Zhuang Kui stared, the faces of the pair, cold as a knife, stopped briefly. He slowly nodded. "Not bad."

"Just 'not bad'?" Palidai let out a soft laugh. She affected a bashful demeanor, clearly intending to seduce the demon chieftain, but with that single smile, Palidai's cheeks seemed to flush even deeper, an inexplicable charm secretly blooming, as if it were about to deeply ensnare the man's very soul.

"It is indeed quite good!" the demon chieftain added. Then he said, "The Saintess of Manichaeism truly lives up to her reputation, but my purpose today does not lie with you."

Gazing coldly down at Ji Changkong beneath him, the demon chieftain declared, "You have slain many in my Northern Barbarian lands. Today, I will not only kill you, but I will also wreak havoc across your Water Cloud Kingdom! I will storm the Celestial Master realm of your Water Cloud Kingdom! Your maternal grandfather, Gu Yu, is already crippled; I wish to see who in your Water Cloud Kingdom dares stand against me!"

"You intend to kill me today?" Ji Changkong gave a burst of dry laughter. "If I can rampage across your Northern Barbarian lands, then naturally I have ways to deal with you Northerners. Let alone you, Demon Chieftain; even if your father, the Asura King, were here today, he still couldn't kill me!"

Two youths, both occupying the Pinnacle Realm, stood locked in confrontation. The overwhelming battle intent radiating from them was palpable to anyone nearby.

The two Great Dharma Kings, Qingjing and Dali, seeing that the two men might erupt into battle at any moment, subtly signaled Palidai and retreated further away with her.

At Ji Changkong's silent cue, Ayiguli also moved back into the distance. She understood that this battle was likely unavoidable, and at this crucial moment, she absolutely could not allow Ji Changkong to be distracted.

The masked maiden, who had been standing atop the Three-Headed Hellhound, suddenly looked up, casting a brief, quiet glance at Ji Changkong. With a soft, lingering sigh, she quietly leaped down from the beast and settled near Palidai and the other two, watching the scene from afar.

The movements of these peripheral figures confirmed that a clash between the two main combatants was now inevitable. The demon chieftain's eyes instantly reverted to a state of absolute frigidity; there was no longer any messy emotion in his heart. In his mind, there was only one enemy, only the single thought of killing that enemy as swiftly as possible.

As his gaze locked onto Ji Changkong, the latter understood: this Demon Chieftain would likely prove even harder to deal with than the Yaksha King!

The cruel, violent aura emanating from the demon chieftain was clearly a natural byproduct of countless killings. At critical junctures, this aura could even transform into a peculiar form of power, yielding unexpected advantages.

The Demon Chieftain possessed cultivation in the Nine Palaces Celestial Realm, and he had likely held that rank longer than Ji Changkong. Furthermore, he was the son of the Asura King, meaning he must have deeply mastered the Asura Royal Clan’s Asura Evil Canon, and access to rare Heaven and Earth Spiritual Treasures would never be an issue.

Running through this rapid sequence of thoughts, Ji Changkong realized the Demon Chieftain was set to be his most formidable opponent, not just now, but perhaps in the future as well!

The Demon Chieftain of the Asura Royal Clan, and Shi Qianjie, the disciple of Cao Xuanqi—these two represented the future overlords of the Five Elements Continent. If Ji Changkong could eliminate them both, then the Northern Barbarians and the Guiyuan Sect would cease to be a major threat; these two were the new hope for the Asura Royal Clan and the Guiyuan Sect, and destined to be the greatest rivals ahead.

"Ji Changkong, between you and me today, one must die!" The demon chieftain sneered hideously, brilliant light gathering behind him, slowly manifesting a three-meter-long scythe.

The moment the scythe appeared, an icy, violent aura of slaughter instantly permeated the heavens and earth.

"Wuwu..." Strange sounds emanated from the scythe, as if thousands of wronged souls were imprisoned within it. As the scythe was exposed to the air, the souls hidden inside began to cry out incessantly, seemingly desperate to fly free from their confinement.

The scythe was inky black, appearing not particularly sharp, yet Ji Changkong’s Dragon Glory Blade, suspended in the air, began to tremble violently. An intensely sharp energy immediately surged from the Dragon Glory Blade, directly challenging the scythe held by the Demon Chieftain.

The Dragon Glory Blade sensed the latent power of the Demon Chieftain's scythe. That pressure roused the combative spirit of the Dragon Soul residing within it. As rare divine weapons themselves, with their masters now in direct opposition, the divine weapons inherently knew how to bolster their own presence.

The two divine weapons, held by the world's two most powerful young masters, continuously unleashed their might and savage auras. The combined energy released by the two divine artifacts converged, forming a strange field of mutual resistance.

In the empty space between Ji Changkong and the Demon Chieftain, as soon as this peculiar force field manifested, violent and fierce power began to secretly gather, shooting outwards in all directions, using that central area as its nexus.

Rumble! Boom! Crackle!

They had not even moved, yet in the center of the vacant ground before the two young masters, strange explosions began to sound one after another. This raw power threatened to tear the heavens and earth apart; the earth in that spot instantly sank by more than ten fathoms!

