Chapter 731: Decisive Battle

The water flows with a gurgle, the bamboo forest is deep and secluded.

Accompanied by the blowing of a clear breeze, a few bamboo leaves drift slowly downward.

Above the small stream, two people sit cross-legged in the void playing a game of chess, with black and white star-stones scattered across the board.

"You seem cautious, yet you have been defeated repeatedly; you failed to block the mystery of Myriad Appearance Island, and your true identity has long since been made public."

The middle-aged man with a full head of white hair looks at the chessboard, pondering for a long time before dropping a black stone.

Opposite him, the Master of Chen turns slightly solemn:

"Regarding the matter of Myriad Appearance Island, I have guarded it for a thousand years; a thousand years is enough to prove my capability, and what happened now is merely an accident."

Opposite him, the white-haired Master of Chi shakes his head slightly:

"The more critical the moment, the more careful one must be; why did you only send one Chen He to exterminate Chen Yan?"

"Is Chen He not enough?" The Master of Chen stares at the chessboard and drops a stone.

"Chen He..." The Master of Chi purses his lips:

"Of course he is enough for ordinary times."

He lifts a stone to ponder, watching as the move he should have won with is broken by a casual stone from the Master of Chen, and he falls into deep thought.

"Xia Hanzhou watches us like a mad dog; whatever move we make, he will surely notice, so one Chen He is sufficient," the Master of Chen says faintly.

"I bestowed the Heavenly Bone upon him over a hundred years ago."

Clack.

The chess piece in the Master of Chi's hand falls onto the board; he frowns and looks at the Master of Chen:

"You actually possess the Heavenly Bone?"

The Master of Chen reveals a smile:

"Why, do you not know?"

The Master of Chi is stunned, his expression changing as he looks at the Master of Chen:

"I truly wish to know what else you have prepared."

He lets out a long sigh:

"Chen Yuan, oh Chen Yuan, if you were a man of my Chi Province instead of being born in that Chen Province which fell two thousand years ago, the world might already be unified today."

…………

Forbidden Land of the Ancient Gods.

A strange change emerges in Lu Xunyang.

The white-robed soul-split begins to merge with his true self; in an instant, golden light sweeps away layers of malicious mist, and the entire world begins to burn.

Divine radiance begins to emerge upon his withered body, and within his hollow eye sockets, star-like brilliance appears, growing a newly born eye.

"Scum."

He speaks indifferently, looking at the red-eyed infant Ming Yan Mao far beyond the heavens, and seeing the endless black mist Shi Meng Mo entrenched in the abyss.

"I, Lu Xunyang, have returned!"

He roars out, endless wantonness and exhilaration surging in the depths of his heart.

"Long live the Divine General!"

"Long live the Divine General!"

In the distant world, Zong Huang, Lin Yu, and the others weep with joy, watching in shock.

Chen Yan arrived and used powerful means to damage the rule barrier binding the soul-split, causing the soul-split to merge with the true self.

Chen Yan.

Zong Huang is agitated, shocked, regretful, and endlessly grateful.

The other party is simply a figure of myth, repeatedly reversing the future, powerful and divine.

Now, the declining Lu Xunyang has merged with his soul-split, becoming a true complete form.

Memories, endless memories, strange yet familiar, surge within his mind.

He sees the history of the Great Xia over these years.

He sees the soul-split's enlightenment within the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm over these endless years.

The College Entrance Examination Secret Realm is another world.

When it draws closer to the real world, the flow of time aligns with the outside; when it moves away from the real world, the flow of time becomes faster and faster.

This is why, in the time of two college entrance examinations, there have already been cycle after cycle of tragic suffering for the wives.

The soul-split attained enlightenment within the Xunyang Pagoda, debating the Dao with the remnant soul of the Master of Xia inside the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm.

Countless years, countless springs and autumns, countless segments of memory.

The soul-split was a safeguard he left for the Great Xia when he departed.

As long as the soul-split is not destroyed, it will reincarnate in the future.

The soul-split would absolutely not come to the Forbidden Land of the Ancient Gods in person.

Unless, the soul-split believed...

The Great Xia had another safeguard.

Lu Xunyang's eyes bloom with brilliant light.

