Liquid flowed, and two golden giant swords appeared in Xiao Huo’s hands. Compared to the dual swords that Long Haochen had condensed with spiritual power, Xiao Huo’s swords were dark gold, their aura completely internalized. As these swords took shape, even the light aura emanating from his body vanished completely. It was as if he were simply a suit of metallic armor with no connection to spiritual power.

Yet, the moment that light aura receded, Long Haochen clearly sensed that Xiao Huo had become even more terrifying, almost as if he were facing the Demon God Emperor again. This ancestor’s power seemed to surpass even that of the Undead Judgment Knight!

“You must go all out,” Xiao Huo’s voice echoed in Long Haochen’s ear. Then, he moved.

Despite being an ancestor, he showed no intention of being lenient. With a flash of golden light, the twin swords in his hands slashed out in a simple, unadorned cross. The dark gold cross of light arrived before Long Haochen almost instantaneously.

Long Haochen’s combat experience was unparalleled. He reacted the moment Xiao Huo’s body moved. He stepped back with his left foot while simultaneously slashing forward with his right-hand sword. It was as if Xiao Huo’s cross slash had been delivered right to him, and his sword struck directly at the core of Xiao Huo’s cross slash.

A sun-like, brilliant golden light burst forth from Long Haochen’s right-hand sword: Radiant Sun Slash, a fourth-tier knight skill.

Golden light intertwined in the air. Long Haochen did not retreat. As the cross slash was shattered, he thrust his left-hand sword forward in his unique Demonic Slayer Flash.

Thousands of sword shadows vibrated at a unique frequency, covering Xiao Huo like a golden mist. No ear-piercing sound was produced, each sword simply resembling a beam of light.

Among the Eternal Heroes watching, many nodded secretly. They could sense the young man’s excellence from Long Haochen’s fluid movements and his self-created skill. His achievements were supported by genuine ability.

Xiao Huo’s movements seemed somewhat sluggish. Faced with the enveloping Demonic Slayer Flash, he seemed unable to dodge. He formed a strange posture with his twin swords in front of him, having just unleashed the cross slash. The instant his posture was complete, the Demonic Slayer Flash arrived.

Even though Long Haochen did not wield a powerful weapon, the Demonic Slayer Flash was a combination of Lightning Thrust and his unique Light Ripple. How formidable was its attack power when driven by a ninth-tier cultivation?

However, all the golden light vanished silently when it approached within a foot of Xiao Huo, without even a ripple. Ineffective. What astonished Long Haochen most was that he felt as if his attack had not even touched his opponent.

What power was this? A domain?

As the word “domain” entered his mind, Long Haochen instinctively released his own Light God Domain. Gentle golden light instantly enveloped the battlefield where he and Xiao Huo were located.

With the recent series of high-intensity battles, Long Haochen’s control over his Light God Domain had also grown stronger. The power of his Light God Domain did not diminish, yet it did not affect the other Eternal Heroes around him.

The Light God Domain could be said to be the nemesis of all light-attribute domains. Long Haochen believed that with his domain unleashed, coupled with the enhancement from the Eternal and Creation God’s Throne, he should be able to gain the upper hand. At the very least, he could force Xiao Huo to use some powerful abilities to turn the situation around.

However, he discovered that he was wrong. When the Light God Domain collided with Xiao Huo’s body, Long Haochen almost cried out in alarm. His domain had become ineffective!

Yes, the Light God Domain was completely ineffective against Xiao Huo. Golden light flowed around him, Xiao Huo remaining steadfast like a solid rock in a torrent. And the power of Long Haochen’s Light God Domain slid away along both sides of his body like water.

At that moment, Xiao Huo, in his strange posture, launched his second attack.

What Long Haochen saw was a giant golden eye. The moment Xiao Huo attacked, his entire being vanished. Then, an irresistible force arrived before him.

In an instant, Long Haochen felt his body trembling violently out of control. Countless golden lights rippled across the Eternal Armor. Each point of golden light brought him a slight sting. These myriad lights covered almost every inch of his body, yet he had no way to resist. His sword movements and spiritual power could not affect the giant golden eye in any way. It was as if his spiritual power and abilities had become completely ineffective at this moment.

Boom! Long Haochen’s body flew far away, as if blasted away by the gaze of the giant golden eye. He crashed into a stone wall in the distance before slowly sliding to the ground.

The giant golden eye disappeared, and Xiao Huo reappeared, still in his golden armor, the twin swords in his hands emitting a faint golden mist.

“Is this all you’re capable of? With this alone, you hope to fight against the Demon God Emperor?” Xiao Huo’s voice was calm, without much emotional fluctuation. But to Long Haochen, it felt like a slap in the face.

