The Yaksha Half-Ancestor's Fall

The enormous skull, its size comparable to a mountain range and its interior vast beyond measure, suddenly began to emanate a bone-piercing chill at every inch. Even the Half-Ancestors felt their hearts tremble with dread.

"Boom!"

The stone-bodied Xiao Chen, holding the dried corpse in his hand, violently hurled it forward.

"Have you lost your mind!"

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor saw it all with stark clarity and felt the terrifying power of that evil corpse—a force that made even his own flesh crawl with horror.

"Boom!"

A cataclysmic wave of energy surged forth. The baleful aura of the King Ship pierced heaven and earth, as if black flames had soared up to the clouds.

Heaven and earth trembled. The golden Forbidden Sea churned with towering waves ten thousand spans high that crashed into the sky. All of this was because of the colossal skull within the sea.

The mountain-like black skull shook violently, stirring the entire Southern Sea into a roaring frenzy.

All the gods fled in panic, desperately escaping to the distant skies.

So this was the power to slay gods and exterminate demons. The golden Forbidden Sea had gone completely berserk.

"Ah..."

From within the King Ship came the Yaksha Half-Ancestor's screeching roar, filled with fury and terror.

"Boom!"

The jet-black giant skull suddenly leaped out of the sea, rolling far across the sky before plunging back into the ocean with a heavy splash.

In that fleeting instant, heaven and earth lost their color, wind and clouds shifted wildly, as if the end of the world had arrived.

Thick yin energy stained the sky and ground like black liquid, as though it would devour the entire world.

"Wuwu..."

A mournful sobbing sound echoed across the Southern Sea, sending chills down the spines of even the gods—a lament of apocalypse that brought despair and dread.

"Ah..."

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor let out another roar that made the gods' scalps tingle.

Inside the King Ship, half of the Yaksha Half-Ancestor's body was reduced to bare white bones, as if a butcher had stripped every scrap of flesh from his right side. The right palm of the stone-bodied Xiao Chen was also thoroughly cracked. Though the stone body, which had once withstood the attacks of Otherworld Ancestral Gods, had long since lost most of its essence, it was still not something ordinary force could destroy—and yet now the right hand was all but shattered.

Not far away lay the corpse, gaunt and skeletal, with only a thin layer of yellow skin stretched over its bones, the outlines of its hard frame clearly visible. Its yellow hair was a tangled mess, like withered weeds. This was a terrifying evil corpse that made one's hair stand on end.

All the horrific energy fluctuations earlier had originated from it. Even the Yaksha's Infinite Demon Body had been half-broken by it.

Yes, in that moment when Xiao Chen smashed it into the Yaksha Half-Ancestor, the evil corpse's tightly shut eyes had suddenly trembled, erupting with a world-shattering power.

Though it had now settled, the yin aura still spread, and even a Half-Ancestor felt an excruciating pain as if their flesh were being split. Had an ordinary cultivator been here, even for a single second, they would have been instantly annihilated in body and soul.

"You little worm, you're playing with fire!" The Yaksha Half-Ancestor's expression was hideously twisted. Bloody mist wreathed half his body as he consumed his vital essence to repair the wound.

But under the suppression of some unknown force, he had to use a full three-tenths of his vital essence to recover, dropping his combat power by a full tier!

In this silent space within the skull, a faint, tremulous note suddenly reached the ears of Xiao Chen and the Yaksha Half-Ancestor. The little finger of the evil corpse's left hand had moved—ever so slightly.

For experts of their level, any disturbance could be clearly sensed. Both the Yaksha Half-Ancestor and Xiao Chen felt a chill of dread.

Could a corpse actually come back to life?!

Both of them retreated far away. It required no further thought to conclude that this was definitely an Ancestral God-level corpse; how else could it have injured a Half-Ancestor?

Xiao Chen and the old Yaksha hovered in the void hundreds of zhang away, watching the evil corpse's movements in silence, their battle temporarily halted.

The King Ship was deathly still. The golden sea slowly calmed. The blackness in the sky and earth gradually receded. The gods let out a long breath—the terror they had just witnessed was too dreadful; they would never forget it as long as they lived.

This dead stillness lasted a long time before another roar erupted from within the King Ship.

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor moved. He lunged at Xiao Chen like a ghost, his words cold and ruthless: "You crawling insect actually used that evil corpse to wound me. If I let you die too easily, it would be far too merciful!"

