The corners of Long Hou's mouth quirked up slightly. This barrage of combo strikes was truly a wild flurry catching a master off guard.
Yet Long Hou's willpower was exceedingly formidable; in less than a single breath, he had forcibly broken free from the heart demon's illusion!
Li Guanqi had no time for further thought; the sword in his hand slashed out!
Long Hou bellowed, thrusting his spear forward with explosive force!
Boom!
"Soaring Dragon: Cloud Piercer!"
Boom!
Roar!
A dragon's roar suddenly resounded through the firmament.
A spear radiance of crimson gold transformed into a ferocious golden dragon that erupted forth in an instant!
The great dragon tore through three sword lights and charged straight for Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi held nothing back either. He swung his sword with his left hand while clenching his right into a fist.
"Boundless: Sword Prison!"
"Red Lotus: Dark Moon!"
"Fist Smashes the Vault of Heaven!"
Boom!
His fist tore open heaven and earth, while his sword shattered the golden dragon.
The explosive shockwaves battered the formation barrier until it wobbled on the brink of collapse, and the massive Dao platform trembled violently.
Yet this was far from over. Just as everyone thought the two would pull apart for a moment, another terrifying wave of force rippled across the stage.
Two blurred figures stood atop the Dao platform, with the space of barely a zhang between them serving as the nexus of their clash.
Their stances were as firm as bedrock. Sword and spear battered against each other with manic intensity, sparks flying in brilliant, dazzling bursts.
Both Li Guanqi's and Long Hou's gazes burned scalding hot; right now, all they wanted was an all-out, exhilarating battle.
The muscles on Long Hou's arms swelled high, his strength surging madly.
"Heaven-Dominating Body Tempering Art!"
Li Guanqi's web between thumb and forefinger split open, and he roared,
"Dragon-Elephant Prison Suppression!"
The power of eight dragon-elephants erupted, blood and qi roaring through his body, even giving him a slight upper hand in raw physical strength.
"Slaughtering Power, Illusory Form, Blade Break, Spirit Absolution!"
Li Guanqi's brows slanted sharply, his expression turning increasingly frenzied.
In an instant, blood spurted from Long Hou's body as more than a dozen sword wounds opened across his frame!
Long Hou laughed heartily, paying no heed whatsoever to his injuries.
With a fierce roar, his golden spear flared with blazing light.
"Spear Ruins, open!"
"No Return."
As the words fell, Li Guanqi was shocked to find that Long Hou's aura had grown even more terrifying.
Every spear thrust carried the resolve of embracing death without looking back—once the spear struck, there was no return!
For a time, Li Guanqi was actually suppressed beneath a sky full of spear shadows.
Li Guanqi did not panic or shrink back. Instead, his throat felt parched, and the temperature of his skin skyrocketed.
All the surrounding roars and rumbles faded into nothingness, and the world before his eyes slowed to an absolute crawl...
His hands grew numb, his entire being plunged into extreme exhilaration.
Subconsciously, Li Guanqi drew upon the resonance power of his Spirit Devouring Dao Body.
In the state of resonating with heaven and earth, his perception grew even sharper.
Aided further by the ability of Illusory Form, Li Guanqi found several tiny openings in Long Hou's assault in an instant.
His sword stance shifted, and the nimble, swift blade tapped out repeatedly in a flash.
Clang, clang, clang!
Three consecutive sword strikes tapped against the golden spear, deflecting Long Hou's ferocious thrust.
At the same time, it was as if Li Guanqi had completely unleashed himself.
"Spell Art: Nine Dragons Within: Water Moon!"
"Thunder Armor, Three Forms Thunder Gate!"
Clad in his Thunder Armor, Li Guanqi's frame was tall and imposing, radiating a terrifying, domineering pressure that looked down upon all things.
Three hundred-zhang thunder gates descended from the heavens!
Yet before the three thunder gates could even touch down, they were instantly shattered by the sky full of spear shadows.
Long Hou was well aware that he could not allow himself to be trapped in Li Guanqi's spirit incantation seals.
The two shifted and weaved across the platform, the dense clashes of their weapons ringing out like pearls tumbling onto a jade plate.
