Between Da Chen and Dust Li, the vast expanse of mountains lay like the body of a heavenly deity stretching out, with thousands of rivers flowing through, nurturing countless creatures.
These named and nameless peaks watched silently over the endless changes of the Earth’s Embracing the Void, silent and substantial as if eternally unabrasive.
But at this moment, they were shattering and burning.
The mountains burned, these lofty and silent peaks cried out in agony as the grand mountain bodies cracked under extreme heat, even the peaks reaching into the clouds collapsed under thunder, creating tremendous roars.
Looking further, an entire range of mountains and forests were turning to rubble and dust under the flames and thunder, and the place would no longer be part of the mountains but a basin among them, perhaps a plain, or maybe a vast lake.
Above the sky, the battle that was causing the mountains to collapse continued.
Ever since the "All-Heaven Mirror of Myriad Transformations" shattered, Mingguang Dust had been retreating step by step, no longer possessing any capability to counterattack—recklessly using a Great Divine Power that he could not fully control, only to have it smashed by an enemy, had really drained his last ounce of strength.
Even the current defenses were Mingguang Dust overdrawing his body, extracting the last bit of Spirit Qi to barely maintain.
Across from Mingguang Dust, a halo of five-colored light circulated, deriving two hundred and forty different changes, each change forming a beam of Divine Abnormality Sword Light, and each beam intersected and overlapped, forming a vast net covering heaven and earth, aiming to capture him entirely and refine him into nothingness.
At the center of this net lay the ultimate outcome of the Five Elements Yin Yang Creation and Destruction, an indescribable mix of black and white, a misty void of Great Annihilating Sword Intent.
The existence of this sword intent slightly bent the surrounding Taiyu Void, and when it struck, it caused all in its path between heaven and earth—wind, rain, thunder, and scenes, along with rocks and flames—to follow suit.
The ripple of five-colored brilliance expanded, containing endless power.
[Great Five Elements Sword of Destruction Formation]
No method of the Five Elements could block the Great Annihilating Sword Intent, only the Yin Yang Thunder Qi, Taiyu Cosmic Light Mechanism, and even the "Force of Creation," which operates at the pinnacle of the Five Elements cycle, could somewhat hinder and counterbalance it.
Luckily, the techniques from the Bright Mirror Sect were mystical, and the core Spirit Qi cultivated by Mingguang Dust was Xuanqing Light Qi, which was an intricately mystical essence of qi that originated from yang and encompassed the universe, allowing him to bend the wind, rain, and sunlight into mirrors, diverting the Great Annihilating Sword Intent, thus preventing his head from being slashed off by a single sword stroke that could break all laws.
But this was already the limit.
Now, Mingguang Dust had nowhere else to retreat to, for if he retreated further, he wouldn’t even be able to maintain his defenses, and would simply have his head severed by that invisible Five Elements Divine Sword lurking in the Great Void.
"The ’All-Heaven Mirror of Myriad Transformations’ was supposed to handle this Great Annihilating Sword Intent by refining all things within the mirror, then utilizing the Force of Creation to derive myriad Divine Powers. It’s a pity my cultivation isn’t sufficient, and my Lifebound Magic Mirror can’t bear it," he thought.
Even on the brink of defeat, Mingguang Dust was still calmly analyzing the situation.
His enemy, that Mysterious Swordsman hidden within the Great Void, was as powerful as him, also at the pinnacle of Divine Repository, and could step into Manifesting Holy at any moment.
But the opponent’s weapon was far superior to his.
That Great Five Elements Sword of Destruction Formation was a Great Divine Power comparable to the All-Heaven Mirror of Myriad Transformations, which ordinary Divine Weapons could not sustain unless it was... a peak Divine Weapon reaching the edge of Heavenly Martial!
Of course, merely the advantage of the weapon wouldn’t have made Mingguang Dust so uncomfortable, as his main practice was Divine Power, with robust Spirit Qi, providing him many methods to evade the enemy’s weapon advantage.
But if he had to suppress True Persons Hun Lan and Huan Xin, while also resisting the forbidden Blood Curse Cursing Skill from He Wuchang, then facing a Divine Repository Swordsman with a peak weapon proved too arduous.
Now, knowing he was unlikely to survive this Human Tribulation, his only thought was whether he could make a final stand, determine the true identity of this Mysterious Swordsman, to allow Jin Yanhua and others to be aware and protect You Ruhui and An Jing.
"Damn it, why hasn’t An Jing teleported away yet?" he wondered.
Thinking this, Mingguang Dust grew anxious—the Great Void Ritual Altar was clearly fully charged, but had yet to activate, which proved An Jing was either in grave danger, making teleportation difficult, or he had his own plans and didn’t want to leave as instructed!
Perhaps because Mingguang Dust was too exhausted, while he was distracted observing the Great Void Ritual Altar, the diversion of Annihilation Sword Intent in front of him slightly relaxed.
In the Great Void, the well-rested Mysterious Swordsman immediately seized this breach, slashing forth a straight-forward sword light that annihilated everything.
But just at that moment, Mingguang Dust suddenly felt a lightness throughout his body.
The force that was originally suppressed somewhere suddenly lost its target of resistance and returned to his control, making him subconsciously condense layers of Great Void Mirror Light in front of him again, fixing the Annihilation Sword Intent.
Not only was the Mysterious Swordsman stunned, even Mingguang Dust himself was stunned.
"Was that... He Wuchang withdrawing the Blood Curse?" he immediately thought, simultaneously realizing the reason for the Blood Curse’s failure.
There was only one possibility.
That was, the Blood Fiend incarnation he had sent to Kanming City to trouble An Jing had been slain by An Jing!
"What are those envoys of Heaven’s Will Cult doing?!" the Mysterious Swordsman realized as well, immediately growing furious, [I was just about to cut down this unstable element of the northern part of North Mysterious Sacrifice Continent!]
Upon reaching the Divine Repository realm and possessing the Divine Skills to traverse the Great Void, unless one was a whole major realm higher, if one couldn’t beat the enemy, one could always flee.