Destiny is ashes

Chapter 1053 Defeating All the Divine Treasures of the Past and Present (15,000 words, long chapter)
All martial artists, all ancestral divine beasts, and even all life within the Zhaolin Realm, felt a single will.

They instinctively gripped their weapons, lowered their heads and roared, raised their fangs or claws, and their hearts pounded violently.

Because in that instant, everyone felt it.

There were sharp blades, incredibly sharp, capable of slicing through flesh and bone, approaching their necks and eyes; there were sword tips, incredibly sharp, capable of piercing through armor and shields, nearing their foreheads and hearts.

That was the signal for battle.

Even if it wasn't directed at them, the lingering effects were enough to put everyone present on alert, even to the point of... trembling.

The last vestiges of the dying general's will trembled at that moment.

He—or rather, he who was absorbed by the will of the Blood Sea—still retains a part of himself at this moment.

Having received the blessing of the Blood Sea Celestial, the Primordial Dragon, possessing unparalleled power, can in a sense be regarded as the strongest incarnation designed by the Blood Sea Celestial by combining the essence of all spirits. Once it leaves the Scale Realm, it will rapidly grow and replace its current human form to become the true form of the Blood Sea Celestial.

The deceased general controlled this body; he was the most important part of it.

The true spirit of the Heavenly Dragon contains the divine power of the universe and the blood of immortality.

Even if absorbed and assimilated by the Blood Sea, the Heavenly Dragon Spirit still possesses the concept of 'I' and will become the most important link in the Blood Sea Heavenly Venerable, the core of the perfect creature.

Then he could wash away the shame... wash away the shame of defeat.

Before today, the general had only failed once.

The struggle among the young generation, the strongest Heavenly Dragon, in the Four Seasons War of the Ancestral Dragon Palace, which determined who would be the future 'Master of Time', saw the defeated general lose to Jin Qixu.

Can not accept.

Born as the strongest, possessing the divine power of 'decay' from the heavens, and never having been imperfect in any way, whether in development or learning, in battle or slaughter, he always ended up winning against any challenge. Even when facing the Heavenly Demon, he gave a perfect record. The Heavenly Dragon, who was perfect in every way, was defeated by another Heavenly Dragon who was always thinking and always mingling with people.

Despite the impending great calamity, the decline of "Jin Shi" and the approach of "Death", he still lost to Jin Qixu.

"Maybe it's because you didn't do what you were supposed to do."

When asked by the defeated man with a sense of resentment, Jin Qixu gave this ambiguous answer, saying that he wasn't lying, but genuinely felt that way.

--What does it mean?
The general was stunned. What did it mean that 'he didn't do what he was supposed to do'?
At first he couldn't understand it, but later he gradually developed his own opinion.

Perhaps... the reason I failed was because I didn't do things perfectly.

From this perspective, I am indeed not a perfect being... or rather, dragons are imperfect.

Its strange, elongated shape makes it easy for people to exploit its weaknesses. Its weak claws are not very useful for either creation or attack. Its two horns are quite useful for using supernatural powers, but if you have to say, this thing needs to be longer if it is useful, and if you want to concentrate its power, it needs to be a single horn.

This body shape is fine in water, but if it wants to fly, its long, thin body can easily roll up. Its scales are also too fine. It can block low-level supernatural powers and spells without any problem, but if it wants to become stronger, it will turn itself into a lump of iron.

Dragons... they're so weak.

Having experienced the profound consequences, Wang Jiangzhi was astonished to find that his defeat was entirely justified. He hadn't even realized his own weakness and had taken it for granted that the dragon was the strongest. With such an arrogant attitude, he deserved to fail!
But on the other hand, if dragons are really that weak, then why can they become the king of all spirits?

and so……

There must be a dragon that is perfect, powerful, and without any weaknesses.

The Primordial Perfect Dragon...

Following this path, Wang Jiangzhi sought the perfect dragon in his heart, and under the guidance of the Dragon God, he came into contact with the Blood Sea Demon Cult.

"Yes, all existing life forms, whether human or beast, true spirit or divine tree, are imperfect beings."

At that time, a Blood Sea Palace Master spoke to him eloquently: "Even the mind and wisdom are imperfect - a unique way of thinking will always have limitations, blind spots and weaknesses. Whether it is love, hate, likes, dislikes, or other emotions and desires, they are all part of the depravity and defects that will be preyed upon by the Heavenly Demons."

"What we want to create is a perfect spirit that is not restrained by any existence, that always has the ability to restrain other living beings, that has a perfect body and a flawless mind, and is the ultimate true spirit."

In pursuit of this perfection, even a dying general would do anything.

Whether it was betraying his own kind, betraying his friends, or walking the path of demons and merging with his own heart, he did it all without hesitation.

To become the ultimate, perfect being, even if it's just a part of 'He', the dead are willing to do anything.

He did succeed, he did become—the Primal Dragon, that's how powerful he was!

By filtering the light of the universe and the existence of all possibilities in infinite parallel time and space, he possesses the ability to deal with every kind of attack and the ability to deal with any kind of attack. In addition, with the wisdom of the endless blood sea creatures in the blood sea network, he has the power to face all situations on his own!

Even when facing Yue Qingge, Lian Baizheng, Yong Zhizhen, and many other geniuses, He remained fearless.

Even though Jin Yanhua has ascended to heaven after nine tribulations and gained power that is probably no less than that of Jin Qixu, Wang Jiangzhi is still confident that he can crush and defeat Jin Yanhua and the other geniuses who joined forces!

He is already perfect! Without a doubt!
But now, that confidence has been completely shattered by the figure in the sky, by those figures that are rapidly emerging in the sky, like a starry sea in the night sky, like the Milky Way.

Peace.

A perfect existence.

No, it can't be called perfect...

Rather, it is "perfect".

The human body has various blind spots and inconsistencies. Whether it is joints or muscles, internal organs or tendons, it is full of gaps, defects and shortcomings.

But for some reason... Anjing's existence itself is perfectly complete.

The general wanted to find An Jing's weakness, but neither he nor the Blood Sea Network could come up with a solution.

He was simply standing there calmly with his sword, his stance instinctively perfect, but from a superhuman perspective, the attacks he could withstand were by no means flawless, and he was by no means without weaknesses.

But... I just can't find it.

Even if he activated his divine power of cosmic light to search for all possibilities in infinite parallel universes, Wang Jiangzhi still couldn't find the 'special attack against Anjing'.

