Ning Cheng knew that Deacon Xia would take action and reacted almost instantly. Unfortunately, he couldn’t resist Deacon Xia’s horrifying power.
“Click” Ning Cheng’s domain shield shattered instantly. However, unlike Yin Yueshue, who got blasted away, Deacon Xia’s domain focused on suppressing Ning Cheng to the point that he couldn’t move.
Just behind Ning Cheng, Mo saw Ning Cheng’s suppressed to the point of his bones creaking and was about to be caught by Deacon Xia’s huge handprint; he immediately rushed up, blasting down with an iron rod.
An Eternal-equivalent martial cultivator going against a Dao Essence Holy Emperor’s spirit essence suppression was even more outrageous than an egg hurling at a stone.
“Puff” Before his iron rod could even reach anywhere near Deacon Xia, Mo instantly got blasted away with all his organs and bones crushed. The force was so much that he coughed up bits of internal organs as his body flew back uncontrollably like a kite. He finally stopped after hitting the defensive restrictions of a store on the other side of the street and collapsed, unable to move.
All this because he touched the edge of Deacon Xia’s spirit essence handprint. Moreover, it was when Deacon Xia didn’t even bother with him. Otherwise, even a hundred Mo would have turned into nothingness.
Although Mo’s attack didn’t affect Deacon Xia, it did help Ning Cheng a bit. Deacon Xia’s spirit essence handprint had fully suppressed Ning Cheng, and under Deacon Xia’s law-infused spirit technique, he couldn’t even think of a way to resist. He could only wait to die unless he could somehow use the spiritual consciousness bead in time under suppression.
Ning Cheng naturally didn’t want to wait for death. He had also prepared the bead beforehand, but when he was about to use the bead, Mo’s iron rod blasted over, and then Mo was blown away, life and death unknown. At the same time, Ning Cheng also received a message from Ba Meng that Ba Meng was on his way. It’s just that Ba Meng was too far and would require some time, so he had to rely on himself right now.
Under Mo's iron rod, Deacon Xia’s originally perfect spirit essence suppression revealed a trace of law-infused dao rhythm, which Ning Cheng instantly grabbed onto.
It was like an ant biting a huge cow, causing the muscles of this cow to twitch slightly. Deacon Xia was this huge cow, and his law-infused spirit technique was the one that twitched, which Ning Cheng instantly pounced open.
Ning Cheng’s Time Wheel Spirit Technique instantly condensed, unleashing dozens of time wheels onto that revealed trace, forcing a gap to open in front of Ning Cheng. The next moment, Ning Cheng rushed out, but the powerful force from Deacon Xia’s suppressive spirit essence once again made Ning Cheng spit out a few mouthfuls of essence blood.
Fortunately, it was enough for Ning Cheng to escape Deacon Xia’s suppression. He wouldn’t use the bead if he didn't need it.
“You?” Yin Yueshu finally recognised Ning Cheng, as Ning Cheng’s changed appearance blew off under Deacon Xia’s attack, just like her veil.
Ning Cheng’s figure turned into a shadow and flashed past Yin Yueshu, who could only hear the voice transmission left behind by Ning Cheng on his way out. “Help me care for my friend; I will owe you a favour.”
When Yin Yueshu reacted, Ning Cheng had already disappeared from the street.
Ning Cheng had pushed himself to the limit to rush out of Sea Dragon Sacred City. After all, staying in Sea Dragon Sacred City would only mean a dead end for him. Besides, he deliberately chose a direction to bring him closer to Ba Meng.
Ning Cheng breaking free from his spirit essence suppression had shocked Deacon Xia beyond measure. Ning Cheng was far more powerful than an average Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor. But seeing Ning Cheng break out of the Sea Dragon Sacred City, he felt slightly relieved. As long as Ning Cheng left the Sea Dragon Sacred City, he could catch Ning Cheng again.
Sea Dragon Sacred City was no longer the same sacred city as it was in the distant past. It wasn’t hidden in the sea anymore but suspended in the air just a bit over the surface of the Grand Essence Sea. It looked like a huge mountain peak from a distance.
Therefore, after Ning Cheng rushed out of the Sea Dragon Sacred City, he appeared directly above the Grand Essence Sea. But with Deacon Xia chasing after him a bit too close for comfort, he could only push his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Cloud to the limits. He didn’t have the time to take out the Starry Sky Wheel.
