There wasn’t much time left. The violet rings Emperor Shura had deployed were his final trump card. If he still couldn’t destroy the eight stone sculptures with this technique, then he really would be scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Thus, he was seized with joy when Jiang Chen recalled the eight stone sculptures. He had finally broken through the first line of defense! Sneering inwardly, the great emperor charged Jiang Chen’s formation and swung his demonic blade. He could attack the Eight Trigram Boulder Formation now given the absence of the eight stone sculptures running interference.

Jiang Chen’s heart sank. He urged the Earth Bodhisattva Orb to channel energy into the formation with everything he had. Now that the eight stone sculptures were gone, this was his only defense against Emperor Shura’s attacks. 

The situation was critically disadvantageous to Jiang Chen. He inspected the Imperial Advent Defense Talisman without hesitation. Luckily, the talisman hadn’t been consumed much because Jiang Chen hadn’t been fighting all this time. It would be able to hold out until the end of the fight.

He knew that he should expect the Eight Trigram Boulder Formation to be destroyed at any moment. Once the formation was gone, he would have to engage Emperor Shura in hand-to-hand combat. But he wasn’t completely helpless, thanks to the talisman. Though it temporarily increased his defenses to that of a great emperor, he had plenty of other means that could help him hold out for a short while.

But that was his last resort. Jiang Chen didn’t want to fight Emperor Shura head-on unless absolutely necessary. Emperor Shura had been a great emperor for three thousand years, and Jiang Chen was just initial emperor realm. Fighting his opponent directly was the worst thing he could do. The light flaring from the blade seemed to be a reverse Milky Way, slamming viciously into the formation. 

The edges of the formation shook in response.

The Eight Trigram Boulder Formation was indeed very impressive. If Jiang Chen had been able to establish it with proper foundations and formation flags, delaying Emperor Shura long enough until the round ended wouldn’t be impossible. However, he had no choice but to manifest the formation with a disk. A disk allowed a cultivator to manifest a formation very quickly without fuss, but the downside was that the manifested formation’s foundations and power were severely lacking.

Emperor Shura had first thought that breaking the formation would be a piece of cake after the eight stone sculptures were gone. However, the error of his thinking was quickly discovered. His powerful strokes cut through the etchings and made the formation shudder and shake, but they recovered before his next stroke could arrive. Such self-healing speed was utterly shocking.

“How is this possible? There are a lot of formations in this world, but there shouldn’t be one that can heal itself so quickly after being breached! It should be the other way around!” Emperor Shura was highly perplexed. Pill King Zhen oozed bizarre strangeness.

Meanwhile, Jiang Chen was doing everything he could to maintain the formation. The Eight Trigram Boulder Formation was recovering so swiftly because of the Earth Bodhisattva Orb. Spirit stones couldn’t have reformed the formation so quickly, and the formation would’ve immediately collapsed after an opening was made. 

No wonder the ancient Earth Bodhisattva Sect made the Orb their sect treasure.

 Jiang Chen finally realized just how powerful the Orb truly was after witnessing the sheer amount of power within. Even better was that this were just scratching the surface. Once he made the Earth Bodhisattva Orb completely his own and excavated all of its potential, Jiang Chen was certain that it could reach unimaginable heights of power.

It looks like I accidentally came across an ultimate treasure! 

The power of the orb made Jiang Chen more confident. The formation should be able to hold out for some time even without the eight stone sculptures running interference.

As time passed, the round entered the final, most critical stage.

The members of Shura Retreat were on their feet as they watched sand trickling down the hourglass. They looked worriedly at the battle happening on the arena. No one had anticipated that Emperor Shura would still fail to breach young lord Zhen’s defenses despite deploying all kinds of methods and trump cards. No one could define young lord Zhen’s limits. 

Is his defense truly indestructible?

 It was a tormenting battle to spectate.

Emperor Shura himself knew that there wasn’t much time left. He was discouraged to see the formation reform itself again and again despite his many attacks. It was like scaling a mountain peak, only to find a higher one in front of him. 

