The Slaughter of Chang'an

The thousand-year-old ancient capital Chang'an would not sleep tonight. The peak battle of the young generation had drawn all eyes.

"Killing you is like slaughtering a dog!" As the words fell, Xiao Chen stepped a hundred zhang through the void, crossing space as he advanced on Ye Tian.

Xia Ding, Ling Xuyan, Fang Tianqi, and Wu Mingshi all moved. They knew Xiao Chen was no empty boaster—he truly intended to butcher Ye Tian before the crowd.

If he succeeded, what face would the Six Heroes have? All four were near at hand; if they could not protect Ye Tian, it would be as if they were slapped across the face.

Nine bronze cauldrons, carved with ancient divine script, their verdant bodies covered in verdigris, radiated a pressure that made hearts tremble. It was as if endless demon mountains were pressing down over Chang'an.

The nine cauldrons stretched across the sky, surrounding Xiao Chen and sweeping toward him with savage force. Chaotic aura filled the heavens, and destructive power surged through heaven and earth. Even Chang'an city trembled.

At the same time, Ling Xuyan's Asura Precious Umbrella released billions of rays of light. It seemed the umbrella could shatter heaven and earth, tearing out sword qi that shot forth, completely sealing the sky.

Fang Tianqi and Wu Mingshi also acted. Myriad auspicious rays swept down, pressing toward Xiao Chen's true body. Radiant light shrouded everything, submerging that area.

Four experts struck from four directions, sealing the eight extremes of heaven and earth, trying to confine Xiao Chen in a special space and crush him.

But the four experts were disappointed. Although Xiao Chen was sealed within, he had already rushed to Ye Tian's side first. A giant hand extended, the size of a house, crystal clear like jade, shimmering with precious radiance, covering the sky as it fiercely slammed down.

"Dong..."

The bell rang sonorously, striking the Undying Divine Bell with full force. The sound carried hundreds of li. The destructive sound waves tore the sky; space around them constantly shattered, and the entire city of Chang'an shook.

Even hiding beneath the Divine Bell, Ye Tian's physical body nearly collapsed. The Heavenly Hand, pushed to its limit, was terrifying to the point of evil!

The giant hand grabbed the Undying Divine Bell, and Ye Tian was also pulled into the air, clinging to it.

Xiao Chen manifested the Heavenly Hand, using the Undying Divine Bell to sweep in all directions, countering the nine bronze cauldrons and the Asura Umbrella that were closing in.

"Dong!"

The Divine Bell collided with a bronze cauldron, producing a trembling sound that shook heaven and earth. Golden light shot into the sky, and the bronze cauldron was sent flying.

Clutching the Undying Divine Bell, the Heavenly Hand struck nine times in succession, smashing against the nine cauldrons. The deafening noise resounded through heaven and earth, like divine thunder descending from the thirty-third heaven into the mortal world.

The nine cauldrons were sent flying. Xiao Chen's manifested Heavenly Hand grabbed the Undying Divine Bell and shook it violently. The bell rang out, its sound sublime, sweeping away all divine radiance like a purifying heavenly note, rolling under the nine heavens.

The sound waves roared like a great sea, like raging waves sweeping the sky, surging toward the Asura Umbrella in the sky, scattering the billions of rays it shed.

Ye Tian watched helplessly as Xiao Chen controlled the Undying Divine Bell, but there was nothing he could do. Now it was no longer him controlling the bell; the bell trapped him, binding him within.

Xiao Chen had to admit that this bell contained terrifying power without limit. But the bell's spirit seemed to be asleep. If it could be fully unleashed, it would be truly unimaginable. This was likely a sealed Half-Ancestor divine treasure.

"Dong!"

The Undying Divine Bell knocked away the nine cauldrons, then struck Fang Tianqi to the east, Wu Mingshi to the west, and swept up against the Asura Umbrella. At last came the sound of cracking—"crack, crack, crack, crack"—the crystalline golden bell body was fracturing under too much pressure. Finally, it crumbled. With a "boom," it burst into endless golden light, shattering in the air.

