Venerable

Beep, beep, beep...

The Gray Mist Zone Detector vibrated against his chest.

Ye Cang hurriedly pulled it out and saw a red dot rapidly moving away.

"Has he found me?"

As he stared at the red dot, a flash of insight crossed Ye Cang's mind.

"If he ran the moment he saw me, there's no way it was Xue Long."

Whoosh!

In an instant, Ye Cang shot toward the spot where the red dot was about to disappear.

He was incredibly fast. In just two or three kilometers, he had appeared behind Luo Shan.

"So it's you! Die!"

The moment he saw Luo Shan, Ye Cang slashed without hesitation.

"No! Spare me! I'll hand over all the Luo Family's assets!"

Sensing the killing intent, Luo Shan turned and saw Ye Cang already behind him. He hurriedly begged for mercy.

But unfortunately...

Ye Cang had no intention of sparing him.

Boom!

Their weapons clashed, and the earth exploded. Luo Shan was smashed straight into the ground by the violent force.

Pfft...

Blood sprayed from his mouth as he stared at Ye Cang in horror, his face filled with unmistakable fear.

Compared to before, Ye Cang's strength had increased by dozens of tons.

He hadn't even been able to withstand a single strike.

Pfft...

The next instant, a King Slayer Flying Sword pierced through the back of his head.

[Life Energy: 120]

A peak General could provide 120 points of Life Energy.

Beep, beep, beep...

An alarm sounded. Before he could even look at the detector, a furious roar pierced the gray mist and rang in his ears.

"Die!"

Amid a sonic boom, Xue Long appeared in front of him in an instant.

A blood-red gale coiled around the spear in his hand like a raging dragon, hurtling toward Ye Cang's face.

"Get lost!"

Ye Cang didn't hesitate. He swung his sword.

Boom!

The moment the two forces collided, the earth trembled and split. Ye Cang was driven back more than ten meters, his legs carving a deep furrow in the ground.

"Hm?"

After just one exchange, Xue Long immediately sensed something was wrong.

Ye Cang had grown stronger.

"An ant is still an ant. Until you become a War Venerable, you're nothing but a slightly bigger ant. Die!"

Xue Long roared, and the spear in his hand unleashed another terrifying killing intent.

"Bloodwind Frenzy!"

Watching Xue Long charge at him, Ye Cang didn't dodge this time. He met him head-on, sword in hand.

After allocating his points, his strength was increasing every moment.

At the same time, as his Life Energy dwindled, memories of cultivating the Aurora Sword Wings battle technique began to surface in Ye Cang's mind.

Clang, clang, clang...

Sword and spear crashed together again and again.

As the fight went on, those memories began to sync with his body.

He drove the Blood Drop Intent to its limit, red light flashing across the God Slaying Sword in his hand.

He swung, and their intents clashed. His strike cleaved through the crushing pressure enveloping him.

But at the same time, even more pressure surged down upon him.

Xue Long was also unleashing his full strength.

With every clash, Ye Cang was blasted backward.

Yet there wasn't a trace of fear or retreat in Ye Cang's eyes.

He kept fighting back with all his might.

Several minutes later.

By now, Ye Cang's face was pale, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

The God Slaying Sword in his hand was riddled with notches, and his combat suit had been torn to shreds.

But he still refused to give up.

Boom!

He pushed his strength to the limit.

He allocated all his remaining Life Energy.

His Body attribute had reached 706 points.

His cultivation had reached High-level General.

His ordinary strength was 70.6 tons. With the double amplification from his intent and battle technique, plus the 70 tons of strength from his mental power, his maximum strength had reached 281.8 tons.

Far beyond that of a peak General.

But compared to Xue Long, he was still far behind.

"To have fought me this long as a mere General is something you can be proud of."

"Now, die!"

Xue Long stared at Ye Cang, who was swaying on his feet, his eyes full of shock.

He had never imagined that a mere General could fight him to this extent.

But...

It ended here!

"Blood Dragon's Wrath!"

