"Buzz."
Jiang Ming's Sea of Bitterness trembled. A ripple spread out, and a Demon Shadow appeared. With a casual grab, it plucked away the bright moon, then tossed it back in the opposite direction.
All of this happened in an instant. Many people did not even have time to see what it was.
Ji Haoyue felt his entire body shake. In an instant, the shimmering water around him shattered into fragments and was forced back into his body. He was sent flying backward. Each step he took landed with a boom, leaving clear footprints in the ground and cracking the ancient battlefield beneath his feet.
Ji Haoyue's battle intent surged. Two brilliant divine lights shot from his eyes, and his purple robes fluttered without wind. He stood there, staring at Jiang Ming as though he wanted to see through him completely.
He was not injured. He had merely been blasted away by his own phenomenon. Since he had already entered the Dao Palace Realm and opened two Divine Treasuries, his divine power was surging. For him, the battle had only just begun.
"Ding!"
At the same time, Hua Yunfei sat cross-legged with a precious zither laid across his knees. His fingers plucked its strings, producing clear, melodious notes, as if a Divine Phoenix were crying out.
This was undoubtedly a heavenly melody, rare in this world. Yet it was also an offensive killing technique, containing the intent to seize one's soul and intimidate one's spirit. Rings of tangible soundwaves rippled from the strings, seeming to possess souls of their own as they bombarded Jiang Ming, while Ji Haoyue remained unaffected.
"Nine Tribulations Phoenix Song."
Sure enough, a year ago, Ji Haoyue had battled Hua Yunfei and been forced to reveal all his strength by this peerless sacred tune before barely defeating him.
In truth, Ji Haoyue did not know that Hua Yunfei still had hidden trump cards he had not used. Some inherited secret arts from Ruthless's first lifetime—great killing techniques—could not be revealed.
Jiang Ming naturally knew Hua Yunfei's methods as well. Shrouding the Heavens was a leisure novel he loved to read, and he would skim through it at lightning speed, wishing he could finish it all in a single glance.
Yet Hua Yunfei was a character he remembered particularly clearly.
He watched the rings of glittering ripples, seemingly carved from crystal, clash with his demonic radiance. Every collision was like two mountains smashing together, causing the surrounding ground and Void to tremble faintly.
"Hua Yunfei truly is a heaven-defying genius. Ordinary Dao Palace cultivators would be unable to withstand such pleasant zither music at all. Their bodies would be pierced through in a single exchange and turned into sieves."
"With the bright moon hanging high, once he breaks through to the Four Extremes Secret Realm, he will be able to fight across an entire realm the moment he unleashes his phenomenon. Incredible!"
"However, that little monk from the Western Desert is even more incredible. He has actually lasted this long against the attacks of the Ji Family's Divine Body and Yunfei."
The several old antiques watching from the sidelines chatted casually, taking the opportunity to praise one another's people.
"Boom!"
Jiang Ming's True Essence Sea boiled. This physique was simply excellent. His true essence surged, vast and boundless. If it was not enough, he could refine the purple essence within his Sea of Bitterness to replenish it. Demonic energy surged around him, while the black Great Sun Demon Wheel behind his head gleamed with dark light and bloomed with dazzling black demonic radiance. He pushed the Seventy-Two Transformations to its limit, evolving the wondrous divine arts contained within the imprint of the Ancient Monk Lineage's First Generation.
At last, another wondrous art surfaced in his mind—the Fearless Lion's Roar!
This was the innate precious art of the Fearless Vajra Lion Lineage subdued by the Ancient Monk Lineage, the authentic Lion's Roar technique, a True Immortal-level secret art.
Jiang Ming had merely evolved the Seventy-Two Transformations to the utmost limit he could currently reach. Fortunately, he had broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage and his realm had risen, allowing him to accomplish this.
Even so, it possessed only sixty percent of its power at the same realm.
But that was already enough.
"Brother Haoyue, Brother Yunfei, be careful."
Jiang Ming gave them a warning. His hands formed seals, his breath sank into his dantian, and in the next moment, a black Vajra Fearless Lion manifested behind him. It was built like a mountain, massive and intimidating, powerful and domineering. It stood upon the Void and raised its head in a heaven-shaking roar.
