Chapter 1225: Yan Meitou, Take My Punch

"Whoa-ho-ho!"

Yan Wuse was thrilled. Indeed, given Mei Yiren's pride, he wouldn't entrust everything to others. Yan Wuse was even more delighted to see Mei Yiren doom himself by entering the Inner Island, all to contain his two Light Angels. This meant he would only have to face a weakened Kong Yuhen. Even if Kong Yuhen possessed the Time Ancestor Shadow Staff, it offered no direct offensive power! Yan Wuse had extensive knowledge of the Ten Extraordinary Weapons. While the staff could amplify temporal power and was incredibly potent under specific conditions, its strength came with immense limitations. Not only was it unusable for non-temporal attributes, but altering time across the entire Void Island, for instance, would always demand a colossal price. How many more times could Kong Yuhen even act?

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Mei Yiren soared into the sky with his sword, while Yan Wuse lowered his head and darted towards Kong Yuhen. The two passed by each other like opposing currents, without mutual interference.

"Kong Yuhen—" Yan Wuse roared in excitement, his expression fervent, his face losing its form in the flickering light and shadows. However, at that moment, Kong Yuhen performed a crude action utterly unfitting of his status. He reached into the empty space before him, grabbed a large handful of sacred medicine, and stuffed it whole into his mouth.

"What?"

Yan Wuse, transformed into an aurora, passed through Kong Yuhen’s body almost instantly. Yet, in that same fleeting moment, he sensed something amiss. High above, the Moon Angel and Star Angel ascended unimpeded, successfully reaching the zenith and raising their arms. However, Mei Yiren, who was supposed to intercept the Moon and Star Angels, halted mid-flight, turned, and the Sword Dao Profound Array beneath his feet vanished.

"Heart Sword Art: Divine Vision."

With a murmur, the Grand City Sword vibrated, and a monstrous sword image surged from behind Mei Yiren. This sword image was exceedingly ethereal, lacking any material form, as this strike emphasized the Heart Sword Art rather than pure divine sense penetration. The instant the sword image materialized, Yan Wuse was compelled from his light form back into a physical shape. His expression wavered, and a vicious devil darted into his thoughts.

The sword image had invaded his spiritual world! It wasn't particularly potent. Yan Wuse could break through the Limitless Sword Stream, also a first-realm technique, so "Divine Vision" would naturally be no different. It would merely require a little more effort because the sword image fundamentally aimed to penetrate divine sense. But that was the extent of it; Mei Yiren couldn't possibly unleash his full power! In his spiritual state, Yan Wuse was also the absolute master. He even transformed into a God of Light, gazing down from above at the heinous sword image that had burst into his spiritual world.

It was, admittedly, a foolish move! Other Half-Saints might possess powerful spiritual techniques but corresponding weaknesses in their mind and soul. The Three Emperors, however, had no such flaws. They had no weaknesses!

"Lord of Spirits…"

On the sea of consciousness, Yan Wuse, embodying the God of Light of his own realm, spread his arms wide. But no sooner had his voice faded than his spiritual world convulsed, manifesting strange phenomena like nine-heavenly lightning calamities, volcanic eruptions, and raging tsunamis. A full moon hung in the sky, from which an eerie malevolence spontaneously formed. A solitary, ninety-nine-story tower rose from the ground, and atop the ancient edifice stood a lone, arrogant black figure.

In the real world, far away, the Second True Body activated a Sword Dao formation, achieving unity with nature, and flashed directly to "Kong Yuhen's" face. This was, in fact, Yan Wuse, who had just been forced into his true form by Mei Yiren's sword image. It was a brief moment. But it was an opportunity!

"Heart Sword Art: Demonic Vision."

Following his teacher's sword strike, the fearless Second True Body finished his declaration. Instantly, Yan Wuse's spiritual world was pierced by a chilling gaze from the isolated tower's shadow, demonic energy erupting from its eyes.

An instant. Still just an instant. In less than half a breath, Yan Wuse had already regained his composure. The Three Emperors could not possibly fall to inner demons! Nor could they be subservient to another's will or suppressed by internal heart demons. "Divine Vision," when facing someone with an unyielding Dao Heart, was inherently a joke.

When he opened his eyes, Mei Yiren seemed to be at the end of his rope, and Xu Xiaoshou had apparently run out of tricks. Yan Wuse smirked. He mocked Mei Yiren for failing to grasp the true disparity between Half-Saints, scoffed at Xu Xiaoshou for his audacious intervention despite his ignorance, and derided Kong Yuhen for being so weak that he needed assistance to even attempt an attack. Considering this, perhaps Kong Yuhen’s presence was merely a Half-Saint avatar—no, that couldn't be right! Even a Half-Saint avatar shouldn't be so feeble. If Xu Xiaoshou was aiding him, why was Kong Yuhen so utterly incompetent? Was he a fake? A specific possibility flickered in Yan Wuse’s mind—a suspicion that typically only arose in the Holy Divine Palace’s thoughts when a particular individual was present.