Xia Ding, Ling Xuyan, Fang Tianqi, and Wu Mingshi all shouted and struck at Xiao Chen, but they were too late.

Ye Tian had already been grabbed by Xiao Chen. There was no way to resist. In the previous great defeat he had already been severely injured, now able to use less than thirty percent of his usual strength. Even though 'death and rebirth' made him stronger each time, time was still needed.

Ye Tian roared, struggling in the enormous Heavenly Hand. But how could he break free? The sound suddenly stopped. Bloody mist spread. Ye Tian's physical body was shattered, ground into flesh paste.

Even four experts standing in his way could not stop Xiao Chen from killing Ye Tian. Xiao Chen shattered Ye Tian's body right before their eyes.

Before the Undying Divine Bell could reassemble, eighty-one black holes emerged around Xiao Chen, seemingly able to devour all light. They rapidly spread in all directions, swallowing all the fragments of the shattered bell.

At the same time, Xiao Chen's figure flickered like a dream, instantly vanishing from the void.

The nine bronze cauldrons, the Asura Umbrella, and the Nine Calamity Divine Palace all struck empty air. The four experts had lost their target. Their reluctance to strike for fear of harming their own was not the main reason.

Xiao Chen's phantom appeared not far away. Within the eighty-one acupoint realms, terrifying energy surged like raging waves. The power stored in the divinized acupoints gathered into a vast sea, madly drowning the bell fragments.

Again and again, he shattered the Undying Divine Bell as it tried to reform. Finally, Ye Tian's consciousness was forcibly shaken out of it, completely separated from the sleeping bell spirit within the Divine Bell. Before he could even scream, he vanished into ash—utterly annihilated.

When the eighty-one divinized acupoint realms calmed, a golden divine bell slowly rotated, hovering within the acupoint space, flowing with hazy chaotic aura.

It was indeed undying!

But what was undying was only the Undying Divine Bell. The grade of this divine treasure was incalculable. Each time it was shattered, it became a little stronger. Truly a treasure.

"Motherfucker—it's that thing!"

"Eons ago, I once crossed hands with it."

Just then, the Golden Divine Halberd and the Dark-Iron Seal within the acupoint space both transmitted mental fluctuations. They were still healing; their cracked bodies still needed long ages to recover.

It really was no ordinary object!

Xiao Chen stood alone under the night sky, facing four experts, his expression utterly calm.

The four experts' expressions were extremely ugly. None of the four had stopped him. Xiao Chen had killed Ye Tian in front of everyone.

It was like entering an empty land!

Down in Chang'an city, it had long been in an uproar. Xiao Chen's words still seemed to echo in everyone's ears—truly killing Ye Tian as easily as taking something from a pocket, as if smashing nothing more than dirt and dogs.

The thousand-year-old ancient capital was clamorous. This was destined to be a sleepless night.

Two battles, half a day. Six Heroes, two dead. This was a disgrace.

The four who survived were as good as slapped.

The Six Heroes roamed the Cultivation World, rarely finding opponents among the younger generation. After entering the Mortal World, they were unstoppable, vying for supremacy in all directions, rarely encountering a match.

In their original ranking of opponents, if Xiao Chen had not mastered the Yellow-Clay Altar, he would have been placed after Zhao Zhongyang, Xue Wu, Meng Xien, Cang Hai, and others. But the current result chilled their hearts.

The four had to admit that the older generation's term for the fourth major realm—Nirvana or Calamity Fire—was truly apt. It was a process by which a potential cultivator could complete the most important transformation of their life, a true rebirth from fire.

From the data they had gathered, Xiao Chen was not particularly outstanding at the demi-god level, but after entering the Nirvana realm, it was as if the door to a treasure vault had been thrown wide open. He became more terrifying by the day.

Chaotic Chang'an gradually quieted. The four experts surrounded Xiao Chen in the air. The little beast Keke watched warily from nearby, as if ready to strike at any moment.

"I want to fight you one on one." Xia Ding stepped forward, his tone firm.

