"Enough of your arrogance!" Shi Yi used his Divine Armor to keep out the clouds and mist, guarding against the hidden lightning. His wings beat, whipping up a gale as he tried to blow away the dark clouds, which covered no particularly large area.
But those clouds were incredibly viscous, like the Northern Border Azure Pool. He barely managed to scatter them enough to glimpse the world outside.
With Qi-State Origin-Flow fully mastered, the transformations and power of the Five Thunder Orthodox Method had reached profoundly sophisticated heights. Another change arose: the dark clouds thinned, thunder exploded, and Shi Yi's mighty gale was actually used to turn yin into yang. As the clouds rubbed together at high speed, the friction steadily diminished, yet the blazing lightning became an ocean that engulfed Shi Yi.
But golden thunder emerged from the searing white lightning. Shi Yi unleashed the Suanni Precious Technique, withstanding the erupting Crimson Palace Thunder and refining the surrounding lightning in turn. A golden lightning spear took shape and shot toward Chen Yao outside the lightning.
That figure dispersed like a flower in a mirror, a moon reflected in water. Chen Yao appeared deep within the thunder, right beside Shi Yi!
"I hadn't even wanted to beat you up." Wu Gensheng's voice sounded a mere breath away, and his palm had already struck.
So fast! His movement through the void is even faster than before! It's a complete transformation! What's going on? Shi Yi's heart tightened. The Two-Polarity Divine Light he had long held ready shot from his Double Pupils, anchoring the void and leaving nowhere to dodge!
Yet the Two-Polarity Divine Light proved far less effective this time. For some unknown reason, his opponent's Divine Ability had risen to another level. The clear, luminous qi that had previously failed to fully dissolve the Extinction Profound Light now easily dissolved most of the Two-Polarity Divine Light, pierced the defenses of his Divine Armor, and struck his chest directly. The remaining divine light hit his opponent, but a layer of golden light weakened it, drawing only a few spatters of blood.
Boom! Shi Yi felt as though a mountain had struck him. Bones cracked. Even his body, nourished by supreme blood, struggled to withstand that heavy, powerful palm strike. Blood surged up his throat, nearly spilling from his mouth.
Shi Yi became a meteor, crashing back into the Martial King Manor's ranks.
"Yi!" Fifth Grandfather, who had followed him here, stared in disbelief, his eyes nearly splitting with rage.
White light flowed, healing his injuries. Shi Yi said darkly, "I'm fine. This doesn't count as a defeat in a head-on fight. If that girl hadn't interfered and knocked me back into the clouds, letting those strange dark clouds block my Double Pupils' sight and put me a move behind, I would have noticed his movement long ago. He wouldn't have gotten close enough to ambush me with that palm strike he'd prepared for so long."
"Despicable and shameless! Wu Gensheng, as a prodigy, would you really gang up on one opponent?" Fifth Grandfather pointed at Chen Yao and shouted.
"Where were you when Four-Eyed Chicken bullied someone younger and threw his weight around? This is retribution. He deserved it! Even beating him to death would be perfectly justified!" Shi Hao, who had failed to get involved earlier, jumped out and stood beside Aman with his hands on his hips.
"How dare a greenhorn brat wag his tongue here! You just spout whatever comes to mind! You think your barefaced lies can tarnish the name of our Martial King Manor's young Supreme? Watch me take you down!" An Elder lunged forward and unleashed a treasure artifact, hiding a Soul-Annihilating Needle behind it in the hope that his opponent would arrogantly take the blow with his body.
But Shi Hao's punch unleashed a mighty wind, blasting both the treasure artifact and the Soul-Annihilating Needle straight back. The needle pierced the Elder's hand instead, making him scream in terror and agony. Fortunately, Shi Yi reacted even faster, severing the Elder's arm with a streak of divine light the instant the needle touched him. Thus, only his arm was annihilated into nothingness, sparing his life.
"What, you bring out Soul-Annihilating Needles over a little friction and a minor setback? Exactly what I'd expect from your branch." Chen Yao mocked them.
But Fifth Grandfather's expression remained unchanged. "You clearly intended to kill during your fight. When you've already courted death, why should we worry about the means?"
"Intended to kill? Did we use Soul-Annihilating Needles? Dying in an ordinary fight in the Void God Realm doesn't actually kill you. If I'd really wanted him dead, I could have secretly used a Soul-Annihilating Needle with that palm strike and sent Shi Yi straight to the grave. What could you have said then? You're the ones who can't take a loss. Your family's genius loses his reputation for invincibility, and you start screaming and shouting. Such petty, narrow minds." Chen Yao sneered.
Fifth Grandfather fell speechless, clenching his fists. Then he suddenly heard Shi Yi's voice transmission: that youngest child was Shi Hao!
Shi Hao?! Fifth Grandfather's heart clenched. Their branch had always feared his return. After all, they had arranged repeated delays and murderous ambushes back then and had already decided that Shi Hao could never survive. With peace of mind, they had promised that as soon as Shi Hao recovered his health and could bear the Supreme Bone, they would return it immediately. Yet his unknown whereabouts had instead kept their hearts taut, a stone they could never put down.
He's actually here! He's still alive! And he's gotten involved with Wu Gensheng! Such a prodigy-who stands behind him?
