Chapter 586 - 368: Burning Heaven
Chapter 586: Chapter 368: Burning Heaven
"Junior Brother, may you triumph in the first battle!"
Sun Tao cupped his hands, and Jiang Fan followed suit. Xu Yang returned the gesture and turned, strolling leisurely toward the arena.
Opposite him, Du Ziming’s battle intent surged, his aura fierce and sharp. As long as he defeated Xu Yang—the man who had beaten Lin Jingyu to death—he would become renowned throughout Yun Province. Not only would he step on Xu Yang to rise in status, but he would also curry favor with Huo Xiaochen, the Xiao family, and the Kong family.
"Sparring must stop when the outcome is clear. Remember, you must not intentionally injure or kill your opponent, or you will be expelled from the Academy. Let the match begin," Jin Yu announced in a deep voice from the sidelines.
"Brother Xu, pardon my offense!" Du Ziming cupped his hands, his expression growing solemn. Although he publicly claimed to have an eighty percent chance of defeating Xu Yang, he never actually underestimated him. Anyone capable of killing Lin Jingyu was absolutely not an average opponent.
"Make your move, Brother Du," Xu Yang said with a smile.
Internally, he circulated the Formless Thousand Illusion Skill to its absolute limit, doing his utmost to conceal the power of the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture. This Cultivation Technique was far too domineering. If he used it, the Formless Thousand Illusion Skill might hide it from ordinary spectators, but it could never fool Jin Yu, nor Qi Ning and Duan Ming in the audience—Spirit Bone Celestial Prides who also cultivated the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture.
Therefore, he made a temporary adjustment. He would completely forgo the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture and fight Du Ziming using only his physical body. Three months had passed since the Secondary Dragon Ascension Selection. His Cultivation had broken through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer, so displaying the Perfection Realm of the Bright King Unmoving Body shouldn’t attract too much unwanted attention. After all, according to his public profile, his Bright King Unmoving Body had already reached Minor Achievement during his first clash with Lin Jingyu. Reaching Perfection by now wouldn’t be overly shocking.
"Watch out, Brother Xu!" Du Ziming shouted.
BOOM!
In the next moment, a terrifying aura erupted from his body like a volcanic eruption, and his Martial Dao Imagery rapidly materialized behind him. Before his Martial Dao Imagery could fully form, Du Ziming lost his patience. Taking a single stride, he vanished from his original spot, intent on finishing Xu Yang off in an instant with extreme speed.
Xu Yang was well prepared for this. The dormant Bright King Unmoving Body roared to life. A ten-foot-tall Bright King Image stepped out from the void and merged into him.
CRACKLE! A series of crisp bone-popping sounds rang out from inside Xu Yang’s body. His muscles rapidly expanded, bulging like rolling mountain peaks. These muscles, packing explosive power, stretched his clothes taut. In an instant, he transformed into a giant standing over two meters tall.
BOOM!
A violent shockwave exploded outward with him at the center. Visible, majestic Qi-Blood surged out from his every pore.
"The Perfection Realm of the Bright King Unmoving Body!"
"Qi and Blood Transformation!"
The spectators were completely astounded. They stared in shock at Xu Yang, whose body was covered in knotted muscles and wreathed in dense Qi-Blood. Excluding Lu Wei, Tu Gang, and the six Spirit Bone Celestial Prides, he was only the third person among the Basic-level Students to cultivate his physical body to the stage of Qi and Blood Transformation.
"To think his Body Refining has actually reached this realm. No wonder he dared to attempt the Azure Dragon Dominating Body. It’s a pity that the Azure Dragon Dominating Body not only requires an incredibly strong physique, but also specific natural talent to master."
At that exact moment, Xu Yang moved. He took a step forward, the light radiating from his body surging in intensity. Like a raging gale, he charged head-on to meet the incoming Du Ziming. Without utilizing any profound Techniques, he simply threw a crude, straightforward punch, unleashing pure, domineering power to its absolute limit.
BOOM!
The air itself was pierced through, letting out a muffled roar. The astonishing pressure from his fist caused the atmosphere to vibrate, rippling with visible shockwaves.
BANG!
