Beneath the vast sky, all was deathly silent.
Only the howling of the wind tearing through the rocks echoed in the wilderness.
The black-robed man, who had been standing in mid-air with an indifferent expression, now showed a visible stiffness in his body.
The hands hidden beneath the wide black robe unconsciously tightened slightly.
shock.
Even with his composure and experience, at this moment, his mind was filled with turbulent waves.
How is that possible?!
This kid's secret technique, didn't it just end there?!
Throughout history, all secret techniques that can forcibly transcend realms to enhance combat power are forbidden methods that burn potential and squeeze lifespan.
Even in the Holy Domain, far away in the center of the continent, the most powerful life-or-death techniques, once used, will inevitably leave the cultivator with severe damage to their vital energy for months or even years.
At best, it will cause a decline in cultivation; at worst, it will destroy the entire foundation of one's cultivation on the spot!
But this kid in front of me...
He had just finished the secret technique and was suffering from the backlash of exhaustion.
He had only taken one punch, yet not only did his injuries heal completely, but his cultivation even broke through a level in the heat of battle.
Not only that, but he was also able to forcefully trigger a second burst of the secret technique in an extremely short time without any hindrance?!
Moreover, the pressure and aura that erupted this time were even more terrifying and domineering than when Chen Xuanhai was killed earlier.
monster!
This is something that humans simply cannot possess!
The coldness in the black-robed man's eyes was gradually replaced by an undisguised greed.
This secret technique...
It must be obtained.
"Pretentious."
The man in black robes snorted coldly, forcibly suppressing the greed in his eyes.
Even if you possess unparalleled secret techniques, once you're at your limit, how many more moves can you withstand?!
He took a step forward, and his spiritual power at the Divine Sea Realm Ninth Level suddenly erupted.
The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within a hundred feet instantly surged.
The man in black robes raised his palm and pushed horizontally. Dark spiritual energy condensed in the air into a gigantic palm that blotted out the sky, pressing down on Chu Yunfei with the force of a mountain collapsing.
Chu Yunfei's eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Lightning exploded beneath his feet, and he soared into the sky.
Worry about yourself first!
The Abyss-Devouring Sword emitted a piercing sword cry, its dark golden light fiercely slashing down towards the pitch-black giant hand.
Boom!
The two forces collided in mid-air, causing the mountains and forests within a radius of several miles to tremble simultaneously.
A gap was torn open in the dark palm print by the sword light.
Chu Yunfei forced his way through the crevice, his Abyss-Devouring Sword sweeping out, aiming straight for the black-robed man's throat.
The man in black robes dodged the sword's edge, then brought his five fingers together and struck Chu Yunfei's chest with a palm.
Chu Yunfei parried with his sword.
clang!
The clang of metal echoed through the valley.
Chu Yunfei's arm trembled violently, and he was blasted back more than ten feet by this palm strike. His tiger's mouth split open again, and blood dripped down the hilt of his sword.
Before he could regain his footing, the man in black robes had already caught up.
A barrage of palm strikes blocked off all directions, each aimed directly at a vital point.
Chu Yunfei relied on the power of his Myriad Poison Tyrant Body and the Great Heaven-Burning Art to forcefully block the attack.
Two figures collided repeatedly in the night sky.
Sword flashes like a tide, palm shadows like mountains.
Each clash unleashes a violent storm of spiritual energy.
The already dilapidated hills below collapsed one after another, and the flying rocks were pulverized into powder by the crisscrossing force before they even hit the ground.
In just a few breaths, the two had exchanged dozens of blows.
Despite his fierce appearance, Chu Yunfei was well aware that he was still at a disadvantage.
The gap in their levels of understanding has not disappeared.
If it weren't for the fact that his spiritual power was far greater than that of other martial artists of the same realm, and that he hadn't been supported by secret techniques, those few palm strikes would have been enough to severely injure him again.
However, as the fight continued, Chu Yunfei gradually noticed something unusual.
The oppressive aura displayed by the opponent was indeed at the Divine Sea Realm Ninth Level.
However, at every crucial moment when connecting moves and mobilizing one's spirit, the opponent's power would momentarily stagnate.
The time was extremely short.
For anyone else, it would be completely unnoticed.
Chu Yunfei, however, had personally regulated the soul of a Divine Sea Realm Ninth Level expert, so he was extremely familiar with this kind of fluctuation.
