Chapter Fifty-Three: The Sage's Strike!

Bang!

Zhou Tian abruptly sat up, his face clouded with darkness, eyes burning with fury, and his heart gave a sharp tug. Now that Tian Ling had been forced out of the area shrouded by thunder and flame, he could see what had just happened. A trace of regret crept into his heart. Although he knew that injuries were inevitable in battle, he still found it hard to accept.

The people beside him said nothing; to be honest, such wounds did not concern them. They had all received training from a young age; though not to the point of death, scars were part and parcel of their lives. Tian Ling, too, had not grown up pampered and delicate. Zhou Tian’s agitation was simply the result of deep concern; once he thought things through, he would be fine.

On the arena, the piece of flesh that had been gouged out landed to one side, instantly shriveling and rotting—not as if burned, but as though all vitality within had been completely drained. Tian Ling’s small face was deathly pale as a green light surged from her hand. The fragrance of grass and wood filled the air as she pressed her palm to the fresh wound. Green runes spiraled around her, and the wound healed before the naked eye; in an instant, new flesh had grown, the skin gleaming like crystal. If not for her tattered clothing, there would be no sign her hand had ever been injured.

This was a healing technique—almost everyone knew a trick or two. The external wound had closed, but internal injuries were not so easily cured. She could already feel fissures throughout her organs; she would need to rest. After all, she had taken a direct blow from a sacred artifact; if the wielder had been any stronger, she would have died on the spot!

But now was not the time to heal. Zhang San stepped out from the sea of thunder and fire. The armor on his shoulder had repaired itself, but his trembling body and the arcs of lightning flickering around him betrayed his own suffering.

Yet he seemed oblivious to pain, staring fixedly at Tian Ling. Born of humble origins, he had poured every ounce of effort into cultivation, only barely breaking through at age twenty. He refused to remain beneath others. He wanted to rise above! So he seized every opportunity that came his way!

Zhang San’s eyes bulged, bloodshot, as he muttered feverishly. Strands of blood-red runes crept over his body, his aura growing fiercer by the second.

In a matter of moments, the blood-red runes covered him completely, his flames dyed the color of blood.

“This… is a forbidden technique. He’s trading his life force for power. Once he uses it, he’ll be ruined. Doesn’t he know?” Zhou Xunchuan frowned. Not only was this a forbidden technique, it was one of the most extreme—power in exchange for life!

“Zhang San comes from a modest background, not much worldly experience. He must’ve been led astray by others. He’s never witnessed high-level divine arts, so he wouldn’t understand.” Zhou Tian explained, now seated. After his initial outburst, he realized that this world was not the world of his previous life. Wounds that looked terrifying here were, in truth, not so significant.

He had investigated Zhang San; with the intelligence network of the Prince of Qin’s household, his entire life was an open book.

On the field, Zhang San’s aura soared to its peak, like a demon emerging from hell. A pillar of blood and energy burst from the crown of his head, rising skyward like war-smoke, thick and immense. The vitality of countless future years erupted in a single instant!

But that was not the end. Deep within Zhang San’s body, a mysterious core exuded a golden divine radiance. The blood-red runes within him pounced upon it like starving wolves, drinking in the golden light and spawning yet more crimson runes in return.

“Something’s wrong with his body!” Zhang Yi watched the blood-red runes multiplying within Zhang San, his eyes glowing with divine light. A crack split open on his forehead, a faint golden light shining out, golden runes swirling nearby.

Is it you, Erlang Shen? Zhou Tian thought, seeing the third eye opening on Zhang Yi’s brow, and nearly spoke the words aloud.

After a moment’s observation, Zhang Yi frowned. “There’s a divine pill inside him, brimming with life force. It’s continually releasing energy to replenish him, causing the forbidden technique’s power to keep increasing!”

“He’s combining a divine healing elixir with a forbidden technique. It’s underhanded, but technically exploiting a loophole in the rules.” Sun Zhou nodded. These students of the Great Luo Academy were certainly cunning, but such tricks did little good for the individual. After all, if you couldn’t win a match, you could always concede—there was no need for mutual destruction.

Even Zhang San’s face betrayed unease. This had exceeded his expectations. Feeling the apparently limitless power surging within, he felt no joy—only dread. His lack of perspective meant he didn’t know much, but years of hard living had taught him one lesson: when something is too strange, it spells trouble.

But his body was now beyond his control, moving entirely on its own!

Tian Ling’s brows knitted as she watched. Who was this fellow, and what faction did he belong to, to possess so many hidden cards? Wasn’t this supposed to be a competition? Why was he acting as if this were a life-and-death struggle?

Though she did not understand the reasons, Tian Ling would not let him keep growing stronger. His aura now threatened to rend the heavens; if she didn’t act, she would be forced to concede.

A pillar of azure light shot skyward, stirring the winds and clouds. Tian Ling raised the Thunder Sacred Sword, energy gathering at its tip. With a sweep, she unleashed a sword-qi of thunder and gale, a thousand feet long, tearing the very fabric of space and revealing the void beyond.

Boom!

The divine pill within Zhang San detonated, releasing boundless divine radiance. Blood-red runes surged forth like a sea of blood, enveloping him completely.

Boom, boom!

A volcano, as substantial as the real thing, appeared behind him—entirely blood-red, towering a hundred feet high, every pebble distinct. But what it brewed was no magma, but a bottomless pool of blood.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Bubbles rose from the blood pool. A monstrous beast burst forth—bull-headed, stag-antlered, its body bristling with quills, muscles grotesquely knotted, as real as flesh and bone.

The blood-colored beast let out a thunderous roar, taking the brunt of the thunderous sword-qi.

“Half-step Manifestation!” Tian Ling cried out in shock. That volcano was clearly his manifestation form, forcibly constructed from the blood-red runes, allowing him to reach the threshold of the Manifestation realm—if only temporarily. But even at half-step Manifestation, wielding a sacred artifact, he was not someone she could withstand.

She was about to admit defeat—

Yet as Zhang San reached the half-step Manifestation realm, as if triggered by a signal, the sacred spear in his hand flared with divine brilliance. The patterns on its shaft seemed to come alive, snaking up Zhang San’s body.

A flash of terror crossed Zhang San’s eyes, for this was entirely beyond his control. At last, he realized something was terribly wrong, but it was already too late.

In an instant, the runes on the sacred spear blazed. Zhang San’s entire body compressed into a ball of flesh and blood, entwined by layers of blood-red runes, and was then absorbed by the sacred spear. His manifestation behind him vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

Having consumed all of Zhang San’s essence, the sacred spear now glowed with a bewitching light, swelling a thousandfold. An overwhelming aura burst forth, shattering the space of the arena and exposing the void behind it.

A terrifying force locked onto Tian Ling, rendering her utterly immobile, unable to utter a single word. This strike had already reached the level of a Saint!