Chapter 112: Peak Showdown, The Qianlong List Concludes

On the other side, the sect masters of the seven Liupin Sects gathered together.

Seeing that Sikong Sheng had been defeated consecutively by Pang Bo and his group, and that his entire state had become unstable, Sikong Ba, the Sect Master of Marquis Xuan Kong Mountain, could no longer hold back.

"I believe everyone has seen it!"

Sikong Ba glanced around, then transmitted his voice to the other Liupin Sect masters: "The cultivation techniques practiced by Ye Chen, Xiao Yan, and the others are absolutely extraordinary!"

"Especially that one named Han Li; his true qi is actually more vigorous than Sheng'er's, who cultivated half-step true yuan using a Grade Earth top-tier technique. This is absolutely impossible for a Grade Earth top-tier technique that specializes in accumulating true qi to achieve!"

"Exactly!"

The Sect Master of Tianyun Sect also spoke in a low voice: "I believe that little fellow named Han Li has definitely cultivated a Grade Heaven technique. Moreover, the methods employed by the others are all equally shocking; they simply cannot be achieved by Grade Earth top-tier techniques and martial arts!"

"Hmph!"

The Sect Master of Feitian Demon Sect spoke even more coldly: "They are merely a group of young brats who happened to enter an ancient inheritance place. How dare they so arrogantly plot to seize the fortune of our Nanzhuo Region? Everyone, why don't we join forces to retrieve the fortune of Nanzhuo Region stolen by these brats, and then ask them about the location of that ancient inheritance place?"

"I think this is feasible!"

The Hall Master of Huoling Hall also nodded and said: "If we can obtain the opportunity from that ancient inheritance place, we can split it equally!"

"But have you considered..."

Just then, the Sect Master of Bingjue Sect, standing nearby, could not help but say: "What if these brats did not happen to enter an ancient inheritance place, but are instead descendants of a Life-and-Death Lei Jingwang?"

"That is a possibility!"

Sikong Ba, the Sect Master of Marquis Xuan Kong Mountain, nodded and said: "But compared to the potential gains, I think this risk is worth taking! Moreover, I believe that behind each of you, there are some trump cards capable of summoning a Life-and-Death Lei Jingwang!"

In the past, the ancestor of the Marquis Xuan Kong Mountain lineage, Cang Wang, had done a favor for Yu Wang when he was weak. After Cang Wang's death, Yu Wang even sent a message to the Sikong lineage of Marquis Xuan Kong Mountain, promising to help the Sikong family with three things within his power.

Now that Yu Wang has become one of the most powerful Life-and-Death Realm Kings beneath the Void Emperor, ranking alongside Xuan Hou and Xie Wang, Yu Wang's original promise naturally became Marquis Xuan Kong Mountain's greatest trump card!

"Exactly!"

The Sect Master of Tianyun Sect, who also had a Life-and-Death Realm background, quickly spoke up: "I think this danger is worth taking. Even if there is truly a Life-and-Death Lei Jingwang behind these brats, with so many Liupin Sects gathered together, as long as we do not completely offend them, I believe they will not tear up the face with us!"

"I agree!"

"I also agree!"

After hearing Sikong Ba and the Sect Master of Tianyun Sect's words, the masters of Huoling Hall, Luoxia Gate, and Feitian Demon Sect all nodded in approval.

Only the Sect Master of Wuqing Sect and the Sect Master of Bingjue Sect hesitated somewhat.

Seeing this, Sikong Ba and the others naturally continued to persuade them, for if they could obtain the opportunity next, there was little difference between five sects sharing it and seven sects sharing it. But if they truly provoked a Life-and-Death Lei Jingwang, seven sects bearing the burden together would be much simpler than five sects doing so!

Thus, under the persuasion of Sikong Ba and the others, the Sect Master of Wuqing Sect finally agreed to this idea, while only the Sect Master of Bingjue Sect ultimately refused!

Just after the sect masters of the several Liupin Sects finished exchanging words via voice transmission, the final match of this year's Qianlong List was finally about to begin.

And up until now, the only ones maintaining a perfect record were Xiao Yan and Ye Chen!

In previous battles, Han Li had successively been defeated by Pang Bo, Xiao Yan, and Ye Chen. As for Pang Bo, although his blood qi power was extremely terrifying, he believed himself to be slightly inferior to Ye Chen and Xiao Yan in terms of attack, so after a brief spar, he voluntarily admitted defeat. Thus, in the end, only Xiao Yan and Ye Chen remained.

