Chapter 953 - 431: Battle (7)
Upon hearing this, the Netherworld God’s face stiffened immediately. Hoffman’s strength was formidable, so the Netherworld God had no intention of letting him make the first move. Instantly, with hands forming seals, the Netherworld River emerged from the void once again, its raging waves devouring Hoffman.
However, this time, unlike his subordinates like the soldier Tukov, Hoffman did not appear helpless upon entering the water.
Even within the torrents of the Netherworld River, Hoffman’s power remained largely unaffected.
Relying solely on brute strength, he resolved the pulling of surrounding spirits.
At the same time, the crimson Divine Power within Hoffman finally overflowed. Once this Divine Power emerged on the surface, it ignited into fierce flames, showing no signs of extinguishing even under the suppression of the Netherworld River.
"Do you think summoning river water can suppress my Divine Power?" Hoffman sneered, and then his Divine Power exploded abruptly, akin to a detonating nuclear bomb.
Flames burst forth from the Netherworld River, instantly igniting the endless river.
"Since you can summon river water, let me show you what it means to burn the heavens and boil the seas!" With hands pressing down, Hoffman unleashed endless waves of fire that cascaded into the Netherworld River, the searing flames meeting the chill of the Nether River Water with a sizzle.
The Nether River Water isn’t ordinary. Otherwise, Tukov would not have been dragged into the Netherworld River so helplessly before.
Hoffman’s Divine Power clearly bears the fire attribute, yet he could confront the water-attribute Netherworld River without being on the back foot, demonstrating his profound mastery of fire attribute Law.
As the overwhelming flames clashed continuously with the Netherworld River, plumes of white smoke arose, carrying the wails of Dead Souls.
Upon hearing the continuous wailing filling his ears, Hoffman paused and then reacted: "Your river water is indeed special! You must have worked hard to refine it. I can give you another chance. If you are willing to become my wife, I might consider stopping here."
From the confrontation between the two forces, Hoffman clearly had the upper hand, evaporating large portions of the Nether River Water with his flames. Continuing his efforts, the Netherworld River would certainly be evaporated clean, rendering the Netherworld God’s tactic completely ineffective.
But is that really all there is to the Netherworld River?
The once boundless river that separated the Netherworld and the Star Sea, impassable by any living creature, couldn’t possibly have such little power.
In response to Hoffman’s repeated provocations, the Netherworld God coldly retorted, "Aren’t you overestimating yourself?"
As she spoke, under her urging, the Netherworld River, previously languishing, erupted with terrifying black Divine Power once more.
The black Divine Power emerged from the riverbed, making the already chilly waters even colder. The raging flames that once burned intensely suddenly resembled a person having their throat choked, with their intensity snuffed out by more than half.
As the source of the flame release, Hoffman also distinctly felt the invasion of the black Divine Power and slightly furrowed his brows. He seemed to have underestimated this Divine Power’s characteristics earlier.
However...
Hmph!
Hoffman cleaved open a space rift, drawing out a bone-made long blade over four meters long from the void.
Seeing the gradually revealing bone-made Weapon, the Netherworld God exclaimed, "Divine Lord’s remains?"
"Correct." Hoffman nodded, staring at the Netherworld God with blazing eyes: "Not many people are worthy of me using this blade on them. I truly acknowledge your strength. You must become my wife, or... be killed by me!"
As the Bone Blade was fully withdrawn, an even more formidable flame erupted forth, with the intense heat even melting the sky, transforming the surroundings as if they had entered a world of flames.
"This Bone Blade is forged from the spine of the Primordial Extinguishing Fire Dragon, imbued with the dragon’s life essence. I paid a heavy price to kill the Extinguishing Fire Dragon, involving the collaboration of four Realm Kings. The Creature shared the same Law as me. If you have any other means, feel free to use them." With those words, Hoffman gripped the blade with both hands and fiercely slashed towards the Netherworld River beneath him.
Instaneously, a fiery blade glow sliced through.
The endless Netherworld River was instantly cleaved in two by Hoffman.
