The Blood Phoenix Lion standing to one side could not help speaking as he watched the beautiful figure in the arena!
The woman was not only lovely and tall, a rare beauty, but the beautiful horn on her head did nothing to mar her looks, adding a further touch of splendor instead. Her talent was extraordinary, too. Had they not surrounded her, he would probably have been defeated and killed long ago.
She truly lived up to her descent from the Heavenly Horned Ant. There were no weaklings among them. Once fully grown and at their peak, their fighting prowess could rival an Immortal King's.
"Hmph...! You lust-addled mongrel traitor! Once I capture you, I'll castrate you and hang you on the city wall for everyone to admire!"
"You don't know what's good for you! Since you want to die, I'll grant your wish. Fearless Lion Seal!"
Enraged by her words, the Blood Phoenix Lion unleashed a heaven-shaking roar. It not only unsettled the mind, but seemed poised to shatter everyone's divine ability runes with its sound waves. This was the divine ability of the Fearless Lion clan. Legend had it that, perfected, a single roar could shatter the cosmos and bring the stars crashing down.
At the same time, the raging divine ability became an enormous divine claw that seized at the woman. The Blood Phoenix Clan's divine ability, Flying Phoenix Claw, reached out.
"Hmph! Even a Fearless Lion or a Blood Phoenix wouldn't dare pit their strength against my clan. What do you amount to? A mongrel isn't worthy of fighting me. Behold my Great Dao Divine Fist! Die!"
Though wounded, the woman was still absolutely not someone these kings could confront head-on!
Beneath the divine might of her punch, scorching divine power erupted from her body. The Blood Phoenix Lion's divine ability was blasted apart, and his enormous body was sent flying by that same punch.
Just as the woman was about to finish him off, a man with two horns on his head and another king unleashed their divine abilities from the side, blocking her path!
Her brow furrowed. She decisively abandoned her pursuit of the Blood Phoenix Lion and resumed fighting the two!
"Hahahahaha..."
Nearby, after smashing the Demon Bone king apart with a punch, the young man burst into a hearty, uninhibited laugh!
The feeling was truly exhilarating. No matter how invincible your divine abilities, I would smash them with a single punch, like an invincible emperor.
"Come on, you pack of rats! You're next. I'll send you into reincarnation!"
"We have no choice. Fight! I refuse to believe he's truly invincible. Though winning this way is dishonorable, history is ultimately written by the victors! Your defeat and death will be our stepping stone into the Emperor Clan!"
A king of the Three-Eyed Clan from the Foreign Realm spoke!
"Then kill him...!"
Like a command, his words sent all the kings into action. Divine ability runes instantly filled heaven and earth, and absolute killing power assailed the young man!
A contemptuous smile curled the young man's lips as he moved to meet them.
The battle continued!
Having arrived and concealed himself in the void to watch the battle, Lin Yue could not help feeling shocked. Listening to their conversation and watching the young man and woman fight, he happened to glance at their handsome faces. The beautiful horns above their heads marked a slight difference from humans, and he froze!
Surely it couldn't be such a coincidence! Heavenly Horned Ants! Is this the battle of the last Heavenly Horned Ant's older brother and sister from the original story? Does that mean He Wushuang is nearby? He must be! An Zhuo appeared on the battlefield not long ago, too. Their leading figures have come to the Nine Heavens with a very clear purpose: to crush the confidence of our younger generation by sending opponents in the same realm, even nearly the same age!
As the battle slowly drew toward its end, the Heavenly Horned Ant named Yan and the woman fought with ever-growing ferocity. The kings besieging them were slaughtered one after another! Their piles of bleached bones forged the Heavenly Horned Ant's fearsome reputation as one of the Ten Fiends for generations to come!
Apart from the woman's earlier injury from a sneak attack, neither had even been wounded in this battle. They even seemed to have advanced another step afterward. This was what made the Heavenly Horned Ants so terrifying: they improved through bloody combat, growing stronger after every injury.
Looking at the blood-red earth beneath their feet, Lin Yue could not help marveling at the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan's strength. Moreover, this clan had truly fought for the Nine Heavens down to its last soldier. In the original story, only a single young Heavenly Horned Ant remained. What a pity!
