"Someone once told me you were the strongest among the Nine Imperial Sons. I was thinking your strength earlier seemed mediocre, turns out you were just holding back," Xu Zimo said with a smile.
"I waited until they were all dead. Now I’ll kill you and become the chosen one of the main sect," Shen Yu sneered.
"Where does your confidence come from?" Xu Zimo asked with interest.
"You’ll find out soon," Shen Yu replied calmly.
At that moment, a surge of pure white spiritforce erupted from his body and shot into the sky.
The aura carried an overwhelming might that surpassed the Fusion Heaven Realm, reaching the pressure of a Grand Empyrean.
"What’s this?" Xu Zimo watched with curiosity.
That white spiritforce enveloped the entire void. Within the haze, a figure seemed to faintly appear.
"It’s the Grandmaster!" On Dao Mountain, everyone stood up in surprise.
"Why is the Grandmaster’s shadow appearing on Shen Yu?" Wang Yuntian asked with a frown.
Everyone turned their eyes to Changqing, the Lord of Divine Heaven Mountain, filled with suspicion.
"Don’t look at me. This has nothing to do with me," Changqing said with a laugh. "Yu’er received the Grandmaster’s inheritance."
"Inheritance? When did the Grandmaster leave behind a personal inheritance?" Qi Hai asked.
"I don’t know either. But the Grandmaster chose Yu’er, that proves he favors him," Changqing said. "Even if you're envious, it’s useless."
The crowd had mixed expressions, their thoughts unreadable.
…
Inside the ethereal aura, Xu Zimo couldn’t clearly see the figure, but he could feel the pressure of a Grand Empyrean.
"Bet you didn’t expect this, my trump card is the inheritance of the Nine Heavens Sage," Shen Yu said proudly.
"I’ve held onto this card for years, waiting for a life-or-death moment. I should thank you for getting rid of the others for me."
"No need to thank me. Soon, you’ll be joining them," Xu Zimo said flatly.
"A Grand Empyrean’s strike, do you really think you can withstand it?" Shen Yu snorted coldly.
He closed his eyes. His expression turned solemn and dignified as if he had become one with the massive shadow in the void. His aura surged to match that of a Grand Empyrean.
A Grand Empyrean could found their own sect, become immortal, their path broad and endless, with divine power in every gesture.
Shen Yu floated high in the sky, looking down coldly at Xu Zimo.
"Die." That single word shook the Dao itself, bringing divine might down toward Xu Zimo.
"I was wondering what it was, turns out it’s just a remnant soul," Xu Zimo shook his head slightly.
He guessed Shen Yu had stumbled upon the Nine Heavens Sage’s inheritance, which included a remnant soul.
After countless ages and the erosion of time, that remnant soul had long since reached its limit.
Its power could barely simulate one strike from a Grand Empyrean, and Shen Yu had treated it as his ultimate card.
Even a real Grand Empyrean’s full-strength strike wouldn’t faze Xu Zimo, let alone this.
As the Grand Empyrean’s might descended, the projection on Dao Mountain shattered under the pressure.
"This…" The Mountain Lords looked at each other, then turned to Mu Changge.
"Wait. The final survivor will be returned through the spatial gate," Mu Changge said calmly.
His mood was sour. Most of the disciples had died in this trial.
This might be the bloodiest Nine Heavens Gathering ever. There was no way to explain this to the main sect, and the Nine Heavens Sect itself suffered even more.
…
"Die!" Shen Yu roared as the shadow slowly lowered its head, and a finger reached toward Xu Zimo.
Though it was just a finger, it was like a pillar reaching to the heavens. As it came down, space completely collapsed around it.
Explosions echoed. Xu Zimo looked up, smiling calmly.
He also raised his right index finger to meet the descending strike.
Compared to the pillar-like finger, Xu Zimo’s looked like a bug striking a tree, an ant defying the sky.
But when the two fingers collided, a loud "boom" rang out.
Xu Zimo’s finger effortlessly shattered the Grand Empyrean’s shadow.
"Impossible! That’s impossible!" Shen Yu shouted in disbelief.
Watching his body vanish along with the shadow, his face twisted in despair.
"Pathetic. You don’t even understand the power you’re wielding, yet you talk so big," Xu Zimo shook his head.
"You thought you were the hunter, but you were just prey."
He looked around at the shattered mountains and cracked earth, corpses covering the land.
He glanced at the nine tokens in front of him, sneered, and threw them to the ground.
With a wave of his right hand, a spatial portal opened, returning him to the Nine Heavens Sect.
A brief flash of space travel, when Xu Zimo appeared on Dao Mountain.
Several auras instantly erupted, and several figures surrounded him.
"Lin Qiu, do you know your crime?" Multiple voices shouted in unison when they saw his face.
"Is there a problem?" Xu Zimo looked up indifferently.
"You murdered fellow disciples and still won’t surrender?" Changqing roared in fury. "The trial was officially canceled, why did you still kill?"
"Because they tried to kill me," Xu Zimo replied.
"Still making excuses? Seize him now, we’ll interrogate him later," Wang Yuntian shouted, reaching toward him.
Xu Zimo frowned and slapped out with his palm.
Wang Yuntian was blasted away, crashing into the distant mountain.
"How dare you!" Qin Hansheng slammed his chair and stood up.
He stared coldly at Xu Zimo. "No matter what, he’s still your elder. How dare you assault your elder?"
"What? You trying to frame me and force me to rebel?" Xu Zimo asked.
"Lin Qiu, we’ll handle this fairly," Mu Changge sighed from the side. "But you did go too far."
"I advise you not to resist. Otherwise, I’ll take it as a declaration of war against the main sect," Qin Hansheng said coldly.
"The might of the Empyrean Sect, there’s nowhere in the Southern Region you can hide."
"Qiu'er, come stand behind your father," Lin Beisheng stepped forward after a moment of silence.
"Lin Beisheng, what are you doing?" Qin Hansheng snapped.
"If you want to harm my son, you’ll have to step over my corpse first," Lin Beisheng stood in front of Xu Zimo and said calmly.
"Is your Grand Heaven Lineage trying to start a war?" Changqing sneered. "No, I’m speaking only for myself. This has nothing to do with the Grand Heaven Lineage," Lin Beisheng shook his head.