Chapter 755: Lord of Blood and Qi

"Ninth Rank?"

The Pool Master's expression was stunned; clearly, the aura the Universe Master was currently exposing made his heart feel heavy.

He actually had a feeling of being unable to comprehend it.

The pressure suppressing his heart caused the Pool Master to be instantly frozen above the sea of fire and river of ice.

"It is a Ninth Rank simulation core." The Universe Master spoke indifferently, while behind him, Yu Ming and Yu Cheng raised their heads, feeling full of pride.

"For thousands of years in Universe Province, there has only been one national standard.

That is, technology saves the world, mechanical ascension." The Universe Master said in a hoarse voice:

"The plan of the Five Clans is not necessarily correct. The Chen Master wants to castrate Great Xia to buy time for humanity, but such a plan might not be the idea of the Ancient Gods."

A sharp glint appeared in Xia Hanzhou's eyes:

"I didn't misjudge you; you are a smart man!"

"The Chen Master's plan won't work, but it's still better than your Great Xia!" The Universe Master's eyes beneath his hood looked at Xia Hanzhou, his voice carrying resentment:

"I know you have always been researching ways to counter the malice, but you are simply a piece of trash; you haven't researched anything at all."

Xia Hanzhou sneered.

He had indeed been researching ways to deal with the malice; that was the purpose of the Heaven's Pride Trial.

But he had long been disappointed after so many years, until Chen Yan appeared.

The Heaven's Pride Trial was perhaps just a small skirmish.

The remnant soul of the Xia Master within the College Entrance Examination secret realm was the real practitioner.

It utilized the remnant soul of the Lord of Blood and Qi to simulate the countless cycles of countering the Ancient Gods.

But for such a long time, the Wang Clan of Great Xia did not even know if the Xia Master was researching how to deal with the Ancient Gods, or if he was simply punishing the Lord of Blood and Qi.

The Universe Master said Xia Hanzhou was a piece of trash, and that statement was not wrong, but he himself would not admit it.

"Things have reached this point; join forces with me to kill him first." Xia Hanzhou said in a cold voice:

"Your choice is not wrong; my Great Xia is the future."

The Pool Master's expression turned gloomy; at this moment, the Universe Master seemed to have truly leaned toward Great Xia.

This was the thing he least wanted to see.

Universe Province was a traitor to the Five Clans.

"Xia Hanzhou!" The Universe Master was enraged:

"Do not try to be evasive. I have already made it very clear: an Ancient God Beast has awakened, and the human race cannot afford to lose its peak power. What is the difference between killing you and killing the Pool Master?!"

Xia Hanzhou frowned and turned around, preparing to head to Ji Province.

After all, Chen Yan was still there.

Boom!

A powerful sense of oppression struck. Xia Hanzhou's expression changed wildly, and he turned to look at the Universe Master.

"What exactly are you trying to do?

If you won't help me, don't stop me either."

Xia Hanzhou said coldly.

Great Xia had long since reached an agreement with Universe Province; once Chen Yan won the struggle of the Five Clans, Universe Province would support Great Xia.

But now, the Universe Master was actually still hesitating.

The eyes beneath the Universe Master's hood flickered:

"Don't you see? With the Chen Master present, Chen Yan will undoubtedly die. The Chen Master and Chen Yan can only have one survivor!"

Xia Hanzhou's expression became incomparably cold:

"You want to sit by and watch Chen Yan die?"

"In my view, even if Chen Yan is monstrously talented, his weight within the human race cannot compare to the Chen Master." The Universe Master said in a low voice.

Behind him, Yu Cheng and Yu Ming's expressions changed drastically; just as they were about to speak, they were suppressed by an invisible force and could not speak.

In this instant.

Not only Xia Hanzhou, but even the Pool Master was astonished.

"Whose side are you actually on? Today, do you intend to offend the Four Clans and Great Xia all at once?!" Xia Hanzhou said through gritted teeth.

"Do you still not understand?" Beneath the Universe Master's black robe, a scarlet disc appeared on his chest, as if hundreds of millions of exquisite parts were spinning crazily there, with waves of heat surging to the heavens.

"The side I have always stood on is the human race!

Compared to the entire human race, no one is important, and anyone can die, including me!"

At this moment, Xia Hanzhou and the Pool Master were both silent, staring fixedly at the Universe Master.

Xia Hanzhou lowered his head, his eyes flickering with a sinister light, and he suddenly spoke to the Pool Master:

"Sign an agreement with me; you and I will join forces to kill the Universe Master first, then I will go to Ji Province to kill the Ji Master, and you go to the Ancient God Forbidden Land to kill the Si Tian Jian Zheng and my Great Xia's million-strong army. We can both profit!"

Clearly, in just a single moment, Xia Hanzhou had made his choice.

He would abandon the million-strong army and the Si Tian Jian Zheng to save Chen Yan, wipe out Ji Province, and also wipe out the Universe Master.

