"Crack—"
The two were locked in a stalemate for an hour when Yang Hong's last fire phoenix disappeared.
"Hahahaha—Kid, you're dead for sure now!"
Seeing his final fire phoenix finally shredded, Ancestor Qingyun burst into laughter.
Yang Hong said nothing, merely forming a strange hand seal. Sweat dripped from his forehead.
"Kid, your profound mana is the most I've ever seen in my life, not inferior to an ordinary cultivator at the ninth stage of Mahayana realm.
But a gap in cultivation cannot be bridged by sheer mana."
"Nascent Soul is still Nascent Soul, the weak are always weak!"
"Die!"
*Roar—*
An endless torrent of berserk sword qi charged towards Yang Hong like a roaring dragon.
Ancestor Qingyun's Sword Domain rapidly contracted. Within a hundred zhang radius centered on Yang Hong, subtle spatial rifts appeared and vanished.
Ancestor Qingyun's Sword Domain had reached its apex, capable of shattering space!
As countless tiny spatial rifts were about to swallow Yang Hong.
"Heh heh—Who says profound mana cannot bridge the gap in cultivation?"
At that moment, Yang Hong looked up and smiled.
He maintained the seal with great effort, pushing it towards the sky.
"Rebirth through Fire!"
As the seal unfolded, a warm and spring-like Dao charm spread out, directly dispelling the sharp, blade-like sword intent around him.
"Lii~~"
A long and joyful phoenix cry echoed. A colossal fire phoenix, eighteen zhang in size, slowly rose from Yang Hong's body and soared into the sky.
"You still have the energy to cast a spell!"
Ancestor Qingyun was startled, and then sweat began to trickle down his forehead.
His mana was insufficient. Even with constant consumption of elixirs, it couldn't keep up with the enormous expenditure!
Yang Hong's smile grew even brighter.
"Heh heh—You know nothing of my mana.
Furthermore, have you forgotten where we are?"
"What?"
"Li~~"
A phoenix cry was the only response to Ancestor Qingyun's question.
Then, under his astonished gaze, the colossal fire phoenix ascended to its highest point and directly broke through Ancestor Qingyun's Sword Domain.
"What! How is this possible? Your spell is at most a seventh-tier secret technique!
How could it break through my domain?
My domain's accumulated power far surpasses that of an ordinary ninth-tier secret technique!"
Ancestor Qingyun was truly panicked now. Yang Hong's strength was beyond his wildest imagination!
And he hadn't held back at all from the beginning!
"Good luck to you."
Yang Hong watched the fire phoenix hanging upside down from the sky, a triumphant smile gracing his lips.
"What do you mean?"
"Lii~~"
Yang Hong no longer answered. Breaking through the Sword Domain, the fire phoenix, now only three zhang in size, flew back to Yang Hong's side, curled into a ball, and enveloped the similarly curled-up Yang Hong.
"You... are you surrendering?"
Ancestor Qingyun asked uncertainly.
His face then turned deathly pale!
"Damn it! This is the Five Directions Domain! The unsealed Five Directions Domain!"
Instantly, Ancestor Qingyun's body flashed with sword light, and he vanished from his spot.
"Crack—"
With a sound like a bursting bubble, Ancestor Qingyun's Sword Domain dissipated.
To cast a domain in a spiritual-suppressed region came at a great cost.
Not only did the caster have to provide all the spiritual energy and mana, but they also had to withstand the pressure of an entire realm.
Once the domain was broken, the caster would inevitably suffer a massive backlash.
Although Ancestor Qingyun could replenish his mana by constantly consuming elixirs, the backlash had to be borne entirely by him.
"Ah~~"
Three miles away, Ancestor Qingyun screamed and fell from the sky.
"Fire Phoenix—Swift!"
Yang Hong, who had been tracking Ancestor Qingyun with his divine sense, stood up. With a mental command, the fire phoenix on his body immediately flew out towards Ancestor Qingyun.
