Chapter 602: Hope

At this moment, the shining spear seemed poised to pierce his chest.

Xu Zhi had just arrived when he was met with this fierce attack. For the first time, he felt a chilling sense of crisis, an intense premonition of death.

The madman’s strike already exceeded Mirror Reflection’s tolerance threshold, making it impossible to forcibly absorb.

This Heavenly Emperor was like a monster.

“He’s too strong, this person is simply too powerful, an unkillable monster,” Xu Zhi thought, a look of disbelief flashing across his face in an instant. “He’s actually over a hundred times stronger than an average Heavenly Emperor of the same rank.”

Medusa, naturally, wouldn't be compared; in terms of sheer numbers, she was already many times stronger than a regular Heavenly Emperor.

It's worth noting that even Emperor Qi and Dao Changsheng were only about twenty times stronger than average Heavenly Emperors back then. This is because further progression becomes increasingly difficult and unnecessary, as individuals at that level are already contemplating breakthroughs to godhood.

There was no point in continuing to push the limits of the Heavenly Emperor realm.

Crack!

The next second, Xu Zhi's body moved swiftly, preparing to dodge the spear.

Emperor Yun’s face was stern. Almost simultaneously, he roared, “Trying to escape? Freeze!”

His talent instantly froze the surroundings.

Resistance was futile, as if a clay ox had entered the sea.

Xu Zhi's expression darkened. There was no retreat.

He formed his hand into a fist, his entire body’s flesh contracting, and launched a powerful punch. He smiled, “It’s truly not easy for an ordinary Heavenly Emperor to reach this level of exaggerated combat power. In that case, let’s have a direct confrontation!”

In this world, cultivators typically did not train their physical bodies; they were fragile practitioners of talents and spells. What was there to fear in close combat?

Ancestral Witch True Body activated!

Martial Emperor Body activated!

Full Clan Physique activated!

Instantly, the physical toughness of all three systems reached a terrifying limit. For a Heavenly Emperor of equal size, he weighed a full 480,000 kilograms!

Ordinary Martial Emperors, by comparison, weighed only twenty to thirty thousand kilograms.

Although Xu Zhi’s main body did not cultivate martial arts and lacked energy—martial cultivation required immense energy to nourish the body—his ultra-small clone possessed abundant energy. It naturally cultivated both martial arts and even practiced every other system, paving the way for the main body's future cultivation and laying groundwork.

It could be said that, at the same size and realm, the clone's cultivation system was more complete, and its combat power was infinitely stronger than the main body's!

His three Heavenly Emperor clones were the ultimate Heavenly Emperor existences, embodying all systems, foundations, and secret arts gathered from the entire sand table world.

“Die!!!” Emperor Yun roared loudly, his eyes crimson. He resembled a peerless war god risen from death, his gaze burning with raging flames, his battle intent soaring.

The spear and fist collided.

The high temperature generated by the high-speed friction and collision resembled a scorching meteor, and the brilliant light instantly burst forth, like the explosion of a supernova.

Boom, boom, boom!!

Dense streams of light vaporized matter.

The expansion almost reduced the entire land to elementary particles. Violent matter particles drifted around the two figures, beautiful like twinkling stars.

Inside his body, the Heavenly Emperors immediately rejoiced.

“He fell for it.”

“We’re going to win!”

“This is the strongest combat talent—the Spear of Mana, which condenses all our divine abilities, a unique technique from various Heavenly Emperors, encompassing all mana-based moves from Buddhist, Daoist, and other cultivators, concentrated into a single point in the form of a spear for impact!”

“Focused power to shatter a broader defense! This is the concentrated power of over sixty individuals, truly twisted into a single rope, and three times stronger!”

“This spear cannot possibly be met head-on!”

The next second, Emperor Yun’s eyes widened. He, along with his spear, was sent flying backward by a single punch, crashing deep into the ground, a whistling sound filling his ears.

Emperor Yun’s mind was filled with disbelief.

“What a terrifying body! People in this era don't cultivate their physical bodies at all. Is this some ancient system for body cultivation? I've clearly stacked so many combat talents to amplify my strength, yet he met my attack with his body head-on!”

As Emperor Yun thought this, still lying deep in the ground, his body suddenly exploded.

