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"Heavenly Nether Asura Hand—you've cultivated the Heavenly Nether Calamity Technique. You're a disciple of the Heavenly Nether Sect!"
The elder at the front recognized the sect's unique killing-based cultivation technique. As one of the two great sects in Central Continent, the Heavenly Nether Sect had a long-standing heritage. Its Grand Elder, the so-called Heavenly Nether Fiend, was a half-saint powerhouse. Such a distinct murderous aura could only belong to that sect.
"You're guessing?"
Qian Renhan narrowed his eyes, cold air surging from his body. The ground beneath his feet froze over completely as the temperature in the area plummeted at a terrifying speed. Behind him, a thousand icy swords radiating a blue glow shot into the air.
"Thousand Frost Sword Gale!"
Like a tidal wave, the thousand ice swords engulfed Qian Renhan's figure and scattered in all directions, firing toward the six Dou Zun experts. His soul power, nearly at the perfected Spirit Realm, spread out to obstruct their perception of his position.
The six Dou Zun immediately unleashed their battle techniques to shatter the incoming swords. Yet even as the blades were broken, the attack was far from over. The ice-blue fragments suddenly erupted in simultaneous explosions.
The entire hilltop trembled. Trees within a hundred-meter radius were reduced to powder, and the splintered trunks were coated with a dense layer of frost.
In the fog of cold air, the Dou Zun's powerful battle aura burst forth, clearing away all smoke and ice particles from the surroundings and sky.
Amid the torrent of energy, a trace of doubt flickered through the eyes of the leading Eight-Star Dou Zun. Something was off. During the previous wave of attacks, he had only received the weakest barrage of swords. Logically, to catch the leader first, the strongest among them—himself—should have been targeted the most. Yet the reality was the exact opposite.
As the mist cleared, the answer became evident. The elder's companions had given it to him with their deaths.
Of the six Dou Zun auras capable of leveling the entire Black Horn Region, only three remained. The three Six-Star Dou Zun had already fallen. In the instant Qian Renhan triggered the Ice Explosion Technique, his Fallen Angel Wings unfurled, the Shura Sword appeared in hand, and he crossed the space between them. Crimson sword marks slashed across their chests.
Under Qian Renhan's control, the sword energy slowly seeped into their bodies, holding them on the edge of death. He wasn't done yet—he had a bigger play in mind for the second wave of pursuers.
As for nearly killing three Six-Star Dou Zun instantly—that wasn't particularly difficult for Qian Renhan. This was his first battle against Ancient Clan Dou Zun on the Dou Qi Continent. Back then, even a mere Two-Star Dou Zun could fight him to a 60-40 split. Two such opponents had nearly pushed him to the brink, forcing him to break bones to survive.
That was because the Ancient Clan's Dou Zun cultivated high-level Earth-tier techniques and executed advanced Earth-tier battle arts. But now, Qian Renhan possessed all those techniques as well. And thanks to his Path of Slaughter, his use of them was even more powerful than their original forms.
In terms of techniques and battle skills, weapon speed, physical strength, and spiritual cultivation, Qian Renhan held the advantage. In his eyes, three Six-Star Dou Zun were nothing.
"Brothers!"
In just three moves, four Ancient Clan Dou Zun had fallen. The remaining three, once full of confidence, now had fear written all over their faces. As members of the Ancient Clan, bearers of Dou Emperor blood, wielders of elite techniques and battle arts, they had always looked down on the commoners of the outside world. Yet now, their minds were gripped by a concept that should never exist in the Ancient Clan's consciousness: death.
The eyes of the leading elder suddenly turned razor-sharp. He extended a finger and gently pressed down on the air.
"Great Annihilation Finger!"
As his finger landed in the void before him, the entire sky seemed to freeze. A terrifying aura of annihilation, as though from the depths of the Nine Hells, burst out from the point of contact like a raging storm.
"To die at the hands of my clan's Heaven-Tier Battle Technique… consider it an honor."
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The stillness of heaven and earth lasted only for a fleeting moment before it was abruptly shattered. The thick, distant clouds high above the horizon began to churn violently. Vaguely, it seemed as if something terrifying was about to break through and descend.
"Hmph, Heavenly Nether Sect—you lot must be tired of living."
The elder stood suspended in mid-air, looking down at Qian Renhan as though staring at an ant. As he clenched his fist, the billowing black clouds suddenly froze, then—under countless shocked gazes—split apart rapidly. A colossal, jet-black finger, stretching hundreds of meters, tore through the clouds and plummeted toward the ground.
"So this is a Heaven-tier Battle Technique… It truly dwarfs Earth-tier ones. A miscalculation."
Qian Renhan narrowed his eyes as a glimmer of light flashed from the ring on his finger. A scroll-shaped spatial jade slip appeared in his hand—something he had looted from the storage rings of Gu Ming and his two companions. He had found it strange at the time. Was it a standard for all Ancient Clan members to carry such an item? Or were these three, who had come to rescue Gu Xun'er, exceptions?
That was why Qian Renhan hadn't finished off the three Six-Star Dou Zun earlier—he wanted to see whether, when cornered, they would use their jade slips to summon help.
If they didn't, he planned to crush the jade slip himself and lure out more Ancient Clan elites. Based on his estimation, a few Nine-Star Dou Zun might come, possibly one nearing the threshold of a Two-Turn Dou Zun. After all, the Ancient Clan was incredibly arrogant. If their opponent was truly powerful, they wouldn't allow them time to summon reinforcements. But instead, this elder directly unleashed a Heaven-tier Battle Technique!
Heaven-tier techniques were powerful enough to leap several ranks to kill enemies. Now, Qian Renhan had no time to verify whether the other elders carried spatial jade slips—he wasn't confident his self-created technique Angel of Slaughter, born of his Slaughter Heart, could block this attack.
But if this elder did call for reinforcements—especially a Two-Turn Dou Zun—Qian Renhan had a trump card of his own: a technique he had acquired from the Hall of Souls.
Soulburst Art: A soul-based explosion technique. Its power scales with the soul's strength.
And conveniently, there were already three Six-Star Dou Zun souls and one Seven-Star Dou Zun soul lying around. In the original story, even the soul of a mere Three-Star Dou Zong like Yun Shan exploding had been enough to seriously injure Yaotian and Queen Medusa during their battle with the Five-Star Dou Zong Protector Wu.
As Qian Renhan crushed the jade slip, a deep, pitch-black vortex of space tore open before him. From within the swirling space, three powerful Nine-Star Dou Zun auras surged forth. Among them, one had even reached the level of transitioning from a One-Turn to a Two-Turn Dou Zun.
"Gu Cheng! What are you all doing? Seven of you went out, and you still can't subdue that freak? You actually needed us to come help?"
Before the figures appeared, a cold and dignified voice echoed out. Then, three even more imposing elders stepped out of the spatial vortex. Meanwhile, Qian Renhan stood behind them, still holding onto Gu Yang's soul in his hand.
Heaven-tier battle techniques were typically lock-on attacks—direct and unavoidable. Unless one had extremely strong space manipulation abilities, there was no chance to escape across space.
"Seniors! Quickly, evade!" Gu Cheng shouted, discarding all regard for decorum. How could he have imagined that Qian Renhan would be so audacious as to use an Ancient Clan jade slip—to call their own people to block the Heaven-tier technique? Turning them against one another—utterly inhuman!
(End of Chapter)