Chapter 587: Meng Chuan Battles Lord Jingyun of the Cave!

Destroying two primordial spirit avatars with a flick of his hand only made Meng Chuan more serious. This act of destruction signified a complete break in their relationship. Although he was confident deep down, Jingyun Cave Master was undoubtedly the strongest opponent he had ever faced in the outer void.

"Let's begin," Meng Chuan murmured as wisps of lightning flickered around him. He then stepped towards the Serpent Demon Star below.

At that moment, light stood still, and even the tiny particles moving in the outer void ceased their motion. Everything but Meng Chuan was frozen in time.

Time froze!

Meng Chuan had stepped out of the normal timeline, allowing him to operate for an extended period within this frozen moment. However, even without interference from powerful individuals, maintaining this state was a significant strain on him.

"I need to set up the array as quickly as possible."

With a wave of his hand, Meng Chuan scattered various artifacts, beginning to place them on the Serpent Demon Star and construct a stationary grand array. Arrays served as tools for communicating with space-time, intrinsically containing profound mysteries. They allowed users to unleash ten times the power with only a tenth of the effort.

But the drawback was...

The more powerful an array, the more complex it became. It couldn't be moved in the slightest while in use; even a tiny shift would disrupt its function.

"Jingyun Cave Master wields three Five Tribulation Realm rules; I must be fully prepared," Meng Chuan recognized with clarity. Just as 'Snow Jade Cave Master,' who controlled two Five Tribulation Realm rules, could easily defeat Targu. By the same logic, Jingyun Cave Master could effortlessly defeat Snow Jade Cave Master.

In truth, there were fewer ways to combine two Five Tribulation Realm rules, but significantly more for three. Any two could be combined, or all three could be used in conjunction. The power surge compared to two combined rules was immense, with a high probability of even reaching the Six Tribulation Realm rule level. Although Jingyun Cave Master had not successfully ascended, he was practically invincible below the Six Tribulation Realm. This explained his domineering attitude. Even though Meng Chuan was a Five Tribulation Realm expert cultivating both body and primordial spirit, Jingyun still insisted on demanding compensation. For him to simply allow them to migrate away without any demands would be a complete loss of face for Jingyun Cave Master.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*

Meng Chuan's powerful primordial spirit allowed him to set up arrays quickly, but this fixed array was exceptionally complex. Every component had to be placed with meticulous care, and he had to test each individual section to ensure it functioned flawlessly. Consequently, it took Meng Chuan nearly two hours to fully complete the array.

The moment the array was successfully set, Meng Chuan's face paled. He quickly returned to the normal timeline, no longer maintaining the state of 'time frozen'.

"I'm tired, truly tired," Meng Chuan muttered, his face ashen and his primordial spirit immensely fatigued. Normally, stepping out of the timeline and moving freely for just an hour would cause some fatigue. The longer he persisted, the more rapidly the fatigue would escalate. This time, he had persisted for nearly two hours, the longest he had ever managed since comprehending the ultimate speed rule.

He immediately consumed a 'Green Leaf Creation Fruit' valued at eighty units and drank some fruit wine to nourish his primordial spirit, steadily recovering his strength. In the outer void, even on the brink of death, there were treasures capable of instantly restoring one to peak condition, provided one possessed enough of them. However, certain treasures highly effective for Venerables and Emperors, such as 'Immortal Charms' which could grant an Emperor an hour of immortality, were useless for Meng Chuan's level of existence, failing even to provide a substitute death. The higher the life level, the greater the cost for a 'substitute death'.

"Now, I just need to wait for Jingyun Cave Master," Meng Chuan mused as he sat cross-legged on a mountaintop. The phantom of his primordial spirit world enveloped him and, more importantly, the array he had secretly set up, making the array appear as an integral part of his primordial spirit world.

Meng Chuan silently watched the space-time rift before him. The space-time rift resembled a bottomless pit in the void; merely sensing it offered no clue as to what lay beyond its depths. However, intelligence reports clearly stated that this particular space-time rift connected directly to the Quyun galaxy.

Barely a dozen breaths after Meng Chuan settled into his cross-legged position, a figure emerged from the space-time rift.

"So fast?" Meng Chuan murmured, observing closely.

It was a tall, burly figure. Even in human form, he stood as tall as a small mountain, his entire body appearing forged from black metal, with each patch of skin seemingly containing a world within itself. After emerging from the space-time rift, he simply hovered in mid-air, yet exuded an overwhelming pressure that distorted the very space-time of the entire Serpent Demon Star.

