Chapter 257: Chapter 255: Yellow Springs and Green Fall

"Y-y-you actually killed the Griffin?"

Tian Kun’s eyes flew open, his face a mask of profound shock.

’That was a Golden Griffin!’

’A beast whose physical strength was formidable enough to give even a Heavenly Destiny Realm Sixth Stage master a headache... and it couldn’t even block a single one of Jiang Chen’s moves before dying?’

With a flip of his hand, Jiang Chen stored the Golden Griffin’s corpse. A playful look crossed his face as he turned to Tian Kun.

He raised an index finger, beckoned lightly, and said coolly, "Your turn."

"Damn you! I’ll make you a sacrifice for my Griffin!" Tian Kun’s eyes were practically bursting from their sockets as a tangible, murderous intent surged from him.

SWOOSH—

A terrifying fluctuation of power at the Heavenly Destiny Realm Sixth Stage erupted from Tian Kun. His True Essence surged like a tide, making him resemble a humanoid Demon Beast.

He charged violently toward Jiang Chen.

As his body tore through the air, it actually produced a series of sonic booms, a deafening, continuous roar.

"Ninefold Fist!"

Tian Kun roared. The sound of his fist was like a great bell, carrying a world-destroying might.

Facing such a tyrannical attack, Jiang Chen remained calm, casually pointing a finger forward. "Three Fingers Burn Heaven!"

SWOOSH—

The Heaven-Reaching Finger materialized in the air.

This beam of finger light was incredibly condensed, like the finger of a Divine Spirit from the heavens above, streaking through the air to kill. Ring after ring of crimson flame halos circled the beam, as if this one finger could truly incinerate the heavens and annihilate the world.

Fist and finger collided. True Essence surged like an erupting volcano!

Gouts of flame shot into the sky.

The two disparate energies simultaneously annihilated each other, vanishing into thin air. Tian Kun’s pupils constricted slightly. "No wonder you could withstand Zuo Qing’s attacks. Your power is indeed formidable. But I wonder... is your body stronger, or is my power more ferocious?"

"We’ll know once we try,"

Jiang Chen said nonchalantly.

"Kill!"

Tian Kun roared and charged at Jiang Chen again. A faint black glow appeared on his hands, the veins on his arms bulging and his muscles swelling like blocks of lead.

He threw a punch aimed at Jiang Chen’s heart.

Jiang Chen moved, dodging at an incredible speed, letting the fist just graze his chest. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He stomped the ground, his toes digging into the earth to halt his rapid retreat. Immediately after, he brought his hands together, one high and one low, in a tiger-claw formation.

His claw-like hands seized Tian Kun’s arm.

A flush rose to Jiang Chen’s face, and veins popped on his forehead. He suddenly spun, swinging both arms.

WHOOSH—

His hands dragged Tian Kun along, and like tossing a sandbag, he slammed him to the ground with a shoulder throw.

THUD—

The heavy impact sounded like the booming of a war drum.

Tian Kun’s body hit the ground squarely. In front of Cuiwei Pavilion, the hundreds of thousands of people could feel the earth tremble slightly. They watched as Tian Kun’s body smashed a large crater into the ground. Cracks spread out in all directions like a spiderweb crawling across the earth.

It was a savage sight, with cracks everywhere and dust flying.

"ROAR— Jiang Chen, I’m going to tear you to—"

Tian Kun’s roar echoed from the crater, but before he could finish, Jiang Chen had already swung his arms again.

He lifted Tian Kun’s entire body and smashed him violently in another direction.

THUD—

"Shit..."

Tian Kun roared.

Jiang Chen, his face impassive, continued to swing his arms.

THUD, THUD, THUD...

The ground of Cuiwei Pavilion seemed to have become a war drum, with Tian Kun as the drumstick and Jiang Chen as the drummer.

Once, twice, three times...

Tian Kun had lost count of how many intimate encounters he’d had with the ground. The crowd had gone from initial shock to numbness. The area around Jiang Chen was now pockmarked with human-shaped craters, each one smashed out by Tian Kun’s body.

At this moment, Tian Kun was being held by Jiang Chen like a little chick.

His face was swollen like a pig’s head, his robes were blasted to shreds, and his tattered clothes made him look like a beggar. The blood covering him made his face even more ferocious.

His blood-stained eyes, as fierce as a starving wolf’s, glared at Jiang Chen. He gritted his teeth and snarled, "Keep going! I can still take it! If you’ve got the guts, then keep—"

"Fine. I’ll grant you your wish!"

Jiang Chen sneered and flung his arm violently.

He tossed Tian Kun’s entire body into the air, then spun in mid-air. His left leg whipped out like a long lash, striking Tian Kun’s waist in a Divine Dragon Tail Swing.

THWACK—

A dull thud, like a heavy fist hitting a sandbag, suddenly exploded outward. Tian Kun’s body froze for a moment, and then the features on his bloodied face completely contorted. His body bent backward from the waist, head and feet arching back, and he shot away like a cannonball.

WHOOSH!

Tian Kun flew for several hundred meters, crashing through one building after another along the way.

He smashed clean through the hard walls of those buildings, plowing through more than ten courtyards before a final, massive BOOM signaled that he was buried beneath the rubble of a collapsed courtyard.

