Azure waves stretched as far as the eye could see, beside Azure Water Lake.
The sky was clear and blue, the sun shone brightly, and a breeze rippled the still lake surface into countless golden scales.
Several birds suddenly took flight from the reeds along the shore.
Wang Chen put away his Flying Sword and landed steadily in an open area beside Azure Water Lake.
Several hundred paces ahead, a burly man in purple robes stood in plain sight!
The man was immensely built, gripping a Nine-Ring Golden Buddhist Staff. With leopard eyes, a lion nose, and a bald head, he looked at first glance like an ascetic monk of the Buddhist Sect.
Yet his features were savage, his face brimming with hostility, without a trace of a renunciant's compassion. His eyes fixed on Wang Chen were filled with bloodlust.
A deep scar slashed diagonally across the purple-robed man's left cheek, from the corner of his eye to his chin.
The flesh had split open, bloody and raw!
Violence, bloodlust, frenzy, venomous hatred...
In Wang Chen's perception, his opponent was practically the embodiment of negative emotions, constantly radiating an unsettling aura.
Like a powder keg set over a blazing fire, ready to erupt at any moment!
This was clearly far from normal.
At that moment, two mirage mirrors appeared in the air, each about a li to either side of the two men.
They simultaneously projected the scene of the duel deep into the desert.
And above Daying City!
The millions of residents and cultivators in Daying City needed only to look up to witness this life-and-death battle unfolding a hundred li away.
When the enormous mirage appeared in the sky, countless people rushed onto the streets or climbed high towers to watch the fight.
"Is that the Protector Heavenly