Chapter 838: I

Su Zhenyuan's gaze swept across the Lin family and the Jiang family.

Jiang Xuming had just perished; Jiang Qiuyu's face was heavy with grief—he was, after all, a rare top prodigy of the Jiang family.

As for the Lin family, Lin Jinrou and the other two… were also astonishing, but likely no stronger than Jiang Xuming.

Not only did Su Zhenyuan's expression darken; Li Daogong's face grew grim too, and the ancestral elders of other clans all turned to their own prodigies, only to discover with sorrow and despair that their own prodigies, even if they stepped forward, would only meet death.

Too strong—this red-bearded one's combat power was already at the peak of a thousand-year soul lifespan; could it be that just one opponent would defeat them all?!

As for wheeling battles… it was meaningless; with the Celestial Star Veins, he could instantly restore to peak condition.

Unless some secret art could inflict irreversible, irreparable wounds upon him.

But such an art would cause immense harm to the user themselves.

"What, still can't decide who to send? Or is there no one left to send?"

The purple-robed middle-aged man looked down upon Su Zhenyuan and the others; seeing their somber expressions, he couldn't help but smile.

"Father…"

Amidst the silence, Su Muqing stepped forward, gazing at Su Zhenyuan.

Su Zhenyuan's body trembled slightly as he looked at his daughter; his eyes were complex—pained, guilty. To humanity, he was worthy; as a father, he was a failure—forcing his own daughter into peril, risking her future.

Even Su Muqing might not be much stronger than Jiang Xuming, who had just burned his Primordial Spirit with pills; this battle would stake everything.

But… he did not utter a refusal.

Otherwise, Jiang Xuming's death just now would have been utterly in vain.

"Don't go."

Li Hao's face changed as he saw Su Muqing truly meant to fight.

Though he sensed her strength, the demonic prodigy was equally terrifying.

Seeing Li Hao grasp her wrist, Su Muqing's expression shifted; a flicker of revulsion passed through her eyes as she turned coldly to him and said:

"If I don't go, will you go instead?"

"Yes!"

To his surprise, Li Hao agreed instantly, his gaze utterly resolute.

Su Muqing froze.

Everyone had seen how powerful the red-bearded one had been; even Lin Jinrou and the others stepping forward would be suicide.

Even Su Wanqing and Su Wanxue were no match for him.

Li Hao… she stared at the boy—was he truly willing to die for her?

This was no game, no childish stunt; she too was momentarily stunned.

But quickly she snapped back, her face darkening: "Don't joke—this stakes an Immortal City, countless Immortal civilians! And if we lose again, I'll still have to fight the third round!"

As she spoke, she glanced at Su Zhenyuan; seeing her father's expression, she understood—he had silently approved.

She softly thanked her father, then, beneath his weathered gaze, charged toward the Demon Ancestor's arena.

But at that moment, a figure flashed forward, blocking Su Muqing's path.

"I'll go instead. I won't lose."

Li Hao said.

"Move aside!"

Su Muqing had no patience for Li Hao; instantly, she shifted her body, circling past him toward the arena.

Li Hao's face changed—he was Xie Xiaoxiao's reincarnation; he couldn't bear to see her perish again before awakening.

That girl had already shattered before his eyes; now, was he to witness it once more?

He instantly unleashed his power, aiming to rush onto the arena first—but suddenly, a force enveloped him like an iron wall, restraining his body and suppressing all his energy within, leaving not a single drop to escape.

"Don't interfere with her, boy. Whoever you are, just wait quietly!"

Li Daogong regarded Li Hao with cold disdain; the boy's persistent pursuit of Su Muqing had deeply troubled him—after all, Su Muqing was the Lin family's daughter-in-law.

"Let me go!"

Li Hao's face darkened; his blood surged violently as he struggled to break free.

But the man was a Half-Imperial Monarch—the gap was too vast. Even an Immortal King could not resist him now, let alone a Half-Imperial Monarch who could crush an Immortal King with a mere gesture.

In response, the force shoved Li Hao back, hurling him toward the Su family's group.

"Hao Tian."

