"Ha!"

But while it was fast, Su Zhou was faster! The very instant the ground shook, Su Zhou leaped up, dodging the Demon Emperor’s stomp. In mid-air, he used the power of Wind Aid to accelerate, launching a flying kick straight at the Demon Emperor’s head!

In a flash, the Demon Emperor reacted. Its technique was already spent, leaving it unable to gather much power for defense. But it didn’t need to defend. The Divine Wood Dragon merely turned its head slightly, aiming its two razor-sharp Dragon Horns at Su Zhou’s ferocious kick!

The Demon Emperor had expected Su Zhou to dodge, but it had underestimated his ruthlessness. Upon seeing the Dragon Horns, Su Zhou didn’t slow down at all. Instead, Thunder Light erupted from his body, electricity coiling around him as he accelerated even faster!

KRAK!

Su Zhou’s electric flying kick struck the Dragon Horn. The sharp horn instantly pierced his shoe and the flesh of his sole, lodging itself between the bones of his foot. But Su Zhou paid it no mind. Gritting his teeth, he began to roll rapidly, like an alligator in a death roll, using the gap in his own bones as a maw to snap the Demon Emperor’s Dragon Horn!

KRAK! SNAP!

Su Zhou landed in a spinning, crooked heap, while the Demon Emperor’s body went limp, its knees buckling as it fell to the ground. But even after suffering such grievous wounds, both wielders of the Power of Undying let out furious roars at the same time, glaring at each other with pure rage!

SQUELCH! Enduring the agonizing pain, Su Zhou ripped the broken Dragon Horn from his foot and hurled it high into the sky, far beyond the Celestial Palace. The Demon Emperor’s eyes glowed green as it gnashed its teeth, clutching its head, which spun with dizziness from the broken horn.

And then... they charged each other again!

BOOM! The Demon Emperor thrust its hands forward, clapping its palms toward Su Zhou’s temples and ears. Su Zhou leaped into the air, dodging the attack on his vitals, and kicked out with both feet, creating an explosive crack in the air as he ferociously attacked the Demon Emperor’s chest, throat, and the bridge of its nose!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Su Zhou’s kicks were so powerful they could have sent a security door flying off its hinges, wall and all. The Demon Emperor’s body was no exception. Its head was battered, its chest caved in, and its throat was kicked into a concave shape. But as Su Zhou attacked, it seized the opportunity to grab his legs with its hands. With a savage roar, it swung Su Zhou around and slammed him into the ground!

BOOM! Another huge crater appeared in the floor of the Celestial Palace, crisscrossed with fissures—an indentation smashed out with Su Zhou as the hammer! But in the next instant, a violent electric current coursed through Su Zhou’s body, charring the Demon Emperor’s arms where they held his legs and forcing it to let go. A figure then vaulted out of the crater, palm held vertically like a great spear, and thrust it toward the Demon Emperor’s right eye!

The Demon Emperor couldn’t dodge in time, but it could still counterattack. The moment Su Zhou’s palm stabbed into its eye, shattering the eyeball and half its cheekbone, it endured the immense pain and clenched the muscles of its face. Instantly, the Demon Emperor’s twisted, shifting visage transformed into a giant shredder. Su Zhou’s own attacking arm was fed into it as if into a meat grinder. When he pulled it back, all the flesh had been scraped away, leaving only gleaming white bone!

"GULP!" At this point, Su Zhou had no room to hide his bottom cards. He opened his mouth and swallowed an Evil Soul from a Demon General he had previously slain. Pure Spiritual Power suffused his body, infusing him with the strength to fight on!

There was no room for trash talk. The battle between the two Undead was more gruesome than any scene a human could describe, so brutal that any mortal with feelings would be unable to watch. They pierced each other’s organs, carved off each other’s flesh, and plunged fleshless fingers into each other’s ears and temples. They used arms that had morphed into great axes to shatter each other’s shoulder blades.

But even so, neither could kill the other. Flesh writhed and regenerated. Bones reset with the help of Spiritual Power. Wooden tendrils spread green Wood Liquid, then intertwined once more to form an undamaged face.

