Just as the fury in the Immortal Emperor's heart flared, branch-like patterns fluttered behind Xu Ying, and the Emerald Rock divine ability transformed into a long blade cleaving down.
The emperor dodged to the side, but immediately with another sharp smack, Xu Ying struck again with the ruler, hitting him squarely on the forehead once more—the exact same spot, without the slightest deviation!
The only difference was that the Heaven-Measuring Ruler struck right upon the Immortal Emperor's blood, sending gore splattering in all directions.
The Immortal Emperor Supreme flew into a rage, launching his first counterattack. The moment he struck, he revealed an old-school fighting style: half-immortal, half-martial, close-quarters combat.
Modern battles among immortals tended to focus heavily on grand divine abilities and immensely powerful treasures—a few clashes of grand arts, either killing the opponent from afar or being killed by them.
Six hundred thousand years ago, however, it was different.
Six hundred thousand years ago, under the Old Dao, practitioners often cultivated both as immortals and gods. An immortal was simultaneously a deity, possessing an extraordinarily powerful physical body, which gave rise to the half-immortal, half-martial fighting style.
This style prioritized close-quarters brawling, testing fists, kicks, and hand seals, while divine abilities were integrated into melee combat as auxiliary tools to martial arts.
Such divine abilities were renowned for their compactness and speed—swift, explosive, and paired with formidable martial force, often cleaving the enemy dead in close combat.
The Immortal Emperor fought in precisely this manner. His fist crested forward with blistering speed. Xu Ying took the punch head-on and was knocked backward through the air, only to see the fingers of the emperor's striking fist snap out in succession, transforming into five finger beams of distinct Dao energies that hissed straight at him!
Xu Ying shifted unpredictably, dodging the five ever-changing finger strikes, but the Immortal Emperor was already upon him, raising a hand to chop down.
Xu Ying braced against the downward-pressing palm force. Just as he met the blow, a burst of lightning detonated within the emperor's palm seal, crashing into his chest and blasting him tens of li away.
Before he could steady himself, the Immortal Emperor kicked out toward his chest. Xu Ying intended to take the blow directly, but then saw the emperor's left hand forming a blade, saber qi coalescing upon it!
He leaped backward, only to watch a dazzling blade of saber qi whistle past, grazing right against his belly and the bridge of his nose!
Before Xu Ying could land, the Immortal Emperor's figure materialized above him, an axe kick slamming onto his chest and hurling him down into the Heavenly Abyss.
Before Xu Ying even hit the abyss, the Immortal Emperor caught up. Divine abilities burst forth from fingertips, palms, sleeves, and even punches and kicks—long and short, large and small, battering relentlessly against Xu Ying's body.
Xu Ying grunted in pain, then two beams of divine light shot from the emperor's eyes, crisscrossing across his neck like shears, snapping shut more than a dozen times with rapid clacks.
A brilliant line flared along Xu Ying's neck like red-hot magma, but he forcefully resisted the emperor's gaze, keeping his head firmly on his shoulders.
Dong!
His body slammed against an enormous stone pillar beside the Heavenly Abyss Sea Eye. Just as he tried to rise, divine light from the emperor's eyes blasted into his chest, pinning him to the pillar, while the Immortal Emperor descended from the sky, stamping a foot down toward him!
Along both shores of the Heavenly Abyss, the spectating experts craned their necks to peer downward.
The Heavenly Abyss Sea Eye erupted, forcing them all back.
Xu Ying forced his way through the divine light of the Immortal Emperor's gaze and rolled violently aside, tumbling into the Sea Eye to evade the descending emperor.
The Immortal Emperor stepped on nothing. His gaze crackled like intertwined lightning as he peered down into the Sea Eye, when suddenly a chain shot up from within, wrapping around his legs and dragging him forcefully downward!
The chain rattled violently, pulled taut by the terrifying power of the Sea Eye. The Immortal Emperor gripped the chain with one hand and looked around, only to see chains swaying across the pitch-black abyss of the Sea Eye.
Suddenly, Xu Ying came sweeping toward him upside down, his legs wrapped around a chain, both palms flying forward in attack.
