At this moment, a soul-stirring black light burst from Xia Ritian’s eyes.
His heaven and earth dharma form phantom suddenly split apart, transforming into nine black dark birds that spread their wings and soared upward.
Clearly, those nine black dark birds were speeding toward the blue cave heaven small world.
“BOOM—!”
Four boundless, majestic forces violently collided in an instant, erupting with an earth-shaking roar.
The already shattered riverbed completely collapsed under the impact of this power.
The massive tremors spread like ripples, reaching hundreds of miles away, and the endless river water surged along with it.
In the murky river water, countless sediments churned, making visibility blurry and unclear.
Lu Xuan was in the midst of it, his body wrapped in a layer of deep purple flame shield, barely managing to carve out a small space amid the chaos.
However, Lu Xuan looked extremely bedraggled.
The clothes on his upper body had long since turned to ash, leaving only a tattered pair of pants that barely covered him.
Even this result was only achieved through his desperate efforts to protect himself.
Lu Xuan’s upper body was clearly muscled, but covered in densely packed tiny wounds, with blood slowly seeping out.
Even more alarming was that those wounds faintly flickered with a weak blue light, like ghostly fire from the netherworld, appearing and disappearing.
These blue lights were certainly nothing ordinary—they were the power of heaven and earth laws controlled by the Netherworld Python.
These terrifying heaven and earth law powers were ceaselessly eroding Lu Xuan’s physical body at every moment.
Even though Lu Xuan cultivated an undying and indestructible method, possessing the recovery ability of rebirth from a drop of blood.
Under the suppression of this heaven and earth law power, the healing speed of his wounds had almost come to a standstill.
Every trace of blue light was like an invisible blade, constantly slicing through Lu Xuan’s flesh, leaving him somewhat speechless.
“Ugh!”
“Still too much of a stretch!”
“Just facing the power at the edge, and I’m already this embarrassed.”
“If I were to face that terrifying strike head-on, I’d probably be reduced to flying ash in an instant, completely annihilated, with no possibility of revival.”
“Is this the power of Cave Void Great Completion, of a cave heaven master?” Lu Xuan murmured softly, his gaze fixed gravely on the distance, waves surging in his heart.
“Really quite frightening!”
The place Lu Xuan was looking at was the center of the heaven and earth law power explosion.
The earth had collapsed into an infinite abyss, and the chaotic river water was torn apart.
Violent energy raged ceaselessly, space twisted, light was dark and profound, as if even time had become disordered under that power.
In comparison, the area where he was located, though chaotic, seemed insignificant.
“Thank goodness Palace Master sent me a message in time, telling me about that Netherworld Python’s strength, otherwise…”
Before Lu Xuan could breathe a sigh of relief, a purple escape light suddenly flashed ahead, cutting through the murky river water and heading straight for him.
“Palace Master Lu, go!”
A cold female shout came, accompanied by the explosive sound of water being blasted apart, shaking the river water around Lu Xuan into eruption.
“This is the Dark Bird Heaven Lock!”
“Catch!”
Before the words finished, a pitch-black, profound chain, wrapped in a purple halo, sped through the riverbed at extreme speed.
This terrifying momentum forcibly carved a vacuum channel through the murky water, heading straight for Lu Xuan.
Wherever the black chain passed, all obstacles were blasted into powder.
Lu Xuan’s gaze focused. When he heard Zi Yao’s voice and clearly saw that black chain, a flash of wild joy immediately crossed his eyes.
“Good stuff!”
Lu Xuan gave a low shout, his excitement beyond words.
This Dark Bird Heaven Lock was precisely the treasure he had been longing for all along.
In the next moment, Lu Xuan unhesitatingly threw caution to the wind, charging straight toward the Dark Bird Heaven Lock flying toward him.
Lu Xuan’s movements were extremely swift, the deep purple flame shield swirling around his body, forcefully pushing aside the surrounding murky river water.
Just as Lu Xuan was about to touch the Dark Bird Heaven Lock, another violent tremor came from the riverbed, as if some massive creature was approaching.
However, Lu Xuan was completely unmoved, his eyes fixed only on that pitch-black chain.
When it was still hundreds of meters away, Lu Xuan reached out and grabbed at the void, and the Dark Bird Heaven Lock accelerated, landing steadily in Lu Xuan’s palm.
The Dark Bird Heaven Lock was cold to the touch, yet faintly emanated a mysterious power.
It was the rich heaven and earth source power within it, almost about to overflow.
Suddenly!
Lu Xuan felt a terrifyingly powerful force approaching from behind.
Lu Xuan whipped his head around and saw a woman’s phantom, hundreds of zhang tall, emerging in the murky river water.
The woman’s phantom was solid as reality, with majestic momentum, and without any pause, directly pressed a palm down toward Lu Xuan’s location!
