Huang Shenyi brushed the dirt off his clothes and glanced at Lui Shuihan and Duanmu Xingling, who were across him. He said coldly, "You were able to counter one of my attacks, proving that you two are somewhat skilled. However, if you think that you are capable of fighting against me, you are mistaken."
Duanmu Xingling smiled and said, "Is that so? We will only know if we are wrong after a fight."
"Swish!"
Duanmu Xingling transformed into a ghostly shadow and charged, leaving seven shadows on the ground.
By the time the seventh shadow stopped, she was hovering a meter off the ground. With her fingers closed, she formed a palm knife and struck at Huang Shenyi's neck with the power of ice.
Duanmu Xingling seemed to have reached an impossible speed with her attack, but Huang Shenyi's strike was even faster.
No one saw how he attacked. They only heard a bang and saw Duanmu Xingling fly outward.
Duanmu Xingling landed on the ground and retreated a dozen steps, bearing a pained expression on her face. Her left palm covered her lower abdomen while a streak of blood stained the corner of her lips. Her face was as white as paper.
"You survived my attack. Interesting."
Huang Shenyi's pupil contracted slightly.
He immediately leaped forward and stretched out one of his hands. Following the palm power, a dozen wind blades flew from the center of his palm.
Each wind blade turned into a two-meter tall white skeleton. There was something evil about them and they each held a long knife, giving out a ghost-like cry.
From the distance, Huang Shenyi's palm power formed a ghost army.
An Inferior Class martial technique from the Ghost Level, Ninth Earth Evil Wind Palm.
It was only now that Huang Shenyi became serious.
"Huang Shenyi is so powerful. No wonder he claimed to be able to defeat the second person on the Heaven Board, Hua Li, within three strikes. With my level of skill, I wouldn't even be able to block this one attack of his."
Duanmu Xingling was already seriously injured by Huang Shenyi's attack. She did not dare to meet the approaching Ninth Earth Evil Wind Palm directly and could only retreat as much as she could.
She was furious. A proper Saintess of the Moon Worship Sect had been forced to retreat by an Emissary of the Black Market Excellence Hall. If word got out, would it not ruin her reputation?
Luo Shuihan and Huang Yanchen immediately charged and stood in a line with Duanmu Xingling.
"Zigzag Luoshui River, flowing smoothly."
Luo Shuihan stepped up and stood at the forefront. Every inch of her skin glowed with a golden light. Her slender arms followed a strange path, outlining the shape of the nine twists of the Luoshui River, creating a Genuine Qi river in midair.
Duanmu Xingling and Huang Yanchen both struck, using their own martial techniques to block Huang Shenyi's palm power.
"Boom!"
They met the attack head-on once again. Huang Shenyi continued to have the upper hand, sending Luo Shuihan, Duanmu Xingling, and Huang Yanchen backward.
Huang Shenyi stopped attacking. He stared at Luo Shuihan and said, "Are you the Saintly Being of Saint Luo Gentry, Luo Shuihan?"
Luo Shuihan answered, "Yes I am."
Huang Shenyi nodded and said, "No wonder you could block my attack. You are the Holy Body of Golden Light of the Six Great Kings of the new generation in the Eastern Region. Alright! For the sake of her predecessor Luo Xu, I won't kill her today."
Immediately, Huang Shenyi's turned to Huang Yanchen and said coldly, "Commandery Princess Yanchen, I can let you go today but don't forget about our duel. If you do not appear on the Heavenly Battle Stage within half a month, I will view it as a sign of you looking down on me. When I eventually break into the Fish-dragon realm, I will have no choice but to go to the Qianshui Commandery to challenge the Qianshui Commanery Prince. Hehe."
Upon saying this, Huang Shenyi let out a sinister laugh and left.
"What an arrogant man." Duanmu Xingling pouted and huffed coldly.
Luo Shuihan said, "He is indeed very arrogant, but his strength is truly frightening. I heard that he is also a very powerful Array Master and that his Spiritual Power has already broken through to the 40th level. With the help of the arrays, he would be even stronger. When he fought with us earlier, he probably only used 30% of his power at most."
"He's so powerful," Huang Yanchen said as she furrowed her brows.
Based on the power Huang Shenyi had demonstrated earlier, Huang Yanchen felt as though she was looking up at a great mountain who barely had to lift a finger to crush her to death.
Yet, Luo Shuihan said that he had only used 30% of his power.
If he were to use all his power, how strong would he be?
Duanmu Xingling was unhappy and muttered, "If I could break through to the Completion of the Heaven Realm, I would definitely be able to fight him."
"Xingling, what are you saying?" Huang Yanchen asked.
Duanmu Xingling smiled sweetly and hugged Huang Yanchen's arm, "Sister Chen, I'm saying that because Huang Shenyi is so powerful, you shouldn't challenge him to a battle. Upon stepping onto the Heavenly Battle Stage, you would have already died under his hand before being able to admit defeat."
Luo Shuihan added, "Xingling is right. With your current ability, you'd be a dead man walking if you agreed to battle Huang Shenyi."
Huang Yanchen shook her head and said in a serious tone, "Huang Shenyi is very sinister and cunning. If I don't agree to battle him, he will certainly go to Qianshui Commandery to defeat father and other members of the Royal Family. He has left me no choice but to battle him."
