Liquor Hero was in the same half-drunk state as always.
The stutterer’s face showed obvious distress, but he had already reached this point. During the last round, his opponent had been one of the Lockbreaker Society’s Distinguished Five, and he had also been in the top ranks of the Top 100 Rankings, but the stutterer had ultimately managed to come out on top. The truth was that the stutterer’s strength was high enough to qualify to participate in the Mountain and Seas Zone’s competition and fight for the Astral Tower. A;though his strength was not overwhelming, he did match up to those at the top of the Top 100 Rankings.
I thought that my luck would continue, but I ended up running into Liquor Hero here. Looking to the side, the stutter grew desperate. Even if he wanted to team up with the third participant to go up against Liquor Hero, it was impossible. Actually, how in the world had a Limiteer reached this stage of ZENITH?
“I give up!” Sigui reacted immediately. He felt that it was a man’s responsibility to know when it was time to step down and let go.
The stutterer was speechless. “Me- me- me-”
Before he could even finish what he was trying to say, he already back at his original position on the first layer while Liquor Hero had appeared at the bottom of one of the staircases leading to the top of Zenith Mountain. Reaching the top of those stairs meant that that person had entered the top ten.
Against Liquor Hero, there was no shame in admitting defeat.
The stutterer was in a daze. He had not wanted to admit defeat at all! Even though he had known that he would absolutely lose, he did not have the courage to admit defeat, as his master would beat him to death after ZENITH! The stutterer had wanted to say, ‘Be serious, and don’t give up!’
Ku Wei was off to the side, and he gave the stutterer a sympathetic look. “Brother, that was really tough luck to run into Liquor Hero.”
The stutterer looked at Ku Wei. “Ben- ben- ben-“
Ku Wei grew angry. “You’re stupid! Your whole family is stupid!”
“It was- it was-,” said the stutterer.1
Ku Wei did not hear the end of the stutterer’s sentence, as he had already appeared on the battlefield. As soon as he appeared, a familiar voice entered his ears. “Hey, two-legged cook, get over here and be a ride for Lord Fish! Lord Fish is in a good mood, so I’ll teach you and guide you until you become a Progenitor.”
Ku Wei turned to look at the source of the voice and instantly found the fish. He reflexively asked, “Do you like chili powder?”
The fish was infuriated, and he slapped his fins about fiercely. “Stupid two-legged beast! Lord Fish was giving you a chance. Hey, two-legged beast, have you changed?”
The fist stared at Ku Wei and carefully observed him before asking, “Have you gotten bigger?”
Others were not able to understand this question, but Ku Wei did, and he stared at the fish as though he had seen a ghost. Had this rotten fish actually noticed that he was able to transform into a guardian giant? No, this fish’s eyes were too evil!
“The face becomes bigger and uglier, so don’t do it! You stay away from Lord Fish!” The fish spat in contempt.
Ku Wei was furious.
Xi Qi felt like she had been wronged. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Don’t get angry.”
At this moment, another figure appeared, and Ku Wei and Xi Qi looked over in unison. After a flicker of lightning flashed by, the two looked at each other with pale faces.
Wang Yi! Why was it him?
In the distance, Lu Yin pursed his lips. Ku Wei was very unlucky with this matchup. The three people were supposed to fight against each other, but they had been matched up against Wang Yi. There was no luck in this match.
Still, it certainly was not bad for Ku Wei to have reached this point in ZENITH.
Wang Yi’s appearance had already determined the match, and there was no suspense at all.
Only the fish was in disagreement. “Hey, two-legged beast, Lord Fish can see that your bones are very strange, so hurry up and serve as a ride for Lord Fish! Lord Fish can teach you how to become a Progenitor when I’m in a good mood.”
Xi Qi quickly covered the fish’s mouth. “Don’t talk! This is ZENITH, there are no punishments for killing somebody, don’t offend them any more.”
Ku Wei carefully distanced himself away from Xi Qi. That rotten fish could say anything, and Ku Wei was scared of being dragged down along with it.
Wait, why not just surrender? Ku Wei’s eyes lit up. Against Wang Yi, it did not matter even if Ku Wei transformed into a guardian giant, as he would definitely lose. Since that was the case, he might as well just quickly surrender. He had already seen what had happened to Yao Gu and Toolwielder.
“I give up,” Xi Qi said simply. She was terrified the fish would continue spouting nonsense.
The fish was furious and kept flapping its fins.
