Chapter 946: A Great Master and True Refinement (Combined)

In the starry void of the Star Ruin, the True Lord of Punishment was faintly concealed within the void, gazing far into the distance.

The distance was still too great—tens of thousands of li away—nothing visible, nothing detectable.

Yet with his cultivation base as a True Lord who had shattered the Twelve Limits, he could still faintly sense a faint fluctuation.

It was a force that made his heart tremble.

It was the surge of Forbidden Domain power unique to Emperor-level cultivators—the very thing he aspired to.

With this fluctuation appearing, it meant the Jade Kui Emperor had already acted.

Then his moment of reaping would soon arrive.

Originally, he should have waited for the Jade Kui Emperor to complete his task, then received a message and collected Xu Jin as the captive at the agreed location.

But he was slightly worried.

The Jade Kui Emperor was a cunning and calculating man.

He knew Xu Jin had been captured alive, and would surely suspect Xu Jin possessed something valuable.

The Jade Kui Emperor knowing about the Thunder Chaos Material was no issue.

Even if he knew, he couldn’t use it.

But any information regarding the Seven Killings True Lord must never be uncovered by the Jade Kui Emperor.

If the Jade Kui Emperor learned Xu Jin was the Seven Killings’ heir, he would surely deduce that Xu Jin’s capture was for the Seven Killings’ secret techniques.

Then, it would become a weakness the Jade Kui Emperor could exploit.

For the Seven Killings True Lord was a taboo even within the Tongxuan Region, and throughout the entire Dala Ancestral Court.

Thus, the True Lord of Punishment had arrived early.

He waited only for the moment the Jade Kui Emperor captured Xu Jin, to receive him immediately.

As for how he tracked his position—he naturally had his own methods.

Emperors were powerful, their status high, but the master of the Tongxuan Region was the Dongxuan Emperor, and he was a close minister of the Emperor’s inner circle.

Whatever the Jade Kui Emperor could offer his subordinates, he could offer too.

But what he could offer, the Jade Kui Emperor could not.

Under these circumstances, having the Seven-Cycle Space True Lord Shen Zhenxuan carry something to continuously guide his position was a simple, effortless matter.

“No matter how extraordinary Xu Jin is, once the Jade Kui acts, he’ll be captured within one or two breaths—should be close by now.”

As he pondered, the True Lord of Punishment focused his senses on the object he had given Shen Zhenxuan to guide his direction.

Simultaneously resonating with the Thunder Primordial Rule, he accelerated toward it.

But suddenly, the True Lord of Punishment’s vanished form tumbled out of the void, his face instantly filled with stunned disbelief.

Gone!

The directional marker he had given Shen Zhenxuan had vanished entirely.

In an instant, the True Lord of Punishment’s eyes filled with endless suspicion.

Even if the Jade Kui Emperor had discovered the directional marker, why destroy it outright?

There was no need.

The next instant, the True Lord of Punishment’s divine sense sank into his Numinous Space—and his face turned drastically pale.

Inside the Numinous Space, the blood-sealed message talisman Shen Zhenxuan had crafted had silently shattered.

It was a backup positioning and communication method.

When activated, it could not only sense Shen Zhenxuan’s location but also transmit simple messages through a special means.

But now, it was shattered!

Usually, it shattered only when its owner died!

Had Shen Zhenxuan died?

Killed by the Jade Kui Emperor?

Impossible!

Destroying the directional marker was plausible, but killing him outright meant openly turning against him.

Impossible!

Suddenly, a warning pricked the True Lord of Punishment’s heart.

“When dealing with Emperor-level cultivators, caution comes first!” The Jade Kui Emperor was an Emperor—his presence could attract the attention of alien Emperor-level cultivators.

If so, then…

Without hesitation, the True Lord of Punishment resonated with the Thunder Law, fleeing swiftly.

“Master, I’ve found an old friend!” On the other side, Xu Jin, who had just sensed the True Lord of Punishment fifteen thousand li away through Ming Qian Touch, said to the Wind-Hua Emperor.

“Oh? An old friend? Who?” The Wind-Hua Emperor’s tone sharpened.

