He landed it! The Jade Emperor thought to himself. He landed it! Lu Yuan thought within his own heart. Though he hadn't moved, Lu Yuan knew he had struck true. With a flip of his hand, Lu Yuan drew forth the Immortality-Nurturing Immortal Sword, striking in that precise instant. Impossible to describe the quickness of this sword, impossible to describe its ferocity, impossible to describe its finality, impossible to describe its uniqueness, impossible to describe its strangeness, impossible to describe its isolation, impossible to describe its speed. Everything, absolutely everything, defied description. As he unleashed this sword stroke, Lu Yuan himself was caught in a state of bewildering trance.

The sword emerged!

The Jade Emperor, once the sovereign of the Celestial Palace, having weathered countless battles throughout his eons, instinctively perceived this strike. Even as he realized he could not evade it, the Jade Emperor possessed the Thirty-Six Emperor Techniques, each one a supreme art of evasion. Yet, his experience screamed that evasion was impossible against this single sword move. This strike was too fierce, too absolute, too singular, too strange, too solitary, too swift! This strike was too remote, too bizarre, too skewed, too aberrant, too terrifying, too dreadful!

In the Jade Emperor’s long existence, he had truly never witnessed such a sword art.

The Jade Emperor made an instant judgment: should he be careless, should he remain too close to Lu Yuan, this sword would strike him inescapably, no matter what. But even knowing he could not evade it, the Jade Emperor instinctively sought to flee. He invoked the Emperor’s Escape from among the Thirty-Six Emperor Techniques!

The Thirty-Six Emperor Techniques! The names of the first thirty-five techniques all followed a similar pattern. Such as “Emperor’s Imperial Shift,” “Emperor’s Palace Relocation,” “Emperor’s Path Reversal,” and so on. Although every move was an escape, the escape of an Emperor was not the flight of a commoner; an Emperor’s flight could not even bear the literal word 'flee' lest it diminish their imperial bearing.

However, the thirty-sixth technique among the Thirty-Six Emperor Techniques, the Emperor’s Escape—Di Tao—explicitly bore the character for ‘escape.’ This move was the most potent technique for evasion within the entire Thirty-Six Emperor Techniques. The Jade Emperor unleashed this move, casting aside his Imperial dignity and Sovereign countenance. He had to flee; Lu Yuan’s sword was too terrifying. He successfully activated the Emperor’s Escape, the strongest technique of the Thirty-Six Emperor Techniques, but just as he moved to flee, he found Lu Yuan’s Immortality-Nurturing Immortal Sword had already struck him, piercing squarely into his chest.

Upon this thrust, seventy-two distinct killing methods detonated within the Jade Emperor’s body.

Lu Yuan's sword strike was not only unavoidable but also crushingly heavy. The Jade Emperor immediately assessed that all the previous wounds inflicted upon Lu Yuan by his side counted for nothing compared to the weight of this single blow. Even the Jade Emperor felt that if he did not heal this injury immediately, Lu Yuan might very well slay him here and now. The Jade Emperor simultaneously realized this strike was so vicious that it had essentially crippled his combat ability.

Gravely wounded! This was an absolute, devastating injury!

The Jade Emperor had not suffered such a profound wound in countless years.

The Jade Emperor wished to flee in that instant. He usually valued his Imperial face, but at the precipice of death, such concerns were meaningless. Lu Yuan grinned wickedly: “I took so many of your attacks at the beginning, intentionally enduring the blows, not so you could escape. The Desolate Saint Prince was far enough away initially to be out of range of this sword, but you—you were too close, less than a foot from me. Die, Jade Emperor.” Lu Yuan’s sword light shifted, unleashing another fatal strike! Yes, identical to the previous one.

The Jade Emperor had already formulated a plan to escape, but facing Lu Yuan’s killing strike, he still felt utterly trapped, with no avenue for retreat. He took the second hit squarely. This second blow nearly claimed the Jade Emperor’s life, while the Son of Immortals, Tong Yun-chou, and the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son all went into a frenzy, desperate to save the Jade Emperor, knowing he was their primary fighting force.

Lu Yuan fought with savage desperation, allowing the attacks from the Son of Immortals, Tong Yun-chou, and the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son to land upon him entirely. In that instant, Lu Yuan utterly and completely annihilated the Jade Emperor.

No!

The Jade Emperor let out a near-howl of disbelief. He had hardly imagined that he would perish here!

What manner of figure was the Jade Emperor? He had governed the Celestial Palace, experienced countless wars, and upon coming to the Civilization Sacred Land, he had only estimated the Desolate Prince’s strength to be slightly above his own. Later, when Hua Fa-sheng appeared, he assumed his power lay between those two, above everyone else, guaranteeing his survival. Even when Lu Yuan rose and killed the Bronze Saint Emperor’s Son, the Jade Emperor hadn't truly paid much attention to Lu Yuan, deeming his combat power mediocre. Back then, he had intended merely to toy with and destroy Lu Yuan at his leisure. After engaging Lu Yuan, he had set up layers of traps designed to eliminate him.

He had always manipulated others, dwelling on high ground; he truly never expected to die! And to die at the hands of Lu Yuan, a mere junior. No, I cannot accept this!

He was meant to rule the Celestial Palace again, traverse all directions, and ultimately, like the Haotian God, break through to the Civilization Realm. After enduring for so long, to die in the hands of a mere upstart.

