Chapter 522: Immortal and Indestructible (Two-in-One)

A fine layer of sweat beaded on Huo Tong's forehead.

The pressure radiating from the man across from her was unimaginably heavy.

Just him standing there doing nothing made her deeply uncomfortable. The surrounding air seemed to thicken, stifling her breath, as if a massive weight were pressing down on her head.

But that wasn't the main point.

After all, the man was a Ninth Tier. It would be abnormal if the pressure wasn't immense.

The key was that the pressure he exerted was even greater than Yan Jing's.

That was the crucial point.

She instinctively wanted to release her energy, but upon seeing the gaze behind the man's mask, she forcibly stopped herself.

She had no doubt that the second she entered a combat stance, the man would critically injure her.

"Very smart."

Merkel praised Huo Tong, then smiled:

"If you join my side now, you can take over Ah Shu's position."

Merkel's aged voice carried a natural confidence, as if he were simply stating a fact.

Hearing Merkel's "recruitment," Huo Tong's eyebrows twitched, but her body didn't move.

Merkel nodded:

"A pity. Still not smart enough."

"Forget it, then."

He shifted his gaze back to Yan Jing:

"You haven't answered me yet. How exactly do you want to die?"

Yan Jing smiled:

"Plenty of bluster, but sadly lacking in persuasion."

"Oh?"

Merkel raised an eyebrow:

"You think because I didn't kill you before, I won't kill you now?"

"You're wrong, dead wrong."

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly:

"You aren't as important as you imagine."

"And you've truly pissed me off."

The moment he finished speaking, countless branches erupted from the ice around Yan Jing. They intertwined, instantly forming an airtight cage that trapped him inside.

Huo Tong's expression changed instantly.

He had beaten them to the punch.

In clashes at this level, taking the initiative was sometimes enough to determine victory or defeat.

"Crunch, creak."

The branches, thick as pythons, continuously tightened, quickly shrinking to less than a cubic meter.

Yet no sound came from Yan Jing inside.

Merkel smiled disdainfully:

"It seems you still don't understand what a real battle is."

"Then I can teach you today."

"Elegance, status, etiquette—it's all bullshit."

"Only the winners deserve to live."

"Only the living have the right to run their mouths. Do you understand?"

He slammed his cane into the ground. Sharp, massive thorns instantly sprouted from the knotted trunks around them, shooting toward the small branch cage like an inescapable net.

Huo Tong stared at the overwhelming wave of giant thorns, her pupils trembling.

If this strike hit...

Yan Jing was finished.

But right now, let alone stepping in to save him, she was already trapped herself.

From those towering, layered trunks, many massive thorns surged directly toward the group in a mighty wave.

Huo Tong immediately formed hand seals. Boiling crimson magma materialized in her palms, wrapping around everyone.

The other Eighth Tiers also deployed their methods. For a time, brilliant lights flashed within this giant tree cage, barely fending off the massive thorns raining down from above.

But... beads of sweat formed on everyone's foreheads.

This was no easy task.

The opponent's strength was truly terrifying.

Those giant thorns carried an irresistible power, occupying a dimension far higher than the weird energy they wielded.

Huo Tong knew what it was: divinity.

Just mixing in a tiny bit was enough to fundamentally change the quality of anything, including strength.

The man across from them was no greenhorn who had just stepped into the Ninth Tier.

He was a near-god in the truest sense.

He wasn't too far off from becoming a Divine Envoy.

How could they win this battle?

Huo Tong poured out her internal energy without reservation, her face gradually turning pale.

Meanwhile, Merkel looked completely relaxed.

From start to finish, his gaze remained fixed solely on that small cage.

Killing the rest of them was just an afterthought.

The giant thorns pierced the thick walls of the small cage. A terrifying dark red seeped out along the spikes, making Huo Tong's heart clench violently. Yan Jing was bleeding.

This was her first time seeing Yan Jing bleed.

As expected... trying to face a Ninth Tier was just pushing it too far.

Beside her, some Eighth Tiers could no longer bear the pressure Merkel exerted. They yelled out, begging Merkel to spare them, declaring their willingness to surrender.

But Merkel didn't even look at them. He stared dead at the small cage, his gaze gradually shifting.

His originally mocking eyes were turning grim.

He took two steps forward and once again slammed his wooden cane down hard. This time, the trunks making up the small cage changed color, shifting from brown to deep black.

The momentum surged sharply.

Its originally slow tightening seemed to accelerate; the trunks ground against each other, the constricting speed multiplying several times over. The dark red on those giant thorns grew deeper and darker.

Yet for some reason, Merkel's expression remained incredibly grim.

As if this shouldn't be the result.

