Chapter 481: Wang Xu’s Challenge
Wang Feifan’s initial realm was that of a late-stage sixth breakthrough expert.
Among the transcendents, his strength ranked among the higher echelons. In contrast, while Zhou Xingkong was undoubtedly formidable, he clearly fell short of Wang Feifan’s level.
But the result was Wang Feifan being pushed down?
This made many powerhouses suspicious. Was there some unseen hand secretly manipulating events behind the scenes?
“Zhou Xingkong.”
“You don’t need to provoke me,” the red-haired youth Wang Feifan said calmly. “To me, challenging or being challenged makes no difference.”
He radiated absolute confidence, the kind that comes from overwhelming strength.
“However,”
“You can rest assured,” Wang Feifan suddenly smiled. “I know you and Jiang Ye have a duel scheduled. I won’t challenge him.”
Hearing this, Zhou Xingkong snorted coldly and said nothing more.
At the same time, the vast space rapidly fell silent.
Most powerhouses yearned to make a name for themselves in the Great Stellar War. But when they truly faced peerless prodigies with Transcendent Aptitude, they couldn’t help but feel inferior.
Transcendent Aptitude was truly extraordinary, beyond the mundane!
Just standing there, these prodigies exuded an aura of invincibility, as if they were the undisputed rulers of this era.
“Challenge Jiang Ye.”
“Jiang Ye is the weakest here. He’s the easiest to defeat.”
“The other transcendent prodigies are too strong. I’d definitely lose.”
“Let’s challenge Jiang Ye,” the assembled powerhouses murmured, their eyes gleaming with a shared, unspoken consensus.
All of them possessed Dao Bone Aptitude.
Faced with those with Transcendent Aptitude, they naturally felt inferior.
But Jiang Ye? Though undeniably strong, he lacked the overwhelming pressure of someone with Transcendent Aptitude.
Soon enough, a thunderous roar echoed across the arena: “Jiang Ye, I challenge you!” A black-armored youth shot skyward, his towering figure radiating a formidable aura.
“Wang Xu, ranked tenth.”
“He’s also a peak seventh breakthrough expert. Can he shake Jiang Ye?”
“Anyone who makes it into the top ten is no pushover,” the crowd murmured, their eyes fixed on the unfolding spectacle.
They all knew Jiang Ye had once defeated Zhou Kun, the former number one.
But that battle had been witnessed by only a select few.
Most had only heard rumors of Jiang Ye’s strength, never seeing it firsthand.
It wasn’t just the challenger watching.
On the other nine transcendent platform, the gazes of Chu Jingye, Li Zihuang, Zhou Xingkong, and others converged on the Cosmic Arena.
Whoosh!
Wang Xu, the black-armored youth, landed on the Cosmic Arena, facing Jiang Ye.
“Jiang Ye!”
“I heard you defeated the former number one with just three spear strikes,” Wang Xu said gravely. “Let me see if your strength is truly as formidable as they say.”
He harbored some skepticism about the rumors.
Even if the rumors were true, Wang Xu felt no fear.
Though only ranked in the top ten, he was confident he could hold his own against Zhou Kun. He simply saw no need to compete for the top spot.
“Very well.”
“Make your move, challenger.” Jiang Ye stood calmly on the platform, one hand behind his back, his gaze steady.
As the challenged party, he would maintain the dignity expected of his position.
Whoosh!
A flash of light erupted from Wang Xu’s hand, and a massive, long-handled blade materialized.
Boom!
“Jiang Ye, taste my blade!” Wang Xu roared, his body erupting in a terrifying radiance, transforming him into a war god as he charged toward Jiang Ye.
Swish!
The blade slashed through the void, leaving a fissure several meters wide that lingered in the air.
Moreover, a torrent of earthy-yellow light surged from Wang Xu, revealing his mastery of the mysteries of earth.
Empowered by these boundless mysteries, his strike carried overwhelming force.
“Break!”
Jiang Ye’s expression remained calm as a silver-black long spear materialized in his hand. With a swift, horizontal sweep, he countered the attack.
Endless stellar energy poured into the spear, its tip slicing through the air.
