"Puff! Puff!" As this sound echoed, two early-stage Immortal Emperors were struck by Joe Di's thunderballs, instantly suffering grave injuries.
Within Joe Di's Supreme Strangle Immortal Array, he recklessly drove the thunder law from the Primordial Thunderstone, continuously forming thunderballs and thunderfalls to bombard his foes. In a short span, not only did he severely injure two early-stage Immortal Emperors, but the other four Immortal Emperors were all wounded as well.
The only one unscathed was Riley Thunder.
At first, Riley Thunder was truly startled by Joe Di's attacks. The ease with which he wielded such terrifying thunder-source assaults, even weaving thunderfalls and thunderballs into a dense web of lightning, left Riley Thunder shaken. He even thought Joe Di was far beyond the ninth layer of Immortal Emperor— not out of underestimating Joe Di, but believing he had surpassed the Immortal Emperor realm altogether.
Yet after seeing several people wounded by Joe Di in succession, Riley Thunder relaxed instead. He was now certain Joe Di's cultivation hadn't reached the Immortal Emperor realm.
The reason Joe Di's attacks were so formidable was that he had constructed a Supreme Strangle Immortal Array that Riley Thunder couldn't even comprehend, and he was also leveraging the Primordial Thunderstone.
Nearly all of Joe Di's attacks relied on the thunder law within the Primordial Thunderstone. No wonder Joe Di had come here atop the Primordial Thunderstone, disregarding any consequences of exposing it.
Once Riley Thunder understood the source of Joe Di's strength, he grew so excited he trembled—Joe Di was no longer fearsome. As long as he could seriously injure Joe Di, he would surely capture him today.
A massive thunder hammer transformed into a true mountain of lightning, smashing toward Joe Di. At the same time, countless strangle blades from the Supreme Strangle Immortal Array slashed toward Riley Thunder. In moments, Riley Thunder was torn open by a dozen bloody wounds from these terrifying blades.
One blade even split Riley Thunder's brow, nearly cracking open his skull.
Yet Riley Thunder seemed utterly unfazed by these terrifying attacks. His colossal thunder hammer, now a mountain of lightning, continued its relentless descent.
"Crack!" A series of faint fractures echoed, and the strangling aura around them paused for an instant.
Riley Thunder was ecstatic. He finally understood and roared, "Everyone, attack with all your might! I've torn open his Supreme Strangle Immortal Array!"
Riley Thunder now fully grasped the origin of Joe Di's strangle array. Joe Di must have reached a profound understanding of cosmic laws and used various elemental laws to construct it—truly the most ingenious idea in the universe.
Moreover, Joe Di had only just arrived, yet he could already construct a Supreme Strangle Immortal Array using law. If Joe Di were given half a day here, even fifty people attacking together might not be able to harm him. No wonder Joe Di dared to come alone.
And Joe Di's communication with the thunder law of the Primordial Thunderstone made Riley Thunder even more certain that Joe Di possessed a secret for understanding foundational cosmic laws. As long as he killed Joe Di, those secrets would be his. Imagining himself mastering every foundational law, Riley Thunder could hardly contain his excitement.
After Riley Thunder forcefully ripped open Joe Di's strangle array, Joe Di's domain began to fracture. Without needing Riley Thunder's command, the three remaining Immortal Emperors who could still fight unleashed their strongest killing moves.
A terrifying pressure swept forth. In that moment, Joe Di sensed the breath of death in the very space around him. Several Law Array Banners were instantly constructed by Joe Di, and the previously torn strangle array transformed into a Supreme Defense Immortal Array.
At the same time, Joe Di slashed out with his Azure Veil Blade— the Lawbreaker Slash.
A trace of mockery flashed in Riley Thunder's eyes. If Joe Di thought this hammer was the same as his earlier probing strike, he was courting death.
This hammer contained not only all his strength, but also his ultimate thunder technique—Thunder Hammer Burst.
On the surface, it looked like he was attacking purely with strength, but in truth, his real killing move was Thunder Hammer Burst.
No matter how well Joe Di could evade, under his Thunder Hammer Burst, even Joe Di's body would be reduced to dust.
Boom! Boom boom boom! Crack!
The Lawbreaker Slash collided with the thunder hammer, sending countless lightning rays scattering across the sky. The terrifying sound of thunder explosions echoed through the space. The mountain of lightning instantly shrank, reverting to a normal thunder hammer in Riley Thunder's hand.
Joe Di felt as though all the bones in his body had been shattered. He spat out several streams of essence blood, collapsing to the ground, his Azure Veil Blade falling beside him.
He knew that if he could manage another Thunderblade attack, even if he couldn't kill Riley Thunder, he could at least seriously wound him. But now his Azure Veil Blade lay on the ground, and he didn't even have a chance to take out a Restorative Elixir.
Blackfire, who hadn't had a chance to act until now, hurriedly produced several eighth-grade Restorative Elixirs and fed them to Joe Di, ready to tear open the void and escape with him at any moment.
