Chapter 666: Brothers at War

The Azure Dragon Barrier Aurora aimed straight for Su Che’s chest—this was the most direct attack, far more powerful than the diffused light refracted by the crystal giant before. No matter how miraculous the Spirit Fire refining method might be, it couldn’t withstand such direct woodification radiation.
Kakakakaka…
In just three breaths, the blue-violet flames of the Spirit Fire completely died out. Along with a strange sound like dry wood cracking, the layer of hardened wood covering Su Che’s body grew thicker and thicker…
In the blink of an eye, Su Che lost his human form and turned completely into a thick cylindrical log, as large as a water tank, with no discernible limbs or torso. Such a degree of woodification was extreme—how could he possibly break free?
“Yes.”
Lin Jiu felt relieved: “Fortunately, we arrived in time. That damn kid didn’t manage to escape.”
As his mood relaxed, Lin Jiu kept an eye on the Azure Dragon artifact in Guang Qi’s hands. In fact, this artifact posed a huge threat even to someone like him, a Xuanxian.
Both of them ultimately aimed to seize Tian Yu’s opportunities and fortune. Now that Tian Yu was trapped like fish on a chopping board, the reward had to be shared between the two…
He would never be willing to share with others, and Guang Qi surely felt the same way.
It was hard to say whether Guang Qi might turn the Aurora against him at any moment.
“Would he do that?” Lin Jiu wondered. “If it were me, I definitely would!”
Just as he was thinking this, Guang Qi turned around and smiled faintly at Lin Jiu. “Shall we go together?”
“Okay.”
On the surface, Lin Jiu remained calm, but inwardly he was highly vigilant.
Guang Qi seemed to see through his thoughts and said gravely, “But the question is, what shall we do once we get there?”
What he meant was: Su Che was a living person—impossible to split in half and give one half to each of them. So, who should keep this captive?
If Su Che were locked in Lin Jiu’s personal space, Guang Qi would surely refuse; conversely, Lin Jiu wouldn’t let Su Che fall into Guang Qi’s hands.
What should they do?
Actually, they had already considered this situation earlier. Both understood it was an irreconcilable conflict, an unsolvable problem with no viable compromise.

It’s even less possible to bring in a third party as an intermediary—there’s no trustworthy intermediary at all! The only solution is for one party to give in voluntarily; otherwise, one of them will have to die! Faced with Guangqi’s question, Lin Jiu remained silent, his expression quickly turning grave, even darkening… “How many years have we known each other?” Guangqi asked in a deep voice. “Over 1.3 million years!” Lin Jiu replied, each word carrying immense weight. “Yes, over 1.3 million years!” Guangqi gazed ahead and said with a sigh, “Parents, siblings, spouses, descendants… none of those relationships last that long, do they?” Lin Jiu nodded silently. Indeed, parents, siblings, wives, and children had long been forgotten over the long years. Even if one kept thinking about those things from millions of years ago, one would eventually grow tired of them, washed away by the passage of time, becoming as indifferent as water. “For this opportunity, would you resort to killing your own siblings or fighting against your own father?” Guangqi asked with a smile. “Yes!” Lin Jiu replied, nodding, his gaze cold. “So, it seems our friendship should end here, then?” Guangqi’s tone was like an unpredictable breeze, yet it contained so much that couldn’t be expressed in words. “I don’t want it to end like this either.” Lin Jiu shook his head slightly and smiled bitterly, “But can you think of a way to satisfy both sides?” “No!” Guangqi also shook his head. “It’s not a matter of whether we want to think of it or not. This opportunity can only be fought for, not shared—there’s no possibility of sharing at all, little brother Lin!” “Yes.” Lin Jiu took a deep breath. “We’ve seen through all this long ago.” After that, the two fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, Guangqi smiled again and said gently, “But by working together, we’ve already achieved this much. We’re just one step away from success, right?” Lin Jiu replied, “All those who got in the way have been removed with the help of Tianyu. All those who should be gone have been sent away. Now, only the two of us remain—everything is perfect. The ultimate victory will belong to us brothers. In the end, there’s nothing to regret.” “Right, the benefits shouldn’t go to outsiders!”

