Chapter 786: The Bloom of Boruo

“Ha... ha... ha...”

The Moon Devouring Devil Lord finally completed his transformation. Even he hadn't expected a transformation that once took mere moments to now consume such a prolonged period. After transforming, the Moon Devouring Devil Lord's aura surged dramatically, and the dark demonic energy swirling around him intensified by a full fold. However, his face showed no pride or arrogance typically associated with absolute power; instead, it contorted with increasingly fierce rage... and hatred.

This was because he was not the Moon Devouring Devil Lord from a million years ago! This transformation would delay the full recovery of his life source by at least a thousand years!!

But he clearly felt... that if he didn't do this, he truly might die by Yun Che's hand today!

“Now, I can kill you in just ten breaths!!”

“Die!!”

While his transformed state massively amplified the Moon Devouring Devil Lord's power, the immense burden made him feel as though he could shatter at any moment. Without another moment's delay, he soared into the air with a furious howl, charging straight for Yun Che at a speed that utterly astonished him.

After the Moon Devouring Devil Lord's transformation, his speed had also surged dramatically! Yun Che instantly determined that the Devil Lord's current speed surpassed his own maximum speed under the Illusory Glazed Thunder. This meant that even if they weren't in the Moon Devouring Devil Den but an endlessly vast area, he couldn't hope to evade him by speed alone!

Demonic energy surged, and an ominous wind howled. As the Moon Devouring Devil Lord streaked through the air, all the loose sand and debris were swept up, and the terrifying, unparalleled wind pressure actually ploughed an extremely deep gully into the incredibly tough ground!

Two dark demonic claws, twice their previous size and shrouded in black light, resembling dragon claws, slammed directly towards Yun Che's head. Even a hundred zhang (approximately 330 meters) away, they caused Yun Che's entire body to stiffen, and the ground beneath him rapidly sank.

Yun Che's gaze turned cold. He secretly inhaled, and with a flicker of Star God Broken Shadow, he instantly moved away.

The Moon Devouring Devil Lord's claws violently smashed into the ground, instantly shattering all the stone walls within dozens of zhang around him. Yun Che, who had instantaneously dodged, was still struck in the chest by the surging dark energy wave, which roared like a tempestuous ocean. He grunted, stumbling backward and flipping over.

“Die!!”

Though his strike missed, the Moon Devouring Devil Lord instantly pinpointed Yun Che's location. His body shot up, and his massive dark shadow completely enveloped Yun Che.

Yun Che swiftly turned in mid-air, circulating his profound energy throughout his body. The illusory figures of a phoenix and a golden crow simultaneously appeared behind him, and a strange azure light gleamed on his left arm. The colossal sword, radiating vermilion light and imbued with the divine flames of the Golden Crow and Phoenix, swept down horizontally.

This was Yun Che's direct, unadorned clash with the Moon Devouring Devil Lord, whose power had surged after his transformation!

BOOM!!

Darkness and flames instantly intertwined into a sea of disaster, ruthlessly engulfing everything within the Moon Devouring Devil Den.

Inside the sea of disaster, the Moon Devouring Devil Lord roared, his long hair wildly flailing. Feeling his power being obstructed, he immediately threw his head back and laughed... But his laughter lasted only an instant before suddenly ceasing. He realized that his power had not instantly broken through the seemingly fragile obstruction to completely engulf and devour Yun Che as he'd expected. Instead, it was firmly halted three zhang in front of Yun Che, unable to advance further.

“Wh-what!?” The Moon Devouring Devil Lord's pupils dilated. He sensed no change in Yun Che's aura, but suddenly, another aura appeared beside him! That aura, roughly half the strength of Yun Che's, had joined him in forcefully resisting his power!

The Moon Devouring Devil Lord flew into a rage. His already monstrously thick arms, covered in bone armor, swelled again, and his claws struck out repeatedly like a torrential downpour. Terrifying dark demonic energy boiled like a tsunami, desperately crashing down on Yun Che, who had nowhere to hide and nowhere to run.

