Shiva’s expression turned utterly foul; Gu Xiechen, meanwhile, applauded him loudly, incessantly urging the Fire Crow to strike harder.

Shiva’s lips went white with rage. He roared, “Evil Dragon Saint Lord, what stature do you possess that your avatar should resort to such base tactics? Contest with divine abilities and magic! This chaotic brawling of yours disgraces the reputation of all Eastern Immortals!”

Gu Xiechen glanced at Shiva as if at a country bumpkin, asking at his leisure, “Divine abilities and magic? Don’t you know of a divine technique called ‘Body Cultivation’? Must one only be an Immortal by wielding spells? Are the Victorious Fighting Buddha or the True Lord Erlang not Immortals?”

As if playing into Gu Wuchen’s retort, Yang Jian and the Monkey strode out from the purple mist billowing above Gu Xiechen’s head. Both stared coldly at Shiva with cynical smiles. The Monkey even brandished a staff forged from the Primal Chaos Heavy Gold.

Shiva fell silent. He deeply despised the erratic, brute-force tactics of the Fire Crow, yet Body Cultivation was a legitimate inheritance of both the Eastern Daoist Sects and the Western Buddhist Schools. He could not, in good conscience, proclaim that the Fire Crow’s methods were heretical or improper.

But since the Fire Crow and Xiaotuluo were mere avatars, if the Fire Crow defeated Rudra too easily, Shiva would lose all face.

After a moment of contemplation, Shiva let out a sinister, deafening shout: “Rudra, Dual God Transformation!”

Rudra let out a sky-piercing roar. Beside his head, which had been pecked to pieces, a brand-new one suddenly sprouted. He regenerated two legs, two arms, and a complete torso, appearing as two identical Rudras joined back-to-back. Their bodies were tightly fused from the neck down to the tailbone, sharing a single spine.

The newly manifested body held an alms bowl in its left hand and a wooden staff in its right. The new head murmured an incantation, waved the alms bowl, and spat out a viscous, green liquid that instantly coated Rudra’s body. The wooden staff simultaneously emitted a green light that also fell precisely upon Rudra.

The body of Rudra, shredded by the Fire Crow, healed rapidly. In the blink of an eye, all lost flesh and body parts regrew. The severely injured Rudra instantly recovered all his vigor and spirit. He roared joyously, unleashing both fists simultaneously. Black flames spun madly around his fists, striking the Fire Crow like a pair of drills, causing its feathers to fly wildly and sparks to scatter across its skin.

The Fire Crow mocked Rudra with a gaze, then suddenly spoke with a human voice, sneering, “Idiot, are you giving me a massage?”

Rudra froze, staring blankly at the Fire Crow for a long moment, unable to speak. He had exerted his utmost strength and still could not breach the Fire Crow’s body. This was too preposterous! What had this three-legged, flat-feathered beast eaten to grow so resilient?

The Fire Crow offered him no time to daze. Its three claws swept swiftly across Rudra’s form, instantly tearing out the four eyeballs from his two heads, and gouging out a chunk of flesh from the newly formed body.

Rudra shrieked in agony. The new body hastily swung the alms bowl and the wooden staff, spraying green liquid and spiritual light to heal itself. In truth, Rudra’s regenerative power far surpassed his destructive capability; the massive damage inflicted by the Fire Crow was repaired in an instant.

The Fire Crow was furious. It beat its wings violently, and its body rapidly swelled to a thousand miles across.

Golden holy flames erupted into the sky, casting a golden radiance nearly ten thousand miles high, bathing all directions. The blinding light and scorching heat made even Shiva flinch.

A cry shot toward the heavens. The Fire Crow locked its three claws onto Rudra’s body and violently tore apart. With a miserable howl, Rudra’s body was ripped into two halves. Vast quantities of blood sprayed everywhere like rain, but they were instantly burned clean by the Heavenly Fire emanating from the Fire Crow.

Shiva’s face finally grew deeply disturbed. He pointed a finger, and an invisible force howled toward the Fire Crow.

Caught completely off guard, the Fire Crow was blasted into the air by the force, which was as sharp and piercing as an arrow, flying tens of thousands of miles uncontrollably. Its massive body tumbled through the void, shedding plumes of feathers mixed with copious amounts of blood. The invisible force had blasted a bloody gash in the Fire Crow’s chest, spanning perhaps ten yards in diameter and dozens of miles deep, nearly piercing its entire body.

