Chapter 523

Chapter 523: Fiery Flames

With Qiao Mu’s punch unleashed.

The whole sky seemed to collapse downwards, blood-red lightning flickered endlessly, mountains cracked and fell apart, and endless seawater rushed into an endless abyss.

In the face of this terrifying scene of heaven and earth collapsing, the void also appeared to shatter inch by inch.

Even in that frozen moment, the still air held the flesh clone Qiao Mu who slightly moved, as if showing signs of beginning to act from the frozen time.

"Hmm?" Immortal Yanshen also looked up, a look of surprise on his face.

After Empress Reincarnation, could it be that someone else could also interfere with his Immobilization Skill?

The Way of Time is a realm only True Immortals and gods can enter, but in his sensing, the Qiao family’s martial arts did not show the same understanding of the Way of Time as he did.

It was not like he was manipulating time, but rather… forcefully stirring the water with an outside power, making it difficult for him, a True Immortal who had begun to understand the way of time, to find leverage…

If the understanding of the True Immortal is the great principles of the universe, using magic to move the forces of heaven and earth, thereby showing the mighty power to interfere with the flow of time.

Then what the Qiao family’s martial arts were doing was completely contrary…

"It is simply savage…" Immortal Yanshen’s gaze turned slightly cold.

Such a barbarian, if we were to consider seniority, should call me…"

Immortal Yanshen’s divine sense swept out, but suddenly paused, the second half of his sentence got stuck in his throat, and he said no more.

Qiao Mu’s fist shadow moved like the wind, and the enormous illusion quickly spread, as if the scene of the sky collapsing became clearer and clearer.

"Sky Collapsing Fist!"

He was fighting against Immortal Yanshen from a distance.

Is his will stronger than the will of heaven, or does Immortal Yanshen have a deeper understanding of the Way of Time? We’ll find out when we see what happens!

Boom! Boom!

The sound of thunder roared through the sky.

The martial artists were momentarily stunned by this shadow, their hearts shaken.

The collapsing shadow in the sky is not just an illusion; it is a manifestation of the martial artists’ inner worlds and has the power to unsettle their minds, just like their true strength.

Of course, this does not possess the power to cause the real world to collapse.

But to the martial artists, it seems almost real.

Only Earth Sword Immortal felt a slight tremor.

"The inner world appears outwardly, using my will to replace the will of heaven in the art of martial skills?"

He certainly would not overlook this point.

Because in fact, Qiao Mu from "Long Life Dream" fifty thousand years ago entered this field by learning from people like Earth Sword Immortal and Xue Changhe.

But this scene, in the eyes of Earth Sword Immortal and others, was not like that.

After all… to people like Earth Sword Immortal and Xue Changhe, who had gone through those three years, the Qiao family’s study of martial arts has always been ahead of the martial arts of Jiu Province by many years.

They are the ones who lead; how can there be those like them, who are latecomers and juniors, as teachers?

This is clearly, this is clearly…

"Heroes think alike; it turns out that the Qiao family’s martial artist has also stepped onto the same path as us."

Xue Changhe immediately nodded in agreement.

The understanding that I can interpret heavenly will is not the contribution of just one or two geniuses, but the collective exploration of generations of superb martial artists over the last fifty years.

But even so, they could only say they were crossing the river while feeling the stones, afraid to claim that the path they were taking was the right one.

But when a member of the Qiao family displayed such skill, Xue Changhe felt much more at ease.

The Immortal Yanshen, who could even make time stop, was a force that was hard to understand, even for these top martial artists of the human world.

Yet a member of the Qiao family used the same type of martial arts skill to shake this True Immortal from the lower realm… which naturally left them in shock and admiration.

If Xue Changhe and the others did not understand the nuances, Immortal Diyuan, as someone knowledgeable, felt just as astonished as Xue Changhe and the others.

Whoosh…

Next to her, Qiao Canxue and Qiao Feixian, who had just fused as one, separated again, their faces pale as paper.

Clearly, the power of the previous strike was indeed a huge burden for them.

"It’s not really the return of the Heavenly Emperor’s daughter from the true realm…" Immortal Diyuan couldn’t help but sigh.

Since the collapse of the immortal realm, Immortal Diyuan has seen the reincarnation of the Heavenly Emperor’s daughter as a lifeline, because she does not believe that the Heavenly Emperor, who upholds all laws, would die so easily.

But now, her thoughts have wavered.

It is clear that although there is the reincarnation of the Heavenly Emperor’s daughter in the great world of Jiu Province, she is not as powerful as Immortal Diyuan believed; awakening might not be enough to change the world.

