The Heaven Immortal Envoy struck out with a sword. The variations were myriad, manipulating essence qi, shifting laws, and twisting time and space. Even Void Immortals and True Immortals, upon seeing the moves and momentum of this sword, would gasp in absolute amazement.
If this sword strike were aimed at Fang Han himself, he would definitely have no way to defend against it; aside from taking the hit forcefully, there was no other path.
"What a profound sword trace."
Although Fang Han did not know why the Human Emperor Pen had suddenly appeared, this crisis was definitely resolved.
"I wonder how the Human Emperor Pen will block this sword?"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he saw the fingers of the Human Emperor Pen blossom outward like a lotus flower. One by one, Vajra flowers were generated in mid-air. Each Vajra flower blocked a stream of sword energy and simultaneously absorbed the sword energy within.
"The marvelous nature of perfect enlightenment generates flowers of emptiness; the flowers of emptiness are extinguished by the Vajra nature."
From the mouth of the Human Emperor Pen, this gatha containing deep Zen philosophy was recited. With just this light movement, the Heaven Immortal Envoy's sword strike was dissolved into nothingness, demonstrating profound strength.
"The might of a Heaven Immortal is unrivaled in the mortal realm; when the Heaven Immortal's momentum descends, demons and heretics retreat!" The Heaven Immortal Envoy's expression changed yet again. The longsword in his hand vibrated, carrying the will to swallow mountains and rivers and occupy the Eight Desolates. The sword in his hand was like an ancient waterfall, the Heavenly River snapping and rushing towards the Human Emperor Pen. The sheer ferocity of the moves was not worldly martial arts.
The Human Emperor Pen stood right where he was, allowing the sword energy to impact his body. He was like a boulder that had not fallen for hundreds of millions of years, an eternal reef.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang… Countless streams of sword energy slashed against his body without any slipping past, yet they could not cut even a bit of his skin. His skin was crystal-clear and delicate, like a rare crystal. Even the sword of a Heaven Immortal only produced the sound of rain hitting plantain leaves, a clear breeze brushing the face, picking up no dust.
"Your sword moves cannot harm me." The Human Emperor Pen's hair fluttered. With his breathing, it seemed as if even mountains were being blown up. His eyes looked toward the sky, and suddenly the sky went dark again. Countless bright stars twinkled, and a long stellar river appeared, shining upon his body. Corresponding acupoints also appeared on his body, reflecting the stellar river. Heaven and earth mutually reflected each other at this very moment, matching flawlessly.
Heaven and earth as one, dominating the mortal realm.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
The Human Emperor Pen took four steps forward. Every step was as if hundreds of millions of trillions of ghosts and deities were beating the drums of courage from ancient battlefields. He raised his palm, brought his fingers together, and wrote a single word in the air: "仙" (Immortal).
This "仙" character was ancient and forged by creation, seeming to be composed of true divine dragons of the Nine Heavens, entirely different from fonts used in the secular world. "I shall let you know what it means to be a true immortal."
"I am a Heaven Immortal, an immortal of the Heaven Realm!" Seeing that his sword energy could not harm the body of the Human Emperor Pen, the clone of the Heaven Immortal Envoy wore a solemn expression. He stood perfectly straight, like a long spear piercing the firmament. His sharp eyes displayed an unprecedented fighting intent and power. All his sword energy gathered and focused onto a single point, striking out like a white rainbow piercing the sun, thrusting straight at the glabella of the Human Emperor Pen.
"True King Sword Art, Eight Forms of Slaughtering Gods, Slashing Gods and Buddhas, Piercing Through Myriad Worlds!" The Heaven Immortal Envoy's body was a vast rainbow: "Human Emperor Pen, what an immortal is, I am clearer than you! I am an Envoy of the Heaven Realm; although you are an Immortal Artifact, you have lost even your immortal laws. Do you understand what it means to be an immortal?"
