Chapter 836: Ultimate Duel

"Among that human race, there are actually such individuals—quite intriguing."

On the black warship, the other nineteen demonic prodigies all stood at the edge of the deck, looking down upon this battle.

Jiang Xuming's cultivated realm had surprised them; if he hadn't taken pills, purely by realm, he could unquestionably be called a top-tier prodigy.

"It seems this man is also one of the very best among the humans."

Someone whispered, their earlier disdain slightly tempered.

"Let's see how he fares in actual combat—realm alone won't scare anyone," someone sneered, clearly resentful and looking down on the humans.

At this moment, Li Hao and Su Muqing and the others also watched intently within the arena.

With thunder splitting the sky and a booming crash, this battle between human and demon— Guanhuzhongzucunwang —officially began!

Jiang Xuming made no concealment, no pretense; the moment the thunder roared, he unleashed his full power.

As the first combatant, he didn't just want to win—he wanted to win decisively, with a single killing strike, to make the demons utterly understand: the humans are not to be trifled with!

Boom.

Violent immortal energy erupted from Jiang Xuming's body; countless extreme-limit powers manifested, divine blood flowed, and behind him, a heavenly realm phantom emerged, his primordial spirit rising, half his body bursting free, gathering the fundamental forces of the surrounding heavens and earth.

On his primordial spirit, golden bones shimmered, and golden meridians spread across his entire body like veins.

Those golden bones resembled armor, radiant and translucent, totaling over three hundred!

Seeing this, many were stunned, their eyes filled with shock.

Countless immortal citizens across the thirty-six thousand immortal cities opened their eyes wide, unable to believe it—then their faces erupted in uncontrollable joy.

Prodigy—true peerless prodigy!

Aside from the primordial spirit, as a web-like network of meridians surfaced, suddenly vast starlight enveloped and circled Jiang Xuming's body.

Li Hao's gaze sharpened: the Celestial Star Meridians!

During the Southern Region Battle, he had seen other prodigies wield the Celestial Star Meridians; now, here, he saw someone else besides himself master this ultimate-limit power!

The Celestial Star Meridians are the ultimate-limit of the Second Stage of Martial Path: the Zhou Tian Realm.

To reach this ultimate-limit requires extraordinary insight; Li Hao had never seen anyone else possess it in the Tianyang Pseudo Realm, but in this Great Thousand True Realm, it was no surprise that the very top geniuses could master this ultimate-limit power.

With the Celestial Star Meridians continuously supplying power, Jiang Xuming's aura surged to terrifying heights; the spear in his hand radiated dreadful energy, entwined with chaotic, deathly qi, and fundamental law chains emerged from the void like veins—as if the heavens and earth themselves had been forced to reveal their own sinews.

A divine seal appeared prominently on Jiang Xuming's forehead: the Nine-Flower Immortal Seal!

And not just any Nine-Flower Seal—it was the Ninth Order Nine-Flower Seal, the pinnacle, just below legend!

"Tai Xu Shen!"

A strange mark flashed across his forehead; behind his heavenly realm phantom, another phantom slowly emerged.

That phantom's silhouette stood majestic, radiating an air of supreme disdain for the cosmos, overlooking all ages.

As that phantom appeared, a distant, vast imperial aura spread through the heavens and earth.

Feeling this power, everyone—including Li Hao—slightly changed expression.

Jiang Xuming before them was strong—unimaginably strong!

Li Hao's gaze grew grave; the aura Jiang Xuming displayed felt stronger than that of Di Jiming he had faced in the Southern Region Battle. Di Jiming was a prince of the Di Clan, merely at Immortal Lord Seventh Layer—yet even with a full realm gap, Li Hao felt that even at the same level, Jiang Xuming might not be weaker than Di Jiming!

This was the peak of Northern Region prodigies!

"Jiang Xuming…"

Su Muqing gazed intently at that figure; the pressure he emitted made her own expression solemn. As the one chosen to lead the charge, his combat power likely rivaled her own.

"Tai Xu Shen bloodline…"

Su Wanqing and Su Wanxue both wore solemn expressions, their eyes filled with anticipation. He was the most renowned prodigy of the Jiang Clan; they had long heard of him. Their father had once intended to betroth one of them to him, for a family alliance—but later, he left to study abroad, and the matter was put on hold.

"Tai Xu Shen—the founding ancestor of the Jiang Clan, an Emperor of the Chaos Era—unfortunately, he perished in that ancient demon war…"

Su Wanxue's eyes flickered with sorrow, yet also reverence and longing.

At the end of countless cultivators' paths lies the throne of Emperor, where one may behold the highest vista.

This is likely the ultimate wish all aspire to.

Within the Demon Ancestor Arena, as Jiang Xuming unleashed his full power, the chains of myriad great laws coiled around his spear, forming a black hole of dark light that seemed capable of swallowing even sight itself.

"Tai Xu Dao: Lu Shen Spear!"

Jiang Xuming's eyes turned pitch black, and he suddenly unleashed.

From preparation to strike, it took only a breath; across from him, the crimson-robed Chi Xu was also gathering power.

