A qualitative transformation! Elder Wang reborn
At the center of the lake, a youth sat cross-legged, golden radiance flickering around him and shining brilliantly. His bearing was solemn and majestic, like an eternally unchanging deity looking down upon all living beings beneath heaven. He was none other than Di Chen.
Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed since Di Chen entered secluded cultivation.
Over these three years, Di Chen had adapted to the overbearing Water of the Dark Nether and long since undergone a complete transformation. His physical body had metamorphosed, all his flesh and blood thoroughly transformed into a magnificent divine artifact. Blood vessels densely covered him like coiling dragons, and every inch of his skin gleamed with a faint fluorescence, as though carved from glazed divine jade. Every part of his flesh possessed the tremendous power to destroy mountains and shatter peaks. With every movement, he seemed capable of blasting stars apart and collapsing the void.
Although Di Chen's eyes were closed, his body seemed to harbor a prehistoric savage beast, ready at any moment to choose someone to devour and swallow heaven and earth.
Just then...
Di Chen's eyes snapped open, shooting out two soul-piercing beams of light, abyssal as the sea and deep as the night.
Rumble...
Di Chen's body shuddered, and terrifying waves of force swept across the eight wildernesses.
"I finally broke through. With the strength of my physical body now, even ordinary Quasi-Emperors probably couldn't hurt me." A flash of excitement passed through Di Chen's eyes. Even his cultivation had smoothly advanced to the Great Sage Realm. With his physical strength alone, he could blast a peak Supreme expert apart with one punch. If he faced Elder Wang again now,
he would never be as battered as he had been last time.
Although Quasi-Emperors and Supremes were only one realm apart, the difference was a qualitative transformation. In the later stages, fighting above one's level would become difficult.
Of course, without his heaven-defying constitution, it would still have been somewhat beyond Di Chen to contend with a Quasi-Emperor expert across an entire major realm.
In the distance, Elder Wang was still continuously refining the blood essence. His body was also rapidly growing. Flesh and blood gradually began to form on his skeletal frame, and the contours of his features grew increasingly distinct. Finally, he actually became an old man. Although he looked rather aged, he still gave off a sense of unfathomable depth, like the vast starry sky.
The next moment, Elder Wang's body stirred slightly, and a terrifying presence swept out. Faintly, peals of thunder seemed to ring out, exploding through the nine heavens and shaking all directions. Streaks of dazzling white light radiated from his body.
How did Elder Wang look anything like a skeleton now? He was the very image of an old immortal, with an immortal's elegance and a Daoist's bearing. Every movement could unleash terrifying power. Even without mobilizing the slightest bit of spiritual power, his presence alone could crush numerous Quasi-Emperor experts.
Within a breath.
All the extraordinary manifestations vanished without a trace. Elder Wang slowly rose and looked at Di Chen, his aged face filled with excitement. "Young master... thank you for bestowing Imperial Blood Essence upon me this time. This old servant has finally gained a new lease on life!!!" As he spoke, Elder Wang respectfully dropped to his knees and bowed before Di Chen.
"Elder Wang, please rise at once!!!" Di Chen extended a hand and lifted him.
"Young master, the Water of the Dark Nether can no longer help you at all. May I ask what level your cultivation has reached now?" Traces of excitement colored Elder Wang's voice. He could hardly wait to learn Di Chen's true cultivation.
"Early Great Saint," Di Chen said after a moment's consideration. He did not conceal it. Given his current circumstances, there was nothing to hide.
"Early Great Saint? Young master, you actually reached early Great Saint..." Elder Wang's eyes widened, and he was so astonished that he could barely speak. Three years. In just three short years, Di Chen had advanced from the early Saint stage to early Great Saint. That terrifying speed was simply outrageous. Had he not witnessed it himself, he would never have believed that anyone in this world could make successive breakthroughs spanning an entire major realm in a mere few years, even if he were beaten to death.
Monster! Freak! Fiend! This was absolutely an unparalleled freak. Even a legendary reincarnated immortal could never possess such monstrous aptitude. He could already exchange blows with a Quasi-Emperor as an early-stage Saint, so now that he was a Great Saint... unthinkable, unthinkable.
"Young master, I wonder what level your physical strength has reached now?" Elder Wang licked his lips, a trace of fervor showing in his eyes. If other cultivators knew how terrifying Di Chen was at this moment, they would surely be frightened out of their minds. He was simply a nightmare for the heaven's chosen of his generation!
Hearing this, Di Chen narrowed his eyes, and a confident smile curled his lips. "Elder Wang, why don't you give it a try..."