Unlike the marveling Lin Yue, the two did not grow smug over their victory. To them, it was only natural. Though these kings were powerful and no weaker than members of the Emperor Clan.
They might one day enter Extreme Dao or even become immortals of the Foreign Realm, and their combined assault had been especially troublesome. Still, they could not shake the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan's mighty reputation. Not even members of the Emperor Clan themselves could do so.
The two looked toward where the woman had blasted the Blood Phoenix Lion. An unparalleled enemy seemed to be slowly approaching from that direction. Even with their talent and strength, their expressions turned utterly grave, and they had no confidence in the battle to come.
Yet after exchanging a glance, resolve once again filled their eyes.
Chapter 7: He Wushuang
The Great Dao murmured, and all things seemed to be slowly falling silent. Before the man arrived, even the Great Dao of heaven and earth had been affected, giving voice to demonic sounds.
The figure of a young man slowly appeared in their sight.
As the man approached, Lin Yue, hidden in the void nearby, finally saw his face clearly.
He was a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties, dressed in an azure robe, with golden hair cascading down his back to the bends of his calves.
Hair that long was rare. Like strands of gold, it radiated brilliant, dazzling light. Each crystalline strand contained divine abilities and the Great Dao. It was hard to imagine just what sort of figure he was.
His skin was very fair, like mutton-fat jade, and his face was sharp and chiseled. Though handsome, he did not look effeminate. The transcendent, invincible aura surrounding him made hearts pound with dread.
His eyes were golden as well, marked with unusual crosses. As his gaze flickered, two bolts of golden lightning intertwined in the void, actually producing the sound of wind and thunder.
This was not the He Wushuang of later years. As a leading figure of the Foreign Realm who had only recently entered the battlefield, he had yet to restrain his aura. He still bore the keen edge of a young man determined to contend with the world's greatest talents.
Wherever his gaze passed, thunder rang out, like lightning streaking across the sky!
In short, his edge was fully bared!
The two Heavenly Horned Ants braced themselves against a formidable enemy. They knew perfectly well how powerful this handsome, demon-god-like man was!
In battles against a single opponent or even several at once, he had slaughtered the Nine Heavens' prodigies and Immortal Dao seeds. He had shattered the confidence of far too many spectators then. Their own younger brothers and sisters had also been slain by him!
Of the entire younger generation of Heavenly Horned Ants, perhaps only the two of them remained!
The man approached the battlefield where the fighting had just ended and stood on a broken cliff between the two sides, facing the pair opposite him. The Blood Phoenix Lion followed behind him with a proud expression.
"Haha! Surrender! My master has arrived. Your defeat and death are inevitable!"
Both stared fixedly at the man who had appeared before them. They no longer concealed the boundless killing intent in their eyes. That terrifying bloodlust almost burst from their bodies, and they paid no attention whatsoever to the Blood Phoenix Lion's taunts.
They indeed had the right to do so. After all, when Number Ten later dreamed his way back to Immortal Ancient, even the youngest Little Heaven-Horned Ant had beaten the Blood Phoenix Lion into retreat after retreat.
To them, a mongrel like the Blood Phoenix Lion was not worth taking seriously-mere trash sent flying by a single punch.
"Oh! It seems the prodigies of my realm were still far beneath you after all. Slaughtered to the last. What a pity!"
He Wushuang spoke casually, his voice exceptionally pleasant, like immortal music of the Great Dao, lamenting the deaths of his realm's young prodigies!
Yet anyone could hear his utter indifference, as though only a few ants had died!
Perhaps he spoke merely to show a leader's token regret for his dead subordinates. After all, he could not let people call him too cold-blooded; that would never pass political muster!
"Master, I want another taste of the blood of ultimate strength!" the Blood Phoenix Lion taunted again!
Boom...
The instant his taunt ended, a roar erupted in the void. Before he could even react, raging energy hurled him far away. He clawed fiercely at the ground with all four paws, sinking them deep into the earth before barely steadying himself.
The Blood Phoenix Lion trembled with fear. Had that struck him, he would have been obliterated almost instantly. It seemed his opponents had not even fought seriously earlier. Their terror truly knew no bounds.
After glancing at his master, the Blood Phoenix Lion swallowed, as though forcing down his heart, which had lodged in his throat!
