…

…

…

Transferring through the void again and again, the Soul Emperor’s True Divinity mark was no different from a life-reaping symbol. With Lin Ming’s strength, if he were given enough time then he could erase it. But now the Soul Emperor would never give him this time.

Lin Ming didn’t know how long he spent racing through the starry skies. From the edges of the wild universe, he flew towards the central region.

At this time, just as Lin Ming underwent another great void transfer and left the space channel, he could see that not too far away there was a planet. This planet was filled with life and beautiful scenery. There were some people who lived simple farming lives and there were also martial artists who had gathered to form small sects. This was a common human planet in the wild universe.

2000 years ago, the mortals of humanity had already begun to spread out and develop throughout the wild universe. Afterwards the Saint Sovereign left seclusion, but because there weren’t many saint Empyreans who rejoined the war effort, the saints no longer had the ability to engage in a large-scale slaughter and encirclement like they did in the past. Because of this, the common people of humanity weren’t much affected.

Just as Lin Ming saw this planet of the human race and before he could pass through the void again, he could see that in the skies above, a giant hand came crashing down, rolling over the planet.

Lin Ming’s heartbeat nearly came to a stop. Without any suspense, the planet blew apart, turning into endless stones. A massive energy storm formed which turned the countless lives on the planet into nothing but space dust!

This was the hand of the Soul Emperor!

Lin Ming’s mind was filled with pure hatred. Just like that, all life on an entire planet had been snuffed out, no different from someone stepping on a crowd of ants.

And presently he didn’t have the ability to defeat the Soul Emperor. He could only grit his teeth and continue escaping.

But at this time, from that crushed planet, endless ghosts and suffering souls flew out. From the summoning powers of the Soul Emperor, these souls weren’t destroyed in the energy storm but began to rapidly gather together in a range of tens of thousands of miles.

Everything within Lin Ming’s field of vision was flooded with a suffocating dark gray. Death energy rose up, fusing into space. The space channel that Lin Ming began to tear open seemed to be caught in a swamp and he was unable to open it any further.

Lin Ming’s heart sank. The Soul Emperor had fused this death energy into the void of the universe, changing the nature of space itself so that it was impossible to undergo a great void transfer in this area!

If he wanted to continue shuttling through space, he would need to break past this domain!

Lin Ming didn’t even give it a thought. He no longer tried to transfer through space and instead bit down on the tip of his tongue, erupting with the limit of speed and strength, wanting to rush out from the domain. But at this time, the Soul Emperor’s overwhelming pressure came crashing down over Lin Ming.

“You, cannot escape.”

The Soul Emperor’s palm came slapping down, striking Lin Ming as he tried to flee. The slap exploded behind Lin Ming and a shockwave rushed out like landslides and tsunamis. Lin Ming was caught in the waves. Like an arrow shot down by a bird, he began tumbling away!

His original speed and savage momentum had been scattered by the Soul Emperor. With it, raging death energy gathered towards Lin Ming, causing him to feel like he fell into a mire!

The Soul Emperor thrust out a finger. This finger didn’t fall onto Lin Ming, but pointed somewhere in the void. The void began to twist, and beneath the strength of the Soul Emperor, a space gate opened.

Wu! Wu! Wu! Wu!

Mournful roars echoed from the space gate. Four black rakshasas walked out.

These four rakshasas were formed from remnant souls; their bodies overflowed with the ancient aura of kings.

This sort of aura wasn’t something that could be possessed by ordinarily refined soul puppets, but was an aura that only genuinely supreme powerhouses could have, true rulers of the world.

This meant that these four rakshasas weren’t made from ordinary remnant souls, but from ancient god kings who emerged from the 33 Heavens billions of years ago.

After they died, their souls had been refined by the Soul Emperor and they became his soul puppets.

“Your mortal body is formidable. You’ve done everything in your power and can even withstand several of my attacks. However… I am done waiting.

“Explode!”

The Soul Emperor’s gaze was indifferent. He flicked his finger and the four rakshasas hurtled towards Lin Ming.

At the same time, the Soul Emperor thrust out a palm at Lin Ming. A black hand appeared, so large so it could hold a planet. This hand emitted infinite death energy as it came smashing down onto Lin Ming!

As for those four rakshasas, they revolved their energies to their limits. Their eyes turned red and cracks began to run over their bodies from the terrifying percolation of energy in them.

Recalling the word ‘explode’ that the Soul Emperor had just said, Lin Ming understood that these four rakshasas wanted to rush over and explode on him!

