The onlookers from Wind King Peak and Thunder God Peak weren’t surprised in the slightest. Word had it that Deacon Ling Jun was a descendant of the Supreme Elder left behind in Spirit Mountain. Not only did his cultivation outshine his peers, but he also possessed numerous trump cards. Even a low-star Mystic Venerable might struggle to harm him—let alone Yan Zhen, a mere Mystic Lord, or perhaps Mystic King.
Of course, Yan Zhen’s performance had already been astonishing. It was just that Deacon Ling Jun was a cut above.
As they watched the black vortex continue to spin and compress, Gu Tiange, Yu Die, and the others in the crowd felt a subtle weight settle in their hearts.
“With this level of power, you actually thought you could kill me? You’re truly overestimating your abilities.” Ling Jun smiled faintly, speaking with perfect ease. “Consider this a lesson. I won’t kill you this time, but I hope you stop claiming to be Miss Cai Lian’s husband in the future. You’re unworthy of it. Just be a good little live-in son-in-law for the Yu Family!”
“—What the hell are you pretending for?”
Yan Zhen’s voice rang out abruptly, sending a chill racing up Ling Jun’s spine. His hairs stood on end, and the casual confidence on his face twisted into sheer terror. His narrow eyes fixed desperately on the black vortex—only to realize the voice hadn’t come from inside it at all!
He jerked his head upward. There stood Yan Zhen high in the sky, backed by massive dark clouds roiling with purple lightning. Bolts slithered through the air like coiling dragons and serpents, faintly outlining a crystalline Towering Tree.
Most crucially, Yan Zhen clutched a goose-egg-sized purple crystal in his hand. It radiated wildly violent mystic power fluctuations, resonating intensely with the thunder in the heavens.
That was… the Wind-Thunder Crystal!
Ling Jun’s jaw dropped.
“You—how did you—”
Yan Zhen’s expression remained utterly impassive. Terrifying purple lightning coiled around his body as he raised the Wind-Thunder Crystal high with one hand, resembling a celestial god wielding thunderous judgment. In a cold voice, he intoned:
“Nine Heavens Wind-Thunder Descent.”
In that instant, countless thunderbolts crashed down. The Wind-Thunder Crystal hid within one of the lightning strikes, hurtling straight toward Ling Jun.
Ling Jun’s scalp went numb. He instinctively directed the black vortex overhead to block it.
The massive thunder pillar slammed into the black vortex, which tried to absorb the lightning—only to trigger the Wind-Thunder Crystal’s detonation.
Boom!
A deafening roar transformed into a tangible sound wave that swept outward. The black vortex held for barely a breath before swelling violently and exploding. The unparalleled shockwave cracked the surrounding space.
The crowd hastily retreated dozens of yards to avoid the fallout.
By now, members of the Holy Land Enforcement Squad had arrived but didn’t dare approach. Anyone below Mystic Venerable rank who entered would suffer severe injuries.
Elders from the three peaks appeared one after another. Those from Wind King Peak and Thunder God Peak naturally wouldn’t interfere in Rain God Peak’s affairs and merely watched from afar. Rain God Peak’s elders, however, were baffled at the ferocity of the clash. Grand Elder Ye Long observed coldly from the sidelines without any intention of stepping in. Instead, the Second Elder and that kindly-faced old woman appeared beside Mentor Yu Xuan, inquiring about the sequence of events.
Mentor Yu Xuan couldn’t easily explain the full backstory and merely shook her head, her attention fixed on the battle overhead.
As the lightning faded, Ling Jun stood unharmed within a circular talisman pattern barrier. His face, however, was deathly pale. He’d truly believed he was done for moments ago—or rather, without the life-saving talisman from the Half-Saint Ancestor, he would have been.
The terror of brushing death filled Ling Jun with shock and fear. His anger toward Yan Zhen morphed into pure hatred, igniting the viciousness deep in his bones.
“You little bastard, you dared to try killing me? How dare you! How dare you!” Ling Jun roared in fury. “You want me dead? I’ll kill you first!”
Another eighth-rank talisman pattern materialized in Ling Jun’s hand. He bit the tip of his tongue, spitting out thick essence blood onto it. The talisman came alive at once, transforming into a massive ice soul bird. With a single flap of its wings, the temperature across the three nearby peaks plummeted, as if winter had abruptly descended.
The elders’ faces changed dramatically. Even they sensed the danger from an attack of this caliber. Yan Zhen was in trouble!
But just as the Second Elder prepared to intervene and rescue him, an even more terrifying wave of flame power rippled through the high sky.
Before Yan Zhen hovered the Three Extreme Flames, which he brutally compressed between his palms into a brilliant, dazzling spiral of Extreme Flame Star River.
The Extreme Flame Star River rotated slowly. The space around it shattered inch by inch under the “slicing” of its spiral arms.
Yan Zhen gazed down imperiously at Ling Jun and said coldly:
“You’re just as despicable as that Ye fellow—relying on the blessings from your elders to look down on everyone, offending others without restraint, never admitting you’re in the wrong. Trash like you only learns regret when you’re trampled underfoot.”
—This is bad!
The elders paled in fright. If the ice bird posed a danger, then the Extreme Flame Star River was a death sentence.
A collision between those two attacks would spell disaster!
Yet no one dared intercept them.
“Go fetch a Supreme! Go fetch a Supreme!”
It wasn’t just them—the other disciples’ faces twisted in panic too. Rain God Peak disciples who’d witnessed Yan Zhen’s technique in the Misty Rain Pool especially shrieked curses while scrambling to flee!
“Damn it, that kid’s gone mad again!”
“Run! Get farther away—don’t get blown up!”
The clueless disciples stared in utter bafflement at their frantic senior brothers and sisters.
Chaos erupted across Wind King Peak, Rain God Peak, and Thunder God Peak.
Ling Jun heard none of it. His eyes locked solely on Yan Zhen. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to kill him and avenge that earlier humiliation!
“Ice Phoenix Talisman, Ice Seal Absolute!”
The ice soul giant bird emitted a piercing cry before beating its wings and soaring skyward.
Yan Zhen hoisted his miniature galactic swirl and hurled it down at the oncoming bird.
“Myriad Phenomena Annihilation, Primeval Ashen Land!”
No sound accompanied the clash. The moment they met, they warped space, devouring light and sound to form a black hole.
But the star river twisted, growing larger, gradually grinding the ice soul bird into oblivion.
Boom!
The Extreme Flame’s power erupted fully. The ice bird melted in an instant, and the space-incinerating heat and shockwave blasted straight toward Ling Jun.
—His auto-activated life-saving talisman had already been shattered by the Wind-Thunder Crystal. Activating a third eighth-rank talisman for defense was impossible now.
In that split second, Ling Jun’s mind went blank. He could only watch helplessly as the Mystic Venerable-wounding force bore down on him.
“Stop!”
A stern shout rang out. In the blink of an eye, the area around Rain God Peak transformed into an icy wonderland. Suffocating cold enveloped everyone.
Supreme Domain: Ice Extreme Snow Domain!
Under the Supreme Domain’s restraint, the surging Extreme Flame energy slowed, showing signs of freezing.
—Could it be…?
Hope reignited in Ling Jun’s eyes. He turned to see a woman, resembling an exquisite ice sculpture, gliding forward across the snow. With a flick of her finger, she froze Yan Zhen’s Primeval Ashen Land solid before it shattered into scattering snowflakes with a bang.
Pfft!
Yan Zhen suffered backlash and spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura wilting somewhat.
Yet his eyes remained calm and defiant!