In this kind of battle, as a newly advanced eighth-rank Immortal Fiend, Blackfire couldn't intervene. But it understood exactly why Big Brother had brought it here—not to help fight, but to whisk him away if anything went wrong.
Riley Thunder was even more shocked than Joe Di. Although his killing blow had gravely injured Joe Di, it hadn't destroyed his body as he'd expected. And the Thunder Hammer Burst technique hadn't even been triggered.
No one understood better than he did—the reason he hadn't killed Joe Di was that his Thunder Hammer Burst law had suddenly been severed.
Every technique is constructed from laws. When his technique's law was split apart by Joe Di's blade, it was as if his technique had lost its very foundation.
Such terrifying mastery of laws—not only could Joe Di construct law arrays, but he could also sever the laws behind a technique with a single slash. Riley Thunder, far from being frightened, was actually delighted. He forcefully suppressed the backlash of his immortal energy and charged at Joe Di again, thunder hammer raised.
His strength far surpassed the other three, and he had taken the initiative with his first attack. By the time his second strike landed, the other three's attacks had only just managed to hit Joe Di's Supreme Defense Immortal Array.
A cruel smile flashed in Riley Thunder's eyes. Since you can break through the law behind my technique, this time I'll use pure thunder hammer force to crush you. He was certain that in Joe Di's wounded state, there was no way he could withstand this second blow.
"Boom... Boom!"
Riley Thunder's second hammer strike landed simultaneously with the other three Immortal Emperors' techniques, all crashing into Joe Di's Supreme Defense Immortal Array.
Joe Di's Supreme Defense Immortal Array shuddered violently, as if it might be torn apart at any moment. No—the array was already being ripped open, emitting a series of cracking sounds.
The three other Immortal Emperors were visibly shaken. Just moments ago, it had clearly been a Supreme Strangle Immortal Array, and now, in the blink of an eye, it had become a Supreme Defense Immortal Array. Such mastery of arraycraft was beyond their comprehension.
But what flashed in Riley Thunder's eyes was not shock, but terror.
Just moments ago, it had clearly been a Supreme Strangle Immortal Array, and Riley Thunder had already torn it open. Now, in the blink of an eye, it was a Supreme Defense Immortal Array. What did that mean? It meant Joe Di could easily withstand his attack, and next, Riley Thunder would face Joe Di's counterstrike.
Riley Thunder knew well how powerful Joe Di was—if this hammer failed, the consequences would be dire.
A veteran of countless battles, Joe Di would never let such a chance slip by. His Azure Veil Blade split into two beams—one short, one long. The short beam was the Lawbreaker Slash; the long beam, Thunderblade. For the first time, Joe Di unleashed the Lawbreaker Slash alongside another blade technique.
When Riley Thunder's hammer paused, held back for an instant by Joe Di's defense array, the short blade beam from the Azure Veil Blade struck the thunder hammer. Though the hammer was still formidable, the defense array's barrier meant Joe Di suffered only minor backlash.
Riley Thunder felt the power in his thunder hammer dissipate completely, and then Joe Di's Azure Veil Blade transformed into a Thunderblade thousands of meters long, sweeping toward Riley Thunder.
The great hall was reduced to ruins by that single strike. Riley Thunder's heart was filled with terror and disbelief—how could this be? He hadn't even used a technique, so how could Joe Di erase all the power from his thunder hammer with one slash?
But there was no time to think—he had to escape.
Riley Thunder desperately tried to flee, but it was too late. A terrifying cosmic law bound him, and even as he burned his essence blood in a frenzy, he couldn't escape the range of that fearsome Thunderblade—before he could break free, a giant footprint came crashing down.
Bang! Just as Riley Thunder broke free of the Thunderblade, Joe Di's giant footprint kicked him back.
This was a spatial law technique...
Just as Riley Thunder had this thought, the Thunderblade fell from above, splitting him in two.
As the Primordial Thunderstone beneath Joe Di's feet unleashed a torrent of lightning, ready to annihilate Riley Thunder's Primordial Soul, Riley Thunder, unwilling to yield, barely resisted the lightning and demanded, "Why, even when I didn't use thunder law, did your blade still drain all the power from my thunder hammer?"
"You really want to know?" Joe Di asked coldly.
"I must know, or I won't die in peace," Riley Thunder struggled to reply.
"Then you won't die in peace." An even more violent lightning torrent swept over, and Riley Thunder's Primordial Soul let out a furious howl before being annihilated by the lightning.
Joe Di managed to construct several more Law Array Banners, then trapped the remaining three with a Supreme Deathtrap Immortal Array. Without Riley Thunder, the other Immortal Emperors posed no threat to Joe Di.
As for Riley Thunder, Joe Di certainly wouldn't tell him that everything in the universe is constructed from laws—even power itself is just another form of law.
(That's all for today's update. Good night, friends! The 5th to 7th is the Yuewen Annual Meeting, so updates during that time may be irregular. Thanks for your understanding!)