Chapter 1033: Self-Explosion

The entire scene fell silent. No one had expected Lord Si Chen, who commanded a nascent Dao Fruit of Time, to be defeated so effortlessly by the mysterious immortal, like autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves. The once arrogant Lord Si Chen didn't even have a chance to retaliate, a stark contrast to his formidable demeanor just moments before.

Lu Yang held the Azure Edge Sword in his left hand and the Heaven-Opening Axe in his right, wielding two formidable immortal weapons of destruction. His killing intent surged heavenward. Lord Si Chen definitely needed to be brought back, but doing so alive would be troublesome. It would be simpler to kill him directly; his body could be placed in the Azure Edge Sword's pocket dimension, and his soul locked in a mental space, delaying nothing.

Just as Lu Yang was about to act, a magnificent divine rune appeared on Lord Si Chen's forehead. The rune transformed, manifesting into an emperor who commanded the heavens.

"It's wise to leave a line of retreat. Why must you press so hard, esteemed one?" the emperor's figure spoke. "Perhaps for my sake, spare Si Chen's life. I apologize on his behalf for any wrongs he has committed."

"The Central Heavenly Emperor?" Lu Yang's eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed the Central Heavenly Emperor had left a contingency on Lord Si Chen; if he encountered danger, the Emperor's incense avatar would intervene.

"Is that the legendary Central Heavenly Emperor?" The crowd outside Xitian City stirred, astonished that even the Central Heavenly Emperor had made a move.

"Just an avatar, and it presumes to apologize on his behalf?" Lu Yang retorted.

Seeing Lu Yang showed him no respect, the Central Heavenly Emperor dropped all pretense and adopted a firm attitude. "Just now, you said you acted despite the immense karma. Presumably, you are entangled in karma, and rashly attacking would incur karmic retribution. Under such circumstances, do you truly believe you can decisively defeat my avatar?"

Lu Yang's gaze turned icy, looking at the Central Heavenly Emperor's avatar as if it were a corpse. "I have commanded the winds and clouds for tens of thousands of years," he declared, "and no one has ever dared to threaten me!"

"Then let us fight!" the avatar declared.

"Fight!" Lu Yang responded.

The Central Heavenly Emperor's avatar merged with Lord Si Chen and devoured the nascent Dao Fruit of Time. The Emperor's avatar leaped, soaring into the sky. "Whale Swallows Heaven and Earth!"

In an instant, the heavens and earth changed color. The spiritual energy above Xitian City was completely devoured, yet this was only the beginning. This technique could devour everything; even Xitian City itself was to be consumed.

"Let's see how big your appetite is then!" Lu Yang countered. "Buddha Kingdom in the Palm!"

Two enormous hands, capable of grasping the sun, moon, and stars, appeared, imbued with the Dao of universal space. With one hand in the sky and the other on the ground, the Central Heavenly Emperor's avatar was caught between them! The palms were so immense they surpassed the nascent Dao Fruit of Devour's swallowing limit!

*Boom!*

The hands clapped together as if countless stars were colliding, and the resulting shockwave blew away distant mountains! In the realm of immortals, mountains were no different from pebbles!

Grandmaster Ming Yu, seeing the dire situation, manifested the Immovable Wisdom King Dharmakaya to protect the crowd. The more people he needed to protect and the stronger the enemy, the more powerful his Immovable Wisdom King Dharmakaya became. However, this strength had its limits; his Dharmakaya was not yet strong enough to reach the immortal level!

"Myriad Swords Return to Origin!" Lu Yang declared.

"Emperor's Fist!" the avatar countered.

The Emperor's avatar unleashed his unique, supreme Emperor's Fist. It was as fierce as thunder and as swift as lightning, colliding with the Azure Edge Sword. Golden runes filled the sky, and sword qi blazed brightly, making it impossible to open one's eyes or discern who held the upper hand.

"Devour, go!"

The Emperor's avatar conjured more than a dozen devouring black holes in quick succession, tearing at space, distorting and deforming it in a truly bizarre manner. A Tribulation Transcendence cultivator would be completely devoured, leaving not a trace, if they touched even one of these black holes. Even with his immortal body, Lu Yang wouldn't dare to rashly touch them!