The person before me possesses the Divine Sea Realm Ninth Level, but his actual combat strength is at most equivalent to the Divine Sea Realm Eighth Level.
This stagnation is not caused by the technique itself.
Rather, it is because after the soul is damaged, it is unable to fully control spiritual power.
What concerned Chu Yunfei even more was that the lingering aura left by the injury felt vaguely familiar to him.
Chu Yunfei swung his sword to deflect a palm strike, using the force of the impact to retreat dozens of feet.
In his mind's eye, Xiaoxiao Dragon seemed to have thought of something.
"You brat, this guy's soul..."
"I know."
Chu Yunfei stared at the figure in black robes, his gaze gradually turning cold.
Soul-Devouring Nether Poison.
The soul was traumatized after being eroded by poisonous threads for many years and then removed.
Looking across the entire Eastern Continent, there is only one expert at the Divine Sea Realm Ninth Level who has been suffering from the Soul-Devouring Nether Poison for many years and has only recently recovered.
Chu Yunfei suddenly smiled.
There was no realization in that smile, only biting sarcasm.
The man in black robes stopped several dozen feet away and did not immediately give chase.
He seemed to notice the change in Chu Yunfei's gaze as well.
Chu Yunfei raised the Devouring Abyss-Devouring Sword, its tip pointing at his opponent.
"I never expected that."
"The mighty Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty, the ruler of a dynasty, actually resorted to such underhanded tactics, personally venturing into the desolate mountains to carry out this kind of assassination."
His voice traveled across the night sky, clearly reaching the ears of the man in the black robe.
Ling Zhantian.
Don't you feel disgusted with yourself?
The man in black robes suddenly stopped.
The surging spiritual energy around him also became noticeably disordered at that moment.
The two looked at each other from a distance.
Several breaths passed before the man in the black robe slowly dispelled the black mist that had been covering his face.
Ling Zhantian's pale yet dignified face finally emerged from beneath his black robe.
His expression had returned to calm, but a hint of undisguised astonishment lingered in his eyes.
How did you recognize me?
The deliberately feigned hoarse voice dissipated, transforming into a dignified middle-aged voice.
Ling Zhantian was confident that he had concealed his abilities perfectly, and had even deliberately changed his cultivation method and used a secret treasure to conceal his aura.
How could Chu Yunfei, a mere young junior, possibly see through his true identity at a glance?
" The Soul-Devouring Nether Poison in your body was personally removed by me."
Chu Yunfei's gaze grew increasingly mocking.
"Your soul, riddled with holes by poisonous threads, was also cleaned up inch by inch by me."
"You can change your cultivation technique, and you can use secret treasures to conceal your aura, but the injuries deep within your soul cannot be changed."
Chu Yunfei sneered.
"You think you can fool me with such a simple trick? You overestimate yourself."
Ling Zhantian remained silent for a moment.
"I see."
Now that his identity had been exposed, he decided to stop hiding it.
Ling Zhantian removed his black robe and once again adopted his aloof and regal demeanor.
"Young friend Chu has indeed not disappointed me."
"To have defeated two Divine Sea Realm elders with only Heavenly Origin Realm cultivation, and to have held out against me for so long, the Seven Sects' Holy Sons are indeed far inferior to you."
He spoke in a very calm tone.
It was as if the masked attacker was not him.
"If you were given a few more years, perhaps a truly remarkable figure would emerge in the Eastern Continent."
Ling Zhantian paused for a moment, the admiration in his eyes gradually turning into indifference.
"It's a pity you won't live to see that day."
Chu Yunfei didn't reply, he just stared at him coldly.
Ling Zhantian's brows twitched slightly.
You don't seem surprised at all.
"Now that things have come to this, don't you want to ask me why I must kill you?"
Chu Yunfei turned his head away and spat the blood in his mouth onto the ground.
"Pooh!"
Ling Zhantian's eyes darkened.
Chu Yunfei looked up again, his crimson eyes fixed on him.
"I'm asking your mother!!"
Before he could finish speaking, Chu Yunfei had already transformed into a dark red afterimage, sword in hand, and charged towards Ling Zhantian.
The Abyss-Devouring Sword tore through the night, aiming straight for the throat.
