Chapter 721

The Level-8 Imprisonment and Annihilation Divine Array activated, yet Emperor Hou Hen landed beside Ding Huan and chuckled:

"Brother Ding Huan, don't worry—this guy isn't a Saint, just a fake Saint, not worth mentioning. When I was at my peak, I was stronger than him."

After merely exchanging one blow, Emperor Hou Hen was certain that Emperor Jueyuan was not a Saint.

He had seen true Saints before—powerful ones like Luo Xu Saint and Qing Yuan Saint—and he knew that if such people came here, they'd slap this so-called Emperor Jueyuan dead with one palm.

Hearing Emperor Hou Hen's words, Emperor Jueyuan's heart skipped a beat.

He had long known he wasn't a Saint, not even a fake one.

He craved the Divine Rice precisely to see if he could break through this fake Saint realm and attain true Sainthood.

"Don't move—this is the Level-8 Imprisonment and Annihilation Divine Array." As Ding Huan activated the Level-8 Divine Array, Master Pi Yuan transmitted a voice message to Venerable Suo Gu beside him.

This Level-8 Imprisonment and Annihilation Divine Array is of extremely high tier; if we mishandle it, we might perish here.

Besides, this fight wasn't started by us—if Ding Huan doesn't turn the Imprisonment and Annihilation Array against us, we have no reason to get involved.

Let Ding Huan and Emperor Jueyuan and the others clash—whether they achieve results or not, our Buddha Kingdom will reap the benefits.

Not only did Master Pi Yuan and Venerable Suo Gu remain still, even Wu Zha didn't move—he didn't just stay put, but stepped back several paces, positioning himself at the entrance, ready to flee at any moment.

As for helping Emperor Jueyuan against Ding Huan? Ha—he'd gain nothing from it.

Ding Huan sneered. Emperor Jueyuan, the Saint Lord of the Dao Court, was pitiful indeed.

Within the Dao Court, there were not only the Buddha Kingdom but also the Buddhist Sects—and crucially, the Buddha Kingdom and the Buddhist Sects were enemies.

That alone was bad enough, but this man could barely control even his own little patch of land; nearly ninety percent of the other forces answered to no one but themselves.

"Old Hou, you handle Bai Shao. Cold Daoist, you take Yi Han. I'll deal with this so-called Emperor."

As Ding Huan spoke, he summoned his long blade.

Looking at his ugly-looking long blade, Ding Huan sighed inwardly—he truly needed to reforge his treasure, but unfortunately his flames were inadequate.

Chang Baiyuan, seeing he hadn't been assigned a target, sneered.

Did he think little of him, a Pretender Saint? Then let him see.

Just as he thought this, he saw Ding Huan's long blade unleash a curtain of slashing blades, roaring toward Emperor Jueyuan, while Ding Huan's voice echoed in his ear:

"Chang Baiyuan, you'd better find a way to keep yourself from acting—otherwise, I'll tell Emperor Jueyuan you've concealed your cultivation."

You're clearly a Saint, hiding as a Pretender Saint, and a pathetic one at that, with abysmal Dao resonance. Ha—what are you trying to do?"

Chang Baiyuan, who had just summoned his treasure, froze, then felt cold sweat trickle down his back.

What was he trying to do? He wanted to become the Lord of the Dao Court.

How could Ding Huan know this?

Seeing Ding Huan, a mere Divine King, dare to attack him, Emperor Jueyuan laughed bitterly.

So what if it's a Level-8 Imprisonment and Annihilation Divine Array? He didn't care.

He summoned a massive, pitch-black banner—his treasure, the Great Ruin Banner.

His Great Ruin Banner differed from other banner treasures—it was both offensive and defensive.

Upon summoning it, the Great Ruin Banner split in two.

One half became a banner-shadow shielding the space where the Dao Court members stood.

The other half summoned a colossal black hole, filled with swirling death qi, as if ready to swallow Ding Huan and the space around him whole.

Yet the moment Emperor Jueyuan unleashed his technique, he sensed something was wrong.

The surrounding space grew sluggish, and worse—his Great Ruin Black Hole Dao resonance spread far more slowly.

Ding Huan was only a Divine King—how could his domain be this powerful?

The next instant, countless shearing energies crisscrossed the void. Emperor Jueyuan's face twitched slightly; a flicker of unease stirred within him—he recognized this as the Level-8 Shearing Divine Array.

He hadn't taken the Level-8 Imprisonment and Annihilation Array seriously, because he wasn't afraid of such arrays.

What he hadn't anticipated was that Ding Huan hadn't activated the Level-8 Imprisonment and Annihilation Array he saw—but the hidden Level-8 Void Shearing Array.

? C〇

It was arrayed with Void array patterns.

Completely different from the Level-8 Imprisonment and Annihilation Array.

He had studied array patterns too—but such invisible Void array patterns? He couldn't even forge them, let alone duel Ding Huan within this array.

Fortunately, his Great Ruin Banner had formed a protective banner-shadow over their space—otherwise, they'd have lost without even fighting.

Boom!

The blade curtain collided with the Great Ruin Banner's Dao resonance, shattering countless fragments of Dao energy.

The already shattered Eternal God Breath Tower now bore yet more deep fissures from the exploding Dao fragments.

Seeing this power, the cultivators still watching from afar hurriedly fled the Eternal God Sacred Road City.

Ding Huan was blasted backward, spewing a jet of blood into the void.

In just one strike, Ding Huan knew—even with all his strength—he couldn't match this fake Saint.

But a foe one tier stronger was perfect for him to practice his blade.

This was his Level-8 Shearing Imprisonment Array, and with several others standing idle—what was there to fear?

