Chapter 167: Golden Radiance

To resist Wu Shi's Secret Art's control over time, Jiang Xuan could only drag life force from the Micro World to maintain his body's basic state.

And in this repeated process, every cell in Jiang Xuan's body, supported by Xuanhuang Mother Qi, faintly glowed as it absorbed this power of time, and his resistance to Wu Shi's Secret Art grew higher and higher.

"Damn it! This time the Heavenly Tribulation indirectly helped him increase his strength again!"

Although Jiang Xuan had been injured all along, his physical constitution was growing crazily; now the Heavenly Dao Eye must be even angrier!

Indeed!

The Heavenly Dao Eye drew closer; the youthful figure that had been feeding moves suddenly retreated several hundred meters, raising his brow slightly as he looked at the Heavenly Dao Eye.

"Isn't that too stingy! You're taking back your power just like that?"

The youthful figure gradually turned illusory, turned his head to look at Jiang Xuan, his eyes carrying an appreciative gaze: "Your Dao is quite interesting!"

Before the youth could finish speaking, the figure had already dissipated, leaving only a meaningful gaze.

The Heavenly Tribulation condensed again in the sky, only a few hundred square in size; the light within was completely hidden, and the dense Thunder Clouds were only a step away from above his head!

Jiang Xuan sensed a message, or rather an attitude, from that gloomy Heavenly Tribulation!

This is the final Heavenly Tribulation! If the Heavenly Dao still cannot annihilate him this time, then the Heavenly Dao has no right to act again!

The dark clouds gradually gathered and condensed; within the shadows, a figure appeared again, surrounded by condensed lightning flames, also carrying a faint sense of rot.

The originally condensed pitch-black figure turned faint and transparent the moment the figure appeared; all kinds of lightning within completely integrated into the suddenly appearing lightning shadow, and even the oppressive feeling of the Heavenly Dao Eye weakened greatly!

Jiang Xuan frowned and looked at the shadow standing in the sky; it showed no aura on its body, but gave him a sense of rot!

This rotten aura was different from the Corruption Lord's rule that purely corroded everything; instead, it revealed a strange, invasive spreading nature like the Fallen Mother Nest.

Because of the shrinking of the Heavenly Tribulation, not only Jiang Xuan saw this figure, but even the few people still paying attention to this Heavenly Tribulation furrowed their brows.

"Pollution is coming! A great change in Tian Di! Is it pure darkness, or is darkness merely hiding even more terrifying existences?" A filthy old madman sat slumped on the street corner, his eyes vacant as he looked at the sky, muttering to himself.

The figure in the sky finally solidified, looking at Jiang Xuan with a ghostly green light in his eyes; there was not a trace of lively thought in his eyes, only boundless bloodthirst and madness—a person parasitized by madness!

When that figure looked at Jiang Xuan, Jiang Xuan also truly saw the other's face clearly.

It was a gaunt, rotting face, where one could vaguely see the skeleton on his face, sunken eye sockets, and a mouth split and pulled to the ear roots, as if wantonly mocking this world!

Originally Jiang Xuan thought the lightning flames burning around him were power controlled by the other, but now he discovered these lightning flames were like a great net, deeply imprinted on his body's skeleton, faintly restraining the other's ability!

The Heavenly Dao was actually restricting the other's power!

"No! Compared to me, this guy looks like something easier to be sanctioned by the Heavenly Dao no matter how you look at it!" Jiang Xuan couldn't help but retort; he didn't look like a person at all!

The figure condensed by the Heavenly Tribulation above his head instantly disappeared from Yuan Di, and with a tightened fist, appeared beside Jiang Xuan!

Jiang Xuan dared not be negligent; all his magic weapons disappeared from his Dantian!

Red, black-and-white, golden, and other lights flickered within every cell structure, propping up his initially formed Great Dao Body!

One punch boomed out; the space around his fist was instantly torn apart, and endless momentum collided with the other's body!

This strike could annihilate stars!

The aftermath of their collision scattered like a Great Sun; countless people in the Great Wilderness raised their heads to look at the sky—just now, for a moment, the light suddenly seemed too dazzling!

Jiang Xuan's body suddenly retreated to dissipate the impact force; he discovered his hand joints actually faintly ached!

You must know that although his Dao Body had just begun to appear, only the Eight Trigrams Furnace and Xuanhuang Mother Qi Pagoda had begun to condense Daojie within it, but he dared say that in this strongest state, even a Great Sage would need to expend considerable strength to injure him!

Before he could examine his hand joints, that figure actually forcibly stopped his retreat momentum, riding the powerful shockwave to charge forward again, appearing before Jiang Xuan, turning his fist into a claw!

"Boom!"

A meteorite the size of the North Wasteland not far away shattered into two halves under the collision's shockwave!

Fortunately, Jiang Xuan knew to decisively stay away from populated areas after the tribulation, and would not injure people from their collision.