"In my life, there are two types of people I find most disgusting!"
One type is the hypocritical villain who stabs you in the back.
"The other type is someone like you, an ungrateful wretch who eats meat one day and then kills the next!"
Chu Yunfei's roar echoed through the mountains.
In his previous life, he was betrayed by Lin Chuhan, who personally sent him to his death in order to seize the Divine Cauldron of Heavenly Mandate.
In this life, he removed the Soul-Devouring Nether Poison from Ling Zhantian, repaired his meridians and soul, and fabricated poisonous fog when the Blood Baleful Intent Tower stormed the palace, thus deceiving the royal family from the purple-faced deputy tower master.
When the emperor woke up, he didn't utter a single genuine word of thanks.
Instead, the first thing they did was to revoke his status as a prince consort and force him to leave the palace.
The second thing he did was to personally go out of the city masked to intercept and kill them.
What's the point of asking questions about someone like that?
It's all about interests.
It's nothing but greed.
It's simply that this Emperor of the Great Qian felt that Chu Yunfei, being alone and without the protection of the royal family, could be manipulated at will.
Ling Zhantian wanted to see him angrily question him, and wanted to put on an imperial posture before he died, explaining the so-called big picture and his predicament.
Chu Yunfei had no interest in listening.
The sword in his hand was the only answer.
The Abyss-Devouring Sword unleashed a torrent of violent Sword Qi, slashing down at Ling Zhantian.
Ling Zhantian's face finally turned completely gloomy.
The mighty Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty, the ruler of a dynasty, had never before been subjected to such foul and obscene insults!
"Stubborn and incorrigible."
Ling Zhantian clenched his five fingers, and golden spiritual power rapidly extended from his palm, condensing into an Imperial Dao Dragon Sword.
The moment the dragon sword took shape, a profound and majestic imperial aura swept across the surrounding area.
Ling Zhantian swung his sword to meet the attack.
Boom!
The two swords clashed, and golden and dark red sword lights exploded simultaneously.
Chu Yunfei was thrown back several feet by the shock, and the wound on his arm reopened.
Ling Zhantian also took a step back.
He glanced at the Imperial Dao Dragon Sword trembling slightly in his hand, his killing intent intensifying.
The value Chu Yunfei demonstrated far exceeded his expectations.
Initially, he only wanted to take Chu Yunfei's Myriad Poison Tyrant Body Origin to fill a missing link in the Flawless Spirit Physique Project.
But after witnessing the Great Heaven-Burning Art firsthand, he changed his mind.
The key to the legacy of the Heaven-Slaying Sword Emperor.
Luo Wuxu's Abyss-Devouring Sword.
The Myriad Poison Tyrant Body Origin.
There is also this terrifying secret technique that can be used continuously and forcibly cross major realms.
If Chu Yunfei is captured and his soul is forcibly searched, all these things will belong to him.
In comparison, the small favor Chu Yunfei had done for him was utterly insignificant.
The only thing that Ling Zhantian feared was the Great Heaven-Burning Art.
Thirty years ago, he also practiced a royal secret technique.
That secret technique could push his combat power to the Dao Mysterious Realm Third Layer in a short time, but it also left an irreparable hidden injury in his Dao foundation during the battle with that person from the Blood Baleful Intent Tower twenty years ago.
That is why he has been unable to truly break through to the Dao Mysterious Realm for so long.
His soul has not yet fully recovered, so he dares not use that secret technique again.
Chu Yunfei's Great Heaven-Burning Art was different.
After using it twice in a row, although Chu Yunfei's meridians continued to crack and his aura began to become disordered, his Dao foundation remained stable.
The value of this secret technique is probably even greater than that of the secret techniques of the Great Qian Imperial Family.
Ling Zhantian originally planned to use his superior cultivation level to buy time, wait for Chu Yunfei's secret technique to dissipate on its own, and then capture him alive and search his soul.
Since Chu Yunfei had recklessly charged forward, he didn't mind beating him half to death first.
Ling Zhantian raised the Imperial Dao Dragon Sword, unleashing his full power Divine Sea Realm Ninth Level.
The golden sword light illuminated the mountains, and also reflected the undisguised greed in his eyes.
"Since you are so eager to die, I will grant your wish."
"Once you fall into my hands, I will naturally find out just how many secrets you are hiding!"