Chapter 1043: Slaying the Superior's Main Body

Just like that, the primordial altar passed away.

As it poured all its essence into the new nine-colored tree, the white life hidden realm began to collapse, though not completely. The primordial altar seemed to have used its remaining essence to form a transparent barrier, containing the violent storm within. But the barrier was growing weaker, like a bubble on the verge of bursting.

Outside this bubble-like barrier, Xiao Hongye, Tan Xianzhi, the six empresses of Dazheng, and some of the remaining Dazheng officials who had rushed to the scene were anxiously waiting. They watched the blood rain falling from the sky and guessed roughly what was going on. They also understood that this was the critical moment on which victory hinged. Their hearts were filled with tension.

Through the transparent barrier, they could see a black hole at the center of the endless snowstorm, from which bursts of light and shockwaves emanated—surely the heart of the battlefield. Unfortunately, no one could see what was happening inside.

Within the interior of that black hole, Xiao Nanfeng and the three Qing Grandmasters listened to the primordial altar's farewell, their hearts filled with sorrow. The three Qing Grandmasters' eyes flashed with guilt, but they quickly steeled themselves.

The Yuqing Grandmaster said, "Xiao Nanfeng, unleash your full power. We'll support you."

The Taiqing and Shangqing Grandmasters nodded in agreement.

Xiao Nanfeng shouted, "Give me everything you've got, nine-colored tree!"

With a resonant hum, the nine-colored tree suddenly erupted with brilliance an order of magnitude beyond what it had shown before. A vast amount of energy poured into Xiao Nanfeng's body, which he channeled into his blade.

The blade's energy surged as it emitted a dazzling green light. With a deafening crash, it shattered the Superior's golden blade and continued unimpeded toward the Superior herself.

The three Qing Grandmasters' eyes lit up with anticipation. Xiao Nanfeng's expression turned resolute as he poured all his power into the strike, determined to cleave the Superior in two.

The Superior's pupils contracted, but she didn't dodge.

Just then, her golden tree emitted a burst of golden light, enveloping the Superior.

The massive blade struck the Superior, creating an explosion of flames that scattered in all directions—only to be blocked by the golden light.

The Shangqing Grandmaster exclaimed in surprise, "How is this possible? How could the Superior have blocked that strike?"

The strike was so intense that even he wouldn't have been able to defend against it, but the Superior didn't seem to be injured at all.

The Yuqing Grandmaster frowned. "It's because of the golden tree. The golden light protected the Superior's body."

The Taiqing Grandmaster added gravely, "No, the golden tree's light is only part of it. The Superior's physical body is incredibly strong. With the golden light's enhancement, her body has reached an indestructible state. That's how she blocked the strike."

Nearby, the Superior sneered. "You think that you can kill me just because you've received the primordial altar's gifts? If that were enough, the primordial altar would have done so long ago. All it could do was trap me and drag things out until now. Do you think that you can kill me just because you've gained this power? How laughable!"

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes turned cold. He ignored the Superior's taunts and slashed down again.

With a deafening crash, another explosion of flames erupted. The Superior and the golden tree seemed to be one singular entity. No matter how hard Xiao Nanfeng struck, he couldn't break through the golden light surrounding her.

"Again!" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

Xiao Nanfeng struck repeatedly, aiming at the same spot each time. But even with all his power concentrated in one spot, it was useless. The Superior seemed to have an invincible golden body, one that was impossible to breach.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed with determination as he charged toward the golden tree.

His blade struck the golden tree with a deafening crash, only for it to emit a faint barrier of white light that merged with the golden light, blocking Xiao Nanfeng's full-powered strike.

"How could this be?" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.

The Yuqing Grandmaster's pupils contracted. "The golden tree is truly extraordinary."

The Taiqing Grandmaster frowned. "No, it's not just the golden tree. The Superior and the golden tree have merged, and now share each other's defenses. Every strike Xiao Nanfeng lands on the tree is like striking the Superior herself. It's impossible for him to succeed."

Even so, Xiao Nanfeng didn't stop. He continued to draw power from the nine-colored tree, slashing at the golden tree repeatedly. Deafening booms echoed, but the golden tree remained intact.

The Superior sneered coldly. "Your new nine-colored tree has just materialized. It's far weaker than the old one. Don't dream of breaking my defenses."

The three Qing Grandmasters grew anxious. If this stalemate continued, and if more Darkborn arrived, they would lose all hope of victory. Moreover, with the primordial altar gone, there was nothing left to restrain the Superior. If she escaped, they would never catch her again, and all would be lost.

However, Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed with a glimmer of hope. While slashing at the Superior and the golden tree, he had secretly been activating the Nan prayer bead in his possession. He was trying to sense the other twelve beads that the Superior had apparently ingested.

