Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

In the central courtyard of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion, Proud Moon made his move against Lin Hao.

To say nothing of his astonishing status on the Celestial Yang Continent, his position as a disciple of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion alone meant his authority could not be challenged.

But Lin Hao, on the other hand, paid him no mind whatsoever.

This made Proud Moon’s resolve to kill Lin Hao stronger than ever.

Having witnessed Lin Hao manifest three heads and six arms to annihilate three Martial Artists, Proud Moon held back until he was ready to unleash a truly astonishing strike.

The technique he had just used against Shenshan appeared once more, and this time it was far more astonishing than before.

The misty energy in the sky condensed, forming a dragon-shaped creature even more massive than the last.

Simultaneously, Proud Moon unleashed his Divine Soul Seal, pressing down on Lin Hao with a might that could seemingly suppress all of creation.

Proud Moon’s ability to wield both True Essence and Divine Soul at once was terrifying.

Lin Hao felt immense pressure.

Unlike Young Master Moon’s Jade Seal, this was Proud Moon putting his actual Divine Soul into motion.

The oppressive might of the Emperor Dragon Qi locked down Lin Hao’s entire body.

Under the pressure of the Emperor Dragon Qi, the once-torrential True Essence in Lin Hao’s body grew sluggish.

The Emperor Dragon Qi manifested by Proud Moon was far stronger than that of Young Master Moon.

Even Lin Hao’s attempt to use an Imperial Art was obstructed.

In a duel of this caliber, such a hindrance was absolutely fatal.

Thus, Lin Hao made an immediate decision. He abandoned the Imperial Art and directly unleashed the power of his Divine Soul.

His True Self Divine Soul struck out, attacking Proud Moon’s Divine Soul Seal.

At the same time, Lin Hao stomped his foot.

BOOM!

A terrifying shockwave spread in all directions, and even the dragon-shaped creature Proud Moon had manifested in the sky faltered for an instant.

Higher in the void, Hua Jianzhong and Sun Yingrui exchanged a horrified glance.

The Heaven-Breaking Pavilion was enveloped by endless runes and claimed to be eternally indestructible, but at this moment, under the force of Lin Hao’s stomp, the entire pavilion seemed to tremble slightly.

The power behind that single stomp was unimaginably immense.

’Is this Lin Hao even human?!’

The same thought arose in the minds of both Hua Jianzhong and Sun Yingrui.

Below, Lin Hao used the force of his stomp to shoot toward the dragon-shaped creature in the sky.

Proud Moon was equally formidable; the instant Lin Hao charged the dragon-shaped creature, it vanished.

His momentum unabated, Lin Hao shot straight into the sky.

SWOOSH!

In the void, Hua Jianzhong and Sun Yingrui’s figures flickered and vanished from their original positions.

But as Lin Hao soared into the sky, the dragon-shaped creature manifested once more beneath him, its massive mouth agape as it rose to swallow him whole.

In the void, Lin Hao moved as if on solid ground. The moment the dragon-shaped creature opened its maw, Lin Hao lifted his right foot.

Then, his foot expanded at an unimaginable speed and stomped down on the dragon-shaped creature below.

Even though Lin Hao was in the void with nothing to leverage for force, the stomp was terrifying beyond compare.

BOOM!

Lin Hao’s stomp was so swift and vicious that it shattered the dragon-shaped creature to pieces.

Below, Proud Moon remained unmoved. A hint of a smile even touched his eyes.

Unlike his fight with Shenshan, this time, Proud Moon’s true killing blow lay in his Divine Soul Seal.

Just as Lin Hao had shot into the sky, in the very instant the dragon-shaped creature vanished, Proud Moon’s Divine Soul Seal had collided with Lin Hao’s True Self Divine Soul.

After seeing Lin Hao’s three-headed, six-armed form, Proud Moon hadn’t believed Lin Hao’s soul-like projection was a true Divine Soul at all.

He had assumed it was a Primordial Body that Lin Hao had manifested using some Secret Skill.

After all, forging a Divine Soul from one’s own true self was completely unprecedented on the Celestial Yang Continent.

