Chapter 974 - Empowered Remotely

The twelve fiends formed an encirclement around Liu Wuxie without a word.

There was no need for conversation; both parties knew each other's purpose. Any extra word would've only wasted breath.

The twelve fiends swung their weapons together, unleashing a powerful shockwave that wove into laws belonging to the divine race.

To Liu Wuxie's surprise, their divine energy began suppressing his true essence.

"This is interesting," Liu Wuxie muttered. "When I fought the other divinekin, their divine energy was ineffective against my true essence. Could it be that they've found a way?"

All divinekin regarded the ancestral tree as their bane. They had already researched the ancestral tree for hundreds of thousands of years, trying to nullify the suppression.

As the first tree born at the dawn of the universe, its significance needed no explanation; everyone instinctively understood its importance. When the divine race had emerged and discovered the ancestral tree's natural suppression over them, their first instinct was to destroy it.

Eventually, the divine race had birthed an almighty being and forged a godly artifact, spending five thousand years chopping down the ancestral tree. The divine race had preserved the ancestral tree's largest trunk, while countless branches had scattered into the three thousand worlds.

They had relied on that trunk to research the tree's mystery, eventually managing to weaken its suppression over them.

Then again, the effects remained subtle, and Liu Wuxie quickly stabilized his true essence, perhaps because the twelve fiends were too weak to do anything to his true essence.

Even so, Liu Wuxie felt immense pressure facing the twelve fiends. He had just made his breakthrough and needed a battle to consolidate his cultivation. As for the intruders, they couldn't even pose a challenge, and he didn't even have to raise a finger to kill them.

"Heretic Blade!" The Heretic Blade flew and cleaved downward, drawing an eerie arc. The Golden Flame Strike had grown in power after his breakthrough, becoming increasingly unpredictable.

It was more than a dao technique—it had become an elusive and unpredictable blade art.

Liu Wuxie vanished and left behind countless afterimages, making it impossible for the twelve fiends to track his movements.

His strength had skyrocketed compared to half a month ago. Had it been a one-on-one battle, he could have eliminated them instantly.

The underground mine began to rumble like an earthquake had struck, with chunks of stone falling from the ceiling, but they disintegrated into dust before hitting the ground.

The Heretic Blade continued to clash with the weapons of the twelve fiends. Each clash sent divine energy surging through Liu Wuxie's arms.

Arcs of lightning flickered around him and devoured all the divine energy.

While divine energy poisoned others, Liu Wuxie's ancestral tree absorbed it as nourishment.

Hundreds of phantoms appeared on the battlefield, making identifying Liu Wuxie's location impossible. Even when facing the twelve fiends, Liu Wuxie held his ground well.

And this was without even using the Spatial Dao Art, the Great Five Elemental Palm, or the Great Dragon Aspect Art. He believed he could end the fight swiftly if he used them all at once.

When all the afterimages converged into one, Liu Wuxie reappeared on the ground with a faint smile. Their brief clash earlier had given him a good measure of their strength.

He didn't unleash his whole strength and wanted to use the twelve fiends to temper his cultivation and the Divine Thunder Physique.

Stowing the Heretic Blade away, Liu Wuxie vanished once again. This time, he moved faster with greater precision and ferocity. He reappeared by the nearest fiend like a comet.

"Take this!" Liu Wuxie channeled his true essence into the Divine Thunder Physique and unleashed a burst of electricity.

Caught off guard, the fiend could only throw a desperate punch in return.

When the two fists collided, lightning and divine energy clashed in the air, forming a tsunami of iron.

After being struck, crackling sounds came from the fiend's body as lightning energy burrowed inside him and started destroying his internal structure, causing his strength to plummet.

The other fiends noticed something was wrong and rushed to his aid, but Liu Wuxie was faster. Speed was never the divine race's strength. They relied on overwhelming divine energy to crush enemies.

After losing their strongest trait, their combat strength was no match for Liu Wuxie. And Liu Wuxie didn't fear divine energy.

He didn't go after the injured fiend and dashed toward his next target, barehanded with arcs of lightning flickering on the surface of his body. It looked like he was clad in lightning armor, impervious to ordinary attacks.

When the divinekin's attacks fell on Liu Wuxie, the Divine Glazed Cloth had negated a portion of the force, and the actual damage done to Liu Wuxie was negligible.

Again and again, Liu Wuxie clashed with the twelve fiends. Anyone else at the peak of the Spirit Profound Realm would've already fallen.

