Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Six months after Zuo Dongting’s death, there was no news of the youngsters who had once shown a great momentum, wanting to conquer the world, revealing their sharp edges. They had suddenly disappeared. Regardless of how intense the battle was at Venus and Saturn, regardless of any rumors regarding the Great Ensemble, they never made an appearance; they seemed to have vanished like a puff of smoke.
The Himalayas is known as the roof of the world. Although the Himalayas was no longer considered the highest roof of the Federation and Everest was no longer the highest peak in the Federation with the development of the five major planets, it was still the highest peak on Earth!
The snow-capped and windy highest point of the main peak had an air density of only two point seven percent of what it was at sea level, which was why any ordinary martial artist would feel shortness of breath here.
Qin Fen sat at the apex of the main peak, overlooking at the vast earth. He had been sitting here for seven days straight. Apart from eating, he had only been gazing over the vast horizon, over the endless land that harbored billions of souls.
Right then, the sounds of someone stepping on the thick snow resounded. Without even looking back, Qin Fen knew that it was Chen Feiyu, the martial arts genius with the Copper Solar Physique and only half of the meridians of ordinary people, had also come to the top.
Chen Feiyu didn’t speak; he just looked at Qin Fen. Qin Fen had grown a thick beard over the six months he hadn’t seen him. He touched his cheeks and chuckled, Am I not the same as Qin Fen?
Picking up a handful of snow and stuffing into his mouth, Chen Feiyu chewed this natural drink lightly, enjoying the piercing cold wind.
Unlike Qin Fen who had been gazing at mountains and rivers sitting at the top, he laid down on the ground with his arms and legs spread apart, drawing a “大” shape, looking up at the clear blue sky that seemed to be within reach.
Another day later, Brooks came to the top. He looked at his bearded companions and smiled as he picked up a handful of snow and gently wiped his long katana.
Over these six months, Brooks always had this katana beside him except when he was traveling around. He walked with it on his back and slept holding it, but never used it.
Caesar also arrived in the same afternoon. He made his way to Qin Fen and stood beside him, walking with a majestic gait and carrying his hands behind his back. He overlooked the endless land and chanted lightly, “Oh, endless earth, tell me who will rise and who will fall?!”
Mourad, carrying the scarlet spear with mottled scars, chose to sit beside Qin Fen. He kept looking at the spear in his hand. “Thank you, but I will still kill you.”
Qin Fen nodded, listening to the sudden dragon roars in the mountain as well as the avalanche triggered by the dragon roar; the sliding and tumbling of the snow.
The snow piled up across thousands of kilometers over the years was shaken by Young Dragon King – Yang Lie’s roar filled with aura energy that resounded across the sky. Layers of snow pushed each other, accumulating and roaring together like the cloud of dust brought by the galloping of horses. And then, they slid down the mountain as if the sky was collapsing. The sliding layers and layers of snow were like majestic snow-white waves.
“Qin Fen!”
The roar was filled with a sense of provocation. Young Dragon King’s dragon-form movement technique swept the snow, turning into a white dragon. Yang Lie’s arm shook like a dragon, his fingers spread like a dragon’s jaw, his body rose and fell like a giant dragon. Yang Lie had pushed himself to the peak of the sixteen-star level over these six months they hadn’t seen him. And with that sudden dragon’s roar that pierced through the sky and shook the earth, a majestic aura spread towards every direction. He might not have Caesar-like emperor’s majesty, but it wasn’t any inferior to an emperor’s majesty.
Dragons could only be found in myths and legends. The emperor was also known as a dragon’s child. Although the two kinds were different, they had the same origins. The appearance of a true dragon could naturally cause the wind and clouds to change color. Triggering an avalanche with his roar, Yang Lie merged the might of the avalanche into his punch as his figure transformed into a Dragon King with the movement technique. Owing to which, the shaking of his arms burst forth with seemingly endless power.
While roaring, Yang Lie went up against the avalanche. His figure jumped again and again through the never-ending sea and tides of snow. Every step he took was like he was stepping on flat ground, like a dragon king was flying through the clouds. And after he left, that snow tide would explode, giving the impression of a dragon king releasing lightning in the sky.
Yang Lie walked up and down through the avalanche, charging straight at Qin Fen who was sitting at the top. He turned the destructive aura of power of the avalanche into his own through his successive rush, pushing his own aura of power high and high up. His last step caused the endless avalanche to freeze in the blink of an eye as if a breeze of cold wind straight from the arctic had blown over to this roof of the world.
