Long Chen had never encountered an attack on the stairs before. The bone knife came so suddenly and silently. Only when it got close to Long Chen and the other did it erupt with a roaring sound. A violent and evil aura was released, and runes could be faintly interwoven on the bone knife.
Long Chen was startled. Having seen Emperor Yun Shang, his cultivation heart had greatly diminished. His divine ring and battle body had not yet activated. Now, seeing this slash approaching, he gripped the blade with both hands, ready to block.
But before Long Chen could strike, Emperor Yun Shang made his move. The bone blade suddenly stopped in midair and was caught barehanded by Emperor Yun Shang.
Long Chen was startled. Such a terrifying strike, yet Emperor Yun Shang caught it barehanded, unable to sense any fluctuations in his aura, as if taking this strike was effortless.
Emperor Yun Shang gripped the bone knife and pressed his thumb harder. Long Chen saw a beam of light flowing on Emperor Yun Shang's thumb.
"Crack!"
The bone blade was snapped in half by the Great Emperor. With a casual wave of his hand, the void was torn apart, and a figure was sliced apart by half a bone blade.
"Buzz!"
Another bone knife slashed down. The half of Emperor Yunshang's bone blade shattered into powder, and he grabbed the bone blade again barehanded.
"Long Chen, watch his movements carefully." Dragonbone Xie Yue secretly transmitted a message to Long Chen.
In fact, without needing Dragonbone Xie Yue's reminder, Long Chen was already fully focused on watching Emperor Yun Shang's technique.
"Crack!"
The second bone knife was still grabbed by Emperor Yun Shang. With a strong thumb squeeze, the bone knife snapped off, and the blade slashed down at the wielder.
"Bang" This time,
Long Chen saw clearly. The attacking creature was a strange creature, completely devoid of flesh and blood, just a skeleton, looking somewhat like a hunchbacked old man, with a bone tail on its back.
The strange creature's head was struck by the bone blade. Long Chen saw it clearly: at the point where the bone blade and the strange creature's head met, a red light bloomed.
"Boom!"
The strange creature was shattered by a single strike, reduced to dust. Long Chen was filled with shock. The combat power of this strange creature was terrifying. If it were him, he would have to resist with all his might, but Emperor Yun Shang could slay it with a wave of his hand.
"Did you see clearly?" Dragonbone Xie Yue asked.
"No, I only saw that at the moment he made his move, different auras bloomed from his five fingers. Each finger possessed five powers: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
Originally, the force on his pinky was the power of metal. When he applied force with his thumb, the metal power would transfer to his thumb. In that instant, the forces between the other fingers also switched, moving so fast it was impossible to keep track. Long Chen's heart pounded wildly.
This technique was too mysterious. With Long Chen's keen eyesight, he could only grasp the surface and couldn't comprehend the actual methods of application.
And even if you comprehend it, it's useless. Who in this world can simultaneously master the five powers of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth? At least, Long Chen has been in the industry for so long and has never seen anyone like him.
The most common thing Long Chen had seen was people who mastered three types of power, but their aptitude was extremely mediocre, because one of their powers clashed with another, causing countless obstacles in their cultivation.
Therefore, most cultivators only master one type of power; mastering it is what matters most. Mastering ten things is not as good as mastering one; this is an eternal truth.
Long Chen knew this was a kind of talent that no one else could learn. What he was watching wasn't how Emperor Yun Shang's Five Elements power circulated, but rather his technique for exerting force.
In Long Chen's view, Emperor Yunshang's bone-breaking blade relied on a kind of skillful force, not brute force. With just a single clap, the power could complete a cycle, and power flowed smoothly, without beginning or end.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Emperor Yunshang advanced forward, breaking eight bone blades in succession, then held one broken blade in his hand. Whenever he encountered a strange creature, he would slash it down with one stroke.
With every strike, no matter how the strange beings tried to resist, Yun Shang slew them all with a single strike.
"This ..."
Long Chen was shocked to find that when Yun Shang struck down with his blade, the resistance from those beings had no effect at all. Yun Shang's bone blade slashed through with a single strike, killing him.
"That bastard, that's exactly how I was in the first place." Dragonbone Xie Yue said bitterly,
"This is his unique power. When he attacked back then, I clearly blocked it, but I still missed it and fell into his trap."
This was a trick that was hard to understand. Dragonbone Evil Moon suffered a heavy blow from it, but still couldn't figure out what was going on.
"Boom boom boom...
Those beings were slaughtered one after another. Long Chen followed closely behind Emperor Yun Shang, watching him slash down one by one, slaying those terrifying beings. Long Chen felt his scalp tingle.
If that blade came at him, how would he defend himself? Just thinking about it was terrifying. Emperor Yun Shang's blade seemed to carry a kind of space-time law. When he blocked, Yun Shang's blade was not there at all; when it appeared, it had already struck the opponent's body.
Moreover, Yun Shang's attacks seemed ethereal and powerless, but when they touched the opponent's body, all their power was concentrated into a single burst. The living beings shattered instantly, as if porcelain had been struck by an iron hammer. The scene was simply too shocking.
"Long Chen, whether you can comprehend it or not, you must remember all of this firmly. Yun Shang repeatedly uses this move, and there must be a deeper meaning behind it.
