Chapter 1524: Heroes Struggle Against the Devil

Bang!

Nine grayish-black Duke Bergfrieds that emitted a chilly and unsettling aura stood tall in the sky, giving off a boundless pressure that caused the void to continuously shatter.

Diwu Mingxuan, Sheng Qiao'er, and the rest had gloomy expressions.

Even Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e were frowning. They had not expected that Shen Jinxiao devouring Zhou Jun's heart would allow his strength to temporarily rise to the ninth-grade. This was the Ninth Duke Stage!

This was the strongest point of the Duke Stage, and those who reached this level were known as Pinnacle Dukes. These so-called Pinnacle Dukes stood at the top of all Dukes, with the exception of Transcendent Dukes, as those were individuals who had long surpassed the Duke Stage and couldn't be compared with ordinary ones. It was the last stop before the King Stage and was also the hardest chasm to bridge. Countless prodigies throughout history had been forcibly halted here, their potential exhausted and unable to take that last step. Even in the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li, in the last three generations, the most outstanding Dukes other than Li Taixuan were Li Luo's oldest uncle, Li Qingpeng, and the Dragon's Blood Lineage's Gold Blood Hall Master, Li Jiluo. One was good at hiding his strength and the other was great at biding his time, but regardless, they had both only reached the upper Eighth Duke Stage. Reaching the ninth-grade was simply not an easy feat. Thus, Diwu Mingxuan, Sheng Qiao'er, and the rest's expressions had drastically changed upon witnessing Shen Jinxiao's nine Duke Bergfrieds.

Previously, they had the advantage of numbers to restrain their opponent. However, with Shen Jinxiao's leap in strength, the tables had turned.

Shen Jinxiao grinned as he joined his hands together to form a finger seal. After which, his Duke Bergfrieds began to rumble and swiftly expand, enveloping everything.

"Duke's Worldspace Domain: Evil Devourer!"

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

When Sheng Qiao'er saw this, she quickly activated her own Worldspace Domain as well. Amongst the Four Knights, Zhou Jun had turned traitor, Song Jing was eliminated, and Lin Ju had been killed, leaving just her.

"Duke's Worldspace Domain: Golden Light!"

A golden Worldspace Domain expanded with Sheng Qiao'er as the source, sweeping out and colliding against the grayish-black domain that encroached upon their space. The instant they clashed, Sheng Qiao'er's Worldspace Domain was immediately eroded away and constantly suppressed, shrinking to just a small area around a hundred feet wide which she struggled to maintain. That first exchange of blows had left the upper eighth-grade Sheng Qiao'er completely defeated. The ninth-grade Worldspace Domain had reached the realm of Grand Perfection, so its suppressive prowess could easily crush that of an eighth-grade.

The grayish-black Worldspace Domain had successfully covered a large part of the world, and everyone within it was horrified to sense that their resonant power was slowly draining away, as though it was being consumed by the domain.

Clearly, Shen Jinxiao's Worldspace Domain's effect was to devour resonant power!

Weng!

However, several Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfrieds that radiated the aura of perfection rose into the air, releasing scintillating light that resisted the devouring power of the Worldspace Domain.

"A ninth-grade Worldspace Domain is indeed exceptional," Li Luo muttered as his gaze turned solemn. When he exchanged blows with Zhou Jun and Song Jing, their eighth-grade Worldspace Domains couldn't really suppress him at all. However, Shen Jinxiao had once again allowed him to experience the overbearing power of a higher grade Duke.

If even he felt this way, the rest would be in an even worse situation.

They couldn't remain in this state for too long, or they would eventually weaken further over time and be in danger of being destroyed.

"There is no need to fear him if we act together. He's relying on the temporary power gained by devouring Zhou Jun and has forcefully reached the lower ninth-grade. If we work together, we should be able to break through his Worldspace Domain! So long as we can restrain him and await the Academic Federation's Heavenly Emperor, then he'll die without a doubt!" Diwu Mingxuan shouted as he strode forward, his expression serious but without fear. Six Duke Bergfrieds rushed into the air, three of them being particularly eye-catching and shining with holy light, constantly causing the grayish-black aura around him to dissipate.