The 'back' that appears vulnerable to a sneak attack has always been firmly locked onto by divine sense. Attacking the back would be tantamount to revealing one's intentions; this weakness is merely a trap.

It seems to be more adept at 'metal', but if it tries to use other elements to generate or restrain each other, it will only be cut off and devoured by the other party. As long as the Seven Luminaries of Destiny exist, it is impossible to defeat it with natural generation and restraint.

His cosmic divine abilities are extremely powerful. His divine soul essence is unshakeable. His physical strength far surpasses the limits. The only thing that seems to be a weakness, namely the total amount of human spiritual energy, doesn't appear to have reached its limit yet.

does not exist.

There is no such thing as a 'peace nemesis'.

There is no such thing as a way to 'perfectly counter Anjing's attacks'.

Unless you crush them with pure numbers and pure power—regardless of the technique, you can overwhelm them with attacks that are ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times, or ten thousand times stronger, using an utterly unreasonable overwhelming force.

But does such a trend exist?
At least, the Blood Sea Network cannot be found in the Zhaolin Realm.

Yes. The general suddenly understood—An Jing might not be without any 'weaknesses,' nor had he eliminated all his flaws; rather, he had transformed his weaknesses into his unique characteristics. He was self-consistent, harmonious, and flawless, like a four-faced god, from whichever direction one looked, only his most powerful aspect could be seen.

But the same...

The 'beings' that An Jing faced, although they were merely divine treasures, each one was filled with divine light and overflowing with Daoist charm for some reason. They were not divine treasures at all; in fact, they were simply human figures with the mark of divine treasures, and almost none of them had any flaws.

That is another kind of flawless existence—each of them has reached the pinnacle of their corresponding path, and any attack targeting their weaknesses will only provoke a blow to their longest end.

Yes. There is such a theory.

The amount of water a barrel can hold depends on the lowest stave.

However... if the barrel starts spinning, the longest piece of wood will envelop the water before it flows out, thus surpassing the water's reaction speed and encompassing all the water within its own domain... If this is the case, then the amount a barrel can hold depends on its tallest piece of wood.

It sounds incredible, but it's true.

And right now.

The ancient celestial beings, whose marks were beyond the comprehension of the fallen general, and the peace, which was beyond the imagination of the fallen general, were about to go to war.

[A junior, a 'newcomer' unlike anything we've ever seen before, throughout history]

Excuse me.

Even those arrogant beings, summoned by the Ancestral Dragon Scale and drawn from the past, possess their own will.

They would never normally accept an order to 'besiege' someone; no one is worthy of their cooperation at this moment.

As it should be.

But the person in front of me is different.

This feeling is like that being, like the being that once forced countless immortals, gods, powerful celestial beings, and even Dao Venerables to join forces to deal with it...

[Supreme Heavenly Demon, Hundred Demon Lords]...

If faced with the supreme demon, even the proudest celestial beings would naturally join forces, because in the face of it, 'disunity' is also a form of depravity.

But this time, it was people who gave them this feeling.

—There is actually someone who can, on their own, exert the same oppressive aura as the Supreme Heavenly Demon and the Hundred Demon Lords?

—Funny, interesting, how incredible!

Let's fight!

So they laughed, filled with joy and anticipation, and launched their strongest attack.

By deducing the Great Evolution and pushing the Dao of Wuji to its pinnacle, the seventeenth generation Xing Shi Dragon God's breath, piercing through time and space, caused the Great Void to collapse, and countless temporal turbulence burst forth, launching attacks from the past and future simultaneously! It was not merely the 'present', but a torrent surging from both the past and the future, aiming to completely shatter and erase his 'chain of cause and effect,' and thus deny his 'prosperity and power.'

By condensing the stars of the heavens and suppressing the destiny of the Ziwei Emperor, Qianhui Tianzun, who had single-handedly suppressed the destinies of all the gods in the entire era and ascended to the supreme position, grasped the Dharma seal. Instantly, the endless galaxies opened their eyes and stared at their target. That vast starlight was no longer light, but heavenly rules and laws, invisible iron laws and principles, which were meant to completely exclude Anjing's existence from the stars of heaven and earth!

By sacrificing himself to perfect the Dao, he evolved the essence of the Five Great Celestial Realms, re-proving the Ten Proofs of the Celestial Venerable through martial arts. He became another perfecter of the Dao of Lingxiao. The Celestial Venerable Changdi did not launch an attack, but merely his gaze was enough to pierce the principles of the Dao and penetrate its mysteries, transforming perfection into imperfection. He was trying to forcibly create a flaw in his flawless, Dao-realized physical body!
The strongest in every era was also the strongest in the past. An Jing could comprehend immortality, comprehend the universe and time and space, and master the essential characteristics of ascending to sainthood, pure yang, and even soaring to the sky at the Divine Treasure Realm. They can do the same!
Before them, there was no difference between the divine treasure and the manifested saint... Yes, the manifested saint is a true sovereign who can command heaven and earth by relying on the true will of heaven and earth and borrowing the power of heaven and earth, but how can such a superficial command compare to the true divine treasure's profound essence of driving its own way with its own will?

If they were to become True Lords, they would be true emperors who rule over the entire world, not just rulers of small, isolated countries or local tyrants.

In an instant, the heavens and earth shook.

It was as if the entire sky had collapsed, and countless spiritual lights, supernatural powers, divine weapons, and auras transformed into collapsing meteorites and rain, like the wrath of the heavens and the will of fate, falling and crashing down upon Anjing.

No one can stop it.

Unless someone has the power to prevent the collapse of the heavens.

Unless someone's will can defy the will of Heaven and the destiny of fate.

Anjing is acceptable.

[Absurd... How could anyone dare to do this? It must be fake, arrogant, and nonsensical...]

Watching this scene unfold, Wang Jiangzhi muttered to himself, "How could this be? This is impossible. No one could possibly do this. How dare he, how dare he..."

He dared not, dared not face such an offensive.

But whether he wants to admit it or not.

Right under his gaze.

The sword was drawn.

An Jing revealed an unprecedented, excited, happy smile, a smile that was both joyful and serious. The Killing Sword in his hand began to change rapidly, its blade turning from pitch black to crimson, from divine retribution to divine punishment, from killing to calamity, until it finally transformed into an ordinary longsword with a slightly transparent blade that gleamed with a silvery-white light.

