Chapter 2193: Killing and Destroying the Heart

“Sword-flight?” Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue were startled. At the peak of Grandmaster cultivation, after forming a Yin Spirit, one can attach it to a flying sword to decapitate targets from thousands of miles away.

With their current cultivation level, they could also perform sword-flight techniques, but their control range was limited; it would fail if the distance was slightly too great.

Yet Zu An had just entered the Master realm and was still cultivating the ‘Brave Soul’ of the Root Chakra, not even having completed one of the seven spiritual souls. He was still far from cultivating the ‘Life Soul,’ one of the three spiritual souls.

How could he perform sword-flight from a thousand miles away?

Little did they know that a radar cursor map had appeared in Zu An’s mind. This was likely due to his recent manifestation of the Dongfeng-17, as radar is an integral part of the actual Dongfeng-17’s functionality.

Thus, he used the radar view to lock onto the Demon Emperor, and the remaining Dongfeng-17 missiles automatically tracked him.

Meanwhile, a ripple flickered a thousand miles away, and the Demon Emperor’s figure appeared.

However, compared to his usual noble demeanor, he was in utter disarray.

His yellow robe was tattered and torn, like a ragged beggar by the roadside.

No, he was worse than a beggar. Many of the holes in his clothes were also stained with blood, indicating he had clearly sustained serious injuries.

It turned out that in his hasty evasion just now, although he had avoided the full force of the nuclear explosion, he hadn't escaped it entirely.

Recalling that scene, he still felt a lingering sense of dread.

What exactly was that flaming arrow? Why did it possess such terrifying destructive power?

If he hadn't been an Earth Immortal, having long transcended space, he might have been utterly obliterated then and there.

That Zu An kid was clearly only at the Master cultivation level. Logically, he shouldn’t have been able to employ such an attack.

He couldn't comprehend it, but he was profoundly shaken.

He looked back in the direction he had come from and sneered, “Although I don’t understand how he did it, a Master is still just a Master. I instantly traveled a thousand miles away; what can he possibly do to me now?”

However, for some unknown reason, a strong sense of unease still lingered in his heart.

He didn't ignore this feeling. After reaching the Earth Immortal stage, many ‘sixth sense’ intuitions were no longer vague or illusory, but closer to genuine premonitions.

“This place still feels a bit unsafe,” he muttered. No sooner had he spoken than he performed successive spatial jumps again, traveling another three thousand miles before finally feeling at ease.

“Hmph, I’m now a full four thousand miles from where I was. What can he possibly do to me?” His initial shock now subsided, the Demon Emperor regained his usual domineering aura.

He mused that his opponent must have paid a tremendous price to wield such a terrifying weapon, so there was no need to confront him directly.

He would temporarily avoid his edge, and when his opponent entered a period of weakness, he would return and deal with him properly.

For a moment, he felt a twinge of regret. If he hadn't been so overconfident earlier and had gone straight to search for the immortal medicine in the Spirit Mountain, he wouldn’t be in this intractable predicament, like riding a tiger, unable to dismount.

No sooner had this thought arisen than it was overridden by a surge of even greater fury.

Who was he? The Demon Emperor, whose name struck fear across the land, unrivaled for so many years. Yet today, he was forced to resort to such tactics by a mere youth!

To have already entered the Master realm at such a young age, and possess combat power far exceeding that of an ordinary Master, even posing a threat to him!

What if this person truly matured?

This child must not be allowed to live!

Killing intent flickered in his eyes. He decided that later, he would surely grind him to powder and scatter his ashes.

Just then, he suddenly felt something, and instinctively looked up. Several bright points had suddenly appeared in the sky.

“Meteors?”

The Demon Emperor was momentarily stunned, but immediately felt perplexed. Why would there be meteors in broad daylight?

Then he finally distinguished the glowing objects, and his very soul nearly fled. For they were precisely those fire-tailed arrows from earlier!

He instinctively tried to dodge, but the arrows were incredibly fast. They were upon him almost as soon as he saw them.

Little did he know that in another world, the Dongfeng-17 could reach speeds of Mach 10, or ten times the speed of sound. In his haste, he had no time to dodge. He could only let his aura surge and confront these things head-on.

His colossal Golden Crow Dharma Form manifested. Immediately after, golden light emanated from its wings, and countless golden sword energies shot forward.

His entire being was enveloped in blazing Golden Crow Sacred Flames. These flames were almost tangible, making him appear as if he were encased in a golden light shield.

Just then, the Dongfeng-17 missiles successively struck his body.

Several nuclear missiles exploded together, creating a mushroom cloud many times larger than the previous one.

The blinding flash of light produced by the explosion was visible from a thousand miles away.

The immense shockwave instantly swept away everything around it. Nearby vegetation was instantly vaporized, and even hard rocks melted into lava.

The entire world trembled. Not only animals, but many intelligent fierce beasts were inexplicably terrified, thinking, “With such terrifying fluctuations occurring repeatedly today, is this the end of the world?”

Zu An, riding the Golden Chariot, had already arrived near the explosion site. He warned the three women in advance, “You must circulate your energy to protect your bodies. Do not let any gas or matter here get close, or it will cause severe harm, possibly making life worse than death.”

