Chapter 651: Borrowing the Sovereign Axe to Fell the Hellfire Divine Wood, the Immortal in the Painting and

Boom—!!!

The entire sky above the Hell Abyss seemed to have undergone a drastic change.

The sky seemed to be cut apart, a huge terrifying axe qi drilling out of the void and obliterating everything.

That was sovereign-level power!

Moreover, it was power unleashed at full force, a single axe strike drawn using the terrifying Sovereign Artifact.

The axe qi resembled a crescent moon, descending from high above, tracing a brilliant arc as it fiercely slashed at the Hellfire Divine Tree; the sight was extraordinarily splendid.

The Hellfire Divine Tree itself possessed a spirit, and the Undying Corpse condensed upon it was immensely powerful, extraordinarily tough.

When Li Che directly unleashed the Heaven-Earth Chessboard, releasing the overwhelming power of the Netherworld Sovereign's axe qi, that Undying Corpse was naturally the first to be manipulated by the Hellfire Divine Tree to intercept.

The Undying Corpse roared, arms outstretched, its terrifying corpse qi erupting like a sky‑soaring pillar and colliding with that sovereign axe qi.

The Undying Corpse was already powerful, but before the Sovereign it appeared somewhat strained.

Corpse qi kept being annihilated by the cuts, as if a whole pillar propping up heaven and earth were being explosively severed, constantly shattering and falling.

Finally, the axe qi ruthlessly struck the Undying Corpse's body.

This Undying Corpse was condensed by the Hellfire Divine Tree; in fact, it was the tree itself that controlled it.

Faced with the sovereign axe qi, the Hellfire Divine Tree also sensed an extreme threat, so it had no choice but to use the Undying Corpse as a shield against the axe qi.

Bang—

The Undying Corpse emitted a shrill scream, its body continually crumbling like gravel, its origin power shattering inch by inch.

Hellfire light spread from his body, as if trying to burn away that sovereign axe qi.

In the distance.

Li Che panted, his entire body bursting with golden qi and blood, dazzling and splendid.

On the Heaven-Earth Chessboard, the light dimmed, propped open by Li Che, its surface covered with mottled axe marks, slowly healing; one could say that even the Heaven-Earth Chessboard, tasked with bearing and suppressing the sovereign axe qi, barely held on, nearly being cleaved apart.

"Really powerful!"

Li Che couldn't help but sigh.

This is sovereign-level power; this is the power of harnessing Heaven-Earth Will!

Indeed terrifying, surpassing the Undying, even reaching imperial-level power!

Boom—

The Undying Corpse exploded with a boom, utterly annihilated by the axe strike!

Countless axe qi raged and intertwined, forming shockwaves that ceaselessly spread in all directions, surging and mighty!

Li Che's golden qi and blood trembled, yet he feared not these spreading shockwaves.

Because the main concentrated power lay upon that axe qi that had been cleaved down.

The Undying Corpse was blown apart, yet the axe qi remained unstoppable, continuing its downward slash.

The Hellfire Divine Tree possessed extremely high spirituality, countless radiance bursting forth; at this moment it began to sway incessantly, yet as if suppressed by Heaven-Earth Will, it could not generate further thoughts nor shift its form.

It could only have countless branches pile up, blocking sky and sun, resembling a massive shield to resist that terrifying sovereign axe qi.

The Hellfire Divine Tree never expected that, while dealing with a martial immortal who had just attained power comparable to the Undying, a terrifying axe qi from the Netherworld Sovereign would suddenly descend!

At this moment, the Hellfire Divine Tree also understood……

It was the Netherworld Sovereign scheming against it from behind!

It is merely a tree; yet an existence of the Netherworld Sovereign's stature still schemes!

Truly beastly!

Boom—

Terrifying sovereign axe qi, after cleaving the Undying Corpse, struck the Hellfire Divine Tree thoroughly!

Instantly, in Li Che's eyes, a towering blaze shot up, utterly splendid, as if transformed into a sea of hellfire, each flame surging wildly, as if wailing ghosts screamed within.

Crack—

Li Che heard a clear sound.

This instantly invigorated his entire spirit.

As one who had personally split the Hellfire Divine Tree, he naturally knew how sturdy it was; the Two Saints' Supreme Divine Wood truly lived up to its name, even harder than true metal!

However, this cracking sound, in Li Che's ears, became exceptionally clear.

At last, it broke!

Li Che raised his hand, touched his glabella, and the Star-Plucking Pupil sprang open, projecting an utterly splendid gaze.

He looked upon the Hellfire Divine Tree, where hellfire light ceaselessly churned and leapt.

Indeed, upon a thick branch of the Hellfire Divine Tree appeared a deep axe mark revealing the growth rings, deeply gouged, as if blood were oozing out.