Momentum and the aura of power! They had surpassed Qin Fen’s when Qin Fen had fought in the Sahara half a year ago. What’s more, he had congealed the true aura energy infused into his body from having arrived at the peak of the sixteen-star level into a plate of iron. The battle intent around his body had formed into a water-tight small world. Even an ordinary person who hadn’t practiced any martial arts could sense that proud battle intent around him.
The dragon was out for blood!
Yang Lie’s life experience of these six months and his previous experiences had completely sublimated over these six months, enhancing his majestic body further. All his martial dao was merged into this punch.
There was no need for any greetings, let alone any nonsense. Everyone present could understand what this move of Yang Lie’s entailed.
Sitting at the top, QIn Fen could feel Yang Lie’s power and the shaking of the snow due to it.
Right at the same time, Brooks stopped wiping the katana in his hand. His obsessed eyes that almost looked expressionless suddenly burst with a battle intent that was as radiant as a sun. The bright and sharp katana in his hand let out an excited cry as he instantly resorted to the strongest move in his arsenal with the strength of the peak of the sixteen-star level: the Sky Splitter!
Qin Fen! Brooks’ goal was also Qin Fen. He lashed his blade out suddenly, without any warning signs as his blade energy soared through the sky! He created the situation of attacking from both front and rear with Yang Lie.
Chen Feiyu, who was lying on the ground, sprang off the ground like a spring. His entire palm glowed red like the blood jade as he thrust his palm like a spear with a sling of his waist and a shake of his shoulder. His palm cut through the air with a grating noise even in this low-density air. It was the Blood Jade Heart Piercing Hand derived from Butcher’s Heart Excising Hand!
Caesar rooted his feet on the ground as he flailed his arm like the emperor sealing the document after having reviewed it. It was Caesar’s Extermination of the Entire Family. He smashed it straight towards the top of Qin Fen’s head.
Mourad also made his move right then. The long spear in his hand was too long, obviously, it was never suitable for close combat. Nevertheless, its sharp tip pressed straight towards Qin Fen’s throat as nimbly as a finger-thin red snake in a flash, blasting the surrounding air.
Qin Fen raised his eyebrows ever so slightly. He was in the absolute center of the battlefield. And finally, he sensed their power. Several martial dao masters, whose names were on everyone’s tongue half a year ago, erupted fro the first time after a six month silence. How could it be so easy?
Qin Fen watched Caesar’s fist, who was just next to him, as it came crashing down on his head. The small and uniform fist that was like a red jade seal seemed to be bearing the anger of heaven and earth. It directly squeezed and blasted the pitiful air around him, creating a small vacuum around Qin Fen. The rumbling of sea waves rang in Qin Fen’s ears non-stop, just like when someone dived deep into the sea. It was as if this vacuum wanted to draw out the remaining air from his lungs.
Caesar’s punch was simply magnificent; it gave the feeling of an emperor’s presence. An emperor’s prestige swept through the world, giving everyone the feeling that they couldn’t jump or avoid it, and also making it difficult to figure out where the final goal of his punch laid.
Emperor’s unpredictable heart! Over these six months, Caesar had not only traveled through China, but he also visited a few ancient sites. He stayed in the palaces for a night, sensing what those past emperors used to feel a hundred, a thousand years ago.
The tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang, that had never been opened for a long time since its discovery, was finally open to the public with the development of the technology.
Caesar felt the enthusiasm of the first emperor of ancient times. Sleeping amid the terracotta warriors and horse, he experienced the golden era of spear and horses, the courage to conquer the entire world.
The sound of Caesar’s fist punching through the air and the subsequent sonic boom was mixed with the sounds of spears and horses that seemed to have gone through tens of thousands of years and still not have disappeared in the long river of history.
Qin Fen, watching the fist crashing down on his head, raised his left palm and turned his wrist as if he was drawing a circle. He gently lifted his arm and took that thunderous punch.
The moment that palm and the jade seal fist came in contact with each other, Caesar felt that the advancing tide of history of his was no longer in his control suddenly. The entire river of history flowing along with the punch seemed to be in someone else’s control, drawing out another channel. Meanwhile, Caesar’s tide of history flowed into another direction with this new sign of the historical road. His feet seemed a bit light just like when one was in an elevator as the elevator pushed its passenger from bottom to top quickly, or it could be said that it was more like that powerful feeling of push when an airplane takes off.
The rocks and snow under his feet were also pulled into the air by the vacuum.
The history was changed in an instant… A strange feeling rose in Caesar’s heart, just like what the emperors felt in the face of the unstoppable torrent of history; all they could do was comply with destiny, what the Gods had decreed…
Can the people not win against heaven after all? A feeling of powerlessness surged in Caesar’s heart under Qin Fen’s watchful gaze. Is it really impossible to win against heaven? No! Shengjing once had an emperor who ruled over hundreds of millions. He once said, man can definitely win against heaven!
