Three aspects fused into one.
They had already shared identical features, but now they truly became a single person.
"When brothers unite, their sharpness cuts through gold!"
He opened his eyes. At first, his voice echoed with overlap, as if three people were speaking at once. But by the time he spoke the words "cuts through gold," it had completely merged into the voice of one man.
Next, he raised his hand, and three different colors of mental strength rapidly solidified.
A long spear formed in an instant.
The spearhead was blue and rotated at high speed like a drill bit, incomparably sharp and piercing. It was forged from Chen Dahai's Ocean Azure Waves Intent.
Beneath the spearhead hung a red tassel, every strand radiating scorching heat, containing Chen Huohai's Flaming Sea Burning the Heavens Intent within.
As for the spear shaft, it was formed entirely of ceramic, as white as snow.
Making one's way in this world, who didn't keep a trump card or two hidden away?
During their time in the Slay-Quan Alliance, the Chen brothers had not only learned the common knowledge of the myriad heavens and worlds or comprehended their respective intents—they had each mastered a different weapon.
As the saying went, an inch longer meant an inch stronger; all three had chosen polearms.
Chen Dahai trained with the guandao, Chen Huohai with the halberd, and Chen Xiaozhao with the spear. Thus, this weapon that appeared to be a spear could shift into either of the other two weapons at any time, allowing for unpredictable attacks.
Outside the marsh abyss.
Quan Juehua raised the sword in his hand, preparing to slash down and obliterate the entire marsh abyss in one stroke.
Suddenly, from deep within the chaos of the marsh, a burst of tri-colored radiance erupted. The three colors merged, and a spear materialized in a flash.
By the time Quan Juehua caught sight of the spear, it had already driven straight into his chest.
"Quan Juehua, your time has come!"
The fused Chen brothers gripped the spear, now face-to-face with Quan Juehua. He glared into Quan Juehua's eyes, enunciating every word.
This strike indeed inflicted severe damage upon Quan Juehua in an instant.
After fusing, the Chen brothers' might was far more than a simple matter of one plus one plus one. Their cultivation had always derived strength directly from their spiritual sparks, and now in their fused state, boundless power erupted continuously from those sparks.
The moment the words left his mouth, the Chen brothers gave the spear a violent shake. Quan Juehua's eyes widened slightly, and his body abruptly detonated.
Even so, the Chen brothers remained uneasy. He swept the spear through the air, and the red tassel instantly unraveled into countless fine threads, pursuing the scattered black particles.
At the same time, within Quan Juehua's mental world.
An aged Quan Juehua sat face-to-face with Dui Tianji. Dui Tianji sat as if frozen in place, utterly terrified to move a muscle.
Before the "young-elderly" Quan Juehua, Dui Tianji had dared to tease him; before the "middle-elderly" Quan Juehua, she had dared to negotiate terms. But before the "True Quan Juehua," she felt genuine, primal terror.
This was a true demon far more terrifying than any archdemon.
Yet paradoxically, this Quan Juehua gave off an impression of benevolence and kindliness, appearing approachable and mild-mannered.
"I cannot comprehend it... I cannot comprehend it at all," Quan Juehua said softly.
As he spoke, he looked up at Dui Tianji. A sudden chill shot through her, and she asked with a shudder, "What do you want to do?"
"Since I cannot comprehend it, the only way is to fuse as one. Perhaps then I will understand." A slow smile appeared on Quan Juehua's face. His teeth were pitch-black, and his weathered eyes held not a shred of human emotion.
The true Quan Juehua had lived for far too long. All emotions had faded away ages ago, leaving behind only the purest malice—malice toward all creation, toward all living beings.
In the next instant, he opened his mouth. His entire form warped, turning into a bottomless abyss that swallowed Dui Tianji whole.
Back when Dui Tianji had first attempted to flee, he had sensed that she might have discovered something. He was never one to sit idly and wait for death, which was why he had dragged her into his mental world in the first place.
Unfortunately, Dui Tianji had not dared to utter a word, seized by the premonition that speaking out would mean instant death.
After swallowing Dui Tianji, a faint gleam flitted through Quan Juehua's aged eyes.
An inner demon?
He had consumed more of them than he could count.
Though Dui Tianji was somewhat peculiar, in the end, she was merely an inner demon born of him.
"So that is how it is. Suspecting someone has laid out a game board, intending to use this old man as a whetstone?"
After digesting Dui Tianji, Quan Juehua murmured to himself in an eerie whisper, "Does that mean Origin Return is merely a cover?"
No!
Quan Juehua felt the growth of the Origin Seed within him, certain beyond doubt that this was a power he had never possessed in the past.
"Heheheh. Then this old man shall swing his blade to sever doubt, plunge into the surging waves to contest wind and clouds, and see who laughs last." Quan Juehua slowly rose. His mental world swiftly crumbled away; he was done playing along.
In the outside world, countless black particles were reduced to ashes under the relentless onslaught of the red tassel.
Yet just as the Chen brothers believed victory was assured, the very last black particle radiated a profound, abyssal dark light. The moment the red threads drew near, they snapped inch by inch.
"Not good, Quan Juehua is getting serious!"
The Chen brothers reacted immediately. The spear transformed into a guandao. Gripping the heavy blade, he slashed a wave of blue blade energy toward the dark light. The guandao then morphed into a halberd, sweeping out a crescent-shaped arc of razor air, before finally shifting back into a spear.
"Three Aspects as One, Straight to the Heart!"
Spear in hand, the Chen brothers lunged with blinding speed toward the center of the dark light.
All three attacks arrived almost simultaneously, yet an arm reached out from the darkness and effortlessly deflected them all. The spearhead struck the center of the palm, only to be stopped dead by a thin, faint black barrier, unable to pierce forward even a fraction of an inch.
"White Cloud City Lord, long time no see. But even if you split into three, I fear you will still find it difficult to attain the Great Dao. Wouldn't it be better to enter the cycle of reincarnation early? What say you?" An aged voice rang out slowly as Quan Juehua stepped out from the dark light, bit by bit.
The Chen brothers narrowed his eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Heh, in that case, begone!" Quan Juehua gave a low chuckle, then gently waved his hand.
The Chen brothers specialized in mental attacks, but Quan Juehua was far more adept at them. The cumulative time he had spent in meditation was staggering—not just in duration, but in a profound depth the Chen brothers could scarcely imagine.
With that single wave of his hand, a surging tide of mental strength surged like a colossal tsunami. The Chen brothers had no way to resist it. In an instant, their body was violently battered by the invisible mental force.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
The Chen brothers' physical form collapsed. Under the devastating scour of that terrifying mental strength, their spiritual sparks were stripped bare, reverting completely to their primal origins. Ultimately, they were reduced to three spiritual sparks stripped of everything, blasted outward to vanish into the infinitely distant void in the blink of an eye.
After slaying the three Chen brothers in a single move, Quan Juehua closed his eyes. His boundless demonic intent instantly coalesced into a black lotus, and he seated himself at its center.
"All Heavens extinguished, free of sorrow and fear!"
Quan Juehua chanted with immense benevolence. In the next breath, countless worlds across the myriad heavens and worlds began to collapse on their own.
A steady stream of Calamity Origin converged from all directions, eventually forming four boundless rivers that surged tumultuously toward Quan Juehua. The Origin Seed inside him expanded wildly, replacing every cell and every atom of his body.
At the same time, a certain clump of Calamity Origin quietly slipped into the river, drifting straight along with the current.
Chapter 751