412: Chapter 412 The Demon Lion Appears - Divine Magic Collapses

War Lions' smile froze, a chill ran down his spine, and he dared not show even the slightest bit of contempt again.

"Swallowing divine abilities... I have to admit, even I am impressed by such sinister methods."

He gritted his teeth and roared, "But the moment you stepped into this palace, you fell into a death trap! The first hall has long been infused with the Beast King's entire secret treasury to set up the 'Limitless Saint-Transforming' absolute formation!"

"Anyone who enters this formation will see their divine power drain away like sand in an hourglass, eventually becoming a mortal with no power to truss a chicken!"

He laughed hideously, "Jiang Chen, I am waiting to see you kneel at my feet, drained of even the strength to beg for mercy!"

Before his voice had even faded, he let out a violent shout, "Formation, activate!"

The entire palace shook violently!

The ground cracked, and countless pitch-black ancient runes floated up from the crevices, twisting and spiraling until they wove into a mysterious, massive formation covering a hundred zhang—the lines wriggled like living things, emitting an eerie light that devoured everything.

Jiang Chen stood at the center of the formation, and the divine power within him instantly surged outwards like a bursting river!

His aura plummeted, his might collapsed, and even his robes began to dim and lose their luster.

War Lions laughed wildly, "Jiang Chen! Your time has run out, will you not bow your head and accept your fate?!"

"Saint-Transforming Formation?" Jiang Chen sneered, and tens of thousands of golden lightning bolts suddenly exploded around his body!

Lightning coiled around him, as if a deity had descended; behind him, a lightning domain suddenly expanded, covering a radius of several hundred zhang, with electric snakes dancing wildly and clouds churning, as if divine punishment had arrived!

He held nothing back—this strike was aimed solely at a quick kill!

BOOM!!!

Before War Lions could recover, he was suppressed head-on by the lightning domain!

Thousands of divine punishment lightning bolts struck from all directions, shattering his armor, charring his flesh, and sending up billowing green smoke!

Fortunately, the Xuanming Battle Armor he wore suddenly erupted with ten thousand zhang of silver radiance, forming a spherical light shield that forcibly withstood the lightning bombardment.

Taking advantage of the moment the light shield stalled the enemy, he used a teleportation technique, his figure flashed, and he narrowly escaped outside the domain.

Jiang Chen's strike missed, but he did not pause for even a second; lightning exploded beneath his feet, and he shot off like an arrow from a bow, pursuing him once again!

His palm surged, and a flowing light divine sword condensed out of thin air. The moment the sword blade unsheathed, the world suddenly lost its color—as fast as thunder splitting the sky, as sharp as a burning falling star, the sword intent like the roar of a dragon from the nine heavens, the sword momentum like an immortal descending on clouds; it was breathtakingly stunning.

"Jiang Chen, it is I who holds the game board now! You are stubbornly resisting my edge while in the Saint-Transforming Formation, which is only accelerating the depletion of your divine power. You still want to compete with me? You are dreaming!"

Caught off guard and having taken a hit, War Lions' eyes turned blood-red, his heart burned with rage, and he swung his fangtian painted halberd like a savage god splitting a mountain, ferociously crashing towards Jiang Chen.

The halberd shaft vibrated violently, slamming out with the force of ten thousand jun!

In an instant, a scorching white sun exploded from the tip of the halberd, and an overwhelmingly tyrannical, fierce power surged out, as if it could tear apart heaven and earth.

BOOM—!

The two divine powers collided fiercely, erupting with a deafening roar that shook the nine netherworlds. The turbulent shockwaves overturned the palace beams and pillars, sending glazed tiles flying, and the entire palace instantly turned into ruins.

Both men were filled with monstrous killing intent, neither giving an inch as they charged at each other.

The fangtian painted halberd and the divine sword clashed repeatedly, the ringing of metal never ceasing, cold light exploding like rain. In just a short moment, they had clashed over a hundred times, and they remained evenly matched, unable to distinguish a victor.

But the Saint-Transforming Formation above Jiang Chen's head was like a heaven-devouring maw, silently draining his divine power—how could he afford to be bogged down in a prolonged fight?

With a flash of his phantom, he suddenly retreated a hundred steps, then raised both hands to the sky, unleashing his ultimate trump card divine ability!

"Divine Sword Art: Heaven Devourer!"

He had comprehended the myriad daos and had long reached the realm where understanding one principle leads to understanding all; his attainment in the sword dao was unparalleled, reaching its pinnacle. This art was created by his own hand, and once activated, the divine sword in his hand hummed loudly, splitting into ten thousand sword shadows, each wrapped in a chilling sword intent that could devour the firmament and annihilate all living things.

War Lions, however, threw his head back and laughed wildly, his fighting spirit boiling in his eyes, showing no fear at all.

"Jiang Chen, you want to rely on a divine ability to end this quickly? I will drag you down until you collapse!"

