Chapter 444 - 394: Instant Kill

He stood there in the void, his bare upper body a mass of knotted muscle. The contours of every muscle were as clearly defined as if carved, like the folds of a mountain range, like the veins of the earth.

Those profound Dao Patterns covering his entire body were now slowly circulating, emitting a faint golden glow.

He raised his right hand.

That hand, as thick as a pillar, caused the void to twist and collapse as he spread his five fingers.

Then—

He clenched his fist.

It was just a simple motion—his five fingers slowly curling inward, forming a fist.

But in the instant he clenched his fist!

"RUMBLE—!!!"

The void for thousands of feet around him utterly shattered!

Countless black cracks, centered on his fist, spread wildly in all directions!

Wherever the cracks passed, all Laws, all Dao Rhyme, all existence, were pulverized by that pure, ultimate physical strength.

That was the Path of Body Refining of the Tyrant Sect!

It was the ultimate expression of "One Power Breaks Ten Thousand Laws"!

No Divine Techniques, no Magic, no external objects needed—

This physical body alone was enough to tear the void, shatter mountains and rivers, and crush all enemies!

Guan Si Hai’s shattered-gold eyes were locked firmly on the deep blue figure hundreds of feet away.

Then—

He threw a punch!

This punch had no trajectory, no afterimage, not even a sound.

Because it was too fast.

So fast it surpassed the speed of sound, so fast it surpassed the void’s ability to react. The moment the punch was thrown, everything in its path—

air, light, Laws, causality—was instantly annihilated into nothingness!

It was a straight channel composed of pure destruction!

Before the fist arrived, its terrifying pressure was already bearing down!

Within hundreds of feet of Qi Yun, the void twisted violently and collapsed!

His Protective Magical Power, strong enough to withstand a full-force blow from a Great Master, shattered layer by layer under this pressure as if made of paper!

However—

Just as this world-destroying punch was about to land.

Qi Yun moved.

He simply lifted his gaze.

His vast, cyan-gold eyes were as calm as the Ancient Cold Abyss, reflecting the terrifying fist as it drew ever closer.

His lips parted.

Three words were softly spoken:

"Judgment—"

"Is—"

"Rendered!"

This Divine Power Skill, originating from the [Supreme Venerable of the Profound Vault], once unleashed—

It was as if an invisible blade was slowly taking shape upon the river of causality.

That blade did not cut the physical body, nor the Divine Soul, but struck directly at existence itself.

Guan Si Hai’s expression suddenly tensed.

For the first time, a trace of extreme, rare gravity appeared on that rugged face, a face that had been through countless life-and-death battles and had long forgotten the meaning of fear.

He felt it.

In the unseen realm, an aura of slaughter, like a thread of fate that had existed since the dawn of creation, was surging toward him—crossing space, crossing causality, crossing any possibility of evasion.

That aura of slaughter was too pure.

So pure it had no impurities, nothing superfluous. There was only one word for it: sever!

Guan Si Hai’s shattered-gold pupils contracted abruptly!

"HRAAAGH—!!!"

An earth-shattering roar exploded from his throat!

The roar was like the bellow of a primordial beast, like the rumble of a collapsing mountain. It radiated out from him in concentric, visible shockwaves of sound, spreading wildly in all directions!

And with this roar, his body, already as burly as a Demon Deity’s, began to undergo an even more terrifying transformation!

"BOOM—!"

His muscles bulged!

Those muscles, already coiled like dragons and serpents, now swelled and bulged madly as if injected with infinite power.

"CRACK—!"

His bones grew!

The bones throughout his body emitted crisp sounds, like the clashing of metal, as they grew and extended frantically within him.

His frame, already massive as a mountain, now seemed to want to prop up Heaven and Earth, forcibly increasing his height by several feet!

"VMMMM—!"

The Dao Patterns burned!

The profound Dao Patterns covering his body burst forth with a blinding golden light, as if they were kindling that had been set ablaze.

The light was so intense it nearly outshone the sun in the sky.

Every single Dao Pattern circulated madly, weaving into a dense defensive network that covered his entire body!

[Sole Golden Body of Heaven and Earth!]

Once this art was activated, the physical body would truly reach the Realm of "Heaven and Earth may perish, but I will not."

Even if a True Monarch were to attack, he could withstand it for a single breath without dying!

Yet the aura of slaughter continued its descent.

It ignored his burning Dao Patterns, ignored his terrifying physical body that could withstand a True Monarch, and simply descended—straight down, unstoppable!

"ROAR—!!!"

Guan Si Hai roared at the sky, and for the first time, utter disbelief and horror appeared in his shattered-gold eyes!

He desperately activated every technique he had cultivated in his entire life!

The Body Refining Secret Technique of the Tyrant Sect—burning his essence blood, burning his life force, burning everything that could be burned!

The light from the Dao Patterns on his body had become so intense it was about to consume him completely!

However—

"CRACK."

A soft sound.

It was so faint as to be almost inaudible, yet it clearly reached the ears of every onlooker.

A crack appeared on Guan Si Hai’s invincible body, that terrifying physical form capable of tearing the void and shattering mountains and rivers.

The crack began at the center of his brow.

It was as fine as a strand of hair, yet deep enough to reveal bone.

No blood flowed from the crack.

Only an indescribable, deathly stillness slowly spread from it.

Guan Si Hai froze completely.

He slowly lowered his head, looking at his own hands.

The hands that could shatter mountains and rivers with a single punch were now cracking apart, inch by inch.

Like a spiderweb, the cracks spread madly from the center of his brow across his entire body!

Forehead, cheeks, neck, chest, arms, torso, legs...

One after another, and another...

Densely packed, covering him completely!

Guan Si Hai raised his head.

His shattered-gold eyes had already dimmed considerably.

He gazed at the deep blue figure standing with hands clasped behind his back hundreds of feet away, at those cyan-gold eyes as calm as the Ancient Cold Abyss.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something.

"BOOM—!!!"

An utterly muffled explosion!

Guan Si Hai’s body, as burly as a Demon Deity’s, violently exploded!

Countless motes of fine ash, like a sand tower scattered by a gale, drifted in all directions and dissipated.

Utterly returned to nothingness.

...

Below, the Righteous Demon Cultivators locked in battle simultaneously felt a tremor originating from the depths of their Divine Souls!

Countless gazes shot toward the Celestial Vault in unison!

Toward the place where the ash was scattering!

Toward the figure in the Deep Blue Daoist Robe, who still stood with his hands clasped behind his back, not a thread out of place!

’What is...’

’...that?’

No one saw clearly what had happened.

’Guan Si Hai—’

’Dead, just like that?’

’Turned to ash without even executing a single full move?’

...

And at the very same moment Guan Si Hai exploded into ash.

Celestial Master Chen’s gaze focused in an instant. He rapidly formed a hand seal and activated a Heavenly Secret Technique to divine the threads of causality.

But the next instant!

"CRACK—!"

The duster in Celestial Master Chen’s hand violently shattered!

The duster that had been with him for several hundred years, the Supreme Treasure refined with the secret skills of the Celestial Secret Sect and imbued with countless divinatory Dao Rhymes, had just exploded into innumerable fragments without any warning!

Countless silver threads flew in all directions like snowflakes scattered by a gale!

But the silver threads had barely traveled three feet before they all burst into flames!

Gazing at the ruined duster in his hand, Celestial Master Chen’s eyes slowly narrowed to slits.

After a long moment.

He raised his head, looking toward the deep blue figure in the Celestial Vault above.

His lips trembled slightly, his voice so low it was almost inaudible:

"A True Monarch’s... fate..."