The diverted Extermination of the Entire Family was actually returning to its original track against the might providence of heaven, bit by bit.
Qin Fen pinched his fingers of his right hand in the same way a blacksmith who had been working in the smithy for many years held the hammer. A heavy hammer fell without the slightest aura of power. It was as simple and unadorned as the most ordinary worker moving a sledgehammer.
His arm muscles were strong and streamlined. It was a very ordinary swing but it struck right at that tricky scarlet spear quite easily.
As the arm and spear clashed with each other, Mourad felt an invisible mighty force coming from the spear. It wasn’t the rotation caused by the rotation of the palm but the impact from this smash caused the spear to instinctively rotate. In the blink of an eye, it turned into an uncontrollable red dragon, ready to jump out of his control.
Mourad’s entire body jolted; he was unable to remain sitting. After pulling back the spear and withdrawing with an odd step, the long spear in his hand quivered before he launched a barrage of spear thrusts with the repeated shake of his shoulders.
This was the Vermillion Bird Spear Technique that had thirty-six moves altogether. Mourad used to be very skillful in it; he was confident that he could display its complete might. But he had a new understanding over these six months. When he used the Vermillion Bird Swallowing the Sun again, it really had the feeling of the firebird swallowing the sun from the painting.
With this thrust of the spear, the perennial cold wind at the top rolled back due to a vigorous force, letting out a vermillion divine bird-like cry and forming a back wind turbulence visible to the naked eye.
Meanwhile, Qin Fen had stood up in a flash. And without making any offensive move, he turned while maintaining the stance of Playing Pipa before pinning that oncoming Chen Feiyu’s Blood Jade Heart Piercing Hand before his chest with his elbows right at the center. He immediately took the horse stance and turned before slamming his right shoulder straight into Chen Feiyu. In the next moment, his ordinary right shoulder muscles bulged suddenly, tearing through the super nano battle suit. His humongous muscles were the size of two people; it looked more like a shield.
Ancient fist technique – The Road of World Domination! Originally, the muscles were trained to be as strong as steel; the shoulders were trained to be so strong that they could even bend the steel itself so that they could be effectively used to attack the enemy either by using the Iron Mountain Thrust of Eight Extreme Fists or Twisting Single Mountain Thrust from the Arhat Fists.
But Qin Fen had modified this fist technique to attack and defend. Just like a big iron shield hanging on his shoulders to defend or attack and destroy the enemy.
It was a confrontation between the spear and the shield! Chen Feiyu stretched the left hand hidden at his waist while the drill-like palm returned to normal. He joined the inner side of his palm together like he was praying before his ten fingers stretched outwards as he slammed them straight on the meat shield of The Road of World Domination. His surging power immediately let out a heaven-shaking roar.
Chen Feiyu immediately felt an excruciating pain as his palms slapped hard on the iron shield. A scorching hot feeling course through his arms through his palms as a crushing force that seemed that it wanted to destroy everything sent him flying hundreds of meters high into the air.
Right then, Brooks’ gleaming sharp blade was upon Qin Fen. Immediately, a clap of thunder rang from underneath Qin Fen’s feet as the katana cut through his after-image; his figure had already disappeared from his place using Thunderbolt Steps and Dragon Guard!
The timing of Brooks’ Sky Splitter was just perfect. Even with the Thunderbolt Steps, it was difficult for Qin Fen to avoid it in this passive situation. Qin Fen used the Dragon Guard almost instinctively.
As the Sky Splitter cut through Qin Fen’s phantom image, Brooks turned the long katana with the twist of his wrist, changing the edge of Sky Splitter naturally, slashing towards the retreating Qin Fen.
The most different part about the sword from the fist was that the subsequent moves were even more powerful, and it was quite difficult to expend their lethality when changing moves in the middle.
Qin Fen, seeing the horizontal cutting katana, flipped his wrist as his spread his five fingers, smacking head-on the blade of the katana! Brooks twisted his katana immediately, turning the horizontal slash into an aggressive cut; the original blade momentum of from top to bottom turned into from the bottom to top in a moment. Qin Fen flipped his smacking palm as his fingers also grabbed from the bottom to top, grabbing that thick back of the katana before pulling it hard. Just as Qin Fen seized the katana in his hand, he flicked his arm towards Young Dragon King – Yang Lie, who was attacking Qin Fen from behind.
What an overbearing way to snatch the blade! Yang Lie avoided the hurled katana with the sway of his figure before a metallic clang rang behind him; Mourad had hit the katana with his long spear. The katana flew back over Qin Fen’s head as the empty-handed Brooks dived straight towards it.
“Well!?”
