five million zombies self-detonated spread everywhere.
Snow and saber qi shot in all directions. The faces of the distant Long Shenwu and Long Sanqian sank.
“Fourth Cycle? It turns out that when Gu Hai fought the Bat Ancestor outside Major Metropolitan City, the move he nearly executed was the Fourth Cycle? A hundredfold increase in might?” Long Shenwu’s eyes narrowed.
“Fourth Cycle? If it is just this one move, it is nothing. If executed in a set…” Long Sanqian frowned slightly.
“Executed in a set? That is impossible. This should be a saber technique that Gu Hai created using the Go Dao. How old is he? Just creating one such move would already be his limit, right?” Long Shenwu frowned.
Far away, Imperial Emperor Xi Yu appeared slightly shocked when his knifehand failed to achieve the desired effect.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s body was something with merely strength and without form. One needed to know how to use it. To think that Gu Hai had such a profound saber technique?
“Humph!” Imperial Emperor Xi Yu let out a cold snort before executing the same move with his right hand.
“Heavy Snow Falling for Five Hundred Thousand Kilometers!”
Buzz!
The piercing, white light from the knifehand appeared in the world again. However, the attack targeted a blind spot of the earlier Fourth Cycle. The earlier Fourth Cycle should no longer work, right?
“Fourth Cycle!”
Boom!
A different Fourth Cycle launched and clashed with Imperial Emperor Xi Yu’s knifehand. Strong winds blew as a victor did not emerge from the two powerful experts.
“A different Fourth Cycle?” Far away, Long Shenwu’s expression changed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
White light and purple light encased the world again. Imperial Emperor Xi Yu refused to believe that Gu Hai’s saber technique reached such a consummate level, so he attacked the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor from various angles.
However, all of the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s attacks also came from different angles, each attack different. Even so, they were no less powerful. The battle between the two powerful experts grew increasingly intenser and more ferocious.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor then lured Imperial Emperor Xi Yu into the sky.
Now, surging storms swept through the sky, together with snow and purple light.
The Chaoge City citizens could no longer see how the battle in the storm was going, only hear the world-rendingly loud reports.
“Father, can you resist Imperial Emperor Xi Yu?” Long Sanqian asked with a bitter smile.
“Imperial Emperor Xi Yu is talented, possessing overwhelming combat prowess. It would be hard for him to find a match within the same cultivation level, right?” Long Shenwu sighed softly.
“Indeed. No wonder he dares to challenge His Holy Eminence. If the five factions had truly managed to fight their way to Heavenly Court City and used the power of their nations or factions, they might have been able to fight His Holy Eminence,” Long Sanqian said ruefully.
“Fight with His Holy Eminence? You are overthinking.” Long Shenwu shook his head.
Far away, on the floating island:
Gu Hai did not look at the battle in the sky. His Go soul clone was controlling the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s body. Given the analytical powers of his Go soul clone, no one he had met thus far could surpass it.
An intelligent mind controlled a powerful expert’s body. Gu Hai did not worry.
However, Gu Hai kept his guard up as he looked at the distant Qin Yun.
The second strongest expert of the Yuan Nation? The strongest expert is Imperial Emperor Xi Yu. If he is the second strongest, then even the Bat Ancestor could not compare to him when the Bat Ancestor was still in the Middle Heavenly Palace Realm? Even blind, he cannot be underestimated.
In the distance, Qin Yun faced Gu Hai with his eyes shut.
“Mister Gu, there’s no need to worry. I won’t make a move. There is no need to use the power of the Han Nation,” Qin Yu said with a faint smile, apparently having sensed Gu Hai’s apprehension.
“Is that so?” Gu Hai smiled coldly.
However, Gu Hai could not possibly believe Qin Yun; he kept his guard up.
Gu Hai had laid ritual arrays outside the floating island. If Qin Yun attacked, he could resist for a while—buying enough time to drive the power of his nation and recall the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor.
