Chapter 801: Half-Step Emperor

"He Pingsheng… I'll give you a chance!"

"I won't hide anything from you…"

"You can surrender now!"

"Surrender the Heavenly Dao Slave Seal now… you still have a chance to live… but if I unleash the full killing potential of this array… you will die without doubt…"

Yun Yi, spear in one hand, sword in the other, stared coldly at He Pingsheng!

"I won't hide anything from you… I'll tell you a secret!"

Yun Yi continued: "The power of this array has not been pushed to its limit. Once fully activated, I will gain true Half-Emperor power!"

"Half-Emperor… killing you is as easy as slaughtering a chicken!"

"At that point, you will die without doubt!"

"Of course, I don't want you dead—I hope you'll willingly surrender the Slave Seal…"

"You don't want me dead?" He Pingsheng sneered coldly: "I understand… after you activate the array's full power, it will backfire on you, won't it?"

"Otherwise, why would you be so kind?"

Yun Yi's face darkened: "Correct… so what?"

"Once this array reaches its peak, with our twelve cultivators' strength, we can only sustain it for half a stick of incense!"

"After half a stick of incense, the array will collapse!"

"Our cultivation bases will regress!"

"Indeed, the cost will be terrible!"

"But killing you… is an undeniable fact…"

"I'll ask you one last time…"

"Will you surrender the Slave Seal?"

"Surrender your grandpa!" He Pingsheng's Primordial Purple Gold Staff instantly transformed into a black spear, which he thrust straight at Yun Yi.

The black spear stretched to five hundred zhang!

Along its pitch-black shaft, nine-colored runes—green, gold, red—flashed in sequence, radiating dazzling light.

Like living vines, they spread across He Pingsheng's divine spear.

Vast killing intent ignited the void; wave after wave of pressure locked onto Yun Yi!

"Kill!" He Pingsheng roared, his entire body merging into the black divine spear.

Technique: Ten Thousand Annihilations Return to Origin!

This was He Pingsheng's strongest strike.

Ten Thousand Annihilations Return to Origin—man and spear as one!

He didn't know how strong this strike was.

But he knew that even a Body Integration mid-stage cultivator would die or be crippled by it.

"So strong…" Yun Yi drew a deep breath: "He Pingsheng… no wonder you're the first among humans!"

"No—you're the strongest among Void Refinement cultivators on the Flame Continent!"

"But… so what?"

"Gather!"

Boom…

Infinite energy within the array surged like a tidal ocean, pouring into Yun Yi's body.

At that moment, the surrounding spacetime shifted—time itself seemed to slow.

He Pingsheng's strike could not reach its target.

Meanwhile, Yun Yi's body slowly expanded.

Ten zhang!

A hundred zhang!

Three hundred zhang!

Five hundred zhang!

Eight hundred zhang.

One thousand zhang!

A golden phoenix, its body exceeding a thousand zhang, completely filled the void.

This was the Divine Art: Manifesting the Great Form—also the Half-Emperor Golden Body fueled by the array.

The ferocious phoenix thrust its left-hand spear straight at He Pingsheng.

The crimson spear clashed with the black divine spear.

A blinding flash of light erupted throughout the array.

Everyone within the array—including the Body Integration cultivators sustaining it—were momentarily blinded by the dazzling radiance.

After the brief flash, they saw the black divine spear recoil violently, then crash to the ground.

Meanwhile, Yun Yi's crimson spear shattered into two pieces.

Destroyed!

Boom…

The black divine spear struck the earth.

Another mountain peak split open.

He Pingsheng stepped out of the spear, pale-faced, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood.

Yun Yi's artifact was too weak—it was instantly destroyed by the energy backlash.

But He Pingsheng himself had been blasted backward.

He was at a disadvantage.

Not just at a disadvantage—he was severely wounded.

"Again…"

After discarding his left spear, Yun Yi paid no mind—he raised his sword and slashed toward He Pingsheng.

The blade-light became a blinding crimson thread, piercing heaven and earth, slicing through the void toward He Pingsheng's head.

Before the blade-light arrived, its sword intent already pinned He Pingsheng in place.

He Pingsheng knew he could not withstand this strike.

It was too strong.

As Yun Yi had said, this attack exceeded Body Integration power.

Though not as terrifying as Mahayana Emperor-level force, a Half-Emperor strike was still beyond his capacity to block.

The key problem? His turtle shell wasn't here.

"Open…!"

He Pingsheng unleashed every ounce of strength, channeling his magic power and blood qi in a violent burst, shattering the sword qi seals around him with a single stomp.

He activated the Divine Art: Three Thousand Thundering Steps—his speed instantly quintupled.

With quintupled speed, his body vanished in an instant.

But even then, it was too late.

The blade-light grazed his right leg, slicing clean through his calf.

Puff…

Blood blossomed in the void.

Due to his body refinement, He Pingsheng's body was extraordinarily tough.

This strike didn't sever his leg—but it cut deep into flesh, shattering the tibia.

"Aaah…" He Pingsheng screamed in agony.

So painful!

Again!

The second sword descended from afar.

Pshhh!

His left arm was carved open by a deep gash.

"Hahahaha…" In the void, Yun Yi did not press further—he waved his hand and produced a jade slip: "Tsk, tsk, tsk… the human prodigy isn't so impressive after all… today, watch how I torture you to death…"

"But if I don't preserve this battle as a recording, wouldn't that be a shame?"

"When I later torment Su Zhen, I'll make her lie beneath me while she watches your pathetic form!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… just imagining it excites me… hahaha…"

…

On the other side!

A thousand li away, atop a mountain peak!

A golden divine banner, a thousand zhang tall, pierced the clouds; streams of spatial power cascaded down from its surface.

"Hahahaha…" Kongkong Crown Prince laughed loudly: "Feng Wu, did you see that?"

"Done!"

"This time, He Pingsheng is definitely dead!"

"He's finished. But even Yun Yi is monstrous—he actually thought of this trick: riding his own cultivator's partner while making her watch his brutal killing!"

"Tsk tsk tsk... Yun Yi is ruthless, insane!"

Though separated by a thousand li, their spiritual senses could easily observe the scene over there.

Feng Wu said: "I think He Pingsheng will turn things around soon—he's hiding his true strength... Kongkong Crown Prince, take another close look!"

"Huh?" Kongkong Crown Prince blinked, then turned his head and sent his spiritual sense sweeping over again.

But at that very moment, he suddenly felt a numbness at his back.

He turned around and saw two purple poison thorns embedded in his body—he didn't know when they had pierced him.

Kongkong Crown Prince flew into a rage: "Feng Wu... you... you..."

"You traitor!"