437: Battle of Demigods

At this moment, Xiao Shi's cultivation base surged past the limits of the Dao Lord Realm!

The wall of barriers that had stood in his way shattered completely, exploding into countless fragments!

And in the instant of its explosion,

Xiao Shi's mind went blank, devoid of thought or deliberation... there was only a detached calmness, as if he were an outsider.

He saw that the surrounding world had plunged into darkness, with only a bright light ahead. This light grew brighter and brighter, as if to envelop him.

When this light completely permeated and covered him,

although the world before Xiao Shi remained dark, countless specks of light appeared. These specks of light converged and intertwined, forming thick lines, one after another.

These were precisely... the Laws of the World!

Many of the black lines were constantly approaching Xiao Shi, as if to merge with his body!

Time, at this moment, seemed to stretch out.

In reality, as the invisible barrier blocking Xiao Shi collapsed,

an earth-shattering fluctuation erupted from his location, soaring into the sky with resounding roars!

Under the immense roar,

an incredibly massive vortex appeared both inside and outside Xiao Shi's location, connecting to the sky and stirring the surroundings. While the entire world underwent drastic changes, all the Demigods on the Tianwu Continent also changed their expressions and abruptly looked towards the sky.

Even Demigod Xing Kui and Demigod Mu Wen, who were extremely far from Xiao Shi, noticed this sudden anomaly as their expressions shifted.

“This fluctuation...”

“This aura...”

“The Laws of the World are changing! New Laws of the World are being born!!”

“Someone is attempting to break through to the Dao Lord Realm and ascend to Demigod!!”

The expressions of the two Demigod Heavenly Kings changed drastically.

In their vision, the World Net, representing the Laws of the World, appeared.

They clearly saw that the structure of the entire complete World Net was changing.

Some of the lines within it turned ink-black. This structural change made them realize that the original Laws of the World had been erased, and new Laws of the World were being born in their place.

Their initial reaction was

to assume that after Demigod Yao Xi's Time Law was erased, someone was using Demigod Yao Xi's Time Law to ascend to Demigod.

After all, not long ago,

Demigod Yao Xi had just fallen.

Now that someone was ascending to Demigod, it was naturally by using Demigod Yao Xi's Laws of the World.

However, upon closer inspection,

they discovered that Heavenly King Yao Xi's Time Law was still intact, without any changes.

What had been erased... was precisely the Laws of the World of the long-lost Prince, Yan Huagu!

This caused a strong shock in the hearts of both Demigod Xing Kui and Demigod Mu Wen.

They didn't know much about this long-lost Prince.

They only knew that although this Prince had been missing for many years, he was most likely still alive.

After all, his Laws of the World had always existed on the Tianwu Continent and had not dissipated.

However, for so many years, he had not appeared on the Tianwu Continent, and no one could find this Prince.

Yet now, this Prince's Laws of the World had been erased, and someone was ascending to Demigod through this Prince's Laws of the World!

This filled the hearts of the two Demigod Heavenly Kings with immense curiosity and doubt.

They really wanted to know... who was this person now ascending to Demigod using the Prince's Laws of the World!

For some reason,

they both immediately thought of the Fifth Domain's overseer, feeling that among those on the Tianwu Continent who could break through to the Dao Lord Realm and achieve Demigod, he seemed to be the only one.

However, as soon as this thought arose, it struck them as incredibly absurd.

This person had only recently become a Dao Lord... how could he become a Demigod so quickly!?

But besides him, who else among the Dao Lords on the current Tianwu Continent had the ability to ascend to Demigod?

This filled the hearts of the two Demigod Heavenly Kings with contradiction and complexity.

At the same time, the birth of this Demigod also made their hearts vigilant.

They realized that the Tianwu Continent was likely to face a huge upheaval!

...At this time, in addition to the two Demigod Heavenly Kings sensing Xiao Shi's breakthrough,

the Black Robed Man, who was rushing towards Xiao Shi's location at an extremely fast speed, also sensed Xiao Shi's breakthrough.

He not only clearly sensed it,

but as he drew closer,

he even saw the massive vortex that appeared in the sky due to Xiao Shi's breakthrough!

