A wave of dense dark flames unleashed by Demon King Mo Zun swept through the entire hall of the Dark Demon Palace. The poisonous blaze spread rapidly, melting the ancient bone-stone pillars and incinerating the low-level demon soldiers who failed to escape in time. The temperature inside the hall soared as if it were the bottom of a volcanic crater, radiating sulfurous poison capable of crushing an ordinary practitioner's internal organs within seconds.
Yet in the midst of that blazing sea of black fire, Xiao Chen remained standing firm. His black-and-gold robe emitted a golden glow that formed a transparent protective dome. Every time Mo Zun's tongues of flame touched its surface, the dark fire was instead absorbed and destroyed, turning into particles of neutral light.
"What?!" Mo Zun's red eyes widened, radiating fear he could no longer conceal. "My Dark Sulfur Flame... powerful enough to burn the soul of a Pure Soul Realm practitioner... can't even scratch your clothes?!"
Xiao Chen took a step forward. Every time his golden leather boot touched the burning stone floor, cracks marked with ancient dragon symbols spread in all directions, extinguishing Mo Zun's black flames instantly.
"A shallow flame technique." Xiao Chen's voice sounded like a whisper of death from another realm. "You wield the energy of the Demon Realm in a crude and reckless manner. In the eyes of a True Ruler, your method of controlling Qi is nothing more than a child's joke."
"Shut your mouth, arrogant brat!" Mo Zun roared, enraged that his pride as a Demon King had been wounded.
Mo Zun gripped his enormous iron staff with both hands. The Qi Lake within his body, which was at the Peak of the Pure Soul Realm, shook violently. The gray scales covering his skin suddenly stood on end and began to ooze thick black blood. He was burning his ancestral demon bloodline to force his strength beyond the limits of mortality!
"Demon Clan Secret Art: Heaven and Earth-Splitting Palm!"
A gigantic shadow of an eight-eyed demon with golden horns appeared behind Mo Zun. The shadow raised a palm dozens of meters wide and slammed it toward Xiao Chen at a speed beyond the sound barrier. The air inside the hall exploded violently, creating a vacuum that crushed everything in its path!
Xiao Chen narrowed his golden eyes. He could sense the genuine danger of this lethal attack. His current cultivation, Foundation Establishment, Fourth Level, was technically far below the Peak of the Pure Soul Realm. However, the foundation of Xiao Chen's strength was not ordinary mortal Qi, but the Ancient God-Demon Emperor's Bloodline and an immortal sword spirit!
"Xue Ling'er, lend me the power of the Sword Core!" Xiao Chen called out in his mind.
"At once, Master! Let's show this monster who the true ruler of fate is!" Xue Ling'er's gentle yet resolute voice answered from within the God-Demon Sword.
BZZZZZZT!
The God-Demon Sword in Xiao Chen's grip trembled violently. Purple-gold light erupted from the blade, piercing through the palace roof and soaring high into the purple sky of the Demon Realm. The Ancient Emperor's Shadow behind Xiao Chen suddenly spread its four wings of light to their full extent, radiating Emperor's Pressure that subjugated every living creature within a radius of hundreds of miles!
"God-Demon Destruction Sword Art: Dimensional-Splitting Slash!"
Xiao Chen swung his sword straight down in a simple motion.
A single streak of purple-gold light shot forward horizontally, cleaving Mo Zun's eight-eyed demon shadow in two without the slightest resistance. It did not stop there. The streak continued onward, smashing Mo Zun's enormous iron staff into dust before striking the Demon King squarely in the chest!
CRACK! BOOOOOM!
"AAGHHHHH!"
Mo Zun's hysterical scream shattered across the sky of Dark Demon City. His massive body was hurled hundreds of meters backward, smashing into and collapsing the skull throne and the rear wall of the palace until they broke into pieces. Foul-smelling black blood gushed from his wide-split chest, revealing a dark red Demon Energy Core trembling weakly inside his chest cavity.
Every demon soldier who witnessed the battle trembled violently. Some even vomited blood and fainted, unable to withstand the lingering waves of Emperor's Pressure radiating from Xiao Chen's body.
Xiao Chen slowly hovered through the air before landing calmly right in front of Mo Zun's helpless body amid the ruins. The tip of the God-Demon Sword was now pressed directly against the Demon Energy Core in Mo Zun's chest.
"Mercy... spare me..." Mo Zun whispered, his voice hoarse and his lips trembling violently. His pride and arrogance as a Demon King had been utterly annihilated, replaced by absolute fear of the young man before him. "That bloodline... You're the reincarnation of the Great Ruler..."
"It's too late to beg for mercy," Xiao Chen said coldly.
Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Chen drove the God-Demon Sword straight into the center of Mo Zun's Demon Energy Core!
SRINGGG!
The secret sword hummed gleefully as it absorbed all of Mo Zun's life force, Dark Qi, and the power core of the Peak of the Pure Soul Realm. The Demon King's enormous body rapidly shrank and turned into black ash within seconds.
The massive energy absorbed by the God-Demon Sword surged into Xiao Chen's meridians. The Qi Lake within his body shook violently like an ocean battered by a storm!
BZZZZT! BOOM!
Xiao Chen's cultivation aura exploded, instantly breaking through the realm's restrictions!
[Foundation Establishment, Fifth Level!] [Foundation Establishment, Sixth Level!] [Foundation Establishment, Seventh Level... Peak!]
In the span of a single breath, Xiao Chen's cultivation soared to the **Peak of Foundation Establishment, Seventh Level**, only one small step away from the Golden Core Realm!
Xiao Chen withdrew his sword and stared coldly at Mo Zun's remaining ashes with his golden eyes. Beneath the ruins of Mo Zun's throne, an ancient black stone box engraved with a coiled dragon suddenly began to glow red.
It was the storage box containing the second fragment of the Demon Realm Seal Map left behind by his late mother!
"One more step..." Xiao Chen murmured as he held the stone box. "I'm getting closer to the secret of Mother's death and the true awakening of my power."