It was not the Heavenly Punishment Sword that was forged from the many insights gained by the Heavenly Dao—it was indeed very powerful, and the Four Punishments Heavenly Sword was indeed the strongest sword given by the Heavenly Dao, but strength does not mean perfection, nor does it mean that An Jing could use it skillfully.

The ancient Daoist master once used the "Slaying, Slaughtering, Trapping, and Annihilating" Four Swords Formation as his ultimate move, but the long sword he carried with him was still Qingping. This is the difference between the killing sword and the Dao sword.

And the sword that embodies the Dao in An Jing's heart...

[The Evil Within]

[Heavenly Punishment Subdues Evil]

It is not a true 'evil-subduing', but rather the 'evil-subduing' that every sword wielder can possess, that every sword wielder has in their heart, the most perfect 'evil-subduing' in their own imagination.

Driven by the power of tranquility, the silver-white Dao sword slashed forward, its blade tearing through the void and compressing the seven luminaries and five elements. Amidst the silent roar of all spiritual energy, the Heavenly Punishment Subduing Evil Sword slashed towards the sky and towards all the divine powers that came toward it.

At that moment, not only Wang Jiangzhi, not only Jin Yanhua, not only the many geniuses present, but also Xiao Zhulong and the mysterious figure—all the living beings present saw and felt that something beyond their comprehension was colliding and transmitting within the inner world of heaven and earth.

Waves rippled across the void, and pure destructive power and distortion spread continuously under the illumination of the Ancestral Dragon Scale.

In that instant, fire can be ignited by water, metal can be eroded by wood, earth can be forged by thunder, and the sun can shine because of the moon.

As the aftershocks swept in, even the Primordial Dragon, a True Lord, lost all its divine power in an instant—the heavens and earth it could devour, and the blood and energy of all living beings it could absorb, were merely under the cover of 'normal spacetime and normal laws of the Great Dao in the Realm of Radiant Scales,' just as the world as humans perceive it is 'stable and flat spacetime.'

But now, the calm has been shattered, stability is gone. In the battle between the imprints of the Celestial Venerables and the peace, all common sense and normal principles are useless. All they can use, and all they need to use, is 'their own Way'.
At this moment.

The will of the dying general was crushed.

His proud, 'perfect' body, capable of handling infinite possibilities, became like a naive child who had no idea how to cope in the face of this 'chaos'. His thoughts screamed, his instincts trembled, and the self-proclaimed perfect dragon could no longer organize any effective form.

He instinctively retreated, wriggling and backing away.

Faced with such power.

The general could no longer muster the courage to oppose and fight against Anjing.

It was unimaginable and unthinkable to expect failure from An Jing.

Because he didn't even dare to fight.

And right now.

"Come and fight, you traitor!"

With a scorching will, as if even steel were burning, and in a situation where even the laws could not function properly, Jin Yanhua's voice rang out, drawing ever closer from afar.

"Let the battle begin again!"

The mechanical dragon's burning will, the fighting spirit that wouldn't be extinguished even in the face of such a terrifying battle in the sky, scorched the defeated who had lost their will to fight.

Feelings of inferiority, confusion, disgust, and anger mingled together, causing the dying general to let out a fierce howl.

With overwhelming negativity and a near-desperate attitude, the Primal Dragon once again clashed with the Mechanical Dragon.

In the sky, the even more terrifying battle reached a fever pitch.

The light filled the surrounding universe, and the powerful aftershocks caused spacetime to ripple in layers like water. The ignited wind, dust, and all the debris and fragments of matter transformed into swirling thunder and flames, surging out in all directions.

The numerous Celestial Venerable Marks did not attack all at once. With their power, they naturally knew that when facing a powerful being with three or even four Immortal Realms—a force unprecedented in history—capable of slaying a Celestial Venerable Mark with a single blow, simply piling up numbers was meaningless. The clash of their supernatural powers would only create openings for An Jing, and might even allow An Jing to break through them one by one and turn the tables on them.

They will give the highest respect based on the essence of martial arts.

Formation.

A grand formation was unfolding in an orderly fashion, like a flower that naturally blooms upon sensing light and heat, or a carnivorous plant that quickly closes up upon touching its prey.

In an instant, the imprints, in unspoken understanding, knew where they should be, how they should cooperate with others, and how to weave their own power and Daoist principles into an impeccable net.

hum hum hum!
Accompanied by the resonance of legal principles, countless well-matched, orderly, and even seamless supernatural powers then continuously attacked Anjing from all directions, from the past and future, from reality and illusion! Attacked! Attacked!

This is by no means an ordinary supernatural power.

Martial artists, or rather, all cultivators including martial artists, have a secondary understanding of the laws of heaven and earth.

First and foremost is the fundamental way of heaven and earth, which cannot be defied; to do wrong will be punished.

For example, in arithmetic, the existence of one standard plus the existence of another standard equals the existence of two standards.

For example, if something happens, there must be a reason, and it all goes back to its source.

For example, if the force is too great and exceeds the limits that matter can withstand, the matter will deform, shatter, or be compressed and transformed into another kind of matter.

It was something self-evident and utterly irreversible.

Anyone who dares to challenge this will receive the most direct feedback from Heaven and Earth—the punishment of the Great Dao.

It's like trying to catch a meteorite with the body and strength of an ordinary person; the result will definitely not be success, but rather being crushed to pieces.

The secondary principle is based on the fundamental principles and is shaped by the secondary principles: all things are formed by the connection of lightning, light, electricity, and magnetism, which is the 'true path'. Cultivators use 'spiritual energy' as a tool to modify a part of it, so that the lightning, light, electricity, and magnetism in the matter no longer take effect. Based on this, the matter that has lost its electricity and magnetism will disintegrate into nothingness and turn into basic particles because the 'true path' takes effect.

All supernatural powers and techniques exist based on 'secondary laws', and even Lingxiao is no exception. If one can modify the 'true path', one becomes the so-called Supreme Being of the Dao, the One of Returning to Emptiness, above Lingxiao.

However, a sufficiently powerful secondary legal principle is also sufficient to simulate the 'true way' under certain circumstances.

Every mark that launches an attack on Anjing is a Celestial Venerable. As the past incarnations of the Celestial Venerables, they not only possess the power of the Divine Treasury Realm, but also have the most fundamental grasp and application of the laws of heaven and earth. Each of them is extremely powerful, and when they unite, they can almost destroy all common sense.

