The spectral figure of Sheng Yan Zhenhe merely shifted lightly to evade the interception of four surging sword energies. Not only that! He swept out a crescent of pure blue light with a single strike!
Clang! Boom!
The two massive fireballs, arriving like twin bolts of lightning, were utterly pulverized by the arc swept out by Sheng Yan Zhenhe’s blade!
This seemingly certain killing blow had been blocked!
On the other side!
Clang! Boom!
Sheng Yan Zhenxiong’s robust physique slammed violently into the ground! The terrifying impact shock made him spew another torrent of blood, his entire body feeling as if it were falling apart!
The force of the two swords hacked out by Zhu Feng and Zhu Chuan, who fought with their lives on the line, was more than a thousand jun. Although they could not penetrate the defense of Sheng Yan Zhenxiong’s protective Battle Aura or his Thunder Armor, the sheer concussive force was enough to nearly kill the already heavily wounded Sheng Yan Zhenxiong!
Of course, it was only nearly. Sheng Yan Zhenxiong had never imagined being driven to such a desperate state by the Heavenly Demon Warriors. If Sheng Yan Zhenhe hadn't intervened in time, those two fireballs would surely have ended his life!
However, his misfortune was far from over!
After lying in wait for what felt like an eternity with no movement, the Moon Dawn Squad suddenly sprang into action at that precise moment!
The opportunity created by the heavily wounded Zhu Tian (whose arm was lost), Zhu Chuan, and Zhu Feng—how could they possibly let it pass? A frenzy of killing intent instantly surged! Five afterimages spun up like a cyclone, rushing forward!
To break through the defenses of the Thunder Armor!
The five members of the Moon Dawn Squad even abandoned long-range Battle Aura attacks, condensing all their energy within their bodies! This was to maximize the destructive power of their Frost Condensation Greatswords!
They were determined to slay Sheng Yan Zhenxiong beneath their blades!
Five sharp swords descended like five world-splitting, mountain-shattering battle axes, cleaving downwards with terrifying force!
The chilling murder aura struck Sheng Yan Zhenxiong, leaving him utterly cold to the bone!
They absolutely cannot be allowed to hit me, or I am surely dead!
The moment their blows neared the ground!
Sheng Yan Zhenxiong’s body twisted violently to the side!
Though utterly ignominious, it was the only recourse left to him.
In the alley!
“So strong!” Tong Lei gasped. “I never expected the Imperial heavy shock troops to be this outrageously powerful!”
“Unbelievable!” Yun Xi was equally thrilled. “They’ve actually driven the Thunder General into such a sorry state.”
“Watch their movements—the way they advance and retreat with such fluid coordination, attacking and defending as one—it strongly resembles the Thunder Grand Formation,” Feng Qingtian mused, a thought striking him. “That fellow Xingchen has actually improved the Thunder Grand Formation.”
“Look closer,” Qing Long snapped impatiently. “That is clearly a Five-Ring Grand Formation, merely applying the balanced distribution of Battle Aura energy from the Thunder Grand Formation.” As he spoke, Qing Long’s face showed admiration. “That guy is a veritable genius. This formation is modeled after the Five-Ring Grand Formation, combined with the constant durability of the Thunder energy field, and borrowing the essence from combined attack formations like Azure Dragon Rises from the Sea and White Tiger Roars at Heaven. That is why it possesses such astonishing might.”
“That’s strange,” Feng Qingtian wondered aloud. “I only taught him the operational methods for the warrior-class Thunder Battle Aura. How did he manage to create a Thunder energy field?” He paused. “But looking at the situation, it doesn't seem quite like the energy field generated by the Thunder Battle Aura.”
“The path of martial arts is one path to all knowledge,” Yun Shang said dismissively. “Besides, with so many experts in the Imperial family, it’s not hard to deduce a similar technique. If Binghe could conceive of it, he could certainly create it. Why is this strange?”
“As expected of the Imperial family; truly formidable,” Yun Xi conceded.
While they spoke, the situation on the field remained lethally perilous!
“Roar!”
“Die!”
Would the Moon Dawn members allow Sheng Yan Zhenxiong any chance to survive?
The greatswords, slashing empty air, instantly gouged five massive craters in the ground, sending countless fragments of earth shooting outwards like lightning!
However, the instant their strikes missed, the five greatswords simultaneously shifted from chopping to sweeping motions! One killing move followed the next wave, forcing Sheng Yan Zhenxiong to lack even the opportunity to roll back onto his feet!
He could only tumble rapidly across the ground to barely evade the five-pronged onslaught! Yet, just as Sheng Yan Zhenxiong managed to stagger upright, he couldn't even snatch a breath!
Five figures swirled back in like a tempest!
Accompanying them was the same desperate, life-risking struggle!
On the other side!
Clang! Roar! The Sacred Beast White Tiger let out a ferocious bellow!
Its massive body moved like a phantom, instantly slamming into Sheng Yan Zhenhe! Its gigantic steel claws swept out!
He had ultimately failed to shake off the interception of Yin Hu and the others!
“Beast, get away!” Sheng Yan Zhenhe roared, enraged beyond measure, unleashing a sword sweep!
