Shattering the Heavens

A hundred miles away, the mirror in the Purple Robe Elder's hand cracked into fragments.

The final image in the mirror showed Lu Ran raising his hand to draw over half a tribulation cloud, casually intending to refine it into an immortal robe. Instead, it exploded with a thunderous boom, making the nearby mountains ring in unison!

Yet he himself was barely affected.

Such a scene horrified countless cultivators.

Lu Ran, whom they had only heard of but never seen, was actually this terrifying.

The title Son of Heavenly Dao swept across the whole of Great Yan like a gale scattering clouds.

Young Master Qiu, who had been drinking tea and playing chess, directly crushed a chess piece.

Son of Heavenly Dao!!!

It was obvious that he, who had originally believed taking down Lu Ran would be as easy as turning over his hand, had lost his composure.

There was now one more unpredictable variable.

That feeling was damn awful!

Likewise, this placed immense pressure upon Great Yan's royal family.

They had already been under enormous pressure. Now that a Son of Heavenly Dao had appeared, with someone to lead them, what did that mean?

Upon hearing the news, Lu Chen's expression also turned solemn.

That bastard had already possessed extraordinary talent. After fusing with his bloodline, some kind of mutation must have occurred.

Otherwise, he could not possibly be this powerful.

Tearing apart tribulation clouds with his bare hands...

"He may seek revenge. What are you planning to do?"

Old Ancestor Tianyan asked in a deep voice.

Lu Chen's brows furrowed slightly. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Is there a place suitable for tempering Martial Dao Cultivators?"

"Yes!" Old Ancestor Tianyan replied.

"Where?"

"The Icefire Purgatory in the far north, the Ancient Wilderness Plains at the edge of the northern wastelands, and the Blood Fiend Battlefield in the north of Great Yan!"

"What? Feeling the pressure now?"

Lu Chen neither confirmed nor denied it.

"But I suspect he will not make a move at this time!"

Lu Chen was stunned. "Why?"

"There are only two months until year's end. This year's Four Nations New Year Martial Arts Tournament will be held in Yanjing. If they push him forward to seize the championship in one stroke, it will greatly bolster Tianyu Academy's prestige. They will not miss such an opportunity."

"You have also displayed extraordinary talent. If he gets injured in battle, that would be greatly disadvantageous. They will not let him gamble on it!"

"Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that they will have him settle his inner demons by fighting you to the death."

"Whether you wait for him to come, go out to gain experience, or wait to settle it at the New Year Martial Arts Tournament—it is up to you!"

As he spoke, Old Ancestor Tianyan took out a talisman seal. "I obtained this transmission talisman from some ruins. It cannot send you to the Ancient Wilderness Plains, but it can send you to the Blood Fiend Battlefield!"

"Take it. You can leave whenever you wish, but return before year's end."

"Also, I will take Yao Yao and Ding Ding somewhere to gain experience."

As he spoke, he handed the talisman seal to Lu Chen. "It contains the coordinates of the Blood Fiend Battlefield. Once activated, it will transmit you there!"

Lu Chen thanked him. Looking toward Tianyu Academy, a blazing fire slowly burned in his chest.

But his next decision nearly made Old Ancestor Tianyan, Xiong Yao, and Fang Jiuding's eyes fall out of their sockets.

Lu Chen actually went to Tianyu Academy's gates and openly challenged Lu Ran.

"Lu Ran, get the hell out here! Don't think that reaching Tianyu will erase your evil deed of stripping away my bloodline. Come out and fight me!"

His roar shook Tianyu.

"Are you courting death?" An angry shout rang out as someone shot toward Lu Chen like lightning.

"Who gave you the dog guts to challenge Junior Brother Lu Ran? And who gave you the dog guts to cause trouble before Tianyu's gates?"

Lu Chen burst out laughing. "What, your Tianyu disciples are allowed to go to Tianyan to issue challenges, but Tianyan disciples are forbidden from coming to Tianyu to challenge you? Where does that superiority come from?"

"And Lu Ran has the heart of a snake and scorpion. He even stripped away a fellow disciple's bloodline, then sold me to the Cangwu City beast-fighting arena. Tell me, does Tianyu Academy accept even disciples like that, unable to distinguish right from wrong?"

"Impudence!" The newcomer flew into a rage and threw a punch.

The strike missed. When he turned around again, his head spun, and with a thud, he collapsed to the ground.

A first-level Golden Core Realm cultivator had been knocked unconscious by a single strike from the back of a blade.

It was so effortless that it was unbelievable.

