Chapter 1259: Ashes to Nothing

The immortal artifacts wrapped around the Azure Edge Sword were all meticulously refined treasures by Ying Tian Xian, and he felt his immortal artifact shattering layer by layer.

Even the small world within the innermost Azure Edge Sword was violently shaking, the earth trembling and mountains swaying.

Jiang Ping'an felt that the barrier forged with national fortune was suffering inhumane abuse, a sight too horrible to behold.

The spherical barrier, under the impact of self-destruction, twisted and stretched upward and downward, like dough on a chopping board being kneaded at will.

Jiang Ping'an and Zhongtian Emperor Jun watched with hearts pounding, finally understanding why others had reacted so strongly just moments before.

Those who ran too slow ended up following in Yao Sheng's dust,

Inside the barrier, only Yao Sheng remained—his body covered in wounds, spitting immortal blood, his immortal gold armor shattered into pieces by the self-destruction, fragments embedded in his flesh; from ancient times to now, he had never suffered such severe injuries.

But in the end, he endured it.

Immediately afterward, he saw the blood mist floating in the air after the self-destruction recondense into Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss Yun Zhi's body—the immortal maiden radiant and lively, having never felt so refreshed from self-destruction before.

Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss Yun Zhi, however, had a somewhat strange expression—this was her first time experiencing the taste of self-destruction, and it was utterly embarrassing.

Had she known it would come to this, she would have rather not borrowed her body and dealt with Yao Sheng herself.

Before preparing for the second round of self-destruction, the Immortal Maiden glanced down at the lone Azure Edge Sword stuck in the ground.

As for the scattered remnants of immortal artifacts beside the Azure Edge Sword, they were automatically disregarded.

Granting the Azure Edge Sword an immortal state was a rule she had bestowed upon it prior to the self-destruction.

Besides the Azure Edge Sword, she had also bestowed the immortal state upon the Shan Du space and the barrier.

"Again!"

Since she had already vented enough with her fists earlier, she might as well finish it cleanly!

The Immortal Maiden once again radiated dazzling light, undergoing a second self-destruction—so swift that Yao Sheng didn't even have the chance to speak or cast a spell, only able to silently recite in his heart.

【Absolute Defense】

Black mist condensed, layer upon layer of immortal gold tightly wrapping Yao Sheng.

But it was useless.

The second self-destruction scattered the black mist, tore apart the immortal gold, and blasted Yao Sheng's immortal body into a thousand holes.

Those within the Azure Edge Sword's small world found this particularly strange—they were not surprised that Yao Sheng couldn't withstand the self-destruction, but rather astonished that the Azure Edge Sword remained unharmed amidst the explosion!

After all, the first self-destruction had utterly destroyed three spatial-type immortal artifacts!

"Is Wu Yao's artifact refinement skill stronger than mine?"

Ying Tian Xian was the most affected—his reputation as the Ancestor of Artifact Refinement now seemed inferior to that of later immortals.

【You Are Abandoned by the Five Elements】

The Nine Heavens Auspicious Soil, Jian Mu, Weak Water, Heavenly Fire, and Essence of Five Metals reappeared, this time aiming to completely seal the Immortal Maiden.

But in the face of absolute power, even attacking was a luxury.

As soon as these five-element immortal artifacts came into being, before they could display any power, they were blown into dust by the self-destruction's impact, their immortal essence completely lost.

【Spring Return】

Yao Sheng's inner words equated to possessing the Dao Fruit of Spring Return, his injuries healing at incredible speed.

Yet no matter how fast he recovered, he couldn't match the Immortal Maiden's self-destruction speed!

"Has the self-destruction stopped?"

During the self-destruction, the people inside the Azure Edge Sword's small world dared not extend their immortal senses outward—doing so would result in shattering, seeing nothing.

Now that the Azure Edge Sword had stopped trembling, they extended their divine senses and saw that Yao Sheng's immortal body was not only completely obliterated, but even his three souls and seven spirits, along with his foundation, were shattered beyond repair—like a torn sack, utterly powerless.