"Meow."

A meow sliced through Yan Wuse’s thoughts, seemingly clawing at his face. When he opened his eyes, Kong Yuhen's youthful face was nowhere to be seen; instead, there was a hazy, medicine-scented… cat head? As Yan Wuse's gaze settled, his pupils lost focus. What was he seeing? The Three-Loathing Eyes! From a cat… the Tear Clan’s pupils?! Three grey floral patterns spun rapidly, flowing into his pupils. Yan Wuse momentarily lost consciousness, his lips parting: "Meow." The sound, imbued with Saint power, resonated across nearly half of the Void Island. Yan Wuse's aged face flushed crimson on the spot after emitting the sound.

An instant! Still just an instant! Despite being controlled by the Three-Loathing Eyes and the Conversion Aperture, Yan Wuse’s formidable soul power broke free instantly. The little white cat, reeking of medicine, was instead sent flying backward, spitting blood from the recoil, teetering on the brink of unconsciousness.

"Kong Yuhen, resisting futilely is not—" Before Yan Wuse could finish his sentence, his thoughts nearly froze, accompanied by a sharp pain in his chest. He saw the distorted face of a young man—it was clearly not Kong Yuhen's, but Xu Xiaoshou's? Indeed, it was Xu Xiaoshou! So, just now, he and Number Two had been subdued by this imposter? When did he switch? How could he possess a Half-Saint avatar? Or was it the Outer Body Avatar inherited from the Storyteller? But an Outer Body Avatar clearly didn't manifest in this form! There was no time to think; Yan Wuse’s consciousness froze.

He saw Kong Yuhen, now fully transformed back into Xu Xiaoshou’s main body, swing his right arm in a full arc. The limb appeared like charred, withered wood, its sleeve disintegrating into dry leaves that scattered in the swirling air. He saw the colossal energy gathered within the sleeveless, Scarlet Scorched Hand fist, compressed into a massive, chaotic mass, like the very beginning of creation, capable of forging heaven and earth. Potent, supreme, unresolvable! Yan Wuse’s scalp prickled, and a sense of impending doom washed over him. This was a punch capable of threatening a Half-Saint's life, a punch that could utterly obliterate Yan Wuse! Could such a punch be delivered by Kong Yuhen… no, by Xu Xiaoshou? Impossible! Forget Xu Xiaoshou; even the true Kong Yuhen, if he were here, couldn't possibly condense such chaotic, creation-level power under such brief control—a pure, ultimate force, exhausting all physical strength, an absolute output of power!

"Die!" A distorted roar erupted beside his ear. Yan Wuse tried to dodge. He moved at the speed of light, and as long as his consciousness reacted quickly enough, he could evade any attack. Even though he had just endured three consecutive waves of control. Yet, as his body moved, the searing pain in his chest intensified, and time across the Void Island utterly froze. The image relayed by divine sense showed Xu Xiaoshou’s left hand clutching emptiness, yet it felt as though he was plunging something directly into Yan Wuse’s heart. Was it… the Time Ancestor Shadow Staff?

In that instant, time across the entire Void Island paused for Xu Xiaoshou’s punch. Yan Wuse finally reacted, an expression of utter disbelief flashing across his face. Lights and shadows flickered in his mind, and intelligence Gou Wuyue had once reported resurfaced: a Saint Slave possessed a special spiritual technique capable of blowing his head off. It was somewhat like a spiritual technique, yet also somewhat unlike one. Its power was immense, yet its source remained a mystery. Yan Wuse ceased thinking. In his final moments, the name of the individual who delivered that punch, as reported by Gou Wuyue, resounded in his mind, accompanied by the echo of the uproarious laughter that had filled the hall at the time. And now, in this very moment, the true roar from that name reached his ears:

"Yan Without a Head, take this punch!!!"

A chaotic stream of light tore across the Void Island. Above the First Sin Hall, a wave of energy rippled horizontally, distorting space and obliterating the very color of light. The immense power that suddenly manifested in the heavens was, at this moment, even more brilliant and blinding than light itself. Even the world's so-called brightest "white" was eclipsed.

"What… is that?" A heart-stopping tremor emanated simultaneously from the First Sin Hall, Miracle Forest, Blood Realm, and other major forbidden zones. Throughout the Void Island, scattered Spirit Refiners all raised their gazes, mesmerized. Even Dao Severing and Grand Void cultivators, who stood at the pinnacle of their respective domains on the Holy Divine Continent, now felt as insignificant as ants.

