"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Perennis Immortal City did not echo with the heartbeat sound found within the Immortal Zhao Clan's grounds; there were only world-ending explosions.
Amidst the dust and smoke filling the sky, eighty-one flying daggers converged.
Their hilts linked together to form a rotating flying disc.
Standing atop the disc was Zhao Qingxia of the Zhao Clan. Hands forming a spell seal, he laughed maniacally as he looked down upon Perennis Immortal City.
Half an hour ago, Perennis Immortal City still possessed those laughable five-meter walls stretching continuously, its interior packed with houses and teeming with common folk.
But as Zhao Qingxia unleashed his Divinity Transformation technique, the common people were gone.
At first, the cries and screams had drowned out the sound of collapsing buildings, but later, all that remained was the sound of rubble tumbling from broken walls into the ruins.
The City Lord's Mansion was destroyed in an instant, and the Perennis Immortal Palace was reduced to rubble.
The few cultivators who had activated the formations had already become one with the ruins.
Phantom images of long blades, conjured by Daoist techniques, filled the city, weaving through the vast Perennis Immortal City and leaving behind endless traces of the apocalyptic might of a peak Divinity Transformation expert.
"Hahaha! You can run for now, but you can't hide forever!
I will find you—Grand Elder Yunlin, Jiang Chenghuan, Fairy Hongxiu, Daoist Mingtai!
You will end up just like Perennis Immortal City! This place is the sin created by your wretched flight!!!"
"When you reach the Underworld, remember this, you city full of wronged souls: it was those surnamed Li who abandoned you here to save their own lives!"
Zhao Qingxia laughed heartily.
He knew the Divinity Transformation experts within Perennis Immortal City like the back of his hand, and these people were the very targets he had come to kill!
Suddenly, the Daoist techniques filling the city ground to a halt.
Zhao Qingxia raised an eyebrow slightly and looked down.
Riiip!
From beneath the ruins that filled Perennis Immortal City, countless roots pierced outward, shooting straight up into the sky to strike at Zhao Qingxia.
Their technique even blocked the flying daggers that Zhao Qingxia took such pride in; this was undoubtedly the power of the Divinity Transformation realm.
Ordinarily, the techniques of a Divinity Transformation expert could not escape Zhao Qingxia's perception even from tens of miles away, yet these roots came without a trace, possessing an unpredictable power.
"Where did this expert come from?"
Zhao Qingxia's figure transformed into a flying dagger.
He allowed the dagger to be struck and sent flying by the sharp roots, while he himself remained standing on the disc formed of flying daggers, gazing at these sudden roots not with alarm, but with delight!
Two auras appeared within the ruins; had they not used their techniques, even he would not have been able to detect them.
An old man and a young man moved through the dust and smoke of the ruins, staring calmly at Zhao Qingxia.
"An old man, and an... ordinary person?" Seeing how calm the two were, a trace of confusion flashed across Zhao Qingxia's expression.
"Who are you?"
Over a hundred years have passed, and members of the Zhao Clan have rarely appeared in the world.
Only his good-for-nothing cousin, Zhao Qingguang, has shown his face in public.
Of the Zhao Clan's sixty-plus Divinity Transformation experts, no more than thirty percent have revealed themselves to the world, and all of them were useless trash.
No matter how much chaos erupts between the Duravia Trade Prefecture and Azure Cloud Prefecture, the outside world remains utterly ignorant of the Zhao Clan's true strength.
Yet, the Zhao Clan knows everything about the lands of these two prefectures.
The older generation of the Li family last appeared in the world over a hundred years ago.
Among those who have now reached the Divinity Transformation realm, there are only the Three Thieves, Li Kuanghua, Li Kuangren, Li Changyao, and Li Chang'an—who are all abroad—and Li Xinghuo in the Northern Border.
"Li Changsheng." The young man's voice was calm.
The bald, red-bearded old man beside him remained silent; the root that had pierced through the air just now had come from him, showing he possessed some measure of strength.
"Surnamed Li, of the 'Chang' generation?"
Zhao Qingxia scoffed, "Hahaha, the 'Chang' generation!"
As he spoke, Zhao Qingxia was already fuming with rage.
"Let your elders come! Have Li Dalong, Li Yaozu, and Li Yunlin come out!"
He knew of the "Chang" generation—specifically that Li Changyao!
