Chapter 166 : The Only Chance

The Withered Tree stood in the eternal twilight.

Countless golden flames engulfed it, as if seeking to burn it to ashes in that moment.

Black sword flashes flickered endlessly, tearing through the flame clouds and slashing across the sky.

The entire world seemed caught in a constant cycle of dawn and dusk.

Whoosh—

Another black sword flash shot toward the sky, locking onto the divine shadow high above.

The divine shadow erupted with divine power, raising its ancient greatsword to meet the sword flash.

Boom—!

The power of divinity and the Eightfold Fusion Sublimation Power exploded together.

The divine shadow was also affected.

Its arm cracked, shoulder armor shattered, and illusory god-blood splattered outward.

But soon—

The divine imprint on its chest lit up again.

Countless divine powers answered the call, gathering toward the wound.

The injury healed at a visible rate.

The hand that Lu Mo had cut off earlier had now completely regenerated.

In a short time, Lu Mo had clashed with the divine shadow countless times.

Several times, she had managed to wound it using the Fusion Sublimation Power.

Yet soon after, the divine imprint would light up.

And the wounds would recover as if nothing had happened.

The divine shadow’s body was fundamentally made of divinity.

It seemed that as long as the divine imprint remained, it would never disappear.

In contrast—

Lu Mo’s condition was far more miserable.

Drip—

Drip—

Blood continuously dripped from her hand, falling onto the ground along the Final Annihilation Sword.

Her body was covered with many wounds.

And within the illusory divine kingdom filled with divine power, the divine poison she had suppressed earlier had awakened once more.

Divine matter flooded into her wounds.

Further intensifying the divine poison.

It began to corrode her meridians.

Tearing at her soul.

Bringing intense pain.

At the same time—

The entire illusory divine kingdom was burning.

The blazing divine fire scorched her body.

Slowly turning her black, elegant skirt to ash.

She looked up.

The divine shadow still towered above.

It gazed down at the divine kingdom.

Without pity.

Without mercy.

It looked at Lu Mo as if she were the most insignificant mortal on the earth.

Like…

Looking down at an ant.

Just as the woman had said.

This was destined to be an uneven battle.

Even though Lu Mo had created the Eightfold Fusion Sublimation Power.

This power only gave her the bare minimum required to touch the divine shadow.

That was all.

None of the Starry Sky level Demon Kings in history had been able to truly contend with the divine shadow; they had ultimately fallen.

Let alone Lu Mo, who was only at the Heavenly Imperial level.

She was already strong.

Stepping into the Heavenly Imperial level at a young age.

Fusing the power of humans and demons.

Even capable of wounding the divine shadow with her Fusion Sublimation Power.

But in the end, she was still too young.

She needed to grow.

She needed more time.

Only then could she become a being capable of shaking the divine shadow.

But now—

She had no time left.

What the girl faced was a sea of fire.

A magnificent kingdom.

A shadow left in this world by a god.

And all she had—

Was herself.

And the sword in her hand.

“Recovered again, huh…”

Lu Mo stared at the divine shadow, speaking coldly.

She had wounded it many times.

But now, those wounds had nearly vanished.

To put it in self-deprecating terms—

The speed at which she dealt damage couldn’t even keep up with its regeneration rate.

“Still, the previous attacks weren’t meaningless.”

Lu Mo had roughly calculated the divine shadow’s recovery pattern.

At the same time, she had confirmed one thing.

All of the divine shadow’s power—

Whether for offense or recovery—

Came from the divine imprint on its chest.

The divine imprint was the core of everything.

And also her only chance.

Destroy the divine imprint!

But the question was—

How?

Only the Eightfold Fusion Sublimation Power could harm the divine shadow.

Yet the divine shadow was extremely fast.

Both offensive and defensive.

Currently, the only things that could truly wound it were the sword flashes and some black withered branches.

In this situation, landing a precise hit on the divine imprint was as difficult as reaching the heavens.

“Unless…”

Lu Mo slowly tightened her grip on the sword hilt.

Unless—

She engaged in close-quarters combat.

Find an opening.

But that would also mean—

She would have to bear the full suppression of the divine shadow head-on.

As the master of the illusory divine kingdom, the divine suppression around the divine shadow was dozens, even hundreds of times greater than in any other part of the kingdom.

Yet this was also Lu Mo’s only option.

Just then—

A low hum echoed from the sky again.

Lu Mo looked up.

The space behind the divine shadow was completely ignited.

It began to distort.

Countless golden flames converged.

Finally forming countless burning swords.

The divine shadow had fully locked onto her.

And at that moment, all the burning swords trembled simultaneously.

Their tips—

All pointed at Lu Mo!

As the divine shadow swung its sword—

The countless burning swords fell with a crash!

Wherever the sword shadows passed—

Space shattered completely!

Lu Mo instantly unleashed the Eightfold Fusion Sublimation Power.

Countless withered branches shot up to meet the attack.

At the same time, she slashed out black sword flashes.

Boom—!

Black swept across.

A large number of burning swords were annihilated on the spot.

But there were simply too many swords.

One after another.

An endless stream.

After the Eightfold Fusion Sublimation Power collapsed, they continued to bombard the girl.

Finally—

They engulfed Lu Mo completely.

Boom!!!

A massive golden flame surged upward.

Lu Mo’s figure vanished.

The divine shadow watched coldly.

Without joy.

Without sorrow.

The flames continued to burn fiercely.

No movement came from within.

After a moment—

The divine shadow slowly descended.

Walking toward the sea of fire.

It wanted to personally confirm Lu Mo’s death.

But then—

Whoosh—!

A sudden change occurred!

A black sword shadow burst out from the fire without warning!

At the same time—

The girl’s figure also broke through the flames!

She did not retreat.

She did not create distance.

Gripping the Final Annihilation Sword,

She charged straight at the divine shadow!

The tip of the sword was pointed—

At the divine imprint!

This move was nothing short of madness.

Daring to launch a close-quarters assault on the divine shadow—

It was equivalent to seeking death.

And at that moment—

The divine shadow erupted with even more terrifying light and heat.

The illusory divine kingdom trembled violently.

The surrounding space began to melt.

Crack apart.

Annihilate.

The divine suppression skyrocketed wildly—

Far surpassing anything before!

Any mortal creature caught in this would instantly turn to nothing.

Not even ashes would remain.

Yet—

Lu Mo did not vanish.

She withstood all of it.

Her aura did not diminish.

Her momentum did not wane.

She still charged at the divine shadow!

Clang—!

A clear sword cry resounded across heaven and earth.

The Final Annihilation Sword—

Finally clashed head-on with the ancient longsword in the divine shadow’s hand!

And at this moment—

The divine shadow finally saw Lu Mo clearly once more.

The girl’s entire body—

Was covered in a faint, extremely unstable blackness.

As if she had merged with that darkness.

That blackness—

Was all Eightfold Fusion Sublimation Power!

Lu Mo had chosen to integrate the extremely unstable Eightfold Fusion Sublimation Power into her own body!

Only by doing so could she gain the qualification to fight the divine shadow in close quarters.

And only by doing so could she seize—

That one and only chance.