Chapter 417: Heavy Blow

Qiao Baishi and Wu De, rushing to Li Pin's aid toward the Blood Titan, felt their movements slow involuntarily. It was as if their minds had been dragged into sluggishness.

Their gazes were fixed on the Black Titan's lifeless body, unable to move even slightly.

Li Pin had killed a fearsome creature as powerful as a human Supreme Expert just like that?

He had done it in such a straightforward manner as well, a confrontation involving no tricks or flair.

What was even more incomprehensible was that Li Pin had found himself facing two supreme-level demonic creatures simultaneously at one point. Despite that, he withstood their combined attacks, repelled one, and killed the other.

The sheer, unrelenting violence of the act left both Qiao Baishi and Wu De utterly stunned. Even in the most critical moment of their life-or-death battle, they felt their breath catch and their minds go blank.

They were like a bunch of people trapped in a zombie-infested city, freezing in place as they saw a nuclear bomb go off in a nearby district. Their minds had been paralyzed by the blinding explosions, leaving them unable to react.

"How... is he this strong?" Wu De muttered unconsciously.

As Wu De stared at the fallen supreme demonic creature, it was as if he experienced a blow that shattered his Golden Form, causing his convictions to collapse.[1]

It wasn't that he hadn't accounted for the possibility of Li Pin defeating a supreme demonic creature in a head-on battle. What he didn't expect was for Li Pin to achieve the feat with such brutality, dominance, and raw power. The impact of witnessing someone more ferocious and brutal than a supreme demonic creature left him in shock. It filled him with an inexplicable sense of fear and unease.

The realization that Supreme Experts, like himself, were no longer invincible in this world battered his mind. Or rather, it was the realization that someone more powerful had emerged, someone who could overpower them in every aspect and kill them.

The fact that his life was no longer guaranteed filled him with a sense of unease and crisis, upending the reckless, unrestrained behavior he had once indulged in.

"

Roar!

"

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Realizing that these humans were too strong for it to defeat, the Blood Titan let out a fearful cry and turned to flee. It was only then that Qiao Baishi and Wu De snapped out of their daze.

Li Pin had already killed the Black Titan. But what about us?

Rumble, rumble!

Before Wu De could take another step, Li Pin shattered the void. In a flash of radiant electric arcs, he appeared behind the Blood Titan.

He didn't use a sword. Having fully integrated his Celestial Magnetic Field with his flesh and blood, he raised his fist high and struck down at the Blood Titan.

Panicked, the Blood Titan turned to block with its massive arms.

Unfortunately, Li Pin's punch didn't just carry raw strength alone; it had the immense binding force of the Celestial Magnetic Field behind it, which was too powerful for even a supreme demonic creature to break through instantly.

The movement of the Blood Titan's arm turned sluggish, leaving it helpless as Li Pin's fist, wrapped in electric light and a fierce shockwave, crashed into its skull.

Bang!

The collision released a force equal to the simultaneous detonation of thousands of tons of explosives. The shockwave and hurricane-like blast tore through the ground, sending the five-meter-tall Blood Titan crashing into the earth.

In an instant, the ground rippled like water disturbed by a stone. The destructive ripples shattered the surface structure of the land, scattering soil, rocks, debris, and dust, as the shockwave behind the ripples swept and spread in all directions.

That was just the beginning. Li Pin didn't stop. His punches rained down with even more ferocity.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The ground beneath the Blood Titan seemed to endure a relentless bombardment from heavy artillery. Stone debris accompanied by violent shockwaves spilled out from the center of the chaos. The entire area trembled violently, shaking the cavern ceiling and causing countless stones to fall.

No one could say for sure how many times Li Pan had struck. Three punches? Ten? Thirty? A hundred?

No one knew.

His fist force descended like a torrential downpour, shaking the surroundings with each blow. The terrifying power left all witnesses shocked to their core. Meanwhile, the Blood Titan's crater grew deeper and wider with every strike.

Finally... when the power accumulated to its peak, the entire Ninth Heavenly Realm, the ceiling and ground, trembled violently.

"This is bad! This floor is going to collapse!"

"Did Hall Master Li just punch through the Ninth Heaven Domain!?"

Wu De and Qiao Baishi were horrified.

"Everyone, be careful!"

Almost immediately after their cries of alarm, the scattered falling stones turned into a massive landslide. Sections of the mountain, weighing tens, hundreds, or even thousands of tons, began to collapse violently toward the Eighth Heaven Domain.

But it wasn’t just the Eighth Heaven Domain that was sinking into chaos—the Ninth Heaven Domain, where they stood, was also affected.

The area around Li Pin, in particular, began collapsing toward the Tenth Heaven Domain. Countless cracks spread wildly as mountains crumbled, tearing the land apart, or rather... the ceiling of the Tenth Heaven Domain!

The underground space, which had once formed the Ninth Heaven Domain, now sank rapidly into the Tenth Heaven Domain below, threatening to bury the entire place.