Amidst the swirling dust, the scythe and the Dragon Glory Blade, without command from their masters, simultaneously flew out of their respective hands and plunged into the enormous force field.

Clang! Clang! Clash!

From within the dust-shrouded force field, the clashing sounds of the two divine weapons erupted fiercely. With the addition of the two deadly artifacts, the already chaotic force field became even more unstable, spiraling wildly out of control!

Various forces were released from the field, and centered around that area, the violent energy began to cover a radius of ten li. In mere moments, the land within that ten-li expanse seemed to experience a massive earthquake, the ground entirely sinking toward the earth's core.

Before the two young masters had even truly engaged, the divine weapons in their hands had already caused the land for ten li around to sink deep into the earth. Before them, the massive force field churned the dust, slowly spreading outward.

When the dust within the force field enveloped both their bodies, Ji Changkong and the Demon Chieftain struck simultaneously.

Holding nothing back, the World-Ending Gauntlets were drawn without hesitation. As the gauntlets encased his left hand, making it resemble a monstrous, gaping maw, piercing shrieks erupted from the Demon Chieftain’s own throat. The Demon Chieftain’s bulky, powerful frame suddenly became covered in bizarre, sharp spikes, like a porcupine. At this moment, the Demon Chieftain resembled a colossal demon monster from the Asura realm, completely devoid of any trace of human essence.

The spiky Demon Chieftain wore an expression of absolute coldness. Like a hellish Asura, he leaped across the spatial distance, instantly appearing ten feet in front of Ji Changkong.

Without any preamble, the Demon Chieftain grinned ferociously, brandishing the huge scythe, charging like a monster from the Asura realm. The violent aura of the scythe warped the vital energy between heaven and earth; as the scythe swept out, space shattered like brittle glass, and the dust, shrubs, and debris of the Five Elements Continent were sucked into the fractured space.

Strangely, the Dragon Glory Blade also settled perfectly into Ji Changkong's right hand. With the World-Ending Gauntlets on his left and the Dragon Glory Blade in his right, a detached smile played on Ji Changkong's lips. He had already entered the Realm of Self, calmly absorbing the entirety of the Demon Chieftain’s rampaging primal energy into his awareness.

Before the scythe could land, Ji Changkong struck suddenly. The Dragon Glory Blade, utilizing the overwhelming force of the Blood Dragon Nine Forms, summoned a monstrous sea of blood. Amidst the surging crimson waves, the Dragon Glory Blade cleaved toward the scythe in the Demon Chieftain’s grasp. At this moment, the scythe had not fully absorbed all the primal energy within the Demon Chieftain; the scythe’s trajectory was caught in a complex cycle of dozens of minute adjustments—its power was not yet at its peak.

Boom! Clang! Crash!

The Dragon Glory Blade and the Demon Chieftain’s scythe collided. Where the two divine weapons met, sparks flew, tiny sparks that acted like pebbles thrown onto a calm lake, shattering the smooth expanse of space, the resulting force causing the space around them to crumble.

Fierce, sucking forces emanated from the space surrounding the two combatants. Like broken mirrors, fissures appeared, reflecting their silhouettes.

Crack! Snap!

The Dragon Glory Blade was drawn back, emitting a strange cry. Just then, Ji Changkong and the Demon Chieftain struck again, their free hands condensing the scattered spatial energy—a strange power belonging to the spatial rifts—and forcefully ripping it out from the Endless Star Field. This strange energy instantly focused under their combined might, causing the strength of these two peak young masters to surge exponentially!

Within the World-Ending Gauntlets, a power capable of destroying everything suddenly awakened. Injected with that strange force from the spatial rifts of the Endless Star Field, the Gauntlets suddenly became unstable, even as the power they emitted became three times stronger than before!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Roar! Roar! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the world, only deafening roars remained. The Nine Jade Raging Thunder seemed to pour down heedlessly at this moment. In the skies above the Western Regions, lightning descended like pillars of light, striking down upon the expanse spanning a thousand li around the two figures.

The earth shuddered, space distorted, and many plants, animals, and spirit beasts of the Five Elements Continent vanished into the manifested spatial fissures, swallowed by them. These people and things were gone from the Five Elements Continent forever, destined to reappear somewhere within the Endless Star Field.

The heavens and earth changed color; it seemed as if this continent itself was about to be annihilated by the power of these two. All manner of celestial phenomena that should never have appeared began to manifest one after another.

The brilliant sun and the clear, bright moon flashed simultaneously for a fleeting moment beneath the light of the countless stars—the celestial conjunction of the Sun and Moon!

Within the Sacred Mountain of Light, the Holy Mother Youlan, who had been sitting in meditation, suddenly changed expression. "Bad, I must depart immediately!"

"What's wrong?" the Blood Emperor, who was still recuperating, asked urgently.

"Two reckless juniors, who have yet to master the power they possess, are causing chaos in my domain! If I let them continue their antics, my Western Regions will surely be destroyed by catastrophe!" Youlan cursed inwardly, briefly explaining to the Blood Emperor before her form blurred and vanished in an instant.

Second installment complete; one more to go! Send those tickets! Hurry with those tickets! If you wish to know what happens next, please log into [Site Name], where more chapters await. Support the author, support legitimate reading!