In terms of realm, Xiao Chen was at the transcendent realm’s sixth stage, a full stage below Jiang Wuhen.
Even so, Jiang Wuhen dared not let his guard down.
For a Son of Fortune like him, fighting above his level was routine.
His strength had already shown a hint of itself in his fight with Yi Shanjin.
And the Nine Nether Devil Fire, as one of the nine great ancestral fires, was nothing to scoff at.
Before the battle had even begun, both sides’ auras swept outward in all directions.
Everyone watching instinctively retreated, clearing enough space for the two combatants.
They were eager to see this fated battle between two geniuses of the heavens.
Not far off, Xiao Chen swept his hand and produced a black great ruler from his storage ring. It looked plain and unadorned, yet it gave off a sense of great skill hidden in simplicity, a heavy sword that needed no edge.
With another wave of his hand, he raised the black great ruler in one hand and leveled it at Jiang Wuhen.
“Jiang Wuhen, draw your weapon!”
Xiao Chen said coldly.
Jiang Wuhen smiled mildly.
“As the Master said: the noble man is not a vessel.”
A true gentleman, he implied, disdained to kill with weapons.
The words fell. Jiang Wuhen raised his hand, gathering spirit origin into both palms.
Then he threw a punch!
The punch was explosive, and gale-force winds erupted in every direction.
Xiao Chen’s gaze sharpened. Gripping the black heavy ruler in both hands, he brought it crashing down to meet the oncoming fist blast!
BOOM!
A thunderous crack split the air as the fist blast scattered!
Xiao Chen’s aura surged. Spirit origin detonated beneath his feet, and he shot toward Jiang Wuhen like an arrow loosed from its string.
The black heavy ruler was immensely weighty.
That single blow carried at least the force of a thousand stone.
But faced with that blow, Jiang Wuhen stood his ground, not even bothering to dodge.
The next moment—
BOOM!
The black heavy ruler came crashing down. Jiang Wuhen crossed his arms before him and, on the sheer resilience of the Emperor Devil Tyrant Body, caught the blow dead-on.
“What?!”
Xiao Chen’s gaze trembled, disbelief written across his face.
“After all that shouting, this is all you’ve got?”
Jiang Wuhen smiled mildly.
“Hmph. Don’t get cocky. This is only the beginning!”
Xiao Chen snorted coldly and leapt back, putting distance between them.
The next instant, roaring flames ignited along the black heavy ruler!
“Flame-Splitting… Wave-Swallowing Ruler!”
With the roar, flames shot skyward and condensed into a colossal ruler hundreds of feet long.
Bearing down with explosive force, it hurtled toward him.
Jiang Wuhen’s expression stayed calm. A ripple of profound light shimmered through his eyes.
Before the crowd’s astonished gaze, his pupils split in two.
Invincible Double Pupils, revealed!
Beneath the double pupils, that blazing, thunderous Flame-Splitting Wave-Swallowing Ruler slowed to a crawl.
Powerful as the move was, Jiang Wuhen sidestepped it with ease.
And around them, the crowd erupted.
“Double pupils! Those are the ancient double pupils!”
“The Imperial Son possesses the peerless double pupils! That’s a path to invincibility!”
“What a pity. Rumor has it the Imperial Son once stole another’s supreme bone. That’s nothing short of sabotaging his own future.”
“The double pupils are already an invincible path. Why borrow another’s bone…”
As the murmurs flew, even the Empress Luo Qingning couldn’t suppress a shift in her expression.
Her face was grave as she watched Jiang Wuhen’s back. This disciple she had watched grow up since he was small seemed… somehow different.
“This child… he kept such a huge trump card hidden from me…”
Luo Qingning said helplessly, a wry smile on her lips.
Within the battle circle, the fight raged on.
The Flame-Splitting Wave-Swallowing Ruler had missed its mark, and now Jiang Wuhen had revealed the double pupils. Xiao Chen’s expression turned serious.
But he had never lost a battle at the same level.
What Jiang Wuhen had shown so far was nowhere near enough to make him wary.
“So what if you have double pupils? You can break down my Flame-Splitting Wave-Swallowing Ruler… but what about this move?”
Xiao Chen’s gaze turned to ice as he slammed the black heavy ruler into the ground.
Then he spread both arms wide.
In each of his palms, a ball of flame ignited.
One was ashen pale. The other blazed a dazzling green.
“Could that be… another ancestral fire?!”
“No mistake. That’s the Green Lotus Emperor Fire!”
