Chapter 1253: Chapter 1252: Reduced to Ashes

The Immortal Artifacts that were placed around the Green Peak Sword had all been meticulously crafted by the Yingtian Immortal, and he felt his own Immortal Artifacts breaking apart layer by layer.

Even the innermost Green Blade Sword Small World was shaking violently as if there were an earth-shattering event taking place.

Jiang Pingan could feel that the barrier he created using the Power of National Fate was being battered mercilessly, a horrible sight to behold.

The spherical barrier twisted under the impact of the self-detonation, stretching upwards and downwards as if it were dough being kneaded ruthlessly on a board.

Jiang Pingan and the Mid-heaven Emperor Lord watched with pounding hearts, finally understanding why the others had reacted so strongly before.

Those who were slow to escape would follow in Yao Saint’s footsteps.

Within the barrier, only Yao Saint was left, covered in wounds, vomiting Immortal Blood, his Immortal Gold Armor blasted into pieces during the self-detonation, fragments embedding into his flesh—an injury severity he hadn’t experienced since Ancient Times.

But he ultimately held out.

Next, he saw Yun Zhi’s body, which after the self-detonation hovered in mid-air before the blood mist recondensed, the Fairy Eternity as radiant as ever, not having felt this exhilarated by self-detonation in ages.

Yun Zhi’s expression was somewhat odd; this was the first time she had ever experienced the taste of self-detonation, which was embarrassingly humiliating.

Had she known it would be like this, she would have preferred not to borrow a body and dealt with Yao Saint personally.

Before Fairy Eternity prepared for a second round of self-detonation, she glanced down at the lonely Green Peak Sword stuck in the ground.

As for the scattered remnants of Immortal Artifacts by the sword’s side, she automatically deemed them insignificant.

"Grant the Green Peak Sword an Immortal status."

This was a Rule she had imbued before her self-detonation.

The Fengdu Space and the barrier had also been granted Immortal status by her.

"Let’s go again!"

Since she had already vented enough with her fists, she might as well finish things off cleanly!

The Immortal Fairy burst forth with a dazzling glow for the second self-detonation, the speed of which left Yao Saint no chance to even utter the Verbal Spell; he could only recite it silently in his heart.

"Absolute Defense."

Black fog condensed, Immortal Gold layer upon layer wrapping Yao Saint tightly.

But it was futile.

The second self-detonation dispersed the black fog, tore through the Immortal Gold, blasting Yao Saint’s Immortal Body full of holes.

The people in the Green Blade Sword Small World were astonished, not because Yao Saint couldn’t withstand the self-detonation, but because they couldn’t understand why the Green Peak Sword remained unscathed amidst it all?!

The first wave of self-detonation had destroyed no less than three spatial-type Immortal Artifacts!

"Is Wu Yao’s Artifact Refining Technique even better than mine?"

The Yingtian Immortal, renowned as the Ancestor of Refining, was dealt a blow, his own techniques seemingly inferior to those of a later generation Immortal.

"You are abandoned by the Five Elements."

The Nine Heavens Breath Soil, the Firmament Tree, the Ruishui River, the Heavenly Fire, the Five Elements Essence—all reappeared, this time aiming to completely seal the Immortal Fairy.

Unfortunately, in the face of absolute power, even to attack was wishful thinking.

These Five Elements Immortal Objects had just emerged, and before they could show their power, they were obliterated by the self-detonation into nothingness, their Immortal essence lost completely.

"Rejuvenation."

The words in Yao Saint’s heart were equivalent to possessing the Revitalizing Tao Fruit, his injuries quickly healing.

But no matter how fast he healed, he couldn’t outpace the speed of Immortal Fairy’s self-detonation!

"Has the self-detonation stopped?"

During the self-detonation, none dared to probe out with their Immortal Sense from within the Green Blade Sword Small World, for in such a state, any Immortal Sense venturing out would be shattered, seeing nothing.

Now that the Green Peak Sword had stopped trembling, everyone probed out with their Spiritual Sense.