This attack had not caused him any harm, because the impact generated when the myriad golden lights landed on him was not strong. Coupled with the Eternal Armor’s powerful defense, he was merely blown away.

However, Long Haochen’s body was unharmed, but his heart had been pierced deeply.

Since obtaining the Eternal and Creation God’s Throne and Hao Yue’s evolution, he had felt that he was capable of fighting the Demon God Emperor. This was the foundation of his confidence in presiding over the Federation meeting and resolving to fight the Demon God Emperor to the death.

But this scene was like a hard slap in the face, waking him from his self-confidence. He did not understand how he had lost. Nor did he understand why the twin swords in his hands and his own spiritual power and Light God Domain had all lost their effectiveness. Could it be that the ancestor was immune to light-attribute abilities?

Long Haochen slowly got up from the ground, looked at Xiao Huo standing there, took a deep breath, and stabilized his emotions. Then, he slowly raised his twin swords and respectfully said, “Please, ancestor, guide me.”

One must rise from where one has fallen. Only in battle can one truly feel the reason for failure. Tenacity occupies a large part of his character. Although he had been easily defeated by Xiao Huo, the emotion that arose in his heart was not discouragement, but a wake-up call.

There was no doubt that the Demon God Emperor was even stronger than the ancestor before him. If he could not even withstand the ancestor’s attack, then how much chance of winning would he have against the Demon God Emperor? Where did the problem lie? He could only find it within himself.

He had not even considered using Hao Yue’s power here. Hao Yue was certainly powerful, but if he himself was not strong enough, how could he coordinate with Hao Yue to fight the Demon God Emperor?

Xiao Huo did not say anything, but slowly raised his twin swords and assumed the previous posture, still without any light-attribute aura emanating from his body.

This time, Long Haochen directly mobilized the Light God Domain. The rich light element around his body gradually took on a nine-colored golden light. This was the effect of the combination of the Eternal Domain and the Light God Domain. After the combination of the moist white Eternal Domain and the clear golden Light God Domain, nine colors transformed, golden intertwined with that eternal white. The aura also seemed to converge, no longer so strong, but the Eternal Heroes watching could all clearly feel a huge pressure emanating from Long Haochen. The weaker Eternal Heroes retreated even further. And in Shu Yongxiao’s blood-colored eyes, strange lights flickered, obviously very interested in the changes in Long Haochen’s domain.

The nine-colored golden light rapidly swirled around Long Haochen’s body, and he directly used his domain skill, Divine Light Rhapsody.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Long Haochen understood that the reason for his failure was domain ineffectiveness. He did not know why the domain had become ineffective, but he had to find the reason in the domain, otherwise, he would still be unable to withstand Xiao Huo’s attack.

Therefore, this time, he pushed the power of his own domain to the extreme, and also triggered the power of the Eternal and Creation God’s Throne to merge, in order to explore the mysteries of the opponent’s domain through a stronger domain.

Long Haochen’s movements were slow, and he urged the Divine Light Rhapsody to slowly approach Xiao Huo. The reason for slowing down was, first, to better see the opponent’s movements clearly, and second, to give Xiao Huo enough time to react. He didn’t want to hurt this ancestor!

However, Xiao Huo stood there still, also maintaining that strange posture.

His posture looked simple. His left leg was fixed in place, his right leg stepped forward diagonally half a step, the toe touching the ground, the knee bent. The left-hand sword was horizontal in front of the abdomen, and the right-hand sword was horizontal in front of the chest, both heavy swords pointing outwards.

The Divine Light Rhapsody was getting closer and closer. The power of a domain skill was far from being comparable to simply releasing a domain, not to mention that Long Haochen’s domain had also been enhanced almost exponentially this time.

Long Haochen had already opened his perception to the greatest extent, and he could clearly feel even the slightest changes in spiritual power.

Just as the two sides were about to touch, Long Haochen caught a strange change.

Xiao Huo’s figure suddenly became illusory for a moment, as if his body was trembling for an instant at a peculiar frequency like the ripples of light. The next moment, the Divine Light Rhapsody slowly dispersed to both sides a foot in front of him. However, this time it did not completely slide past, but instead supported Xiao Huo’s body.

Before Long Haochen’s heart could feel any joy, Xiao Huo launched another attack. His figure disappeared in an instant, and the golden eye reappeared, only this time it appeared directly above the Divine Light Rhapsody.

An indescribable force pressed down in the core position of the Divine Light Rhapsody, directly suppressing the power of this domain skill. Then, that huge golden eye opened.

(To be continued)