Above Royal Halberd’s head, clouds billowed and churned—a phenomenon born from his Primordial Spirit breathing in and out vital energy. At this moment, his gaze locked onto the figure atop the mountain, and the vapor above him suddenly swelled, spreading to cover half an acre.
Within the cloud, the vital energy seemed to condense into droplets, faintly visible as perfect beads of rain that fell with crystalline chimes, landing atop his head only to rise again as mist—an endless, cyclical flow.
Royal Halberd climbed the mountain. The peak wasn’t high—after all, it was shaped by the runic vital energy of the Woodcutter Sage and Furylo, not a true creation. In just a few strides, he reached the summit and stopped when he was still forty-odd paces from Zechariah Lee.
"On the battlefield, I ran into you—nearly died by your hand."
Royal Halberd’s aura exploded, his fighting spirit surging sky-high. Even having once lost to this opponent, he felt not a trace of fear—instead, it ignited an endless will to battle!
He was a martial fanatic—fearless, undaunted!
"I’ve been searching for you, waiting for a chance to redeem myself."
Royal Halberd said excitedly, "Please, senior brother—grant me this opportunity!"
Zechariah Lee turned, his gaze falling on him. The demon-eye on the hilt of the saber at his back remained tightly shut, unmoving.
Suddenly, his right foot shifted, toes angled askew; his stance neither rigid nor slack. His left foot pointed at Royal Halberd, while his right pointed toward a woman climbing the mountain ahead of them.
Royal Halberd’s face darkened as he growled, "Grace Yuan, stay out of this. If you interfere, I’ll kill you too!"
That woman, Grace Yuan, was also a divine arts user from High-Emperor Heaven. She had entered the Sand-Table World alongside Royal Halberd and the others. At first, they all rushed toward the axe-and-spear crossroads, but with everyone converging there, it lost its value as a must-win ground—so the group scattered and went into hiding.
Yet the only one who didn’t bother hiding was Quinn Shepherd.
Quinn dashed through the sky at such speed that clouds trailed behind him, leaving streaks as he raced to the edge of the Sand-Table World, pointing the way for the others.
But Quinn couldn’t keep still—even in his hiding spot, he started forging weapons, drawing a swarm of demon experts to hunt him down.
The demon experts’ hunt for Quinn turned into a rare opportunity for High-Emperor Heaven’s elites, who ambushed the demons on their way.
Grace Yuan saw this as well, so she stationed herself on the only road leading to Quinn. Spotting Zechariah Lee on the summit—and then Royal Halberd—she climbed up, hoping to join forces with the third-ranked powerhouse to take down Zechariah.
"Senior Brother Royal Halberd, you and Senior Sister Rain He are both disciples of True God Pang Yu. You should know the bigger picture matters most."
Grace Yuan fixed her gaze on Zechariah Lee, her expression grave. She said in a low voice, "This duel isn’t about your personal grudge, nor is it a chance to pursue the ultimate in divine arts. It concerns the fate of Departure City—and the destiny of High-Emperor Heaven. Neither you nor I can take him alone, but together, we might bring him down!"
"I won’t join forces with you. Stand down."
Royal Halberd’s face was resolute as he shook his head. "Since you and I are both divine arts users of High-Emperor Heaven, I won’t kill you. But if you try to strike Zechariah Lee while I’m dueling him, don’t blame me for being merciless."
His determined gaze locked onto Zechariah Lee, his thirst for the Dao burning fiercely. He chuckled, "If I win, he dies by my hand. If I lose, he’ll be gravely wounded—you can strike then. It won’t delay Departure City’s fate! Just watch, unless you want to test my ruthlessness."
Grace Yuan frowned slightly and took a step back.
Royal Halberd’s excitement surged, his aura growing even more intense. "Zechariah Lee, please—teach me!"
"You’re no match for me. You so-called ‘Teenage True Gods’ of High-Emperor Heaven have always been a joke in my eyes."
Zechariah Lee’s expression was indifferent as he looked at him. "You don’t understand what it means to be a true god. You think attaining the flesh of a Teenage True God guarantees godhood, but you’re far from it. There are three achievements for a Teenage True God: flesh, Primordial Spirit, and Dao. You’ve only gained one. I’m different."
The demon-saber on his back vibrated gently, emitting a low hum. Zechariah said leisurely, "Before descending to the lower realm, I’d already attained two—only my Dao remains incomplete. This time, I came down to apprentice under Furylo in pursuit of the Dao. Royal Halberd, you’re obsessed with divine arts and are close to gaining your second. I admire your resolve. You should attack together—don’t throw your lives away for nothing."
"Don’t look down on me! My divine arts—no destruction, no construction! The stronger the foe, the stronger I become! Breaking-Army Mountain!"
Royal Halberd let out a long howl and charged forward, his steps unleashing his attack. His fist technique transformed into a divine art—countless phantom fists appeared, stacking atop one another like a mountain, and in the next instant, condensed into a crushing Breaking-Army Star!
His fists were impossibly heavy; the force of his punches squeezed the air, causing thunderous explosions—like ten thousand bolts of lightning rolling overhead.
This strike showcased Royal Halberd’s astonishing mastery of fist-law divine arts. His previous battle with Zechariah Lee had revealed his shortcomings, but now, under the pressure of a powerful foe, he broke through—his Breaking-Army Mountain divine art was on the verge of perfection.
Behind Zechariah Lee, the demon-saber’s eye suddenly snapped open, spinning and swelling until it turned blood-red.