The Monkey, who had long been unable to contain his fury, roared to the sky, “Great Freedom Heavenly Lord! You are also a renowned figure in Buddhism—and you resort to sneak attacks?”

A thousandth of a second before the Monkey’s roar reached the heavens, his arms suddenly elongated significantly. He hoisted the staff he had painstakingly refined over the past century using immense effort, and brought it crashing down upon Shiva’s skull.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Shiva attacked the Fire Crow, and the Monkey attacked Shiva. Yet, this rascal Monkey was exceptionally cunning; while clearly launching a sneak attack, he maintained an air of righteous indignation, acting as if Shiva had broken the rules first.

The Monkey’s newly refined staff was cast from the Primal Chaos Heavy Gold collected by Gu Wuchen from the Chaos Space. The weight of this staff was ten thousand times greater than the Gate of Death Staff that the Great Wheel King Bi had broken. If not for the Monkey’s relentless cultivation over the past century that had greatly advanced his spiritual power, he wouldn’t have been able to lift it at his previous strength.

As the staff descended, the spatial locking and time-freezing rules inherent in the Monkey’s staff technique activated naturally. The majestic Shiva suddenly froze, unable to move his body, and the reaction speed of his divine sense was instantly slowed tens of thousands of times.

Just as the staff was about to smash onto Shiva’s head, an ivory-handled battle-axe suddenly swept in diagonally. A peculiar being, sporting an elephant’s head, a fair and plump body, struck the Monkey’s staff heavily with the axe.

The power of this axe strike was not weak. The Monkey’s long staff vibrated violently, and the skin on the Monkey’s palm cracked from the shock. The staff swept past Shiva’s shoulder, but the residual wind of the strike definitely hit Shiva’s arm. Just the staff wind tore open Shiva’s arm muscle, shredding a long strip of flesh and exposing his pale-gold bones entwined with black flames. The Monkey missed his target and couldn’t help but roar at the elephant-headed man, “Ganesha! Sun Grandpa is fighting Shiva, what business is it of yours?”

The elephant-headed Ganesha rolled his eyes in anger, his long trunk constantly coiling and occasionally snorting jets of air. Shiva was Ganesha’s biological father; it was only natural that Ganesha would intervene when the Monkey nearly killed him with a sneak attack.

With a cold snort, Ganesha swung his battle-axe at the Monkey with strange eyes, chopping wildly. Ganesha’s divine abilities and magical power were formidable, making him the perfect match for the current Monkey. The two collided head-on in a cacophony of steel, instantly rolling far away, smashing nearby stars to pieces amid the swirling shadows of axes and staffs.

However, it was clear that Ganesha’s axe, forged by the combined efforts of all the Heavenly Gods, was not as viciously malignant as the Monkey’s staff. The staff, forged purely of malevolent gold, smashed and pounded indiscriminately, causing Ganesha’s axe to spark violently and develop numerous nicks and chips.

Ganesha’s expression became incredibly grim and awkward. He struggled to hold off the Monkey with his increasingly lighter axe, while constantly forming hand seals with his left hand, attempting a magical sneak attack. But the Monkey was too shrewd. The moment he saw Ganesha furtively tracing a spell, he shifted his body instantly. Three long hairs flew from his tail tip, transforming into three Monkeys who raised their staffs and rained down blows upon Ganesha.

The frequency and force of the attack instantly tripled. Ganesha didn't even have time to catch his breath, much less complete a spell.

Aided by his son, Shiva narrowly escaped disaster and broke out in a cold sweat. He glared at the Monkey, grinding his teeth in fury, so angry his hair stood straight up. What was the Monkey’s status? The Victorious Fighting Buddha of Buddhism, a major figure who had attained full enlightenment—and he resorted to backstabbing? This era was indeed one where morality had declined and people had gone bad.

Just as he was fiercely plotting how to settle accounts with the Monkey, Shiva’s eyes suddenly brightened, and a streak of blade light was less than two inches from his neck.

The chilling aura of the blade light had already violently snapped the fine hairs on Shiva’s neck. Yang Jian’s slow voice finally reached Shiva’s ears: “Great Freedom Heavenly Lord? I, Yang Jian, am here to chop off your neck!” A sneak attack—another sneak attack! Even Yang Jian, the most aloof God of War in the Three Realms, had learned to attack from the blind side.

