Scarlet blood rained down like massive stars crashing onto the earth, causing mountains to crumble and collapse!
Every drop of blood could pierce through a mountain peak—such was the might of a Heavenly Deity’s blood, containing boundless power.
“Ah—!” A scream tore through the air.
Some blood droplets shattered boulders, sending fragments and blood splattering into smaller droplets that landed on nearby cultivators, instantly killing them.
This region was teeming with life—geniuses from the three thousand provinces and native inhabitants alike. Once struck by the falling blood, survival was nearly impossible!
Such was the oppressive might of a Heavenly Deity, their divine power unfathomable!
“How can they be this strong? To other deities, a Heavenly Deity truly is like a true dragon or the blazing sun—lofty and untouchable,” many muttered, their faces pale with fear.
Chaos erupted as everyone retreated, desperate to avoid the carnage. This devastation was caused merely by the splitting of a Heavenly Deity’s palm—an outcome so terrifying it was hard to believe.
Even the ancient freaks stepped back, silent and grim.
Ma Yuan’s face twisted with fury, his expression savage. Proud and mighty as he was, he had been wounded by what he considered a mere insect—his right hand severed. It was unthinkable!
But when his gaze fell upon the “Immortal Seed,” his eyes blazed with renewed fervor. Such a sacred treasure was exceedingly rare—how could he have stumbled upon one here?
“An Immortal Seed? Truly a blessing! Even in the previous era, these were uncommon,” Ma Yuan mused. Born in these ruins, he knew many secrets.
“Was this prepared as my destined fortune?” He burst into mad laughter, though the agony in his severed arm twisted his grin into something grotesque.
Ma Yuan’s laughter boomed as he fixated on Shi Hao’s body and the mysterious Immortal Seed, which had transformed into a celestial placenta.
A body tempered with two strands of immortal qi was a peerless vessel, transcending the mundane. Paired with an Immortal Seed so rare it defied the heavens, he could hardly contain his exhilaration.
“Heh, the heavens have truly favored me,” Ma Yuan sneered. Though he had been careless earlier, his absolute power remained undeniable. Crushing a mere junior cultivator would be effortless.
He extended his arm, radiant light bursting forth as the shattered palm and spilled blood reversed their trajectory, reassembling at his severed wrist.
Such was the might of a Heavenly Deity—limitless magic, capable of reconstructing his true form with but a thought, so long as his flesh and blood remained.
“As a senior of the human race, I shall teach you how to respect your elders,” he intoned coldly.
Suddenly, his expression twisted in horror. He recoiled violently, shaking his arm as if haunted, his face paling instantly.
Lightning crackled along his limb, remnants of the celestial river’s descent. At first, he had paid it no mind—such thunder could not harm a Heavenly Deity.
But then he sensed it—a sinister, uncontrollable force writhing within him, corroding his flesh.
A curse!
This was an insidious, dormant curse, now erupting as he exerted his divine power.
“Ah—!” Ma Yuan roared in fury.
One mishap after another—how could a Heavenly Deity be humiliated so thoroughly by a mere insect? His pride was in tatters.
He brandished a short spear, an artifact of divine might, but suddenly, black blood gushed from his mouth, and his arm began to rot.
“What?!” Ma Yuan shuddered, true fear gripping him. He had planned to deal with the curse after capturing Shi Hao, but now, his heart turned to ice.
What kind of curse was this? Even a Heavenly Deity was being ravaged, as if tens of thousands of ants gnawed at his insides.
He was a Heavenly Deity! A mere junior’s curse should have been insignificant. How could it be so terrifying?
“Ah—!”
Ma Yuan screamed as corpse spots bloomed across his arm, the stench of decay thick in the air.
Even Shi Hao was stunned. He had known the curse from the Immortal Grave’s celestial river was fearsome—stronger cultivators suffered worse backlash. Legends spoke of sect masters falling to it. But witnessing it firsthand was another matter entirely.
Others recoiled in horror. Even a Heavenly Deity was not spared this grotesque fate.
“Wait—it’s not just one curse. The river water from the cauldron was merely the trigger. The curse he carried from the Immortal Ancient has also awakened. Those corpse spots are proof,” a native whispered, chilled to the bone.
“Pfft!”
Ma Yuan acted decisively, severing his right arm. Gritting his teeth, he forced out streams of black blood with his divine power.
“Pfft!”
