Celestial almost swore out loud. After disappearing for half a month, the d.a.m.ned Jiang Chen had grown in strength yet again when he’d returned! Where the h.e.l.l did such a monstrous talent come from??
The initial hatred he’d nursed against the young lord had fully given way to apprehension.
Reality finally dawned on him. Greater than he’d ever imagined, this youngster was a being impossible to define.
With a cultivation at sixth level and fearless beasts to a.s.sist him, Jiang Chen sorely tested the demon’s powers. Although not yet at advanced divine realm, his consciousness exceeded Celestial’s in strength, a fact that boggled the demon’s mind.
Without his mental edge, the forefather’s ever-fluid implementation of the celestial demon arts lost half its effectiveness.
The physical arts were dulled by the beasts, while mental arts proved ineffective against the human. With nowhere to turn, Celestial found himself at the end of his tether.
A strategic retreat would be the best outcome, but his opponents defeated his attempts with hara.s.sing fire time and time again.
He almost blew his top. He could have easily crushed Jiang Chen and company given a few decades to a.s.similate the other tribes’ powers. No, a single decade would’ve sealed the deal!
Instead, he was reduced to constantly losing ground.
“Jiang Chen, what the h.e.l.l are you trying to do? Is there any sense to continuing the fight?” he lambasted, his anger finally getting the better of him.
Imperturbable, the young man reb.u.t.ted, “I don’t mind at all. You’re your kind’s last surviving remnant. As long as I keep you busy, peace will return to Divine Abyss.”
“Hmph! You might keep me confined here, but you’ll never kill me. This is a futile waste of time.”
Futile? Jiang Chen naturally begged to differ. Slaying Celestial wasn’t outside the realm of possibility, but he had to go straight for the jugular as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
And present itself it would, because another link of his seal came undone after his recent breakthrough, providing him with a Celestial Emperor Talisman. Perhaps a simple afterthought for his father, it nevertheless housed the tremendous strength of a celestial emperor. The item could be used seven times, respectively corresponding to forty percent of his father’s strength, fifty percent, and so on, up to a full one hundred percent.
Letting loose a strike at ninety or a hundred percent would shatter the entire continent, wreaking havoc too terrible to envision. So, he debated whether forty or fifty percent would be more appropriate.
Given what he knew of his father, even forty percent could cause irremediable damage. Did he have any other choice?
Celestial emperors possessed powers beyond the ken of mere mortals. They could easily destroy a material plane with a snap of their fingers, so he dared not rush impetuously into using the talisman.
“Forty percent should be the equivalent of a casual attack. It’s more than enough to kill Celestial, or leave him fatally crippled at the very least.”
The issue was the collateral damage to Myriad Abyss Island. And would it flatten all of the Martial Sacred Land?
Celestial wasn’t someone he could dispose of by normal means. Keep trapped, yes, but not kill outright. Calling upon the talisman was the only method to guarantee the demon’s demise. But what would become of everything else?
Father must have had his reasons for giving it to me at sixth level divine realm. Perhaps the extreme destructiveness will be restricted to a small area?
It sounded more sensible the more he thought it over.
By now, he was all but certain his father had been the driving force behind his reincarnation. As a part of his father’s arrangements, the talisman was surely meant to be used.
“Let’s give it a try. Even if Myriad Abyss is ruined, I can fall back to the human domain. In any case, I should be able to keep it under control at forty percent!”
Celestial seethed with frustration. He’d fought long enough to know his chances of victory were slim at best, unless he could achieve a breakthrough of his own.
Instead of being mired in a pointless fight, he’d be better served by secluding himself for a decade before seeking out Jiang Chen again.
It was a sound plan in theory, but how to put it into practice?
To make his getaway, he had to pay a price. It was either utilize his tribe’s forbidden art at the expense of his life force, or throw caution to the wind and risk his life in the fight.
After careful consideration, he opted for the former.
However, Jiang Chen immediately noticed the waves in the demon’s consciousness and the changes to his aura. More than likely, Celestial was ready to launch an ultimate move.
“Heads up, everyone. He’s going to use a powerful technique and I intend to respond in kind. So heed my commands and stick close to me, lest you get caught in the crossfire!”
The talisman didn’t differentiate friends from foes. Once caught in its area of effect, everything would be indiscriminately wiped out.
The following events proved the sharpness of his senses. Celestial’s aura expanded further, the onset of a forbidden art almost palpable. Seeing the demon gather his energy, the young lord shouted, “Fall back!”
Longtime a.s.sociates of his, the beasts responded on an instinctive level and withdrew without delay.
In the meantime, he brandished the Celestial Emperor Talisman and infused it with his consciousness, lighting a terrible fuse that would detonate the entire continent.
A myriad of expressions flashed across his solemn face.
The talisman activated in less than no time, a fearsome force of heaven and earth swelling to epic proportions faster than one could blink.
Boom!
A terrible shockwave engulfed the s.p.a.ce in front of him and swept away everything living or inert, down to the tiniest speck of dust. But it didn’t spread unchecked. Instead, it stayed confined to within a few dozen miles.
However, inside the area in question, the blast devoured all matter and shook s.p.a.ce itself in an explosion of light.
The next moment, it tore everything asunder. Not even Celestial could escape this grim fate. Fear writ large on his face the moment he vanished, as helpless to resist as a blade of barley against the flood.