Joe Di and his two companions landed on the plaza of Celestial Beyond. The first thing they saw was the enormous altar.
Of the seven Prime Realm cultivators surrounding the altar, Joe Di recognized only Long Nie. As for Nora and the other woman, they were nowhere to be seen.
The seven Prime Realm cultivators continuously channeled Dao resonance into the altar, which was enveloped in a layer of pitch-black Dao aura. Clearly, the altar was nearly complete.
"You?" Long Nie spotted Joe Di at once. Without the slightest hesitation, he abandoned the ritual at the altar, drew a gray longbow, and flung out several formation flags.
Today, Long Nie was determined not to let Joe Di escape again. This man had killed his son, Jack Nie, and there was no way he would let him slip through his grasp a second time.
"Brother Nie, who is this person?" A frail early-stage Prime Realm cultivator asked Long Nie in confusion.
Long Nie practically gritted his teeth as he shouted, "He is Joe Di, the ant who escaped from Nora and me back then!"
Upon hearing it was Joe Di, the other six did not even wait for Long Nie to speak—they rushed forward and blocked Joe Di's path.
They had heard countless tales about Joe Di and the Lethe Bridge. Now that Joe Di had returned to Celestial Beyond, there was no way they would let him leave again.
Lethe Bridge! Even if they could not claim it for themselves, as long as they could seize it and comprehend its Cycle resonance, it would be worth it.
"Just seven Prime Realm ants," Cyrus Flame said, not taking Long Nie and the others seriously at all.
Joe Di had easily crushed hundreds of strong foes in the Realm of Sevenfold Rebirth, even though he relied on the Lethe Bridge. Yet, Cyrus Flame had not seen Joe Di's true killing move, which meant Joe Di had not exerted himself at all.
If he were still at the early Hunyuan stage, Joe Di would have either deployed formation flags or unleashed a blade formation.
But now, Joe Di had no intention of relying on any grand array. He summoned the Azure Veil Blade and sent it sweeping directly toward Long Nie. He wanted Long Nie to understand: this time, he had not come to deliver the Lethe Bridge, but to exact vengeance.
The blade curtain unleashed by the Azure Veil Blade not only entrapped Long Nie, but also ensnared four other Prime Realm cultivators.
There were seven Prime Realm cultivators in total. Joe Di alone had trapped five of them, while Shelby Young and Cyrus Flame decisively blocked the remaining two early-stage Prime Realm cultivators.
"Courting death..." Seeing Joe Di act so arrogantly, daring to use blade resonance to envelop four Prime Realm cultivators in the face of his Bloodshade Arrow, Long Nie could only think Joe Di was seeking death.
The gray longbow stretched wildly, gathering a frenzied aura of slaughter.
Joe Di acted as if he hadn't noticed Long Nie's frenzy, nor did he seem to sense that he was already locked on by the killing aura. The Azure Veil Blade still came crashing down.
Crack! Long Nie sensed a fissure in the killing intent of his Bloodshade Arrow. Instantly, the divine aura of the Bloodshade Arrow weakened and then collapsed.
This...
Long Nie's expression changed drastically—he hadn't expected Joe Di's blade to tear through the laws of his Bloodshade Arrow divine technique.
Not only did Long Nie's face change, but the other four's expressions shifted as well. The divine abilities they had just unleashed suddenly lost the support of their laws.
Before the others could react, the blade curtain of Joe Di's Azure Veil Blade swept back. Under Joe Di's domain and blade momentum, the four early-stage Prime Realm cultivators had no ability to resist and were cleaved in two. Even their Primordial Souls were erased by the invading blade intent.
"You..." Long Nie was stunned, instinctively retreating.
He knew Joe Di's strength well—it was impressive, but only just that. In truth, Joe Di's most terrifying aspect was not his cultivation, but the Lethe Bridge.
How long had it been since Joe Di returned? With a single blade, he killed four early-stage Prime Realm cultivators, and as a late-stage Prime Realm himself, Long Nie couldn't even intervene. The most frightening part was that Joe Di hadn't used the Lethe Bridge.
Long Nie had only just retreated a few steps before he felt his domain completely suppressed by Joe Di. He even forgot to unleash his Bloodshade Arrow again. Only one thought echoed in his heart: How could this be possible?
