These words, Bai Zihe naturally could not hear.
He was currently in an extremely mysterious state, his soul wandering in a void, surrounded by the profound meanings of the Great Dao and the laws of heaven and earth!
Colloquially speaking...
Enlightenment!
This is a state that countless cultivators dream of but cannot attain!
This was why the Dragon Emperor was so astonished.
Time slowly passed.
The expression on Bai Zihe's face gradually changed.
From initial bewilderment, to being deeply captivated, then completely immersed, and finally beginning to absorb and comprehend...
Joy gradually appeared on his face.
To hear the Way in the morning and die in the evening is acceptable!
Bai Zihe now felt a sense of relief after "hearing the Way."
Moments ago, the torment he endured at the hands of the shadowy figure flashed through his mind like a movie.
"Here... too foolish."
"Here... there were clearly better moves."
"Here... if I had done this, I would have severely injured the shadowy figure!"
Looking back now, Bai Zihe could immediately spot the flaws in his combat at the time.
He would occasionally shake his head or chuckle to himself.
But in the end...
They all turned into boundless surprise on his face!
Because his ability to identify these problems proved that his understanding of the Way had far surpassed his previous level, by a significant margin!
So much so that he underwent a transformation, leaping a thousand feet forward!
"Swish!"
Not long after, Bai Zihe slowly awoke, his soul returning from the sea of consciousness.
He opened his eyes.
With each blink, there seemed to be an image of the cosmos.
As if all things were born and all things perished within them, profound and ineffable!
"Swish!"
"Crack, crack..."
At this moment, the great hall where Bai Zihe was located began to shake violently.
Cracks appeared everywhere.
Countless grains of sand and stones began to fall from the sky.
"Not good, this palace is going to collapse!"
A cold glint flashed in Bai Zihe's eyes as he scanned his surroundings.
Although his strength had greatly increased, being buried alive by this mysterious palace, which had stood for who knows how many years, would be a terrifying prospect.
"There!"
Bai Zihe saw a bright light ahead and immediately rushed towards it.
His speed...
Was far greater than before.
It was as if he were on a stage, moving with lightning speed!
The light was a hundred feet away, and he covered the distance in the blink of an eye.
"Swish..."
The next second, Bai Zihe had already exited the palace.
What Bai Zihe did not know was.
As soon as he left the palace, it was enveloped by wisps of azure energy, within which various illusions flickered.
There were three-headed hellhounds.
There were dark phoenixes.
There were evil demonic dragons.
Each aura was incredibly powerful and vast.
Even...
Comparable to the spectral image of the Dragon Emperor from before!
They roared to the sky, they howled wildly.
They were ferocious, they were bloodthirsty.
Each one was no easy foe, possessing the might to destroy heaven and earth!
"Can't hold back any longer!"
The spectral image of the Dragon Emperor suddenly appeared, his eyes shooting out sharp rays of light.
Immediately after.
He rapidly made a few hand seals, and the mournful cries of these demonic creatures slowly subsided, yet they still brimmed with unwillingness, ready to return at any moment.
"Bai Zihe, oh Bai Zihe..."
"Your time is running out..."
The Dragon Emperor watched Bai Zihe's retreating figure and sighed.
Molten Mountain Range.
Liu Wen, relying on his powerful sword skills, easily killed many people, leaving behind a ground littered with corpses.
These corpses, affected by the high temperature, quickly became shriveled.
Their blood was evaporated.
The scene was a mess.
Corpses lay scattered around, a striking sight.
"Zhuge Sheng..."
Liu Wen's gaze fell upon Zhuge Sheng, his eyes radiating boundless killing intent.
"If you hadn't appeared..."
"We wouldn't have been able to find you!"
"But you, in your foolishness, followed Bai Zihe to Dragon Island, so don't blame this old man for being impolite!"
Liu Wen grinned savagely, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
"Swish!"
The next moment, a sky-shattering sword energy materialized out of thin air.
This sword energy...
Was as thick as a person and ten feet long.
Although it only took shape in the air, its released aura had already instilled fear in everyone.
They felt fear almost instinctively.
Despair appeared on Zhuge Sheng's face.
Just now, to save the lives of more experts, he had already used a royal secret technique once.
But the secret technique had a time limit.
During the secret technique, he had not killed Liu Wen, and now, in his weakened state, he was like a fish on a chopping block, at Liu Wen's mercy!
Furthermore, the experts brought by Irina, Satan, Montado, and others were all but dead, with only two or three core figures left from each side, all severely wounded.
The experts from forces such as the Xuan Tian Pavilion, Southern War Zone, and Master Thieves who had followed Bai Zihe were also few in number, lying on the verge of death, their lives hanging by a thread.
Besides them.
There were only three Grandmaster realm elders!
"Whoosh—"
The next moment, the sword energy descended from the sky.
This blow was truly extraordinary. Before it even reached its destination, thunder roared, and fierce winds howled, making people's hearts tremble.
"Your Majesty the Son of Heaven, allow us."
At the critical moment, the three elders exchanged glances and stepped forward.
"Swish..."
Several streams of energy instantly intersected in mid-air.
In the blink of an eye, a massive light cocoon formed, enveloping everyone on Bai Zihe's side.
"Rumble..."
As soon as the light cocoon formed, the sword energy unleashed by Liu Wen arrived as expected and crashed down.
"Die!"
A bloodthirsty curve appeared on Liu Wen's lips as he shouted coldly.
However...
The sword energy struck the light cocoon, causing it to shake violently but not break!
Instead, the powerful energy contained within began to disintegrate and was assimilated, slowly merging into the light cocoon, making it radiate with brilliance.
"Hmm?"
Liu Wen's brows furrowed.