Clang! Boom!
Amidst a dull, heavy roar, the Sacred Beast White Tiger shrieked a heaven-shaking cry, its immense body flying far away like a broken kite!
“Boom…”
But Sheng Yan Zhenhe was far from unscathed!
The formidable impact force of the Sacred Beast White Tiger’s collision was not something easily dismissed!
Though he swept the Tiger away with one stroke, the force of that single collision sent Sheng Yan Zhenhe staggering several steps back, nearly throwing him off balance!
But this momentary delay was all they needed! Four figures charged forward like a whirlwind!
It had to be admitted that the Thunder Generals were immensely powerful, but if the heavily armored warriors of the Demon Dragon Empire were not fully prepared, how could they dare challenge them lightly?
And the best way to deal with a Thunder General was to fight desperately!
Attacking wildly without a hint of defensive intention!
This was the combat experience they had distilled!
Perhaps the Thunder Generals possessed speed and strength far surpassing ordinary fighters!
However, through five days of targeted training, Yin Hu and his comrades had long adapted to that terrifying velocity!
In terms of speed, very few people in the world could surpass the Nine Luminaries Divine True; training against such opponents for so long naturally allowed them to adapt to the Thunder General's pace!
While their speed might not match, their experience and awareness allowed them to react ahead of time! And they were acting in a coordinated five-person unit—advancing and retreating as one!
With Sheng Yan Zhenhe’s skill, he could certainly injure or even kill one or two of them easily enough!
But it was certain that in that same instant, Sheng Yan Zhenhe would be unable to escape the consequential counterattack from the others!
The coordinated effort of these five was no longer a simple 1x5 equation! The core figure of the formation could boost their power fivefold out of thin air, and the combat strength of the other four was also strengthened to varying degrees. More terrifyingly, every single one of these fighters was prepared to sacrifice themselves to kill him on the spot!
The advantage of numbers was fully realized at this moment!
This was the predicament Sheng Yan Zhenhe faced!
Even though wearing the Thunder Armor boosted combat power to ten times that of an ordinary Heavenly Demon Warrior, the overall gap in fighting strength was not insurmountable!
He had never anticipated that his journey to the Demon Dragon Empire would result in such a bitter, hard-fought battle!
In a fit of rage, Sheng Yan Zhenhe thrust his sword out again; this lightning-fast thrust aimed directly for Yin Hu’s chest!
But facing this blindingly fast attack, Yin Hu didn't even blink. Instead, he accelerated, throwing himself directly into the path of the blade!
Thwack!
The familiar sensation made it clear to Sheng Yan Zhenhe that his sword had pierced Yin Hu’s flesh!
But in that very instant, Yin Hu crashed forward without regard for his own safety, his speed utterly surpassing imagination!
It was less that Sheng Yan Zhenhe had struck him, and more accurate to say that Yin Hu had rammed himself onto the blade!
Sheng Yan Zhenhe hadn’t even reacted to what happened. He instinctively tried to channel his Battle Aura to exert force and withdraw the sword, only to find the blade seemingly locked in place! He couldn't pull it out at all!
It was because Yin Hu’s two hands were gripping the sword lodged in his chest with fierce determination!
“Die, you bastard!” The intense pain drove Yin Hu to let out a frantic roar! He followed up with a powerful kick aimed at Sheng Yan Zhenhe’s lower body!
And beside him, Yin Tao, Yin Chi, and Yin Yao roared in unison! Their swords flashed like soaring geese, striking forward!
Ah! This sudden killing blow caught even the battle-hardened Sheng Yan Zhenxiong completely off guard.
Yin Hu’s deliberate self-sacrifice was purely to lock down his longsword!
It was too fast! Everything happened too quickly!
It was evident that this kind of killing move had been practiced countless times!
He never imagined such a mad, desperate fighting style would appear in a duel between super-experts!
This was the life-risking killing move Yin Hu and the others had devised specifically to counter the Thunder Generals!
Back during the battle at Yun City! Relying on the terrifying power of the Great Mammoth Beast King, the true strength of the Nine Luminaries Divine far surpassed that of Mo Luo, Yin Feng, Teng Ke, and Teng Shuo.
Yet, even they had nearly lost their lives to the self-sacrificial, spear-snagging moves of their enemies!
Yin Hu and the others had the good fortune to witness that fight, gaining immense inspiration and conceiving of this brilliant stratagem.
The moment Yin Hu locked down Sheng Yan Zhenhe’s greatsword by sacrificing himself, Sheng Yan Zhenhe finally revealed an opening!
The chance was fleeting, and Yin Tao and the others would never let it slip!
Three greatswords materialized out of thin air, striking instantly: one aimed directly for the center of his back, while the other two flanked left and right, sealing off all escape routes for Sheng Yan Zhenhe!
Left, right, and low were completely blocked; the only space left to escape was above!
Damn it! Panic-stricken, Sheng Yan Zhenhe roared, abandoning his sword! He launched upward like a soaring white crane!
The instant he shot up!
A strange ripple suddenly permeated the air!
The entire space seemed to transform into a massive, swirling vortex!
