Chapter 98: Power

Yaoguang had already achieved a state where man and sword became one, moving like a streak of light as he swept past a grandmaster who attempted to block his path.

The sword flashed past, and the man fell. The grandmaster was decapitated on the spot.

By the time Yaoguang arrived outside the True Cultivation Palace, where his senses detected a concentration of powerful figures, a red dot had already moved toward him before he could even crash through the doors. It seemed the occupant intended to open the gates and meet him in active combat.

Are all citizens of the Crimson Star Empire this brave?

Yaoguang wondered.

Earlier, when Shangguan Jinlong sensed the crisis, he had ignored the fact that he was in his own headquarters with an absolute numerical advantage and chose instead to rely on his own strength to face Yaoguang head-on.

Now, the martial paragon, or perhaps psychic-will martial paragon, within the Crimson Star Imperial Palace was doing the exact same thing!

Most notably, among the four red dots representing those at least at the martial paragon tier, they did not move as a group. Instead, they allowed one person to step forward first, seemingly desiring a fair, one-on-one duel.

With three figures of at least the martial paragon tier backing him, and maybe even psychic-will martial paragons or a unified martial paragon waiting in reserve, it's not surprising to have the confidence to face an enemy alone. But...

What he wanted was a swift resolution. If he could kill an opponent with maximum speed, he would never dawdle until the situation became a matter of life and death. When he fought, every move was dangerous to the extreme; the line between life and death was decided in a fleeting instant.

Just as it was now. Whether this martial paragon was arrogant or possessed absolute confidence in his own strength was irrelevant to Yaoguang. Almost the very second the man pushed the door open, the jin beneath Yaoguang’s feet erupted.

He activated Star Ignition, and to ensure a rapid end to the fight, he also activated Heavenly Fiend Disintegration again, forcing his physical body to unleash power that exceeded its current limits!

His current realm was at the ninth tier. Although his strength was significantly inferior to a true Ninth-Heavenly-Realm heavenly being on the path of God-Fiend Body Refinement, his vast experience and high realm gave him a profound understanding of the power possessed by those in the Star Transformation, Domain, and Furnace Realm.

Furthermore, having reached a realm that far surpassed any psychic-will martial paragon allowed him to clearly see the upper limit of explosive force that his physical body could endure.

When the proud genius of the Jiang family, who became a martial paragon at twenty-one, confidently opened the door to face the intruder daring to run wild in the imperial palace, what he saw was the silhouette that had smashed through the guard blockade, lunging toward him.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The instant he laid eyes on Yaoguang, his heart grew heavy for no apparent reason. It was like small animals sensing an impending earthquake, panicking and running aimlessly.

Despite being a psychic-will martial paragon, Jiang Xuntian experienced a similar sense of oppression and started having palpitations. Yet, upon first seeing Yaoguang, he could not distinguish what was causing that feeling. Until...

When, following his gaze, his qi locked onto Yaoguang, their psychic wills interfaced. That was when he felt it.

Yaoguang was like a volcano, an ancient volcano that had been gathering strength for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, and he seemed to release every bit of accumulated energy at once. Endless magma erupted, forming thick smoke that blotted out the sun and terrifying lava that incinerated all things, surging toward him like a tsunami.

This fear, this heart-stopping horror, was like falling into a nightmare from which he could never wake. No matter how he struggled, resisted, or wailed, he could only watch as this hellish, nightmarish scene drew closer and closer...

Finally, everything transformed into a scream of unwilling defiance. "No!"

Jiang Xuntian seemed to possess some treasure that allowed him to break free from that nightmare-induced paralysis. He used this opportunity to muster the last bit of courage, swinging his sword forward in a futile, desperate arc.

A jin so powerful that it should not belong to a martial paragon crushed down upon him with a bang. As the two swords clashed, the blade in Jiang Xuntian's hand was shaken right out of his grip. It was a total defeat.

The Divine Shadow Sword, which had blown aside Jiang Xuntian's desperate strike, let out a sharp whistle as it tore through the air. Like a crossbow's bolt, it pierced through the skull of the Jiang family's genius.

The moment the sword struck, blue light burst from Jiang Xuntian's body just as it had with Shangguan Jinlong. The shockwaves caused the blade of the Divine Shadow Sword to shudder violently. However, having learned from his previous encounter, Yaoguang had already accounted for the defensive artifact when he thrust his sword. As a result, it failed to provide a perfect protective effect.

Just one exchange, and the fight ended with Jiang Xuntian’s entire head shattered by the Divine Shadow Sword.

Jiang Shengtian, Jiang Ruolong, and Qi Renjie had all been standing there with smiles on their faces as the door opened, expecting to see the Jiang family’s prodigy display his divine power. Yet, he was already gone.

Looking at Jiang Xuntian's falling body, the three men froze on the spot. Unprecedented anger, like a prairie fire, instantly flooded every corner of their beings.

"Xuntian! No!"

"Insolence!"

"You deserve to die!"

The three high-ranking members of the Crimson Star Empire's imperial family fell into a mindless rage almost simultaneously.

However, before they could even channel that rage and spring into action, Yaoguang launched himself forward without hesitation.