Therefore, the supernatural powers that An Jing had to face were all bizarre and inexplicable.

Some supernatural powers and lights are unaffected by any refraction or deviation. Even when facing the most perfect mirror that can reflect all light, they can still pass through without being refracted in the slightest.

Some divine hammers are enhanced by gravitational and magnetic forces thousands of times greater than normal, and their mass continues to increase dramatically with each swing. With a single blow, the void itself is crushed by their mass, as if divine mountains are falling from the sky.

Some spells and talismans, once released, will generate another completely different one, and this one will generate yet another different one. In a short time, the five elements will rotate, and the cycle of generation and restraint will be exhausted, leaving no flaws whatsoever.

Faced with such an attack, the so-called strategy of the primordial dragon to filter out all corresponding strategies in infinite parallel universes is simply child's play. Even the optimal choice cannot resist an attack that doesn't consider superiority or inferiority.

It is only natural to injure flesh and blood with a stone, but to shatter a stone with flesh and blood is true martial arts!
This is the mechanism of martial arts, the true essence of martial arts.

To use the Five Elements to restrain oneself and to use the natural laws of heaven and earth to unleash supernatural powers is only the way of the most ordinary cultivators. Even the immortal path does not play this way, because the immortal path will directly draw on the power of all things in heaven and earth, and quantitative change will lead to qualitative change, telling the enemy that in the most extreme case, even the laws of heaven and earth will be changed.

However, all these supernatural powers have one characteristic.

That is, the goal is always to maintain peace and stability.

And that is the flaw.

Anjing's sword light slashed out, but it wasn't aimed at any other Heavenly Venerable's mark, nor at any other supernatural power; it was aimed at 'himself'.

His sword light confused the void and time and space. For a moment, An Jing became an existence that was neither in the Zhaolin Realm nor in the void. He was in his own cave.

Since there was no target, many supernatural abilities could no longer lock onto it, and An Jing easily dodged these supernatural abilities. Even though these supernatural abilities were as dense as rain, there were gaps in the rain that he could take advantage of.

However, there are also some supernatural abilities that allow one to lock onto a location even if An Jing has severed his own 'location', through various peculiar means.

Its number is seven.

These seven divine abilities were Xing Bisheng of the Ancestral Dragon Palace, Qianhui Tianzun of Zhaixing Mountain, Changdi Tianzun of the Heavenly Mother Palace, Xuantian Shengzu of the Great Chen Dynasty, Yiqing Jianzun of the Yishi Sword Court, Lingxu Tianzun of the Miluo Heaven, and Shengkui Tianzun of the Jingming Sect. Faced with these seven divine abilities that had anticipated An Jing's moves and were directly targeting his physical body, An Jing did not defend but instead countered with offense!

He also unleashed seven sword strikes!
Xingbisheng exhales with such power that it is like a bolt of lightning. Thunder is a symbol of time and space; it is the beginning, the process, and the end. People generally believe that thunder falls from the sky, but thunder actually originates from the earth. Although it begins in the sky, it originates from the earth; it is an eruption from the earth to the sky. Thunder itself spans heaven and earth, and is a process.

In the past, present, and future, thunder represents 'prosperity'. Therefore, it breathes out lightning to bombard Anjing. Even if Anjing distorts the coordinates of the 'present', it can still lock onto the past and future.

When faced with An Jing's sword strike, he remained equally composed and unhurried.

The lightning flashed and disappeared in an instant, and His form vanished, because the 'now' does not actually exist, but is a process that connects the 'past and future,' just like the dividing point of Yin and Yang in the Tai Chi diagram. It does not truly exist, but exists because of Yin and Yang, because of the distinction between the past and the future.

Just as Rei was an explosion of power that connected heaven and earth, just as the 'burning' of a flame is not an isolated existence, but the process of something being ignited.

This divine power is called the "Time-Flowing Undying Body". As long as it does not exist in the present, it cannot be killed by any attack in the present. It is a wondrous divine power that can exert wonders comparable to a celestial realm even though it does not exist in the present.

Anjing's sword energy slashed down, but it seemed to cut into the void. Unable to find its target, it was weakened by the layers of trembling spacetime, becoming feeble, as if it were stuck in a quagmire.

It dissipated.

But in that instant, Xing Bisheng's dragon body suddenly fell from the past and future, and re-condensed back into the present. He coughed up a mouthful of purple dragon blood, and a huge wound appeared on his chest and abdomen. He looked in astonishment in An Jing's direction.

Because right there, An Jing took the hit of his 'Time Flow Breath' head-on, and in that instant, he was pushed into the 'future'—under the entanglement of cause and effect, An Jing actually used Xing Bisheng's attack to go from the 'present when Xing Bisheng did not exist' to the 'future when Xing Bisheng existed and launched the attack'!
The sword energy bloomed from nothingness. Xing Bisheng was severely injured in the future, but now, the future has become the present. He immediately fell unconscious on the ground and then disappeared.

At the same time, An Jing's body swayed slightly. His chest and abdomen were pierced and burned by the lightning of time. Although the injury was recovering rapidly, the recovery process would sometimes rebound, sometimes stop, or sometimes rebound in some areas and stop in others, which would then tear open a larger wound.

Just before Anjing and Xingbisheng suffered mutual losses.

Faced with Anjing's sword energy, Qianhui Tianzun's mark raised his palm.

The fundamental mystery of Zhaixing Mountain is "Yu Kong" (space and space), and its Heavenly Dao is "Nian Qi Jie Sheng" (thought arises and the world is born). The method of the Cave Heaven Space is extremely simple and convenient. Layer upon layer of mental images and time and space are piled up to form the Cave Heaven Mountain. The beings of Xiyouyuanzhou live and multiply within it. This method is widely spread, and the Taiyuan Demon God of Beixuanjizhou is also its successor.

Faced with An Jingchun's pure sword strike, Qianhui Tianzun remained calm and composed. A star appeared in his palm, but it was not a star; rather, it was his acupoint, his mental spacetime.

Within the human body, in the internal organs, brain, and deep within the bone marrow, there are countless acupoints, as numerous as the stars. The 1,296 acupoints in the body are like 1,296 small grotto-heavens. If one cultivates them to their peak, one's entire body can resemble the stars in the celestial sphere. Furthermore, each acupoint can reside in the mind and spirit, transforming into a deity who governs the laws of heaven. Thus, there are 1,296 celestial deities who, once activated, are like the Milky Way and the stars pressing down simultaneously, absolutely unstoppable.

