"Ke ke ke, I can hardly wait to see the human martial artists flee in terror!"
"Hahahaha! When the people outside see that not a single human who entered the Secret Realm made it out alive, their faces will be priceless!"
Feng Miesheng and the others stepped into the Secret Realm and looked around, sneering contemptuously.
But in the very next moment, several figures suddenly sprang into action!
One threw a punch, another wielded a blade, and a third brandished a spear. Their Vitality erupted, their killing intent shook the heavens, and they moved at blinding speed!
Rumble!
The ground shook!
A rapid series of weapons striking bone rang out. In the blink of an eye, three or four heads hit the ground!
"Beasts! How dare you!"
Feng Miesheng's eyes were bloodshot as he roared in fury!
Wielding a long halberd, he unleashed a burst of energy and charged straight at Wang Jinyang, who was leading the attack!
Wang Jinyang was unafraid. Before Feng Miesheng could reach him, he had already charged forward first!
Wang Jinyang's Vitality erupted in an instant. Blood-red light burst from his long blade, and blade beams crisscrossed through the air!
Illusions filled the void!
"Slash!"
Wang Jinyang roared. His blade fell like a bolt of lightning!
"Kill!"
Feng Miesheng roared and swung his halberd in a fury!
Boom!
The weapons collided, and the void thundered!
Without pausing for a moment, Wang Jinyang unleashed his Vitality. A blood-red aura spread around him as he charged at Feng Miesheng again.
He leapt into the air and chopped down!
It wasn't a single slash, but Blood Burst Mad Blade: seven consecutive strikes!
With a thud!
Feng Miesheng's corpse crashed heavily to the ground!
Wang Jinyang glanced at the weapon in his opponent's hand, his eyes lighting up. A divine weapon—what a haul!
By now, Yao Chengjun, Li Hansong, and the others had also slaughtered all the Earth Cave martial artists!
"Hurry up and search the bodies. Clear the battlefield!"
Wang Jinyang called out, then started searching the corpses. He also dug out all the Earth Cave martial artists' energy hearts.
Yao Chengjun and the others hurried to help.
Outside the Secret Realm,
the Earth Cave True Kings and martial artists watched the severed limbs and fragments being blasted out. Their faces turned livid.
King Feng and the others looked icy, their expressions dark!
"The remains of God Continent martial artists... Damn it!"
"Outrageous! The human martial artists actually ambushed our God Continent warriors at the entrance to the Secret Realm!"
"They're audacious beyond belief! Despicable!"
Only severed limbs had been thrown out. Not a single Earth Cave martial artist had escaped!
There was only one possibility: the human martial artists had slaughtered every last one of them!
For countless years, only the Earth Cave's prodigies had slaughtered human martial artists. Never before had humans dared to ambush them!
It was utterly hateful, utterly despicable!
"Trash will always be trash!"
In the Heaven Beyond Heaven camp, Changshan Qi sneered.
"Ten prodigies from the Earth Cave Forbidden Zone couldn't even stand against the human martial artists for a single exchange before they were all slaughtered!"
"Why don't such useless trash kill themselves? And they still dare show their faces and disgrace themselves!"
"Arrogant!"
The Earth Cave martial artists glared at him, furious!
Changshan Qi and the others sneered at their reaction, their eyes icy as they said coldly,
"Trash!"
"Just wait and see how we claim a crushing victory!"
The martial artists from Changrong Heaven, led by Changshan Qi, were arrogant and looked down on everyone.
In their eyes, the human martial artists in the Fourth Rank Secret Realm were nothing but lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
If Earth Cave martial artists could be ambushed and wiped out by lambs waiting for the slaughter, what else could they be but trash?
"Hah. Forbidden Zone prodigies? They're nothing but a pack of useless fools!"
Changshan Qi spoke indifferently, his expression impassive.
Not a single human martial artist in the Fourth Rank Secret Realm had made it onto the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking. There was no need to fear them!
If he were to drop to First Rank and face Zhang Xuan, Han Xu, and the others on the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking, he might truly be no match for the human prodigies at the same rank.
But none of the humans in the Fourth Rank Secret Realm had made the list!
The Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking had finished listing the First Rank prodigies, then skipped to the Third Rank Ling Yiyi, followed by the Eighth Rank Yu Feng.
Clearly, the Human Realm had no genuine prodigies among its middle ranks!
How could this pack of Fourth Rank humans—unrecognized by the Sky Screen as prodigies—possibly stand against him, a Heaven Beyond Heaven prodigy whose renown had spread far and wide a thousand years ago?