Powerful energy spread outward. The originally shapeless, intangible void surged like an ocean, raising heaven-shaking waves.
The instant the young man attacked the Blood Phoenix Lion, He Wushuang had blocked him.
In the void, He Wushuang gripped the young man's peerless attacking fist. His golden hair danced wildly behind him, yet his body did not budge. The young man increased his force and drove his fist forward. Expressionless, He Wushuang pushed back with an answering surge.
In an instant, their exchange ended, and both returned to their original positions!
They seemed evenly matched, but the young man's brow furrowed. In physical strength, his opponent had actually suppressed him. The near numbness of his right hand told him that the man truly possessed unparalleled talent! No wonder several of his clansmen had been slaughtered by him. He was indeed a peerless enemy!
"Not bad!"
He Wushuang spoke!
"But this alone won't let you escape today's fate! Come at me together!" His words carried invincible confidence.
Hearing this, the young man and woman hesitated no longer. They attacked He Wushuang together, while the Blood Phoenix Lion could not even intervene!
"Tremble! All your efforts are useless. Peerless under heaven-that title wasn't something my master bestowed upon himself. He earned it by slaughtering your people, battle after battle. Every prodigy of this age will pale beside him. Every hero is merely a stepping stone beneath my master's ascent to the summit!"
The Blood Phoenix Lion spoke from the sidelines to ease his embarrassment, shouting encouragement for his master!
On the battlefield, He Wushuang fought both Heavenly Horned Ants alone and still seemed at ease. Each earth-shaking combined attack they launched was easily dissolved with a lift of his hand.
Divine punches powerful enough to shatter the void crisscrossed. A Heavenly Horned Ant's body itself was its strongest divine ability, strongest weapon, and strongest treasured art. They might use weapons, but most discarded them upon reaching adulthood, for their bodies were so terrifying that they surpassed the world's divine armaments!
Lin Yue likewise watched the battle carefully from hiding. Yet even now, He Wushuang had not used his own treasured arts. Instead, he faced the Heavenly Horned Ants with the Nine Heavens' divine abilities and his physical strength. It seemed he intended to kill them with the Nine Heavens' treasured arts, thereby crushing the confidence of its younger generation.
As time passed, the young man and woman were gradually suppressed in battle. It was hard to imagine two Heavenly Horned Ants still falling behind when facing one enemy together. Probably no one would believe it if told.
"Mighty Power Reaches Heaven! Fall back!"
The laws of heaven and earth twisted beneath this strike.
With a furious roar, He Wushuang struck with both fists, bringing down ferocious might capable of destroying the world.
"Fall back? I am a Heavenly Horned Ant! I leave no path of retreat behind me. Get out of my way!"
The siblings unleashed their divine power. If they retreated while fighting two against one, were they still Heavenly Horned Ants? Even if they died in bitterness on the spot, they would not take a single step back!
Nevertheless, He Wushuang's twin fists blasted both of them away.
Facing the Heavenly Horned Ants, He Wushuang used no divine abilities or treasured arts. He opposed them with the same matchless divine strength evolved from the ultimate limits of the flesh-and suppressed them! Such talent was godlike, demonic!
"Haha, truly impressive. You deserve to be the strongest of your clan's younger generation. Even after bathing in your precious blood and advancing my body further, I still cannot capture you. Your bearing truly eclipses the world! But though yours is one of the strongest races, you cannot achieve invincibility. Become our battle slaves! I no longer wish to kill you. Come witness the summit with me!"
"A warrior may be killed, but never humiliated! Once I slay you, I shall offer your head to the departed souls of my clan in heaven!"
"What a waste of your clan's precious blood. I regret killing your clansmen. I should have kept them by my side. Come! The probing is over. I should show you proper respect and slay you with the divine arts of my realm!"
It was hard to imagine that such an intense battle had merely been both sides testing each other. Those who styled themselves prodigies of the King Clans would almost have covered their faces in shame.
Wiping the blood from the corners of their mouths, the young man and woman looked at one another and nodded slightly, as though their hearts were linked!
Chapter 8: Bloody Battle
The young man and woman steadied themselves and slowly adjusted their breathing. He Wushuang likewise adjusted his rhythm, needing to familiarize himself with the extraordinary fighting power he was about to unleash.