Although Qianhui Tianzun, now at the Divine Treasure Realm, cannot unleash his full potential, he still had 108 acupoints that he could activate back then. Now, all 108 acupoints are activated simultaneously, dividing and devouring Anjing's sword energy. In an instant, Anjing's sword energy was shattered.

Just like the stars in the sky, they also have their own gravity, pulling and stretching each other, affecting everything on earth. This force is subtle and profound, even penetrating time and space. No matter how powerful and exquisite the sword energy is, it cannot resist its power.

With a casual grasp, Qianhui Tianzun completely shattered Anjing's sword energy, held it in his hand, and suppressed it within the acupoints of his body.

He smiled and raised his head, preparing to shift the stars and change constellations, using the sword energy of tranquility to return to tranquility itself, but suddenly his expression changed.

Because the tranquil sword energy in his palm and acupoints suddenly annihilated and exploded, transforming into thousands upon thousands of 'heavenly punishment sword energies' that erupted from within.

From the very beginning, Anjing's sword energy was not intended to directly hit Qianhui Tianzun. It did not even have the power to kill, but was a seal. Anjing's sword energy suppressed the sword intent of the Heavenly Punishment Sword. When the sword energy was broken up, the Heavenly Sword intent contained within it would erupt!
In an instant, Qianhui Tianzun also felt dizzy, his body felt light, and he fell into a coma, after which the mark disappeared.

It was precisely because of his disappearance that An Jing, who had been suppressed by the radiance of the stars in the heavens, felt a sense of relief.

At the same time, the Celestial Venerable Lingxu of the Mi Luo Heaven is deducing all the possibilities for An Jing and guiding his supernatural powers to push An Jing to the worst possible outcome.

He was already foreseeing that Anjing would be severely injured by the combined forces of the Heavenly Venerables, beaten to the point of being burned to a crisp, his bones scattered, and on the verge of death. But He did not stop. Instead, He continued to deduce, intending to find the moment when Anjing was truly defeated.

For a martial artist, it's nothing more than charred flesh and broken bones. Taking a deep breath can restore their will and rebuild their battle body, but that's definitely not a guarantee.

So when An Jing attacked with a sword aura that was about to pierce his head, he impatiently flicked his brush and flicked out a few ink marks.

The ink smeared on the sword energy actually sealed it in place.

No, it's not that it's motionless, but rather that the Celestial Venerable Lingxu has been constantly moving!
This ink mark is not any attack or supernatural power, but an automatically operating law—it calculates the distance between the enemy's attack and Lingxu Tianzun himself, and automatically pushes Lingxu Tianzun so that the distance between the two sides is always kept at a certain degree, so that no attack can ever truly touch Lingxu Tianzun, until the law supporting the attack disappears and the attacker loses his fighting ability.

Lingxu Tianzun was born with a talent for calculation. He could calculate large numbers that ordinary people could hardly understand at a glance. Among thousands or tens of thousands of completely random and different combinations of numbers, he could easily find a few meaningful numbers and comprehend some of the fundamental mysteries of calculation.

After entering the Miro Heaven, he easily stepped into the supreme path of divination and fortune-telling, gaining near-prophetic abilities. Once he had calculated something, he could turn it into the future.

An Jing's sword energy had no chance of hitting him; he had calculated to the extreme—but at that very moment, he suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

Because he was struck by lightning—struck by Xingbisheng's lightning that connected the past and the future!

Anjing's sword energy was never intended to attack Lingxu Tianzun, nor could it possibly hit him. However, it could force him to the vicinity of the Dragon God's Mark. Xing Bisheng was interfered with by Anjing and did not even know when he released it or when it pierced through the flow of time. It was chaotic, completely disordered, and could not be affected by the lightning waves that fate could not predict.

In that instant, Lingxu Tianzun lost his ability to predict An Jing's movements, and An Jing suddenly sprang up, lunging at him and slashing at his head with his sword!
"This kid is too good at dealing with being surrounded!"

This was Lingxu Tianzun's thought before his mark disappeared. He had already seen the marks of Xingbisheng and Qianhui Tianzun disappear, and he was filled with emotion.

Xing Bisheng was defeated by the backlash of his own causal time-flowing thunder. Qian Hui Tianzun attempted to divide the sword energy but was broken through from the inside by the hidden sword intent. Both of them fell in their most proficient areas. As for himself, he had calculated everything about An Jing, but he had not calculated the current chaotic situation.

"How embarrassing! But also really funny!"

In the instant he vanished, he saw An Jing being attacked by the combined forces of Saint Kui Heavenly Venerable and Sword Venerable Yi Qing. A 'Pure Light Heavenly Fire' and a 'Severing Divine Sword' struck at the same time, turning An Jing's body into something like charcoal. His flesh and blood were dried up, his pale bones were exposed, and his internal organs were burned away, just as he had foreseen.

"At least, I was right about this..."

With a sense of relief, just as the mark of Lingxu Tianzun disappeared, a flash of crimson appeared in An Jing's eyes, which resembled white skeletons. He soared into the sky, enduring the bombardment of numerous divine powers, causing cracks to appear in his bones, and flew towards the illusory figure of the Great Chen Dynasty, Xuan Tianji!

An Jing charged straight to Xuan Tianji, attacking the Great Chen Saint Ancestor who was clad in armor, his face obscured, and who appeared incomparably majestic.

Faced with An Jing's choice, Xuan Tianji was somewhat surprised. He did not know the relationship between An Jing and Bei Xuanji Continent, and the Great Chen Dynasty. He was just a little puzzled as the 'Xuan Tianji of yesteryear'. So he took out his spear and clashed with An Jing's sword and spear.

The immense impact traveled almost as fast as light. The moment the sword-wielding skeleton collided with Xuan Tianji, the surrounding world fell into a state of weightlessness. Countless dust particles, supernatural powers, and spiritual energy spun and floated up. The forces of the two twisted and collided, even driving away the supernatural powers of the other Heavenly Venerables.

Because the power was too terrifying, An Jing's sword-wielding hand bones shattered instantly, while Xuan Tianji's spear-wielding arm armor also emitted streaks of dark lightning, shattering and destroying everything in its path.

His golden eyes lit up with astonishment: "The Ancestral Dragon's Sacred Body, the Dao incarnate! Who are you? Could you be my descendant?!"