Shiva stared in terror at the blade light less than two inches from him. An eye suddenly appeared on his brow, and immense flames carrying the energy of oblivion erupted from his head. Shiva was prepared to sacrifice one head, intending to use his strongest technique to fight Yang Jian to the death. Fortunately, Shiva had more than one good son.

A vajra pestle suddenly swept in diagonally from the side. A young Celestial God, clad in golden armor, with a face as round as a full moon and exceptionally handsome features, rushed out from behind Shiva. He tapped Yang Jian’s Three-Pointed Double-Edged Halberd with the vajra pestle and smiled with great composure, “True Lord Erlang Shengsheng? I am Kartikeya. I hear you are known as the foremost God of War in the Three Realms?”

Yang Jian felt a sharp ache in his wrist; the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Halberd was flicked uncontrollably several inches upward, grazing past Shiva’s scalp.

Yang Jian looked coldly at the young, golden-armored Celestial God and sneered, “So you are Kartikeya, the so-called God of War? Very well. You claim to be a God of War, and I am also a God of War. Let us see which one of us is more deserving of the title!”

The long saber trembled. Yang Jian pulled it back with his left hand gripping the hilt, while his right fist shot straight toward Kartikeya’s chest.

Kartikeya also gripped the hilt of his vajra pestle with his left hand and casually swung his right fist straight toward Yang Jian’s face.

The two heavy fists met precisely and miraculously. Kartikeya’s punch struck with the force of a heavy cannon, imbued with the divine strength of a hundred dragons and a hundred elephants. Golden light faintly shimmered within his jade-white fist, crashing into Yang Jian’s fist like a muffled thunderclap.

Yang Jian’s punching force was equally like a collapsing mountain, his strength equivalent to the combined power of a thousand ordinary Heavenly General warriors. Furthermore, Yang Jian’s punch force came in waves, one wave following another, like the surging tides of the Yangtze River—each subsequent wave stronger than the last by seventy-two times the power of the preceding one. After only thirteen waves of punches, Kartikeya’s expression changed drastically; he could not withstand Yang Jian’s ‘Eighty-Nine Overlapping Wave Force’ derived from the Eighty-Nine Arcane Arts.

Crack. The fourteenth wave of Yang Jian’s punch shattered Kartikeya’s punch force and the golden light spitting from between his fingers. Then, the fifteenth wave through the fifty-sixth wave roared forward, transforming into an unstoppable torrent that pulverized Kartikeya’s fist, shattered his arm bones, pulverized his golden armor, and shot into Kartikeya’s right chest as a streak of dragon-shaped golden light.

The golden light whistled straight through, punching a transparent hole about the size of a bowl in Kartikeya’s right chest. The residual force surged wildly within him, causing Kartikeya’s body to shake violently, his entire suit of dull golden armor shattering inch by inch. A stream of blood jetted from his seven orifices, and Kartikeya screamed backward in retreat.

Yang Jian shook his right fist with dissatisfaction. He raised his head with absolute coldness and stated, “It’s a pity my divine abilities have not yet recovered, and my punch force only reaches the seventh or eighth stage. If I reached the ninth stage, and the Eighty-Nine Arcane Arts reached their peak, one punch would have killed this so-called ‘God of War’!” While speaking the words ‘God of War,’ Yang Jian shook his head with utter disdain and spat heavily.

Kartikeya stared at Yang Jian with a ashen face, his body trembling violently. Yang Jian’s world-destroying punch force had terrified him into speechlessness. He vaguely felt that while he could defend against Yang Jian’s first, second, or even the first thirteen waves of punches, Yang Jian’s subsequent punches grew exponentially stronger and more terrifying—an increase that bordered on defying the natural order.

Kartikeya was certain that if Yang Jian himself had been hit by his own punch force, he would have been blown to pieces. The question was: how could Yang Jian generate a punch force that exceeded his own capacity to withstand? Were the secret arts of the Eastern Dao Sect truly that powerful? Yang Jian looked coldly at Kartikeya and asked flatly, “Again? Hmm?” He coolly extended his middle finger and casually beckoned Kartikeya.