"What an incredibly powerful body, and such immense pressure on the void," Meng Chuan thought, secretly astonished.

"City Lord Dongning," Jingyun Cave Master said coldly, his eyes indifferent. "I offered you respect, but you chose to disrespect me in return?"

"You've plundered and slaughtered in my home galaxy for tens of thousands of years, and now you demand compensation from *me*? Is that what you call showing respect?" Meng Chuan retorted, gazing at him.

Jingyun Cave Master gazed intently at the distant figure. Clad in green, with white hair and a saber at his waist, he stood with his power subtly contained.

"So, cultivating both body and primordial spirit has made you confident that you can handle me?" Jingyun Cave Master's gaze swept across the vast, realistic world around them—a world with curling wisps of smoke, children running, youths practicing their swords and blades, and cultivators soaring through the skies. Evidently, Meng Chuan was using a world secret treasure to bolster his primordial spirit world's power. "Yet, your primordial spirit world appears quite weak; it doesn't suppress me in the slightest."

This was indeed true. As Jingyun Cave Master stood, space-time twisted around him, and the very void seemed to bend to his will. Meng Chuan's primordial spirit world, upon nearing Jingyun Cave Master, was immediately blocked by an unseen force.

"My demands, I presume you are already aware of them," Meng Chuan said calmly. "All Eight-Headed Star Devouring Serpents plundered from the Three Bays Galaxy over the past tens of thousands of years—every living one of them must be handed over. Only then will this matter be considered settled."

Jingyun Cave Master froze for a moment, then burst into roaring laughter: "Hahahaha..."

His laughter echoed with immense power, generating void storms that lashed out in all directions. Meng Chuan's primordial spirit world had to fully exert itself to suppress these turbulent currents. Such immense power from mere laughter made Meng Chuan frown slightly. He had expected his opponent to be strong, but this was still proving somewhat difficult.

"I didn't expect a mere Five Tribulation Realm cultivator to dare provoke me," Jingyun Cave Master said, his gaze fixed on Meng Chuan, eyes filled with icy malice. "This avatar of yours isn't leaving."

No sooner had he finished speaking, Jingyun Cave Master opened his mouth.

*Boom—*

Jingyun Cave Master's mouth transformed into a dark, chaotic void, and an invisible, devouring force bore down on Meng Chuan from across the vast emptiness. The innate talent of the Eight-Headed Star Devouring Serpent race was 'Star Devouring,' and Jingyun Cave Master had further combined three Five Tribulation Realm rules, elevating this 'Star Devouring' technique to an inconceivable level. With a single gulp!

Meng Chuan felt himself severed from his surroundings, involuntarily drawn towards his opponent's gaping mouth.

"Go!"

Meng Chuan swept his left hand, and the thirteen beads on his wrist instantly flew forth. The Seven Tribulation Realm secret treasure, 'Thirteen Universe Pearls'! Under the manipulation of his primordial spirit power, all thirteen Universe Pearls flew out, their combined might acting as a unified entity, like a self-contained universe, repelling the external forces. His primordial spirit world, grounded by a 'world secret treasure,' also cooperated with the Thirteen Universe Pearls. Only after Meng Chuan fully unleashed the power of his Thirteen Universe Pearls and his primordial spirit world did he feel the devouring force significantly weaken, allowing him to finally regain his footing.

This mildly surprised Jingyun Cave Master. Many times, a mere opening of his mouth was enough to force opponents to use their most precious life-saving treasures to escape. Yet, this 'City Lord Dongning' had managed to block him head-on.

"Go!" While maintaining 'Star Devouring,' Jingyun Cave Master secretly unleashed his second killing move. A gigantic, illusory tail shadow emerged from the depths of the void, reaching Meng Chuan almost instantly. Wherever it passed, his primordial spirit world was completely torn asunder.

Meng Chuan's expression shifted. He instantly drew the dark red Demon Slaying Saber from his waist, maintaining his eight-fold time acceleration advantage, and employed his movement techniques to evade the tail's phantom. His primordial spirit techniques represented only a fraction of his true strength. His physical body cultivation was the other part. This was the inherent power of cultivating both body and primordial spirit: when he attacked, it was as if a 'Primordial Spirit Five Tribulation Realm' expert and a 'Physical Body Five Tribulation Realm' expert were simultaneously besieging the opponent, working in perfect, intuitive coordination.