NOVPUB"Thud,"
Zou Hu crashed into the ruins of broken walls like a fallen meteor, collapsing the last remains of the city wall with him. The clothes on his chest had turned to ashes, his flesh charred black, still emitting searing black smoke — evidently cooked.
On the other hand, Han Xiang, with her hair crown scattered and black hair wildly dancing in the wind, summoned a chessboard just before hitting the ground to brace her fall.
And the White Robe, wreathed in blazing flames, fighting two opponents despite his severe injuries, seemed to do so effortlessly, landing steadily amidst the sweeping sand, his War Intent surging even higher.
"Cough cough..."
Zou Hu brushed aside the rubble on top of him and slowly got up from the debris, suddenly curving his lips into a cold laugh that carried self-mockery and anger. All the uneasiness in his heart from earlier vanished in that moment, transforming into boundless killing intent.
"Good!"
"Very good!"
"It seems I, Zou Hu, must face this trial!
"So be it!"
"We Martial Cultivators defy the heavens—our path has always been fraught with trepidation!"
"Only by embracing death can we come to life!"
"Only then can we advance further!"
"Chen Sansi!"
"You!"
"Challenge life and death, breakthrough amidst battle!"
"And why should I fear battle!"
"Today, I shall fuel the fire with my Foundation!"
"And fight you to the death!"
With every word spoken, the Gold chilling aura surrounding Zou Hu melded into his body, continuously self-destructing to reach the ultimate killing intent!
This was his Martial Arts!
He practiced boxing in his youth, began formal cultivation at fifteen, became a Martial Saint at twenty-five with just his fists, and claimed a domain as the Fist Saint, having once shocked the world by killing a thousand men in Capital City, even assassinating a king. Afterward, he entered Sky Water Continent, accidentally inheriting the legacy of a dying Martial Cultivator, breaking through True Power before thirty-five—he was still not forty!
He wished to step forth as a Martial Arts Boxing Sovereign!
Whatever stood before him,
would be,
shattered by his fists!
"Hum—"
"Crack—"
Amidst the swirling killing intent, Zou Hu's body swelled several sizes, his clothes bursting apart, the Military Immortal's golden rings disbanded into individual rings that didn't return to his fists but instead gathered on his right arm. The golden light was dazzling, and the purple light flourished; amidst the intertwining gold and purple, a vortex formed, pulling the entire sandstorm into it.
He moved from his spot, his form like a fearsome tiger, and the vortex above his right fist grew larger until it became a chilling storm that pierced the sky and the earth. Everything it passed was ground into dust.
"True gold fears no fire—"
This punch!
Blotted out the sky and sun!
In the midst of the storm,
Chen Sansi stood proudly, his white robe wildly billowing in the wind, the flames from his seven orifices and long spear flickering madly in the howling wind. He watched silently as the storm of chilling intent raced toward him.
Only when the rolling storm engulfed him, completely masking the figure in the white robe, could one faintly see a flame kindle amidst the drifting sand.
And then...
The flames engulfed heaven and earth.
A tsunami of fierce flames burst forth from the midst of the Golden Line's ruthless storm, instantly suppressing everything. Within a hundred yards, the temperature kept soaring as if spring had just begun, and in the blink of an eye, it was the scorching heat of midsummer.
Thereupon.
The storm subsided.
The gravel melted.
Amidst the flying sands, Zou Hu saw a fire dragon approaching. He did not recoil or show fear but let out an earth-shattering roar with veins popping in his eyes. His right fist, wrapped in the might of the Godly Vajra Rings, met the charge without hesitation.
"Boom rumble—"
The ground shattered.
The sand reversed its course.
After the earth-shaking collapse.
The Fist Saint from the Sky Dragon Ancient Country, Zou Hu, and the White Robe Spear Saint from the Eastern Continent had swapped places, standing back to back, rooted in place.
"Huff..."
Zou Hu exhaled a breath of turbid air, raised his head, and looked at the dazzling sun above: "My path, has ended."
As his words fell.
His broad and burly body dried up rapidly as if drained of blood. The Godly Vajra Rings on his right wrist extinguished one by one, clattering to the ground, and then he fell straight backwards, stirring a cloud of dust that was particularly visible in the sunlight, fluttering in the wind.
It was only then that the crowd saw his front.
Skin, bones, and even internal organs had long been charred to cinders. How could it still resemble a human?!
Dead!
"True gold fears no fire, but it depends on what kind of gold, what kind of fire," Chen Sansi murmured as he suddenly held the long spear above his head, perfectly blocking an assassinating flying sword so that it could not advance an inch.
"Clang—"
It was indeed Han Xiang, who sought to strike stealthily.
His sword thrust failed, and in front of him appeared a white chess piece that kept enlarging in the void until it became as massive as a mountain and then ferociously fell.
True Power surged, flames shot to the sky.
Chen Sansi lifted his spear and shattered it all.
Han Xiang was flung backward, and even with the chessboard beneath his feet serving as a sky-controlling magic tool, he only managed to steady himself after several hundred yards. His neck and half his face were already burned beyond recognition.
Enduring the agony of the fiery burns, his disheveled hair billowing, he made sealing gestures with both hands, the flying sword floated before him, and a black and a white chess piece revolved alternately around his body, reminiscent of yin and yang of the Eight Diagrams.
The chessboard and the chess pieces.
These were Han Xiang's lifebound magical artifacts.
The Heaven and Earth Chessboard.
The Wanxiang Chess Pieces.
Regrettably...
His magical artifacts were those that grew, requiring an elevation in realm to enhance their power.
With Han Xiang's current level of cultivation, he had only refined two chess pieces and one chessboard.
The essence blood within his body started to rapidly drain, all of it pouring into the two chess pieces. The pieces spiraled with the pattern of yin and yang fish, powerful forces of yin and yang blessing the hovering flying sword.
