167: His nemesis suddenly appears, and he flees for his life.
The Hundred Battles Star Tomb truly lived up to its name.
Upon entering this Star Domain, marked as extremely dangerous, Liu Qingtian immediately sensed an atmosphere vastly different from the outside world. The Void Realm was filled with a thick, almost congealed scent of blood and Evil Qi. Various shattered Law fragments drifted about like sharp blades, occasionally triggering small-scale spatial annihilations. As far as the eye could see, there were only the remains of stars, the skeletons of gigantic creatures, and countless fragments of warships and Magic Treasures, together forming a grand and tragic cosmic graveyard.
Energy turbulence was the norm here, and occasionally, one could perceive some lingering, powerful wills filled with resentment and unwillingness, roaring. This was a place where powerhouses fell, and also a paradise for desperadoes and ambitious individuals.
Liu Qingtian suppressed most of his aura, moving like a ghost between the colossal star remains, his Demonic Pupils vigilantly scanning his surroundings. He needed to first find a relatively safe foothold, understand the specific situation of this place, and then plan for resources.
However, just as he had stealthily entered a colorful nebula belt formed by the remains of a gas giant, a terrifying aura, familiar to his very bones and making his Demonic Soul tremble, erupted like an invisible storm from the depths of the Star Tomb!
This aura was cold, desolate, imbued with the meaning of ending all things, yet it was also transcendent, as if it stood above this chaotic battlefield!
Liu Qingtian's body instantly froze, his entire Demonic Essence almost uncontrollably boiling! He abruptly turned his head, his gaze piercing through layers of nebulae and obstacles, looking in the direction from which the aura originated—
In the extreme distance, on a Void Realm battlefield where continental fragments floated, a figure stood silently.
His black clothes were like ink, his black hair like a waterfall, and his face was so handsome it was almost demonic. It was none other than his arch-nemesis, Luo Jiuxuan, whom he hated to the bone and yearned day and night to surpass and take revenge on!
And at this moment, Luo Jiuxuan was caught in what appeared to be an extremely dangerous encirclement!
His opponents were five figures exuding monstrous auras! Four of them had energy surging like a sea around them, clearly powerhouses at the Star Shattering Realm Peak, their energy level at least Stellar Level Peak, with one or two even vaguely touching the threshold of the Stellar Remnant Level! They unleashed various earth-shattering Divine Abilities, Law light illuminating the starry sky, their offensive like a furious storm, shattering that section of the Void Realm!
And the leader's aura was even more unfathomable, as if miniature Star Rivers revolved and perished around him, every gesture causing the Universe's Laws to resonate! This was a true Star Plucking Realm powerhouse! His oppressive might caused Liu Qingtian, even at the edge of the nebula belt, to feel a tremor in his heart!
Five powerhouses: four Star Shattering Realm Peaks above Stellar Level Peak, and one Star Plucking Realm! Such a lineup was more than enough to encircle and kill an opponent of equal cultivation.
However, Luo Jiuxuan, who was at the center of the encirclement, appeared... unusually relaxed.
He didn't even use his iconic Divine Weapon, burying netherworld. He simply kept one hand behind his back, using only his right hand, pointing or palming, casually.
His movements seemed slow, yet he always managed to strike the weakest point of his opponents' Divine Abilities at the most critical moment; his palm winds seemed understated, yet they contained terrifying power capable of annihilating stars and collapsing Laws. The furious attacks of the four Star Shattering Realm Peak powerhouses often disintegrated and were devoured by an invisible Chaos Annihilation Dao Domain, permeated with the intent of Chaos and Annihilation, as they approached a certain range around him, unable to even stir the corner of his robes.
Occasionally, he flicked a finger, and a hazy Wither and Flourish Finger · Wither shot out, forcing a Star Shattering Realm Peak powerhouse to face a formidable enemy. Even with full defense, they were still shaken, their Qi and blood churning, and their Dao Laws in disarray.