Gu Wuchen, witnessing all this from the rear, sighed deeply, shaking his head repeatedly. “They’ve picked up bad habits, all of them. I consider myself a gentleman, so where did these undesirable behaviors come from? They’ve even learned to backstab. Truly…”

With a long sigh, Gu Xiechen casually beckoned the Fire Crow, summoning it back into the Sun Profound Pearl for recuperation. The spiritual energy Shiva had shot out was too fierce; even the robust body of the Fire Crow was nearly pierced. The heavily injured Fire Crow was unfit to continue fighting. As he sent it back into the Sun Profound Pearl, Gu Xiechen also injected a ball of Pangu True Blood, several yards in diameter, into the Fire Crow. The Fire Crow vibrated excitedly, its feathers bristling wildly. It let out a joyful, sky-piercing cry, affectionately patted Gu Xiechen’s head with its wing, and then eagerly, almost impatiently, flashed back into the Sun Profound Pearl. Gu Xiechen gently rubbed his wrist and smiled at Shiva.

The warm-up was over. The avatars had fought their bout, proving Shiva’s avatar was inferior to Gu Xiechen’s. Shiva’s son and Gu Xiechen’s general were still locked in combat, and now it was time for the main bodies of Gu Xiechen and Shiva to face off. Whether the principal entities won or lost, the fighting among the subordinate generals held no meaning.

Shiva gazed at Gu Xiechen, his deep eyes gradually filling with bloodshot veins. He stared at Gu Xiechen as if Gu Wuchen were his father’s mortal enemy. Smiling coldly, Shiva beckoned behind him: “Barjya, challenge!”

Gu Wuchen was momentarily stunned. Barjya, who had been driven far back by the flames stirred up by the Fire Crow, rushed forward excitedly. His body flickered, suddenly rising to a thousand miles high. His ten thousand arms waved excitedly, and he roared across the Spiral Star Domain: “Who dares fight me?”

Raising an eyebrow, Gu Xiechen was about to order one of his generals to face Barjya, when a streak of black energy suddenly shot out of the Spiral Star Domain. The Corpse Emperor walked out of the black energy with a grim face, holding the Rahu Sword. He glared at Barjya and sneered, “Are you tired of having too many heads and too many arms? I’ll trim a few off for you!”

The Corpse Emperor flickered, instantly turning into a streak of black light and rushing toward Barjya, kicking him off the back of his bull.

The bull ridden by Barjya let out a muffled roar, charging forward with its horns aimed at the Corpse Emperor’s chest. Just then, a dragon’s roar echoed from the Spiral Star Domain. Mo Yue Long Gen, who had reverted to his true form, cheerfully flew out. He shouted, “Let them play their games; we mounts will play ours! Heh, plump and strong, rich in essence and blood—what excellent hotpot material!”

Mo Yue Long Gen, surrounded by surging demonic flames and boasting a wingspan of at least ten miles, clawed toward the bull.

The bull ridden by Barjya had a strong personality. It glanced disdainfully at the ten-mile-winged demon, Mo Yue Long Gen, shook its body violently, and instantly grew to ten thousand miles high. The colossal bull looked down at Mo Yue Long Gen from above, snorting two jets of white gas from its huge nostrils, which happened to carry a bit of snot, splattering all over Mo Yue Long Gen.

Mo Yue Long Gen froze for a moment, then his eyes suddenly turned crimson, like burning coals! “You think you’re big?”

A frantic dragon roar shook the surrounding stars violently. Mo Yue Long Gen gritted his teeth and reverted to his true form: the Primordial Being Devouring Demon Dragon, three-headed and six-winged, with a wingspan reaching over four hundred million miles. The immensely huge Mo Yue Long Gen roared wildly at the sky, violently lifted his tail, and a pillar of water erupted from his urination point, surging out like a deluge, blasting the bull and Barjya—who was confronting the Corpse Emperor—far away.

Mo Yue Long Gen felt incredibly relieved. His belly was always an input-only mechanism; this reservoir of urine had probably been stored since his birth. Over untold eons, he had devoured countless magic treasures and living beings, accumulating unknown quantities of useless toxic waste in his lower abdomen.

When this stream of urine erupted, the stench caused even Gu Xiechen and the Corpse Emperor to cover their noses and retreat rapidly. Shiva in the front was almost overcome by the stench of the inky black urine and hurriedly escaped to a distant location in a flash of fire.

The bull, completely drenched by the urine stream, let out a tragic howl. Its body, over ten thousand miles tall, instantly melted in the urine, and even its soul was corroded away.

Barjya, one of the Four Great Kings of the Asuras, had a phantom body only about a thousand miles tall. In this water column several tens of thousands of miles thick, he struggled helplessly like a small, powerless sampan in a great river. The terrible stench drilled into his body through every pore and orifice. Barjya retched violently, nearly fainting from the foulness.