Zechariah reached back and drew his saber, slashing down to meet Breaking-Army Mountain. Instantly, saber-light erupted, colliding with the mountain of fist shadows, rebounding and multiplying into ten thousand blades that formed a saber-mountain—shattering Breaking-Army Mountain in one sweeping stroke!
The myriad saber-lights suddenly merged into a single blade, descending toward Royal Halberd’s head.
Royal Halberd clapped his hands together, catching the blade. Suddenly, the demon-saber split into two; his expression shifted as flesh burst from his armpits, sprouting two more arms to clamp the second descending blade.
He caught the two demon-sabers, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the blades split again—now four.
Royal Halberd roared, flesh bursting from his armpits once more as four new arms erupted, clamping down on the falling blades.
Then, to his despair, he saw the four blades split into eight, all cleaving down at him.
Shh-shh-shh-shh.
The other four blades fell. Royal Halberd lowered his head, staring blankly at the fading saber-light on the ground. Four straight lines of blood appeared on his face, growing longer and deeper by the second.
(This chapter is not over yet. ^.^ Please click next page to continue reading!)
Zechariah Lee vibrated the demon-saber, smoothly drawing it from his hand and slotting it onto his back. Royal Halberd’s body split apart, falling in four pieces.
Zechariah glanced at Grace Yuan. Her expression was grave as she continued to retreat.
"Go. I don’t kill women," Zechariah said blandly.
Grace Yuan still didn’t relax, retreating steadily. Only after she had retreated a full li did she turn and sprint away. The instant she turned her back, Zechariah’s muscles bulged—he exploded forward, surpassing the speed of sound, drew his saber, and slashed down vertically!
The saber-shadow flashed behind Grace Yuan; she spun in midair, her Sword Pill flying out, swelling as flying swords began to erupt—yet before they could, the saber-shadow cleaved down from above!
Zechariah stopped, sheathed his blade, and turned to leave.
"I still need to invite the man in the painting to witness my master’s saber-dao—I can’t afford to get injured. That’s why I struck you from behind."
His face remained impassive as he listened, following the sound of forging. "Woman, the instant you turn your back, you reveal your greatest flaw. In front of me, never show your back."
Behind him, Grace Yuan fell from the sky.
Elsewhere, whole mountain ranges toppled. Two figures battled fiercely among the peaks, shattering knife-edged cliffs and leaving only broken runes in their wake.
The fight ended quickly. Rain He dabbed at the wound on her face; her opponent lay dead, but she had still been injured.
The woman looked up, catching a fleeting flash of saber-light in the sky and frowned.
"Zechariah Lee, you’re as flamboyant as the blacksmith. But I’m not certain I can beat you!"
She turned to leave. "I need to find my fellow disciples—then we’ll take you down together!"
The Sand-Table World was vast; finding the others wouldn’t be easy.
Across the Sand-Table World, battles erupted among the mountains. High-Emperor Heaven’s divine arts users encountered demon experts—each fought desperately, using every trick to kill their foes.
So when enemies met, the fight was over in moments—divine arts users died or were crippled, the carnage brutal.
Yet even in those brief moments, they could battle across ten li, punching through mountains and collapsing ridges—the devastation was immense.
Some unleashed great divine arts that wrecked a hundred li in all directions—utterly terrifying.
Of course, this was all inside the Sand-Table World—not the real world. Outside, even Seven Stars–realm divine arts users wouldn’t have such destructive power.
Meanwhile, the axe-and-spear crossroads was eerily quiet.
Sabrina eagerly finished setting her traps and lay in wait, quietly hoping an enemy would stumble into her sure-kill array.
Time ticked by. An hour later, the girl poked her head out of hiding, her long twin braids dangling down.
Another hour passed. Sabrina sat atop the axe, chin in hand, swinging her legs in utter boredom.
After yet another hour, she sprawled on the axe’s back, staring up at the sky.
"Where is everyone?"
She suddenly sat up, a little frantic. "Where did everybody go? Wasn’t this supposed to be a must-fight hotspot? Enemy or ally, someone show up already!"
Outside the Sand-Table World, gods and demon gods watched the battles with mixed joy and worry. In no time, fighting had erupted everywhere inside.
Quinn had already slain three, now lay ‘dead’ to lure a fourth. The watching demon gods grew nervous for the demoness lurking nearby.
Luckily, the demoness didn’t fall for it and left. The demon gods atop the hall exhaled in relief.
"My lord, he truly is your successor in every way!" the Black Tiger God exclaimed, voice full of excitement.
The Woodcutter Sage’s face remained expressionless, while Furylo smiled. Their gazes met, then quickly parted.
When they saw Zechariah Lee butcher both Royal Halberd and Grace Yuan with two strokes, many High-Emperor Heaven gods broke out in cold sweat, deeply worried for their other divine arts users.
But the most anxious of all was Sabrina’s father, Lord Sang Ye, who clenched his fists so hard his palms were slick with cold sweat.
"Good girl, don’t go out—just stay put…"
Lord Sang Ye stared desperately at the axe-and-spear crossroads in the Sand-Table World, only to see Sabrina hop down from the axe. His face changed as he silently pleaded, "Don’t go out, please—just don’t…"
Sabrina ran out.
"Don’t run into an enemy, don’t run into an enemy…"
Up ahead, a demoness was heading straight toward her.
Lord Sang Ye nearly fainted. "We’re doomed…"
(—Three chapters today! More updates after midnight~)