66: The power of the heavenly inch

Hearing Zhao Zhenquan's cry, Zhao Zhongtian's expression changed.

By this time, Zhao Zhenquan had been sliced into a bloody mess and likely wouldn't last much longer.

Zhao Zhenquan reached out, and an ancient mirror appeared in his hand, suffused with a faint extreme dao might.

This was a failed ultimate dao immortal artifact.

Yet even so, it overflowed with extreme dao might, far surpassing an Immortal Artifact.

The ancient mirror bloomed with brilliant divine light, striking toward the grand array.

Rumble~

A loud boom echoed as the grand array shook slightly from the impact, and the immortal swords within the array grew somewhat dim and sluggish.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhenquan seemed to see a glimmer of hope.

Yun Yao, however, furrowed her brows.

A figure approached Yun Yao and asked, "Can you handle Zhao Zhongtian?"

The newcomer was none other than Qin Gelan.

Yun Yao nodded. Holding an ultimate dao immortal artifact greatly boosted her Battle Intent; dealing with Zhao Zhongtian would not be a problem.

Furthermore, Yun Yao had never used an ultimate dao immortal artifact before and felt a sense of novelty toward it.

At Qin Gelan's signal, Yun Yao charged toward Zhao Zhongtian.

Seeing Yun Yao attacking, Zhao Zhongtian gave up on destroying the grand array.

The ancient mirror radiated divine light, shooting toward Yun Yao.

Holding the Heaven's Inch, Yun Yao released a burst of Sword Qi, shattering the divine light.

Zhao Zhongtian's face changed drastically as he stared at the longsword in Yun Yao's hand, his brows tightly knit.

An ultimate dao immortal artifact!

With his cultivation at the Immortal Emperor Peak, Zhao Zhongtian should have been able to crush Yun Yao, who was at the Immortal Emperor Eighth Heaven, but things were different now.

The Sword Qi slashed toward Zhao Zhongtian with unstoppable momentum.

Not daring to be careless, Zhao Zhongtian desperately activated the ancient mirror and finally neutralized the Sword Qi.

The ancient mirror was merely a defective ultimate dao immortal artifact, but the Heaven's Inch was a true ultimate dao immortal artifact.

Moreover, it was the Heaven's Inch, the foremost of the ten great extreme dao immortal artifacts!

Being forced into such a pathetic state by a junior he could normally kill at will, Zhao Zhongtian felt a surge of rage.

The true Extreme Dao Power made Zhao Zhongtian feel a sense of oppression.

Although he was an Immortal Emperor Peak, he had no way to counter true Extreme Dao Power; unlike the Empress, Zhao Zhongtian did not possess a Supreme Physique and could not fight across ranks to challenge a Supreme.

Just then, a scream rang out.

"Ah! No! I don't want to die!"

Zhao Zhenquan finally couldn't hold on any longer and was slain by the immortal swords in the array, his Divine Soul swallowed by the Sword Qi.

Zhao Zhongtian roared in anger. Zhao Zhenquan's talent was of utmost importance to the Tianheng Empire, with the potential to attain the Dao and become a Supreme in the future, yet he was killed just like that.

"Good, very good! Even if you have an ultimate dao immortal artifact today, this Emperor will trample Shenxi!" Zhao Zhongtian's anger erupted, and he no longer held back.

The ancient mirror hovered behind Zhao Zhongtian as a faint phantom appeared—a beast resembling a Shenhou opening its hideous, bloody maw.

Yun Yao's expression was grave as she activated the Extreme Dao Power of the Heaven's Inch.

Clang!

A brilliant sword light that spanned the heavens and earth appeared, its extreme dao might permeating the firmament.

At this moment, far away on Book Mountain, the Literary Sage seemed to sense something, and the literary dao primordial pen in his hand began to tremble.

The Literary Sage rose from his chair, his Supreme eyes opening as he looked toward the Northern Border of the Shenxi Empire.

"This is..." Seeing the sword light, the usually unflappable Literary Sage's face changed drastically.

The literary dao primordial pen trembled incessantly, as if filled with excitement and a hint of fear.

Only the existence of another among the ten great extreme dao immortal artifacts could cause the literary dao primordial pen to react this way.

And for it to feel a sliver of fear, the ranking must be higher than that of the literary dao primordial pen.

The literary dao primordial pen was ranked fourth among the ten great extreme dao immortal artifacts.