A terrifying thing happened: as Barjya retched, the urine from Mo Yue Long Gen, pouring down like an inverted celestial river, surged fiercely into his gaping mouth, like a high-pressure fire hose blasting down a person's throat. Barjya was choked, his singing voice shredded, and he rolled his eyes up in shock as he was force-fed.

Soaked in Mo Yue Long Gen’s urine, which was a million times more corrosive than aqua regia, Barjya’s body was instantly stripped of its armor, his skin corroded through, his muscles melted, right down to the bone.

Barjya endured unbearable pain, compounded by the extreme nausea and awkwardness. He roared furiously toward the sky, and after heartily swallowing several more gulps of urine, he hastily transformed into a stream of black energy and fled back in the direction he came from.

Shiva stared dumbfounded at the fleeing Barjya, unable to utter a sound. Gu Xiechen, meanwhile, was clutching his stomach and bursting into laughter, nearly rolling all over the void.

The Corpse Emperor maintained a reserved demeanor, forcing the slightest smile onto his rigidly set face. He then turned around, suddenly letting out a peal of wild laughter, and rushed back into the Spiral Star Domain amidst his cackles.

Mo Yue Long Gen returned to human form looking very pleased with himself. He slowly and deliberately tightened the belt on his transformed body and winked triumphantly at Shiva, sneering, “What’s the big deal? It was just a bull-head and some nameless Asura King. What great hero is he? I took him down with a single piss!”

With a forceful slighting of his lower abdomen, Mo Yuelongen sighed deeply, "So, this is what it tastes like! The first time in my life!"

Shi Fan took it as a taunt from Mo Yuelongen; his expression darkened further, and he extended a trembling hand, pointing a finger stiffly at Gu Wuchen.

A heaven-shaking roar echoed from the distance behind them. Three monstrous Asuras, endowed with multiple heads, arms, and eyes, spewing thick smoke and raging fire from their mouths, rushed forward in terrifying and hideous forms. These three Asuras roared in unison, "Who dared to injure Po Ya? Step forward and die!"

Mo Yuelongen grinned broadly, about to charge forward and challenge these three Asura Kings, who were clearly on the same level as Po Ya. However, the simultaneous roars of tigers, leopards, bears, and lions sounded from behind, accompanied by the unique, elongated bellow of a giant whale and the crisp cry of a great roc.

The six personal guards subdued by Gu Xiachen surged forward with joy and excitement. Without a word, they transformed into their true forms—Chaos Strange Beasts. They could only manage to shrink their bodies slightly to achieve a size comparable to the three Asura Kings, who stood a thousand li tall. They then paired up, one for each King, shouting wildly as they launched their assault upon the three Asura monarchs.

Six beings at the peak of the Daluo Jinxian realm besieged three Great Asura Kings whose cultivation was roughly equal, but whose physical bodies, having mingled in the Chaos Void for countless epochs, were undeniably stronger. The outcome was predictable—utterly tragic, utterly tragic, utterly tragic...

The three righteous Asura Kings, stepping in to help, were battered until they couldn't catch their breath. They were forced into purely defensive maneuvers, their entire bodies riddled with bloody holes...

Shi Fan could hold back no longer. With a flick of his hand, Rudra’s body, torn in two by the Fire Crow, rapidly rejoined, condensing in the blink of an eye into a single, monstrous form resembling a conjoined twin. Then, with another wave of his hand, vast swathes of green light and medicinal fluid sprayed down, causing the damaged body of Kalki, severely injured by Yang Jian’s punch, to heal rapidly.

The healed Kalki didn't spare a glance for Yang Zai, instead swiftly joining the fray with the three Asura Kings, desperately trying to withstand the storm-like onslaught from the six Chaos Strange Beasts.

Yang Jian glanced at Gu Bao and the other six strange beasts with surprise. He sauntered over to the edge of their battle circle, leisurely dragging his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, watching with a cold sneer as Kalki and the three great Asura Kings, surrounded in the center, took the barrage of blows in rotation. The posture itself made it clear: Yang Jian was ready to strike at any moment.

Shiva trembled with rage, pointing at Yang Zai and opening his mouth to unleash a furious tirade, when Gu Wuchen, his face wreathed in smiles, was already upon him. His left hand pointed a beam of sword light straight at Shi Fan’s face, while his right hand wielded a long sash—as radiant as the moon, emanating chilling frost, faintly shimmering with crystalline light—and wrapped it around Shi Fan.

