Chapter 652: Step Up

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

An Lin was determined to stay within Huang Quan City as the earth-shattering battle raged nearby.

Laden didn’t hold back anymore as power surged within his body. His body was like a crimson vortex that absorbed the surrounding vital energy in a frenzy, causing the night sky to collapse in the process.

Xiao Ze summoned more lightning clouds as countless bolts of black lightning crashed down toward Laden’s body in an unrelenting, devastating barrage.

The bolts of black lightning formed a black sphere around five hundred meters in radius with Laden at the center. The black sphere shrank incessantly as the lightning crashing into Laden’s body became more and more formidable.

Laden’s palms flashed with countless crimson stars that transformed into a series of afterimages to vanquish the bolts of black lightning.

The power of the blood star was unleashed from his hands, allowing him to vanquish all the attacks Xiao Ze threw at him. He was able to rip apart a Return to Void Final Stage mighty figure with his bare hands in the past, so defending himself against Xiao Ze’s attacks was not very difficult for him.

“I don’t have any more time to waste! I will end you now!” A ferocious expression appeared on Laden’s face as he bared his pristine, white teeth.

He stabbed his hands into the ball of black lightning around him as boundless crimson light tore through the black lightning, coloring the entire night sky crimson in the process.

Rip!

The black ball of lightning was torn in half by Laden who transformed into a crimson streak of light as he flew toward Xiao Ze at blinding speed.

Xiao Ze swung his massive tail toward the streak of crimson light in response.

Boom!

The two of them collided in another clash that rocked both heaven and earth. It was no exaggeration to say that any cultivator under the Spirit Nurturing Stage would be instantly pulverized by the shockwaves from that clash if they were to walk out from the green barrier.

Laden’s palms, which glowed with the light of countless crimson stars, crashed into the dragon tail. Xiao Ze was knocked flying again by the monstrous force behind his palms.

He immediately pressed his advantage as he instantly descended upon Xiao Ze before striking another monstrous palm into Xiao Ze’s body!

The monstrous clash sent a resounding boom erupting between heaven and earth, and the force of the palm left a massive palm-shaped crater over ten kilometers in length in the ground as Xiao Ze plummeted from the sky.

“Little Xiao!” An Lin’s heart wrenched upon seeing this.

Laden stood in mid-air as an unimaginably massive crimson star appeared behind him, transforming the heavens into a crimson realm of despair.

“This is a manifestation of his divine dao!” Sword Immortal Ling Xiao’s expression became extremely grave as he said, “Even a mighty figure at the Return to Void Pinnacle Stage would have to pay a certain price to unleash power like this! The power he is about to unleash is going to be earth shattering! We have to fortify the spell formation with all our might!”

An Lin became even more concerned upon hearing Sword Immortal Ling Xiao’s words as he turned his eyes to the battlefield.

Laden pressed his hands together, and a red ball seemingly imbued with the power of an entire star appeared before him.

“You killed the Dark Poison Lord, who was my subordinate, so I’m going to skin you and drink all your blood! I’ll show the world that anyone who dares to stand against me will die!

“Let me see if your defense is going to be able to stand up to this attack!”

Laden extended his palms toward Xiao Ze, and the red ball crashed down like a meteorite. Space congealed as the red ball descended, leaving a crimson trail in its wake before it made contact with Xiao Ze’s body.

Boom!

Heaven and earth exploded as devastating destructive power swept outward in a radius of over fifty kilometers!

At the center of the explosion, red energy burst forth like a crimson sun, lighting up the night sky once again.

The overwhelming shockwaves from the attack crashed into the green barrier around Huang Quan City, causing cracks to appear on its surface. The barrier was strong enough to stand up against a full-force attack from a mighty figure at the pinnacle of the Return to Void Intermediate Stage, yet it was already cracking open from just the shockwaves of Laden’s attack, so it was quite apparent just how fearsome a prospect it would be to be situated at the center of the explosion.

An Lin clenched his fists as he stared at the center of the explosion. He unleashed his divine sense, which could now rival that of a Return to Void Stage mighty figure, and sensed a life form that was gasping for breath at the center of the explosion.

Xiao Ze had been wounded!

An Lin’s heart trembled as his body began to tremble slightly as well.

He knew that Laden had mistaken Xiao Ze as the one who had slain the Dark Poison Lord. As such, Xiao Ze was acting as his scapegoat…

The monstrous power of the explosion slowly dissipated to reveal a gargantuan hole in the ground.

A black dragon over ten thousand feet in length lay at the bottom of the hole with blood flowing freely all over his body.

His entire body trembled slightly. Despite that, his expression was still extremely firm and unyielding as he looked up at Laden.

Xiao Ze’s insane defenses had been broken by the power of Laden’s divine dao, yet he did not flee the battle. Instead, he unleashed his dragon might to its fullest extent as he raised his proud head.

“Oh? You still have the energy to taunt me?” Laden narrowed his eyes as he looked down on the black dragon with a cold sneer. “With your defensive ability, I won’t actually be able to kill you if you had chosen to flee. But instead, you made the foolish decision to fight me.

“You don’t even have the chance to escape now, so just lay there obediently while I suck all the blood from your body. The blood of a powerful being from the Primordial Dragon Tribe must be extremely delicious. Perhaps it will provide me with the catalyst I need to break through to the Dao Integration Stage…”

An Lin clenched his fists, and his breathing accelerated as he listened to Laden’s words.

He knew exactly why Xiao Ze hadn’t fled the battle, and it was because of this that he could no longer just stand by and watch.

After all, Xiao Ze was his disciple!

Laden didn’t waste any more words as he pointed a finger at Xiao Ze.

Ring…

The gargantuan crimson star behind him released vast waves of energy as a crimson sword materialized at Laden’s fingertips.

The power imbued within the crimson sword was clearly slightly inferior to that of the red ball, yet it was peerlessly sharp and seemed to be able to slice through everything in this world.

It was clear that Laden intended to slice Xiao Ze’s body in half with this attack!

Xiao Ze’s defenses had been broken, and there was no way he could endure such a monstrous attack.

“Roar!” The black dragon took to the skies as ferocious black flames surged from his mouth.

The crimson sword also descended upon him at this moment, piercing through the black flames before striking toward Xiao Ze’s head.

A fearsome sense of impending doom engulfed Xiao Ze’s entire body.

He peered out from the corner of his eyes toward Huang Quan City. All his family and friends had left him, but there was still someone he cared for at Huang Quan City. For some reason, he instinctively turned his eyes toward Huang Quan City in this dire situation.

But he didn’t see the person he was looking for.

The crimson sword continued to descend as a white light flashed past.

The person Xiao Ze had been searching for appeared right before his eyes. He was so close; almost within touching distance.

Just as Xiao Ze was thinking that this was an illusion, the figure in front of him pulled out a mirror and aimed it at the crimson sword!

Boom!

Crimson light illuminated the world.

Within a boundless sea of red light, the crimson sword reversed its direction to launch itself toward Laden!