Before his voice faded, he swung his halberd violently, the halberd radiance bursting forth like a waterfall, layering and condensing into ten layers of glazed light curtains, sealing everything tightly and protecting himself without a single gap.

"I thought you had some world-shocking methods, but it turns out you're just hiding in a shell waiting for me to exhaust my strength? Relying on the Saint-Transforming Formation to drain my divine power... how is this trick any different from a stray dog?"

Jiang Chen sneered and shook his head, his tone indifferent yet laced with mockery.

"The winner dictates life and death, while the loser doesn't even have the right to speak. No matter how you insult me, the moment I crush your spine, the world will only recognize the winner—who will care whether I used a sword or a shield?"

War Lions did not change his expression, his voice like muffled thunder.

"You don't even dare to face me head-on, yet you dare to talk about winning?—Where on earth do you get the confidence to think you can beat me?"

Jiang Chen let out a long howl to the sky, his voice shaking the clouds. Thousands of Heaven-Devouring Flying Swords moved in response, like an army obeying orders, all turning their blades in unison and firing like a torrential rainstorm at War Lions!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sword blades were incomparably sharp, but every time one barrier was broken, War Lions instantly replenished it with another—a defense like a tortoise shell that, no matter how many thousands of swords pierced it, could not be cracked by even half an inch.

Jiang Chen's eyes narrowed, his thoughts flashing like lightning, and he immediately changed his strategy.

"Heaven-Devouring Flying Swords, Ten Thousand Swords Become One!"

His ten fingers flew, his hand seals moving like lightning. In an instant, the sky full of sword shadows retracted with a boom, gathering into a massive sword that blocked out the sky! The sword body was wreathed in black-gold tribulation fire, emitting a supreme might that could crush stars and devour the eight wildernesses.

War Lions' pupils shrank violently, his heart filled with frantic warnings, and he dared not be slow, immediately stacking ten more layers of barriers to defend to the end—he was certain that if he could drag this out for just a moment longer, Jiang Chen would be drained into an empty shell by the formation!

BOOM—!!!

The giant sword slashed down like divine punishment descending!

The twenty layers of barriers did not even last a single breath before disintegrating into powder. Under absolute sword power, all defenses were like paper and mud.

War Lions could not even dodge in time and was instantly hacked into a sky full of blood mist!

But the Taiyi Golden Immortal had a deep origin and actually forcibly burned his essence to be reborn in blood!

It was just that the fangtian painted halberd, along with his prized golden general armor, were all ground into fly ash by the giant sword, leaving not a single trace behind.

War Lions, covered in blood, roared hoarsely, "Jiang Chen! You destroyed my supreme treasure, today it is death or nothing!"

Before his voice faded, the divine power within him erupted like a torrent, suddenly transforming into an ancient Demonic Lion—looming like a mountain, evil energy soaring to the heavens, as if the incarnation of a calamity that had been starving for ten thousand years!

The crimson demonic eye on his forehead suddenly opened, shooting out a beam of pitch-black death light, as fast as a chain from the underworld, aiming straight for Jiang Chen's vital point!

Jiang Chen's expression sank abruptly, feeling that wherever that black light passed, even time and space were wailing. A moment of carelessness would mean the destruction of both body and soul—he dared not take it head-on, so he rapidly formed hand seals, sacrificing a long-lost ancient forbidden technique:

"Great Collapse Divine Art!"

And this Great Collapse Divine Art ranked fiftieth among the three thousand divine arts, containing the destructive power to tear apart heaven and earth and crush all laws, commonly known as "All things return to ruins, one thought makes everything empty."

Jiang Chen guided it with his fingertip, and the divine art suddenly erupted—in an instant, blinding silver light surged from his body like an angry tide. Wherever it passed, the void cracked inch by inch, the earth collapsed piece by piece, all turning into a deep and profound void of black abyss.

The deathly black light spat out by the Demonic Lion, upon contact with the silver light, was like thin ice meeting a raging flame, instantly disintegrating and dissipating. The power of the divine art was evident.

The Demonic Lion's strike missed, its malice surging, its blood-red mouth opening wide, and ten thousand pitch-black demonic chains shot through the air!

These chains seemed capable of twisting space; the moment they appeared, they eerily leaped to surround Jiang Chen, wrapping around him layer by layer, tightening fiercely.

Jiang Chen struggled with all his might, but not only did he fail to break free, he felt the pressure on the chains rising steadily, tightening more and more.

"Jiang Chen, you have been hit by the Forbidden Demonic Chains; the more you struggle, the deeper you will sink!"

War Lions laughed hideously, "These chains are engraved with the laws of origin; their mystery is vast, how could someone with your level of cultivation fathom them?"

Before his voice faded, Jiang Chen's indifferent voice suddenly came from behind: "To be entrusted with the duty of guarding the palace, it would be unreasonable if you didn't have some real substance. It's a pity your methods are thin; wanting to capture me? That is too rash."