Lu Yin had already known that Shang Qing would try to keep all of the Sixth Mainland’s participants from passing through his checkpoint, as he was representing the Hall of Honor. If he simply allowed the Sixth Mainland’s youths to pass through, then the people loyal to the Hall of Honor would lose morale. After all, the Sixth Mainland had killed far too many of the Fifth Mainland’s people.
If Shang Qing truly did his best to block off everyone from the Sixth Mainland, then they would truly have a very difficult time of things.
On the mountain’s western face, Zhi Yi frowned; was Shang Qing specifically targeting their Sixth Mainland? Fortunately, he had been forced to use a secret technique against Di Fa, which meant that this person was not as invincible as people believed him to be. If he wanted to stop all of the Sixth Mainland’s participants, then he was guaranteed to exhaust himself quickly.
Di Fa had been banished to the foot of the mountain, but that did not mean that he had been eliminated from ZENITH. He was still an active competitor.
It would be much easier for him to clear the first checkpoint now. Furthermore, the southern face’s gatekeeper, Bu Kong, was another person from the Sixth Mainland.
Di Fa rubbed his head and stood up. But when he looked around, he noticed that his surroundings did not seem familiar; this was not the southern side of the mountain.
When he looked up at the screen, he was shocked by what he saw. He had not been sent to the bottom of the southern side of Zenith Mountain, but rather to the eastern side! Lu Yin was the gatekeeper of this section.
Di Fa had not expected to be thrown over to the eastern side, and the audience watching ZENITH were also shocked by this development.
Lu Yin was similarly confused, but after thinking it through, he realized that he was the gatekeeper who was the most likely to stop Di Fa from making it through the first pass.
Di Fa was annoyed, as he had interacted with Lu Yin in the past. Back then, he had nearly caused Lu Yin to be killed by Shang Rong, and they had fought a few times in the past as well. To be honest, Di Fa was even more cautious of Lu Yin than Shang Qing, as Lu Yin was an enemy.
When Yōu Qi arrived at the central checkpoint, he successfully passed through. He then appeared in an arena next to Yuhua Mavis.
Shang Qing had not tried to stop him.
However, Yōu Qi was quickly followed by Star Devourer. The beast had made it past Bu Kong with Yao Xuan’s help, but he still needed to face Shang Qing.
After being stopped by Bu Kong, Star Devourer had become much more humble, and he had shrunk himself down to a more manageable size before racing through the final mountain pass.
Star Devourer had seen Shang Qing’s secret technique, and although the beast looked down upon humans, he still felt threatened by that particular secret technique. Besides, if Star Devourer retained his full size, Shang Qing’s attacks would easily hit him. With both considerations in mind, Star Devourer had shrunk down.
Shang Qing did not make a move, and he calmly watched the astral beast pass on by.
The participants from the Astral Beast Domain all felt relieved.
Qiu Shi and Ling Gong rushed through at the same time, and Shang Qing still did not move.
However, the next to arrive was Nan Yanfei.
Shang Qing turned to face the Realmling.
Nan Yanfei was rendered speechless. He had already been extremely anxious when he had arrived at Lu Yin’s checkpoint, and as for Shang Qing’s checkpoint, Nan Yanfei was completely certain that he would be stopped by this final gatekeeper.
Countless people were watching him right now, so Nan Yanfei could not back down. He was a Realmling, and if he stopped, then he would be forever seen as a coward, and he refused to suffer such a fate.
Nan Yanfei charged at the checkpoint.
A strand of qi shot towards him, and Nan Yanfei sighed to himself.
Unseen Light had rushed toward the final checkpoint at the same time as Nan Yanfei, but Unseen Light easily passed through while Nan Yanfei was stopped.
In Chaos Flowzone’s western region, all the Sixth Mainland cultivators angrily cursed at Shang Qing, but there were still a few who remained calm.
The Sixth Mainland had a deep enmity with the Fifth Mainland, so it was no surprise that Shang Qing was targeting the Sixth Mainland’s youth. At this moment, everything depended on the competitors’ individual ability.