His body blazed with green light, dazzling as a sun, as if the flames of the underworld were surging.

Behind him, a mysterious door opened without a sound. In the instant he charged, he swept Xiao Chen inside.

"Boom!"

The mysterious door slammed shut. The two vanished from within the skull.

Outside, the other Half-Ancestors could no longer sense their presence at all. They furrowed their brows as the gods began to murmur in discussion.

"You cheated!" In a mysterious space, the stone-bodied Xiao Chen stared coldly at the Yaksha Half-Ancestor. "This is no longer within the King Ship. You've brought me across space, leaving the battlefield!".

"Out there, I couldn't really cut loose. This is my Ten Thousand Laws World—here, we can fight to our hearts' content. Slowly savor the battle. I'll make you understand that a worm is always a worm. A stony war body is utterly useless!"

As the Yaksha Half-Ancestor's words fell, the world rapidly expanded, unfolding in true form before Xiao Chen's eyes.

In the sky, white clouds drifted. Below lay an endless mountain range. Ancient forests echoed with the howls of apes and the roars of tigers, carrying the breath of primordial ages, as if they had returned to the ancient world.

"Mountains and rivers all serve me. Little worm, be annihilated in body and soul!"

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor roared, his green hair whipping wildly. A hundred great peaks rose from the earth behind him, suspended in the sky.

"Die!"

With a single bellow, a three-thousand-meter divine mountain burst with ten thousand zhang of sacred light, hurtling toward Xiao Chen.

"Boom!"

Xiao Chen swung the giant stone sword in his hand, splitting the sacred mountain in two with one blow. The blade pointed straight at the old Yaksha as he pressed forward.

As the long sword swept forward, the wind raged. The clouds in the sky trembled, then surged wildly forward in its wake.

"Rumble, rumble..."

Heaven and earth shook. The hundred sacred mountains behind the Yaksha Half-Ancestor all scattered, radiating an oppressive majesty as they crashed toward Xiao Chen like a sky-filling tide.

The hundred sacred mountains looked like meteors from beyond the heavens, streaking across the void, blazing with dazzling light that illuminated the entire Ten Thousand Laws World. They thundered deafeningly, all converging on a single point—the stone-bodied Xiao Chen.

"Explode for me!" Unavoidable, Xiao Chen set the giant stone sword across the sky and roared.

He swept in all directions. Sword energy surged. The heavy sword ripples heaved like a vast ocean, as if the starry universe itself were shaking.

"Boom, boom..."

The sacred mountains, imbued with the Yaksha Half-Ancestor's power, were constantly split and shattered in midair by the sword energy, crumbling into the void.

The sky was filled with dust and sand, filled with sword energy. Huge stones blazed with light as they flew in all directions. Boulders pierced the clouds, waves crashed against the shore—the whole world was a storm of raging sword light and falling stars.

From the excessive force, the stone-bodied Xiao Chen's right hand, already cracked, now completely crumbled.

But at that moment, a seven-colored radiance shot out from within his body, spreading forth, and sacred light fused his shattered hand back together.

"Slay God!"

Xiao Chen bellowed, his palm like a blade as he chopped down. The shadow of a colossal heavenly stele materialized, smashing through countless sacred mountains as it bore down on the old Yaksha!

The Slay God technique, unleashed through the indestructible war body of the Stone Man, had its power elevated to a terrifying degree. It was like divine punishment, as if to annihilate the gods themselves. Its true meaning was fully embodied in that single word—Slay God.

Endless heavenly blades and divine swords swirled around the stele, radiating ten thousand beams of light, pressing down with unstoppable force.

"Break for me!"

The old Yaksha instantly transformed into his Infinite Demon Body—his small, withered frame swelled to over a hundred meters tall. His giant palms rose to the sky in a gesture of support as he met the stele.

"Boom!"

An unparalleled pressure swept across the Ten Thousand Laws World. The clouds in the sky completely scattered, and all the mountains on the ground crumbled and sank. Dust and smoke filled the air.

The stone-bodied Xiao Chen clashed head-on with the Yaksha!

"Rumble, rumble..."

This very world was being torn apart!

"All Laws Inviolable! Swordfire Burns the Heavens!"