He sees a youth named Chen Yan walking his path.

He sees that youth escape death and cross the frozen river.

He sees that youth speak the words that all sages are but passing shadows, seeing the other party walk out from death to create the second realm of the Will Path.

He is like the great sun crossing the sky, his battle intent soaring to the heavens.

"Chen Yan..."

He murmured aloud:

"So, it was you, brat, all along!"

He laughed, laughing heartily.

That was no junior of his, but a rising Lord of Martial Dao, a great sun of the human race!

"It has been so long since I felt this way!"

His eyes burned with surging years; recalling the past and looking at the present, it was as if the golden spears and iron horses remained, and the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers endured forever.

"In this vast human race, across thousands of mountains and rivers, how many waves and golden sands can be summoned to this day?"

His white robes billowed as he stepped out; the blinding golden light caused the malice to fester, and he went forth alone, carrying the power of billions of living beings, striking the red-eyed infant with a force that seemed to sever the heavens.

…………

Rumble!

Thunder roared, and the world cracked apart.

Above the firmament, a sea of ink surged, and the entire Pure True Yang Realm was shattering and falling to pieces.

Long-term warfare had already left the Shi Meng Mo severely wounded, and violating the contract, only to be punished by the power of the contract, made the Shi Meng Mo's situation even worse.

Now, the half-Ancient God aura within Chen Yan's body no longer mattered.

The Shi Meng Mo just wanted to live.

After all, that Lu Xunyang, once unified, was practically a madman, and he terrified It.

And within Its own body, another madman might still have other schemes.

Throughout the void of the entire Pure True Yang Realm, endless resentment and hatred drifted.

Everything was because of Chen Yan's conspiracy.

"Chen Yan..."

Chen He looked at the young man standing amidst the pitch-black waves above the firmament; endless surprise flashed across his face, but he quickly returned to calm.

"Step by step, you were actually waiting for me here."

He sighed; he had come to this place, killed the so-called Chen Yan twice, and twice seen Chen Yan arrive again.

Such a battle was enough to make even him secretly marvel at its brilliance.

It had always been he, Chen He, scheming against others; how could anyone scheme against him like this?

Beside him, on that head of Lu Zhiwei, her eyes remained wide open, constantly roaring and screaming.

"Stop making noise."

Chen He touched Lu Zhiwei's cheek:

"You are affecting me. If I kill him, you can live. If I die in battle, I will kill you before I die; you will not suffer any torture."

Lu Zhiwei opened her mouth, the terror in her eyes remaining, but she closed her mouth.

Rumble!!!

Pitch-black thunder pillars as thick as dragon bodies flashed above the firmament, and the entire Pure True Yang Realm was shrouded and covered by layers of thunderous power.

Chen Yan and Chen He, one high and one low, locked eyes.

Chen Yan was sensing Chen He's emotions.

Surprise, coldness, arrogance, disdain...

Layers of emotions flashed through the bottom of Chen He's heart, chaotic.

Chen Yan waited for Chen He's emotions to reach their peak of chaos; that would also be the best moment for him to strike.

With the Ember Evil Spear and Heavenly God Armor equipped, endless rage assaulted Chen Yan's sea of consciousness, but these did not cause Chen Yan to show any flaws at the start of the battle.

He stared at Chen He like a wild wolf, searching for the opportunity to hunt.

But in the very next instant.

In Chen Yan's perception, following a deep breath from Chen He, those layers of chaotic emotions actually disappeared entirely from Chen He's mind.

Only the final calmness remained.

Click, click, click...

The earth and the firmament simultaneously erupted with the wailing sounds of bones colliding.

Long, blood-stained spines connected together, protruding from the earth like nets and dragons, hanging down from the firmament, and connecting to one another.

The entire world had now turned into a bloody forest of thorns constructed from long, dragon-like spines.

Lu Zhiwei, terrified to the extreme, saw this scene and actually quieted down, looking at Chen He in shock, followed by a look of excitement appearing on her face.

"Heavenly Bone."

Chen He spoke in a calm voice:

"Have you ever heard of it?"

He paced across the void, his eyes remaining calm throughout.

"This is a divine technique, and also a divine artifact."

