Chapter 1125: A Small Opening in the Painting

Chapter 1130: A Crack in the Painting

With a squeeze, the bloody heart instantly shattered into pieces, becoming a mangled mess of flesh and blood.

Despite Li Mengtu's regeneration ability, the intense pain from such a severe injury still made him vomit blood, and blood gushed from the gaping wound in his chest. In an instant, his body, like Xu Qing's, became covered in blood. This pain also caused his body to involuntarily contort.

But what was eerie was that a smile played on his lips. The old man carved on the wooden sculpture in his hand was also smiling. Both had contorted bodies, pained expressions, and smiles on their lips—they were identical.

The next moment, Xu Qing's mind reeled. At that instant, his chest inexplicably tore open, as if pierced by an invisible hand, revealing a bloody hole and his heart. His heart… seemed to be gripped by that invisible hand and began to shatter.

"Karma Arts!"

The 'Erasing Dao Marks' ability in Xu Qing's eyes instantly flared, and he immediately saw threads of karma connecting him to the wooden sculpture, which in turn connected to Li Mengtu. It was as if the wooden sculpture had become a medium, linking Xu Qing and Li Mengtu! Under this connection, the damage wasn't transferred; it was symmetrical! Since Li Mengtu crushed his own heart, Xu Qing's heart couldn't remain intact either.

This sight darkened Xu Qing's expression. Seeing his heart about to shatter, he didn't hesitate, manifesting a colossal pair of scissors. This was naturally not the original pair from before, but a materialized form of his 'Erasing Dao Marks' ability. Although less powerful than the original, it was still exceptionally sharp due to Xu Qing's improved cultivation. Upon its appearance, he swiftly snipped at the threads of karma between himself and the wooden sculpture. With a *snap*, all the threads of karma broke, averting the crisis of his heart collapsing!

Xu Qing took a step, about to charge at Li Mengtu. But the next instant, Li Mengtu's hoarse voice echoed.

"The moment I saw you possess this unique power, I guessed you might have a way to sever karma. And since I revealed it, how could I be unprepared? The heart-gouging earlier was merely to verify if you truly possessed a method to sever karma."

As he spoke, Li Mengtu twisted the wooden sculpture violently with his right hand. The sculpture rumbled, and the head of the carved old man was snapped off by Li Mengtu. This wooden sculpture was of mysterious origin and extremely eerie. Although the karmic threads it emitted had been severed, the backlash it unleashed was incredibly fierce. Moreover, the moment the head was broken off, the severed karmic threads seemed to come alive, coiling around the scissors manifested by Xu Qing's 'erasing authority' like countless pythons. Using this entanglement, they reconnected. Xu Qing's pupils contracted.

Simultaneously, Li Mengtu laughed loudly, raised his left hand, a dagger appearing in it. Staring at Xu Qing, he unhesitatingly slashed savagely at his own neck! Blood gushed out in torrents, the wound so deep it even severed bone. The identical injury instantly appeared on Xu Qing's neck. As blood spurted, Xu Qing's entire body trembled violently. His already injured physical body, now suffering such a severe blow, caused his cultivation to destabilize and his life force to ebb away. He could only press down hard on the wound with one hand, rapidly retreating. But dizziness, like a surging tide, overwhelmed him.

In contrast, Li Mengtu put away the wooden sculpture. Using the last few breaths of his regeneration power, his lost heart regrew, and the terrifying wound on his neck visibly healed. By the time the regeneration power completely dissipated, he had recovered to an uninjured state. However, the very next instant, the price of his regeneration power finally arrived. In a blink, his hair turned half-white, his body withered, and his aura became significantly weaker. Yet his eyes remained sharp, locking onto Xu Qing's rapidly retreating figure.

"It seems your 'Time Reversal', as I judged, cannot be activated a second time in a short period." As he spoke, his body blurred, brimming with intense killing intent, and he charged straight at Xu Qing. He was now certain that this person in front of him truly couldn't use 'Time Reversal' again. His speed was astonishing; he instantly teleported, appearing before the retreating Xu Qing. Overwhelming killing intent erupted as he raised his right hand and pressed down fiercely, about to slay Xu Qing on the spot.