Fifth Grandfather shifted his gaze and finally looked again at Aman, who had grown considerably. A childish face overlapped with the lovely face before him, which had already begun to reveal his natural beauty.
A year ago, he had sent people to intercept and kill this boy! He was the child whose talent the fourth brother valued so highly.
Because Aman had gotten along so well with Shi Hao as a child, and had won the favor of Shi Ziling's branch after the Supreme Bone incident, he had received considerable care. He could practically be considered a direct descendant without the blood relation!
In other words, the fourth brother sent him out back then because he'd really received news of Shi Hao?! Revealing that the one in the Second Ancestral Land was a stand-in was also meant to pave the way for Shi Hao's rightful return? What acting! What scheming! Fifth Grandfather felt he understood.
He pretended nothing had happened, as though he had not recognized Shi Hao. Instead, he pointed at Aman and said, "Little boy, the Martial King Manor treated you generously! You were a mere servant, yet we disregarded your background and gave you resources to nurture you. And this is how you help an outsider like Wu Gensheng bully the Martial King Manor? You have no idea how heartbroken the fourth brother was after you disappeared. I never imagined you'd bite the hand that fed you!"
"Ah, I remember this boy. He's the one Fourth Grandfather doted on!" Many from the Martial King Manor recognized Aman.
Some passersby likewise recognized the youth who had once frequented the Martial King Manor's territory in the Void God Realm.
"Everyone, look! This boy betrayed our trust at such a young age. He deserves death! Please help us hold off Wu Gensheng. I'll personally slay this traitor! Their Treasure Bones will be your reward! The Martial King Manor will add more on top!"
Fifth Grandfather spoke with righteous conviction, stirring the surrounding crowd into restless anticipation. Wealth moved people's hearts!
Muddy the waters and spark a melee. Find a chance to kill both Aman and Shi Hao! Especially Shi Hao! He doesn't seem all that capable yet. Once Shi Hao is dead, that boy Aman will be a lone palm unable to clap! Nothing they say will matter anymore! Whoever stands behind Wu Gensheng probably won't stand up for the dead either. They can be appeased! Nothing can happen to Yi!
Snap! Chen Yao snapped his fingers, and Shi Yi abruptly spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Yi?!" Fifth Grandfather stopped in his tracks, and the crowd turned toward Shi Yi as well.
"What isn't yours will never be yours. The power of creation only made it seem as though it had grown in your body from birth. Seem, nothing more."
"Well? The Supreme Bone's backlash, incompatible bloodlines, rejection by your own origin-doesn't feel very pleasant, does it?"
Chen Yao looked at Shi Yi, whose expression had long been grim as he silently tried to suppress something and stay out of the exchange, and revealed an ill-intentioned smile.
That palm strike had hit his chest-and the Supreme Bone! The Heavenly Demon Tribulation was the move Chen Yao excelled at most in the Blood Moving Realm. A foreign object incompatible with both his origin and bloodline was precisely where the Heavenly Demon Tribulation could shine. This was a genuine external demon!
Technological civilizations also existed in the trilogy's universe, Earth being one example. They called foreign substances inside the body antigens, and the immune system reacted to them. Whether it was an allergy to something or an autoimmune disease that mistakenly identified one's own cells and tissues as antigens, resulting in the immune system attacking itself, these were all matters of the immune system.
Cultivators naturally had their own fantastical immune systems. Even if they now operated through magical power, runes, and divine radiance, they were still immune systems. At most, the names changed. For example, an antigen in a cultivator's body was called an external demon, while the immune system might be called demon-expelling power.
Guided into an excessively aggressive state, the demon-expelling power inside Shi Yi immediately saw red at the Supreme Bone, this external demon. In particular, the bone texts he had learned from the intricate runes of his Double Pupils and inscribed within his body charged to the front line. The power of creation and annihilation power joined forces, vowing to drive the external demon out! The Supreme Bone also erupted in ferocity, working with the supreme blood to slaughter every enemy and become the master!
"Cough, cough, cough! Pfft!" Shi Yi swayed on the verge of collapse. This was his own body attacking itself, and he could barely suppress it!
"Yi!"
"Back then, the Martial King Manor had two Innate Supremes. One was born with Double Pupils, and the other with a Supreme Bone. The latter was named Shi Hao. Shi Yi's branch coveted the Supreme Bone. While Shi Hao's parents were away, they lured away his guardian, dug out his Supreme Bone while he was still alive, and transplanted it into Shi Yi. They even drained all his supreme precious blood, leaving the one-year-old Shi Hao with his origin exhausted and on the brink of death. His condition deteriorated until he couldn't even endure having his Supreme Bone returned. The celebrated tale of two Supremes under one roof ended there, and the Martial King Manor split in secret-all because of laughable greed!"
"Remember? You saw that the child had no hope of surviving, said you couldn't lose the other Supreme, and refused to punish Shi Yi severely. You arrogantly promised that as long as he survived and could endure the Supreme Bone's return, you'd immediately dig it out and give it back to him." Chen Yao unleashed revelation after revelation.
"He's here. Where's the Supreme Bone?" Chen Yao pointed at Shi Hao beside him.
The Martial King Manor's people were instantly shaken. Fifth Grandfather's face turned ashen, and an uproar swept through the surrounding crowd.
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