Chapter 741: There Is Only One South Emperor in the South Continent

The roar received no response.

The South Emperor's whole body was seared by starlight and heavenly fire, which steadily and unhurriedly gnawed away at its foundation; finally, those thick, round arms began to tremble uncontrollably.

The crimson treasure chariot before him let out a dragon's cry like a great bell, its entire frame blazing like a scorching sun, looking just like an enormous, boundless ball of fire.

Boom—

The South Emperor finally ran out of strength and was sent flying by a violent crash from the Fire Dragon Chariot.

A horrifying gash was torn open across its corpulent body; this peak great demon of Da Nanzhou now resembled a bulging, torn Yan Daizi, rolling clumsily several times before finally coming to a stop.

In the deathly still, empty white clouds, only the South Emperor's heavy breathing remained.

"Hah… hah…"

Even in this situation, that young man still did not appear, only continuing to quietly hide behind the banner formation, draining its spirit and stamina.

In the South Emperor's life, it had encountered countless dangers; back when it did not yet possess its current power, it had even been hunted by a great sect expert whose cultivation far surpassed its own.

But never once had it felt such an overwhelming sense of crisis, completely unable to see where victory lay.

Time to leave… otherwise it really won't be able to.

The South Emperor dropped those clumsy performances, slowly pushing itself up; its aura was clearly weakened to the extreme, so much so that it could barely withstand the erosion of starlight and heavenly fire, yet its gaze grew ever more resolute. Unable to charge out violently as before, it staggered forward step by step.

That roaring Fire Dragon treasure chariot would come crashing out of the clouds without warning, sending this indigo-colored mountain of flesh flying once more.

But each time, the South Emperor could slowly pick itself back up.

It no longer spoke in mockery, wasting even a shred of stamina; eyes fixed straight ahead, it saw only the four remaining flickering stars.

At last, the South Emperor stood once more before a massive star.

It raised its arm with visible effort, then clenched its five fingers tight.

Boom!

Earlier, the South Emperor needed only a single palm to shatter a star far larger than itself, but now it only managed to leave a single crack upon it.

Yet in the blink of an eye, its fists came pounding out like a raging storm.

The entire star crumbled piece by piece, soon collapsing more than halfway.

Just then, a Xuanwu Bell appeared in the heavens.

With a gentle sway, amid the muffled chime, the thick tribulation force, together with this massive treasure bell, transformed into a surging, galloping Wang Yang, rumbling as it scoured this indigo-colored mountain of flesh.

"Roar!"

The South Emperor's feet suddenly drove hard, steadying its retreating form, then step by step it returned once more before that shattered star.

Its breathing was hoarse as a broken gong, its skin returned to that loose, layered, greasy look, trembling slightly—clearly already somewhat drained of strength. But just before being sent flying again by the Wang Yang, it roared and raised its fist once more.

"Remember, this sovereign is—"

"The South Emperor!"

In an instant, amid the sudden, world-shaking explosion, the shattered star finally crumbled like the previous ones into a sky full of fine dust.

And at the same time, the Jiuyao Banner, more than half destroyed, finally lacked the strength to sustain the illusion formation.

The skyful of white clouds was violently torn away like a curtain by an invisible giant hand.

The South Emperor stood amid the Wang Yang, like an immovable Gaoshan, like a drenched, savage beast of the wild; hunched over, it stared fixedly ahead.

What came into view was a roaring Fire Dragon treasure chariot charging forth.

The six-armed dharma image, Jin Guang blazing all over, stood atop the treasure chariot, sweeping across the sky with an unstoppable momentum; heavenly fire flowed like red silk around its six arms. The next instant, six golden-fire fist peaks slammed together into the South Emperor's chest!

Ao!

The South Emperor tumbled backward through the air.

Until it landed, sprawled on the ground; the gash that had once been on its chest and belly now occupied its entire body.

Under such grievous wounds, this mountain of flesh actually began to tremble lightly—it was laughing.

