Chapter 173: 70,000 Combat Power!

In the capital of the Dayan Kingdom, atop the terrace of a small building.

A tall, burly youth dressed in a scarlet robe like blood chanted while making hand seals.

"This is the hour of the Yin Year, Yin Month, and Yin Day. The location is an evil ground where multiple murders occurred, and all roads point to this small building, forming the inauspicious site of ten thousand arrows piercing the heart in Feng Shui."

As he spoke, he took a scarlet hemp rope from his chest, covered in ominous objects soaked in women's menstrual blood.

The other end of the hemp rope was connected to a massive rock weighing hundreds of jin.

Looking at the building before him, the red-robed youth sneered, looped the scarlet hemp rope around his own neck, then immediately lifted the rock and threw it out.

Crack—

Under the pull of the rock, the hemp rope tightened死死 around his neck.

Immediately, the youth's body flipped, hanging from the building in the posture of the Hanged Man.

The red robe scattered, the blood-colored hem covering his face directly, and under the pull of the rock weighing hundreds of jin, his breath instantly stopped.

But with the flesh and blood power of a body that had shed mortality, the youth needed only a slight effort to snap the bindings on his body.

Yet for the breakthrough, he chose the strangest method of death.

Looking at the countless forked roads before him, the youth deliberately aligned the path of ten thousand arrows piercing the heart toward himself, his eyes filled with anticipation.

'Right now is the third quarter of the noon hour, when Yang energy is strongest in the day, but with my flesh vitality, I won't die within a few hours while hanging.'

'As the Yang energy of the midday sun gradually dissipates, once I time it perfectly, I can torture myself from the third quarter of the noon hour, when Yang energy is strongest, until the Zi hour when I finally take my last breath.'

'Blood Qi and heavenly timing both go from peak to decline. After breaking through the First Turn on a Yin Year, Yin Month, Yin Day, and Yin Hour, I am still hanged to death, wearing a red robe, in the posture of the Hanged Man, in a haunted house, with a hemp rope soaked in menstrual blood, at the acupoint of ten thousand arrows piercing the heart, tortured to death by suffocation with eyes unsealed.'

The youth's eyes bulged wide, filled with excitement.

Dying in this manner would surely transform him into the most vicious and evil ghost.

By then, using this body of mine that hasn't yet cooled as a vessel to nurture, my Yin Spirit power will surely grow immensely, and most Daoist arts and Buddhist supernatural powers will be ineffective against me.

'I will definitely take first place in this competition.'

Besides this, in another cave, a youth held a whip and frantically lashed a spinning top before him.

With the lashing of the wooden whip in his hand, the spinning top's rotation speed quickly broke the sound barrier, forming a fierce storm.

Looking at the spinning top that relied on skill to spin endlessly in place, the youth sighed lightly, sat cross-legged in front of the spinning top amidst the whirlwind.

Looking at the blurred pattern after spinning, the youth slowly closed his eyes and, according to what his family elders said, began to establish a mental link with the spinning top before him.

Using his breath to feel the pulse of the spinning top's rotation, then merging man and top, he bestowed his mental power after the breakthrough onto the spinning top before him, sublimating it into a sacrificial vessel.

On the other side, in a thicket, a girl clad in armor held an iron bow.

At this moment, her fingers gripped the bowstring, aiming at a large tree before her, drawing it virtually.

'Creak~ Creak.'

As the tens of tons of force in her arm tightened the bowstring, her right hand suddenly released.

Boom!

Like an airburst bomb exploding, a wild hurricane swept through the entire forest, shaking the leaves around with a deafening rustle.

The girl's face was expressionless at this moment; staring at the thicket ahead, she used force in her arm to slowly draw the bow again.

Her target was the ancient tree before her, using the ancient bow in her hand to shoot through the tree, several meters thick.

As one explosion after another echoed through the forest, when the girl can pull an arrow from the void and pierce the ancient tree before her with a hundred-step shot through the willow, it will represent officially stepping into the First Turn.

On the battlefield of the Great Competition among all nations, there were many, many youths and girls preparing for breakthroughs like this.

Cities, thickets, riverbanks, secret rooms...

In all sorts of locations, youths prepared to break through to the path's realm, entering the Dao with the systems they had learned.

Once stepping into the First Turn, even if the physical body had not undergone the hundred-day Foundation Establishment tempering, one's strength would undergo earth-shaking changes.

On the other end, Fang Can strode forward, heading toward the Great Chu Imperial City.

As the air was violently pushed aside, Fang Can's speed reached its limit, becoming a black line invisible to the naked eye as he charged toward the tower city.

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom—

At the upper end of the Twin Imperial Towers, Xiang Longtao heard a massive atmospheric explosion beside his ear; opening his eyes, he saw the earth split by a black line.

The hurricane caused by the air being pushed aside directly caused the houses on both sides to begin cracking.

In merely a dozen breaths, that black shadow arrived from the distance below the Twin Imperial Towers.

Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Can looked at the nearly thousand-meter-high tower before him, leaped with both legs, and directly ran toward the tower top at a 90-degree right angle.

As the entire tower shook violently, with large amounts of bricks and stones flying, three breaths later, Fang Can was already standing on the tower top, looking at the tall figure opposite.

"Finally here. I thought you didn't dare to come."

Xiang Longtao looked at the value of 30,000 above Fang Can's head and smiled faintly, "Not bad strength; you have the capital to fight me."

As he spoke, a dragon-shaped pattern began to radiate light behind Xiang Longtao.

The wild red dragon on that pattern began to swim, slowly moving across Xiang Longtao's skin; then the wide-open dragon mouth assumed a biting state aimed at the neck, as if it would devour its master the next second.

'This is the Heavenly Fiend Pattern, which enhances oneself by defeating the strength of enemies. Currently, one First Turn has already fallen to his hand; the increased combat power is extraordinary.'

Accompanying the thoughts of other onlookers, the value above Xiang Longtao's head skyrocketed like madness, and immediately his blood flowed wildly within his body as if boiling.

'Has he also activated the Blood-Burning Divine Art? Using full power from the start; it seems he is completely serious and wants a quick victory.' The martial artists watching, including Prince Qing, made their evaluation.

And the most direct manifestation of the youth's combat power was the value behind Xiang Longtao.

Xiang Longtao: 【13,070 → 42,300 → 79,000!!!】

On the other side, as Fang Can cast the Y God Curse, countless 【Zheng】 characters emerged from his abdomen as chains, beginning to wrap around Fang Can's body covered in golden patterns.

Fang Can: 【35,145 → 70,290!!!】

At this moment, looking at these two, the surrounding crowd was completely powerless to complain.

In an era where average combat power hovered in the four digits, these fellows were already approaching six digits, complete with transformation special effects—clearly not to be trifled with.

In this year's grand tournament, the two were overwhelmingly powerful, a断层 of strength; if they broke through the Ascension Path, the championship was practically theirs.

"Good, good, good. You truly did not disappoint me."

Gazing at the numbers, Xiang Longtao's eyes sparkled with delight: "Indeed a worthy opponent. The stronger they are, the more joy I take in insulting them!"

"So... come, fight."

(End of this chapter)