869 Capturing
The meteor shower, which was caused by the Heavenly Lion's self-detonation, had a prowess that was comparable to that of countless Divine level experts carpet- bombing the area. It could turn an entire region into a barren state.
All living creatures that were within 500 meters above the ground and ten meters underground would all be killed by the various tremors, explosions, high temperatures, and shock waves.
This move could be said to completely display the wide-area destructive prowess of Divine level experts.
However, after everyone expended their means but were still unable to stop all of the falling meteors, Fang Xingjian finally made a move.
The moment he made his move, the Celestial Eradication Sword Formation erupted suddenly. It was like a net, wrapping up all the meteors within a range of 100,000 meters into the the sword formation.
Amidst huge rumbling sounds, streams of sword Qis shot out wildly and seemingly endlessly from void space. They formed a huge palm that instantly encompassed the distance within a range of 100,000 meters.
The thousands upon thousands of meteors kept shooting out within this palm, exploding all over the place. However, despite all the shock waves, light, and heat that kept on exploding, they were like ants that were trying to shake a big tree, unable to do anything to this huge palm.
After that, the huge palm started to close in abruptly, creating great tremors in the winds and the clouds. Gusts of strong gales rose like tornadoes, and overwhelming power kept on shooting out as the palm moved, blowing up the sand on the ground.
The countless meteors in the huge palm were like a multitude of fireflies. As the huge palm closed in, many meteors collided into the huge palm. However, it was meaningless, just like tofu colliding against a steel plate.
Many more meteors wanted to escape through the gaps, but they realized they could not escape no matter how much they moved around. They had been affected by the Celestial Eradication Sword Technique's illusory arts.
At the next moment, accompanied by an explosive sound, the huge hand suddenly closed shut. The world in the hand instantly turned dark, and seething air currents shot out from the gaps between the fingers, striking forth toward the sky like beams of air cannons.
The countless meteors were all extinguished by the grasp of this huge hand.
Everyone looked at this scene in astonishment, feeling great admiration for this power that was like that of a god's—seething and majestic.
Yet inside the hand, a glow that had no shadow or color flew out from the darkness, passing through the gaps and making its escape. It then kept on darting out toward the north.
This was the Heavenly Lion King, who had self-detonated his clone and wanted to wipe out the Central Region. Right now, after having exploded majority of the Heavenly Lion Clone's powers, only this little bit of his martial will was left. He turned into an invisible wave and escaped toward the plains.
'Damn it. To think that this Fang Xingjian is so difficult to deal with that I was forced to self-detonate this Heavenly Lion Clone.
'Thankfully, I left this little bit of the Heavenly Lion's information essence behind. As long as this spark isn't extinguished, upon returning to the plains, I'll be able to recover the Heavenly Lion Clone and reforge a conjured physique for it with the sufficient materials.
'Although it will take a lot of effort, at least there's a possibility of success.'
This Heavenly Lion Clone was extremely valuable, and its existence was equivalent to increasing the Heavenly Lion King's strength by another fold or more without him having to do anything. Unless he really had no other way out, he did not wish to lose it.
Thinking of Fang Xingjian, the Heavenly Lion King felt even greater hatred.
The reason he wanted to stop previously had been so that he could conserve his powers, especially the Heavenly Lion Clone's chances to use Spatial Translocation. He had wanted to use that to help him attain a breakthrough in the Nine-Tiered Heavens and strive for tier six of the Divine level.
Attaining a breakthrough from tier five to tier six of the Divine level was a qualitative change. An expert at tier six of the Divine level would have attained an unbelievable level of control over space, and they would even be able to freely change the four fundamental forces in the physical world. As long as they had sufficient understanding of how the world worked, they would be able to replicate 99% of the physical phenomena in the natural world.
Tier six Divine level experts were said to be the world's dominators, the true gods in the mortal world. All records in history concerning the tier six of the Divine level were not shy in praising how powerful this realm was.
Of course, it was also extremely difficult to reach this level. The hurdle that one had to cross in the Nine-Tiered Heavens for this level was much more difficult than all the hurdles for the previous five tiers added together.
Before each onslaught, the world would undergo a metamorphosis, and the leaders of many influences in the world would be able to reach tier five of the Divine level. It was just like what had happened with the people Fang Xingjian had either defeated or killed—the Fifth Prince, the World Annihilation Heavenly Lord, the leaders of the seven great clans, Tian Yi, the Abyss Lord, and Alexander.
If they had all survived till today... In this cultivation heaven that the world's metamorphosis had brought, they would already have reached tier five of the Divine level like Prince Zuoxian had done. Even if they did not, they would at least be at tier four of the Divine level.
It was not that they were incomparable to the many experts in the plains. The problem was just that their chances of continuing to cultivate had been slashed by Fang Xingjian.
However, tier six of the Divine level was an existence that was a rare find regardless of the generation.
Each increasing tier thereafter would have an even greater difference, and the difficulty in clearing the hurdles would also be increasingly greater.
Therefore, in order to strive for tier six of the Divine level, the Heavenly Lion King had prepared everything he could. This Heavenly Lion Clone was initially also an important assistance for him to strive for tier six of the Divine level.
However, it was now destroyed because of Fang Xingjian, lowering his success rate of reaching tier six of the Divine level to be reduced. How could he not feel hatred toward Fang Xingjian?
It was right at this moment that, a human figure appeared before him.
The Heavenly Lion King frowned after seeing that person from several thousand meters away, appearing to wear an intensely wary expression. The invisible waves turned slightly, wanting to pass by the person.
Yet, at the next moment, a cold voice was transmitted into his brain.
"Brother Heavenly Lion, since you're here, why are you avoiding me?"
The Heavenly Lion King's countenance turned grim for an instant before returning to normal. He looked at the white human silhouette and said, "Realm Traversing Guardian King, are you here to provide support?"
The person whom the Heavenly Lion King had addressed as the Realm Traversing Guardian King was a young man in white robes. The young man appeared extremely young, just like an ordinary junior high school student in the neighborhood. There was even a hint of tenderness and innocence on his face.
However, the Heavenly Lion King knew that the other party's age and character were not as simple as they seemed to be.
This Realm Traversing Guardian King was one of the many Guardian Kings in the Church and had a divine art called Realm Traversing. He was said to be the fastest person in the Church, as well as the hardest Guardian King to kill.
The Realm Traversing Guardian King smiled. "Haha, you, the Heavenly Lion King, had many experts under you, and you were even ready to strive for tier six of the Divine level. Who would have thought that you'd be beaten up and forced to flee in such a dire state by Fang Xingjian... in just the blink of an eye? It's really such a pity."
How could the Church possibly not place any attention toward the plains' and the Sand Country's advancement toward the Empire? It was just that the three Saints were restraining each other. Moreover, after two of the Guardian Kings disappeared, the balance between the three Saints had broken. Right now, the situation was getting increasingly tense, and they could break out into a huge battle at any moment.
This was why they had only sent the Realm Traversing Guardian King to observe the battle.
This was how the Realm Traversing Guardian King came across the shocking scene of Fang Xingjian taking on 14 Divine level experts single-handedly and even giving a thrashing to the Heavenly Lion Clone who had the Spatial Translocation ability, forcing him to flee.