Lu Yun had bounded to his feet as well and was staring fixedly at Dusksnow Morningstar in the middle of the sparring ring.
Dragonrise!
It was the move he’d invented in the chaos. The little fox gaped incredulously at Lu Yun; he frowned without a word. Stooped in a corner, Hua Fengwen suddenly jerked his head up and looked at Morningstar’s stroke.
“I… I am lesser than the meaning behind this stroke.” He shook his head. “The one who invented it is an incredible genius, but I don’t know if they’re an ant either.”
He hadn’t heard the little fox’s words.
Morningstar was using his bow as a sword to project a dragon. Though he was very clumsily deploying Dragonrise, his strength as a half step king brought the full power of the move into play.
The true manifestation of Dragonrise would result in an actual form of a dragon. As it were, the croon of one reverberated around the ring and everyone was on their feet, peering intently at Morningstar’s move.
The Bloodclad Duke was agog, his coolly removed expression nowhere to be seen. Rays of bloody light flared furiously from his body and bathed him in fresh blood.
“This stroke is worthy of my full strength!” he roared and shifted into motion before Morningstar completed his gesture. Dense scarlet light coalesced into a scimitar that resembled a crescent of a bloody moon.
This was the Bloodclad Duke’s weapon! In the one hundred and nine battles that he’d fought and won, he’d never brought out a weapon. He’d finally been pushed to unsheath his sword when facing Dusksnow Morningstar!
Bright-red radiance filled the air and occupied half of the sparring ring that was three hundred million kilometers across, competing equally with the aura from Dragonrise!
To think of the deed was to take action, the duke completed his move the moment his sword formed!
Eighty-one streaks of vermilion sword light flashed into existence at the same time, layering on top of each other to form a massive wave that crashed down upon Morningstar.
“Well met!” the genius roared.
His bow had fully transformed into the image of a sword and it jabbed forward, colliding with a wave of blood amid the accompaniment of a dragon howl.
……
The sparring ring was in shambles and only a few formations teetered valiantly around it, safeguarding rapt audience members. Casualties would be severe the moment they broke, but no one was afraid.
On the contrary, everyone was excited beyond their wildest dreams. They’d never imagined that a hundred million crystals would gain them entry to this level of fight! They’d seen the Bloodclad Duke’s sword and Dusksnow Morningstar’s incredible combat art!
Smoke slowly cleared from the air. All of the spatial formations around this ring were shattered and only five hundred meters of visibility could be found within it. Morningstar and the Bloodclad Duke were still facing off against each other in mid air.
“I yield,” sighed the duke.
Shocked gazes turned toward Morningstar. He’d beaten the Bloodclad Duke? So Dusksnow Morningstar was about to become a titled king?
Though life and death were on the line when two half step kings battled each other, that didn’t mean they actually had to fight to the death, especially in a place like the Colosseum.
This was a vastly different scenario from when Morningstar wanted to kill the Meteorite King to reach kinghood. Here, he could ascend as long as he defeated the other and tempered his dao heart!
Everyone held their breaths and waited for the Hongmeng Tower to descend.
“It is I who have lost.” Morningstar shook his head and threw his bow to the ground. Forlorn, he turned his head in a certain direction and murmured, “I used another’s combat art to defeat you and save my life. This isn’t my dao, so I am not the victor.”
The duke’s expression shifted slightly while eyebrows rose and fell through the audience. That stroke had been terrifying to the utmost and the two had seemed evenly matched. However, the Bloodclad Duke had admitted his defeat and Dusksnow Morningstar acknowledged that he’d won with that stroke!
A stroke that belonged to someone else!
Who?
A great king’s combat art?
Curiosity appeared on the duke’s face. The last three moves of evasion, defense, and offense had certainly not been Morningstar’s style.
“It’s the venerated enforcer,” Morningstar murmured. “He used these three moves against me when I fought him. I actually lost that battle as I would’ve died if he deployed a fourth move.”
