Chapter 1823: The Battle of the Tenth Rank

Hearing Li Luo's teasing tone, Jiang Jiang Qinge couldn't help but gently bump her smooth, fair forehead against his chest, her golden eyes swelling with endless tenderness and devotion.

She knew this was Li Luo telling her that even though he had now attained the Dao of the Tenth Rank, achieving the supreme position in this world, he was still himself.

That boy who once tirelessly exhausted every effort to chase after her footsteps and stand shoulder to shoulder with her.

Jiang Jiang Qinge felt the warmth and safety of this embrace, memories of countless distant scenes flashing through her mind—childhood laughter and play with Li Luo, where every bout of roughhousing always ended with the little boy being subdued.

Each time, little Li Luo would stubbornly and angrily vow: "Jiang Jiang Qinge, wait and see—I'll make you willingly say, 'Brother, I give up!'"

But every fierce resistance only met with even stronger suppression.

So at this moment, Jiang Jiang Qinge's lips curved into a smile, her eyes gently closed, and she twisted slightly in Li Luo's arms, settling into the most comfortable position, then softly said: "Brother, I give up."

The instant those soft words reached his ears, Li Luo, who now stood atop the pinnacle of this world, trembled violently—a profound, indescribable sense of ease and clarity welled up from the deepest core of his heart, spreading to every part of his body.

How could he forget the promise made by that mischievous child?

This was the deepest bond and private charm between them.

He never expected this arduous achievement to unlock so quietly at this moment.

That sudden rush of satisfaction was no less potent than attaining the Tenth Rank.

So Li Luo laughed out loud, his spirits light.

At this moment, the Void Black Palm, beneath the terrified gazes of countless Heavenly Kings, descended upon them.

Yet as it neared the ten-thousand-zhang radius around Li Luo, it began to vanish abruptly—so suddenly it was as if an eraser had swept across a blackboard, wiping it clean.

All the Heavenly Kings stared, eyes wide with shock.

That was the Tenth Rank power of Void Annihilation!

In that instant, led by Heavenly King Jiang, the other Heavenly Kings' hearts pounded wildly, their breaths growing coarse and heavy, their eyes locked unblinkingly on the figure standing in the heavens.

To resist the Tenth Rank, only the Tenth Rank can stand against it!

That means... Li Luo, after years of seclusion and contemplation, has finally succeeded in entering the Tenth Rank!

Does our Outer Shenzhou now have its own Tenth Rank?

This world-ending calamity might truly be saved!

The Heavenly Kings trembled with awe, their scalps tingling with excitement; finally, Heavenly King Jiang raised his head and let out a long, triumphant roar, his voice echoing across all Ten Outer Shenzhou: "Congratulations, Lord Li, on ascending to the Tenth Rank!"

The other Heavenly Kings snapped back to awareness, bowing in fervent reverence, their respectful cries rising like thunder in succession.

"Congratulations, Lord Li, on ascending to the Tenth Rank!"

One after another, reverent congratulations rang through Outer Shenzhou, reaching every living being within it.

Thus, all of Outer Shenzhou erupted in sudden frenzy—countless beings who had sunk into despair and terror since the arrival of the Dark Heavenly King now knelt before the figure at the horizon's end, their hearts filled with devotion.

"Congratulations, Lord Li, on ascending to the Tenth Rank!"

The vast, thunderous sound reverberated through heaven and earth.

Amidst the deafening chorus of praise, Li Luo lifted his gaze, watching the Dark World draw near to Outer Shenzhou—under the Dark Lord's power, countless aberrations were crushed into a black torrent, teeming with Fusion Seeds that, once they touched Outer Shenzhou, would trigger a terrifying fusion, turning all life to ash.

These black torrents carried Tenth Rank power—utterly unstoppable.

But as Li Luo gazed calmly upon them, the Heavenly Kings were stunned to see an omnipresent force surge forth, instantly erasing the black torrents.

Not a single strand could fall into Outer Shenzhou.

It was as if an invisible barrier of Nothingness had enveloped Outer Shenzhou.

At the moment Li Luo acted, the Dark Lord standing in the heavens, whose face had always been impassive, finally showed a change—she stared at his figure and slowly spoke: "You are..."

"Tenth Rank, Formless."

"Is it truly possible in this world to attain the Tenth Rank through 'Formless'?!"

As the fused entity of the Lord and the Source of All Evil, the Dark Lord naturally understood the Formless Secret of the Formless Holy Sect—but since the Lord's own attempt on this path had failed, the Dark Lord could not walk it either. Instead, she drew upon the Lord's and the Source's foundation, fused with the re-ascended Wuxiang Seed aided by Li Luo's hand, and thus achieved the Tenth Rank through the Void Annihilation Phase!

In outcome, the Dark Lord had clearly succeeded—she had gone half a step further than the Lord ever did on this path!

Yet now, seeing Li Luo achieve the very "Formless Tenth Rank" that even the Lord had failed to attain, even at her current realm, she could not suppress a sense of disbelief.

"So you were the greatest hidden trump card she concealed—this move, she saw farther than I ever did."

The Dark Lord's eyes, dark as the ocean, now understood everything—she knew the Lord, using Jiang Jiang Qinge as a medium, had hidden Li Luo's innate Three Primordial Phase Natures over countless ages, preventing the Wuxiang Seed from devouring him and turning him into fuel for her own advancement.

This crucial step had become her greatest obstacle.

