Chapter 981: The Might of Purple Lightning

The might of purple lightning: Li Yi saw the gate of the Death and Life Hell Realm open once more, another Rakshasa warrior entering—yet, by protocol, this Rakshasa general wore no armor or weapons, his presence eerily still.

But his aura was as deep and steady as an abyss, far surpassing the previous veteran, Chi Feng.

“A true expert,” Li Yi now took him seriously.

The previous veteran, though battle-hardened, lacked power—otherwise he wouldn’t have been slain head-on. This one, by contrast, possessed overwhelming strength, compensating for the former’s deficiencies.

Yet caution aside,

Li Yi still sneered: “Another come to die? Are Rakshasa generals’ lives so cheap?”

After all, the rules didn’t forbid mockery.

Yet after arriving, the Red Commander showed no anger—only studied Li Yi, then said: “Human, you are strong. Your magic power is terrifyingly vast. Chi Feng lost fairly. With your mastery of True Dragon Combat Heaven Art, you are indeed a formidable foe. But today, this ends.”

As he spoke, crimson energy surged around him, releasing Rakshasa power intertwined with a murderous aura.

As a Rakshasa elite, the Red Commander naturally wielded the Rakshasa Murderous Art.

Unlike Chi Feng, he activated it immediately to boost his combat power—and he had refined it well, his gaze still calm, untouched by the art’s bloodlust.

Having learned from past mistakes, the Red Commander would not underestimate again. He would unleash his full strength and end this battle swiftly and cleanly.

The Rakshasa could not afford to lose twice. Their honor must be reclaimed.

“Interesting.”

Li Yi said: “Rare to meet a Rakshasa who isn’t arrogant. Sometimes admitting another’s excellence is hard—especially for your kind. But it changes nothing: your fate remains defeat.”

The Red Commander said nothing. He stood like an abyss, silently fixing his gaze on Li Yi, waiting for the golden bell to ring.

Li Yi said no more, instead standing ready.

As time slowly passed,

Soon,

A golden bell rang.

Its resonant tone echoed through the Death and Life Hell Realm, signaling to all aboard the Realm Boat that the second battle had begun.

At the bell’s chime,

The silent Red Commander vanished from his spot—along with Li Yi.

Both moved at speeds so extreme that the weak could not track them. Only the Emperor’s power sustaining this realm prevented its space from tearing apart in that instant.

BOOM! The next moment, their forms clashed—Red Commander’s body infused with Rakshasa power, the Murderous Art fully unleashed, his arm slashing down like a celestial blade, unleashing unmatched force.

It was his most fearsome technique: Heaven-Unity Slash.

Though normally requiring a blade, without weapons, he used his arm as a blade, aiming to sever Li Yi’s head.

Yet this terrifying strike was blocked by Li Yi’s fist.

True Dragon Qi coalesced, unyielding; Combat Heaven Art activated, channeling boundless power from within his body—his punch reached absolute peak, and merely by extending it, a martial will of annihilation and destruction spilled forth.

After their clash, neither yielded; both stepped back several paces.

But the next instant,

The Red Commander again turned his arm into a blade, unleashing Rakshasa power—crimson light like needles, tearing through all, swift as thunder.

Li Yi roared, swinging his killing fist, his body transforming into a True Dragon, fully manifesting Combat Heaven Art.

In an instant, they clashed sixteen times; the shockwaves trembled as if shattering the realm itself.

The Red Commander now revealed shock and fury—he hadn’t expected this human cultivator to possess such combat prowess, to block his Heaven-Unity Slash with mere fists.

He had already activated the Rakshasa Murderous Art—his power far exceeded his normal state.

Li Yi was equally stunned.

He had concentrated his True Dragon Qi, mobilized all his strength, and added the might of his divine body—yet still could not overpower the opponent. This was absurd.

This Rakshasa general was truly ferocious.

Having just entered the Heavenly Realm, he had underestimated its warriors. Though all were generals, strength varied greatly—clearly, this one was a powerful general.

BOOM! They clashed again, neither retreating a step, unleashing lethal techniques while pouring out their full power, constantly fighting at peak capacity.

“Damn it! Even the Red Commander can’t subdue him yet!” The Rakshasa elites watching were stunned.

They couldn’t believe a human cultivator could withstand the Red Commander’s killing techniques without yielding—especially in this state, where even peers among generals struggled to survive a single blow.

“His True Dragon Qi is unusual,” said Yu Jue, the Heavenly King.

Ordinary cultivators cultivate True Dragon Qi through magic power, primordial spirit, and physical strength alone.

But Li Yi’s True Dragon Qi was different—he had fused it with bloodline power.

As the battle continued, purple lightning began to emerge from Li Yi’s fists, interweaving and surging, radiating brilliant light.

“Thunderblood?”