If those observers moved, he'd trap them in the Imprisonment and Annihilation Array and just shatter his teleportation talisman to escape.

A muffled groan came—he saw Chang Baiyuan had been struck by the Shearing Array's blade patterns while flinging Ji Luo away; Ding Huan exhaled in relief.

Had it not been for Emperor Jueyuan's banner-shadow, he'd have won this duel outright.

But that banner-shadow shielded their space, drastically weakening the Level-8 Void Shearing Array's effects.

Chang Baiyuan had deliberately let the Shearing Blade Patterns strike him—otherwise, it would've been hard to wound him.

Now that he was injured merely by pushing Ji Luo away, it meant he'd taken Ding Huan's words to heart and found an excuse to hold back.

Though he had suppressed Ding Huan, Emperor Jueyuan felt a creeping sense of dread.

His spiritual origin flowed unevenly, and this was the space of an eighth-level Slaughter Formation; he could easily suppress Ding Huan but not kill him.

His Da Xu Flag shadow protected his space, yet simultaneously confined it.

Moreover, Yi Han was now in dire peril.

He was never a match for that woman, and now trapped within the Slaughter Formation, he could be eliminated at any moment.

The Da Xu Flag shadow could not protect all space.

As for Bai Shao, he too was on the defensive.

And Chang Bo Wu, this useless thing, was at least a Pavilion Pillar—yet when confronting a mere Divine King, he had ventured beyond the flag's shadow and been wounded by the Slaughter Formation.

"Master Pi Yuan, Friend Wu Zha, now is the time we must unite. I implore both of you to intervene; otherwise, will it not be said that our Dao Court has no one left?"

Seeing Ding Huan summon his long blade once more, Emperor Hou Hen could no longer hesitate—he called out to Master Pi Yuan and Wu Zha to enter the fray.

Even if the two did not attack, merely locking the array's patterns would suffice.

Master Pi Yuan, who had originally believed this to be merely an ordinary eighth-level confinement-killing divine array, now recoiled upon recognizing the eighth-level Slaughter Formation patterns.

To be honest, he had initially thought it was just an eighth-level confinement-killing divine array; his refusal to enter was merely to wait for an opportunity to reap the benefits of others' strife.

Now that he saw the Slaughter Formation patterns, how could he possibly intervene?

If Ding Huan's side can deploy such void Slaughter Formation patterns, then today's attempt to kill any of them is doomed.

If we cannot kill them, why aid the Dao Court and incur their enmity?

Moreover, they stand here unmoved, and the Slaughter Formation patterns have not targeted them.

If they move, the Slaughter Formation patterns will lock onto them instantly.

Are they fools, to act now?

Emperor Hou Hen's Da Xu Flag shadow could at most shield only a few of the Dao Court's members—it could not protect them.

A shrill cry of agony reached Emperor Hou Hen—he knew Yi Han was gravely wounded and had lost all will to fight.

Ding Huan's long blade slashed again; under the overlapping of his domain, this strike carved a river of blades across the void.

Emperor Hou Hen could no longer hold back—he furiously whipped the Da Xu Flag, and the rift it tore open was no longer a black hole, but an endless dark abyss.

"Ding Huan's technique is the Dark Rule's divine art—beware, do not get drawn in; once pulled in, you will never escape, becoming a flag-soul within his banner…"

Emperor Hou Hen saw the dark abyss summoned by the Da Xu Flag and urgently transmitted a message to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan was stunned—he had not expected Emperor Hou Hen to be a practitioner of Dark Law techniques; this was the Dark Rule itself!

To use Dark Rule divine art against Ding Huan? He had chosen the perfect target.

Ding Huan did not pause his Huang Quan Blade Seal—the river of blades descending from the void slashed directly into the endless dark abyss.

Crack!

As if something shattered, a massive crack split open across the dark abyss before them.

Light returned to view; countless Slaughter blade patterns slammed into the Da Xu Flag shadow, producing a fierce rustling sound.

Emperor Hou Hen stared in shock at Ding Huan—he had intended this dark abyss technique to subdue Ding Huan.

He never imagined this technique was weaker than his previous one, having virtually no effect on Ding Huan.

Clearly, Ding Huan also mastered the Dark Rule—and from his understanding of it, he was even more proficient than Emperor Hou Hen.

Another piercing cry rang out—Emperor Hou Hen saw Yi Han split cleanly in two, flying backward.

Freed from the Da Xu Flag shadow's protection, the Slaughter blade patterns in the void relentlessly shredded his body into fragments.

Emperor Hou Hen could no longer continue fighting Ding Huan—he rushed toward Yi Han's position.

Yi Han was one of the few who truly served him—he could not die here.

"Puh! Puh! Puh!"

Waves of blood mist exploded across Emperor Hou Hen's body—these were the Slaughter blade patterns from the array.

Earlier, when battling Ding Huan, the dual protection of his domain and Da Xu Flag shadow had kept these blade patterns from inflicting serious harm.

Now, as he rushed toward Yi Han, the Slaughter blade patterns became uncontrollable.

"Friend Ding, can we cease hostilities? Your earlier demands are not unacceptable," Emperor Hou Hen pleaded as he tried to reassemble Yi Han's body.

He had underestimated the combat strength on Ding Huan's side—Bai Shao was utterly outmatched, and death was merely a matter of time.

He had thought himself a Saint, capable of easily crushing a few ants.

Now he realized this Saint could not overcome Ding Huan, a mere Divine King.

Had it not been for the Da Xu Flag shielding their space, all of them might already have been slaughtered by the Slaughter Formation.

And yet, Master Pi Yuan, who came with him, refused to enter the fray.