Su Wanqing stepped forward, her expression shifting; she fixed her gaze on Li Hao—was he truly willing to die for her sister?

She suddenly realized: perhaps they had all underestimated his feelings for Su Muqing, misunderstood his true intent.

Perhaps this boy had never lied from the start—he spoke the truth. He came only for Su Muqing herself, not for the Su family, not for cultivation.

"Hao Tian, wait. If you go, you'll only die."

Su Zhenyuan, watching Li Hao's actions, showed a faint, indescribable relief; though the boy's motives were impure, fixated on Su Muqing, his willingness to step forward for her moved him slightly.

Li Hao, however, seemed not to hear them; his eyes fixed on the Demon Ancestor's arena, where the sealing barrier had already closed.

His blood surged through his veins, throbbing and ready to explode, yet he was plunged into icy, absolute calm—staring at it all, as if his Primordial Spirit had separated from his body, a consciousness trembling within.

Must not… let her be harmed.

He didn't know—if the scene of the Southern Region battle replayed before him, whether he could still retain his reason.

At this moment, as Su Muqing stepped forward, the prodigies of the other clans subtly exhaled in relief.

Only Su Muqing could now resolve this crisis.

Otherwise, if one opponent slaughtered all human prodigies, it would truly become humanity's darkest day.

"It's the Su family's True Phoenix!"

"I've seen her portrait—I know her! Su Muqing!"

"They've already sent Su Muqing? Does that mean no one else can threaten the demonic beast?"

"Perhaps they intend for the Su family's True Phoenix to kill him outright—no chance for mercy!"

Across thirty-six thousand Immortal Cities, countless voices murmured—some rejoiced, some feared; what if Su Muqing lost too?

Inside the arena, the red-bearded one narrowed his eyes, studying Su Muqing's entrance.

He recognized this human girl—she was one of their key targets for elimination.

As the Soul Mirror outside the arena reflected her soul lifespan, it revealed: barely five hundred years.

Her soul lifespan was only half of the red-bearded one's—a vast disparity.

Seeing this, many tensed.

"Finally sending your real weapon?"

The red-bearded one grinned slightly, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust—not the same killing intent as before against Jiang Xuming, but a fierce hunger for consumption.

If he could devour this top-tier human bloodline, he would ascend further, break free from the elite ranks, and become truly invincible within his realm.

Su Muqing's gaze was deep and cold; she said nothing, made no reply—only flipped her palm, and a long sword shot out with a hiss, landing in her grip.

With thunder splitting the sky, the slaughter of this battle began.

Boom!

Su Muqing unleashed her ultimate limit; on her forehead, the Nine-Flower Nine-Order Immortal Seal emerged, and an ancient temporal force surged forth with her blade.

She channeled all her strength; time congealed, and in the span of a single breath, she overlapped her blade a thousand times.

As the blade struck, she reversed time itself, arriving at the red-bearded one's most defenseless moment.

The swordlight slashed through, obliterating time and space; the rending force of stacked dimensions tore his body into countless fragments, each buried within separate layers of void shards.

In the space of a single breath, the once-arrogant red-bearded one was dead again!

Countless onlookers held their breath, stunned, unable to believe it.

But there was no cheer—only tension.

Jiang Xuming had done the same: opened with a killing strike, only to be reversed. Would history repeat?

"Temporal Origin—Seventh Layer?!"

Outside the arena, the purple-robed man's expression changed; beside him, the golden-eyed man and the coldly beautiful woman both shifted their gazes.

Temporal Origin—though other prodigies could learn and cultivate it, including some with Nine-Flower Nine-Order Seals—

the depth of mastery varied greatly; the higher the level, the harder to advance. Most prodigies could only reach the point where they could condense their Immortal Seals, barely improving beyond that. Studying Temporal Origin consumed too much time and energy, with no guarantee of results.

As the most mysterious and ancient force among the Nine Orders, Time was unfathomable; merely mastering Temporal Origin to the Sixth Layer was enough to easily defeat many peers.

All Immortal arts, Imperial Bloodlines—before the manipulation of Time, they were mere puppets. No matter your techniques, if reversed to your infancy, would you not die?