“The venerated enforcer!” The duke nodded with a trace of shock. “Am I less than him?”
Morningstar bit his lip, noncommittal.
The audience was likewise shocked by his words. Just three moves from the venerated enforcer had enabled Morningstar to triumph over the Bloodclad Duke?
How strong was he? He wasn’t even a titled king!
It was commonly held that the Bloodclad Duke was the strongest half step king around. Though the venerated enforcer also possessed a strong reputation, he rarely took to the field. After Dusksnow Morningstar rose to prominence subsequent to their battle, the enforcer’s acclaim sank to new lows.
“I must meet the venerated enforcer in battle if I have the chance to.” The Bloodclad Duke raised a cupped fist salute to Morningstar and left with a turn. “The bow and arrow are not suitable for you, you should pursue sword dao instead.”
Though he’d left, his voice echoed around the ring.
“The venerated enforcer said the same thing, but I’ve trained in the bow and arrow for my entire life. How can I give it up just like that?” Morningstar tugged his lips up ruefully.
“Dusksnow Morningstar!” A pleasing voice traveled from one of the booths.
He swiveled in pursuit of the call and saw a stunning young girl waving at him. He regarded her blankly as he’d never seen her or her companions before. But judging from her motions and that of the young man next to her, they plainly knew him.
For some reason, he gravitated toward that booth.
As he flew toward them, some of the other booths extended olive branches. He couldn’t be bothered with them as he was one of the Starspace King’s. The king was a heavyweight in the Enforcer Alliance and a mighty fifth step king. He didn’t need to entertain anyone else’s offer of recruitment, even if it came from a sixth step king.
Morningstar instinctively felt something familiar about Lu Yun and the little fox, and so he entered their booth.
“Dusksnow Morningstar, we meet again!” Lu Yun laughed heartily and clapped his shoulder.
“You guys are the ones from Starcloud City!” Morningstar finally recognized Lu Yun and the little fox. He’d never come into direct contact with them before and the two looked different from before, so it took him a moment to identify them.
After he recollected the two, he didn’t dare show anything but utmost respect. These were two supplemental grandmasters who were infinitely close to being titled kings!
Many were titled kings through cultivation level in the Hongmeng, but ones who ascended through supplemental dao were as rare as phoenix feathers and dragon scales. It was a piece of cake for the latter to kill someone higher ranked than them.
In reality, the little fox was already a supplemental path king, but no one had seen through her concealment.
“Did the venerated enforcer really teach you those three moves?” Hua Fengwen didn’t even bother with greetings and cut straight to the chase.
“Well… no.” Morningstar blinked when he saw the old man. “I stole it from him when we fought.”
Though Hua Fengwen appeared every bit an ordinary elder at the moment, that he could sit in the same booth as Lu Yun meant that he was far more than he appeared. Morningstar had also clearly noted that the other two by Lu Yun’s side were kings; they weren’t concealing their cultivation ripples.
“Then he taught those to you,” Hua Fengwen snorted. “If he wasn’t willing to pass on combat arts of that level, how would someone with the potential of an ant like you be able to learn them? Heh heh heh, the old brat hasn’t changed in a hundred thousand years.”
Dusksnow Morningstar shut his mouth. He had no idea what to say to that. Meanwhile, Lu Yun and the little fox looked at each other.
“When you sent my past self to the mythological realm, I hadn’t figured out Dragonrise,” he transmitted. “The venerated one is Lu Qing’s disciple?”
“Yes, so that makes him our martial grandson.” The little fox nodded surreptitiously. “Lu Qing told me this.”
Lu Yun stroked his chin. “Then it looks like we really need to pay him a visit.”
“The battle here is over, so let us be on our way.” He waved his hand, drawing a slight sigh of relief from Morningstar. He really didn’t know how to handle this ordinary-seeming, yet chatterbox of an elder. There were no ordinary beings in the Hongmeng. Even if they were, they wouldn’t be able to enter Multitude City.