In this critical moment, with his neck nearly severed, Xu Qing—who was forcefully suppressing his injuries with his cultivation—showed not a trace of hesitation or panic in his eyes, but pure killing intent. He fiercely bit down on something he had placed in his mouth before the battle. It was a special rune! The power of recovery given to him by Fifth Grandmother from the Moon-Sacrifice Great Region of the Wanggu Continent! Xu Qing didn't want to use this power unless absolutely necessary, because while using it could instantly restore his injuries, it... consumed Fifth Grandmother's life force. But now... he had no choice.

The moment he bit down on the rune, a gentle power instantly erupted within Xu Qing, swiftly filling his entire body. The flesh on his chest healed, all his injuries recovered, and his nearly severed neck was suddenly restored. Immediately after, the rune transformed from Eighth Grandfather's power of wrath was also directly crushed by Xu Qing. In an instant, an extreme fury violently erupted within Xu Qing. Accompanying this wrath was an even more intense killing intent and a boost to his cultivation. Even his physical body received a boost under this power of wrath. Xu Qing's flesh swelled, his veins bulged fiercely, his eyes were bloodshot and crimson, and his every breath carried a power that could affect emotions. The moment Li Mengtu's expression drastically changed, Xu Qing charged directly to attack. With one punch, heaven and earth shattered.

Li Mengtu, currently weakened by the price of his regeneration power, trembled violently from Xu Qing's punch, spat out blood, and abruptly reeled back. Xu Qing glared furiously, his speed astonishing. He lunged forward and delivered another punch. Amidst the roars, Xu Qing continued his pursuit, while Li Mengtu steadily retreated, spitting out mouthfuls of blood, his mind reeling with even greater shock.

Seeing the danger, Li Mengtu raised his right hand and pointed to the sky. Instantly, the sky churned, and nine thousand ethereal tall towers abruptly appeared. The appearance of these nine thousand ethereal towers was magnificent. As Li Mengtu's right hand sharply dropped, the nine thousand illusory towers rained down like a storm, whistling towards Xu Qing, blocking his path.

Xu Qing's cultivation surged through his body. With a grasp in the air, the Emperor's Sword appeared. Man and sword, he charged directly towards the tall towers. Along the way, his sword energy was heaven-shaking, sweeping through everything like a tempest. From afar, the towers disintegrated before him, one by one. The deafening rumble echoed.

This battle, fought to this point, had been extremely arduous for Xu Qing. Li Mengtu possessed the most varied and bizarre powers among all the Dominators Xu Qing had encountered. Even with all of Xu Qing's trump cards deployed, the battle remained an intractable struggle. A similar sentiment arose in Li Mengtu's heart. Especially now that he was in a weakened state, his eyes revealed a decisive glint.

While the nine thousand ethereal towers were obstructing Xu Qing, he formed hand seals and repeatedly pointed at his own body. With each point, a rune appeared on his body. Each rune was incredibly complex, seemingly composed of tens of thousands of tiny symbols. After a total of 108 points, 108 rune imprints appeared all over his body, forming a formation as they flowed across him.

"Seal, open!" Li Mengtu roared. Instantly, the rune formation on his body violently erupted, appearing in front of him. The runes within spun rapidly and expanded outwards, swelling tenfold. After another rotation, it diffused outwards in an instant, magnifying a hundredfold. Then a thousandfold, ten thousandfold. Finally, an earth-shattering formation appeared between heaven and earth, radiating blinding golden light. Simultaneously, a divine power overflowed from within the formation. This power transcended the Flawless realm, reaching the God-tier! This formation was unmistakably one used to seal a deity. Now, as the formation was unleashed, the aura of a deity suddenly descended. Along with it, a colossal hand appeared within this vast formation! To be precise, it was the severed right hand of a God-tier deity, sealed within Li Mengtu's body, serving as his ultimate trump card! Upon its appearance, the right hand was seen to have rough, purplish-red skin, covered in tiny tentacles and eyes, looking utterly grotesque and terrifying. The moment it appeared, heaven and earth changed color, abnormalities surged, and faint whispers seemed to spread in all directions. Outsiders couldn't understand these whispers, but Xu Qing, possessing a divine body, heard them become increasingly clear in his ears. They spoke two words.

