Ling Xiao looked indifferently at Xuan Ming. He took a deep breath, causing the very firmament to oscillate, and then stepped forward, his figure vanishing from his original position.
Boom!
Within the Void Realm, a gargantuan foot descended from the heavens, treading toward Xuan Ming. It was a display of utter arrogance and dominance, seeking to crush a supreme opponent underheel.
"Watch out!"
The other Ancestral Witches roared, charging forward and upending entire systems of stars in their wake.
Xuan Ming let out a sharp cry. Two currents of Law energy surged out like twin dragons to intercept the strike. In her tens of thousands of years of conquest, she had never tasted defeat; Ling Xiao's dismissive tactic filled her with a cold, piercing fury.
"Do not look down on me!"
A cataclysmic collision ensued. The order of Law was thrown into chaos as anomalies flickered in and out of existence. A terrifying Aura erupted like a boundless ocean, shaking the Chaos until the primordial mists began to split—the Profound Qi rising and the Turbid Qi sinking, as if a new world were being carved out.
Boom!
Xuan Ming's Ancestral Witch form—the face of a human and the body of a bird—was battered. The wings upon her back were snapped, and a spray of blood dyed the sky crimson. More than that, she was literally stepped on and sent hurtling toward the infinite star-sea.
She stared back at Ling Xiao with horror, the unshakable conviction in her heart beginning to crumble.
"Sister! Are you alright?"
"Kill him!"
The Witches roared and launched a frantic assault. Orders flew and time itself began to interlace and twist. This was the pinnacle of combat beneath the Saint level. No one had ever seen a Saint truly fight, but to the sentient beings of the world, this battle felt as if it could be no less than the clash of the Heavens themselves.
"Time is eternal; I send you to your next life!"
Candle Nine Nethers barked icily. His monumental Dao-sound pierced through space-time, vibrating in the souls of all living things. His entire body erupted with light as the River of Time flowed around him, illuminating the past and present. He appeared immune to all magic, as if bathing in the very waters of eternity.
Instantly, a mysterious power saturated the battlefield, one that seemed to belong to no era or world. In a trance-like state, a gate seemed to open—the flow of time reversed, seeking to forcibly "reincarnate" Ling Xiao.
This was the power of the Law of Time, twisting the fabric of history to envelop Ling Xiao.
"Have you forgotten? The Law of Time is useless against me."
Ling Xiao bathed in the temporal flow. As the years reversed, the heavens and earth became a blur. In an instant, they seemed to travel millions of years into the future, traversing all of time in a single thought.
In a daze, Candle Nine Nethers saw a version of Ling Xiao from a million years in the future standing in the past, the present, and the future simultaneously, walking toward him.
Time was now in total chaos. He could no longer distinguish between what was past, what was future, or what was now.
Ling Xiao's palm struck out toward him, transforming into an Innate Divine Blade that sliced through space-time. Mists of fire and light filled the sky, instantly expanding until they occupied the entire universe.
In reality, Ling Xiao's true body was still standing in the present, fighting the other Witches without pursuing him. But his Law of Time had already pierced and warped the timeline itself.
This was the horror of the Time Law when used to its extreme—an unimaginable, incomprehensible power.
Ling Xiao's palm-blade grew larger and larger, his Aura as monumental as a celestial executioner's sword. Candle Nine Nethers let out a long roar, shuttling through time to dodge this terrifying strike.
"Impossible! How can he be this powerful?!" he roared. No matter how many eras he jumped through or how far back he retreated, he always saw Ling Xiao's majestic silhouette!
That silhouette spanned the past and future, an eternal brand upon the timeline, indestructible and everlasting.
The "Heavenly Blade" manifested from Ling Xiao's hand sliced through time and descended upon him. This strike was unstoppable, unavoidable! A blade of despair, cutting through the history of a soul.
Candle Nine Nethers howled, twisting space and time in a frantic attempt to wrap himself in Law energy.
Slash!
the Time-Blade fell, slicing through the heavens. Candle Nine Nethers froze, his Physical Body suddenly disintegrating—split perfectly in two. His gargantuan Ancestral Witch body tumbled out of the warped temporal flow, falling toward the boundless star-sea.
"Brother!" the Witches screamed. They did not understand the Law of Time; they hadn't seen the duel within the dimensions. They only saw their brother suddenly split in half.
Ling Xiao remained unmoved. Facing the combined assault of the other Witches, he began to cycle through various Laws.
One moment, he was filled with surging vitality as ancient trees sprouted in the void to counter the Law of Wood of Ju Mang.
The next, he transformed into a God of Thunder, exhaling bolts of lightning so destructive they left Qiang Liang—the God of Thunder himself—looking like a fool, paralyzed by the superior shocks.
Then, he became as solid as the earth, manifesting a divine continent that was indestructible. This was the Law of Earth, which he used to press down on Houtu until her true form began to dissipate.
The Witches grew more horrified the longer they fought. They began to question their very existence.
"How many Laws does this guy actually know?!"
Everything they knew, Ling Xiao knew. Worse, his mastery of many of their specialties was superior to their own. Ling Xiao was like a composite integration of all Twelve Ancestral Witches, with every gesture resonating with infinite Laws.
"My Dao is reaching Perfection; the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm is not far."
Ling Xiao's eyes were like lightning, and he was bathed in a supreme celestial light. He could feel his magic power solidifying and the barrier to Sainthood beginning to loosen. This was a feeling he had never had before—a trans-generational leap.
His strikes were lethal. Every move left an Ancestral Witch wounded, their blood painting the stars for ten million miles.
Outside the battlefield, the East King Duke involuntarily retreated, his face splattered with flying blood. He was numb with fear; his heart had hit rock bottom.
"What are these barbarians doing?"
"Why don't they form the array?!"
"They didn't do it at the start, and they aren't doing it now. Have their brains been beaten out of them?"
The Duke screamed internally. He felt like ants were crawling all over his skin; the discomfort was unbearable.
"A pack of useless trash! They don't even know how to fight!"
If the Witches were gone, he would be the first to die. He couldn't even run.
On the other side, Bai Ze and Ji Meng were completely mesmerized. Their eyes were full of awe and a hidden, desperate longing. If Ling Xiao were to join the Yao Race and become their Emperor, how could they ever be bullied by the Witches? Under his leadership, they would have slaughtered their way through the world long ago. The Witches would be the ones kneeling in a row, begging for mercy.
"Bai Ze, I take back what I said earlier. In my heart, the most suitable person to be the Demon Emperor... is Fellow Daoist Ling Xiao."
"He is simply... too powerful!" Ji Meng said, gazing at the battlefield of total annihilation in the deep void. His eyes were full of reverence.
It wasn't that he was being disloyal; it was just that Ling Xiao was so powerful he could fundamentally change the game.
Bai Ze looked at his teammate with a speechless expression. "I agree with you, but whether Fellow Daoist Ling Xiao will join us is still unknown."
"Then you must work harder!" Ji Meng looked at Bai Ze with heat in his eyes. He recalled their earlier discussions about whether Kunpeng or the Crows were more suited to rule.
"Back then... who was it that said he couldn't fight ten at once?"