The Dao of Reincarnation (170-171) (Patreon)

Chapter 170: The Life-Slaughter Demon Lord (10)

Xiao Sha possessed countless methods. Having been reborn three thousand years into the past, he had seized many opportunities that originally belonged to the geniuses of this era over the past three millennia, establishing himself as the foremost figure of his time.

The Kill Emperor Seal served as the foundation, with numerous top-tier divine abilities as branches and leaves, and his own body as the trunk. In the sky, dense and terrifying laws rampaged wildly. In this battle, he held nothing back.

"To reach the Insight realm in this Dharma-Ending Age shows decent comprehension."

Su Chen offered a word of praise.

In the Dharma-Ending Age, geniuses were far less dazzling than in a great era. If Xiao Sha successfully broke through to the Saint realm and underwent transformation, he might become another formidable enemy.

Su Chen raised one hand, and the terrifying descending thunder light split directly in two.

In his previous life, he had proven Quasi-Emperor through the sword dao. Although he lacked the boost of his Innate Supreme Sword Body in this life, the sword dao insights from his past life remained deeply etched in his heart. With a thought, sword dao laws raged like a storm and slashed toward Xiao Sha's trunk.

Countless terrifying great divine abilities collided. As the two powerhouses, both infinitely close to the Saint realm, clashed, heaven and earth shattered. An entire ancient star exploded with a resounding boom.

The location Xiao Sha had chosen for his tribulation was extremely remote and devoid of life. No one witnessed this scene.

A peerlessly brilliant sword light seemed to pierce through time and space, severing the void itself.

A light drizzle of blood rain began to fall from the sky. The desolate stars in the starry sky seemed to wail in mourning.

A giant sword covered in law runes pierced straight through Xiao Sha's head.

Booming thunder force crashed down.

Within the tribulation lightning, a terrifying figure was undergoing transformation.

Xiao Sha was dead.

Su Chen stared at the word "Kill" that appeared before him, brimming with an overwhelming murderous aura.

This was Xiao Sha's greatest trump card aside from the secret of his rebirth—the Killing Emperor's inheritance. No matter one's talent, as long as the inheritance acknowledged them, they would become its successor and gain the qualifications to compete with supreme geniuses.

Bathed in the lightning, Su Chen reached out and grasped the Killing Emperor's inheritance. The remote starry sky transformed into a blood realm. The surging killing intent turned Su Chen's eyes blood-red. Scenes from his past lives flooded his mind, starting from the first life when he was rejected in marriage. The faces of his former enemies and the deaths of his loved ones appeared vividly. The killing intent tried to erode him and turn him into a puppet.

Su Chen clenched the hand holding the Killing Emperor's inheritance and squeezed hard.

"Killing Emperor, if this is all you have, it is far too beneath the dignity of an Emperor's inheritance!"

Su Chen's Dao heart was incomparably firm. Whether in ten lives, a hundred lives, a thousand lives, or ten thousand lives, he would continue advancing step by step toward higher realms. Right or wrong, he would never regret or waver. The Killing Emperor's inheritance, attempting to shake his heart with memories of the past, seemed laughably weak to him.

The Killing Emperor's inheritance mark suddenly erupted with killing intent, like a deep blood-colored vortex trying to swallow Su Chen. Su Chen did not move a single step. A surge of purple-black airflow exploded from his body and covered the blood vortex. This was his will!

"Interesting…"

An ancient voice echoed from within the Killing Emperor's mark, seemingly acknowledging Su Chen.

Xiao Sha had attracted the recognition of the Killing Emperor's mark through his desire to change his previous life's fate and reach the peak of the martial path after being reborn.

But Su Chen possessed only the purest will to grow stronger. No matter the means or the opponent, as long as it allowed him to become stronger, he would pay any price. His overwhelming will crushed the Killing Emperor's mark and earned its recognition.

The Killing Emperor's inheritance mark merged into Su Chen's mind. Countless streams of information flooded in like a tidal wave.

"Truly worthy of one who proved Emperorhood through an alternative path."

Su Chen understood the use of the Killing Emperor's mark. It was the purest Dao of Slaughter. The stronger the beings one killed, the more powerful the killing intent would become after tempering. After becoming a Saint, all the accumulated killing aura would condense into the Killing God Demon Embryo. It could kill the heavens, kill the earth, and kill all living beings. The stronger the creatures slain, the more powerful the Killing God Demon Embryo would become!

Xiao Sha had been on the verge of transformation, yet he fell to Su Chen right before completing it. His body perished, and the Killing Emperor's inheritance ended up benefiting Su Chen instead.

Boundless divine light erupted as vast holy might swept across the starry sky. In this life, after more than five hundred years, Su Chen finally stepped into the Saint realm. In this era, even a Saint was a major figure respected by the myriad races.