"Hellfire Divine Wood!"

The broken branch was naturally the Hellfire Divine Wood Li Che needed, used to forge the fleshly bodies of Qi Tian and Nezha, the Third Prince!

Li Che's heart burned with eagerness.

After much scheming, he finally managed to sever the Hellfire Divine Tree; relying on himself alone, his current strength truly lacked the ability to cut this divine wood.

The axe qi striking the Hellfire Divine Tree was also finally exhausted, dissipating with a boom.

Yet that tremendous cutting force continued to slice the Hellfire Divine Tree's bark.

Li Che clenched his five fingers; back when he chopped the Hellfire Divine Tree, he had left Flying Thunder Chess Pieces around it, and now they could finally be put to use.

Clenching his five fingers tightly, his whole body instantly relocated.

Reappearing, he was now above the Hellfire Divine Tree.

Golden qi and blood exploded like a pillar of light, the Myriad Transformations Dragon Elephant Furnace enveloping Li Che; the hellfire flames were instantly repelled, unable to taint his flesh in the slightest.

Li Che took a step forward and immediately landed on the branch where the axe qi had cleaved a huge notch.

Said to be a branch, it is actually incredibly thick—so thick that dozens of people cannot encircle it together.

"There is a wound, but it's still not enough!"

"The Hellfire Divine Tree is truly hard!"

In Li Che's eyes, one Heaven-Earth Ancient Rune after another suddenly began to surface.

These were not the Heaven-Earth Ancient Runes of the Netherworld, but rather those from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

They were directly condensed by Li Che into the Heaven-Earth Nine Runes Blade!

In the Netherworld, this Heaven-Earth Nine Runes Blade was like a blade forged in scorching flames, constantly burned, akin to a branding iron.

He swung down fiercely, and instantly a hissing sound echoed continuously; thereafter, the wound on the Hellfire Divine Tree began to widen.

Li Che let out a long roar, his bones and tendons exploding, pushing his combat power to the utmost, fully mobilizing into a perfect state.

Seven blood qi vortices ceaselessly swirled.

His whole body shot down like a cannonball, slamming hard onto the Heaven-Earth Nine Runes Blade, instantly causing the blade to burst forth with ultimate brilliant light.

Boom——!!!

The terrifying cutting power instantly became uncontrollable, beginning to expand without cease, as the Heaven-Earth Nine Runes Blade and the hellfire continually erupting from the wound wore each other down.

Finally, they were completely worn away.

And Li Che stepped heavily down, landing upon the branch.

Crack——

The sound of complete breaking, accompanied by countless leaves trembling and scraping against other leaves, was like a heaven-shattering, earth-splitting roar, like terrifying waves rolling on.

"The tree... has been cut!"

Li Che let out a long breath.

He didn't care about appearance at all, directly bending low, arms spread wide, and fiercely embraced the Hellfire Divine Tree.

With a thought of his mind, he tore open the void, desperately stuffing the divine wood's branches into the Cosmic Space.

Boom—rumble——

The space trembled; the Cosmic Space collapsed outright, unable to bear this chunk of Hellfire Divine Tree, destined to be utterly annihilated.

The branch had been cut down, but how to collect it had become a problem!

Li Che's brows furrowed instantly—did he really have to swaggeringly carry this Hellfire Divine Tree straight across the Netherworld and then leave it?

How could that be easy……

Once he stepped out of the Netherworld's abyss, carrying this Hellfire Divine Wood, he would instantly become the target of all immortals in the Netherworld.

The Hellfire Divine Tree is a divine wood of the Upper Two Saints, extraordinarily valuable; even for a Royal Heavenly Immortal it is extremely precious, and if obtained, it could even reveal a hint of the secret to breaking through a realm!

"I can't put it away……"

Li Che exhaled a breath.

He could only choose another way: using the Heaven-Earth Chessboard to conceal the Hellfire Divine Tree's aura.

"Too bad, Ink City of the Dead was directly blasted apart by the axe aura……"

"Using Ink City of the Dead to collect it might work; Ink City of the Dead is far sturdier than the Cosmic Space."

With a thought, Li Che's Heaven-Earth Chessboard instantly spread out like a net.

However, the effect was actually not good; it merely masked the Hellfire Divine Wood's aura, while its connection to the Hellfire Divine Tree remained unchanged.

Even the Heaven-Earth Chessboard could not sever this connection.

This would cause his position and identity to be exposed at all times!

"No…… we still have to store it inside Ink City of the Dead."

Li Che gritted his teeth.

He chose to quickly restore Ink City of the Dead.

He was not without means; another way to quickly restore Ink City of the Dead was to mobilize the maturity of the 【Immaculate Heart】 Dao Fruit!

Transferring the maturity of the Immaculate Heart Dao Fruit into the Painting Immortal Dao Fruit would accelerate the repair.

