Chapter 296: Heavenly Punishment Descends
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
"I have secluded myself for thirty years for the sole purpose of cultivating arduously. With the threat of death so close, my Dao finally experienced a qualitative change. My Dao domain reached ten kilometers but even so I cannot match his level at all." Xiahou Zhen felt disheartened. However, he did not know that Qin Yun's Dao domain also covered ten kilometers when he first stepped into the Dao!
Since he cultivated in the ancient world for decades, Qin Yun's Dao domain had been enhanced greatly despite not having its range extended.
Back during the battle of Sovereign Capital, Qin Yun's main goal was to verify the strength of his newly-created moves. When one of his strikes sliced through the void, Xiahou Zhen admitted defeat! He did not manage to see Qin Yun's true strength.
As for now?
Qin Yun had started from scratch and stepped into the Dao once again. The moment he stepped into the Dao the second time, his Dao domain spanned fifteen kilometers! It was a qualitative change!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As both sides continued exchanging blows, Xiahou Zhen's body remained covered in injuries and blood. His eyes were crimson red as he kept delivering the first six strikes of his Heart Fiend Saber Art.
"Xiahou Zhen, if this is the limit of your strength, we should end this battle now!" Qin Yun's voice resounded in Xiahou Zhen's ears. The first six strikes of the Heart Fiend Saber Art were no longer a mystery to him. Qin Yun's sword flashes were also becoming more vicious.
"Meng Yiqiu, I am indeed not your match. However, I still have the seventh strike! I can only produce it when I truly become deranged!" Xiahou Zhen had already been attacking with no regard for his life. He could control the first six strikes of the Heart Fiend Saber Art. Although he appeared to be out of his mind, he was still fully conscious of his actions! However, he was not confident that he could hold onto his consciousness after delivering the seventh strike.
It was a saber technique based purely on conjecture. He had never dared to attempt it.
"Take my seventh strike!" Xiahou Zhen's body boiled with a sanguine aura as his hair turned blood red. A blood-colored sword flash streaked across the sky with a blinding radiance.
"This saber attack!"
Everyone who saw the saber flash could not help but feel horrified.
The strike represented destruction and catastrophe in their purest forms.
"Then take a strike from me too." Qin Yun's interest was stirred. It was a rare clash of offensive arts. "World of Swords, Eight Ultimates Sword Rend!"
Qin Yun's sword instantly split into eight vague sword flashes.
But the eight sword flashes eventually fused back into one.
Rip!
The void could not withstand the strike as the force tore it apart. A black rift about twenty feet long and three feet wide appeared. When the sword flash struck Xiahou Zhen's saber, the saber flashes from his maniacal seventh strike shattered. His battle saber even broke apart.
Xiahou Zhen, whose hair was blood red, dodged in shock. However, his arm was directly ground to nothingness by the sword flash, leaving blood splattering everywhere.
After Qin Yun stepped into the Dao again, his most oppressive attack was the Eight Supreme Sword Rend, the product of more than ten years of cultivation.
The Eight Supreme Sword Rend could slice through all things and there was nothing that could stand in its path!
"Shattering the void." Xiahou Zhen, who had lost his arm, looked at the twenty-foot-long rift. It had an infinite allure to him. It made him yearn for it from his very core. Furthermore, after cultivating all his life, Xiahou Zhen truly coveted shattering the void and ascending into another world.
His blood-colored eyes were filled with craziness. He laughed out loud as he said, "Meng Yiqiu, I'm indeed not your match. You have won fair and square!"
His voice resonated throughout the world.
However, he instantly transformed into a stream of light and charged into the black rift. It was already closing but, as it was still quite big, Xiahou Zhen managed to easily squeeze through it.
"What?" Qin Yun was alarmed.
When half of Xiahou Zhen's body was in the void rift, there was a sudden horror that descended!
Qin Yun's expression changed.
He sensed the appearance of something horrible inside the void rift.
"Heavenly Punishment!" Qin Yun immediately determined.
In the previous world, due to the Connate Godfiend bloodline and being close to the world's creation time-wise, cultivation was very easy. He had reached the third Firmament of the Godfiend realm very quickly.
He naturally sensed the Heavenly Punishment frequently.
The Godfiends did not dare violate the rules! Once they overstepped the boundaries, Heavenly Punishment would befall them.
But in this world, Qin Yun had never sensed any Heavenly Punishment at all!
But when Xiahou Zhen went inside the void rift, Qin Yun sensed it.
"That shouldn't happen right away. Before Heavenly Punishment befalls a person, there should be a warning," thought Qin Yun. "Some sort of guide on what can and cannot be done. If one violates those rules, one will suffer the punishment!"