Just as Su Chen prepared to take Xiao Sha's corpse and leave, a terrifying killing intent suddenly enveloped the space around him. Tens of thousands of dead stars turned to dust in an instant. The surrounding space compressed violently, as if it intended to erase him completely.

The change happened too quickly!

Su Chen's expression shifted. Infinite holy light surged from behind him, accompanied by a resounding dragon cry. It collided head-on with the sudden killing intent. The resulting shockwaves spread like ripples, annihilating everything they touched.

"Good disciple, you truly have not disappointed your master."

The boundless starry sky ahead twisted and distorted. An old man wearing a bronze mask stepped out from the void. It was the Life-Slaughter Saint King. He had been monitoring Xiao Sha's movements the entire time, hiding in the nearby space and waiting for the right moment to strike.

His sure-kill strike had been neutralized by Su Chen.

Seeing that the newcomer was none other than his so-called cheap master, Su Chen showed no surprise. He had known long ago that this was an old schemer. The Life-Slaughter Saint King had let him replace the original Sha Shengzi simply to use him to eliminate Xiao Sha.

The moment Xiao Sha died would be the moment this old fox turned against him.

The Golden Dragon Truncheons transformed into a sacred dragon that coiled protectively around Su Chen. This was one of his hidden trump cards. He had never revealed it in five hundred years, saving it precisely for this moment!

The Life-Slaughter Saint King looked greedily at Xiao Sha's corpse. "The Killing Emperor's inheritance… Good disciple, as long as you hand the Killing Emperor's inheritance over to your master, I will take control of the Killing God Hall, and you will become its sole successor."

Su Chen's aura surged as he sneered coldly, "Old thing, if I hand the Killing Emperor's inheritance to you, that would be the true path to my death."

The Life-Slaughter Saint King's eyes gradually turned icy. "You should know that since your master was able to spare your life back then, I can also take it back now."

Runes flickered between Su Chen's brows. His Origin Spirit Divine Body rapidly expanded, transforming into a towering giant.

"Small success stage of the Origin Spirit Divine Body? You truly possess some talent. I will give you one final chance—hand over the Killing Emperor's inheritance."

A hint of amazement flashed in the Life-Slaughter Saint King's eyes. He had not expected this "disciple" to have such outstanding Talent. Even he himself had not fully grasped the profundities of his physique to reach the small success stage of a divine body.

However… Su Chen's attitude was his answer!

Without fear, Su Chen charged toward the Life-Slaughter Saint King. Having just entered the Saint realm, he actually dared to challenge an established Saint King powerhouse!

"Courting death!"

The Life-Slaughter Saint King moved. His figure vanished from the spot. A million miles of starry sky transformed into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Beams of light shot into the sky, forming a cage.

This was a terrifying killing formation that completely sealed off Su Chen's escape routes. At this moment, the Life-Slaughter Saint King unleashed his killing intent without the slightest reservation.

Chapter 171: The Life-Slaughter Demon Lord (11)

The Life-Slaughter Saint King was a powerhouse who had fought his way to the Saint King realm in the Dharma-Ending Age among countless geniuses. He was undoubtedly a genius among geniuses. Whether in strength, combat prowess, or scheming, he was a hundred or even a thousand times more difficult to deal with than Xiao Sha, who had not yet undergone his transformation.

Su Chen's greatest enemy had never been Xiao Sha, but rather how to survive the grasp of this terrifying old schemer after obtaining the Killing Emperor's inheritance.

Having gone to such lengths to secure the Killing Emperor's inheritance, Su Chen naturally had no intention of letting it go. Even with his newly entered Saint realm cultivation and his small-success Origin Spirit Divine Body, he still could not contend directly with the Life-Slaughter Saint King.

However, as a stream of golden airflow surged forth, the laws of heaven and earth converged behind Su Chen, condensing into the word "Battle." Golden particles floated around him, forming a pillar of light. His aura suddenly doubled in power.

It was the Battle Secret of the Heaven-Covering Divine Emperor!

Even during the Dark Turmoil, Su Chen had never used this terrifying secret technique.

The sudden explosive increase in aura caught the Life-Slaughter Saint King off guard.

Su Chen seized the Golden Dragon Truncheons and broke through the Saint King's surrounding phenomenon, landing a solid strike. The powerful physical body was sent flying backward.

The mask on the Life-Slaughter Saint King's face shattered, revealing half a face covered in deep gullies and scars. The other half was pitted and bumpy like a demon's, crawling with terrifying insects.

Upon seeing this scene, Su Chen secretly felt fortunate that he had not continued cultivating the Life-Slaughter Art to great completion. Otherwise, he would have ended up looking just as inhuman and monstrous.

The Life-Slaughter Saint King endured the full-force strike of the Golden Dragon Truncheons. His entire body suffered injuries that were difficult to erase, yet he paid them no mind. Trembling, he reached up to touch his face. The bronze mask had already turned to fragments.

