Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Fingertip met fist!
There was a brief pause, and then a shockwave rippled out from the point of impact, sweeping through the area.
At that moment, every human and fiend felt an enormous danger approaching. Casting aside their individual battles, they put up their barriers.
In the face of this shockwave, the fiends were like fish in a tsunami, carried along by the waves and sent traveling several thousand meters.
The Ghostface King naturally couldn't maintain the Ironblood Saber, and he was washed away. But the ghosts didn't have much time to celebrate. Right after escaping the pressure of the Ironblood Saber, they were pulverized by the shockwave. The terrifying power also impacted against the giant Blackwater Snake. To protect the Umbra Cactus flower, the snake covered it with the extreme Yin doom energy, but as a consequence, it was sent flying high into the air.
As one of the creators of this shockwave, Tang Jie also didn't fare well.
As fist and finger collided, Tang Jie's arm shattered, section by section.
This horrifying strength obliterated his arm as if some giant beast was devouring it, leaving behind no blood or flesh. This was because this power was so outrageous that all matter was pulverized into the smallest molecules and scattered to the wind.
Boom!
Tang Jie's massive body was carried up by the wind, and it flew for one thousand meters before finally stopping.
Only then did the storm begin to dissipate. And at the very center of the vortex, behind that finger, a man gradually emerged.
The way he appeared was very strange, appearing bit by bit, starting from the finger, like a person coming out of a painting.
Finally, his entire form was revealed: a long-haired, white-robed man with silver eyes.
When his full form emerged, this person seemed to re-enter the normal flow of time, drawing back his finger and glancing at it.
The finger crumbled like a burnt incense stick, dissolving in a cloud of dust.
The man sighed and waved a hand. "You have some skill, to destroy one of my fingers."
As he waved his hand, the finger regrew.
He turned to the Ghostface King and the others.
The fiends were all alarmed when they saw the man's face, and they got down on one knee and shouted in unison, "We pay our respects to His Majesty the Fiend Emperor!"
Some of the fiend kings even got down on both knees, fully prostrating.
Sun Shuming shuddered, appearing like he had seen a ghost as he cried, "The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor… Why is it him? Why is he here?"
The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor!
One of the five Fiend Emperors, a Divine Division expert.
Even Tang Jie couldn't help but gasp at the appearance of this Titan.
But what he found strangest of all was Sun Shuming's attitude.
On Sun Shuming's face, he saw despair, helplessness, and even indignation.
But Sun Shuming hadn't been this way at all when facing 18 fiend kings, or when the Ghostface King had taken out the Ironblood Saber to turn the tables. It had to be understood that they had already been in a desperate situation at the time. Even though Sun Shuming still had Tang Jie up his sleeve, to be honest, the strength Tang Jie had shown before wasn't enough to turn the tables. In other words, the defeat of the humans had still been quite likely. But in those circumstances, Sun Shuming had still been confident.
Tang Jie suddenly realized something.
He asked, "Sir Sun, do you have some way of dealing with this situation?"
Sun Shuming sighed. "I prepared a lot for this battle, but I never imagined that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor would come. This fiend is at Divine Division, and his cultivation is far above the 18 fiend kings. With him around, none of my methods will do any good."
"Is that so?" Tang Jie muttered as he looked ahead.
The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor stood with his hands held behind his back, gazing at the twelve kneeling fiend kings.
One Fiend Emperor, twelve fiend kings and twenty-some fiend generals—such a force truly was enough to make Sun Shuming despair.
The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor turned to Tang Jie and smiled. "You are the Tang Jie who killed Violet Flame?"
Tang Jie shrugged. "And also the Colossus King, the Heaven Swallowing King, and four others. Of course, I'm guessing that they aren't your subordinates, so you don't care."
Tang Jie was trying to sow discord among the fiends.
The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chuckled. "Although they weren't my direct subordinates, they were still fellow members of my race. Tang Jie, you singlehandedly killed seven fiend kings and countless generals and soldiers, rendering great service to Fengshan. In other words, taking your life will be like depriving Fengshan of an arm."
Tang Jie curiously asked, "Now that you bring it up, I have a question I would like to ask the Fiend Emperor. Doesn't the Heavenly Dao Oath prevent Titans like you from attacking those who have yet to reach your cultivation level like me? Does the Fiend Emperor plan to ignore the binding of the oath and attack me?"
The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor smiled. "That depends on the situation. While this pact does say that Violet Palace and Divine Division experts can't attack weaker cultivators, this pact is for the sake of avoiding the massive loss of life that would come from a clash of top-class cultivators. It doesn't mean that we can't strike back when attacked or return insult for insult. If someone comes to our door, or if it's an individual affair, there's no need to keep to the oath."
'Comes to the door'?
Tang Jie was startled, and then he understood.
The agreement that the Fiend Emperors had come to with Feng Wuxiang and the other human cultivators was only limited to wars. It didn't forbid them to take action in other situations, like personal affairs or self-defense.
