The dimension had lost its direction and coordinates. Emperor Xia's blade aura crossed each other as if it was turning the void into a chess board. Both the past and the future could not escape his blade aura.
Shen Lian's spiritual shape turned in and out to jump between every blade gleam. Whenever he dodged the attacks, he looked extremely calm and collected.
Emperor Xia's eyes were piercing and intimidating, burning like the sun at noontime. Up until today, he guaranteed that once Tianyi had exited Yinshang, all would be defeated by his blade's gleam. However, Shen Lian's cultivation had reached a level that his every jump could transcend both the past and the future. He obviously understood the real intention of the Daoist Master to achieve such success.
Emperor Xia's eyes were getting hotter as if they were going to engulf the whole void. Although he inherited from the Primeval Demon, it was still inferior to the Daoist Master since he was just the evil thoughts that were cut off by Daoist Master Yuqing. He could never transcend like how Shen Lian understood the real spirit of the Daoist Master.
The Primeval Demon's deepest regret was that he pillaged everything but he still could not achieve detachment. Now that Emperor Xia had a peek of the spirit of the Daoist Master, he felt that the demon seed which he had formed with the Primeval Demon was being attracted by it.
All gleams of the blade disappeared in a flash. Shen Lian detached himself beyond the heaven and earth. His eyes were calm but they could see through everything. It was as if all of Emperor Xia's secrets; top to bottom could not hide from his eyes.
He obviously knew that Shen Lian had no such capabilities, but he still hated the way he was being looked at. He threw another punch, and his arm was wrapped by a dragon with deafening roars. The void was shattered again before it could recover from its formless state. Every move Emperor Xia made emitted strong demon aura that affected even the moon in the sky.
The Kun fish which was swimming in the ocean of Taiyin wiggled its tail fin to get rid of the demon aura that ensued her.
Whereas Shen Lian, who was facing direct hits of Emperor Xia's Fist of Dragon and Demon combo, remained motionless. He formed the Mark of Mountain and Rivers with the intention of taking this hit directly.
This ruthless dragon fist of Emperor Xia could break even real mountains and rivers. It seemed like his Mark of Mountain and Rivers could be of no match to this.
However, this was exactly what Shen Lian was going to do. The Mark of Mountain and Rivers glowed immensely like the brightest pearl in the night and carried all forces of nature which headed towards Emperor Xia's dragon fist.
The void made an endless sounds of electrical static. The dimension was damaged several times before the dragon fist finally dissipated through a discontented route. The remaining holy gleam of the Mark of Mountain and Rivers continued to shoot through. It was so intense that even Emperor Xia was intimidated. His blade gleam was crushed by the Mark of Mountain and Rivers. The remaining gleams scattered behind him as his palace pavilions crumbled down.
This fight had actually caught the attention of many connoisseurs in the Netherworld. They each used their clairvoyance sight to observe this bout. Many connoisseurs were absolutely shaken. Even though they already knew that Qing Xuan was the first amongst the Three Saints of the Netherworld, they would never have imagined Shen Lian going up against Emperor Xia directly and was at an advantage.
On a mountain by the seas of Dongyi, Yunyang's face was pale. A Demon Lord beside him patted his shoulder and sighed, "Brother Yun, why don't you leave with me? This netherworld is no longer a place where you can get involved in."
Yunyang showed his discontent, "How can those two be this strong? Why? I am the son of the White Emperor, the future leader of all demon clans in all realms."
The Demon Lord replied seriously, "It is exactly because you are the future leader of the demon clans; you need to keep yourself safe. Remember the time when the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal was so strong and ruthless that he attained Taiyi only after a few years of cultivation. When something reaches its extreme, it reverses its course. He was bounded for five hundred years. If you continue to act against the course, you might not even have the privilege of living five hundred years for your suffering."
Yunyang finally settled down, albeit, still feeling disgruntled. After all his sufferings since birth, he finally had some achievement, only to be beaten by Emperor Xia like falling leaves being swept by the strong wind. When he found the Lamp of Yin and Yang, it got nabbed away. What misfortune he had. With the transformation in the netherworld, now was the time for him to rise to the occasion, but he was forced to retreat, which was the outcome he could not accept.
The Demon Lord advised, "Let's leave and I will bring you to see my ancestor, Great Saint Qushen. If you spend some days learning from him, you will have your chance to defeat these two."
Yunyang took some time to reply, "Then, thank you older brother for the trouble."
During this conversation between Yunyang and the Demon Lord, Shen Lian and Emperor Xia were already battling it out for thousands of rounds. They were merely fighting on an area of a square inch, but they aura and aftershock which was emitted had already demolished the entire capital city of Wangcheng.
Kui Li had also stayed away from the battlefield. The demons of Xia clan never seemed to die and reduce in numbers. They were all in close pursuit of Kui Li. While she had mastered the five colored divine lights, it was still a big challenge to brush all these demons off.
This was the first occasion when Shen Lian was fighting a life-and-death duel with Emperor Xia, the strongest warlord in the Netherworld. Emperor Xia's emperor garment was so ripped; showing his chests full of blood and scars, and his scruffed up hair. Yet, no matter how heavily he received the damage, his fighting spirit never faded and actually got stronger and fiercer.
The demonic seed of the Primeval Demon possessed an unbelievable vitality. Armed with an indestructible body flesh, Emperor Xia could possibly become the second Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.
He laughed hysterically and said, "If you cannot kill me, I will wear you off till your death."
Shen Lian remained expressionless. His robe was clean and his spiritual body spotless. He surpassed Emperor Xia so much more in an elegant demeanor. His reply was, "My techniques were that of Guizang. You better save your arrogance, Emperor Xia."
His tone was loud and clear. He continued his attacks towards Emperor Xia. This was when the clouds dispersed to show the bright moon and sky full of stars.
Emperor Xia noticed that the stars were unusual.
The boundless stars were shining so brightly, and some were shooting down, turning the area to seen vast and wide.
The stars were not those of the netherworld. They were the everlasting stars of the universe, emitting bright light and discharging limitless energy.
A meteor rain was seen falling from the sky. The asteroids as large as mountains were summoned from the void by Shen Lian, and then turned into rays of light being charged at Emperor Xia.
That was the real power of world destruction, and Shen Lian did not look very composed this time.
A man was riding on the black Qilin, overlooking Diqiu when he saw this scene. He had three eyes. That was Wen Zhong, and he could not help but frown. Wuding's Flying Stars Incantation would not have had such magnitude even if it was being cast at maximum level but this technique from Shen Lian's prohibited Celestial Arts was actually inspired from the Flying Stars Incantation, and it had surpassed the latter.
He was so shocked and wondered what kind of monster this man was. He might even have to forego the thought of avenging his honored master with his lone strength.
The blue sky had already been shattered by the meteor rain. Emperor Xia's spirit was overwhelmed by a large amount of spiritual pressure. This was the first time he felt such immense sense of crisis.