There was no way anyone could describe the strike with words. It was peculiar, because nobody could understand it. How did Pill King Zhen break free from his opponent’s attacks and strike Xiao Paohui from behind?

Such dominance! There was so much profoundness in the sword dao of this single strike that it dumbfounded many of the famous sword dao experts that were present. This was the “Divine Five Thunderclap Sword Technique” that Jiang Chen had trained to use with the Pentecolor Divine Swords. This particular sword art had a very extraordinary background. The expert that had practiced this sword art back then had been even more powerful than his father, the Celestial Emperor!

Years ago, the Vastsky Divine Emperor ascended from a secular world to become a divine celestial emperor. The Divine Five Thunderclap Sword Technique was one of this legendary being’s ultimate techniques. Jiang Chen had idolized the Vastsky Divine Emperor ever since he was a boy. His father had often mentioned that within the vastness of the cosmos, there lived the legendary divine celestial emperors of the heavenly plains.

Jiang Chen had been very intrigued by the traces left behind by the Vastsky Divine Emperor. Because this was a man that had ascended from a secular world and had cultivated both pill and martial dao. He was also immensely talented in pill dao, having skyrocketed in strength in his later years. Eventually, he would becoming a divine celestial emperor that would shock the entire cosmos.

Jiang Chen had just displayed the Divine Five Thunderclap Sword Technique in the Divine Abyss Continent. It was not a sword technique from this plane. The sharpness of the sword edge and his talent had been displayed in just one strike. It was at this moment that things were destined to come to a close, and Xiao Paohui destined to die.

The invincible sword light struck Xiao Paohui’s enormous body. His body suddenly turned stiff, as though struck by a paralyzing glyph. His eyes were filled with disbelief. He wanted to turn around to see who had dealt him the fatal strike. As strong as he was, he unfortunately couldn’t even muster up the strength to turn around.

Moments later, the sword light pierced straight through his body. Five beams of light equated to five holes in his body.

Bam! Xiao Paohui fell to his knees before his huge body slumped onto the floor. His body was so enormous that it kicked up the dust around him. Resentment remained in his eyes even in death. His eyes were wide open like a bell.

The arena was so quiet that it almost seemed like the air had solidified. It remained like this for a few breaths before the sound of applause exploded from all sides. The praise swept through the area and came in like a tide from both near and far. Jiang Chen sheathed his sword. “Who’s next?” He asked, seemingly unfazed.

After such a battle, Jiang Chen had gained a battle aura. This was an aura that was vastly different from his aura from previous battles. In the past, he had been able to defeat the strong by relying on his equipment. Even though he had used the Imperial Advent Defense Talisman in the battle, his techniques were noticeably more sophisticated than before—images, sword techniques, the Golden Body of Demons and Gods, and more.

Every candidate in the first arena was silent due to fear. It was evident that all cultivators in the first arena had given up any intentions of fighting Jiang Chen after such a battle. However, the rules stated that it was mandatory for every single one of them to challenge Pill King Zhen. This was a hard rule that was set so that every single candidate would have to fight one another. But against a person of Pill King Zhen’s stature, these cultivators simply couldn’t find the courage to challenge him.

“That’s insane! Is this Pill King Zhen’s true capabilities in martial dao?”

“Unbelievable! I’ve always thought that Pill King Zhen was just a genius in pill dao. Never in my life would I have imagined that Pill King Zhen was just as capable in martial dao!”

“No wonder he could become the arena lord of the first arena. Someone even mentioned that he’d cheated during the formation selection stage. That person must be hitting himself right now!”

“Forget it. I’ve decided to forfeit against Pill King Zhen.”

“I will forfeit and admit my loss too.”

“Which idiot wouldn’t forfeit against him? I’m not about to let him torture me!” One by one, the cultivators in the first arena sighed in relief. They could finally put down the baggage in their hearts. If they were going to lose irrespectively, they might as well admit defeat. Admitting defeat against someone as powerful as Pill King Zhen wasn’t shameful in the least.

At a corner far away from the arena, the two high-ranked members of the Ninesuns Sky Sect were petrified as well. They’d risked danger, disguised themselves as wandering cultivators, and blended in with the crowd, all so they could watch Xiao Paohui crush Jiang Chen in the arena. They had all but confirmed that Pill King Zhen was truly Jiang Chen. Moreover, they were extremely confident this time. Xiao Paohui was a top-notch genius, ranked seventh among the ten great disciples. Amongst the youths in the Ninesuns Sky Sect, those who could defeat him in battle could be counted on one hand.

Jiang Chen might be heaven defying, but he was too young. And with the passage of only a few short years, how heaven defying could an origin realm speck like him possibly be?

And yet...

The result from the battle had overturned their beliefs. The two looked at each other and saw the bitterness and resentment in each other’s eyes. It was evident that they both couldn’t accept the result. Xiao Paohui was dead! It wouldn’t have been an issue if it were some common disciple. There were an infinite number of geniuses in the Ninesuns Sky Sect. Losing one or two wouldn’t make much of a difference, but the ten great disciples weren’t just any common disciples! These disciples were supposed to be the future pillars of the sect!