“Space trickery!”

His arm silently vanished from its spot, as if a section had disappeared into thin air. Abruptly, a fist swung out from behind Xu Zhi.

Bang, bang, bang!

His left foot kicked towards Xu Zhi’s head, and his right foot aimed at Xu Zhi’s spine.

Attacks came from all directions.

“An ability of Emperor Feng?” Xu Zhi smiled slightly.

“It seems I need to get serious. Emperor Yun is really about to create a miracle; one misstep, and I might actually be defeated.” His expression grew calmer, and his body rapidly expanded, fully entering a terrifying combat form.

The Martial Dao Body, combined with the Ancestral Witch True Body, and the cells of the entire clan,

Each representing defense, recovery, and high-density mass. These three systems didn't just equal three; they equaled thirty!

This was a qualitative change, a mass collapse.

Hollow organs were removed, replaced by a solid, high-density clay body. The mass was compressed to a point comparable to a super white dwarf star.

Moreover, even after activating his true combat form, there was no explosion of flesh or muscle, unlike other steel-strong giants with three heads and six arms.

The delicate clay cells lacked muscular features; his body remained solidified, merely emitting a faint glow. Veins slowly extended across his form, which were the qi-liquid within him.

“Nuwa’s True Body, plus Pangu’s True Body?”

Xu Zhi lowered his head to feel it, seriously trying out his strength for the first time. “Add in the physique of a Martial Cultivator Heavenly Emperor, integrated into the mix—this is the ultimate form of the physical body lineage currently.”

The unification of all physical cultivation powers within the sand table.

He slowly extended a fist, as refined as a scholar’s.

A single point!

Emperor Yun was directly sent flying backward, his chest severely caved in, as if struck by a star.

He was like a piece of iron smashed against a fragile eggshell, shattering heavily and being reduced to mist.

“Monster!”

Emperor Yun took a deep breath and stood up.

He naturally knew that in close combat, greater mass held the advantage. Although his body also contained the mass of a group of miniaturized Heavenly Emperors, compressed using the 'Type Emperor' ability, it still couldn't compare.

In reality, Heavenly Emperors of this era did not practice physical cultivation; they were all frail Dao cultivators. Perhaps after cultivating their bodies, and then using 'Type Emperor' to shrink their forms, they could truly match Xu Zhi.

“I am immortal.”

He stared at the Lord of Reincarnation, this incredible ancient existence, a living super monster. “I am the convergence of various talents, an almost perfect ultimate being.”

The superposition of various talents made him virtually immune to physical and mental attacks, forming a cloud-like state, with all sorts of incredible passive abilities gathered within him.

“Kill!”

He stood up, raised his spear high, and furiously attacked.

Within his body, the ancient Great Emperors communicated among themselves, constantly integrating.

“What kind of monster is this?!”

“If immortals truly exist in this world, then this body must have been tempered over countless ages to become an immortal body.”

“A Heavenly Emperor-level attack simply can’t faze it.”

“A high-density body, seemingly without internal organs, a solid structure that is practically indestructible!”

“This body must be the strongest and most troublesome challenge. It’s completely impenetrable; any number of attacks are useless. No wonder the ancient heroes of every era were defeated, left only with bitter regret.”

“Then how do we deal with this??”

“We aren’t simply one plus one. Our combined combat power already surpasses an ordinary peak Heavenly Emperor by 117 times. This is like two Great Sagely Beings, each with fifty times the combat power, united.”

The Heavenly Emperors discussed frantically, watching the scene in astonishment.

Boom, boom, boom!

Xu Zhi advanced step by step.

He relentlessly bombarded Emperor Yun’s body with punches, while Emperor Yun met each blow with his spear, wielding his divine weapon like an unyielding war god descended to the world, constantly shattering and exploding, then reforming.

“It’s useless!”

“Emperor Yun’s cloud-mist body is completely impervious to physical punches and kicks!”

“And there’s Emperor Blade’s Thorned Retaliation talent; any damage dealt to him is partially reflected.”

“Not only is it ineffective, but he’ll also beat himself to death.”

They communicated.

But the very next second, their expressions drastically changed. They felt Emperor Yun’s power subtly weakening, actually being damaged by the punches.