Xue Long slowly raised his spear. Terrifying intent surged into it, its power striking fear into the heart.

"Come on! I'm almost there!"

Ye Cang stared at Xue Long as he gathered his attack, his gaze unwavering.

"Die!"

The spear shot out, breaking the air with a sonic boom.

Boom!

In an instant, it was right in front of Ye Cang.

"Bastard! Stop right there!"

Just as Ye Cang was about to block it, a long-handled axe flashed in from afar and struck the spear.

Rumble!

The collision of these astonishing forces blasted a crater dozens of meters across into the ground before Ye Cang.

The resulting shockwave drove Ye Cang back more than ten meters.

Pfft...

Nearby, Xue Long spat out a mouthful of blood.

Intent was tied to will. Having it severed by someone's overwhelming force had made the backlash anything but mild.

"Hm? Who dares interfere with me!"

His eyes blazing with fury, he looked toward the direction the axe had flown from.

Two people were speeding toward them from there.

Ye Cang also turned to look at the person who had saved him.

"Ye Cang, thank goodness you're all right!"

Wang Xu hurried to Ye Cang and immediately took out a tube of medical serum, injecting it into Ye Cang's body.

"Hall Master Wang!"

Ye Cang stared at him, dumbfounded.

He had never expected Wang Xu to find him here.

"You didn't answer my calls, so I thought something had happened to you. Luckily, your phone's location kept changing. As soon as a powerful expert from the martial arts hall arrived, I rushed over."

As he spoke, Wang Xu gestured toward the man beside him.

"This is Venerable Hong Chen, a War Venerable from the Divine Firmament Martial Arts Hall in Vermilion Bird King City!"

At that, Ye Cang looked toward the man.

He was a burly, stern-faced middle-aged man.

When Ye Cang looked at him, he was already studying Ye Cang.

"Ye Cang pays his respects to Venerable Hong Chen!"

Ye Cang cupped his hands and bowed.

"Not bad! You managed to hold out this long against a War Venerable. You've made the trip worthwhile."

With that, he looked toward Xue Long.

"Were you the one trying to kill a promising War Venerable candidate from my Divine Firmament Martial Arts Hall?"

His calm voice was filled with bone-chilling killing intent.

Whoom!

The next instant, an invisible force slammed down upon Xue Long.

In Ye Cang's eyes, a volcano wreathed in raging flames seemed to loom behind Hong Chen, on the verge of erupting. His aura was terrifying.

Pfft...

Xue Long spat out another mouthful of blood.

A blood-red gale swirled around him, radiating a formidable aura of its own.

But compared to Hong Chen, the gap was obvious.

"This man killed my younger brother. I have to avenge him!"

"Hm?"

Xue Long's answer brought a flicker of surprise to Hong Chen's eyes.

"You have a resolute will. No wonder you managed to break through to War Venerable in this small city. What a pity..."

Hong Chen shook his head, flashed over to his weapon, and picked it up.

"Considering how hard you've worked to cultivate, I'll let you go if you leave now."

A flash of unwillingness crossed Xue Long's eyes as he looked at Hong Chen.

But sensing the pressure of his intent, Xue Long knew full well that he was no match for him.

He glanced at Hong Chen, then fixed his gaze on Ye Cang.

"Just a little more, just a little more, and I would've butchered that little bastard!"

A few breaths later, Xue Long snorted and was about to leave when a figure suddenly appeared beside him.

"Heh. Venerable Hong, putting on quite a show of power!"

The newcomer sneered, a formidable aura radiating from him.

The pressure bearing down on Xue Long shattered in an instant.

"So that's the tail that's been following me. It was you!"

Hong Chen looked at the newcomer coldly, his expression unchanged.

"It's City Lord Huang! He actually followed us here!"

A flicker of shock crossed Wang Xu's eyes.

"It's not right to bully newcomers, Venerable Hong. You've come all this way, and if you're itching for a fight, I'll spar with you."

As he spoke, Huang Heyu took a massive hammer from his back.

"As for their business, let them settle it themselves. What do you say?"