"Life and death condensed, a vast expanse of noble qi, short songs coming to an end, the bright moon waxing and waning, the coordinates of the sun and stars, the darkness of the cosmos." The Human Emperor Pen's face showed no emotional changes at all; it was forever unchanging. Facing the assassination attempt of the Heaven Immortal Envoy, it was the same. His glabella merely twitched, easily allowing the Heaven Immortal Envoy's sword to strike it.
"Clang!"
The Heaven Immortal Envoy's sword astonishingly could not pierce in. Despite highly condensed immortal laws and immortal sword moves, not even a drop of blood could be drawn, much less piercing into the head of the Human Emperor Pen.
"My body shall become the body of the earth; my qi shall become the qi of heaven; my head shall become the head of an immortal. My soul shall become truth." The light from the Human Emperor Pen's glabella grew more and more intense, surprisingly slowly forcing the Heaven Immortal Envoy's sword away. Amidst the light, the Heaven Immortal Envoy was like a small boat in a storm, on the verge of sinking at any moment.
The Heaven Immortal Envoy altered his sword momentum again. His eyes were fierce, like a fierce tiger catching a sheep, or an evil dragon hunting a shark. His body leaped upwards, thrusting a sword downward through the Heavenly Gate. Seeking flaws, he swore not to rest until the Human Emperor Pen was killed.
"The Great Dao traverses, the appearance of mountains and rivers, the prosperity of civilization, a peaceful epoch for ten thousand generations." The Human Emperor Pen's face remained unmoved, like an eternal unmelting glacier, but his body moved. Both hands grasped, he let out a breath and struck a punch upwards. In an instant, heaven and earth were completely plunged into darkness, and his punch was the punch that split heaven and earth, setting the foundations of the universe and dividing the starry sky.
Boom. The momentum was majestic. The sound of thousands of loud drums transmitted from the void. With this punch from the Human Emperor Pen, the Heaven Immortal Envoy was hit and sent flying backwards for fully ten thousand miles. His body cracked everywhere, and even that longsword showed traces of fracturing.
"The realm of heaven and earth as one! How is this possible?" The Heaven Immortal Envoy's face was hideous, vowing not to stop until death. His body transformed again. His reactions were extremely fast; in a trillionth of a second, he began compressing his body, and an even stronger power poured down from the void.
But the Human Emperor Pen was faster than him. Taking a step to follow, with a rip, space was torn open, and he arrived right before the Heaven Immortal Envoy. The profound comprehension of spatial laws the Heaven Immortal Envoy relied on had absolutely no effect on the Human Emperor Pen. Another palm strike slammed onto the Heaven Immortal Envoy's body.
A power sufficient to burst apart dozens of stars was driven into the Heaven Immortal Envoy's body.
The Heaven Immortal Envoy expanded like an inflated ball. The longsword in his hand flashed with lightning and thunder, stabbing madly without stop, but it was to no avail. The Human Emperor Pen backhanded him with dozens of consecutive palm strikes, each palm suppressing a portion of his immortal laws.
"Longevity equal to heaven and earth, ascending to the Heaven Realm." Flames suddenly surged from the Heaven Immortal Envoy's body. The whole person seemed like a Fire God, his strength rising once again.
"Sacrificing this incarnation? Trying to harm me. Since you are an immortal, I will turn you into a mortal!" At an unbelievable speed, the Human Emperor Pen wrote a "凡" (Mortal) character in the sky. When it fell onto the Heaven Immortal Envoy, the flames on the Heaven Immortal Envoy's body immediately began to shrink back into his body.
The Human Emperor Pen's five fingers formed a hook and snatched like a thunderbolt. This incarnation of the Heaven Immortal Envoy shrank down once again, turning into a tiny person. It jumped up and down in his palm, yet no matter how it jumped, it could not escape this palm.
The outcome was decided!
The power of the Human Emperor Pen was fundamentally on a different level than before. It seemed he had found some fragments of artifact of creation, elevating his strength again. However, Fang Han could not discern exactly what kind of realm he had ultimately reached.
"Senior, you have actually returned." Fang Han's body moved, flying to the side of the Human Emperor Pen: "And Senior Sister Qingxue?"
