Chapter 1289: How Many Punches?

The figure of Progenitor Chen did not use any impressive battle techniques, as its simple knife attacks prevented Star Devourer from making any moves. One person with one knife was invincible.

Star Devour’s five open eyes stared at Progenitor Chen, and then, finally, he opened his sixth eye. In that instant, a strange power swept out in all directions. In the distance, the expressions of Zhi Yi, Bu Kong, Wu Taibai, and the other people from the Sixth Mainland all suddenly changed; why were they feeling this?

Anyone from the Sixth Mainland was born with an innate suppression over all the cultivators from the Fifth Mainland. There was no way to remove or overcome this suppression. However, at this time, they were feeling that same sort of suppression from Star Devourer. Even though the creature was from the Fifth Mainland, he actually was able to give them an oppressive feeling. Just what was going on?

When all six of Star Devourer’s eyes opened, the sky and ground both trembled. A power visible to the naked eye rippled out in an arc around the creature. As Star Devourer roared to the sky, all of Zenith Mountain shook. A matchless power spread throughout the entire mountain, and it even cracked the nearby planets. One after another, older powerhouses appeared to block this energy, and they all looked shocked.

This was the first time that any sort of attack or energy had spread out of Zenith Mountain and into the surrounding area. Star Devourer had revealed his full power, and he truly did possess an invincible strength, with no one able to match up to the beast’s raw physical prowess.

It had reached the pinnacle in this aspect.

At this moment, even Shang Qing was shocked, as this power was not something that humans could possess.

The knife flashed, abruptly cutting Star Devourer’s roar short. All six of the beast’s eyes blinked before his body slammed into the ground. The illusionary Progenitor Chen stood high in the sky with his blade pointed directly away from Zenith Mountain, and everyone who saw the blade felt chills run down their spines.

Progenitor Chen then slashed at Star Devourer with the knife.

Blood flowed down the neck of Star Devourer, dyeing the ground red, as the huge body quickly shrunk down.

Star Devourer had lost.

From where he was standing some distance away, Lu Yin's eye twitched. At this moment, Lu Yin could not even see the knife, as his vision had been overwhelmed by the terrifying number of rune lines that had flashed before Star Devourer fell.

This was Progenitor Chen’s power, as Star Devourer had never even had an opportunity to unleash his full strength.

Progenitor Chen was invincible. That was how he had been recorded down in history, and the Sixth Mainland had not even dared to record his existence.

Everyone went silent.

When Yuhua Mavis and others had fought atop the golden stage in the Mountain and Seas Zone, they believed that they had seen Progenitor Chen's full abilities there, but the Progenitor Chen that they had seen had never felt any pressure. Thus, they had not seen his true power at all.

At that time, Shang Qing had fallen for Silver’s plan and had been nearly kidnapped, which was proof of the power of Silver’s pet, Corpse Beast, as even Progenitor Chen had been unable to react in time.

In terms of physical strength, Star Devourer was truly invincible, but in terms of brute force, he still could not match up to Corpse Beast.

Star Devourer had not been given the opportunity to use his strength. What did it matter for if his strength was matchless? It was all useless since he could not stop Progenitor Chen's sword.

Yao Xuan's eye twitched as he stared at Progenitor Chen, who gradually transformed back into a strand of qi. The crown prince then looked at Shang Qing and contemplated how he would face this opponent.

No matter how arrogant Yao Xuan was, no one dared to claim that they could match up to Progenitor Chen when at the same level of cultivation, which made Shang Qing an unsolvable problem.

Perhaps it would be better to directly attack Shang Qing himself, but Shang Qing was not someone who would go down easily either. After all, he was the Hall of Honor’s first Honor Chosen.

At this moment, everyone realized that Shang Qing had only been heralded as unbeatable because of the Tri-Yang Technique—no one knew anything at all about his other abilities. His possible innate gift, secret techniques, his physical strength, and everything else was all completely unknown. He was practically a complete mystery.

This realization horrified the remaining contestants.