Li Che's Immaculate Heart Dao Fruit had already completed eight transformations; its accumulated maturity was not much, but the maturity of an eight-transformation Dao Fruit was of exceptionally high quality.

Li Che could also give it a try.

"Immaculate Heart Dao Fruit…… could it be related to the Netherworld Overlord? But the Netherworld Dao Fruit in my judgment is linked to the Three Worlds Tathagata…… It's chaotic, really quite chaotic."

Li Che's heart stirred slightly, and a thought instantly arose.

However, the Netherworld Overlord is largely unrelated to the Immaculate Heart Dao Fruit, for the identity of the Three Worlds Tathagata was what Li Che saw through the Dao Tree, having also paid a considerable price.

Then which Dao Fruit is the Netherworld Overlord related to?

Boom—rumble——

Just as Li Che pondered, he transferred the maturity from his Immaculate Heart Dao Fruit into the Painting Immortal.

Instantly, Ink City of the Dead, which had been blasted apart by a single axe aura from the Netherworld Overlord, began to rebuild as if granted accelerated time, swiftly reshaping—erecting buildings, houses shooting up from the ground, the Overlord's Tower soaring into the clouds!

The space of Ink City of the Dead became increasingly resilient and also more expansive!

Boom——

A feeling of sudden blessings striking the heart instantly impacted Li Che's mind.

Li Che's eyes instantly became radiant.

His mind stirred slightly.

Before him, a gleaming golden light instantly wove together into prompt text.

【Dao Fruit: Painting Immortal (lv10, 0%)】

Boom—rumble——

The Painting Immortal Dao Fruit also achieved eight transformations!

The pull of the Dao Tree erupted, but Li Che did not choose to enter the Dao Tree space; at this moment, entering the Dao Tree space was not a good decision.

He directly took the Hellfire Divine Wood into the newly rebuilt Ink City Fengdu.

Boom—

After the eight transformations, the resilience of Ink City Fengdu had indeed risen to a new level; the hellfire of the Hellfire Divine Wood raged continuously, yet it was all blocked.

At least Ink City Fengdu had not shattered; for Li Che, that was already enough!

Li Che exhaled, his eyes shining brightly as he gazed at the Hellfire Divine Wood whose branches had been severed, constantly dancing wildly, spraying flames; upon its trunk, countless faces seemed to emerge, emitting shrill howls and screams.

Li Che did not linger any longer; having obtained what he wanted, it was about time to withdraw!

Originally, Li Che had planned to go into the netherworld, to inspect the depths of reincarnation and try to increase the maturity of the reincarnation Dao fruit.

But it was obvious there was no chance.

Li Che, having obtained the Hellfire Divine Wood, needed to leave the netherworld quickly.

Of course, this is one reason, and there is another……

Boom——!!!

"Hairy thief!!!"

A terrifying sound wave rolled over, as if the void were being wrinkled by the roar and constantly tearing.

The Netherworld Sovereign gripped the terrifying Sovereign Axe that had chopped down the world‑ending axe qi, stepping forward one step at a time from the netherworld.

It seemed as if the very will of heaven and earth in the netherworld transformed into a swirling vortex!

The Netherworld Sovereign's eyes were full of cold cruelty!

When Li Che released the Sovereign Axe qi in the depths of hell, the Netherworld Sovereign sensed it.

He was astonished that the axe qi he intended to use to slay Li Che would appear in the depths of hell.

But he quickly realized he had been schemed against!

That hairy thief's target this time was not the immortal soul trapped in the divine, but the Hellfire Divine Wood!

As the Netherworld Dragon Emperor had said, the human martial immortal who entered the depths of hell was none other than that hairy thief who repeatedly snatched powerful souls from his grasp!

This time the hairy thief aims to take the Hellfire Divine Wood!

It is obvious the hairy thief succeeded!

The terrifying sharpness of the Sovereign Axe qi nearly snapped the Hellfire Divine Wood, and the hairy thief dealt another blow, using the power of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths' primordial sigils, through the law of mutual generation and restriction, he cut off the branches of the Hellfire Divine Tree!

He got it!

The Netherworld Sovereign was furiously angry, his rage blazing.

He stepped forward, his speed so great that the void shrank to a fraction under his feet.

The Netherworld Dragon Emperor, the Netherworld Candle Dragon, and the Four Great Corpse Emperors all underwent drastic changes in expression.

Especially the Four Great Corpse Emperors, who suddenly turned their heads, their eyes about to burst!

They saw the scene of the Hellfire Divine Wood being cut off and sensed the terrifyingly formidable Sovereign Axe qi!

Netherworld Sovereign!

I thought the Netherworld Sovereign had left, but he came back swinging, catching them off guard!

