I tried to kill the heroines of destiny, but they ended up chasing after me.

"Come on! You think you can use this false information to distract me? Dream on! Supreme magic, the divine transformation of heaven and earth!" As the giant sword and sword light drew closer and closer, Zhang Shen's face contorted with rage. He clasped his hands together and roared.

After abandoning his sword intent and using a secret technique from another world, his strength increased to a certain extent. Therefore, even though he knew that Jueyi's move was extremely terrifying, he showed no fear whatsoever.

At the same time, under his roar, countless black mists suddenly rose from his body, and then in front of him, three pitch-black leaves, like maple leaves, materialized side by side in the black mist.

As soon as they appeared, they moved rapidly toward the golden greatsword. However, they did not fly; instead, they drifted forward as if blown by the wind.

"Black Leaf?" Jue Yi murmured to himself upon seeing the three leaves, a sense of vigilance rising within him. However, he was not wary of Zhang Shen; he was only wary of the external secret techniques Zhang Shen was using.

In an instant, the first of the three leaves came into contact with Jueyi's golden giant sword. Strangely, the leaf did not seem to have any effect on the golden giant sword. As soon as the leaf touched the sword, it was completely obliterated by the powerful force of the golden giant sword. The only thing left after the leaf was obliterated was a faint trace of black at the point where the golden giant sword came into contact with it.

This wisp of black was quite ordinary, blending very well with the surrounding darkness. If you didn't look closely, you wouldn't be able to see it at all. Soon, the second leaf also came into contact with the golden giant sword, and like the first leaf, it disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye. But at this moment, the blackness seemed to have become even thicker.

Perhaps that's why Jueyi noticed this as well. He let out a soft sound of doubt and quickly focused his gaze on the black things. Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything unusual about them either. After all, he was from the True Profound Continent and still didn't understand the secret techniques of the outside world.

At that moment, the third leaf also came into contact with the golden giant sword. Just like the previous two, it quickly dissipated, leaving behind some black residue, as if these leaves had never appeared at all, which was astonishing.

All of this, from the moment Jue Yi launched his attack to the disappearance of the three leaves, only took two breaths. At this moment, the powerful golden giant sword was still attacking Zhang Shen, and Zhang Shen's crisis still existed.

Faced with this crisis, Zhang Shen remained completely unmoved. He stood in his original position, calmly staring at the golden giant sword, so calm that he revealed a puzzling smile.

When Jueyi saw that smile, his heart sank, and a bad premonition arose. Perhaps because of this, he raised an eyebrow and subconsciously retreated about a hundred meters, seemingly becoming more and more vigilant.

At the same time, the golden giant sword approached Zhang Shen, but just as the two were about to make contact, something unexpected, yet also reasonable, happened.

The golden giant sword disappeared, vanished inexplicably, and when it reappeared, its location had changed. It appeared where the decisive battle had been held and slashed fiercely down at that spot.

"What is this?!" Upon seeing this, Jue Yi was surprised again.

With this slash from the golden giant sword, the heavens and earth distorted, and a powerful force suddenly erupted in the darkness, causing the powerful barrier to emit a series of sounds. The ground below was completely destroyed; houses were gone, land was gone, and not even dust was raised. So, at a glance, all that remained was a layer of dark barrier.

The final battle's dark barrier covered everything from the sky to the ground, resembling a giant sphere. Now, as the battle between the two reached this point, only this giant sphere and a few powerful individuals remained in the area.

Unfortunately, the few members of the Imperial Sword Clan who were watching the show from a secluded place also lost their hiding place due to this change. Therefore, in order to avoid being affected by the aftermath, they had no choice but to leave and reveal themselves to Zhang Shen and Jue Yi.

"Stay away from them. We have neither the right nor the strength to participate in the war!" Zhang Hu said clearly.

Hearing his words and seeing the earth-shattering battle, the others nodded in agreement. In less than a few breaths, they reached the critical point of the dark barrier, but despite this, they also suffered some minor injuries.

"Such powerful strength!" Zhang Xuan thought to himself, while also considering what the final outcome would be if he really got involved in this battle.

Perhaps guessing Zhang Xuan's thoughts, Zhang Hu suddenly said to him, "If you can't even withstand one move, you might die a terrible death. It's not just you; it's the same for all of us."

Upon hearing this, everyone present fell silent, for he was telling the truth!

Looking at the battle now, the golden giant sword was slowly dissipating as it released its last bit of power, and the blackness that had previously been attached to the sword had also vanished without a trace.