Sheng Yan Zhenhe’s ascending form appeared to be pulled by an invisible, colossal force!
He was helplessly drawn toward the center of the vortex!
A golden shadow suddenly flashed at the vortex’s core!
If Sheng Yan Zhenhe’s ascent was comparable to a shooting star, this golden shadow appearing from nowhere was a cannonball chasing the wind and moon!
A heaven-shattering roar erupted! A blade light, dark as night, morphed into countless afterimages, cleaving down from above! The astonishing force and speed seemed to tear the very air apart!
It emitted sharp, piercing shrieks!
It was like the wrathful thunder of the Nine Heavens descending, perfect in timing, angle, speed, and power!
“Heaven and Earth Unite!” Yun Shang exclaimed in shock!
“Ah! It’s a trap!” Feng Qingtian shouted louder!
It wasn't just him; Tong Lei and Qing Long also recognized the scheme. Clearly, the space above had been deliberately left open for Sheng Yan Zhenhe, intended for this waiting, charged blow!
Utilizing Heaven and Earth Unite, the attacker suddenly appeared above Sheng Yan Zhenhe to deliver the fatal strike!
It was an absolute kill move!
This meticulously rehearsed execution was so perfect that even the ethereal speed of the Nine Luminaries Divine True could not evade this final death blow!
Yin Hu and his comrades had absolute confidence in this move!
Because the suddenly ruptured space was the spatial oscillation unique to Heaven and Earth Unite—even the power of a Thunder General would be affected! This resulted in a momentary loss of control over one’s body!
Because the suddenly appearing afterimage was the Nine Luminaries Chong Yang!
And because the blow cleaving down from above was the Overlord’s Blade, the master of all blades!
All these factors combined were enough to guarantee annihilation!
“Ah!” Sheng Yan Zhenhe was terrified out of his wits!
His weapon was taken! He was suspended in mid-air, with nowhere to leverage force! He was being pulled by that bizarre spatial force! Most critically, the descending blade that could split mountains and cleave rock, the world-destroying Overlord Blade!
Everyone believed Sheng Yan Zhenhe was surely doomed!
Even Sheng Yan Zhenhe himself believed it!
But in that precise moment, a flash of lightning appeared!
Lightning—a streak of violet electric light!
It was incredibly fast! To describe its speed as uncanny would still be an understatement; perhaps only actual lightning could keep pace!
The sword sliced in diagonally, crossing through the void, emerging from the darkness only to melt back into it—headless and tailless, merely a fleeting, electric-fire glimmer whose trajectory was utterly incomparable and impossible to trace in detail.
Clang! The Overlord’s Blade, which had been cleaving down from nothingness, was instantly sent flying far away like shrapnel!
And only then did the onlookers realize that the object that had materialized out of thin air was a gigantic, remarkably blunt greatsword!
“Heaven-Opening Greatsword!”
“Phoenix Sky War God!”
Everyone involuntarily shouted in unison, gazing toward the purplish-brown figure that had suddenly appeared in the sky!
With a single stroke, he neutralized the ultimate kill move of the Nine Luminaries Chong Yang! Not only that! The suddenly manifesting Heaven-Opening Greatsword naturally curved into an arc, resembling a rainbow after a spring shower!
It flew toward the Nine Luminaries Chong Yang, who was suspended in mid-air!
This sword strike was the fastest, fiercest, and most unstoppable attack imaginable!
This sudden, monumental shift exceeded everyone’s wildest expectations!
From start to finish, Sheng Yan Zhenyu had been silently observing every development on the field!
Therefore, every variable—including the ultimate trap set by Yin Hu and the Nine Luminaries Chong Yang—had not escaped his perception!
In truth, Sheng Yan Zhenyu had been waiting!
Waiting for the Demon Dragon Empire’s final trump card!
One battle to decide the realm—that was Sheng Yan Zhenyu’s calculation!
He had finally waited until this moment!
However, what he hadn't anticipated was that the final killer move would be executed by the Nine Luminaries Chong Yang. He couldn't be certain whether the current Nine Luminaries Divine True was in the King’s Forbidden Ground, or still lurking somewhere, watching his every move!
And that Yin Mo Jidu was also nowhere to be seen!
This was the primary reason why Sheng Yan Zhenyu had hesitated to make his move for so long!
But now that the Nine Luminaries Chong Yang had shown himself, this rare opportunity absolutely could not be missed!
If he could kill him here, the Demon Dragon Empire would instantly collapse! It would rout without a fight!
Moreover, the current situation allowed him no time for hesitation, otherwise Sheng Yan Zhenhe would surely perish!
Therefore, Sheng Yan Zhenyu acted without a second thought, immediately unleashing his killing move!
The hunter instantly became the hunted prey!
The Nine Luminaries Chong Yang was aghast!
A violent killing aura surged instantly! Never before had the sensation of impending death felt so sharp and clear! The Nine Luminaries Chong Yang couldn't even manage to breathe; he could only stare fixedly at the rapidly approaching sword!
He could neither dodge nor block!
What an incredibly fast sword!
“Ah! Your Majesty!” Jin Yao and the others were struck with utter terror!