Lu Xuan clenched his fists, feeling the slight advancement in his cultivation after suppressing the ancient hall, as well as the War Immortal Dao Fruit that had grown ever more condensed after life-and-death battles in the depths of the Realm Sea.
“Still not enough… far, far from enough!”
He murmured inwardly, his gaze once again falling upon the Ancient Hall of Reception in his hand, temporarily sealed away.
He had to unravel the secrets within as quickly as possible. He had to increase his strength even faster!
The ultimate storm of the Realm Sea had already been thoroughly stirred up by the intrusion of the Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor.
He and the Golden Crow Ancestor transformed into streaks of light, vanishing completely into the mists of the Realm Sea.
He had to return, digest the gains of this journey, and prepare to face the even greater tide that was about to sweep across the heavens!
In the deepest reaches of the Realm Sea, absolute darkness was forcibly torn apart by two utterly different forms of nothingness.
This was the graveyard of laws, the end point of concepts, yet at this moment, it had become the arena for two existences who stood above myriad Daos.
The clash between the Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor and Emperor Cang had already surpassed the realm of ordinary energy and divine abilities.
Every exchange between them was the most fundamental manifestation of the ultimate Great Dao they commanded. It was the power of annihilation and darkness—two forces that likewise represented ending and extinction—contending for the sole right to define the final end!
“Heavenly Art of Annihilation—All Ages Become Void!”
The Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor formed seals with both hands. Behind him appeared the tragic and majestic phenomenon of the Xuanhuang Great Realm collapsing into ruin. The hatred and will of destruction that had settled over countless epochs transformed into a gray, hazy divine light of annihilation, as though it could erase all traces of existence, and swept forth!
Wherever the divine light passed, even the viscous dark origin was forcibly evaporated, reduced to the most primordial void!
“Eternal Darkness—Devour the Realm!”
Emperor Cang roared. His blurred figure seemed to merge with all the darkness in the depths of the Realm Sea. He opened his enormous mouth, but what he devoured was not matter—it was concepts!
Devouring light, devouring hope, devouring laws, even seeking to devour the very annihilation struck out by the Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor!
A colossal black hole formed purely from the rules of devouring took shape before him, fiercely meeting the divine light of annihilation!
“Hiss—!”
There was no earthshaking boom, only a bizarre sound that made one’s teeth ache, like the very foundations of the cosmos being forcibly ground together!
The divine light of annihilation and the devouring black hole pressed hard against each other, mutually corroding and obliterating one another!
At their point of contact, the structure of spacetime completely collapsed, revealing behind it a bizarre and incomprehensible expanse of chaotic colors. It was some deeper dimension beneath the present world, forcibly punched through!
Their first direct, head-on clash was actually… evenly matched!
No—upon careful perception, although the divine light of annihilation had failed to completely break through the devouring black hole, the extreme sorrow and resolve it contained—born from the destruction of an entire realm and bearing endless blood feud—seemed to faintly restrain the cold desire to devour within the dark origin!
The gray divine light clung like rot upon bone, constantly wearing away the edges of the black hole, clearly slowing the speed of its expansion!
The Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor had actually gained a slight upper hand in this exchange!
He seized this fleeting advantage. His figure pierced through the chaotic region of mutual energy obliteration like a ghost, closing in directly on Emperor Cang’s blurred true body!
He joined his fingers like a blade, the aura of Guixu curling around his fingertips, and stabbed straight toward Emperor Cang’s core—those eyes like cosmic black holes!
“Arrogant!”
Emperor Cang was furious. As a Dark Quasi-Immortal Emperor, he had looked down upon the Realm Sea for countless epochs. When had he ever been forced back like this, or even threatened at close range?
Dark runes flashed violently around him, condensing into a dark imperial shield engraved with faces howling in agony, blocking before him!
“Clang—!”
The finger-blade collided with the imperial shield, producing a muffled thunderous crash like two ancient universes slamming into one another!
The dark imperial shield trembled violently. Countless agonized faces upon it let out shrill wails, then shattered one after another!
The Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor’s finger-blade also exhausted its momentum and failed to truly injure Emperor Cang’s main body.
But this strike undoubtedly once again displayed the Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor’s strength and dominance!
He had actually forced Emperor Cang into passive defense!
“Your annihilation… contains impurities! It is the resentment and hatred of those ants!”
Emperor Cang said coldly. He had sensed the unique aspect within the Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor’s power.
“Relying on external force, and you dare contend with the true Imperial Dao?”
“External force?”
The Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor’s voice carried a trace of indifferent mockery.
“This is the unwilling cry of all living beings of my realm. It is the cornerstone of my Dao, the source of my power! How could a parasite like you, hiding in darkness and knowing only how to devour, ever understand it?”
Before his words had even fallen, his offensive rose again!
The Heavenly Art of Annihilation circulated to its extreme. At times, he transformed into a storm of destruction, sweeping up billions of bolts of annihilation lightning.
At times, he condensed into a Guixu spear of ultimate penetration, piercing through layer after layer of darkness.
At times, he manifested the phantom of the Xuanhuang Great Realm, using the tragic and majestic intent of its curtain fall to assault Emperor Cang’s imperial heart!
His attacks contained not only destructive power, but also a will-impact that struck straight at the soul and interrogated existence itself!
It was a bloody accusation against all that darkness had done, a solemn promise to the departed souls!
Emperor Cang roared again and again, madly mobilizing the dark origin and evolving all manner of terrifying divine abilities to counter him.
Dark giant hands, devouring demonic lotuses, cursed chains, demonic sounds of extinction… all kinds of terrifying methods, each sufficient to easily bury Immortal King giants, emerged one after another.
The two Quasi-Immortal Emperors fought fiercely at the end of the Realm Sea, shattering the silence of eternity.
The aftershocks of their battle even pierced through layer upon layer of spatial barriers, reaching the relatively outer regions of the Realm Sea and causing some ancient existences to tremble in alarm and peer toward them.
However, though the Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor repeatedly seized the initiative in their exchanges by relying on his unique Dao of annihilation, which contained the will of all living beings, forcing Emperor Cang into a somewhat disheveled state and even into danger several times, Emperor Cang was ultimately a veteran Dark Quasi-Immortal Emperor who had survived for who knew how many epochs. His control over the dark origin was incomparably deep, and his foundations astonishing.
He was like a stubborn stone that had soaked in the dark origin for hundreds of millions of years. Though suppressed, he was never truly crushed.
His defense was indestructible, and his counterattacks remained sharp and deadly.
The Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor’s advantage was like a lone skiff amid a raging storm. Though valiant, it could never truly overturn this colossal vessel.
“You cannot kill me!”
After forcefully withstanding an annihilation palm imprint, Emperor Cang’s dark body rippled for a moment, yet swiftly recovered as he issued a cold declaration.
“At this source of darkness, my origin is boundless and inexhaustible! As for you… how long can your power sustain you? When your strength is spent, that will be the moment your Dao perishes!”
He had seen what lay behind the Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor’s dominance: that power burning with hatred and obsession, though mighty and fierce, was not truly infinite.
In a prolonged battle, signs of exhaustion would inevitably show!
The Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor remained silent, yet his offensive grew even more violent.
He knew Emperor Cang’s words were part truth and part falsehood. As a fellow Quasi-Immortal Emperor, he naturally knew that even an emperor could run out of strength—but he had no path of retreat, nor had he ever thought of one.
This imperial battle sank into a brutal stalemate.
The Nameless Quasi-Immortal Emperor held the upper hand, but only slightly; he could not turn it into victory.