“The True Lord of Punishment mentioned by the Jade Kui Emperor!”

“Where?”

At that moment, Xu Jin, still actively activating Ming Qian Touch, suddenly narrowed his eyes and cried, “Master, he’s sensed something—he’s retreating rapidly!”

“Lead the way!”

As the Wind-Hua Emperor spoke those three crisp words, Xu Jin’s form vanished from the spot.

Simultaneously, the Du-Yue Emperor followed, taking the Wind-Hua Emperor with him, while the Wind-Hua Emperor had just pulled out the Jade Kui Emperor’s Numinous Space.

Five breaths later, Xu Jin stepped out into another patch of Star Ruin’s starry void.

The moment he appeared, he felt the torrential surge of Thunder Primordial Rule, vast as great rivers and oceans.

He had already reached the True Lord of Punishment’s front.

The True Lord of Punishment was rushing toward him at high speed.

A golden crescent moon abruptly appeared!

Boom!

Caught off-guard, the True Lord of Punishment slammed headfirst into the suddenly rising golden crescent.

Dizzy and blinded for an instant, his vertical eye opened, blasting forth lightning like plasma—and in a single flash, shattered Xu Jin’s Lunar Eclipse Technique!

Xu Jin’s eyes flickered slightly—Twelve-Cycle Broken-Limit True Lord, his power was truly formidable!

“Xu Jin!”

The True Lord of Punishment had recognized Xu Jin; his face twisted in shock, even fear flickering in his eyes.

He was not terrified of Xu Jin appearing here.

He was terrified of the Jade Kui!

The Jade Kui Emperor had already moved against Xu Jin—but now, Xu Jin had come to him directly.

Then where was the Jade Kui Emperor?

Were there other Emperors?

Did Xu Jin have other Emperors behind him?

In an instant, cold dread gripped the True Lord of Punishment’s heart and spine.

At that same instant, Xu Jin had already prepared his next move.

Boom!

Twenty-seven Rule Arts, accelerated by Time, struck simultaneously.

At that same moment, Xu Jin’s gaze sharpened—the power within the Time Star Tower abruptly halved.

Time slowed.

Though only slowed by twenty percent, its effect in battle was unmistakable.

Even as Xu Jin’s twenty-seven Rule Arts rained down, the True Lord of Punishment had yet to unleash his own Rule Arts—his Divine Punishment Thunder Eye had even slowed slightly.

Only when Xu Jin’s Four Strikes of Thunder Ash struck his core weapon, the Thunder Hammer, shattering it into pieces, did the True Lord of Punishment’s Thunder Eye finally unleash its plasma.

But it was too late.

Xu Jin’s twenty-seven Rule Arts had already struck him simultaneously.

Worse still, the True Lord of Punishment’s Thunder Eye, though unleashed, was aimed at Xu Jin.

It was an offensive strike.

Not a defensive one.

Precisely put, the moment Xu Jin appeared, the True Lord of Punishment’s first reaction was to attack!

Not to defend.

He never considered full defense.

He intended to attack and annihilate Xu Jin!

He had never imagined Xu Jin possessed Time power.

And that he had applied Time Slow on him.

He sensed a strange force, but in the flash of lightning, there was no time to think—he poured all his strength into offense, determined to kill Xu Jin.

But this move was a mistake—and correcting it was already too late.

Xu Jin’s Time Acceleration gave him no chance.

As the twenty-seven Rule Arts struck in succession, the True Lord of Punishment’s only defenses were his protective starlight, his weapon-grade battle armor, and one other instinctive protective weapon.

Undeniably, the True Lord of Punishment, as a close minister of the Emperor, possessed top-tier treasures, and his reactions were swift.

Under the barrage, the protective starlight shattered, the weapon-grade armor shattered, the instinctive protective weapon shattered—but in the fleeting moment these treasures bought, the True Lord of Punishment spat blood furiously and finally activated a primary defensive Earth Rule Art.

He barely endured the majority of the Rule Art barrage.

But in the end, he was frozen solid by the final burst of Ice Mire.

In the instant he was frozen, the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment did not fear—he rejoiced.

This was his chance to turn defeat into victory.