Next, he hacked off a portion of his torso, blood spewing from his mouth and nose.
The excised flesh was drenched in black blood. Without pause, he expelled the tainted liquid, desperate to break the curse.
The onlookers were dumbstruck. The sight was horrifying!
A Heavenly Deity, mutilating himself to purge the curse—such desperation sent shivers down their spines.
“This is terrifying! A Heavenly Deity, reduced to this—neither alive nor dead, suffering endlessly!”
Ma Yuan wailed as chunks of his flesh sloughed off. He hovered in the void, burning his essence to cleanse the curse.
“Take it slow, old man. Don’t whittle yourself down to bones. Leave some meat on those bones,” Shi Hao taunted from a safe distance.
“You wretched brat!” Ma Yuan’s eyes burned crimson with rage. Today’s scheme had backfired spectacularly.
Worse, his life hung in the balance.
He longed to crush Shi Hao into paste, but the agony was unbearable. Would he even survive this ordeal?
“You won’t escape!” Ma Yuan snarled. Despite the corpse spots mottling his skin, he maintained his divine lockdown, trapping Shi Hao within an invisible cage.
“Whoosh!”
Ma Yuan spat a streak of black light—corrupted blood infused with divine law, aimed at erasing Shi Hao.
“Crack!”
The protective talisman around Shi Hao flickered, a small fissure appearing, but the barrier held.
“Old fool, how much of that black dog blood do you have left? Don’t bleed out and end up a dried-up corpse,” Shi Hao jeered.
He was deliberately provoking Ma Yuan. The Heavenly Deity refused to lift the barrier, so Shi Hao had to break his will.
The best way? Make the curse consume him faster.
Thus, Shi Hao hurled insults with impunity, mocking a Heavenly Deity with utter disdain.
The spectators were stunned. This should have been a one-sided slaughter—Heavenly Deity versus ant. Yet, the ant had turned the tables.
Ma Yuan, a Heavenly Deity, was the one suffering!
“Pfft!”
Ma Yuan expelled more black blood, the stench of decay thick as he tried to both heal and ensnare Shi Hao.
But the curse’s power exceeded his expectations. Panic set in—was he doomed?
After surviving countless calamities over the ages, to die here would make him the most pitiful joke of a Heavenly Deity!
“No!” Ma Yuan bellowed, refusing to surrender. He pulled out a violet gourd, gulping down a strange liquid meant to counter Immortal Ancient curses.
But today, it failed. The curse from Shi Hao’s river had merged with his own, growing more complex.
With a deafening roar, Ma Yuan burned his life essence, sacrificing longevity to purge the corruption.
“Hey, no rush, old man. You’ve got time. Maybe dig your own grave first, so you don’t rot in the open,” Shi Hao sneered.
Ma Yuan ignored him, focusing on survival.
Shi Hao tipped the cauldron again, pouring more celestial river water to stoke the curse. But this time, Ma Yuan blocked it with a sweep of divine runes.
Then, a clump of yellow mud flew from the cauldron, hurled by Shi Hao.
Ma Yuan barely reacted, but when the mud breached his defenses and grazed his flesh—
“Ah—!”
The touched area instantly rotted, sloughing off in a gruesome display.
This mud, retrieved from the depths of the uninhabited regions, was infamous. Though not the legendary “Mud of Annihilation” that could dissolve sect masters, it was deadly enough.
Shi Hao had once used it to ruin a near-Heavenly Deity artifact. Now, it proved its lethality again.
And since the mud had been soaking in the cursed river, it delivered a double blow.
Ma Yuan was livid. Was this sheer misfortune? Every misstep cost him dearly.
“Begone!”
He expelled the mud with a burst of primordial breath.
“Thanks for returning it. Can’t let such a treasure go to waste,” Shi Hao said, stowing it back in the cauldron.
“Die!”
Ma Yuan lunged through the air, bloodlust in his eyes. He could endure no more.
“Boom!”
Three palm strikes later, the protective talisman cracked but held.
Ma Yuan howled—the curse flared with each exertion.
“Ah—!”
As corpse spots spread, terror gripped him. If this continued, death was certain.
With his strength waning, the divine barrier shattered.
Shi Hao laughed. The gap between him and a Heavenly Deity was vast, yet here he stood, mocking one.
It was a slap to Ma Yuan’s pride—a humiliation beyond measure.
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