His father had said that, over the years, the Superior had been collecting the emotions of the white-furred monsters. These prayer beads could merge with emotions, and his parents had used this to embed the beads into the Superior's main body. However, as far as he could tell, the twelve beads weren't in the Superior's body—they were inside the golden tree.

It made sense. The golden tree he had nurtured required heart force to grow quickly. This golden tree, which had been trapped here for hundreds of thousands of years, would naturally absorb emotions to sustain itself. The twelve prayer beads' unique construction had allowed them to evade the Superior's attention.

The Superior said, "Xiao Nanfeng, I'll give you one final chance to surrender to me. Serve as my general, my commander, and I'll spare your life.

Xiao Nanfeng took out the prayer bead and said coldly, "No need. Your time is up."

With that, he activated the bead, which began to tremble violently. At the same time, the twelve beads inside the golden tree also began to resonate.

The energy the golden tree supplied to the Superior suddenly became unstable.

The Superior exclaimed in shock, "What's happening? Xiao Nanfeng, what did you do?"

She felt that something inside the golden tree was disrupting its flow of energy and blocking its pathways.

Under normal circumstances, she could have slowly cleared the blockage, but in the heat of battle, she had no time to spare.

The energy released by the golden tree became increasingly unstable, and the tree itself began to vibrate violently.

The three Qing Grandmasters also noticed the disturbance. Although they didn't know what was happening, they understood that this was a rare opportunity, and they needed to press their advantage. They poured all their power into their attacks, not giving the Superior a chance to recover.

"It's working!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up as he poured all his energy into activating the prayer bead.

With a resonant hum, the bead in his hand trembled even more violently, causing the twelve beads within the golden tree to resonate even more strongly as well.

The golden tree's light became increasingly unstable.

The Superior suddenly noticed the white prayer bead in Xiao Nanfeng's hand and traced the twelve prayer beads within the golden tree, which were now glowing with black and white light.

"Just how did you send these beads into my golden tree? Impossible!" the Superior exclaimed in shock.

The thirteen prayer beads were hardly invincible, but at this critical moment, they filled the Superior with dread. The beads seemed to be part of some treasure that dealt with the heart.

"Thirteen Stars of the North and South, resonate!" Xiao Nanfeng intoned.

The thirteen beads trembled even more violently. At this rate, the golden tree would no longer be able to supply energy to the Superior, and she would be defeated.

"Damn you—shatter!" the Superior roared in fury.

She abandoned her fight against the three Qing Grandmasters and struck the golden tree with her palm. Her power didn't harm the tree but instead penetrated it as she targeted the twelve beads inside.

The twelve beads were instantly reduced to dust, but as she attacked, her connection to the golden tree's power was briefly severed. The three Qing Grandmasters seized the opportunity to strike her at their full strength while Xiao Nanfeng slashed at the golden tree itself.

"Die!" the four powerhouses roared, near-simultaneously.

"No!" the Superior screamed.

The beams of light glowed resplendently as they filled the entire black hole.

The Superior, struck by the three Qing Grandmasters' palm strikes, was instantly sent flying. Though her physical body was incredibly strong and her injuries weren't severe, she couldn't help but feel a sense of despair.

At the heart of the golden flames, Xiao Nanfeng had cleaved her massive golden tree in two. The golden tree's boundless energy scattered in all directions.

Split apart, the golden tree had been rendered useless.

The Superior spat out a mouthful of blood, the backlash from the golden tree's destruction. "No!"

"We did it—the Superior's invincibility is no more!" the Taiqing Grandmaster roared.

The three Qing Grandmasters poured all their power into their world trees, slashing down with their palms to form three blades that struck the Superior.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng channeled the nine-colored tree's power and slashed down with the divine undying blade once more.

Green, red, purple, and blue—the four strongest blades in the world converged from four directions, sealing off the Superior's escape routes and striking her simultaneously.

"No! I refuse to accept this!" the Superior screamed in despair.

The Superior's body erupted with dazzling golden light, but she was still split apart by the four blades. The five-colored lights illuminated the black hole as the Superior was diced up into countless fragments that scattered in all directions.

Xiao Nanfeng and the three Qing Grandmasters didn't let their guard down. They immediately moved forward, suppressing the Superior's fragments to prevent her from escaping. Using secret techniques, they quickly sealed those fragments to ensure that she couldn't reconstitute her body.

The Shangqing Grandmaster let out a long breath. "Have we truly slain the Superior?"

The Yuqing Grandmaster and the Taiqing Grandmaster also exhaled deeply, their eyes filled with unconcealed excitement.