The Protagonists' Chat Group: Beyond the Boundaries — Chapter 401

Chapter 401: Arrogant Heaven Emperor Battles Myriad Law Heavenly Emperor, Brothers Spar

Shi Hao’s true Breakthrough opportunity lay entirely within his unique Incarnation of Freedom Divine Ability.

Now, after his intense experiences and long seclusion, his accumulation of energy and understanding was absolutely sufficient. He was ready to thoroughly step into the Immortal Emperor Domain.

However, to completely finalize the Breakthrough, he still needed to return to the core of the Perfect World universe. The true nexus of power for his Incarnation of Freedom Divine Ability was rooted there.

After Shi Jian learned of Shi Hao’s situation, he was not surprised. In the original timeline, Shi Hao had indeed broken through to the Immortal Emperor Realm using this very method.

After finding the exact location of his ultimate opportunity, the two brothers no longer hesitated. Shi Jian ruthlessly plundered the Mortal Cultivation world instance one last time, maximizing their resource gain, and then returned to Perfect World with Shi Hao.

The Immortal Emperor Breakthrough

Upon returning to the Perfect World, Shi Hao no longer concealed his power. His Aura instantly became extremely terrifying, suppressing all the Heavens and Myriad Realms around them.

His entire being immediately transcended and stood firmly in the Immortal Dao Domain.

“Incarnation of Freedom, Incarnation of Eternity!” he roared, a sound that shook the River of Time. His entire being instantly disintegrated into pure light and fundamental essence.

He seemed to Incarnate into the ultimate Dao itself. Countless rays of light, millions of separate drops of pure essence blood, scattered into the Void Realm, penetrating Heaven and Earth and merging into the turbulent River of Time.

[Inorin’s Note: The Incarnation of Eternity is the ultimate truth of Shi Hao’s unique method. It involves scattering one’s essence into every time and space, allowing every version of oneself to cultivate simultaneously before converging the results, thereby achieving a transcendence that surpasses the linear flow of time.]

Shi Jian could clearly perceive that Shi Hao was now un-deducible and un-traceable, as if he did not belong to this ancient history at all.

Millions of strands of blood, some residual, some essence blood, all fell into the vast River of Time.

Flowing in the River of Time, these individual blood traces appeared and manifested in different times in the upper, middle, and lower reaches of history.

In each of these distinct time and space nodes, a fragmented Shi Hao floated, then took form.

This newly formed Shi Hao clone was immediately incompatible with the local Heaven and Earth, looking somewhat lost and transient. He soon sat down, and the core Cultivation Technique (Six Secret Realms System) emerged in his mind, and he began to immediately Cultivate with fierce determination.

In every single time and space node, the same drop of blood experienced the same phenomena. Endless years and endless time and space were filled with countless Shi Haos simultaneously Cultivating.

After a long period of internal time, these fragmented Shi Haos seemed to have comprehended something profound and absolute.

“Incarnation of Freedom, Incarnation of Eternity!”

As the years rushed by and the clones experienced the long, immense River of Time, the peerless Emperor Law was thoroughly pioneered and perfected.

Shi Hao’s entire being was in the midst of the Incarnation of Freedom’s performance. He did not belong to any single era, but he was also essentially present in every era simultaneously.

Time seemed to have passed for hundreds of millions of years in these separated timelines, and yet, to Shi Jian, not even a single moment had passed in the present.

“Incarnation of Freedom, Incarnation of Eternity…” Shi Jian gazed at all of this silently. The Library of the Heavens recorded every single flux and change in the process.

In the River of Time, drop after drop of blood essence flowed, converging back towards one singular point in the present.

Then, with a devastating boom, all living beings in the Heavens and Myriad Realms, in the River of Time, and in various times and spaces, were greatly shaken, looking up at the sky in confusion. But you could see nothing—only an immense ripple of power.

Countless years of refined essence converged above the River of Time. An Immortal Emperor’s ultimate opportunity, like a vast ocean of power, violently rippled forth.

It gradually became more intense, coalescing into a single, terrifying source.

This was the final, perfect result of countless ages of refining in countless times and spaces. The Incarnation of Freedom Great Law was brought to its absolute extreme by Shi Hao.

He became a true, peerless Immortal Emperor.