The Immortal Emperor had just parried a dozen palm strikes when sword qi suddenly erupted from Xu Ying's sleeves. His heart leaped in alarm; like a great python coiling around its prey, he wrapped the chain around himself and whipped upward, evading Xu Ying's sword qi.
Xu Ying twisted his body at the same time, winding the chain around himself as well. The Heaven-Measuring Ruler slid from his sleeve to serve as a sword, and Zhuxian sword qi relentlessly pursued the emperor, every strike aimed straight for his head and neck!
The Immortal Emperor's sleeves fluttered, pierced through by one streak of sword qi after another.
Relying on their waist strength, the two resisted the Sea Eye's devouring force and flipped out of the abyss, landing on separate stone pillars. Xu Ying spun to unfurl the chain from his body and whipped it through the air, sending it sweeping toward the Immortal Emperor like an enraged dragon.
At the same time, the Immortal Emperor broke free of his chain and kicked out, sending it thrusting forward like a sword!
The two chains tangled in midair. Both the Immortal Emperor and Xu Ying regained their balance. The emperor's sleeves were tattered and shredded, torn to pieces by Xu Ying's barrage of sword qi moments before.
Xu Ying gripped his ruler, its tip angled toward the Sea Eye. A trail of blood trickled down the center of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, drawn by the Sea Eye's suction. Drop by drop, blood radiating immortal Dao fell into the Sea Eye like shooting stars.
The immortal Dao might contained within this blood was truly immense; a single drop was like a falling star plunging into the Sea Eye, igniting a raging blaze within the deep that shone like the radiant eyes of a beauty, illuminating the Heavenly Abyss.
The blood on the Heaven-Measuring Ruler was not Xu Ying's, but the Immortal Emperor Supreme's.
As they had tumbled upward, the emperor had still taken several strikes to his face and head, leaving stains upon the ruler. However, he had cultivated six Dao scenes, among which the Chaos Sea Dao scene brimmed with limitless vitality; even if he was wounded, it healed almost instantly, leaving no scar behind.
"The Leakless Golden Body, half-immortal and half-martial—you have truly received its genuine teachings," the Immortal Emperor said, his eyes flickering. "Worthy grandson, for you to train the Leakless Golden Body to such heights is truly remarkable. But unfortunately, Daoist Wukong himself could not complete the Taishang Dao, let alone you."
He drifted upward, stepping along the two intertwined chains, and charged forward.
Xu Ying fixed his gaze intently upon him and said leisurely, "Taicang Cave Abyss also bears a fissure. Martial Nephew Meng, your cultivated Great Dao can hardly be devoid of flaws either, can it?"
With a stamp of his foot, the Taiyi Golden Bridge manifested beneath him. The instant they clashed atop the bridge, both felt a chill in their hearts.
Xu Ying sensed that the Immortal Emperor's Dao methods were assailing every corner of his body, probing for flaws in his Leakless Golden Body. Meanwhile, the Immortal Emperor felt Xu Ying employing the exact same approach to search for his own weaknesses!
How does he know this technique as well? both thought simultaneously.
Xu Ying had learned this method from the Last Lord of Ziwei during their duel, whereas the Immortal Emperor Supreme relied on divine prognostication, constantly deducing and calculating. Both arrived at the same result through different paths.
Trading more than a dozen blows on the Taiyi Golden Bridge, each found the clash nerve-wracking. The Immortal Emperor Supreme stamped down, shattering the golden bridge, and both vaulted into the air, continuing their duel as they ascended along the inner cliff walls of the Heavenly Abyss.
Yet both were still searching for each other's vulnerabilities, gradually sussing them out.
Suddenly, their hair stood on end. Each strained to dodge the other's strike, yet neither could evade it!
Bang!
Xu Ying slammed violently into the opposite cliff face. A ruptured, bloody fissure appeared across his chest—nearly identical to the great rift of the Taishang Cave Abyss!
Simultaneously, the Immortal Emperor tumbled into the other cliff wall, blood spilling from his back. The fissure on his body ran down his back, matching the rift upon the Taicang Cave Abyss!