At this moment, the entire vortex was slowly rotating amidst a tremendous roar, and the resulting changes in the world continuously spread Xiao Shi's breakthrough aura further and further.

This made the Black Robed Man, who was looking at the vortex and feeling the constantly rising aura within it, his face grim, and his fists clenched involuntarily.

“Yan Huagu... indeed gave him the Laws of the World!!”

Although he had anticipated it earlier,

when he felt Xiao Shi ascending to Demigod using Yan Huagu's Laws of the World, an urgent feeling inevitably arose in his heart.

Originally, according to his initial plan,

he would not have acted so quickly.

The reason he accelerated his actions was because Xiao Shi's speed in ascending to the Dao Lord Realm was too fast, making him feel threatened.

However, even though he had acted earlier,

Xiao Shi still ascended to Demigod within such a short period of time!

This made the Black Robed Man clench his fists even harder.

But soon,

his clenched fists relaxed.

Since he had now locked onto the opponent's location,

he only needed to go and kill him, and take the Laws of the World. The outcome would still not change.

Even if Xiao Shi had now ascended to Demigod,

in the Black Robed Man's eyes, he was merely a newly ascended Demigod.

He had no fear of such a Demigod.

He was fully confident that he could eliminate him.

Thinking of this,

the Black Robed Man's speed accelerated again.

He whistled towards Xiao Shi's location at an even faster speed... Just as Demigod Xing Kui and Demigod Mu Wen were shocked,

and the Black Robed Man was rushing towards Xiao Shi's location,

suddenly,

the entire vortex connected to the sky, at this moment, emitted an even grander roaring sound, and its scope suddenly expanded by a hundredfold!

Amidst the roars, almost half of the sky transformed into a vortex, with countless lightning bolts streaking through it, and innumerable heavenly thunders continuously exploding!

Xiao Shi's breakthrough aura fluctuations, as the vortex spread, directly permeated throughout the Tianwu Continent.

This incredibly immense commotion not only alerted the Demigods on the Tianwu Continent,

but even martial artists of other cultivation levels also sensed the abnormality of the entire world.

At the same time, beneath the massive vortex, at the center of all these fluctuating auras, Xiao Shi, who was sitting cross-legged, now trembled.

In his world, amidst the endless darkness, numerous black lines were continuously merging with his body.

The ascent from Dao Lord to Demigod involved two steps.

The first step was the invisible barrier encountered earlier.

This barrier was like a chasm, blocking all Dao Lords without sufficient aptitude and conditions.

Furthermore, each failed attempt to breach the barrier would cause foundational damage, and once a certain number of attempts were exceeded, all hope would be lost forever.

The second step,

was the integration of the Laws of the World.

This step seemed easy, but in reality, it was not simple.

This integration of the Laws of the World not only merged with the body but also with all the cultivation techniques, abilities, and ultimate moves Xiao Shi had mastered throughout his life.

Depending on the cultivation technique, the degree of integration would vary.

And if any cultivation technique or ability failed to successfully integrate with the Laws of the World, then everything would be in vain, a complete failure.

At this moment, Xiao Shi had already begun the integration.

He could clearly feel that,

amidst the continuous integration, the star representing the Dao of Slaughter within his Dao River was gradually dissipating.

When the star representing the entire Dao of Slaughter completely dissipated,

suddenly,

a low roar from Xiao Shi, mixed with a dragon's roar, erupted from the massive vortex.

It directly blasted towards the sky, stirring the clouds and wind.

An enormous black dragon, following the vortex, shot into the sky and merged into the Laws of the World.

The vortex in the sky, under this immense roar, erupted with an unimaginable speed!

As it continuously spread, the sky seemed to be torn open, directly covering the entire Tianwu Continent!

At this moment,

everyone on the Tianwu Continent, no matter what they were doing, involuntarily felt their hearts tremble, as if a pressure that made them shiver from their very souls descended upon them with the spreading vortex.

This caused the expressions of Demigod Xing Kui and Demigod Mu Wen to change.

They had not expected the other party's breakthrough to Demigod to cause such a massive commotion!

It far exceeded the scene when they themselves had ascended to Demigod.