Fortunately, Shang Qing was not as invincible as the rumors painted him to be, and he actually seemed less intimidating than Lu Yin. The scene of Lu Yin crushing Little Arrow Saint with just one attack was still shocking and fresh in their mind.
The strand of qi flew towards Nan Yanfei, and he kept dodging around while trying to push forward through the checkpoint. Although the qi strand was unable to land an attack on the Realmling, it always managed to block him from moving forward, as it was much quicker than him.
“Hey, it’s really not realistic for you to stop everyone from the Sixth Mainland all on your own!” Nan Yanfei threatened.
Shang Qing’s expression grew cold, and he continued attacking with his qi strand.
Liu Tianmu and Xin Nü soon arrived at the pass. Liu Tianmu smoothly cleared the checkpoint, but Xin Nü was blocked by another qi strand.
Xin Nü’s eyes narrowed; there were now two qi strands in action.
When Bai Ling arrived at the checkpoint, Shang Qing’s third qi strand blocked her path.
Shang Qing alone was blocking three experts. This was his strength.
However, as far as most people present were concerned, Shang Qing’s actions were not sustainable. Even if his three qi strands could block these three experts, what would happen once a fourth person from the Sixth Mainland arrived?
It was also unreasonable to expect him to repeatedly use Banishment.
Sword Scholar arrived, but instead of trying to pass through the checkpoint, he chose to attack Shang Qing with his Scholar Sword.
Everyone’s focus turned to Shang Qing. Four of the Sixth Mainland’s Realmlings were fighting against Shang Qing, so just how would he deal with the situation by himself?
Lu Yin looked up. Progenitor Chen was about to appear.
Further up, on the third layer, Yuhua Mavis looked up at a screen with anticipation. How big of an uproar would the reappearance of Progenitor Chen create? ZENITH was not as simple as the Mountain and Seas Zone. This competition was being broadcast live throughout the entire universe. Progenitor Chen’s image would appear before everybody.
Mu En stood up. It was time for the Fifth Mainland’s invincible powerhouse to appear: Progenitor Chen.
Sword Scholar’s attack brushed past Shang Qing without injuring him, as it had been deflected by a qi strand. The other two strands returned to Shang Qing, leaving only one strand in front of the checkpoint. The four Realmings would be able to clear the final checkpoint if they managed to get past that qi strand.
Nan Yanfei and the others hesitated as they warily stared at the strand of qi.
“I hope that you all can force me to send out a second qi strand. Otherwise, things will just be too boring.” The qi strand blocking the four competitors suddenly began to morph. A silhouette appeared. Then, eyes and a nose took shape until, eventually, a handsome yet arrogant man appeared before them.
Once the man was fully formed, Nan Yanfei and the others felt goosebumps. It was as though they were facing a monster.
Yuhua Mavis, Xia Jiuyou, and others from the Fifth Mainland grew solemn; this was Progenitor Chen.
A Progenitor was invincible, and who would dare to claim that they could rival a Progenitor at the same cultivation realm as them? Especially when that Progenitor was the most powerful expert of all: Progenitor Chen.
The moment Progenitor Chen appeared, the battle was already decided.
Illusory black flames burned as an illusory Progenitor Chen appeared in front of Nan Yanfei. The summoned powerhouse attacked.
Nan Yanfei’s imprint, Bluedome Elder, appeared behind him, and the youth roared as he activated his Taotie bloodline. He felt truly threatened at this moment.
The ground trembled as Nan Yanfei’s attack broke the mountain upon contact. This was the true power of a Realmling’s attack. However, this attack had no effect on the illusory Progenitor Chen. The figure’s palm struck Nan Yanfei’s chest, causing blood to spurt out his back as he suddenly flew off of the mountain.
The illusory Progenitor Chen then turned to attack Sword Scholar, who had launched an attack against Shang Qing.
Distance was meaningless to Sword Scholar, and a slash of his sword left behind a crack in the sky.
Progenitor Chen’s palm hit the hilt of Sword Scholar’s sword, causing the sword to fly out of Sword Scholar’s hand. Illusory flames instantly engulfed Sword Scholar the next moment.
