Chapter 163: A Bloody Battle!

Immediately after, the scenery surrounding Xia Jiuxuan and the other two shifted.

Within the strange, mysterious space, the sky was filled with countless stars. Streaks of lightning flashed menacingly across the firmament.

"A spell domain!"

Xia Jiuxuan's expression darkened.

The ability to manifest a spell domain proved that this elder was a grand spell cultivator! Against such a realm, even a martial cultivator at the Return to Origin realm would find it difficult to emerge victorious.

"Do you still dare to be arrogant now!"

The elder's figure floated beneath the starry sky, surrounded by crackling lightning. This awe-inspiring state made him look formidable. If an ordinary person were trapped here, they would undoubtedly treat this old man like a deity.

Unfortunately for him, the person he had encountered was Xia Jiuxuan.

This was an existence that had once stood alone against the gods of the Nine Heavens—what kind of spectacle had he not witnessed?

"Old fogey, does a mere spell domain make you this endlessly arrogant?"

Xia Jiuxuan raised his sword, pointing it at the figure hovering in mid-air.

"You truly are an idiot! You have no idea what my spell domain signifies!"

"You scoundrel, you killed the genius of the Shen family! Today, I shall make sure you beg for life in vain and pray for death in vain!"

Rolling thunderous echoes reverberated throughout the space.

Duanmu Wan was somewhat better off; having witnessed grand spectacles before, she managed to hold her ground.

However, Mu Feng was not so fortunate.

The elder's voice caused his head to throb with pain, and blood began to seep from his ears.

"Thunder Spirit Sword, go!"

Standing beneath the starry sky, the elder waved a hand. The violent lightning around him condensed into several swords, hurtling toward Xia Jiuxuan.

Xia Jiuxuan's expression turned solemn. He raised his head, channeling the spiritual energy within his body to the extreme.

"Kui-yin Divine Wood!"

Wood-type spiritual energy surged within Xia Jiuxuan's palms. The next moment, an object resembling a tree stump condensed before him.

The Thunder Spirit Swords closed in rapidly. Xia Jiuxuan pushed outward with both palms, sending the wooden stump flying forward.

Bang!

Upon impact, the wooden stump created by Xia Jiuxuan was shattered by the Thunder Spirit Swords.

However!

After the wooden stump shattered, the debris reaggregated, transforming into wooden swords etched with archaic patterns.

These wooden swords clashed with the Thunder Spirit Swords, the colliding forces causing the very fabric of this space to tremble continuously.

"You rascal!"

A look of astonishment flashed across the eyes of the elder floating above.

This punk actually possessed wood-type spiritual energy of such purity!

While wood-type spiritual energy could not be considered a counter to lightning-type spells, it was fully capable of holding its own against them!

Bang, bang, bang...

The swords of both sides battled in mid-air for a moment before detonating simultaneously, scattering into terrifying shockwaves of energy.

"You've got some tricks up your sleeve. I underestimated you after all!"

The elder's expression recovered, but a violent killing intent surged in his eyes.

"I must admit, you are an unprecedented genius encountered once in ten thousand years. It is a great pity that you are about to perish at my hands."

With that, the elder flicked his wide sleeve.

Endless volleys of fire-spirit arrows shot down furiously from the deep sky.

Xia Jiuxuan flew arrogantly upward. As spiritual energy surged within him, transparent water-blades burst forth from his surroundings, striking the incoming fire-spirit arrows with pinpoint accuracy.

"Hmm?!"

Seeing this, the elder furrowed his brows deeply.

This scoundrel actually possessed water-type spiritual energy as well!

He was not a spell cultivator; how could he master so many kinds of spiritual energy attacks?

Spell cultivators, on the other hand, faced no restrictions in using spiritual energy attacks because those attacks were simulated using spells! Precisely because they were not genuine spiritual energy, a spell cultivator's spiritual energy attacks were somewhat weaker than the real thing.

"Old fogey, my turn!"

Xia Jiuxuan channeled wind-type spiritual energy, causing a pair of transparent, massive wings to materialize behind his back.

Swoosh!

Bolstered by the wind-type spiritual energy, his speed reached its absolute limit! In an instant, the sword in his hand thrust toward the elder.

"Ridiculous! Within my domain, do you really think you can pierce my true body?"

The next moment, the elder's figure suddenly grew translucent and vanished from his original location.

The corner of Xia Jiuxuan's mouth curled upward. Lowering his left arm, he gripped an iron spear and hurled it forcefully downward.

Bang!

A muffled thud echoed out.

The elder's figure was forced out of its translucent state, revealing himself. Struck by the immense force, numerous runes scattered from around his body.

Having taken the blow, the elder was both shocked and infuriated!

Within his own domain, how had this punk managed to track his true location?