Under normal circumstances, a Primordial Body and its owner’s physical body are intimately connected; when the Primordial Body is heavily damaged, the physical body suffers the same blow.

Therefore, Proud Moon had decisively chosen to sacrifice the physical manifestation—the dragon—to attack what he believed to be Lin Hao’s soul.

The moment Lin Hao’s foot was about to strike the dragon, Proud Moon had withdrawn most of the True Essence powering it, leaving it to its fate.

His timing was perfect, executed in the split second before Lin Hao’s foot connected with the dragon.

In the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion, Proud Moon had long ago cultivated his control over True Essence and Divine Soul to the point of utter mastery.

Almost simultaneously, the power within his Divine Soul Seal intensified countless times over.

"Fall!" A cruel smile spread across Proud Moon’s face; he could already picture the sight of Lin Hao plummeting from the sky.

At this moment, the Divine Soul Seal and the True Self Divine Soul finally clashed.

The Emperor Dragon Qi contained within the Divine Soul Seal erupted into a dazzling light that shot toward the True Self Divine Soul.

Each beam of light possessed a terrifying, unparalleled power, seeking to annihilate Lin Hao’s True Self Divine Soul.

The Divine Soul Seal was incomparably brilliant, its light beams powerful enough to annihilate all of existence.

However, the power of the True Self Divine Soul was beyond Proud Moon’s imagination.

Faced with these beams of light, the tiny True Self Divine Soul’s eyes shone brightly.

And then, the light fired from Proud Moon’s Divine Soul Seal vanished without a trace.

There was no terrifying spectacle, no sound at all; it was as if the light from the Divine Soul Seal had never existed.

The scene was incredibly bizarre.

Hua Jianzhong and Sun Yingrui reappeared in the void, and they were utterly horrified by what they saw.

The light that had erupted from the Divine Soul Seal hadn’t disappeared—it had been banished.

Banished into the endless void.

With a flash of its eyes, that seemingly tiny soul projection of Lin Hao’s had pierced right through the void itself and banished the light from the Divine Soul Seal into the rift.

Even though both men were experts at the Spirit Transformation Realm, they couldn’t help but feel a chill of terror as they watched!

Yes, sheer terror!

At first, like Proud Moon, they had assumed Lin Hao’s True Self Divine Soul was merely a Primordial Body; after all, no one in this world had ever managed to form a Divine Soul from their own true self.

Only now did they realize it was not a Primordial Body, because a Primordial Body could never have accomplished what they just witnessed.

If the possibility of it being a Primordial Body was ruled out, then only one option remained: it was a Divine Soul.

A Divine Soul forged from one’s own true self, with eyes that could pierce the void—the two Spirit Transformation Realm experts could hardly believe what they were seeing.

This was simply not an ability a Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artist should possess.

It was too terrifying, too heaven-defying!

The two of them had realized it, and a moment later, Proud Moon below noticed the anomaly as well.

The realization struck Proud Moon like a bolt from the blue.

He had trained in the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion since he was a child. His Cultivation Techniques, martial arts, and everything else were among the best on the Celestial Yang Continent. Forget the major empires; even the long-secluded Holy Lands and Hidden Sects of the continent couldn’t compare.

But now, a Martial Artist from some minor empire actually possessed such an ability. The blow to Proud Moon’s pride was immense.

However, Proud Moon was a disciple of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion, after all. How could he possibly give up now?

Snapping back to his senses, Proud Moon’s Divine Soul Seal trembled in the void.

The next moment, something terrifying occurred.

A dragon’s roar echoed between heaven and earth.

An enormous Cyan Dragon burst forth from the Divine Soul Seal.

This Cyan Dragon spanned the heavens. It was over a hundred meters long, and it had condensed from illusion into solid form, its aura terrifying beyond compare.

As the Cyan Dragon emerged, the very space around it began to tremble.

Then, one of the Cyan Dragon’s claws reached down, casting an immense shadow upon the ground.

Lin Hao’s True Self Divine Soul appeared impossibly small beneath the Cyan Dragon’s claw.

But facing this Cyan Dragon, the True Self Divine Soul showed not the slightest hint of fear. It attacked directly...