That little doll had fought Divinity Transformation cultivators all across the Duravia Trade Prefecture and Eternal Sun Prefecture.
Her reputation as the "Divinity Transformation's Dread" might bluff the people of these two prefectures, but it couldn't bluff the members of his Zhao Clan, and it certainly wasn't worth a second glance from him, Zhao Qingxia—the number one person in the Zhao Clan beneath the Void Refining realm.
"So, you slaughtered Perennis Immortal City just to draw out the elders of my clan?"
The morning mist gradually obscured Li Changsheng's figure.
Zhao Qingxia laughed loudly.
"And what if I did? My Clan Elder met with mishap in the Imperial Capital, and your Li family cannot escape responsibility.
My Zhao Clan has not entered the world for many years; ultimately, it was difficult for us to tread in such official circles, and we fell for your Li family's schemes.
Your Li family thinks that just because my Clan Elder lost his life in the Imperial Capital, it is an opportunity for your clansmen, emboldening you to act recklessly."
"Wrong!"
Zhao Qingxia glanced casually at Li Changsheng, appearing to look down upon an insignificant ant.
"Whether it is my cousin Qingguang or my Clan Elders, they are all far too benevolent and far too hesitant. To kill you all, I alone..."
"...am enough!"
"Arrogant!!!"
The moment Zhao Qingxia's voice fell, a strange movement stirred within the ruins.
The Old Tree could no longer hold back; it transformed into a giant tree hundreds of meters tall. Countless roots shot from the ruins into the clouds, charging to kill Zhao Qingxia!
Countless roots blanketed the entire Perennis Immortal City.
Demonic Qi of the Divinity Transformation realm soared to the heavens as sharp roots wove together.
In an instant, the entire Perennis Immortal City was covered by the Old Tree's crimson Domain, which simultaneously pierced through Zhao Qingxia in the clouds.
But Zhao Qingxia's figure gradually turned illusory, and his disdainful voice drifted up from the ruins.
"So you are the Li family's Divine Tree mentioned in the intelligence reports.
You also broke through to the Divinity Transformation realm during the battle at Prince Qian's Mansion. For a member of the Demon Clan, your combat power isn't bad."
As he spoke.
Countless flying daggers struck, and the Old Tree's innumerable roots were actually shattered one by one.
"What???"
The Old Tree's colossal, leafless form let out a cry of alarm.
His Primordial Spirit technique, "Void-Piercing Roots," came and went without a trace and had always been unfailingly lethal, yet today it had missed its mark.
Moreover, as Zhao Qingxia and the disc of flying daggers reappeared high in the clouds, all of those roots were shattered beneath the sudden flashes of the flying daggers.
Even when he was only at the half-step Divinity Transformation stage on the battlefield of Prince Qian's Mansion, his roots were not easily shattered by Divinity Transformation cultivators.
Now that he had reached the Divinity Transformation realm, even if it were Immortal Master Qi Yue who had come to Merit City that day, he was confident he could have killed him in a short time using his Void-Piercing Roots.
Wood rained down.
It was no wonder this Zhao Qingxia dared to come to Perennis Immortal City alone.
Black clouds rose in the sky—those were the sky-filling flying daggers summoned by Zhao Qingxia's technique.
For the first time since reaching the Divinity Transformation realm, the Old Tree felt such a powerful aura of spiritual power.
"Hahaha, you dare to face me with just this?" Zhao Qingxia laughed uncontrollably.
The Domain formed by the flying daggers possessed spiritual power that had become nearly tangible, pressing down toward the ground as if capable of destroying everything.
"For years, your Li family members have frequently appeared on the Nascent Divinity List.
The world claims that once a member of your Li family breaks through to the fifth-tier Divinity Transformation realm, they become like celestials. Laughable!
It is only because I, Zhao Qingxia, did not emerge, and because the sons of my Zhao Clan did not emerge, that the so-called 'celestials' of this world have become your Li family's people."
"Are you... worthy?!!"
With a cold shout, Zhao Qingxia unleashed the full extent of his spiritual power.
The number one person in the Zhao Clan beneath the Void Refining realm was terrifying to this degree.
His spiritual power became tangible substance; within his Domain, flying daggers were everywhere, capable of breaking almost anything.
"Suppress!"
The flying daggers formed ancient characters, pressing down toward the Old Tree's main body and snapping the bare branches at its crown one by one.
