"Shen Luo, I suspect... you aren't human at all!"
Huo Xuan breathed hard, his hair whipping wildly. In their one-on-one clash just now, he had actually been completely overwhelmed.
"Hey, we were having a perfectly good fight. No need to start insulting me!"
Shen Luo spread his hands and spoke helplessly.
"You!"
Huo Xuan pointed at Shen Luo. Seeing that harmless expression of his, he flew into a rage.
He was the young patriarch of the Yan Clan. Apart from those few people from the Gu, Hun, and Lei clans, who could get the better of him?
His hands rapidly formed seals, and the clan mark between his brows surged. A terrifying aura erupted from within him, and then his strength began to soar.
Four-Star Dou Zong, five-star Dou Zong, Six-Star Dou Zong, seven-star Dou Zong!
Huo Xuan's aura only stopped climbing once it reached the peak of seven-star Dou Zong.
His immense Dou Qi began pressing down on Shen Luo, making it hard for him to breathe.
Shen Luo's pupils contracted slightly. Though his physique was formidable, his cultivation was still only at One-Star Dou Zong.
"Shen Luo, if you beat this move, I'll acknowledge you as my big brother!"
Flames danced across the sky as the Dou Qi of a High-Rank Dou Zong poured forth like a tide. Huo Xuan stood in the air like a fire god descending to earth.
"Emperor Flame Fist!"
Huo Xuan shouted sharply. A thousand-zhang fist imprint instantly condensed above his head, dense runes flowing across its surface like clearly visible veins.
Watching below, Huo Zhi involuntarily stepped back and hid behind the Fire Fairy. She pursed her lips. "Elder, my brother's even using this move. Looks like Shen Luo really does have a few tricks up his sleeve."
The Fire Fairy's delicate brows drew together slightly.
The Emperor Flame Fist was a high-level earth-rank Dou Technique of the Yan Clan, as well as the primary offensive Dou Technique practiced by its younger generation at the Dou Zong stage. Its explosive power was tremendous, and the degree to which it condensed Dou Qi far surpassed other Dou Techniques of the same rank.
Her gaze settled on Shen Luo, as though she were watching for something. The moment he showed any sign of faltering, she would stop the match.
Seemingly sensing that gentle gaze, Shen Luo turned his head and met the Fire Fairy's eyes.
He nodded slightly.
It was as if he were saying:
"Don't worry, Aunt Ling. I'm still standing strong!"
The Fire Fairy's heart trembled faintly. All she sensed from Shen Luo was boundless fighting spirit, without a trace of fear.
"Has this child addled his brain refining pills? A One-Star Dou Zong fighting a seven-star Dou Zong-how does he dare?"
The Fire Fairy's breathing quickened a little as she murmured.
"Could it be... he... he doesn't want me to see him admit defeat?"
At that thought, she gently raised her slender arm, preparing to freeze space and separate the two.
"Roar!"
Shen Luo suddenly threw back his head and roared, his black hair whipping wildly.
The clothes on his upper body abruptly burst apart, revealing his powerful torso.
Purple blood flowed through his body. An aura of wild tyranny, mingled with anger and defiance, fiercely opposed Huo Xuan's seven-star Dou Zong aura.
His surging blood energy filled the sky, supreme in its strength and blazing yang.
His blood boiled. As a seven-star Dou Zong, Huo Xuan was strong enough to fully awaken the tyrannical will of the Heavenly Tyrant Body.
Though Shen Luo held no advantage in Dou Qi and was even being suppressed, his blood roared and his body cried out.
Heaven and earth changed color, and ripples spread endlessly through the void.
Shen Luo abruptly stepped forward, perfectly fusing his vast One-Star Dou Zong Dou Qi with his purple blood.
"Tyrant Fist!"
Shen Luo shouted fiercely. Like a demon god, his blood energy surged into the highest heavens, while his soul, blood, Dou Qi, and will seemed to blend into perfect unity.
Boom!
The two thousand-zhang fist imprints collided head-on, tearing apart the surrounding space.
A brilliant shock wave burst outward from the two of them toward the surrounding peaks.
A massive energy storm swept across the sky, as though it would grind the mountain into nothingness.
The Fire Fairy remained composed and lightly swept her sleeve.
The chaotic worldly energy froze in an instant, and the earthshaking disturbance the two had created vanished into nothing.
Peace returned to heaven and earth.
"Huo Xuan, you've lost."
A gentle voice rang out in the air as the Fire Fairy appeared between them.