But in reality, it wasn't that the outcome displeased him.

It was that he couldn't sense the outcome inside that cage at all anymore.

Initially, he thought Yan Jing's fading presence meant he was marching toward death.

But then he realized something was wrong. The weakening of Yan Jing's aura felt more like a return to a natural state, making him nearly impossible to detect.

Meanwhile, his life signs hadn't diminished much.

He took another two steps forward, wanting to sense it more clearly.

But the moment he closed in.

The airtight cage suddenly disintegrated.

Like a towering sandcastle washed away by the tide, it instantly crumbled into dust.

Merkel found himself face to face with a blood-drenched Yan Jing, less than ten meters apart.

Nothing stood between them anymore.

The corners of Yan Jing's mouth ticked up.

The next second, a punch that had been gathering power for several minutes blasted forward.

This punch was slow.

So slow that Huo Tong could clearly trace its path. Every movement was incredibly simple and unadorned: a twist of the leg, a turn of the waist, pulling back the shoulder, and then the strike.

Yet by the time this punch ended in Huo Tong's eyes, she was shocked to realize that Merkel, who had been standing right in front of Yan Jing, was already flying backward, slamming into a giant tree.

Between him and Yan Jing lay a pitch-black path several meters wide and dozens of meters long. Its edges were shattered, harboring chaos within, devoid of any light. That was the space shattered by Yan Jing's punch.

Billowing black mist poured from Yan Jing's body as tentacles thrashed about. After throwing that punch, he didn't pause for a second. With a single stride, he appeared directly in front of Merkel.

And slammed both fists down!

"Boom!"

Thick vines sprouted from Merkel's chest, blocking Yan Jing's strike.

The ground beneath Merkel instantly caved in, forming a massive crater dozens of meters wide.

His suit was mostly torn to shreds, revealing a robust, bronze musculature completely unsuited to his apparent age. His right eye beneath the mask seemed to have been the primary target of the previous strike; it was now entirely blood-red, the pupil nowhere to be seen.

Tiny vines sprouted from around the eye and pierced the eyeball itself, attempting to repair it.

"You're courting death!!!"

He roared at Yan Jing, who was pressing down on him. Countless vines burst from his muscles and joints, reaching toward his attacker.

The tentacles surrounding Yan Jing also elongated. Scalp-numbing shrieks echoed in the air as they clashed against the vines.

Vaguely, everyone heard a woman's voice amidst the shrieks:

"Fuck! Let me test what you're made of!!!"

The vines and tentacles continuously intertwined, slashing out flashes of blades and swords in the air, accompanied by the endless ringing of clashing metal.

Sprawled on the ground, Merkel dug his feet fiercely into the dirt. A violent crackling, like popping beans, echoed from his body. Yan Jing felt an immense force surge from below before he was hurled away.

"With wood as the root!"

Merkel raised a hand. A dark green magic circle exuding a primordial aura materialized in front of him, locking onto Yan Jing in midair.

"With this man as the sacrifice!!!"

In an instant, a berserk, vicious aura rippled through the massive cage.

An ominous premonition rose in Yan Jing's heart. Without hesitation, he activated his second Praying for Death Evolution.

With a bang, the dark green magic circle before Merkel shattered. Before he could react, Yan Jing blinked.

Freeze Frame Moment.

Then.

A giant hand resembling withered bones materialized from the clouds and pressed down toward Merkel.

A terrifying vortex unfurled within the cage, spewing out rainbow light.

A dark green plague silently spread out, surrounding Merkel.

The weird energy in Yan Jing's body poured out recklessly.

In practically an instant, he unleashed the abilities of the three defeated entities recorded by the Crown.

And applied the buff of Peerless.

"Boom!"

An apocalyptic roar thundered out.

The ground inside the cage dropped by hundreds of meters under the strike. It turned into violent sand and dust that danced wildly within the enclosure, instantly burying everyone!

Yet Yan Jing didn't stop there. He swallowed a fruit and materialized the second form of his Fear Stance.

Giant trees like skyscrapers surged from the earth, while a throne entangled in silk threads materialized beneath him.

He gradually rose into the air and gently raised a hand. Countless Thorns materialized, pointing at Merkel's previous location.

The Fear Thorns tore through space like streaks of pitch-black lightning, plunging toward the ground.

After doing all this, Yan Jing frowned slightly.

He still felt something was off.

As for exactly what...

The next instant, the throne beneath him seemed to sense something and forcibly dragged him aside.

A beam of green light slashed down right beside Yan Jing, cleanly shearing off a corner of the throne.

Yan Jing grunted, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

He turned his head to look across.

He saw that Merkel's lower body was gone; his heavily scarred upper body had sprouted straight from a giant tree.