Watching the Netherworld Sovereign approach from afar.

The Four Great Corpse Emperors' eyes turned scarlet as they roared, unleashing their full power, drawing upon their own corpse‑qi origin, and charged at the Netherworld Sovereign!

"Get lost!"

The Netherworld Sovereign did not want to waste time fighting these four corpse emperors.

The Four Great Corpse Emperors, however, refused to leave, preferring death to surrender, and engaged the Netherworld Sovereign in a deadly melee.

However, the Netherworld Sovereign was immensely powerful; a fierce swing of his Sovereign Axe sent terrifying axe qi that swept all the corpse emperors away, its tremendous cutting force directly shattering their corpses.

Seeing this, the Netherworld Dragon Emperor and the Netherworld Candle Dragon could not help but burst into laughter.

It seems the Sovereign has indeed seen through the truth!

The Netherworld Dragon Emperor's eyes turned scarlet: "Li Che, you're doomed!"

Nevertheless, even the Netherworld Dragon Emperor had to admit that the father of the prison‑lotus maiden, this human martial immortal, truly possessed some skill and formidable ability!

He actually managed to cut down the Hellfire Divine Wood!

Too bad, what good does cutting down the Hellfire Divine Wood do?

It cannot be taken away.

The powerhouses of the netherworld will not allow Li Che to take the Hellfire Divine Wood, and the Hellfire Divine Tree itself will not permit it.

Sure enough, in the next moment the Four Great Corpse Emperors' eyes were about to burst.

Having received the message transmitted from the Hellfire Divine Tree, corpse qi surged heavenward, the Four Great Corpse Emperors' bodies trembled, and they rushed at breakneck speed into the depths of hell.

They sped toward Li Che's position to kill him.

Even though Li Che concealed his aura with the Heaven‑Earth Chessboard and the Slumbering Dragon Elephant restrained his qi and blood,

he was still discovered in an instant!

The Four Great Corpse Emperors sealed the void with their corpse qi, freezing it, and marched toward Li Che to strangle him in the depths.

Li Che, however, could not help but startle violently in his heart.

"I have already taken it into Ink City Fengdu—how can my position still be detected?"

Li Che furrowed his brows.

"It is the origin…"

"The origin of hell—the Hellfire Divine Wood contains an extremely rich hellish origin; after I took it into Ink City Fengdu, my person became stained with this mark of the Hellfire Divine Wood's origin qi."

Li Che instantly understood.

This hellish origin qi clinging to his body will not dissipate as long as he holds the Hellfire Divine Wood.

That is a mark belonging to the Hell Fire God Tree.

Whether it was obtained in Mo City Feng or the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, this probing and marking cannot be blocked.

Even if one uses Flying Thunder Relocation to depart, it will soon be sensed.

The Four Great Corpse Emperors will certainly give chase.

These are the Four Great Corpse Emperors, the Four Sovereign Emperors, all pursuing together; Li Che cannot possibly withstand it…

The current situation is truly unfavorable for Li Che; he must devise a way to escape.

Within his chest, the Hell Dao Fruit began to thunderously bounce.

Activated by Li Che, it rose like a black‑hole vortex from behind him.

Then it erupted with a terrifying devouring force.

The Hell Origin mark left on Li Che by the Hell Fire God Tree…

It instantly left no place to hide, turning into black smoke that evaporated, was drawn out, curled and lingered, only to be wildly devoured by the Hell Dao Fruit.

And the Hell Dao Fruit, having obtained this refined Origin,

its maturity began to surge rapidly!

Finally, it broke through the bottleneck in one stroke, accompanied by countless dazzling golden rays spilling over his eyes.

The Hell Dao Fruit, like the Immortal Dao Fruit in the painting, successfully achieved Eight Metamorphoses!

"Done!"

At the hair‑trigger moment.

Li Che's eyes suddenly snapped open!

He clenched his five fingers sharply, and a Flying Thunder Chess Piece instantly floated up in his palm.

"Scoundrel, stop running!"

A cold voice came from the Nether Sovereign.

The Nether Sovereign's five fingers clenched hard, and the Sovereign Axe in his hand burst with dark luster, its Nether Heaven Earth Ancient Talisman symbols beginning to gather energy!

It bears some resemblance to the Heaven's Will Chopper!

The Four Sovereign Emperors' corpse qi surged to a terrifying height as they attacked, moving at ultimate speed; their corpse qi roiled, sealing the void and leaving Li Che no room to relocate.

Li Che stared at the charging Corpse Emperors and the Nether Sovereign.

He took a deep breath.

The Hell Dao Fruit that had just completed Eight Metamorphoses thundered, instantly erasing all Hell Origin aura on Li Che completely.

His whole being seemed to merge entirely with the Hell Abyss.

The mark and trace were lost!

(End of Chapter)