One Punch, Still One Punch!

The dust settled and the smoke drifted away, revealing Luo Jie. His clothes were in tatters, his right shoulder had been pierced by a punch, and broken bone showed through the bowl-sized hole. Blood streamed from wounds all over his body, and his eyes were bloodshot.

The geniuses watching the battle were speechless. When had they ever seen Luo Jie in such a miserable state? In the past, they had only seen him standing peerless in white after crushing his opponents.

Now he was in such a sorry state, with not a trace of his transcendent bearing left. He had fallen into the dust.

Luo Jie roared, his long black hair whipping around him as an eight-story bloodline tower appeared above his head. Eight colors shone brilliantly-white, green, blue, black, yellow, orange, purple, and red. The higher the level, the denser the bloodline power, rising step by step.

Even knowing that the youth in the void was an unbeatable monster, Luo Jie still refused to admit defeat. His bloodline pagoda flashed with eight-colored light, pouring power down over his head.

In the space of a breath, bloodline power enveloped him, his grievous injuries rapidly healed, and his presence grew several times stronger. If not for his tattered clothes, no one would have believed that the strongest of Great Luo's younger generation had been suppressed by a single punch.

"The red isn't deep enough. An eighth-grade bloodline, above average for its grade. Nothing out of the ordinary." The Dao bell fell silent once more, and Fu Yangping shook his head slightly beside it.

Great Luo's Saint Sons truly were getting worse with each generation.

He recalled his second brother's child, who had possessed a peak ninth-grade bloodline and could battle Emperor Sons at the same realm. He had been overwhelmingly powerful, yet he had fallen in that bloody upheaval.

"Give me time, and I'll fear no enemy. I'll become an emperor! I'll be invincible!" The man named Fu Sanqing had roared at the end of his life. As a Venerable, he had fought three Saints above his realm, accomplishing an earth-shaking feat.

But he had ultimately been only a Venerable, and not even at the peak. Surrounded and killed by three Ancient Sages, he had stained the river of stars with his blood, his body dead and his soul extinguished.

The great war with the imperial Ji Clan had lasted far, far too long. Through a hundred thousand years of bloody calamity, supreme powerhouses had fallen one after another, as had heaven-gifted talents.

Then Fu Sanqing had appeared. His talent was so extraordinary that he surpassed everyone in the Great Luo Dynasty. Even the master of the forbidden zone had been stirred, passing down supreme arts and great medicines to forge the strongest body for him.

He had been too dazzling, surpassing all the other Saint Sons and pressing down on the Emperor Realm's younger generation until they could scarcely breathe. Even ancient Emperor Sons who emerged had returned in defeat, declaring outright that they could not beat him at the same realm.

A Venerable powerhouse at two hundred, he had advanced through the realms at a breathtaking pace. The Saint realm had been within his reach.

It was not only the Ji Clan that feared him. The surrounding holy lands and dynasties had been under immense pressure, terrified that he would unravel the mysteries of the Great Dao and forge his own path to sainthood.

As a Venerable, Fu Sanqing could fight and kill Saints. How powerful would he have been once he became a Saint? Even a Great Saint would have been no match for him, and a Saint King could not have suppressed him.

Once he had fully grown, who below the emperor realm would have dared claim they could defeat him?

Mist welled in Fu Yangping's eyes, and he nearly wept. That little monster whom the old fellows had watched grow up had gone ahead of them.

In that battle, several Saints had tied him down. Even though he had used the means his master left him to break free, he had still been too late. He had watched Fu Sanqing burn everything he had, spending his life to kill an ancient Saint and frightening the other two Saints into fleeing in disgrace.

By the time he arrived, the youth's soul was on the verge of scattering.

"There's no need to grieve, Fifth Uncle. Master said cultivation is a cycle. A soul that scatters will pass through the underworld and be born anew." In the final moments of his life, Fu Sanqing had wiped the blood from his lips and bowed toward the south, smiling.

In that direction lay Heavenly Luo Star!

"It's a shame I can't do what I promised you all. Sanqing is ashamed!"

Fu Sanqing bowed to his ancestral star, to his parents, and to the Saints of Great Luo. After those three bows, he died with a smile. His body turned to countless ashes, his soul became countless points of firefly light, and his Dao scattered across the river of stars.

He had promised the many elders who watched him grow up that he would become an emperor, be invincible for an entire age, and raise Great Luo from a kingdom to an empire.

