Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

Emperor Hongtian had used the Divine Illumination Scripture to manifest stars. Just as they were about to merge, his technique was broken, and now it had unexpectedly evolved into this state.

This was perhaps the first time Emperor Hongtian had ever encountered such a situation. He stared blankly at the heavens, completely forgetting about Lin Hao beside him.

"The Divine Illumination Scripture... the Emperor’s Path... I see the Emperor’s Path..."

Emperor Hongtian whispered.

The moment he spoke, a dazzling light erupted from his body.

In the next moment, Emperor Hongtian’s eyes became incomparably brilliant, a hundred times brighter than the brightest star in the sky.

Lin Hao had just used his Divine Flame to burn his own blood. Then, drawing inspiration from the Tao Te Ching, he’d had an epiphany, which was how he’d managed to dismantle Emperor Hongtian’s star formation.

Lin Hao had wanted to further his own enlightenment, but he was shocked to see Emperor Hongtian’s current state.

Clearly, Emperor Hongtian had achieved some sort of epiphany from the event.

Wisps of an emperor’s might began to spread through the air.

Lin Hao knew he had to act fast. Otherwise, he risked being stranded in this boundless void.

With a sharp cry, Lin Hao activated his Divine Soul and attacked Emperor Hongtian.

The Tai Chi Array Map in the void bore down, descending to envelop Emperor Hongtian.

The Tai Chi Array Map was not to be underestimated; it had withstood Emperor Hongtian’s star attack without being destroyed, a testament to its incredible resilience.

Now that Lin Hao had burned his blood to form stars and gained a deeper insight into the Divine Illumination Scripture, his Tai Chi Array Map had grown even more terrifying.

Emperor Hongtian sensed the Tai Chi Array Map the instant it moved.

His eyes flickered, shooting out two beams of unparalleled light.

The two beams shot toward the Tai Chi Array Map, brighter than the moon and more terrifying than the sun.

BOOM!

Upon striking the Tai Chi Array Map, the light beams actually set it ablaze.

The entire sky was bathed in a crimson glow.

Lin Hao felt an immense heat, even more terrifying than his Flowing Light Divine Flame.

Lin Hao was horrified.

The Divine Illumination Scripture was meant to nurture the soul—a technique of extreme yin. Yet, Emperor Hongtian was now using it to unleash such terrifying energy. It was utterly inconceivable.

Lin Hao cursed his luck internally.

Clearly, Emperor Hongtian’s current state was a direct result of his actions.

’A Great Emperor is still a Great Emperor,’ Lin Hao thought. ’Even though this is just an imprint from before he achieved his title, his abilities are terrifying, and his power of comprehension is simply astounding.’

In the distance, the Void Gate was steadily shrinking. If he didn’t deal with Emperor Hongtian’s spiritual imprint, he would never get out.

Gritting his teeth, Lin Hao activated the Divine Illumination Scripture once more. He absorbed the power of the stars and channeled it into the Tai Chi Array Map.

The Tai Chi Array Map was primarily formed using energy from the Godslaying Celestial Slash Skill. Infusing it with stellar power, channeled through the Divine Illumination Scripture, would amplify its might many times over.

As the stellar power poured in, the Tai Chi Array Map shuddered slightly.

BOOM!

Yet this slight shudder caused the surrounding void to continuously collapse.

The flames blazing on the Tai Chi Array Map dimmed significantly.

Using the power of the stars, Lin Hao had once again managed to briefly suppress Emperor Hongtian.

But Emperor Hongtian was no ordinary being. If Lin Hao could use the Divine Illumination Scripture to draw upon the power of the stars, so could he.

When Lin Hao drew upon the power of the stars, Emperor Hongtian copied his method and began absorbing stellar power as well.

Unlike the power Lin Hao absorbed, the stellar energy drawn by Emperor Hongtian was intensely hot, and it fed the flames.

The two of them used the Divine Illumination Scripture to manifest two completely opposite extremes.

They were locked in a stalemate. Then, a terrifying scene unfolded.

