"...?"

Sikong Jiu and his group were dumbfounded.

Why not help deal with Jin Shi, Jiu Feng, and Li Bahuang, and instead choose to pick on me, the easy target?

Isn't this bullying the honest ones!

However, Sikong Jiu wasn't panicked because the Supreme Emperor stood in front of him, or rather, he hid behind Xu Lai.

Nevertheless, Sikong Jiu never expected that the Ji Family's Emperor Realm ancestor, Ji Ming, and the Bai Family's Emperor Realm ancestor, Bai Shuang, would simultaneously charge at him.

Killing intent.

No hint of concealment.

Clearly determined to annihilate the target at all costs.

"???"

Sikong Jiu was now panicking, scared out of his wits.

Although he knew he had the deepest grudges with these three, dreaming day and night of grinding their bones to ashes.

But similarly.

They felt the same way about Sikong Jiu.

Since the First Era, after an entire cycle of evasion, Bai Shuang wanted to put an end to this feud today.

Fortunately, Sikong Jiu was always cautious and careful.

Ever since Xu Lai appeared from Heaven Beyond Heaven, Sikong Jiu had been standing by Xu Lai's side, within two meters distance.

Sikong Jiu shouted, "The Supreme Emperor, they're coming for you; be careful!"

Then he controlled the Green Gourd to swiftly flee away.

"..."

Xu Lai wasn't a fool.

Though he also understood Sikong Jiu's limited combat strength, unable to contend with the three Emperor Realm figures, so he consecutively shot out three Qingfeng Sword Intents to block them.

"Courting death."

Their eyes flashed with a chilling gleam.

While Sikong Jiu needed to be killed, Xu Lai, as the culprit who brought the Blue Giant Jellyfish, had to be killed even more!

The three temporarily gave up on Sikong Jiu and attacked Xu Lai together.

"Boom!"

An Emperor Realm confrontation, heaven-shattering and earth-cracking.

The Blue Giant Jellyfish was still devouring madly, while the other side became one Emperor Realm battlefield after another.

Compared to the dazzling moves in battles of lower boundary cultivators, fights in the Emperor Realm appeared unusually simple and unadorned.

There were no glaring lights from using divine techniques, nor too many traces of Spiritual Energy explosions.

The grand simplicity of the Great Dao.

Emperor Realm's control over Spiritual Energy was exquisitely masterful, with no excess waste. Every bit was used where it mattered most.

If the battleground weren't in Heaven Beyond Heaven but rather in the countryside, it might be mistaken for villagers brawling.

Only Immortal Venerables and Quasi-Emperor Realm cultivators could see the terror of this battlefield, where divine skills intertwined with laws, with the Great Dao clashing against the Great Dao!

"Refreshing!"

Xu Lai wielded the Qingfeng Sword, battling one against three, his long robe fluttering, his eyes sparkling with vigor.

He could distinctly sense that the strength of Ji Ming, Bai Shuang, and Ji Chengtian surpassed his by more than a margin.

Yet this kind of battle requiring full exertion, he hadn't experienced for many years.

The last time he felt so satisfied was in the Samsara Sea, fighting the Emperor Realm corpses under the pressure of the Heavenly Dao Laws.

"You haven't absorbed the Purple Spirit."

Ji Family's Ji Ming frowned deeply.

He always thought Xu Lai's real combat power should be quite similar to his own, yet there was still a considerable gap after fighting.

This gap was something he hadn't anticipated.

Upon reaching the Emperor Realm,

whether willingly or not, the purple substance in Spiritual Energy would slowly merge into one's body, enhancing oneself.

This substance was called Purple Spirit; some Emperor Realm individuals absorbed it passively, while others actively sought it to make further advancements.

But Ji Ming did not sense the presence of Purple Spirit in Xu Lai's body, not even the incense-burning Great Emperor Jin Shi had plenty of Purple Spirit within him.