The dead-wood cane in his hand had now sprouted a tender, emerald green bud at its tip.

That prior beam of green light had been slashed out by that very bud.

Staring at Yan Jing, a vicious light exploded in Merkel's eyes. The next second, his figure merged into the giant tree and vanished.

Clearly, this was his ultimate move.

The ability to move freely among these massive trees.

Yan Jing was expressionless.

This was a Ninth Tier.

If he were an Eighth Tier, perhaps he could just rely on brute strength to rip these giant trees apart.

But he wasn't.

If he didn't put his life on the line...

...his chances of winning weren't great.

Of course, he had prepared for this before coming here.

"Hum."

A glint of green light lit up between Yan Jing's brows.

As the light flickered, all those skyscraper-like giant trees were absorbed back into Yan Jing's body.

The aura that had been savage enough to tear space apart completely vanished.

At this moment, Yan Jing seemed to have returned to normal.

But this was merely a facade.

The next second, another streak of green light slashed down from behind him. Yan Jing gently sidestepped, dodging the attack.

Merkel, appearing behind him, looked stunned.

He hadn't expected that the man before him hadn't been using his full strength earlier.

Yan Jing's current form was clearly a whole tier stronger than before!!!

Yan Jing turned around and smiled at Merkel:

"You only get one chance."

Merkel fell silent.

It was true, he only had one chance.

If Yan Jing could still use the method that froze him earlier...

Once he failed to retreat into the tree in time and was frozen...

Facing Yan Jing's current form, he would highly likely be finished instantly.

Sue for peace?

His hand gripping the branch trembled continuously. He was unwilling to accept it.

Who was he?

A Ninth Tier!

There weren't even ten Ninth Tiers in the entire Great Prison!!!

He had spent his whole life, an entire lifetime, to reach this position!

What was the guy across from him?

A prisoner!

An ant he previously thought he could casually crush to death!

On what grounds?!

He couldn't wrap his head around it, so he refused to simply make peace.

But just as he was agonizing over it, a scoff suddenly drifted into his ears.

Merkel raised his head and saw the smile on Yan Jing's face.

It was so contemptuous, brimming with disdain and derision.

Seeing Yan Jing's expression, the hatred deep in Merkel's bones thoroughly erupted.

"Come!!!"

Enraged, his figure instantly dove into the giant wood.

Streak after streak of green light slashed out from the massive tree.

Yan Jing constantly dodged.

He looked relaxed, but in reality, the pressure was far from light.

The third form of his Fear Stance wasn't limitless.

Once this form timed out, the battle would likely be declared over.

But Merkel offered him no such opening.

Extreme rage ensured he didn't pull his punches, keeping his mental focus at its absolute peak.

The moment a strike went out, he immediately retracted his figure.

He wouldn't even stick around to see if it landed.

As time ticked by, Yan Jing's speed gradually slowed down.

Merkel obviously noticed this as well.

Yet he still didn't drop his guard.

He had already tasted this man's treachery. The experience forged from crawling out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood absolutely forbade him from making the same mistake twice.

Furthermore, he never forgot the ability Yan Jing had used to break his magic circle.

If Yan Jing could still use it...

So he wasn't in a rush at all.

Until he saw Yan Jing's current form completely vanish, he would absolutely not act rashly.

Just like that, the two engaged in a bitter struggle for an unknown amount of time.

Until both were utterly exhausted. Until their speeds began to drop. Until their striking power weakened.

Until the mark between Yan Jing's brows faded completely.

Merkel finally sensed it.

Sensed his opportunity.

His palms were burning frantically.

It all came down to this strike.

He looked at a spot he had calculated in his head thousands of times.

He was very clear that Yan Jing could not possibly use that previous ability to neutralize this strike.

Because his speed could no longer keep up with him.

He was going to win!

He felt his heart pounding wildly in his chest. How long had it been since he'd fought a battle like this?

Or faced such a thorny opponent.

He took a deep breath, maintaining his final shred of calm.

There could be absolutely no mistakes.

Just like that, he appeared at that predetermined spot.

The branch in his hand slashed down.

Accurately striking Yan Jing right on the neck.

"Swish."

Yan Jing's head and body split in two.

He had won!!!

Merkel roared wildly in his heart.

At this moment, he was excited to the absolute peak. His body, having already reached its limit, trembled uncontrollably.

He remained in this state of euphoria right up until Yan Jing's fist landed on his neck.

Right up until the agonizing pain struck.

"What's the... meaning of this..."

He raised his eyes, looking at Yan Jing, whose head was right back on his neck. His shattered mind simply couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Yan Jing smiled at him and blinked.

The Crown.

immortal and indestructible.