"Impostor."
"Speak. What is your purpose in appearing before me?"
When the Death Emperor appeared before Li Zhenlong, Li Zhenlong did not erupt in fury as he had before. Instead, he furrowed his brow slightly and asked the question.
Yu Xian, having just shifted his attention over, was instantly dumbfounded. The Death Emperor had cosplayed the Eye-Snatching Demon so convincingly—how had Li Zhenlong seen through it at a single glance?
Could this be the so-called bond between arch-nemeses?
Immediately after, Li Zhenlong spoke again: "Forget it. Even though you are a fake, the Calamity Origin on you is the real deal, and that is enough!"
As he spoke, he flashed before the Death Emperor in an instant, his long staff thrusting straight toward the Death Emperor's jaw.
If this strike landed solidly, it would be enough to pierce right through the Death Emperor's head.
Yet just as Li Zhenlong was about to make contact with the Death Emperor, he abruptly retreated instead. At the exact spot where he had stood an instant earlier, arms materialized out of thin air, falling just a hair's breadth short of touching him.
"..."
Seeing these arms, Li Zhenlong's brow furrowed slightly. The Eye-Snatching Demon before him was clearly an impostor, yet these arms were genuine.
Even so, genuine though they were, the feeling they gave him was completely different now. The rules contained within them were far more dangerous, far more lethal!
He looked toward the Death Emperor and asked thoughtfully, "The Eye-Snatching Demon is dead?"
"Don't answer him. Let's go," Yu Xian immediately commanded the Death Emperor.
Hearing this, the Death Emperor turned without hesitation and fled toward Margot Moxi's direction. Unwilling to let him escape, Li Zhenlong pursued closely behind him. Across the Tree Universe, the two resembled lines of different colors, continuously weaving through the wreckage of broken worlds, shattered planets, and colossal corpses.
"Is he trying to lure me somewhere... A trap?"
Li Zhenlong tailed the Death Emperor closely, but his eyes alone could no longer track him; he had to rely on his perception of rules to pinpoint the Death Emperor's position.
Realizing the Death Emperor harbored ill intentions, a murderous glint flared in his eyes. In the blink of an eye, the staff in his hand morphed into a scepter.
"Martial Dao World, open!"
Li Zhenlong uttered a low shout, and the scepter in his hand erupted with dazzling radiance.
With him at the center, an irresistible gravitational pull seemed to manifest. All matter began shifting toward him, and the Death Emperor, who was hurtling forward, was similarly dragged into sliding toward Li Zhenlong's position.
Yes.
It was truly a slide.
At this moment, Li Zhenlong was like the lowest point of the Tree Universe, causing all matter and energy to plunge toward him.
Before the Death Emperor could make a move, the scepter in Li Zhenlong's grasp seemed to have absorbed sufficient power, instantly unfurling a colossal spatial barrier. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped an expanse of tens of billions of trillions of light-years.
Countless mountain peaks thrust upward from the earth, and an immense arena slowly took shape.
Both Li Zhenlong and the Death Emperor stood within the arena. Looking at the Death Emperor, Li Zhenlong said, "Welcome to my divine kingdom. This is the Martial Dao World!"
"You actually cultivate the Divine Dao on the side?" the Death Emperor remarked in surprise.
The Martial Dao and the Divine Dao felt utterly unrelated.
A pure Martial Dao grandmaster would never engage in such trickery to sway people's hearts. After all, deceiving others to harvest faith could easily cause adverse effects on one's martial intent.
For example, indolence born of taking shortcuts or complacency born of deceit would inevitably weaken one's Martial Dao.
"Power knows neither good nor evil. If a mere Divine Dao were enough to tarnish my Martial Dao, then I might as well abandon the Martial Dao entirely!" Li Zhenlong said calmly.
The Death Emperor fell silent, asking Yu Xian in his mind, "Master, do we fight or retreat?"
"Can you retreat?" Yu Xian asked immediately.
The Death Emperor responded, "I can, but it requires time. This divine kingdom is reinforced by the power of rules. Breaking through it will take about half an hour."
"Then fight. Break out of his divine kingdom after half an hour and see if he follows," Yu Xian ordered.
Having received his orders, the Death Emperor unleashed his power instantly. Densely packed arms sprouted all around the arena; within a radius of one light-year, there was nothing but hands.
"It seems all of the Eye-Snatching Demon's power was taken by you."
"Still, this works out fine. Slaying you is the same as slaying the Eye-Snatching Demon, and it will finally settle the hatred burning in my heart!"
Looking at the countless arms around him, Li Zhenlong closed his eyes, a relaxed smile surfacing on his face. He spoke as if addressing the Death Emperor, yet also as if talking to himself.
Perhaps many would think Li Zhenlong failed to appreciate favors.
If the Eye-Snatching Demon had truly been killed by the Death Emperor, then the Death Emperor ought to be his benefactor, having avenged him.
Yet a Mighty One's mindset was quite different: *You killed him, depriving me of the chance to do so myself. With no outlet for my obsession, are you trying to obstruct my attainment of the Dao? Are you trying to leave me forever unable to resolve my inner demon?*
And so, the two sides would turn against each other instantly.
Li Zhenlong, however, was not quite so stubborn. He was remarkably flexible: since the Eye-Snatching Demon had been killed by the Death Emperor, then killing the Death Emperor would be equivalent to killing the Eye-Snatching Demon all the same.
The clash was imminent.
The Death Emperor struck first. Countless death talismans and spiteful curses spread from the arms toward the ground, all pointing toward Li Zhenlong.
"Petty tricks!"
Li Zhenlong glanced at the ground, then raised the scepter in his hand. The gem at its tip burst with golden light, sweeping across everything in the vicinity. In an instant, the death talismans and spiteful curses, steeped in the rules of death, were dismantled.
"I have cultivated the rules of death as well. Let us see how yours compare to mine!"
Li Zhenlong then fixed his gaze on the Death Emperor. He tossed the scepter into the air, and in the next instant, he teleported right in front of the Death Emperor.
Death Fist!
Fists imbued with the rules of death pummeled the Death Emperor frantically, directly shattering his disguise to reveal his true form.
Upon seeing the Death Emperor's actual appearance, Li Zhenlong furrowed his brow, yet his hands did not pause in the slightest. In fact, he struck even faster. Flanking his fists, purple chains of rules coiled toward the Death Emperor, as if inscribing talismans onto him. The moment the chains wrapped around him, they fused into the Death Emperor's surface and seeped into his body.
"Nine-Nine Return to Yellow Fist!"
In a single breath, Li Zhenlong threw nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine punches. Finally, he pulled back abruptly from the Death Emperor, gripping the rule chains with his right fist and yanking with immense force.
This single pull detonated the chains of death rules bound to the Death Emperor, sending crackling explosions bursting throughout his entire body.
From the outside, the damage to the Death Emperor did not appear severe, but Li Zhenlong's attack was exceedingly devastating. The force did not disperse outward; rather, at the instant of detonation, it imploded inward, maximizing the trauma inflicted on the target.
The Death Emperor's body crashed heavily from the air onto the arena floor. The bandages covering him were tattered and shredded, making him look like a battered, broken doll.
Yet when Li Zhenlong saw this, his brow furrowed slightly, and he raised his hands into a defensive posture.
*Hissss!*
A sound of leaking air arose.
The Death Emperor's body deflated at astonishing speed, and only then did Li Zhenlong realize that this Death Emperor was a fake as well.
Chapter 694