Wu De shouted urgently, "The Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Heaven Domains are collapsing! Retreat! Get out of here, now!"

The Master and Top-Tier Astral Cultivators didn't hesitate and sprinted toward the exit at the fastest speed possible.

Qiao Baishi, ready to escape, shouted, "Hall Master Li!"

At that moment, Li Pin, who had been enjoying the battle, reluctantly stopped. He looked at the nearly obliterated corpse of the supreme demonic creature, which was left in ruins with barely any remains.

After a brief inspection, he discovered several crystal-clear fragments of bone, smooth like jade.

These seemed to be... the primary materials for crafting legendary astral equipment?

Without hesitation, Li Pin collected the jade-like bone fragments and turned to the Black Titan's corpse. He drew the Sword of Destiny and found an Astral Crystal embedded within the body.

A Legendary Astral Crystal!

With this and the jade-like bone fragments, finding a skilled astral craftsman would be enough to forge a legendary astral weapon.

Li Pin nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad."

He swung the Sword of Destiny, slicing a falling boulder cleanly in midair.

Then, with a burst of speed and thunderous sound, he crashed through a massive boulder weighing hundreds of tons that blocked his way. As the boulder shattered into fragments, he sped toward the entrance to the Eighth Heaven Domain.

When the group arrived at the entrance, Yuan Zhenchuan and the other Legends, along with a number of Master Astral Cultivators, were already there.

Seeing Li Pin, Wu De, and Qiao Baishi, Yuan Zhenchuan couldn't help but ask, "What happened? Why did the Ninth Heaven Domain suddenly collapse?"

Tu Tan was equally puzzled. "The underground space of the Ninth Heaven Domain is incredibly stable. Demonic creatures have fought legendary-level battles here for territory. If it were so fragile, it would have fallen long ago. The remaining structural integrity is very stable—why did it suddenly collapse?"

Facing their questioning gazes, Qiao Baishi took a deep breath and spoke solemnly. "If Legendary power couldn't destroy this sturdy underground space, then what about power beyond Legendary?"

Yuan Zhenchuan froze. "Beyond Legendary?"

He instinctively turned his gaze to Li Pin.

Li Pin glanced up at the crumbling ceiling above, still raining debris, with cracks spreading wide. He said, "It seems the Seventh Heaven Domain is about to collapse too. Let's leave this place first."

"Yes, yes! Let's leave now!" Yuan Zhenchuan urged quickly.

Legends like them could escape being buried under mountains through various means. However, High-Class Astral Cultivators, or those unable to sustain their starlight form for long, might not survive.

Thus, an unprecedented retreat began for the Astral Cultivators who had ventured deep into the Tenfold Heavenly Realms.

The simultaneous collapse of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Heaven Domains caused catastrophic damage to the region's structure. Even after escaping, the group could still feel the violent changes taking place.

Localized earthquakes erupted one after another, accompanied by sinkholes of varying sizes appearing unpredictably.

As for the countless spatial cracks formed by the collapse of the underground world, they spread across every corner of the land, spanning a thousand-mile radius.

Fan Xiu stared at the earth-shaking scene in astonishment. "Good heavens... has the entire Tenfold Heavenly Domains been destroyed?"

Bai Ying responded, "We had proposed several plans in the past to deal with the Tenfold Heavenly Domains, including causing its collapse. But the area is vast, and the spatial structure is incredibly strong. It was never easy to cause such a collapse."

He surveyed the surroundings. "Moreover, if it collapsed incompletely, the demonic creatures would be released prematurely, leading to widespread devastation."

Now, though, the devastation had already struck. The southern region had been cleared, many demonic creatures within the Tenfold Heavenly Domains had been eliminated, and the collapse likely buried more. Should a few demonic creatures manage to escape, it would be easy for the Astral Cultivators to hunt them.

Yuan Zhenchuan concluded, "The collapse of the Tenfold Heavenly Domains is a blessing in disguise."

At the same time, he used his communication bracelet to instruct the Astral Cultivators on the surface to heighten their vigilance.

After giving the order, he turned to Li Pin. "So, what exactly happened? Why did the Ninth Heaven Domain suddenly collapse? We've used Legendary Astral Techniques multiple times inside. We've never managed to shake the mountain structure. How did—"

Li Pin speculated, "It might have to do with the location. You released your Legendary Astral Techniques in the upper realms, but I used full force in the Ninth Heaven Domain."

He paused. "Or maybe you didn't release enough Legendary Astral Techniques?"

Yuan Zhenchuan was momentarily stunned. "We didn't release enough?"

Wu De quickly asked, "During the ten breaths it took you to kill the Blood Titan, how many... punches did you throw? The ones whose power rivals that of legendary astral techniques...."

"One hundred and eighty-eight punches," Li Pin replied.

The number left the Star Alliance's Supreme Expert pale-faced.

1. Golden Form is a metaphor that refers to an almost invincible being experiencing a fundamental collapse of their strength or belief, implying a deep shock. ☜