Chapter 715: The Fourth Seal: Life and Death

The Tianpo Saint, who had originally ignored Ding Huan, now grew grave; he opened his hand, and a Mother-Child Nine-Blade appeared in his grip.

Ding Huan also opened his hand, and suddenly a grotesquely ugly long knife materialized in his palm.

Although he had obtained Void Nirvana Gold, he had not yet begun upgrading his long knife.

Seeing Ding Huan's treasure, even Leng Qingdie fell silent and shook her head.

Ding Huan's treasure showed no discernible rank because it had not been fully forged.

Could such an unfinished treasure possibly confront a Saint?

Tianpo Saint's domain slowly intensified; this was Yongshen Deep Abyss's Yongshen Peak, and though he was a Saint, here he could not unleash even one ten-thousandth of his true power.

Yet he was not worried—he could not unleash one ten-thousandth, nor could his opponent.

But soon Tianpo Saint felt a strange unease: no matter how he strengthened his domain, he could not crush Ding Huan.

He had intended to slowly trap Ding Huan within his domain until he could not escape; now he realized this idea was deeply flawed.

His domain simply could not achieve this.

Tianpo Saint's Mother-Child Nine-Blade trembled slightly; one by one, blade veils formed from nothingness, slowly obscuring this space.

Emperor Hou Hen had regained his composure; he longed to rush forward and join forces against Tianpo Saint, but he found he could not even penetrate either of their domains.

Just as everyone assumed Tianpo Saint meant to use his domain to construct a blade-veil space and seal off all of Ding Huan's vitality, Ding Huan's grotesque long knife suddenly surged.

Everyone was stunned—under Tianpo Saint's domain suppression, Ding Huan should not have been able to draw his blade at all.

Yet Ding Huan not only drew his blade, but unlike Tianpo Saint's slowly forming Mother-Child blade intention space, Ding Huan's blade veil erupted with a sky-filling aura of deathly ash.

Even the watching cultivators could clearly sense the deathly aura within Ding Huan's blade intention.

Only Tianpo Saint's expression changed; though still within the conflict, he sensed a trace of life within Ding Huan's blade intention.

But that trace of life was not meant for him.

In cultivator combat, no matter how high one's cultivation, one never lets the opponent perceive any life within one's divine technique.

Even if that life was meant for oneself, it was still forbidden.

Ding Huan had left a trace of life within his divine blade intention—this itself was a fatal flaw.

Tianpo Saint knew Ding Huan's move was strange and wrong, yet he dared not wait any longer.

His Mother-Child Nine-Blade was refining a killing space; Ding Huan's long knife was likewise gathering life-and-death energy.

The killing momentum gradually spread outward; cultivators standing far away involuntarily retreated.

Ji Xinguan's face darkened; he had thought he could suppress Ding Huan, but now he realized he had overestimated himself.

Ding Huan and Tianpo Saint's domains clashed in killing momentum—Ding Huan did not seem to be falling behind. Could Ding Huan also be a Saint?

Tianpo Saint's Dao rhythm surged; his Mother-Child Nine-Blade suddenly exploded, nine killing blade veils sealing off all of Ding Huan's vitality and life force.

Nine blades split the nine heavens; body and soul vanish alike.

Under this killing blade veil, all existence—whether flesh or soul—would be reduced to dust, leaving nothing behind.

Tianpo Saint himself stared intently at the hidden trace of life within Ding Huan; he would not grant Ding Huan even a single chance to escape beneath his Mother-Child Nine-Blade's killing momentum.

Leng Qingdie spat out a stream of blood, her face utterly pale.

She had merely extended her divine sense into Tianpo Saint's killing blade veil to observe the battle—and it had been torn into shreds by the terrifying nine-blade veil.

Ji Xinguan exhaled in relief; no matter what Ding Huan was, he was not worthy to speak with Tianpo Saint.

When Tianpo Saint's nine blades exploded, no one sensed Ding Huan's continued existence.

Even if anyone had sensed him, it would have been fleeting.

Only Tianpo Saint clearly felt Ding Huan's blade explode as well, splitting into nine deathly blade qi.

The aura of death was so clear, it seemed ready to drag even this Saint into oblivion.

Boom—Boom—Boom!

The killing blade veils of the Mother-Child Nine-Blade crashed into the deathly blade qi; Dao rhythms exploded, deathly qi raged everywhere.

The space groaned, nearly bursting; all existence within this deathly killing momentum space sank into ruin.

Killing momentum filled the space; all things sank into ruin.

Tianpo Saint's face turned pale; he felt his nine subsidiary blade veils torn apart, felt himself sinking within this space saturated with death.

No one understood better than he what this meant.

He was certain this was a new divine technique Ding Huan had created, for it contained boundless sinking energy.

To embed the Sinking Law into one's divine technique—this mastery and comprehension of the Sinking Law clearly far surpassed his own as a Saint.

The Tianpo Saint, who had originally dismissed Ding Huan, was truly shocked; he frantically burned his essence blood, and the mother blade's Dao rhythm exploded once more.

This time, eighteen killing subsidiary blades shot forth.

Unfortunately, his current realm was at most Peak Divine King—he could have unleashed one hundred and eight subsidiary blade veils had he been stronger.

At this moment, he no longer dared regard Ding Huan as an ordinary insect.

Ding Huan likewise drove his divine energy furiously, hurling out waves of Dao rhythm marks; the killing Dao principles within the space shifted constantly.