He kicked up a gale of jin as he accelerated toward them, and a sense of intense pressure pushed down on his opponents. It instantly snapped Jiang Shengtian, Jiang Ruolong, and Qi Renjie out of their fury.

"Kill him!" Jiang Shengtian, the one with the most decisive temperament and fastest reflexes, roared, and a belt tied around his waist sprang out. It transformed into a thin sword, shimmering with blue light, which thrust out like a venomous snake.

Words always held power. Shocked or dazed people often subconsciously follow commands given in a sudden shout. In practice, it was a passive way to walk the talk.

While still shocked by the scene of Yaoguang killing Jiang Xuntian in one blow, Jiang Shengtian instinctively used this method to stimulate his fighting spirit, awakening his body’s latent potential and forcibly shifting his state from frozen shock to a violent, reactive frenzy.

The venomous, snake-like blue sword instantly coiled around the shimmering sword light of theDivine Shadow Sword. With a sudden and violent yanking motion, Jiang Shengtian attempted to pull it from Yaoguang’s grip, intending to disarm him.

On the other side, Jiang Ruolong and Qi Renjie, whose reactions were only half a beat slower, charged forward without the slightest hesitation. Once Yaoguang was disarmed, he would inevitably face a thunderous combined strike from the two men.

This level of coordination perfectly demonstrated the staggering reaction speed of the three martial paragons. In front of such a precise, combined attack that left no openings, a psychic-will martial paragon, or even a unified martial paragon, couldn't do anything except immediately retreat to avoid taking the brunt of the assault.

After all, the longevity and vast physical endurance provided by the Flawless True Body were the greatest advantage of a unified martial paragon over a psychic-will martial paragon. The improvement in power was not significant, nor was the improvement in the limit of the power one could wield.

Unfortunately, the trio’s seemingly perfect coordinated attack ran into trouble right away. Jiang Shengtian yanked back on the blue sword coiled around the Divine Shadow Sword, but the result was unexpected. It did not budge!

The Divine Shadow Sword in Yaoguang’s hand felt like it was being held by the extended arm of a god or fiend, possessing an irresistible, growing power. He could not pull it at all!

In fact, the force of the yank caused Jiang Shengtian himself to lose his balance, and his body tilted slightly toward Yaoguang. Feeling such raw strength caused Jiang Shengtian’s face to pale.

At that moment, he felt as if he were back at the grandmaster tier, futilely trying to wrest a weapon away from a martial paragon with brute force. But he was no grandmaster; he was a psychic-will martial paragon. An opponent who could make him feel such a staggering disparity in strength could not be a mere martial paragon.

Is this man in the combat suit... a heavenly being?

Jiang Shengtian thought.

Impossible!

Jiang Shengtian’s pupils constricted.

Qi Renjie’s detection device said that he is only a psychic-will martial paragon! But how can a psychic-will martial paragon possess this strength?

The thin sword coiling around the Divine Shadow Sword vibrated violently and was immediately moved aside by the force. Jiang Shengtian watched helplessly as the Divine Shadow Sword continued to tear through the air, moving toward him with lightning speed.

Making a split-second decision, Jiang Shengtian abandoned his sword and quickly retreated. He yielded the battlefield to Jiang Ruolong and Qi Renjie, who were still chasing forward. Facing their pincer attack, Yaoguang took a deep breath. Immediately, a low roar erupted, transmitted and amplified by his Life Force Field.

A transparent ripple shimmered around Yaoguang and swept outward, reaching only a meter or two around him. However, Qi Renjie and Jiang Ruolong, caught in the wave, simultaneously felt a suffocating pressure crashing down on them, draining their resolve and will and leaving both dejected.

The loss of their fighting spirit naturally affected the circulation of their qi and blood, causing their movements to slow by half a beat.

This was a technique Yaoguang had derived from his battle with Leng Tianfeng, combining the insights gained during the fight with his own understanding of the Life Force Field and the heavenly being realm.

Due to the limited time he had to cultivate, he could not yet directly influence the essence, qi, and psyche of others like Leng Tianfeng could, causing an opponent's psychic mind and will to collapse and dragging them toward his attack.

However, using the Life Force Field as an amplifier to interfere with an opponent’s qi and blood circulation at close range was well within his capabilities. Unless the opponent had exceptional psychic will or had cultivated a Flawless True Body that could lock down every trace of qi and blood, they simply could not resist.

Just like now. By the time the sluggish Jiang Ruolong and Qi Renjie sensed the anomaly and tried to reignite their fighting spirit, Yaoguang had already dashed to a side. He evaded Qi Renjie’s line of attack while the sword light of the Divine Shadow Sword flashed across Jiang Ruolong’s neck.

Because the jin was so powerful, it was utterly destructive. The augmented sword qi on the blade’s edge erupted, and even though Jiang Ruolong wore a protective refined artifact, it failed to provide any defense. The azure protective glow shattered upon contact.

Jiang Ruolong tried to dodge the edge of the blade with every fiber of his being, but the jin within the strike was too violent! It was a mere passing stroke that should have only left a bloodstain, but as the jin exploded from the blade, half of Jiang Ruolong’s neck was torn to shreds by the augmented sword qi.

He was like an ordinary body grazed by an anti-material sniper round. To be touched was to die. There was no such thing as being wounded.