The sword light originated from the Grand Yin Space; it was a primordial-grade minor Heavenly Cycle World magical treasure formed within that dimension. The long sash was the Profound Ice Cord, a wondrous artifact personally forged by the Grand Yin True Lord, its power several times greater than an ordinary Innate Spirit Treasure.

Both artifacts radiated bone-chilling cold. Shi Fan, who had been about to shout a curse, was suddenly struck by the intense cold, causing his whole body to shiver uncontrollably; he nearly sneezed. Shiva dared not delay. A ball of black flame erupted above his head, and a lotus composed entirely of black flame flew out, transforming into a curtain of black light that intercepted the sword light commanded by Gu Wuchen’s left hand.

The black lotus entangled itself with the ribbon-like sword light. Cold and heat clashed violently, sparking countless bolts of chaotic lightning.

A wheel of fire lifted from behind Shi Fan’s head, within which thirteen beams of blinding golden light shone, encircled externally by the black-red flames of the Extinguishing Heaven Fire. This wheel spun rapidly, spitting out streams of dragon-like firelight that constantly lashed out towards the Profound Ice Cord controlled by Gu Xiachen’s right hand.

Gu Xiachen sneered. The Profound Ice Cord suddenly erupted with ten thousand zhang of cold light, causing vast sheets of profound ice to rain down from the empty sky. The firelight spat out by the fire wheel was instantly extinguished, leaving not even a wisp of smoke. The Profound Ice Cord then transformed into a white long dragon, lunging directly at the fire wheel. The piercing cold froze the flames on the wheel, causing them to dim. The formerly rapidly spinning wheel turned slower and slower, becoming listless like an old cat nearing its end.

Shi Fan was utterly aghast. Ignoring the state of the battle around Kalki, he hurriedly threw out a golden fork wrapped in raging flames and a crimson flying sword shrouded in black wind. The sword and fork emitted a grating sound of wind and fire struggling against each other, trailing two brilliant rays of light towards the Profound Ice Cord.

The Profound Ice Cord showed no fear of Shi Fan’s three accompanying magical treasures. It spun rapidly, throwing out waves of cold light and frost. The flames and black wind enveloping the three artifacts simultaneously retracted. Just as the core of the artifacts was about to be covered in a thin layer of ice, their sizes abruptly shrunk inward, as if they had been frozen solid by the chilling aura, contracting by a full third. Grand Yin Profound Qi!

Shi Fan recognized the terrifying cold radiating from the Profound Ice Cord. This primary thread of innate extreme Yin cold was the natural bane of his Flame of Destruction. No matter how powerful his flames were, faced with the Grand Yin Profound Qi, which innately suppressed all fire, he could only weep in despair; resisting it was impossible. "Holy Monarch Evil Dragon, what great fortune you possess!"

Shi Fan ground his teeth in anger. He shook his arms, and dozens of different magical treasures—including needles, knives, disks, and darts—flew out from his body, each carrying black flames, black wind, black sand, or black water, swirling chaotically as they rushed toward the Profound Ice Cord.

However, since Shi Fan’s Flame of Destruction was inherently countered by the Profound Ice Cord, and his cultivation did not match that of the Grand Yin True Lord from the past, no matter how many high-quality artifacts he summoned, he could not suppress the terrifying might of the Profound Ice Cord.

With cold energy spreading in all directions, the Profound Ice Cord suddenly transformed into a colossal, thousand-li-long profound ice tunnel that smashed down. With a single blow, the more than a dozen personal magical treasures belonging to Shi Fan had their light extinguished, and their very forms were blasted into dust. Shi Fan's expression changed, and he finally gripped the bow, which appeared to be made only of a rough tree branch.

Staring coldly at Gu Xiachen, Shi Fan sneered proudly, "You are fortunate enough to witness the Celestial World Arrow I use to annihilate worlds!"

Having gleaned certain profound insights about this world from the Sword Intent of the Great Evolution Fierce Blade, and having acquired extensive knowledge from the soul imprints of the Great Reincarnation King and others, Gu Wuchen chuckled dismissively. Annihilate the world? While the Heavenly Dao contained the law of world annihilation, it certainly would not be wielded by Shiva.

In the memories of the Great Reincarnation King, most of the Primordial Gods and Demons who controlled this terrifying law had been slain by Hongjun. This power of law could never be fully reassembled. As for the few remaining Primordial Gods and Demons who possessed fragments of the world-annihilation law, they were either suppressed or had fled to god-knows-where to hide like rats, daring not show themselves in the Three Realms.