The two fists collided with a muffled sound like thunder. A furious wave of air swept outward, causing the protective runes carved into the arena to glow brightly as they deflected the violent force. The light on Du Ziming’s body flickered unsteadily, and his aura wavered. It felt as though his fist had been rammed by a maddened elephant, forcing him to stumble backward in large strides. His bones and sinews popped sharply, and the Martial Dao Imagery behind him rumbled as if it were on the verge of collapsing.
Xu Yang wasn’t entirely comfortable either. Anyone ranked in the top thirty of the Lingyun List was by no means an average opponent. Especially since he had completely reined in the power of the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture and refrained from using even a speck of Gang Yuan. Even with the mountain-like immovability of the Bright King Unmoving Body, the impact still forced him a few steps back.
"Du Ziming took five steps back, but Xu Yang only took three!" someone in the crowd shouted. This meant that in their initial clash, Du Ziming was the one at a disadvantage.
"Excellent!" Sun Tao couldn’t help but roar in approval.
"This guy is getting more and more formidable." Lu Ren felt a trace of despair. The gap between him and Xu Yang seemed to be growing ever wider. The current Xu Yang could easily slap him to death; the two of them simply weren’t on the same level.
"His physical body is even stronger now than when he beat Lin Jingyu to death," Huo Xiaochen said, his face darkening. To his surprise, practicing the Azure Dragon Dominating Body hadn’t harmed Xu Yang at all. In fact, Xu Yang had pushed his physical form to the terrifying realm of Qi and Blood Transformation, becoming the third person to achieve this feat right after Lu Wei and Tu Gang. Although this still didn’t pose a threat to him, nobody could be happy watching their enemy improve.
"Look, that’s the Junior Brother of our Purple Sun Sect!" Yuan Chengji shouted. Although Xu Yang and Sun Tao completely ignored them, only their internal group knew about this dynamic. By publicly flaunting their connection now, those unaware of the truth would only look up to them.
"The Perfection Realm of the Bright King Unmoving Body... How is this possible?" Li Chuyang clenched his fists. He had originally planned to challenge Xu Yang and settle their old score right after Du Ziming defeated him. He hadn’t expected Xu Yang’s physical body to reach yet another peak. No matter how arrogant Li Chuyang was, he had no confidence in beating Xu Yang now.
"Your physical body has actually reached this level!" Du Ziming suppressed his churning Qi-Blood, his face filled with disbelief.
Xu Yang’s punch hadn’t just contained unrivaled, domineering power. His physical body felt as hard as a Spiritual Soldier, making it completely impossible for Du Ziming’s Gang Yuan to penetrate it. This was exactly what made a Body Refining Expert so difficult to deal with: massive strength, high defense, and endless, enduring stamina.
"You, on the other hand, have somewhat disappointed me, Brother Du," Xu Yang said with a smile, his Qi-Blood churning vigorously.
In reality, he only needed to take a single step back, but to avoid drawing too much attention, he deliberately took two extra steps. His physique wasn’t solely built on the Bright King Unmoving Body; it had also been tempered by the Azure Dragon Dominating Body, even if he wasn’t actively circulating it. With Jin Yu watching like a hawk from the sidelines, he had no choice but to conceal a portion of his physical strength.
"Arrogant fool! That was just a probe!" Du Ziming roared. "Heaven-Burning Battle Aura!"
With that explosive shout, his Gang Yuan boiled over. His aura swelled rapidly like a rising tide, doubling in intensity within an instant. His tyrannical energy surged like stormy waves, and the Power of Heaven and Earth immediately began to roil in response. Du Ziming’s gaze turned fierce as his Martial Dao Imagery seethed, emitting a dazzling radiance.
"It’s the Minor Achievement of the Heaven-Burning Battle Aura!"
"No wonder he dared to challenge Xu Yang. Du Ziming really has some skills up his sleeve."
"Xu Yang is going to lose. The moment Du Ziming unleashed the Heaven-Burning Battle Aura, his Combat Power doubled. What could Xu Yang possibly use to withstand that?"