The red-bearded man's body lay shattered; Jiang Xuming's earlier strike had not been in vain—it had revealed to Su Muqing the nature of the Spirit Blood's demonic form. She raised her hand, not drawing celestial energy through her Celestial Veins, but sealing and isolating all Immortal energy within the arena.

She did not expel the energy from the arena—that would restrict her own power.

She merely sealed it within another timeline.

In this present moment—where the red-bearded one died—no Immortal energy existed within the preceding and following ten minutes.

This was Su Muqing's deduction, based on the temporal energy fluctuations the red-bearded one had revealed earlier; she judged his Temporal Origin level to be no higher than Fifth Layer.

To be safe, she had moved the sealed energy to the timeline only reachable by Sixth Layer mastery.

Inside the arena, silence fell. Su Muqing stood motionless, surrounded by divine Immortal light, exuding unparalleled beauty and arrogance—as if she were the true True Phoenix of the world, gazing down upon the cosmos.

Time passed slowly—one minute, three minutes—the red-bearded one still did not reappear.

On countless faces, unrestrained joy and awe began to surface.

That once-formidable red-bearded one had been slain by a single swordstroke from Su Muqing.

The demonic prodigies on the deck all paled, staring at Su Muqing in shock.

If the red-bearded one fell, most of them would fall too.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Su Muqing's eyes shifted—light streamed into the arena, unmistakably a beam from a distant star.

Her expression changed: a top prodigy guarded by a star—this light brought a trace of immortal energy into the void.

In an instant, that immortal energy condensed rapidly, about to take the form of Chi Xu.

"Solidify!"

Su Muqing acted swiftly, freezing time, reversing it—she sought to turn life back into death!

But torrents of blood qi surged from Chi Xu's silhouette, forming endless blood qi that resisted the reversal of time.

His blood Dao primordial realm had just broken through to Primordial Seventh Layer, and reached mid-tier.

Under this boundless blood qi's erosion and resistance, the time primordial force could not pierce the sea of blood to reverse time; countless timelines were buried, impossible to find within the blood sea.

Quickly, using this blood qi as a guide, Chi Xu located his sealed immortal energy—the moment he touched it, his true body coalesced, and all his power returned.

Countless cheers abruptly ceased; Su Muqing's face turned icy. She hadn't expected him to survive this—she'd have to shatter the guarding star to kill him, but that required even greater power!

"Narrow escape…"

Chi Xu's face darkened, a chill gripping his heart—he'd nearly been unable to return. Had he not swallowed Jiang Xuming just in time, triggering his blood Dao's breakthrough and boosting his strength, he would have perished!

Had this woman been the first to face him, he would already be dead.

Thinking of this, a wave of dread washed over him, and his gaze turned fierce.

"Die!"

Chi Xu summoned his black cauldron and slammed it down toward Su Muqing.

Simultaneously, he swallowed several demonic pills—her single sword strike carried such power, it filled him with caution.

He no longer cared for self-damage; he ignited his spiritual blood, his aura surging rapidly to the peak of Immortal Lord realm, leaping from Seventh Layer straight to Tenth!

The black cauldron descended like Mount Tai; Su Muqing raised her hand, reversing time—but the surrounding spacetime was violently tugged by overwhelming force. Her reversal was limited; she could only rewind to the moment before Chi Xu's demonic pills and spiritual blood took effect. She struck again—swordlight lanced upward, splitting Chi Xu's body apart.

Boom!

Chi Xu's body split again—but this time, his shattered form sprayed thick clouds of blood mist toward Su Muqing.

Su Muqing's face changed—she tried to halt it, but it was too late; her entire body was drenched in blood.

A powerful primordial spirit assault surged straight into her mind-sea, targeting her primordial spirit.

"Die!"

Chi Xu roared with monstrous fury—two sword strikes had already shattered her will to fight. All his powers were no match for her Seventh Layer time primordial, so he resorted to a desperate primordial spirit clash.