In an instant, the Heavenly Punishment Thunder Eye opened again, and the deep blue ice encasing him began melting rapidly.

But silently, hundreds of Star Spore Mushrooms had already infiltrated the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment’s skin beneath the Ice Mire.

At the very moment the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment shattered the ice, the hundreds of Star Spore Mushrooms blazed with starlight.

In an instant, they surged upward at breakneck speed.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of massive, glittering starlight mushrooms sprouted across the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment’s body.

BOOM!

The color drained instantly from the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment’s face.

That bizarre burst of Star Art siphoned away eighty percent of his star power.

Now, as it exploded, even under his instinctive defense, all his star power was completely drained.

A sense of utter helplessness rose in his heart.

It made the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment nearly want to give up.

But the will forged over decades still drove him to instinctively swallow a spirit pill.

Golden crescent starlight instantly wrapped around him.

Xu Jin’s Eclipse Technique trapped him once more.

At that very moment, the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment, who had just raised the eleventh-rank spirit pill to swallow, froze as two figures suddenly appeared before him.

Despair!

Utter, complete despair.

Two Emperor-level experts!

And both were Mid-Forbidden Emperors.

Moreover, with his skill in reading people, he saw at a glance that these two sudden Mid-Forbidden Emperors were deeply connected to Xu Jin.

Almost intimately so.

Because Xu Jin showed no surprise at their arrival—only delight.

After they appeared, they looked only at him, not at Xu Jin.

The True Lord of Heavenly Punishment understood.

Done for!

He had no hope left!

Today, he would die!

He slowly lowered the spirit pill he had just raised to restore his star power, and the divine soul aura rising around him dissipated.

Xu Jin had already prepared his second wave of Rule Art combos.

He had intended to obliterate the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment in one blow, but suddenly, Master Fenghua Emperor’s gaze fixed on the thunder eye on the True Lord’s brow, and he spoke, “Jin’er, wait.”

Since his master had spoken, Xu Jin naturally halted his attack.

With his master and mistress, both Emperors, present, there was no danger of the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment turning the tide—Xu Jin instantly dissolved the twenty-seven prepared Rule Art combos.

Especially when he dismissed the Wood Rule Art—the Star Spore Mushrooms—he felt satisfied.

The Star Spore Mushrooms’ power had exceeded his expectations.

Its direct damage was weak, but it could drain an enemy’s star power entirely.

In battle, that kind of strike was devastating.

“Was it you who killed Yu Kun? May I ask your name?” The True Lord of Heavenly Punishment, having abandoned resistance, asked openly.

At the same moment, the Lone Moon Emperor waved his hand, and the space around them seemed to be plucked from this star wasteland.

It was the Lone Moon Emperor who had sealed off the area.

“True Lord of Heavenly Punishment, my disciple Xu Jin has no grievance against you—why have you repeatedly tried to kill him?” Fenghua Emperor asked.

“My disciple?”

The True Lord of Heavenly Punishment looked from Xu Jin to Fenghua Emperor; his shock slowly turned to a bitter smile.

He was utterly speechless.

Dammit, Xu Jin, you’ve got two such terrifying Emperor masters behind you—why didn’t you say so earlier?

If you had, I’d have licked your boots before you even asked—how would I dare oppose you?

But now that things had come to this, the regret in the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment’s heart was beyond description.

He was far more skilled at reading minds and had already formed a crystal-clear judgment of this moment.

No chance of survival!

He would not live today.

No matter what value he offered or what terms he proposed, they would never grant him a path to life.

As long as he lived, he was a grave threat.

He wanted to live—but there was no way.

So he could only settle for second best.

“Your disciple stole a Thunder Chaos Material from me. With it, my Heavenly Punishment Thunder Eye could reach full maturity,” the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment said with a smile.

Fenghua Emperor turned to Xu Jin, who gave a slight nod—confirmation.

But Fenghua Emperor asked again, “There’s more, isn’t there?

The cost of hiring an Emperor to act for you must be nearly equal to the value of a Chaos Material.”

“Naturally,” the True Lord of Heavenly Punishment replied calmly.