Above the Galaxy

Jiang Taigong fishes, willing ones take the bait.

It's well known, Jiang Taigong wasn't fishing for fish, but for people.

Shen Boyu also wanted to learn this trick to catch the big fish, Xuanyuan Mingjing.

The clash of the strong, time, place, and harmony, all indispensable.

Each one could be the key to victory.

Wouldn't you say it was a coincidence, he happened to have all three.

Shen Family in power, the showdown in the East Sea, dark waves raging, mist swirling...

No reason to lose the fight.

So, Shen Boyu dared to be so arrogant.

Shouting that today definitely would not let Xuanyuan Mingjing, this big fish, escape.

Comparing a Great Grandmaster to a 'fish', is already an insult...

Yet Xuanyuan Mingjing showed elegance, his face calm.

Insult or not, reaching such a state of mind, he rarely cared about such matters.

His thoughts were just three words: follow one's heart.

He held a bamboo sword, drawing a big circle in the boundless sky.

At the edge of the circle burned black flames, like ink ignited.

Meanwhile, within the area circumscribed by the circle, a great amount of flame burned.

Putu putu putu...

Wildfire boiling

Sparks flying.

Then, like black meteors, it smashed towards Shen Boyu on the sea surface.

"'Nine Nether Fire?'"

Shen Boyu, well-informed, immediately recognized the origin of the black fire.

He could feel the flames contained intense death and despair aura.

What shocked him more was Xuanyuan Mingjing's mastery over both water and fire...

Just deployed Cold Jade Technique, though harming with coldness, could be classified under the water element.

Meaning, Xuanyuan Mingjing's Yin Yang Qi should be of the water element.

Yet, this Nine Nether Fire is a fire element...

How did he accomplish this?

Nine Nether Fire, though with 'fire', belongs to extremely cold attributes.

Netherworld Fire.

This aligns with Tang Fei's Netherworld Scroll and the Fire of Ten Thousand Demons cultivated in Ghost Prison.

When Xuanyuan Mingjing took Tang Fei to Ghost Prison, Tang Fei thought the master was tailoring teachings to his needs, since he practiced Evil God brother's Netherworld Scroll, such that he felt kinship with Ghost Prison's ambience.

Now he realizes, Xuanyuan Mingjing himself practiced Netherworld Energy too.

Like him, he is a 'Ghost Fire Youth'.

Oh, he's the Ghost Fire Old Man.

More terrifying for father-in-laws.

If any.

"Condense extreme cold into extreme cold fire, two intersecting merging, then evolving into dual cultivation of water and fire?"

Shen Boyu felt filled with shock and admiration.

No wonder he is considered Star Sky Martial Arts Number One, despite being younger by over ten years.

Even among several Great Grandmasters, his fame is most illustrious.

Originally believed it was because Zhong Daoling focused solely on Taoism, isolated...

Turns out, truly possessed real skill.

Black flames spread across the sky, yet had a common origin.

They locked onto him tightly, all flames surging towards him.

Like a black fire stream.

Yet himself could absorb everything, a Black Hole.

No, he isn't a Black Hole.

He knew clearly, truly enduring this wave of Nine Nether Fire would turn him into air.

Become a trace of Netherworld Energy, then devoured and refined by Xuanyuan Mingjing...

Shen Boyu dared not be presumptuous.

His hands outstretched, blue gleam fell on sea surface.

Seawater began whirling, converging towards the gleamed region.

Soon, vast seawater condensed into a massive water fishing rod.

Peak, narrow tail.

Hundreds of meters high.

Appeared more majestic than Sun Monkey's Ocean Stabilizing Divine Needle.

Shen Boyu stood up wielding the rod, then fiercely smashed towards the black flames.

The clash of fire and water made no sound.

Because all energy was compressed at the singularity between them, a miniature sun was being born.

Blue and black merged, the sun turned deep blue.

Like vast night sky, or lover's eyes.

Yet inside was filled with peril and frenzy aura.

The black flames of Nine Nether Fire Essence, and Gui Water Essence of Beiming Divine Skill, formed mysterious patterns at the threshold of collapse and explosion.

Two powerful currents fused, torn apart, and fused...

Boom!

Sky and earth crumbled.

The entire world turned a dazzling deep blue.

Sky disappeared, sea vanished.

People too, no longer seen.

Xuanyuan Mingjing's body was flung hundreds of meters, flipping countless somersaults before barely stopping.

While Shen Boyu fell into the Deep Sea, life or death unknown.

"Pfft..."

Blood spewed from Xuanyuan Mingjing's mouth.

In the Great Grandmaster's duel, he endured more than one man's force, but the synergy of two...

Even with preemptive guardedness, still injured internally by this strike.

The solar explosion harmed not only Xuanyuan Mingjing and Shen Boyu at the combat core but also Tang Fei battling with Shen Que and others.

Lu Siyu, closer to the shockwave, was directly flung.

Flying Boots attempted to drag her back forcibly, but couldn't withstand the turbulence's impacts.

Crunch crunch...

Mechanical power far less than Grandmaster power.

The boots' intelligent system emitted dense black smoke.