"This emperor… won…"

It split its lips apart, revealing a savage, chilling smile.

Its hands pushed with effort, slowly raising its body—from lying prone, to half-kneeling, then attempting to stand fully.

So it turned out that the Jiuyao Banner and that Fire Dragon treasure chariot had already been all the opponent's tricks.

Then from here on, it would be this beastly boy's turn to fear sleepless nights.

"…"

In the courtyard of the Liuli Prefecture's government office, Yan Lanting's pupils had begun to tremble slightly.

The three Zhennan Generals had personally witnessed just how many tricks this great demon had endured from start to finish, and even now, the opponent could still stand.

Those infamous evil deeds recorded in ancient texts now seemed to come alive from the pages, taking concrete form as this mountain of flesh before their eyes, so suffocating one could barely breathe.

Just then, the eyelids of all three twitched at once.

They saw a swathe of ink-black robes swaying; that young man, who had seemed to have exhausted his tricks, calmly stepped up onto the top of the South Emperor's skull.

The next instant, the South Emperor's motion of rising abruptly halted.

"Roar—"

It let out a muffled, low growl, yet could not lift its head: "You want to… wrestle with this emperor?"

Shen Yi did not respond, only standing quietly with his hands at his sides.

Yet the surging of his robes grew ever more violent.

On his Bai Xi arms, veins bulged like coiling dragons, quickly spreading to his neck.

Shen Yi slightly raised his head, thin lips pressed tight.

Behind him, the towering, sky-obscuring Bodhisattva dharma image raised another arm, driving the Demon-Subduing Pestle—representing the fierce tiger and the great earth—savage as a dagger into the South Emperor's lower back.

Amid a thick, anguished howl, this drenched, savage creature's form suddenly surged upward a thousand zhang.

It had already walked who knows how many steps—how could it fall at this final one?

Amid the creaking, crackling sounds of bones bursting.

The Southern Emperor's head lifted inch by inch, resorting to the same trick, and let out another roar: "I am—"

Rip—

The ink-black robe on Shen Yi's body suddenly tore apart, and beads of blood welled up between his skin.

Earlier, a casual gesture from the Southern Emperor had nearly crushed three General Who Guards the South, each holding Demon-Slaying Tokens equivalent in number to Huang Liuliu's.

And although Shen Yi possessed ninety-one Origin Ordinances, no matter how many thousands or myriads one spoke of, he was ultimately still just a cultivator at Huang Liuliu's realm of transformation, and had not completed his metamorphosis.

But facing the Southern Emperor's rising, he showed not the slightest intention to dodge at this moment; instead, he stomped his foot heavily outward.

Bang!

The head the Southern Emperor had just barely lifted was pressed down once more, and even that roar was cut off along with it.

Shen Yi finally parted his tightly pressed thin lips; between his neat, white teeth, the space had long been filled with scarlet blood plasma. The viscous plasma quickly covered his jaw and soaked his lapels.

"Remember this."

He reached out the back of his hand, casually wiped his jaw, lowered his eyes to look at the mountain of flesh beneath his feet, and said in a hoarse voice: "In Da Nanzhou, there is only one Southern Emperor."

"And that is I, Nanyang."

As his words fell, Shen Yi's blood-dripping palm descended calmly.

Under the gaze of all the living beings of Liuli Prefecture, that towering Golden Body dharma-phase slowly raised both arms and took the Zhu Que long sword behind it.

The Golden Body's two hands gripped the sword hilt tightly, held the slender blade upside down, the sword tip pointing straight at the Southern Emperor's skull.

In an instant, scarlet patterns surfaced on the sword's body, then surged wildly upward, transforming into four lines of fire that connected to the heavens—like the divine bird spreading its wings, and as if chains drawing the long sword along.

The entire firmament turned the color of blood.

The next moment, the sword body suddenly fell.

Puchi—

The entire Zhu Que long sword violently pierced through the skull of this mountain of flesh.

