Evan listened to the old man and felt even more terrified. Everything he'd just done had actually helped this guy break through—this was just too bizarre. Could it be that his technique was some kind of rebirth-through-death art? If so, he was really in trouble this time.
Steadying his nerves, Evan looked at the elder and said, "No need to thank me—just kill yourself in front of me and save me the effort."
"Kid, you really are a genius—a truly rare one. If I'm not mistaken, your base cultivation is at most late-stage Nether Emperor, or maybe late-stage Immortal Emperor. But you actually have the strength to kill demigods, which is hard to believe.
But today you ran into us, and since this is the Netherworld, you're doomed to die here. Seeing me unharmed right now, are you regretting it? If it were anyone else, they might've died from your terrifying attack, but I'm different.
The technique I cultivate is exactly that kind of rebirth-from-death art. To truly kill me is next to impossible. Today I finally got this chance and broke through to the Heavenly God Realm." The Old Ancestor laughed, as if he had no intention of killing Evan right away.
"Heavenly God Realm? That really is a terrifying level. Maybe I'll die here today, but there's one thing I don't understand. If I can get the answer before I die, I'll have no regrets." Evan said calmly, though his heart was in turmoil—Heavenly God rank was completely out of his league right now.
"Kid, in front of a Heavenly God, all demigods are just ants. Killing you now would be too easy, but I don't want to do it right away. I want you to share in the joy of my breakthrough.
What do you want to know? Is it why the two of us reached demigod rank but never ascended? That's the Netherworld's biggest secret—we don't share it lightly." said the Old Ancestor who'd just broken through to Heavenly God Realm.
"Must be something shameful, then. Whatever, Heavenly God Realm may be strong, but I'm still not afraid!" Evan retorted.
"Doesn't matter if I tell you. We're the guardians of the Netherworld, designated by the upper realm. If we die, experts up there will sense it instantly. They can't descend to kill you, but if you ever ascend, you're dead for sure.
We were taught a special secret art by upper-realm experts that lets us suppress our own power and avoid ascension. Now you can die without regrets!" At this moment, another Old Ancestor stepped up to Evan and spoke.
"So that's it, huh? Guardians of the Netherworld? What a joke—turns out the so-called guardians are just two undying old men. The upper-realm experts must have terrible taste! Hahaha!" Evan laughed loudly.
"Kid, you really don't know when to quit, do you? You dare mock us? I was going to let you live a little longer, but now that's not happening. Prepare to die!" The Old Ancestor who'd broken through to Heavenly God Realm immediately roared in anger.
He flashed forward and lunged straight at Evan. Instantly, Evan felt himself locked down by a terrifying aura—no matter how he dodged, he couldn't escape the Old Ancestor's attack. The sheer terror of Heavenly God rank made his heart skip a beat.
But Evan was never one to admit defeat—the more desperate the situation, the more it fired up his potential. Water and fire attacks were useless against a Heavenly God now; the only thing that could hurt him was lightning, or attacks using light and darkness.
Suddenly, an idea struck him—he focused his mind and blasted the enemy with a surge of lightning. Evan's Thundershift was already at the second layer, so his attack was still powerful. The lightning could paralyze the enemy for a moment, giving Evan the chance to escape the attack range completely.
His lightning struck the Heavenly God Old Ancestor, and just as Evan expected, the elder's whole body went numb and slowed down. Evan immediately pulled the Firmament Light Mirror from his storage ring.
The Firmament Light Mirror was once the Netherworld's strongest artifact. Even though it was damaged now, its attack power was still terrifying—especially its light element, which was deadly to Netherworld cultivators.
Evan didn't know why the old Nether Venerable could ignore the mirror's light element back then, and he didn't have time to figure it out. All he knew was that this was the most dangerous battle of his life.
The Firmament Light Mirror instantly fired a blinding white beam, hitting the Old Ancestor dead-on. Evan saw a bowl-sized bloody hole blasted through his body, but the wound shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye—creepy as hell.
Faced with this situation, Evan felt a wave of despair. The Old Ancestor had suddenly become so powerful that Evan had no idea how to handle him—his attack power was absurd, his recovery even more so. The old monster had basically turned into an unkillable boss.
Run! For a moment, Evan thought about escaping. But he quickly shot that idea down—even if he ran to the ends of the earth, this old freak would track him down. He could probably leave the Netherworld alone, but Chase and Princess Ivy would be in danger, and he couldn't let that happen.
Since escape wasn't an option, he could only grit his teeth and fight. If it were just one enemy, he might manage, but there were two—one at demigod rank, one at Heavenly God rank. Either one alone was a nightmare.
Evan dodged the Old Ancestor's attack and flashed dozens of meters away. The Heavenly God Old Ancestor said, "Kid, you really have a lot of tricks—I have to admit, I'm impressed. But if that's all you've got, you can never kill me. You're doomed."
"Old man, you're a Heavenly God and you're still bragging to someone who's just at Immortal Emperor rank—aren't you embarrassed? Shameless! I'm not scared of you. Show me what you've got; I'll take it head-on." Evan shot back.
"Kid, you're arrogant—maybe the most arrogant in the Netherworld. You wounded me, so I'll have to take something back. Not afraid of Heavenly God rank? Then you must be even less afraid of demigod rank. Come on, fight me! Let me have some fun," said the other Old Ancestor.
Evan hadn't expected that old guy to be such a battle maniac. If he could kill him, maybe he'd have a shot against the Heavenly God. Worst case, he'd just go all out with Divine Cleave and burn through his Jadeheart Lotus seeds.
"Old man, since you want to die, I'll grant your wish. But I think you two should just attack together—otherwise, don't blame me if you get killed and I didn't warn you!" Evan said...