Chapter 568: The Knife of Silence and Destruction

At the same moment, in the Three Bay River System.

Deep within a black hole.

One of Meng Chuan's soul avatars arrived there. As a Five-Tribulation soul, the avatar was powerful enough to penetrate deep into the black hole.

"Annihilation?"

Inspired by the forbidden creature, Meng Chuan felt that his 'Annihilation Blade' could reach the 'Heaven and Earth Realm Completion' at any moment. He now meticulously studied the black hole's operations, as the black hole was the very source of the 'Annihilation Blade'.

Meng Chuan looked up and saw streaks of light being swallowed by the black hole; even light couldn't escape its grasp. Simultaneously, some matter from the outer void was drawn into the black hole, and as it went deeper, it completely disintegrated.

The depths of the black hole seemed to possess infinite destructive power.

It swallowed everything, destroyed everything, turning all into a part of the darkness!

"Generally, only Seven-Tribulation almighty beings can reach the core of a black hole. Weaker ones disintegrate completely and are annihilated before they even get there." Meng Chuan watched the matter continuously drawn into the black hole disintegrate. His true body in the outer void observed the gigantic head of the forbidden creature in the cave, as insights clashed within his mind.

It was relatively easy for an ultimate art to improve during the Heaven and Earth Realm, potentially reaching completion directly.

The Annihilation Blade... had already been in the late stage of the Heaven and Earth Realm for a long time, with deep accumulation. Now, with this surge of inspiration, and as his comprehension of this ultimate art continuously improved, it reached full completion in just half an hour.

"All forms combined create annihilation," Meng Chuan suddenly understood.

Standing in the darkness deep within the black hole, Meng Chuan waved his hand. The Tribulation Realm secret treasure, 'Thunder Star Orb,' appeared beside him and flew out instantly.

As it flew out, it transformed into a dark star.

Wherever it passed, it turned into a beam of black light! It was like an eraser in space-time; anything it touched was completely annihilated.

It swept silently, annihilating everything, reducing all to nothingness. This possessed a portion of the black hole's 'annihilation' power.

Others might only perceive it as a black light, but in Meng Chuan's eyes, he saw the Thunder Star Orb transform into light, and also into ripples, its power layering and unifying to form an explosively destructive force. This incredibly terrifying 'great destruction' was further suppressed and refined, ultimately condensing into a single beam of light... this was the ultimate annihilation.

This black light represented the most terrifying destruction.

It surpassed great destruction and even the Sun Star's most fearsome 'Solar Divine Fire'.

"What a terrifying move. Both the physical body and the soul represent life, but the essence of this move is diametrically opposed to life; it's truly not suitable as a core cultivation path." Meng Chuan felt joy, having created such a powerful technique.

The Endless Blade pursued extreme speed, but was far inferior in terms of pure destructive power.

Techniques known for their destructive power, like 'Solar Divine Fire' or 'Destructive Wind', all surpassed the 'extreme speed rule' of the Endless Blade. The Annihilation Blade, however, compensated for this weakness of Meng Chuan's; in terms of destructive power alone, it ranked among the top-tier Five-Tribulation ultimate arts.

"It's a pity these two ultimate arts, even combined, are still far from reaching the Six-Tribulation Realm," Meng Chuan shook his head slightly.

According to historical experience, one usually needs to comprehend three Five-Tribulation Realm rules to likely merge them into a Six-Tribulation Realm level technique.

In extremely fortunate cases, if one rule is purely time-based and another is purely space-based, and their compatibility is exceptionally high, it's possible to merge two Five-Tribulation Realm rules into a Six-Tribulation Realm level technique.

However, it was clear...

Meng Chuan's 'Endless Blade' was purely time-based, while the 'Annihilation Blade' combined both time and space. Techniques incorporating both time and space were actually quite common, as everything existed within space-time. The combination of these two ultimate arts had decent compatibility, but it was still far from achieving a Six-Tribulation Realm ultimate art.

"With two self-created Five-Tribulation ultimate arts, my chances of exploring that mysterious cave mansion are much greater," Meng Chuan thought to himself.

Although he cultivated both his physical body and soul, he was still a newly promoted Five-Tribulation Realm being. Facing Palace Lord Xue Yu, Tagu, and Old Demon Heifeng, he only had the confidence to preserve his life, not to defeat them.

Now, his confidence had significantly increased.

Inside the mysterious cave mansion in the Yufang River System, within the cave.

Meng Chuan's soul avatar had fully broken through after half an hour of cultivation within the black hole, whereas only a few breaths of time had passed in the mysterious cave mansion.

"Hmm?"

Meng Chuan looked up at the gigantic head, his eyes subtly brightening.

He had finally comprehended it.

The Annihilation Blade had also reached the Heaven and Earth Realm Completion.

He now possessed two ultimate arts at the Five-Tribulation Realm level. However, further improvement would be difficult. For instance, his 'Cloud Mist Dragon Serpent Movement Technique' had not reached the Four-Tribulation Realm level even after all these years.

"Brother Dongning, who do you think will win between them?" Old Demon Heifeng asked with a chuckle from the side.

"Tagu," Meng Chuan said casually. "After all, he's from the Asura Realm, a high-level world."

"I'm also rooting for Tagu," Old Demon Heifeng nodded.

Both of them watched intently.

Inside the array.

Palace Lord Xue Yu stood there, as cold energy encroached upon Tagu.