He is probably trying to convey something to you, but some things may not be taught by example; you need to experience them yourself. "Dragon Bone Xie Yue warned. Although he hated Yun Shang, defeat was defeat. He had to admit defeat; some things were still worth convincing.
A broken blade was unstoppable. Emperor Yunshang's steps never stopped. As the two advanced, the stairs behind them gradually disappeared.
Long Chen really wanted to ask Yun Shang, since there was no way out, how did he manage to retreat to the eighth level?
"Boom!"
The last strange being was slain by Emperor Yun Shang with a single strike, and the steps before him had reached their end.
"This time, come take me. There's a barrier ahead, and I've been bounced back many times." Emperor Yunshang turned and said.
Long Chen nodded and walked up the steps. As he stood on them, a divine light enveloped him.
"Buzz"—
The divine ring behind Long Chen lit up, stars swirling in his eyes, and his five-star battle body actually activated automatically.
"Rumble rumble... Divine
light continuously washed over Long Chen's body. The divine ring behind Long Chen spun faster and faster, and the hundred and eight thousand stars within him trembled. It seemed as if Long Chen was being tested by some force.
Long Chen was getting a bit nervous. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to open this door either, because he never believed in his own luck.
"Crack, crack, crack... Suddenly
, the divine light vanished, and ahead appeared a towering gate thousands of feet high, slowly opening.
"This really is your opportunity. Let's go.". Emperor Yunshang smiled and walked through the gate together with Long Chen.
When he entered the gate, Long Chen realized he was in a transparent space, with stars swirling around him, as if he were standing tall above the vast universe.
Beneath their feet was a high platform floating in the void, surrounded by an infinite universe. Standing there, one could feel infinitely small.
"It's actually a sky-blocking mirror. No wonder so many people rushed here one after another, desperately trying to get here." Emperor Yunshang nodded.
"Whoosh!"
Emperor Yunshang reached out and struck the void, causing it to tremble violently, revealing a massive round mirror.
The outer ring of the mirror rotated, its core unchanged, reflecting Long Chen's figure within it. But to Long Chen's surprise, there was no shadow of Emperor Yunshang in the mirror.
"There's nothing strange about it. I'm already dead. The Sky Mirror can only reflect the past and future of the living." Emperor Yunshang smiled slightly and said, "
The Heaven-Covering Mirror is a divine artifact that defies the heavens, an existence independent of the laws of heaven and earth.
Here, you can predict your past and future, but as practitioners, no one looks at their own future.
Therefore, you can calculate which spells and combat skills you believe have the greatest potential to perfect them.
Unfortunately, I don't have such an opportunity; otherwise, my Nine Heavens and Ten Earths God-Slaying Technique might have truly been perfected. Looking
at the huge mirror before him, a trace of emotion appeared in Yun Shang's eyes, as if he envied Long Chen.
"Can he show me the effect of a spell being perfected?" Long Chen asked in surprise.
"Yes, because it is not bound by the laws of heaven and earth, traveling between past and future, possessing its own special abilities. It's truly miraculous.
First, think carefully about what your strongest move is. You only get one chance, so you need to be cautious. "Emperor Yunshang reminded him.
"What should I do?" Long Chen asked.
"Step into the mirror and use your cultivation techniques and combat skills. That's all you need to do." Emperor Yunshang said.
Long Chen felt a bit excited. He stepped forward and stood before the mirror. He felt as if he were in a time-space tunnel, with divine light weaving around him, as if some kind of teleportation was taking place.
"Five-Star Battle Body, activate!"
"Buzz"—
the void trembled, time and space shifted, and the light before his eyes grew brighter and brighter. A divine ring appeared before him, with five stars shining inside it—it was clearly Long Chen's divine ring pattern.
Long Chen's heart pounded wildly. If he could uncover the secret of the Nine Stars, it would be an incredible surprise, because even he wasn't sure if the cultivation method of the Nine Star Overbearing Body Technique was correct; he knew far too little about it.
If he could understand the complete Nine-Star Overlord Body Technique, he would no longer need to feel like a blind man's elephant, and could even take shortcuts to accelerate his nine-star progress.
"Buzz buzz buzz... Inside
the divine ring, the sixth star slowly appeared. Long Chen was overjoyed; it seemed there was hope—the Sky-Covering Mirror was evolving the Nine Star Overlord Body Technique.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, the void trembled violently, and a terrifying threat of death swept over Long Chen's heart. He almost instinctively retreated rapidly.
Long Chen withdrew from the Sky-Covering Mirror, but the star patterns inside shattered instantly. A fierce, unforged torrent shot toward Long Chen. Before the torrent arrived, the overwhelming force pressed down so hard that Long Chen's body began to crack.
"Not good,"
Long Chen was shocked. He didn't know what kind of power it was, but he knew that if the torrent hit him, even if he had ten thousand lives, he would be instantly killed. What terrified him most was that the power had locked onto him.
"Buzz!"
At that moment, Emperor Yun Shang's massive hand struck the torrent before him. Billions of light swords shot out, breaking through the spatial constraints and striking straight toward the surrounding stars.