When they looked at Shang Qing again, the three strands of qi swirling around him really did give him an otherworldly appearance.

Lu Yin let out a long breath. If he wanted to defeat Shang Qing, then he would have to defeat a clone of Progenitor Chen that had the same cultivation realm as Shang Qing. That was the greatest challenge, Progenitor Chen.

Outside Zenith Mountain, Mu En smiled. This was the Hall of Honor’s greatest technique. Regardless of if the opponent was from the Sixth Mainland or anywhere else, the Hall of Honor was fully confident that whoever cultivated the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique would be invincible within the same realm. Even if this invincibility was derived from another’s strength, so what? The user would still be invincible.

The most humiliated person at this moment was Xie Xiaoxian. Many people stared at her. Star Devourer had already lost after facing Shang Qing.

Shang Qing's eyes moved over, and a strand of qi finally moved away from his body.

Xie Xiaoxian felt helpless and quickly spoke up. "I admit defeat."

No one laughed. This was only right, as a decisive surrender would speed up the matches.

No one could blame Xie Xiaoxian either, as it was better to admit defeat when facing Shang Qing.

Shang Qing appeared at the bottom of another stairway, separated from both Liquor Hero and Wang Yi.

Many people's expressions changed. Perhaps they could win their matches now, since they would not have to face any of these three people. This thought made many people grow hopeful of their own matches.

A nervous looking woman appeared on the battlefield. She was only an Explorer, and she was from the Cosmic Sea. Across from her, Xia Jiuyou appeared.

When she saw Xia Jiuyou, the woman's face went pale. Xia Jiuyou was an absolute powerhouse who was expected to end up in the top five of all of ZENITH. Although the predicted leaderboards were not necessarily accurate, she was not able to face anyone who qualified to potentially enter the top ten.

The woman was helpless, as it seemed that her luck had run out.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, a man appeared. Many people were interested in this person. He was called No. 0007, which was a very strange name. Also, he was certainly not weak.

Lu Yin was particularly interested in this man, as anyone who could defeat Zhuo Daynight would arouse Lu Yin’s interest.

Zhuo Daynight had even been able to affect Nightking Zhenwu with her Night's End, Daybreak when she had been much weaker than her current state. Despite that, No. 0007 had actually managed to defeat Zhuo Daynight as a Hunter, the same realm that Nightking Zhenwu had been in. No. 0007 was not from the Sixth Mainland or the Neoverse, which was something that greatly interested Lu Yin.

Naturally, Xia Jiuyou was also concerned about No. 0007. This person gave off an aura of iron and blood. At first glance, he was a soldier. His eyes were devoid of emotion, and when he looked at anyone, it was as though he was staring at an enemy.

He held a spear in his hand, which was the standard weapon for many armies.

Many people had noticed that No. 0007 was a soldier, as even his name sounded like it had been assigned to him by the military. However, how had a soldier managed to enter ZENITH and make it so far into the tournament? Also, he was clearly very young, so what kind of army could train such a person?

Xia Jiuyou thought no more about the matter. He glanced at his two opponents before raising a hand and releasing a Yōu Reinforced Palm.

The unprepared woman was struck head on, and she froze. Her vitality began to drain away.

No. 0007’s eyes lingered on Xia Jiuyou for a moment before he leaped forward and stabbed at Xia Jiuyou with his spear. No. 0007 charged forward all on his own, but he carried the feeling of being accompanied by thousands of other soldiers and horses. With his spear in hand, it felt like thousands of soldiers committed to fighting to the death were charging forward.

Xia Jiuyou did not move. His innate gift of echo released a second Yōu Reinforced Palm. The palm hit No. 0007 without any issue, but No. 0007's expression remained unchanged. Even if he had been struck, rendering half of his body frozen and numb, his spear still moved forward.

His expression never wavered in the slightest, and his weapon remained steady.