"Since you're not making a move, I will," Tagu said with a slight smile. His figure blurred instantly, appearing before Palace Lord Xue Yu, and a black blade swept towards her.

Only then did Palace Lord Xue Yu extend her hand. Her hand wore a golden glove, its surface covered with a crystalline layer of ice. With a single palm strike, she suppressed the black blade's edge. With a press and a thrust, her palm struck Tagu's chest. His robes rippled slightly, but they were not pierced.

A blood-red blade light struck Palace Lord Xue Yu.

Two blades were at play: one black blade openly, one blood-red blade light concealed. However, this blood-red blade light struck Palace Lord Xue Yu's abdomen but failed to pierce even the surface layer of ice, causing Tagu's expression to subtly change.

*Thud—*

*Bang.*

Palace Lord Xue Yu stood still, merely wielding her palms, while Tagu's figure was elusive and blurred, continuously attacking with his blade.

At times, both sides allowed the other's attacks to land on them, clearly confident in their own physical bodies.

A few breaths later, they had already exchanged hundreds of blows.

As Tribulation Realm mighty figures specializing in physical cultivation, close-quarters combat was their strongest form of attack. Every move and stance was incredibly restrained yet possessed terrifying power.

"Those from the Asura Realm do have strong physical bodies," Palace Lord Xue Yu praised.

"How is this possible?" Tagu, however, already sensed something was wrong.

In a direct confrontation, he had no advantage whatsoever?

"According to intelligence from the Eternal Tower, Palace Lord Xue Yu cultivates an ice lineage. While her defense is strong, can she really withstand Tagu's attacks without any damage?" Meng Chuan was somewhat surprised.

"Xue Yu's strength?" Old Demon Heifeng's expression also subtly changed.

"Since you have no other moves, there's no need to delay," Palace Lord Xue Yu said indifferently. As soon as she finished speaking, her palm instantly pierced deep into Tagu's chest.

Tagu looked down in astonishment at the pale arm, its hand completely embedded within his chest.

*Puff, puff, puff.* Almost instantly, phantom palms continuously ripped through Tagu's body, and his form disintegrated into a stream of blood.

The blood flashed, and thousands of miles away, at the edge of the array formation, it re-coalesced into Tagu's body.

Palace Lord Xue Yu remained impassive, appearing almost simultaneously at the edge of the array, shattering the freshly formed body once more.

The blood continuously flowed!

Within the array's confines, the stream of blood instantly darted from one corner to another, then to another, constantly shifting its position. Yet, Palace Lord Xue Yu followed like a shadow, destroying his body repeatedly.

"At this rate, my physical body will be completely destroyed in just half an hour," Tagu, now a stream of blood, realized.

If they were outside, without the array's restrictions, he could have escaped very far.

But now it was a fight to the death, and the battle had to be decided within the array's bounds.

"And even outside, without using my life-saving artifacts, I'm afraid I couldn't escape his pursuit," Tagu perceived. "Besides the ice lineage, he also wields a Five-Tribulation ultimate art of the void lineage."

That palm, in addition to the sharpness of ice, possessed even more terrifying void profundities, which was why it could forcibly pierce his physical body.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

The continuously flowing and escaping blood made a sound: "I concede."

Only then did Palace Lord Xue Yu stop.

The array temporarily reined in its power, and the man with the human body and snake tail nodded, saying, "A winner has been decided. Next, it's the two of you." As he spoke, he looked at Meng Chuan and Old Demon Heifeng.

Meng Chuan and Old Demon Heifeng nodded slightly and flew towards the center of the cave.

"Xue Yu, you certainly hide your abilities well," Old Demon Heifeng laughed heartily. "To have comprehended a second Five-Tribulation ultimate art, and yet you've kept it a secret from me, despite our friendship."

"Why should I tell you?" Palace Lord Xue Yu said coldly.

Old Demon Heifeng paused, then laughed twice, "That's certainly like you."

Palace Lord Xue Yu and Tagu both flew to a corner to observe the battle.

"Impressive," Tagu said with a slight smile.

"Your physical bodies from the Asura Realm are quite formidable. Even smashing your body didn't deplete your Asura blood," Palace Lord Xue Yu remarked.

Tagu, however, showed no pride.

Even if both had comprehended the Five-Tribulation Realm rules, there were still differences in the mastery of their application! Being from the Asura Realm, their life-saving abilities were renowned.

However, the help from their ancestors was limited. When there was indeed a significant difference in realm, Tagu had no complaints about his loss.

Pure-blooded dragons and phoenixes, for instance, had extremely high ancestral and bloodline talents. Yet, when they encountered a Seven-Tribulation almighty being, they had to obediently bow their heads. If a Seven-Tribulation almighty captured pure-blooded dragons or phoenixes to refine their bloodlines, the two races would not dare to say a word.

This was the outer void; ultimately, strength was all that mattered!

The array rose again. Within its domain, Meng Chuan and Old Demon Heifeng faced each other from a distance.

"As long as I defeat the winner between them, I'll obtain the treasures of this cave mansion," Palace Lord Xue Yu's eyes gleamed with a touch of eagerness. "It's close, I'm about to get it."

She didn't regard Old Demon Heifeng as a threat.

Meng Chuan?

In Palace Lord Xue Yu's view, he was merely a newly promoted Five-Tribulation Realm being, posing little threat.