But people in the Great Wilderness were not completely unaware; at this moment, many looked at the clear sky with doubt—how could a star twinkle in broad daylight, its light sometimes even obscuring the Great Sun's radiance?

At this moment, Jiang Xuan's gaze grew increasingly grave; the other was like a machine that would not be injured or tired, attacking madly, with no thought in his mind other than killing!

And as their battle continued, the other's power grew stronger and stronger, and the lightning flames on his body grew brighter and brighter, as if forcibly restraining changes in his body.

After withstanding another collision, he finally had time to glance at his hand!

On his hand joints, a Dao Pattern of an unprecedented corruption was eroding his flesh and bones like a Gu worm!

As they collided, this Dao Pattern became more obvious on his body, and the erosion speed grew faster and faster.

You must know that with the fusion of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, the furnace fire had also fused with every one of his cells; all corrupting power should have been food for the furnace fire, but now cells empowered by the furnace fire were being eroded by this power, without any effect at all!

That could only mean one thing: this corrupting power was far more profound than the Dao currently possessed by Jiang Xuan's Eight Trigrams Furnace!

The furnace fire was essentially part of the Eight Trigrams Furnace; since the Dao of the Eight Trigrams Furnace could not resist this power, the furnace fire naturally had no ability to absorb this corruption.

Shen Ming? A corrupted Shen Ming!

Jiang Xuan collided with the other again, disbelief in his eyes.

This corrupting characteristic made him think of the strange Immortal Emperor above Shang Cang, who loved to pollute those about to break through to Immortal Emperor, but this power should not appear here, nor should it appear in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao!

Exactly where did the problem lie!

Jiang Xuan could no longer care about the pain of corrosion on his hand, but instead recalled this Zhetian World!

After the Desolate Heaven Emperor severed the ages with one sword, dividing the Boundary Sea and Shang Cang's connection, leaving a perfect world for the Boundary Sea, the Great Dao had a flaw and one could not become an immortal; the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths became the Zhetian World, and the Heavenly Dao was born from the Great Dao—so how could it summon a corrupted Shen Ming?

Even the Great Dao had no connection with Shang Cang, let alone the polluted Immortal Emperor above Shang Cang; by what right did the Heavenly Dao?

This made him, who originally felt he had seen through the Zhetian World, feel that endless world mist had appeared before his eyes; within it, what change had occurred? Or perhaps within that mist lay a gaze no one could see through, controlling all of this.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound rang out after the collision; Jiang Xuan withdrew his fist, now only bone and blood membrane, looking at the strange creature before him with utter disbelief.

The lightning flame chain used to restrain him actually snapped one link; the madness in the other's eyes grew even greater, and the rotten aura on his body became more obvious!

"No way! Heavenly Dao Sir! The thing you provoked is actually out of control?"

As the words fell, the lightning flames on the other's body instantly burst forth with intense light, illuminating Jiang Xuan's face flushed red.

The strange creature's aura was also suppressed by half in an instant, but the lightning flame chain again emitted a crisp sound, snapping another link in an unseen place!

He felt the Heavenly Dao also knew it had caused trouble, and was suppressing this strange creature's aura with full power; this was Jiang Xuan's only chance to slay the strange creature, and also the Heavenly Dao's last chance to make up for its mistake!

The Heavenly Dao that had always wanted to destroy Jiang Xuan actually cooperated with him to confront the bizarre!

The black shadow's speed had slowed by half at this moment, no longer able to attack Jiang Xuan continuously, yet Jiang Xuan actively charged forward, the Immortal Trapping Sword separating from the fusion and appearing in his hand.

"Heaven... No Absolute Path!"

The sword body condensed boundless power and swung this utmost bloom of a sword!

The immortals above I can all slay; if Heaven obstructs, one sword opens Heaven! No Absolute Path!

Slashing out this sword for the second time, a kind of invincible, fearless intent suddenly surged in Jiang Xuan's heart!

The last time he possessed this intent was still before the God King's Wedding, when he pressed numerous Holy Sons and Holy Daughters with his sword so they dared not raise their heads, condensing an invincible will!

Now facing a powerful enemy, he once again possessed this invincible, fearless intent!

He knew that if those restraining thunder-fire chains collapsed and scattered, he could not possibly be a match for the bizarre thing before him, but he did not fear; the long sword in his hand still swung down without fear.

It struck!

Jiang Xuan withdrew the Immortal Trapping Sword, gaze heavy as he looked at the scene before him.

The thunder-fire chains had already completely collapsed and scattered; the other party's aura had already spread throughout the entire starry sky, that bizarre, terrifying corrupting power actually corroding the surrounding meteor stars, faintly giving rise to a kind of life fluctuation, beginning to possess a bizarre, mad consciousness.

Corruption! Corruption originating from bone ashes!

And the chief culprit causing this corruption was currently collapsing and scattering at this moment!