At this moment, the dragon-shaped phantoms behind them had both reached nine zhang and four. If they could truly defeat their opponents, the first place might very well produce a nine zhang and five dragon-shaped phantom, something that had never appeared from ancient times to the present.

Such overwhelming fortune was enough to drive even some ordinary Tier Five sects mad, let alone the ordinary sects below Tier Five present here.

Furthermore, the news about the ancient inheritance place that Pang Bo had deliberately leaked earlier had already attracted the attention of many powerful figures.

It was only because Qianlong Ancient City and the Qianlong List were exceptionally sacred, and because of the painful lesson of the Nine Nether Sect before, that no one dared to attack Pang Bo and the others at this moment.

The group from Nanluo Sect naturally saw this as well.

However, coming from an old-established Tier Five sect, they did not pay too much attention to the inheritance and fortune on Ye Chen and his group. Instead, they wanted to find a good opportunity to bind geniuses like Ye Chen and the others to the war chariot of Longshen Tian Palace, which had already entered its twilight years.

"Sect Master!"

The Grand Elder of Nanluo Sect glanced at the masters of those Liupin Sects, then transmitted his voice: "I did not expect that Liuyun Sect would suddenly produce so many geniuses at once. However, those Liupin Sects are probably unable to hold back and want to attack Ye Chen and the others!"

"As long as Ye Chen and the others encounter a fatal danger, if you intervene to help them, I believe they will be infinitely grateful!"

In fact, more than a year ago, after Ye Chen emerged from Tianmeng Ancient Land, the Grand Elder of Nanluo Sect had intended to help him break free from the entanglement of Chongyue Gate.

However, Pang Bo appeared at that time and directly defeated Chongyue Gate into submission, so Nanluo Sect naturally lost the opportunity to show itself.

And now, those coveting the opportunities on Ye Chen and his group are no longer Bao Yuan Realm martial artists, but Xingji Realm, or even Linghai Realm, supreme experts!

In the Grand Elder of Nanluo Sect's view, with Ye Chen and the others' strength, they would naturally be unable to resist. At that time, the opportunity for Nanluo Sect (Longshen Tian Palace) to intervene would naturally arise!

As for whether the Sect Master of Nanluo Sect, Long Biyun, could resolve the troubles of Ye Chen and his group, the Grand Elder of Nanluo Sect felt absolutely no worry in his heart.

After all, Long Biyun's strength was extremely top-tier even among Linghai Realm True Persons, and was even very close to a Linghai Realm Grandmaster. There was simply no one among those Liupin Sects who could match her!

Moreover, behind them stood the colossal entity of Longshen Tian Palace, so those Liupin Sects were naturally not worth worrying about!

"I must admit, I misjudged before!"

Long Biyun exhaled a long breath, then continued: "I originally thought that Ye Chen was merely a dragon, but I did not expect him to be a true dragon in hibernation, and moreover, he has other stunning companions by his side!"

Coming from Longshen Tian Palace, she naturally knew the importance of top-tier techniques and martial arts.

But if one's own talent is insufficient, even if one truly obtains top-tier techniques and martial arts, there is no way to unleash too much strength.

Yet Ye Chen and his companions were able to cultivate their techniques to such an extent at such a young age. Even looking across the entire Longshen Tian Palace, there were simply few geniuses who could compare to them!

"Talent that does not provoke envy is mediocrity!"

Long Biyun sneered: "If those people dare to oppress others with their power, I naturally will not agree!"

Long Biyun's words showed no regard at all for Marquis Xuan Kong Mountain and the other Liupin Sects; as for others, they were even less worth mentioning!

Above Qianlong Ancient City, two spatial fissures appeared and disappeared faintly.

"Dragon King, this Qianlong List competition has produced four nine-zhang dragon-shaped phantoms. It seems the Qianlong Secret Realm is about to open!" A faint female voice came from the spatial fissure on the left.

"Doesn't this simply indicate that the fortune of Nanzhuo Region is on an upward trend!"

The responding voice was very old, yet seemed to contain terrifying power: "It was not in vain that we crossed half of the Zhenling Continent back then to hunt down the Nine Nether Demon King! However, compared to that, I am actually more interested in those few brats who broke into the top five of the overall rankings!"

