Chapter 479: Rooted in the Earth, Slashing the Nascent Soul

The rampant afterwaves echoed through countless valleys.

They carried dust and smoke into the high sky.

The once-clear void was instantly obscured by ink-black clouds, and rain began to pour down with a roar.

The rainwater itself was black.

Between the ten thousand mountains, all was chaos.

Even amid the rain, countless wildfires continued to burn and rage in all directions.

The trembling of the earth ceased.

This stretch of void seemed to freeze in place.

Boom…

At some moment, an energy surge came from deep beneath the ground, and Jiang Yu burst into the void wearing a Daoist robe stained with ash.

In his hand, he carried a massive axe.

His hair hung wild and disheveled, yet his aura was terrifyingly potent.

"Hahahaha…" He laughed at the surrounding rain: "Dead… dead… finally dead!"

Yet the next instant, another energy surge.

Boom…

He He Pingsheng's body also erupted from beneath the earth and landed in the void.

In his hand, he held a blood-red tortoise shell.

Jiang Yu's previous strike, though powerful, had been blocked by him.

And He He Pingsheng had not even used the fifth-rank defensive talisman 【Earth Root Talisman】.

He blocked it with just the tortoise shell.

The defensive power of this tortoise shell once again shattered He He Pingsheng's understanding.

"You're still alive?" Jiang Yu's pupils contracted.

He He Pingsheng stood calmly in the void, his left hand gripping the tortoise shell, his right holding the Fangtian Halberd.

Flames slowly burned along the halberd's blade.

"Rest easy," He He Pingsheng said. "You will die before me…"

Jiang Yu said: "We can still negotiate!"

He He Pingsheng said: "You die first—then we can talk."

"Hahahaha…" Hearing He He Pingsheng's words, Jiang Yu could not help but laugh wildly in the wind and rain: "He He Pingsheng, He He Pingsheng—your growth has been hard-won. Today, I am willing to make peace with you, to become no longer enemies—that is for your own good!"

"Let us both swear an oath: never to be enemies again. What do you say?"

"Don't think your defense is so strong—just now, that was not even my strongest strike…"

"If I unleashed my ultimate attack, I might pay a price—but you would die without doubt!"

Jiang Yu looked at He He Pingsheng and swung his giant axe.

He He Pingsheng said calmly: "Funny—this defense is not even my strongest."

"Bring your ultimate strike down. See if I can withstand it."

Boom… boom…

In the gloomy sky, lightning flickered.

Bolts of lightning illuminated the void.

The two figures, separated by a hundred zhang, stood in the void, dwarfed like dust amid the crackling lightning.

"Good!"

Jiang Yu raised his axe: "I hope you do not regret your choice today!"

"I gave you a chance—you refused it yourself!"

Jiang Yu raised his divine axe high, then closed his eyes.

From his mouth poured forth again a complex, obscure incantation, incomprehensible even to listen to.

Suddenly, a beam of light descended from the sky.

It was a white light, neither too wide nor too narrow, perfectly enveloping Jiang Yu.

Boom…

The dark clouds in the void were split apart by this beam.

A colossal, crown-wearing humanoid shadow descended from the ninth heavens.

It was a person.

No…

Better said—it was a soul.

"Unfilial descendant of the mortal realm!" The shadow spoke, its voice vast and thunderous: "Why have you summoned me today?"

Jiang Yu opened his eyes, gazing reverently at the spectral figure: "Honored Ancestor, unworthy descendant Jiang Yu begs you to descend and possess me, to slay this villain!"

"If this villain lives, the fall of Da Qi draws near!"

"Oh?" The shadow turned, glancing toward He He Pingsheng, then said: "You cannot even handle a Nascent Soul fourth layer?"

"Sigh… these later generations are truly pitiful!"

"Yes!" Jiang Yu dared not argue, only replied: "This unworthy descendant is incompetent!"

"Very well," the shadow said. "I shall possess your body and grant you one divine technique—this strike will equal three times your normal combat power."

"But possession defies heaven too greatly—afterward, you will be unable to use your magic power for ten years."

"Do you understand?"

Jiang Yu said: "Disciple understands."

"Good, good, good…"

The shadow uttered three "goods," then dissolved into a golden light that streaked across the night sky and struck Jiang Yu's body.

The next instant, Jiang Yu opened his eyes: "Hahahaha… what a powerful feeling!"

"He He Pingsheng, at this moment, my cultivation base equals Nascent Soul seventh layer!"

"I have entered the late stage!"

"You… will die!"

In the Nascent Soul realm, each level was a different heaven.

With every level gained, combat power multiplied.

And now Jiang Yu had leapt directly from early-stage Nascent Soul to the seventh level of the late stage.

"Divine Axe… Nine Cuts…"

Jiang Yu roared.

The axe in his hand suddenly flew upward into the sky.

Simultaneously, the axe grew larger and larger.

Ten zhang!

Twenty zhang!

Fifty zhang!

One hundred zhang.

Two hundred zhang!

Three hundred zhang!

Finally, a three-hundred-zhang axe hovered a thousand zhang above He He Pingsheng's head.

Even before the divine axe struck, a mysterious force locked onto He He Pingsheng.

Preventing him from moving from his spot.

"Hahahaha…" Jiang Yu laughed. "Die… die!"

Yet He He Pingsheng slowly reached into his storage ring, pulled out a talisman, activated it with a thought, and pressed it onto his body.

Fifth-rank talisman: Earth Root Talisman.

Boom…

The instant He He Pingsheng affixed the Earth Root Talisman to himself, a thunderous roar erupted from the earth below.

Then, in Jiang Yu's terrified gaze, the earth itself trembled.

A mountain peak rose from the ground, swiftly ascending, perfectly positioning itself beneath He He Pingsheng's feet.

In effect, He He Pingsheng—who had been standing in the void—now stood atop the summit of a great mountain.

"This…!" Jiang Yu was utterly stunned: "What kind of divine technique is this?"

He He Pingsheng ignored him.

For above, the axe had already forged a golden blade of light, crashing down toward his head.

Boom…

The axe-light struck.

Yet a miraculous thing occurred.

When the immense force struck He He Pingsheng, it inflicted not a single scratch—heavenly power passed through his body and flowed directly into the vast mountain range beneath him.

Crucially, the mountain was not shattered; instead, the force traveled along its structure and sank deep into the earth.

Then, the second axe!

Third axe!

Fourth axe…

The axe lights above descended one after another.

He He Pingsheng channeled each of these axe lights into the earth.

Jiang Yu stared in shock.

Then, after the nine axe lights had fallen, He He Pingsheng remained unharmed.

Yet at this moment, Jiang Yu had lost all his magic power.

Ten years!

For ten years, magic power cannot be used.

"Friend, let us speak reasonably—I am willing…"

Pfft…

Before Jiang Yu could finish his sentence, a black long spear pierced straight through his body.

The fleeing Liuliying was naturally and effortlessly claimed by He He Pingsheng.