This person's spiritual power and Domain had reached the very limit of the Divinity Transformation realm.
The Old Tree could sense that over the long years, the techniques Zhao Qingxia cultivated had also been honed to their absolute peak.
This was a realm that ordinary Divinity Transformation cultivators could never hope to reach in their entire lives!
In an instant.
As Zhao Qingxia's spiritual power pressed down, Perennis Immortal City—already reduced to ruins—and the Old Tree's roots, which were interwoven like an ant's nest, were obliterated one by one.
There was nowhere to hide within the city.
The flying daggers descending alongside the ancient characters were like the iron ram of a hydraulic press, destroying everything within the scope of Perennis Immortal City bit by bit!
The Old Tree continuously unleashed techniques, attempting to blast away the flying daggers pressed down by Zhao Qingxia's spiritual power, but it was all in vain.
"This trip was not fruitless after all, though it is a shame to destroy a Divinity Transformation tree demon."
Zhao Qingxia glanced down, then immediately turned around.
No one could survive under his Primordial Spirit technique, the "Immortal-Slaying World-Shattering Blade," which he had cultivated to the ultimate limit.
He then looked in other directions, a cold glint appearing in his eyes.
"I only killed one Old Tree. Now the Li family members are scattered everywhere, killing my Zhao Clan's vassals.
They are truly courting death by daring to disperse like this. Killing them one by one will be all too easy..."
Just as he was flying out of Perennis Immortal City, Zhao Qingxia suddenly froze in mid-air.
"Oh?" He blinked, looking back into the city with keen interest.
That Old Tree had actually managed to protect itself, preventing those falling, flying daggers from encroaching upon its body. "Still alive? You do have some skill..."
But before his voice had even faded, goosebumps suddenly rose all over his body just as he was about to turn back into Perennis Immortal City.
In that instant, he felt the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi become viscous, as if he were stuck in a quagmire.
A sudden wave of heart-palpitating dread, coming from an unknown source, rose in his heart.
"No... Impossible!"
His eyes, previously filled with interest, widened further and further.
Beside the struggling Old Tree, the ordinary person of the Li family's "Chang" generation—whom he had never taken seriously—was no longer in his original spot!
Then the aura beside him...
Zhao Qingxia stared with wide eyes at his "masterpiece" within Perennis Immortal City.
He wanted to turn around; he was certain there was someone behind him, and it was very likely the ever-unremarkable Li Changsheng.
The wind and snow buffeted him. This brief instant felt as long as a century.
The sound of a heartbeat echoed—not the voice of the Old Ancestor heard in the depths of his clan, but his own heartbeat.
Fear crept into his heart, yet he could not suppress the stiffness of his body in this moment, nor the trembling under the pressure of that aura!
He wanted to move, but he couldn't.
He frantically urged his spiritual power, yet that power felt as if it were separated from him by something.
He could clearly feel that, in this moment, he had lost his spiritual power, lost the perception of the Divinity Transformation realm!
It wasn't until a cold sensation touched the back of his neck that an immense force—one that felt as ordinary as could be—forced his body to bow down from the sky.
His body plummeted from the clouds; someone was pressing him down, driving him toward the earth.
The resistance of the fall from the high heavens pressed ceaselessly against Zhao Qingxia's body, causing his clothes to snap loudly in the wind.
His body felt the biting chill of the gale and the oppressive force of the air pressure.
His eyes stung from the wind, his skin was forced back by the drag, and his clothes began to tear apart.
In this moment, he was as fragile as an ordinary mortal.
The rapid descent caused even him, a cultivator at the limit of the Divinity Transformation realm, to bleed from his seven orifices.
His internal organs were damaged, and his ears lost their hearing.
The ground... was getting closer and closer!
Fighting against the resistance of the fierce wind, he turned his head with great difficulty, trying to shield his eyes from the stinging gale.
He saw him.
Li Changsheng was pressing down on his back, one hand clamped deathly tight around the back of his neck!
Li Changsheng was expressionless.
His eyes—what kind of eyes were they?
They were entirely white, as if swirling with clouds and mist, appearing as though they had sucked away all of a person's spiritual power!
"This is the first time in my life I have taken action. I will let you experience how the common people of Perennis Immortal City died."
No, no, no!
Impossible!
My spiritual power!
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