Chapter 301: Chapter Seven: Luo Feng vs. Elder Crane

Luo Feng and Elder Crane gazed at each other from afar.

God of Mist Teeth immediately returned secretly to the city; beside him, Di Qing also brought the Grand Void Ming Tong Ship back to the city. Elder Crane made no move to intercept—he knew his target was Luo Feng.

“Elder Crane,” Luo Feng said, studying the man. Elder Crane wore a white robe, his features handsome, his skin like crystalline jade, protected by a thin halo of light, his aura subdued and ordinary.

“I thought some Elder had come to challenge me,” Elder Crane smiled softly. “Now I see—it’s just a novice who just broke through. Is this your arrogance for refusing to give me face?”

“Why should I give you face?”

Luo Feng looked genuinely surprised. “Are you one of the Three Hall Masters? Or the Master of the Deception Bazaar?”

Around the eastern gate of Yulan City, guards, members of the Deception Bazaar, and watching cultivators had gathered—and the number of onlookers was rapidly growing.

“An Elder-level clash.”

“They’re going to fight right outside the eastern gate!” News spread among the cultivators, and many rushed over, thrilled to witness it.

Elder-level clashes in Yulan City were rare; the chance to ‘observe’ one was even rarer.

“One side is Elder Crane—one of the Eight Deputy Masters of the Deception Bazaar. To hold such a position… he must be extraordinary. The other is God Emperor Luo Feng—he has no reputation, only killed a Deception Bazaar raiding squad. He’s likely a newly promoted Elder-level cultivator.”

“Elder Crane has deep cultivation; Luo Feng’s foundation is shallow.”

The onlookers exchanged whispers through telepathy.

They were all within Yulan City’s boundaries, protected by layers of defensive arrays—no fear of collateral damage, so they watched comfortably.

…

Outside the eastern gate, only Luo Feng and Elder Crane remained. No other cultivator dared step beyond the gate.

“A newly promoted Elder, so confident,” Elder Crane showed no anger. “Let me guess—you’ve acquired a powerful secret treasure? That’s why you feel so sure?”

Luo Feng stared at him.

“You’re too young. You’ve experienced too little.”

Elder Crane shook his head lightly. “If you’d ventured into the Dark Sacred Realm, you’d know how insignificant your little fortune is there.”

The Dark Sacred Realm gathered the strongest cultivators from countless worlds; countless gifted individuals walked its lands, and many possessed the qualification to claim treasures worth over 100,000 reward points from the Infinite Space Vault.

“The Dark Sacred Realm certainly gathers countless powerful beings,” Luo Feng looked at him. “But Elder Crane, what is your status within the Dark Sacred Realm?”

“I spent eons there, and made some progress,” Elder Crane smiled at Luo Feng. “Though I’m nothing there, I can still teach you a thing or two.”

“Show me all your tricks,” Luo Feng said, staring at him.

Elder Crane casually extended one finger. A pinpoint of light flared at its tip, then rapidly expanded, instantly engulfing billions of kilometers around him, forming a vast array diagram.

Within the array, phantom gray birds began to materialize.

Before acting, Luo Feng had already gathered intelligence on his opponent—he knew Elder Crane had deep cultivation and mastered many techniques. The “array diagram” was one of his greatest strengths.

Elder Crane was a master at crafting array diagrams and forging Dao soldiers.

Luo Feng stood still. In an instant, boundless blood seas surged beneath his feet, while the Profound Azure Heaven’s Extinction Diagram within him activated—naturally, the boundless blood sea formed its own array.

With piercing screeches, phantom gray birds sliced through the void, diving toward Luo Feng—and toward the boundless blood sea.

“Shhh—”

Each phantom gray bird was like a blade, instantly piercing through sections of the blood waves, only to be consumed and erased by the blood sea’s erosion.

“Your flesh cultivation art is interesting—it rivals a low-level Hunyuan lifeform at the late God Emperor stage,” Elder Crane smiled. The array’s power coalesced into a colossal gray bird.

This colossal gray bird radiated terrifying might; Luo Feng felt a faint threat.

“Yoo—!”

A piercing shriek echoed across the heavens. The colossal gray bird shot forward at blinding speed, striking directly at Luo Feng’s body.

“Profound Azure Heaven—Heaven and Earth as One Line!”

The array condensed into a single light of creation and destruction, instantly piercing through the colossal gray bird’s core, causing it to twist and grow insubstantial.

“Is that all?” Luo Feng stood firm. “Elder Crane, where are your Dao soldiers? Where are your close-combat arts? Use everything you’ve got.”

“A Dao soldier formed purely from energy is indeed weak,” Elder Crane observed. “I’ve brought several hundred pre-forged Dao soldiers with me today. Try them out.”

He waved his hand.

Dozens of wooden bird carvings flew out, rapidly growing in size—each radiating power equal to the previous colossal gray bird.

“Several hundred Dao soldiers?” Luo Feng regarded them seriously. He sensed their power—though they seemed clumsy, their strength was immense, like late God Emperor-level bloodline cultivators. But multiplied by hundreds, the threat became terrifying.