Huo Xuan knelt on one knee in midair. Cracks covered the flame armor formed from the Eight Desolations Destruction Flame, and it then crumbled into drifting ash.
Shen Luo, meanwhile, gasped for breath, drenched in blood. Wounds covered his body, only to heal instantly and then split open again.
His purple blood seemed locked in a tug-of-war with those fiercely burning flames. A moment later, it finally gained the upper hand.
Such was the terrifying might of the Heavenly Tyrant Body!
"Brother Huo Xuan, thank you for going easy on me."
Huo Xuan's face turned deathly pale.
Among the younger generation of the Flame Realm, he had no rivals.
After activating his clan mark and drawing on his bloodline, Huo Xuan's strength had risen to seven-star Dou Zong. With his high-level cultivation methods and combat skills, he was powerful enough to contend with an ordinary Nine-Star Dou Zong.
"Brother Shen, to think that I, Huo Xuan, have gained another formidable rival."
Huo Xuan stood up and moved his numb, aching arms, smiling bitterly.
"Not at all, not at all. It was only luck. You were just careless, Brother Huo Xuan."
Pfft!
The moment he finished speaking, Shen Luo spat out a mouthful of blood with impeccable timing, his aura weakening.
The Fire Fairy blinked and watched Shen Luo with interest, a trace of mischief flashing across her exquisite, oval face.
Look at him. The little rascal's quite the actor!
Huo Xuan took a pill from his Storage Ring and swallowed it. "Brother Shen, are you really just an alchemist? A One-Star Dou Zong alchemist?"
If Huo Xuan's earlier regard for Shen Luo had been based on his impressive alchemy skills and potential, he now viewed Shen Luo as a rival entirely on his own level.
"Absolutely genuine. Little Brother Huo Xuan, everyone knows I'm an eighth-tier alchemist."
"Pah!"
Huo Xuan spat. "Fine, fine, fine! As young patriarch, my word is a nail driven home. Until we reach Dou Zun, you're Brother Shen, and I'm Little Brother Huo Xuan!"
Inside the great hall.
The Fire Fairy sat in the seat of honor.
Her straight, firm legs were crossed, and her slightly slipped neckline exposed her proud, snowy peaks.
Her skin was white as snow, giving off a faint, elusive sheen beneath the light.
Her face was like a lotus emerging from water, cool and noble, while her figure was like a fully ripened peach, alluring and graceful.
Shen Luo looked over.
Those proud peaks, that slender waist, and those lush hips had grown even fuller and more beautiful beneath the sculpting hand of time. Her dignified, noble bearing also held a languid charm.
"Shen Luo!"
The Fire Fairy's voice was so soft it could have dripped water, as lovely as heavenly music. She showed none of the cold majesty expected of a Late-Stage Seven-Star Dou Saint.
"As a One-Star Dou Zong, you fought Huo Xuan without losing even after he activated his clan mark. Your physique must be rather special, mustn't it?"
Shen Luo blinked without answering. Before a powerhouse at the Late-Stage Seven-Star Dou Saint level, a single lie might require many more to cover it.
"Everyone has their secrets. Since you bested Huo Xuan by half a move, Aunt Ling can grant you one request."
The Fire Fairy shifted her voluptuous body into a more comfortable position. Her fair, delicately pink feet swayed back and forth, captivating the soul.
"Think carefully. Even a heaven-rank cultivation method or Dou Technique isn't out of the question."
Resting her chin on her slender hand, the Fire Fairy studied Shen Luo from above.
Over thousands of years, she had seen countless men on two legs, yet now she found this white-robed youth somewhat inscrutable.
"Aunt... Aunt Ling, I don't need cultivation methods or combat skills, and I can refine my own pills. I only want you..."
"Want me?" The Fire Fairy wondered whether she had misheard.
A moment later, anger appeared on her face, and an aura capable of destroying heaven and earth rippled through the hall.
"Insolent!"
Shen Luo's expression did not change. "Aunt Ling, I want you to look into my eyes!"
The Fire Fairy's body suddenly stiffened, and that terrifying, soul-shaking pressure vanished instantly.
"Look into your eyes? That's all?"
"Yes, Aunt Ling, but you have to look from closer up."
"For how long?"
Confusion appeared on the Fire Fairy's face, and curiosity flickered in her long, narrow eyes.
"Ten breaths."
With that, Shen Luo strode forward and sat beside the Fire Fairy.
White light shimmered deep within his eyes, and a strange power seemed to lurk in his dark pupils.
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