This was utterly bizarre!

*Impossible! It must have been a lucky guess!* the elder thought to himself.

Although he had been struck just now, he remained completely unfazed because he had not yet deployed any of his ultimate lethal techniques. What had happened moments ago was merely a preliminary test of skill.

Xia Jiuxuan was well aware of this.

An expert capable of releasing a spell domain could not possibly possess only this level of strength.

"Dharma Form, Vajra War God, appear!"

The elder formed hand seals, and a massive golden phantom emerged behind him.

This phantom was not a guardian soul, but a combat avatar condensed entirely from spells. Instantly, the golden phantom wielding a battle-axe began to shrink, merging into the elder's body.

"Stinky brat, didn't you claim to have extraordinary combat prowess? I shall use pure martial might to obliterate you."

Bolstered by this Dharma form, the elder gained martial combat capabilities, allowing him to engage Xia Jiuxuan in close-quarters combat.

"Are you worthy?"

Xia Jiuxuan uttered a few indifferent words as his figure descended from the sky like a plummeting meteor.

Clang, clang, clang!

Blazing sword images radiated outward from around his body.

"Humph, you still dare to be arrogant!"

The elder closed in aggressively, swinging his giant axe and transforming into a blur of afterimages as he cleaved through the countless sword projections.

"Die!"

Reaching Xia Jiuxuan, the elder swung his axe fiercely toward the latter's head.

"Idiot!"

Xia Jiuxuan sneered.

"Spell-Breaking Killing Sword!"

The next instant, a pale golden radiance lit up along Xia Jiuxuan's Blood-Bone Sword. He raised his blade to block the descending giant axe.

Bang!

A deafening crash rang out.

The golden radiance on the sword blade was repelled, transforming instead into a flurry of tiny golden swords that bypassed the opponent's giant axe and pierced toward the elder.

The elder noticed this, but his expression was one of utter disdain.

With his Dharma form providing protection and a formidable layer of magical defense surrounding his body, how could this brat possibly breach his defenses?

Yet, the next second, he was utterly dumbfounded.

Bang, bang, bang...

Those tiny golden swords passed through his magical defense layer without the slightest obstruction, piercing directly into his flesh.

Golden light flared as the golden phantom clinging to the elder's surface was thoroughly shattered by the tiny golden swords.

"What?!"

Panic washed over the elder's face. He hurriedly channeled his spells, retreating backward with near-teleportational speed.

Yet, to his dismay, the moment he stabilized his footing, that brat had already closed in on his flank!

"This scoundrel can accurately predict my position!"

A chill ran down the elder's spine.

Clearly, he was inside his own spell domain, so why did he feel as though the tables had been turned and he was the one being controlled? Furthermore, he was certain this was no illusion!

"This is bizarre beyond belief! No matter, no wonder this brat was even able to slay the master's Asura servants! I cannot afford to be careless!"

The elder finally corrected his mindset.

Initially, he had assumed he could crush the opponent effortlessly and wanted to slowly torture him to death. Now, it seemed that the slightest lapse in judgment could land him in mortal danger of defeat!

"Obliteration!"

No longer daring to lower his guard, the elder pushed his magical power to its absolute limit.

Howling hurricanes swept across the area. Innumerable frenzied tearing forces combined into a flawless killing array. Anyone trapped within these tempests would be shredded to dust in an instant.

"Destructive Thunder!"

Crack! Crack!

Simultaneously, a massive thundercloud vortex appeared in the sky. A crimson bolt of lightning condensed, descending like a pillar reaching from heaven to earth.

"We're finished."

Feeling the terrifying aura, both Duanmu Wan and Mu Feng felt a wave of despair blooming deep within their hearts.

Xia Jiuxuan's performance moments ago had been shocking enough. However, his opponent was a powerful spell cultivator who, within this spell domain, ruled like a master of heaven and earth, capable of marshaling all forces.

How could anyone hope to resist this?

Unable to offer any assistance under these conditions, Duanmu Wan and Mu Feng could only sigh in despair.

At this moment, Duanmu Wan felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. If not for her, Senior Brother Xia would never have ended up in this godforsaken place.

"Old fogey, you're forcing my hand!"

Under the immense pressure, Xia Jiuxuan was reaching his breaking point. He could feel the imminent threat of death closing in!

Consequently, he opened his palm, causing a wisp of eerie flame to manifest in the center of his hand.

"You want to play with lightning attacks against me?!"

Darkness consumed Xia Jiuxuan's pupils.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Tiny bolts of electrical current flashed within that wisp of eerie flame. With a ferocious expression, Xia Jiuxuan glared at the elder. "I'll let you experience what true lightning really is!"

Boom!

Xia Jiuxuan thrust his palm toward the sky.