They knew deeply... that usually, the greater the commotion,

the higher the recognition from the world.

And with the current phenomenon, it clearly indicated that Xiao Shi's Laws of the World received extremely high recognition!

This made the hearts of the two Demigod Heavenly Kings grow solemn.

Although they still couldn't determine whether the person ascending to Demigod this time was indeed the Fifth Domain's overseer,

the current scene alone showed... that this person was definitely a formidable enemy!

On the other side, the Black Robed Man, who was rushing towards Xiao Shi at an extremely fast speed, also felt his heart grow a few points heavier after seeing this scene.

The killing intent in his eyes also intensified.

Soon,

he arrived at the Altar of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

He saw that it was a desolate mountainous area.

The surroundings were empty, with nothing there.

However, the Black Robed Man's gaze was fixed on the void ahead.

His eyes darkened slightly.

“So he's been hiding here all this time!”

The Black Robed Man waved his hand.

The void before him immediately rippled like water, revealing a sealed entrance.

The Black Robed Man spread his hand, aiming his palm at this sealed entrance.

“Open!”

With a low roar,

a dark brown power instantly spewed from his palm.

It heavily struck the entire sealed entrance.

This caused the entrance before him to emit a grinding, teeth-aching creaking sound as it gradually opened.

However, the Black Robed Man frowned at this.

He had originally thought that with his own strength,

he should have been able to open this entrance instantly... but he found that even with his Demigod power, he could only make the entrance open slowly.

To open it completely would clearly require some time.

The Black Robed Man could only try his best to speed up the opening... Xiao Shi's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened.

The moment he opened his eyes,

the entire terrifying, massive vortex immediately converged, directly merging into his body.

“Finally... I broke through!”

Xiao Shi raised his right hand and waved.

Immediately, his whole body shone with light, and he felt as if he had become a part of the Laws.

A majestic cultivation power, far beyond what a Dao Lord could possess, erupted from within him.

The roar was like a storm, his hair moved without wind, and an unprecedented sense of power continuously rose in his heart.

The transformation from Dao Lord to Demigod

made him feel as if he had been reborn.

At the same time, on his glabella, countless black threads converged to form a complex and profound mark.

This was his... Mark of Slaughter!

The Law he had formed this time was precisely the Law of Slaughter!

This pervasive sense of power made Xiao Shi feel that if he were to fight Demigod Xing Kui now, even against the entire starry sky that Demigod Xing Kui had manifested back then,

he could easily break through it!

At the same time, he finally understood why there was such an astonishing gap between a Dao Lord and a Demigod.

When everything about him merged with the Laws of the World,

all his attacks would carry the power of the Laws!

To contend with him... to a certain extent,

was like contending with the Laws of this world!

When Xiao Shi successfully broke through to Demigod, he immediately sensed that a Black Robed Man outside was trying to open the Altar's entrance.

From the Demigod cultivation base emanating from the other party,

he realized that this person was likely the Demigod who had been hidden behind the scenes of the Tianwu Continent, never showing himself, and was suspected to be Emperor Wu.

“He came quite fast...”

Xiao Shi's lips curled slightly.

The breakthrough in his cultivation made him eager to find a Demigod to fight.

Whoosh!

Immediately,

Xiao Shi's figure instantly vanished from the Altar of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, appearing out of thin air... The Black Robed Man was struggling to open the Altar's entrance.

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat.

He instantly retreated.

However, as soon as his body moved,

a huge fist shadow flashed out from the entrance before him, whistling through the air.

Its speed was so great that

the Black Robed Man could only raise his palm and push it forward, constructing a three-meter-high, three-meter-long bronze-colored barrier in front of him to defend.

Boom!!

With a deafening explosion like muffled thunder,

the entire bronze-colored barrier directly shattered and exploded.

The Black Robed Man's figure plummeted from the sky like a rapidly falling meteor, crashing heavily onto the ground, causing the entire earth to shake violently and a giant crater to erupt, filled with rising dust.

“No need for you to bother coming in, I'll come out and play with you.”

Xiao Shi floated in the high sky.

He looked down coldly and disdainfully at the swirling dust below.