That palm blotted out the sky and sun. Before the palm wind even reached the bottom, the riverbed water had already been squeezed into surging in all directions, forming frenzied vortex currents.
Lu Xuan’s heart tightened, feeling unprecedented oppression.
Palace Master!
She’s…?
At this moment, an urgent shout came from the distance—it was Palace Master Zi Yao’s voice.
“Palace Master Lu, hurry and go!”
Lu Xuan didn’t have time to think. His cultivation method instantly activated, and the “a thousand miles in a single step” divine ability suddenly deployed. His entire body vanished from the spot like a phantom.
The instant Lu Xuan disappeared, two massive blue eyes suddenly opened where he had just been standing, filled with bloodthirsty, frenzied emotion.
“BOOM—!”
Two blue beams, dozens of meters wide, burst from those massive blue eyes, heading straight for where Lu Xuan had just stood.
Wherever the two blue beams passed, river water evaporated, space twisted—the power was terrifying beyond measure.
However, these two lethal beams hit nothing but air.
By this time, Lu Xuan had already slipped into the void, escaping the attack range.
“Ant!”
“Trying to run?”
“Die for me!”
The next second, the Netherworld Python’s voice suddenly rang out. It was staring deathly at Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan, having slipped into the void, was flickering away into the distance at extreme speed.
But Lu Xuan could feel that the Netherworld Python’s gaze seemed to pierce through the void, locked dead onto him.
Just as the Netherworld Python was about to summon its cave heaven small world to seal off heaven and earth and completely cut off Lu Xuan’s retreat—
The woman’s phantom, hundreds of zhang tall, had already brought its palm down right in front of the Netherworld Python.
The palm wind was heavy as a mountain, carrying the momentum of overturning seas and rivers, pressing straight toward the Netherworld Python’s head.
“Damned human!”
The Netherworld Python roared furiously, having no choice but to abandon its pursuit of Lu Xuan and deal with this sudden attack.
Its thousand-zhang serpent tail whipped violently, like a divine whip stretching across heaven and earth, carrying the power of heaven and earth laws.
Sweeping out with the force of thunder and lightning, wherever the thousand-zhang serpent tail passed, the surrounding water rippled in layers, as if unable to bear the burden.
In the next instant, the thousand-zhang serpent tail collided with the woman’s phantom’s giant palm, erupting with an earth-shaking roar.
The woman’s phantom also shattered instantly under the Netherworld Python’s powerful strike, dissolving into countless purple light dots scattered through the river water.
A hundred li away, Zi Yao’s body suddenly trembled, her face slightly pale, her aura becoming disordered.
Her brows were tightly furrowed, a trace of pain flashing through her eyes—clearly she had suffered no small backlash.
That woman’s phantom, hundreds of zhang tall, was precisely her heaven and earth dharma form!
The heaven and earth dharma form was closely linked to her cave void. Having separated a wisp of her heaven and earth dharma form and had it destroyed, her cave void naturally suffered impact as well.
This damage, though not fatal, would still cost her at least ten days to nourish and restore the main body of the heaven and earth dharma form within her cave void.
That wisp of heaven and earth dharma form she had separated out was not meant to confront the Netherworld Python head-on, but to buy time for Lu Xuan to escape.
She knew very well that with Lu Xuan’s strength, he simply could not face the Netherworld Python directly.
If he were left alone to face the Netherworld Python, he probably wouldn’t even have a sliver of a chance at survival.
The power of a cave heaven master was not something one could resist just by wanting to.
Even temporary cave heaven power was enough for the Netherworld Python to sweep across the entire Great Xia Imperial Dynasty!
The reason she and Lu Xuan could successfully escape was still thanks to the former emperor’s power, which prevented the Netherworld Python from diverting its attention to fully hunt down her and Lu Xuan.
“The Netherworld Python’s cave heaven power should disappear very soon.”
“By then, it seems we’ll need to use that mirror of the Heaven Monitoring Bureau to find its whereabouts.”
Zi Yao took a deep breath, suppressing the discomfort in her body, and quickly adjusted her aura.
Moments later, Zi Yao’s figure quietly vanished from the spot, as if she had never appeared at all.
Thanks to Zi Yao’s assistance, Lu Xuan’s figure had long since disappeared into the distance, leaving only the Netherworld Python alone at the riverbed.
At this moment, the Netherworld Python angrily whipped its serpent tail, the river water churning, the earth trembling.
No matter how it vented its fury, it could not catch up to that escaped “ant.”
“These damned humans… I will make you all pay!”
“And that despicable little wretch Xia Ritian!”
The Netherworld Python’s furious roars echoed across the riverbed, lingering for a long time.
However, after making these threats, the Netherworld Python did not boldly charge out of the Jinlin River.