"So you did know after all!"

An Jing also sensed a familiar feeling from Xuan Tianji's body... The other party also possessed the 'Immortal Deeds of Destiny', and not only that, he also possessed the 'Immortal Deeds of Spirit'!
The Great Ancestor of the Great Chen Dynasty was once a peerless genius who possessed two immortal skills when he was in the Divine Treasury Realm. If An Jing had not comprehended the Dao of Destiny in the Zhaolin Realm, he would be the same as him!

But An Jing was ultimately stronger than him. As An Jing took a deep breath, his flesh and blood seemed to flow backward from nothingness and be reforged. Of course, this was not a true creation from nothing, but rather the spiritual energy accumulated in the cave was transferred to the port through which he traveled, An Jing's physical body.

Taking advantage of the battle with Xuan Tianji that dispersed other supernatural powers, An Jing recovered his condition and then unleashed his divine power once again!

The two holders of the Dao of Destiny and the ultimate in power exerted their strength on each other, and suddenly hundreds of spacetime rifts burst outward from the void. The excessively powerful force distorted the laws of heaven and earth and shocked the fractures in spacetime, like an extreme mixer, inexplicable power constantly rotating and accelerating within it.

The Zhaolin Realm, far more resilient than the outside world, was shattered like a toy made of building blocks under the struggle between Anjing and Xuantianji.

But in the next instant, the one who was kicked away and crashed awkwardly onto the ancestral mountain was none other than Xuan Tianji's body!
How could two immortals defeat four immortals? An Jing's use of power was so exquisite that it far surpassed the mark of Xuan Tianji. In just a few breaths, he found his weakness and kicked him away!

However, the instant he was knocked away, Xuan Tianji nimbly flipped his body, so that instead of being thrown directly onto the mountain, he landed heavily on the mountain peak.

As lava and rubble flew out with tremendous force, his armor constantly reorganized and deformed, giving rise to arms that resembled dragon claws, which gripped the ancestral mountain tightly, pulling out long trenches.

"What incredible power! Is this the power of the Four Immortals? It's outrageously strong!"

He was gathering his strength, preparing to counterattack. Xuan Tianji revealed a fervent smile. Although he didn't know who An Jing really was, he was, at the very least, a true martial artist from the Divine Treasury, eager to fight a powerful being to the death.

But at that very moment, An Jing's figure flashed, disappearing and reappearing in an instant, as if ignoring the process in between, and he had already crossed a distance of thousands of feet, appearing in front of Xuan Tianji.

Subduing Evil - The Great Void Escape Technique

Before Xuan Tianji could react, a sword light unfolded before his eyes like a scroll painting.

"Why cooperate with the Heavenly Demon!"

An Jing angrily rebuked that the Heavenly Punishment and Evil Subduing Technique in his hand contained no legal principles, so its existence was so ethereal that it was almost non-existent. It was lighter than the wind, finer than the rain, more silent than the dew, and more insignificant than dust, making it impossible for Xuan Tianji's overly intense will to grasp its trajectory.

--How can it be?!
Xuan Tianji thought to himself that although he was not yet the future ruler of the Great Chen Dynasty, but a general under the Imperial Court, the cause and effect of the imprints were intertwined, and his imprints from back then also knew some of the things that would happen in the future.

He knew very well that he had succeeded in his later life, and that the Great Chen Dynasty had replaced the Imperial Court and continued to exist for 30,000 years—in other words, his later plans should have succeeded, or at least were close to succeeding.

Overjoyed, he did not intend to reveal his true strength here, lest his true body's scheme be exposed... But who could have imagined that he would encounter someone who had not even been able to achieve the 'Taoist Body' himself, a feat of the Four Immortals unprecedented in history!?

And these four immortal treasures clearly have some grudge against him, or rather, against the future Great Chen Dynasty.

Such intense hatred should have served as a premonition, allowing him to react to An Jing's killing intent and attack. However, An Jing's sword strike was too natural, too ethereal, and too unpredictable—it didn't seem like hatred, nor did it seem like despair. It was as if... he wasn't affected by the death of his parents in the Great Chen Dynasty, nor by the fact that the Great Chen Dynasty was suffering.

It seems he... also received a reward from the Great Chen Dynasty?

—No? Why? Why was he able to unleash such a decisive sword strike on me under these circumstances, with almost no cause and effect involved?
As cause and effect turned, Xuan Tianji learned about the relationship between Anjing and the Great Chen Dynasty, which is why he was so puzzled. But in any case, he was struck by a sword that struck his chest for no reason whatsoever.

But this sword strike, for the first time ever, failed to pierce Xuan Tianji's armor.

This armor seemed to be a living thing, the bark of an extremely tough divine tree. The moment the sword clashed with the armor, it burst into flames, sparks flashing, as if metal and iron were intertwined, buzzing and exploding.

With a swift sword strike, Xuan Tianji was sent flying by An Jing's blade, but unlike the other Heavenly Venerables, he was not directly driven away by An Jing's Heavenly Punishment and Retribution.

Just as he was being knocked away, Xuan Tianji answered An Jing's question.

“The Heavenly Demon…who wouldn’t use it? Huai Xu won’t let us get close to the Dao, so naturally we have to rely on the Heavenly Demon’s power of ‘reversal of the Dao’ to pry open Huai Xu’s lock.”

Without any concealment, nor needing to conceal anything, Xuan Tianji was not the kind of person to lie. He spoke matter-of-factly, like a tiger or wolf about to devour a cow or sheep: "Not to mention me, everyone here must have done some research. If something is useful, we should use it. If we don't take advantage of the Heavenly Demons while they are suppressed, are we going to wait until the Heavenly Demon army returns and we know nothing about them?"

Because An Jing's sword strike failed to kill Xuan Tianji, Yi Qing Sword Venerable and Sheng Kui Heavenly Venerable joined forces to launch an attack together with Xuan Tianji.

Sword slash, flames scorch, spear thrust.

In addition, the other Celestial Venerable imprints also unleashed their supernatural powers, launching another combined attack on Anjing.

The moment this combined attack struck, even the sun and moon in the Zhaolin Realm came to a standstill. All the spiritual energy in the world was mobilized and concentrated, causing the sun and moon to lose their power and silently float in place.

