Ethan North was utterly incomparable to Joe Di. Already wounded and far from healed, he now faced the terrifying sweep of cosmic decay Dao resonance. It was as if the universe itself pressed down, draining strength from his every breath and threatening to unravel the very fibers of his being. Even his physical body trembled on the brink of collapse, bones aching and spirit faltering. Yet with Joe Di standing beside him, an unyielding pillar in the storm, Ethan found a sliver of resolve. No matter how frail his flesh became, he would not turn and flee—not with Joe Di here.
"Hand over the Buddhist Scroll of the Sevenfold Celestial Tome, and I'll spare you this once..." Owen Jarvis’s voice was cold and distant, like the chill of a starless void. His words carried the weight of absolute certainty, as if his mastery over the Fivefold Decay Divine Art and Cataclysmic Art was a law of nature itself—unquestioned, inevitable. To him, crushing Joe Di and Ethan North was not a feat, but a mundane certainty; anything less would have defied the order of the cosmos.
Joe Di let out a dry, fearless chuckle and strode forward, his Azure Veil Blade flashing in a sweeping arc that seemed to carve through reality itself. "You know why I let you make the first move? I wanted to see what your so-called Cataclysmic Art was worth. Turns out, it’s nothing special—can’t even scratch a single hair off this old man’s head." His taunt rang out, not as a mere boast, but as the declaration of a cultivator whose confidence was forged in countless battles. In the world of cosmic power, age was not just seniority—it was a badge of transcendent mastery.
The Azure Veil Blade swept up a shimmering curtain of blade light, its blue haze rippling like a cosmic tide. In that instant, Ethan North felt the suffocating pressure dissolve—the void around him stabilized, and the oppressive Dao resonance that had threatened to tear his body apart faded away, leaving only the echo of relief in his battered soul.
Ethan North stared, dazed, at the swirling curtain of blades that danced in the void. For a heartbeat, his mind was blank, swept away by awe. He’d sought out Joe Di because he knew the man was strong, but now, witnessing this display, he realized how little he truly understood. Joe Di’s strength was not just formidable—it was unfathomable, a force that reshaped the very laws of battle.
Crack! Owen Jarvis felt, impossibly, as if the laws of his own divine art were fracturing—a soundless, cosmic absurdity. The Cataclysmic Art was the legacy of the Calamity Lord, a supreme technique feared across realms. For its laws to be split by another’s blade was unthinkable; Owen’s pride rebelled against the very idea. Even if such a miracle could occur, it should only be possible in an era of cosmic upheaval, not in the ordinary flow of time.
The Fivefold Decay Divine Art he’d unleashed was not merely a technique—it was an evolution, born from the Cataclysmic Art itself. Owen had always believed it to be unbreakable, a testament to his mastery and the fate-defying power of the Calamity Lord.
Yet the truth was laid bare before him—Joe Di’s blade had truly torn through the laws of his divine art. Owen’s mind reeled, disbelief battling with the undeniable evidence, as the cosmos itself seemed to tremble at the violation.
Owen Jarvis could no longer maintain his arrogant composure. Panic surged through him as he staggered backward, desperation fueling his movements. In the same breath, he summoned his Decadence Ruler, the artifact splitting into five jagged streams of Dao resonance that tore through the void, each one a frantic barrier against the oncoming doom.
Boom! Owen Jarvis’s figure slammed against the boundaries of the void domain, his retreat abruptly halted. In the next instant, the blade light of the Azure Veil Blade—wreathed in the chilling aura of death—swept toward him, its power suffusing the air with the promise of annihilation.
Boom! Owen Jarvis’s seasoned instincts saved him once again, sparing him from injury. The Decadence Ruler had already torn open Joe Di’s domain, allowing Owen to escape the Azure Veil Blade’s lethal momentum and land outside its killing intent. He stared blankly at Joe Di. Where did this guy come from? Why was he so powerful? With such strength, not only now—even in the era of Creation, he would have been a force to be reckoned with.
“Not bad, long-fingered one. Your fighting skills are impressive—even more seasoned than your ancestor’s. Since that’s the case, take another strike from me!” Joe Di felt dissatisfied that his blade, which should have wounded Owen, hadn’t worked. The Azure Veil Blade once again swept up a surge of blue radiance.
“Stop! You’ve never witnessed my Cataclysmic Art—how could you unleash a Rift Law technique that tears through my Fivefold Decay Divine Art?” Owen Jarvis fixed his gaze on Joe Di, a look of eager curiosity in his eyes.
