Battle: Extreme Metal Flowing Light Sword!

In the Steel Ridge Mountain Range stood an enormous metal city, a sight that showed the gulf between the bottom and the top.

That Meteor Rank village had consisted of just a few wooden planks and leaves.

But the castle of this "God of Vajra" was different.

Its walls were cast from an unknown, dull-colored alloy, with a faint earthy-yellow glow flowing over their surface.

On the walls, burly guards in heavy armor stood like statues, their auras fierce. Even the weakest was on the same level as that giant of a man.

Yet an invisible will had already slipped silently through the iron castle and descended into the magnificent temple at the very heart of the sacred city.

Under Qie Qiong's perception,

within the temple, upon a divine throne cast from a strange metal,

a giant over three meters tall sat with his eyes closed, concentrating.

He was the tallest person Qie Qiong had seen so far.

In his previous life, Qie Qiong could have said, "I'll jump up and punch you in the knee." But there was no need now, because...

He could fly. (Dear readers, feel free to share whatever you're thinking of.)

Heavy, dark-gold armor covered his body, its surface engraved with alchemical inscriptions Qie Qiong could not understand.

He was the God of Vajra, one of the so-called five Deities of the Extreme Thunder Small Transcendent World.

But in Qie Qiong's eyes, he was merely a Saint Rank Transcendent who had comprehended the seventh-grade True Meaning of Vajra.

Had it been one of the other "Deities," Qie Qiong might not have been able to perceive the True Meaning they had comprehended.

But wasn't this a coincidence?

The True Meaning the God of Vajra had comprehended was a seventh-grade True Meaning subordinate to the True Meaning of Metal, right in Qie Qiong's area of expertise.

His skin looked as though it had been cast from dark gold, and he was even uglier than the natives Qie Qiong had seen before.

Perhaps the God of Vajra was considered handsome among his own people?

Suddenly!

The God of Vajra seemed to sense something!

Swish!

A tiny speck of golden light suddenly pierced through the temple wall from outside, then shot straight at the God of Vajra's heart!

"What?!" The God of Vajra woke with a start only a ten-thousandth of an instant before the attack struck him.

A Saint Rank existence's instinctive sense of danger made him act without even thinking.

"Roar-!"

Before the golden light could pierce his heart,

the runes on his dark-gold armor lit up instantly, and a solid-looking golden shield appeared out of thin air over his heart.

This was his application of his True Meaning-Vajra Barrier.

The moment he used the move, Qie Qiong determined his realm.

The third level of the seventh-grade Myriad Existences Realm of Vajra.

Crack!

A shattering sound rang out.

The moment the seemingly insignificant golden light struck the golden shield,

it did not scatter. Instead, it punched straight through the sturdy shield!

A nearly imperceptible hole appeared in the dark-gold armor!

Although the attack had been impeded and had not completely pierced his heart, it was enough to injure the "God of Vajra."

"Pfft-!"

The God of Vajra's towering body shuddered violently, and he spat out a mouthful of dark-gold blood.

"Which rat is hiding there?! Get out here!" His roar shook the entire temple.

But the answer he received was an even fiercer attack than the previous thrust!

Hum!

The instant the God of Vajra spat blood, Qie Qiong's figure emerged from the hole the golden light had just bored through the temple.

His silver robe was spotless, and his expression was cold.

He answered none of the questions. Now that he knew the "God of Vajra's" realm, the god was already a dead man in Qie Qiong's eyes.

Boom!

Qie Qiong stepped forward, and spiderweb cracks spread across the metal floor beneath his foot.

His entire body became a blurred sword shadow as he charged at the God of Vajra.

He raised his right arm and held two fingers together as a sword.

At his fingertips, Dou Qi fused with the True Meaning of Metal and formed a half-foot-long, solid golden sword light, like a true divine weapon.

Facing the figure charging at him, the God of Vajra sensed an aura from the same source as his own profound mystery of Vajra, but more perfect and more powerful than his.

The Extreme Thunder World had acquired such a terrifying Demigod.

His eyes widened in fury, all traces of contempt gone.

Fortunately, this "Demigod" had not waited until becoming a "Deity" to come after him. Otherwise, this might have been a "Deity" stronger than the God of Extreme Thunder.

"Courting death! Vajra Fist!"

He stopped trying to question Qie Qiong. His arms swelled to twice their size, and his violent Dou Qi erupted in full. The power of a Peak Saint Rank seemed capable of shaking space itself.

His enormous fists were like dark-gold meteors, smashing fiercely at the oncoming figure with the force to crush everything in their path.

It was a bombardment of pure, absolute power.

The golden sword light collided with the giant fists.

The imagined sight of the silver figure being sent flying or crushed by the giant fists did not appear.

