Before him stood the nine Tianjiao—the pride and strength of ancient bloodlines, their collective power daunting and awe-inspiring.
Six of them hailed from the primordial royal families, while the remaining three represented the nobility of ancient kings. Leading this formidable group was a golden-winged roc, towering and magnificent. His presence commanded attention as if he were a resurrected god of ancient myths.
The roc's face was strikingly heroic, and his golden armor shimmered like fire in the daylight. His long, golden hair seemed ablaze, complementing the intense, radiant gaze of his golden eyes. He was the embodiment of power and grandeur, as if he alone could stand against the heavens.
Behind him, the very sky seemed to crack open, unveiling a vast ocean of black. The air was thick with tension as waves crashed thunderously, sending towering sprays high enough to drown the peaks of celestial mountains. Within this ocean, a colossal black kun fish swam, so immense that its mere presence seemed to ripple through the world itself.
It was massive beyond comprehension, stretching over three thousand miles across. As it swam, the creature leaped out of the black waters and soared towards the sky, transforming into an awe-inspiring golden-winged roc mid-flight. The bird spread its wings, wide enough to blot out the sun, a being of magnificent divinity ascending the nine heavens. In the depths of its golden feathers, traces of black began to appear, swirling and merging in a delicate balance of yin and yang.
This was no ordinary creature. It was one of the Six Immortal Kings—the Kunpeng, a legendary fusion of fish and bird, the pinnacle of ancient prowess. This spirit beast was the pride and companion of the golden-winged roc before him, continually nourishing and strengthening his powers. Rare was the skill to foster such a spiritual being, and even rarer the courage to rely on it for battle. But it was the essence of his confidence—his reason to stand boldly at the front, daring to face off against the famed Chu Wuchen of the immortal Chu clan.
He intended to hunt… an undefeatable myth.
Fixing his gaze on Chu Wuchen, the roc let a smile of confidence play across his lips. "Double Pupil one," he began, his tone mocking, "perhaps you don't know who I am. Allow me to introdu—"
Before he could finish, Chu Wuchen interrupted him with a calm, indifferent voice, each word cutting like cold steel. "A dead man's name isn't worth remembering."
The golden-winged roc froze, his face twisting with anger, but then he laughed—a bitter, mocking laugh. "Unbeatable eyes… So, you believe every wielder of Double Pupils can defend this so-called myth?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. "With your mere level of concentration Realm, you dare to boast?"
The other eight Tianjiao laughed along, their laughter ringing out like a taunt. Among them, four held places on the Heavenly Pride rankings. The others, though unlisted, were even more powerful, having already broken through to the Lord Realm. Out of the four who held ranks, one stood in the first echelon, while the other three occupied the upper ranks of the second echelon. They were all among the top thirty.
None of them could fathom how Chu Wuchen could claim such confidence against the nine of them, especially without any known advantage. Did he have a hidden trump card? But then, so did they. Every one of them hailed from an immortal faction and each carried hidden depths of power.
To them, Chu Wuchen was overconfident, mistaking reputation for ability. He bore the titles of Heavenly Lord and Unbeatable, but these seemed like empty words.
Chu Wuchen's response was a faint smile—a quiet, mocking smile that lasted barely a moment. He finally spoke, his tone steady. "Do you believe me if I say that I'll kill you first?"
There were no grand declarations, no fierce aura. He simply stated it, calm and clear, as though it were an unremarkable fact. He couldn't be certain he would kill all nine of them, nor did he know how potent their escape techniques were.
But once he marked someone for death, that person would not survive. Not even the strongest of them, the golden-winged roc.
At that moment, the golden-winged roc's expression shifted from arrogance to a bitter sneer. "Then let's see you try."
With that, he raised his hand, summoning an artifact that floated, suspended in the void, radiating an ethereal mist. The air seemed to shift, echoing with a strange, otherworldly resonance.
Chu Wuchen's expression subtly changed, and his own energy stirred in response. Ethereal runes began to appear on his body, each one radiant with divine light. Yet, strangely, these runes appeared to be sealing off his own inner power, trapping the immortal blood within him.
The golden-winged roc's sneer widened. "Ah, so your precious immortal blood can't be summoned?"
The remaining eight Tianjiao exchanged glances, their own smiles growing colder as they observed the unfolding scene. They had clashed with the Chu family before, in overt battles and covert skirmishes. They understood well the power of Chu Wuchen's immortal blood—it was his lifeline, akin to the royal blood coursing through their veins. To lose it would strip him of his greatest advantage.
And while Chu Wuchen was unique, wielding not only his immortal blood but also the Double eyes, he would still be weakened. Without his immortal blood, he could not call upon the ancient war spirits of his clan, giving his enemies a sliver of hope for victory.
But to Chu Wuchen, their efforts seemed almost childish. He laughed to himself, a silent, amused laugh. Did they truly think cutting off his bloodline power would hinder him?
Without the immortal blood? It hardly mattered. Summoning his war spirits wasn't necessary to kill them. His gaze briefly flickered to the ground below, assessing his surroundings. Even without unleashing the six anomalies of his Double eyes, he knew he could slay them all.
Unless, of course, they tried to run.
"Is this all you have?" he murmured, his voice barely audible as he prepared himself.
With a hum, he unleashed his energy. The void trembled as the power of the world itself responded, the force of three thousand paths converging around him, coalescing into a single sword—a weapon of unparalleled majesty, stretching across the heavens.
The nine Tianjiao launched their attacks in unison, each unleashing a tremendous, unique power to surround Chu Wuchen in a lethal formation. Their voices rang out in unison: "Prepare to die!"
The energy around them crackled as their combined powers closed in on him, forming an unbreakable circle of destructive force. But Chu Wuchen's gaze never wavered; his attention remained solely on the golden-winged roc, as he whispered with deadly calm:
"This sword is for you."
With a single movement, he brought the sword down. The entire world seemed to darken as clouds and winds roared, and the three-thousand-path sword tore through the void, leaving trails of chaos and disorder in its wake.
In an instant, the void itself split open, and the golden-winged roc's expression shifted from confidence to terror. His golden eyes widened in sheer horror as he hastily summoned his spirit companion and unleashed his most powerful ability. But against this sword, everything he had was nothing more than paper to flame—it tore through his defense as if it were nothing.
The sword cleaved forward, and the roc felt as though a thunderbolt had struck his mind. A blinding flash seared his vision as the sword's edge hovered just a hair's breadth from his brow.
And then—