The Great Emperors were gasping heavily, the Great Demon God's body covered in wounds.
The battle had reached its most critical juncture. Though the Great Demon God's gaze remained lofty and condescending, dismissing them all as mere ants, these dozen or so ants had genuinely earned the right to threaten his life.
After all, he was far from his peak!
Even if his current plan succeeded completely—if he devoured the Star Boundary's spiritual fortune—all it would accomplish was reviving and resurrecting him. To fully recover would still require vast stretches of time and dedicated cultivation. And that was without factoring in the setbacks his original plan had already suffered.
Just how much of his strength he could unleash now, no one knew. Yet even that fraction was enough to push the entire Star Boundary to its limits.
Thunderous booms punctuated by roars and furious bellows filled the air. Figures tumbled and darted in every direction, divine abilities erupting in brilliant flashes. The power each combatant could wield was declining—the Great Demon God's included, and the Great Emperors' as well.
Such an intense battle was an enormous burden on anyone.
At some moment, Zhan Wuhen surged forward with resolve, his waning aura suddenly blazing to life as he bellowed: "Sever his hand!"
After fighting for so long, everyone had realized the truth: if not for that right hand—drawn from the Great Demon God's true body—the power the Great Demon God could exert now would plummet. But that very hand's might was so terrifying that it had stymied their assaults time and again. Sever it, and they would strip the Great Demon God of his most fearsome offensive weapon. That would absolutely turn the tide.
So Zhan Wuhen's target was the Great Demon God's right hand.
The others grasped the plan at once. Emperor Miao Dan bit through the tip of his tongue and spat out a mist of vital blood. The blood merged with the void and dissolved into nothingness, and the Chaos Sacred Fire—previously trapped and smothered by dense demonic energy—suddenly erupted with blinding radiance, incinerating the surrounding darkness. It coiled toward the Great Demon God's right hand like a serpent of flame.
Emperor Beast Martial threw a punch. Ice Feather and Flower Shadow struck with their swords. Even Emperor Tian Shu, who had been on continuous defense, produced an ancient bronze coin, wrapped himself around it, and transformed into a streak of cyan light slashing toward the right hand.
Emperor Phantom Soul unleashed her full spiritual power, hammering it straight into the Great Demon God's sea of consciousness. Blood poured from all seven of his orifices, and his body swayed, his face deathly pale.
The two Dragon Clan Elders surged forward in tandem, intertwining as they transformed into streaks of blue and white light, carrying the unflinching resolve of those who would never turn back.
Wu Kuang cackled wildly: "Exhilarating! Satisfying! Wahahaha!"
His laughter was frenzied, and his strike was even more so. The phantom of the Qiankun World behind him had completely merged into his body, and he poured every last shred of his cultivation into a single finger thrusting downward.
The Great Demon God's expression finally changed. Though he had been single-handedly withstanding the combined might of the Star Boundary's finest this entire time, he had always been confident of victory. But now, at last, a flicker of genuine crisis stirred within him.
This ferocious onslaught—even for him—sent a tremor through his heart.
The colossal Tai Yue dove from the heavens, fist smashing down.
The Great Demon God roared and met it head-on with a punch of his own. Two mountain-sized fists collided with an earth-shaking boom. The Great Demon God's feet sank, his entire body driven into the ground, the earth shattering outward from where his feet touched. Tai Yue was flung away, and across its towering frame—hundreds of zhang tall—terrifying cracks erupted one after another. Massive chunks of its body broke off and plummeted, and before it had flown even a few hundred li, it detonated into pieces…
Yang Kai's eyes nearly split from fury. He had no time to check on Xiao Xiao's condition. His spear jabbed toward the right hand's wrist, which the Great Demon God had not yet managed to withdraw.
Blood sprayed. The enormous Azure Dragon Spear, unstoppable in its sharpness, carved a massive gash across the Great Demon God's wrist, exposing the sinew and bone beneath.
"Scram!" the Great Demon God bellowed. The blast of air from his mouth caught Yang Kai and sent him hurtling away.
At that very moment, Zhan Wuhen arrived, and the combined strikes from Ice Feather and Flower Shadow arrived. With a series of wet, tearing sounds, more than half of the Great Demon God's right hand was severed, blood gushing from the wound as demonic energy seethed.
The two Dragon Clan Elders struck as well. Their dragon claws latched onto the Great Demon God's arm, gripping it with iron resolve, and they sank their massive jaws into the wound, tearing away flesh and sinew.
The Great Demon God's severed right hand crashed to the ground. The two Dragon Clan Elders let out a mournful dragon cry as they were both driven deep into the earth beneath the impact.
The Chaos Sacred Fire circled back, coiling around the stump. With a hissing, sizzling sound, the wound at the severance point rapidly widened, the fire chewing through the bone inside as well.
Furious, the Great Demon God reached out with his other hand, seized the Chaos Sacred Fire, and yanked it free—actually tearing the all-consuming sacred flame from the wound. Then, before every watching pair of eyes could comprehend what they were seeing, he stuffed it into his mouth and bit down hard. Flames shot out of his nostrils and mouth, and his expression twisted into a savage grimace as he forced himself to endure the searing pain.
Emperor Miao Dan's face went white as paper in an instant, and he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.
He had refined the Chaos Sacred Fire for tens of thousands of years, and it had long since become one with his mind and spirit. With the Great Demon God's act, he himself had sustained severe injuries.
"Sever it!" Wu Kuang roared, channeling the full weight of his power into that single finger thrust against the wound of the severed hand.
*Crack…*