Chapter 874: The Price
"To flee so ignominiously? I cannot reconcile with this."
Shi Tianjun was extremely resentful, yet he knew that if he stayed, he would only accumulate more wounds from this person's bombardment, possibly even dying here.
However, he was clear-headed enough to acknowledge that today's battle was a complete defeat.
"There's no choice but to leave!"
With a hateful glare at Chu Yuan, Shi Tianjun prepared to tear through the fabric of space and depart from this place.
"Even if you flee, you must leave something behind for me, pay the price!"
Chu Yuan advanced in pursuit, his power causing the boundless region of the Wanbao River to tremble, collapsing countless spaces and causing a multitude of treasures to erupt outward.
"I shall leave, you cannot stop me!"
Though Chu Yuan was ferociously intimidating, Shi Tianjun was no herbivore; he admitted that he was no longer a match for this person, yet stopping an immortal like him was beyond his reach.
Shi Tianjun turned, suppressing the curse within his body, and his stone blade cleaved a river of slashes.
Chu Yuan was undeterred, retracting the Gate of Curses and immediately summoning the Heavenly Gate!
This was an extremely domineering frontal assault. At the moment of collision, it swept across a vast area, causing many places to evaporate into nothingness.
"Annihilation!"
Chu Yuan's palm pressed down.
A wave of annihilating power swept through, knocking Shi Tianjun down.
But in the instant of his fall, Chu Yuan's gaze sharpened; he saw within a slice of space-time an extremely dazzling and blinding light, emitting strands of power that dissolved his own.
However, now was not the time to attend to these matters; the priority was to deal with Shi Tianjun.
He took note of this coordinate.
"Shi Tianjun, you shall impede this man."
Yao Chenyi was indifferent; this time, he hadn't come away empty-handed, having at least secured the divine body of a phoenix. Shi Tianjun was far worse off in comparison.
"Yao Chenyi, where do you think you're going!"
This was the roaring shout of the Divine Martial Empire's powerhouses, resounding thunderously.
"You intend to stop me?"
Yao Chenyi was scornful.
Had the Martial Emperor not been present, he would have already wiped these people clean with his own hands; but it wasn't the time to bicker with them. His body merged into the void, about to disappear.
"Stop him!"
The Book of Martial Arts bellowed.
In that moment, a palm imbued with immortal vitality crashed down, aimed directly at Yao Chenyi.
Yao Chenyi shuddered, just as he obliterated this hand, he saw from within the portal representing the void that another Martial Emperor emerged, dressed utterly different from the other.
"This isn't him!"
Yao Chenyi exclaimed: "This is a Divine Artifact, capable of unleashing power comparable to that of an immortal. But driven by your strength, it's merely the weakest level of immortality. With this, you think to stop a true immortal!"
"To keep you here for a short while is enough," said Bone Sovereign. "Qi Xue, we shouldn't just stand by any longer. Let's also aid the Martial Emperor by channeling our mana into this Divine Artifact."
"Very well."
Qi Xue came to her senses, leading the powerhouses of the Ming Light Immortal Sect to channel their power into it.
With the mana infusion from Bone Sovereign and Qi Xue, the might of the Divine Artifact surged even more, unleashing spell after spell of overwhelming Divine Abilities, clashing directly with Yao Chenyi in immortal combat.
"Their goal is to trap me!"
Yao Chenyi grew increasingly agitated.
On the other side, Shi Tianjun was also being suppressed by Chu Yuan to the point of struggling to lift his head, indescribably tormented and filled with unspeakable humiliation and shame – a feeling that could not be cleansed even with the waters of the Heavenly River.
Chu Yuan's palm descended like the will of the heavens, locking onto Shi Tianjun. That palm, embodying boundless power, came crashing down.
"Martial Emperor!"
Shi Tianjun was frantic.
He knew that if this continued, his power would weaken further and further, and he might well fall right here. He couldn't let that hand catch him.
His body twisted violently, and the hand that should have grasped his entire body only caught his right arm.
"Immortal burn!"
Shi Tianjun decisively set ablaze the immortal substance within his right arm.
"Leave this hand to Us!"