Every cultivator watching the battle held their breath, terrified of missing a single detail.
In the void, even the Four Kings silently watched the duel.
To them, the clash between the two had long exceeded the realm of Mahayana confrontations.
Such prowess was enough to crush cultivators who had just stepped into the Tribulation Transcendence realm.
Both of them possessed foundations of immense solidity, and Long Hou had lingered at the peak of the Mahayana realm for several thousand years.
Throughout these millennia, he had effectively never stopped cultivating and absorbing primal energy.
The reason he was able to do so was likely due to some secret fortune he possessed.
That was why he had no choice but to suppress himself with the golden armor.
As for Li Guanqi... he impressed them even more.
For Li Guanqi's progress was truly monstrous—terrifying, utterly terrifying.
Dragon King Wen Guyan spoke first.
The man sat perched on his throne, leaning slightly forward, his eyes cast downward.
"The little fellow has extraordinarily rich combat experience, actually forcing Long Hou into tight defense."
Bai Su clenched his fists, eyes glinting sharply.
"The outcome of this battle is truly hard to call..."
"To wait within a lonely realm and finally encounter such an opponent—Long Hou is truly fortunate."
At this moment, Vermilion Bird Bie Ruxue parted her pearly teeth, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly as she murmured,
"Long Hou only waited for him for a mere ten-odd years."
"We... might just be able to wait a little longer as well!"
At those words, the corners of all four of their lips turned up in slight smiles.
The battle raged on. Both combatants went all out, trading blows back and forth without giving an inch.
Gradually, more and more wounds accumulated on their bodies.
The piercing wounds on Li Guanqi looked especially gruesome.
It was here that the advantage of the Demon King Body became apparent.
Under the surging blood and qi within him, no matter the severity of his injuries, they all healed at an astonishing speed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Clang! Clang! Boom! Boom!
Dong! Clink, clink! Clang, clang, boom, boom!
The frenzied sounds of collision never ceased.
The sheer reserves of primal energy possessed by both left everyone clicking their tongues in sheer disbelief.
Long Hou was understandable, but why did Li Guanqi's primal energy show no signs of waning either?
At this moment, primal energy roared through Li Guanqi's meridians, while the thunder bead beside his origin spirit burst with brilliant radiance.
Beside him, purple gold crystals shattered continuously as their spiritual energy was rapidly devoured and refined.
Rumble!
Suddenly!
A terrifyingly dreadful spear radiance pierced straight through Li Guanqi's body in an instant!
"Big Brother!!"
"Guanqi!!"
"Not good..."
The corners of Long Hou's mouth quirked up. Feeling the authentic feedback of the spear penetrating flesh, he was just about to pull back his force...
Yet when Long Hou saw the faint smile playing at the corners of Li Guanqi's lips, his heart gave a violent jolt. *Not good.*
Li Guanqi's body shattered in an instant!
"Mirror Flower, Water Moon!"
The shattered body dissolved into countless lightning chains that coiled toward Long Hou.
The area beneath their feet instantly turned into a vast thunder pool. Purplish-black thunder mingled with wisps of demonic aura instantly numbed Long Hou's meridians throughout his body.
Yet even under such circumstances, Long Hou was still able to retain control over his body!
Li Guanqi activated the ability of Dark Concealment, vanishing without a trace in a flash.
With sharp tiger eyes, Long Hou scanned his surroundings with utmost vigilance, yet he could not detect the slightest trace of Li Guanqi's aura.
Suddenly!
Li Guanqi appeared ten zhang directly in front of Long Hou.
A hundred-zhang phantom of a Thunder God materialized in midair!
This sword strike split the firmament and the void, poised to annihilate all living beings!
Li Guanqi poured all of his power into this single strike.
"Thunder Wrath: World Annihilation!"
Two swords merged into one as the hundred-zhang sword light slashed straight down from above.
Immediately afterward, Li Guanqi's figure blurred, closing the distance to Long Hou once more. The sword in his hand blazed with dazzling thunder light as he roared,
"Sword Draw Stance: Eight Desolations: Extinction!"