"Xiahou Zhen has yet to reach the realm of being able to shatter the void. Therefore, he is not qualified to shatter the void and depart according to the Heavenly Dao? When he tried to force his way in, he must have received a warning." Qin Yun guessed. "However, for Xiahou Zhen, who is about to die, he probably thought nothing of ignoring the Heavenly Dao's warning completely. Besides, the cultivators of this world have likely not heard of Heavenly Punishment for a long long time."
Heavenly Punishment was commonplace to fiendcelestials, immortals, and buddhas.
In this world, the Connate Golden Core was the limit! As a result, the concept of Heavenly Punishment was a thing of the past.
It was a warning from the Heavenly Dao…
Although Xiahou Zhen was alarmed, he disregarded it.
"Whoosh." When half his body entered the void rift, his body began crumbling.
"No, no—" Xiahou Zhen panicked in fear. "I can't accept it! I can't accept it!"
Under the Heavenly Punishment, his body was reduced to smithereens.
Not a single shred of his body was left.
Qin Yun stood in midair as he watched everything happen. The phenomenon dissipated as the ripples from the battle gradually calmed down.
"Xiahou Zhen actually got killed by the Heavenly Punishment." Qin Yun shook his head gently. "Shattering the void and ascending is a heavenly rule! Since it is set, it naturally cannot be disobeyed."
Qin Yun took a step forward and got very close to the black rift that was closing. He looked deep into the void rift.
When it was him doing it, he did not receive any warning from the Heavenly Dao.
After all, he was the one that sliced it open.
Perhaps, for the time being, he was the only person qualified to shatter the void and ascend in this world!
…
Countless people that were watching the battle from afar failed to see the battle clearly due to the high altitude of the combatants. Furthermore, there were the occasional blinding sword and saber flashes!
Suddenly everything began to return to normalcy.
The world restored its calm.
People looked high into the sky and saw Qin Yun standing beside the black rift that was slowly closing. He was watching it silently.
"A void rift."
"Is this the shattering of the void?"
"Could it be possible that Meng Yiqiu is already capable of shattering the void and ascending?"
Countless people turned excited.
Although they had heard that Meng Yiqiu could slice open the void during the battle three decades ago, few people actually saw it.
Today, many experts had witnessed it for themselves! More than half the world's Connate realm experts were there to witness the battle.
"Eh? Where's Xiahou Zhen?"
"Why did Xiahou Zhen disappear?"
"Nothing. There's no sign of him anywhere near here."
People, even a few experts, carefully observed the surrounding five kilometers. There wasn't even a corpse.
And a distance away.
Qin Yun directly flew over, reaching the spot where Meng Huan, Gong Yan'er, Meng Yuxiang, and company were gathered.
"Father." Meng Huan immediately went forward before Qin Yun landed.
"Brother." Meng Yuxiang was delighted too. Gong Yan'er was beaming. "Yiqiu."
"Hahaha. Yiqiu, your moving of mountains to fill the seas and shattering of the void, rending the world asunder, is truly godlike. Only legendary gods and immortals are capable of doing this." Zuo Tang walked over with a smile. Following that, he could not help but whisper, "Yiqiu, tell me honestly. Are you already capable of shattering the void and ascending?"
Gong Yan'er, Meng Yuxiang, and Meng Huan were momentarily astounded.
Qin Yun nodded slightly. "I can probably do it."
"Father, don't tell me you are ascending right now." Meng Huan turned a little anxious.
"Don't worry. It's not yet time," said Qin Yun with a smile. However, that time was not too far away. He had to leave once his fifty years were up.
"Elder Meng. Congratulations." Li Ruji brought the Li family over as well. He said with a smile, "Only after seeing the battle do I know how big the gap that exists between us is."
Qin Yun looked up slightly. Suddenly, with a whoosh, a group of people flew over from afar. They were the spectators from the Xiahou clan.
"Elder Meng." A golden-robed youth who was leading the group immediately said reverentially. "Might I ask Senior Meng if my patriarch is still alive?" Many people in the vicinity immediately stopped what they were doing and listened in. Was Xiahou Zhen dead or alive?
Qin Yun gave the golden-robed youth a glance. "Xiahou Zhen is dead!"
The golden-robed youth's face turned pale. However, the Xiahou family was already prepared for such an outcome.
"Where is my patriarch's corpse?" pressed the golden robed youth.
"When I shattered the void with a strike, there was nothing left of him," said Qin Yun.
Following that, Qin Yun instructed Meng Huan and company, "Let's go. Time to return."
This battle made Qin Yun curious about where the void rift led to!
But… if he were to leave the world he was in, he would have to bid farewell to Huan'er, Yuxiang and the rest. Qin Yun decided to cherish the remaining ten plus years and spend time with them all.