But alas, Lu Yuan’s sword was too fierce, too absolute, ensuring the Jade Emperor’s life ended right here. It was utterly preposterous, more monstrous than even the Monkey King’s staff techniques, this was the Jade Emperor’s final thought. And with that, the Jade Emperor, who once commanded the Celestial Palace, finally and utterly perished right here.

What a monstrous genius! Truly too monstrous!

The Jade Emperor, a figure whose strength nearly matched Hua Fa-sheng, had been brutally slain by Lu Yuan.

This feat left everyone speechless. Before Lu Yuan struck down the Jade Emperor, no one had ever conceived that the Jade Emperor might die. But now, the Jade Emperor was undeniably dead here, his life’s brilliance barely illuminated before ending in such a manner.

The death of the Jade Emperor caused those fighting nearby to falter momentarily; everyone was shaken by the trajectory of the battle. Only the combat above, the Seven Star Grand Array fighting the Desolate Prince, a conflict so intense that life and death were decided within a millisecond, remained unaffected by this distraction.

Tong Yun-chou, the Son of Immortals, and the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son couldn’t help but swallow hard. Originally, the four of them together held the upper hand, expecting to finish Lu Yuan within another ten moves. How could they have foreseen such a sudden, earth-shattering reversal? The Jade Emperor had simply died like that—it was almost impossible for them to accept.

Furthermore, the three—Tong Yun-chou, the Son of Immortals, and the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son—had all witnessed Lu Yuan’s fatal sword strike.

They all reached the same conclusion: stay within ten feet of Lu Yuan, let your guard down for even a moment, and you would inevitably die by that sword. There was no dodging, no evading; the blow would land absolutely.

Finally dispatching a major foe, Lu Yuan coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. Naturally, the injuries he sustained were also exceedingly severe; he was critically wounded, and his current strength could barely manifest seventy percent of its capacity. Lu Yuan mused over the previous strike. Right, his last attack hadn't been perfect. The issue wasn't the technique itself, but the sword. His Immortality-Nurturing Immortal Sword was a righteous celestial blade, unsuitable for such an assassination style, resulting in a subtle flaw, preventing true perfection. Had the Jade Emperor been slightly faster, he might have escaped. In the future, he needed a truly perfect assassination sword technique to complement that very strike.

This sword move, perfected, could wreak havoc even among those in the Civilization Realm. One could imagine that many Civilization Realm experts would eventually perish under such a strike from him.

Lu Yuan swept his hand, gathering everything the Jade Emperor had left behind into his own nascent sword world. As the master of the Celestial Palace, the Jade Emperor surely possessed many valuable assets.

“Cough, cough!…” Lu Yuan coughed out another spray of blood.

As Lu Yuan spat blood, the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son, the Son of Immortals, and Tong Yun-chou’s eyes lit up. Right, Lu Yuan was absolutely not in peak condition; his injuries were grievous. He should be finished off. The Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son was naturally fearless and reckless; now invigorated, he instantly charged toward Lu Yuan.

The Son of Immortals and Tong Yun-chou, however, did not attack with the same ferocity as the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son. It wasn't that they felt no fear; the Son of Immortals, a dignified member of the Seven Sons of Fortune, could not bear the thought of trading his life against Lu Yuan—he valued his life above all else. Tong Yun-chou, being a strategist, naturally had far more to consider and would not risk his life lightly either.

Consequently, the ensuing assault was spearheaded by the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son, with the Son of Immortals and Tong Yun-chou providing support.

The Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son unleashed his maximum power in that moment, engaging Lu Yuan head-on with every move. Lu Yuan’s inherent strength was already inferior to his, and now, severely wounded, his power was even less comparable. Thus, the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son boldly brought his massive axe down upon Lu Yuan. The axe, weighing millions of pounds, struck with increasing speed in each successive blow, as if it were a light axe weighing only tens of thousands of pounds.

As for Lu Yuan’s counterattacks, the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son truly paid them no mind. Every sword strike Lu Yuan managed was parried by the Son of Immortals and Tong Yun-chou. Naturally, the two wouldn't have blocked so easily, but the problem was Lu Yuan’s grievous injuries prevented him from exerting much strength, allowing them to block with relative ease.

“Boom!” This was a strike of colossal axe power, granting the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son a huge advantage.

“Boom!” This was another immense axe blow, a move called Void Severance. Lu Yuan parried it with his Immortality-Nurturing Immortal Sword, and even the sword itself let out a grating screech.

“Boom!” Seeing Lu Yuan, who had previously exhibited such dominance by killing the Jade Emperor, terrifying Zhu Ren-yu, and driving off the Desolate Saint Prince, now beaten down under the might of his axe—forced to retch up blood repeatedly after being battered—the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son felt a flicker of smug satisfaction.

If he succeeded in killing Lu Yuan in the end, his fame would soar, and he would reap immense rewards. He knew well that the Ancient Desolate Civilization had placed a high bounty on Lu Yuan’s head; whoever killed Lu Yuan would gain supreme renown.

Lu Yuan, while enduring the Mighty Hero Emperor’s Son's assault, also realized his body could not sustain this battle for much longer; he needed to conclude the fight swiftly, as this battle had dragged on a little too long.

(This battle will conclude tomorrow. Ah, three updates today, and another major site lockdown—seeking some encouragement through donations to liven things up, and also requesting subscriptions for Chapter Ninety-Nine—complimentary chapters don't count toward the high subscription numbers, so no need to gift those. Thanks to everyone who gifted chapters yesterday.)