Chu Yuan violently tore at it, aiming to rip off the stone arm, while his other hand struck fiercely towards Shi Tianjun's head.
"Severing an arm to survive!"
Shi Tianjun let out a wretched cry; he struggled, forcefully twisting his own right arm off, suddenly feeling lighter. He didn't dare to glance at Chu Yuan again and directly fled the Myriad Treasures River.
Pitiful Shi Tianjun not only failed to gain anything this time but also suffered the loss of an arm, a sight too ghastly to bear.
Within this arm was a dense immortal substance, and he had no idea how much it would cost to regenerate it.
"This hatred, this vengeance, I, Shi Tianjun, have etched in my memory; our conflict is far from over!"
Shi Tianjun had made up his mind; he would use whatever means necessary to exact brutal revenge upon the Divine Martial Empire, letting them know that an immortal gone mad is terrifying unless completely killed.
"Next time you're caught by Us, you will surely die!"
Chu Yuan said coldly.
His right hand was still clutching Shi Tianjun's stone arm.
"Shi Tianjun has escaped!"
Yao Chenye's heart sank; without anyone targeting the Martial Emperor, the man would now focus all his efforts on him and with the Divine Artifact that can unleash immortal power, he was utterly defenseless.
He suddenly felt a shiver throughout his body, his aura suppressed, almost instantly locked onto by Chu Yuan.
"Ancient Demon Quadratics, Four Demonic Spirits!"
Without another thought, he unleashed the powerful Ancient Demon Quadratics, attempting to break the seal of the seven Divine Artifacts.
"Get lost, get lost!"
Yao Chenye was anxious.
"Yao Chenye, you too must pay a price."
Chu Yuan's face showed dominance, and with a raise of his hand, boom! The space where Yao Chenye was seemed to be flattened like a pancake.
He struck down, using the seven Divine Artifacts to restrain Yao Chenye's movements, then directly hit the Ancient Demon Quadratics, unleashing invincible power. At that moment, he was as if he had incarnated as the sole Sovereign of this place.
His stature, tall and imposing, caused the intimidating Yao Chenye to keep retreating.
Violent thunder exploded on the Four Demonic Spirits, and the overbearing power swiftly disintegrated the counterattack.
"No good, he's targeting my Ancient Demon Quadratics!"
Yao Chenye hurriedly attempted to recollect the Ancient Demon Quadratics.
But then he was faced with a dilemma; without the Ancient Demon Quadratics defending upfront, he would have to face the bombardment of the Martial Emperor and the seven Divine Artifacts directly.
"Useless Shi Tianjun!"
If Shi Tianjun had been of any use, he wouldn't have been forced into such a dire situation.
"Hand over the Ancient Demon Quadratics."
Chu Yuan's palm struck upon the Ancient Demon Quadratics, causing the formation's core to tremble and fly upwards.
"I absolutely can't retract the Ancient Demon Quadratics, but I won't let this man benefit from them either!"
Yao Chenye, with decisive action, sent the Ancient Demon Quadratics hurling towards Chu Yuan.
Chu Yuan didn't shy away; the Ancient Demon Quadratics, under his forceful control, were seized directly, with the intent to incorporate them as part of his own divine possessions.
"Explode!"
A terrifyingly volatile force spread over the Ancient Demon Quadratics. Yao Chenye, willing to destroy them rather than yield, at the same time, leapt away, planning to escape the space about to erupt in an explosion.
The power from the explosion of three divine beast bodies was terrifying.
"If I can't have it, neither will you!" Yao Chenye witnessed the imminent explosion.
"The Seal Gate."
But what he could never have imagined was that this man suddenly waved a portal into existence, the sweeping seal power entrapping the fluctuations of the Ancient Demon Quadratics, not allowing them to explode but instead taking them under control!
"My Ancient Demon Quadratics!"
Yao Chenye was so furious he felt like spitting blood.
But the overwhelming pressure forced him not to linger a moment longer!
Taking advantage of the instant Chu Yuan caught the Ancient Demon Quadratics, he burst forth with immortal power and flashed out of the Myriad Treasures River!