These nine had lived from the First Era to the present using every method, including the Purple Spirit.

"Yes."

Xu Lai did not deny it.

In a certain pursuit of the Dao, he perceived the existence of Purple Spirit and solicited Sikong Jiu for information through threats and bribes, obtaining quite a bit of intelligence.

For example.

Some Emperor Realm regarded Purple Spirit as a blessing from the Heavenly Dao, a support for further advancement.

But for others,

like the Chaos Purple Lotus Demon Emperor of the sixty-third era, considered the Purple Spirit born with the Emperor Realm a great calamity.

Sikong Jiu had advised Xu Lai to avoid absorbing too much, also believing it ominous.

Later on.

Xu Lai deciphered the second character in the thirty-six Cloud Water Rust of Mojian Wuzheng.

The character didn't disappear but instead merged into his mind, absorbing all the Purple Spirit approaching Xu Lai.

"How did you manage that?"

Ji Chengtian's face was icy: "Could it be a secret technique from The Other Shore, obtained from Cloud Water Rust!"

Throughout the cycle, he extended his life by at least ten more eras using Purple Spirit. But the Purple Spirit didn't disappear, instead clinging to his body.

In a peek inside.

These old guys' bones, organs, and blood mostly turned purple.

Bai Shuang didn't know what changes would occur after the body fully changed due to Purple Spirit, but it certainly wouldn't result in something good.

Using Purple Spirit to gain lifespan that shouldn't exist meant a corresponding loss of something else.

Upon hearing Xu Lai hadn't absorbed Purple Spirit, Ji Chengtian felt tempted.

"Kill him, and we'll know through soul-searching."

Bai Shuang straightforwardly suggested, not wasting any words, each move a lethal one.

Ji Chengtian and Ji Ming nodded.

It indeed was the best approach for now.

"Bang"

"Bang"

"Bang"

The three Emperor Realms joined forces, leaving no reservations, making Xu Lai's expression gradually serious.

Due to the Purple Spirit, these elder relics from the Nine Kings' Palace of the First Era were overwhelmingly powerful, far exceeding ordinary Emperor Realm individuals.

Like a water cup.

A cup overflowing with water will spill if more is poured in.

Xu Lai was at the pinnacle of the Emperor Realm, no matter how much Spiritual Energy he absorbed, it couldn't stay in his body, it would dissipate.

But Ji Ming and other Emperor Realms used the Purple Spirit to forcefully retain the water that should have overflowed, breaking the limits.

"No wonder it's regarded as a 'blessing from the Heavenly Dao'."

Xu Lai suddenly understood what Sikong Jiu meant that day.

Only this blessing, he was destined not to enjoy.

Moreover, Xu Lai didn't want to be entangled with the Purple Spirit.

Because what's given by others is never truly one's own. Only what you can hold in your hand is truly yours.

"The Supreme Emperor, be careful!!"

A heart-wrenching cry came from afar from Sikong Jiu.

Xu Lai turned to look, his pupils shrinking continuously.

He saw the Blue Giant Jellyfish had already swallowed all the Quasi-Emperors, Immortal Venerable, and Nine Royal Clan cultivators below that realm from Heaven Beyond Heaven, including the island where the Nine Kings' Palace was located.

Then countless tentacles started extending towards him, Ji Ming, Bai Shuang, and others.

"This is bad."

Bai Shuang, having suffered once, fled the fastest, followed closely by the other two, reluctantly abandoning their assault on Xu Lai.

But what puzzled Bai Shuang was that the Blue Giant Jellyfish seemed not to care about Xu Lai, crazily chasing the three of them instead.

"Why isn't it chasing you, the Supreme Emperor?" Sikong Jiu flew over and scratched his head.

"...Because of the Purple Spirit?"

During the battle, the discussion of Purple Spirit made Xu Lai instinctively reply this.

"What's that got to do with it?" Sikong Jiu hesitated as well.