Hongjun represented the power maintaining the Heavenly Dao; the law of world annihilation sought to destroy it. This was clearly opposing Hongjun and his disciples. In ancient mythology, the Gods and Demons who commanded such world-annihilation laws were treated as rats crossing the street, hunted by every immortal and deity in the Three Realms.

What Shi Fan called the World-Annihilating Arrow was, at best, a meager trace of law energy contained within a single drop of essence blood inherited from some Primordial God or Demon. This trace of law energy was infinitely less potent than the killing aura contained within the original Sword Intent of the Great Reincarnation King. What did Gu Xiachen have to fear?

However, it was, after all, an aura of the law of world annihilation. Annihilating a world was impossible, but destroying something else should be sufficient!

Gu Xiachen laughed heartily, retracting the Profound Ice Cord. He stood leisurely dozens of li in front of Shi Fan in the void, puffed out his chest, and presented himself as a clear target, smiling excitedly at Shi Fan, "I'm waiting for you to shoot me. Aim carefully, and shoot directly at my chest with all your might!"

Gu Xiachen sternly warned Shi Fan, "You must use your full strength. If you don't, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Shi Fan looked confidently at Gu Wuchen and sneered, "Full strength? I cannot use my full strength right now, but my arrow will not disappoint you!"

Taking a deep breath, the muscles in Shi Fan's body bulged, and a mysterious aura flooded in from all directions of the cosmos, carrying a faint, terrifying depth that inspired despair. This energy gathered on the long arrow nocked on Shi Fan's bowstring. Two spiritual lights shot from Shi Fan’s eyes, locking steadily onto Gu Wuchen’s body. Gu Xiachen smiled and clasped his hands behind his back, his fingers trembling slightly as he secretly pulled out the Five Directions Five Elements Banner, which he had haphazardly stuffed into his sleeve. Because his foundation had been shaken by the Great Reincarnation King, and the Five Elements Banner was already severely injured and unhealed, it currently possessed a defensive capability weaker than a top-tier Immortal Artifact, despite its title as an Innate Supreme Treasure.

Clutching the Five Elements Banner tightly, Gu Wuchen slowly channeled streams of magic power into the five flags.

Shi Fan inhaled deeply, his chest rising high. He slowly drew his long bow; the bow bent like a full moon, the string taut as lightning, and an arrow light(stabilized/locked onto) Gu Xiachen from afar.

Suddenly, an extraordinary phenomenon appeared in the void: the simultaneous radiance of the sun and the moon. Their light intertwined, transforming into a strange beam that shot downward, rapidly adhering to Shi Fan’s arrowhead. Shi Fan let out a cold laugh, released his fingers, and the long arrow shot forth with fury. The arrow was so fast that it reached Gu Wuchen the moment it left the string. Gu Xiachen chuckled lightly, and the Five Elements Five Colors Banner, faintly shimmering with spiritual light, suddenly materialized before the arrow shot by Shi Fan.

The power of the Law of Destruction attached to the long arrow erupted violently. The Five Elements Five Colors Banner was instantly shattered like five pieces of tattered rag.

However, the Five Elements Five Colors Banner was an Innate Supreme Treasure after all. After destroying the five flags, Shi Fan’s arrow was itself disintegrated into a wisp of green smoke by the backlash force. Shi Fan was horrified. He stared blankly at the shattered Five Elements Five Colors Banner, and his body began to tremble violently.

Gu Xiachen chuckled derisively. He suddenly raised his thumb and mocked Shi Fan with a laugh, "Impressive, truly audacious! The Innate Supreme Treasure Five Elements Five Colors Banner! Their masters are all figures of the Three Realm Supreme level—and you destroyed them!"

Gu Xiachen laughed with glee, "You're finished, finished! This karma is too immense. You have simultaneously offended at least three Saints and the Queen Mother of the West, plus a top-tier Primordial figure of the Grandmist level! You are doomed, doomed!" Cold sweat drenched Shi Fan, soaking his clothes and hair.

At that very moment, Monkey suddenly smashed Dinesh’s battle axe with one strike of his staff, then spun and smashed his staff into Ganesha’s shoulder. Half of Ganesha’s body disintegrated. With a miserable howl, he transformed into a fierce gust of wind and vanished without a trace.