Changshan Qi's expression remained impassive. The Earth Cave might lose, but he would not!
"Time's up. Follow me into the Secret Realm!"
Changshan Qi called out, held his long blade, and led the martial artists of Changrong Heaven into the Secret Realm.
The martial artists of Pingyu Heaven and Taian Huangya Heaven followed close behind.
The other Heaven Beyond Heaven martial artists did not enter with them.
They were waiting.
The humans in the Secret Realm had slaughtered the Earth Cave martial artists the moment they entered. Their strength was clearly formidable.
The human martial artists might still be lying in ambush near the entrance.
Whichever faction entered first would face the fiercest ambush!
Even if the Heaven Beyond Heaven martial artists weren't afraid of being ambushed by humans, the enemy was hidden while they were exposed. An attack they didn't see coming would inevitably cause losses.
Better to let the martial artists of Changrong Heaven and Pingyu Heaven scout the way first.
Ten seconds passed. The entrance to the Secret Realm trembled, and severed limbs burst out!
Some martial artists from Pingyu Heaven and Taian Huangya Heaven escaped, gravely wounded!
"Damn humans!"
Changrong Emperor Venerable and Emperor Venerable Pingyu stared coldly, their faces livid!
The Heaven Beyond Heaven and Earth Cave martial artists were all shaken!
They had lost!
Perhaps they really were going to lose!
Inside the Secret Realm,
Wang Jinyang, Yao Chengjun, Li Hansong, and the others exchanged smiles.
That really was unexpected!
They had thought all the Heaven Beyond Heaven martial artists would enter the Secret Realm together.
If that had happened, they would have unleashed one explosive attack, killed the Heaven Beyond Heaven martial artists at the front, and immediately fled deeper into the Secret Realm.
But they hadn't expected only three factions from Heaven Beyond Heaven to enter!
"So there are good people in Heaven Beyond Heaven after all!"
Li Hansong couldn't help laughing as he remarked.
Divine weapons, pills... They'd really struck it rich!
Wang Jinyang gathered up the spoils and said solemnly, "The people outside must already know what happened at the entrance to the Secret Realm."
"From here on, the martial artists who enter will probably be much harder to kill. We should leave!"
Yao Chengjun and the others nodded. They had come to the Three Realms Martial Arts Exchange Tournament to seize resources, and they couldn't just pass up the Point Tokens in the Secret Realm.
The fighting inside the Secret Realm had temporarily subsided, but the arena battles outside continued in full swing!
At the First Rank arena, Chen Jiasheng stepped onto the platform one step at a time, his expression calm as he faced an Earth Cave martial artist with bloodshot eyes. He held a Wu Hook in his hand.
"Die!"
The Earth Cave martial artist's eyes flashed red as he charged at Chen Jiasheng on the platform!
Chen Jiasheng didn't hesitate. He threw one hook, then closed in with another!
The Chen family's Wu Hook attacked without defending!
The thrown Wu Hook spun through the air, tracing one streak of light after another!
A flash of white light!
The Wu Hook struck the Earth Cave martial artist's neck from behind!
The Earth Cave martial artist hurriedly dodged!
Seizing the opening, Chen Jiasheng immediately threw the Wu Hook in his hand again. Caught off guard, the Earth Cave martial artist had his throat slit!
"Whoa, Chen Jiasheng has incredible control!"
"How vicious! He's making the Wu Hook look like a flying guillotine!"
"Chen Jiasheng will give away his identity by using the Wu Hook!"
"He can't help it. Chen Jiasheng has used the Wu Hook since he was a child. If he switched weapons at the last minute, he might not beat an Earth Cave martial artist who'd dropped in rank!"
On the arena, Chen Jiasheng recalled his Wu Hook and struck the body twice more before kicking it over to the human side.
Seeing this, the Earth Cave martial artists ground their teeth, their eyes bloodshot!
"The human martial artists actually dared to whip a corpse right in front of us!"
"Utterly despicable!"
"Beasts!"
"..."
Zhang Xuan, Fang Ping, and the others heard the Earth Cave martial artists shouting for blood.
They were defeated opponents. No one cared.
Zhang Xuan dug at his ear. The Earth Cave martial artists really couldn't keep their cool.
They were already seeing red over something like this?
If he dug out an Earth Cave martial artist's energy heart right there on the arena, would the Earth Cave martial artists below spit blood from rage?