Instead, the God of Vajra seemed to feel once more what it was like to be slashed by a sword when he was weak!

Pfft, pfft, pfft-

The sound of tearing rang out without end!

Those fists were wrapped in tough Vajra Dou Qi, enough to withstand any attack except Extreme Thunder's.

Yet the golden sword light cut through them, leaving gash after gash deep enough to expose bone. Dark-gold blood splashed through the air.

The searing pain drew a muffled grunt from him.

How is this possible? Towering waves surged in the God of Vajra's heart.

His Vajra Dou Qi had unparalleled defense, and his power at the peak of the "Deity" realm completely surpassed this "Demigod's," yet he had still suffered at his hands.

Rip-

Another long, deep wound appeared.

In just a few breaths, the entire temple had been reduced to ruins.

Every collision between the crisscrossing golden sword light and the dark-gold giant fists threw off dazzling golden sparks and sent golden blood flying. The temple shook violently, and cracks appeared in the enormous metal pillars supporting it.

Qie Qiong was faster, and his attacks were powerful.

Ten years of painstaking cultivation had brought his comprehension of the True Meaning of Metal to the first level. Its strength made up for the enormous gap in Dou Qi.

Every attack tore gash after gash through his opponent's formidable defenses.

The God of Vajra relied on his boundless reserves of Peak Saint Rank Dou Qi and a body equivalent to the early stage of Saint Rank to endure Qie Qiong's assault.

His profound mystery of Vajra was more focused on defense. Although it could not completely stop Qie Qiong's attacks, they only caused him a little more pain.

The battle became a drawn-out struggle.

The golden figure and the enormous dark-gold shadow clashed madly within the shattered temple.

The temple roof had long since been blown away by the shockwaves of their clash, sending huge pieces of metal flying in all directions.

The entire castle shook. Countless guards stared in terror toward the temple, but they could see only golden and dark-gold light. Terrifying torrents of energy swept across the sky, making it impossible to see what was happening within.

At a time like this, no one would want to go over and look.

Both fighters had been driven to genuine fury.

Qie Qiong's gaze grew ever calmer. This was no longer a battle fought solely for resources.

During his ten years of secluded cultivation, he had not had a single opponent because he was in the material world.

He needed an evenly matched opponent like this.

His opponent's True Meaning of Vajra was also an excellent whetstone!

The God of Vajra, meanwhile, felt utterly stifled.

He had never encountered such a troublesome opponent.

Qie Qiong's Dou Qi realm was clearly far below his, yet the incomparably powerful True Meaning of Metal left him with the strength to uproot mountains and nowhere to use it.

Dozens of sword wounds covered his body. Though none were fatal, the True Meaning of Metal that had invaded him and continued to ravage his insides had slowed the recovery of his Saint body.

He realized that if this continued, he might really meet his end here.

He had to break the stalemate!

"Bastard, you go too far!" the God of Vajra roared, taking another finger-sword strike head-on.

Another bloody wound appeared on his chest.

His eyes were red as blood as he retreated.

He spread his arms, and Dou Qi surged from his body like a flood, filling the sky for several miles around in an instant.

The elemental energy of Heaven and Earth gathered madly, and the entire temple seemed to be enveloped by the vast Dou Qi.

At that moment, the entire Extreme Thunder World was stirred. The other four Saint Rank Transcendents turned their gazes toward the battlefield at the same time.

"Hmm? Elemental energy is gathering where Vajra is?"

"Could it be Extreme Thunder?"

"Is someone challenging Vajra?"

Without the slightest hesitation, the four immediately turned into streaks of light and sped toward Vajra as fast as they could.

For the other three gods, if Extreme Thunder had made a move and Vajra was gone, their situation would be dangerous.

For Extreme Thunder, Vajra was not that important. Who was fighting Vajra was what mattered.

Faced with the strike that enveloped Heaven and Earth, Qie Qiong felt the space around him seemingly freeze. Instead, a hint of anticipation appeared on his face.

"Extreme Metal Flowing Light Sword!"

The soft cry rang out through Heaven and Earth.

Qie Qiong made no attempt to dodge.

An incomparably brilliant golden light erupted around him.

Then it slowly gathered on Qie Qiong's sword fingers.

He slowly raised his right hand, fingers held as a sword. The sword light that had flickered at his fingertips vanished.

In its place was a dark-gold sword blade, condensed beyond description and only three inches long!

It floated silently before Qie Qiong, without the slightest trace of energy leaking from it.

It seemed out of place in the world around it. Everything in the world seemed to be silently cut apart when it drew near.

"Golden Light" did not merely serve the same purpose as a Chaos Stele; it also contained many secret techniques.