The Soul Emperor didn’t plan on using the rakshasas to divert his attention, but to blow him up instead!

Lin Ming was originally able to rely upon his deep abilities to fight back as he ran away, delaying the Soul Emperor as long as possible. But, if the Soul Emperor were to discard these four rakshasa puppets and blow them up and also attack himself at the same time, then it would be impossible for Lin Ming to resist this attack!

And to the Soul Emperor, these four rakshasa puppets that were formed from ancient God Kings weren’t anything at all.

The Soul Emperor’s attack blocked all directions that Lin Ming could evade in. The black hand came crashing down and the four rakshasas blocked all directions! With this, Lin Ming had been placed in a great life and death crisis!

In this critical moment, Lin Ming smashed a fist into his own chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood essence and burned it without hesitation!

A black bead appeared in front of him. It completely absorbed all the burning blood essence and emitted a blood red brilliance!

Lin Ming had used the Grandmist Spirit Bead, and even allowed it to drink its fill of his blood essence!

Lin Ming had opened the Gate of Life, and even if he burned blood essence he could still restore it. But, there was actually a limit to burning his blood essence. If he burned over 30% of his blood essence then he would be left weakened for many days. If he burned over 50% of his blood essence then it would cause permanent damage to his body. If he were to burn over 70-80% of his blood essence, then this might be a fatal wound!

But now Lin Ming could no longer care about such things. Facing the Soul Emperor’s attack, if he didn’t burn his blood essence then he would undoubtedly die!

Lin Ming attacked. The Nine Stars of the Dao Palace appeared behind him and the strength of his demon avatar fused into his true self.

Scales enveloped Lin Ming’s body and fierce bone spikes drilled out from his elbows. Lin Ming roared out aloud, and together with the Grandmist Spirit Bead, he hurtled forwards, turning into a meteor that shot towards the Soul Emperor's black hand!

Lin Ming knew that even the combined force of the four exploding rakshasas couldn’t compare to the might of the Soul Emperor's palm. If he were to be struck by this palm then he would immediately disintegrate into dust and ashes!

Bang!

With a deep explosion, the black hand was forcefully pierced through by Lin Ming. But, Lin Ming’s recently regenerated body broke down once more. His meridians were torn apart and his joints cracked open. As he held his spear, his arms were twisted at a strange angle and bones jutted out from his flesh and blood.

This was a completely disparate battle. Facing the Soul Emperor, even though he was only an avatar of his true form, Lin Ming still wasn’t able to resist him.

Lin Ming was sent flying backwards. And at this time, the four rakshasas flew towards him!

Lin Ming’s thoughts sank; he could feel rising despair!

If Lin Ming was in his peak state and stimulated his protective power of divinity and demons to the limit, then he could forcefully withstand these four exploding rakshasas.

But now, his strength was exhausted, his organs broken, and he was wounded all over. He was barely able to pour energy into his shattered meridians and his crushed skeleton wasn’t able to mobilize the power of his mortal body. He was nearly defenseless, and in this completely spent condition, he could only stare helplessly on as these four rakshasas were about to explode around him!

This was a strike he absolutely could not withstand!

Without a single pause, the four rakshasas revolved their energies to their limits and then exploded together!

Bang!

It was like four suns erupting. A blinding divine light swallowed everything. In that violent storm of energy, Lin Ming blinked as a shield of white energy shrouded his body.

A warm feeling covered him, energizing his body that was nearly completely broken down, and seemed to even be accelerating his healing.

But such a situation left Lin Ming’s mind tensed.

Who!?

Although the four rakshasas exploding together was still inferior to the Soul Emperor’s strike, if one had to look throughout the entire 33 Heavens, who could withstand it?

The light faded away. A white figure hovered in front of Lin Ming, guarding him. She was the one who had forcefully propped up that protective energy shield just now.

She, was Divine Dream!

At this time, Divine Dream’s chest was already dyed completely red with blood. The flexible armor formed from her energy had torn apart. Her arms that supported the protective shield fell down, limp, as the bones in them had already been crushed to pieces.

Not just that, but blood streamed out from her eyes, nose, and ears. Her originally star-bright eyes had dimmed and had lost their luster.

Divine Dream was the first human to break into True Divinity. When Lin Ming returned, she had long since gone into seclusion for 2000 years to break into middle True Divinity. Besides Lin Ming, she was the greatest powerhouse of humanity.

And today was her first battle since stepping into middle True Divinity.

Or perhaps, this couldn’t even be called a battle at all, but a moth flying into the flames…