"Roar."
The Dragon King roared in fury.
The Lord of the Five Elements had escaped.
He couldn't accept this bastard's escape.
In its place, a physical body remained, one that had lost its soul, its energy-infused form standing in the void.
"A pity."
The Sword Master sighed.
Indeed, it was a pity.
They had all been tricked by the Lord of the Five Elements.
If they had rushed him from the start, they would have definitely captured him.
But because of the Lord of the Five Elements' provocations, his taunts at the Dragon King... it ultimately enraged the Dragon King, leading him to fight the opponent alone.
Looking back, the Lord of the Five Elements had likely planned all of this from the beginning.
*Bang.*
The Dragon King, in his rage, raised his hand to shatter the body left behind by the Lord of the Five Elements.
His dragon tail swept across the body, but it failed to break it.
"No."
Chen Fan's voice was anxious. "Don't do it."
A body of the Five Elements, such a precious thing, how could it be destroyed?
*Hoo.*
The Dragon King panted heavily.
Fortunately, he had reined in his attack in time, preventing him from tearing apart the Lord of the Five Elements' physical form.
Chen Fan's words made the Dragon King halt.
Despite his immense anger, he knew this was a body of great value.
Chen Fan's eyes gleamed.
The Five Elements.
Within him, the Dao of Water already existed; he needed four more to complete the Five Elements.
The water world entered his kidneys, the worlds of light and darkness his heart. He aimed to use his internal organs to open the heavens of his physical body, to walk the path of supreme strength.
The hope of the Five Elements path was right before him; how could he give it up?
"What a treasure."
Chen Fan rubbed his hands together, his eyes filled with covetousness.
He needed this body.
"The Lord of the Five Elements is truly a good person, leaving behind such a wonderful thing, hehe..." He was overjoyed.
How could he not be happy?
A body of the Five Elements was the best gift he had received from this trip to the Ninth Earth.
"Dragon King."
Chen Fan rubbed his hands. "I desperately need this body..."
The Dragon King nodded and turned to leave.
His anger needed to be appeased.
"Tsk, tsk."
Chen Fan was delighted.
With a grab, he snatched the Lord of the Five Elements' body and shot into the sky. "Everyone, I need to go into seclusion for a while. When the time comes, I will naturally emerge. Wait for me..."
*Boom.*
Chen Fan plunged into the Yin-Yang River.
The Yin-Yang River traversed the entirety of the Ninth Earth, stretching from its northern to its southern extremities.
Chen Fan vanished, but his aura remained within the river.
The Ninth Earth, once again, fell silent.
...
Within the river.
Chen Fan disappeared, sinking to the riverbed.
"Open."
Here, he directly used the power of the Great Dao to carve out a small space.
No one would disturb him.
The physical body left by the Lord of the Five Elements stood quietly before him.
No soul, no will, just a complete body imbued with dense Great Dao power.
"Such a grand gesture," Chen Fan mused.
To save his life, he had left behind such a powerful body for his enemies.
Then, he shook his head. "Ninth-tier beings are indeed hard to kill."
He had to admit that ninth-tier existences possessed too many trump cards.
What happened to the Lord of the Thousand Threads, had it not been for the rebellion of the Evil Monarch and Chen Fan's possession of the Dao of Life and Death, using the method of rebirth to instigate the Evil Monarch's betrayal, they would have ultimately been defeated.
Their battle with the Evil Monarch had exhausted all of their means.
The Lord of the Five Elements, too, had easily escaped the siege of dozens of Great Emperors.
This matter was difficult to comprehend.
If every ninth-tier being was like this, it would be truly troublesome.
To abandon such a powerful ninth-tier body so readily.
A grand gesture, and decisive as well.
With this thought, Chen Fan refocused his mind.
Looking at the body of the Lord of the Five Elements before him, he did not hesitate and placed his hand directly on its brow.
"Buzz."
Yin-Yang energy surged into the sea of consciousness of the Lord of the Five Elements.