Given Huang Shenyi's cultivation, he was no match for the Qianshui Commandery Prince even if he broke through to the Fish-dragon Realm. However, with his power and status as one of the Seven Kills Emissary of the Black Market Excellence Hall, Huang Shenyi's power was unimaginable.
Duanmu Xingling said, "He is not forcing you to battle him, he is forcing Zhang Ruochen to show himself. He has always wanted to kill Zhang Ruochen. Now, we can only hope that he will return from the Wood Spirit Primitive World soon enough. Perhaps only he is a match for Huang Shenyi."
Lu Shuihan was worried and said, "It is rare for one to come across a genius such as Huang Shenyi who has been at the Completion of the Heaven Realm for many years. Even if Zhang Ruochen rushed back, he may be no match for Huang Shenyi."
"There's no other way. He has to come back to face this battle. After all, he is Sister Chen's fiancé". Duanmu Xingling stroked her chin with her fingers. A bright light appeared in her eyes and she said, "It looks like I have to make a trip to the Wood Spirit Primitive World to give the news to him ahead of time."
...
The Wood Spirit Primitive World, the Blackwood Field.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged at the summit of the mountain. Both his hands were placed near his abdomen and a fist-sized Purple Cloud-patterned Eaglewood hovered between his palms.
Strands of Genuine Qi flowed out of his palms. Crashing into each other, it turned the Purple Cloud-patterned Eaglewood into wood powder.
The pores on his palms acted like a vacuum and absorbed the wood powder into his body.
"In the beginning, when I formed the Treasured Body of Water Spirit, it refined a total of 4.5 kilograms of Black Glazed Spinel. If I want to successfully form the Treasured Body of Wood Spirit, I would need about 4.5 kilograms of Purple Cloud-patterned Eaglewood."
He had already refined 4.4 kilograms of Purple Cloud-patterned Eaglewood and was getting closer and closer to achieving the Treasured Body of Wood Spirit.
However, the closer he got to success, the more difficult it became to absorb the Purple Cloud-patterned Eaglewood. The power that exuded as each particle of wood powder absorbed into his body left a Heaven-shaking, Thunder-exploding effect and caused a great deal of damage to his body.
His flesh was continuously destroyed and then healed.
As Zhang Ruochen refined the Purple Cloud-patterned Eaglewood he took the Blood of Wood Spirit, enduring a level of pain that common people would not be able to. Drops of blood oozed out of his pores and bloody lines ran across his skin.
He could only refine 50 grams of Purple Cloud-patterned Eaglewood per day, and yet his clothes were completely drenched in blood.
After recovering overnight, Zhang Ruochen continued the refinement process the next day.
Ao Xinyan looked at Zhang Ruochen's bloody state and bit her lip, hesitant to let him continue. She was tempted to persuade him that he should take things slow and that it was not too late to refine the Treasured Body of Wood Spirit after entering the Completion of the Heaven Realm.
However, Blackie stopped her and said, "Zhang Ruochen is currently practicing the Wood Spirit and Water Spirit in "Treasured Bodies of Double Spirits". It is a lot more difficult than practicing Treasured Body of Water Spirit alone. Later on, he will have to blend all five types of Five Elements Spirit Treasure and practice the Five Elements Chaotic Body. Without great perseverance, he will not be able to successfully complete the Five Elements Chaotic Body. He is not only practicing the "Treasured Bodies of Double Spirits", he is also training his willpower. You will not be doing him any good if you try to change his mind now."
"I understand."
Ao Xinyan sat down again and looked at Zhang Ruochen from a distance. She realized that this was why he had such a high cultivation at such a young age. Indeed, not as simple as just being talented. I cannot be lazy either. Otherwise, in the future, the difference in skill between us will grow larger and larger.
With this in mind, Ao Xinyan took out the Purple Cloud-patterned Eaglewood that Zhang Ruochen had given to her previously and began to refine it.
She was also going to practice the "Treasured Bodies of Double Spirits".
Her power would increase greatly with the combination of the Treasured Bodies of Double Spirits and her half-dragon body.
After five continuous days, Zhang Ruochen finally refined 4.5 kilograms of Purple Cloud-patterned Eaglewood, and had successfully completed the Water Spirit and Wood Spirit "Treasured Bodies of Double Spirits".
"I finally succeeded!"
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling very happy.
He stood up, walked to the edge of the cliff and began communicating with the wood nature Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth.
Afterward, he stretched out his finger and the Genuine Qi at the tip connected with the wood nature Spiritual Qi, forming streaks of Genuine Qi lines that looked like tree roots.
Gradually, the Genuine Qi lines became more and more solid and eventually formed a true wooden root. It drilled into the mud and rock and pierced deeply into the cliff.
"Pffft!"
A tender sprout grew out of the wall of the cliff at a rate visible to the naked eye. It grew leaves, a bud, and, finally, blossomed into a beautiful flower.
The cliff and even the mountain turned into a sea of flowers. The air was filled with the thick fragrance of flowers.
Upon seeing this, Ao Xinyan and the Orange Star Emissary were both shocked. It was like seeing a miracle.
Was such mysterious power only possessed by Saints?
"What beautiful flowers, how fragrant."
Ao Xinyan took a deep breath and looked intoxicated. She said excitedly, "Group leader, when one successfully learns the Treasured Body of Wood Spirit, will they be able to bring life back to a withered tree, to move flowers and connect wood, to immediately create a lively sea of flowers, woods, or meadow?"