Surrounded by three top-tier Celestial Venerables and attacked by a combined force of numerous Celestial Venerable imprints, An Jing, who had previously suffered severe injuries, now unleashed a sword strike, exhausting all his energy. In such a situation, let alone a Divine Treasure, even a true peak-level Manifestation Saint True Monarch would be severely injured, on the verge of death, or even dissipate if he were to descend here.

Fortunately, Anjing is no ordinary hidden treasure.

Faced with the overwhelming sea of ​​supernatural powers, which surged forth like a raging torrent, An Jing had no intention of confronting it head-on. He swayed, his hand released the Demon-Subduing Powder, his soul departed and returned to his cave, and his entire body instantly transformed into a sword.

Then, he actively 'welcomed', or rather, 'threw' into the sea of ​​supernatural powers that was coming toward him!
The so-called collision of forces only occurs when there is confrontation, but no one has ever heard of a strong person wielding a sword and completely breaking it, unless the sword is of extremely poor quality or there is a huge gap between it and the strong person, to the point that the sword is no longer a sword but a toy.

However, the sword that An Jing transformed into was not like that. The essence of Tai Bai Hao Ling Divine Restriction was to turn the cultivator into a sword, an unprecedented and incomparably powerful divine sword. Now, this divine sword had no master and no force to resist. It was thrown into the Sea of ​​Divine Power, and the tides in the Sea of ​​Divine Power became the force that propelled the sword to slash.

Simply put, he no longer became an opponent, but rather a vessel, a container, of power. An Jing used himself as a medium to absorb, transmit, and transform the attack power of all enemies, and then, in a more ingenious way, turn it against everyone!

In an instant, An Jing transformed from a powerful martial artist into an incomparably sharp longsword. His body no longer possessed any power of its own. Instead, when attacked by the divine abilities imprinted by other Heavenly Venerables, he followed the power and, in a strange posture resembling a puppet or a toy, naturally threw a punch forward!
This punch is a sword.

A divine sword strike!
boom!
The immense power of countless supernatural abilities, in the instant it destroyed An Jing's body, was also largely transferred out, transforming into incredible heavy punches that struck the astonished Sword Master, the ghost-like Saint Kui Heavenly Venerable, and the Xuan Tianji who gasped in shock.

An Jing's fists clashed with the weapons of the three men in mid-air with lightning speed, unleashing a total of nine punches in an instant.

In the first wave of three punches, An Jing's body used the power of countless supernatural abilities to clash head-on with them. The collision of forces not only left An Jing covered in wounds, but he was practically torn to pieces. If it had been a sword, it wouldn't have shattered into seven pieces, but rather into nine or even ten.

But this is merely an experience, a way of experiencing the wonders of their skills with one's own body. Although these bodies are shattered, there is a will that transcends the flesh, controlling these fragments so that they are broken but not scattered, cracked but not broken.

The three Celestial Venerables were astonished by the second wave of three punches, because An Jing was able to unleash a portion of their divine powers for some reason—within the intent of the punch, the sword light of the Sword Venerable Yi Qing slashed towards the Holy Lord, the Holy Lord's pure fire burned towards the Profound Heaven Sacrifice, and the Profound Heaven Sacrifice's primordial dragon energy struck towards Yi Qing.

Shifting stars and using an opponent's force against them—isn't this the ultimate technique of the previous Divine Venerable Qianhui? How did he learn it?!
The answer is a hidden paradise!
Qianhui Divine Venerable uses the acupoints all over his body as small grotto heavens, but Anjing himself is a large grotto heaven. Mastering his skills is just about opening up the acupoints. As long as Anjing's body has not been completely obliterated, he can naturally use his body as a source to absorb the power of other Heavenly Venerables and attack them!
Not to mention, An Jing can use the "Master of the Four Seasons" within his body to think at speeds dozens or hundreds of times faster than outside interference, analyzing every divine power that attacks him, minimizing the damage to himself, and maximizing the power of teleportation, turning him into a slippery, oiled iron ball. Even if there is power that can peel off his skin, most of the power is used by this iron ball to collide with others!

This was the third wave of three punches, a pure surge of immense power that sent the three Heavenly Venerables flying, all coughing up blood.

But as he was being knocked away and coughing up blood, Xuan Tianji spoke first: "We can do that too! He didn't really have complete control over our power; he was just using our strength against us!"

"Everyone, stop! Do not unleash your supernatural powers at once. Combined attacks are ineffective against this kid from the future. Let's form formations one by one, take turns wearing him down, and fight him in a collective war of attrition!"

Xuan Tianji was right. Even An Jing could not possibly master the ultimate skills of all the Heavenly Venerables in such an instant. He was merely using their strength against them, using his own body as a medium to create chaos, and then relying on the foundation of his cave to maintain the situation and wage a war of attrition against the other imprints.

In fact, many Celestial Venerable imprints had already been shattered by An Jing's teleportation power during the battle just now.

In that instant, they all felt that An Jing's progress was simply limitless. There was no divine will he could not understand, no move he could not figure out. He was advancing step by step, leaping forward every instant.

However, if the Celestial Venerables really form an array according to Xuan Tianji's instructions, then things will indeed be troublesome—it would be equivalent to reorganizing all the Celestial Venerable imprints into one being, using all the imprints as hands, fists, and weapons to launch one attack after another against An Jing that cannot be neutralized, deflected, or used against him.

But does such a perfect collaboration really exist in this world?

Rather, if this kind of cooperation is necessary, if the personalities and characteristics of the Celestial Venerables must be erased, and their supernatural powers are mixed into pure force to suppress Anjing, instead of competing in martial arts and learning from each other...

Wouldn't that be tantamount to defeat?

Now that things have come to this, the possibility of defeat, which should not even exist, has truly appeared in the hearts of every Celestial Venerable present.

One-on-one is already impossible to win, and even in a multi-on-one situation, the opponent has found a way to break the deadlock.

This is already a defeat; Anjing has already defeated them... So, is it really necessary to do as Xuan Tianji said, abandon one's unique pride, give up oneself, become a pure imprint, and obtain that meaningless, and even uncertain, 'victory'?

neither knows.

And no one will ever know again.

In the next instant, An Jing deliberately disintegrated his body, transforming it into countless Tai Bai magical restrictions, completely merging with the various supernatural powers, and disappearing without a trace!
at the same time.

outside world.

In the deepest part of the boundless sky and sea, the boundaries of time and space have long been blurred.

