Jip Boone's heart sank as he saw the Blade Wave surging toward him.
Then the tidal surge of blade momentum collided with the still-splitting Divine Halberd Bloom, and each exploding halberd blossom ripped the laws of the void apart before shattering a Blade Wave.
Boom! Boom! Boom! As Dao Rhythms clashed, cosmic laws shattered. One after another, Blade Surge Tidal Waves were smashed apart by the Divine Halberd Bloom, tearing open rifts in this part of the void. Chaotic spatial blade energy spilled out, but as soon as it appeared, it was swept up in the clash between halberd and blade, exploding again.
Under the bombardment of Dao Rhythms, cosmic laws crumbled like sand; blade surges and halberd blossoms threatened to destroy the ends of the world.
Crack! The world simulated by Jip Boone shattered into nothingness. The endlessly splitting Divine Halberd Bloom had reached the end of its cycle, no longer able to bloom and split with its former brilliance.
With the Divine Halberd Bloom's suppression gone, the blade momentum surge kept climbing, instantly surpassing tens of thousands of feet, roaring as it rolled toward Jip Boone.
Time's Third Loom had reached its seventh blade. After the blade surge shredded the Divine Halberd Bloom scattered by Jip Boone's Skyhalberd divine skill, it was like a runaway force, instantly exceeding several tens of millions of feet.
Space was locked, and time was frozen.
The three observers on the outer edge—Jin Zai and his companions—shuddered instinctively. Only now did they realize that Joe Di's Blade Wave was not some ordinary Dao Rhythm divine skill, but a time-space divine art.
It was the first time they'd seen a time-space divine art wielded like a typical Dao Rhythm attack. Once swept into this time-space technique, you'd despairingly discover there was no chance to retreat.
Fiona Yuen's face was pale as paper. If Joe Di had used this Blade Wave divine art against her instead of Titan's Step, she doubted she could have endured even until the seventh surge.
Jip Boone, caught in the midst of the battle, felt a chill in his heart. His strength was considered top-tier among cosmic cultivators—otherwise, no one would have left him unchallenged in the Genesis Cradle until now.
Yet even with such power, he was overwhelmed by the suffocating aura of death from the Blade Wave. The oppressive sense of doom grew closer, and Jip Boone knew if he couldn't break through Joe Di's Blade Wave soon, he was doomed.
Jip Boone's pale face twisted with rage, his skin writhing as if worms crawled beneath it. He gripped the Skyhalberd tightly, and in an instant, hurled it out again.
Just as the Blade Wave, tens of millions of feet tall, swept toward Jip Boone, his Skyhalberd exploded apart.
The shattered Skyhalberd unleashed an endless torrent of halberd blossoms, far more powerful than before. These were true rule-tearing Divine Halberd Blooms, no longer reliant on simulated Dao Rhythms to erupt.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The void's cosmic laws burst apart in succession, and the Blade Surge Tidal Wave, already swelling to tens of millions of feet, was smashed down once again.
Blood light exploded, turning into mist that rose amid shattering Dao Rhythms and laws. Jip Boone's entire body was spewing blood. This was not only the backlash from his forbidden technique, but also from the fragments of blade energy left behind by the shattered Time's Third Loom.
The seventh surge of Blade Wave from Time's Third Loom was simply too close to Jip Boone. Even as he detonated his own treasure with forbidden arts and retreated at full speed, he could not fully block this terrifying blade energy.
Jip Boone's only thought now was to escape—space and time were no longer under his control; staying meant certain death.
At this moment, Jip Boone sensed a sluggishness in the space-time around him. He knew it was because Joe Di's Time's Third Loom divine art had already seized control of the local time-space laws.
Jip Boone no longer cared about damaging his foundations; without hesitation, he unleashed his forbidden technique again.
Joe Di's strength shattered his understanding of Creation Realm experts. He'd seen many in the Creation Realm, some even stronger than himself, but none like Joe Di. Despite being in the same realm, he was being utterly crushed.
For a moment, Jip Boone doubted whether Joe Di was truly in the Creation Realm, or if he had already stepped halfway into the Fourth Step.
Trying to flee? Joe Di snorted coldly. Time's Third Loom had yet to fully dissipate, and the blade momentum surged again.