"Lord Lightning Mother Heavenly Monarch was cultivating in a mysterious place when a situation occurred, and we were pursued by powerful experts of the Heaven Realm." The moment the Human Emperor Pen spoke, Fang Han was given a start. Seeing Fang Han's anxious gaze, he waved his hand: "But you need not worry. In all of heaven and earth, no one can calculate where the Lightning Mother Heavenly Monarch is. Moreover, after encountering serendipitous events, her strength has recovered somewhat. I returned this time to counter the God Race's great tribulation. This invasion of the God Race into the Black Yellow Great World is no trivial matter. Many God Emperors and God Venerables, even Supreme God Emperors, aim to destroy the Black Yellow Great World in one fell swoop, launching a Sacred Sacrifice of the Great World to summon the Progenitor Sacred King."
"Then when will Senior Sister Qingxue return?" Fang Han asked.
"Lord Lightning Mother Heavenly Monarch is cultivating a secret art. Once it is successfully cultivated, she will return," the Human Emperor Pen said: "Fang Han, the speed at which your current strength has improved is astonishing, you have reached the World King Realm. I am truly surprised. If I couldn't find any aura of an ancient mighty figure on your body, I would have even thought you were the reincarnation of some major figure from the Heaven Realm."
"It's nothing much on my part, just some serendipitous encounters." Fang Han recounted all the various events from when he entered the Cultivation Great World. Of course, he glossed over the dual cultivation with Mi Bao. He then asked: "Senior, this Heaven Immortal Envoy lost a clone. Do you know how powerful it would be if his true body came?"
"The methods of a Heaven Immortal are indeed beyond your imagination. Losing this one clone is nothing to him," the Human Emperor Pen said: "The immortal laws of this clone are all virtual. Even if sacrificed, the impact on his main body is not very large. Of course, even if it were his true body, I could still put up a fight. What I am wary of are the major figures standing behind this Heaven Immortal Envoy."
"There are major figures behind the Heaven Immortal Envoy?" Fang Han was taken aback.
"Of course. The Supreme One Sect belongs to the lineage extending from Disaster Heavenly Monarch and Eternal Heavenly Monarch, holding massive power in the Heaven Realm and acting exactly as they please. It is unknown how many immortals there are. Although you have cultivated to the World King Realm and forged the Eight Divisions Pagoda to this stage, facing the impending great tribulation, your strength still seems somewhat weak. Let me see what stage your cultivation and the seed of your world laws have reached."
The Human Emperor Pen pressed his hand onto Fang Han's body, and his power immediately entered Fang Han's world. "Such a robust world! How did you cultivate this?" Utter astonishment appeared on his face as well. Subsequently, he saw the already integrated "Tortoise Shell" fragment within the seed of Fang Han's world laws.
"Artifact of creation fragment! How is it such a large piece! How did you refine it? Only with my realm of heaven and earth as one, coupled with the brand of the Gate of Eternal Life, could it be gradually dissolved."
"I was struck by the phantom of a King Grade Immortal Artifact." Fang Han narrated the matter of the Spear of Vengeance.
"Spear of Vengeance." A hint of vigilance and yearning appeared on the Human Emperor Pen's face: "The Spear of Vengeance, the Sword of the Lost, the Lance of Judgment… These King Grade Dao artifacts are all existences that look down proudly upon countless universes, much more formidable than I was in my prime. The power of these King Grade Dao artifacts extends across hundreds of millions of trillions of time and space, spanning past and future, setting up altars and feeding back power. But sooner or later, there will be a day when I will fully comprehend creation and completely surpass them."
"Sooner or later, that day will come. Although I, Fang Han, am a lowly insignificant figure, I am growing in the mortal world." Fang Han nodded.
"Fang Han, your inner world is far too powerful. Advancing to the Heavenly Cave Realm will be extremely difficult. You probably couldn't do it even if you cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years. But right now, there is a tremendous destined opportunity. I will give you a hand and integrate this clone of the Heaven Immortal Envoy into your world. By relying on this robust power, you will have a chance to advance to the Heavenly Cave Realm!"
The Human Emperor Pen said.