Altars plummeted from the sky.
They fell like stars from beyond the heavens, smashing down one after another. Even an Emperor Realm expert could not withstand such a terrifying impact.
Jiang Chen’s body was on the verge of being pulverized.
He was drenched in blood...
And in the sky, more than seventy altars still loomed, poised to crash down in succession.
Desolation, coldness, and despair enveloped Jiang Chen.
’Am I going to die here? No... I haven’t revived Qingyi yet, and I still haven’t found my father... I can’t die. I can’t, I just can’t...’
Jiang Chen roared in despair.
With every roar, he coughed up a mouthful of golden blood.
An intense reluctance to yield, a tenacious will to fight, an unyielding Battle Soul... At this moment...
It was as if Jiang Chen saw Xiaoo Qingyi appear before him.
A gentle smile graced Xiaoo Qingyi’s face. A hand formed of pure light gently caressed Jiang Chen’s cheek, and her voice, soft as spring rain, whispered in his ear, "Brother Chen, Qingyi believes in you. Qingyi will wait for you!"
Then, it was as if he saw his father, Jiang Taixu.
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a gentle smile on his face. "You are the son of me, Jiang Taixu. Even the Divine Spirits of the heavens themselves must tremble before you!"
Heaven-Soaring Saint Sect...
Saint Martial Dynasty...
Cloud Domain...
Scenes from the past flooded his mind. The faces and smiles of confidantes, family, friends, and comrades appeared before him, flashing past like images on an unfurling scroll...
’Will it all just disappear?’
’No, it can’t!’
’I can’t die...’
’I cannot die!’
"AAAAARGH..."
Jiang Chen suddenly let out a furious roar as a terrifying power erupted from his body. His mind felt like it had experienced the Big Bang, a deafening BOOM resounding within.
Everything before him turned to darkness.
In the midst of the dark heavens and earth, specks of starlight began to appear.
They were countless stars, as numerous as grains of sand, stretching endlessly into the distance.
It was a boundless, starry expanse!
"The years are merciless, an Eternal Rush. The boundless Ten Thousand Realms rise and fall in a single dawn..."
"A flower, a world; a blade of grass, a cycle of seasons..."
A profound Buddhist chant resounded in Jiang Chen’s mind, deep and resonant like a great temple bell.
OMMM...
The entire starry sky trembled.
The countless stars seemed to have met their nemesis, letting out terrified roars.
It was as if they had come to life and were trying to flee.
A ball of golden light suddenly bloomed before Jiang Chen’s eyes. It was a finger, as thick as a True Dragon, stretched across the sky like a pillar holding up the heavens.
Following the finger was an entire palm!
It blotted out the sky and sun, so vast it seemed ready to envelop the entire world in its grasp!
"Th-this is..."
Jiang Chen’s eyes widened.
A Buddha, radiating golden light, had appeared in the boundless starry sky. It was the very same one Jiang Chen had seen when he first encountered the Three Lives Technique in the Profound Celestial Ancestral Land!
He was immeasurably vast, as majestic as the heavens and as boundless as the ocean!
Before this Buddha, the countless stars seemed as minuscule as specks of dust.
"The eternal rush of ages is but a fleeting thought... So it is, so it is..."
The magnificent Buddha intoned a sacred verse and pointed that colossal finger forward.
At once, the countless stars reversed their paths. The brilliant stars dimmed, and all converged toward the center of the boundless, starry expanse.
A vast and profound voice, as if from time immemorial, boomed within Jiang Chen’s mind...
"Eternal Rush, Time Reversal!"
Four large golden words materialized before Jiang Chen. The colossal Buddha seemed to glance at him, then exploded with a BOOM, transforming into countless motes of golden light that surged madly toward Jiang Chen and poured into his body. An infinite power flooded his mind.
The Chaos Bloodline within Jiang Chen’s body began to boil, and the God-slaying Sword trembled violently.
Fragmented images surfaced in Jiang Chen’s mind...
The altars that had been plummeting down retreated one by one, returning to their positions in the sky.
Alu Tian, who stood suspended in mid-air, was moving his mouth, but no sound came out. All Jiang Chen could see was him moving backward, as if a recording was being played in reverse!
Time... was flowing backward!
It was as if a tightly sealed gate in Jiang Chen’s mind had been thrown open. His eyes snapped open, bursting with a blinding light. ’Eternal Rush, Time Reversal! I understand... So this is the power one gains when the Secrets of Time reach Tier Eight. And this... this is the Past Form contained within the Three Lives Technique!’
’The Present Form is Time Freeze!’
’The Past Form is Time Reversal!’
BUZZ!
The boiling of his Chaos Bloodline subsided.
Within Jiang Chen’s Dao Origin Void, a magnificent lotus flower slowly rose, spinning gently.
This was precisely the Flower of Time that Jiang Chen had condensed after comprehending Time Freeze.
At this very moment...
The petals of this budding Flower of Time quietly unfurled, releasing a sweet fragrance. Though it hadn’t fully bloomed, it was already more than halfway open—the direct result of Jiang Chen mastering the Time Reversal technique, "Eternal Rush"!
’So this is the true mystery of the Three Lives Technique! I see now, I finally understand! Hahaha...’
Jiang Chen burst into laughter, which turned into a thunderous roar. "Immortal Sword Body—Reform the Flesh!"
WHOOSH!
A wave of golden energy enveloped Jiang Chen.
His shattered bones began to mend, and his torn flesh started to knit back together.
「A moment later...」
Jiang Chen had already returned to his former state. He glanced at the altars falling from the sky, the corner of his mouth lifting in a cold smile. "Time Freeze!"
HUM!
The void shuddered.
The falling altars froze in place. Seizing the momentary pause, Jiang Chen shot up from the ground below.
When Jiang Chen reappeared high in the sky, Alu Tian’s expression changed abruptly. "How is that possible? How could you escape from the Holy Sacrifice?"
Holy Sacrifice!
This was an Emperor Realm Technique that Alu Tian had only obtained after using the altars to break through to the Emperor Realm!
Even when used against other Emperor Realm experts, this technique was devastatingly powerful and utterly invincible.
Just moments before, Jiang Chen had clearly been on the verge of being crushed to death. Yet now, he stood before him completely unharmed. Alu Tian simply couldn’t accept it!
Jiang Chen stood, treading upon the air.
A new black True Essence Robe condensed around him, and the Spirit-Slaying Sword in his hand hummed, seeming to dance with joy.
Holding the longsword horizontally before him, Jiang Chen raised a finger and gently ran it across the flat of the blade.
The Spirit-Slaying Sword let out a series of low HUMS.
"’My good partner, today, I will let you drink your fill of an Emperor’s blood!’"
Jiang Chen muttered to himself, sensing the joyful and eager emotions coming from his Spirit-Slaying Sword. A confident smile touched his lips as he turned his gaze to Alu Tian. He spoke, enunciating every word, "Alu Tian, did you really think reaching the Emperor Realm made you invincible? Today, I will show you what it means to be truly—invincible!"