Shi Hao materialized, a peerless Aura of supremacy flowed from him, his eyes were incredibly profound, and his indifferent voice resonated between Heaven and Earth: “Who claims to be invincible? Who dares to speak of being undefeated?”

This was the voice of absolute confidence—a confidence that swallowed Heaven and Earth, overlooked the past and the future, and recognized no rival.

He possessed an unbreakable, invincible belief, tempered by a sense of ancient vicissitude. Shi Hao, after being tempered by countless years, had broken free and achieved the ultimate Immortal Emperor status.

The dazzling light of his breakthrough converged and formed his final, true body. He stood here, yet it was as if he had never left.

A world-shaking change had occurred. He had become a truly peerless Emperor, and no longer a mere Quasi-Immortal Emperor.

Just standing here, his presence almost crushed the myriad ages and the River of Time. Everything became unstable due to his sheer existence.

His Physical Body alone, now at the Immortal Emperor level, could suppress everything.

Emperor Spar

Shi Jian felt the profound changes in his brother’s body and became interested.

“Have you Broken through to Immortal Emperor?” he asked.

Shi Hao nodded, his terrifying Aura now somewhat restrained by effort. “Yes. I am ready to test my new power.”

“How about a spar? A true, no-holds-barred test of power?” Shi Jian suggested, the idea of sparring immediately forming in his mind.

According to his own intuition, his current combat power, fueled by the Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Strength and refined Immortal King essence, should be firmly in the Immortal Emperor Domain.

But how exactly his power stacked up remained unknown. Now that Shi Hao had achieved the breakthrough, the two could spar to precisely test their respective power levels.

“I couldn’t ask for more, Brother!” Facing Shi Jian’s invitation to spar, Shi Hao did not refuse.

He had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

From the time he left Stone Village until now, his Cultivation Realm was often slightly behind Shi Jian’s.

From being originally out of reach, to later being able to fight alongside him, and now, surpassing Shi Jian in Realm—Shi Hao had suffered a great deal of hardship and effort.

The internal time he spent in the copy world was almost a hundred or even a thousand times that of Shi Jian’s, which was how he achieved his current accomplishments.

Now, standing shoulder to shoulder with Shi Jian at the highest level, he truly wanted to have a hearty fight with his brother.

The two brothers looked at each other, and their Auras surged and clashed, rising one after another to their utmost peaks.

Boom!

Shi Hao displayed his enormous Dharmakaya—his ultimate Law body—standing in the center of the world. With a gentle tremor, Chaos was destroyed, and the order of the Heavens disintegrated under his presence.

Within his body, the Emperor’s magic power was vast and boundless.

This was the true, unchecked power of an Immortal Emperor, standing at the peak of the world and separating Chaos. He gazed at Shi Jian, his new power ready to strike.

A Sword Embryo appeared in his hand. The Sword Embryo made a loud sound, then shattered violently, and then instantly reassembled, becoming one perfect whole.

It rapidly expanded, finally transforming into a terrifying giant sword that perfectly matched Shi Hao’s colossal Dharmakaya.

“Brother, do you want to witness the true, raw power of an Immortal Emperor?”

“I couldn’t ask for more!” Shi Jian likewise revealed his Dharmakaya. His Aura was equally fierce and boundless, a vast Killing Intent pervading his entire body.

Both of their Auras were absolute and invincible, but with different origins.

The former’s Aura was vast and boundless, grand and mighty—the power of creation. The latter, however, carried a vast, destructive Killing Intent—the power of war and refinement.

This Aura was not intentionally directed at the opponent at this moment, but rather the culmination of his innate nature and tens of thousands of years of constant warfare.

“Cut!”

Shi Hao made the first move. He waved his arm and then slashed at Shi Jian. This sight was too terrifying: an Immortal Emperor’s strike, shaking the past and present, with far-reaching, causal influence!

With a rumble, the Chaos Sea was violently split apart. Sword Qi crisscrossed the void, killing everything, annihilating all living beings!

The might of this one sword alone was enough to destroy all the Heavens, leading everything to ruin. Even the fundamental River of Time trembled violently and then disappeared from the immediate battle zone.

“Boom!”

Shi Jian counterattacked instantly. The primordial embryos within his body all transformed into endless Hell energy, and the terror of his refined Physical Body was unimaginable.

