Who Else But Me

A person's emotional fluctuations were hard to discern from his expression, but the spirit in his Sea of Consciousness could change with his emotions. Take Zhong Yue, for example. At this moment, his Sea of Consciousness was surging like stormy waves, torrents splitting the sky, faintly evoking the clash of weapons and the thunder of war!

This showed that he was excited, stirred up, and eager for battle. He yearned to fight, to struggle, to win, and to prove what he had learned and comprehended. Yet none of this was easy to see from his face.

"Well said!"

Xin Huo praised him. "You already look a little like a member of the Fuxi Divine Clan should! Advancing despite knowing the difficulties, charging into adversity, forging ahead with sharp resolve, and not losing heart or fear when facing a powerful enemy—instead, knocking them down and trampling them beneath your feet. That is the Fuxi Divine Clan!"

Zhong Yue took a step forward and stood before Shui Qinghe. Thunder Totems flashed around his body and coalesced into a dragon coiling around him. His voice was calm. "Zhongshan Clan's Zhong Yue accepts your challenge."

"Accepts my challenge?"

Shui Qinghe was somewhat stunned. Clearly, he had stepped forward on behalf of a Shuitu Clan disciple to teach this ignorant Zhongshan Clan brat a lesson from on high. How had it turned into him challenging Zhong Yue?

When the weak struck back at the strong, it was called a challenge. When the strong bullied the weak, it was oppression. If he was the one challenging Zhong Yue, didn't that make him the weaker one?

"Interesting. You're the first person ever to dare speak to me like that. You consider yourself a body-refiner? Fine. I'll use body-refining arts to defeat you! Three moves—I need a minimum of three moves to defeat you!"

Shui Qinghe smiled. Suddenly, waves surged beneath his tail, lifting his body and carrying him forward with ghostly speed. The sound of water had only just rung out when a great wave was already soaring through the air, sending him before Zhong Yue as he punched toward Zhong Yue's face!

With that punch, floods surged to the heavens. Behind Shui Qinghe's River Earl Body, water rose like a deluge, a hundred zhang high, and crashed down with crushing force!

That punch contained the power of a hundred-zhang flood. With the flood raging to the heavens, how terrifying was the momentum of its attack?

A Flood Dragon coiled around Zhong Yue's body. The Flood Dragon rolling across him grew thicker and clearer, its head ferocious and its body a foot wide, as thick as a water barrel. It gradually seemed to merge into Zhong Yue's body. That pure spiritual power transformed into the Flood Dragon Totem and Thunder Pattern Totem, clinging to Zhong Yue's skin like scales growing directly from it!

At the same time, muscles bulged throughout his body, while his great sinews snapped and trembled one after another, ringing out like the crisp crack of powerful bows and crossbows releasing their arrows!

That was not all. The blood in his body began to surge faster, his heart transporting his vital blood in an instant. The sound of his blood flowing was loud enough for the many Upper Court disciples watching the battle to hear!

Zhong Yue neither dodged nor evaded Shui Qinghe's strike. With a sudden, resounding dragon cry, he punched toward Shui Qinghe!

The Upper Court disciples watching turned pale with shock. A hundred-zhang flood and a Dragon Body wrapped around them—their strength had reached heights the others could only gaze up at from far below!

At that moment, the two were like a pair of savage gods. Their head-on clash and colliding muscles brought a shock and impact beyond imagination!

Bang! Bang!

Both were struck. Shui Qinghe's River Earl Body was incomparably powerful. With one punch, he shattered the Flood Dragon condensed from Zhong Yue's spiritual power. When his fist landed on Zhong Yue, Thunder Totem Patterns exploded in every direction. His punch had actually shattered and sent flying even the Thunder Totem Patterns Zhong Yue had visualized!

Zhong Yue's Thunder Totem Patterns were not solely used to condense the Flood Dragon. They were also used to refine Thunderclap Sword Qi, whose sharpness would block the power of Shui Qinghe's punch.

But Shui Qinghe's River Earl Body was simply too strong. Even against Thunderclap Sword Qi, it swept through it like dead wood and rotten branches, shattering it outright and leaving the sword qi without the slightest bit of power!

The punch landed on Zhong Yue, and a muffled boom rang out. The power of the River Earl Body shook through his four limbs and hundreds of bones, shaking his spirit, his Sea of Consciousness, and his soul!

At the same time, Zhong Yue's punch struck Shui Qinghe. The strength of the River Earl Body immediately revealed itself. Zhong Yue's punch was extraordinarily powerful; none of the Shuitu Clan's core disciples could withstand its might. Yet Shui Qinghe's River Earl Body was covered in scale patterns. The punch only shattered those scale patterns and did not injure him in the slightest.

His body was covered in thick, heavy scale patterns, making him resemble a god of the waters. He was not only majestic and awe-inspiring—his offensive and defensive power had also reached a level that inspired dread!

Unexpectedly, after Zhong Yue's punch landed, his five fingers spread apart. A furious roar came from his palm, and another Flood Dragon drilled out, crashing into Shui Qinghe. A huge hole was immediately smashed through the River Earl Body, revealing Shui Qinghe inside!

His River Earl Body was not a true transformation into a River Earl Body. Rather, his spiritual power had transformed into the river god River Earl, hiding him within the River Earl's body.

Nor was this true body-refining. It could not increase the body's own strength. It merely used spiritual power to manifest the River Earl and wielded the River Earl's power. Once the River Earl Body dispersed, the River Earl's power would disperse with it.

Zhong Yue, however, refined his body, and his physical strength continued to grow. Even without using the Dragon Coiling Technique, his strength was already extremely formidable.

This was the difference between body-refiners and qi-refiners.

