Demon Flag Mountain.
A violent wind howled in his ears.
The trees sped past, blurring into a mass of shadows.
Lei Wen pushed his speed to the limit.
The Ninth Rank Warrior's physical prowess erupted in full force, each stride carrying him dozens of meters.
He leaped across the treetops, as nimble as a hunting cat yet as ferocious as a cheetah.
The closer he drew to the battlefield, the heavier the pressure in the air became.
It was not gravity.
It was a kind of spiritual oppression.
Even the air seemed to thicken, and every breath required immense effort.
This was the majesty of the Saint Domain.
Bluefire had already entered the heart of the battlefield.
The pressure leaking from it alone was enough to make a Ninth Rank Warrior uncomfortable.
So powerful.
Lei Wen could feel his blood accelerating through his veins, his heart pounding violently against his chest.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
It was not fear.
It was excitement.
Ever since he had crossed over,
he had been cultivating step by step in relative peace.
Even after entering Demon Flag Mountain, he had not encountered any real danger.
Such a life was certainly peaceful, but it was also dulling his fighting spirit.
He needed stimulation.
He needed the feeling of dancing on a blade's edge.
Adrenaline surged wildly through Lei Wen's veins.
Very soon,
the view ahead suddenly opened up.
The once-dense forest had been abruptly leveled.
In its place was a desolate expanse of wasteland.
It had clearly been flattened by immense force.
Lei Wen stopped atop a giant Red Thorn Tree, concealing his aura and blending into the surroundings like a chameleon.
He did not dare approach any closer.
He was roughly eight hundred meters from the center of the battlefield.
At that distance, it would take only an instant for Saint Domain experts to reach him.
Yet it was also the safest distance from which to observe the battle.
Even so, the violent aura sweeping over him still made his skin sting.
Roar!
A deafening roar exploded through the air.
Lei Wen felt a sharp pain in his eardrums, and his internal organs trembled.
His gaze shot toward the center of the battlefield.
There, an Earth Flood Sky.
A dark-brown giant bear nearly fifty meters tall rose onto its hind legs.
It was like a moving mountain.
Every strand of fur was like steel needles, its muscles knotted and bulging with explosive strength.
Earth Bear.
Its massive palms glowed with an earthy yellow light, dense earth-element energy gathered to a terrifying degree.
And before it,
a giant snake as thick as a water barrel floated in the sky.
Its entire body was snow-white, with white bone wings on its back, surrounded by purple lightning and azure wind blades.
White Bone Wings.
Its pair of icy vertical pupils held no emotion, only pure killing intent.
"So this is the Saint Domain..."
Lei Wen held his breath and stared fixedly at the scene.
The two towering figures were reflected in his pupils.
There were no flashy movements.
The Earth Bear suddenly stomped down.
Rumble!
The ground within a radius of a hundred meters instantly shattered.
Countless razor-sharp earth spikes burst crazily from the ground like bamboo shoots after rain, stabbing into the sky.
Every earth spike gleamed with a metallic sheen, enough to easily pierce through a Ninth Rank Warrior's defense.
Was that magic?
No.
Lei Wen saw it clearly.
It was not magic released through chanting spells.
It was the Earth Bear's instinctive manipulation of earth-element energy.
It was part of the earth itself.
As long as it willed it, the earth would obey its command.
"So that is dominance!"
Lei Wen's heart shook wildly.
It was not about using power, but controlling it.
Turning oneself into an extension of the world's elements, even becoming the elements themselves.
Facing the earth spikes that filled the sky and covered the ground,
the White Bone Wings in the air showed not the slightest panic.
It flapped its wings.
Crack!
The air was torn apart.
Its body instantly vanished from its original position, leaving behind only an afterimage pierced through by the earth spikes.
The next second.
A thick bolt of purple lightning descended from the heavens like divine punishment, viciously striking toward the Earth Bear's skull.
It was too fast!
So fast that Lei Wen could only barely catch a blur.
If he had faced that strike,
he would likely have become charcoal before he could even react.
This was the Saint Domain.
A realm that inspired both longing and fascination.
The Earth Bear did not dodge.
A heavy earth-yellow barrier rose around its body, as though it had donned a layer of earth armor.
Boom!
The lightning struck the barrier, exploding into countless electric snakes.
The barrier shook violently but did not shatter.
The Earth Bear roared in fury and suddenly swung its huge paw, actually slapping out a terrifying wave of air from empty space.
Wherever the air wave passed, the air twisted.
The White Bone Wings, originally impossible to grasp, was forcibly driven out by that invisible force.
"Can it be used like that..."
Lei Wen muttered to himself.
He had understood.
That palm strike from the Earth Bear looked clumsy, yet it contained an extremely profound realm.
It did not have the speed to catch the White Bone Wings.
Instead, it directly sealed off the space and used absolute force to shatter all techniques.
One force conquered ten thousand methods.
That was the tyranny of the earth element.
A realization vaguely surfaced in Lei Wen's mind.
He had always pursued a balance between speed and strength, trying to make every move perfect.
But that perfection had instead become a shackle.
At certain moments, a single strike could be the strongest.
He looked at his hands.
If the strength of a Ninth Rank Warrior erupted at one point in an instant, what kind of effect would it have?
What if he stopped pursuing the refinement of moves and instead fused all his essence, energy, and spirit into a single strike?
In the battlefield.
The two Saint Domain beasts had begun fighting in earnest.
The White Bone Wings no longer probed cautiously.
Lightning and wind intertwined around its body, forming a massive blade that slashed downward.
The Earth Bear was unwilling to show weakness. It slammed its palm against the ground, causing waves of earth to surge and form an earth dragon that charged upward to meet it.
Boom boom boom!!!
Explosions rang out without end.
Violent shockwaves swept in every direction.
Even though he was several hundred meters away, the giant tree Lei Wen stood on was uprooted by the blast.
He flipped through the air, then struck the ground with his knees upon landing, carving two deep trenches before forcing himself to a stop.
Pathetic.
Yet his eyes shone brightly.
"So that's how it is..."
"No, it isn't some rigid thing."
"It is the height of one's will!"
"If I want to kill you, even heaven and earth must make way for me. That is dominance!"
Lei Wen felt the window paper that had always obstructed him suddenly tear open.
And the light outside slowly filtered in.
It felt so damn good.
He stared at the battle that was gradually becoming more intense, no longer merely watching.
Instead, he was simulating it in his mind.
He placed himself within the battlefield.
If I were the Earth Bear, how would I throw that punch?
If I were the White Bone Wings, how would I evade that strike?
He crazily deduced the possibilities within his mind.
Again and again, he was killed; again and again, he was reborn.
Every second, his understanding of power underwent earth-shaking transformation.
No one knew how much time passed.
The battle in the center gradually weakened.
The two Flagrant Beasts seemed exhausted, or perhaps they had suffered injuries.
The Earth Bear now bore several deep wounds exposing bone, blood dripping down its body.
One of the White Bone Wings' wings had also snapped, its feathers charred black.
This was an opportunity.
A wildly reckless thought suddenly sprang from Lei Wen's mind.
Since it was a life-and-death battle.
Since both had suffered severe injuries.
Then would they...
Kill each other?
Or perhaps both were so badly wounded that neither could move.
If that were the case...
Lei Wen licked his dry lips, a greedy chill flashing through his eyes.
Saint Domain Smog Core.
That was the heart of a Flagrant Beast.
If he could obtain one...
Before you continue