Generally, it was impossible to be killed by punches, but when facing fists that reached extreme mass density, even their bodies began to perish.

“At this rate, could he be completely annihilated in just one day?” one Heavenly Emperor calculated.

“The Emperor’s body is too strong, eternally indestructible. It completely absorbed the reflected damage, feeling no pain or discomfort,” someone seemed to realize.

“How is this possible?! Emperor Yun has pure physical immunity, right? And the ‘Impact Absorption’ talent, which first absorbs 99% of the impact force, with only the remainder affecting his immune body! How is he still being—!?”

This was terrifying.

Without these two talents, Emperor Yun’s fragile magic-based body would have undoubtedly exploded instantly, without any other possibility!

They watched the Emperor outside, slowly and steadily swinging his fists, his expression calm. They felt a chill, and their understanding of 'monster' was redefined once more.

“We’ve used all sorts of our strongest talents, combined them to form a complementary synergy, yet we still can’t achieve true immortality.”

“We can’t drag this on any longer; we have to use our last trump card!”

The Heavenly Emperors communicated within his body. At that moment, a long-reserved Heavenly Emperor talent suddenly erupted.

Rumble!

“Shadow Body Burst!”

Emperor Yun’s shadow slowly emerged, then was consumed by Emperor Yun himself. The next second, his power suddenly surged twofold.

“Life Future!”

He roared violently.

This climactic, terrifying heaven-defying talent came from a Heavenly Emperor painstakingly cultivated to the low Heavenly Emperor rank. It possessed the dreadful ability to control time, yet ordinarily, it was too weak to be practical, as it required overdrawing vast amounts of life, even death, as a price.

“This is?”

The next moment, Xu Zhi intensely felt a sense of unease. An unknown ability spread and diffused within his body. Instinctively, he closed his eyes.

Suddenly, Xu Zhi’s time seemed to freeze.

Emperor Yun clearly knew that it wasn't the surroundings that had stopped in that instant, but rather the Lord of Reincarnation's entire perception of time and thought that had been subjected to a terrifying super-slowdown.

The Lord of Reincarnation’s time was almost stagnant!

A hundred times slower than normal time!

Boom!

“Lord of Reincarnation,” he raised his spear high, his gaze sharp. “Even as a Heavenly Emperor, your perception of time will be affected.”

“Die!”

Thud, thud, thud, thud!!

Frenzied attacks landed on the Lord of Reincarnation’s left eyelid.

With extreme precision, the spear tip repeatedly struck the same spot.

Amidst the furious bombardment, Emperor Yun’s face flushed, his eyes flashing with fierce light as the spear tip descended wildly. “The path to immortality in the future will be opened by me!!”

Inside Emperor Yun’s body, the Heavenly Emperors watched outside, roaring madly, their eyes wide.

“We won!”

“How crucial is every second in a battle between powerhouses? Inability to move means certain death!”

“It’s not just about slowing down perception of time; it also reduces body healing speed, and various other aspects…”

Thud, thud, thud!

The spear relentlessly struck.

Finally, a small dent seemed to appear on the eyelid, as tiny as a pore on a nose.

“Even the eyelid…” Emperor Yun’s expression changed.

His figure flashed.

Swish!

He instantly floated to the side, his ice-condensed spear furiously attacking the eardrum within the ear, aiming to pierce into the brain.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!!!

Under repeated bombardment, the eardrum suddenly developed tiny holes, like pinpricks.

Agh!!!

Emperor Yun furiously brandished his spear, becoming a blur, and roared towards the sky.

“Damn it!! Die already!!!!!”

The spear shook wildly, its terrifying overlapping waves like shockwaves. The mere aftershocks caused the entire Cloud Heaven Realm to tremble incessantly.

“Excellent! Unlike the impenetrable eyelid, his eardrum now has openings!” one almost-collapsing Heavenly Emperor shouted excitedly.

“The eardrum is enlarging! We have hope!!” an elderly white-haired man exclaimed, his eyes wide.

“That’s it!” Emperor Yun also roared excitedly, the blood vessels in his brain seeming about to burst, blood surging through his head. “This is it!! Pierce his head! If we keep this up, we have a chance to win!!”