At this moment, the thunder and lightning were not yet intense. Afraid that the power would not be enough, Meng Qi did not immediately summon the Thunder God’s Seal, but instead roared, “Kill!”
His voice exploded like spring thunder, shaking the objects inside the room and making the pillars and beams tremble faintly. If not for the rolling thunder outside at the same time, the roof and the guards outside would certainly have noticed the commotion inside.
Yet, the momentum of the Evil Monarch had reached its zenith. His entire being seemed to hover between existence and non-existence—neither here nor there, neither in this world nor the next. He remained utterly impervious to Meng Qi’s thunderous words, as an overwhelming force enveloped him and his spiritual pressure firmly locked onto Meng Qi.
Then, he employed emptiness to envelop reality. Both his qi and spirit turned void and hollow, exerting a pull on Meng Qi, who was straining with all his might to resist. Meng Qi felt as though his body and spirit were being ripped apart, enduring excruciating pain that nearly made him vomit blood.
Knowing he couldn’t remain on the defensive, Meng Qi projected his spirit outward while guarding his inner mind and slashed with his blade.
This slash was “Fall into the Mortal World,” driven by the essence of the Heaven Saber. The blade light was ethereal, flickering unpredictably, like a fish in water or a phantom in the mind, shifting with the momentum and the heart, elusive and impossible to defend against.
“Good!” The Evil Monarch was slightly moved, praising with a half-smile. Amidst the emptiness, his right hand extended, and his middle finger jabbed toward Meng Qi’s forehead.
His hand gesture continuously shifted, each change bringing illusions difficult to distinguish. It moved with the timing and responded to the momentum, making it impossible to discern truth from falsehood or reality from illusion.
At this moment, despite Meng Qi’s progress in the Solitary Sword Technique and his initial grasp of the method to break internal force, he still felt that the Evil Monarch’s finger strike had perfectly merged truth and illusion, emptiness and substance. Every point seemed like an opening, yet also a peril.
This showed that the Evil Monarch’s realm and strength had surpassed Meng Qi by a large margin!
Faced with this strike, Meng Qi could no longer break through the technique and could only block with “Fall into the Mortal World,” driven once again by the Heaven Saber’s essence.
The blade light flickered, seemingly changing with every shift in the Evil Monarch’s hand gesture in each fleeting moment. This was a spiritual pull, naturally evolving.
Bang!
The seemingly ordinary middle finger struck the blade tip. Meng Qi trembled all over, as if struck by lightning. His right arm went numb and temporarily lost sensation. His blood surged, and golden light burst forth. He nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, but fortunately, the sixth gate of the Golden Bell Shield had just been entered.
Gritting his teeth, Meng Qi pulled his blade and thrust forward with his left hand, the ice-cold blade exuding a grim aura—the “Yama Scroll.”
The sword radiance was pure and untainted, piercing through layers of fierce qi in the air as it aimed straight for the Evil Monarch’s forehead—advancing relentlessly without retreat!
The Evil Monarch uttered a faint sound of surprise, withdrew his right hand, and lightly and vaguely struck a palm.
This palm strike seemed to lack all force, yet in Meng Qi’s vision, it grew larger and larger, nearly covering the heavens and earth.
Just as the blade was about to pierce his palm, the Evil Monarch abruptly shifted his palm technique, transforming emptiness into substance. A surge of formidable energy erupted abruptly, like rolling tidal waves—one after another, so tangible it seemed almost solid.
Meng Qi retreated three steps. Even with the Golden Bell Shield protecting him, the tiger’s mouth on his left hand slightly cracked, with a trickle of blood flowing out.
The Evil Monarch’s momentum remained at its peak. The previously concentrated sword qi had been silently neutralized. His expression was cold as he raised both palms, and his entire figure seemed to become abnormally tall, almost like a god or demon.
Boom!
Thunder roared across the sky, and lightning illuminated the heavens like daylight. The distant battle at the Diligent Governance Hall had reached its climax.
Meng Qi no longer hesitated. His right arm had already regained sensation. He focused his mind and wielded the blade with his will. A purple lightning mark on the back of his left hand glimmered vividly.
From the previous battle, Meng Qi clearly knew that with his current Golden Bell Shield ability, blade skills, and sword techniques, even if he used “Fall into the Mortal World,” “Yama Scroll,” “Sacrifice Body Technique,” and “Cut Pure Cycle” without considering the consequences, he still couldn’t truly injure such an Evil Monarch. Even surviving and escaping would only be a fifty-fifty chance, as the Phantom Demon Step was illusory and hard to escape!
He immersed himself in emotion, his mind as calm as a still lake, reflecting everything around him. Though unable to precisely discern the Evil Monarch’s qi flow and distribution, he seemed to hear a steady heartbeat, brimming with infinite significance.
A flash of blade light appeared, illuminating ten zhang of the mortal world. This slash was still “Fall into the Mortal World!”
Meng Qi couldn’t be sure whether the Evil Monarch harbored attachments of hatred or separation, but he was certain that the Evil Monarch still bore great ambitions yet to be fulfilled. Thus, how could a person in the mortal world escape the dust of the world?
Compared to the slash he had previously made in the middle of the Pei River toward the Evil Monarch, this slash displayed the essence of blade techniques more profoundly and exhibited more variations, representing the fruits of Meng Qi’s recent battles and trials.
The clouds gathered thickly, and silver snakes danced chaotically in the sky. Suddenly, they coalesced into a thunderbolt as thick as a water bucket, blazing as it descended from the heavens.
Except for the two Grand Masters locked in battle inside the Diligent Governance Hall, everyone within the Imperial City felt the energy pull and gazed toward the sky, witnessing the divine thunder descending, magnificent and terrifying!
Boom!
