Chapter 28: Subduing the Lord of the Nine Serenities
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At the point where the five pillars of light converged, purple and cyan energy flowed like liquid, illuminating the entire Soul-Devouring Azure Abyss as though it were a realm of幻境.
Lin Chuan narrowed his eyes, barely managing to adjust to the blinding radiance.
A hundred yards ahead of him, Little Fatty and the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds faced each other in midair. Two terrifying auras collided in the void, stirring visible ripples through the air.
“Just a mere Saint Martial cultivator, and you dare act insolently before me!”
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds’ purple hair whipped about wildly, while his sinister features twisted with fury.
He formed a series of hand seals. The enormous platform beneath his feet lit up with dense, intricate runes. Those formations, buried beneath the earth for tens of thousands of years, writhed and crept like giant serpents awakening from slumber.
The entire Soul-Devouring Azure Abyss trembled in response. Countless cracks split open across the ground, and pitch-black yin energy erupted like fountains.
Though Little Fatty’s soul power shielded Lin Chuan from harm, he still instinctively retreated several steps to avoid the black mist that radiated an aura of decay.
“Old lecher, tens of thousands of years have passed, and this is still the only trick you know?”
Little Fatty folded his arms across his chest. Not only was he unafraid, he wore a face full of mockery.
“Hiding behind a formation and surviving by devouring other people’s souls—what a pathetic way to grow weaker with age!”
Purple light surged in the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds’ eyes.
“Insignificant insect! When I ruled the heavens, your ancestor had not even been born!”
“Is that so?”
Little Fatty grinned and suddenly turned toward Lin Chuan.
“Chuan, watch closely. Today, I’ll teach you what it means to provoke an enemy into revealing his strength!”
The moment he finished speaking, Little Fatty’s figure vanished. In the next instant, he appeared before the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds and threw a punch.
His fist, wrapped in blue lightning, tore through the air with a deafening sonic boom.
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds hurriedly raised an arm to block. Purple light collided with blue lightning, erupting in a dazzling flash.
A ring-shaped shockwave spread outward, shattering every rock within dozens of miles.
Even with Little Fatty’s soul power protecting him, Lin Chuan was swept off his feet by the gale.
“Is that all you can do?”
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds blocked the attack and sneered repeatedly.
“I thought you were—”
Before he could finish, Little Fatty’s second punch arrived, faster and more vicious than the first.
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds grunted. His figure was forced several miles backward, and a wisp of purple mist spilled from the corner of his mouth—the tremor of his soul origin.
“Stop holding back, old lecher.”
Little Fatty shook his wrist, his tone careless and mocking.
“Bring out the ultimate technique you’ve been saving for last. Let this grand master enjoy himself!”
Lin Chuan stared in stunned disbelief.
Little Fatty clearly held the upper hand, yet he deliberately taunted his opponent with every word. He was obviously trying to provoke him.
As expected, the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds was driven into a frenzy. He threw back his head and roared, then violently pulled both hands apart.
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“Nine Nether Soul Refinement—arise!”
The entire Soul-Devouring Azure Abyss shook violently. All the formations buried beneath the earth lit up, resembling countless purple veins emerging from underground.
More astonishing still, the heavy clouds of yin energy that had blanketed the sky above the Soul-Devouring Azure Abyss for tens of thousands of years began to spin and contract, forming an enormous vortex.
Lin Chuan raised his head and looked toward the heavens. The vortex turned faster and faster, while its area steadily shrank.
The originally murky sky gradually emerged from behind it. After tens of thousands of years, sunlight once again poured across this dead and silent land.
“Chuan, watch carefully!”
Little Fatty’s voice rang out in Lin Chuan’s mind.
“This is the true might of the Nine Nether Soul Refinement Formation!”
In the span of a few breaths, the clouds of yin energy covering the entire Soul-Devouring Azure Abyss, along with countless vicious souls, were compressed into a purple sphere less than three feet in diameter. It hovered above the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds’ palm.
Liquid seemed to flow within the sphere, radiating energy fluctuations that made the heart tremble.
“Insect, you will pay the price for your arrogance!”
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds gave a savage grin and raised the purple sphere to his lips.
“Once I restore my complete soul, I will make you beg for life and pray for death!”
Little Fatty burst into laughter.
“So you’re finally willing to show your true strength? Old lecher, do you think I don’t know that your soul power from all those years ago is mixed into the yin energy of this Soul-Devouring Azure Abyss? Once you swallow this sphere, you’ll be able to forcibly restore your soul and break through to the Saint Martial Realm, won’t you?”