Zhang Shen and Jue Yi locked eyes; the former's smile remained, while the latter's apprehension grew stronger.

"Not bad! Is this your intuition, or have you already seen through my attack?" Zhang Shen asked.

"I cannot yet see through the secret techniques of the outside world; I can only say... I was lucky," Jue Yi replied.

"Luck? Hmph! Well... do you want to try again?" Zhang Shen sneered.

But Jue Yi did not respond. He looked at Zhang Shen carefully and recalled the scene just now. He seemed to have a certain understanding in his heart, but he still did not attack again rashly.

He's not stupid; he won't fall for provocation.

"Tsk tsk tsk! Alright! Since you're not coming over, then I'll go over there." Zhang Shen said softly, and as soon as he finished speaking, the black mist around him began to churn again. In the blink of an eye, a black leaf identical to the one before quietly appeared in front of him.

However, this leaf was no longer the size of an ordinary leaf; it was more than twice the size.

"Then please watch closely as I unleash my ultimate secret technique!" With that, Zhang Shen stretched out his left hand and pointed sharply at Jue Yi.

As if receiving a command, the leaf... also quickly drifted towards Jueyi.

Chapter 227 Limit

The Icefield Cave is located deep underground.

After defeating Zhang Qing, Huang Quan did not leave immediately, but instead adjusted his breathing.

No matter what, Zhang Qing's strength should not be underestimated. Although he seemed to be fighting easily, he actually used all his strength. There were several times when he almost fell victim to Zhang Qing's moves. Fortunately, he survived. Otherwise, he might have been the one who ended up falling.

About half an hour later, Huang Quan, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, slowly opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of stale air, frowned, and muttered to himself, "After the trip to the Tree of Time, my strength has indeed increased, but I still have a hard time facing the Heavenly Lord. If it weren't for the awakening of the Time Technique this time, I probably wouldn't have been able to defeat her..."

"Most importantly, her Heavenly Monarch cultivation was forcibly boosted, and she's not as strong as a true Heavenly Monarch. Her true power usage is less than one-tenth of Zhu Yongyue's. In that case, if I were to encounter a true early-stage Heavenly Monarch, I could at most fight to a draw, and the possibility of defeat would be extremely high. If I were to encounter a mid-stage Heavenly Monarch, I would still have no choice but to flee..."

"My strength is still not enough!" Huang Quan's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, seemingly still somewhat dissatisfied with his own strength. After all, his situation was quite different from before. He only had about two years left to live, and he had so many things to deal with. He was already in a great hurry, so it was normal for him to think this way.

"Forget it! Let's take it one step at a time! Once these matters with the Emperor Sword Clan are resolved, I'll go into seclusion. I need to see Ancestor Zhenxuan again. I should be able to borrow some of the power of that Rubik's Cube, and if the remaining few words of the True Law are successfully activated, my power should be able to be further enhanced..."

"So the most important thing now is to leave here..." Huang Quan took another deep breath as he muttered to himself. Although he felt that his strength was not enough, he was not without a plan. He knew that he still had some untapped potential, and he also knew that as long as he could successfully develop that potential, he would definitely become one of the top people on the True Profound Continent. And all of this was just a matter of time.

Calming his mind, Huang Quan raised his head, and his gaze fell upon the sixth door of the passage, and upon Guo Qin, who had been standing at the sixth door.

Huang Quan knew very well that Guo Qin had lost her self-awareness and was just a puppet. She was no longer a living being, but a tool created by Zhang Qing to escape the woman in purple. Even so, Huang Quan would take her away because he had promised the Beast Taming Sect that he would find her and take her away.

With a swift movement, Huang Quan arrived in front of Guo Qin. After carefully observing Guo Qin's lifeless eyes, he shook his head and sighed as if talking to himself, "It's alright, it's all over. I will... take you home."

With that, Huang Quan flicked his sleeve and placed Guo Qin into a brand-new purple space bottle. This space bottle was of high quality; Huang Quan had recently purchased it in a small town. The greatswords he had used before also came from a small town. Perhaps it was to commemorate this that he bought these seemingly useless things for him!

After doing all this, Huang Quan finally turned his gaze to the seventh passage behind the sixth gate, and then prepared to step inside.

But in that instant, someone appeared in front of him.

This person was a woman, a woman dressed in purple, and she was the same woman in purple whom Huang Quan had seen in the Valley of the Princess. However, her appearance was very abrupt, so abrupt that even Huang Quan was a little caught off guard. But soon, Huang Quan's pupils dilated because he saw a scene that he could hardly believe.