"Since the Dragon King is interested, why not step in and help them!"

The clear, light female voice rang out once more: "Although their talents are quite outstanding, their backgrounds are far too low. For them to grow, it will naturally be far more difficult than for disciples from great clans or great sects!"

"Let's just watch and see!"

The Dragon King's voice rang out once more: "Perhaps these little fellows will be able to weather this tribulation on their own!"

The two who were speaking at this moment were two Life-and-Death realm kings, Xuan Hou and the Dragon King, whose strength could both rank among the very top of the many Life-and-Death realm kings on the True Spirit Continent.

The Dragon King in particular could be called one of the most ancient Life-and-Death realm kings on the True Spirit Continent.

The two of them had thought their appearance was very secretive, but what they did not know was that the moment they had approached Qianlong Ancient City, they had already been discovered by Lu Qingshan, who was watching the battle below.

……

On the broad martial arena, two figures stood a hundred meters apart.

On the left side of the arena, Xiao Yan, dressed in black, his hair bound with a jade crown, held the Xuanzhong Scale in his hand, and looked toward Ye Chen with a faint smile.

On the right side of the arena, Ye Chen, clad in blue, stood ramrod straight, with the Star Trace Sword hanging at his waist, looking utterly sharp and unrestrained!

"Brother Xiao!"

Ye Chen, who rarely spoke during matches, said: "I know I very likely am no match for you, but I hope you won't go easy on me — fight me with everything you have!"

"Brother Ye Chen, I've only taken one step ahead of you, that's all!"

Xiao Yan said with a smile as well: "With your current strength, within the same realm, it really is hard to find you an opponent!"

Ye Chen nodded slightly. He knew that the "one step ahead" Xiao Yan spoke of referred to having joined the chat group before him.

"Then let us decide victory and defeat in a single move!"

Ye Chen said quickly: "No matter who wins or loses, no regrets!"

"That would be best!"

Xiao Yan said with a smile: "In any case, none of my other techniques would pose you any threat at all!"

At this point, Xiao Yan's mind stirred, and three strangely shaped flames of different forms instantly appeared before him — precisely the Green Lotus Heart Flame and the Falling Heart Flame that he had fused, as well as the Sea Heart Flame sealed within his body awaiting fusion!

Watching the three flames hovering before Xiao Yan, Ye Chen too felt tremendous pressure in his heart.

Ye Chen, who had long since formed many impressions of Xiao Yan's world through the chat group, knew very well that the more strange flames Xiao Yan's Buddha's Wrath Fire Lotus fused, the more terrifying its might became.

When he had previously defeated Sikong Sheng, Xiao Yan had only used a two-colored fire lotus formed from the fusion of the Green Lotus Heart Flame and the Falling Heart Flame.

If he wished to defeat Xiao Yan, who was about to unleash a three-colored fire lotus, it was likely that only by employing the Lesser Blood Demon Disintegration Great Art, combined with that mouthful of true essence condensed by Tai Xuan Gong within his dantian, would there be any chance at all.

However……

Ye Chen's gaze quickly turned toward the group leader Lu Qingshan below the stage.

The ultimate techniques he and Xiao Yan were about to unleash were both far too terrifying; relying solely on those few Star Pole realm referees, they probably would be utterly unable to guarantee their safety.

Lu Qingshan noticed Ye Chen's gaze and immediately sent a voice transmission: "It's fine — you two may unleash your ultimate techniques freely. Absolutely no accidents will occur!"

Although the martial arena had already been completely enveloped by the sealing light barrier, Lu Qingshan's voice still appeared with extraordinary clarity in the minds of both Xiao Yan and Ye Chen, and none of those present noticed anything at all.

And after receiving Lu Qingshan's assurance, Ye Chen finally held nothing back, and instantly activated the Lesser Blood Demon Disintegration Great Art.

Boom!

A blood-red current of air surged skyward, instantly dyeing Ye Chen's clothes, hair, eyebrows, and even his pupils entirely the color of blood.

For a moment, Ye Chen looked as if he were a blood-colored War God standing upon the martial arena.

"His qi and blood are burning — this is……"

"The Lesser Blood Demon Disintegration Great Art!"