"Truly impressive—she was already on the brink of defeat, yet still managed to conceal such a deep, far-reaching move."

The Dark Lord sighed in admiration—the Lord herself had never attained the Tenth Rank, yet through her schemes, she had propelled the birth of one.

No wonder she was my original self.

Li Luo now released Jiang Jiang Qinge, yet still held her slender hand in one of his, and calmly addressed the Dark Lord: "I promised her I would correct every error born from her."

The Dark Lord shook her head, then smiled with keen interest: "Very well. I feared that after attaining the Tenth Rank, all beings in this world would seem like ants—utterly dull. Now, I can finally test what makes the Formless Holy Sect's 'Formless' so extraordinary after all these millennia."

She extended her slender, fair palm, where the power of world-ending annihilation flowed within.

Black light flashed—a world of utter annihilation, devoid of all life, was born in her palm, containing countless spaces, each filled only with dead matter.

This was the Palm Realm.

One palm, one realm.

What kind of power was this?

Watching the Palm Realm descend upon Outer Shenzhou, the Heavenly Kings turned pale—how could they resist such power? Had Li Luo not already attained the Tenth Rank, they would have chosen self-destruction in despair.

Li Luo's pupils reflected the Palm Realm, saturated with infinite void annihilation—this attack carried true destruction; if it struck Outer Shenzhou, it could erase an entire Shenzhou from existence.

A Tenth Rank battle, if mishandled, could topple the Outer Shenzhou world.

Yet Li Luo's expression remained calm.

Behind his head, a tiny, invisible, colorless dot appeared—suddenly it rose into the sky, expanding infinitely into a colossal light wheel.

The wheel imprinted itself upon all eyes, radiant with myriad colors, within which countless phase natures shifted and transformed.

It was Formless—and yet, it was Wuxiang.

This is the Faceless Wheel.

The Faceless Wheel rose slowly, meeting the palm-world that was descending to cover the Outer Shenzhou world. The next instant, the two collided, and the might of Tenth-Grade Oblivion poured down in torrents, attempting to wipe the Faceless Wheel from existence.

But the Faceless Wheel turned slowly, countless aspects flowing and shifting within it, and somehow it fully withstood and dissolved that Tenth-Grade Oblivion might.

Sect Master An wore an expressionless face, her slender fingertips plucking at the void. Surging, vast Tenth-Grade Oblivion might seeped through countless spaces within the Outer Shenzhou world, using them as passages to invade Shenzhou and erase all vitality.

But Li Luo merely smiled, having long prepared. With a single thought, within those billions of layered spaces, a Faceless Wheel rose slowly in each one, shielding Shenzhou as impregnable as a fortress, while also fully withstanding that Tenth-Grade Oblivion might.

The so-called Faceless means that wherever the mind intends, it is everywhere, and it is everything.

In that brief instant, while even many Li Li Tianwang could not perceive it, the clash between Li Luo and Sect Master An had already collided billions of times.

And although Jiang Li Tianwang and the others could not perceive those clashes occurring within the countless spaces connected to the Outer Shenzhou world, they vaguely sensed that some unsettling calamity was quietly being dispelled.

This compelled them to gaze in awe at that youthful figure at the end of the heavens. They understood that this was Li Luo exerting himself to protect the Outer Shenzhou world.

Li Luo looked up, calmly watching Sect Master An, who was unleashing the world-destroying torrent. He knew this Tenth-Grade clash would not end easily; the duel between the two sides would continue endlessly in countless corners.

However, under the unfathomable protection of his Tenth-Grade Faceless, Sect Master An's scheme to merge the two worlds had become nearly impossible to realize.

Sect Master An's deep, dark gaze fixed coldly on Li Luo. "Li Luo, although you too have proven the Dao of Tenth Grade and can block me outside the Outer Shenzhou world, so what? Chaos still exists; only its source has changed from the Dark World to me."

"I certainly cannot invade the Outer Shenzhou world, but I can hold my seat here in the Dark World, transform it into my Dao ground, and continue to wage war against your Outer Shenzhou world for countless ages."

With a sweep of her sleeve, the Oblivion might transformed into a black giant serpent with no visible end. The serpent coiled beneath her, becoming a serpent throne, and Sect Master An sat down upon it like a demon god, coldly gazing down upon the Outer Shenzhou world.

Li Luo stared at Sect Master An's familiar, beautiful face — it belonged to Li Li Lingjing, yet now it was covered in endless coldness and indifference.

He knew Sect Master An's words were true. Now both sides were at Tenth Grade, on the same level, and determining a victor would not be easy.

But if no victor could be determined and Sect Master An could not be slain, then the chaos of this world would still not be ended.

That was not the result Li Luo wanted, nor was it the result the Sect Master had schemed for so many long years to achieve.

But to truly slay a Tenth-Grade being — how could that be such a simple matter?

Unless... his realm was one level higher than his opponent's.

Li Luo swept his sleeve, and a Twelfth-Grade Golden Lotus manifested beneath him. Countless aspect-derived ranks transformed around him into a torrent of ranks rising and falling, like the stars of the cosmos.

The next instant, a majestic sound like a great bell rang out across the Outer Shenzhou world.

"In this world, the King is honored above all, yet the King is not the end of the path."

"At the end, there should still be a realm beyond."

"Today, for the living beings of this realm, I shall open a new path."

"This realm is one step above the King."

"Therefore it may be called..."

"Lord."