Chapter 734: The Star Emperor Takes Action

A terrifying aura.

A giant hand took form.

In the blink of an eye.

Before Yang Xiao could even react, it had seized him.

It held him in a death grip.

A suffocating sensation.

Washed over him.

Yang Xiao discovered he was completely powerless to resist.

He had the Divine General Talisman, which allowed him to display power comparable to a Tier One God King. In reality, however, even if he activated the talisman, he would only possess strength at the Divine General Level.

Trapped in the grip of Yuan Yang Immortal Monarch’s will, the most he could muster through his power-channeling techniques was strength at the Tier Six Divine Sect Level.

His ability to slay Xuyang Immortal Monarch and effortlessly obliterate countless Immortal Cultivators relied not on raw power, but on his lethal techniques. For instance, the Flame Emperor Divine Fist, which he had integrated into his very will, was enough to amplify his destructive capabilities by several thousand times that of an ordinary cultivator at his level.

Only when combined with the Bloodthirsty Divine Sword did he possess the combat prowess of a Tier One God King.

But the Yuan Yang Immortal Monarch before him…

Although just a Clone manifested from a sliver of will, his strength was comparable to that of a Top-tier Divine King.

He was more than ten thousand times stronger than Yang Xiao’s maximum combat strength.

Furthermore…

Yang Xiao, easily caught in his grasp and only able to muster the power of a Tier Six Divine Sect, was no different than an ant being pinched between his fingers.

He couldn’t move a muscle.

“You little worm. I almost thought you were something special, but I never expected you to be so pathetically fragile!”

At the same time,

Yuan Yang Immortal Monarch’s voice rang in his ears.

Perhaps his impression of Yang Xiao was too disagreeable, because at that moment, he was suddenly struck by the urge to toy with the little thing for a while.

And so,

he didn’t kill Yang Xiao right away.

Instead, he first tried to take the Supreme Treasure from within his body.

But the result…

…was failure.

“Damn that Profound Yellow Celestial Will Furnace! To think it would rather follow a piece of trash like this than obey my command! Hmph, how detestable. But do you think you can escape? I’ll kill this brat right now and see where you run then!”

With a cold snort,

Yuan Yang Immortal Monarch’s giant hand, which held Yang Xiao, suddenly tightened its grip.

The immense power…

In an instant,

…made Yang Xiao feel as if he had been crushed by countless mountains. The flow of his qi and blood seized up, and his face flushed crimson.

Moreover,

as the pressure continued to mount,

the aura of death

grew ever stronger.

What was even more terrifying,

was that every ounce of Yang Xiao’s own energy was being suppressed by Yuan Yang Immortal Monarch’s will-Clone, rendering him unable to mobilize even a single shred of it.

In this state, he was just like an ordinary person.

He didn’t have the slightest bit of strength to fight back.

Death was the only way out.

‘I’m still too weak,’ Yang Xiao thought. ‘I can handle those other opponents, but against an existence like this, I can’t even put up a fight. No matter how determined I am, it’s completely useless.’

Yang Xiao thought to himself.

But he didn’t despair.

He had simply come to terms with his likely fate.

Death.

Of course, he didn’t want to die.

However,

in the few short years since his rebirth, there was no way for him to have returned to his Peak.

In fact, when faced with such a powerful enemy, even if he had returned to his Peak, he wasn’t certain he could win against this man’s true form.

After all, this man—much like himself in his first life—seemed to possess the strength to contend with a Top-tier Emperor.

Even if this man were slightly weaker than he had been, he would still be incredibly difficult to deal with.

Now?

It was utterly impossible.

A mere Clone manifested from a sliver of will was enough to leave him completely helpless.

Between the two of them,

the gap was simply too vast.

So vast that even if Yang Xiao exhausted all his options, it would be utterly useless.

‘I never thought… in my second life, I died at the hands of the Lord of Immortal Dao. Now, in my third, I still can’t escape this kind of fate. Ha! I really wish I could kill a few more Immortal Daoists. Otherwise, I’ll die with this regret weighing on my soul!’

On the verge of death,

Yang Xiao felt not a shred of fear.

He had already died twice. This would be the third time.

When it came to dying,

one could say he was quite experienced.

Although he was indignant,

it was clear he wasn’t afraid in the slightest. He was just utterly unreconciled to it.

“Unreconciled? A little thing like you really thinks too highly of himself. To feel unreconciled even when dying at my hands? Tsk, tsk. Well, it can’t be helped. You’re going to die all the same. Who told you to take what isn’t yours and make an enemy of someone you shouldn’t have?”

Yuan Yang Immortal Monarch’s voice

drifted over once more, laced with sinister amusement.

But at that very moment,

his expression suddenly changed.

As for Yang Xiao,

his expression shifted as well.

He had sensed it too—from somewhere deep within his body, an unbelievably terrifying aura had just surged forth.

Immediately after,

the pressure crushing his body vanished.

He fell from mid-air, where Yuan Yang Immortal Monarch had held him captive, and landed back on the ground.

‘Am I saved?’

As the thought crossed his mind,

Yang Xiao saw it.

A familiar aura, an enraged figure, had appeared before him.

“Star Emperor!”

Yang Xiao looked surprised.

He originally thought that the will-imprint left in his body by Human Emperor Xuanyuan had activated to save him.

But he never expected

that it would be the Star Emperor.

But he soon put the pieces together.

‘That’s right. Human Emperor Xuanyuan’s will was exhausted when he fought the Star Emperor. He never saw me again after that, so how could he have left another imprint? But the Star Emperor… when did he leave an imprint on me? Damn it! These powerful old guys, always planting their will-imprints on me without so much as a word. How infuriating!’

Although having an imprint left on him didn’t really affect him,

Yang Xiao hated this feeling of not being in control, of being manipulated at others’ whims.

It was just like in his second life,

when he had been plotted against.

He detested it.

Even if these two men were protecting him, and even though both had now saved his life once,

Yang Xiao

still didn’t like it.

‘Strength. This is the consequence of not having enough of it. If I had the power to protect myself, why would I need them to plant their will-imprints on me? If I were just a little stronger, I should have been able to detect their meddling, instead of being so clueless that I don’t even know if their imprints are on me or not.’

Yang Xiao hated this feeling.

But right now,

he was powerless to resist.

Because,

he was too weak.

And just as Yang Xiao was lost in these thoughts,

the Star Emperor, standing not far away,

made his move.

He never would have imagined that this animal—the one who had caused his own daughter’s disappearance—could be so utterly heartless.

To try and kill his own son—the very grandson the Star Emperor himself had looked upon with disdain.

The man was nothing short of a monster!

In that instant,

the Star Emperor, who had been displeased with his grandson precisely because he was that man’s son,

felt his heart flood with nothing but guilt for the boy.

And boundless killing intent.

“That damned animal! He won’t even spare his own flesh and blood! He deserves to die! Today, even if the Ten Great Immortal Monarchs themselves were to appear, I, this Emperor, will make him pay the price he deserves!”

With a furious roar,

the Star Emperor unleashed his fury!