Chapter 923: Chapter 645: Death of the Great Saint
The Dead Crow Great Saint hid way too well—neither the Dragon and Phoenix Dominator nor Lu Chenzhou sensed his presence.
In a flash of light, the burly bald man and Spirit Phoenix Dominator didn’t have time to help. That green light shattered Lu Chenzhou’s auto-protection artifacts—the Purple Thunder Armor and Mystic Sky Shield—with ease, piercing into his body like breaking dry weeds.
"What was that just now? Land Army Master, are you alright?" The bald giant hefted his giant axe, eyes on Lu Chenzhou, ready to act at any moment.
Spirit Phoenix Dominator remembered the giant bird corpse; her brows quivered as she held back the bald giant for now.
"Don’t act hastily. I guess it’s probably a residual soul of some demon race Great Saint that died here, trying to seize Land Army Master’s body to resurrect."
"How many years has this guy been dead and he’s still barely hanging on—this Great Saint is way too strong."
The bald giant shivered in shock.
Thank goodness this Great Saint went after Lu Chenzhou. If he’d tried to seize him instead, he might not have been able to stop it either. The dragon clan’s flesh is powerful, but the spiritual cultivation is lacking.
"Shit, Mystic Sky Alliance just got founded and Alliance Hierarch Lu’s already in deep trouble. Spirit Phoenix, you’re the smart one. Hurry up and think of a way—save the hierarch!"
The bald giant urged anxiously.
He had only decided to fall out with the divine race because he saw Lu Chenzhou’s potential to become a great power in a short time.
You could say the reason Mystic Sky Alliance exists at all is because the strong from the Three Thousand Realms invested in this unicorn stock. Without Lu Chenzhou, the unity falls apart.
"Don’t panic. I have a bloodline divine ability that can temporarily boost the hierarch’s spiritual power to First Step level. You protect me while I cast it."
Spirit Phoenix Dominator’s expression was grave. Although she felt Lu Chenzhou had the strength to resist some random Great Saint’s residual soul, as Vice Alliance Hierarch, it obviously wasn’t right to stand by while the hierarch was in danger.
...
Strange laughter echoed in the void.
A figure wreathed in death qi, with black feathers sprouting from his back, appeared. His pale face and black lips twisted into a sly smile.
Lu Chenzhou stared at the unfamiliar soul invading his spiritual world, certain he’d never seen this person before.
"Trying to seize my body?"
He spoke calmly.
"No shit—don’t make me do it the hard way. This seat is a Peak Great Saint with one foot into demigod, using your body is a blessing for you."
The Dead Crow Great Saint sneered.
"Imagine, after the Boundary Tower’s been shut for endless years, something still manages to linger on. You’re a dignified Peak Great Saint yet you don’t go for the bodies of Dragon and Phoenix powerhouses, and instead come for little old Seventh Realm me. Gotta be that you’re super weak right now, huh?"
Lu Chenzhou chuckled lightly.
The Dead Crow Great Saint’s expression shifted. This Seventh Realm’s attitude was way too chill, making him tense up subconsciously.
"Did I just pick a tough nut?"
The man’s screech rose suddenly, crows flying overhead as a dim yellow river seemed to surge from the Nine Netherworld, billowing toward Lu Chenzhou ahead.
"Such exquisite death dao attainment."
Lu Chenzhou marveled, but with a wave of his hand, thunder boomed across his spiritual world, and ten thousand fathoms of golden light surged from the starry sky, like a Great Sun ascending.
The brilliant golden light formed an indestructible spiritual barrier, blocking the crows outside. Sensing the other’s soul and its unfathomable, lofty intent, the Dead Crow Great Saint’s face twisted: "How—how’s this possible? Your spiritual realm is close to a Great Power?"
So it turns out, the one with the lowest cultivation actually has the strongest heart realm. The Dead Crow Great Saint was completely dumbfounded.
