Chapter 444: Slaying the Grand Heavenly Master
Seeing Xiao Ze conjure a giant silver hand and easily crush his bone knife, a look of horror flashed in the Grand Heavenly Master's eyes. However, he wasn't ready to give up just yet. The surrounding hundreds of chains emitted a deafening metallic clanging. These chains gathered, forming massive black chains that lashed out at Xiao Ze. Simultaneously, the Grand Heavenly Master concentrated his Dou Qi into his hands, forming hand seals as he tried to break the spatial confinement around him.
Feeling the immense strength of the spatial confinement, the Grand Heavenly Master regretted not retreating immediately when Xiao Ze appeared. Despite Xiao Ze being a newly ascended Dou Saint, his strength was extraordinary, even more terrifying than the Holy Spirit Saint, who had lingered at the Dou Saint level for years. Just one move from Xiao Ze had already posed a fatal threat to him.
Suddenly, the world went silent as a vast pressure erupted from Xiao Ze. A wisp of golden flame appeared in his palm, growing rapidly into several hundred-zhang long fire dragons. These dragons charged at the massive chains, their intense heat melting the chains into molten iron, which fell into the Netherworld Sea below. One of the golden dragons flew directly at the Grand Heavenly Master.
Unable to complete his spatial hand seals in time, the Grand Heavenly Master saw the immense fire dragon heading towards him. The intense heat made his withered face turn red. He gritted his teeth and thrust his hands forward, forming a several hundred-zhang wide spatial shield.
Boom!
The golden dragon shattered, but the spatial shield was left full of holes from the scorching heat. The golden flames spread around the Grand Heavenly Master, forcing him to use Dou Qi to defend himself. His efforts to break Xiao Ze's spatial confinement were also incinerated by the golden flames.
Biting his teeth, the Grand Heavenly Master knew that one mistake had led to his impending doom. If he had been more decisive earlier, combining with his bone knife to unleash the power of a two-star Dou Saint, he might have severely injured Xiao Ze.
After incinerating all the black chains into molten iron, Xiao Ze finally turned his gaze to the Grand Heavenly Master. Unexpectedly, the Grand Heavenly Master pulled out a pale silver spatial jade slip and crushed it. A powerful spatial fluctuation emanated from it, but the portal it was supposed to create disintegrated under Xiao Ze's spatial confinement.
"Is he grasping at straws now?" Xiao Ze thought. He had set up the spatial confinement because killing the Grand Heavenly Master was easy, but preventing his escape would have been difficult without it. With the Grand Heavenly Master backed by the Soul Hall and even the Soul Clan, breaking free might have summoned a stronger ally like the Soul Hall's vice master or even the master himself.
With the spatial confinement in place, the Grand Heavenly Master had no escape. Under Xiao Ze's control, the golden flames surged, incinerating the Grand Heavenly Master's Dou Qi. A wisp of golden flame touched his right hand.
Hiss!
The excruciating pain made the Grand Heavenly Master wince, his face contorting. The golden flame on his right hand was inextinguishable, consuming any energy he tried to use against it. Without hesitation, he sliced off his right arm at the root with his left hand, stopping the spread of the flames.
"Xiao Ze, are you truly determined to kill me today? Have you considered the retribution from the Soul Hall and the Soul Clan!?" the Grand Heavenly Master hissed, his Dou Qi surging.
"Why waste words? If I didn't intend to kill you, why would I set up all these measures?" Xiao Ze replied calmly. Hearing this, the Grand Heavenly Master's Dou Qi exploded with a terrifying force as he charged towards Xiao Ze and the Holy Spirit Saint.
A spark of lightning flickered in Xiao Ze's hand, unleashing a storm of countless lightning bolts.
"Go!" Xiao Ze telepathically commanded the Holy Spirit Saint, given the thunderous noise made normal conversation impossible. The two quickly moved away from the area, just before a violent thunderstorm obliterated the space, neutralizing the Grand Heavenly Master's desperate energy.
"The self-destruction of a one-star Dou Saint at his peak is indeed formidable," Xiao Ze observed. Dispelling the spatial energy before him, he saw a massive void where the Grand Heavenly Master had detonated, with lightning pouring into the endless void.
In the endless void, powerful energies from battles on the continent that couldn't be contained by space would be expelled, forming dangerous areas over time. This was why ancient agreements among powerful clans restricted Dou Saints from fighting freely.
Suppressing the violent lightning with his energy, Xiao Ze smoothed out the spatial rift. The Grand Heavenly Master's self-destruction had been thwarted by the overwhelming lightning storm, preventing it from fully unfolding.
Xiao Ze then turned to the Holy Spirit Saint, who looked relieved. "Xiao Ze, your strength has grown so quickly," she said with gratitude.
"A fortunate series of opportunities allowed me to break through to Dou Saint," Xiao Ze smiled. Noticing the Holy Spirit Saint seemed exhausted but uninjured, he continued, "Saint Spirit, what are your plans now? With the Grand Heavenly Master dead, the Soul Hall won't let this go easily. They'll come looking for you."
Sighing, the Holy Spirit Saint admitted, "I don't know..."
"Why not join the Pill Tower officially? As one of the top human forces in Zhongzhou, the Pill Tower would make the Soul Hall think twice before acting."
(End of chapter)