“Hmph!!” Yun Che roared, unleashing the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword with full force. Each swing conjured a profound energy storm powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth. Beside him, the Profound Handle, transformed into a heavy sword, also danced alongside the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. The two heavy sword storms converged, forming an overwhelmingly powerful 'Heavy Sword Domain' that forcibly repelled the Moon Devouring Devil Lord's rampaging dark demonic energy outside its boundaries.

“Th-this... this is impossible!!”

The Moon Devouring Devil Lord's scalp tingled, and his pupils continued to dilate. Yun Che's previous ability to contend with him had already surpassed his expectations by countless folds, forcing him to undergo a transformation into his combat form at immense cost. He had believed that once he unleashed his full power, he would completely overwhelm Yun Che and control his life and death at will. He never could have imagined that the power he wielded after transforming would be completely resisted by Yun Che!!

His power was unleashed with frenzy; every single strike poured out with all his might, holding nothing back. Yet, thousands of consecutive attacks were all repelled by Yun Che!!

“AAHHH!!!”

The Moon Devouring Devil Lord's wild hair stood on end, the Blood Moon mark on his chest suddenly emitted a terrifying crimson-black light, and every demonic rune on his body pulsed with horrifying sanguine glow.

All dark demonic energy paused for an instant, and the world fell into absolute silence for a moment, as if time had suddenly stopped. Then, the Moon Devouring Devil Lord let out a roar that seemed to emanate from purgatory. All the dark energy within the Moon Devouring Devil Den surged wildly, transforming into a colossal devil god from the Nine Nether Abyss, engulfing the seemingly insignificant Yun Che in boundless darkness.

“Eternal Night's Descent!!”

Boundless darkness abruptly pressed in from all directions, devouring light, consuming space, and even swallowing his heavy sword storm. Perhaps in the next instant, it would completely engulf both him and the Profound Handle.

Yun Che showed no fear; his gaze was chilling. The flames already burning at their limit on his body forcefully surged up another notch. The heavy sword in his hand and the Profound Handle, also transformed into a heavy sword, were raised simultaneously, unleashing two vast and primal auras powerful enough to eclipse heaven and earth.

“World Extinguishing!!”

BOOM!!!!

A terrifying crash swallowed all sound in this small world.

The terrifying energy explosion spread wildly; heaven and earth trembled, and even space itself cowered in fear beneath this dreadful power, emitting wails as if on the verge of collapse.

Subsequently, a thousand zhang of empty space completely collapsed! In the face of such power, space was as fragile as thin paper.

Dozens of black holes, large and small, flashed into existence in that instant, only to vanish just as quickly.

At the epicenter of the energy explosion, Yun Che and the Moon Devouring Devil Lord naturally bore the brunt of immense impact and recoil.

The two were already separated by a hundred zhang. If not for the incredibly tough dark stone walls here, they might have been flung dozens of miles away.

Yun Che slowly stood up, leaning against the stone wall. As he rose, that very dark stone wall also collapsed with a crash.

Streams of blood flowed down the Heaven Smiting Sword. Most of the horrific power from moments before had been borne by his arms; the webs of his sword-wielding hands were completely torn, the flesh of his arms was ripped open, and his arm bones had suffered at least a dozen cracks from the impact. Yet, he felt no pain at all... the intense numbness had almost completely deprived his arms of sensation. It was solely through sheer will and obsession that he still clutched the million-jin Heaven Smiting Sword firmly in his grasp.

The Profound Handle had also vanished, directly shattered by the recent power. However, the Profound Handle was a power of his bloodline; even if it were shattered ten thousand times, it could be reformed at any moment.

The Moon Devouring Devil Lord's injuries appeared much lighter than Yun Che's. Aside from the sternum Yun Che had previously broken, only the bone spurs on his right arm were shattered, and blood flowed profusely.

But this was merely superficial; in reality, his condition was far worse than Yun Che's.

