Chapter 2144 - Yi Daoxuan Appears!

The hunchbacked old man’s smile faded. His turbid eyes were like twin abysses as he stared intently at Su Yi. “I killed you once, so I can do it again. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to test it.”

His raspy voice was like the edges of swords grating together, and it made the entire stretch of stars shake violently.

The old hunchback vanished. A moment later, his black staff flashed like lightning, cleaving through the fetters of time and space to swing ruthlessly at Su Yi.

Clang!!!

The Sword of Proximity appeared just in time to defend him.

But in moments, it was sent flying backward. That black staff was just too tyrannical. Even though Su Yi was prepared, and even though he fought back with all his might, he seemed as pathetic as a mantis trying to block a chariot.

Worse, Su Yi had no way of dodging. The old hunchback’s imposing aura had locked down the entire area!

Su Yi felt the air of an impending lethal threat bearing down on him and a prickling pain all over his skin.

Without the slightest hesitation, he drew on external power.

Boom!

The Sword of the Nine Hells whooshed forth, and an unparalleled, terrifying sword force exploded into being.

Before, Su Yi could merely draw on the sword’s power, but now that Su Yi had become a god, he could truly wield the Sword of the Nine Hells!

When he poured the full extent of his cultivation base into the Sword of the Nine Hells, his overall power underwent a shocking transformation.

His Sea of Chaos rumbled within him as if enraged, and the Epoch Spark erupted with waves of inscrutable divine flames.

Within his sea of consciousness, his Divine Dao Avatar rumbled.

His cultivation base, essence, qi, and spirit fused fully into his Dao of the Sword. He then unleashed them with a swing of the Sword of the Nine Hells.

Clang!!!

The starry void shook violently and split on all sides.

Immediately after, the Sword of the Nine Hells shook violently, and Su Yi was sent flying backward. He flew several tens of thousands of feet before just barely managing to stabilize himself.

Splurt!

He hacked up blood, and his face paled. His vital energy was badly damaged and almost blasted to bits on impact, but... he’d managed to block that attack!

“You actually... blocked it...” The old hunchback’s eyes shone with horrifying light, and his expression filled with bewilderment.

He was a bit stronger than even peak Nine-Tribulation Master Gods. He’d already touched the threshold of the River of Destiny!

And Su Yi was only in the Creation Realm.

They were separated by the Limit and Fortune Realms, as well as all Nine Dao-Refining Tribulations of the Undying Realm. In terms of cultivation, the hunchback was as far from Su Yi as Su Yi was from an ordinary garden vegetable.

Yet now, this newly advanced Creation Realm Lesser God had blocked one of his attacks. Of course the old hunchback was surprised!

Even though the old hunchback knew that Su Yi was strong enough to threaten Greater Gods despite his Creation Realm cultivation base, there were still all nine Dao-Refining Tribulations between a Greater God and a Master God, and he was a step beyond even that! The more he thought about it, the more unreasonable it seemed.

“It’s that Dao Sword!” The old hunchback suddenly locked onto the Sword of the Nine Hells in Su Yi’s hands, his gaze heated.

Everyone who knew Yi Daoxuan and Li Fuyou knew how terrifying that mysterious sword was.

“All I want from you is reincarnation, the Epoch Spark, and that sword,” said the old hunchback. “Give them to me, and I promise to leave you a path to life! Refuse...”

“You’re dreaming,” laughed Su Yi. He wiped the blood from his lips, then tightened his grip on the Sword of the Nine Hells. “Even if I lose, I’ll at worst have to reincarnate again. What can you do to me?”

“Hmph!” The old man’s expression darkened. He swung his black cane and attacked once more.

Clang!!!

Su Yi was sent flying yet again.

Countless cracks formed on his incomparably durable fleshly body, and a stream of fresh blood gushed from his mouth. His face paled, his vital energy was in disarray, and the Sword of the Nine Hells rumbled and boomed in his grip.

The disparity was enormous!

Were he up against a One or Two-Tribulation Master God, Su Yi was confident that he could at least put up a decent fight. But this old hunchback was even stronger than the Dipankara Buddha and Master God Yun Xiao. How could Su Yi possibly fight him? No matter how hard he tried, the Sword of the Nine Hells couldn’t overcome a disparity that enormous.

But Su Yi didn’t lose heart. He’d never been afraid to die!

“You blocked it again... That Dao Sword has got to be an incomparably wondrous Taboo Treasure,” sighed the old hunchback. “Way back in the day, when we killed Yi Daoxuan, we sensed how extraordinary that sword was. I wouldn’t have guessed that even now, countless years later, it would be every bit as strong as it was back then!”

Then, he gazed intently at Su Yi and chuckled. “But if you have no other hidden cards, I guarantee that you won’t be able to block my third strike.”

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he attacked once more.

Boom!

The entire stretch of stars collapsed and distorted as if about to break down completely. A streak of black divine radiance ripped open time and space and descended ruthlessly upon Su Yi.

There was no way to dodge. Time and space were distorted and broken, and the terrifying power of that attack had long since locked onto Su Yi!

Su Yi just stood there. He made no attempt to dodge.