Of course, ordinary First Rank Earth Cave martial artists didn't have energy hearts, but those who'd dropped in rank definitely did.
On the Second Rank arena, Xie Lei won his match.
But the next human martial artist was blasted into critical condition and could only jump off the platform to save his life.
In the First Rank competition, the Earth Cave martial artists didn't pause for a moment before challenging Fang Ping again!
This time, Zhao Lei took the stage.
However, the Earth Cave martial artist blew himself up while charging, blasting Zhao Lei right off the platform.
"Pfft!"
Zhao Lei spat blood, his face dark.
Part of it was because he was genuinely injured. The rest was from sheer fury.
Fine, fine. So it was his turn for them to change their tactics!
Fu Changding patted Zhao Lei's shoulder in sympathy, then stepped onto the platform himself.
Then he, too, was blasted off the platform.
The Earth Cave martial artists had no tactics at all. They simply charged over and blew themselves up!
They would rather destroy everything than let the humans benefit!
Fang Ping felt his heart ache. That was money!
After the Earth Cave martial artists finished blowing themselves up, it was the Heaven Beyond Heaven martial artists' turn.
They started blowing themselves up too—but not their bodies. They blew up their weapons and resources!
After all, people could return to the platform again and again. Resources were consumables.
Zhang Xuan took the stage. Before his opponent could react, he grabbed the Heaven Beyond Heaven martial artist's wrist, killed him with a single slash, and stripped him of his weapons and resources.
Before long, the Heaven Beyond Heaven martial artists' faces had turned green!
They were giving everything away!
Every last one of them was giving everything away!
Not only were their resources confiscated, but they didn't even make it off the platform alive.
Fang Ping followed suit. He wasn't nearly as fast as Zhang Xuan, but he was still extremely quick!
Of all the combat techniques, the one he'd practiced most was the one essential for running away... no, for chasing down enemies: Cloud Step!
Below the platform, Fu Changding, Zhao Lei, Han Xu, and the others watched Fang Ping's burst of speed in astonishment.
"Whoa, he really was hiding his strength! He's mastered Cloud Step!"
Zhang Xuan couldn't help laughing.
Fang the Runner truly lived up to his name!
The First Rank competition ended quickly, because no one challenged the human martial artists anymore.
The humans suffered some casualties in the Second Rank competition. Several martial artists would have been killed if they hadn't been lucky enough to fall off the platform!
"Kill! Kill every Second Rank human! Avenge the God Continent martial artists!"
"Weak! Far too weak! The human Second Rank martial artists are pitifully weak, no match for us at all!"
Zhang Xuan raised his eyes slightly and looked toward the Second Rank arena.
He let out a faint laugh and charged forward, blade in hand.
"A First Rank challenging a Second Rank! Who dares fight me?"
Zhang Xuan stood on the arena with his blade in hand, his posture straight and proud.
He surveyed everyone around him, looking down on them all!
"Arrogant!"
Many Earth Cave and Heaven Beyond Heaven warriors were incensed and shouted furiously at him!
"Human, don't get too carried away!"
"Are you looking to die? Go ahead and try!"
"Since you're begging for death, I'll grant your wish!"
Watching the Earth Cave warriors' angry faces, Zhang Xuan chuckled. "Angry? What a pointless thing to get angry about!"
"Which of you will come keep me company and warm me up?"
"You're asking for death!"
The Earth Cave warriors were furious!
This man actually dared to look down on them so completely. He was utterly blind to his own arrogance!
Feng Qing was incensed. He moved in a flash and leaped onto the arena!
After Ling Yiyi made the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking, King Feng had guessed that the Future Human King was very likely a Second Rank warrior.
So King Feng had Feng Qing drop to the peak of the Second Rank, intending to kill the human Second Rank warriors!
Feng Qing stared at Zhang Xuan and gave a cruel laugh.
"I just personally slaughtered several Second Rank human warriors, and now you've foolishly climbed onto the Second Rank arena...
Since you're looking for death, I'll grant your wish!"
This man could lord it over everyone in the First Rank, but in the Second Rank, facing Feng Qing meant certain death!
"Feng Qing, don't underestimate him. You must kill him!"
King Feng's voice rang in his ear.
Feng Qing's expression changed at once. He was just about to say something, but in the next instant, Zhang Xuan was already in front of him.
A razor-sharp flash of the blade!
Zhang Xuan sheathed his blade, searched the corpse, and kicked it aside.
"Who else wants to come up here and die?"
