Chapter 1465: Heaven Never Bars One's Way

"Xiangliu!" Zu An and the others recognized him immediately. The man looked frail and delicate, but to their surprise, he was far stronger than the bulky Fuyou.

Xiangliu's gaze swept over the group, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He helped Fuyou to his feet, saying, "My, my, how could you be so careless?"

"This kid is peculiar!" Fuyou's body was covered in various wounds, and his aura felt weak.

He glared fiercely at Zu An, a flicker of fear in his eyes. Clearly, he had just had a terrifying brush with death.

Xiangliu looked at Zu An with curiosity. "Little brother, you are surprisingly formidable. I clearly underestimated you before."

Zu An replied, "Your prowess is also quite admirable. Since we have such mutual respect, why don't we stop fighting and call it a day?"

He figured that since he had held Gonggong's two subordinates here for so long, the Demon Emperor was now alone with Gonggong, and Crown Prince Jinwu was there to provide support. Surely, they could deal with Gonggong by now.

When he eventually let Xiangliu return, Xiangliu would undoubtedly be enraged upon seeing his master's demise. He would then clash violently with the Demon Emperor to avenge his master, with the inevitable outcome of one dead and one injured.

If that happened, he and his companions could then emerge to pick up the pieces, and they would surely have the last laugh.

Oh, I'm truly brilliant!

"You seem to feel like you have everything under control, don't you?" Xiangliu murmured, surprised. "Are you thinking of keeping me occupied so that your Demon Emperor can confront my master?"

Zu An's heart clenched, and he quickly suppressed his thoughts. Does this man possess mind-reading abilities?

"Aren't you worried in the slightest?" Zu An probed.

Xiangliu chuckled softly. "Why should I be worried? On the contrary, you should be more concerned about your ally."

Although he knew their alliance was superficial, they had indeed been allies moments ago.

Zu An's heart sank. Had Gonggong truly become this formidable, even without fully recovering, that the Demon Emperor couldn't defeat him?

Just then, Xiangliu slowly advanced. "Your method of manipulating dragon qi just now was quite intriguing. It's a pity that most of it was expended on Fuyou. Now, I fear you won't have enough power to contend with me."

After all, Fuyou was an Earth Immortal, and the energy required to gravely wound him would have been immense.

This dragon qi was not limitless. It was noticeably thinner now than it had been moments ago and would require time to replenish.

Xiangliu gave him no time to react. The moment he finished speaking, two divine rays, one black and one green, shot directly from his eyes towards Zu An.

Fortunately, ever since Zu An arrived in this world, he had frequently teetered on the brink of death. He might not have been the strongest, but his practical combat experience was undeniably top-tier.

Even while his opponent spoke to him cordially, Zu An remained secretly on guard.

As soon as he saw the attack, Zu An swiftly unleashed the "Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms," summoning the surrounding dragon qi to meet the two divine rays.

With a loud boom, Xiangliu's body swayed slightly, while Zu An was sent flying backward, collapsing a wall and ending up buried in the rubble.

Ultimately, his cultivation realm was still a considerable distance from that of an Earth Immortal. The fact that he had nearly killed Fuyou with dragon qi moments ago was already a remarkable feat.

However, his battle with Fuyou had consumed too much dragon qi, and Xiangliu, inconveniently, was even more powerful than Fuyou.

Xiangliu clicked his tongue in admiration. "For someone at your cultivation level to react in that precise instant... your combat ability and reflexes are matched by very few in the entire world."

What surprised him more, however, was that his attack contained potent venom, yet his opponent appeared largely unaffected.

Zu An crawled out of the rubble, spitting sand from his mouth. Sometimes, receiving praise from an enemy was far from pleasant.

Because Xiangliu had just attacked Zu An without warning while speaking, Yan Xuehen worried he might repeat the tactic and harm him further.

With a sharp cry, she thrust her Flying Snow Sword directly at Xiangliu.

"Decent swordplay, but your cultivation is insufficient," Xiangliu commented, lightly flicking his fingers to effortlessly parry each of her sharp sword strikes.

Yan Xuehen's blood and qi surged from the force rebounding through her sword, and her sword movements faltered slightly.

Xiangliu then seized his chance, clamping the sword blade between his fingers. A dark green aura coursed up the blade, forcing the icy essence of the Flying Snow Sword to retreat rapidly. It was almost instantly about to reach the hilt.

Yan Xuehen knew well that the aura contained potent venom. She tried to withdraw her sword, but an odd suction force held her fast, preventing her escape.

Fortunately, Yun Jianyue chose that moment to unleash the Changxin Palace Lantern. Bathed in its light, Xiangliu's movements noticeably faltered.

Yun Jianyue seized the chance to reach Yan Xuehen's side, grabbing her and pulling her to safety behind her.

"Thank you!" In the past, Yan Xuehen would have been surprised that her sworn rival had saved her, but after everything they had been through, it was no longer unexpected.

Before Yun Jianyue could respond, her expression suddenly shifted. Xiangliu had recovered and immediately exhaled a plume of black mist.

The black mist drifted towards the Changxin Palace Lantern, which was floating in mid-air. The once-bright lantern instantly dimmed and fell, as if its light had been snuffed out.

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue both froze in shock. They had simultaneously lost their connection to their respective magical artifacts. The opponent's poison seemed to be capable of corrupting the spiritual energy within the treasures.

As Xiangliu raised his hand, both women instantly felt an intense sense of danger. Unfortunately, with their blood and qi still turbulent, they had no time to evade.

Fortunately, Yu Yanluo stepped forward at that moment. Utilizing the Nine Transformations of Dragon and Serpent, she activated the power of the Sacred Spirit Pearl, and her eyes glowed with a brownish-yellow light.

"Nüwa's power?" Xiangliu exclaimed, startled. A thin layer of petrification had already begun to form on his skin.

At that very instant, two orbs of light, one green and one black, rotated around his body. As they passed, the petrification instantly dissolved.

He couldn't help but remark, "If we were of equal cultivation, I would not be your match."

The moment he finished speaking, he was already at Yu Yanluo's side, unwilling to give her another chance to use her Medusa's Gaze.

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue were Grandmasters after all. The time Yu Yanluo had bought them allowed them to fully regain their breath, and they quickly combined their efforts to parry Xiangliu's attack.

Simultaneously, both women felt a silent anxiety: *Why isn't Ah Zu coming to help? We're about to give out.*

Zu An was, in fact, just about to come to their aid, but as he rose, he suddenly froze. He turned back and noticed an additional room behind the shattered wall. Inside the room was something resembling an altar.

More importantly, a groove on the altar had a somewhat familiar shape.

A thought struck him. His group was already struggling to deal with just Gonggong's subordinates, let alone the terrifying Gonggong himself.

Wouldn't this lead to a certain death?

It didn't make sense logically.

For a terrifying entity like Gonggong, there must be something that could counter him.

Those golden whips from earlier?

No, those were merely the residual powers of Emperor Yao.

And according to Gonggong, this place was arranged by Yu the Great. Given that...

He pulled the miniature Nine Tripods from his pocket and placed them into the altar's groove.

The Nine Tripods sank into the groove, emitting a translucent divine radiance, and the entire altar illuminated.