Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

RUMBLE!

Within the ghastly, Ghost Qi-filled Nine Demons Sky Demon Array, bolts of lightning suddenly tore through the air.

Above the Celestial Vault...

A terrifying tribulation cloud materialized. Thunder rolled and electric serpents danced within the cloud mass, a scene like the end of the world.

As this tribulation cloud appeared, an equally terrifying pressure descended within the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array.

Before everyone’s eyes, a massive vortex of swirling green and gold light was spinning furiously at the center of the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array. One after another, the Corpse Ghosts howled and roared in a frenzy, but they could not escape the vortex’s pull and were devoured relentlessly.

The Ghost Emperor’s expression changed drastically. He was too shocked to speak. "What... what... what is happening...?"

Ever since he had obtained the method for setting up the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array, he had never encountered a situation like this.

There were no records of such an event, not even in the annals of the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array itself.

As far as he knew, since its creation, the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array had never once failed!

But when Dugu Xue and the other experts from the Yinluo Sect and Nine Sins Hall saw this from a distance, it was as if a victory horn had sounded. Dugu Xue sent Sima Qingling flying with a palm strike. Looking at her head of pale, silver hair, he said with a smug expression, "Sima Qingling, do you see that? The Ghost Emperor has begun refining the Evil Ghost Combat Puppet. Your precious Jiang Chen is about to become a mindless puppet that only knows how to kill, an Evil Ghost Combat Puppet at our beck and call! HAHAHA..."

"Jiang Chen, oh, Jiang Chen, weren’t you so arrogant before? Weren’t you so proud? Now you’re still going to die by our hands and even become a puppet for our conquest of the Celestial Fate Ancient Realm. This feeling is just incredible!"

Dugu Xue thought gleefully.

He was a genius of the Yinluo Sect. Since childhood, his life had been smooth sailing, and he had never encountered any real setbacks.

But after meeting Jiang Chen, he had suffered one defeat after another.

He had even been forced to flee from Jiang Chen like a stray dog, sacrificing his allies just to escape. He considered this the greatest stain and humiliation of his life.

But now...

The thought that Jiang Chen was already dead and about to become an Evil Ghost Combat Puppet filled him with indescribable glee and vindication.

He was even fantasizing about how he would humiliate and retaliate once Jiang Chen was fully transformed into an Evil Ghost Combat Puppet. ’Yes, in a little while, I’ll have Jiang Chen personally slaughter all of you! That feeling... it will definitely be incredible!’

Sima Qingling’s mouth was full of blood.

Her body was covered in gruesome wounds, and her vitality was incredibly weak. The Great Burning Yuan Technique had almost completely exhausted her lifespan.

She leaned weakly against the city wall and slumped to the ground, her eyes filled with tears, helplessness, and despair. She looked toward the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array, her face a mask of self-blame. "Master, Qingling is useless. I couldn’t even avenge you... Master... Huh? Wait, th-that’s Master?"

Sima Qingling trembled.

In her eyes, once filled with despair and helplessness, a brilliant and dazzling light of hope suddenly bloomed.

"Jiang Chen? That’s right, the one inside the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array is Jiang Chen! HAHAHA, he’s about to be refined into an Evil Ghost Combat Puppet, a lapdog under my control!" Dugu Xue said smugly.

However...

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, a panic-stricken Ghost Emperor appeared by his side.

Dugu Xue was taken aback. "Ghost Emperor," he asked, confused, "why aren’t you over there refining the Evil Ghost Combat Puppet? What are you doing here? Don’t worry, I can handle things here. You hurry up and refine Jiang Chen. I’ve already thought it all out. Later, we’ll make Jiang Chen kill all his allies with his own hands, and then we’ll humiliate him severely. Don’t you have a Demon Beast under your command? Later, I want that Demon Beast to screw Jiang Chen’s ass. That will be absolutely... stimulating..."

Dugu Xue, lost in his smug revenge fantasies, failed to notice that as he spoke, the veins on the Ghost Emperor’s forehead were practically about to burst.