Yet when a qi-refiner visualized a close-combat art like the River Earl Body, he could also attack at close range, and might even become stronger than a body-refiner.

Shui Qinghe's second punch arrived. Zhong Yue still neither dodged nor evaded. He punched out, striking through the flaw in the River Earl Body and toward Shui Qinghe within!

Both were struck. A trace of blood trickled from the corner of Zhong Yue's mouth as he staggered backward. He retreated more than ten steps before finally dispersing the terrifying power of the River Earl Body.

Chunks of mountain rock and slabs of bluestone exploded beneath his feet, sending dust billowing everywhere.

Shui Qinghe also grunted. His fish tail carried waves as he slid backward, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Zhong Yue had shattered the River Earl Body between the two punches, yet he had still injured Shui Qinghe's physical body!

His body was nowhere near as tough and resilient as the River Earl Body. After Zhong Yue struck his true body, he was naturally injured. However, his body was stronger than that of the vast majority of Upper Court disciples—far stronger, in fact—which was why he had not suffered a severe injury!

"Zhongshan Clan, you really are strong..."

Shui Qinghe drew a long breath, his expression turning solemn. He was the Shuitu Clan's thousand-li colt, and as one of the Ten Great Clans, the Shuitu Clan valued him immensely. From childhood, Shui Qinghe had been placed in a vat and boiled with all kinds of spirit medicines, their medicinal power seeping into his body and giving him an astonishing physique.

The clan's witch doctors had even painted his body with the essence blood of all kinds of ferocious beasts and strange beasts, drawing various Totem Patterns to make his physique even stronger!

After arriving at Sword Gate Mountain, Shui Qinghe had continued taking spirit medicines of every kind to temper his body. He was practically a body piled together from spirit medicines!

Yet now, he was still injured!

Zhong Yue's strength had exceeded his expectations, and his Flood Dragon Totem had also been refined to an extremely high level. But the Flood Dragon Totem and Thunderclap Sword Art alone could not injure him. What had injured him was Zhong Yue's terrifying explosive power!

The explosive power capable of punching through the River Earl Body!

Zhong Yue's physical toughness had also exceeded his expectations. The River Earl Body's power was immensely strong, yet after landing two consecutive blows on Zhong Yue, it had only injured his internal organs, and even those injuries were not particularly serious.

Those capable of refining their bodies to such a degree were limited to Sword Gate Mountain's qi-refiners, certain strange beasts, and demons!

"Two moves have already passed. Now for the third!"

Shui Qinghe drew a long breath, his expression solemn. His fish tail swayed lightly, and great waters appeared from thin air all around him, rising higher and higher until they resembled a small lake, lifting him into the air.

The lake hovered high above the ground, with Shui Qinghe standing atop it in midair. His aura grew stronger and stronger as he prepared to charge down from above and rush at Zhong Yue!

He had clearly brought out his strongest technique—the ultimate art he had prepared for the year-end Unrestricted Duel. He intended to defeat Zhong Yue with one move and make him suffer a crushing defeat!

Zhong Yue's expression also turned solemn as he prepared himself for the battle. Suddenly, Shui Qinghe glanced at several people, snorted coldly, dispersed his River Earl Body, withdrew his spiritual power, and turned to leave. He said coldly, "We will set today's matter aside for now. Zhongshan Clan, when the Unrestricted Duel comes, we will continue this battle!"

Zhong Yue was slightly stunned. Following his gaze, he saw several more figures descending from Sword Gate Mountain and heading toward the Upper Court.

The aura of those people was also exceptionally powerful, no weaker than Shui Qinghe's. They should be Outer Disciples cultivating in the Inner Court, though he did not know which clan they came from. Judging by Shui Qinghe's reaction, however, they were clearly also from one of the Ten Great Clans, and their strength was extraordinary.

Shui Qinghe did not want those people to see his trump cards, lest he lose the initiative in the year-end Unrestricted Duel. That was why he had voluntarily withdrawn.

"What a powerful fellow..."

Zhong Yue's palm trembled slightly, and another trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. His internal organs ached faintly as he thought, The Ten Great Clans each have their own unique strengths. The Totems passed down from their ancestors are naturally stronger than those of other clans. Shui Qinghe's strength is indeed profound. He is already this formidable without using qi-refining arts. I am inferior to him.

He had never considered that he had only been seriously cultivating for a little more than a month, while Shui Qinghe had been steeped in spirit medicines since childhood. After entering Sword Gate Mountain, he had immediately been taken in by a qi-refiner and accompanied him for five or six years before achieving his current accomplishments!

"There are quite a few people in the Upper Court like Shui Qinghe, all elites of great clans! These people will all act during the year-end Unrestricted Duel, with a hundred flowers blooming as they compete for the chance to enter Spirit Void Hall. By then, I'm afraid none of them will hide anything. They will bring out their most powerful techniques!"

Zhong Yue walked toward Ting Lanyue, He Chengchuan, and the others as he thought, Two months. I still have two months!

"Two months from now, I will clash with the true elites of these great clans. I wonder who will overwhelm the rest?"

A heroic spirit surged in his chest. He said quietly, "I will overwhelm the rest. Who else but me?"

"Zhongshan Clan's Zhong Yue, these are your two soul weapons!"

When Elder Pu saw Zhong Yue arrive, he called him over, took out two soul weapons, and placed them before Zhong Yue with a laugh. "It took this old man no small effort to forge these two soul weapons in twenty days. What do you think of them?"

—I went to Hangzhou on a business trip the day before yesterday and only got back today. I'm exhausted. Zhuzhu forced himself to finish this chapter despite being sleepy, but he really can't keep his eyes open. Time to go to bed, brothers. Don't forget to cast me a recommendation vote~~