“Controlling a single ancestral fire is a heaven-sent fortune. But this boy controls both the Nine Nether Devil Fire and the Green Lotus Emperor Fire! If he’s left to grow, within a hundred years he’ll surely ascend to the rank of great emperor!”
“Facing two ancestral fires at once, I wonder how the Imperial Son will respond…”
“The double pupils are powerful, but the Imperial Son is still too young. Being able to use ‘Void Piercing’ is probably… his limit.”
“If the Imperial Son could draw on the double pupils to unleash the ‘Divine Light of Destruction’, he might still stand a chance. But the odds of that are minuscule.”
“Everyone, have you forgotten? The Imperial Son also has a supreme bone…”
“The supreme bone…”
The onlookers buzzed with discussion.
Not far off, Xiao Chen cradled the Nine Nether Devil Fire in one hand and the Green Lotus Emperor Fire in the other. Before the crowd’s eyes, he merged the two ancestral fires.
Flames surged, and a fire lotus of mingled green and white took shape.
Xiao Chen’s presence blazed like a rainbow as, arms flung wide, his body rose into the air.
And the fire lotus seemed to come alive as it descended toward Jiang Wuhen, plummeting from the sky.
As it fell, it swelled in the wind.
In a heartbeat, it had grown to nearly a thousand feet.
The fire lotus carried the force to destroy heaven and earth, sealing off every direction Jiang Wuhen could flee.
Such terrifying power would be hard to withstand even for the emperor devil tyrant body.
But just then—
“Mere ancestral fire dares to act so arrogant!”
“Watch closely. This is what a true… Supreme looks like!”
The words fell. Jiang Wuhen slowly raised his hand and pointed into the void.
In that instant, his hand seemed to become the hand of the heavens itself. The moment it extended, a white light brimming with the aura of slaughter and calamity bloomed outward.
The supreme bone: Heaven’s Calamity Light!
The white light arced like a rainbow, like the wrath of heaven and divine punishment. The instant it bloomed, the colossal fire lotus was annihilated in an instant.
Its residual force rained down, enveloping Xiao Chen in white light.
Pfft!
Xiao Chen let out a muffled groan, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips.
His aura shattered. He no longer had any fight left in him.
【Ding dong. Congratulations to the host for defeating the Son of Fortune. Mission Two complete. Rewards: Azure Nether Sword Casket (supreme-grade emperor artifact, the divine weapon once wielded by the Azure Nether Sword Emperor thirty thousand years ago, containing the eight swords Yanri, Duanshui, Zhuanhun, Xuanjian, Jingni, Miehun, Quexie, and Zhengang); Nether God Sword Prison (starts at heaven rank and can be advanced to divine rank at its peak; a system-issued sword art designed to pair with the Azure Nether Sword Casket); 10,000 Villain Points!】
【Ding dong. The host has severely injured the Son of Fortune. Reward: 10,000 Villain Points!】
【System Notice: Beating up the Son of Fortune earns large amounts of Villain Points (no limit on attempts; rewards may be claimed repeatedly)】
No limit?
Then what the hell am I waiting for!
As the Master said: reviewing the old and learning the new makes one fit to be a teacher!
Which is to say, one must stay active often. Even beating the same person, you learn something new each time. One person can serve as a whole teacher’s worth of lessons.
“Hi-yah!”
Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, Jiang Wuhen hoisted Xiao Chen up and, punch after punch, happily beat him.
All the while, he shouted with each blow:
“Eighty! Eighty! Eighty! Eighty…”
Until finally, Xiao Chen’s eyes went glassy and he was on the verge of losing consciousness. From not far off, Fengxi’s beautiful eyes narrowed. With a sweep of her hand, she unleashed a burst of radiant light and snatched Xiao Chen from Jiang Wuhen’s grasp.
At this point, the outcome was decided.
Fengxi supported Xiao Chen and fixed Luo Qingning with a cold stare. “Empress Qingning, let today’s matter rest for now. We have other business to attend to and won’t intrude further. Farewell!”
With that, she moved to board the nine phoenixes carriage.
But just then—
“Halt!”
“You come and go as you please? What do you take the Heavenly One Immortal Sect for?”
Jiang Wuhen said in a low voice.
Fengxi’s beautiful eyes darkened.
“Hmph. I am the first elder of the Divine Maiden Sect. What do you juniors intend to do?”
Jiang Wuhen laughed, full of contempt.
“What do we intend? Heh heh…”
“Everyone, since you’ve come… settle in!”
“Since you’re here… we’ll bury you here!”