By this stage of the battle, sharp-eyed observers had already identified, through various means, all the factions clashing above the Void Island. These included the Seven Sword Immortal Mei Yiren, Heavenly Secret Divine Envoy Number Two, Yama King Huang Quan, and the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, among others. Among them, the most striking was undoubtedly the Three Emperors Yan Wuse, who, clad in the Myriad Sceneries Robe, appeared like a deity descended from the heavens. Everyone watched Yan Wuse from afar, eager to see when this "Light of Spirit Refinement" would dispatch those "dark trash." Or, perhaps, if he might unexpectedly stumble—though few considered that possibility. Even with the Seven Sword Immortal Mei Yiren sealed as a Sword Saint, his renown in the current era still paled in comparison to the well-established authority of the Three Emperors.

Unexpectedly, amidst this intense battle, a somewhat unfamiliar young man abruptly emerged, forcefully seizing everyone’s attention. Sword Saint Mei Yiren was providing him support? He was the main attacker, and with a single punch, he struck the Three Emperors Yan Wuse?

"Boom!"

After the blinding brilliance, the minds of Spirit Refiners across the Void Island briefly went blank, perfectly mirroring the vacuum created by that instantaneous punch. And when Yan Wuse’s aged face was horribly disfigured by the punch, his bones twisted and shattered with a crackling sound, his body transformed into a streak of light that tore through space, plummeting directly from the sky, and blasted through the First Sin Hall—

Everyone awoke as if from a dream!

"The Three Emperors Yan Wuse was punched away by a kid?"

"How is this possible?!"

Outside the First Sin Hall, Leng Qi, the Sect Master of the Grand String Heavenly Sect, and Xiu Mingyue, the Pavilion Master of the Returning Sound Pavilion—who had long since supported each other and retreated from the heart of the battlefield—exchanged stunned glances.

"He looks a bit familiar?"

"No, absolutely not! It's impossible, utterly impossible! Perhaps they just bear a slight resemblance…"

"Look, wasn’t Saint Slave Xu Xiaoshou also present? So the one who threw the punch should be someone else, right?"

"But did you see his face? He’s no longer pretending…"

At the edge of the Holy Execution Ground, the two Gu brothers, one with a sheathed sword in hand and the other with one on his back, stared blankly into the distant sky.

"Senior Brother, Mei… Mr. Mei!"

"That's not important. What's important is the person beside him."

"Chen… where’s Brother Xu?"

"Yes, Xu Xiaoshou!"

"This isn't right. The last time we saw Xu Xiaoshou was when he beat up Junior Brother at the City Lord's Mansion, or perhaps in the White Cave, on the Sword-Parting Grassland? He was only of the Innate Realm? Or a Grandmaster?"

"…I've somewhat forgotten too."

In the Absolute Ashfire Domain, the master and disciple of the Ashlight lineage, finally unable to endure the lava any longer, were originally slumped on a large rock, observing the battle. The battle on Void Island, however exhilarating, had absolutely no bearing on the Holy Palace. But then, suddenly, the young man who was about to strike Yan Wuse with a punch, changed his face, taking on a form extremely familiar to the two of them. That kid, Xu Xiaoshou? Yet, on the other side was Yan Wuse, whom even his master's punch couldn't send flying. And now, Xu Xiaoshou had sent him flying and out of sight?

"Master!" Bai Lian sprang to his feet, his eyes wide with shock and dread. This single punch carried too many implications, perhaps even more impactful than the Void Island exploding. With just this one punch, the Ashlight lineage of the Holy Palace could no longer protect Xu Xiaoshou. Xu Xiaoshou would now be fully integrated into the dark forces of the Saint Slave—even though he was already a member. Previously, he hadn't truly entered the sight of major figures, and with Saint Slave Wuxiu still above him, Xu Xiaoshou had room to maneuver. Now, however, a major figure had just had his eyes blasted out by him!

Room to maneuver? There's no ground left!

"Go."

"Master, we're only here in the Cloudmist Mountain Range to scout for future disciples of the Holy Palace. Please don't forget that."

"Rest assured, I remember."

"Then wait for me, Master, you're flying too fast!"

"Attracted Attention, Passive Points: 682.""Generated Awe, Passive Points: 793.""Caused Astonishment, Passive Points: 1162."

The information bar continuously popped up. With a single passive punch, Xu Xiaoshou had definitively broken into the upper echelons of the Holy Divine Continent. Even Grand Void cultivators were terrified, and Half-Saints were stunned.

