Yuan's Ascension

In a one-on-one battle, Wu Yuan's ether body would find it nearly impossible to slay Holy Emperor Qian Yang. After all, this was a genuine, Full Saint powerhouse whose power was completely unrestricted.

Wu Yuan's ether body appeared to gain the upper hand once he unleashed the sixth step of his self-created Dao, but the gap in foundations was vast, and his consumption of vital ether was far greater. In a fight to the death, Wu Yuan would certainly be the one forced to retreat.

But with his mana body's assistance, things were naturally different.

Holy Emperor Qian Yang succumbed to illusions time and again, only able to muster the combat power of a Threshold Saint. Naturally, he was swiftly suppressed and slaughtered by Wu Yuan.

As the battle's reverberations rapidly dissipated, Wu Yuan's ether body collected the treasures dropped by the Holy Emperor with a wave of his hand. A flicker of surprise crossed his face before he carefully masked his reaction.

The reason for his surprise? Many of the Xiantian artifacts still bore their owner's vital aura imprint. When the owners of Xiantian artifacts died or lost connection to them, their vital aura imprints typically weakened considerably, making it simple to replace with a new owner’s. Yet Wu Yuan could clearly sense vibrant, intact vital aura imprints on the armor and storage artifacts he'd collected.

This could only mean one thing—Holy Emperor Qian Yang somehow still lived.

This shouldn’t be. Wu Yuan thought, his mind racing with bewilderment. Even with another mana body or ether body, this physical form was unquestionably his true self—a Saint. When he'd slain True Saint Xiao Yao and others hundreds of thousands of years ago, no such anomaly had occurred.

Wu Yuan shook his head and suppressed his concerns for the moment, shifting his attention to the dozen Saints watching from a distance.

With a flash, his white-robed mana body materialized beside his ether body. His mana body's frigid gaze swept over the assembled Saints, causing Saint Jiu Xing, Saint Shang Yue, Saint Fei Hua, and the others to shudder involuntarily.

Having witnessed the battle and experienced the illusory techniques firsthand, these Saints understood the terrifying capabilities of the white-robed Overlord; he was no weaker than Overlord Wu Ji. Working in concert, the two had defeated Holy Emperor Qian Yang with astonishing speed. Should they choose to slaughter the remaining Saints, their deaths were virtually assured.

"Wu Ji... Overlord Wu Ji." Saint Shang Yue gathered his courage to speak. "Are you truly an Overlord?"