The battle began with neither the Azure Emperor nor the Black Emperor revealing their true trump cards.
Now, the Black Emperor had used the Blood God Tree to counter the Everlasting Root.
The Azure Emperor had to reveal his trump card.
The Imperial Palace opened, and a figure emerged from it.
A figure bathed in golden light, like a deity.
"Kill."
This figure possessed the exact same appearance as the Azure Emperor.
Its aura was equally powerful, with the essence of wood filling the heavens and earth.
"Dao Body."
The Black Emperor licked his lips. "As expected, you've condensed a Dao Body."
Boom.
The Black Emperor wasted no words and attacked directly.
"Open."
He immediately entered his berserk state.
His physical body's ferocity increased, and his aura surged.
Bang, bang, bang.
The Azure Emperor's Dao Body was continuously shattered by the full-powered Black Emperor.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Azure Emperor finally brought the heavily wounded Emperor Trivet, who was now just a soul, to his side. "Quickly, eliminate all the seeds of the Blood God Tree."
A surge of vibrant life force flowed into Emperor Trivet, mending his physical injuries.
"Yes."
Emperor Trivet dared not hesitate.
The Azure Emperor was his greatest support.
As the Azure Emperor's most loyal subordinate, he had to be the first priority now.
Swish.
He lowered his brush.
The Brush of Rules descended, striking the Everlasting Root.
The dense seeds of the Blood God Tree instantly withered and fell off.
As long as it wasn't wood-attribute, expelling the seeds of the Blood God Tree was easy.
Only wood could not.
"Hoo."
The Azure Emperor finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time!
Boom.
The Azure Emperor's pupils contracted once more.
His Dao Body had been shattered.
Infinite wood power diffused outwards.
"Return."
The Azure Emperor beckoned, intending to reclaim the power of his Dao Body.
But at this moment, the Black Emperor produced four formation flags. The flags flew out, landing in the four cardinal directions, trapping the power of his Dao Body within them.
In the next instant, the Black Emperor began to directly devour the essence of wood.
"Presumptuous!"
The Azure Emperor's expression changed.
That was his power, the essence of wood, which had remarkable effects in healing injuries.
It was clear that both the Profound Sky Reverse Blade and the formation flags were designed for this final step: to devour his Dao Body's power.
"Kill."
After suffering repeated setbacks, the Azure Emperor had lost his composure.
At this moment, his killing intent permeated the air.
His ferocious expression and tyrannical aura startled Emperor Trivet by his side.
He had followed the Azure Emperor for ten thousand years and had never seen such a brutal side of him.
This demonstrated the extent of the Azure Emperor's current fury.
"Kill."
The Azure Emperor left Azure Emperor Mountain.
With the Imperial Palace overhead, he controlled the Everlasting Root and struck out with a palm.
In the world, boundless giant trees emerged, suppressing downwards.
The four formation flags shattered simultaneously with a 'crack'.
The grand formation was broken.
"Hahaha."
But the Black Emperor let out a resounding laugh.
His aura had actually climbed again.
"Finally recovered."
The Black Emperor laughed, his eyes filled with hatred as he looked at the Azure Emperor. "Azure Emperor, I must thank your Dao Body as well, for helping this emperor recover from his injuries."
The essence of his Dao Body was now less than one-third of its original amount.
All the plans revolved around the final step.
The Black Emperor recovered.
Rumble.
Rolling thunderclouds gathered overhead.
The Black Emperor's aura had risen too quickly, returning him to the peak state of a fourth-tier Heavenly Emperor, and vaguely showing signs of advancing to the fifth tier.
"You..."
The Azure Emperor's expression suddenly changed drastically.
He stared fixedly at the Black Emperor, watching a mighty river appear beneath his feet.
That was the River of Rules.
At this moment, the Azure Emperor truly felt a sense of crisis.
The Black Emperor did not only cultivate the path of the physical body; he also had a great Dao, which was the path of water.
