HSSB1099: Strong exterior, weak interior
Chen Qianhua had repeated the method that Yan Zhaoge had earlier used to deal with the Brocade Emperor.
True Immortals were leakless as those in the mortal realm were hard pressed to wound them.
Since the Brocade Emperor had such a deficiency, he would definitely make good use of it.
Still, the experienced Brocade Emperor had been long prepared for this as he counterattacked fiercely.
Chen Qianhua’s gaze flickered slightly as he seemed unconcerned by this.
Because attacking with the Heart’s Will Heavenly Scripture had weakened his foundation of the world formed of the combined Later Heaven Six Scriptures, he was hard pressed to block the Brocade Emperor’s Grand Commencement Divine Finger the same way he had just earlier.
Still, he was neither flustered nor panicked as he emitted a long roar.
Endless devilish qi began converging towards Chen Qianhua from the surrounding Nine Underworlds.
The jet-black devilish avatar appeared again between the heavens and earth, resembling an ancient devilish domain and divine mountain which had existed ever since ancient times, indestructible and unshakeable.
The Nine Underworlds’ devilish domain originated from the second Ancestral Devil of the Twelve Devilish Gods, the Existence Creation Heavenly Devil. Though it had died, its devilish arts had been left behind, with their concepts analysed to form a martial scripture known as the Existence Creation Devilish Scripture.
The scripture recorded eight supreme martial arts of the devilish dao which consisted of the eight trigrams of Heaven, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Water, Fire, Lake and Mountain, hence being known as the Eight Ultimates of Creation.
One of these, manifesting the trigram of earth, was the Immovable Devilish Body, a peak defensive martial art of the devilish dao.
This was precisely what Chen Qianhua was executing at this moment.
The Nine Underworlds was formed of the corpse of the Existence Creation Heavenly Devil in the first place. As this devilish art was executed in the Nine Underworlds, boundless devilish qi was drawn over to bolster the self which resulted in even more shocking defensive power.
While it was inferior to the foundation of the world formed of the combined power of the Jade Clear lineage’s Later Heaven Six Scriptures, it still made for a watertight defence.
The Brocade Emperor’s Grand Commencement Divine Finger was truly powerful as it successively broke through the Grand Beginning Bright Emptiness Form, the bright red qis of yin and yang and the Cyclic Heavenly Seal.
It then penetrated through the weakened foundation of the world before finally attacking the Immovable Devilish Body.
Still, it had dwindled greatly due to the numerous layers of defence as it was clearly running out of power.
While cracks appeared on the massive devilish avatar that was dense as a mountain, it ultimately was not shattered by this finger of the Brocade Emperor’s.
Now, Chen Qianhua’s attack with the Heart’s Will Heavenly Scripture began taking effect on the Brocade Emperor too.
If he could create chaos in the Brocade Emperor’s mind again, Chen Qianhua would have the chance to seize the upper hand.
He was certainly aware that with the Brocade Emperor’s capabilities, just using the Heart’s Will Heavenly Scripture alone would merely result in a situation where both sides received damage.
This Immovable Devilish Body that had suddenly been activated by him as he used defence as offence was crucial to his victory in this battle.
Still, the current Brocade Emperor was indeed very capable of giving ‘pleasant surprises’.
A profound glow suddenly flickered before a massive flag that concealed the heavens appeared.
It was the Immortal Artifact, the Four Grands Earlier Heaven Flag!
A True Immortal was actually utilising an Immortal Artifact in a battle against a Martial Saint!
Even though this Martial Saint was the World beyond Worlds’ number one Martial Saint, Chen Qianhua, this action of the Brocade Emperor’s was shocking as he cared not about his face at all.
Still, for he who was suffering from cultivation deviation and was not in a right state of mind, it did not seem all that unexpected when one thought about it.
That Chen Qianhua had been able to cause an Emperor to act shamelessly should itself be a cause for pride for him.
It was just that if an Emperor who had pushed open the door to Immorality were really to throw aside his status and act however he wanted, it would really be a force that those in the mortal realm were incapable of resisting.
In the legendary battle when four Human Exalts of the Prime Clear lineage had slain an Immortal with the help of the Immortal Exterminating Formation, the opponent had actually been bare-handed.
The protection of the Four Grands Earlier Heaven Flag had no way of resisting that attack which came from deep within at all.
It was the Brocade Emperor himself who was problematic and therefore vulnerable.
His gaze flickered slightly as his mind was somewhat unstable, though still not as severe as when he had suffered Yan Zhaoge’s Heart’s Will Thunder earlier as he was still able to do battle.
Looking at the drifting Four Grands Earlier Heaven Flag, Chen Qianhua did not have any intention of exhibiting mockery, disdain or dissatisfaction.