"Boom—Rumble—"
Before the fire phoenix reached the ground, it struck Ancestor Qingyun and exploded.
Ancestor Qingyun, still reeling from the domain backlash, was blasted skyward once more.
Teleportation!
Yang Hong still had more than half his mana. A short-range teleport was effortless.
In an instant, he appeared beside Ancestor Qingyun and brought his fist down heavily towards the latter's head.
"A serious punch."
"Crack—"
Ancestor Qingyun's head immediately exploded like a watermelon!
However, Ancestor Qingyun did not die completely.
"Kid! You wait for me! This Ancestor will not let you go!"
A Nascent Soul, just over three feet tall, flew out from the shattered head, uttered a threat, and prepared to escape.
Brilliant azure light erupted from the Nascent Soul.
"Can you escape?"
Yang Hong sneered, floated to the Nascent Soul's side, and extended his right hand.
Ancestor Qingyun's Nascent Soul flickered and vanished.
"Heh heh—The confinement ability of my scale space can trap even a seventh-tier True Dragon at full strength. Do you, a Nascent Soul with almost depleted mana, still wish to run?"
As Ancestor Qingyun activated his escape technique, Yang Hong merely channeled a trace of the spatial power from his scale space.
He guided the direction of Ancestor Qingyun's escape directly into the scale space,
making him fall right into the trap!
Then, Yang Hong's divine sense entered the scale space and retrieved Li Lizhi and all the spirit plants within.
He did not believe Ancestor Qingyun's scale space would remain honest today.
"As expected of a Cave Heaven artifact, truly heaven-sent!"
Upon entering the scale space, Ancestor Qingyun paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.
He seemed not worried at all.
"Demonic Desire for the World!"
While Yang Hong was urgently moving the spirit plants, Ancestor Qingyun directly shattered his Nascent Soul, turning into pink specks of light that scattered throughout the space.
"Hmm—This is to corrode my scale space and seize control of it."
Yang Hong quickly felt a will attempting to strip him of control over the scale space. Although it was very slow, it was undeniable.
He probed his divine sense into the scale space and sneered.
"Heh heh—If it were an ordinary Cave Heaven artifact, you might have succeeded.
But, you've thought too much again."
Then, the devouring power of the scale space activated.
Countless pink specks of light were swallowed by endless darkness.
"No! What kind of monster are you? How could this happen?"
With his last words, Ancestor Qingyun's soul scattered and vanished from this world.
"You don't need to know."
Yang Hong said calmly. The devouring in the scale space automatically stopped, as there was no power within that did not belong to the space.
"Husband, is Ancestor Qingyun dead?"
Li Lizhi looked at the headless corpse not far away and asked with surprise.
"Dead, thoroughly dead."
"Phew—That's good then."
Li Lizhi let out a sigh of relief. She had been incredibly nervous in the scale space, feeling like each second was an eternity.
Only now, hearing that Ancestor Qingyun was dead, did she finally relax.
This was her obsession and her nightmare from two lifetimes.
If Ancestor Qingyun lived, she would never be able to eat or sleep peacefully.
"If we were somewhere else, I would surely be the one dead."
Yang Hong spoke the truth, took Ancestor Qingyun's corpse into his hand, and began to collect the spoils of war.
"Whoa, this old guy is truly wealthy. Seven eighth-grade magic artifacts, over a hundred seventh-grade ones, elixirs, formation plates, and even over a hundred million spirit stones."
Yang Hong was shocked by Ancestor Qingyun's wealth.
He had never seen a cultivator as rich as Ancestor Qingyun in his life, not even the dragon race, known for hoarding treasures, was as affluent!
After stowing away the treasures, Yang Hong "kindly" buried Ancestor Qingyun along with the scale space.
Buried in nothingness!
Utterly scattered souls.
"Husband, I think we've gotten into trouble."
Just as Yang Hong was about to call Li Lizhi home, Li Lizhi anxiously handed him a jade slip.