The corner of Qin Fen’s eyes started twitching. Right then, he heard a sharp swish caused by a palm cutting through the air. Yang Lie’s Humanity Aura Shield emerged from behind a mountain rock. A figure arrived in a flash as their feet stepped on the snow, dashing through the short distance, keeping their figure low, giving the impression of a fighter jet flying close to the ground. Meanwhile, their fingers stabbed towards Qin Fen’s jaw from bottom to top!
“My Electric Steps!? And also a revised Dragon Cannon, Thousand Miles Sneak Attack!?”
Qin Fen’s eyes lit up as he noticed Lin Ling, who had hidden herself so well that he was unable to detect her aura, making a move. Much to his surprise, it was his Electric Steps and a revised Dragon Cannon!
Oh, she has chosen to pursue a one-hit-kill instead of a vast momentum! Qin Fen had once thought about this but he didn’t like it. He found it difficult to hide himself to carry out a sneak attack.
The higher Qin Fen ventured into the martial arts, the harder Qin Fen found it to hide. The martial senses of higher star-class martial artists weren’t something an ordinary person could imagine.
Qin Fen could not help but admire Lin Ling. This woman has always been capable of doing what others couldn’t do. Although the attacks of several companions might have affected my judgment and control, I could still detect even an ant making a move immediately. Yet Lin Ling appeared so silently, it was as if she never existed, as if she appeared out of thin air.
Qin Fen lowered his figure as he employed Thunderbolt Steps with the Dragon Guard again. His body was even lower than Lin Ling. He was carrying out a reverse charge. He spread his arms out and hugged Lin Ling’s waist, holding her in his arms.
The Dragon Cannon had a vast momentum and naturally, a wider coverage. It was a trick with almost no flaws but its lethality was relatively lower. Its revised version, the Thousand Miles Sneak Attack had converged all of its attacks at one point. It might have doubled its lethality but it had its own defects. That was that a loophole would appear when attacking.
Qin Fen was well aware of the flaws of this trick. Holding Lin Ling in his arms, he quickly pushed his lips on her neck and whispered in her ears at the same time, “You are already dead…”
Sixteen-star! Qin Fen could only sense Lin Ling’s star-class when he came in close contact with her. That’s Humanity Aura Shield of the sixteen-star level, but why couldn’t I discover it before?
Loosening his arms, Qin Fen dove straight towards Young Dragon King, Yang Lie, borrowing the momentum from his previous charge.
You are already dead… Lin Ling stood dumbfounded in her place. If he had used his teeth instead of lips, I would have indeed died.
A sliver of warm love fluttered around Lin Ling’s body. She felt her cheeks turn hot as she looked up at Qin Fen, who was fighting with several young martial artists, recalling the moment Qin Fen had hugged her. Much to her surprise, she had turned stiff at that moment, which should not have happened. That’s the only reason why Qin Fen could get his hand… lips… otherwise, I could’ve still fought back.
CLANG…
A metallic clang rang as the sparks from the collision of metals flew everywhere. Mourad’s long spear had somehow crashed into Brooks’ katana. Their considerable strength had forced both sides to retreat, again and again. The subsequent turmoil of their blood and energy was harder to suppress compared to when they had fought with Qin Fen.
Qin Fen spread his left and right arms, entangling with Yang Lie’s and Caesar’s fists. Lifting them both off the ground and throwing them into the distance with brute force, he rushed to Chen Feiyu using Thunderbolt Steps combined with Dragon Cannon movement technique. Having smacked his opponent’s head, he turned and smacked his palm on Brooks and Mourad’s chest respectively. Having done that, he stood in his place, gazing at the distant Yang Lie and Caesar.
After all, it wasn’t a life and death fight. Lin Ling, Brooks, Mourad, and Chen Feiyu, all knew that if it really was a life and death battle, they would have been dead already. As for the surviving Caesar and Yang Lie, it would have been even harder for them to take on Qin Fen’s attacks.
Brooks, calming his agitated blood and energy, shook his head and sighed, again and again. “Unfortunately… we couldn’t force you to use your full strength even when we joined hands. It would have been better if Solomon was here too.”
Chen Feiyu clucked his tongue repeatedly. Each and every one of these young martial artists is an amazing expert. Yet we were unable to force him to use his full strength even when we joined hands. What exactly did this kid do in these six months so that he advanced so much?
“Solomon?” Qin Fen furrowed his brow slightly. “Where is he?”
“Golden Triangle.” Yang Lie fell back on the ground. “He said everyone’s road of martial arts is different. He doesn’t like to have a boring walk. He went to major battlefields in Golden Triangle while suppressing his strength completely. He wanted to have a life and death fight with the people there…