The woman in purple was still beautiful, unlike any other woman or any beautiful scenery. Her beauty did not belong to this world, the future, or the past. It was a very strange feeling. But at this moment, what she was holding in her snow-white left hand broke her temperament and gave people a faint sense of vulgarity.

Those were two heads, heads of people the two knew in the underworld: one was Bamboo Girl, and the other was... Zhang Jian.

……

The sky was chaotic, and darkness stretched endlessly.

Seeing the black leaf approaching, Jue gritted his teeth. He knew that this black leaf was definitely not a simple thing, so he chose to retreat without hesitation. When facing the unknown, avoidance is indeed the best way.

However, under the control of the invisible wind, Black Leaf seemed to be locked onto Jueyi. Wherever Jueyi went, Black Leaf would drift there, as if it would follow him to the ends of the earth.

"One Leaf Heavenly Demon, Returning to the End of the Earth, this is the top secret technique of the Heavenly Demon Clan from another world. Not to mention you, even a powerhouse who has just stepped into the Heavenly Monarch realm might not be able to escape it. So you'd better obediently surrender!"

"Hehehe!" Watching Jueyi flee through the air, Zhang Shen continued to laugh loudly, "Don't bother guessing anymore. This secret technique doesn't cause any visible harm; it just controls whatever it comes into contact with. Just like what you saw earlier, I controlled your golden giant sword..."

"Of course, it can also control people. The essence of a demon is simply a life form corrupted by a powerful desire for control. That's why this demonic leaf will forcibly take over your mind the moment it touches you, causing your consciousness to slowly fade away..."

"Alas! What a pity! At my current level of cultivation, I can only control spells and weapons, which are things that have no consciousness. Otherwise, I would really like to have you as a powerful slave. But even so, this demonic leaf will still cause you some damage, at least enough to turn you into a mindless idiot..."

"And when that time comes, I will definitely kill you and let you meet your father. Don't thank me, I just did what I should do! Hahahaha!" At this moment, Zhang Shen's smile became even wider, and the speed of the demonic leaf was getting faster and faster, almost touching Jueyi several times.

"You're really spouting a lot of nonsense! You want to turn me into an idiot! Do you have the ability?" Jue Yi continued to mock Zhang Shen while moving quickly through the air, but at the same time he changed direction and charged directly at Zhang Shen. Judging from his fierce appearance, he seemed to want to fight back.

In fact, Jue Yi had long been prepared for Zhang Shen to use the secret techniques of another world, but he did not expect that Zhang Shen would completely abandon the fundamental sword intent of the Emperor Sword Clan and willingly transform himself into the inhuman and demonic form he is now. This was slightly different from his expectations, but even so, he was not completely powerless to fight back.

"My strongest technique is the Golden Light Greatsword, but with my current strength, I can only use it twice more. I must hit him accurately both times to have a chance to counterattack..." Thinking of this, Jueyi's gaze swept over Zhang Shen's three-meter-tall body.

“There are limits to power, so this guy can’t possibly stay in this half-human, half-demon state forever. The leaf behind me, under his control, must also consume most of his power. Moreover, he must have used a lot of power to control my golden greatsword just now, right?”

"Based on this calculation, he should be in a weakened state now, at least not much different from me. In other words, I still have a lot of opportunities..." At this moment, Jue Yi suddenly increased his speed, temporarily dodging Mo Ye. Then, his eyes flickered, and his right hand lightly raised, taking out another green sword.

This time, without much thought or even a few extra movements, he directly hurled the green sword at Zhang Shen in front of him!

"Hmph! Is it that easy?" Zhang Shen sneered, and then the surrounding black mist rose again, quickly forming a barrier in front of the green sword.

Soon enough, the two made contact, and the green sword disappeared into the black mist. When it reappeared, it was no longer green, but had turned black. Like the golden giant sword before, it turned towards Jueyi and launched a counterattack.

Perhaps anticipating this, Jue Yi simply waved his left hand, and the counter-attacking blue sword disappeared into the air. It seemed that this was just a test.

"The black mist around him seems to have the same effect as the black leaf, but what's strange is why he doesn't use the black mist to conjure more leaves for his attack? Is it because he thinks one leaf is enough, or is there another reason?" Jueyi pondered seriously.

"Could it be..." At this moment, Jueyi seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes flashed again: "That must be it. He can't perfectly control this secret technique yet, so he's a bit willing but unable to do it. If that's the case..."