Every cultivator had a heart that never admitted defeat. As one of the Six Heroes, Xia Ding naturally craved a great battle witnessed by tens of thousands. He did not seek a breakthrough in battle, but rather a purification of his state of mind.

What they called 'a city-toppling battle, supreme sublimation' was the essential method for ancient masters to break through.

The other three understood Xia Ding's character. They knew they could not stop him. They slowly retreated, but remained ready to strike at any moment.

"Make your move." Xiao Chen said only three words.

To an enemy, there was no mutual admiration. When it was time to strike, strike. If there had been mutual admiration, the monk Yizhen would not have died.

Nine cauldrons rotated, as if earth, fire, wind, and water were cycling at the same time, churning the sky into chaotic eddies. The divine script on the nine bronze cauldrons burst forth endless chaotic light, sweeping toward Xiao Chen.

Those divine scripts were not phantoms—they were fully materialized, shining brightly in the sky as if carved from fine gold, tearing through the void as they swept toward Xiao Chen.

These ancient scripts possessed unimaginably mysterious power.

Blood splattered. The song of sacrifice rose, as if the ancient ritual of worshipping heaven and earth was reappearing!

Even before the divine scripts reached him, Xiao Chen felt his blood boiling, as if it wanted to burst out of his body. His body showed signs of crumbling. His martial body was indestructible, harder than refined gold—yet it felt this way. One could imagine how sinister the divine scripts were. If it had been a cultivator of another system, they would probably have met the fate of collapse from the start.

Xiao Chen stood unmoving as a mountain, poised in the void. The first syllable of the Eight Origin Sounds—"Om"—issued from his mouth, tearing through the void.

The splattering blood was scattered, and at the same time, the divine scripts began to crack in opposition, finally shattering completely and dissipating in the sky.

The blood sacrifice had temporarily failed!

Otherwise, Xiao Chen would have become an offering, his life drained and his blood absorbed to death by the nine cauldrons. Truly mysterious and terrifying.

Though the divine light condensed from the nine cauldrons had been shattered, at that moment all nine bronze cauldrons shook, crashing toward Xiao Chen like comets from nine directions, pulverizing all physical matter.

Xiao Chen displayed the Eight Aspect Worlds divine ability. The eight worlds were both real and illusory, overlapping in the sky. With unimaginable force, they fixed the nine bronze cauldrons within.

Xia Ding roared, his spirit, energy, and mind merging entirely with the nine cauldrons before him. The nine cauldrons seemed to come alive, shaking violently as chaotic light shot into the sky. They broke the restraints and began to revolve within the Eight Aspect Worlds, trapping Xiao Chen at the center.

At the same time, a vast aura rolled in all directions, sweeping across the entire sky.

The nine cauldrons were like nine worlds, projecting nine illusory spaces that expanded outward, covering the Eight Aspect Worlds instead.

Xiao Chen's mind shook, but he was not afraid. More space did not mean it was stronger than the Eight Aspect Worlds. If he counted by quantity, his body still contained eighty acupoint realms hidden within.

The spaces expanded by the nine cauldrons joined together, truly merging into one. They became an illusory, dead world, filled with chaotic aura, cut off from the outside, trapping Xiao Chen within.

The sound of blood sacrifice rose again. Sheets of divine script flew off the nine cauldrons, pressing down on Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen channeled his full power, and the Eight Aspect Worlds finally emerged once more. Earth, fire, wind, and water cycled; heaven and earth intermingled, yin and yang fused. The eight aspects revolved as if they were destroying the world. The energy of the Eight Aspect Worlds shattered all divine script, tore space apart, and swept directly toward the nine cauldrons.

The blood sacrifice failed completely. Xiao Chen would not become an offering.

But he was trapped in this illusory world. The Eight Aspect Worlds and the world extended by the nine cauldrons were at a standstill. He was stuck in a dead silent illusory world.

If he could not break the deadlock, he might be sealed in there forever.

In an instant, Xiao Chen's spirit, energy, and mind rose to their limits. At the same time, the "Om" heavenly note sounded within the Eight Aspect Worlds, actually resonating with that aspect, releasing a world-destroying aura.