"Using the world's tenth divine artifact, the Heavenly Bone Blade, as the seed, and the blood and bones of living beings as nutrients, it is constantly cultivated to achieve this divine technique."

"You have been to Ten Thousand Phases Island and know of the tragedy there."

"But with the deaths of ten million living beings on Ten Thousand Phases Island, have you ever seen where their flesh and bones went?"

He recounted the bloody facts indifferently.

Chen Yan looked; blood-bones pierced the heavens and earth, constantly twisting and surging, as if possessing their own vitality, stretching on endlessly for ten thousand miles.

If these blood-bones were all formed from human skeletons, then exactly how many living beings' bones would that require?

That surging, violent blood-evil aura made one's breathing stall; the scarlet, twisted, and frantic aura crisscrossed the heavens and earth in an instant.

"But, the living beings' blood and bones contained within the Heavenly Bone are far more than ten million."

The endless dragon-like spine piercing through heaven and earth, from east to west and north to south, seemed to become one with Chen He, and endless blood-evil and murderous intent descended heavily, as if a sea of blood filled the sky.

"Chen Yan."

He looked at Chen Yan calmly:

"This is a technique I have never displayed to the outside world; you have this qualifi..."

Boom!!!

Pitch-black wild thunder arrived first, followed closely by a point of spear radiance; Chen Yan unleashed a spear strike, and a sea of blood churned at the spear tip.

【Blood Domain Reversing the World】!

With a boom.

As Chen He pushed out a palm, an invisible wall of gravity appeared instantly, blocking Chen Yan.

The moment the long spear collided with the gravity wall, the spear shaft began to bend, and the terrifying impact caused the ink-colored robe on Chen Yan, transformed from the Heavenly God Armor, to billow wildly.

Chen He's eyes were indifferent; blood-bones moved one by one in the sky, and several blood-bones instantly stabbed toward Chen Yan from beneath and behind him.

Crack!

The spear tip pierced through the gravity wall, and Chen He's eyes narrowed slightly, feeling somewhat incredulous.

This seemingly simple gravity control was actually a divine technique, 【Heavenly Time Gravity】.

He found it hard to believe that Chen Yan could shatter the gravity wall condensed by 【Heavenly Time Gravity】 with a single spear strike.

The next instant.

Puchi!

A blood-bone instantly pierced through Chen Yan's shoulder, and blood splashed from Chen Yan's shoulder.

Chen Yan shifted his body, another blood-bone grazed his scalp, and the moment he turned, a third blood-bone pierced the skin and flesh of Chen Yan's left arm, roaring past like a blood dragon.

Having received the attack of the first blood-bone, Chen Yan originally did not want to dodge, to avoid the other two attacks.

After all, he possessed the Undying Will and could restore his physical body.

But after taking the first attack, Chen Yan understood the power of the blood-bones.

Although the ink-colored robe on his body looked light and airy, it was transformed from the Heavenly God Armor, and its defensive power was terrifying to the extreme.

Yet in just an instant, it was pierced by the blood-bone, and after Chen Yan's shoulder was pierced, the flesh and blood did not recover, but instead began to fester.

It was poisonous.

Intense poison!

So intense that the speed at which it corroded Chen Yan's physical body was greater than the speed at which Chen Yan's Undying Will could repair it.

This was the sixth divine technique under heaven, 【Heavenly Bone】, evolved from the tenth divine artifact under heaven.

Powerful.

"You don't even have the chance to reach my side."

Chen He spoke indifferently; in the distance, Lu Zhiwei's breathing was rapid, and a smile finally appeared in her eyes, a smile of wild joy.

"I knew it, I knew it..."

She shed tears in excitement; how could Chen He be that simple?

Chen He was the youngest elder in the history of Chen Prefecture, and in the era of Lu Xunyang, he was also a prominent figure.

"I knew it, Chen Yan, go to hell...!"

She spoke with extreme resentment.

Yet in the next instant.

Hum!

A crisp humming sound resounded instantly, and a flash of red light erupted from around Chen Yan's body.

An incomparably formidable aura instantly spread out.

"Hm?"

Chen He's eyes narrowed slightly, and he grabbed with one hand.

Clatter!