He met the attack with his Physical Body alone, covering the sky with one massive hand, pushing forward, meeting Shi Hao’s Sword Embryo with fierce dominance.

An invincible belief was rooted deeply in his palm: to suppress all enemies with absolute strength.

The large hand covered the sky and then struck the Sword Embryo, causing the weapon to bounce high, with millions of rays of sword light tearing apart the myriad ages.

In an instant, this place returned to its origin. Heaven and Earth overturned; everything was shattered and collapsed into nothingness.

The stars of the Heavens turned to dust. The surrounding Universe was utterly destroyed by the backlash.

“Stepping into the Immortal Emperor Domain is indeed extraordinary…” Shi Jian’s steps were firm. He faced the enemy with bare hands, radiating a blazing golden light.

“Brother’s Divine Elephant’s power is even stronger! It resisted my Emperor Sword bare-handed!” Shi Hao was equally composed. An Emperor is invincible; although Shi Hao had just achieved the Immortal Emperor status, he already possessed such absolute demeanor.

As the two brothers exchanged blows, the entire Chaos was almost overturned.

Boom!

Shi Jian formed a fist seal and punched forward. With one punch, terrifying power pierced through the past, present, and future.

The Sword Embryo in Shi Hao’s hand likewise attacked forward, its dazzling sword light illuminating the entire era, then slashing towards the past, and towards the future simultaneously.

The sword light was like lightning, illuminating different historical skies. The two exchanged blows with fists and swords, their attacks incredibly terrifying and simplistic in their destructive force.

Fists struck the Sword Embryo, making it hum with immense, desperate power. Such a confrontation was too terrifying.

This was a major confrontation at the Supreme power level. The two held back some of their strength during their exchange, not going completely all out, but they also didn’t hold back too much of their destructive power.

Shi Jian just pushed forward, striking with a punch that shattered Heaven and Earth. His Dharmakaya followed behind him, unleashing incredibly terrifying force.

Shi Hao was violently shaken, coughing up large mouthfuls of Emperor Blood.

Shi Jian was also not unscathed. Shi Hao’s Sword Embryo pierced through his body, causing him to spurt golden blood.

The two’s attacks were simple and crude, relying on pure Emperor Law collision. Both had shed blood in the starry sky.

“Immortal Emperor is indeed terrifying…” Shi Jian’s expression was solemn. The Immortal Emperor Realm was, after all, the Immortal Emperor Realm. Its power was absolutely genuine.

His ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with a true Immortal Emperor through various Secret Arts and Divine Abilities was an unprecedented feat of the Myriad Worlds.

From the current perspective, he and Shi Hao could be considered evenly matched. Even if there was some gap between them, it was not large enough to be decisive.

However, the two’s current spar was only to test the combat power of this Realm, not a true life-and-death duel.

Therefore, some relatively underhanded, reality-altering Cultivation Techniques were reserved. Neither of them used their ultimate forbidden arts.

If they had used them, the intensity of the battle would probably have risen even higher, potentially destroying the Perfect World itself.

The two continued fighting. Shi Hao reversed the River of Time, instantly killing his way to Shi Jian’s side and engaging in a fierce collision with him.

After only a few more exchanges, both of them tore off each other’s arms!

Speaking of which, the two could be said to have been taught by the same master and shared similar fighting philosophies, often unable to completely break each other’s ultimate moves.

Shi Jian’s Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Strength had reached Major Achievement; his golden body was immortal, the blood Qi surging within him was boundless, and his fist power was unparalleled.

His Physical Body had become so powerful that it was impossible to fathom with his current Realm alone.

And Shi Hao’s inner system—the Six Secret Realms—was brought to its extreme. The five Secret Realms glowed, divine light swept across the sky, tearing apart the firmament, his Physical Body was also terrifyingly absolute.

He was arrogant and domineering, his black hair standing on end. At this moment, he completely abandoned the Sword Embryo and, like Shi Jian, punched forward with each strike.

The two exchanged blows, shaking the vast Universe. Their blood stained Heaven and Earth, which could be said to be extremely tragic.

This level of engagement, for ordinary Realms, would be considered a mutually destructive fighting style, a great battle that disregarded life and death.