But when Liu Wuxie traded blows with them, it felt like they were merely tickling him. It wasn't that the twelve fiends were weak, but his physique had become monstrously powerful.

Though divine energy wouldn't affect his true essence, it wasn't enough. He wouldn't have dared to confront them head-on before cultivating the Divine Thunder Physique.

The divinekin could slay a disciple of the Scarlet Dragon Cult at the pinnacle of the Spirit Profound Realm with one strike, and one could imagine how strong they were.

All twelve fiends had arcs of lightning flickering on the surface of their bodies, slowly corroding them. Moreover, Liu Wuxie had even injected them with abyssal energy, poison energy, and the power of the divine avatars.

The combined energy began to rapidly destroy their bodies, especially as their combat strength declined after being corroded by the poison energy.

The power of divine avatars could also be used to suppress the divine race, weakening the effects of their divine energy.

Even after hundreds of exchanges, the twelve fiends remained silent and steadily closed in on Liu Wuxie.

But then, Liu Wuxie's eyes narrowed in disbelief. Without a word, the twelve fiends suddenly sat down in unison, each pulling out a bizarre statue from within their bodies.

Liu Wuxie had seen such statues in the Western Barren, where they were placed around the altar.

He had seen the divine race chanting around the altar, and they were transported out of the western barren.

"They're summoning reinforcements!" A realization struck Liu Wuxie.

The twelve fiends knew they were no match for Liu Wuxie and had resorted to setting up an altar on the spot to call in reinforcements.

Liu Wuxie couldn't allow that to happen, as it would be troublesome if they managed to summon experts at the Heaven Profound Realm.

His only solution was to kill them before they could open a space-time portal.

Without hesitation, Liu Wuxie unleashed the Great Five Elemental Palm. But the twelve fiends remained motionless as they continued their chants.

The surrounding space was distorted. They opened a portal that linked directly to the divine race's tribe. This confirmed Liu Wuxie's fears that they were opening a portal to summon reinforcements.

The portal locked into place in less than half a breath, deepening Liu Wuxie's apprehension of the divine race's power. After all, even the human race couldn't accomplish such a feat so swiftly.

The divine race had truly lived up to its name as one of the earlier races to be born in the universe.

"Die!" The Great Five Elemental Palm descended, covering the sky and enveloping the entire underground mine.

Rubble fell in waves, sealing off the tunnels behind it. But the twelve fiends held their positions and chanted without pause.

The portal pulsed as an invisible energy came through and burrowed into the bodies of the twelve fiends. That energy surged through the twelve fiends, boosting their combat strength dramatically.

All twelve fiends rose to their feet, and their bodies began to grow larger. Even the horns on their head grew longer as well.

"They're receiving power remotely!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed, eyes narrowing in disbelief.

This showed the true terror of the divine race—that they could empower the twelve fiends from such a great distance.

Even someone as experienced as Liu Wuxie had never seen something like this. He had seen the transfer of artifacts remotely but not the transfer of power.

After receiving the energy, it doubled the twelve fiends' strength. The lightning damage also healed rapidly.

Even their combined roar shattered the Great Five Elemental Palm. This marked the second time this dao technique had failed, once against the Lesser Severance Art, and second time against the divine race.

A grave look flashed across Liu Wuxie's face. After being empowered, the twelve fiends were nearing the Earth Profound Realm.

"I have no choice! Their current state can also produce the best Divine Fruits!" Liu Wuxie muttered with a hint of madness across his face.

He had decided to go all out. He couldn't let them summon reinforcements.

The Heavenly Dragon Seal appeared in his hand, and he was prepared to execute the Great Dragon Aspect Art. He aimed to kill and transform them into Divine Fruits to enhance his dao techniques. It would also strengthen the power of the Great Five Elemental Palm.

When Liu Wuxie summoned the Heavenly Dragon Seal, the twelve fiends' expressions finally changed. They sensed the scent of death from the seal. Not to mention, the Great Dragon Aspect Art's power had even exceeded the Great Five Elemental Art.

The power multiplied when he combined the dao technique with the artifact. However, what made it truly terrifying was the dragon soul and the laws of the Dragon Pearl contained within the seal.

Liu Wuxie channeled energy into the Heavenly Dragon Seal, causing it to expand and transform into a colossal seal, locking onto three fiends.

Then he dashed toward the other fiends. He had to kill them before the reinforcements arrived.