The deafening, immense sound exploded forth, sweeping through the entire dead world. At that moment, the space of the nine cauldrons collapsed. The nine bronze cauldrons were as if struck by lightning, ringing "clang, clang" as they all flew off at an angle.

Heaven and earth returned to clarity. Xiao Chen stood alone in the arena.

In the distance, Xia Ding spat a mouthful of blood, but straightened his body again. He shouted, "Kill! Nine cauldrons, move as one! Heaven and earth in chaos!"

The nine cauldrons exuded an ancient aura, as heavy as millions of mountains, pressing forward. They wanted to crush Xiao Chen in the sky.

Their speed was not fast, but they sealed this stretch of heaven and earth. Though they advanced slowly, Xiao Chen could not break out, trapped within.

At this moment, everyone was terrified. Heaven and earth shook as if all of Yong Province would be destroyed. Chang'an fell into dead silence.

Xiao Chen's hair flew wildly. Twin beams of cold lightning shot from his eyes. His entire being had reached its peak state. He stepped out the Reverse Dragon Seven Steps, causing the void to shatter. The trembling rhythm of the entire heaven and earth no longer belonged solely to the nine cauldrons. He forcibly inserted himself into their rhythm.

He roared at the sky, his aura like a rainbow.

"Dong!"

When he stepped the fifth step of the Reverse Dragon Seven Steps, the rhythm of space trembling was thrown into chaos by Xiao Chen. The Heavenly Hand rose high.

When the unprecedented sixth step was taken, Xiao Chen was already in front of the cauldrons. He seemed to have become one with heaven and earth, completely free from the nine cauldrons' suppression.

In previous battles, Xiao Chen had at most taken four or five steps. But this time, he even took the seventh step! The seventh step was not planted on the void, but fiercely stamped onto a bronze cauldron that was charging at him.

"Boom!"

Chang'an shook. The night sky trembled.

After taking the Reverse Dragon Seven Steps, Xiao Chen had transformed into heaven and earth itself, resonating with the pulse of the entire world. This step landed, and it shattered a bronze cauldron!

Far in the sky, Xia Ding cried out, spraying a ten-meter-long wave of blood.

Ling Xuyan, Fang Tianqi, and Wu Mingshi rushed over to protect him, but Xia Ding showed no signs of recovery. He kept spitting blood.

The three experts simultaneously attacked Xiao Chen, but the eight remaining cauldrons blocked their path. They simply could not get through.

At this moment, Xiao Chen was one with heaven and earth, his power without limit. The Heavenly Hand struck again and again, displaying ultimate force. With a "boom," heaven and earth shook—another bronze cauldron was shattered!

Then, the Inverse Seven Steps took effect. At this point, Xiao Chen seemed to be channeling not his own power, but the primal power of the world.

The Inverse Seven Steps—the final step of the Reverse Dragon Seven Steps—were terrifying beyond imagination!

Every step he took, heaven and earth shattered. Every foot he landed struck a bronze cauldron.

At this moment, all was silent on all sides.

Only this space continuously produced deafening sounds of shattering.

With each of Xiao Chen's Inverse Seven Steps, a bronze cauldron was smashed!

The world was still. Only here was deafening, a source of destruction.

When the Inverse Seven Steps were complete, all nine cauldrons had shattered.

From far in the sky, Xia Ding let out one final scream and split apart with the nine cauldrons, exploding in the sky. Blood splattered; bloody mist spread.

Xiao Chen had displayed the terrifying power of a martial artist. The physical body was a treasure vault—stronger than any divine artifact. By opening the sealed doors of the body and excavating its own potential, one could shatter everything.

Chang'an was dead silent for a long time, then erupted in chaos.

The thousand-year-old ancient capital would not sleep tonight.

Ling Xuyan, Fang Tianqi, and Wu Mingshi wordlessly closed in. They could no longer fight Xiao Chen alone. The Three Heroes were ready to join hands to destroy this terrifying foe.