In less than a breath.

A shattered figure burst free from the center of the self-detonation.

It was White Jade Qi.

Even with his God Realm Ninth Layer strength, facing the self-detonation of a Fifth Grade Dao Arms without any preparation, he still suffered severe injuries.

After all.

Compared to his God Realm Ninth Layer strength, his flesh was far from as strong.

Under that kind of annihilating blast, how could the flesh of an Ordinary Divine Realm possibly withstand it.

"Zhong! Shan! Chou!"

His body almost blown apart, blood gushing everywhere, White Jade Qi's face twisted into something ferocious and terrifying.

At the same time.

Terror also rose in his heart.

He, a堂堂 God Realm Ninth Layer powerhouse, had almost fallen at the hands of a God Realm Fourth Level cultivator.

If that self-detonating Dao Arms hadn't been Fifth Grade but Sixth Grade instead, he might already have completely fallen.

So.

After the fear.

Came a sky-shaking killing intent.

However.

Before White Jade Qi could locate Shen Changqing's figure, he discovered the void had turned bright as day.

A terrifying, vast fluctuation swept over.

Everything within his perception seemed to slow down.

Time flowed.

Sun and Moon like a shuttle.

As if he had thought of something, the ferocity on his face turned to horror; his right hand had just lifted when he saw the arm decay, revealing the dimmed golden bone inside, then bit by bit annihilating.

It was as if it lasted a breath.

And also as if it lasted a year.

A breeze blew.

White Jade Qi's figure, like smoke, directly dispersed in midair.

Everything around returned to normal; Shen Changqing's face was deathly pale, his forehead already drenched in sweat.

Without any hesitation.

He didn't even bother to take the other's storage ring first; he immediately took out Divine Crystals for refinement to restore his own expenditure.

When his Divine Power had recovered quite a bit, Shen Changqing then went chasing after White Jade Qi's storage ring, snatching the object that was about to fall to the ground into his hand.

"That was close!"

Only after getting the storage ring did he finally let out a full sigh of relief.

On the surface it looked like there hadn't been any twists when he killed White Jade Qi, but only Shen Changqing himself knew how perilous the process had been.

If the other party hadn't first expended some strength in order to chase him.

If the Fifth Grade Dao Arms hadn't self-detonated and heavily wounded him.

If the other party wasn't already old.

If—

One could say.

It was precisely because of all these coincidences that White Jade Qi ended up falling under the Eyes of Time.

But even so.

Shen Changqing's own Divine Power had been completely drained, almost to the point of total exhaustion.

When he saw the increase in Battle Merit, his heart jolted.

"Battle Merit increased by thirty thousand!"

"As expected, he wasn't just some ordinary post-stage God Realm—"

Thirty thousand Battle Merit!

That corresponded to God Realm Ninth Layer.

From this battle.

Shen Changqing came to understand one thing: if he burned through all of his trump cards, at best he could only wrestle with a God Realm Eighth Layer; if facing a God Realm Ninth Layer powerhouse, it was better to run first.

A battle like just now was almost impossible to replicate.

Because he no longer had a second Dao Arms he could use for self-detonation.

However.

Although he had lost the Pursuit Shuttle.

When he used Inch-Step Horizon earlier, there had been no vague premonition, which meant there was no problem using this Divine Skills.

As for if Candle Sect powerhouses asked about it in the future, Shen Changqing had already thought up countermeasures.

In this way.

He had lost a Fifth Grade Dao Arms, but unlocked a First Grade Divine Skills; that was still a decent trade.

As for the remaining Heaven and Earth Slash, he was absolutely not going to use it.

Spatial Divine Ability.

Wouldn't cause too much trouble.

But if he used a Blade Path Divine Ability, the problem wouldn't be so simple.

Among the Myriad Clans, there was still a wanted order out for that mysterious Blade Path Powerhouse; Shen Changqing was not about to blow himself up rashly.

On the other side.

When White Jade Qi fell, some God Realm from White Jade Sect saw this scene and their hearts sank.

"Elder Qi has fallen!"

"That's Zhongshan Chou—who would have thought even a God Realm Ninth Layer powerhouse wasn't his match."

"This child must not be allowed to live!"

They conversed with Divine Sense.

Very soon.

Another God Realm from White Jade Sect directly abandoned his own opponent and charged toward Shen Changqing.

Anyone with eyes could see.

A large part of White Jade Qi's fall was due to the self-detonation of the Fifth Grade Dao Arms.

How precious was a Fifth Grade Dao Arms; just owning one was an incredible thing.

They did not believe Shen Changqing still had a second Fifth Grade Dao Arms on him.

Thus.

Not long after White Jade Qi's fall, another powerhouse at God Realm Ninth Layer had already transformed into a thousand-zhang-tall Zhu Yan, stepping through the air, his thick arms like small mountains smashing down.

As the fist fell.

Heaven and Earth dimmed by a few degrees.

Shen Changqing did not take it head-on; he used the Inch-Step Horizon Divine Skills, and before the fist landed, he had already vanished from where he stood.

Boom!!

The void shattered.

At the same time.

A sword cry filled with killing intent rang out; Zhongshan Kongzhou stepped through the air, and in the instant his sword fell, the stars of the Heavens all seemed to dim.

The Zhu Yan's expression drastically changed, and he was forced to defend.

The Sword Qi tore the sky and slashed hard at the opponent's thick arm.

In an instant.

Divine Blood splattered.

The God Realm Ninth Layer powerhouse let out a scream; both his arms now bore bone-deep wounds, with residual, indestructible Sword Qi left inside, continuously ravaging the surrounding flesh and blood.

"Bullying the weak with the strong—did you really think my Candle Sect has no powerhouses?"

Zhongshan Kongzhou's eyes were icy; as he spoke, his offensive did not pause in the slightest.