If the Universe Master still would not choose Great Xia by now, then he was an enemy.

This directly left the Pool Master stunned.

The Universe Master looked at Xia Hanzhou quietly and did not speak.

"Chi Gan!" Xia Hanzhou roared: "I am not joking!"

His eyes were extremely scarlet:

"I am giving you the chance to wipe out my Great Xia's million-strong army; do you not want it?!"

Rumble!!!

The sky was scarlet; anyone could see that Xia Hanzhou was serious.

"A madman."

The Pool Master sighed aloud:

"You, Xia Hanzhou, appear timid and compromising, but in truth, you are truly a madman."

The Pool Master had no choice.

He was, of course, tempted by Xia Hanzhou's proposal.

After all, whether it was joining forces to annihilate the Universe Master, or Xia Hanzhou going to Ji Province to wipe out the Ji Master.

What did that have to do with his Pool Province?

He could even wipe out the Great Xia's million-strong army and the Director of the Astronomical Bureau; it would be strange if he weren't tempted.

But what he worried about was that even if he and Xia Hanzhou joined forces, they would not be able to kill the Universe Master.

The pressure currently radiating from the Universe Master was that of the Ninth Rank.

Even though Xia Hanzhou had made the proposal just now, the Universe Master had remained standing there quietly the whole time, as if nothing were the matter.

The more this was the case, the more the Pool Master hesitated.

There was no guarantee that after making a move, it wouldn't be he and Xia Hanzhou who died.

Universe Province was too mysterious, and possessed too much deterrent power.

At this moment, it had actually achieved the effect of subduing the enemy without fighting.

The Universe Master was currently staring at Xia Hanzhou, already cursing in his heart.

He had been dealing with Xia Hanzhou for a long time and had long known that the man was crazy to the core.

If he weren't crazy, who would take the Soul of the Life Chapter as a wager to let Chen Yan enter the Five Clans Conflict?

Starting from Xia Hanzhou, the Great Xia Imperial Clan—Xia Yuan, Xia Qi—they were all madmen.

Once pushed to the limit by the five clans, they would indeed go mad.

It just so happened that the madness was the right choice.

Heaven had sent Lu Xunyang and Chen Yan to the Great Xia.

Unfortunately, the current Xia Hanzhou did not understand the Universe Master's inner thoughts at all.

It was not Xia Hanzhou's fault, because Chen Yan's actions had not been communicated to the Xia Clan from the very beginning.

Yu Ming and Yu Cheng returned to the Universe Clan and informed the Universe Master of everything that had happened within the Five Clans Conflict, including the death of the Universe Master's son, Yu Laiwei.

Whether Yu Laiwei was dead or alive, the Universe Master actually no longer cared.

Although that was his son, compared to the great ambition in the Universe Master's heart, the death of Yu Laiwei was not important.

The moment he learned that Yu Laiwei had defected to Chen Changyuan, even if Yu Laiwei could be resurrected, he would be annihilated by the Universe Master.

Of course, these things were not important.

What was important was Chen Yan's scheme.

Clearly, Chen Yan still had Xia Long and a dozen other artificial Eighth Ranks, yet those artificial Eighth Ranks had not appeared until now.

Even when everyone at the time thought Chen Yan was going to die, they still did not appear.

This was extremely strange.

Moreover, Chen Yan possessed a Magnetic Storm Thunder Prison based on Lightning Spirits; in such a long time, it had already accumulated hundreds of thousands of thunder-ball creatures and thousands of spider-type mechanical bodies.

This was also a massive combat force, but it had not appeared at this moment either, as if it had already vanished.

Furthermore.

For Chen Yan to raid and kill in Ji Province, it did not necessarily have to be this fast.

To be so reckless of the consequences, not even telling his own people the plan, and entering Ji Province directly—there was no difference between that and a madman.

The Xia Clan was not a burden; the Xia Clan was Chen Yan's talent scout, and they had strong experts.

If he joined forces with these experts, the operation to eliminate Ji Province would certainly be more successful, rather than being full of crises as it was now.

This was purely looking for trouble for himself.

This led the Universe Master to guess one thing: that Chen Yan wanted to die himself.

During the battle between Chen Yan and Chen He, there were two times when Chen He felt that Chen Yan had died and his Dao had dissipated.

These were all Chen Yan's methods, which could not be revealed.

However, Yu Cheng and Yu Ming, who had witnessed everything, had not accepted the Heart-Questioning Stele and could tell the Universe Master everything that happened within the Five Clans Conflict; this was definitely not Chen Yan's oversight.

Rather, it was Chen Yan intentionally or unintentionally revealing many things to the Universe Master.

Chen Yan was seeking death, participating in this heaven-and-earth chess game, and becoming a chess player.

Since that was the case, the Universe Master might as well give Chen Yan a helping hand.