Just then, Mei Yiren clutched his sword, his jaw almost agape. As he resisted the aftershocks of the punch, he stared blankly at Xu Xiaoshou, who was left with only a partial arm. He even blinked hard, only to find that none of it was an illusion. His own student had actually punched Yan Wuse away? Or was it that…

"Are you truly Kong Yuhen?"

"Incurred Suspicion, Passive Points: 1."

On the other side, Huang Quan and the Five Decays of Heaven and Man also ceased their movements. This was because Number Two had also stopped his pursuit, turning back with a shocked expression to gaze at another part of the battlefield.

"Kong Yuhen?"

"Xu Xiaoshou?"

"Elder Yan was punched away?"

Visibly, wisps of smoke curled from the Saint Ring above Number Two's head. No one found the current sight more unbelievable than Number Two, for it had only been a dozen breaths since Yan Wuse had ordered him to pursue Yama King. They had just parted ways, and things had already gone haywire?

"Incurred Doubt, Passive Points: 1."

Yet, even as everyone on the island reeled in shock that his single punch had incapacitated Yan Wuse, Xu Xiaoshou himself was blasted such that only his right arm, still gripping the Time Ancestor Shadow Staff, remained. Perhaps that right arm survived solely due to the staff's power. Xu Xiaoshou didn't know; after delivering that punch, his mind had also gone blank for an instant. But upon regaining his senses, he was dissatisfied. Deeply dissatisfied! That was a Passive Punch with a charge value of 56.33%! How could it merely send someone flying? Forget Yan Wuse; even if a god who specialized in physical cultivation, claiming mastery over the profound arts of enhancement, were to appear, their head would surely explode!

"Form your head again, then take another look." The Second True Body, after a moment of silence, emerged and conjured the Saint Five Finger Imprint Seed Art. Behind Xu Xiaoshou’s main body, the Great Feast materialized, and with a soft *thump*, it devoured the energy of the Saint Five Finger Imprint Seed Art just before it could detonate. "Convert" frantically activated. With only one arm remaining, his physical body rapidly regenerated. Only when his head reformed did Xu Xiaoshou seem to rediscover how to properly exert his "Perception."

He gazed into the distance. A towering trail of dust, as if plowing through the heavens, tore from the northeast corner of the First Sin Hall towards the far southwest. Space and Dao principles were shattered! This was the trajectory of Yan Wuse after being punched flying!

The First Sin Hall was so massive that by the time Xu Xiaoshou had recovered seventy to eighty percent, Yan Wuse had only plowed through roughly seventy percent of its expanse. This speed, it must be said, was incredibly swift! The labyrinth walls could not stop Yan Wuse, who had become a mangled mess, nor could the various side halls within the First Sin Hall, even those reinforced with barriers. Even some dark Void Servants had their chests crushed and defenses breached by the distorted, unrecognizable Yan Wuse.

"Headless Yan" continued his devastating trajectory, transforming into a mangled mass as he tore completely through the First Sin Hall’s boundaries, shattering its barriers. He then crashed into the streets of the Giant Kingdom, plowed through ancient buildings, and slammed into the primeval forest on the outskirts, sending a Void-Suppressing Stele flying.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble..." Only then did the entire First Sin Hall begin to crumble and collapse. Even from tens of thousands of miles away, people across the Void Island could see a massive mushroom cloud slowly rising above the grand hall. This grand hall, starting from the True Emperor Hall, had been exploding… Subsequently, due to various Saint Tribulations and Emperor Tribulations, even its dome had been blasted through… Now, after Yan Wuse had been plowed through it, dissipating the chaos-creating power of the Passive Punch, it finally succumbed… It collapsed completely! The majestic ancient hall, revered as one of the nine great forbidden zones, had its protective array’s spiritual light extinguished upon activation, and even it couldn't withstand Yan Wuse's complete pulverization.

Xu Xiaoshou squinted, still not giving up. As he flashed away, his "Perception" discerned Yan Wuse, who had been nearly blasted from the True Emperor Hall to another forbidden zone. Upon striking the Void-Suppressing Stele at the end of his path, his entire body disintegrated, turning to dust, and even the color of light was erased. Xu Xiaoshou was satisfied.

Thanks to his teacher, Mei Yiren, it was his feigned retreat that first contained and exposed Yan Wuse’s true form, giving the Passive Punch a chance to hit. And thanks to his master, Elder Sang, whose teachings in the Eight Palaces on how to combat Yu Lingdi provided Xu Xiaoshou with the knowledge of how to fight Yan Wuse. Back then, Elder Sang had said: "Elemental bodies have three ways to perish. The last way to perish is through absolute power."

Xu Xiaoshou waved his right arm, feeling the tingling sensation of newly regenerated flesh. After that punch, he finally affirmed his true combat prowess. It connected. Even Half-Saints would have to kneel and call him 'Grandpa.'