A figure, as black as pitch and roaring with earth-shattering laughter, flashed out from a dim, shadowy cavern, rocketing straight toward the heavens!
Behind him, the dark opening of the cave suddenly twisted and vanished with an eerie distortion. The very instant the black shadow burst forth, eleven robed figures on the ground moved simultaneously, surging toward him from eleven directions—all around, above, and below—their spacing perfectly identical, as if these eleven were a single, unified entity!
In the air, the eleven roared in unison: "Power of Heaven and Earth! Imprison!"
Instantly, power from the sky, the earth, and all directions converged into one vast, sealed space, completely enveloping the ascending form of the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers!
Without pausing their momentum, the eleven charged in furiously! They attacked with fists and kicks, and in that instant, it seemed as if eleven hurricanes capable of shattering the world suddenly swept up, coalescing into one tempestuous, raging tornado!
Coiling toward the exact same focal point!
They wielded no weapons! For they knew that employing weaponry at such a juncture would be utterly meaningless! Only a direct confrontation with Xuan Power, designed to accelerate the depletion of the Fourteenth Young Master's remaining strength, offered the correct path!
The Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers felt a surge of regret; he had indeed been too rash!
Although breaking the seal saved him effort, the cost incurred was substantial. Especially since, in a fit of pique against the "First Master of the Nine Heavens," he had forcibly executed the "Shattering Void," significantly exhausting his internal cultivation—equivalent to nearly one-third of his total power! Compounded by the ceaseless barrage of impacts, his internal organs felt agonizingly distressed! Right now... his True Essence consumption far surpassed his initial estimation!
In retrospect, the greatest folly was performing that Shattering Void in the first place, followed by rushing to escape without taking the time to regulate his breathing and recover. Then, he had required that person's assistance to break the seal. Furthermore, he had never anticipated that the "First Master of the Nine Heavens" could create a fissure in the seal so rapidly. The gap was fleeting, necessitating an immediate, forceful breakthrough. This chain of mishaps had only compounded the Fourteenth Young Master's woes! The current situation might not even be better than if he had lifted the seal himself. All he desired now was a secluded place to heal; who had the inclination to deal with these pursuers?
But, alas, ignoring them was no longer an option!
For every single one of these opponents possessed formidable strength! These eleven together formed a colossal torrent of force! If he handled them carelessly, with his remaining strength barely reaching two or three-tenths of its peak, he risked injury in this very first exchange!
The Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers was consumed by rage!
Suspended mid-air, he suddenly roared, "Begone!" His body twisted, immediately summoning a black hurricane, dense as a deep fog, which instantly billowed out several zhang around him! Rising and surging, it erupted outward with fierce momentum!
The Heavenly Prison Cage, painstakingly erected by the seven Saint Kings and four Saint Emperors working in concert, shattered completely with the rotation of his body. His ascent continued; spinning like a whirlwind, eleven streaks of potent energy shot out simultaneously!
Sharp as lightning, yet like the crushing blow of heavenly thunder or the collapse of a towering mountain!
The eleven simultaneously cried out and rapidly drew close in the air, tenaciously joining hands to form a massive circle, forcibly absorbing the terrifying counterattack launched by the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers!
A cacophony of impacts sounded—peng, peng, peng—and then all eleven spat out a mouthful of blood simultaneously, releasing their grip. The high-crowned leader moved fastest; the blood in his mouth had barely formed before he lunged forward first!
The moment the blood erupted, his body reached the Fourteenth Young Master. The blood in his mouth, thick as razor-sharp swords, shot out with a pu onto the Young Master's body, eliciting a loud bang! Immediately, both his hands slammed onto the Fourteenth Young Master's chest without distinction!
His touch was yielding yet firm. The Fourteenth Young Master gave a violent cough, wrenched his head aside, his gaze flashing like raw lightning. He drew back his right hand, gave a push, and with a flash of dark light and a bang, this Saint Emperor master tumbled backward through the sky!
One Saint Emperor vanquished in a single move!
Yet, he had managed to slow the Fourteenth Young Master down!
The other ten instantly closed in! The Fourteenth Young Master roared in fury, spreading his arms and legs wide, unleashing furious blows! But even as he fought, he remembered his earlier promise: rising steadily, he strove to minimize the harm inflicted upon the Heavenly Punishment Forest...
A series of miserable cries echoed as the ten figures were flung outward in almost perfect synchrony towards ten different directions! Every one spat torrents of blood! Only halfway through their fall did the sickening sounds of bone shattering begin to reverberate!
Though he had severely wounded ten formidable enemies—a gratifying result—the Fourteenth Young Master in mid-air shuddered, letting out a gasp as he spat a mouthful of blood, in color like ink! His blood was, in fact, black!
Then, his figure shifted like a meteor, turning abruptly in mid-air, and despite his grievous injuries, moving with fluid grace, he fled southward like an arrow!