He hadn't expected that the three elders would have such a desperate move at the last moment.
However...
This did not defeat him.
Liu Wen snorted, "Just a turtle shell!"
"As long as my power is strong enough to surpass the limits of this turtle shell, I will be able to shatter your turtle shell with a single sword."
"By then..."
"You will all still die!"
Liu Wen sneered and suddenly closed his eyes.
Inside the light cocoon.
Irina asked worriedly, "Elders, can this shield hold?"
This shield was their last hope.
If it shattered...
Then their only outcome would be death.
"No problem."
Elder Liu sighed helplessly, "Once this great formation is formed, it is almost impossible to break."
"However, we will eventually run out of food and water, and we will have to go out. "
"So, we will always have to face Liu Wen."
"Hurry and recover."
With that, the three elders sat down cross-legged.
Even though they knew that even if everyone recovered, they might not be Liu Wen's match, no one was willing to wait for their doom.
"Swish!"
Outside, Liu Wen suddenly opened his eyes.
It was like lightning splitting the sky, instantly illuminating the area.
Simultaneously.
An astonishing sword intent was gathering around Liu Wen from all directions, as if he were the only being in heaven and earth at this moment.
Its aura was sharp and piercing, as if it wanted to break through the heavens!
Its power was vast and boundless, close to destroying the world!
"Hum!"
"Hum!"
"Hum!"
As the myriad phenomena of the surroundings surged towards him, the massive sword energy continued to condense in mid-air.
One inch, one foot, ten feet...
Eventually, it reached a height of forty feet, which was truly astonishing.
On the sword light.
Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, a myriad of phenomena.
It devoured clouds and exhaled mist, magnificent and brilliant.
This was Liu Wen's most devastating sword strike.
Under normal circumstances...
Opponents would not give him so much time to gather energy, so this move was rarely used.
It was typically used to break through barriers and restrictions.
But once unleashed.
It would inevitably destroy everything in its path with overwhelming force and be unstoppable!
"This sword..."
"Might be able to cleave the heavens!"
"I would believe you if you said this sword could split the sky and earth, and sever all of time!"
"This is the extreme of the Way of the Sword. Lord Guardian is indeed the foremost master of the Sword. With this single strike, he can look down on all others."
"..."
The experts behind Liu Wen were deeply shocked by this sword, their hearts filled with admiration.
Even those inside the light cocoon.
Upon sensing the extremely destructive sword energy, they could no longer calmly recover from their injuries.
Every single one of them.
Stared blankly at the sword light, their hearts filled with awe.
This time...
Would they survive?
"Swish!"
The next moment, the sword light sliced through the sky and descended mercilessly.
"Rumble..."
Instantly, it stirred up a deafening thunder.
"Wuwuwu..."
Not only that, but the wailing wind also brought a destructive aura to join the fray, intent on destroying everything in its path.
"It's over!"
"Can we survive this time?"
"This sword has already resonated with heaven and earth, I fear we are in grave danger..."
"Alas..."
No one was optimistic.
Even Zhuge Sheng closed his eyes.
Even the three elders lost their confidence and felt a pang of panic.
"Crash!"
"Rumble!"
"Crackling!"
The next moment, the sword energy struck the light cocoon.
The light cocoon shook violently.
Like... a candle in a storm, about to be extinguished at any moment.
Like... a small boat in a stormy sea, about to capsize.
The storm raged.
The demonic winds howled.
Lightning flashed and thunder boomed!
Various apocalyptic phenomena appeared at this moment.
Those inside the light cocoon felt their hearts leap into their throats, pounding like "thump, thump," almost jumping out of their throats.
Some were covered in sweat.
Some were chilled to the bone.
Some had already resigned themselves to death.
But...
After a barrage of attacks and various onslaughts.
The light cocoon did not shatter as expected, but instead, it stubbornly held on, time and time again, and... continuously repaired itself, growing stronger.
Finally...
Everything outside subsided into calm.
The remaining energy had been absorbed by the light cocoon.
But as a result...
The light cocoon, having absorbed so much energy, became incredibly dazzling, as if the sun had fallen to earth!
Those inside could only close their eyes to avoid being blinded.
"They're not dead?"
Liu Wen was stunned to see this, but his expression did not change much.
"Heh..."
"Then I will wait here."
"Let's see how long your turtle shell can last!"
Liu Wen snorted and sat down cross-legged outside the light cocoon.
The experts behind him also sat down.
"Where is this..."
Bai Zihe felt a momentary daze as he rushed through the bright light, and suddenly found himself in a different place, having left the great hall.
Before him lay a mountain range.
And...
A scorching heat emanated, familiar to his eyes, it was indeed the previous Molten Mountain Range.
But as Bai Zihe scanned his surroundings, his expression changed drastically!
At the scene.
Only people from the Imperial City Guardian side remained, sitting cross-legged around a massive light cocoon.
And in various parts of the mountain range...
Countless corpses lay in all sorts of poses.
Some of these corpses belonged to the Imperial City Guardian side, but more of them were from Bai Zihe's original group!
Bai Zihe immediately became furious.
There was no need to guess; Liu Wen must have taken advantage of his absence to launch a surprise attack on Zhuge Sheng and the others, resulting in heavy casualties.
And that light cocoon...
It was likely the great formation formed by the three elders, capable of both offense and defense, which Liu Wen could not break through for the moment, so he simply waited around.
Waiting for their true essence to be depleted.
Or.
Waiting for them to starve to death within!
"You..."
"Bai Zihe, you're still alive?"
"This, this, didn't you fall into the abyss ten thousand feet deep and into the molten lava?"
"What on earth happened?"
The experts under the fake emperor were stunned to see Bai Zihe.
Their faces instantly became extremely solemn.