"I will definitely kill you!"

Behind the Life-Slaughter Saint King, a pair of blood-red eyes opened. A terrifying ferocious beast manifested, staring fixedly at Su Chen.

The Life-Slaughter Saint King was truly enraged!

"So it's the Great Ferocious Beast Divine Body. No wonder this old bastard is so tough to kill!"

Su Chen's heart skipped a beat. That strike had failed to finish off the Life-Slaughter Saint King and had instead completely provoked him.

Su Chen was prepared to retreat. The Life-Slaughter Saint King had hidden his true strength. Once he cultivated the Killing God Demon Embryo, he would no longer fear him.

At that critical moment, the Life-Slaughter Saint King's expression suddenly turned to extreme terror. The furious roar in his mouth transformed into a low, pleading cry for mercy.

"No… Killing Ancestor, I won't dare anymore. Please spare my life…"

Bang!

Countless droplets of blood rain scattered across the desolate starry sky. A Saint King's blood should have been a precious medicine, yet the Life-Slaughter Saint King's blood was highly toxic. The once barren starry region would likely become a forbidden zone that no one could ever step foot in again.

Su Chen's entire body stiffened. He watched as an infant-like hand appeared without warning and crushed a Saint King powerhouse to death. That was an established Saint King—a powerhouse in any era, and in this Dharma-Ending Age, the very symbol of one who reigned supreme over the starry sky.

"Killing Ancestor… Why is the Killing Ancestor of the Killing God Hall here?"

Su Chen possessed many methods and could already contend with the Life-Slaughter Saint King shortly after entering the Saint realm. However, in the eyes of a peak Great Saint, he was still nothing more than an ant.

Where the Life-Slaughter Saint King had died, a blood-colored skull throne now appeared. Seated upon it was a large-headed infant. The infant's skin was a deathly gray, shriveled and sunken. A pair of eyes examined Su Chen as a hoarse voice sounded.

"You killed the successor chosen by my master… and desecrated my master's emperor might. I should have erased you on the spot."

Su Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the newcomer did not come with purely hostile intentions.

The Killing Ancestor continued, "My master has acknowledged you. From your performance just now, you are far more suitable than Xiao Sha to become his successor. From today onward, you are the successor of my master. This ancestor will protect you and accompany you on the road to Emperorhood. I hope you will not disappoint my master or myself."

Su Chen knew his crisis had been resolved. From now on, he would replace Xiao Sha and become the ruler of the Killing God Hall. What the Killing Ancestor cared about was the Killing Emperor's successor. As for who held that position, he did not actually mind.

The Killing Ancestor tossed a token to Su Chen. "This is the Life-Slaughter Token. With the Life-Slaughter Saint King dead and your current strength, you are qualified to take control of the Life-Slaughter Hall. I hope you do not follow in Xiao Sha's footsteps."

Su Chen caught the Life-Slaughter Token and asked curiously, "Has the Killing Emperor already died?"

The Killing Ancestor nodded expressionlessly. "My master passed away long ago. Even the version of me you see now is merely a puppet he refined. My only mission is to protect his successor and help him walk the path to Emperorhood when a great era arrives."

Su Chen examined him and confirmed that although the Killing Ancestor possessed terrifying strength, he was indeed nothing more than a lifeless puppet, just as he claimed.

"If I could obtain the method the Killing Emperor used to refine puppets and create something like the Killing Ancestor, wouldn't that make the perfect protector?"

Su Chen thought to himself. If his strength had been sufficient, he would have genuinely wanted to disassemble the Killing Ancestor and study him thoroughly.

The Killing Ancestor glanced at Su Chen, seemingly seeing through his curiosity, and said firmly, "I know you are interested in my origins, but I advise you to abandon that idea. Although I was created by my master, I am an unreplicable miracle. My master obtained me by seizing heaven-defying fortune from an extremely terrifying region. I am unique. Even a Great Emperor would not dare venture deep into that place!"

Su Chen felt a twinge of regret, yet he never gave up on the thought in his mind.

The Killing Ancestor departed.

Su Chen felt quite reluctant. This ancient figure from the same era as the Killing Emperor was truly a priceless treasure.

Amid the ruins, Su Chen began to collect the spoils of war. As a person of great destiny, Xiao Sha had actually kept a perfectly intact Great Saint artifact. Su Chen secretly congratulated himself for being cautious and waiting until Xiao Sha was undergoing his tribulation before striking with thunderous force to kill him.

Xiao Sha's five hundred years of accumulation were even richer than some orthodoxies that had lasted for tens of thousands of years. He had altered the fates of countless people, and all the treasures he had plundered now belonged to Su Chen.

Su Chen left as well and began closed-door cultivation.

He was extremely interested in the Killing Emperor's inheritance and could not wait to comprehend it.