Feeling the pressure surging from the blade, the Radiant Progenitor frowned slightly. This aura unsettled him; in theory, it shouldn’t be like this.

“I’ve been in seclusion for centuries, trying to create a technique of my own. Unfortunately, the time was too short and my understanding of the Infinite Dao realm wasn’t enough. I only managed to create a single move. Please look it over.”

Xu Zimo smiled lightly.

“This move is called Nine Hells Desolation.”

Hearing this, the Radiant Progenitor was shaken again. Creating a move on one’s own wasn’t difficult for cultivators at their level, many could do it casually. The problem was how powerful could that self-created move be?

The more powerful the technique, the harder it was to create.

He, the Radiant Progenitor, was an old Infinite Dao cultivator. He hadn’t created his own techniques not because he couldn’t, but because anything he created was weaker than the ancient techniques he already possessed. That would be a loss rather than a gain.

He had once received the inheritance of the Radiant Buddha. All of his light-attribute power originated from that legacy, and even his techniques were created by that Buddha. If he wanted to create anything new, it would have to surpass the old master. But that former master was already comparable to Buddha Gods. Surpassing him was nearly impossible.

Thus, he rarely attempted to create his own techniques.

Now, hearing Xu Zimo’s words, his interest was piqued once more.

...

Xu Zimo closed his eyes slightly, as if preparing something. In truth, he had been creating his own techniques since the beginning of his cultivation journey. The original Nineteen Forms of Dao-Seeking were among them.

But now, if he wanted to create another technique, it had to surpass the Ten Primordial God-Scriptures. The difficulty was unimaginable. He had worked on his understanding for hundreds of years, and even then, he had created only this first move, Nine Hells Desolation.

The blade in his hand now seemed to have evolved into a domain resembling the Nine Hells. That hell devoured all. Within it existed Yama, the Underworld Kings, Pretas, Asuras and everything.

Xu Zimo possessed the God World and had once built a hell within his own realm. In all the heavens, he was the one who understood the Nine Hells the most.

At this moment, the Absolute Annihilation Primordial Edict surged around him, transforming into layers of annihilation-laden blade aura. This aura reached skyward, scattering clouds and staining the blue heavens. In an instant, the winds roared, the clouds tumbled, and everything was dragged into its flow. This blade of extinction looked as if it wanted to split open the heavens.

“Impressive, but is that all?” the Radiant Progenitor said in mild disappointment. It was indeed a good strike, but if it was only a world-splitting slash, it was hardly worth mentioning.

“Nine Hells Desolation,” Xu Zimo said, his voice deep and resonant.

The next moment, instead of cleaving the heavens, the blade swung downward, toward hell itself.

The slash felt strange. It did not open the sky nor sever samsara. Instead, it willingly fell into hell, merging with it. Thus the move was named Nine Hells Desolation.

When the blade fell, the Radiant Progenitor felt a momentary illusion, not a slash, but the entire Nine Hells crashing toward him.

“How is this possible?” His expression changed drastically.

Above his head, a Buddha statue manifested, his Infinite Dao, the Radiant Buddha Dao Fruit.

Dao Fruits had no fixed form; they could take any shape the cultivator desired. And because the Radiant Progenitor had inherited the legacy of the Radiant Buddha, he shaped his Dao Fruit accordingly. The influence was deep.

“Light Without Boundaries, All Things May Be Defended, All Things May Be Merged.”

This was his strongest technique.

From the Radiant Buddha Dao Fruit, a colossal titan of light stirred awake. Its pure radiance illuminated ancient time. Even a single ray of its light could refine a person to nothing.

The giant stood tall, head supporting the sun, shoulders carrying the stars, feet stepping on the Nine Hells. It did not dodge and instead reached out to seize Xu Zimo’s slash directly. Light collided with the hellish abyss. The sky split in two, one half shining with holy light, the other swirling with reincarnating hellfire. Grim darkness clashed with righteous radiance.

Rumbling echoed through the heavens. The disciples of the True Martial Sacred Ground looked up as if the entire sky might collapse.

“Radiant Solar Light, Heart-Illuminating Sun!”

The Radiant Progenitor roared. All the light within him seemed to burn away. His radiance fused with the sun itself, and waves of solar flame poured from above. They scorched the heavens and boiled the seas, their power terrifying to behold.

The watching True Martial Progenitor was slightly surprised; it was clear that the Radiant Progenitor was fighting with full power now. What began as a simple test for Xu Zimo had turned into a real battle. The pressure Xu Zimo created was obvious.

Not yet even in the Infinite Dao realm, yet able to force an Infinite Dao cultivator to this point.

The Progenitor mused silently, then smiled. “San Dao, he is your equal in your prime.”

“Please don’t flatter me, Ancestor,” San Dao laughed. “Back then, I could only last a hundred or so moves against an Infinite Dao cultivator. But he can already stand against one directly. Once he truly steps into the Infinite Dao realm, he may well be unmatched among peers.”

True Martial Progenitor nodded slightly, accepting this judgment. He raised his hand, forming a barrier that sealed the sky, preventing the shockwaves from harming the others.

...

After linking with the sun, the Radiant Progenitor’s power surged to the point where it could erase everything.

Xu Zimo snorted, his voice thundering through the sky like rolling storm clouds.

“Against my ‘Nine Hells Desolation’, if there were a Buddha in this world, he would fall. If there were a god, he too would fall. Even the sun shall be dragged into hell today.”

As he spoke, the manifestation of the Nine Hells grew more real. The power swelled, faintly affecting reality itself, as if the hellscape was materializing. But of course, this hell truly existed, derived from the God World’s hell realm he once forged.

Within the hell, Kṣitigarbha sat reciting sutras, saving all souls. Yama sat upon his throne, judging the lives of all beings. Shores of blooming Netherlotus covered the land, the River of Asuras drowned all before it. Ox-Head and Horse-Face moved in patrol alongside legions of ghost soldiers.

It was a world separate from the mortal realm’s warmth and vitality, its own complete existence, roaring and rising, threatening to swallow even the sun.

This shocked the Radiant Progenitor. This was far beyond his expectation.

After only a brief clash, his light was suppressed. The balance that once held was broken, even though his Radiant Buddha Dao Fruit continued to devour and manifest light.