Several breaths later, both sides opened their eyes at the same time.
Three auras shot into the sky. Unseen, they seemed to commune with the watching Great Dao of heaven and earth. This was the resonance of Extreme Dao produced when living beings stepped beyond their limits!
Like a peerless demon lord, He Wushuang manifested a Dharma image formed from the Foreign Realm's treasured arts, suppressing the Great Dao of heaven and earth throughout the surrounding heavens.
No illusory figures surrounded the young man and woman, nor any Dharma images of heaven and earth. They were Heavenly Horned Ants. Their clan's bodies were the strongest, requiring no borrowed power from anything else!
Yet their current state differed from every other moment. Their eyes were scarlet, radiating magnificent light.
Heavenly Horned Ants were known as the embodiment of ultimate strength. Even True Dragons could not shake their standing in contests of might!
For their clan possessed Berserk Transformation, a secret art that broke through the limits of heaven and earth. It was the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan's greatest trump card, activating the supreme secret art hidden in the deepest reaches of their bloodline!
Already ranked among the world's physically strongest races, they could gain a terrifying increase in fighting prowess by sublimating this formidable foundation to its utmost limit. Their fearsome aura burst through the cosmos.
The void around them twisted beneath the eruption of ultimate strength, roiling as though scorched by blazing flames. For Heavenly Horned Ants, strength had originally been merely a measurable quantity. Yet now, power that was almost conceptual sublimated from within their bodies, showing faint signs of taking tangible form.
Strength could actually be seen. It was truly inconceivable. Yet even the void could not bear its form. This was the supreme limit reached after shattering their shackles.
The power of both sides naturally communed with the Great Dao. Ancient battle songs rang through heaven and earth, an acknowledgment of the siblings' sublimated strength, an ultimate state representing a realm's strongest path.
At this moment, both sides seemed to sense it. Their battle no longer belonged to a personal feud; it represented the fortunes of their realms! The course of both realms' younger generations in the eras to come seemed poised to be influenced by this very battle!
The Blood Phoenix Lion was already slowly withdrawing into the distance, unable to withstand the violent aura and pressure here.
In the void, the chosen representatives of the two realms' fortunes clashed. The mere collision of their auras caused dark-red lightning to crisscross their surroundings!
Kings, prodigies, Emperor Clans-all would be drowned out at this moment. This was not the first time the Blood Phoenix Lion had heard of such a battle, but he had never expected this legendary scene to unfold before his own eyes!
"Fight! With your blood, I shall affirm my Dao! Whether peerless prodigies or the children of unrivaled Immortal Kings, all will submit beneath my feet. This era belongs to my realm. It belongs to me!"
The moment He Wushuang finished speaking, he vanished from his spot. The young man and woman disappeared with him.
The illusory figure behind him moved in turn. The Foreign Realm's matchless treasured arts flashed within it, descending with the Great Dao to bombard the pair. Heaven and earth were torn apart, and the stars across the heavens were drawn by this strike, about to fall. It was truly as though the Great Dao accompanied him.
Heaven shook, and ghosts and gods wept!
This strike forced people to redefine the weight carried by a leading figure of the Foreign Realm.
Facing He Wushuang's matchless killing blow, the two shot forth like twin blazing suns. Wherever their bodies passed, myriad divine abilities dissolved into nothingness. They met everything head-on with their flesh, holding nothing back!
Speed was power. They moved so fast that heaven and earth could not display their figures, fierce and invincible, crushing every obstacle.
Their bodies tore through He Wushuang's matchless strike, and they attacked him again!
"Well met! Crane Strikes the Sky!"
Without the slightest panic, He Wushuang swept his hand casually, as though drawing a pair of gauntlets from the void to wrap around his hands, and met both of them at once.
The already shattered mountain range became ruins. The energy scorched the earth until it melted into lava, while the void itself crackled and burst beneath the heat!
Yet the battle continued. There were no divine abilities or treasured arts, only the interweaving divine power born of both sides' physical limits. Even so, the strength they displayed far surpassed the Void Dao Realm. Even a great sect leader in the Self-Slaying Realm would surely have died in bitterness on the spot.
"Beast! Today I'll slay you!" The woman swung her divine fists and charged at He Wushuang!
Before you continue