Chapter 959 – Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage

Admittedly, the Demon Slaughtering Array was indeed terrifying. It was difficult to believe that this was one of the attacks in the Killing God Sutra.

The Killing God Sutra was Rank One Divine-tier, but the Demon Slaughtering Array was Rank Two, so it was technically on the same level as Long Chen’s Crushing Void. The difference was that Su Xue had 9,999 meridian points and far more divine essence than he did.

Yet the terrifying attack only served to ignite great excitement within him!

This attack only excited him further, as he was already filled with an adrenaline rush!

“Haargh!”

After his right hand completed Crushing Void, he quickly lifted his left hand and punched again. This punch contained cold Yin energy, as well as the spirit of the Emperor of Men and Crushing Void!

The Emperor of Men, who used to rule over the Ten Thousand Nations Territory, once used this technique to shatter space itself there!

Of course, the space within the Three Royal Territories was much more stable. It was very difficult for him to shatter space at his current level. However, the spirit and the indomitable force he had unleashed was still shocking!

Boom!

There were two fist seals, one golden Yang and one black Yin. Powerful sword Qi erupted from them, attacking Su Xue’s Demon Slaughtering Array. The ink-green array continued to spin and vast amounts of energy radiated from it.

Long Chen relied on his enthusiasm to fight Su Xue, who was a Divine Martial Realm cultivator using a same-level technique!

There was a hint of shock in Su Xue’s eyes.

“You are indeed something, seeing as you can achieve this level with nothing but Heavenly Martial Realm essence. You may even be the number one cultivator beneath the Divine Martial Realm. However, when compared to a true Divine Martial Realm expert, you’re still lagging far behind.”

Then Su Xue smirked coldly.

She twisted her hand, and the array spun tens of times faster. Cold mist was released from within, which condensed into a large, icy claw. The claw tore through Long Chen’s two fist seals and slammed into his body!

Once again, blood sprayed out of his mouth and he was sent flying. This time, his injuries were more severe.

“Long Chen!” Ye Xuan and the others stood up anxiously. Long Chen had been hit directly. It was likely that he was incapacitated, meaning he had lost.

Ye Xuan initially thought Long Chen would use his lightning attack, but he had chosen to face Su Xue directly. With Long Chen’s current cultivation level, it was obvious that he would lose.

“Long Chen, use that attack of yours!” The youth was anxious.

He spoke very loudly, so Long Chen had likely heard him.

“Has he lost already?” the crowd remarked pitifully, looking at Long Chen, who was twitching on the ground.

“He is no match for a Divine Martial Realm cultivator. However, we are still proud of him.”

“He should quickly surrender.”

Although Long Chen had lost, no one mocked him for being ignorant or crazy. Instead, they respected him greatly for his courage and willingness to accept a challenge.

The only people who were contemptuous were Song Yuchun and Song Yang.

“Hehe. He lost tragically! Su Xue hasn’t even used her Purple Phoenix Body yet. Long Chen wouldn't survive one strike of that.

“He’s weak, yet he still stepped up to embarrass himself. Disgusting,” said Song Yuchun, wagging a finger.

Su Xue laughed.

After a bout of laughter, she gestured for the judges to announce the winner and said, “As I said before, how could an ant like you dare act so arrogantly in front of me? I have been merciful this time; I won’t be so kind again. Don’t let me get another chance. Get lost.”

Her contemptuous tone triggered seething hatred in Ye Xuan.

Even the City Lord realized that Su Xue’s personality was not like what she thought.

Suddenly, cheering sounded within the arena because the crowd saw the severely injured Long Chen struggling to stand up. His body was much tougher than that of other people, so despite his injuries, he could still quickly get back on his feet. More importantly, his mind was stronger than other people’s!

“Was that the attack of a Divine Martial Realm cultivator? That wasn’t much.”

The crowd watched in shock as he straightened his back and wiped the blood off the corner of his lips. Between his brows, the True Martial Soul was still shining with gray light. A huge amount of information had been duplicated from Su Xue into Long Chen.

He hasn’t died yet?

Su Xue was a little surprised. The determination in his eyes made her nervous. She felt like she had encountered a madman who was willing to lose his life.