But for an Immortal Emperor, even if blood was shed in the starry sky, it could only be considered “playing around” or a warm-up.

The two staggered back, leaving trails of bloody footprints in the Chaos itself. Immortal Emperor power flowed, and a Supreme Aura permeated the air.

Only a trace of their residual Aura was revealed, but it already made the people of the Heavens feel a wave of intense trepidation.

Shi Jian’s entire body radiated golden light, and each punch unleashed extreme power, a destructive force of infinite Hell.

Shi Hao’s half-body extended out, his entire body surging with terrifying Qi. Battle Qi swept through the ages, his Emperor Body propping up the mythical Heaven and Earth, flowing with dazzling brilliance!

Both fought ferociously. Although they still maintained some crucial restraint to avoid true death, most of their moves were absolute killing blows.

Divine light illuminated the sky. This was a battle that shook the past and present.

Although it was merely a casual spar between two Emperors, its terrifying might was already enough to be recorded in divine history!

This was the first recorded battle between two true Emperors in Perfect World for countless eras.

The two fought in a chaotic, sunless, moonless manner, their fists and palms colliding. Each punch drew blood; each palm sank into flesh, and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth was obliterated between them.

Shi Jian’s body recovered multiple times, only for his recovered hands to break six more fingers. Blood flew; broken fingers soared.

Shi Hao was likewise, his palms dripping with Emperor Blood, almost revealing white bone. Blood splattered everywhere in this place. Heaven and Earth were hazy, a crimson expanse—incredibly miserable!

After fighting to the extreme and both being significantly injured, they finally stopped, recognizing the stalemate.

“As expected of Brother, even without a formal Breakthrough to Immortal Emperor, you already possess such power and absolute demeanor!”

Shi Hao was radiant, as if a certain long-held wish had been fulfilled.

Fighting Shi Jian was a core wish he had held since he was young. In the past, the two had some exchanges and spars, but at that time, Shi Jian’s Cultivation Realm was mostly higher than his.

Rather than calling it a spar, it was more like Shi Jian guiding him.

But today’s battle could truly be called a genuine spar of equals. Although no victor was decisively determined, it was indeed a hearty, necessary fight.

Shi Jian chuckled upon hearing this: “No need to constantly emphasize that I haven’t broken through the Immortal Emperor Realm… You’ve Broken through to Immortal Emperor—you are amazing, you are noble!”

Shi Hao also laughed: “Brother, now that both of us possess stable Immortal Emperor combat power, should we go to the Ultimate Ancient Land to deal with that Corpse Immortal Emperor?”

Previously, when Shi Jian alone achieved his Immortal Emperor combat power, he was confident in defeating Corpse Immortal Emperor but not in protecting the entirety of the Heavens simultaneously.

Now that Shi Hao had also achieved his breakthrough, it was definitively time to crusade against Corpse Immortal Emperor (Di Gu Ge).

“It is time to go…”

“First, we deal with Corpse Immortal Emperor, and then we take out the Strange Race outposts one by one, before ascending to the ultimate battle!” Shi Jian nodded, his gaze sweeping towards the Ultimate Ancient Land.

Shi Hao also looked in that direction. With their current strength, they naturally saw the situation there in terrifying detail.

In that place, there was a massive humanoid creature. He sat on a stone chair, lying back, his body horribly incomplete!

Under the bloody twilight, in the desolate rocky mountains, countless dark Qi surged. A giant figure lay back on an Emperor’s chair carved from a stone mountain.

His entire body was blackened, and his physique seemed to have fully rotted.

This was the true origin of the initial dark matter—the corpse of Di Gu Ge.

His body was very broken, as if it had been violently torn apart, starting from the head and extending to the abdomen.

The Aura of the corpse was heaven-shaking, still possessing the might and Qi of an Immortal Emperor. It was unknown how long he had been dead, yet he was still terrifying and awe-inspiring.

Above him was a layer of divine chains that tightly bound him. This was the residual shackles that Di Gu Ge had left for himself before his final fall.

“Take out the rotten wooden box…”

“Let’s go!”

The two brothers, the Myriad Law Heavenly Emperor and the Arrogant Heaven Emperor, headed towards the Ultimate Ancient Land for their final great deed in this universe.