The stars in the heavens began to warp, and even the sky itself started to twist and distort.

It was as if a colossal, invisible hand was about to tear the heavens apart!

BOOM!

Suddenly, imagination became reality. The heavens were torn apart and began to twist.

Lin Hao and Emperor Hongtian each controlled a piece of the torn sky. Then, the two pieces collided.

There was no cataclysmic explosion. Instead, upon colliding, the two pieces began to rotate endlessly.

A moment later, the torn heavens had actually evolved into the nascent form of a Tai Chi symbol!

At this point, both Lin Hao and Emperor Hongtian stopped, realizing that the nascent Tai Chi symbol was no longer under their control.

HAH!

Ignoring the changes in the heavens, Lin Hao let out a sharp cry and attacked again.

Having used up all his True Essence in the duel with Emperor Hongtian, the only thing Lin Hao could rely on now was the terrifying power of his physical body.

Lin Hao hurtled his body toward Emperor Hongtian at an unbelievable speed.

Emperor Hongtian retreated far into the distance.

Although they were both at the Seventh Layer of the Soul Gathering Realm and both possessed the Heaven-Stepping Step, Emperor Hongtian’s speed was greater than Lin Hao’s.

Lin Hao’s attack failed to connect.

However, due to this moment of distraction, Emperor Hongtian was suppressed by the Tai Chi Array Map, and his body couldn’t help but sway slightly.

’A perfect opportunity!’ Lin Hao roared in his mind and moved again.

With a flicker of his body, Lin Hao closed the distance in an instant.

This time, Lin Hao crashed solidly into Emperor Hongtian’s body.

At that extreme speed, Lin Hao’s body became a human weapon, crashing into Emperor Hongtian with a force comparable to a falling meteorite.

But even so, Emperor Hongtian’s body did not explode into pieces; it merely swayed.

Even though this was only Emperor Hongtian’s spiritual imprint from before he became a Great Emperor, the terrifying resilience of his physical body was still astounding.

Though Lin Hao was shocked, a smile touched his eyes.

Emperor Hongtian’s stagger had disrupted the flow of his True Essence.

With one’s power waning and the other’s growing, the flames blazing on the Tai Chi Array Map in the void were snuffed out in an instant.

The next moment, the Tai Chi Array Map descended upon Emperor Hongtian at an unimaginable speed.

Even with the Heaven-Stepping Step, Emperor Hongtian was unable to escape the suppressive force of the Tai Chi Array Map.

The Tai Chi Array Map could suppress all of creation, and Emperor Hongtian’s spiritual imprint was instantly obliterated.

Lin Hao glanced at the rapidly closing Void Gate in the distance and charged toward it.

But it wasn’t over.

The next moment, the Tai Chi symbol formed from the heavens themselves fully manifested and began to press down on Lin Hao.

Lin Hao felt an unprecedented pressure. The cosmic Tai Chi symbol had only just begun to move, yet his very bones were already showing signs of fracturing.

At the same time, the terrifying pressure rendered him completely immobile.

PFFT!

His body feeling as if it had been struck by lightning, Lin Hao spat out a mouthful of blood...

「Meanwhile, in the Elder Hall of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion.」

The elders of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion all stared with slack-jawed astonishment, as if they had just witnessed a battle between gods and demons.

In the space before them, an image in the void clearly displayed the duel between Lin Hao and Emperor Hongtian.

What they had just witnessed from Lin Hao was one shock after another.

The simultaneous appearance of the sun and moon, the True Self Divine Soul, the harnessing of stellar power, the Tai Chi Array Map... they were witnessing every one of these for the first time.

Moreover, although this was Emperor Hongtian’s spiritual imprint from before his ascension, the ancient records of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion stated that Emperor Hongtian was the strongest individual of the past ten thousand years.

And yet, the spiritual imprint of this strongest individual had just been annihilated by Lin Hao.

Although every elder present possessed a cultivation at the Spirit Transformation Realm Peak, they were still profoundly shaken by Lin Hao’s combat prowess.

If anyone else in the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion had seen this, who knows what they would think.