The world turned white for the three cultivators fighting the Astral Emperor, each pushing themselves to their limits to defend against the monstrous attack unleashed on them. Daoist Eternal Weapon swung his hammer upwards, while Thunderfist and the Grand Elder each unleashed a ranged battle art towards the attack.
The three attacks slammed against the Astral Supernova, and were swallowed within. The three felt absolute shock as their combined attacks failed to stop the Astral Emperors attack. It had weakened it considerably, but not stopped it. Their hearts shuddered with realization; the Astral Emperor was strong enough to outmatch the three of them combined.
Daoist Eternal Weapon's massive body and hammer were launched backwards dozens of miles, while Thunderfist and the Grand Elder were drowned within the blast, their figures disappearing within.
Daoist Eternal Weapon shook his head, shaking the haze from his mind. He instantly sped back towards the spot of the attack, his forge appearing before him like a ghost as he summoned it. His hammer swung down with his full power, unleashing a Forge of Desolation towards the Astral Emperor who hovered high in the sky.
The Astral Emperor casually glanced at the oncoming attack, as if it meant nothing to him. His finger pointed towards Daoist Eternal Weapon, whose eyes went wide.
"Astral Supernova!"
Another blast of apocalyptic astral energy blasted out, just as strong as the first attack the Astral Emperor had unleashed. Daoist Eternal Weapon raised his hammer once more and slammed it down onto his forge, unleashing a second Forge of Desolation.
Boom!
The first Forge of Desolation slammed against the Astral Supernova, creating an explosion of incomparable destruction. The explosion swallowed the land for hundreds of miles. An attack pierced through the explosion cloud, directly towards Daoist Eternal Weapon.
Boom!
The second Forge of Desolation blasted against the Astral Supernova, creating another ruinous explosion. This time, the two attacks canceled each other out, causing Daoist Eternal Weapon to frown. He had required two Forge of Desolations to equal one Astral Supernova, and that was assuming the Astral Emperor was going all out.
Two figures suddenly appeared next to Daoist Eternal Weapon, smoke drifting off both their bodies. Thunderfist and the Grand Elder stared at the Astral Emperor with narrowed gazes, their bodies showing signs of damage from that last attack.
"So, this is the Astral Emperor," the Grand Elder said gravely, "his reputation as the pinnacle genius of the world is well earned."
Thunderfist wanted to scoff and rebuke the claim, but he couldn't. He felt his blood rushing through his body, his battle lust surging with excitement.
"Good! If he was less than the legends, then it would have been quite disappointing," Thunderfist said, his gaze wary but excited.
"How many of those attacks do you think he can unleash?" Thunderfist asked the two others.
"Not sure, but it can't be too many," Daoist Eternal Weapon said, gaze narrowed at their opponent. "The Qi expenditure for such an attack must be monstrous."
The two others nodded their heads, agreeing with the assessment.
The Astral Emperor, hovering patiently in the sky, suddenly raised his hand towards the three once more. Their gazes wavered as they each prepared to unleash their strongest counterattacks.
The expected Astral Supernova did not come.
Instead, a ball of incredible energy formed in the space between the three, shocking them completely. It had appeared there without them even detecting its formation. The ball exploded with incredible might, forming a star several feet across. The star was pure white in color, and gave off an incredible heat.
The three moved in an instant, fleeing from the surprise attack. Their eyes widened as they realized they were moving towards the small star, despite their efforts to flee.
Bang!
The three slammed into the star, Daoist Eternal Weapon's massive body dwarfing the other two. They were locked in place against the terrifying star, as if they had been glued to it. The star seared their flesh, feeling as though it was about to burn each of them to a crisp.
Each struggled with gritted teeth as they pushed their cultivation to the limit, flaring with their full power.
They finally managed to pry themselves off the star, and their eyes flickered with shocked realization after getting some distance from it. The star had not sucked them in. Gravity had done so!
The star created by the Astral Emperor had been so dense that it had completely warped gravity around it, to the point that even they found it nearly impossible to resist. Their eyes widened as they felt a horrifying energy approach from the Astral Emperors direction.
Bang!
Another Astral Supernova blasted into them, and this time they were not fully prepared to defend against it. Each of the three were blasted backwards through the sky, their flesh searing, bones cracking, and blood tumbling. Only Daoist Eternal Weapon remained mostly unharmed thanks to his body cultivation, while the other two felt themselves nearly overwhelmed by the attack.
They finally managed to fight back against it, Thunderfist unleashing a massive explosion of lightning, and the Grand Elder unleashing a defensive formation to push the blast away. They dashed out of the blast, which continued to sail through the sky until it slammed against the distant formation barrier.
The blast exploded with calamitous power, and the formation barrier cracked in a thousand places, like a spider-web forming on the formation. It was about to break!
The three gathered once more, and stared at the Astral Emperor. They no longer cracked any jokes, or dared to look down on him at all. Each felt their stomachs drop as they inspected their opponent, and noticed something horrifying.
"His Qi has hardly dropped at all," the Grand Elder noted, his eyes narrowed with grim realization.
The two others nodded. The Astral Emperor's attacks that they needed to use everything to defend against was something that didn't strain him at all to use. He could most likely unleash dozens of those attacks, or perhaps even more. They would not be able to unleash that many of their full powered attacks. The reality was clear for them to see. They would lose if things continued this way.
The Grand Elder sighed, and then moved forward, placing himself between the Astral Emperor and his two companions. Their eyes flickered in realization, a grim expression appearing on both their faces.
"Has it truly come to this?" Thunderfist asked, his teeth gritted.
"It has," the Grand Elder said calmly, as if he had accepted whatever fate awaited him. "Once I activate it, do not hold yourselves back. There is no changing my fate once it is activated, so use my power to your fullest extent. Draw every last scrap from me, or my sacrifice will be in vain."
The two others remained silent, and then nodded in understanding, their faces grim and regretful.
"Good," the Grand Elder said, and whispered to himself.
"Heart of Vibrant Oblivion!"
The world seemed to go silent for a moment, and then it exploded with an awe-inspiring light, the source coming directly from the Grand Elder. Another light of the same nature exploded in the distance, the two pillars of light bathing the world with their brilliant radiance.
