Chapter 18: Duel to the Death

“Qu Yi, you can’t escape the pursuit of our Fire Departure Divine Realm.”
High above the sea, Yang Fang’s voice rang out triumphantly.
On the cruiser, Qu Yi immediately dashed forward, trying to kill Yang Fang, but every time he flew into the air, Yang Fang dived into the sea and disappeared, leaving Qu Yi at a loss.
Whenever Qu Yi returned to the cruiser, Yang Fang would reappear, mocking him once again. In this way, Yang Fang kept him occupied while Qu Yi, furious, tried to chase after him only to be easily escaped by Yang Fang time and again. This dramatic scene continued above the ocean.
Of course, this arrangement was all orchestrated by Qu Yi, who ordered Yang Fang to act as a spy. Since Yang Fang was acting undercover, he had to put on a show to make the Yan Clan believe in him.
It lasted for a year over the sea.
One day, Yang Fang’s spiritual sense detected the presence of ten disciples at the Divine Marshal level of the Yan Clan. He immediately shouted, “Qu Yi, you won’t be able to escape today! The strong warriors of our Fire Departure Divine Realm have arrived. You can’t fly away no matter what!”
His voice boomed like thunder, echoing throughout the sea and sky.
“Yang Fang, good work.”
At that moment, Yan Tiankuo appeared beside Yang Fang, offering encouragement, his eyes fixed on Qu Yi with mockery.
The other nine Divine Marshal-level disciples of the Yan Clan also rushed over.
On the cruiser, Qu Yi, Qing Wugui, and Wu Yuan stood at the bow, smiling faintly. On either side of the cruiser, four enormous sea beasts—Thundereye Ice Crocodile, Four-armed Water Ape, Nine-headed Imperial Snake, and Earth-shaking Crab—protected the cruiser, radiating icy auras.
Qu Yi met Yan Tiankuo’s gaze and shouted, “You must be Yan Tiankuo, the one in charge of the Yan Clan. I heard you’re second in strength among their Divine Marshal-level disciples and have always been very proud of it. Very well. Since your clan sent you here, it shows some respect for me, Qu Yi. I’ll give your clan face by letting you keep your corpse intact.”
Wu Yuan and Qing Wugui snickered coldly.
“Bastard, Qu Yi! Since you know our purpose, I’m too lazy to explain. Words are meaningless. Now, let me show you the true strength of our Yan Clan!” Yan Tiankuo roared in fury.
The nine disciples of the Yan Clan immediately flew toward Wu Yuan, Qing Wugui, and the four sea beasts, while Yan Tiankuo himself headed straight for Qu Yi.

Yan Tiankuo flew over, already holding a strange divine weapon in his hand—a spear-like handle with a fiery red rotating fire wheel at its tip. The dark, swirling divine fire emitted continuously as the wheel spun, making the space around it scorching hot.
“This is the Sky-Piercing Fire Wheel, a divine weapon at the Divine King level. Cur Yi, prepare to die!” Yan Tiankuo flew closer, spoke coldly, and thrust his hand forward; the fire wheel rushed toward Cur Yi’s chest.
As an outstanding disciple of the Yan Clan at the Divine Marshal stage, it was entirely normal for him to possess a divine weapon of the Divine King level.
As the Sky-Piercing Fire Wheel approached, the dark, swirling divine fire quickly formed five fire dragons. Four of them swept in from four directions, trying to encircle Cur Yi to prevent him from escaping, while the fifth dragon headed straight for his body, aiming to burn him completely.
Each of the five fire dragons consisted of 90 million spiritual entities of metal, wood, water, fire, and spirit.
Cur Yi merely smiled faintly, drew out the Fengyan Sword, and slashed in front of his chest. 70 million spiritual entities of metal, wood, water, fire, and spirit surged forth, creating a roaring wave of flames. Instantly, a sea of dark, swirling divine fire filled the space in front of him.
The five fire dragons of dark, swirling divine fire attacked but were immediately met by Cur Yi’s Flame Kingdom. The two forces clashed violently. It was as if five divine dragons had entered the sea, causing turbulent waves of flames to erupt. The entire void trembled, and it seemed as though the world was enveloped by the dark, swirling divine fire.
Although the five divine dragons unleashed by the Sky-Piercing Fire Wheel had 90 million spiritual entities, they were surrounded by Cur Yi’s Flame Kingdom. After several intense collisions and struggles, these five dragons were quickly depleted and disappeared.
“Yan Tiankuo, your strength is quite impressive. You have 90 million spiritual entities in your body. Among cultivators at the Divine Marshal stage, you’re already among the best,” Cur Yi called out smilingly as he stood in midair.
Cur Yi was well aware that he possessed the Mid-Level Innate Divine Treasure, the Star Sword. The eight great royal families of the Divine Realm must have already known about it, yet the Yan Clan still sent people like Yan Tiankuo to deal with him. This meant Yan Tiankuo must have an even more powerful divine weapon. Therefore, Cur Yi wasn’t in a hurry to attack. He decided to defend first and see what kind of divine weapon Yan Tiankuo brought that made him so confident.
Yan Tiankuo stared at Cur Yi, filled with doubts. Although he had expected Cur Yi to be strong, he hadn’t anticipated that Cur Yi could defend so easily against the attack of the Sky-Piercing Fire Wheel. This indicated that Cur Yi still had much strength left—truly a formidable enemy.