He knew well that Joe Di was wielding a Rift Law blade technique, but every such technique required grasping the opponent’s divine law. His Cataclysmic Art hadn’t surfaced in the vast cosmos for countless ages—Owen had investigated this thoroughly before emerging.
Now, a branch technique of the long-lost Cataclysmic Art had been shattered by a single strike from this young man before him.
That wasn’t all—before his opponent drew his blade, Owen’s Fivefold Decay Divine Art hadn’t corroded the youth’s flesh. When he unleashed the Fivefold Decay, the young man should have already been engulfed, his body eroded by the divine law.
“Want to know why?” Joe Di chuckled.
Owen nodded. “I do want to know.”
“Since you’re curious, take another strike from your ancestor.”
Almost as he spoke, Joe Di’s Azure Veil Blade locked onto Owen, slashing down. In that instant, all distance and time vanished—space itself was frozen by the blade’s descent.
“Your divine art is decent, but if you want to hunt down my friends, you’ll have to face my blade again.” With those words, Joe Di’s Azure Veil Blade swept toward Owen Jarvis once more.
Owen, now fully aware of Joe Di’s power, had no intention of continuing the fight. With a subtle movement, his figure vanished from the void, leaving no trace behind.
Joe Di tossed a jade vial to Bei Yingshu and said, “Old Bei, go wait for me at the Outer Heavens. If I don’t kill this bastard, I’ll never be at peace. I’m going after him.”
As he spoke, Joe Di’s form stretched out, disappearing in the direction Owen had fled.
Owen’s threat was truly terrifying. Though Joe Di had dodged with apparent ease, the Fivefold Decay Divine Art could have easily annihilated all life on a planet. This technique was more dreadful than any plague. Only because his physical body had surpassed the Holy Physique did he survive; otherwise, he would have been wiped out by Owen’s divine art.
If Owen discovered his roots, whether in the Dao Realm or the Xuanhuang Outer Heavens, it would mean disaster. He had to kill Owen quickly—Owen hadn’t yet reached the third stage, but was already this formidable. If Owen advanced and Joe Di hadn’t achieved union with the Dao, the danger would be unimaginable.
Moreover, he had just wounded Owen with a blade strike. By following the mark left by that strike, he could track Owen down sooner or later. If Owen recovered first, harming him again would not be so easy.
Watching Joe Di pursue Owen, Bei Yingshu sighed. Even if he regained all his strength, he was still a tier below Joe Di or Owen. If Owen was this terrifying, how much more fearsome would his master, the Cataclysm Dao Lord, be?
Fortunately, Bei Yingshu possessed extraordinary resolve. He had survived years trapped in the Dao Lord Valley—he wouldn’t be cowed by Owen now. No matter how powerful Owen or his master, the Cataclysm Dao Lord, might be, Joe Di was no pushover either. Bei Yingshu had once been a Dao Lord himself; no matter how weak he was now, he wouldn’t lose his fighting spirit.
With that thought, Bei Yingshu steeled himself and headed toward the Xuanhuang Outer Heavens. He planned to recover there, advance to the third stage, and wait for Joe Di’s return.
Owen seemed stunned by the blade, his eyes fixed on the falling arc of light. Within that blade’s brilliance, he glimpsed his own fleeting years…
Was this an Intent Law technique? No, this was no mere Intent Law—it was a time-based divine art.
As this realization dawned, the blade had already descended upon Owen’s brow. Life and heaven and earth—passing in a flash, like a white steed galloping past a crack…
He wanted desperately to block the blade’s radiance, but time itself had frozen him in place. He couldn’t raise the Decadence Ruler; he was powerless before the brevity of life, flashing by like a galloping steed.
Crack! A burst of crimson light erupted from the blade, snapping Owen back to reality. Time in the void seemed to come alive again, and the Decadence Ruler vanished from his grasp.
Snap! The Azure Veil Blade was actually halted deep within Owen’s brow, wild divine essence surging out and blasting a bloody hole in his forehead. Joe Di saw clearly as the Decadence Ruler flickered and disappeared, then merged into the depths of Owen’s brow.
Using the Decadence Ruler to block the blow, Owen fell a hundred feet away. He stared at Joe Di in terror, murmuring, “Such a powerful time-based divine art…”
Joe Di frowned slightly. If his time-based divine art were truly powerful, Owen wouldn’t have had a chance to escape—he would have been cleaved apart by a single strike.
In truth, his time-based technique had flaws. The moment the Azure Veil Blade tore into Owen’s brow, Owen had already broken free of the time law, activating the Decadence Ruler within his sea of consciousness to block the blade from inside out.
Though Owen’s forehead was now a gaping, bloody wound, he had managed to save his own life. His sea of consciousness was only slightly injured.