From his distant vantage point, Lu Yin came to vaguely understand how Zhuo Daynight had been defeated. This No. 0007 was not strong, and he was actually greatly inferior to Nightking Zhenwu. At best, this soldier’s strength approached the level of strength of the Ten Arbiters, but the strength of his will was something rare. Although Nightking Zhenwu had been superior to most of the other Arbiters, it was possible that No. 0007 had surpassed the dead Nightking in this aspect.

A soldier who saw death as his home would possess an unshakable will, even when lost in illusion.

Coupled with a higher cultivation than Zhuo Daynight, it was perfectly normal for her to have lost to this man.

But it was a pity that No. 0007 was up against Xia Jiuyou, as his will was only able to hold out long enough to ensure a victory in a fight against those with the same cultivation. It was completely useless against a stronger powerhouse.

The spear stopped less than a centimeter away from Xia Jiuyou, frozen, as No. 0007 had been completely frozen.

Since he had already won, Xia Jiuyou did not kill his opponents, and he canceled the effects of his palm attacks that had struck No. 0007 and the woman, saving their lives.

"Where are you from?" Xia Jiuyou asked as he looked at No. 0007.

No. 0007 appeared on the lower level of the mountain without ever saying a word.

Xia Jiuyou appeared at the bottom of a stairway.

Progenitor Chen had been the invincible Progenitor of the past, and Xia Jiuyou was the inheritor of Progenitor Chen’s descendent clan. Thus, the strength of this youth who had cultivated the Nine Clones Secret Technique did not rouse any surprise among the spectators, especially since his opponents had not been strong.

Lu Yin was just about to look around to see who would next appear on the battlefield when he suddenly disappeared and reappeared in the arena.

It was his turn.

Many people were shocked to see Lu Yin appear, and many had expressions of awe while others panicked, afraid they would be matched up with Lu Yin.

A short man appeared in front of Lu Yin, and the two looked at each other.

The man’s hand shot into the air. “I give up!"

Lu Yin was speechless; the other participant had not even appeared yet! This guy had to hold the record for fastest forfeiture in ZENITH.

"Bro, what's the problem?" someone said.

The short man's expression was ugly. "I personally saw it when that guy from the Sixth Mainland was beaten to death by a palm strike. I- I don't want to die!"

Lu Yin’s brows rose high, and he grew serious, as well as a bit impressed. When Tong Zhan had attacked Lu Yin, this short man had also been there. Clearly, he had suffered psychological damage after seeing Tong Zhan’s death up close.

As long as they were conscientious about it, cultivators were capable of remembering things from long ago.

The short man had already conceded when the third contestant appeared to the side. The battle was initially supposed to be between three people, but it had become a one-on-one now.

A green brilliance appeared as green grass swayed over the ground. This scenery was all too familiar. Yuhua Mavis had appeared.

Upon seeing that Lu Yin’s opponent was Yuhua Mavis, whether it was on Zenith Mountain, outside of it, or in front of the screens across the universe, countless people straightened up and paid attention. A fight between two true powerhouses was about to begin.

Lu Yin's expression changed, but then he smiled. He had not expected to meet Yuhua Mavis so soon, though he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

In the past, he had been struck down from the golden stage in the Mountain and Seas Zone by Yuhua Mavis’s seventh punch. At that time, he had felt helpless and unwilling to accept his situation. When he had directly compared his strength with hers, he had lost. After becoming a Hunter, one of Lu Yin’s greatest desires was to go up against the woman once again, and if she attacked him with seven punches, then he would return every single one of them.

Across from him, Yuhua Mavis had also not expected to meet Lu Yin so soon, but it was exactly what she wanted. She had been very disgruntled when Lu Yin had tossed her through the checkpoint, but now, they were face to face.

"Do you remember what you said before ZENITH?" Yuhua Mavis asked, staring at Lu Yin in a serious manner as excitement and fighting intent filled her eyes.

The corners of Lu Yin's mouth curved up. "I remember."

"How many punches are you going to let me face? Or are you confident in taking on my punches?" Yuhua Mavis provoked.

Everyone stared at the battlefield, and many people swallowed nervously.

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA