214: The Pavilion Master's presence was imposing, his imperial power was like a prison.

“Hehehe… what a… splendid performance…”

That cold and familiar voice, like a chilling wind from the Nine Netherworlds, instantly… froze the space around Xiao Chen! A terrifying Emperor’s Might… far exceeding any previous Emperor Puppet, and even… surpassing Hun Tiandi’s peak… mixed with… the power of destiny that made one’s soul tremble… like a tangible mountain… crashed down upon Xiao Chen!

“Pfft—!” Xiao Chen, already at the end of his rope, could not withstand this sudden… extreme pressure! He violently… spat out another large mouthful of… golden blood! His body… trembled violently, as if it would… collapse and fall apart at any moment! He struggled… to raise his head, looking towards the figure… slowly stepping out from the void….

It was a blurry figure… shrouded in endless starlight and twisted threads of destiny. Its face was unclear, its form indistinct, only a pair of… cold eyes, as if capable of piercing through eternity and controlling all living beings, were… indifferently… looking down on him. The aura emanating from its body had already… completely… surpassed the scope of a Dou Sheng! That was… true… Emperor’s Might! Although it seemed… still a bit… unstable, it was… indeed… the power of the Emperor Realm!

Pavilion Master Tianji’s… true body… had arrived! And… he… had actually… already… touched the threshold of the Emperor Realm!

“Unfortunately… the game… must… end.” Pavilion Master Tianji’s voice was still flat, but it carried an… supreme majesty… of judging all beings. “You… destroyed my… eight ancient pagodas… eight Emperor Puppets… and even… the ‘heart of the emperor source’ was… destroyed by you… indeed… it made me… quite… surprised.”

“But… that’s… all it is.” He slowly raised a hand, and in his palm, an energy ball… woven from countless destiny runes and dark red death qi… slowly rotated. “Your Origin Qi… your Chaos Sacred Realm… will all… become… my… stepping stone… to take the final step!”

“To… die at the hands of… a… Quasi-Emperor… you… should… feel… honored.”

“Quasi-Emperor…?” Xiao Chen gritted his teeth, struggling… to support his body, but in his eyes… there was no… trace of fear, only… cold… fighting intent! “So… you… have always… been using… the burial emperor coffin… to absorb power… to break through to the Emperor Realm!”

“Only now do you understand? Unfortunately… it’s too late.” Pavilion Master Tianji said indifferently, and the energy ball in his palm… suddenly… burst forth with… dazzling light! “Destiny… Judgment… Emperor’s Punishment… Annihilation!”

“Buzz—!!!”

That energy ball… transformed into a… gray-black pillar of light… that pierced through heaven and earth! Within the pillar of light, it contained… the supreme will… to judge destiny and unleash Emperor’s Punishment! Wherever it passed, space… time… laws… everything… began… to collapse and annihilate! It was as if… this heaven and earth… itself… was… rejecting Xiao Chen’s existence! It wanted to… completely… erase him… from his very origin!

This was… an attack… containing a trace of true Emperor Realm law! Far incomparable to the previous Emperor Puppets!

“Chaos Sacred Realm… burn my… origin! heaven-opening great axe… open up the world… protect my… true spirit!” Xiao Chen’s eyes… burst forth with… a desperate light! He… frantically… burned… all his remaining life origin and… soul origin! He even… did not hesitate… to shake… the foundation of… that… origin qi seed… that was intertwined with his life!

“Boom—!!!”

The five-hundred-zhang Chaos Sacred Realm… was once again… forcibly unfolded! But this time, the light of the Sacred Realm… was… much dimmer! The boundary wall was covered with… cracks! The earth, water, fire, and wind within the realm… also… became… chaotic and unstable! Clearly, it was… at its last gasp!

“A mantis trying to stop a chariot… futile… struggle.” Pavilion Master Tianji looked on indifferently… and gently… pressed his finger!

“Crack… crackle—!!!”

The gray-black pillar of light… fiercely… struck the barrier of the Chaos Sacred Realm! That world barrier, which was originally indestructible, now… shattered inch by inch… like fragile glass! It simply… could not… resist… in the slightest!

“Pfft—!!!” Xiao Chen… once again… spat out blood! His body… flew backward… like a kite with a broken string! The Chaos Sacred Realm… completely… collapsed! His aura… instantly… withered to… the extreme! His consciousness… also began… to blur!

“It’s over.” Pavilion Master Tianji took a step, and was already in front of Xiao Chen. He… stretched out his finger, pointing at Xiao Chen’s glabella, about to… extract his soul and Origin Qi!

Just at this critical moment—

“Buzz—!!!”