Other spectators on the Realm Boat widened their eyes.

Well, well.

They’d assumed Tai Yi was pure human—turns out he was a half-breed.

“Is this Tai Yi’s hidden trump card? His purple thunderblood is terrifyingly high-tier—otherwise, no half-breed human could manifest such power.”

“Could he be a descendant of the Thunder Ancestor? Thunder Ancestor bloodline? His lightning resembles the Thunder Bureau’s.”

“Not a Thunder Bureau prodigy—we have no such person named Tai Yi.”

Someone suspected Tai Yi was a descendant of the Thunder Ancestor, but a Thunder Bureau cultivator immediately dismissed it—the man himself a general, he firmly stated the Thunder Bureau had no prodigy named Tai Yi.

Yet the Thunder Bureau cultivator’s word was credible: though famed and mighty, the Thunder Bureau was small, for its selection was brutal, requiring a rare physical constitution.

“If this Tai Yi survives, I should recommend him to the Thunder Bureau,” the Thunder Bureau general thought inwardly.

A human cultivator with such combat prowess and innate thunderblood was perfect for the Thunder Bureau.

As the recommender, he’d earn great merit.

The moment purple thunder erupted, it cleaved through the Red Commander’s Rakshasa power and struck his body directly.

BOOM.

Thunderous roars echoed—the Red Commander staggered backward, his arm charred black, blood streaming.

He was wounded.

After a brief exchange, once Li Yi’s thunderblood was revealed, the Red Commander fell into disadvantage.

This blow didn’t merely injure his arm—it damaged his primordial spirit too. His previously peak aura instantly withered.

Extreme clashes are like walking a tightrope—once wounded, combat power plummets, while the opponent remains at peak, and will not miss such an opening.

The Red Commander had trained Rakshasa soldiers for years—he knew instantly: he was losing. His calm mind shattered; the bloodlust within his Rakshasa lineage surged uncontrollably, forcing a roar. His entire body ignited with burning power.

He would exhaust everything to reverse his fate.

But would Li Yi give him that chance?

Even if you’re going to explode, you’ve got to be able to do it first.

In an instant,

Countless bolts of thunder, fused with True Dragon Qi-forged fists, rained down—on the instant the Red Commander exposed a flaw, Li Yi unleashed over a hundred punches. The Red Commander was indeed extraordinary—he endured all hundred punches during his explosive burst.

But the remaining dozen punches struck him during that opening.

Thus, the Red Commander never cried out—he simply exploded into fragments, his blood vaporized by lightning, leaving only shattered bones and debris, and boundless fury filling the Death and Life Hell Realm.

After slaying his foe, Li Yi stood, cloaked in lightning, fists retracted, his eyes still brimming with killing intent.

The opponent was indeed strong.

But he hadn’t reached Li Yi’s limit—still, forcing out his purple thunderblood was no small feat.

“He won! Tai Yi won the second match! Unbelievable! Truly unbelievable! Even the Rakshasa training commander fell!”

“True Dragon Combat Heaven Art has been fully mastered by this man—and fused into his being, radiating his own brilliance.”

“It’s not True Dragon Combat Heaven Art that’s strong—it’s Tai Yi’s purple thunderblood. That Rakshasa general’s Rakshasa power was shattered by the lightning fists, leaving him wounded and vulnerable.”

“Perfect! I bet on Tai Yi—I made a fortune!”

Inside the Realm Boat, many murmured and cheered.

The commotion drew more cultivators out of their meditation—those who’d previously found such spectacles dull now found the second match unexpectedly compelling, and many felt this battle was worth watching.

“The Red Commander is dead.” Outside the cheers, the Rakshasa’s own realm remained utterly silent.

All fell silent.

They saw clearly: the Red Commander had shown his full strength, revealed no flaw whatsoever—from start to finish, it was textbook combat.

Yet this human, Tai Yi, unleashed his thunderblood and shattered his defense—leading directly to the Red Commander’s death.

In that situation, any general would have met the same fate.

Unless your power could surpass Tai Yi’s.

Thus, this loss came down to one thing: insufficient strength.

“Even the Red Commander fell,” sighed Yu Jue, the Heavenly King.

He felt sorrow because he had once been trained by the Red Commander. Time had passed—he was now a Heavenly King, while the Red Commander remained merely a commander.

Yet time had not weakened the Red Commander’s strength; on the contrary, Yu Jue believed that with a little more refinement, the Red Commander could have broken through to Heavenly King rank easily.

Yet today, he perished at the hands of a human cultivator.

But after his sigh, Yu Jue’s gaze sharpened again, sweeping over the many Rakshasa elites behind him.

“Third match. This time, I won’t tolerate another Chi Feng or Red Commander. This human cultivator hid his strength—so we must not estimate him as before. We must crush him with absolute dominance.”

(End of Chapter)