"Let's see how you'll deal with this!"

However, to the Emperor's avatar's surprise, Lu Yang's offensive momentum remained undiminished. He was fierce, dominant, and relentlessly pushed forward, showing no fear of the devouring black holes. The moment a devouring black hole touched Lu Yang, it vanished, and Lu Yang remained completely unharmed!

"How is this possible?"

Even an immortal body forged from incense should undergo a process where the body is devoured by a black hole, then replenished by incense!

"But what does that matter?" the avatar scoffed. "Can you even hit me?"

Now, the Emperor's avatar possessed the nascent Dao Fruit of Time, allowing him to foresee the future. Though Lu Yang's sword was swift and ruthless, once its trajectory was predicted, it posed no threat! This was precisely the most challenging aspect of time-based Dao Fruits: once the future was foreseen, many attacks became ineffective!

"Oh no, it seems the Central Heavenly Emperor is gaining the upper hand!" Grandmaster Ming Huai cried out anxiously, having noticed that several of Lu Yang's cunning attacks had been dodged by the Emperor's avatar.

"Three Heads, Six Arms!""Emperor's Fist!""Primordial One Qi!""Grand Unity Divine Thunder!"

The Emperor's avatar pressed his advantage, utilizing his three heads and six arms to unleash three different types of attacks simultaneously. He refused to believe Lu Yang could emerge unscathed! Each of these three techniques, taken individually, was a killer move. Each strike could shatter the heavens and earth and reshape the cosmos, and when all three were unleashed at once, their power was unimaginable! Even Grandmasters Ming Yu and Ming Huai, powerful cultivators unfamiliar with such techniques, felt a heart-stopping power emanating from the Emperor's avatar and sensed an impending catastrophe!

The Emperor's avatar laughed wildly. "I'd like to see what else you have up your sleeve..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Lu Yang withdraw his sword and sigh. "I really didn't want to use this move," Lu Yang said.

The Emperor's avatar didn't grasp the meaning of Lu Yang's words when a flash of light appeared before his eyes.

An immortal's self-detonation?!

The Emperor's avatar's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

*Boom—*

A terrifying explosion erupted above Xitian Temple, reducing it to ruins in an instant. The Emperor's avatar stumbled out of the explosion, covered in wounds. This was the first time he had encountered such a reckless fighting style, but fortunately, his superior skill allowed him to survive the self-detonation.

"Haha, what if you self-detonate?" he laughed, "Ultimately, victory is mine..."

Then he saw Lu Yang also emerge from the explosion, completely unharmed. Lu Yang gave the Emperor's avatar a slight smile.

*Boom, boom, boom—*

The Emperor's avatar didn't understand what was happening when he was hit by one self-detonation after another, dying instantly. He might have miraculously survived one self-detonation, but he couldn't survive repeated self-detonations.

"Tsk, his body is all blown up. What a pity," Lu Yang muttered as he checked for spoils. He found that Lord Si Chen's physical body had turned to dust, leaving only his soul.

"Still, it's a gain," Lu Yang said, contentedly storing Lord Si Chen's soul in his mental space. "Come to think of it, this self-detonation is really effective," Lu Yang said, smacking his lips. The Emperor's avatar's flashy attacks indeed couldn't compare to self-detonation.

"Did we win?" Grandmaster Ming Huai asked uncertainly. The sudden consecutive self-detonations had terrified him, and he couldn't fathom the power at the center of those explosions.

"It seems we won," Grandmaster Ming Yu wasn't entirely certain either, as this battle had exceeded his comprehension.

Grandmaster Ming Yu bravely flew into the sky, placing his hands together in a gesture of respect and thanking the unknown immortal. "Thank you, Immortal Venerable, for your assistance."

"This Venerable One has some connection with your Buddhist sect," Lu Yang replied. "It was merely a small effort."

Suddenly, Lu Yang felt a warmth in his embrace. He took out three Immortal Seeker Tokens and discovered that the token inscribed with the words "Years" was glowing hot!