He clenched his fists, barely restraining the urge to beat Dugu Xue senseless, and roared, "Are you fucking blind? Didn’t you see that Jiang Chen is still alive inside the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array?"

"A-Alive? Are you kidding me? Didn’t you just say he was a dead man?" Dugu Xue froze, staring at the Ghost Emperor in astonishment.

The Ghost Emperor raged, "How the fuck should I know what’s going on? I also thought he was a dead man, but now it seems he’s not only alive, he’s also breaking through..."

"Br-Breaking through?"

Stunned, Dugu Xue’s face was a picture of bewilderment. He quickly looked toward the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array and froze as if struck by lightning.

That rolling tribulation cloud... wasn’t that the Heavenly Destiny Tribulation that appears when a Heavenly Destiny Realm expert breaks through?

Before, he hadn’t even considered the possibility that Jiang Chen was alive, so he hadn’t thought in this direction. Now that he looked, he saw it was true. The thought that Jiang Chen was still alive...

...and was even breaking through to a new realm.

Dugu Xue’s whole world tilted. He could feel a burning sting on his face, as if the smug words he’d just spoken had become several invisible hands, slapping him hard across the cheeks.

He looked at the Ghost Emperor, completely dumbfounded. "Th-Then what do we do? How about we kill all the experts from the Three Major Sects to increase the power of the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array? If that’s not enough, we can use the others from the Yinluo Sect and Nine Sins Hall too..."

Listening from the side, Sima Qingling felt a wave of disgust.

’This Dugu Xue is actually thinking of using his own sect brothers as sacrifices?’

The Ghost Emperor rolled his eyes and snapped, "Weren’t there enough people killed and turned into Corpse Ghosts already? We only have one option now..."

"What is it?" Dugu Xue looked at him, a glimmer of hope on his face.

The Ghost Emperor’s expression was grim as he uttered a single word: "Run!"

"...The hell? We are esteemed geniuses of the Yinluo Sect and the Nine Sins Hall, and you want me to run like a stray dog? How could I ever show my face again?" Dugu Xue roared, his face red and his neck thick with rage.

At that moment, the tribulation cloud within the Nine Demons Sky Demon Array began to slowly dissipate. Jiang Chen was about to complete his tribulation!

Dugu Xue’s expression flickered several times. Then, he was the first to act, transforming into a Flowing Light and fleeing toward the horizon.

Ghost Emperor: "..."

Sima Qingling: "..."

Everyone: "..."

Damn it!

’So much for showing your face again!’

The Ghost Emperor rolled his eyes, then also shot into the sky and flew away.

In the blink of an eye, they had already flown over a hundred kilometers.

The Ghost Emperor caught up to Dugu Xue, and the two flew side by side. They exchanged a look and a smile. "We fled so quickly. There’s no way he can catch us now, right?"

Dugu Xue’s face was a mask of cold venom. "Jiang Chen, that bastard! To think he made me, Dugu Xue, flee like a stray dog! Just you wait! Once we get to Celestial Fate Island, I’ll have Senior Brother Mu Tiexin destroy him! How dare he provoke my Yinluo Sect! I’ll make him understand what it means to wish for death... die... die... die..."

As he was speaking, Dugu Xue’s pupils suddenly dilated, his face a picture of pure horror.

The Ghost Emperor paused. "What’s wrong..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, a golden fist shadow flew through the air like a torrential flood of golden light, engulfing the Ghost Emperor. The esteemed genius disciple of the Nine Sins Hall was like a paper doll beneath that golden fist. It was as if he were torn into countless pieces by innumerable hands, reduced to dust.

A top expert at the Peak of the Heavenly Destiny Realm Ninth Stage, obliterated by a single golden punch!

As Dugu Xue stared in shock and terror, an indifferent voice drifted down from the sky. "Dugu Xue, did you really think you could escape?"

[Third Chapter of the day! One more to go, Little Tian is still working hard!]