Qu Jiangxuan had been searching for someone all along.
He had Ning Liao search.
He had the Azure Dragon Clan search.
He searched as well.
Holy land after holy land...
Divine wonder after divine wonder...
Continent after continent...
From mountains and rivers to the starry rivers, from the boundary of yin and yang to the beginning of sun and moon, from the cracks in heaven to the fissures in the earth!
He wanted to find that person.
To prove his Dao through killing!
To prove that he alone was number one under heaven!
An unrivaled, peerless prodigy!
Until just before the Grace Ranking was unveiled...
He came to a realm of clouds and mist, where the bright sun emerged from the vastness and rosy light fell upon the western mountains.
He wore blood-red robes and stood tall. Half his face was handsomely human, the other half a savage demonic visage, yet he possessed a breathtaking beauty!
He searched with blood-red eyes.
Suddenly!
Wind swept up the clouds and mist, and space trembled faintly.
A chill ran down Qu Jiangxuan's spine!
He sensed something!
And felt fervor!
As though the target he had anticipated had arrived!
He abruptly turned and saw a man standing amid the boundless sea of clouds!
Handsome brows, elegant eyes, and an open, untrammeled bearing.
The man wore a smile, his left hand resting casually behind his back, his right loosely holding a white folding fan. In jade-like azure robes, his presence was dazzling!
Qu Jiangxuan's expression changed sharply!
"You were looking for me?
"No, perhaps... I was looking for you!"
The corners of Xie Feng's lips lifted slightly as he slowly opened the somewhat damaged folding fan. A silver dragon silhouette coiled across its surface!
The Azure Profound Fan!
The immortal artifact ranked second on the Dharma Artifact Ranking!
Qu Jiangxuan's pupils trembled faintly, and a trace of madness spread deep within his eyes!
"Xie Feng!
"You've finally shown yourself!
"This king has been looking forward to meeting you!"
Qu Jiangxuan stood straight and tall, laughing grandly, shaking the sea of clouds for ten thousand miles!
His eyes regarded him like prey.
They brimmed with coldness, ambition, and fervor!
He wanted to kill Xie Feng, to kill this number one on the Heavenly Ranking and prove himself!
He was the king of an ancient clan...
He was heaven's favored son...
From the Azure Dragon Divine Physique to the Ancestral Dragon Formless Demon Physique, he had sacrificed much and gained much!
But...
He wanted even more!
Third on the Heavenly Ranking was still not strong enough. Only by dragging number one down from his pedestal and taking his place could he fulfill his wish!
"This king will kill you!"
Qu Jiangxuan's cold-blooded eyes fixed on Xie Feng.
He uttered his wild boast.
Xie Feng remained unmoved and expressionless. "If I wanted to avoid you, you would never find me in this lifetime. I've come now to verify something!"
"Verify what?"
"Do you recognize this?"
Xie Feng swept his azure sleeve, and a broken sword appeared before Qu Jiangxuan!
The blade was crimson, covered in patches of bloodstained rust. It had clearly once been buried deep, yet its edge had lost none of its sharpness. The words "Azure Dragon" were engraved upon it!
This...
Qu Jiangxuan's expression changed sharply!
This sword felt incredibly familiar to him!
Crimson wildfire iron!
His grandmother's personal guard's sword!
Why did Xie Feng have something belonging to his grandmother's personal guard?
And a broken sword at that!
Panic stirred within Qu Jiangxuan. His eyes widened, his expression shifting uncertainly!
Xie Feng caught every feeling and thought!
Xie Feng frowned.
He found no memories concerning the Primordial White Tiger Clan in Qu Jiangxuan's consciousness!
It seemed...
Someone else was connected to the Primordial White Tiger from twelve years ago!
Xie Feng's thoughts turned, and the broken sword vanished!
"What do you mean by this?
"Why do you have something belonging to my Azure Dragon Clan?
"Hand that crimson wildfire iron sword over to this king!"
Qu Jiangxuan grew angry and demanded the broken sword from Xie Feng!
"Can you fight?"
Xie Feng raised his eyes with effortless grace and chuckled softly.
He looks down on this king!
Qu Jiangxuan felt utterly humiliated!
"This king is the Azure Dragon King! This king possesses the Ancestral Dragon Formless Demon Physique! This king is a peerless heavenly prodigy!
