The new beam could sever the reincarnation cycle. Even a High God would go down after touched by this light.

The spectators found the attack dreadful. Only a High God would have this type of ability to instantly pierce through the earth and annihilate a great power. It was simply catastrophic.

“Activate!” Star Stomper didn’t try to hide at all. He shouted and took out a galaxy disk that turned into a huge shield.

A galaxy spanning for innumerable miles turning into a shield was a terrifying scene.

“Rumble!” The beam pulsed on the shield with rampant explosions. The shockwaves could shatter all the meteorites nearby. This was a world-destroying force.

Crumbs of stars went flying after the galaxy shield shattered. The stars couldn’t handle the power of the yin and yang.

This magnificent scene looked like a universe spewing out debris into the sky. Each little piece could shatter an entire continent.

Star Stomper let out a battle roar after the collapse of his artifact and threw out what was left of the shield. It shattered the void, resulting in a black hole. Next, it pierced through it and instantly appeared in front of Divine Palace. This gigantic shield was flying straight for his head.

Dao Celestials simply couldn’t stop such an attack. This was the difference between a High God and a Dao Celestial. The gap between the two realms was unsurpassable. No one could make up for the difference in cultivation.

“Rumble.” Divine Palace was not shaken before this shield. His eyes became even brighter like the explosion of a thousand suns. Another yin-yang beam shot out and turned the shield to ashes.

“Eat this.” Star Stomper roared and created seven stars with floating runes. These runes locked the entire area and soared straight at Divine Palace.

“Come!” Divine Palace formed a dragon mudra with his hands.

“Rawr!” Dragons roared continuously with ten True Dragons leaving their nests to attack Star Stomper’s seven stars.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Seven dragons aimed for the seven stars while the three remaining ones raised their fangs to claw Star Stomper. Just one slash was enough to tear a galaxy apart.

“Scram!” Star Stomper yelled at the three dragons. He was finally going all out with nine totems appearing in the sky. Nine morning-stars represented nine supreme grand dao and were connected with each other.

Nine totems forming a set - this was Star Stomper’s true power. He instantly destroyed the ten dragons and attacked Divine Palace with his nine totems.

This power was incredible and immediately shattered all laws and space. It gathered around Divine Palace with a force capable of destroying a world.

“Break!” Divine Palace was not afraid at all.

“Boom!” Ten different totems emerged with the shape of a serpent-dragon, ancient tree, sun and moons...

The ancient tree blotted out the sky; the serpent-dragon coiled around the branches; the sun and moon were illuminating the place... This was a set of ten totems - harmonizing and supporting each other just like an independent world.

In a split second, the two High Gods have exchanged several hundred blows with an indiscernible speed even for top Dao Celestials.

“Boom!” After another devastating blow, everything was annihilated. The entire spatial realm became nothingness. Time and space were completely crushed.

After this exchange, Star Stomper staggered several steps back while Divine Palace’s shoulder slightly trembled.

There was no doubt that Star Stomper was at a disadvantage. It was ten versus nine totems. Star Stomper was inferior in the anima, power of the origin, and chaos energy.

“That’s ten totems for you.” Big shots from the last generation murmured.

The disciples and ancestor from the Donggong Clan heaved a sigh of relief. Their High God had the upper hand for now.

Meanwhile, the ones from the Peng felt their heart jumping out of their throat. If their forefather were to lose, then it was over for their clan.

“Again.” Star Stomper shouted and took one step crossing through ten million miles to appear again in front of Divine Palace.

“I’m not afraid of you!” Divine Palace was also fierce enough. This was usually the case for characters at this level. They were never afraid of anyone on the battlefield.

“Rumble!” It was a contest between a dragon and tiger. The two were as fast as lightning with world-destroying techniques. There was no way for top Dao Celestials to understand the profundity of each move.

Only other High Gods could understand the complexity behind the attacks. Dao Celestials were there only to watch the visual spectacles.

Several thousand moves have been exchanged. Star Stomper was decisive and only used fatal techniques due to his battle-hardened experience. On the other hand, Divine Palace used raw strength to make up for his deficiencies. There was no clear winner but Star Stomper was at a disadvantage.

“Boom!” The two sides separated again after another blast. Star Stomper staggered just like before while Divine Palace could stand still.

The two faced each other and were in no hurry to attack again.

“Fellow Daoist Divine Palace had meditated for several hundred thousand years; your understanding of the grand dao is incredible on top of possessing such pure and lasting power; I’m no match for you in this regards. Even another 100,000 moves won’t be able to do anything.” Star Stomper commented with a tinge of emotion while looking at Divine Palace.

His words came from the heart and not superficial. There was no need to lie at their level, especially during a fight to the death.

“Fellow Daoist, your power is inferior to mine but your battle techniques and experience make me look clumsy in comparison. I’m no match for you in controlling the dao.” Divine Palace said straightforwardly.

During his previous battles, Star Stomper saw fights between emperors with twelve-wills with his own eyes. This broadened his horizon and solidified his battle experience.

At their level, they were able to view emotions and hatred with a nonchalant outlook. This allowed them to speak with each other like old friends.

Star Stomper smiled and shook his head: “A broadsword has no edge. Techniques can’t make up for the power disparity of having one less totem.” [1]

Star Stomper feely admitted his lacking compared to Divine Palace. He was unconvinced in the beginning and wanted to rely on his experience and peerless battle techniques to bridge the one totem gap.

However, after several attempts, he found this exceedingly difficult. The two of them didn’t use external items and power, only relying on their own to fight.

Thus, the difference of one totem had determined everything. Battle experiences weren’t enough in this scenario. Just one totem meant having one less grand dao, fate palace, and a large amount of chaos energy.

After several thousand moves, Star Stomper realized that he couldn’t defeat Divine Palace with his own strength. No one could refute the fact that ten was greater than nine. This painted a clear picture for everyone about the importance of having more totems.

. This is a line from Return of the Condor Heroes, referencing Yang Guo’s heavy broadsword. A literal translation won’t make sense unless you understand the reference from having read/watch Condor Heroes. The meaning is that true sword skill doesn’t only rely on the sharpness of the sword but on one’s cultivation. In essence, after reaching a particular level, even a blade of grass or a feeble branch can be the deadliest weapon. To elaborate further, this is the opposite belief of the taiji belief of using soft to defeat hard. The mantras of this sword technique are - simplicity into complexity, heavy to defeat light (taiji), clumsiness to defeat skillfulness, big to overcome small. Also, Return of the Condor Heroes is what got me into wuxia. I devoured so many wuxias during that period