If he’d known this, he would’ve tried to seize that Second Step dragon clan instead. But now the bow was drawn and there was no turning back. He could only grit his teeth and try to shatter Lu Chenzhou’s spiritual barrier. After all, he’d nearly reached demigod in his heyday—even if now he was less than a tenth of his former strength, he couldn’t be underestimated.
Rumble!
Burning his soul’s origin, the Dead Crow Great Saint suddenly tore the spiritual barrier open by brute force.
"Let’s see what tricks you have left!"
He howled and charged, but saw the white-robed man didn’t dodge—he simply smiled, raised a hand, and a terrifying giant beast phantom appeared out of the wandering wilderness, like an enraged bull, charging straight at the Dead Crow Great Saint and wrestling with him.
It was the remnant will of the Ice Qilin.
Lu Chenzhou had trapped it in his spiritual wilderness all along, precisely as a shield against strong enemies trying to seize him.
After his battle with that Heavenly Gu Daoist, Lu Chenzhou had refined his spiritual defenses to the extreme.
"True spirit will? What’s up with this guy’s spiritual world? A mere Seventh Realm can actually trap a remnant trace of true spirit will?"
Just who the hell is this guy?
The Dead Crow Great Saint felt like a cold, jumbled wind in his heart.
Since when were Seventh Realm guys this freaky?
He’d slaughtered many dazzling Seventh Realms in ancient times, but compared to this one, they were nothing.
After another brutal struggle, the Dead Crow Great Saint finally overcame the Ice Qilin’s remnant, but his spiritual body was growing faint, his aura faded from its earlier peak. Sizing up this young man, he hatched an idea.
"Hold on! Little friend, how about we make a deal? I was the confidant of a demigod in ancient times. That demigod is dead and left his demigod artifact in the tower. Help me seize that dragon clan body outside, and I’ll help you get the demigod artifact."
The Dead Crow Great Saint flashed a kind smile.
"Demigod Artifact?"
Unmoved, Lu Chenzhou’s hand lifted and a world-shrouding giant palm appeared, rivers and mountains swirling at his fingertips, constellations spinning on the back of his hand.
On the vast earth, who is master of rise and fall!
He’d already cultivated Great Wilderness Prison Demon Curse to near Great Success—the power was downright apocalyptic. After two rounds of attrition, the Dead Crow Great Saint’s spiritual body could barely show Second Step strength. With a thundering palm, he shattered the soul, scattering it into countless black crows that scurried in all directions through Lu Chenzhou’s spiritual world.
"A demigod artifact! If you get it, you’ll stand atop all living things. Think it over."
He fled in disgrace.
One giant sky-prison palm after another continued to slam down.
Boom! Boom! Boom! After eighteen such slams, Lu Chenzhou’s spiritual power was somewhat drained.
But finally, he’d slapped this uninvited guest’s soul to bits. Only unwilling, resentful echoes rang through the space.
"Y-You... Whose ancient monster are you reincarnated as?"
A torrent of Soul Dao Essence, leagues stronger than anyone like the Black Mountain Demon Saint or Achilles, flooded into Lu Chenzhou’s mind, cramming it fit to burst. Lu Chenzhou saw a hazy, boundless world: endless and vast, a supreme yellow river crossed through it, spanning endless dimensions from the void itself.
It was like the fabled Yellow Springs.
"Such pure Death Dao Essence."
Lu Chenzhou let out a satisfied moan, as his Martial Arts Tree frenziedly sprouted under the power’s nourishment, like wild grass on steroids.
Every surge was a million zhang tall.
By the end, it shot up by twenty million zhang.
Total height: eighty-eight million zhang.
"That’s way too awesome. And this was just a weakened residual soul—if it’d been a complete Great Saint soul, the boost would have been even bigger." Lu Chenzhou sighed in awe.
He’d already fused the Daos of Life, Death, Chaos, Order, Reincarnation and more into the Supreme Withering and Flourishing Dao, so his gains this time were immense.