He had promised his master that he would join him in scheming against the Heavenly Dao once more, to see this so-called longevity.

The first time he had broken his word was also the last.

Great Luo's "Emperor" Son, Fu Sanqing!

"Little Sanqing..." Fu Yangping's eyes filled with tears, and he sobbed softly.

"Thunder Phoenix Art!"

Enveloped in the power of his eighth-grade bloodline, Luo Jie unleashed his full strength. The Thunder Phoenix Spirit awakened and empowered him. Blue lightning coiled around his body, and the presence of destruction grew ever stronger.

The Thunder Phoenix cried out as Luo Jie executed the Thunder Phoenix Art. Thunder roared wherever he passed, threatening to tear the void apart and battle across the vast sky.

Great Luo Heaven's geniuses were shaken. Saint Son Luo Jie was fighting with everything he had, using the art he had kept in reserve to turn the battle around.

"An attack like that should be enough to force that monster to bring out his spirit, right?" A genius swallowed, awed by the sight of the attack.

Everyone's attention was fixed on that blow. It was the strongest attack Great Luo's younger generation could muster. If even that could not change the course of the battle, it would be utterly hopeless.

Being surpassed was not frightening. What was frightening was being unable to see one's opponent, with no idea when one might catch up.

"Surely it won't be another single punch?" Grand Elder Luo Shu murmured.

The Thunder Phoenix Art suited Luo Jie so perfectly that, as he advanced, people seemed to forget him. It was as though a true divine beast, a Thunder Phoenix, was battling its opponent, powerful and beautiful.

Fu Yuan stood in the void, his gaze calm. His opponent's strongest attack left him somewhat disappointed, unable to muster much interest. Red light flashed around his right fist as terrifying power gathered.

"Kill!" Luo Jie roared, unleashing his strongest attack with the conviction that he would not give up even knowing he would lose.

The Thunder Phoenix spread its wings, seeking to battle across the vast sky. Thunder roared across the heavens-a blow that could split mountains and sunder the earth.

"Bang!"

There was nothing fancy about it: a plain, ordinary punch, thrown with extreme speed.

The sound of the collision rang out. Red light broke through blue, and Luo Jie's charging body staggered before flying backward.

As he was sent flying, the Thunder Phoenix Art began to disperse. Luo Jie's face was pale, and he coughed up mouthfuls of blood as his bloodline pagoda also crumbled.

"Th-this, this..."

An uproar broke out. Everyone was stunned. The strongest attack of Great Luo's current Saint Son had failed to withstand even a single punch. He had been defeated in an instant, without the slightest suspense.

"He's really an ancient Saint Son?" A genius came to his senses and spoke with difficulty. "A monster like that isn't an Emperor Son? He left no name in ancient history?"

"Just how monstrous were the geniuses of eighty thousand years ago? I can't believe it," murmured Luo Qi, the fifth son of the King of Great Luo.

Luo Jie coughed up mouthfuls of blood. That punch had been too terrifying. Dozens of breaths had passed, yet its residual force was still invading his body, and many of his meridians had been shattered.

"I lost!" he said with difficulty. His eyes dim, he coughed up blood and turned away, his departing figure forlorn.

More and more spectators emerged from their shock and looked at the youth in the ink-black robe, their gazes complicated.

"Which ancient ancestor's own child is he?"

"He suppressed Saint Son Luo Jie while three minor realms below him, and did it so easily. Just how strong is he?"

Questions rose one after another.

"A monster like those recorded in ancient history, capable of battling Emperor Sons! Heaven blesses Great Luo!" an elder exclaimed, waving his arms and stamping his feet in excitement.

"A monster this terrifying should never have been unknown. Most likely he was too strong and aloof, and when he entered the world, he found no opponent worthy of his regard. That's why he went into slumber twice, waiting to emerge in a great age and sweep all before him."

Saintess Luo Qingyi's beautiful eyes shone with flashes of wonder as she made this guess.

"Fu... Yuan!" The young marquis Luo Feng repeated the name several times, then suddenly remembered.

In that age of the Chaotic Ancient Era, he had once heard someone mention that name.

"You're a lot like my third brother, Little Yuan. Why don't you call me big brother too?"

A drunkard had said that after getting drunk.

The surname was Fu, the given name Yuan.

The third son of the Indestructible Heavenly Venerable, Fu Yuan!