Guangqi smiled at the sky and said, “It’s either you or me. The one who ultimately wins must be one of us. At the very least, this achievement was created through our joint efforts.”
Laughter still echoed in the air as the Azure Dragon Barrier Aurora in Guangqi’s palm suddenly changed direction and shot toward Lin Jiu.
“Guangqi!”
Lin Jiu was prepared. With a shout, he dodged the straight beam by shifting his stance and cried out, “If possible, I’ll preserve a trace of your soul so you can be reborn after ten thousand years.”
“Thank you.”
Guangqi flipped his wrist, and the Barrier Aurora pursued relentlessly. “It’s mutual.”
The Barrier Aurora could penetrate the formation space to a certain extent, while Lin Jiu was constrained by the power of the Qianyuan Mysterious Formation. He could dodge it once or twice, but surely not every time.
Swish swish swish…
The aurora fired back and forth, and in just a few moments, Lin Jiu was hit head-on.
Though hit, Guangqi felt no joy. He knew this old friend too well—Lin Jiu was extremely good at pretending. On the surface, he seemed to have flaws in his personality, often impulsive and hot-headed, easily offending others and earning hatred. But these were all just disguises. His scheming was no less than his own; he never missed anything he could think of.
In a fight against him, Guangqi had no guarantee of victory. Yet, for such a rare opportunity, he was determined to fight to the death without yielding. If successful, it would mean he could become a peak immortal master—everything would be worth it. If he failed, he would have no regrets, as success was just one step away.
Which of the dozen or so immortal masters in the celestial realm hadn’t gone through similar experiences? Their current peak status was achieved by fighting for it from others. Without striving and competing, how could they obtain anything?
Vum…
Guangqi’s prediction proved correct. Instead of being turned to wood by the Barrier Aurora, Lin Jiu was protected by an ancient-looking bronze mirror in front of him, which absorbed the entire aurora. Though it was a mirror, it didn’t reflect light—it was an endless black hole capable of devouring everything in the world. It truly was a black hole, not just a metaphor!

On the mirror with a diameter of three feet, a slowly rotating cosmic black hole could be clearly seen. However, it would only devour the targets designated by Lin Jiu, leaving all surrounding plants and trees untouched. This copper mirror magic artifact, with its devouring attribute, was indeed a special type of artifact created by enclosing a cosmic black hole within it. Its power was equivalent to that of an elite immortal artifact. Normally, it would be difficult for someone at the Xuanxian level to control, but due to its uniqueness, it required little immortal energy to operate, allowing even those at the Tianxian level to use it. Such an artifact surely could not have been crafted by Lin Jiu—only someone at the Daluo Jinxian level would have the ability to turn a cosmic black hole into an artifact.

“The Star-Draining Mirror!” Lin Jiu hovered three feet above the ground, gently touching the edge of the copper mirror. “Originally, I wanted to name it the ‘Heaven-Devouring Mirror,’ but I lacked the courage, so I gave it a relatively modest name instead.”

“Heaven-Devouring?” Guang Qi nodded with a smile. “You’re wise.”

The name “Heaven-Devouring” could not be used lightly. The more one delved into the path of immortals, the more they understood the truth that “heavenly power is unfathomable and must not be defiled.”

“If I can seize this opportunity, one day I will be able to create a true Heaven-Devouring Mirror with my own hands. By then, what could there be that I dare not do?” Lin Jiu’s aura surged, and the Star-Draining Mirror in his hand trembled slightly, exerting a powerful sucking force on Guang Qi without disturbing even a single grain of sand on the ground.

The terrifying sucking force of a cosmic black hole, once turned into an artifact, became more concentrated and intense, making it even more formidable and frightening.

“Move!” Guang Qi softly uttered a sacred word. His figure disappeared for a moment before reappearing not far behind Lin Jiu.

The Great Teleportation Technique was one of the Three Thousand Great Paths. It belonged to the same category as the Instant Teleportation Technique, but the difference was that while Instant Teleportation allowed the user to teleport infinitely, reaching millions of miles in an instant, it could not be applied to other objects. The instantaneous teleportation distance of the Great Teleportation Technique was far shorter than that of Instant Teleportation—rarely exceeding ten thousand miles—but it could forcibly move other objects or creatures, albeit with limitations based on strength. For example, one could not forcibly move someone stronger than oneself or an object too heavy to handle.

Of course, the Great Teleportation Technique can also forcibly remove the attack energy inflicted by an opponent, and even manipulate the situation to turn the opponent’s force against them. Its applications are countless and infinitely intricate, beyond description.
Just now, Guangqi was subjected to the powerful suction force exerted by the Star-Sucking Mirror. Any other method—whether dodging around or fighting back like in a tug-of-war—was not as ingenious as the Great Teleportation Technique, which allows one to “move” themselves to another location, thus escaping the suction force immediately. This is the boundless ingenuity of teleportation, making it extremely efficient.
Lin Jiu and Guangqi knew each other very well, having been friends for over a million years; there were few secrets about each other left unknown. Both were aware that in this battle, they had to unleash their ultimate moves from the start to resolve it quickly.
It meant fighting at all costs, without reservation, even risking their lives. Otherwise, the battle could drag on for hundreds of years without a winner emerging!
Hundreds of years?
Here, no one had that much time to waste.