After a crackling flurry of movements, Lu Chen nearly stripped the man naked, then casually tossed him into Tianyu Academy, setting off a wave of shocked cries.

"Lu Ran, don't be like before—a coward through and through. You are at least the Son of Heavenly Dao. Get the hell out here."

He shouted for half the day until his throat was smoking, yet Lu Ran truly did not come out.

"I'll have a go at you!" A figure arrived outside the gates, escorted by the crowd.

"I'm looking for Lu Ran. Tell him to get out here!" Lu Chen flatly refused. "This is a grudge between him and me."

The other man snorted coldly. "What status does Junior Brother Lu Ran possess? Do you think you can challenge him just because you want to? What the hell are you?"

Lu Chen sneered. "What the hell I am is not important. The question is, he does not even dare come out after I slaughtered his relatives. What the hell do you think he is?"

"The Son of Heavenly Dao, huh? Isn't that shameful? Does your academy only accept trash?"

Shattering the heavens and shocking the earth!

The entire crowd erupted in uproar.

"You little beast!" Suddenly, an icy voice came from behind him.

Lu Chen spun around sharply, narrowing his eyes.

Luo Tianxiong, the Luo family's ancestor from Cangwu City and a fifth-level Golden Core Realm expert, had actually appeared at this moment.

Lu Chen had once destroyed the other man's branded incarnation and turned the Luo family upside down.

It seemed the man had broken through his seclusion and come to kill him.

"You've got some nerve. Even a lackey from northern Yan dares enter the capital. Oh, I understand now—Lu Ran, that dog bastard, sent you here, didn't he?" Lu Chen roared.

Whether it was true or not, he would first smear Lu Ran's face with shit.

"What Lu Ran? This old man does not know him. I came today only to take your dog life and avenge my Luo family's sons. Kill!"

With that, Luo Tianxiong attacked directly.

The spiritual energy armor around him glimmered with green light, while the pressure of a fifth-level Golden Core Realm cultivator twisted the air.

His right hand clenched in the air, spiritual energy condensing into a blood-red giant axe thirty meters long. Before the axe blade even fell, the ground had already split with spiderweb-like fissures.

Lu Chen's pupils contracted sharply. He pushed the Wind and Thunder Steps to their limit, his body turning into an afterimage as he retreated explosively.

The Soul Severing Saber swept sideways, and three streaks of blood-red saber qi formed phantom dragons that roared as they crashed into the giant axe.

Boom!

The instant the saber qi touched the axe light, it shattered into a bloody mist.

The aftershock swept over Lu Chen's left shoulder. His protective aura shattered like an eggshell, and blood wound down his arm.

"You little beast, and you dare swagger about with such paltry skill?"

Luo Tianxiong grinned viciously. The giant axe swept around like a wheel, its radiance whipping up a hurricane.

Lu Chen stomped hard upon the ground, the Wind and Thunder Steps flashing repeatedly, but he was still sent flying by the axe wind's residual force. His back slammed heavily into a stone lion.

Amid the scattering rubble, Lu Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The furnace within his dantian's sea of qi rumbled violently.

"Qi and blood take form!" he barked. Blood mist surged around him, condensing into nine giant wolves that pounced at Luo Tianxiong.

Wind and lightning coiled around every wolf's claws and fangs.

Luo Tianxiong gave a disdainful laugh and spun the giant axe in a circle.

The axe light became a vortex. The nine giant wolves were like clay oxen entering the sea, shredded into blood mist in the blink of an eye.

"Petty tricks!" With a tap of his toe, he shot before Lu Chen like a cannonball. His left palm, wrapped in Golden Core pressure, slammed toward Lu Chen's chest. "Kneel!"

Lu Chen gritted his teeth and unleashed his Qi and Blood Domain, crimson light spreading out like a curtain.

Luo Tianxiong's palm attack abruptly stalled. Then the veins on his neck bulged as he stomped his right foot fiercely upon the ground. "Break!"

The spiritual power of a fifth-level Golden Core Realm cultivator erupted like a volcano, and the Qi and Blood Domain exploded apart.

The backlash surged through his meridians. Lu Chen spat out a mouthful of bloody mist and staggered back more than ten steps.

"It should end now." Luo Tianxiong raised his giant axe high, the blade blazing with dazzling blood light.

At the instant between life and death, a ruthless gleam flashed through Lu Chen's eyes. A pitch-black furnace appeared in his palm—the Asura Furnace fused with his Martial Dao True Form!

"Roar!"

The furnace erupted with towering black flames, and a three-headed, six-armed Asura phantom rose from the ground.