Thanks to [Ren Ming Wei] for the Great God Certification! Isn't it just an extra update? I'll squeeze in time to grind it out during work!
...The moment Shuhu, who had once pressured Luofu, crossed the sea of stars and merged with the Shuhu before Qi Zhimu's eyes, the heavens and earth changed color.
What was originally just a stump with roots began to grow frantically, sprouting lush branches and leaves as its massive canopy blotted out the sun.
A full-powered Emanator of Abundance had descended upon this universe once again after countless years.
Countless python-like branches danced wildly, instantly whipping Qi Zhimu away.
He didn't even have time to mount a defense before his entire body smashed into the ground, crashing through several layers of thick bedrock.
The strength of Shuhu's complete form had increased by far more than several times.
Even with the power of the Ambrosial Arbor, and even with the sacrifice of everything Clear Cold and Sleeping Snow had, Qi Zhimu still appeared fragile before it at this moment.
"Die!"
Shuhu roared as countless roots burst from the soil, forming a giant cage that tightly trapped the figure who had just rushed out of the ground.
The thorns on the branches flickered with an eerie cold light, each strike carrying power capable of destroying heaven and earth.
Qi Zhimu lunged left and right within the cage, narrowly avoiding the strangling strikes time and again.
But even so, his body was inevitably covered in numerous deep wounds that reached the bone, though they healed rapidly.
As for Qi Zhimu's counterattacks, Shuhu simply chose to ignore them.
Under the rampage of these two Emanator-level beings, this Desolate Planet suffered complete devastation.
The tectonic plates shattered, and magma surged to the surface like fountains, turning the silent wasteland into a hell of churning fire.
However, as time passed, Shuhu's expression grew increasingly grim.
No matter how many times it tore Qi Zhimu apart, no matter how much of a mess of pulp it reduced him to...
As long as a single shred of flesh remained, even a fragment the size of a fingernail, Qi Zhimu could regenerate in the blink of an eye.
Moreover, his regeneration positions were extremely tricky, always managing to perfectly evade the densest parts of the fire net.
Why?!
Shuhu was both shocked and enraged.
It wasn't strange for it to possess such regenerative abilities; after all, as an Emanator of Abundance, it was the agent of the God of Life.
But on what grounds did Qi Zhimu have it?
He was just a mortal!
A mortal who relied on forbidden arts to plunder power and had forsaken The Hunt!
Through countless clashes, Shuhu finally began to see the clues.
Within Qi Zhimu's body, there was not only the power of the Ambrosial Arbor, but also several clusters of extremely special light spots—those were Miracles of Abundance!
Over the past thousand years, he had slain countless Abominations of Abundance, many of whom carried minor miracles.
Through the Self-Actualization Aspect Method, he had forcibly merged and refined them for his own use.
These Miracles of Abundance, washed and assimilated by the power of the Ambrosial Arbor, had miraculously twisted into a single force, forming an existence extremely close to a blessing personally bestowed by Yaoshi.
What was even more terrifying was that the thing driving him to achieve all this was a fire of hatred pure to the extreme.
A horrifying obsession that would drag the Aeon into hell even if the universe were destroyed and the stars fell.
"Bastard..."
Having figured all this out, Shuhu felt the urge to retreat for the first time.
It couldn't kill Qi Zhimu, at least not in a short amount of time.
The commotion here was too great; first there was Yaoshi's gaze, followed by the intense combat fluctuations of Emanator-level beings.
The powerhouses of the Xianzhou Alliance must be rushing here at full speed, and even Marshal Hua might already be on her way.
If it continued to be entangled, it really might meet its end in this unexpected place.
"Troublesome monster..."
Shuhu's massive tree-like body suddenly shrank, turning into a streak of light as it attempted to flee.
"Trying to run?"
Qi Zhimu's cold voice rang out like a maggot in the bone, and the horn on his forehead released an eerie fluctuation.
A translucent golden barrier expanded without warning, completing the lockdown of the space for ten thousand miles in an instant.
The barrier had no function to defend against external enemies; its only characteristic was that it allowed entry but forbade exit.
"Shuhu, I said today would be the day you die."
Qi Zhimu smiled hideously.
"Scared? A grand Emanator of Abundance is actually afraid of a mortal like me who has turned into a monster?"
"You seek death!!"
Shuhu, whose nerves had been struck, flew into a complete rage, no longer holding back as it frantically channeled the power of Abundance.
The shattered Desolate Planet below actually began to writhe violently at this moment.
Rocks grew fangs, and the earth opened its eyes.
The entire planet was enlightened, turning into a Living Celestial Body similar to Rahu the World-Devourer and the Jidu Mirage!
Shuhu stopped wasting words and immediately joined forces with the Living Celestial Body to attack Qi Zhimu.
The great battle resumed.
Under the crushing force of the Living Celestial Body and the frantic lashing of Shuhu's countless branches, Qi Zhimu finally showed signs of waning, his regeneration speed unable to keep up with the speed of destruction.
Flesh was obliterated, and internal organs were shattered.
In the end, only a skeleton draped with tattered flesh remained, yet it still stared fixedly at Shuhu.
The fire of hatred burning in those eye sockets did not diminish in the slightest, even though only a skeleton remained.
Shuhu felt its hair stand on end from that gaze, and it subconsciously felt a surge of fear.
When it snapped out of it, a more hysterical rage born of shame followed.
"I'll see how long you can last!"
Countless branches tightly wrapped around the skeleton and slammed it violently into the surface; the continuous, horrific bombardment easily pulverized Qi Zhimu into dust.
Afterward, Shuhu threw its body against the barrier blocking its departure.
Losing the maintenance of Qi Zhimu's power, the barrier developed cracks and became precarious.
However, at the very moment the barrier was about to shatter, a roar that seemed to come from the depths of the soul exploded in Shuhu's sea of consciousness.
"SHU——HU——!!!"
The vitality of the Living Celestial Body was instantly severed by this roar, turning back into a silent, Desolate Planet in an instant.
At the same moment, an extremely dazzling blood-colored meteor ignored time, space, and even causality, carrying a terrifying aura of slaughter as it streaked across the sky.
An indifferent and majestic gaze descended upon this place.
The blood-colored meteor did not fall toward Shuhu, but precisely hit the powdered tissue scattered on the surface.
The red light merged into the dust, the bones regrouped, and the flesh regenerated.
Qi Zhimu's monster-like, hideous figure emerged once again in mid-air.
He looked toward the vast and boundless sea of stars, and in a daze, he saw the majestic Aeon drawing a bow and nocking an arrow; a touch of complexity appeared in the corners of his eyes.
"Even if I devoted myself to Abundance and forsook The Hunt... are you still willing to acknowledge a monster's way of revenge..."
Qi Zhimu lowered his head, his gaze locking onto Shuhu, who was about to flee in the distance.
In an instant, the world went silent.
All color faded from the entire world, leaving only black and white; even the river of time froze at this moment.
Shuhu was shocked to find that it could not move, only able to watch helplessly as Qi Zhimu's figure vanished, reappearing in front of it the next second.
There were no earth-shattering moves, no world-destroying divine powers.
Qi Zhimu was like the purest humanoid monster; fists, elbows, bone blades, claws, shoulders... every part of his body could be the most lethal weapon.
Every strike that landed left unhealable cracks on Shuhu's body.
The one-sided assault lasted for over ten minutes in this silent world.
When the final punch was thrown, color returned to the world, and frozen time began to flow once more.
BOOM!!!
The delayed thunderous sound shook the sea of stars.
Shuhu's ten-thousand-foot-tall body shattered at this moment like broken porcelain, exploding violently.