As the blade momentum gathered, its killing intent soared. Jip Boone, retreating madly, shuddered all over and fled even faster.
Whoosh! The blade momentum Joe Di gathered exploded forth, and the infinite Blade Waves instantly condensed all the universe's killing Dao Rhythms, then cast them aside.
Time's Fourth Loom—chaotic stones pierce the sky, crashing waves strike the shore, rolling up a thousandfold snow...
Jip Boone, having rushed hundreds of feet away, suddenly froze as if the scene had stopped. The unleashed blade energy of the Fourth Loom pinned him in the void. Against Joe Di's Time's Fourth Loom, he had no way to evade.
Joe Di did not relax. Sweeping out with his Dao Rhythms, he quickly broke open Jip Boone's world. Without even looking at its contents, he gathered everything from Jip Boone's cosmic world and sent it into his own.
Plop! Only now did Jip Boone's blood finally fall to the ground.
Only then did Joe Di breathe a sigh of relief. In all his cultivation, aside from Chi Yao, Jip Boone was the strongest opponent he'd ever faced. And with Chi Yao, he'd never fought head-on—he simply wasn't Chi Yao's match.
After collecting Jip Boone's possessions, Joe Di turned his gaze to Zane Jin and the other two. "Will the three of you attack together, or one at a time?"
The strongest among them, Zane Jin, felt his palms sweating. Joe Di was not just formidable—he was terrifying. Not only had he easily slain Jip Boone, he could instantly break open Jip Boone's world. To sweep away everything from a cosmic world in a flash, how much must he understand Jip Boone's Dao laws? Such power...
Zane Jin hurriedly performed the Immortal Salute and said politely, "Daoist Di, we were only temporarily allied with Jip Boone. As you saw, when Jip Boone attacked, we did not join in."
Joe Di nodded. "That's right, which is why I haven't made a move until now."
Andy Young quickly spoke up, "Brother Di, why don't we join forces? There are many Cosmic Dao Veins in this Genesis Cradle. Even if your strength is unmatched, it's sometimes hard to obtain a complete Cosmic Dao Vein alone."
Joe Di understood Andy Young's meaning. If he hadn't collected the Cosmic Dao Vein first, when Jip Boone and the others arrived, he wouldn't have gotten a complete vein either.
Once a Cosmic Dao Vein is exposed, no matter how strong you are, Zane Jin and the others would fight for it rather than just watch from the sidelines.
But Joe Di just chuckled inwardly—teaming up with these people? He'd have to be brain-dead. When he killed Jip Boone earlier, if the other three had attacked together, he might not have been able to take Jip Boone down.
Fiona Yuen quickly stepped forward and bowed. "Brother Di, I lost my composure earlier when I heard news of my Dao companion. Please forgive me for my lapse."
Though she said this, Fiona Yuen was still ready to flee at any moment. The reason she hadn’t escaped right away was simple—she knew that if she ran, she’d lose her chance to return to Genesis Cradle for the Dao debate. Even if Joe Di didn’t catch her in the Cosmic Nest today, he could easily find her in Genesis Cradle later. She stayed, hoping Joe Di might let her go.
Joe Di said calmly, "I’m not the kind who wants to dominate the vast cosmos, nor do I have any interest in slaughtering all other cultivators."
After saying this, Joe Di cupped his fists to Zane Jin and the other two. "Fellow Daoists, our grudges were nothing more than a contest over the universe’s Dao Veins. Compared to the calamity we’re about to face, those things are insignificant. Just as Fiona Yuen offended me earlier, I don’t hold it against her."
Cultivators at Zane Jin’s level understood immediately. "Brother Di, are you referring to someone about to step into the Fourth Step?"
When Chi Yao prepared to perfect the universe before stepping into the Fourth Step, the commotion was sensed throughout the cosmos, so it was no surprise Zane Jin knew.
Joe Di nodded, then spoke solemnly, "Stepping into the Fourth Step is one thing. But once someone achieves it, they might try to cage us in their world, kill us at will, treat us like livestock and slaves. Are we supposed to just accept that fate?"
Zane Jin and his companions were true powerhouses. Joe Di had killed Jip Boone, but with cultivators like Zane Jin, he still hoped to win them over as allies in the future.