The old Yaksha was truly enraged. He had not expected Xiao Chen to have cultivated the ancient stele arts to such a degree, putting him under immense pressure.

The hundred-meter-tall Yaksha Half-Ancestor held a sixty-meter-long giant sword, its whole body a lush green, wreathed in endless raging flames that stained the heavens with a stark emerald light.

The old Yaksha was furious. His demonic might dominated the world. His colossal form stood between heaven and earth like a great demonic god from the dawn of time, raising his giant sword to strike at Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen swelled to a hundred meters in an instant, his war sword growing proportionally. He paid no heed to the blazing green flames as he swung forward.

"Clang!"

The war swords clashed. Mountains and rivers lost their color. The stone giant possessed an unfathomable power, enough to contend with a Half-Ancestor.

Swish, swish, swish!

At that moment, three coldly gleaming war swords shot out from within the stone giant like divine rainbows from beyond the sky, their dazzling radiance becoming the one and only thing in heaven and earth!

"You!"

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor retreated in haste, but the three divine rainbows were faster than lightning, crossing space and piercing straight into his body.

Puff, puff, puff!

Three gouts of blood sprayed from his body. The war swords could tear even Half-Ancestor treasures—and now, with the power of the stone giant behind them, they could naturally pierce a Half-Ancestor's body.

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor cried out in shock and anger—pain mixed with a sliver of fear. How many years had it been since a blade had cut his Infinite Demon Body? And now, the tiny ant he had dismissed was mangling him so severely!

Flash!

The three divine rainbows streaked back into the stone giant's body and vanished.

But the enormous stone giant charged forward, its stone sword splitting the void, severing space, and cleaving down, splitting the Ten Thousand Laws World into two separate realms.

"Boom!"

The severely wounded old Yaksha took another heavy blow. His enormous form was sent flying, blood spurting from his mouth. He left an afterimage in place and rapidly retreated to recover his balance.

But Xiao Chen was utterly committed today. He held nothing back, revealing his full strength. The Eight Aspect Extreme manifested, driving the stone giant in relentless pursuit. Though this consumed tremendous divine power, the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree within him ceaselessly replenished him. Seven-colored divine light rushed into the sky, and the stone giant blazed with dazzling radiance.

"You little worm, I'll make you die without a burial place!" The Yaksha Half-Ancestor disappeared into the very fabric of heaven and earth, his voice drifting up as if from the depths of the underworld, chilling and terrifying. "Ten Thousand Laws World, ten thousand phenomena emerge!"

The shattered mountains below vanished. An endless great plain appeared, with a mighty roaring river running through it. On both banks stood city after city.

Countless armies surged into the sky, charging at Xiao Chen.

Leading them were all familiar faces: Qingqing, Liu Mu, Jin Sanyi, Niu Ren… and even his parents!

"Old Yaksha, is this the best you can do? My heart is as firm as iron; such illusions cannot disturb me!" Xiao Chen pointed his sword at the sky. "No matter who comes, I will kill them all without hesitation!"

Then he swung his war sword sideways, sweeping toward the endless army rushing across the sky. Blinding radiance filled the void. Blood splattered everywhere. In an instant, he annihilated them all.

"Haha…" The Yaksha Half-Ancestor laughed loudly. "Do you think I'm as pathetic as that? I want you to kill all your friends and family with your own hands, to live forever in agony!"

His voice was icy: "Every friend and relative in your memory—if they are still alive, I can borrow part of their divine power. Even if they are in different realms, they cannot escape! You are eroding their divine source!"

Xiao Chen did not believe it. If this were true, this Yaksha Half-Ancestor would be far too terrifying—a technique that defied the very heavens!

"If you don't believe me, then go ahead and kill! Grind down all this divine power!" The Yaksha Half-Ancestor laughed. "My Ten Thousand Laws World can connect with billions of spaces. All manner of wish-power and divine sources can be borrowed!"

"You lie! If you had such heaven-defying means, why didn't you borrow the divine sources of Tianwaitian and Renwairen?"

"Because they are Half-Ancestors. I'm not at my peak realm yet, and I don't want to court trouble for now." The Yaksha Half-Ancestor's cold, sinister laughter echoed through the world. "Go ahead, grind away the divine sources of your friends and kin with your own hands!"