Yang Jian moved instantly, his body transforming into a ray of spiritual light. His Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade drew a light, casual arc, slicing cleanly through Kalki’s chest and piercing straight through his back. The three mutilated Asura Kings, drenched in blood, roared up at the sky and rushed to retrieve Kalki’s body, taking Rudra with them. Protecting Kalki, they fled as a streak of black light.

Seeing both his sons gravely wounded, Shi Fan's eyelids twitched sharply. He hastily turned to look at his two sons, and the focus he had fixed on Gu Wuchen suddenly slackened. With a soft sound, Gu Wuchen took a single step and lightly slapped his sleeve against Shi Fan’s body.

Shi Fan felt as if an iceberg had crashed into him. He was immediately assailed by icy energy, and the surging magic power within his body instantly froze. He promptly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yet, Shi Fan's energy was so fiercely aggressive that despite the heavy blow from Gu Wuchen, he did not retreat but instead advanced, launching both fists heavily toward Gu Wuchen’s chest. With a crack, Gu Xiachen was struck squarely by Shi Fan’s heavy punch. He spat blood and recoiled rapidly, a row of ribs on his chest instantly shattering, visibly caving inward.

Shi Fan rejoiced. He flexed his fists, about to deliver several more blows to Gu Wuchen’s body, but Monkey, Yang Jian, and the others immediately surged forward to intercept him.

Having desperately counterattacked and severely wounded Gu Xiachen, Shi Fan raised his eyebrows and laughed heartily, "Nothing more than that, nothing more than that! Hmph, this time you gained a slight advantage. When I return next time, things won't end this easily!"

He swept a cold glance over Yang Jian, Monkey, and Gu Bao, and Shiva sneered, "Holy Monarch Wu Long, you do command a few experts beneath you, but sadly, it is not nearly enough! You lack peak entities, you lack the supreme beings who sit atop the pinnacle! When I recover my full strength and return here, that will be your death day, your death day!"

After laughing loudly three times, Shi Fan transformed into a mass of black smoke, spinning rapidly in the void. Countless arrow-shaped energy projections whistled out in all directions. After unleashing a round of attacks upon Gu Wuchen, Monkey, Yang Jian, and the others, Shi Fan fled rapidly into the distance amid frantic weeping. "Take good care of Akshmi! If a single hair on her head is harmed, I swear I will kill every one of you!" Monkey swung his staff, shattering every arrow-shaped kinetic blast shot by Shi Fan into dust.

Gu Xiachen called out loudly, "Goddess Lakshmi is Vishnu's wife. What connection does she have with you that you care for her so much?" The black smoke that was Shi Fan suddenly condensed, then quickly fled into the distance.

Once Shi Fan vanished completely from sight, Gu Xiachen let out a 'hehe' chuckle and slowly licked his lips with his tongue. His tongue tip had been chewed to shreds; the mouthful of blood he spat earlier was self-inflicted by biting his own tongue.

The shattered ribs on his chest healed rapidly, accompanied by a grinding 'ziziziga' sound, his ribs quickly restored to perfection. "Tsk, did you really think that punch force, only fit to give me a massage, could actually injure me?" Gu Wuchen gave a cold smile and stretched languidly. "If not for... hehe..."

After a few cold laughs, Gu Xiachen said calmly, "Let’s go back. I still need to properly discuss how to deal with the captured Goddess Lakshmi!" Monkey and Yang Jian laughed in unison, following Gu Xiachen straight toward the Spiral Star Domain.

Gu Bao scratched his head in confusion, mumbling quietly, "The Master wasn't actually hurt? Why did he pretend to be injured by that guy?"

Gu Peng nodded thoughtfully, smiling softly, "I understand!"

Gu Hu and the other strange beasts quickly surrounded Gu Peng. "What do you understand?"

Gu Peng whispered with a low laugh, "I understand that the Master must have his reasons for doing this!" The five strange beasts stared blankly at Gu Peng, then simultaneously punched him, sending him flying. Outside the Spiral Star Domain, Fu Ya Ming, smiling broadly, led countless Celestial Soldiers and Heavenly Generals, along with the Nine Nether Daoist Immortals, to greet them. Gu Xiachen smiled lightly and sped up his approach toward them. This is the update for the first chapter. I will strive for the second chapter shortly... Because the first chapter has thirteen thousand characters, the Qidian backend seems to only allow a maximum of twelve thousand characters, so one chapter was split into two parts for upload; this shouldn't affect reading...

Gotta go, off to eat. I’ll try to update the second chapter later!

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