Whoosh!

Gu Xu teleportation, combined with the Jiang Clan's supreme body technique: Tai Xu Ling You!

Among the three great clans, Tai Xu Ling You was among the top body techniques, requiring immense primordial spirit power to control—wherever the primordial spirit saw, the body could instantly arrive!

In short: as fast as the thought, so fast the movement!

No sonic boom, no howling wind—when Jiang Xuming leapt high, he was already above Chi Xu's head; the spear piercing heaven and earth, condensing myriad laws, crashed down with explosive force!

He intended to win in one strike, giving his opponent no chance to surrender.

"So strong!"

On the black warship, many demonic prodigies changed expression, their earlier contempt gone.

Boom!

The divine spear pierced downward, shaking the void; Chi Xu raised his head, seemingly unable to react in time—the spear had already covered and neared him, then shattered his domain and law barrier as easily as tearing through paper.

But at that moment, a crimson mystic light appeared: a small, spinning shield blocked the divine spear.

It was a top-tier demonic weapon, imbued with terrifying fundamental law energy; faintly, a grotesque bloodied face appeared upon it—but before it could open its mouth, the spear pierced through, the mystic shield shattered, and it was flung away.

The divine spear in Jiang Xuming's hand was also among the Jiang Clan's top Immortal Lord-tier weapons: brutal and savage, infused with the primordial spirit essence of an ancient ferocious beast—this was the finest weapon an Immortal Lord could wield.

As for domain artifacts, only Immortal Kings could activate them, for they contained power to rupture dimensional boundaries; an Immortal Lord forcing use would not only be drained of immortal energy upon activation but also fail to truly unleash its power—its effectiveness might even be less than a fully activated secret weapon.

Now, the mystic shield flung aside, in an instant five more crimson treasures appeared: a five-tiered blood tower, enveloping Chi Xu.

Yet the divine spear's power showed no decline; with Jiang Xuming's roar, it instantly pierced through the tower's peak, shattering all five crimson lights!

Boom!

The moment the crimson light shattered, the divine spear struck Chi Xu's head directly—as if piercing a balloon, his body was instantly crushed.

Countless fragments of flesh and blood sprayed out, then vanished in an instant.

Divine blood, bones—all disappeared, annihilated by the spear's law forces!

A single spear thrust—killed the opponent, leaving not even a trace!

Seeing this, countless people froze, then the thirty-six thousand immortal cities erupted in deafening cheers and thunderous shouts.

"Jiang Xuming!!"

At this moment, Jiang Xuming's name echoed across the entire Gusu Emperor Star!

The demonic prodigies on the black warship all stared in shock, unable to believe what they saw.

The power of that spear thrust was too great—many among them admitted they could not have blocked it.

Most crucially, Chi Xu hadn't even blocked it!

Li Hao, seeing this, exhaled in relief—but then sensed something wrong.

His primordial spirit was exceptionally strong, already at the bottleneck of golden bone formation, far surpassing Jiang Xuming's; now he noticed the immortal energy around Jiang Xuming flowing like threads, carrying an extremely subtle force—as if the blood within those threads.

Those thread-like immortal energies were drawn by that force, converging toward a single point.

The trace was exceedingly hidden; only his powerful primordial spirit could detect it.

"Is this Jiang Xuming's immortal technique? No…"

Li Hao stared intently, then his expression changed, startled.

That demon… wasn't dead? His divine blood and bones were annihilated, not even a speck remained—and yet he wasn't dead?!

Even the Immortal Undying Extreme requires at least one drop of blood to regenerate.

Li Hao suddenly looked up, scanning the black warship—and saw the three demonic elites in purple robes, calm and composed, showing no tension or worry.

Li Hao's heart sank; he turned his gaze forward and saw Su Zhenyuan and the ancestral elders surrounding the arena—all wore grave expressions, not a hint of joy or smile.

"Be careful…"

Li Hao murmured; he knew even if he shouted, they couldn't hear.

The sealing array of the Demon Ancestor Arena blocked all sound—even telepathic transmission couldn't penetrate, to prevent outside interference in the battle.

"What?"

Beside him, Su Wanqing heard Li Hao's words, blinked in confusion, and looked at him.

Before Li Hao could speak again, a chorus of shocked cries erupted from outside.

In the Demon Ancestor Arena, a crimson figure slowly emerged—as if coalescing from thin air.

The drifting wind gathered, forming its body.

This bizarre sight defied understanding; all were incredulous.

"How is this possible?"

Su Wanqing also noticed, frozen in stunned disbelief.

Su Muqing frowned deeply: "I had a bad feeling earlier—this really happened? He didn't die?"

Since childhood, she possessed a special sixth sense, extremely accurate in sensing danger; whenever danger loomed or misfortune struck, she always felt an inexplicable premonition beforehand.

As if a whispering voice warned her.

This sixth sense had helped her avoid countless disasters and assassinations—never once failed.

Yet this time, she hoped it would fail—but the outcome was again a terrible event.

"That's a Lingxue Demon—evidently, its bloodline has fully awakened, and it has cultivated the Lingxue Ghoul Body!"