“Is it that exaggerated? The explosion is already over,” Yun Jianyue said, somewhat dismissively.

“Although the explosion is over, intense radiation still lingers… Uh, you’re asking what radiation is? It’s hard for me to explain clearly in a short time. Suffice it to say, after being affected by this invisible, intangible radiation, your body will develop lesions, incurable and fatal diseases.” Zu An paused, then added, “Moreover, any children you might have in the future could easily be born with deformities.”

Yun Jianyue spat, “Hmph, is there any man in this world who could make me bear him children!”

Yan Xuehen’s expression was also unnatural. “I won’t either,” she said.

Although they both said this, they both, like Yu Yanluo, instinctively added two more layers of protective shields around themselves.

For high-level cultivators, there was already a layer of protective membrane around their bodies. Combined with the substantial defense the Golden Chariot provided its occupants, Zu An wasn't overly concerned about the subsequent radiation.

The Golden Chariot arrived above the explosion site. Although some time had passed since the explosion, the extremely high heat still surged upwards. Fortunately, neither Zu An and his companions nor the Golden Chariot were ordinary, mundane objects, which allowed them to withstand it.

As the thick smoke and dust gradually dispersed, a massive crater became visible below. It was clearly the aftermath of the nuclear explosion, many times larger than the previous crater.

“Surely the Demon Emperor can’t have survived this,” Yu Yanluo’s voice trembled slightly, clearly intimidated by the sheer power displayed.

Not only her, but even Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue had never witnessed a weapon with such destructive power.

Zu An didn’t reply. His radar sense had just confirmed that the Demon Emperor, caught off guard this time, hadn’t managed to escape.

However, the Demon Emperor was simply too powerful. He wasn’t sure if he had successfully killed him.

As the saying goes, if someone is alive, you must see them; if dead, you must see their corpse. Otherwise, one cannot be at ease.

But at the center of a nuclear explosion, wouldn’t any corpse be incinerated into ash?

However, he immediately realized his worry was unnecessary. From the swirling smoke and dust, a figure slowly rose.

Zu An and the others’ hearts seized up. The Demon Emperor could still be alive after that!

Gradually, as the smoke and dust dispersed a little more, they finally saw the figure clearly. Who else could it be but the Demon Emperor?

However, he was in an exceptionally miserable state. All his hair and robes had long since been incinerated.

Yet, the women saw nothing particularly gruesome to avert their eyes from, because at this moment, the Demon Emperor had barely maintained a human form.

Half of his body was gone. The bones of his remaining half were exposed, with some bloody flesh still clinging to them, looking much like pork ribs sold at a meat stall in his previous life. Except these were dripping with blood, and also had many charred spots.

Aside from a small amount of flesh, his entire body was almost a skeleton. His internal organs were a mess, yet only his heart seemed relatively intact, still weakly beating.

The Demon Emperor looked up at Zu An. His half-skeletal, half-flesh head looked incredibly terrifying.

“Hahahaha, your attack indeed possessed immense power, but unfortunately, it still failed to kill me. Once I recover, I will surely grind you to powder and scatter your ashes, sell the women by your side into brothels as prostitutes, and make every single person connected to you suffer a fate worse than death!” The Demon Emperor’s tongue had long been destroyed; this message was entirely his consciousness projecting directly into their minds.

Rage value from the Demon Emperor: 1024, 1024, 1024…

His words were utterly venomous, but without them, he couldn't unleash the fury in his heart.

He, the mighty Demon Emperor, who, apart from Zhao Hao, had no equal in the world, was actually brought to such a miserable state by an ant.

He had been somewhat careless this time, not expecting those flaming arrows to strike him from thousands of miles away. Next time, with his guard up, he would not give his opponent the slightest chance.

Yan Xuehen’s expression changed. “Oh no,” she exclaimed. “The Golden Crow Sacred Flames have extreme regenerative capabilities. Once he leaves, we’ll never be able to find him again.”

Yun Jianyue also hurriedly said, “Quick, stop him!”

Sadly, she knew in her heart this was a pipe dream. Leaving aside the fact that they had just been depleted, even at their peak, they couldn't stop him.

Earth Immortals could cross the void at will. How could they stop him?

As expected, ripples began to appear behind the Demon Emperor, indicating he was about to teleport. This time, Zu An would not be able to conjure a weapon like before, and he had no way of knowing where his opponent would teleport to.

Just then, Zu An suddenly spoke, “Demon Emperor, I forgot to tell you a secret.”

“What secret?” The Demon Emperor knew Zu An was undoubtedly trying some new trick or scheme, but he couldn't help but ask.

Of course, he wasn't a fool. Half of his body was already in the void, and he could teleport away at any second. He wasn't afraid of any deception from his opponent.

“The secret is…” A strange expression appeared on Zu An’s face. “Your wife is amazing!”

As he spoke, he directly activated the Eye of the Golden Serpent King. Fearing it wouldn’t be impactful enough, he also activated the ‘Profane Eloquence’ skill.