Once he thought about it, it made sense. The pact was used to protect them, not to limit them. The Titans would never agree to a pact that might force them to kill themselves.
This situation clearly didn't fall under that pact.
First of all, this was a battle over treasure, not a territorial battle.
A battle for treasure was a personal affair, so the Silver Eyes Emperor naturally didn't need to keep to the Heavenly Dao oath. Moreover, no Titan would be fool enough to even forbid fighting over treasure.
Secondly, Tang Jie had actually attacked the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor just now, so the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor could just claim self-defense.
Even on a battlefield, even if a Fiend Emperor couldn't make the first strike, if anyone dared to attack him, the Fiend Emperor had the right to strike back. Titans could be restrained, but their majesty could not be profaned. Anyone who dared to challenge them would die!
Thus, today, the Heavenly Dao Oath had no restrictions on the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. Sun Shuming clearly understood this, which was why his complexion was so pale. He had never imagined that someone as respected as a Fiend Emperor would care about the Umbra Cactus flower. After all, at his level, cultivators essentially had two lives—one for their physical body and one for their soul—and the Umbra Cactus flower could only revive the physical body.
But it now seemed that he was mistaken.
The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor coolly said, "If you kill yourselves, I can keep your bodies whole."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was imbued with an unquestionable dominance.
This was the majesty of a Titan.
The combined might of 18 fiend kings might be a little stronger than an Infant Tending–level Fiend Emperor, but they would never be able to match the sheer dominance and majesty a Fiend Emperor could exert, robbing the will of others to fight.
The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, just by standing there and speaking, had the human cultivators trembling in fear, with some of them even turning their art relics to themselves, intending to commit suicide.
Fortunately, Tang Jie interjected.
He said, "Leaving the body intact would be fine. It's perfect for roasting. When I kill fiends, I also like to leave the body intact. Roasting is always more delicious than a simple meat platter."
These words left everyone stunned.
Even the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was momentarily taken aback, and then he erupted in laughter. "Good! Good! Excellent response! It's a long time since I've run into someone so bold. It is just what I want. As your reward, I will leave your body intact and then roast you for a while. Relax. I guarantee that you will stay alive until you're fully cooked."
These cruel words made everyone's hearts go cold, but Tang Jie was unmoved, simply saying, "Then you'll have to be patient. My hide is rather thick and isn't easy to roast."
"That's even better. It means I can listen to more of your moans and wails. In fact, I need to roast you for a few days and nights to get the most pleasure out of it."
Neither side was backing down in this war of words, and even the fiend kings were dumbfounded.
Such a pointed conversation could only ever have taken place between Fiend Emperors and Violet Palace True Lords. A mere Soul Transformation saying this to a Fiend Emperor… that was truly seeking death.
But today, they had borne witness to such a conversation.
Moreover, Tang Jie was even going to greater extremes.
He called back the Mother Cloud combat puppet and asked Sun Shuming, "If I take care of Silver Eyes, can you deal with the remaining twelve fiend kings?"
These words were crazy and arrogant to the extreme.
A Soul Transformation body cultivator was claiming that he could deal with a Fiend Emperor?
Even the 18 fiend kings wouldn't have dared to boast of such a thing.
It had to be understood that 18 fiend kings could only be stronger than a Fiend Emperor if they worked together. But in a real fight, a Fiend Emperor, with their ability to cast arts with a single thought, could easily divide and conquer, just like how Tang Jie had dealt with four fiend kings earlier.
The gap between Fiend Emperors and fiend kings was huge, not something that could be described with numbers on paper.
As had been said before, the further along the path one went, the more difficult it became to challenge an opponent above one's tier. There was no precedent for a Soul Transformation cultivator defeating a Violet Palace cultivator.
Why was Tang Jie so confident that he could fight a Fiend Emperor? That puppet that was basically out of energy? Delusional!
But he had asked, and asked very sincerely.
Sun Shuming froze.
He looked at Tang Jie for some time before finally managing a response.
He nodded and said, "Of course. If you can deal with– no, if you can hold Silver Eyes down, I can deal with the fiend kings."
Another crazy guy.
Five versus twelve? Sun Shuming still thought he had a chance at winning?
Even if the Ghostface King could no longer use the Ironblood Saber, the Blackwater River's ghosts had basically been wiped out. Without the help of the ghosts, just what gave him the right to be so arrogant?
But Sun Shuming had also replied very sincerely, not at all appearing to be joking.
The two of them had both said crazy things.
Tang Jie chuckled.
"Good. I'll deal with the Fiend Emperor and you deal with the fiend kings. But you have to promise me something."
"What?"
"If I pull it off, you give me the Umbra Cactus flower."
"Deal. If we can get it, it's yours!" Sun Shuming swiftly replied.
Tang Jie sighed after hearing this straightforward reply.
His eyes gleamed with admiration, reverence, and a little helplessness.
He knew how Sun Shuming planned to deal with the fiend kings.
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