Even the third-ranked Eternal Pillar of Heaven could not have provoked such a reaction from the literary dao primordial pen.

Thus, it could only be the first-ranked Heaven's Inch or the second-ranked ten thousand li great wall. Among the top ten, the identity of the ultimate dao immortal artifact that was a sword was already obvious.

The Literary Sage suppressed his shock and let out a long breath. He hadn't expected this sword to reappear in the world after countless eons.

The Literary Sage soothed the supreme dao soul of the literary dao primordial pen and looked toward the Northern Border of Shenxi once more.

This sword, which existed only in legends, truly existed? Hadn't rumors said it had returned to the heavenly dao origin?

At this moment, the Literary Sage had a premonition that this era might face great changes.

Thinking of Qin Gelan Tracing the True Self and then the appearance of the Heaven's Inch, everything suggested something unusual was happening.

Back to Yun Yao's side.

Yun Yao swung the Heaven's Inch down, and the Shenhou phantom unleashed by Zhao Zhongtian instantly dissipated under the sword light.

Seeing the sword light, Zhao Zhongtian's hair stood on end. He no longer cared about anything else and turned to flee.

But the sword light had already locked onto him.

Clang~

"Ah~!"

As the sword hummed, a scream escaped Zhao Zhongtian's lips.

This strike left Zhao Zhongtian heavily wounded, his Physical Body torn apart by the sword light. Had he not sacrificed the ancient mirror to save himself at the critical moment, he would have perished.

Now, only Zhao Zhongtian's immortal soul remained.

Beside Zhao Zhongtian's immortal soul, an old man appeared. He was another powerhouse of the Tianheng Empire at the Immortal Emperor Ninth Heaven, known as Old Ancestor Hengyu.

Old Ancestor Hengyu had been hiding in the shadows, thinking Zhao Zhongtian could handle it. But by the time the sword light arrived, it was too late to rescue him because Zhao Zhongtian had already been locked on.

The current state of the Tianheng Empire could be described as utterly disastrous.

Not only was its foundation destroyed and the Crown Prince slain, but Zhao Zhongtian was reduced to an immortal soul, his Physical Body gone, and even the state-protecting ancient mirror was turned into scrap metal by a single sword strike.

Yun Yao retracted her Sword Qi, remaining in shock for a long time.

With that strike, although she had used less than ten percent of the ultimate dao immortal artifact's extreme dao might, she hadn't expected it to be so terrifying.

Zhao Zhongtian thought he could resist somewhat, and Yun Yao hadn't expected to defeat him so overwhelmingly, nearly killing him.

Yet the result was that Zhao Zhongtian was powerless against the sword light.

For a moment, neither side could quite grasp their own strength.

More accurately, neither had grasped the true power of the Heaven's Inch.

It wasn't surprising they underestimated the Heaven's Inch. If Yun Yao had used any other ultimate dao immortal artifact, Zhao Zhongtian might have actually been able to contend with her using his ancient mirror, despite her lower cultivation.

Unfortunately, this was the world's strongest divine Sharp Weapon, the Heaven's Inch!

If the Literary Sage knew what Zhao Zhongtian was thinking, he would have wanted to retort: "Even the literary dao primordial pen is afraid; what makes you think you can challenge the Heaven's Inch?"

Old Ancestor Hengyu glanced at Yun Yao with a grim expression; he didn't dare to make a move now.

Zhao Zhongtian's miserable state made Old Ancestor Hengyu break into a cold sweat. He took Hengyu's immortal soul and tore through space to flee.

"No need to pursue. You can't stop a powerhouse at the Immortal Emperor Ninth Heaven who is determined to escape."

Yun Yao was about to give chase when Qin Gelan stopped her. He then glanced at the Heaven's Inch and smiled, "How does the ultimate dao immortal artifact feel?"

"The offensive power of this ultimate dao immortal artifact is so strong that it must be exceptionally rare even among ultimate dao immortal artifacts," was Yun Yao's evaluation of the Heaven's Inch.

Qin Gelan took the Heaven's Inch back and smiled without explaining.

This was the Heaven's Inch; how could its offensive power not be strong? Nothing stronger could be found in the entire world.

If Yun Yao knew she had just used the Heaven's Inch, the leader of the ultimate dao immortal artifacts, one wonders what she would think.