Before the guards surrounding the Supreme Harmony Hall could react, the thunderbolt pierced through the roof, scorching those nearby, and directly struck downward!
“Heavenly Thunder Punishment?” The guards and eunuchs couldn’t help but think of the recent defeat in the northwest and the struggle for the throne.
“Thunder Blade Mad Monk…” In the courtyard adjacent to the Supreme Harmony Hall, Ruan Yushu and Luo Shengyi—who was directing guards in a circular maneuver toward the Hall of Diligent Governance in an attempt to escape—murmured in unison.
Absorbing spiritual essence, breaking through bottlenecks, stepping into the Grandmaster realm, nearly achieving unity with heaven and earth, every movement exuding immense power;
Rising in rebellion, sweeping across the land, using the Seventh Prince as a puppet, establishing the Holy Sect as the orthodox sect, suppressing Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, fulfilling generations of aspirations;
Awaiting the throne, forsaking the seat, his heart’s desire fulfilled, no more barriers, merging with heaven and earth, shattering the void!
Just as the Evil Monarch was reveling in his success, a sudden pain struck his chest, as if invaded by an external force. Regaining his senses, he saw a lightning-illuminated long blade had already shattered his protective aura, nearly upon him!
Activating the Undying Seal Method, he sought to turn death into life and dissipate the blade’s fierce energy. With a deafening boom, a massive bolt of lightning—like the sovereign of heaven and earth—descended. Its brilliant silver-white radiance flooded the entire room, momentarily blinding even Meng Qi.
The lightning entwined around the “Evil Calamity,” cutting toward the Evil Monarch with a feeling of destroying everything.
The Evil Sovereign whirled at lightning speed, utilizing the barrier formed by his external energy and his body’s meridians to contain the thunderous lightning and blade energy, striving desperately to neutralize them and turn certain death into a chance for survival!
As he spun rapidly, arcs of electricity were flung outward, and fierce energy surged in all directions, using the counterforce to send Meng Qi flying.
Meng Qi fell with a splash, his body glowing with dark gold as if about to shatter, spitting blood, his meridians seemingly severed. The Undying Seal Method’s power was evident.
The lightning vanished, and the room fell silent. Thanks to the sixth gate of the Golden Bell Shield and the physical and mental enhancements from the Jiuyang Divine Art’s Qi Accumulation Chapter, Meng Qi was no longer as helpless as after killing Yuan Mengzhi, barely able to stand and look toward the Evil Monarch.
Upon seeing this, Meng Qi hurriedly picked up his blade and sword, assuming a starting stance.
The Evil Monarch stood there, back straight, his expression still cold despite his slightly darkened complexion, staring at Meng Qi without showing any abnormality.
Impossible! Even the heavenly thunder couldn’t kill him? Meng Qi was greatly alarmed and prepared to activate the Sacrifice Body Technique for another slash.
As the backlash was suppressed and his mind calmed, Meng Qi suddenly realized something was wrong—he could no longer feel the Evil Monarch’s heartbeat!
His heart stirred, and he was about to kick a stone when he suddenly heard the Evil Monarch speak!
His voice was weak, his eyes hollow, without breath, as if a lingering will was driving him to speak:
“In laughter and talk, the imperial ambition fades; life is but a drunken dream…”
Bang! He fell backward, black smoke emerging from his seven orifices, his body convulsing uncontrollably before quickly settling. His voice echoed within the Purple Extreme Pavilion, lingering for a long time.
“The Evil Monarch Guan Ying has perished, the Undying Seal Method’s lineage is severed, the third side mission is complete, rewarding three hundred Virtue Points.《The Undying Seal Method》can be obtained from the Evil Monarch’s possession, but cannot be exchanged for Virtue Points or taught to others.”
The voice of the Master of the Sixfold Cycle resonated in Meng Qi’s mind, allowing him to finally breathe a sigh of relief. It’s finally over!
This side mission only rewarded participants with Virtue Points, so only Meng Qi received it.
Meng Qi calmed himself and walked to the Evil Monarch’s side, sighed, and bowed respectfully to his formidable enemy.
He sheathed his blade and sword, crouched down, and searched the Evil Monarch’s body. Since the Evil Monarch had used the Undying Seal Method to absorb the lightning blade’s energy into his aura wall and meridians for dissipation and transformation, his exterior remained intact. Unlike Yuan Mengzhi, who had been reduced to a charred lump with nothing left whole.
However, Meng Qi also believed that if any items on the Evil Monarch had indeed been destroyed by lightning, the Master of the Sixfold Cycle would recreate a《Undying Seal Method》for him.
He first pulled out a piece of fabric resembling animal hide, and upon sensing the previous aura of the Demon Sovereign’s crystal, he immediately understood—it was the wrapping for the crystal.
The commotion caused by the heavenly thunder would certainly alert the guards on the roof and around them, prompting some to come check for fires. Therefore, Meng Qi did not examine the fabric but directly stuffed it into his robe and continued searching, pulling out a thick gray manual with four large characters on it:《Undying Seal Method》.
After securing the manual, Meng Qi continued searching, finding nothing else on the Evil Monarch’s body. He then concentrated on searching for the Demon Sovereign’s crystal, which was small and easy to miss.
Soon, Meng Qi felt the cold, strange sensation—it didn’t feel like a lifeless stone but like a dead creature with flesh and blood.
As his palm touched the Demon Sovereign’s crystal, a mixture of heat and cold surged through him, and he smiled as he withdrew his hand.
At that moment, an unexpected change occurred. Meng Qi felt a surge of pure Yuan Qi suddenly erupt from the Demon Sovereign’s crystal, rushing into his body like an overbearing force, disregarding his will and forcibly pouring into him!
The YuanQi surged into his meridians, swelling his body as if it were about to explode. He couldn’t shake it off.
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