The depths of his gaze were utterly calm, without even the barest hint of emotion. It seemed he’d given up the struggle. But it was then that...

Boom!

The Sword of the Nine Hells hummed in his grip and swung through the air. That incoming streak of black divine radiance shattered, inch by inch, and fell like rain.

“Hm?” The hunchbacked old man’s pupils constricted.

A low, icy voice rang out. “Even after all these years, you’re as shameless as ever, Ol’ Hunchback.”

And the Sword of the Nine Hells underwent an unbelievable transformation following this voice. Its fourth divine chain rattled and emanated a misty, inscrutable rain of the light of the Grand Dao.

“Yi Daoxuan!?” The old hunchback’s expression darkened, and he vanished into thin air.

A moment later, he swung his black cane at the Sword of the Nine Hells with all his might. He obviously hoped to disrupt whatever was happening to the Sword of the Nine Hells.

Clang!!!!

The Sword of the Nine Hells shook violently on impact.

But before it was sent flying, a large, powerful hand gripped it firmly by the hilt.

The owner of that hand was a thin man with long, disheveled hair and a scraggly beard. He was broad-shouldered and thin-waisted, with coppery skin and features so sharp, they looked like they’d been cut with a chisel. He had a staunch, determined look on his face.

Standing there, sword in hand, it seemed that heaven and earth could crumble around him and leave him entirely unharmed. It was as if nothing could shake him.

Bang!!

When the man appeared, he shifted his wrist, and the Sword of the Nine Hells erupted with Dao Light and sent the black cane flying.

Even its wielder, the old hunchback, was forced several tens of thousands of feet back!

“Yi Daoxuan!! It really is you!” the old hunchback exclaimed in disbelief.

That disheveled, tall, gaunt man was none other than Yi Daoxuan! The one the River Lord called the most wretched of all, like a dog that’d lost its master! Su Yi’s fourth incarnation!

Of course, this was merely Yi Daoxuan’s Dao Imprint, not the man himself.

“My old enmities have implicated you. I’m sorry.” Yi Daoxuan turned to look at Su Yi, a hint of an apology on his steely features.

“You and I are ultimately the same person. How could you call that implicating me?” Su Yi shook his head slightly.

The moment the old hunchback appeared, Su Yi sensed strange movements in the fourth Divine Chain on the Sword of the Nine Hells, the one that sealed his fourth incarnation’s Dao Imprint.

He thus wasn’t surprised that Yi Daoxuan had intervened.

Still, he

was

surprised when he saw Yi Daoxuan’s strength firsthand.

At his peak, Yi Daoxuan obviously hadn’t been at all inferior to Li Fuyou!

No wonder the River Lord sighed like that when he spoke of Yi Daoxuan. Had he lived, his accomplishments wouldn’t have been any inferior to Xiao Jian’s,

thought Su Yi.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to see you safely to the God Domain,” said Yi Daoxuan. He could tell that Su Yi was badly injured, to the point that his body was on the verge of collapse. It hurt to even look at him.

Su Yi nodded.

“Nothing but the ravings of a madman!” The old hunchback sneered. “Even when you were at your peak, we sent you scampering like a panicked dog. Now, you’re no more than a remnant of will. How could you possibly fight us?”

Yi Daoxuan looked at him with steely composure. “Had someone not tricked me, leaving me with severe Dao Wounds, all of you together wouldn't have been a match for me.”

He wasn’t boasting. He was simply stating a fact.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Yi Daoxuan attacked. He took a step forward, and space compressed beneath his feet. A waterfall of sword qi erupted from the Sword of the Nine Hells.

It was a simple attack, yet it instantly stabilized the collapsing void. An unparalleled sword force swept outward, like a purgatory of the sword sealing off the entire area.

And the old hunchback was trapped inside.

He snorted coldly, swung his black cane, and clashed with it head-on.

Bang!!!

In the blink of an eye, the old hunchback was forced back. Yi Daoxuan’s strike hadn’t just broken the old man’s defenses; it had almost disemboweled him. Even though he dodged in the end, there was now a bloody gash on his chest!

Su Yi couldn’t help but be stunned. Yi Daoxuan’s Dao Imprint obviously had the power of a Nine-Tribulation Undying Realm Master God. The old hunchback’s cultivation was a level beyond his, but Yi Daoxuan nonetheless forced him back in a single strike.

He really was every bit as mighty as Li Fuyou had been!

When Su Yi first learned of Yi Daoxuan’s misfortunes, he assumed it was because Yi Daoxuan was weak. Looking at him now, that obviously wasn’t the case!

“You alone cannot stop me,” Yi Daoxuan said coolly.

He had an unyielding air about him, and his Dao of the Sword was similarly unyielding, like an eternal, unshakeable mountain. When he attacked, there was nothing he could not break. When he was still, nothing could break him!

“Do you really think we didn’t anticipate this?” the old hunchback said with a cold laugh.

As his voice resounded through the void, he frowned in apparent displeasure.

“Everyone, that defeated dog Yi Daoxuan has already come out. Surely you don’t plan to remain bystanders?”