"There's no other way! I can only take a gamble." After thinking it over, Jueyi had an idea. It was a risky idea, but for him, there seemed to be no better way.

After a while, once he had created some distance between himself and the demon leaf, he immediately stopped in mid-air. He clasped his hands together, shouted loudly, and rapidly circulated his physical strength and true energy, causing a golden sword identical to the one before to quickly materialize.

Golden light flashed, dispelling the darkness. However, this golden sword was not in front of him, but behind him. Moreover, this golden sword seemed to be smaller than the previous one, and its power seemed to be somewhat lacking. But what was more obvious was that he probably wanted to use this small golden sword to hinder the approach of the black leaves behind him.

"Oh? Hehehe! This golden sword has clearly weakened! It seems you've reached your limit too." Perhaps seeing through Jueyi's thoughts, Zhang Shen also increased the speed of Hei Ye, rushing straight towards the golden sword.

"Defeat you! That's enough!" Jueyi's eyes flickered slightly as he murmured.

Chapter 228 Slaying

The Icefield Cave is located deep underground.

Huang Quan was trembling all over, his eyes were flashing with red light, and his hands were clenched into fists so tightly that his fingertips dug into his flesh, but he didn’t care at all.

He was filled with hatred and rage, and his mind was unsettled because the two most important people to him had been killed. But the person who killed them gave him a feeling that he couldn't quite explain.

It was this feeling that prevented him from immediately attacking the woman in purple. Perhaps he was suppressing his emotions, or perhaps he knew that there must be a reason why she could appear after killing Zhang Jian and Zhu Nu, and he wanted to know that reason.

"Why? Why? Why have you hurt my friends again and again?! Why?!" Huang Quan roared as he questioned.

The woman in purple looked complicated and sighed, "You don't understand! This cause and effect is far from over."

"I don't understand?! Then make me understand! Can't you explain anything? I want to know everything, everything about you!" Huang Quan seemed to become a little agitated, and said very seriously.

The woman in purple remained silent for a while before finally speaking, but what she said didn't seem to be what Huang Quan had asked.

"You are a leaf on a tree, and one day you will fall from the tree. You were born on the tree, that's the cause; you fell from the tree for some reason, that's the result..."

"The cause cannot be changed, but the result is different. In the process of cause and effect, any event or problem can lead to a different result. For example, a leaf is picked by someone, or it is blown away by the wind, etc..."

"And everything I've done is also an influence on your future. I want to help you, I want you to have the best outcome, so I have to do these things, even if these things will make you hate me, I will do it!" At this point, the woman in purple's tone became more resolute.

Hearing these words, Huang Quan's mind was moved, because he could feel that what the woman in purple said was true. But the more he felt this way, the more confused Huang Quan became.

“But…” Huang Quan paused for a moment before asking, “Are you sure the result you’ve given me is the result I want? You killed my friends, you killed the people who cared about me. Is this the final outcome I really need?”

"I can't worry about all that. I only know that along this causal path, as long as I do the right thing at the right time, you will definitely get a good result." With that, the woman in purple slowly raised the severed head in her hand. "I'm killing her now because she must die. This is the causal path I see..."

"The human world has also offered a simple explanation for this cause-and-effect relationship, which is said to be called the butterfly effect. One thing affects another, and then the effect continues. I believe I am also a link in this chain..."

"So if, during this process, at some place or at some point in time, I am required to die, I will commit suicide without hesitation!" the woman in purple said calmly, yet her resolute expression was even stronger.

At this moment, upon hearing the words of the woman in purple, Huang Quan's body suddenly trembled, but he was also deeply puzzled. He asked again, "But why? Why are you treating me like this? I have no memory of you. I have encountered the Tree of Time, and in the various futures it described, you were not mentioned either. So... why?!"

"For no reason! To you, I may just be a stranger, but to me, you are my everything. So I don't care about the people around you or those who care about you. What I care about is..." Suddenly, the woman in purple looked at Huang Quan tenderly.

She didn't say what she was going to say next, because she knew that with Huang Quan's intelligence, he would understand even if she didn't say it. And in fact, that was indeed the case. Huang Quan's mind was even more confused. He wanted to avenge those people, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was as if there was an invisible barrier in his mind that was stopping him.

Perhaps sensing Huang Quan's state of mind, the woman in purple paused for a moment before continuing, "Actually, my appearance before you today and the many things I've told you are also part of the causal chain. Because next, I need to tell you something very important to you, and I hope that after you know it, you will take the actions you should take."