History's Number 1 Founder
chapter-736

The Quad Fire Lotus formed from the Pure Yang Primordial Fire, the Grand Sun Primordial Fire, the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire and the Nanming Primordial Fire seemed normal enough as it did not exude a single ripple of mana and was just drifting ever so lightly towards the Marquis of Jinghuan, who was still stuck in the center of the Yin Yang Burning Heavens Formation.

Yet, the terrifying quality of it all that was obscure from sight was suffocating.

Even the Falling Waves Dragon King, who was already in the Undying Demonic Soul Stage, felt a chill run down his spine as he realized his mistake. He grit his teeth and pointed a finger into the ocean as he released the Shaoyang Mystical Water back into the sea – he actually released the very thing that he had just prized away from Yang Qing.

Once the Shaoyang Mystical Water was handed over, the Falling Waves Dragon King could not be bothered about Yan Mingyue any longer as he tucked tail and fled. He was unwilling to stay to stay even a second longer.

Yan Mingyue could not be bothered with him either as he took the initiative to escape. This was also partially because most of her attention was focused on Xiao Yan and the Marquis of Jinghuan. "He’s able to fuse four primordial fires even though he’s only in the nascent soul stage… Our original estimations were that he would only be able to achieve this after attaining his cosmic form during the nascent soul advanced stage…"

Liang An could also feel the petrifying pressure coming from the Quad Fire Lotus. The lotus had yet to explode, yet the preliminary aura was already enough to send waves of fear through his body.

The golden light coming from the Divine Body Armor of the Emperor of Violence flickered continuously as rows after rows of overbearing glyphs surged outwards. It was starting to retaliate instead of fully committing itself to defense. The idea was that if it could break free from the immobilizing pressure of the Yin Yang Burning Heavens Formation, it could potentially avoid clashing head-on with the Quad Fire Lotus.

Even though Liang An knew that he was giving up complete protection and he would be at risk of sustaining heavy injuries from the Yin Yang Burning Heavens Formation, he knew he had not much of a choice.

The combined burden of the Quad Fire Lotus and the Yin Yang Burning Heavens Formation weighed down upon his body. All of a sudden, a blood-red line appeared on the protective mirror in the middle of Liang An’s chest.

It was single vertical streak that flashed with red light as it extended all the way from his ribs to his hips, much like a sharp and gashing wound.

Uncountable numbers of glyphs and runes flickered within this red gash as the Divine Body Armor desperately tried to repair itself. However, under Xiao Yan’s unstoppable onslaught, the frantic efforts ultimately futile as the gash appeared again and again.

Liang An’s face turned black as he saw the gash appear over the armor.

This was the very same scar that was given to the Divine Body Armor by the Destiny-level magic item, the Great Heavenly Wheels, during the finals years of the Antiquity Age.

It was the very same battle that caused the Emperor of Violence to come crashing down from cloud nine. He was very nearly sliced into half by the Great Heavenly Wheels and sustained injuries so heavy that he was destined never to return to his former glory.

Ever since the Marquis of Jinghuan became the owner of the Divine Body Armor, he had put in maximum effort in its repair and recovery. He succeeded in patching up this glaring scar, but he knew that remnants of this great wound were still there. This was the reason why he did not use this magic item unless it was absolutely necessary.

As a result, the Divine Body Armor’s old scar resurfaced with dramatic effect as it faced off against the daunting forces of the four-colored Heaven Fire Lotus and the Yin Yang Burning Heavens Formation.

"Return!" The Marquis of Jinghuan could feel goosebumps all over his body as he began to sweat furiously. He could feel that he was arriving at the doorsteps of Hell.

With a single command, the Immortal Royal Flag and the God-Slayer Puppet gave up their efforts against their current opponents and flew back to protect the Marquis of Jinghuan. Even the Great Ice Moonlight Ruler, which was originally immobilized by the crack of the Netherworld Sea, began to tremble with unprecedented force and determination as it tried its very best to break free.

The fusion of four primordial fires pretty much drained the entirety of Xiao Yan’s mana. Still, he appeared calm and composed as he said, "It’s useless. I’ve said before – I will strip you naked today!"

The Divine Token of the Five Thrones, which was originally in a defensive stance, began to change. The five carvings that followed the directions of the compass –"Shi", "Tai", "Chong", "Xia" and "Gu"– exploded with a blinding glow as the token took on an offensive stance and five streaks of divine light immediately fixed the God-Slayer Puppet in place!