As the saying goes, pulling out a blade to sever water makes it flow even more.
But under the intense burn of Hoffman’s formidable flames, the severed Netherworld River showed no signs of re-joining.
At this moment, holding the Bone Blade, Hoffman seemed like the most elemental flame in this world, capable of burning everything. Even the black Divine Power the Netherworld God wielded vanished completely under this fiery assault. In a blink, the abyss-spanning Netherworld River was half evaporated, losing its previous swelling torrents.
Witnessing this scene, from a faraway distance, Lu Hong endured the scorching heat while worrying for the Netherworld God. The opponent seemed to have cultivated the rules of fire to the extreme. Any rule cultivated to the extreme would lead to heaven-defying capabilities. Moreover, Hoffman appeared to possess formidable Bloodline Power. Becoming a god through rules, through bloodline—Hoffman seemed to have both paths, which made such a person... extremely terrifying.
Even with Hoffman’s formidable power, he’s only the thirteenth Realm King. What does this mean? On the downside, if the realms ranked by strength, there’d be twelve more Divine Lords above Hoffman. On the upside, if all eighteen Realm Kings are evenly matched, that’d mean there are eighteen such Divine Lords like Hoffman. The Eighteen Realms are tremendously powerful indeed. Not to mention whether the Netherworld God can withstand it, even the Nine Domains probably lack many Divine Lords of this caliber, right? Consider the Night Hunter Clan able to guard the Night Hunting Pass for endless ages, and the Night King who could contend with eighteen Realm Kings combined.
How powerful must that Night King have been? Such a pity they died!
As Lu Hong, overheated, started thinking wildly, the Netherworld God moved.
With a slight hand raise, a powerful aura surged from the Netherworld River.
Instinctively, Hoffman felt a shudder from deep within his soul, causing him to look down at the Netherworld River beneath him.
Though the Netherworld River was dark and deep, Hoffman felt a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly open within its depths, invoking a feeling akin to being targeted by a venomous snake. His heart tightened. This soul-deep threat was something he had only felt from the Night King—a result of the other’s overwhelming power that completely overshadowed him, inducing such emotional reactions.
The next second, Hoffman acted, swinging the massive Bone Blade down heavily upon the Netherworld River below.
From within the Netherworld River, a thick chain shot into the heavens.
With a resounding boom, the impact cracked the air.
Lu Hong was instantly shaken by the immense sound, bleeding from his orifices. The ferocious shockwave swept across miles, causing Lu Hong, despite standing in the audience area, to suffer considerable injury, though his life was spared.
Upon collision, Hoffman was violently flung away, and the chain, too, was forced back beneath the Netherworld River by the rebounding force.
Stabilizing himself, Hoffman’s eyes fixated on the depths of the Netherworld River, watching the enormous creature slowly crawling out from its depths.
This wasn’t the ferryman of the Netherworld River that Lu Hong had seen, but a Sky-reaching Giant exceeding ten thousand feet in size.
It’s hard to imagine that such a monster was lurking within the Netherworld River summoned by the Netherworld God.
"Ti... Titan?!"
As these words left his mouth, Hoffman’s eyes filled with disbelief. Evidently, he knew about this creature, the Titan. But how could Hoffman know about Titans, the ancient overlords of the Star Sea and builders of the Star Sea?
On hearing Hoffman’s words, the Netherworld God’s eyes showed a hint of admiration: "I didn’t expect you to recognize the name Titan."
"Who are you really?!" At this moment, Hoffman’s previous domineering desire to subdue the Netherworld God had vanished, replaced with full caution in his gaze.
"I told you, I am the Netherworld God, the Controller of all Dead Souls." The Netherworld God’s eyes locked onto Hoffman, continuing, "It’s been eons since anyone could prompt me to summon the Titan deep within this Netherworld River. I, too, seem to have forgotten their strength. Now that it has been awakened, I hope you’ll send it back to slumber, or I might lose a precious artifact."
As the Netherworld God’s words concluded, the half-emerged Titan from the Netherworld River let out deep roars, swinging its chains toward Hoffman once more.