Almost at the very same instant, both had found the other's flaw and struck with lethal intent, nearly taking each other down together.
The Immortal Emperor Supreme and Xu Ying each suppressed their injuries, purging the Dao wounds inflicted by the other and mobilizing their fleshly vitality to mend the damage.
In the past, whenever they were injured, their wounds would heal in the next instant. But a Dao wound targeted specifically at a vital flaw was not so easily cured.
As expected of the Dao Seed I selected six hundred thousand years ago.
The Immortal Emperor Supreme smiled and slowly pushed off the cliff wall. Yet from the wound on his back, branch-like growths were sprouting outward, twiggy and fork-shaped, resembling withered trees.
Xu Ying purged his Dao wound with absolute calm, and the fissure on his chest slowly vanished.
His eyes remained fixed upon the Immortal Emperor Supreme, not daring to relax or let down his guard for a moment.
"You used the Emerald Rock divine ability against me, leaving a Dao wound at my fatal weakness and starting my Zangification."
The Immortal Emperor Supreme remarked leisurely, "Your guile and intellect have reached the pinnacle. In just thirty-one years of tempering, you have achieved this much. My forty-eight thousand years of painstaking effort have not been in vain."
Moments ago, both had discovered the other's flaw. The Immortal Emperor Supreme had employed a divine ability from Qingxuan's lineage to crack Xu Ying's Leakless Golden Body, while Xu Ying had used the Emerald Rock divine ability to breach the emperor's Supreme physique!
Xu Ying was also of Qingxuan's lineage, and his foundational techniques followed Qingxuan's path. Furthermore, Wei Xu had come here earlier and battled him, displaying the divine abilities of the Ten Extremes Taixu Dao Landscapes technique, which allowed Xu Ying to quickly refine away the lingering Dao wound in his flesh.
But the Immortal Emperor Supreme could not possibly refine his own Dao wound in a short time, for it was an Emerald Rock divine ability!
He knew nothing of the principle structures and could only rely on his immense magic power to suppress the injury. To refine it away, he would need vastly superior magic power capable of erasing the principles inherent in the Emerald Rock divine ability.
His cultivation would have to be four or five times greater than Xu Ying's to accomplish such a feat.
Yet Xu Ying was already the Grandmaster of the New Dao, and his own cultivation had reached the Dao Scene Realm—the seventh realm of Dao in the traditional classification, equivalent to a Daluo Golden Immortal.
Coupled with his thirteen Dao scenes and two Taiyi cave abysses, his cultivation was barely inferior to that of the Immortal Emperor Supreme.
For the Immortal Emperor Supreme to erase this Dao wound was practically impossible!
"Meng Shanming, how long can you hold out against the Emerald Rock divine ability?"
Xu Ying slowly channeled the Taiyi Indestructible Scripture. His body began to dissolve and grow taller and taller as he said indifferently, "I have seen through your methods. Now, it is time to take your life in vengeance for Xujiaping and the Undying People of Kunlun!"
The Heavenly Abyss, which had been erupting with brilliant Dao light, gradually plunged into darkness. From within the chasm came faint weeping, like the mournful cry of the Great Dao itself.
The surrounding Great Dao of heaven and earth grew unstable in tandem. Daoist Taiqing, the Last Lord of Ziwei, the Demon Ancestor, and others raised their heads to see snow drifting through the air.
They held out their hands, allowing flakes to land upon their palms, yet the snow did not melt.
That was not snow, but the result of the world's Great Dao undergoing Zangification—the fundamental immortal Dao being replaced by principle structures.
The immortal Dao was withering, dying.
The Dao weeping was a lamentation, the sorrowful wail of the immortal Dao.
In the air, branch-like patterns as fine as hairs danced and flitted, supplanting the original Great Dao of heaven and earth to form a darkened expanse that relentlessly expanded outward.
"The Emerald Rock Great Dao is truly domineering," the Last Lord of Ziwei said with a grave expression as he led Nan Ziyan back. "This Dao structure surpasses that of the immortal Dao and spreads like a plague; it must not be touched! Now that the Emerald Rock Great Dao has appeared, Xu Ying holds the certainty of victory."
