In Medusaâs hair, countless black serpents twisted and writhed. Each snake surged forward like a torrent of pure destruction, their bodies shooting through the air like beams of annihilation.
Explosions thundered endlessly, shaking the void with their fury.
With Medusaâs roar echoing across the sky, an instant later came a deafening boom, thousands of black serpents rained down like a storm, attacking Xu Zimo and his companions.
Xu Zimo raised his head slightly and swept his palm outward. Spirit energy gathered in his hand, forming a swirling vortex in his palm. The vortex expanded rapidly until it loomed before them like a giant shield.
Every incoming serpent was devoured by that vortex.
Shangguan Wanâer didnât panic. Her right hand clenched as she whispered a single word, âExplode.â
A tremendous detonation followed. The serpents swallowed by the vortex detonated inside it, turning the once-stable swirl of power unstable and chaotic.
The air trembled. The void itself began to writhe from the shockwaves.
Xu Zimo snorted coldly, releasing an even greater surge of spirit energy. The vortex blazed with renewed might and swallowed the chain of explosions whole.
âDamn it,â Shangguan Wanâer said icily.
Behind her, Medusaâs furious roars grew louder. This time, the massive figure raised a colossal fist and swung it straight toward Xu Zimo.
âLet me,â Shangguan Xian said, stepping forward, divine radiance blazing from her body.
âI know Iâm no match for her,â she said calmly, âbut I want to see how far I can go.â
âYou have three minutes,â Xu Zimo said. âI donât plan to waste time.â
âOne strike will decide it,â Shangguan Xian replied. âIâll only need a minute.â
As Medusaâs huge fist loomed before her, Shangguan Xian met it with her own punch.
The two blows collided.
A thunderous boom shattered the air, the void quaking violently.
Xu Zimo looked up. At the point of impact, space itself had torn open into a black hole, devouring everything around it with terrifying suction.
âWell, my dear sister,â Shangguan Wanâer said with a faint smile, âyouâve improved quite a bit since we last met.â
âSame to you,â Shangguan Xian replied coldly.
âIt almost makes me reluctant to kill you,â Wanâer said lightly.
âI know, youâve always treated me as your target. Youâve wanted to surpass me since we were children, but you never could. Still, leaving the Shangguan Heavenly Clan because of it? That was foolish. Even after leaving, youâre still no match for me.â
âYou think I left the clan just to beat you?â Shangguan Xian sneered.
âDidnât you?â Shangguan Wanâer asked.
âDo you even know how my mother died?â Shangguan Xian said.
The Shangguan Heavenly Clanâs three daughters shared the same father but had different mothers.
Shangguan Xianâs mother had died decades ago, the truth long buried, until one day, Shangguan Xian learned the shocking truth.
Her father had killed her.
That revelation drove her to abandon the clan and begin her path of vengeance.
Unfortunately, her strength had always been limited; no matter her hatred, she lacked the power to shake the family that had birthed her.
âI donât care about the past,â Shangguan Wanâer said coldly. âRight now, only one of us will leave this place alive, and it wonât be you.â
Shangguan Xian didnât answer.
Holy energy surged around her, radiant and vast as the sea. She was already gathering her ultimate technique.
Seeing this, Shangguan Wanâer no longer held back.
Above her, Medusa roared again, her eyes bursting with black light that shot out in a beam of destruction.
That beam didnât just destroy, it froze time and space, petrifying everything it touched.
Behind Shangguan Xian, a Celestial Spirit Bird awoke, engulfed in holy flame. Its presence radiated immense power as it charged forward.
The destructive beam and the Celestial Spirit Bird collided.
Their clash twisted the heavens and sent tremors through the void, even startling Murong Qing and the Sun-Moon Temple battling nearby.
Another boom resounded, not an explosion, but the sound of raw force clashing.
The two powers held for a moment, then the Celestial Bird grew stronger, devouring the black beam and diving straight toward Medusa.
Shangguan Wanâerâs expression flickered with surprise. âInteresting,â she murmured.
Then, with another thunderous blast, the Celestial Bird exploded before her.
The shockwave tore through everything, swallowing Shangguan Wanâer and her manifested Medusa alike.
But Shangguan Xian didnât relax. She knew her sister wouldnât fall so easily.
Sure enough, as the explosion subsided, Shangguan Wanâer reappeared.
Her body was gone, obliterated, but dense waves of dark power now surrounded her lingering soul.
Her spirit floated upward and merged with the mark on Medusaâs forehead.
In that instant, an immense surge of black energy erupted.
Medusa was fully reborn.
The ground quaked as her massive form began to move. Each step shattered the earth and sky, every movement echoing like thunder.
Medusa swung a colossal foot toward Shangguan Xian.
Xian crossed her arms to block, but the sheer power still sent her flying through the air.
As she tumbled, a dark beam shot from the mark on Medusaâs brow, streaking toward her like death itself.
âOnce again, Iâm the one cleaning up the mess,â Xu Zimo said softly, shaking his head.
He stood motionless, lips moving in quiet chant.
Those who listened closely would realize his words formed sacred scripture, ancient, profound verses from the Primeval Buddha God-Scripture, one of the Ten Primordial God-Scriptures.
The first was the Present TathÄgata Sutra. The second, the Past Maitreya Sutra. The third, the Future Birthless Sutra.
As Xu Zimo recited, golden light burst forth from his body, each ray formed by countless tiny characters of scripture.
The light enveloped Shangguan Xian, shielding her completely. Even when the beam of darkness struck, it could not harm her.
This was the Past Maitreya Sutra.
Within its power, Shangguan Xianâs form had already stepped into the past itself, safe beyond the reach of any present attack.
Unless one could strike across the bounds of time, no power could touch her.