With his own power, the leader of the Divine Sect suppressed the two dragon gods of the present and the past. The [History Book of the Present and the Past], which was composed of endless blue-gold dragon patterns and flowed with endless scrolls, was now entangled by chains of blood shadows, and its light was dimmed.

But He did not receive any good news from the Blood Sea Celestial Venerable for a long time.

【what happened? 】

The leader of the Divine Sect frowned, his gaze piercing through layers of void as he looked towards the Radiant Scale Realm, imprisoned by the Blood Sea Celestial Venerable's giant palm: "Haven't you dealt with the juniors inside yet?"

The Blood Sea Celestial Venerable is the collective will of all beings within the Blood Sea Demonic Sect who are not Lingxiao beings. He could communicate with any being within the sect without needing to speak. However, the Divine One Sect Master has long since transcended all of them and is the sole and supreme ruler.

Therefore, when the immense will of the Blood Sea Celestial Venerable turned around and used his divine sense to inform the Divine One Sect Master of the situation within the realm, He felt a deep sense of bewilderment: [The Primordial Dragon not only failed to quickly eliminate those juniors, but was even blocked... and now it's still being blocked by Jin Yanhua?]

【How can it be! ? 】

[Hahaha, your so-called primordial dragon doesn't even look as good as my daughter!]

Just then, amidst the endless blood shadows shrouding the ancient and modern history books, the laughter of the present-day Dragon God rang out: "It seems you have no idea what a dragon truly is! Although I'm not entirely sure myself, it's definitely not something your Blood Sea Demonic Cult can handle simply with bloodline techniques!"

[The dragon is not merely blood, but a path, a belief... Shenyi, I see no chance of you succeeding. Give up now and return the Dao to Heaven!]

[Keep quiet]

Faced with the Dragon God's mockery, the leader of the God One Sect let out a deep breath.

He calmed down in an instant and decisively said, "I know my plan won't go smoothly. The Void is so vast and boundless; there will always be things I can't foresee. The fact that the Primordial Dragon was stopped by a junior is also within my expectations."

The more complex a plan is, the more likely it is to encounter unexpected problems, so my plan has been simple from beginning to end.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Now is the time.

The moment the words fell, a blood-red line suddenly appeared on the fair forehead of the God One Sect Leader. Then, a crystal-clear blood lotus, as if formed from the purest blood in the world, slowly floated out from his forehead.

The moment the blood lotus detached from his body, the aura of the Divine Lord of the First Sect faltered, and the light of the Blood Shadow Divine Chains suppressing the ancient and modern history books diminished sharply. Seizing the opportunity, the two Dragon Gods unleashed their immense power and instantly broke free from their restraints.

But the leader of the Divine One Sect didn't care at all, because the blood lotus had already transformed into a stream of light, ignoring time and space and boundary walls, and flew straight into the Zhaolin Realm where he was imprisoned!
[A divine thought clone?] The ancient Dragon God was stunned. He realized something and exclaimed, [No! It's the Blood Sea! It turns out that an avatar of the Blood Sea Celestial Venerable once entered the Ancestral Dragon Scale and won a victory!]

[A sea of ​​blood intertwines; you can personally enter it and replace the mark of that Blood Sea Celestial!]

【exactly! 】

Although the leader of the Divine Sect was pale, clearly having paid a heavy price for separating himself from the Blood Lotus containing his own essence, his expression remained arrogant: "It was my mistake to have placed too much faith in that fallen general and the Blood Sea Celestial Venerable, but now, things are different!"

I will personally take action!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world.

In the Netherworld Sea, all the great demons were also performing a joint sacrifice.

Gathering from the ten continents of heaven and earth, countless lives died, hatred and despair, the endless sorrow and weeping, countless thoughts converged, flowed, and fell. These endless, overflowing tears washed out of the canyon and the abyss.

Corruption arises from this.

The plan went smoothly, and no one discovered their purpose from beginning to end. Since that was the case, it was time to start the final step.

A wisp of dark flame flickered from the center of the altar and then disappeared, heading towards the Realm of Radiant Scales as well.

Whether it was the leader of the God One Cult or the Heavenly Demon, their plans were indeed incredibly perfect and ingenious. In fact, it could be said that in Huai Xu, a place where everyone harbored ulterior motives, it was almost impossible for them not to succeed.

But they got one thing wrong.

That is, being overconfident.

The next instant, within the Scale-Illuminating Realm.

At the summit of Zushan Mountain.

That sea of ​​divine power, jointly laid out by the imprints of the Heavenly Venerables, was enough to obliterate everything and return heaven and earth to chaos. However, An Jing voluntarily disintegrated his own body, transforming into countless Taibai magical restrictions, completely merging into it and disappearing without a trace.

Amidst the horrified gazes of all the onlookers, the sea of ​​supernatural powers seemed to have lost its target, and began to violently collide and annihilate each other, forming a huge and chaotic vortex of law.

"Is he dead?" Xuan Tianji asked in astonishment. Although he was a branded figure and had sensed that An Jing seemed to have a grudge against the Great Chen Dynasty of the future, he did not care and wanted to ask more about the current situation in the Northern Xuanji Continent.

However, the moment His thought arose, a ray of light suddenly appeared in the chaotic vortex of law.

At that very moment, the blood lotus carrying the will of the God One Sect Master pierced through time and space, precisely descending upon the summit of the Ancestral Mountain, and merging into the mark belonging to the Ancient Blood Sea Heavenly Venerable.

The brand instantly came to life, its crimson light blazing forth, and a holy figure, identical to the leader of the Divine One Cult, began to coalesce.

However, before the God One Cult Leader could rejoice in this, grasp the power of this mark, and unleash his supreme divine abilities to eradicate all living beings in the world, making them His offerings and resources for fusing with the ancestral dragon scales.

He saw something first.

Something that is getting bigger, closer, and more unstoppable...

fist!
A sword and fist imbued with the divine power of all the celestial beings blasted toward His face—a divine punishment and divine retribution!
【What? ! 】

The leader of the God One Cult only had time to let out a shriek of utter astonishment.

The next instant, the fist arrived.

boom! ! ! ! ! !

There was no suspense, no process.

Endless bursts of blood and fragments of divine consciousness exploded in all directions.

The Blood Sea Celestial Venerable's mark, which had just condensed and hadn't even clearly seen the appearance of this world, along with the will of the Divine One Sect Master within it, evaporated and shattered like a dewdrop in the sunlight or a flash of lightning under this earth-shattering punch!

(End of this chapter)