Chapter 1127: The Scroll Cracks Open

When he crushed the heart, it exploded in a cloud of blood. Despite Li Mengtu being in the regeneration state, the injury was intensely painful. Blood sprayed out of his mouth as well as the hole in his chest. Now he was just as drenched in blood as Xu Qing. In fact, it was so painful his body writhed awkwardly. Yet strangely... he was smiling.

The wooden statue of the old man in his hand was also smiling. Both of them were writhing in agony, and both were smiling. They looked exactly the same.

Next, to Xu Qing’s astonishment, his own chest exploded as if invisible hands had appeared and ripped it open to reveal the heart. And the heart... was grabbed by those invisible hands, which started to crush it.

Karmic magic!

The authority of erasure in Xu Qing’s eye glittered, revealing to him a host of karma threads connecting himself to the wooden statue, and connecting the statue to Li Mengtu. The statue was obviously a medium connecting Xu Qing to Li Mengtu. That connection didn’t transfer injuries, but inflicted them simultaneously! When Li Mengtu crushed his heart, Xu Qing couldn’t avoid his own heart being crushed.

Xu Qing’s expression darkened as he looked down at his crushed heart. Without any hesitation, he produced a huge pair of shears. It was not the same shears he had acquired years ago. Rather, it was a materialization of the dao lineament of erasure.

Though they weren’t as strong as the earlier shears, as Xu Qing’s cultivation base improved, they became extremely sharp. The moment they appeared, they snapped down on the karma threads connecting Xu Qing to the statue. A snap rang out as the karma threads were severed.

The dangerous situation was resolved! Xu Qing took a step forward in Li Mengtu’s direction.

However, that was when Li Mengtu again spoke in a raspy voice. “From the moment I saw you using that special authority, I guessed that you probably had the ability to sever karma. And given that, do you really think I would do something like this without a plan? Digging out the heart was just a way to check if you really had a karmic magic. That’s all.”

Li Mengtu suddenly squeezed his hand down onto the statue until the head snapped off. The statue had a mysterious origin and was very gruish. Though the karma threads had been severed by the shears, it still managed to unleash a ferocious backlash attack. The moment that happened, the karma threads that had been severed seemed to gain new life. They were like giant snakes that instantly wrapped around the shears.

By doing so, they reestablished the connection. Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

At the same time, Li Mengtu laughed uproariously. Then he lifted his left hand, within which was a dagger. Glaring at Xu Qing, he unhesitatingly plunged the dagger into his own throat! Blood sprayed out as a wound appeared so deep it severed the bones.

The same type of wound appeared on Xu Qing. Blood poured out as pain wracked Xu Qing from head to toe. His already wound-covered body had been severely injured, throwing his cultivation base into chaos and causing his life force to start draining. All he could do was clamp his hand down over the injury and fall back at top speed. Dizziness swept through him with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force.

By contrast, Li Mengtu simply put away the statue and relied on the authority of regeneration to return him to his previous state. His heart grew back, and the terrifying neck injury vanished. By the time the authority of regeneration faded away, he was back into a peak, uninjured state.

However, as soon as the authority of regeneration was gone, he had to pay the price. In the blink of an eye, his hair turned gray, his body withered, and his aura weakened.

Then his glittering eyes locked onto the retreating Xu Qing. “Apparently, I was right. You can’t use your time reversal ability two times in a row.”

With that, he burst into motion toward Xu Qing, his killing intent surging. He was now completely and utterly convinced that his opponent would not be using his ability to reverse time. He moved so fast it was like a teleportation. Appearing in front of Xu Qing with killing intent surging, he thrust his right hand out. His plan was to kill Xu Qing right here and now.

It was a critical moment. Xu Qing’s head was about to fall off his shoulders thanks to the horrific neck injury, and his cultivation base was suppressed. However, his eyes shone, not with panic, but with killing intent. Without the slightest hesitation, he bit down onto an object that he had put into his mouth just before the fighting started.

It was a magical symbol that looked like a flower petal! It was the gift Grandma Fifth had given him back in the Moonrite Region, and it could bless him with a full recovery. He had been unwilling to use it unless it was absolutely necessary. If he used it, it would completely heal all injuries. But... it would drain some of Grandma Fifth’s life force. As of now... he had no other options.

The moment he bit down on it, a gentle force swept through his entire body. The mangled wound on his chest healed. All his wounds went away. His horrific neck injury vanished.

Next, he crushed the sealing mark that Grandpa Eighth had given him, which was a manifestation of pure rage. The most intense rage imaginable erupted within Xu Qing, along with a boost to his cultivation base and killing intent.

Because of the rage, even his fleshly body was improved. In the blink of an eye, his muscles and veins bulged, his eyes turned bloodshot, and even his breathing seemed full of strength and emotion.

Even as Li Mengtu’s face fell, Xu Qing lunged forward. A heaven-rending, earth-crushing fist strike landed.

Li Mengtu had already paid the price for using his authority of regeneration. It was in a very weakened state that Xu Qing’s fist strike hit him. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he tumbled backward in astonishment.

Glaring at him furiously, Xu Qing shot forward with tremendous speed and unleashed another fist strike.

Booms rang out as Xu Qing pursued Li Mengtu and launched one successful blow after another. Li Mengtu was battered backward, blood spraying out of his mouth as he reeled in shock.

Seeing the danger he was in, Li Mengtu threw his right hand up and pointed toward the sky. Intense rumbling sounds echoed out as a host of towers appeared. In short order, there were 9,000 of them! Then Li Mengtu thrust his hand down, and the 9,000 magnificent towers began to fall like rain. All of them flew toward Xu Qing to block his path.