Although Qie Qiong had not spent much time studying them over the years because he had wanted only to comprehend True Meaning,

after ten years of devoted study of the "Golden Light" manual, he had reached the utmost limit of the first level of the True Meaning of Metal. He had also drawn on the secret techniques in "Golden Light" to improve the "Flowing Light Sword," producing this, his strongest killing move for the time being.

He raised his hand and pointed toward the "God of Vajra."

The dark-gold blade shot toward the "God of Vajra," as though piercing through the void.

At that moment, the "God of Vajra" felt the greatest danger he had faced since becoming a god!

I have to dodge! Otherwise, I'll surely die!

But it was too late.

The moment the thought occurred to him, before he could react...

Hum!

The dark-gold blade passed through the space between his brows without meeting any resistance.

The "God of Vajra's" massive body stood rigid in midair, his raised arms slowly falling to his sides.

There was a small hole between his brows, but not a single drop of blood flowed from it.

A "Deity" of his generation, a Saint Rank Transcendent of a small Transcendent world, had fallen.

A faint pallor also showed on Qie Qiong's face.

It had still been too difficult. Without the "Extreme Metal Flowing Light Sword," Qie Qiong could have defeated the "God of Vajra," but he could never have killed him.

The consumption of the "Extreme Metal Flowing Light Sword" far exceeded that of fighting continuously for several hours.

But besides exhaustion, his eyes held the exhilaration of having verified what he had gained.

Since he had begun cultivating, he had never fought an opponent so close to him in strength. Every fight had been a one-sided crushing.

This was his first opponent of the kind.

"Peak Saint Rank really isn't easy to kill," he murmured. His gaze swept over the "God of Vajra's" corpse, and then, drawn by the Power of Heaven and Earth, the Space Ring on the god's hand flew into Qie Qiong's.

He casually stored the body in his Space Ring.

Transcendent mages prized bodies like this most; they could use them to refine flesh-and-blood puppet soldiers.

There was no time to reflect or linger. He knew full well that the disturbance here must already have alerted the "Deities" of the entire Extreme Thunder World.

Although he had killed the "God of Vajra" one-on-one, as he was now, he was no match for the others if they joined forces.

So he had to act quickly.

His Spiritual Force poured out like quicksilver, instantly sweeping through the central area of the ruined temple.

He collected all the heavenly treasures he detected into his Space Ring.

Less than a minute had passed by the time he finished.

"Go!"

Without hesitation, Qie Qiong's figure instantly dissolved into golden particles and sped away from the Steel Ridge Mountain Range.

As he flew at high speed, he quickly concealed every trace of his aura and vanished completely over the vast mountains and primeval jungle.

The "God of Extreme Thunder," his enormous figure wreathed in lightning, was the first to arrive.

When his gaze fell on the wreckage of the ruined temple, his body shook violently.

The power of thunder exploded out of control around him.

Vajra's aura... had vanished completely.

In this world, was there actually someone besides him who could kill Vajra in such a short time?

Just as the God of Extreme Thunder was reeling in shock and doubt, three equally powerful auras came hurtling through the air, arriving almost at the same time.

A stream of water flew in from the east, then transformed into a human figure. It was none other than the Sea God.

Her eyes, like clear blue waves, swept over the ruins.

She and the God of Vajra already had an old grudge over resources. Amid the shock in her eyes, a trace of schadenfreude flashed, but more than anything, she was gripped by the chill brought on by the fall of an expert at her own level.

To the west, a fierce wind swept past. It was the God of Hurricanes. His gaze was fixed intently on the God of Extreme Thunder.

The Fire God turned into a flame and flew in from the south.

All three had come as fast as they could, but they were still too late. The lingering aura at the scene had already told them that the God of Vajra had fallen.

Their gazes briefly met before they all turned to Extreme Thunder, as if by unspoken agreement.

"Extreme Thunder, you got here first. Did you see what the killer looked like?" the Sea God asked, the first to speak.

Extreme Thunder glanced at them and shook his head. "It was already like this when I arrived. I didn't expect our world to have such a formidable expert."

"Perhaps the people from the legend are about to descend again," said the God of Hurricanes.

"Hmph, the legend? Our ancestors could enter them and bring Dou Qi to our world. We can too," the Fire God said upon hearing this.

Extreme Thunder was about to say something.

The Sea God's eyes flickered, and she exchanged a glance with Hurricane, interrupting Extreme Thunder. "Since things have come to this, we must return to our bases immediately."

The other two both silently assented.

The three turned into streaks of light and flew toward Hurricane's territory.

The three and Extreme Thunder were not on the same side. Even with a mysterious person around now, Extreme Thunder was still the one they feared most.

Back when Vajra was still alive, the four of them had needed to join forces just to fight him to a draw, let alone now.