Tian Kun, the "Magic Beast" ranked eighty-sixth on the Inner Sect’s Celestial Pride List, had been brutally ravaged by Jiang Chen!

He was utterly powerless to fight back!

Behind Yanm Tianjue, the expressions of the Celestial Alliance members all changed. They stared at Jiang Chen, a look of bewilderment in their eyes. ’H-he hasn’t even stepped into the Heavenly Destiny Realm, yet he’s already this tyrannical. If he were to break through, just how terrifying would he become?’

’This kid is a monster!’

’Even Tian Kun was defeated. What are we going to do?’

"Senior Brother Yanm..." A master from the Celestial Alliance’s Inner Sect swallowed hard and looked at Yanm Tianjue.

Yanm Tianjue snorted coldly, his gaze icy. "No need to panic," he said flatly. "Tian Kun hasn’t lost yet!"

"Huh?"

The members of the Celestial Alliance were all stunned. ’He took such a brutal beating and he still hasn’t lost?’

But they soon understood what Yanm Tianjue meant.

"Hahaha, heh heh heh..."

A sinister and shrill laugh that would make one’s skin crawl came from within the collapsed ruins. With a massive BOOM, the rubble suddenly exploded. Huge chunks of rock flew everywhere as a pitch-black figure shot out from beneath the debris and stood hovering in the air.

It was Tian Kun!

But at this moment, Tian Kun was exuding a black aura, and behind him hovered a green-faced, tusked Demon Ape.

Earth Tier First Grade Martial Soul—the Deadly Demon Ape!

A terrifying Demon Beast from the Ancient Era that lived for slaughter.

"Jiang Chen, you really are strong!"

Tian Kun wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes glowing with a blood-red light. "With your cultivation at the Half-step Heavenly Destiny Realm, you’re the first person to force me to use my Martial Soul Talent!"

"Demon Ape Possession!"

Tian Kun roared. The black Deadly Demon Ape pounded its chest with both arms, creating a series of thunderous booms. It gave Jiang Chen a cold glance before transforming into a cloud of black qi and merging into Tian Kun’s body. Tian Kun’s entire body began to swell. His height increased from two meters to over four, and his arms became like iron pillars, covered in bulging muscles and crisscrossed with veins like coiling horned dragons.

He exuded an aura of savagery and explosive power.

"Hammer, come!"

Tian Kun grasped at the air, and a large golden hammer materialized in his palm.

The entire hammer shone with a brilliant golden light. A ferocious green python was coiled around the handle, its head a gaping maw with two rows of serrated fangs biting down hard on the top of the hammer.

"Jiang Chen, die!"

Tian Kun roared, swinging the hammer with the force of a roaring tiger, and smashed it down toward Jiang Chen.

As the hammer fell, its terrifying pressure caused the ground to crack.

A fierce gale swept through Cuiwei Pavilion.

It blew so hard that the surrounding buildings swayed, looking as if they might collapse at any moment.

Jiang Chen also sneered. The Dustfall Sword flew out from his body, circled once above his head, and landed in his hand. He slashed it across the air. "Cyan Lotus Sword Song!"

He thrust the longsword forward. The sword light pulsed, transforming into a budding cyan lotus.

The Golden Heavy Hammer smashed down, shattering the Sword Qi lotus and sending its petals flying. But Jiang Chen showed no fear. He strode through the air, taking three quick steps, and appeared before Tian Kun in an instant.

A bloody light pulsed in Tian Kun’s eyes. "Die!"

He swung the Golden Heavy Hammer through the air.

With a calm expression, Jiang Chen’s figure blurred, splitting into nine identical clones. A total of ten "Jiang Chens," each holding the Dustfall Sword, surrounded Tian Kun.

The Shadow Body Technique could create nine clones, making it impossible to discern the original.

Tian Kun roared repeatedly, smashing "Jiang Chen" after "Jiang Chen" with his heavy hammer, but none were the real one. Just as a frustrated look appeared on his face, a cold voice suddenly came from behind him: "Green Fall—Yellow Springs!"

The surrounding "Jiang Chens" dissipated simultaneously, merging back into the original, who was now behind Tian Kun.

The Dustfall Sword in his hand suddenly erupted with a torrent of Sword Qi, which formed a yellow Sword Qi River that shot out like the Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs.

It enveloped Tian Kun within the Yellow Springs Sword Qi.

RUMBLE—

The Sword Qi howled—surging, crisscrossing, and utterly unstoppable!

This move was like the legendary Yellow Springs, which could dissolve anything. It stripped the flesh from Tian Kun’s body piece by piece. In an instant, more than two-thirds of his body was reduced to bloody, mangled bone.

"No... No..."

Tian Kun screamed.

The flesh on his arms and legs had completely vanished, leaving only four white bones dangling with shreds of meat. His body lost all support and collapsed heavily to the ground like a pile of mud.

He looked at Jiang Chen in despair. "Don’t kill me, Jiang Chen! I acknowledge the strength of the Heaven-Soaring Alliance! I beg you, don’t kill me..."

Jiang Chen spoke calmly, "Too late."

As the word fell, the sword struck.

PFFT—

A large head flew high into the air.

Jiang Chen’s gaze swept over to land on Yanm Tianjue. He spoke slowly, "Yanm Tianjue, do you dare to fight?"