Amid the sky-piercing, heaven-scorching crimson flames, Shen Yi stood cold and indifferent before the massive sword body. His tattered sleeves no longer surged wildly, merely lifting slightly under the brush of the fiery wind, marking the end of this contest of strength.

The Southern Emperor's body suddenly stiffened, as if struck by lightning, and the violent look in his eyes gradually began to scatter.

The coiled dragon mace on its spine, the demon-subduing pestle at its lower back, and the Wang Yang great waters covering its entire body—all seemed at this moment to form some strange connection with the Zhu Que sword atop its skull.

The auras within the four dharma artifacts linked with one another, and a ring of dim-golden light began to appear on the surface of its body.

This was Shen Yi's Heaven and Earth.

Through the restraint of the Nine-Luminary Banner and the Fire Dragon Chariot, he had successfully sent this Heaven and Earth into the Southern Emperor's body.

"Heh... heh..."

The Southern Emperor's entire body slumped down powerlessly, staring blankly at the clear firmament, and—strangely—did not refute Shen Yi's words.

The methods this person had displayed were entirely insufficient to reach the level needed to secure victory.

Throughout the entire duel, he himself had possessed countless chances to turn defeat into victory.

But not once had the other party given him any of those chances...

Beyond that, General Nanyang alone, relying on caution and care, could not have won either.

When it was time to hide, he hid; when it was time to be fierce and decisive, the other party had never hesitated either.

Without a single mistake or carelessness, he could still seize every opportunity! That was the most terrifying thing of all!

A smile of despair appeared at the corner of the Southern Emperor's lips. By the moment the ring of light on his body's surface became perfectly whole, his pupils completely lost their luster.

【Slain third-rank Flesh Ganoderma, total lifespan ten thousand kalpas, remaining lifespan eight thousand two hundred kalpas, absorption complete】

"..."

The entire Liuli Prefecture had long since fallen utterly silent.

The Three Generals Who Guard the South sat in their chairs, dumbstruck, having witnessed from beginning to end what could be called the most supreme duel in all of Dananzhou.

Though all at the third-rank realm, they could feel nothing but suffocation.

General Wushan, meanwhile, found his breath frozen; in his line of sight, nothing remained but the ink-colored figure amid the sky-piercing blazing immortal sword.

All those bold and heroic words he had tossed and turned over night after day—even added all together—could not compare to the impact delivered by my lord Nanyang's final calm, offhand remark.

The once invincible Southern Emperor, that terrifying world-destroying figure that swept across the sky—

—now knelt silently at the other party's feet, just like that.

"My lords."

Ye Lan walked slowly behind the several General Who Guards the South, used a handkerchief to wipe the blood plasma from them, raised her eyes to look at Shen Yi in the sky, and said in a voice that for some reason had gone slightly hoarse: "Da Nanzhou lives."

From this very moment of the Southern Emperor's fall, the entire Dananzhou could no longer muster a single batch of demons and evils sufficient to threaten the Divine Dynasty's safety.

Unless a major sect took action personally... but that would go against their original intention of dividing and consuming the human realm's imperial qi.

Whether it was the Puti Sect or the Sanxian Sect's sect masters, neither could possibly allow their followers to do something so short-sighted as killing the goose that lays the golden eggs—after all, what they wanted to replace was the Human Emperor, not truly destroy the very foundation of this incense and fire.

In other words, Dananzhou, relying on the strength of a single person alone, had become the only unbreakable continent in the entire Divine Dynasty!

"Then what about him..."

Yan Lanting slowly turned his head. This old man who held a high position now had lips that were trembling.

After accepting the fact of the Southern Emperor's fall, his stunned mind finally regained a thread of thought, and he roughly figured some things out.

Their General Nanyang could not conjure things from nothing either.

The reason the other party possessed this world-shrouding might that looked down on all of Da Nanzhou was that he had wrested it from those major sects by some means.

