Chapter 488: Melee

Chapter 488: Chapter 486: Melee

The Human Race Cultivators’ expressions changed drastically when they saw Li Qiye get knocked down. These were eight Great Saint Venerables! The power of the eight of them fighting together was simply terrifying.

SPLASH! Li Qiye stood up from the deep crater. Although the heavy blow from the eight Great Saint Venerables had sent his Blood Qi into turmoil, with the incredible resilience of his physique, it was nowhere near enough to kill him.

“Yes! Incredible! He took a blow from eight Great Saint Venerables and is completely fine!” one of the Human Race Cultivators shouted excitedly upon seeing Li Qiye get up. Of course, they didn’t want to see him fall.

Li Qiye stretched his limbs, looking calm and nonchalant. He grinned and said, “Physical combat. My favorite. It’s the best kind of tempering.”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The moment Li Qiye finished speaking, Life Palaces emerged one after another above his head, rumbling ceaselessly as they appeared.

“One… two… three…” Someone counted as Li Qiye’s Life Palaces emerged. When the last one appeared, the person cried out in shock, “Nine Life Palaces!”

CRACK! A sound like something shattering rang out. But just then, a brand new Life Palace flew out from Li Qiye’s Mud Palace Acupoint. The newly formed palace had finally been successfully opened! Strands of Laws cascaded down as it took its place alongside the other nine.

“Perfect timing. What a great opportunity for some tempering,” Li Qiye said with a smile, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of his newly-opened tenth Life Palace being nourished by an endless torrent of Blood Qi.

“What?! Ten Life Palaces?! Th-th-this is impossible!” Upon seeing the ten Life Palaces, countless people gasped, their expressions changing drastically.

Even the Shen Ran Phoenix Lady, who was seated high upon the Celestial Vault, found her expression shifting. Ten Life Palaces! This was indeed a terrifying development.

Even the gaze of the enigmatic Tian Lunhui, watching from the far horizon, sharpened. A profound light pulsed within the depths of his eyes.

“Ten Life Palaces.” For a moment, everyone—young and old alike—was completely stunned.

Nine Extremes is honorable, but Ten Circles is flawless! This was common knowledge among all Cultivators. Even for the most monstrous of geniuses, nine Life Palaces was the limit. To open a tenth meant Great Perfection. It meant being utterly flawless.

“It has been a very, very long time since someone with Ten Palaces appeared in the Ghost Sacred Realm.” A Sect Leader from a Great Sect murmured, mesmerized by the sight of Li Qiye’s ten Life Palaces.

At this moment, it didn’t matter who you were, what kind of genius, what kind of monster—all were left dumbfounded. Even the proudest and most arrogant geniuses felt themselves dim in comparison.

“Could… could he be the next Emperor’s Throne? Does this mean… from now on, we’ll have to speak of Four Heroes in the Ghost Sacred Realm?” a dazed genius mumbled.

But Li Qiye’s terrifying power didn’t stop there. Stars lit up the sky. As his ten Life Palaces transformed into a Jiang Country, nine stars slowly rose. In that instant, a boundless kingdom materialized above Li Qiye’s head. The stars shone with dazzling brilliance, forming an entire cosmos.

Four Palaces Form Territory, Eight Palace Country Formation. Yet, Li Qiye had Ten Palaces. Nine stars of incomparable splendor lit up the cosmos, illuminating the ten-palace kingdom! At this moment, Li Qiye’s ten-palace kingdom was no longer just a kingdom—it had become a realm unto itself. Majestic, boundless Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, endless Power of Life, and the Power of the Great Dao all poured from this ten-palace realm into Li Qiye’s body.

At this moment, Li Qiye wielded the Power of One Realm. This wasn’t borrowed power, nor was it an illusion. He truly possessed the Power of One Realm.

Nine Stars Eternal Seal and ten flawless palaces. A kingdom that is eternally sealed and flawless can be called a Heavenly Country. It can form a world of its own!

“‘Nine Stars Eternal Seal, ten flawless palaces… th-this is an eternally sealed, flawless kingdom! I-is… is this kid even human?!’ Even some of the Old Undyings hiding in the shadows were aghast. Li Qiye was currently shrouded in the Power of One Realm. How horrifying! How terrifying!”

“Damn it, Nine Stars and Ten Palaces! H-h-how are the rest of us supposed to compete?!” a young genius couldn’t help but curse. The Ten Palaces alone were enough to drive others mad with jealousy, but he even had the Nine Stars Eternal Seal on top of that!

“Ten Palaces… This is just absurd.” Even Lan Yunzhu, watching from afar in Fengdu City, could only give a wry smile. She had known about Li Qiye’s Nine Stars Eternal Seal, but she never imagined he would now open Ten Palaces. Her own talent as a dual-saint was already astonishing, but compared to the miracle that was Li Qiye’s Nine Stars and Ten Palaces, even a monstrous genius like her seemed to pale in significance.

Qiu Rong Wanxue and her companions were completely dumbfounded. Nine Stars and Ten Palaces… To them, it was the stuff of legends, a miracle so distant and unattainable that they wouldn’t even dare to dream of it. And yet, today, that very legend, that miracle, was unfolding right before their eyes.