“Boom—Boom—Boom!!”

The hundreds of Dao soldiers, united under an array, formed a military formation whose might made Luo Feng feel uneasy.

“Stronger than expected,” Luo Feng thought. As hundreds of colossal birds surged forward, it felt like an entire tribe of low-level Hunyuan lifeforms charging at him. Instinctively, he activated the Imperishable Heart—its core spreading countless veins across the boundless blood sea. He sensed that without the Imperishable Heart, his Imperishable Blood Sea Body would suffer severe damage under this assault.

His energy reserves were only two hundred perfect God Bodies—he couldn’t waste them recklessly.

“Boom—Boom—Boom—”

The hundreds of colossal birds, coordinated by the array, merged their power—making the watching cultivators in Yulan City tremble with dread.

Then, blood waves rose over hundreds of millions of kilometers high, like mountains blocking the birds’ path. The birds charged forward without hesitation, crushing countless waves.

But their power rapidly diminished.

“With the Imperishable Heart’s enhancement, the Imperishable Blood Sea Body’s offensive power increases only several-fold—but its defense multiplies dozens of times. Even the full-force stomp of the Hunyuan Wasteland Hoof Leader only drained two percent of my energy. These Dao soldiers can’t harm me.”

Before the Hunyuan Wasteland Hoof Leader, Luo Feng dared not call it “imperishable.” But before equals, his “imperishable” was truly deserved.

“Boom—Boom—Boom—”

The two sides clashed.

The hundreds of Dao soldiers, guided by the array, surged like thunder, coalesced into swords, or merged into axes slashing down—their combined might was fearsome.

!

“How is this possible?” Elder Crane frowned. “I unleashed these Dao soldiers—and still he didn’t use that giant furry claw.”

He remembered clearly—the move that crushed Mist Teeth was a colossal, furry claw.

“Is he still hiding his strength before my Dao Soldier Array?” Elder Crane refused to believe it.

The Dao Soldier Array was his standard tactic.

He usually Lande fighting—just releasing a few Dao soldiers sufficed.

“Rip.”

With the Imperishable Heart’s enhancement, the Profound Azure Heaven’s Extinction Array grew vastly stronger—the boundless blood sea churned violently, and finally, wooden bird carvings began to shatter.

These birds were carved by Elder Crane’s own hands, infused with array diagrams, forged into Dao soldiers.

…

More and more cultivators gathered to watch in Yulan City; members of various factions joined the crowd.

“Elder Crane’s hundreds of Dao soldiers in array formation… are falling behind?”

“This Luo Feng—a newly promoted Elder-level being—has this much power?”

Everyone was astonished.

“Elder Crane will have to use his true methods now.”

“He’ll have to go all out.”

The onlookers waited eagerly.

…

Elder Crane stood still, waved his hand—and the hundreds of Dao soldiers flew back to him. He casually sealed them away.

“No wonder you’re so confident,” Elder Crane smiled. “You blocked my Dao Soldier Array so effortlessly. I underestimated you.”

Luo Feng stared at him.

He knew well—he had already activated the Imperishable Heart just to prevent excessive damage to his Imperishable Blood Sea Body against the Dao Soldier Array.

“My fundamental Dao, cultivated over eons, is the Path of Array Diagrams—and I forge Dao soldiers from them,” Elder Crane sighed. “These Dao soldiers are what carried me from weakness to strength over countless ages.”

“Yet as a Dao-seeker, when I reached late God Emperor, I hit a wall—I couldn’t reach perfection. I realized that in my darkness, I had taken a wrong path.”

Elder Crane looked at Luo Feng. “In the Dark Sacred Realm, I studied countless other cultivators’ lineages—I learned at least a hundred, absorbed their essences, and integrated them into myself…”

“Though I mastered many techniques, I still couldn’t achieve perfection.”

Elder Crane smiled. “By the way, strictly speaking, my later cultivation of the Hunyuan Bloodline Path did reach perfection. That path is the simplest.”

As he spoke,

Elder Crane no longer held back—his aura exploded violently, sweeping across all directions. Silver runes began to glow across his skin.

“Hunyuan Bloodline… half-Hunyuan level?” Luo Feng stared at him.

Luo Feng understood: once a cultivator merged Hunyuan bloodline into their body, the bloodline’s will would corrupt their own will; the bloodline’s mysteries would fuse with their Dao insights—this was a form of Dao pollution.

Thus, Dao-seekers who absorbed Hunyuan bloodlines found their progress in Dao cultivation nearly impossible. They would inevitably shift focus to the bloodline path.

“In the Dark Sacred Realm, I exchanged battle merits for a high-grade Hunyuan lifeform’s bloodline,” Elder Crane said to Luo Feng. “I fused it into my body as the foundation of my bloodline cultivation. I unlocked its potential and forged the Eternal Night Ming Vulture Body—and to match this bloodline, I created the Eternal Night Combat Art.”

Elder Crane stood there, silver-gray energy swirling through heaven and earth, terrifying might radiating, accompanied by invisible willpower strikes.

(End of Chapter)