He also wanted to see what exactly Chen Yan was going to do.

And it was at this moment.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Earth-shattering roars of artillery fire resounded from a distant direction.

Xia Hanzhou and the Pool Master looked over, only to see that on the other side of the sea, scarlet artillery fire was bombarding the void, connecting to the sky.

A shockingly intense battle was taking place over there.

Monstrous malicious black mist surged above the sea surface, and a behemoth spanning the heavens had its blurry form constantly flickering within the malicious black mist, activated by the artillery fire.

Densely packed, tens of thousands of Universe Clan experts with mechanical wings darted out from the depths of the ocean, killing toward that behemoth.

The sea was severed by terrifying power, and a mechanical greatsword a hundred miles long, resembling a mountain range and burning with green fire, was no longer lurking in the depths of the sea, slashing toward the malicious black mist.

Moo!!!

A roar like that of an ancient divine beast sounded, the sea was pushed away, carrying with it thousands of sinister whispers.

Between heaven and earth, gold and fire collided, machinery shattered, and the great sword that had surged up from the depths of the ocean suddenly flashed; from the sword body, hundreds of millions of mechanical flying units split off, roaring into the malice like a pitch-black ocean.

"Yuanchu Hundun."

The Pool Master narrowed his eyes, then looked toward the Universe Master.

Yuanchu Hundun, one of the five great Ancient God Beasts.

However, unlike the Dream-Eating Tapir and the Nether Nightmare Beast, Yuanchu Hundun was not born in the Forbidden Land of Ancient Gods, but was an extremely powerful Ancient God Beast that condensed and grew from the malice within the human world.

"I have already said that an extremely powerful Ancient God Beast has been gazing at the human race all along.

The internal strife of the human race is the scene the Ancient God Beasts most wish to see."

The Universe Master spoke heavily, his voice filled with frustration at their failure to live up to expectations:

"My clansmen are currently obstructing the Ancient God Beasts from encroaching upon the human race, and they are falling one after another.

Yet I must suppress the two of you here."

He sighed deeply; in some respects, the Chen Master was not wrong.

But on the other hand, the Great Xia was not wrong either.

So was he wrong?

What fault did he have?

The reason for choosing Chen Yan was, on one hand, the appearance of the power of will, and on the other, Chen Yan's own monstrous nature.

On the other hand, the Chen Master was too selfish; why was it the Great Xia that was castrated, rather than the five clans?

Even if both sides had negotiated to jointly castrate a portion of the human race, it would not have escalated to the current state.

As a Master of a Continent, the Chen Master should not have such a limited perspective.

The more this was the case, the more it indicated that the Chen Master himself had a problem.

The Universe Master stood with his hands behind his back, sighing inwardly.

His choice would change the fate of the human race.

Now he could only hope that he had not chosen wrongly.

Suddenly thinking of a question, the Universe Master looked at Xia Hanzhou:

"Why would the Xia Master Sword recognize Lu Xunyang, instead of you, a descendant of the Xia bloodline?"

Xia Hanzhou had been sensing the direction of Ji Continent and did not pay attention to the Universe Master at this moment.

"You mean..." the Pool Master said:

"It is very likely that Lu Xunyang is the reincarnation of the Xia Master?"

The Universe Master's eyes flickered:

"You have also researched this?"

"Naturally," the Pool Master said heavily:

"Lu Xunyang is too peculiar in every aspect; logically speaking, he only practices the path of Hard Tempering, so no matter what, he should not be a match for those who cultivate three, four, or even five paths simultaneously.

Yet you have seen it too; his attainments in Hard Tempering far exceed all other humans.

Many people speculate that he is the reincarnation of the Xia Master."

The Pool Master's eyes shifted:

"But when he was born, his Hard Tempering physical body was a complete mess; he could only modify his constitution with steel needles to be able to practice Hard Tempering.

He is someone who had no aptitude in either Qi-blood or Hard Tempering."

The Pool Master sighed.

A person who could not practice Hard Tempering became the number one in Hard Tempering today, which made countless martial artists feel ashamed.

The Pool Master was silent for a moment, then added:

"Actually, there is one person we have all forgotten, yet he has always existed."

The Universe Master asked: "Who?"

"The Master of Qi-blood, Xia Zhiyang," the Pool Master said coldly.

The Universe Master was stunned, his eyes flickering wildly: "What a peculiar pair of father and son."

In the distance, the roar of the peak Ancient God Beast Yuanchu Hundun was still resounding, and over one hundred thousand Universe Continent experts were bombarding it.

This battle was of vital importance; if the Universe Continent could not hold, it might lead to the human race being plunged into misery within a short time.

But this battle was clearly no longer important.

The battle between the Chen Master and Lu Xunyang had caused both to disappear into the universe, to the point that even the Universe Master could not track their figures.

Only the intense magnetic waves transmitted from the distant starry sky allowed one to lock onto their location.