BOOM! The Demon Emperor unhesitatingly threw a punch at Su Zhou’s throat. Su Zhou raised a hand to block, just as unhesitatingly opening his mouth to bite the Demon Emperor’s arm. With the sound of splintering wood, Su Zhou tore off a large chunk of the wooden tendrils and swallowed it, while his own arm was bent backward by the Demon Emperor’s punch!

Flesh and blood flew. As the battle wore on, both sides completely abandoned defense. Su Zhou roared as he ripped out the Demon Emperor’s left cheekbone along with half its gums and tooth roots, then used a violent electric current to char its remaining teeth and tongue to cinders. In return, Su Zhou’s right lung and ribs were shattered by the Demon Emperor’s palm, caving in until he looked like a thin sheet of bloody paper!

Su Zhou thrust out a hand, his five fingers digging into the Demon Emperor’s chest. He hooked its ribs and pulled downward. Amidst a continuous series of cracking sounds, seven of the Demon Emperor’s ribs snapped in unison. Su Zhou followed up with a punch, shattering its stomach. He had originally aimed for the heart, but a previous attack had revealed that the Demon Emperor didn’t have one—it had no need for blood circulation. In response, the Demon Emperor shrieked, ripped Su Zhou’s right hand clean off, and flung it high into the sky!

BOOM! The Demon Emperor retaliated in a fury, slamming a fist into Su Zhou’s left eye socket, causing his eyeball to explode out of his head. But amidst the dizzying concussion, Su Zhou let out a savage, crazed laugh. He opened his mouth, caught his own eyeball, and swallowed it whole!

"Got any more tricks, you Dog Emperor?!"

Swallowing another Evil Soul to prolong his life, Su Zhou laughed maniacally. He formed his one remaining arm into a hand-blade and slashed down, executing a Kasaya Slash that hacked off one of the Demon Emperor’s shoulders and half its chest!

"You lunatic! You monster!"

At this, the Demon Emperor finally let out an unaccepting, furious shriek. ’I’m an Emperor, after all! When have I ever fought such a gruesome battle with someone—a low-born junior I look down on? I’ve never experienced such agonizing injuries, never had such an ordeal!’

It lashed out with a kick, forcing Su Zhou back, and then retreated several steps itself. A hint of fear now laced its furious voice. "There’s no sense in fighting like this! Who fights like this?!"

"AAAAAH! Just die already!"

After retreating to the edge of the Celestial Altar, the Demon Emperor let out a broken Dragon’s Roar. The Celestial Palace instantly shook, and tentacles began to sprout from its structure. But their growth was slow. The Blade of Annihilation was still embedded in the Jade Pillar, partially depleting the Divine Wood’s power at its peak. On top of that, the poison from the Spirit Iron Long Spear Su Zhou had stabbed into the ground earlier had spread, hindering the tentacles’ formation and movement.

"Is that so? You can’t take it anymore? The National Preceptor fought me to the very end, you know."

The one-armed, one-eyed Su Zhou stood his ground, his body trembling slightly. His expression was calm, with a faint hint of disappointment. Then, he pulled a small, round ball from his waist and tossed it into the air.

BANG! A brilliant, seven-colored firework exploded at the apex of the Celestial Palace, followed immediately by a deafening roar! Within the cumulonimbus clouds that now enveloped the entire Celestial Palace, crisscrossing bolts of Thunder Light howled!

「Meanwhile, at the edge of the Divine Wood, with Zhou Buyi’s squad.」

"I see the signal!"

Zhou Buyi, who had been observing the activity at the top of the Celestial Palace while fending off the swarming Divine Wood aerial root-tentacles with the others, roared the moment he saw the signal, "Quick, release the kite!"

"Yes, sir!"

Following Zhou Buyi’s command, a Martial Artist immediately took a strange, square mechanism box from his backpack. He calibrated the direction, then pressed the activation button. Instantly, a silver kite shot skyward with the roar of circulating True Qi, trailing a long copper wire as it flew toward the top of the cloud-wreathed Celestial Palace.

At this moment, as the tentacles summoned by the Demon Emperor were forming, Su Zhou had already grabbed the Spirit Iron Spear he had previously planted nearby. He continued to swallow the Evil Souls of Demon Generals.

VMMMM—infused with Spiritual Power, his nearly depleted organs began to regain their vitality.

KABOOM!

Once again, another howling peal of thunder!