“He cannot be allowed to live!” Far in the distance, Saint Child Ji Que and the Ghost Insect Demon Child exchanged a look, their expressions turning grim. Nine Stars and Ten Palaces… For heirs of an Emperor Immortal Gate like themselves, the threat was simply too great. Even if the current Li Qiye wasn’t yet at the level of the Emperor’s Throne, they feared it wouldn’t be long before he became a second one. Then, the Ghost Sacred Realm would no longer have its Three Heroes, but four.

“Come on. Let’s see just how powerful eight Great Saint Venerables can be. Show me how incredible your All Things in One truly is,” Li Qiye challenged the Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas.

BOOM! The Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas’ response to Li Qiye’s challenge was swift and direct. The eight of them formed a single line and lunged forward like a leaping Giant Dragon. The sound of the dragon’s pounce was a deafening roar that shattered the Void. With this leap, the distance between them seemed to vanish, and they instantly struck Li Qiye’s chest.

“Get lost!” Li Qiye roared, his fists smashing down like two great mountains. In that instant, his eternally sealed, flawless kingdom gushed forth with boundless, majestic power. The starry cosmos blazed with light as the Power of One Realm enveloped him.

BANG! With a deafening crash, even the Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas in their Giant Dragon formation couldn’t withstand Li Qiye’s fists. Their status as Great Saint Venerables was meaningless. The Power of One Realm slammed down hard on the dragon’s head, sending the entire line of them flying. They crashed into the distant mountain range like a real dragon, shattering one peak after another.

Because they were eight-in-one, forming a single line, they tumbled like a dragon as they crashed through the mountains. Before the eight of them could even get back up, Li Qiye executed the Void Nether Transformation and instantly appeared before them.

VMMMM! A thousand hands and ten thousand arms appeared behind Li Qiye, each one seeming to hold up a Great Thousand World.

BANG! Two of Li Qiye’s hands, now like colossal hands that could blot out the sky, instantly slammed down on the dragon’s head, smashing it deep into the ground. The Power of One Realm was enough to shatter the very earth.

SWISH! A sound tore through the air, ten times faster than lightning. Just as Li Qiye drove the dragon’s head into the ground, its tail shot out like a Poisonous Scorpion’s stinger, stabbing at him like a Blood Spear aimed for his chest.

However, before the scorpion-like tail could reach his chest, BANG! another pair of hands caught it and slammed it violently into the ground.

BANG! Another two of Li Qiye’s massive hands descended from the sky, smashing down hard on the Giant Dragon’s midsection—like striking a snake at its vital point. The Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas, who had been struggling and writhing, were struck so hard they couldn’t even breathe.

In an instant, six hands were pinning the Giant Dragon down. Though the Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas were united as one, they were completely immobilized, held fast by Li Qiye’s six hands.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Then, Li Qiye’s thousand arms rained down, each one imbued with the “Earth Transformation” of the Kunpeng Six Transformations. This furious barrage was more than just the Power of One Realm; it was like being crushed under millions of continents at once.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The world seemed to shatter. Li Qiye had become a veritable Ten Thousand Hands Overlord. The Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas’ Giant Dragon form was useless. Pinned to the ground by Li Qiye, they were ruthlessly pummeled, able to do nothing but take the beating.

Thousand Hands Reverse Nine Realms. With his thousands of arms making millions of movements, Li Qiye used the simplest of fist techniques, the most basic of slams, and beat the eight Great Saint Venerables until they were completely powerless to retaliate.

Everyone watching felt their hearts leap into their throats. The Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas’ All Things in One formation was completely on the defensive, utterly helpless as Li Qiye’s thousands of arms pinned them to the ground and subjected them to a brutal, storm-like beating.

The sight was so visceral that everyone watching felt a phantom pain. The brutal, domineering pummeling landed heavily on the Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas, yet the onlookers felt as if the blows were landing on their own bodies, making their hearts pound with fear.

BOOM! Finally, Li Qiye lifted the entire Giant Dragon-like form of the Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas and began to whip them around. They became his personal flail, slammed into the ground over and over again.

BANG! With a final whip that completely pulverized a massive mountain, the All Things in One formation finally shattered. The eight Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas tumbled to the ground, vomiting torrents of blood.

The Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas’ All Things in One was a heaven-defying Cultivation Technique that allowed the eight of them to become a single, extremely powerful entity capable of withstanding even mighty weapons and treasures. They never imagined that today, their All Things in One would become their fatal weakness, allowing Li Qiye to pin them to the ground for a thorough thrashing.

The shattering of the All Things in One formation was actually a relief for the Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas. They scrambled free, leaped to their feet, and pushed their Divine Rings to the absolute limit. “Kill!” they roared.

In that same instant, the Ghost Zen Eight Buddhas unfurled a great banner. It fluttered, and as its shadow fell, the entire sky went dark. Heaven and Earth were plunged into blackness. And from that darkness, one by one, Ancient Buddhas began to emerge, as if they had just walked out of Hell itself, reeking of dark yin and Ghost Qi.