Ring after ring of black ripples burst from Jiang Ming's throat. Empowered by the black Vajra Fearless Lion dharma seal behind him, they spread forward. In an instant, the earth cracked apart, stones from the ancient battlefield exploded, and the sight was terrifying.
"Roar..."
The Fearless Lion's Roar erupted. Its soundwaves became the most terrifying invisible blades, formless yet tangible. The black ripples were clearly visible, like a boiling black demonic sea with towering tsunamis, vast and surging, wave after wave sweeping across the heavens without end.
The pitted ancient battlefield sank more than three feet in an instant. Some small mountains over a hundred meters tall and enormous boulders several meters high exploded into powder.
The old men watching were dumbfounded. Such a powerful secret art was a lost technique of the Western Desert's Vajra Temple lineage.
This soundwave technique was undoubtedly a legendary secret art, no weaker than the Western Desert's Six-Syllable Mantra. It seemed its reputation truly was well deserved.
In an instant, Ji Haoyue fully activated the Great Void Technique. His entire body seemed branded into the Void, transforming into Dao Patterns within it and imprinting himself deep in the Void. He was innately placed in an invincible position.
Hua Yunfei, meanwhile, remained calm and ethereal, like an immortal. His fingers swiftly plucked the strings, resembling a dancing phoenix and phoenixess. The zither melody became lofty and impassioned, like phoenix cries echoing through the Nine Heavens.
In the next moment, nine crisp and pleasant phoenix cries rang out. Nine divine lights pierced the skies and shot toward the stars. Nine Divine Phoenixes could clearly be seen evolving from the zither music within the Void. They were manifestations of the Dao, yet appeared vividly lifelike.
The nine golden Divine Phoenixes had graceful bodies that shimmered with golden light. They spread their wings and soared through the sky, every movement incomparably beautiful and mesmerizing.
"Every time I listen to this lost ancient tune, I gain a different feeling. The Phoenix Tribulations Song has been lost for far too long. It is a peerless divine melody said to be capable of directly grinding away a living being's origin and killing an opponent at the root."
"The Nine Tribulations Phoenix Song is said to be a secret art created at the very least by a Great Saint, perhaps even a Quasi-Emperor. It has been lost for tens of thousands of years—no, perhaps even longer."
"This truly is a battle between dragons and tigers. Two peerless secret arts lost to time are colliding."
The old men's exclamations sounded almost like they were providing commentary, but both the old men and old women wore expressions of shock.
The nine Divine Phoenixes streaked across the sky, crying out in the most graceful and beautiful poses, radiating an aura that made souls tremble.
The Vajra Fearless Demon Lion behind Jiang Ming seemed to have been provoked. It leaped down, stepping upon the black rippling soundwaves as it charged toward the nine Divine Phoenixes.
Ji Haoyue no longer attacked. He simply began watching as well, curious about what sparks would fly when these two lost sound Dao secret arts collided, and which would prove stronger.
"Buzz."
The instant the two soundwave techniques came into contact, the entire secret realm shook violently. Such an attack seemed to have reached the might possessed only by Fourth-Level Secret Realm cultivators.
"Boom."
As the black and golden ripples collided, the center of the battlefield seemed to be cleaved directly in two. A ravine thirty meters wide and hundreds of meters deep appeared. At that moment, the entire secret realm seemed about to be pierced through.
The secret realm shook violently, and dense cracks appeared throughout the Void.
Crash!
Suddenly, silver nets like a vast net of heaven and earth appeared throughout the secret realm, sealing it once more. This was an arrangement of the Taixuan Sect. For cultivators below the Four Extremes Secret Realm, this secret realm was a hidden treasure land for cultivation.
Only Saints could open up each secret realm space. It absolutely could not be destroyed casually, as it was a rare foundation.
"We miscalculated. These little fellows' combat strength has already reached the Four Extremes Secret Realm level, affecting the secret realm's fragile space."
The Star Peak Master formed seals with his hands, drawing Dao Patterns to stabilize the space as he sighed repeatedly.