Between heaven and earth, over a dozen blood-bones suddenly erupted, instantly attacking from the sky and the ground, shooting toward Chen Yan.

Their speed was so fast, like flowing light, that they had already reached the level of breaking the void!

Chen Yan stood high in the firmament, watching the incoming blood-bones, and brilliant light suddenly erupted in his eyes.

Slow, it had become slow.

Everything in the world had become slow!

Powerful strength roared completely within his body, terrifying to the extreme!

【Blood Battle State】, activate!

【Blood Battle State】:

Within ten minutes, it can allow Chen Yan to ignore all attacks from those at the early stage of the Eighth Rank and below, and can also reduce the damage from attacks by Eighth Rank martial artists at the early stage and below against Chen Yan to one-tenth.

And within these ten minutes, Chen Yan's speed increases sevenfold, strength increases sevenfold, and blood-Qi combat power increases sevenfold.

Swish!

A blood-bone attacked, stabbing toward Chen Yan's right eye, but Chen Yan merely tilted his head and dodged the strike.

Chen He's expression changed slightly.

Swish, swish, swish!!!

Blood-bones attacking from all directions stabbed over, but they always grazed past Chen Yan's body.

Chen Yan's shifting speed had become faster, so fast that even Chen He could see the layers of flickering afterimages.

The next instant.

Boom!!!

A terrifying Spear Soul erupted from the Ash-Evil Spear.

The Ninth-Grade Spear Soul surged in all directions like ten thousand rays of blood-colored light.

After the Ash-Evil Spear received its final cleansing from the Counter-Fire Crystal, the Spear Soul buried within every inch of the spear's body was fully stimulated, having long since advanced from the Seventh Grade to the Ninth Grade!

Chen Yan slashed the spear, swept horizontally, thrust straight, and performed a horse-turning strike.

The Ash-Evil Spear, like a galloping ink dragon, danced around Chen Yan, constantly colliding with the blood-bones.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!!!

A collision sound that threatened to tear the eardrums rang out within the Pure True Yang Realm; every collision between the blood-bones and the Ash-Evil Spear erupted with brilliant blood-colored light, causing the heavens and earth to suddenly brighten.

Clatter!!!

Hundreds of millions of crimson Other Shore Flowers bloomed, and rivers of blood surged, sweeping away the blood-bones.

Under Chen He's incredulous gaze, Chen Yan suddenly erupted, darting out as a pitch-black afterimage; the void shattered with a roar, and the spear had already arrived.

Chen He threw a punch, and layers of gravity space stacked upon one another; the space on the surface of his fist even solidified into a terrifying pitch-black color.

Bang!

The gravity space collided with the tip of the Ash-Evil Spear, and both were shaken by it.

Chen Yan's eyes were burning with heat, and carrying killing intent, he continued to kill his way forward.

"Come!"

Chen He roared, the green mountain on his upper body completely bursting open, revealing a physique of extreme strength, his flesh and blood bulging, with thick veins winding and protruding across his body.

Boom, boom, boom!!!

Chen He unleashed his fists, and layers of gravity space suddenly assaulted Chen Yan.

Chen Yan thrust his spear, ten thousand layers of spear light erupted, and countless piercing rays flickered.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!

Collision, collision, collision!

The two attacked like mad demons, exchanging millions, tens of millions of strikes in an instant.

Bang, bang, bang!!!

On Chen He's upper body, one vein after another burst open, and blood sprayed out.

The web between Chen Yan's thumb and index finger, where he held the spear, was also already a bloody mess.

But Chen Yan was extremely calm; he knew that the current collisions were merely probing, and he had been searching for the moment to deliver a lethal thrust.

But a sense of heaviness struck; every time Chen Yan swung the spear, he felt it grow heavier.

The problem did not originate from his own hands.

It originated from Chen He's hands.

Stacking!

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes.

Every time Chen He made a move, he would attach a layer of gravity space onto the Ash-Evil Spear.

After tens of millions of collisions, the weight added to the Ash-Evil Spear was enough to rival a thousand-mile-long mountain range.

Chen He's eyes gradually turned scarlet, and with a ferocious grin, the speed of his punches grew faster and faster!

For Chen Yan to maintain a speed matching his, he would only spend more strength and energy.