“Qu Yi, your strength is indeed remarkable, but you’re not yet qualified to confront our Yan clan. Right now, you’re just a cultivator at the Divine Marshal stage. Once you reach the Divine King stage, that’s when our ancestors will step in to deal with you. It will be impossible for you to survive then,” Yan Tiankuo said coldly.

The ancestors of the Yan clan were naturally the two Divine Kings, Yan Yi and Yan Que.

Qu Yi laughed heartily, then pointed the Fengyan Sword at Yan Tiankuo, saying, “This Fengyan Sword is the divine weapon of your Yan clan’s disciple Yan Feng. Wouldn’t it be interesting if I used this sword to kill you?”

A cold glint appeared in Yan Tiankuo’s eyes.

“If you want to die so badly, I’ll fulfill your wish,” Yan Tiankuo snapped in anger, diving at Qu Yi once again.

The Sky-Piercing Fire Wheel shot forward, hitting Qu Yi’s chest once more. Under Yan Tiankuo’s control, the wheel spun rapidly, giving rise to five serpentine dragons of dark divine fire—five more dragons, continuously unleashed one after another.

In the sky, fifty dragons soared, covering the heavens and earth. Wherever they went, a realm of flames emerged. Now, these fifty dragons surrounded Qu Yi, attacking from all sides—up, down, left, and right—creating a terrifying scene.

Qu Yi remained as steady as Mount Tai. Wielding the Fengyan Sword, he swung left and right, cutting up and down, creating one realm of dark divine fire after another, filling the entire world with flames.

The dragons and the realms of flames collided violently, producing explosive sounds and seas of sparks.

Qu Yi and Yan Tiankuo continued their fierce battle, neither willing to unleash their ultimate moves yet, both waiting for the other to make a mistake.

While these two were locked in combat, elsewhere, Qing Wugui and Wu Yuan, along with the four beasts, were engaged in a fierce battle against the nine Divine Marshal-level disciples of the Yan clan.

Qing Wugui fought against three opponents, while Wu Yuan faced two. The Thunder-Eye Ice Crocodile, the Four-Armed Water Ape, the Nine-Headed Imperial Snake, and the Earth-Shaking Crab each had a match.

The strength of the four beasts had greatly improved, especially after devouring a hundred sea beasts underwater, raising their strength to that of cultivators with sixty million spiritual entities. Thus, although they weren’t at an advantage against the four Divine Marshal-level warriors of the Yan clan, they could easily defend themselves and hold them off.

Qing Wugui fought against the three strongest disciples of the Yan Clan, focusing solely on mastering the art of killing. With agile movements, he kept dodging without launching any fierce attacks. The three strongest disciples of the Yan Clan were undoubtedly frustrated in fighting against him—no matter how they cast their spells, three or even four laws of magic would mysteriously vanish, leaving no damage on Qing Wugui at all.

“What kind of monster is this? Why do our spells weaken for no reason?” Panic filled their eyes as worries grew in their hearts.

The longer the battle lasted, the more uncertain these three Yan Clan disciples became. If not for Yan Tiankuo, they would have retreated long ago. However, Qing Wugui’s unwavering focus on cultivation and constant dodging gave them a sliver of hope.

Wu Yuan fought against the other two Yan Clan disciples with great intensity, exchanging fierce blows back and forth.

“You two scoundrels, come at me! Hurry up and attack me!” Wu Yuan swung his Jiu Kong Bang frantically while shouting.

The Jiu Kong Bang moved like a flower in bloom, radiating murderous intent. With each swing, ninety-nine strikes multiplied, along with eighty million spiritual entities charging through the air—its power was extraordinary, constantly suppressing the two Divine General-level disciples of the Yan Clan.

The two Yan Clan disciples were extremely frustrated. They were kept at a disadvantage by Wu Yuan throughout the battle, forced to listen to his boastful and mocking words, which fueled their anger but left it unexpressed.

“You’re that Wu Yuan! You madman! We’ll fight you to the death!” The two disciples, driven to the brink of madness by Wu Yuan’s taunts, roared in fury at him.

At the same time, they both drew divine artifacts at the Divine King level—divine swords.

“The Yan Clan is truly wealthy, having so many divine artifacts at the Divine King level. How insane!” Seeing this, Wu Yuan immediately flew back and shouted from afar.

Once activated, divine artifacts at the Divine King level could shatter the heavens and earth, with unimaginable power. Wu Yuan certainly didn’t want to confront such artifacts.

After those two Yan Clan disciples drew their Divine King-level artifacts, the other seven also put away their own artifacts and drew divine artifacts at the same level.

This was the profound heritage of the Yan Clan—years of accumulation had yielded a vast number of divine artifacts at the Divine King level, and now a glimpse of it was finally revealed.

However, these divine artifacts did not belong to these nine disciples. It was simply because the mission to pursue Qu Yi was crucial, and for safety reasons, the Yan clan gave each of them a divine king-level artifact to ensure the mission’s success. Once these nine returned to the Yan clan, the artifacts had to be returned as well.

The nine divine king-level artifacts immediately exerted immense power across the entire world, enveloping it and locking in Qing Wu Gui, Wu Yuan, Lei Yan Bing E, Si Bi Shui Yuan, Jiu Tou Huang She, and Zhen Di Xie.

Seeing this, Qu Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “Yan Tian Kuo, your Yan clan truly has a profound heritage. To bring out so many divine king-level artifacts at once—if they were all lost, wouldn’t you, as their leader, bear a heavy responsibility?”

Yan Tian Kuo replied coldly, “If you have the ability, then take them.”