They saw Yao Saint not only blasted to the point his Immortal Body was gone, but even his Three Souls and Seven Spirits and his foundational core severely damaged, like a deflated sack, shriveled and feeble.

"Immortal, good, you’re quite good!"

Yao Saint clenched his teeth, his expression brimming with resentment.

He had utterly lost this battle. Was it because Immortal had been in some strange state before that allowed him to successfully ambush her?

But things were not over yet.

"Immortal, don’t think you’re the only one who can self-detonate!"

Yao Saint’s body also lit up, exactly like Fairy Eternity’s a moment ago, clearly intending to self-detonate!

"Bad, he’s trying to escape!" Lu Yang realized, and quickly shouted.

Since Yao Saint had been able to feign death to escape through Verbal Spell during his Transcendence Tribulation Stage, then as an Immortal, he must be capable of the same feat!

Lu Yang even suspected that Yao Saint could maintain two Verbal Spells at the same time in the same space, one of them being the ongoing feigned death for escape!

Yao Saint laughed heartily, knowing his tactics, what could they do about it? Did they have any countermeasures?

"With such a vast world, where can’t I go? To catch me, the only way is for Yun Zhi to actively pursue Harmonization!"

"Yun Zhi, dare you harmonize?"

Either he would self-detonate and escape, or Yun Zhi would pay the price of Harmonization, become Heaven itself, and track down his whereabouts!

Yun Zhi’s disdainful attitude towards him angered him. Did she really think he was so easily manipulated?

Faced with a dilemma, he wanted to see how she would choose!

Yun Zhi remained indifferent towards Yao Saint, silent and calm; she had discussed how to deal with such situations with Fairy Eternity during battle.

Just then, Fairy Eternity suddenly pulled out a hoe from behind and struck at Yao Saint’s head, leaving only a shallow imprint.

However, Yao Saint showed a terrified expression: "This, this is..."

The hoe was utterly ordinary, without any unique features, resembling one used by farmers.

Coincidentally, Lu Yang had seen this hoe before, and its owner was standing right beside him.

Lu Yang turned his head towards Jiang Pingan: "Is that the hoe you often use?"

The farmer-like Jiang Pingan chuckled: "This is not a hoe; this is the Taishang Sword."

"The Taishang Sword!?"

Lu Yang suddenly remembered, at the Qingzhou celebration, when Great Yu’s Pass Tribulation Cultivator attacked, the Qingzhou Governor used the Illusory Shadow of the Taishang Sword, which directly rendered the rules of Great Yu’s Pass Tribulation Cultivator ineffective.

If the Illusory Shadow of the Taishang Sword held such power, could it be that...

"The true ability of the Taishang Sword is to render the Dao Fruit ineffective!?"

Jiang Pingan humbly smiled: "It’s not quite that exaggerated. It depends on the strength of the opponent—the stronger the opponent, the shorter the duration of ineffectiveness. This Yao Saint is so powerful, I estimate it can only render him ineffective for five seconds."

Lu Yang glanced sideways, knowing that in Immortal combat, a moment’s difference in timing could determine victory or defeat.

To render the Dao Fruit ineffective for five seconds was indeed terrifying.

Jiang Pingan indeed was not skilled in combat, even with the Taishang Sword in hand, which was why he preferred to lend the Taishang Sword to those skilled in Immortal combat.

"But why does the Taishang Sword take the form of a hoe?" Lu Yang asked. If not for the hoe being effective, he would never have associated it with the Taishang Sword.

The other Immortals also wanted to know the reason.

Jiang Pingan rolled his eyes; it was a simple question: "Everyone knows my Taishang Sword is dangerous, so if I were to reveal it, wouldn’t the enemy be warned?"

"In that case, why not give the Taishang Sword a different form."

"You see the effect is quite good; Yao Saint didn’t even realize it."

The self-detonation process was irreversible, Yao Saint felt unable to use his Verbal Spell Dao Fruit and felt his means of escape fail, leaving him to watch helplessly as his body glowed, and he fell into despair.

Boom—

He turned to dust and smoke.