“Zhen, you brat! I’ll break through your cowardly, scummy defenses!” Emperor Shura roared madly when his frustration reached its peak.

The bulky body crashed into the formation again and again. His bloodshot eyes spoke to his maddened bloodlust. Emperor Shura murmured a few incantations that covered his body with a surging purplish-red halo. It looked like a ball of angry hellfire wanted to consume the great emperor’s body. 

“This is bad!” Emperor Void’s heart sank as his face turned ugly. “Emperor Shura… he’s willing to go this far? Has he gone insane?”

Emperor Coiling Dragon’s heart also skipped a beat. Shock and fear marred his face as he exclaimed, “Is… is he burning his own bloodline power?”

“Precisely.” Emperor Void responded quickly, looking like he’d heard the most terrible of tidings. “Crazy, he’s gone completely crazy! The demonic slaughter dao’s most terrifying technique is the summoning of hellfire and activating of Shura fire in one’s body. The terrifying hell energy makes a cultivator several times stronger than before, but they have to pay a huge price in return as well!”

Emperor Peerless didn’t know Emperor Shura that well, but his expression also turned ugly when he heard that Shura’s power would increase several magnitudes over. 

“This fellow sure is willing to sacrifice anything to seize power. Does he really think that his methods and ruthlessness will impress even if he does win the round?” Emperor Peerless frowned.

“Hmph, to go this far for an internal conflict! Emperor Shura is a failure indeed. No wonder Daoist Peafowl didn’t pass the throne to him back then. He doesn’t have the heart or composure to carry Veluriyam Capital on his back at all.” Emperor Void agreed. “Even if he does win the round, Sacred Peafowl Mountain and Shura Retreat are still evenly matched. Who will support him after doing something like this?”

Emperor Void’s words weren’t unreasonable. Emperor Shura was an important figure in the capital, second to only Emperor Peafowl. However, he was bringing out questionable methods to defeat a young genius. No matter how he tried to justify it later, it left a dreadful impression. 

It was the desperation of a cornered animal, not the bearing and performance a great emperor with three thousand years of experience should possess.

Emperor Coiling Dragon cursed hatefully, “He’s destroying his own reputation. I’ll gather every righteous man and woman there is and object to his ascension if he wins this!”

Emperor Shura truly did lose a lot of supporters because of his current actions. Even Emperor Petalpluck’s forehead were creased with deep dissatisfaction when he saw this. 

Back in the arena, Jiang Chen felt as calm as still water. He could clearly see every move Emperor Shura was making. He knew that his opponent would do everything in his power to win at this stage. He too was likewise prepared for the final showdown. The Earth Bodhisattva Orb still fully powering the formation, Jiang Chen called upon the Ancient Crimson Heavens formation disk once more and deployed a new formation, inside the currently operating one.

The Major Artifice Formation!

Jiang Chen wasn’t expecting the illusory formation to actually do anything against Emperor Shura. Its only purpose was to buy him a bit of time after his opponent broke through the Eight Trigram Boulder Formation.

At the same time, Jiang Chen activated his tempered body, heralded by an explosion of golden light. The magnetic mountain floated over his head and shone rays of metallic light towards Jiang Chen, forming a magnetic armor. The Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice was also hiding nearby, ready to ambush and restrain with Emperor Shura on a moment’s notice. He was activating every trump card that might be useful.

Jiang Chen didn’t care anymore if his identity was exposed to the Eternal Celestial Capital emperor watching from the guest area. His only objective in this fight was to hold out until it was over. It wouldn’t be long now. A bit longer, and Sacred Peafowl Mountain would become the ultimate victor of this match.

Shura hellfire burned wildly on Emperor Shura’s body. Many strange and savage-looking patterns were crawling across his skin.

“Break!” Emperor Shura swung crazily at the Eight Trigram Boulder Formation. A horrific cracking noise later, the etchings of the formation was finally destroyed by the unprecedented attack.

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