Cao Jin’s death had already caused a great deal of unrest in the sect. Adding Xiao Paohui’s death to the list was truly one disaster on top of another. Their deaths weren’t debilitating for the sect, but they were still a huge blow. Worse, they couldn’t even collect the body under such circumstances!

Even though nobody knew where Xiao Paohui was from, the one thing people knew for sure was that he’d come for Pill King Zhen. Collecting his body right now would expose their true identities. This was Veluriyam Capital after all. They calmed themselves down after the heartbreaking result, but they still didn’t dare to collect the body. They had a feeling that Emperor Peafowl had already set his sights on them. If they were to collect the body from the arena now, somebody else might have to come collect their bodies with it too.

“Let’s return to the sect.” The two figure heads of the Ninesuns Sky Sect looked at each other. They made this choice begrudgingly because they knew that their plans had failed yet again. However, this failure only made them even more confused. They were no longer positive that Pill King Zhen was the same person as Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen was a genius, but he was only a young brat that had just broken through to origin realm at Precious Tree Sect those few years ago. How many years had it been? It wasn’t possible for a person to improve so quickly that he could defeat a half-step emperor within such a short period of time! Not a single person in the entire history of the Divine Abyss Continent could achieve such a feat.

Were we truly mistaken? The two figure heads of the Ninesuns Sky Sect were feeling extremely conflicted. If they were mistaken, it would be like smashing their own feet with a stone they’d picked up themselves. Moreover, there was no way for them to seek revenge on a person from Veluriyam Capital. If they were to do so, all of Veluriyam Capital might retaliate. After all, this was Veluriyam Capital’s home turf and also their tournament. Sending a great disciple to deal with a genius from Veluriyam Capital was already a huge violation of the rules. The two Ninesuns Sky Sect figures quickly took their leave.

“That was astounding!” Over at the Coiling Dragon Clan, Ji San had been clenching his fists nervously. When he saw Jiang Chen’s heroic and mighty display, he was overrun by excitement.

The clan lord was staring at Jiang Chen’s back with an astonished look. “Genius... Genius! Veluriyam Capital has not seen a genius of such a level for the past three thousand years! It seems like His Majesty was truly farsighted!” The clanlord muttered to himself.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The three youths from the clan were surprised when they heard the words, “His Majesty”.

The clan lord laughed. He knew that he’d spilled the beans. All this while, rumors had been circulating that Emperor Peafowl was going make Pill King Zhen the heir of Sacred Peafowl Mountain. This was a rumor that seemed to have some truth behind it, but there hadn’t been an official announcement yet.

Even though the disciples of the great clans were often spreading the rumor around, nobody could say for sure that it would happen. Since the clan lord was Emperor Peafowl’s trusted subordinate, it was only natural that he’d know a thing or two about it. However, he didn’t dare to wag his tongue before the emperor’s official announcement. Liuxiang couldn’t resist asking, “Clan Lord, is the emperor really going to make Pill King Zhen his heir? Isn’t this decision a little too rash?”

The clan lord broke into an odd cackle, “How can you believe such baseless rumors?”

“Many are saying that it’ll happen, but they all feel that it’s unfair. After young master Fan’s death, many disciples of the major clans in Emperor Peafowl’s faction were planning to make themselves stand out during the Martial Pagoda battles, so that His Majesty would notice us,” Liuxiang replied.

“It’s not a bad thing for youths to set a goal for themselves,” the clan lord responded with a chuckle.

“Liuxiang, don’t tell me that you intend to compete for the position as heir of Sacred Peafowl Mountain too?” Ji San asked mockingly.

“There’s no harm done in participating. If one were to have no dreams, they would be no different than a mere salted fish,” Liuxiang replied with a quiet snort.

“Fine. I admit that you have very bold dreams. But don’t tell me you still plan on realizing that dream?” Ji San asked with a supercilious smile.

“Don’t tell me that you believe Pill King Zhen can scare everyone off with just that performance?” Young master Liuxiang responded with a cold laugh. “I admit that he is strong, but nobody on the Genius and Young Lord Rankings are to be scoffed at.”

Liuxiang had his own pride. It was evident that he didn’t believe that he was inferior to Pill King Zhen.

“Why are you quarrelling over such matters? The stage has already been set up for you in the Martial Pagoda battles. Find out who’s stronger in the arena,” the clan lord said conclusively. Ji San laughed yet again, but didn’t say anything else. Liuxiang, however, was caught up in his thoughts. Nobody could tell what he was thinking about.

Jiang Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry when he saw what was happening. Every single candidate in arena one was now forfeiting their matches against him. His consecutive victories shot up within a short amount of time. He hadn’t expected this to happen. He never thought that this difficult matchup would bring him so much fortune in the end!