Ku Wei also quickly spoke up. “I admit defeat.”
Wang Yi appeared right below one of the staircases near the top of Zenith Mountain.
Soon, three more figures appeared on the battlefield: there were two Explorers, one from the Sixth Mainland and the other from the Neoverse, and the Greenmen Duo’s Skinny Bro.
Upon seeing the matchup of this three-way battle, Lu Yin became convinced that the pairings were not being randomly assigned.
Of the fifty people who had made it all the way to the first layer, more than ten of them were clearly much weaker than the others. Almost all of these people had relied upon luck to reach this point. From the participants of the two three-person battles that had just taken place, the four people who had been eliminated were among those ten weaker individuals. There were dozens of people who could be paired up, so these matchings were intentionally eliminating certain people.
In this third battle, the thin man from the Greenmen Duo easily eliminated the other two, though the thin man himself was not a real powerhouse either.
The match quickly ended, and next, Shang Qing appeared on the battlefield.
As soon as Shang Qing appeared, the rest of the contestants’ eyes all showed a bit of stress. No one would have a good time if they had to face off against Shang Qing. Even if Lu Yin was confident that he had the strength to fight against Shang Qing, it would cost Lu Yin dearly to face Shang Qing at this time.
The massive Star Devourer also appeared in the field, as he was Shang Qing’s opponent.
This was another three-way battle, and the final participant was Xie Xiaoxian.
As soon as Xie Xiaoxian appeared, she wanted to cry, but there were no tears.
In the Mountain and Seas Zone, Xie Xiaoxian had been the first person to witness the true power of the Tri-Yang Technique’s ancestral qi. In that place, up on the golden stage, Shang Qing had transformed two qi strands into copies of Progenitor Chen, and Xie Xiaoxian would never forget the aura of invincibility that had washed over her at that time. Shang Qing was an Enlighter, as were the copies he had summoned. But even if he had been a Hunter, those qi strands were not something that Xia Xiaoxian could deal with.
For Progenitor Chen, crossing realms to battle could not have been any easier, as any genius in the universe was basically nothing more than a regular person before Progenitor Chen.
Xie Xiaoxian started to consider whether or not she should immediately admit defeat. On the other side, Star Devourer’s huge body had already begun pressing upon Shang Qing.
When he had arrived at the fifth checkpoint, Star Devourer had made the smart decision to not provoke Shang Qing, instead shrinking down in order to pass by. Even if Star Devourer looked down upon humans, there was no need to recklessly go up against someone who could use Progenitors like hired muscle. However, at this stage of ZENITH, it was impossible not to fight.
Star Devourer had the appearance of a creature that was a cross between a wolf and a tiger with six eyes on his forehead. Every time an eye opened, his power would increase explosively.
Shang Qing easily evaded the massive creature as a strand of qi shot out to attack Star Devourer.
Star Devourer easily shattered the strand of qi. Although there was no way to permanently deal with the qi strands, as they quickly reformed after being shattered, for the moment, the qi was of no threat to Star Devourer.
Shang Qing frowned slightly as Star Devourer’s massive tail whipped down from above. The movement of the tail caused the void to warp in its wake, and the power of this attack was no less than what Yuhua Mavis could unleash.
Yuhua Mavis represented the pinnacle of human strength while Star Devourer represented the pinnacle of the astral beasts’ strength.
A human’s physiology was inherently limited, but Star Devourer’s was not. He was even able to swallow entire planets.
Shang Qing evaded the attack, and the huge tail smacked into the ground, shattering the earth where it fell. Xie Xiaoxian was forced back multiple steps by just the shockwave, and she stared on in horror. The strength of this creature reminded her of Corpse Beast.
When she had seen Corpse Beast’s strength after undergoing a third corpse king transformation, the creature’s physical power had been astounding. However, she had a feeling that the power she was currently seeing from Star Devourer might not be any less than what Corpse Beast had been capable of back then.
Star Devourer roared as he suddenly opened his fifth eye. His right paw rose up to slap down at Shang Qing.
From where he watched, Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. The power of this attack was infinitely close to what Corpse Beast had unleashed, and it was even at the level of Lu Yin’s physical strength. This was something that far surpassed Yuhua Mavis’s physical power.
Yuhua Mavis had a serious expression on her face. Star Devourer deserved his species’ reputation as being the strongest of all astral beasts. Only five eyes had been opened, but he had already surpassed her strength. Still, that was just physical strength, and a Mavis did not use power as crudely as Star Devourers.