And Tang Fei along with Shen Que and others were all flung.

At that time, everyone's eyes were only on each other, trying all means to eliminate the opponent.

Yet they were simultaneously struck down by Great Grandmasters...

Tang Fei's body drifted far away like a broken kite.

Shen Que and company were in even worse condition.

Already heavily injured, they were directly knocked unconscious by the impact of the airflow.

However, Ba Dao Zhao Wuji's profound skill allowed the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand to attempt to counteract that overwhelming power.

But it was clearly in vain.

Then, like Tang Fei, he was sent flying far, far away.

A grade is a mountain, a realm is a heaven.

The difference between grades is like crossing towering mountains.

However, the gap between realms is like ascending layers of heaven.

A Great Grandmaster and a Grandmaster live in completely different worlds.

Shen Xinglan was similarly unfortunate.

After being severely injured, Shen Xinglan was constantly adjusting his internal breath, hoping to recover quickly.

He had already been sent afar before Shen Boyu took action.

Then Shen Boyu and Xuanyuan Mingjing joined hands to send him yet further...

"..." Shen Xinglan.

What did I ever do to deserve this?

I was clearly resting peacefully, how did I end up suffering such harm?

If only I had known this...

He would have left the battlefield earlier.

Sadly, he couldn't leave, nor could he choose to do so.

Because, at this moment, the ones fighting were his second grandpa and his once beloved and respected master.

Whoever wins or loses, his heart feels extremely pained.

At this moment, his hatred for Tang Fei reached its peak.

If it weren't for Tang Fei, if he hadn't come to New Star, if his identity weren't so confusing...

Would grandpa and master still engage in such a brutal battle?

Would Phoenix still...

Forget it, he didn't care about such trivial matters of love and affection.

But he was certain that if it weren't for Tang Fei, Phoenix would definitely have chosen him unwaveringly.

He firmly believed this.

"Where is Shen Boyu?"

Xuanyuan Mingjing's body hovered high above, surveying the East Sea, taking in the view of the sea's surface for miles around.

He himself was grievously injured, and Shen Boyu must be feeling even worse.

But if this blow could directly claim Shen Boyu's life, it would be so wonderful.

Sadly, this was wishful thinking.

Xuanyuan Mingjing was waiting.

Waiting for Shen Boyu to appear.

Or for Shen Boyu to strike.

Suddenly the seawater began to surge.

A large amount of seawater gathered at a certain spot.

As it surged and surged, it condensed into an enormous whale.

Roar!

The whale opened its abyssal mouth and cried to the sky.

This was the whale's song.

Layer upon layer of sonic waves rippled out, severely affecting the creatures within several miles around.

On the coast of the East Sea, massive trunks were ravaged, the slender branches utterly snapped.

Falling flowers and leaves resembled the aftermath of a severe typhoon.

Even Xuanyuan Mingjing felt dizzy and disoriented, his qi and blood disrupted, and the wounds he had just suppressed began bleeding again.

This was a sonic attack.

Xuanyuan Mingjing also admired Shen Boyu's strength, as he could summon the whale from seawater and unleash its powerful song...

Moreover, with such strong attack effects.

The Beiming Kun Breath Skill truly deserved the title of the foremost water element technique.

After the long cry, the whale's massive body breached the surface.

With a swift ascent.

It opened its bloody maw, lunging toward Xuanyuan Mingjing's position.

Wanting to swallow him whole.

Xuanyuan Mingjing neither dodged nor avoided, cold energy formed a blade in his left hand, black flames in his right.

Both palms slammed forward.

Boom!

The Qi Blade and flames struck the whale's face.

The whale let out a screeching roar.

It turned, its massive tail fin sweeping across.

Boom!

Once again sending Xuanyuan Mingjing flying.

Person and fish battled once more in the sky.

At this moment, suddenly a white palace emerged from the sea's surface.

A mirage?

No, this was Bai Yujing.

The white palace rose higher and higher, growing larger as it ascended.

Suddenly, it plunged from high above.

As if with eyes, it thundered down upon the enormous whale's body.

Boom!

The fish's body shattered and collapsed.

Seawater cascaded down from above.

Shen Boyu's body flew out from inside the whale, blood streaming from his orifices, his eyes wildly fierce.

His grey robe was also tattered and torn.

Like someone freshly emerged from a nuclear blast site.

Shen Boyu's gaze fell upon the distant white palace.

In the sky Bai Yujing, twelve towers and five cities.

This divine abode was entirely milky white, emitting a cold silver glow.

Mysterious, terrifying, yet incomparably holy.

Even when gods kill...

You feel it is purification.

"Zhong Daoling." Shen Boyu gritted his teeth and spat out the name.

Atop the twelve towers, appeared an elderly man dressed in a black Taoist robe.

He wore Carefree Boots and held the Tianpeng Ruler.

On his shoulder was a bronze seal of Yuanshi Tianzun, golden light streaming forth, filled with mysterious symbols and Taoist elegance.

It was none other than Great Grandmaster Zhong Daoling.

Three Great Grandmasters gathering at the East Sea, was it the fall of morality, or the distortion of human nature?