It bumped him up half a progress bar.
[Withering and Flourishing Dao: Sixth Rank (81%)]
In an instant, countless insights about death flooded Lu Chenzhou’s mind. Vaguely, he felt his lifespan had grown compared to before.
"If I could truly penetrate the secrets of life and death, lifespan would be a meaningless number. In practical terms, immortality isn’t hard—among the stars, demigods who master the Death Dao can all do it. They hold special rituals to transform their bodies into so-called ’Witch Demon Bodies,’ multiplying their lifespans by ten."
These were things Lu Chenzhou learned from digesting the memory shards of this Great Saint called Ya Si. This Great Saint had been a follower of the Death Claw, serving alongside the deities in command of death authority among the countless gods of the stars.
The God of Death.
A secretive and mighty being, fond of lurking behind the scenes to manipulate the life and death of countless beings.
Their dominion wasn’t just death, but also plagues, disease, famine, apocalypse, and their branches.
"The Death Claw and the Boundary Tower’s master battled for ten years on the third layer, perishing together. Looks like the third layer’s pretty dangerous—even if said to be a specialist in death, it’s likely not all dead yet."
The Martial Arts Tree kept sending notifications.
[You have comprehended the Secret Technique: Death Wail]
[You have comprehended the Secret Technique: Crow Feast]
...
[You have comprehended the Divine Power·Scythe of Death]
[Name: Scythe of Death (Death)]
[Quality: Lower Grade·Twenty-seven Patterns]
[Description: When the enemy is in a severely injured state and you use this divine skill, it will trigger a trace of supreme Death Dao rules, launching a rule-based attack against the enemy with a chance of instant kill, ignoring all physical and spiritual defenses, as well as any substitute death secret techniques. Using this divine skill will cause Dao backlash; it cannot be used repeatedly in a short time. The success rate of this skill correlates directly to Death Dao comprehension. It only works on creatures below demigod level.]
"What the hell, this is OP as fuck! If that Great Saint had a physical body and could use this, the three of us would’ve probably died here."
Lu Chenzhou couldn’t be sure even an Undying Body could survive this hit—because this is a bug-level Death Dao strike. Even though it’s just a trace, it’s nearly a demigod’s move. No way he’s taking that gamble.
This is a conceptual rule-grade ability.
It reminded Lu Chenzhou of the last time he faced You Tong Demon Venerable—when the opponent used a curse that also felt like a rule-based ability. If the world’s fate hadn’t blocked it for him, one misstep would’ve meant certain death.
"Better safe than sorry."
Lu Chenzhou opened his eyes to find the Spirit Phoenix Dominator muttering incantations, seemingly casting some divine skill.
Wisps of green light drifted down onto his head.
And it made his spirit feel extra cozy.
The bald giant saw Lu Chenzhou wake up, and without a word, swung a giant axe at him—but stopped it just three inches above his head, grinning awkwardly:
"You’re the real Alliance Hierarch, sorry about that. If you were a fake, you’d have instinctively counterattacked at my provocation. The real Hierarch wouldn’t, ’cause we’ve got Dao oaths—killing each other isn’t on the table."
"Hierarch, you alright?" Spirit Phoenix Dominator sized Lu Chenzhou up with her bright eyes. She couldn’t tell if it was her imagination, but the hierarch seemed even stronger than before.
Just in that short time—
Did he really break through again?
Lu Chenzhou grinned:
"I’m fine. A Great Saint’s residual soul tried to seize me, but I killed him instead. Got some insights from the battle, so my strength improved a little bit."
More than just a little bit.
As long as he could get these two into a severely injured state, he could use Scythe of Death for an instant kill.
Straight-up unreasonable.
And in the future, if any half-dead old monsters try to come out of hiding, now he’s got this move up his sleeve.
Screw odds or logic.
Just insta-kill ’em.