"Human Pill!" At this very moment, Li Mengtu also uttered those two words. As they echoed through heaven and earth, the colossal severed divine hand reached out from afar towards Xu Qing, clenching its five fingers! Xu Qing's body trembled. The power of the God-tier realm, erupting within the divine hand, fell upon Xu Qing, causing his entire body to emit cracking sounds of bones breaking. His body contorted, his soul twisted, everything was being contorted. It was as if a person was being held in a palm, to be crushed into a ball, and then transformed into a... blood and flesh Human Pill!

This process was also difficult for Li Mengtu, but Xu Qing was truly hard to kill, so unsealing this was, after his deliberation, the method that cost him the least.

But just then, an anomaly abruptly occurred within Xu Qing! It wasn't Starflame Immortal who acted, but... a lazy voice, seemingly sealed within Xu Qing, that echoed at this peculiar moment. "There was a little show-off named Xu Qing who went out for training. Several years later, this little show-off returned safely." That was Yu Liuchen's story, and Yu Liuchen's blessing. The severed hand was from a God-tier being, and Yu Liuchen... was also God-tier. At this moment, her voice resonated, forming a clash between deities. The next instant, the severed hand released from Li Mengtu's sealing formation suddenly trembled, loosened its grip, and slowly withdrew. Yu Liuchen's voice also dissipated. The contortion afflicting Xu Qing ceased. As blood gushed out, Xu Qing struggled to lift his head, staring intensely at Li Mengtu, whose expression had turned utterly grim. He charged forward.

Li Mengtu's breathing was ragged. A strong sense of life-or-death crisis erupted within him at this moment, yet his killing intent, far from diminishing, grew even denser at this critical juncture. "This is a true battle of life and death! Excellent, excellent!" As he spoke, Li Mengtu raised his hand, and an ancient-looking scroll appeared within it.

"Xu Qing, you are worthy of me sacrificing 30% of my eternal lifespan to open my family's ancestral painting!" This ancestral painting was something only Li Mengtu could open in the entire Li family, but it was also the last thing he wanted to use. It was fine if it wasn't opened, but once it was, the cost of using it was too immense, surpassing everything else. Even if he just opened it a crack, he would have to pay 30% of his lifespan. He had used it once in his early years; now... he had no choice but to use it a second time! After taking it out, at the moment Xu Qing's mind was churning, Li Mengtu no longer hesitated. He violently pulled, directly opening the scroll in his hand... a mere crack!

Irresistible. Unavoidable. From the opened crack of the scroll, black light emanated. This light... instantly enveloped heaven and earth, covering everything, containing all. In just an instant, Li Mengtu slammed the scroll shut. His heavy, ragged breathing could no longer be suppressed, echoing all around, and large mouthfuls of blood ceaselessly gushed from him.

And around him... Apart from him, there was no other figure. Xu Qing had vanished, sealed within the scroll!

"It's over..." "This battle is the most difficult I've faced since achieving my Dao!" Li Mengtu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, enduring the weakness in his body and soul, and looked down at the scroll in his hand.

"The inheritance hasn't returned to me, meaning he's not dead yet..." Although he couldn't see inside, according to the words of the family's old ancestor from back then, this scroll originated from their lineage's ancestral land. "That place is called Hou Tu (Thick Earth)." Li Mengtu murmured, then pondered.

"His death is inevitable and shouldn't take long, but to prevent any accidents, he must be suppressed within the family's forbidden grounds, bolstered by our bloodline, to hasten his demise!" Li Mengtu took a deep breath, his body blurred, and he flew towards the horizon.