“The essence blood power of the Ancestor Feather Emperor is almost used up.”
“Forget it!”
“This time, I’ll temporarily let those damned humans off!”
The Netherworld Python stayed at the riverbed, not choosing to pursue the two who had fled.
Otherwise, with its personality from back then, even if it couldn’t catch those two fleeing humans—
It would still charge up to the riverbank and find nearby humans to devour as blood food to fill its belly.
Having been sealed for so long, the Netherworld Python still harbored some fear in its heart.
In this heaven and earth, there were still quite a few humans capable of subduing it.
It didn’t want to experience the feeling of being sealed again—it was too painful.
“Hmph!”
“After I leave the Great Xia Imperial Dynasty!”
“The next one to come in will be the Ancestor Feather Emperor himself.”
“The source crystal of the Earth Venerable Realm—I still have one here!”
Before the words finished, a strange blue glow flickered out from within the Netherworld Python’s body, instantly enveloping its ten-thousand-zhang serpent body.
That massive body rapidly shrank within the blue light, scales fading away, the serpent head dissolving.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a seemingly ordinary little old man.
The little old man was short in stature, with a withered face, wearing a grayish robe and leaning on a wooden staff—looking utterly unremarkable.
However, in those murky eyes, one could occasionally see a flash of heart-stopping blue light.
This transformation technique was immeasurably more powerful than that previous Green King!
As a top-tier existence at the demon lord realm, the Netherworld Python’s transformation art had reached the peak of perfection.
As long as it didn’t actively expose itself, even human Cave Void True Lords of the same realm would find it difficult to detect its true identity.
In the mountains ten li outside Qingyun County.
The void suddenly rippled faintly, and then Lu Xuan’s figure stepped out, landing steadily on the ground.
He quickly scanned his surroundings, then raised his right hand and casually waved it.
Rumble!
The solid ground immediately shook violently, soil churning, as if an invisible giant hand was manipulating the earth.
In the blink of an eye, a giant pit dozens of meters deep appeared before Lu Xuan.
He didn’t hesitate at all—his figure flashed, transforming into a purple escape light, flying straight into the deep pit.
The instant he entered the pit, the soil above churned again, as if alive, rapidly refilling the pit.
The ground returned to its original state, as if nothing had ever happened, leaving only a silent mountain forest.
Deep underground, Lu Xuan was shrouded in a purple light shield, keeping the surrounding mud, sand, and rocks out.
The purple light shield emanated a soft glow, illuminating this dark space.
Lu Xuan sat cross-legged, tightly gripping that pitch-black, profound Dark Bird Heaven Lock in his hand, his eyes flickering with a blazing light.
“Can’t wait any longer!”
Lu Xuan muttered softly, his tone carrying a trace of urgency and excitement.
He decided to refine this Dark Bird Heaven Lock right now, using it to break through to the Cave Void realm!
This was the opportunity he had been waiting for, and the power to take revenge on that Netherworld Python.
Lu Xuan had not forgotten that he had already faced several life-and-death crises at the hands of this damned Netherworld Python.
“Thank goodness this Dark Bird Heaven Lock ended up in my hands in the end, otherwise…”
Lu Xuan shook his head, a lingering fear in his heart.
If he had come away empty-handed this time, Lu Xuan would probably have truly wanted to cry but had no tears.
Originally, Lu Xuan had also thought about taking the Netherworld Python down as well, using the opportunity to break through in one go and even gain more system points.
However, cruel reality had slapped him hard across the face.
“That damned beast, the Netherworld Python, is so strong it’s almost unreasonable!”
Lu Xuan’s expression was somewhat ugly, a trace of wariness flashing through his eyes.
Even with a top-tier escape technique like “a thousand miles in a single step,” he couldn’t escape before the Netherworld Python.
The cave heaven small world, with its near-perfect heaven and earth law power, could stabilize the surrounding space to an unbreakable degree.
No wonder he had been kicked out by the cave heaven small world.
“If not for Palace Master stepping in in time, I probably would have been covered in dust even if I didn’t die,” Lu Xuan sighed inwardly, his gratitude toward Zi Yao deepening.
However, now was not the time for sentiment.
Lu Xuan took a deep breath, pushed down his stray thoughts, and his gaze returned to the Dark Bird Heaven Lock in his hand.
That wisp of Xia Ritian’s dharma form that controlled the Dark Bird Heaven Lock had already been destroyed by the Netherworld Python.
So this Dark Bird Heaven Lock should now be an ownerless object.
Good—one seven-patterned moon artifact, the Bone-Devouring Rod, and one nine-patterned moon artifact, the Dark Bird Heaven Lock. That’s enough.
This time, I won’t leave seclusion until I reach Cave Void.
“Extract!”