Yun Che's use of the Profound Handle only increased his profound energy consumption.

However, in his transformed state, not only was his consumption doubled, but his body also had to endure immense strain! Having just continuously unleashed his full power under such overload, the consequences were obvious.

If Yun Che were to approach, he would see that the scales and bone armor covering his body were, astonishingly, riddled with tiny cracks.

The Moon Devouring Devil Lord slumped to the ground, his entire body limp, unable to stand for a long time. His two dark pupils contracted violently, as if he were trapped in a nightmare.

“Moon Devouring Devil Lord... is this... already... your limit?!”

Yun Che dragged the Heaven Smiting Sword, taking one step at a time towards the Moon Devouring Devil Lord. His voice was somewhat hoarse, his steps exceptionally heavy, and his breathing incredibly labored. Both the Profound Handle and 'World Extinguishing' had severely drained him, and combined with his arm injuries and grave internal wounds, his current state was extremely poor.

But he could tell that the Moon Devouring Devil Lord was in an even worse state than him! At the very least, although the Devil Lord still maintained his transformed state, his aura had fallen to a level slightly weaker than Yun Che's.

Even if his injuries were ten times worse, he wouldn't waste time worrying... He absolutely couldn't allow the Moon Devouring Devil Lord even a single breath to recover.

“You... you're not... human!!” The Moon Devouring Devil Lord struggled to his feet. He desperately tried to gather his demonic energy, but his demonic body seemed to have become a leaky barrel; no matter how hard he tried to concentrate it, he couldn't suppress Yun Che's aura.

Now, he simply couldn't believe Yun Che was a human... How could a frail, lowly human body possess such formidable life force and endurance, surpassing even his own!

“I'm afraid I'll disappoint you! I am indeed a human, born and raised on the Profound Sky Continent!! Today is your death day... and the consequence of your contempt for humanity!”

Sensation began to return to his arms, and sharp pain replaced the numbness. Yun Che panted heavily, gripping the Heaven Smiting Sword tighter and tighter.

“Chitter-wuwuwuwu... hee hahahaha... owuu-owuwuwu...”

Just then, an utterly sinister and terrifying sound emanated from deep within the cave behind the Moon Devouring Devil Lord. It sounded sometimes like crying, sometimes like laughter, a mix of both, and merely hearing it sent shivers down one's spine, a profound terror coalescing throughout the body.

Yun Che's steps subconsciously halted. This was the sound of the Underworld Brahma Flower. He recalled that when he had entered the Moon Devouring Devil Den with Zi Ji and others, they had heard the ghostly wails of the Underworld Brahma Flower from roughly forty to fifty zhang away. Later, when they temporarily left or fought the Moon Devouring Devil Lord, the sound would cease once they exceeded that distance.

But now, he stood roughly three li (approximately 1.5 kilometers) away from the Underworld Brahma Flower's location, yet the ghostly wailing was clearly audible, as if right beside his ear! Moreover, it was even more sinister and soul-stirring than what he had heard before, striking terror into his heart.

At that moment, an expression of ecstatic joy suddenly appeared on the Moon Devouring Devil Lord's face.

“Heaven helps me... Ha... hahahahaha!!”

The Moon Devouring Devil Lord let out a near-insane cackle, frantically circulating all his remaining power, letting his wounds burst open as he suddenly swept up a wave of dark energy and surged towards the depths of the Moon Devouring Devil Den.

Yun Che froze for a moment, then his expression changed. Could it be...

“Stop him immediately!!” Jasmine suddenly cried out: “The Underworld Brahma Flower must have fully bloomed! It contains immense Netherworld energy. If he consumes it, not only will it repair his soul source, but it will also rapidly restore his power and injuries in a short time!”

BANG!!

Yun Che's profound energy erupted throughout his body, his arm wounds burst open, and blood sprayed forth. The Heaven Smiting Sword was instantly recalled, and he transformed into a bolt of lightning striking the ground, chasing after the Moon Devouring Devil Lord.