"Ridiculous. Do you honestly think a mere trick like that can counter my genuine lightning attack?"

Watching Xia Jiuxuan, who appeared on the verge of being obliterated, the elder muttered in disdain.

Rumble!

The massive crimson thunderbolt crashed downward against Xia Jiuxuan's palm. At that moment, the scene seemed to freeze entirely in time!

"Senior Brother Xia!"

"Senior Brother Xia..."

Mu Feng wore an expression of profound sorrow.

As for Duanmu Wan, tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

"Stinky brat, killing you certainly took some effort."

From the elder's perspective, this punk was ultimately destined for a fate of being blasted into dust.

Yet, in a split second, a sudden twist occurred.

The scene the elder had imagined—of Xia Jiuxuan being blasted into nothingness—did not materialize.

Instead, that crimson thunderbolt froze dead between heaven and earth.

A wisp of pitch-black energy spread along the lightning. In the blink of an eye, the thick bolt of lightning turned completely pitch black.

"What is happening here?!"

An aura capable of striking terror into the very soul began to spread through this spell domain.

"Pfft!"

Just that terrifying aura alone caused the elder to suffer a backlash, prompting him to spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.

*Tribulation lightning... Could this be tribulation lightning...?*

The elder's eyes bulged as he stared fixedly at the black lightning, feeling as though his soul were about to rupture.

So-called tribulation lightning was the divine punishment triggered only when formidable cultivators underwent their heavenly tribulations! He had only ever heard his master mention it; at his current realm, even with another millennium of cultivation, he might trigger it.

Yet how had the punk before him summoned such lightning?

"Oh no, I'm doomed!"

The elder's face turned ashen as he felt his spell domain beginning to collapse.

Once the spell domain was crushed, he would inevitably suffer a severe backlash, stripping him of his ability to act. Stricken with terror, he took the initiative to withdraw his spell domain.

"That lightning... it's still there!"

Having retracted the spell domain, the elder looked on in horror as the terrifying black lightning still spanned the heavens and the earth.

This was too terrifying.

"Run!"

Not daring to entertain any other thoughts, the elder formed hand seals, desperate to escape by any means necessary.

Crack!

The solidified black lightning moved at last, transforming into a black dragon of thunder that lunged straight toward the elder.

"Ah!"

Watching the approaching lightning, the elder's pupils contracted violently, and he let out a miserable shriek.

*I'm dead.*

His mind went completely blank.

On the opposite side, Xia Jiuxuan's figure plummeted from mid-air, crashing heavily onto the ground.

"Disciple, fear not. Let your master take control of your body."

At the exact instant of the elder's life-and-death crisis, a cold voice echoed within his mind.

"Master!"

Joy instantly flooded the elder!

*Haha! How could I have forgotten? Master planted a wisp of his soul within my spirit; he must have sensed everything happening here!*

Rumble!

The black lightning finally struck the elder.

The surrounding space distorted, shattered, reassembled, and shattered once more under the assault of that lightning, repeating the cycle endlessly.

On the other side.

Duanmu Wan and Mu Feng recovered from their shock and immediately flew toward Xia Jiuxuan, who had crashed onto the ground.

"Senior Brother Xia, are you alright!"

Duanmu Wan knelt down, gently cradling Xia Jiuxuan's purplish face.

His current state was identical to the one he had been in after slaying the demons within the secret realm.

"Hiss."

Xia Jiuxuan pried his eyes open just a crack, the pain searing through his soul nearly unbearable.

"Old... old fogey, is he dead... or not..." Xia Jiuxuan asked with immense difficulty.

"He was struck by your lightning; he should have been reduced to ashes! Senior Brother Xia, what can I do to save you... Wuwu." Duanmu Wan said, entirely at a loss.

Xia Jiuxuan shook his head faintly. "No need to worry, I will recover on my own... it will simply consume quite a bit of time..."

This time, having invoked the Heavenly Punishment Divine Thunder, the soul injury he sustained was far more severe than the last!

Naturally, his ability to wield the Heavenly Punishment Divine Thunder was also tied to this drifting space. Originating from a far more stable alternate world, this space still harbored traces of withered laws of heaven and earth. By burning a wisp of his divine soul to gather those residual punitive lightning currents, he had managed to unleash such a strike.

Had he been in his own world, even burning a wisp of his divine soul would not have made this possible. After all, his home world was currently nothing more than a masterless minor realm.

"What a breathtakingly magnificent master of the dao."

At that very moment, a cold voice drifted over from the devastated earth.

Hearing those frigid words, Duanmu Wan and Mu Feng froze, every hair on their bodies standing on end!

"He's not dead!"

The two spun around to see the elderly man with his aged face and hunched back.

Taking slow, leisurely steps forward, he floated effortlessly above the three of them.