"Immortal, good, you're doing very well!""

Yao Sheng gritted his teeth, revealing a resentful expression.

In this battle, he had lost utterly and completely—indeed, his earlier successful sneak attack must have been because the Immortal Maiden was in some strange state at that time?

But the matter wasn't over yet.

"Immortal, don't think only you can self-destruct!"

Yao Sheng likewise emitted light from his body, mirroring the Immortal Maiden's earlier state—clearly preparing to self-destruct as well!

"Oh no, he's trying to escape!" Lu Yang realized, shouting urgently,

Yao Sheng, even at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, could feign death to escape through words becoming law—so as an immortal, he certainly could do the same!

Lu Yang even suspected Yao Sheng could maintain two instances of words becoming law simultaneously in the same spacetime, this feigned-death escape technique always active!

Yao Sheng laughed loudly, knowing his methods—what could they do about it? Did they even have countermeasures?

"Under heaven's vast expanse, where could I not go? To catch me, only Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss Yun Zhi voluntarily uniting with the Dao would suffice!"

"Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss Yun Zhi, dare you unite with the Dao!"

Either he self-destructs to escape to heaven, or Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss Yun Zhi takes the path of uniting with the Dao as payment, becoming the Azure Heaven to seek his traces!

Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss Yun Zhi's disdainful attitude enraged him—did he really think he was that easy to manipulate?

In this dilemma, let's see how you make your choice!

Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss Yun Zhi still regarded Yao Sheng with that same look of contempt, silent, without a trace of panic—her method for handling such situations had already been discussed with the Immortal Maiden during battle.

At that moment, the Immortal Maiden suddenly pulled out a hoe from behind her, aiming straight at Yao Sheng's head, leaving only a shallow mark.

Yao Sheng, however, showed a look of terror: "This, this is——"

The hoe was utterly ordinary, without any distinctive features, just like the hoe an old farmer uses in the fields.

Coincidentally, Lu Yang had seen this hoe before, and its owner stood right beside him.

Lu Yang turned to look at Jiang Ping'an: "Is this the hoe that senior often uses?"

The old-farmer-dressed Jiang Ping'an chuckled: "This isn't a hoe—it's the Supreme Sword."

"Supreme Sword!?"

Lu Yang suddenly recalled—during the Qingzhou celebration, when the Great Yu Tribulation Transcendence cultivators attacked, the Qingzhou Governor had used the illusion of the Supreme Sword, directly causing the Great Yu Tribulation Transcendence cultivators' rules to fail.

The Supreme Sword's phantom already has such ability—could it be that...

"The true power of the Supreme Sword is to nullify the Dao Fruit!!"

Jiang Ping'an humbly smiled: "Not quite that exaggerated. It depends on the opponent's strength—the stronger they are, the shorter the nullification lasts. This Yao Sheng is so strong, I'd estimate it only nullifies him for five seconds."

Lu Yang glanced sideways—during immortal battles, even a slight lapse in breathing can decide victory or defeat.

Nullifying the Dao Fruit for five seconds is already terrifying enough.

Jiang Ping'an truly isn't skilled in combat; even wielding the Supreme Sword doesn't change that, so he prefers lending it to immortals who excel in battle.

"But why is the Supreme Sword a hoe?" Lu Yang asked. If the hoe weren't so effective, he would never have associated a hoe with the Supreme Sword under any circumstances.

Other immortals also wanted to know the reason.

Jiang Ping'an rolled his eyes—it's a simple question: "Everyone knows my Supreme Sword is dangerous, so if I draw it, wouldn't the opponent be on guard?"

"In that case, why not change the Supreme Sword's appearance?"

"Look at this effect—it's pretty good, Yao Sheng didn't even react."

The self-detonation process is irreversible. Yao Sheng felt unable to use his Speak-as-You-Will Dao Fruit, felt his escape methods fail, and could only watch helplessly as his body glowed, sinking into despair.

Boom—ashes scattered, smoke vanished.