The Emerald Rock Great Dao was far too bizarre, its divine abilities overwhelmingly overbearing.
Evidently, Xu Ying had replaced all his Dao methods with principle structures, casting aside the systems of Dao patterns and runes to elevate his combat prowess to a whole new tier!
Having uncovered the Immortal Emperor's fatal weakness, he assumed the Zangified state to confront him, determined to strike down the emperor beneath his palms!
Right then, everyone suddenly sensed a wondrous rhythm—vast, magnificent, continuous and pure, ceaseless and boundless—actually contending against the Emerald Rock Great Dao!
The timing of this ripple was uncanny, arriving at the exact moment Xu Ying had completed his Zangification and pushed his Emerald Rock Great Dao to its peak.
The Void Emperor was the first to detect the source of this rhythm. Looking back, he could not help but sigh, rendered speechless for a moment.
The Demon Ancestor climbed high to gaze into the distance, his expression turning solemn.
The Last Lord of Ziwei followed the resonance and looked over as well. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "The tide has turned."
Across the Heavenly Abyss, immense figures were also gazing in that same direction from afar. Suddenly, the voice of the Supreme of Fortune drifted over: "For Mingzun to stand supreme for over five hundred thousand years without falling, he indeed has true capability."
"Indeed," another deep voice remarked. "Who would have thought that the unremarkable little fellow back then could possess such scheming? Now, he stands shoulder to shoulder with us."
Another aged voice said, "He has earned his place; there is a seat for him."
In the direction they were gazing, a Daoist temple came flying through the sky. Within the temple, an ancient Dao tree grew lush and verdant, radiating brilliant light.
The roots of the Dao tree reached deep into the vast earth of the Earth Immortal Realm, piercing countless earth veins, drinking the waters of rivers, and linking with the power of the Great Dao.
It was the spiritual root of the Earth Immortal Realm, the treasured tree of the Ancestor of Earth Immortals.
If the Earth Immortal Realm were an immortal, then this treasured tree would be its Dao tree!
The Ginseng Fruit Tree!
Wuzhuang Temple flew over, the Great Dao power of the entire Earth Immortal Realm converging into it, rising to combat and suppress Xu Ying's Zangification!
Originally, with the Immortal Emperor Supreme's cultivation and strength, refining the Ginseng Fruit Tree would have been immensely difficult. But now he had an opportunity—to seize the moment when the Ginseng Fruit Tree resisted Xu Ying to refine and master the tree!
Not only could he seize control of the tree in one stroke, but he could also suppress Xu Ying!
Within the Heavenly Abyss, Xu Ying was suddenly struck by tremendous pressure. He grunted as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth; the Dao might radiating from the spiritual root of the Earth Immortal Realm bore down incessantly, proving nearly impossible to resist!
His body creaked and groaned. Under the crushing weight of the Ginseng Fruit Tree, his dissolved flesh and primordial spirit began to revert to their original state!
Across from him, the Immortal Emperor Supreme drifted upward and landed within the incoming Wuzhuang Temple, striding beneath the Ginseng Fruit Tree. Placing his palm against the tree, he looked down from afar.
"Xu Ying, you should know what loneliness it is to divine all matters under heaven and hold all wisdom in one's grasp," the Immortal Emperor Supreme said with emotion as he channeled his magic power to refine the Ginseng Fruit Tree. "In sixty myriad years of planning until now, I have never once taken a wrong step. Yet having all things conform to my will is also a kind of torment. This battle with you has allowed me to briefly taste the thrill of combat and injury once more. But it ends here!"
Under his manipulation, the Ginseng Fruit Tree drew upon the Great Dao power of the Earth Immortal Realm and transformed it into a breathtaking flash of blade light, cleaving toward Xu Ying!
At that exact moment, across the Earth Immortal Realm, Qi Refiners floating in midair had their cultivation drained dry, turning into mortals and plummeting from the sky, splattering into meat paste one after another.
The Immortal Emperor's eye twitched. For some unknown reason, the Ginseng Fruit Tree was actually resisting his refinement!
Chapter 625