"This king will kill you to prove his Dao!"
Qu Jiangxuan's face darkened. The more he clamored, the calmer Xie Feng remained. That breezy composure made him feel like a reed leaning against jade, ashamed of his own inferiority.
His bearing was lofty, but Xie Feng was even more otherworldly!
He stood like a pine, but Xie Feng was deep as an abyss!
At a glance, Xie Feng was like primordial chaos, impossible to look upon directly and difficult to fathom!
His elegance surpassed Qu Jiangxuan's!
A sense of inferiority arose in Qu Jiangxuan's heart, mingled with jealousy. The more he looked at Xie Feng, the more loathsome he found his face.
He was enraged!
"Xie Feng, this king will make you fall here!"
An angry shout.
A single step forward!
In an instant, winds rose and clouds surged as boundless Demon Qi erupted!
Qu Jiangxuan unleashed his ultimate technique. Demon Qi poured down from the heavens in a mighty torrent, and blood dragons streaked across the sky, roaring and surging!
Blood dragons blotted out the heavens!
They released dragon cries that could destroy heaven and earth. Space shattered and collapsed in chunks, while cloud waves surged three thousand zhang high!
This was the Azure Dragon King's power!
This was the power of the Ancestral Dragon Formless Demon Physique!
Shaking heaven!
Rocking earth!
The blood dragons coiled, madness pouring from their scarlet eyes!
The entire realm of clouds and mist-even the whole unimaginably vast Central Continent-shook because of it!
"His Majesty the Dragon King is enraged!"
"He's fighting someone! That person... an azure figure!"
"When he fully activates the Ancestral Dragon Formless Demon Physique, His Majesty's cultivation briefly reaches the Ascension Realm!"
"Could that person be Xie Feng?!"
"He has absolutely no chance to strike!"
Suddenly, two figures came tearing through the air.
The one clad in black armor was Ning Liao, a general of the Azure Dragon Clan! The other, an old man, was Elder Yan Ya!
Qu Jiangxuan had tasked them with finding Xie Feng. Alarmed by the extraordinary phenomena here, they had come!
They looked toward the battlefield.
Qu Jiangxuan already controlled the entire expanse of heaven and earth!
Xie Feng offered no resistance!
Or rather...
His figure had already been completely swallowed by the torrential Demon Qi!
"What powerful energy! I can't withstand it!"
"I-I can't either!"
Thud!
Thud!
Ning Liao and Yan Ya crashed to their knees!
That earthshaking energy pressed down on them until they could barely breathe.
Yet they grew even more excited!
"His Majesty the Dragon King's heroic bearing transcends the ordinary! He will surely win!"
"Number one on the Heavenly Ranking is about to change!"
"Ah, this..."
"H-how could this happen?"
Just as the two were brimming with pride, their eyes suddenly widened, revealing expressions of disbelief.
On the battlefield not far away...
At the center of the storm, Xie Feng extended his hand, opening the Azure Profound Fan wide. A silver dragon phantom swelled a hundredfold and coiled around him as immortal profundity gushed forth.
Boom!
An earthshaking blast rang out.
The rolling clouds and mist dispersed!
The blood dragons' energy shattered!
Space returned to calm!
Xie Feng stood like a sword, his presence soaring like a rainbow! Not a speck of dust stained the Supreme Dream Robe!
"H-he's actually completely unharmed?!"
"That was His Majesty the Dragon King's strongest strike!"
Ning Liao and Yan Ya were dumbfounded.
Qu Jiangxuan's face instantly darkened, his narrow eyes sinister and cold, like a venomous snake!
"If that was your strongest strike...
"I'm sorry to say...
"It's my turn now!"
Xie Feng spoke slowly, turning his palm slightly. From the Azure Profound Fan, two sky-obscuring silver dragons rose against the wind. They all but blotted out the entire sky; from every angle, all one could see were their imposing phantom bodies!
Overwhelming draconic might pressed down.
Even before he struck, killing intent already soared into the heavens!
"Impossible! You can't be that powerful...
"Could you be even stronger than this king, who is now in the Ascension Realm?"
Qu Jiangxuan stared fixedly at Xie Feng, his eyes straining as though they would split. Casting aside his facade of elegance, he finally revealed his ugly, jealous, hateful nature!