The God-Slayer Puppet struggled hysterically to break free. Even though it was not very agile, the level of its pure strength was at the immortal soul stage. It should have no trouble facing off a Gestation-level magic item that was not being controlled by an immortal stage cultivator.

However, the powers of the Divine Token of the Five Thrones were far superior to most other Gestation-level magic treasures. It was channeling the entirety of its power to retaliate against the God-Slayer Puppet and managed to suppress the latter in one go.

The explosive retaliation from the Divine Token could only hinder the God-Slayer Puppet for so long. However, Liang An’s situation was an emergency, this this momentary impediment was enough to prevent the God-Slayer Puppet from arriving in time to protect the Marquis of Jinghuan.

On the other side, Xiao Zhener began to channel the Ancient Lightning Jade Earring to the best of her ability and unleashed the powers of the Grand Yin Barren Lightning. The pale and thunderous white flashes of lightning was truly terrifying.

Xiao Zhener discharged her own store of Nanming Primordial Fire and fused it with the Ancient Royal Sword. The latter transformed into a streak of golden and fiery light as it combined with the power of the Grand Yin Barren Lightning and hammered down upon the Immortal Royal Flag. The chaotic mixture of fire and lightning pulverized the Immortal Royal Flag to the point where it was unable to free itself to protect the Marquis of Jinghuan.

The predicament of the Great Ice Moonlight Ruler was not much better. Even though it was trembling furiously in a desperate attempt to free itself and exploded with immense power, it was still fixed in place by the crack of the Netherworld Sea. It was undoubtedly unable to free itself in such a short period of time to go to Liang An’s aid.

"Xiao Yan!" The Marquis of Jinghuan could feel his heart sinking to the darkest abyss. He could onlny watch as the Four-colored Fire Lotus detonated against his body.

In the next moment, Heaven and Earth returned to its original tranquility, everything was calm and all was quiet. Every single trace of sound was eradicated. Everybody else felt blinded momentarily, as if the day transformed into night in the very blink of an eye.

Sound, light and spiritual energy all around vanished into thin air.

After that brief second of complete serenity, roaring fires surged back into the sky as thousands of miles all around in the void became a scorching furnace of flames.

A huge patch of the ocean right below the battleground evaporated. Time seemed to freeze, and the ocean became like solid ground for a moment as a gigantic crater was blown out of it.

The ocean water recovered in an instant as they rushed back to fill up the crater.

The peaceful ocean became a howling maelstrom as tides raged and strong winds blew up hurricanes. Tall and frightening waves clashed against each other incessantly.

The multiple illusions within the Ying Sea started to tremble shimmer into vision as a result of the disastrous calamity.

The Marquis of Jinghuan was located at the very center of the explosion. He took a direct hit from the Quad Fire Lotus, and released a ear-splitting and agonizing howl.

The powerful Divine Body Armor enveloping his body no longer had the golden glow that it previously possessed. The magic protective mirror on his chest had also been completely shattered.

The gash in the middle of his chest could no longer be repaired and sustained, and the crack became wider and wider.

It was not just the chest area of the armor that lost its protective qualities – the entire magic item’s concept of power was very nearly eradicated completely as the pieces of golden armor collapsed into pieces.

It was like a balloon. A single opening in the balloon was enough to release every bit of air that was inside; the only thing left behind was a useless layer of skin.

What petrified Liang An even more was that all this was only the beginning!

The explosion of the Quad Fire Lotus did not just stop there – it triggered the explosion of the entire Yin Yang Burning Heavens Formation!

"Boom boom boom boom boom!" The sounds of the explosions came one after another as the twisted but immense power of Yin and Yang combined together every inch of the formation’s power was brought to bear upon the already imploding Divine Body Armor of the Emperor of Violence.

Xiao Yan’s was like how one dealt with a nut with a tough shell – one would use a repeatedly hammer upon it to open a single crack. Once the crack appeared in the armor, it could never return to its original level of defense.

Then, he used a continuous force like a mill disc to grind the shell-less nut into powder!

He showed no mercy to the Marquis of Jinghuan.

The entire Yin Yang Burning Heavens Formation exploded as the tremendous forces of fission finally tore the Divine Body Armor – following the old scar in the middle of his chest – directly into half!