At this very moment, far away, Liu Mu, Niu Ren, and the others felt a sudden, inexplicable weakening in their bodies, as if a sliver of their strength had drained away. They were all deeply perplexed.

Simultaneously, in several channels similar to the Bone Well in the Death World, traces of power flowed toward other realms.

In the Ten Thousand Laws World, Xiao Chen was shocked to the core. When he had destroyed those figures earlier, he truly sensed the aura of his friends and family.

"Yaksha Half-Ancestor, you deserve to die!" Xiao Chen no longer attacked those figures. Instead, he raised his war sword and began to destroy this world.

"Boy, go ahead and rage. I'll be collecting your corpse soon enough."

"Hmph!"

At that moment, a sudden cold snort resonated in the Ten Thousand Laws World, making hearts tremble. It was a woman's voice, and the immense divine power it carried was unmistakable.

A maiden wearing a seven-colored crown, draped in rainbow-hued mist, materialized. Her slender jade finger gently pointed at the sky, and the heavens shattered.

"If you want to scheme against me, you have to pay the price!"

"Ah!" The Yaksha Half-Ancestor screamed in agony as his body was forced out. His face was a mask of disbelief. "A Sovereign!"

"Qingqing?!" Xiao Chen shouted.

But the woman's phantom had already faded. It was merely a wisp of her divine source made manifest.

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor was both enraged and shocked. He had never imagined that Xiao Chen's mind harbored a Half-Ancestor-level expert whose methods were so transcendent that she could wound him with a mere wisp of divine source!

"Haha…" Xiao Chen laughed—whether from excitement, sorrow, or fury, it was hard to tell. "Old Yaksha, you've really shot yourself in the foot!"

He raised his stone sword and charged forward, this time fully locking onto the Yaksha.

The great battle erupted once more.

Slay God! Collapse! Reverse Chaos! Suppress Demon!

The four ultimate killing moves savaged him. His palms struck, his stone sword hacked, his three war swords streaked like divine rainbows, surging in all directions.

Four heavenly steles manifested in true form, beating down until the old Yaksha was forced to bend. The stone sword in Xiao Chen's hands sent him flying time and again, while the three divine rainbows left a trail of bloody holes in his body.

This was a true contest of pure power, without a single feint.

At this point, any trick was useless. Only raw strength mattered.

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor, having been gravely wounded by the evil corpse and lost three-tenths of his vital essence, now had the will but not the strength.

"Boom!"

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor was smashed deep into the earth. The great plain collapsed, a massive rift spreading for hundreds of li, creating a canyon from the impact.

"Shiiing!"

Sword light flashed. Xiao Chen pursued into the depths of the earth.

Scorching heat surged up as the Yaksha Half-Ancestor was driven into the magma. But such heat could not harm a Half-Ancestor at all; far worse was Xiao Chen's heavy strikes.

"Ah!"

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor's body burst into flames. Trembling with rage, he could barely contain his fury. To be suppressed by a mere Perfected Man was an utter humiliation.

A continuous rumble stormed across the sky as the old Yaksha, riding a tide of magma, surged up from underground to clash violently with Xiao Chen.

"Boom!"

A world-shaking explosion tore the Ten Thousand Laws World apart. Xiao Chen and the old Yaksha broke free of that mysterious space, reappearing above the golden Forbidden Sea.

"Boom!"

A heavenly stele pressed down. The old Yaksha was smashed, spitting blood—the blood of a Half-Ancestor staining the sky crimson.

"Is this real?"

"What am I seeing?"

"The Yaksha Half-Ancestor is getting pounded!"

...

The gods reeled in shock.

The two had vanished for a long time, and when they reappeared, it was in such a staggering scene.

The gods were in an uproar.

A Perfected Man–level powerhouse had beaten a Half-Ancestor until he vomited blood, fighting their way out from the King Ship. It was unbelievable, impossible to accept.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor was struck again and again. The giant stone sword battered him five or six times, sending him flying a dozen li, a stream of blood splashing from his mouth.

"Is this real? A Half-Ancestor actually lost!"

The watching gods were shaken to their core.

Heavenly winds howled. The four ultimate killing moves—Slay God, Suppress Demon, Collapse, Reverse Chaos—unleashed together.

"Rumble!"

The Forbidden Sea threw up towering waves as the Yaksha was driven into the golden waters. Xiao Chen followed like a shadow.