Xu Qing’s body and cultivation base surged as he reached out with his right hand. The Emperor’s Sword appeared. And then, he and the sword shot toward the towers.

The raging sword energy destroyed everything it touched. From a distance, it was possible to see one tower after another shattering into nothing. Deafening booms rang out constantly.

From the beginning up to this point, this fight had been extremely difficult for Xu Qing. Li Mengtu had more tricks up his sleeve than any other Imperial Sovereign Xu Qing had faced. His authorities were very gruish, to the point where even after Xu Qing had used all of his own trump cards, he still couldn’t come out on top of things.

Li Mengtu had similar feelings. However, despite his weak state, his eyes were flashing with determination. As he used 9,000 illusory towers to block his opponent, his hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture. Then he started tapping different spots all over himself.

Each tap of his finger caused a magical symbol to appear. Every magical symbol was exceedingly complex, and actually seemed to be made up of over ten thousand smaller magical symbols. After there were 108 of them, they started flowing back and forth to make a spell formation.

“Sealing marks: release!” Li Mengtu roared.

The formation of symbols emerged, appearing in front of him, whereupon all the symbols started moving rapidly. It quickly expanded to a size ten times larger than before. And with every rotation, it grew larger. Soon it was 100 times larger. 1,000 times larger. 10,000 times larger.

Ultimately, an astonishing spell formation was visible, radiating golden light. And then the power of a god began to seep out from the spell formation. This was a power that surpassed that of a Flawless God. It was Altar God power!

Astonishingly, this was a god-sealing spell formation! As the spell formation opened, and the aura of a god emerged, a hand appeared! Put precisely, it was the severed right hand of an Altar God, which had been sealed inside of Li Mengtu to be used as a trump card!

The hand had rough, magenta-colored skin and was covered with very fine tentacles that made it look malicious and terrifying. The moment it appeared, mutagen surged, and a faint chanting filled the area.

An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to understand the chanting, but given that Xu Qing had a god clone, he could make it out clearly. There were two words being spoken.

“Human pill!”

Li Mengtu was saying the same thing.

The sound echoed in heaven and earth as the huge severed hand of the god stretched toward Xu Qing to grab him! Xu Qing shivered as Altar God power erupted from the god’s hand and slammed into him. His bones immediately emitted cracking sounds. His body writhed. His soul writhed. Every part of him writhed.

It was as if a huge hand had grabbed onto him and was crushing him into a ball, turning him into... a flesh and blood human pill!

It was a difficult process for Li Mengtu to endure as well. But Xu Qing was so difficult to kill that he resorted to undoing the sealing mark, which would also force him to pay a heavy price later.

However, right at that moment, something strange happened to Xu Qing. It was not the work of Starfire. Rather... a languid voice that had been sealed inside Xu Qing began to speak at this very unique point in time.

“There was a little showboater named Xu Qing who went out for training. A few years later, the showboater came back safely.”

It was Yu Liuchen’s story. And it was a blessing from Yu Liuchen.

The severed hand came from an Altar God. And Yu Liuchen... was also an Altar God. The voice turned into a conflict between gods. And an instant later, the severed hand that Li Mengtu had released went slack and retreated back into the spell formation. Yu Liuchen’s voice faded away.

Xu Qing was no longer writhing. Though he was bleeding profusely, he forced himself to look up at Li Mengtu, who was glaring back at him fiercely. Xu Qing launched himself forward.

Li Mengtu struggled to breathe as a sensation of profound crisis erupted within him. However, his killing intent had not been reduced. Instead, it grew stronger as the moment got more critical.

“Now this is what I call a duel to the death. Incredible! Really incredible!” Li Mengtu waved his hand, causing a scroll painting to appear in front of him that emanated an ancient aura. “Xu Qing, you are such a worthy opponent that I’m willing to permanently lose thirty percent of my longevity to utilize my clan’s scroll painting!”

Li Mengtu was the only person in his clan who could open this scroll. But he had never been inclined to do so. Keeping it closed was the best option. And that was because opening it required paying a massive price that surpassed anything imaginable. Even just opening it by a crack required a payment of one third of one’s longevity.

He had used it once years ago, and now... he was using it a second time!

The moment he produced the scroll, Xu Qing’s mind started spinning. Li Mengtu didn’t hesitate. He forcefully put out his hand... and cracked open the scroll!

It was unstoppable. No one could evade it. When the scroll cracked open, black light emerged. That light covered everything in heaven and earth. It only lasted an instant. Then Li Mengtu snapped the scroll shut. He was breathing heavily, and couldn’t stop himself from coughing up several huge mouthfuls of blood.

As for his surroundings.... He was completely and utterly alone. Xu Qing was nowhere to be seen. He had been sealed inside the scroll!

“It’s over.... This fight has been the most difficult since I confirmed my dao!” Li Mengtu wiped the blood from his mouth and, ignoring how weak he was in body and soul, looked down at the scroll painting.

The legacy didn’t come to me, which indicates he’s not dead....

He couldn’t see inside the scroll, but based on the information passed down by the clan patriarchs, he knew that the scroll came from the location they had originally come from.

It’s a place called Deep Earth. He’ll definitely die eventually. And it won’t take long. However, just to be safe, I’ll take the scroll to the clan’s restricted area and suppress it with blood. That will make sure he dies sooner rather than later!

Taking a deep breath, Li Mengtu shot off into the distance.