No sustained fight; escape as quickly as possible! This was his intent.
But fate did not bend to his will...
Just then, a brilliant purple light erupted in the sky. Six figures shimmering in purple light appeared in a flash, like streaks of lightning, intercepting his path and flying directly at him. Every single one adopted a posture of desperate, mutually assured destruction!
Positioned at six points, they offered both offense and defense! Moreover, this startlingly precise coordination meant that if the Fourteenth Young Master attempted to evade and flee to the side, these six individuals would instantly deliver a fatal blow!
For an escape attempt—left, right, up, or down—would inevitably leave an opening! And the attack vectors of these six had already locked down every conceivable vulnerability!
Only a direct confrontation offered a path to survival!
A War of Attrition! This was precisely the combined-force attrition tactic developed by the Three Great Holy Lands specifically to counter individuals like the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers!
Being the man he was, the Fourteenth Young Master instantly analyzed the situation, roared once, and his body abruptly expanded mid-air. His bizarre hair stood bolt upright, black mist coiled around him, and he swelled violently before bursting outward!
His form flickered momentarily in the air, and instantly, six spectral copies of the Fourteenth Young Master materialized, each entirely real and distinct! They instantaneously met the six purple-robed figures! Clones manifesting, attacking simultaneously!
A deafening boom erupted!
Though supported by their formation, these six purple-robed figures were still no match. Upon contact, all six felt their arms as if they were about to snap, and their chests hammered as if struck by ten-thousand-pound sledgehammers. Before they could even cry out, they were sent flying far away. Among them, two suddenly found their arms, legs, and heads separating mid-flight, scattering into a rain of blood across the sky!
And the Fourteenth Young Master, following this strike, also seemed to gain little advantage. He spat out three or four more mouthfuls of black blood, the dark light in his eyes dimming briefly. He tumbled several somersaults in the air, jarred diagonally toward the northeast by the immense force!
His body, lacking purchase in the void, was being propelled!
And this northeast trajectory was a trap already set by the assembled masters besieging him!
Six figures in white robes lunged out silently. Before they even arrived, the strikes formed by their concentrated, powerful Xuan Qi were about to impact him!
The Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers had few reserves left after shattering the seal—less than half his former strength. After enduring this continuous, brutal warfare, he was practically at the end of his tether. Seeing these six white-robed figures rush him in the blink of an eye, he suddenly let out a frenzied roar, shook his arms, and forcefully stabilized himself in the empty air!
His tattered robes whipped wildly. The eyes of the Fourteenth Young Master instantly turned into two deep, lightless black holes, devoid of expression, yet radiating murder that permeated the heavens! A cruel, subtle smile briefly touched his lips, and he commanded in a low voice, "Fix!"
As the six approached, the first three suddenly froze in their original positions, unable to move in mid-air! Their faces were etched with expressions of sorrowful despair!
The Fourteenth Young Master wasted no time. Almost as soon as the word Fix left his lips, he slammed both hands downward. A hurricane erupted from below, surging upward like ten thousand giant dragons encircling his body from the ground! He then coldly roared, "Break!"
Boom!
The space where the three immobilized white-robed figures stood suddenly warped, then transformed into a black hole visible under the clear daylight! The three white-robed figures vanished instantly without a trace! The black hole writhed, slowly fading... Shattering Void!
One Saint Emperor and two Saint Kings! They were killed in such a suffocating manner!
But this strike clearly represented the absolute last move the Fourteenth Young Master could muster!
He was forced to deploy the ultimate secret technique, Shattering Void, once more, which completely drained every last scrap of his strength, even by drawing upon his reserves past the point of exhaustion!
He hadn't wanted to use it!
But the array formed by the six white-robed figures was clearly another profound configuration! If he had engaged in another direct clash, even for that brief time, it would have been sufficient for the eleven below to recover their breath!
At that point, he would truly have been finished!
If this exertion drained him too completely, he might lack even the power to retreat to his dark cavern and would be annihilated here by this group!
Thus, the Fourteenth Young Master reluctantly deployed it!
The effect of Shattering Void was instantaneous! Three dead, three retreating!
Having expended all remaining residual energy in this move, the Fourteenth Young Master suddenly flashed outward like lightning, fleeing at top speed! He rasped hoarsely, "Three hundred years! You still haven't managed to discard such despicable habits! This debt, this young master will settle with you sooner or later!"
Just then, from a large tree not far away, three beams of magnificent, brilliant sword light suddenly shot out, like three world-shaking long rainbows! Like meteors, like lightning—the sword light arrived before the edges were even visible! Three peerless divine blades thrust directly at the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers!
This, this was the true killing blow!
All the previous arrangements and sacrifices were merely calculated to wear down the Fourteenth Young Master’s remaining strength! The genuine killing move was reserved for this crucial moment: one strike for absolute termination!
These three swords... the Fourteenth Young Master truly had no way left to evade them!