The nine deathly blade qi that had torn through Tianpo Saint's veil now exploded again, becoming eighteen deathly blade qi.

With Tianpo Saint as a whetstone, if he did not seize this chance to unleash the Fourth Seal—Life and Death—of his Seven Seals of Reincarnation, it would be a gross waste.

As soon as the Fourth Seal was unleashed, Ding Huan merged with the Sinking Law; the Fourth Seal of the Seven Seals of Reincarnation required the Sinking Law to reach its full potency.

Boom—Boom—Boom!

The killing Dao rhythm and deathly Dao rhythm continued to tear apart this space.

Leng Qingdie, watching from afar, showed fear in her eyes.

She had thought her strength was not much weaker than Ding Huan's; in truth, her divine sense could not even penetrate the domain space of Ding Huan and Tianpo Saint's battle.

Yet Ding Huan fought Tianpo Saint to a standstill.

If Ding Huan wished to kill her, he would need scarcely any effort at all.

Ji Xinguan stepped back again; this time, it wasn't the killing aura that made him retreat, but a fear that had taken root in his heart.

That was because Ding Huan could kill him—easily, effortlessly.

The Heavenly Soul Saint spat out a jet of blood; he felt his body growing heavier by the moment.

The Mother-Child Nine Blades continued unleashing child blades in waves of killing slashes, yet his confidence had vanished entirely.

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He still had hidden moves, but his divine origin and divine perception could no longer support him in activating his ultimate killing technique.

The Heavenly Soul Saint felt the weight pressing on his body; he suspected that within this space, not only did Ding Huan's technique harbor the Law of Sinking, but also a Poison Dao law—he seemed to have been poisoned.

Otherwise, merely the Law of Sinking alone would not have reduced him to such a state.

He dared not fight Ding Huan to the death.

Because he knew clearly that within this space, another Law of Vitality remained hidden.

If he fought Ding Huan to the death, he might be severely wounded—or even perish—while Ding Huan would surely remain unharmed under that Law of Vitality.

What an incredibly formidable technique.

Ding Huan sensed the Heavenly Soul Saint's condition just as well; he longed to unleash several more Death Blade Rays to finish him off.

But his own strength did not permit it.

Though the Heavenly Soul Saint was poisoned and his power restricted by the laws of this space, he remained, nonetheless, a Saint.

His Dao could block the Heavenly Soul Saint, but not suppress him.

Ding Huan had considered prolonging the battle, letting the poison deepen within the Heavenly Soul Saint.

Yet he quickly dismissed the idea.

What kind of being was the Heavenly Soul Saint?

Holding his ground against him now might seem advantageous on the surface, but Ding Huan knew it was, in truth, his greatest peril.

His Life-Death Knife Scar contained the Law of Sinking—a Law of Heaven and Earth he had spent immense effort to comprehend.

This was the first time he had ever unleashed the Life-Death Seal from the Seven Seals of Reincarnation.

If the Heavenly Soul Saint could endure this most difficult phase, he might very well perceive the Law of Sinking from Ding Huan's technique.

Besides the fact that this was his first time using the Life-Death Seal, another reason was the vast gap in cultivation between them.

If he could unleash more Death Blade Qi, he could surely use the Life-Death Knife Seal to draw in every last trace of Death Qi from the Eternal God Abyss and obliterate the Heavenly Soul Saint in one blow.

But he could not do it.

Onlookers all saw that Ding Huan held the advantage; since he held the advantage, surely he would prolong the battle and eventually crush the Heavenly Soul Saint.

Even the Heavenly Soul Saint believed Ding Huan would continue to stall—when Ding Huan activated the Dusk Drum.

His Daoic intent slammed into the Dusk Drum.

Dong dong dong!

A series of drumbeats exploded outward.

Though the Heavenly Soul Saint's domain had been drastically weakened, the Poison of the Sinking Dao had created a crack within it.

The drumbeats surged into his domain.

The Heavenly Soul Saint, who had been frantically swirling his blade slashes, suddenly froze; the Death Blade Qi in the space began to weaken, then slowly faded away under the traces of time…

The Heavenly Soul Saint's entire spirit grew calm; he stood alone beside Eternal God Peak, feeling the boundless void of the Eternal God Abyss.

Dong!

Another drumbeat exploded; a desolate twilight and the aura of despair instantly filled the Heavenly Soul Saint's body and soul.

The Dusk Burial Drum dissolves new souls; I dwell in this world with hair white as snow—look: the dusk sighs, the drum sighs!

The Heavenly Soul Saint let out a long sigh.

Perhaps he was the only one who had ever willingly entered the Eternal God Abyss?

No one knew he had come here solely for the Cosmic Essence.

But time passed in the blink of an eye; after merely tens of thousands of years, he had still not succeeded.

"Aaaoo!" A piercing, mournful howl jolted the Heavenly Soul Saint awake.

Pu! A jet of blood exploded from the Heavenly Soul Saint's chest.

The Heavenly Soul Saint snapped back to reality; he no longer cared for anything else—the nine blades of the Mother-Child Nine Blades shattered, violently tearing open the domain where the two had battled.

The Heavenly Soul Saint seized the half of his body severed by Ding Huan's Death Blade Qi, burned his essence blood furiously, and retreated.

Ding Huan watched coldly as a black dog tumbled out of the void—this damned dog had ruined his chance.

(End of Chapter)