"Th-this wouldn't be appropriate, would it? If I hurt you, young master, that would be a grave offense..." Elder Wang hesitated.
"Hehe... it's fine... go ahead and attack. I can take it!!!" Di Chen shook his head lightly. Although he had only just stepped into early Great Saint, with his current body, even some Quasi-Emperor experts attacking with all their might would not find it easy to injure him.
"Since you insist, young master, this old man will show his humble skills..."
The next moment...
Rumble...
Elder Wang's body shuddered, and the terrifying might of a peak Quasi-Emperor erupted at once, raging in all directions. In an instant, the entire underground space shook violently, seemingly in danger of collapsing at any moment.
Di Chen, the target of the attack, was like a lone boat amid the furious waves of a raging sea, in danger of capsizing at any moment.
Peak Quasi-Emperor! Di Chen's pupils abruptly contracted. Although he had already guessed that Elder Wang's cultivation might very well advance, he had never imagined that he would leap straight from the fifth heaven to peak Quasi-Emperor!
Now that he truly felt the terrifying power within Elder Wang, Di Chen still could not help sucking in a cold breath. "Hiss... th-this is the power of a peak Quasi-Emperor? Compared with the fifth heaven, it's ten times, a hundred times stronger, or even more..."
Yet Di Chen acted as though he had heard nothing of this. He still had that much confidence.
"Roar! Young master, be careful." Elder Wang bellowed and twisted his body. In an instant, he closed in on Di Chen and punched toward his chest. There was nothing fancy about this punch. It was plain and unremarkable, yet its power was incomparably terrifying, sufficient to suppress and kill an ordinary Quasi-Emperor expert.
Bang~~~
Crack~~~ crack~~~ crack~~~
Under Elder Wang's punch, the soil around Di Chen cracked, shattered, and collapsed... The Water of the Dark Nether behind him also went completely berserk. Towering waves surged furiously, rising into the sky and engulfing everything...
Di Chen's feet sank deep into the ground, and the hard stone slabs fractured inch by inch beneath his terrifying power.
Bang~~~
Di Chen thrust both hands outward, meeting Elder Wang's punch head-on. Terrifying power erupted, causing the void to begin collapsing.
Di Chen's figure trembled, and he retreated several hundred zhang. The webs between his thumbs and forefingers went numb, and faint traces of bright red liquid seeped out. Clearly, he had come off worse from that terrifying recoil.
"Pfft..." A sweet taste rose in Di Chen's throat, and he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
But to Di Chen now, this little injury was nothing more than a superficial wound. In the blink of an eye, he recovered completely, without so much as a trace of a scar remaining.
"Hiss... what terrifying physical defenses. He could actually withstand this old man's punch. His physical defenses have probably already surpassed ordinary Quasi-Emperor Artifacts." Elder Wang gave Di Chen a long look and thought to himself, As expected of the young master. Even many Quasi-Emperors fall far short of his terrifying body.
"Young master! You aren't seriously hurt, are you?" Elder Wang asked with some concern. Although Di Chen's combat power defied heaven, he still could not help worrying when crossing such an enormous gap in realms. After all, Quasi-Emperors and Great Saints were not existences on the same level.
"I'm fine..."
Di Chen shook his head, then fixed his eyes on Elder Wang, a flash of fervor passing through their depths. "Elder Wang! You actually reached the peak Quasi-Emperor realm. Hahaha... excellent! Truly excellent."
"Young master, I must still thank you for those ten drops of blood essence, which even contained Imperial Qi. Otherwise, who knows how many years it would have taken?" Elder Wang bowed slightly and offered a sincere salute. Had it been ordinary Emperor Bloodline Essence, it could at most have allowed him to advance just one heaven. This, however, was different: it was noble Imperial Blood Essence, allowing him to break straight through the bottlenecks of four heavens and reach peak Quasi-Emperor. Fortunately, he had encountered a freak like Di Chen three years ago. Otherwise, perhaps he would still have remained here, keeping his bitter vigil for thousands of years.
"Elder Wang! It's time to leave. After three years in seclusion, it's time to go find that person." Di Chen gazed into the void and spoke with depth, cold killing intent flickering in his eyes. He had to cut the grass out by its roots and eliminate future trouble forever. Throw one punch to keep a hundred punches from coming!
"Yes! Young master. Gagaga, I can finally see daylight again." Elder Wang's body trembled slightly, his eyes filled with excitement. He had spent all these years beneath this tomb and had long since felt stifled beyond endurance. Now that he was coming out, he could finally stretch his limbs.