Back when Joe Di and Nora joined forces to kill Bill Liu, Joe Di himself had barely escaped with serious injuries. Why, after such a short time, had Joe Di returned with such terrifying power?
Not only was Long Nie frightened by Joe Di, but the two remaining Prime Realm cultivators were also terrified. Joe Di had killed four Prime Realm cultivators with a single stroke—even if they had underestimated him, this was simply too horrifying.
Cyrus Flame would not miss such an opportunity. Almost as soon as his opponent was frightened by Joe Di, he shattered the other's skull.
The early-stage Prime Realm cultivator fighting Shelby Young tried to flee, but Cyrus Flame had already sealed off his escape route.
Long Nie instantly summoned a talisman, but before he could activate it, Joe Di's Azure Veil Blade struck down again.
Long Nie could no longer care about escaping and instead summoned a dark red long blade. As soon as it appeared, it unleashed a blade light even more violent than Joe Di's Azure Veil Blade.
Boom! The blue blade light and the dark red blade light collided, shattering the dark red blade light into countless fragments.
Long Nie watched helplessly as his blade momentum collapsed in an instant, and the domain he had just gathered shattered again.
A surge of violent God Origin power swept over, sending Long Nie flying backward. While still in midair, he summoned the Bloodshade Arrow again.
At this moment, Long Nie was absolutely certain—not only was he no match for Joe Di, he was far inferior. He summoned the Bloodshade Arrow not to wound Joe Di, but to abandon it and buy himself a chance to escape.
He knew Joe Di possessed the Lawbreaker Technique. This time, as he summoned the Bloodshade Arrow, he was careful to avoid being affected by Joe Di's Lawbreaker Arrow.
Just as the Bloodshade Arrow was unleashed, Long Nie saw a gigantic footprint. He didn't even need to look to know whose it was.
Boom! The footprint slammed into Long Nie's brow, shattering his sea of consciousness. He let out a sigh, knowing he would never escape again.
Just from that single footprint technique, Joe Di had already grasped the true essence of spatial laws. Long Nie had barely touched upon spatial laws himself, but compared to Joe Di, his understanding was like a child's first steps.
"Joe, killing these Prime Realm cultivators really is as easy as slaughtering chickens," Cyrus Flame said, having already teamed up with Shelby Young to finish off the last early-stage Prime Realm cultivator.
He was not surprised that Joe Di had taken out four early-stage Prime Realm cultivators with a single strike.
Joe Di picked up several rings, frowning as he said, "Why do these Prime Realm cultivators seem so weak? They're barely different from Hunyuan cultivators. If there is any difference, it's just that their God Origin and divine sense are a bit stronger."
Joe Di was genuinely puzzled. Although he had never faced Mo Zhou directly in battle at the Mo Clan, he had sensed Mo Zhou's killing intent. He was certain that Mo Zhou's killing intent was nowhere near the third step, yet it was much stronger than any of these Prime Realm cultivators he had just slain.
Those early-stage Prime Realm cultivators could be overlooked, but Long Nie was not early-stage—he was late-stage Prime Realm.
Long Nie knew he had no hope of survival. He shouted harshly, "If not for my injuries from the Alliance Dao Tower, do you really think you could keep me here, Joe Di? What grudge do we have, that you must kill my son and now go to such lengths against me?"
Long Nie was truly frustrated. If he remembered correctly, he didn't even know Joe Di.
Joe Di replied calmly, "Even if you weren't injured, I could still kill you instantly."
Previously, when he escaped from Celestial Beyond, it was because his cultivation was far inferior to Long Nie and Nora.
Upon hearing Joe Di's words, Long Nie did not argue. He knew Joe Di was telling the truth—even without his injuries, he was no match for Joe Di, and the gap was vast.
"Joe, I think I know why. When I was in Celestial Beyond, I heard that many Prime Realm cultivators here had fused with a false Dao. Even if they reach the third step, it's still a false third step. These people probably fused with a false Dao, which is why it's so easy for you to deal with them," Shelby Young explained.
In fact, she suspected that she herself had fused with a false Dao, but she also did not know what the true Grand Way was.
Joe Di nodded. Although he didn't know what a false Dao was, he was certain these people's Dao were far inferior to Mo Zhou's. It seemed Mo Zhou's escape would remain a major threat.