Su Muqing's primordial spirit was strong too, but not vastly superior—when they collided, her spirit trembled violently. She swiftly slashed with time blades, each cut weakening his spirit further—but Chi Xu had gone mad, igniting his primordial spirit in self-immolation, combining it with the blood curse of his bloodline, leaving a deep mark on Su Muqing's primordial spirit.

Su Muqing's face turned pale; she froze time to heal rapidly—but the mark was like a curse, clinging like a leech, refusing to vanish.

This force continued to erode her primordial spirit, steadily weakening it—unless her father intervened.

But if she did that, she'd have to leave the arena.

Her expression darkened; she condensed her time primordial into a pseudo-domain, enveloping the mark, barely halting its erosion—yet only delaying it. The mark still crept inward, impossibly slow, leaving her stunned and heart-pounding.

Outside, Chi Xu's physical body lay shattered; Su Muqing swung her sword again, utterly annihilating him.

His primordial spirit was extinguished—no matter how much immortal energy remained, he could no longer reform his immortal body.

Long silence filled the arena. The purple-robed middle-aged man and Su Zhenyuan and others had already sensed Chi Xu's death.

"Seventh Layer time primordial…"

The purple-robed man gritted his teeth, face grim. This battle hadn't been as loud as Jiang Xuming's, but both sides unleashed their utmost strength—and the outcome was decided in an instant.

Prodigies never miss any chance to kill their opponent, even the tiniest opening.

Su Muqing's face was like frost; she lifted her gaze to the other demonic prodigies: "Who's next to die?"

Her voice was icy, echoing through the entire arena.

At that same moment, countless ecstatic cheers erupted across the Suzhou Imperial Star.

They won—the second battle, humanity won!

On the deck, the demonic prodigies' faces darkened. No one had expected Chi Xu to die—so quickly.

An Immortal Lord Seventh Layer had been slain by Su Muqing, a Seventh Layer.

"She bears the Soul-Eating Blood Curse left by Chi Xu. Even time primordial cannot seal it. If we prolong the fight, she will decay. Whoever goes next—just stall the battle."

The purple-robed man's eyes glowed like candles, piercing Su Muqing's condition as he turned to the others.

Hearing the name "Soul-Eating Blood Curse," the demonic prodigies paled, then exhaled in relief.

It seemed Chi Xu, though dead, had still contributed something.

"I'll go. Anyone else up there is just throwing their life away."

A demonic prodigy spoke coldly.

The purple-robed man glanced at him, thought for a moment, then nodded in approval.

He was one of the five top prodigies of this group—not inferior to Chi Xu, even slightly stronger.

The demonic prodigy stepped slowly into the Demon Ancestor Arena.

Before the thunderclap sounded, he already unleashed his power and aura—also Immortal Lord Seventh Layer, like Su Muqing.

His soul lifespan was only seven hundred years.

The moment the thunderclap rang, a nightmare force extended outward—his eyes turned purple-black; behind him, an ancient nightmare shadow emerged, grotesque in form, far clearer than the Grand Void God Jiang Xuming had summoned—clearly, his bloodline control surpassed Jiang Xuming's.

In an instant, the nightmare shadow opened its eyes—the entire arena was engulfed in purple-black light.

Su Muqing's primordial spirit shuddered; a drowsy, sinking sensation overwhelmed her.

She tried to activate time primordial reversal—but her body felt limp, powerless; she couldn't summon immortal energy or spiritual sense.

"No…"

Su Muqing's heart pounded violently—he'd unleashed his ultimate technique from the start. Had her primordial spirit not been strong enough, and had her time primordial not been constantly reversing the time around her, keeping her off the same timeline as him, she'd have collapsed right then and there.

He was cheating—using power beyond Immortal Lord realm.

Though this power only induced sleep, it made him nearly invincible within the same realm.

After all, if you fell asleep, you were at his mercy!

"I… I yield…"

She gritted her teeth, whispering those three words as her consciousness slipped into the nightmare—faint as a murmur.

Even outside the same timeline, his nightmare power could still affect her. Had her primordial spirit been unharmed, at peak condition, stretching her timeline further, she might have resisted—but now, it was too late.

Boom!

The sealing barrier shattered; two figures burst out simultaneously, rushing to Su Muqing's side.