Upon seeing Ye Chen activate the Lesser Blood Demon Disintegration Great Art, countless spectators all around were greatly shocked.

This martial art had originally been created by the Spirit Sea realm great expert Blood Demon True Person, and Blood Demon True Person was utterly infamous throughout the Southern Zhuo Domain — many sects had strong ones who died at his hands.

If Lu Qingshan had not been present, and Pang Bo had not been fishing throughout the entire competition, Ye Chen certainly would not have employed this martial art.

But now it didn't really matter — after all, when debts piled up one stopped worrying, and they had already spread the news of the Ancient Inheritance Land; employing the Lesser Blood Demon Disintegration Great Art naturally mattered even less.

On the contrary, after activating this martial art, it could push his strength yet another step further.

As his qi and blood burned, the true qi within Ye Chen's body also began to boil, causing his battle power to instantly surge by fifty percent!

But this was still not Ye Chen's limit!

A thumb-sized blob of inky-blue liquid true essence quickly emerged from Ye Chen's dantian, and in the blink of an eye had already covered his entire body — precisely that mouthful of true essence he had condensed after cultivating Tai Xuan Gong to its limit.

Upon seeing this scene, the entire martial arena fell silent once more, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard, and then burst out again into waves of clamorous noise.

"That is true essence! True essence that only a Star Pole realm expert can possess!"

"I'm not seeing things, am I? Could it be that this Ye Chen has already stepped into the Star Pole realm? But he hasn't even turned eighteen yet!"

"This Ye Chen should not yet have stepped into the Star Pole realm. Most likely it is because he cultivated some special art that he was able to refine a small amount of true essence at the Embracing Yuan realm stage!"

"That's already very impressive. Once true essence appears, combined with Ye Chen's terrifying sword intent and sword techniques, no one of the younger generation can possibly withstand him!"

Sikong Sheng stood below the martial arena. Seeing that the two Ye Chens who had defeated him in succession still had the majority of their strength in reserve, he too clenched his teeth tightly, his fists balled.

One had to know that in the past, it had always been he who held back strength when fighting others — but now the cat that had been toying with the mouse had suddenly become the mouse being toyed with by the cat. How could he possibly endure this?

……

On the martial arena.

Seeing Ye Chen's momentum climbing steadily, Xiao Yan's face could not help but reveal a faint smile.

Then his mind stirred, and the strange flames hovering before him began to slowly fuse together.

And the might that erupted after the three strange flames began to fuse even caused the several Star Pole realm referees nearby to change color slightly.

Ye Chen, opposite Xiao Yan, was likewise building up his power. He held the Star Trace Sword in his hand, that mouthful of inky-blue true essence already driven to its limit, his fierce sword intent and sword momentum likewise climbing unceasingly — all preparing for the killing blow to come!

At this point, Xiao Yan and the other had both abandoned any thought of probing each other, and resolved to decide victory and defeat in a single move!

As both men's momentum climbed to its peak, they finally moved.

"Buddha's Wrath Fire Lotus!" Within Xiao Yan's pupils blazed endless flames, and at the same instant a three-colored fire lotus carrying boundless might shot explosively toward Ye Chen's position.

"Heart-Piercing Sword!"

Facing Xiao Yan's killing blow, Ye Chen's expression turned solemn, and he immediately unleashed the ultimate move he had previously used to defeat Sikong Sheng.

And this time, the "Heart-Piercing Sword," bolstered by the Little Blood Demon Self-Detonation Art and true essence, had its might pushed to the absolute extreme—even a true Star Extremity realm expert standing before him would absolutely not dare to take this strike head-on!

Boom—boom—boom!

The terrifying tri-colored fire lotus instantly collided with the sword qi carrying world-shaking might.

The barrier light screen around the stage, which had already been reinforced by several Star Extremity realm referees, now once again showed signs of being unable to hold, frightening the other Star Extremity realm referees nearby into hurriedly joining in to reinforce it.

Under the gaze of countless onlookers, the terrifying fire lotus and the overwhelming sword qi, after colliding, quickly began annihilating each other.

In terms of explosive might alone, the fire lotus was clearly a notch above that sword light, but the sword light was extraordinarily fierce—upon finding it could not smoothly annihilate the fire lotus, it directly sliced the already unstable fire lotus in half, then shot explosively toward Xiao Yan.