Instead, his eyes glowed as he appeared overjoyed, “Brocade Emperor, the way you are now is unprecedentedly, perfect! It is almost at the point where I can’t even bear to help you into the unfeeling dao anymore for the sake of competing with Yan Zhaoge!”
There was no change in the Brocade Emperor’s expression as he seemed totally unmoved. He directly waved the Four Grands Earlier Heaven Flag, bringing it down towards Chen Qianhua.
Chen Qianhua was neither panicked nor flustered as he just pointed outwards behind him.
In that direction was none other than that thundercloud of Grand Illusory Spatial Thunder from earlier which had not exploded completely.
While Chen Qianhua had a strange temperament as he did whatever he liked, he was always very meticulous with respect to the details once he had set his mind on something.
This thundercloud had been within his calculations all along.
As Chen Qianhua clashed with a powerful enemy in the form of the Brocade Emperor, while he had to constantly shift and evade, he was still able to maintain his position in between the thundercloud and the Brocade Emperor.
His back was to the thundercloud as he would be able to control and utilise it at any time.
Chen Qianhua had also considered the possibility of Yan Zhaoge interfering in this battle.
He had similarly positioned himself such that he was blocking Yan Zhaoge from the thundercloud.
A major part of him being at a disadvantage more of the time in his battle with the Brocade Emperor could be attributed to the fact that he had limited his own space for movement.
In a contest between experts, a single inch could spell the difference between victory and defeat.
Chen Qianhua’s actions could be considered a bold demonstration of great skill.
Still, just as he was about to control the thundercloud and use it to block the Four Grands Earlier Heaven Flag, someone suddenly made a move!
Having previously been spectating and warily staying out of things, Yan Zhaoge’s figure suddenly flashed as he arrived below Chen Qianhua.
Boundless devilish qi also agglomerated about Yan Zhaoge at this moment.
The next instant, yet another jet-black devilish avatar had appeared within the devilish domain of the Nine Underworlds!
This avatar was not like the pitch black Buddha idol that Yan Zhaoge had previously manifested as, instead being similar to the avatar manifested by Chen Qianhua with the Immovable Devilish Body.
This was also a manifestation of the Existence Creation Heavenly Devil!
Roiling thunder rumbled, surging up straight towards Chen Qianhua.
“This is also a martial art of the Eight Ultimates of Creation of the devilish dao?” Chen Qianhua was momentarily taken aback, “The one that corresponds to thunder?”
It was none other than the Eight Desolaces Thunder Palm, a devilish art that existed alongside the Immovable Devilish Body as one of the Eight Ultimates of Creation that ultimately originated from the Existence Creation Heavenly Devil.
This blow was unable to break through Chen Qianhua’s Immovable Devilish Body.
Still, the Brocade Emperor who was attacking Chen Qianhua suddenly sensed that the Immovable Devilish Body which had been incomparably sturdy as it resembled an eternal divine mountain a moment ago had suddenly weakened greatly.
While it still seemed sturdy, an unconcealable feeling of weakness emanated from within.
“Mountain Above Thunder Below, Duo-Trigram?” Chen Qianhua’s gaze flickered as he instantly sensed the principles behind what he had been affected by.
Of the Eight Trigrams, this was the Duo-Trigram formed of Mountain Above Thunder Below, the two yangs conflicting externally as the interior was abandoned for the exterior, leading to a deficiency of nourishment that could not be overlooked.
This manifested the phenomenon wherein it was tough on the outside but soft on the inside, having a shell that was far weaker than it looked!
While the Eight Desolaces Thunder Palm was unable to break through the Immovable Devilish Body, it caused the latter to become incomparably fragile as it suffered other attacks from the external world.
Now, the Four Grands Earlier Heaven Flag waved downwards as it instantly sent Chen Qianhua spewing out blood as he flew backwards!
Behind him, the Grand Illusory Spatial Thunder that he himself had induced to explode ran totally amok as it transformed into numerous spatial vortexes that devoured him.
The backup move that he himself had prepared had now become a weapon used by another to do him harm.
The injured Chen Qianhua was hard pressed to break free of the chaotic flows of space as he could only be devoured by a spatial vortex.
Gazing back one final time, he saw Yan Zhaoge taking the form of that massive pitch black Buddha once more.
As the Brocade Emperor attacked Chen Qianhua with the Four Grands Earlier Heaven Flag rather than continuing to protect himself, Yan Zhaoge chanted once more, “Evaṃ mayā-śrutam, devils illuminate the myriad lifeforms!”
Yet another bolt of Heart’s Will Thunder streaked towards the Brocade Emperor!
Having suffered a first bolt of Heart’s Will Thunder before being attacked with the Heart’s Will Heavenly Scripture by Chen Qianhua, the Brocade Emperor ate a third successive strike now!