The Five Elemental Heavenly Emperors became emperors by mastering the five elements.
The Yellow Emperor of the Central Continent ruled earth, the Crimson Emperor of the South ruled fire, the Azure Emperor of the East ruled metal, the White Emperor of the West ruled gold, and the Black Emperor of the North... ruled water.
The path of the physical body was a Dao that the Black Emperor comprehended later.
The Black Emperor, with both Dao coexisting, was powerful. Even facing the strongest Azure Emperor, he was not at a disadvantage, despite being one tier lower.
This was why they needed to join forces to assassinate him back then.
And now, the Black Emperor had fully recovered.
Both his physical body and his water Dao had recovered.
"Inspiration."
The Black Emperor's eyes held a scornful smile. "Today, I will tear you apart alive."
"Kill."
The Black Emperor charged forward.
The Azure Emperor's expression changed, and he could only meet the attack.
In the current situation, he had nowhere to retreat.
"Whoosh."
The mighty river surged, blocking the Everlasting Root.
And the Black Emperor himself directly engaged the Azure Emperor.
"Boom."
Both fists shot out, forcing the Azure Emperor to retreat continuously.
A giant tree appeared, but the Black Emperor tore through it with his physical body.
At this moment, the Black Emperor truly displayed his peak combat power.
"Rumble."
This realm was instantly shattered.
The Azure Emperor was pushed back step by step, while the Black Emperor charged forward with unparalleled ferocity.
The Azure Emperor was no match.
...
Meanwhile.
In the West.
"Freeze."
Yi Fu's strongest technique was freezing.
Clang.
In the next moment, a sword of ice was pulled out by him from the frozen world.
A world transformed into a sword of ice.
"Slash."
The ice sword descended.
With a 'bang', it struck the ice sculpture that Bai Di had transformed into.
The ice sculpture shattered, revealing Bai Di, who was unharmed.
"Life and Death Reversal."
At the critical moment, Chen Fan seized the opportunity.
The Dao of Life and Death enveloped him, reversing life and death.
The rich life force contained within Bai Di was continuously converted into death qi.
He was using the power of rules to strip Bai Di of his lifespan.
Bai Di's aura flickered.
"Slash again."
The giant ice sword struck again and again.
Without any pause, each sword strike was an earth-shattering blow, landing on Bai Di.
But Bai Di's figure did not move at all.
The giant ice sword had not even caused him the slightest injury.
"Are you done?"
Bai Di's voice turned cold.
He raised his hand and flicked his finger.
*Clang.*
His fingertip touched the giant ice sword.
The giant ice sword began to collapse, from a single point to its entire form.
It couldn't be blocked.
A fifth-tier Heavenly Emperor, and furthermore, the Geng Metal Heavenly Emperor known for his offense.
"Bang."
The giant ice sword shattered.
Bai Di ignored Yi Fu and looked at Chen Fan.
At this moment, a dense aura of death emanated from Bai Di.
His smile was somewhat terrifying as he spoke, "Are you planning to deplete a Heavenly Emperor's lifespan to its limit? Ji Zun told you about this, didn't he?"
Chen Fan: "..."
His expression was grave.
Indeed, before Ji Zun perished, he had told Chen Fan that Bai Di had once overdrawn his lifespan for an entire epoch.
This was the trump card he had prepared, using the power of life and death to deplete Bai Di's lifespan.
But...
How could Chen Fan have imagined that Bai Di would break through to the fifth tier upon emerging from seclusion?
Although the lifespan of a fourth-tier and a fifth-tier Heavenly Emperor was not vastly different, it still increased considerably.
Most importantly, the energy expended to deplete the lifespan of a fourth-tier and a fifth-tier was different.
For a fifth-tier, with his third-tier power of life and death, he could only shake it slightly.
It was too difficult.
"Sigh."
Finally, Chen Fan could only sigh and give up on continuing the depletion.
It was futile.
At this moment, Bai Di was like a stubborn rock.