"You despicable bastard! You struck while he was unprepared!"
"You'll die a miserable death!"
"Arrogant! You may be strong, but how much longer can you keep showing off?"
The Earth Cave warriors were thoroughly enraged, their fury surging!
One after another, they leaped onto the arena to kill Zhang Xuan!
Zhang Xuan never lost a fight!
The Heaven Beyond Heaven warriors watched, their expressions shifting as their minds reeled!
Strong—this man was absurdly strong, freakishly strong!
At the peak of the First Rank, he could still suppress peak Second Rank prodigies and win every fight!
It was beyond comprehension!
Unbelievable!
Impossible to accept!
How could a First Rank warrior be this powerful?!
His displayed strength was no weaker than that of a Third Rank prodigy!
He could even kill high- and peak-Third Rank warriors who had tempered their torso bones!
The Earth Cave warriors glared at him with bloodshot eyes, while the Heaven Beyond Heaven warriors were left stunned!
Ji Yao stared blankly, her beautiful eyes fixed on Zhang Xuan.
"So strong!"
Ji Yao bit her full red lip, her mind in turmoil.
A man this powerful had already displayed an invincible bearing in the First Rank, and was just as invincible when fighting above his rank!
If he reached the ninth rank of the Origin, wouldn't he be able to kill a Peak warrior while still at the ninth rank?!
Terrifying!
At that moment, King Ming, King Feng, King Baishan, and the other Earth Cave True Kings all wore grim expressions as they stared fixedly at Zhang Xuan.
As long as he lived, God Continent would never know peace!
He was already terrifying in the First Rank. If he entered the True King Realm, he might be able to slaughter every Earth Cave True King single-handedly!
He was every bit as terrifying as the Future Human King or the reincarnated body of the Demon Emperor!
There was even a very real chance that he was the Future Human King himself!
On the human side,
Fang Ping, Han Xu, Chen Jiasheng, and Fu Changding all sucked in sharp breaths, shaken to the core!
"He's actually this strong!"
"What a freak! This is ridiculous!"
"He's barely human—he's way too strong!"
"..."
Everyone was thoroughly stunned.
Zhang Xuan was so powerful. How could he have died before his time?
And if he really had died before his time, who had killed him?!
"Interesting!"
Suddenly, the void trembled!
A figure burst through the air and looked at Zhang Xuan with an amused smile. "As expected of the first human prodigy to make the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking!"
"Zhang Xuan, you shouldn't be ranked only twentieth on the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking."
"Perhaps it's because you truly have no future."
The figure let out a heavy sigh.
Zhang Xuan was so powerful, so terrifyingly gifted that even he was unnerved!
How could the Earth Cave or Heaven Beyond Heaven let such a prodigy live?
Faced with the revelation of his identity, Zhang Xuan didn't panic, nor was he surprised by the figure's appearance.
If anything, he felt like laughing.
"If they ever make a Three Realms Power Ranking, I'll take first place. Wouldn't that scare the life out of you?"
His words sent shockwaves through the crowd!
King Ming, King Feng, King Baishan, and the other Earth Cave True Kings stared in disbelief, their eyes narrowing!
"Zhang Xuan! He's the first Zhang Xuan to make the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking!"
"How could Zhang Xuan, ranked twentieth, possibly be this terrifying?!"
"Unbelievable! Impossible!"
Zhang Xuan's identity was exposed, and the Three Realms were thrown into an uproar!
Ji Yao and the other Earth Cave warriors trembled from head to toe!
The Heaven Beyond Heaven warriors stared, dumbfounded!
Zhang Xuan—a human prodigy whose description on the Sky Screen had been fewer than a hundred words—was terrifying enough to overwhelm the prodigies of the Three Realms!
Even True Gods who had fallen to the First Rank, and Ninth Rank warriors who had fallen to the First Rank, were no match for Zhang Xuan!
Even famed prodigies from a thousand years ago were easily slain by Zhang Xuan in same-rank fights!
A warrior who had tempered his bones just once had managed to cultivate such terrifying strength. It was simply incomprehensible!
On the human side,
Zhang Tao's expression darkened as he stared warily at the figure in the void.
Who exactly was this person? How had he seen through the disguises of the Heaven Suppressing King and the God Forger?
The Heaven Suppressing King looked grave and instantly moved to shield the human warriors behind him!
The God Forger also teleported to the Purple Forbidden Earth Cave, his expression grave.
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The reveal is coming right up.
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