The Star Plucking Realm powerhouse's attacks were the most lethal, with Star River power forming chains and shattered star fist imprints striking. But Luo Jiuxuan merely became slightly more serious, a Chaos vortex appearing in his palm, drawing the attack, capable of crushing a star, into nothingness.
What made Liu Qingtian's pupils contract even more was Luo Jiuxuan's left hand—its flesh and blood had completely vanished, leaving only bones as crystalline as jade, yet exuding a contradictory aura of profound desolation and new life! Upon these bones were countless tiny, abstruse Chaos Annihilation Dao patterns, like a cosmic star map!
"The Dao of Annihilation without Form... no, it's the more advanced Chaos Annihilation Dao..." A tempest raged in Liu Qingtian's heart. "He is undergoing 'Dao Bone Metamorphosis'! Once all his flesh and blood recedes, transforming into a complete Chaos Annihilation Dao Bone, that will be the moment he Breaks Through to the Star River Realm!"
Despite facing the encirclement of four Star Shattering Realm Peaks and one Star Plucking Realm simultaneously, he moved as if strolling through a garden, using his opponents' strength to temper his Dao bones! This level of strength, this composure, far exceeded Liu Qingtian's estimations!
"I can't stay here! The current me is definitely not his opponent! If he discovers me, I'm dead for sure!" A strong sense of crisis made Liu Qingtian make an instant decision. He had to leave immediately! While Luo Jiuxuan was entangled, before he discovered him!
He turned without hesitation, pushing the embryonic form of his Space-Time Dao Law to its limit, his Demonic Essence converged to its Peak, like a venomous snake blending into the shadows, quietly retreating in the direction he came from, only hoping to silently get away from this battlefield.
However, just as his body moved, before he had completely exited the nebula belt—
At the center of the battlefield, Luo Jiuxuan, who was casually swatting away a Star River chain, seemed to sense something. His indifferent eyes, like ancient profound ice, casually glanced in the direction of the nebula belt where Liu Qingtian was hiding.
It was just this seemingly casual glance.
Boom!!!
Liu Qingtian felt the surrounding space and time instantly solidify! The Space-Time Dao Law he was employing shattered inch by inch like a fragile spiderweb! An indescribable, irresistible terrifying will, like the weight of the entire Universe pressing down, heavily acted upon his Demonic Soul and Physical Body!
"Pfft—!"
He couldn't even make any effective defense before he was hit hard, a mouthful of fresh blood containing pure Demonic Essence spurted out, his surrounding Devilish Qi instantly dissipated, and he himself, like a kite with a broken string, was forcibly blasted out of his stealthy shadow state by that invisible immense force, tumbling and smashing into a massive star remnant behind him!
"A small worm hiding its head and tail... but the aura is familiar." Luo Jiuxuan's calm, unperturbed voice, yet like a final judgment, clearly entered Liu Qingtian's Sea of Consciousness, which was on the verge of exploding. "A remnant of the Primordial Realm... I didn't expect you to have reached this stage as well."
"Unfortunately, still... vulnerable."
Before his words even faded, Luo Jiuxuan didn't even pursue in person, but merely flicked his finger again, seemingly casually, in the direction Liu Qingtian was sent flying.
A hazy, inconspicuous finger wind, transcending the distance of space, appeared instantly before Liu Qingtian like a grim reaper!
This finger wind was more condensed and more restrained than the one that had repelled the Star Shattering Realm Peaks earlier. The intent of returning to nothingness and annihilation it contained made Liu Qingtian's Demonic Soul shriek, feeling an unprecedented threat of death!
This was... Wither and Flourish Finger · Wither! A terrifying strike capable of completely erasing him from the plane of existence!
And at this moment, Liu Qingtian was severely injured, his old strength exhausted, and new strength not yet born, unable to even instantly unleash the Wither and Flourish Star Annihilation Domain!
Life and death hung in the balance, in an instant!