However, the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds couldn’t maintain their speed for a sustained flight, which meant that it was only a matter of time before Deacon Xia caught up with him.
Ning Cheng sighed helplessly as he kept flying at full speed. Yet, he didn’t want to use the Spiritual Consciousness Bead that he kept ready. At the same time, he also didn’t know how long it would take for Ba Meng to get here.
“Don’t worry, I, Ba Meng, am here.” Ning Cheng was still thinking about when Ba Meng would be able to come over when a voice transmission reached Ning Cheng’s ear.
There was no airship or a flight-type weapon under Ba Meng’s feet, yet his whole body seemed to pierce through the void and appear before him with dao rhythms circulating around him. He didn’t show any indication of covering up his aura.
Ning Cheng felt overjoyed; Ba Meng had finally advanced to the Dao Essence Realm. However, considering how his dao rhythm overflowed, Ba Meng hadn’t fully stabilised his cultivation level at the Dao Essence Realm.
Without any need for a reminder from Ning Cheng, Ba Meng brought out his Sun and Moon Tower, which immediately erupted with two bright flashes of light. These two flashes of light instantly expanded in the sky and shot towards Deacon Xia.
Deacon Xia was in a hurry to chase after Ning Cheng and was almost on the verge of capturing Ning Cheng. As long as he caught Ning Cheng, he would have immediately fled. But unexpectedly, at this time, someone had suddenly made a move against him. It wasn’t only Ning Cheng who didn’t sense Ba Meng’s arrival. Even Deacon Xia couldn’t till Ba Meng had already taken action.
Ba Meng’s dao rhythm and foundation weren’t fully stable yet, but he was a bonafide Dao Confirming Holy Emperor who had entered the Second Step. What’s more, Ba Meng lived in the Grand Essence Sea all year round, making him accustomed to killing, which made him no weaker in strength than Deacon Xia.
With the Sun and Moon Tower suppressing him, how could Deacon Xia still dare to continue chasing after Ning Cheng? The artefact in his hand flew out and manifested several flashes of light to block Ba Meng’s Sun and Moon Tower. Ning Cheng, however, didn’t continue to flee and finally looked at Deacon Xia’s artefact clearly, a Six-sided Flower Bead.
“Boom……” The two attacks clashed and swept the surrounding sea, creating a ten-thousand-foot vacuum, even blasting a huge trench into the bottom.
Even space trembled because of the resulting explosion. Ning Cheng immediately took advantage of this, swallowed a Burst Spirit Pill, and activated the 5-coloured Star Splitter Arrow.
When Deacon Xia saw Ning Cheng’s 5-coloured Star Splitting Arrow, he felt his scalp tingle. He wouldn’t be afraid of Ning Cheng’s 5-coloured Star Splitting Arrow if alone. But with a Dao Essence powerhouse with a cultivation level similar to his helping Ning Cheng, coupled with Ning Cheng’s 5-coloured Star Splitting Arrow, if he held out, where else could he go besides falling?
No matter how many good things Ning Cheng had, none of them was as good as keeping his little life.
Therefore, Deacon Xia immediately grabbed a talisman and was just about to activate it.
Facing Ning Cheng alone, even if Ning Cheng’s 5-coloured Star Splitter Arrow locked him in place with Ning Cheng’s current cultivation, he could still activate the talisman and escape. Even if he couldn’t escape, he had another method to defend against the arrow.
Unfortunately, there was an additional Ba Meng. Ba Meng was slightly surprised when he saw Ning Cheng bring out the 5-coloured Star Splitter Arrow before focusing on the opponent again. Since Ning Cheng had the Seven Bridges Spirit Technique, what was the big deal about him having a 5-coloured Star Splitting Arrow?
Therefore, when Deacon Xia activated the talisman, Ba Meng’s Sun and Moon Tower’s sun and moon image flashed, causing a sun and moon wheel filled with dao rhythm to form and blast down, suppressing the multicoloured aura coming out of Deacon Xia’s Six-sided Flower Bead. In fact, the Sun and Moon Tower even locked down the surrounding space instantly.
Deacon Xia’s expression changed greatly when he realised he couldn’t activate the escape talisman in time. He understood that he had made an unforgivable mistake; the longer one dragged their feet in the face of the 5-coloured Star Splitting Arrow, the less likely one was to escape. He should not have immediately activated the talisman; he should have first escaped from the 5-coloured Star Splitter Arrow’s killing aura lock range, then activated the talisman to escape.