The sliced fire lotus did not immediately collapse either, but instead continued carrying its remaining might as it swept toward Ye Chen.

By now, both Ye Chen and Xiao Yan had no time at all to dodge each other's killing moves!

"Not good!"

The Star Extremity realm referees below the stage, seeing the situation turn bad, immediately wanted to step in and rescue the two, but the burst of power from Xiao Yan and Ye Chen at this moment was in no way inferior to that of Star Extremity realm martial artists—they were quite far away, so how could they possibly arrive in time to block it?

As for Sikong Sheng and the others below the stage, they were more than happy to see both Ye Chen and Xiao Yan grievously wounded—or even fall—beneath each other's ultimate moves.

In the audience seats, Lu Qingshan, sensing the remaining might of the sword light and fire lotus, as well as the current defensive capabilities of Xiao Yan and Ye Chen, had a thought, and very quickly made his move without anyone noticing.

When the dust settled, contrary to everyone's expectations, neither Xiao Yan nor Ye Chen had suffered serious injuries from that terrifying attack.

However, Ye Chen, who had unleashed the Heart-Piercing Sword, had his true essence completely drained and looked listless, while Xiao Yan's arm had been cut open by Ye Chen's sword qi, leaving a wound.

Xiao Yan looked at Ye Chen and said with a smile, "You win!"

Yet Ye Chen's face showed no joy either—after all, his victory this time was really somewhat fortunate.

Under the states of the Little Blood Demon Self-Detonation and true essence empowerment, both his offense and defense had been enhanced, while Xiao Yan, whose strength was suppressed, still only had defense equivalent to the peak of the Embracing Yuan realm—he naturally held a certain advantage!

Inside the chat group.

【Ye Chen: Brother Xiao, I merely had the advantage of true essence!】

【Xiao Yan: Don't say that—my Buddha's Wrath Fire Lotus can't really be counted as a Embracing Yuan realm technique either, and I was already going all-out. Your ability to win is entirely because your own strength is strong enough!】

……

And in the audience seats, a group of martial artists were all dumbfounded at this moment.

This final battle had absolutely reached the level of Star Extremity realm power!

The Hidden Dragon Ranking competition was held once every three years—many of them had already watched many editions, but when had they ever seen such a terrifying showdown in a final?

This outcome was both within and beyond expectations.

After all, once Ye Chen had displayed a mouthful of true essence, his cultivation could be considered to have briefly stepped into the Star Extremity realm, so his victory was naturally a matter of course.

What was beyond expectations was that Xiao Yan's methods were equally terrifying beyond compare—if it were any other genius, even with true essence as a trump card, they probably still wouldn't be his match!

"Perhaps these two can break the curse of our Southern Zhuo Domain's King Forbidden Land in the future!"

This was the thought in many people's hearts present.

After all, it had been a long time since a Life-and-Death realm king had appeared in the Southern Zhuo Domain, and the strength Ye Chen and Xiao Yan had displayed at the end undoubtedly already held such potential.

At this moment, the people of the Flowing Cloud Sect hadn't even come to their senses yet.

The top five on the Hidden Dragon Ranking were all from the Flowing Cloud Sect—this was simply too inconceivable.

Although Pang Bo and the others were just nominal members, this was still enough to earn the Flowing Cloud Sect tremendous fortune.

At this moment, the dragon-shaped phantom on Ye Chen's body swiftly pounced toward Xiao Yan, and after devouring part of the dragon vein qi on Xiao Yan's body, it quickly grew to nine zhang and five chi.

The dragon-shaped phantom at this moment had even grown a fifth claw, looking just like a true five-clawed golden dragon!

After the five-clawed golden dragon behind Ye Chen let out a roar, the entire Hidden Dragon Ancient City seemed to be affected, and then a large amount of dragon-shaped qi quickly gathered into a massive dragon qi.

The dragon's mouth opened, its interior unfathomably deep—it was precisely the entrance to the Hidden Dragon Secret Realm, which had not opened for many years!

"The Hidden Dragon Secret Realm entrance will remain for three hours—hurry and enter; there are many opportunities within!"

The sect masters of the various major sects all recognized this legendary Hidden Dragon Secret Realm, and quickly gave orders to the young geniuses from their sects who had made the rankings.

Of course, as the number one on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, Ye Chen naturally had to enter first!

(End of chapter)