At the same time, before anyone could notice, Li Guanqi fully unleashed the Heaven and Earth Resonance of his Spirit Devouring Dao Body.
In an instant, a faint power of law was infused into the strike.
Moreover, the resonating power enveloped Long Hou as well!
Boom!
A pitch-black crack appeared on the Dao platform's barrier, a sight that frightened many onlookers out of their wits.
Hong Zhi personally took the field to reinforce the barrier.
Long Hou licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, the metallic sweetness instantly flooding his mouth and jolting his nerves.
He exhaled a breath of turbid air; his caved-in ribs and bone-deep wounds sent waves of stinging pain through him.
Grasping his spear with both hands, Long Hou unleashed a golden spear radiance that turned into a pillar of golden light soaring straight into the clouds.
The moment he felt the resonance power, the power of law blazed brightly!
Golden light filled the sky. An inexplicable brilliance flashed in the depths of Long Hou's eyes as he took a deep, lingering look at Li Guanqi.
A terrifying spear intent capable of overwhelming heaven and earth erupted and ran wild.
Spear intent of the Spear Soul Realm!
The barrier cracked, and an earthen-yellow sealing power descended from above.
The hem of Long Hou's brocade robe snapped loudly in the wind, his black hair whipping wildly. His beard and hair stood on end, his eyes bloodshot from the churning of his blood and qi.
"Ha!"
"Heaven Collapse!"
Ignoring the immense strain on his blood-drenched body, Long Hou leaped into the air.
The Dao platform beneath his feet abruptly shattered across more than ten zhang. Gripping the spear with both hands, he poured every drop of roaring primal energy in his meridians into the weapon.
The golden spear trembled, letting out resonant hums.
With thunderous momentum, Long Hou soared toward the sky, holding his spear like a siege ballista as he thrust skyward!
The spear let out an ear-piercing sonic boom. This thrust seemed to carry the momentum to defy the heavens, pressing forward without retreat.
The space along its path shattered completely, Long Hou's aura surging to its absolute pinnacle!
Two figures—one above, one below; one golden, one purple—collided in the blink of an eye!
Boom!
As the deafening crash erupted, all other sound vanished; every spectator was struck deaf in an instant.
The explosive roar swallowed every sound between heaven and earth.
The terrifying shockwave of the explosion left the Dao platform's formation barrier tottering on the verge of complete collapse.
Both figures were hurled backward with tremendous force, slamming into the Dao platform's barrier and sending violent ripples cascading across it.
Everyone looked tensely toward the sky. Putting themselves in that position, none of the onlookers felt they could have survived three breaths.
Such was the overwhelming superiority of their strength over the crowd.
Yet now... no one had expected that Li Guanqi could fight Long Hou—the foremost cultivator beneath the Tribulation Transcendence realm—to such an extreme.
A few breaths later, Li Guanqi slowly pushed himself up, leaning with one hand on his sword.
His upper body was drenched in blood, his Demon King Body state undone. At his shoulder was a bowl-sized hole punched straight through.
The dragon scales across half his body looked as if they had been forcefully ripped off by some tremendous power, appearing horrifyingly ghastly.
Scales shattered across his entire frame, mangled flesh turned outward, his long hair fell loose and disheveled, and his eyes were dazed.
Though Li Guanqi looked utterly battered, he had still stood up on his own!
Looking across at Long Hou...
In the distance, Long Hou was soaked in blood from head to toe, with no fewer than thirty wounds deep enough to expose bone.
Drained of every ounce of strength, Long Hou had collapsed into unconsciousness. In the end, he had lost.
The formation barrier opened wide, and many figures leaped onto the elevated platform!
Long Hou versus Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi was victorious!
This battle completely cemented Li Guanqi's position as the foremost cultivator beneath the Tribulation Transcendence realm.
Li Guanqi dimly saw several figures gathering around him.
Yet his ears could not make out what they were saying.
His gaze converged on the man in the distance.
Seeing the smile lingering at the corners of the man's lips, he too finally felt at ease.
Waves of exhaustion washed over his mind, and his consciousness slowly faded as he slipped into unconsciousness.
Chapter 1285