The Heaven-Burning Battle Aura was a Secret Technique used to amplify Combat Power. In the Hidden Skills Hall of the Celestial Strategy Academy, exchanging for this Cultivation Technique cost a full three hundred and sixty credits. Of course, Du Ziming likely hadn’t exchanged for it at the Celestial Strategy Academy; it was probably passed down from his Sect. Most of the Cultivation Techniques found in the sects across Yun Province essentially originated from the Celestial Strategy Academy.
"Let’s see you try and take another punch from me." Du Ziming surged with battle intent and took a massive stride forward.
"Heaven-Burning Battle Aura? Did you think you were the only one who knew a Secret Technique to amplify Combat Power?" Xu Yang revealed a mocking expression.
He knew about this Heaven-Burning Battle Aura. As a Combat Power-boosting Secret Technique, it simply couldn’t compare to the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength. At the Perfection Realm, the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength could amplify Combat Power by up to four times. Meanwhile, the Heaven-Burning Battle Aura at its Perfection Realm could only amplify Combat Power by three times—one multiplier lower than the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength.
"Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength!"
With a light shout, Xu Yang circulated the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength, and his own aura instantly doubled in strength. Once again, he restrained himself. Instead of circulating the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength to its absolute maximum, he only used a portion of it to double his Combat Power. If he were to display a near-Great Success level of the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength right now, ordinary observers might not notice anything amiss. However, people like Ye Qiuling, Lu Ren, and Li Chuyang would definitely deduce his true Comprehension, considering it hadn’t been long since he first obtained the Technique.
With a resounding BOOM, a visible wave of energy exploded outward from him, and the two tyrannical auras clashed once more.
"The Minor Achievement of the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength!"
Gasps echoed all around. The Minor Achievement of the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength was far more difficult to cultivate than the Heaven-Burning Battle Aura.
"How do you think Lin Jingyu was beaten to death? Did you really think he was a fool that just anyone could kill?" Sun Tao laughed.
"They are all geniuses. How could Xu Yang possibly have such an obvious weakness?" Gu Qingfeng said.
Essentially all the geniuses on the Lingyun List had cultivated a Secret Technique to amplify their Combat Power. The only difference was the level of profoundness of the techniques they chose. When the geniuses of the Lingyun List clashed, the final outcome usually came down to combat awareness. It was far too difficult to crush an opponent based purely on Cultivation Techniques, unless one possessed overwhelmingly domineering techniques like the Azure Dragon Dominating Body or the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture.
Meanwhile, on the arena, Xu Yang and Du Ziming collided like two shooting stars. Xu Yang’s entire body surged with Qi-Blood as the Bright King Illusion completely enveloped him. Du Ziming’s Gang Yuan surged like a tidal wave, terrifyingly immense.
BOOM...
Their collision was like mountains crumbling and the earth splitting apart. The deafening blast sent a violent shockwave sweeping in all directions. Thankfully, the arena was protected by runes; otherwise, it would have long been destroyed by the sheer aftershocks of their clash. Some students whose Cultivation had not yet broken through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer were forced to step back, feeling a sharp, piercing pain in their eardrums.
Standing over two meters tall with knotted muscles, Xu Yang made Du Ziming look like a child in comparison. Enveloping his massive hand in fierce power, he aimed a slap right at Du Ziming’s face, much like a father disciplining his son.
"Bastard!" Du Ziming roared furiously, knowing that Xu Yang was intentionally humiliating him.
With a flash of his figure, he appeared at Xu Yang’s side like a phantom. His fist thrust out like a heavy spear, aiming straight for Xu Yang’s flank. This punch was incredibly fast and ferocious. Its angle was utterly deceitful and vicious, carrying a palpable trace of killing intent. Before the fist even landed, its sheer pressure had already dispersed the materialized Qi-Blood around Xu Yang’s body, revealing his smoothly contoured musculature. He knew perfectly well that Xu Yang’s physical body was astonishing. Striking anywhere else might not even scratch him, so his only option was to target vulnerable areas like the internal organs.
Xu Yang couldn’t care less!
Even back when he killed Lin Jingyu, his physical body was already tough enough to clash head-on with Spiritual Soldiers. Now, after being tempered by the Azure Dragon Dominating Body for a month, his durability was even more astounding. Ignoring Du Ziming’s incoming punch, he continued to swing his massive hand straight toward Du Ziming’s face.