The almost invisible… xiao clan tribal mark… on Xiao Chen’s glabella… suddenly… burst forth with… unprecedented… brilliant light! A… vast, ancient, and tragic… fighting intent… like a giant dragon that had slept for eons… suddenly… awakened!

“Descendant bloodline… when encountering an Emperor… what should you do?” A… vicissitudes voice… as if traversing endless time and space… exploded in the depths of Xiao Chen’s soul!

“Fight—!!!” Xiao Chen roared out, using his last ounce of strength!

“Good!” That voice… carried a hint of… relief! In the next instant, the clan mark on Xiao Chen’s glabella… completely… ignited! It transformed into a… towering… green-robed phantom image!

It was… the last… battle imprint of… Progenitor Xiao Xingchen!

“Even if… it’s just a wisp of a remnant soul… I still dare… to swing my axe… at an Emperor!” The ancestor’s phantom image… let out an earth-shattering roar! In his hand… a… heaven-opening great axe… flowing with… true Emperor’s blood… forcefully… materialized!

“Heaven-Opening… Third Form… Reverse Slash… the Firmament!”

“Slash—!!!”

The great axe… struck out! This axe… seemed to contain… the progenitor’s lifelong Dao and Law! Wherever the axe light passed… time reversed! Karma flowed backward! That gray-black pillar of light containing the power of Emperor’s Punishment… actually… trembled slightly! Its trend of annihilating everything… was… forcibly… obstructed for an instant!

“Hmm? Xiao Xingchen?! You… actually… still had… such a trump card?!” Pavilion Master Tianji… for the first time… showed… a trace of… surprise! But then… it turned into… an even colder… killing intent! “A mere… remnant thought… dares… to stop me?! Perish… for me!”

He… once again… increased his power! The gray-black pillar of light… shone even brighter! The ancestor’s phantom image… began… to fluctuate violently… becoming… increasingly ethereal!

“Progenitor… help me!” Xiao Chen… endured the intense pain, injecting… the last trace of… Origin Qi… within his body… into… the clan mark!

“Boom—!!!”

The ancestor’s phantom image… and that pillar of Emperor’s Punishment… once again… violently collided! This time… the energy storm that erupted… directly transformed the surrounding thousand miles of space… into… absolute… void!

“Crack…”

The ancestor’s phantom image… after all… was just an imprint… under the full attack of a Quasi-Emperor… it began… to shatter inch by inch! But… just before it completely dissipated… it… transformed its last burst of power… into a… pure… chaotic origin… and injected it into… Xiao Chen’s body!

“Descendant… it’s up to you…” The phantom image… completely… dissipated!

“No—!!!” Xiao Chen let out a roar of grief and indignation! But… that chaotic origin… instantly… restored a trace of strength to his… originally depleted body!

“A dying… struggle!” Pavilion Master Tianji… coldly snorted, and the pillar of Emperor’s Punishment… once again… pressed down! About to… completely… annihilate Xiao Chen!

However… just at this moment—

“Buzz—!!!”

Another anomaly… occurred!

Deep within Xiao Chen’s Qi Sea… that… origin qi seed… which was originally… dim and lusterless due to his overexertion… after absorbing the last trace of chaotic origin… left by the progenitor… actually… vibrated violently! Its surface… displayed… never-before-seen… profound patterns!

An aura… far more pure, more ancient, and more… akin to… the origin of all things… than before… emanated from the seed!

“What is this…?” Xiao Chen… was stunned! Pavilion Master Tianji… also… was stunned!

In the next instant—

“Rumble—!!!”

The origin qi seed… suddenly… exploded! But… it was not destruction! Instead… it transformed into a… chaotic-colored… ball of light! Within the light… a… blurry… new… imprint… was slowly… materializing!

At the same time… Xiao Chen… felt… that layer of… barrier… that had always existed… between himself… and the entire heaven and earth… seemed to… disappear! An… unprecedented… enlightenment… surged into his heart!

“So… that’s how it is…” Xiao Chen’s… eyes… burst forth with… unprecedented… light! “Origin Qi… is not… power… but rather… a key! A key… to open… the path to… the Emperor Realm!”

“And I… already… possess… all the conditions! Only lacking… this… final… step of… comprehension!”

“Today… I shall… use your… blood… to consecrate my… path to Emperor!”

Xiao Chen… suddenly… stood up straight! His body’s… originally withered aura… began… to surge wildly… at an incredible speed!

A… true… Emperor’s Might… began… to emanate from his body!

Pavilion Master Tianji’s… expression… finally… completely… changed!

“You… actually… want to… break through to the Emperor Realm… at this moment?! Impossible!”