The grey killing aura gathered instantly, and the majestic and violent 5-coloured Star Splitter Arrow’s killing intent grew countless times more violent. Its arrow intent exuded a dense aura of death, seemingly containing a sense of displeasure. Displeasure about one of its targets escaping, displeasure that under its killing intent lock, there was still someone who would dare to activate a talisman to escape.
As the arrow faded, the five colours spread out, the killing intent gathered, and the aura of death permeated the atmosphere.
“Stop. I apologise. You can’t kill me; I’m a deacon of the Sea Sky Pavilion. I’ll even give you everything from Sea Sky Pavilion I…..” After realising that he was completely locked in place by the 5-coloured Star Splitting Arrow, Deacon Xia finally began to lose his mind. For the first time in his life, he felt panic, and for the first time, he felt terrified.
How he longed to redo it all again. He would definitely not come alone to hunt Ning Cheng if he could. He would have pulled in a few helpers to deal with Ning Cheng.
Unfortunately, Ning Cheng’s killing intent towards him was as firm and unquestionable as the 5-coloured Star Splitting Arrow. Even if Deacon Xia begged and cried, it would not dampen his determination to kill Deacon Xia.
“Swoosh!” The black arrow, almost entirely disappeared by now, tore through the void with endless killing power and bore down on its target.
The same instant the arrow shot out, the projection of the multicoloured longbow faded into the void. And in the area around Ning Cheng, one would only find a majestic and endless killing intent that seemingly covered heaven and earth, a grey expanse representing death's aura.
No bow, no arrow, no star left unbroken!
Even if Deacon Xia was a Dao Essence powerhouse, he was still not as powerful as a star. The grey killing intent pierced through his forehead before exploding, leaving behind Deacon Xia’s unwilling eyes still left open. His eyes had lost their sparkle, replaced by despair and remorse.
Ning Cheng raised his hand and grabbed Deacon Xia’s ring and the Six-sided Flower Bead, feeling immensely relieved. Deacon Xia was like a nail thrust into his back, making him uncomfortable. With Deacon Xia dead, it was only natural to feel relieved.
A few moments later, the surroundings returned to their previous state as if nothing had happened. Only Ba Meng knew Ning Cheng had just killed a Dao Essence powerhouse. If someone said it aloud, no one would ever believe that a Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor could kill a Dao Essence powerhouse. Yet, he had seen Ning Cheng kill a true Dao Essence powerhouse with his own eyes.
One could argue that Ning Cheng couldn’t have achieved this feat without Ba Meng restraining that Dao Essence powerhouse. But the fact is, even if he had helped restrain a Dao Essence powerhouse, replaced by a Dao Transformation Holy Emperor, they would still be unable to kill a suppressed Dao Essence expert even if they chose to burn their lifespan.
“Brother Ning Cheng, I haven’t seen you for a few years, yet your strength has already taken another huge leap. I’m afraid I might not even be able to match up to your shadow in a few years.” Ba Meng put away his artefact and walked over to Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng simply laughed and shrugged it off. “Brother Ba, congratulations on reaching Dao Confirmation’s Dao Essence. And congratulations on Ba Luo returning to your side again.”
Ba Meng likewise smiled, “Fortunately, I always keep a talisman ready for such occasions. Plus, I wasn’t very far from you, so I rushed as soon as I received your message. Otherwise, you might have been in a much worse situation.”
He naturally understood what Ning Cheng meant. Since he reached Dao Confirmation’s Dao Essence Realm, it must have meant that Ba Luo had finally woken up. Otherwise, if his dao heart remained imperfect, he wouldn’t have reached Dao Confirmation’s Dao Essence Realm this quickly.
“It wouldn’t be as bad as you think, but it wouldn’t have gotten rid of that thorn in my heart. So this time, I really have to thank you for saving me.” Ning Cheng showed a warm smile.
Ba Meng brushed it off, “Why should we brothers have to say thanks. If we had to exchange thanks, I don’t know how long I would have to keep thanking you. Anyway, how did you get trapped in the netherworld and get out in the first place?”
“This matter is hard to explain. Let’s return to the Sea Dragon Sacred City and talk about it. I have a friend there who is also injured.” Ning Cheng replied.
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