Beneath the sea, a thousand-foot waves surged. The two fought on the ocean floor, their battle unending.

Waves rolled, thunder pealed. The two burst back into the sky.

The three divine rainbows left three terrible wounds on the old Yaksha's body.

"Those are... War Swords!" The watching Skeleton King's eye sockets shot out two beams of ghastly green light, deeply shocked.

"How can he drive War Swords to unleash such terrifying power?" The Asura Half-Ancestor also had an expression of utter disbelief.

Tianwaitian and Renwairen exchanged a glance. They sensed trouble—the Skeleton King and Asura Half-Ancestor seemed to be stirring, and that was not a good sign.

"Boom!"

The Yaksha Half-Ancestor, disheveled and disheveled, was sent flying once more by Xiao Chen's four killing moves, coughing blood continuously. The divine rainbow-like War Swords left another three bloody holes piercing through his body.

The fierce battle between the two shook heaven and earth. Over a hundred islands on the edge of the Forbidden Sea were completely reduced to powder by the terrifying energy fluctuations.

Numerous sacred mountains and immortal veins beneath the sea were ground to dust.

Killing intent soared to the heavens. A storm of energy raged across the entire world!

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Xiao Chen, after sending the old Yaksha flying with his stone sword, closed in at extreme speed and dealt four heavy slaps to the Yaksha Half-Ancestor's body.

Those were no ordinary palm strikes—they were four heavenly steles bearing down. The old Yaksha's chest bones cracked audibly as he was blasted twenty li away, crashing into a massive island and sinking it outright.

"Stop!"

Tianwaitian rushed into the battlefield, shouting at the two. At the same time, Renwairen also moved in, separating them.

"Enough. A draw is fine."

Xiao Chen was confused and transmitted secretly: "Senior, why are you stopping me? Even if I can't annihilate him in body and soul, I can still inflict unimaginable damage."

"Don't push yourself," Tianwaitian replied telepathically. "Your ability to wield the War Swords has made the Skeleton King and Asura Half-Ancestor covetous. They're likely planning to seize your treasures and investigate your methods. And who knows how many other Half-Ancestors are lurking in the shadows, waiting?"

During this exchange, the Yaksha Half-Ancestor's expression was ice-cold. He had no intention of continuing; his injuries were too severe.

In the distant sky, all the onlookers erupted in murmurs.

The result was this: the Yaksha Half-Ancestor had been brutally beaten. There was no doubt—he had suffered a great defeat, losing all face completely.

"Heh heh..." The Asura Half-Ancestor smiled as he stepped forward through the void. "I was blind earlier. If I'm not mistaken, those twenty-plus stone swords embedded in the stone giant are of the same origin as those three War Swords, aren't they?"

Xiao Chen said nothing, staring coldly at him.

Tianwaitian frowned. "Asura Half-Ancestor, what do you mean by that? Do you intend to steal the War Swords?"

"Nothing of the sort. How could I do such a thing?" The Asura Half-Ancestor smiled. "I'm just impressed by how extraordinary this young man's abilities are. I'm itching to trade pointers with him myself."

"You're shameless!" Tianwaitian turned hostile on the spot, knowing full well that the other sought to plunder the War Swords.

At that moment, the Skeleton King also stepped forward wearing a kindly smile. "Truly remarkable. To drive a stone giant and contend with a Half-Ancestor—I am genuinely curious and would like to experience it firsthand."

Tianwaitian and Renwairen knew it was bad. A sparring match was a pretext; seizing the War Swords was the real objective.

Flash!

The little white beast opened Paradise Lost and streaked across the void, but the recently battle-worn Yaksha Half-Ancestor blocked her path.

"Fine. Since both of you wish to spar with me, I'm ready to oblige."

Xiao Chen was undaunted. With a clang, he drew another stone sword from his body, now holding two stone swords that blazed with brilliant light.

The severely wounded Yaksha Half-Ancestor's heart sank. In that moment, he deeply suspected whether Xiao Chen could also drive those twenty-plus stone swords. If so, that would be disastrous!

"Haha... A true hero emerges from youth!" The Skeleton King gave Xiao Chen a thumbs-up and burst into laughter.

The Asura Half-Ancestor, though also smiling, seemed to be gnashing his teeth as he said, "Very well, then. Let me have a taste of your skill."