Li Qiye laughed at his silent foes and said: “Unfortunately, it is already too late. It depends on your own abilities if you will live now or the true resources of your sect.”
Having said that, immortal rays swept down from the Peacock Tree. Time seemed to have stopped completely with their coming.
“Activate!” The group all took action at the same time and used their weapons' ultimate attacks.
They wanted to disperse the tree's power and shatter the temporal stagnation.
“Rumble!” Even these weapons failed to stop the descending immortal rays. All were blown away while vomiting blood.
Everyone in Heaven Spirit gasped at this sight. Even these so-called assailants couldn't withstand the attack.
“Unfortunately, you're not real assailants.” Li Qiye laughed at them again.
In a short time, they all turned pale. This was the power of a treefather so there was a great disparity. Moreover, they had just fought earlier so their blood energy was depleted.
Ling Fengyun was doing better than the rest so he was only pushed backward and weren't injured, unlike the rest.
When a treefather returned to the void and the earth to become an ancestral tree, it was one with the world. Even emperors would have a hard time affecting it so needless to say more about this group. If they were real assailants, they could probably escape from the Peacock Tree. Alas, their title was in name only.
“Brace the attack and find an opening!” Fengyun shouted at the group.
He put on a stoic expression. This would be the second toughest fight of his life. The first was, of course, the bout with Immortal Emperor Hao Hai.
“Boom!” He roared crazily. His vitality surged like a waterfall and at the same time, he used his longevity blood to wake up the sea gods' weapons around him.
An immortal light also oozed out of his body in the form of rays. They came together to form a wondrous flame with the appearance of a pair of wings supporting him.
He looked like a giant at this moment as if he was capable of shouldering the world. At this point, he didn't care for anything else. If he didn't go all out right now, there was no chance of leaving this place alive today.
“Come, show me how strong you really are!” With an engulfing aura, he was much more powerful and ferocious compared to his allies. His domineering presence had no bounds; this was the temperament of an Emperor Assailant.
Once again, he wasn't a real one but many accepted his title and achievements including the peak existences.
“This is Ling Fengyun's true power. Just his cultivation alone could probably take on two Stygian Monarchs!” Even the masters outside of the cliff said with emotions.
“I heard you borrowed an Immortal Emperor True Treasure from the Gu Chun's four branches to fight against Immortal Emperor Hao Hai back then. Unfortunately, you won't be so lucky today. Plus, I'm not the emperor. He didn't use his true fate weapon because he appreciated your talents and achievements so you were able to make it to two hundred moves. I'm afraid your death is certain today though.”
Alas, Li Qiye paused for a bit before making a proposal: “Like you have said before about your love for talents, I have it as well. Submit to me and not only will I spare you life, I will show you the way so that you can become a true Emperor Assailant.”
Everyone in the world was stunned after hearing this. There was no doubt that Li Qiye wouldn't spare the others but he was willing to spare Ling Fengyun. They all waited for Fengyun's answer with bated breath.
“I shall fight to the end even when knowing death is on the horizon. I didn't die to an Immortal Emperor but dying to a genius with thirteen palaces won't besmirch my life at all.” Fengyun laughed heroically with a rising momentum and spirit.
He has realized something and was ready to go all out with no fear of death in battle today!
In his eyes, the outcome of this fierce battle might not be as favorable as the one with Immortal Emperor Hao Hai.
In the past, he made perfect preparation to fight the emperor and even borrowed a true treasure from the four branches in order to exert his strongest battle potential. Moreover, that was the year when he was at his highest state in dao enlightenment and vitality.
But as Li Qiye has said, the emperor didn't have his true fate weapon, only his bare hands. Ling Fengyun managed to endure two hundred moves before losing to the emperor. However, the emperor didn't choose to kill him.
He paid a great price because of this battle. Not only did he consumed a monstrous amount of blood energy, he also expended a shocking portion of his lifespan near the point of depletion.
These injuries didn't heal until a long time after he sealed himself for recovery.
“Commendable courage.” Li Qiye said with a smile: “So be it, have your wish.”
With that, the immortal rays from the Peacock Tree went straight at Ling Fenyun with considerable pressure.
“Open!” With his cry, the sea gods' weapons came back to life. Two majestic figures emerged; they were the intents of the Roaring Conch's two sea gods.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” Both figures entered Fengyun's body, making it grow even larger. He looked just like an avatar with sea gods' laws circulating around him. In the blink of an eye, he assumed the appearance of a sea god that could soar above the nine heavens!
“Bang!” Fengyun has finally made his move by raising both hands to the sky to stop the incoming immortal rays.
“Rumble!” The entire world shook as if his palms were actually shaking it. He was able to shoulder this immense mass and the immortal rays from the Peacock Tree due to his own power and the help of the sea gods' weapons.
“So strong!” Many cultivators were stunned after seeing this.
“That's Ling Fengyun for you, still someone who could fight against an emperor.” The masters present were astonished by his power.
Creek Bamboo had two treefathers from his branch and Shen Mengtian was called a teacher because some emperors have asked him questions before. However, in terms of cultivation, the two of them didn't live up to their fame.
In fact, these two and even Stygian who has fought all over the nine worlds have never fought against an emperor. They might have contended against a young emperor before ascension but not against one with a Heaven's Will.
On the contrary, the youngest among them, Ling Fengyun, has fought against a real emperor before, one of the most brilliant ones at that.
“Very strong indeed.” Li Qiye smiled at this spectacle: “Unfortunately, you lack the might in the past since you haven't recovered fully.”
With that, the Peacock Tree became even brighter with more rays descending down. They completely suppressed Fengyun's body this time around.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Fengyun struggled this time because the Peacock Tree has exuded its origin power. It wasn't only coming from the tree itself but from the earth itself.
This copy from the World Seal might be inferior to the real thing but it was much stronger than an avatar type of technique. It could exert at least fifty to sixty percent of the real tree. If Li Qiye went all out, it might even reach seventy percent.
Thus, it was easy to imagine that regardless of how strong Fengyun might be, he couldn't withstand it any longer.