He was originally condensed from the power of heavenly tribulation; as his body collapsed and scattered, he actually converted between flesh and the illusory.

He actually relied on will, wanting to break through the illusory obstruction and truly transform into a flesh-and-blood body!

"Heavenly Dao! However you put it, the first thing that should be annihilated should be this thing, right? You actually use this kind of thing to deal with me!" Looking at the bizarre thing whose flesh-and-blood body flowing with corrupt blood and illusory body were transforming, Jiang Xuan couldn't help but raise his head toward the starry sky and shout loudly.

The Heavenly Dao ignored him, but the heavenly tribulation in the sky had dissipated at some unknown time; endless golden light crossed the stars and fell into his body.

"Still counts as you having a conscience!" Watching the golden light descend, Jiang Xuan said with satisfaction.

Originally he had not broken through a realm; the heavenly tribulation was simply to kill him, without any Great Dao compensation after the tribulation.

But now the Heavenly Dao bestowed golden light upon him; it was the reward for Jiang Xuan helping it solve trouble.

That half-real, half-illusory bizarre thing finally turned illusory, wanting to dissipate like Wu Shi before, as if it had never appeared in this world at all.

The golden light fell; Jiang Xuan only felt his eyes bright and spirit clear; strands of the Great Dao stood before him like undressed maidens, letting him seriously observe and comprehend, but how much he could absorb depended on his fortune!

Jiang Xuan did not dare to be negligent, seriously comprehending several Great Dao rules!

That's right, just several!

Although his comprehension aptitude wasn't too good, that didn't mean the Hongmeng Treasure Mirror wasn't good; as he comprehended these Great Dao rules, the Hongmeng Treasure Mirror actually simultaneously outlined Emperor Weapon Dao Patterns.

Jiang Xuan didn't need to understand too much himself; because as long as the Hongmeng Treasure Mirror understood, when he forged these Dao Patterns into an artifact and integrated them into his body, he could instantly grasp the corresponding Great Dao power; using it first then understanding was much simpler than understanding first then using the Great Dao Patterns.

A quarter-hour passed; the golden light finally dissipated; Jiang Xuan slowly opened his eyes and smacked his lips.

A quarter-hour: saying it's long it's not long; Great Dao fifty, Heavenly Calculation forty-nine; he had only finished inscribing a dozen or so of the Great Dao Patterns currently needed.

The golden light dissipated; Jiang Xuan's body did not move, but he stared fixedly at the Divine Rule still lingering and corroding on his fist!

Unexpectedly the other party's body did not become flesh-and-blood, yet this strand of Divine Rule used in the attack did not dissipate; even the Heavenly Dao's golden light last time did not disperse this kind of power!

With this power's corrosion, Jiang Xuan clearly felt an independent will actually beginning to be born on his fist; this will was the same as that bizarre thing's will, having only pure slaughter and infection!

This consciousness was spreading from the fist, wanting to find Jiang Xuan's main consciousness to carry out corruption and interference!

Before, Jiang Xuan had already gathered the subconscious islands; his main consciousness was even more highly condensed together; this will temporarily could not affect his personality, but ultimately it was a hidden danger!

The Eight Trigrams Furnace stood towering in the starry sky before him, placing Jiang Xuan into the furnace cauldron.

Just entering the furnace, black flames directly engulfed his body, but they did not have the slightest harm to him; the power was completely concentrated on his fist wind.

Following the momentum, a thread of black flame emerged, then transformed into pale breath inside the furnace and stopped in place; even black flame scorching produced no change; the black flame also could not absorb this thread of pale breath, like a substance unchanging from the past ages to now.

Useful, but progress extremely slow!

Before, Jiang Xuan had been enduring the pain of corrosion and the other party's collision; many corrupting Divine Rules remained on his fist wind.

But he also had no better method; throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, removing Wu Shi who had already left, now the only one who could probably resolve this kind of power was Jiang Xuan alone.

Jiang Xuan, who had sat withered in the starry sky for nearly half a year, slowly opened his eyes; threads of pale breath were scorched out by the black flame, quietly lying across the Eight Trigrams Furnace interior; the injuries on Jiang Xuan's hand also finally recovered to normal!

But the problem was not resolved; it was merely transferred from a person into a Dao artifact.

The pale breath in the Eight Trigrams Furnace could not be refined, could not be driven away, like a domineering lodger occupying the territory and refusing to leave.

Fortunately, although it was a time bomb, this pale breath currently had no movements, quietly staying in the Eight Trigrams Furnace for a moment, not affecting the Eight Trigrams Furnace's normal use; just that not resolving this trouble, Jiang Xuan dared not integrate the Eight Trigrams Furnace into his body again!

The risen Jiang Xuan glanced at the surrounding meteorites gradually coming alive, holding a blank book in his hand.

When Jiang Xuan returned to the Main World, that stretch of starry sky was completely desolate; everything had disappeared without a trace!

(Chapter End)