From high above, another Ninety-Eight Seals descended.
Old First was furious. He opened his mouth. Taking advantage of the moment when Huo tried to ambush Ancestor Shan, Old First swallowed the entire attack with one gulp.
Ancestor Shan was panting heavily. The colors that mottled their skin steadily turned ashen.
Old Fourth and Old Fifth watched while grieving. Ancestor Shan was both their ancestor and their father.
Suddenly, the ancient toad leaped up and threw a palm strike at a distant streak of blue light. That light was Lan Meng, who had laid down within a blue coffin to escape. Crossing a vast distance, Ancestor Shan’s palm strike cracked the blue coffin.
The attack revealed the true gap between the toad and Lan Meng. It should not have come. It should not have listened to that being and tried to come kill the old monster. Ancestor Shan was a true ancient powerhouse.
The toad prepared to throw a second palm strike when a scream caused their attention to shift.
In the distance, Old First’s mouth had been torn open, yet the toad was still forcing himself to swallow something.
Ancestor Shan shouted, “Open your mouth!”
Old First clenched his jaw tight, steadfastly refusing.
Ancestor Shan sent a slap whipping over, and Old First was sent flying. Finally, the toad’s mouth opened, exposing Huo within.
At this moment, Huo looked completely different from before. The surface of its body should have had roiling currents of energy moving about, but at this moment, those currents were boiling as if they were liquid. It looked as if the creature had been dipped into scalding hot water. Its huge eyes were pale and unfocused, and yet they strangely remained locked onto Ancestor Shan.
The ancient toad nodded. “I knew that you still had this move. By paying the price of death, a second Life Overreach can be used. I saw this once before when I fought against your Blacklight Civilization. What a pity: the strongest of that era of your kind wasn’t able to break through to the level of the One-Hundredth Seal, even at the price of death.”
“But they created the One Hundredth Seal and passed it down to us so that we could take revenge,” Hong replied. It was also not dead. Rather, just like Huo, the surface of the Blacklight creature boiled as though it were liquid.
Ancestor Shan had shattered Hong’s body. More than half of it was gone. In fact, less than one-tenth remained intact, which was even worse than what had happened to Kui. Even so, Hong still lived.
The second use of Life Overreach caused both Immortals to radiate terrifying pressure.
Old First’s mouth had clearly been ripped open, and yet he still charged towards Ancestor Shan.
Old Fourth and Old Fifth rushed forward at the same time.
“Child, take them away!” Ancestor Shan barked.
Old First roared, “I’m not leaving! Seven-Treasure Anuras do not fear death!”
Old Fourth glanced over at Lu Yin. “Don’t come over here.”
Lu Yin exchanged looks with Mister Mu, unsure of what to do. What was freshest in his memory was what Ancestor Shan had just mentioned: it was watching. Who was the toad referring to? What did it want?
Ancestor Shan sighed and looked at Old First. “Watch carefully. See your old man off on this final road. You still have a future—live.”
After speaking, the toad’s body vanished. When they reappeared, they were already right in front of Old First. With his back to Lu Yin, Ancestor Shan opened his mouth and uttered something before flinging Old First over to Lu Yin in a single motion. Then, the ancient monster did the same to Old Fourth and Old Fifth.
It seemed that none possessed the power to resist Ancestor Shan. Neither Lan Meng, Old First, nor even Huo and Hong after using Life Overreach for a second time to elevate their strength could do so.
Not one was any different at all. None could resist. This was an irresistible power.
Seizing the chance, Lu Yin teleported away with Old First and the others, placing some distance between all of them and the continuing battle.
They reappeared a great distance away.
Far away, Huo unleashed the Darksky Seals, this time using Ninety-Nine Seals. It was the most powerful level that any creature had ever achieved throughout the history of the Blacklight Civilization. The only level above that was the legendary One-Hundredth Seal.
But no one was able to use the One-Hundredth Seal anymore, as all of the black plates had vanished with the spatial distortion.
The Ninety-Nine Seals was able to surround all of Huo’s surroundings, encompassing an extremely vast region. But before Ancestor Shan, Huo did not increase the area. All it needed to do was grind the old monster to death. The Blacklight Civilization endured, and in the future, powerful Blacklight creatures would rise to power once more.
Huo had escaped once before. It did not want to do so a second time.
Hong’s fate was a pity. It should have served as the Blacklight Civilization’s protector, but it had instead joined Huo’s last battle. Fine, we’ll end it together.
With the Darksky Seal’s Ninety-Nine Seals and two uses of Life Overreach, Huo and Hong manifested far greater power than ever before, and they prepared to fight Ancestor Shan to the death.
If Lu Yin or any of the others were to try to face the current Huo or Hong, they would stand no chance. By paying the price of death, the two creatures had gained nearly invincible power.
Even Old First’s Skyeater had been torn apart, which had been beyond Huo’s abilities in the past. The Blacklight creature’s strength was completely different from before.
From far away, Lu Yin and the others watched on in shock.
Ancestor Shan’s unmatched power had started receding the moment that he had attacked Lan Meng. At first, no one had been able to withstand even a single move from the ancient toad, but at the moment, the two Blacklight creatures were able to fight back. The battle was brutal.
Everyone watched as Ancestor Shan’s body was torn open by Hong. They watched as the toad’s legs were crushed by Huo. Hong was slapped by Ancestor Shan, shattering into fragments, clearly dead and gone.
The blows also scattered Huo’s body. Again and again, the two tangled together. Again and again, they fought. Blood stained the Aevum Inch as black plates cracked.
Old First and the others rushed forward in a frenzy, but Lu Yin stood in place and simply watched.
Ancestor Shan had lived for so long and perfectly embodied the concept of an Immortal. Even so, at this moment, the ancient powerhouse still walked toward death.
There was no truly eternal creature. Eternal life was itself a mistake.
All of them would eventually die as well; it was just a question of sooner or later.
Old First and the others moved closer and closer to where Ancestor Shan fought. They approached the Ninety-Nine Seals, yet they lacked the power to change anything at all.
Ancestor Shan thrust his hands through Huo’s body, destroying both of its eyes. A violent twist ripped Huo in two. At the same time, Huo’s hooked claws stabbed into Ancestor Shan’s body, tearing the toad open as well.
Old First and the others frantically charged forward, yet they could not stop the battle. They were not even able to enter the Ninety-Nine Seals.
Only after Huo was completely destroyed by Ancestor Shan did the Ninety-Nine Seals fall away.
With his back to Old First and the other Seven-Treasure Anuras, as well as to Lu Yin and Mister Mu, Ancestor Shan stared upwards. “I’ve lived too long... Tired... Living for too long is in itself a mistake, a kind of mistake. If one makes a mistake, they should correct it.
“Watch carefully: this is the ultimate mastery of Anura’s Star-Plucking Hands.”