He couldn't act blindly.
*Boom.*
Suddenly, deep within the empty sea of consciousness of the body, a soul power akin to a surging tide erupted.
That power swept like a storm.
"As expected, there was a backup plan," Chen Fan sneered.
He knew it, how could the Lord of the Five Elements leave such a substantial gift for his enemies?
So, there was a contingency.
Within the world of the sea of consciousness, the Lord of the Five Elements, in a spiritual state, opened his eyes.
A chilling killing intent seemed to freeze Chen Fan's soul.
"Kill."
The appearing soul was not complete, merely a tiny fragment of a soul.
This soul fragment was also ninth-tier.
It had no superfluous will or thoughts, only one belief... kill.
The surging soul power enveloped him, and the Five Elements power within the body was instantly mobilized, suppressing Chen Fan.
"Heh heh."
Chen Fan sneered. "If you were the true Lord of the Five Elements, I would fear you somewhat. A mere soul fragment, what can you do to me?"
*Clang.*
Yin and Yang transformed into a sword, striking out directly.
Though it was not the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, this sword still carried the supreme divine might to cleave through all.
A roar echoed within the sea of consciousness, and the surging Five Elements power was cleaved apart by the sword.
*Chrr.*
The sword intent boiled, engulfing the soul fragment of the Lord of the Five Elements.
With a *bang*, the soul fragment exploded.
The cold pupils showed no change.
The moment its soul fragment shattered, the body of the Lord of the Five Elements instantly became violent, its pure and perfect Five Elements power erupting.
This body... was about to self-destruct.
One contingency followed another.
The Lord of the Five Elements would not leave his body and power to his enemies.
He intended to detonate the body.
"Something that has come into my possession, and you still want to take it away? A pipe dream... Restrain!"
*Buzz.*
The gravity domain instantly materialized.
The collapsing Five Elements power entered a state of inertia. Chen Fan raised his hand and grabbed, his Great Dao power extending.
The surging Great Dao power transformed into chains, instantly suppressing the erupting Five Elements power.
"Hahaha."
Chen Fan laughed heartily.
The Lord of the Five Elements had miscalculated; this body had failed to self-destruct.
If the Lord of the Five Elements knew, he would likely die of anger.
But Chen Fan had no time to consider such things now.
The Five Elements power was boiling.
"Devour."
There was no time to comprehend it bit by bit.
The simplest method was to devour first, then comprehend.
A storm swept out, and Chen Fan's body seemed to transform into a black hole, ravenously consuming the Five Elements power.
The five great stars began to collapse, transforming into pure Great Dao power, all of which Chen Fan swallowed.
The entire process was extremely rapid, taking only about three minutes for Chen Fan to devour all the Five Elements power, leaving nothing behind.
The once plump body became an empty shell.
*Swish.*
The river water washed over it, and the body completely dissipated into the Yin-Yang River.
Chen Fan then sat down rapidly in the river.
His eyes closed, and he began to comprehend the Five Elements power.
*Bang.*
The kidney water world instantly opened, directly sweeping away the power of the Five Elements water.
The Dao of Water, Chen Fan had already comprehended.
His initial comprehension came from a seventh-tier Great Emperor in the Hundred Feet Great World. After being nurtured by him for some time, it had long since surpassed the eighth-tier realm.
What about ninth-tier water power?
With the enhancement of the Great Dao Spirit, it was easily devoured.
The formless water was gone in an instant.
"Metal next," Chen Fan licked his lips.
Among the Five Elements, metal was one of Chen Fan's favorites.
The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was infinitely sharp; with the addition of the Dao of Metal, it would truly be capable of killing gods and cleaving Buddhas.
Therefore, he did not hesitate to begin comprehending the Dao of Metal.
"Buzz."
Chen Fan's divine sense sank into the world of gold.
Sharpness, omnipresent sharpness.
Everything in his perception was in a state of extreme sharpness, even the air carried a stinging sensation.
Taking a breath felt like cutting through his throat.