It may even be the opposite… At this moment, a hint of regret arose in Immortal Diyuan’s heart.

Qiao Canxue and Qiao Feixian have known each other in the great world of Jiu Province for fifty years. Over the years, they have met several times, but never before today have they shown the strange phenomenon of merging into one.

Immortal Diyuan originally thought that the opportunity had not yet come, and that their early encounters would not matter… Now it seems that a brief merging might not be a good thing.

Her appearance has clearly attracted the attention of powerful beings in the shadows, which may worsen the disaster in the great world of Jiu Province.

"Perhaps… the Empress Reincarnation being divided into two is a form of… protection?"

With this thought, Immortal Diyuan’s mind twisted and turned, and she looked complexly at Qiao Mu, who was still fighting against Immortal Yanshen.

At that moment, a flesh clone, deeply caught in frozen time, stood in the air between the two, becoming a bridge for their confrontation.

On one side was a shadow of the world collapsing, and on the other side was a wondrous scene of frozen time.

The daughter of the Heavenly Emperor was not at all the lifeline she had imagined.

Perhaps the one who could turn danger into safety seemed to be…

Qiao Mu’s punch continued to move.

"Sky Collapsing Fist, Ripple Stacking Wave Strength, Triple Wave!"

The so-called Sky Collapsing Fist was not necessarily a specific martial arts move; the importance lay in its spiritual meaning.

At this moment, as Qiao Mu swung his fist, immense True strength gathered on the surface of his body, forming a pale white whirlwind that shot up into the sky.

This was not a shadow of a collapsing world, but a real manifestation of True strength.

If it is said that Qiao Mu, who fought three great vehicles in the Return Ruins, had True Strength that could rival ninety thousand years of hard cultivation during the True Strength Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method.

Now, he has lived for over one hundred and twenty thousand years, and his accumulation of True Strength is even stronger than it was during the True Strength Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method.

At this moment, seemingly endless True Strength transformed into swirling currents around him, swirling and stirring.

Boom, boom, boom!

True Strength became a howling wind between heaven and earth.

Under his command, this True Strength cyclone surprisingly expanded rapidly, growing larger with each circle around him.

"Fourfold Wave!"

Vast True Strength swept through like a strong wind, blowing away the sand, stones, and grass on the ground, causing the robes of the martial artists to flutter loudly.

"How many years has this mortal trained…" Immortal Yanshen finally changed his expression at this point.

He suddenly realized how frightening the so-called disasters of the human world were for the younger cultivators on the Soul Predicting Path.

"What, now you want to talk about status and ancestry, calling me your ancestor?"

Amid Qiao Mu’s roar, his vast True strength had reached its peak, and as he threw out a punch, the earth roared in response.

In the chaotic scene of the collapsing heavens and earth, Immortal Yanshen’s face slightly changed as he stepped back.

And that solidified moment in time also shattered slowly like the void amidst the chaos of the collapsing world.

The second Qiao family member broke free.

As he escaped from the Immobilization Skill, a vast True strength surrounded him, transforming into a pale white vortex that shot into the sky.

In terms of momentum and total True strength, he was only slightly weaker than the other Qiao family member, with both being very close in power.

"Buddha’s Palm!"

"Buddha’s Palm!"

Qiao Mu attacked from both sides at the same time. The illusion of the collapsing world surrounded them, leaving no way to escape, while the vast True strength surged forward like a wild wave.

Boom!

The roaring punch was like a fierce dragon taking flight, instantly passing through Immortal Yanshen.

Immortal Yanshen’s form twisted and changed in the storm of True strength, and in a moment, he was consumed by the immense True strength.

"Did it hit directly? Is he dead?"

Xue Changhe instinctively clenched his fist. If it were a creature made of flesh and blood, even the ancestor of the Immortal Gate would be completely annihilated, body and soul, by such a terrifying punch.

But then he saw that in the storm of True strength, Immortal Yanshen’s form only faded slightly, twisted for a moment, and then quickly returned to normal.

"That’s strange. It clearly passed right through him, it didn’t miss…" Xue Changhe felt a bit confused.

The scene before him was hard for him to understand.

"The Qiao family’s martial arts indeed hit the target." At this moment, Immortal Diyuan shook his head nearby.

"But once one ascends to the fairy realm and develops a celestial body, the essence of life becomes different; it is no longer a flesh-and-blood body."