She took a step back, and her gaze turned colder. She shrugged and said with a smile, “Alright. In that case, let’s go for another round! Let’s see if you can withstand this!”

She unleashed the Demon Slaughtering Array of the Killing God Sutra once more.

The ink-green array spun in her hands, releasing a large amount of mist that formed thousands of ghosts charging at him.

“Just a bit more.”

The crowd gasped when they saw the attack, but Long Chen was the only one who was smiling. In the face of such a huge threat, Long Chen sensed that his Martial Soul was improving at a fast rate. He was almost at the Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage!

After reaching the Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage, his essence would reach the peak of the Heavenly Martial Realm. Adding the Yin-Yang Sword Soul, he was confident he would be able to defeat an early First Divine Martial Stage cultivator!

Right now, Long Chen was just slightly behind Su Xue!

“It’s the Demon Slaughtering Array again!”

“It doesn’t matter how tough Long Chen is—he’s finished!”

The crowd’s expressions turned to pity.

The City Lord was prepared to save him, but her brother said with determination, “Don’t go. He’s not an idiot; he’s actually very smart. He must have his own reasons for doing this.”

Although they had not known each other for a long time, the youth had long seen Long Chen as his own brother.

He knew that although Long Chen took risks like a madman, everything was within his control.

Once again, Long Chen seemed to become a gigantic, roaring, blood-colored beast, facing Su Xue’s attack ferociously. Every punch he threw blasted Su Xue’s Demon Slaughtering Array back. However, Su Xue’s divine essence was still powerful. Just like before, after she unleashed the powerful attack, Long Chen was blasted away once more.

This time, it was even more severe than before. Everyone saw blood flying out of him.

“He’s dead.”

“It’s impossible for him to survive an attack like this.”

“That was terrifying.”

Long Chen’s refusal to admit defeat had deeply shaken everyone present. They fell silent with respect when they saw him get thrown back again.

What happened next stunned them.

Long Chen was not dead. However, he had achieved a breakthrough after the final push from Su Xue, and his Martial Soul quickly transformed and advanced to the Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage.

Long Chen’s body was far tougher than the average person’s, and he also had top-tier regenerative abilities. Su Xue’s second attack had not caused a severe injury, but instead helped him achieve a breakthrough.

He quickly absorbed the blood of an Underworld Beast that he had stored in the Primordial Realm. He used Blood Transmutation to turn the blood into blood-red essence, which merged with his own. This led to a sharp increase in the essence in his body, causing him to level up.

This whole process occurred while he was in mid-air. Long Chen landed on the ground in a stable manner.

The massive increase in essence caused essence to surge through every inch of his body, even producing a healing effect on his internal injuries. Dragon blood had healing properties, so based on how he had landed in a stable manner, not only had he not died, he had also become stronger.

Everyone noticed that his essence was quickly strengthening.

“That’s impossible. Isn’t he at the Heavenly Martial Realm? How could his essence increase this much?”

“Does this mean that he has been holding back since the beginning? And he was suppressing his strength?”

“No matter what, this young man named Long Chen is the prodigy of prodigies!”

The bloodied young man on the stage stood with an eagle-like gaze and the expression of a madman as his strength quickly increased. An immense, bloody aura emanated across the arena. Almost everyone felt a sense of reverence and respect.

Long Chen had endured it all until he finally achieved his objective.

In reality, he could have defeated Su Xue early in the fight. He had many Divine Crystals and could have blasted her off the stage with a third of his fortune. However, he had chosen to fight her directly because he wanted to reach the Eighth Heavenly Martial Stage by relying on the pressure she exerted.

Therefore, he held on through sheer determination and made a breakthrough mid-fight!

His cultivation had leveled up once more, and he was not far away from the Ninth Heavenly Martial Stage. Once he reached that, then the Divine Martial Realm would not be far away either. He had a feeling that due to the unique quality of his body, he would experience different changes when he reached the Divine Martial Realm. Changes that would take his strength to a whole new level!

Long Chen relished the sound of the cheers.

Everything he had to endure did not matter anymore. It was all for this moment of glory.

In the stands above, the City Lord’s lips curled into a beautiful smile. She looked at her brother exasperatedly and said, “It looks like you know him quite well.”

“Of course. He’s my friend,” her brother said smugly.