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds’ expression changed dramatically. The hand holding the sphere froze in midair.
“You… how could you know…”
“Not only do I know that…”
Little Fatty’s smile suddenly turned dangerous.
“I also know that your Nine Nether Soul Refinement Formation has a fatal flaw.”
Before his voice had faded, Little Fatty’s figure abruptly vanished from where he stood.
This was not the kind of disappearance caused by rapid movement. It was as though someone had erased him from the scene with a stroke of an invisible brush—without warning, without a trace, without leaving behind even the slightest trajectory.
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds’ pupils contracted sharply. Deep within his incomplete soul origin, an inexplicable terror suddenly surged forth.
It was the sensation of a mouse encountering a cat, of an antelope stumbling upon a cheetah—the instinctive trembling of life itself.
“Above you!”
Lin Chuan could not help shouting.
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds jerked his head upward. High in the sky, a point of blue light suddenly appeared. It rapidly expanded, transforming into a dark-blue bolt of lightning more than a hundred yards in diameter.
The lightning did not appear to have formed naturally. Its entire body was crystalline and translucent, with countless runes flowing within it, radiating an aura capable of destroying heaven and earth.
“Heavenly Punishment… Divine Thunder?!”
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds’ voice warped with terror.
“Impossible! How could anyone in this tiny world possibly…”
The lightning descended far faster than sound. Before the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds could even conceive of evading it, it struck him head-on.
“BOOM—!!!”
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The deafening explosion resounded throughout the Azure Nether Secret Realm. Even martial artists thousands of miles away were shaken so badly that they could barely remain standing.
At the point of impact, the blinding blue light was impossible to look at directly. The shockwave tore up the earth within a thousand-yard radius, sending countless fragments of stone flying in every direction like cannon shells.
When Lin Chuan could finally open his eyes, the sight before him made him draw a sharp breath.
The place where the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds had stood had become an enormous crater more than ten miles in diameter. Its bottom was smooth as a mirror and displayed unmistakable signs of crystallization.
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds himself lay at the center of the crater. His soul body had become nearly transparent, and his aura was feeble to the extreme. He had fallen directly from the late Imperial Martial Realm to the early Supreme Martial Realm.
Even more astonishingly, Little Fatty had somehow returned to Lin Chuan’s side. He was idly tossing and catching the purple sphere formed from all the yin energy and vicious souls of the Soul-Devouring Azure Abyss.
“Fatty, you…”
Lin Chuan stared at him in utter astonishment.
“That just now was…”
“Nothing but a little trick.”
Little Fatty blinked and casually tossed the purple sphere to Lin Chuan.
“Here. Take it. It’s good stuff.”
Lin Chuan hurriedly caught the sphere. At once, he felt a chill stream of energy flow up his arm and into his body, instantly invigorating his spirit.
The sphere appeared weightless, yet in truth it was as heavy as a thousand mountains. Had Little Fatty not placed a restriction upon it, Lin Chuan probably would not even have been able to lift it.
Little Fatty turned toward the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds in the crater and began walking over.
With every step he took, the blue radiance surrounding him grew stronger. By the time he reached the edge of the crater, he had become like a blue sun, so dazzling that no one could keep their eyes open.
“Old lecher.”
Little Fatty’s voice suddenly deepened, becoming solemn and majestic.
“Have you remembered who I am?”
The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds struggled to raise his head. Confusion first appeared in his violet eyes, followed by shock, and finally an indescribable terror.
“You… you are…”
His voice trembled uncontrollably.
“Impossible! That lord had already… And how could you possibly be in this tiny world…”
Little Fatty did not answer. He merely raised his right hand, and a complex golden rune appeared in the center of his palm.
The moment the rune emerged, the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds reacted as though struck by lightning. His soul body convulsed violently, nearly disintegrating on the spot.
“Mercy… please, mercy!”
The ruler who had once governed tens of millions of planets was now crawling on the ground like a stray dog.
“This humble one did not know that the lord had arrived. I deserve ten thousand deaths! I beg the lord to consider…”
Little Fatty let out a cold snort. The golden rune suddenly expanded, enveloping the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds.
Violet and golden light intertwined. The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds’ soul body visibly shrank until it finally transformed into a purple bead, which fell into Little Fatty’s palm.
“Done.”
Little Fatty turned and walked back toward Lin Chuan. The oppressive force radiating from him receded like a retreating tide, and he once again returned to his carefree, irreverent self.
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