Just like the title the Southern Emperor had used for him earlier... Bodhisattva.

Dananzhou lives, yes—but what fate will befall the "traitor" who ruined the great plan of Nan Xumi?

"I don't know."

A trace of a crying tone quietly crept into Ye Lan's hoarse voice.

The last time he had felt this helpless was the night, many years ago, when he learned his entire sect had been wiped out.

She racked her brains and still could not figure out how Shen Yi was going to extricate himself from this quagmire this time, or how the true Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the Southern Sumeru could possibly let him off.

Could there truly be someone in this world who could survive at the hands of those Great Freedom beings who had transcended the two realms and stood outside the five elements?

"..."

With Shen Yi's current cultivation, the conversation inside the Glazed Palace was naturally crystal clear.

Yet no sorrow showed on his face.

The matter was not yet over; it was far from the time for grief and lamentation.

Shen Yi stepped down from the body of the Southern Emperor, then turned back to watch this mountain of flesh gradually shrink, swiftly transforming from a towering, broad mountain of flesh into a tattered lingzhi no taller than his boot.

Only by witnessing this scene with one's own eyes could one perceive the shock within it.

Such a tiny spiritual plant had been able to step by step reach a position that shook all of Da Nanzhou.

Shen Yi bent down and picked it up, then in a single stride stepped into the Grand Void.

The panel swiftly unfolded.

The just-acquired eight-thousand-plus tribulation demon lifespans swiftly transformed into a skyfullof yellow mist.

Shen Yi extracted the final eight golden threads from within.

The so-called ultimate of transformation was to complete one's own Dao path.

The current Dharma Aspect of the Protecting-Path Bodhisattva was already close to perfect; no matter where one added anything more, it would seem superfluous.

This final stroke...

Shen Yi looked at the Golden Body Dharma Aspect seated cross-legged within his body. His divine soul no longer hesitated, drawing all the extra golden threads and smearing them onto the brow of the Golden Body Dharma Aspect.

He wanted to open an eye on the Dharma Aspect, so that it could observe the operation of this heaven and earth throughout eternity.

To personally take part in heaven and earth.

In an instant, the golden threads converged into flowing pulp, transforming into a vertical pupil radiating ten thousand rays of light at the brow of the Dharma Aspect!

At the same time, Shen Yi saw a fleeting Dao pattern of ultimate simplicity on the surface of the Dharma Aspect, like a child waving a tree branch at random, seemingly meaningless.

"Immovable..."

Yet Shen Yi could inexplicably chant it out.

Unfortunately, that Dao pattern vanished in an instant.

With his current realm, he had not truly touched upon this level yet; it was merely a fleeting glimpse.

The ultimate of the ninety-nine transformations—one more step, and it would be the Great Freedom!

"Huu."

Even in the face of the Dao's temptation, Shen Yi swiftly smoothed out his emotions.

He turned around, stepped straight out of the Grand Void, and set off in pursuit toward the direction beyond Da Nanzhou.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A vigorous figure fled desperately through the mountain forest.

Its breathing trembled slightly; it was clearly terrified to the extreme, not even daring to employ any technique of rising into the air or shifting space, and could only rely on its two feet in its frantic flight.

Finally, with the last step taken.

This Dragon Lizard Demon Sovereign finally escaped the territory of the Divine Dynasty. But before the expression of relief could appear on its face, before it could even exhale, the entire body of this Demon Sovereign stiffened and stood rooted on the spot.

"So you're here."

The teasing voice that sounded by its ear brought a bitter expression to this Demon Sovereign's face.

It did not turn around again in futility, but listlessly lowered its head: "Honored ones, this little demon truly... is at the end of its strength."

The rustling footsteps numbered no fewer than five or six people.

One of them walked unhurriedly behind the Dragon Lizard Demon Sovereign, patted its shoulder, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, this Sovereign said you can do it, so you definitely can."

(End of this chapter)