As she was thinking of such things, Yuhua Mavis glanced over at Lu Yin. His Vacuum Palm was not something that Star Devourer could measure up to even now.
Strength was a form of power, but it greatly depended on how strength was exerted.
Xie Xiaoxian could not interfere in this battle, and she kept her distance. However, Star Devourer did not make any moves against the girl, focusing entirely on Shang Qing.
The strand of ancestral qi was useless against Star Devourer, and everyone watching started to grow nervous; it was time for Progenitor Chen to appear.
It did not take long before Shang Qing rose high into the sky. The strand of qi that had been attacking Star Devourer began to transform until it gradually took on the form of a human.
Star Devourer was not stupid. Although his brain was not anything special, he was very sensitive to danger. As soon as he saw the qi begin to transform, he raised a paw and attacked it.
There was a loud bang as the ground trembled and deep claw prints appeared in the ground.
Countless people nervously stared at their screens.
Star Devourer stared at the ground, and his originally indifferent gaze suddenly turned to one of pain. Blood spurted out as the glint of a knife flashed from up above, slashing through Star Devourer’s right paw. A figure then leaped into view: it was Progenitor Chen.
Star Devourer roared in pain, and his huge tail rampaged in all directions.
High in the sky, Shang Qing’s expression remained as tranquil and indifferent as ever. Two strands of qi swirled around him, giving him the appearance of a god.
Below, the Progenitor Chen formed from the strand of qi attacked Star Devourer with a knife, though there was no hint of any battle technique being used. However, there were also no extraneous movements. Each time the knife flashed by, the figure of the summoned human would disappear, though the knight light would remain behind.
Star Devourer’s huge tail was attacked and cut in half. No matter how powerful the creature was, his strength was useless against Progenitor Chen.
In the distance, Lu Yin gradually clenched his right hand: Progenitor Chen, this was Progenitor Chen. In the past, atop the golden stage, no one had been able to do anything to Corpse Beast at all, but as soon as a strand of qi had transformed into Progenitor Chen, the figure had blocked Corpse Beast with a knife, eventually slicing off Beast’s arm.
Corpse Beast was not some powerhouse from the younger generation, and the Neohuman Alliance had no youths who were powerful enough to undergo a third corpse king transformation, let alone integrate with death energy.
Yuhua Mavis, Xia Jiuyou, and the others would not be inferior even if they were compared to the most talented youths throughout history. However, all of them combined had still failed to defeat Beast, which showed how remarkable Progenitor Chen was for defeating the corpse king with nothing but a knife.
That was the power of Progenitor Chen, the invincible Progenitor Chen.
At this moment, no matter how powerful Star Devourer might be, he was like a child before Progenitor Chen. The giant creature’s right paw and tail had been immediately wounded, forcing Star Devourer into a position where he no longer dared to attack.
Only the people who were physically present could fully appreciate the horror of Star Devourer. He released a boundless pressure that caused people to collapse, but the people watching ZENITH through the broadcast screens could not feel any of the pressure and could only see Shang Qing’s invincibility.
Outside the Zenith Mountain, atop the white skeleton, someone commented, “That’s humanity’s top Progenitor. No matter what point in time it is, Progenitor Chen was invincible among his peers. Who can defeat a Progenitor in the same cultivation realm as them?”
“Unless another Progenitor takes action.”
“That’s useless. According to the legends, when the Fifth Mainland and the Sixth Mainland were at war, Progenitor Chen used his Nine Clones Technique to face off against nine other Progenitors. He was truly invincible.”
“That’s why this human is recognized as the only one eligible to take the title of Pinnacle Youth, not unless someone else can surpass the power of Progenitor Chen when he possessed their cultivation realm.”
“He has more than one clone of Progenitor Chen.”
These words left all of the other beasts silent.
Star Devourer was a unique lifeform that possessed incredible physical strength and fed on entire planets. He had the greatest physical strength out of everyone participating in ZENITH. He was immovable, but even he was completely powerless against Progenitor Chen.
On the first layer, Xie Xiaoxian swallowed as she stared up at Progenitor Chen in fear. As she watched this figure wield a knife, her eyes lit up. This was the invincible Progenitor Chen, so how sad must the people born in the same era as him have been?
[1] These two really don’t work to well in English. The first is him trying to say “Ben Dan,” which is “stupid.” The second one is him trying to say “It was always the case.” He’s just making fun of Ku Wei. ☜