Sword Scholar’s eyes narrowed, but before he could extinguish the flames, he was thrown from the mountain in the same manner as Nan Yanfei.
The illusory Progenitor Chen’s next target was Bai Ling. She was terrified, as this illusory figure had instantly defeated two Realmlings. She quickly retreated, but the illusory Progenitor Chen still appeared right before her, gazing at her with cold eyes.
Bai Ling went pale. She felt completely helpless.
Suddenly, the illusory figure disappeared; Xin Nü had attacked Shang Qing, causing the illusory Progenitor Chen to appear behind Xin Nü and retaliate against her.
Nobody could withstand Progenitor Chen’s attacks.
Xin Nü’s gaze sharpened, and she raised her right palm towards Shang Qing, completely ignoring everything behind her.
Xin Nü was very quick, but Shang Qing was still being protected by another qi strand, rendering her attack ineffective. Behind her, the palm of the illusory Progenitor Chen approached her back.
Suddenly, the illusory figure paused, and the strand of qi protecting Shang Qing also paused. Xin Nü’s attack did not land on Shang Qing, but the momentum of her attack pushed her forwards, causing her to clear the checkpoint.
Bai Ling’s eyes went wide, and she also raced through the checkpoint.
In just an instant, the two girls had cleared the mountain pass
Many people stared at Shang Qing, as they could not understand what had just happened.
Mu En was confused; could there be a flaw in the Tri-Yang Technique?
Shang Qing had just unleashed his power and eliminated two Realmlings by summoning an illusory Progenitor Chen. However, something else had occurred shortly after, and many people were feeling terribly confused.
Shang Qing’s expression darkened as he turned to look at Bu Kong, Zhi Yi, and Yao Xuan.
Who? Who had it been?
Someone had used an extremely powerful spiritual force attack to drag him into an inescapable illusion. If not for the power of the illusory Progenitor Chen, then Shang Qing would have been affected by the illusion even longer.
Who was capable of producing an illusion that not even he, Shang Qing, could overcome?
Shang Qing grew solemn as he tried to remember all of the participating experts who possessed powerful spiritual force. His gaze finally landed on Yao Xuan. Had it been him? The Celestial Demons had always been experts in spiritual force, surpassing even the Daynight clan.
Shang Qing was not able to confirm his suspicion, as there was no reason for Yao Xuan to help these people from the Sixth Mainland. However, apart from the Celestial Beast Empire’s crown prince, Shang Qing could not think of anyone else who could unleash such a powerful spiritual force attack.
On the eastern side of the mountain, Lu Yin felt relieved, though he looked slightly annoyed. He had only managed to affect Shang Qing for an instant. The summoned Progenitor Chen was truly too powerful.
Fortunately, Xin Nü had successfully passed through the checkpoint, and Lu Yin had managed to repay a favor that he owed her.
Shang Qing might not know who had attacked him, but other people did. For example, the people from Gods’ Origin like God Taiyi and God Qingguang had seen Lu Yin’s rune lines surround Shang Qing at that moment. Although they could not determine exactly what had happened, they knew it had to be related to Lu Yin.
Yao Xuan also knew, as he was very sensitive to spiritual force.
He was shocked by the sheer power of Lu Yin’s spiritual force, as the crown prince had not expected a human’s spiritual force to reach such a tremendous level. Yao Xuan completely reevaluated Lu Yin, and he realized that Lu Yin would not be easy to deal with. It would be hard for the participants from the Astral Beast Domain to fulfill their mission, as Lu Yin was truly powerful since he possessed both a strong domain and a powerful spiritual force.
Hmm? Yao Xuan felt that a number of people were looking at him, particularly Shang Qing.
When he met Shang Qing’s gaze, Yao Xuan felt that the first Honor Chosen had misunderstood something.
Although Xin Nü and Bai Ling had both managed to clear the final checkpoint, nobody dared to underestimate Shang Qing.
He had defeated two Realmlings with just a single strand of qi while there were three swirling around him. The thought of three Progenitor powerhouses was a chilling thought.