Diwu Mingxuan had an extraordinary demeanor, and even when facing this dire situation, he maintained his fighting spirit and never showed any weakness, truly living up to his title of Duke of Light. If he had not been overshadowed and tripped up the entire way—being waylaid by the demonic geniuses Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e, sneak attacked by Zhou Jun, and chased like a beaten dog the whole way by Shen Jinxiao—he would have been the most impressive one of the lot. He then beckoned his hand, and a crystal ball appeared in his grasp, which he then broke into pieces. A longan-sized pill appeared, flowing with sacred energy, resembling a dazzling star that emitted light.

When he looked at this sacred pill, unwillingness appeared in his eyes. After all, this was a pill prepared by his teacher that would allow his lower ninth-grade light resonance to reach the middle ninth-grade for the time needed for an incense stick to burn. The effect was similar to Li Luo's Lesser Dragon Sacred Seed, but it could only be used once and its effect was short-lived. Even so, it was sufficient to serve as his trump card.

If the situation hadn't reached such a cataclysmic point, he would not have been willing to use it.

Diwu Mingxuan took a deep breath and swallowed the pill. A moment later, tremendous amounts of light energy rushed out of his body like a tide and his six Duke Bergfrieds began to shine even more brightly, unleashed their sacred light across the world and causing the grayish-black aura to dissipate. At the same time, Diwu Mingxuan's resonant power undulations quickly surpassed those of the upper eighth-grade Sheng Qiao'er.

However, they hadn't reached the threshold of the lower ninth-grade Shen Jinxiao.

"I'll act as the vanguard. Everyone else, support me!" Diwu Mingxuan spat out a mouthful of blood essence that contained innumerable holy, crystal-like granules. This was the result of his light resonant power being condensed to the extreme. When his blood essence landed on his Holy Seal Ruler, it looked as though it was dotted with tens of thousands of stars.

He bellowed at the skies and waved the ruler, causing tidal wave-like flames to rush towards Shen Jinxiao.

Sheng Qiao'er's eight Duke Bergfrieds roared to life and the long spear in her hand began to emit golden light. Her light resonant power fused with her metal resonant power, forming a golden blade that seemed capable of decapitating even the heavens.

Lu Qing'er took action as well. Her two Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfrieds might have seemed a little lackluster when compared to everyone else, but the ice resonant power they contained was incredibly tyrannical. Her cold aura spread in every direction, causing even the ninth-grade Worldspace Domain to show signs of freezing!

Unfortunately, as her resonant power was not of a high grade, the icy aura around her was continuously eroded away as the two forces ate at each other. Ning Meng was facing the same issue.

Li Luo activated his Lesser Dragon Sacred Seed and evolved his Heavenly Dragon resonance to the middle ninth-grade. At the same time, his body expanded rapidly and terrifying draconic might pulsed from him. At the same time, he tightened his grip on the Dragon Elephant Thunder Blade and hacked downwards with all his might, creating a ten-thousand-foot-long blade energy strike in the form of a wheel, accompanied by what looked like a dragon and an elephant wreathed in thunder. The devastating blow shattered the void wherever it passed.

Three gigantic glazed swords of light condensed above Jiang Qing'e, each one studded with beautiful and sacred jewels. They sliced through the sky, imbued with her killing intent as they raced towards Shen Jinxiao.

All of the Academic Federation's peak experts held nothing back as they launched their most domineering attacks towards Shen Jinxiao.

It was truly a sight to behold. A wonderful tapestry of the heroes of today, welcoming the devil with their attacks.

However, when faced with the group's combined efforts, Shen Jinxiao also roared towards the skies, his laughter rumbling like thunder. His hands joined together to form a seal, and boundless black thunder energy surged outwards from the void behind him, creating a sea of thunder that served to protect him.

"Good, good, good! Let me, Shen Jinxiao, have a taste of what the most elite mentors of the Academic Federation are capable of. I wonder just how much stronger you are compared to someone who used to be a mentor of the Astral Sage College!"