The onlookers stared on with apprehension at the spectacle. Everybody could feel their hairs stand on ends, and even Xiao Zhener and Yang Qing were rooted to the spot, speechless.

The Divine Body Armor was an incomplete product all those years ago. It sustained heavy damage and resulted in a great reduction in its power. All those years of repair and recuperation by the Marquis of Jinghuan following the crack in the chest area of the armor.

All this could not hide the fact that a magic treasure with the potential of reaching the level of Destiny was forcefully broken apart as of today.

The person that laid the Divine Body Armor of the Emperor of Violence to ruin was surprisingly just a nascent soul intermediate stage cultivator.

Even though the detonations of the Yin Yang Burning Heavens Formation were not as ferocious or as violent as the Quad Fire Lotus, they lasted for a far longer period of time.

The raging tides that were crashing against each other continuously were now vaporized by the blazing flames above them. The remaining ocean water were bursting with air bubbles as steam from the boiling water thickened the layer of cloudy white mist above the Ying Sea and caused everything to turn into a patch of blinding whiteness.

Xiao Yan’s two strikes, one after another, managed to achieve the state of ‘Burning Heavens and Blazing Oceans’.

Yet, at this very moment, Buddhist chants rang out from beyond the void and a Buddha statue on a lotus pedestal revealed itself.

There was a lunar wheel in front of the lotus pedestal that was spurred by eight horses, and the right hand of the buddha had Cintamani Beads while its left hand held onto a bell. It took the form of the Ratnasambhava.

As this form of the buddha showed itself, Yan Mingyue giggled as she said, "I guess your patience ran out and you’re finally here. What a pity – this is but an avatar, and you can’t save this man."

She flashed out the Heavenly Imperial Jade and morphed into rolls of white clouds and a sprawling divine palace shimmered into vision out of nowhere and blockaded the magical body of the Ratnasambhava.

A young monk stood beneath the body of the Ratnasambhava. He wore a warm smile on his face as he shook his head at Yan Mingyue. "The Heavenly Imperial Jade… Heh, the Great Void Sect and the Heaven’s Gate Sect withheld their feuding conflicts for the sake of the Nine Heavens in the olden days. Today, the Heavenly Imperial Jade is actually willing to be used by the Great Void Sect – the fate of the world and the fortunes of the earth are truly magical and unpredictable."

His voice grew ever so deep and soft as his body disappeared from sight. The sound of his voice followed immediately after, and the body of the Ratnasambhava retreated back into the void and vanished.

A haze of terror surrounded the Marquis of Jinghuan, who was still buried deep within the sea of flames, when he witnessed the departure of the young monk.

This source of fear did not come from the fact that the young monk was willing to let him die. This fear was mixed with revelations of some sort, as if he suddenly understood something important.

The only problem was that he no longer had much time to contemplate. The boundless volumes of fire had already completely consumed the Divine Body Armor at this point.

His physical body that had been hardened over time and was unmoving like that of the Vajra was also gradually melting within the furnace of primordial fires.

His agonizing cries resonated across the skies. "Xiao Yan…"

In the next moment, a stream of spiritual energy that was charged with the stench of blood shot up into the air. It was ultimately laid to ruin as it turned into streams of greenish smoke and dissipated into the air.

The figure of the Marquis of Jinghuan stood upright within the ocean of flames like a ghoulish statue. His body became like a porcelain vase being smashed to pieces.

Across the Divine Lands outside the Ying Sea, in a place far away from the East Sea, there was a camp that was lying between the borders of the Great Qin Empire and the Great Zhou Empire. An aurous core stage youth with clad in tight white clothing started bleeding from every hole in his body and collapsed backwards.

The guards surrounding him were all paralyzed with fear and confusion. Nobody knew why their great general’s avatar would suddenly collapse just like that.

At the same time, another one of Liang An’s avatars was sitting inside a pavilion in the middle of a mountain range. This avatar was wearing a long flowing white robe, and let loose another harrowing cry as its eyes grew hollow and its entire body froze like a wooden statue.

A gust of wind blew past it, and the white-robed scholar-like avatar collapsed onto the ground, as if it had been defeated by the wind.

The original body of the Marquis of Jinghuan that had yet to reach the immortal soul stage was completely devastated, and his avatars were destroyed along with him.

Xiao Yan’s battle truly devastated the Marquis of Jinghuan to the point that nothing remained!