A simple, unadorned thrust!
“You dare not even use the mysteries of heaven and earth?” Wang Xu’s eyes turned cold. “You’ll pay dearly for such arrogance!”
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, Wang Xu unleashed a series of saber strikes, each imbued with vast quantities of the mysteries of earth, making them overwhelmingly heavy.
The mysteries of earth, while lacking the raw power of the mysteries of gold or the explosive force of the mysteries of fire, possessed a unique, crushing weight.
Combined with his already heavy saber technique, these strikes could bypass physical defenses and inflict massive damage.
Though described slowly, the clash between peak seventh breakthrough experts unfolded with lightning speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In a split second, spear radiance collided with the arcs of saber light.
The dazzling spear radiance swept across, instantly severing the first saber arc, followed by the second and third with devastating ease!
Boom!
Terrifying force crashed down like a tidal wave, slamming into Wang Xu with furious intensity.
Wang Xu felt an indescribable, horrifying power surge toward him, forcing him to fly backward uncontrollably. His body nearly shattered under the impact.
He immediately activated his Heaven and Earth Dharma Manifestation, summoning a colossal, thousand-meter-tall giant that rose from the ground, barely stopping him at the edge of the Cosmic Arena.
“How is this possible?”
“Just a simple spear strike, yet it completely overwhelmed me?”
“Jiang Ye’s strength… is it truly this terrifying?” Wang Xu’s expression twisted in shock. If not for his mastery of the mysteries of earth, renowned for their unyielding stability, that single attack would have shattered him on the spot.
What Wang Xu didn’t know was this:
During his battle with Zhou Kun, Jiang Ye had only commanded a few hundred strands of civilization fire.
Now, Jiang Ye wielded a staggering 1,600 strands of civilization fire.
Combined with the immense improvement in his spear technique over the past month, these factors transformed his ordinary strikes into forces rivaling his previous full-power bursts.
“Shall we continue, challenger?”
Jiang Ye stood atop the transcendent platform, radiant as the Proud Sun.
Grasping his long spear, he calmly surveyed the arena below.
“Of course!”
“I won’t retreat until I fall!” Wang Xu roared, his own pride burning fiercely.
To surrender after a single exchange? That was not in his nature.
“Kill!” Wang Xu charged forward, his Heaven-Earth Domain surging forth. The domain expanded rapidly, instantly engulfing the entire Cosmic Arena, amplifying Wang Xu’s pressure to overwhelming levels.
Thousand-Meter Dharma Manifestation, Heaven-Earth Domain, mysteries of earth!
At this moment, Wang Xu unleashed all his trump cards, clearly making a desperate final gamble.
“Very well,” Jiang Ye said calmly, taking a step forward. “Then I shall grant your wish.”
Boom!
His aura surged violently, fully revealing the seventh breakthrough foundation forged from 1600 strands of civilization fire. The terrifying pressure instantly overwhelmed Wang Xu’s aura.
Whoosh! Jiang Ye’s long spear moved, drawing in boundless stellar energy.
Simultaneously, an invisible wisp of fire merged into the spear’s tip.
Swish!
Jiang Ye slashed with his spear, unleashing a crimson spear radiance that tore through the void. The radiance’s speed and power skyrocketed to terrifying levels in an instant, striking directly at Wang Xu’s Thousand-Meter Dharma Manifestation.
“Hah!!”
“Block it!” Wang Xu roared, raising his blade to parry the devastating strike.
But it was futile.
Against Jiang Ye’s full-force eruption, his efforts were doomed to fail.
Boom! Crack!
In the blink of an eye, the crimson spear radiance shattered all defenses, piercing through Wang Xu’s Heaven and Earth Dharma Manifestation like lightning.
A massive crack appeared on the dharma manifestation, followed by a web of fissures spreading rapidly across its surface.
Bang!!!
The dharma manifestation exploded!
A figure was sent flying backward, crashing out of the Cosmic Arena and spitting out mouthfuls of blood.
Two strikes!
Wang Xu, the peak seventh breakthrough expert ranked tenth on the leaderboard, had been defeated!
(End of the Chapter)