Immortal Diyuan explained:

"After becoming a True Immortal, the cultivator’s spirit and body become one; there is no more Nascent Soul. All dharma bodies, avatars, and duplicates merge into one, forming the True Immortal body."

"At this stage, every inch of the celestial body is united with the True Immortal spirit; there is no distinction between them."

"Such a True Immortal body has no weaknesses like the seas of consciousness or purple palaces."

"The fatal wounds of flesh-and-blood beings do not matter to a True Immortal… but he is definitely not unscathed; the celestial body must have sustained a ten percent injury in the recent combined attack."

This knowledge is precious for earthly beings, yet Immortal Diyuan spoke it so directly.

Her celestial body had already been damaged by ninety percent in the demon realm, on the verge of collapse. Being forced to merge with the Sky River Immortal Boat, she had lost the powers of a True Immortal, yet her knowledge and vision remained.

She had long been in the same boat as Qiao Mu, and now she firmly spoke up to remind him:

"The celestial body does not have a fatal injury, so to completely kill Immortal Yanshen, we must completely erase his celestial body, leaving no trace behind, to truly achieve the destruction of both form and spirit!"

"In other words, hitting him once won’t be enough; we need to ensure that every part of his body is completely destroyed. This is simply unheard of…."

The martial artists looked shocked; this indeed sounded like a terrifying power.

For beings of the human realm, such an ability was equivalent to being immortal. Even if they suffered a fatal blow, they only sustained injury to their form, far from the level of complete destruction of form and spirit.

However, at this moment, Immortal Yanshen’s eyes were also twitching.

These mortals feared him because he was a True Immortal, considered practically immortal.

But for him, as a True Immortal, the elusive martial arts of the Qiao family were also quite troublesome.

The immobilization skill only failed for a moment, and Qiao Huo immediately chose to end his own life. Through the mysterious bond of blood, he called upon two other members of the Qiao family.

Even more frightening is that these two Qiao family members are indeed much stronger than Qiao Huo was before.

In fact, if we consider their experience by age, they are older than him… this is truly hard to understand.

Only Qiao Mu remained expressionless.

"The two of them fought together and quickly destroyed him, only causing one-tenth damage to his immortal body."

"This means it is like having ten lives; such power is truly terrifying."

He spoke of the terror on his face, but his fists did not slow down at all, flowing like a never-ending river.

At this moment, he had two bodies that were each twelve thousand years old, and his true strength was immense.

Unlike the time when he relied on the True Strength Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method… the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method cannot last long; a fivefold burst comes with a great cost.

At this moment, Qiao Mu did not use any martial arts forbidden techniques; he just controlled two bodies with full power.

"Not bad." Qiao Mu suddenly struck Immortal Yanshen in the face with a powerful punch, shattering his head, but then it slightly twisted and began to restore itself.

"The human cultivators from before were still too fragile for me… True Immortals are better."

Qiao Mu’s eyes were like a cold sword, and terrifying shadows appeared before him, with a mighty punch energy that surged like a never-ending storm.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The roaring True strength swept across the sky, flattening the clouds, repeatedly breaking through Immortal Yanshen’s body.

"True Immortals are better; they let me defeat them ten times!"

Qiao Mu’s big hand suddenly expanded, grabbing Immortal Yanshen’s body, and like a meteor, it fell from the sky, crashing into the heart of a mountain.

Inside the mountain, Immortal Yanshen squinted his eyes.

At that moment, his immortal body was still whole, though his robe was tattered and torn. Yet, his aura was weak, and after being struck down by Qiao Mu multiple times, his immortal body was damaged by more than fifty percent.

"This is the disaster of the mortal world…" He narrowed his eyes and used a hand gesture.

"Time flows backward."

At that moment, time seemed to start flowing backward.

The originally damaged immortal body quickly healed, and even the torn robe rapidly restored, eventually returning to its perfect form.

His aura also returned to its peak, just like when he first appeared, though he was slightly weary.

Immortal Yanshen stepped out from the collapsed mountainside, a gentle light enveloping the surroundings.

This would surely be a long-lasting struggle, and he was fully prepared for a prolonged battle.

"I am the True Immortal who understands the Way of Time, and let’s see who can outlast whom!" Immortal Yanshen sneered.

……………………………..

Three days later.

"You don’t really think you can defeat me, Qiao Sanyan, do you?"

"Qiao Yi is here to help too!"

With two loud crashes in the sky, two more members of the Qiao family appeared.

The pale-faced, dry-skinned Immortal Yanshen looked at the two new members of the Qiao family appearing from the sky, and his hunched body trembled slightly.