Ahead, an elder of the Su Clan at Immortal King realm whispered, explaining to Su Wanqing and the other disciples.

"Spiritual Blood Deformed Body?"

Hearing these words from this elder of their clan, Su Wanqing, Su Wanxue, and others were stunned, then their expressions changed.

As top prodigies of the Su family, they knew many secrets and had heard of the Spiritual Blood Deformed Body—it was one of the supreme bloodlines among demons and monsters, and legend said that once fully developed and the Ancestral Power awakened, one could cultivate into a Spiritual Blood Deformed Body!

The Spiritual Blood Deformed Body was famed precisely because it had abandoned Divine Blood and Immortal Body, taking the Primordial Spirit as the true self and Immortal Force as its bloodline—in other words, even if the Divine Blood perished and the Immortal Body vanished, as long as Immortal Force remained in the surrounding heavens and earth, and the Primordial Spirit endured, it could be instantly reformed!

They used the Immortal Force of heaven and earth as their bloodline, modeling themselves after the cosmos to achieve eternal life!

"So does that mean he's… unkillable?"

Someone muttered in shock—it was a young man who had followed Su Qiyu earlier.

"Unless you erase his Primordial Spirit and completely purge all Immortal Force from his domain—but then, you'd have no Immortal Force left for yourself."

Said the Immortal King elder, his expression grave.

Everyone exchanged glances, all stunned—could this blood-robed youth really be so hard to kill, so troublesome?

Inside the Demon Ancestor's Domain, Chi Xu's body had been reshaped. He gazed at Jiang Xuming, whose eyes were filled with horror, and slowly shook his head, speaking calmly:

"Now, it's my turn."

As he spoke, torrential waves of blood qi surged from his body, instantly filling half the sky of the Demon Ancestor's Domain.

Behind him, numerous Extreme Realm forces manifested—a towering Dharma Form emerged, but it was not his human appearance; instead, it was a pool of crimson sludge, with blood bubbles constantly rising and bursting, radiating an utterly evil aura.

This was his true form—the Spiritual Blood Clan.

Behind this Dharma Form appeared another—one of pitch-black, perfectly spherical darkness, like the far side of a star.

Within that shadow, silver threads slowly flowed, like some kind of vein network.

At the same moment, a web-like network of veins appeared—Chi Xu had also mastered the Celestial Star Veins!

On his forehead, the Nine-Flower, Nine-Order Immortal Seal surfaced, and instantly, the aura he emitted matched Jiang Xuming's exactly.

Moreover, as he gathered the Immortal Force of heaven and earth, all Immortal Force within the Demon Ancestor's Domain was drawn toward him.

Though both possessed the Celestial Star Veins, the Immortal Force streaming down from the True Realm's stars did not reach Jiang Xuming—it flew straight to Chi Xu.

"You're strong. You must… taste delicious too?"

A faint smile curved Chi Xu's lips—the first he had shown since the battle began.

But the words he spoke sent chills down their spines.

The next instant, his figure vanished in an instant, rushing toward Jiang Xuming.

Jiang Xuming's face darkened in shock and fury—he felt his ability to gather Immortal Force slowing. He was not only a cultivation genius but also a battle-hardened veteran; he instantly realized the opponent could control the Immortal Force within the Demon Ancestor's Domain—was this his bloodline power?

He had never heard of the Spiritual Blood Clan possessing such a technique, but now he had to find a countermeasure.

"If one spear wasn't enough, then let's try again!"

Jiang Xuming's mind raced with an idea—he activated the Grand Void Spiritual Wander Body Technique to its utmost, moving like a flash of insight.

Boom!

His figure teleported behind Chi Xu, moving with impossible speed.

Just as he prepared to crush him underfoot and strike him down again with his divine spear, Chi Xu suddenly turned his head.

Puff!

A sharp blood thorn pierced through Jiang Xuming's body.

Immediately, a powerful suction force rapidly drained Jiang Xuming's Immortal Force.

Jiang Xuming's pupils contracted in utter shock—how could someone in the same realm react to the Grand Void Spiritual Wander Body Technique?

Feeling his strength draining rapidly, he hastily pulled back, his face now icy with dread.

"Tastes good."

Chi Xu retracted the blood thorn, licked his lips, and stared at Jiang Xuming like a predator eyeing its prey.

Jiang Xuming took a deep breath—he now vaguely understood why the opponent could perceive his body technique, and why he had survived.

Immortal Force… he had made his decision. Behind him, the Grand Void Divine Dharma Form slowly merged with his own Dharma Form.

"Xuming!"

Jiang Qiuyu, seeing this, paled, her silver hair flying wildly.

She knew what he intended—to confront the Jiang Clan Ancestor and borrow the Ancestor's power—but that would force him to face the Grand Void directly, to see what the Ancestor saw. For an Immortal Lord, that was far too much. The overwhelming primordial truths and the presence of the Supreme Heavenly Dao revealed in that moment could inflict irreversible wounds, shattering one's Dao heart.

Only an Immortal King, possessing his own domain, could barely preserve his original heart.