Chapter 511 - 494: Ferocious
This was a problem that likely now confronted all Human Cultivators, the Dragon Race, and the Demon Race.
A weakness?
The Purple Dragon probably felt more pressure than anyone. This was the first time the Dragon Race had ever felt such intangible pressure.
The Dragon Emperor’s evaluation of Wang Meng was that he was a factor beyond destiny.
Elusive and unfathomable—that was the understanding of someone at the Dragon Emperor’s level.
As for Linglong, her warning was simple: never, ever use a Spiritual Power attack on Wang Meng.
The problem was... besides that, what else could they use?
Words were futile. With a single battle, Wang Meng had answered all questions, only to raise an even bigger one.
What exactly was he?
How could this be? Wasn’t he a Sword Cultivator? Didn’t he have a Five Elements Body?
Why was he like a beast from the Primordial Chaos—completely inscrutable, with no discernible tells?
Everyone had a grasp of what Mingren was like, what Lin Jinghao was like, and what Linglong was like. But when it came to Wang Meng, they had no grasp at all. They had no idea what he was or what he intended to do.
Unconsciously, some Cultivators recalled a previous match, thinking of Li Yilong from the Evil Intent Sect. There was a time when Cultivators believed Li Yilong’s fame was undeserved. That his so-called Reversed Heaven Holy Statue was just a gimmick, something worthless. This was especially true considering his final surrender. As an Evil Cultivator—whose very nature was to be rebellious and defiant, to act against the heavens—he had actually bowed to his opponent.
It was far too cowardly. Such a person was unworthy of being an Evil Cultivator, much less a disciple of the Evil Intent Sect. Nearly every Evil Cultivator who had witnessed it at the time thought so.
It seemed there was more to it than met the eye.
For a proud Evil Cultivator to perform such a grand salute, it had to have come from a place of heartfelt admiration and respect.
And the one who had made it all happen was the man before them named Wang Meng.
This was the first time a battle had ended without cheers, even from the Holy Hall Disciples. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to shout; their excitement had transformed into a searing heat, causing them to clench their fists tightly. At a certain level, shouting was no longer enough to express the storm raging within them.
Only when Wang Meng stepped off the Dueling Platform did that intangible pressure seem to dissipate.
It was as if the one on the Dueling Platform hadn’t been a disciple of their generation, but a First Generation Sect Leader whose fame shook the Star Alliance.
He had a certain... air about him.
Especially the nonchalance Wang Meng displayed after defeating Li Mountain. Victory over such an opponent was no longer enough to bring him joy.
Li Mountain had to be dragged out by several Body Cultivators. It took them a long time. His body had a massive crater in it. The Tiger Demon, vaunted for having a body of steel and the toughest physique in the Demon Race, was finished just like that.
After watching this battle, Yuu Kunlun could finally rest easy. The Taiyin Sect had done everything in its power to buy three years for Wang Meng and the Holy Hall Disciples. But the Taiyin Sect’s support was not limitless. Especially as a Sect Leader, Yuu Kunlun had to consider his sect’s position. After all, he wasn’t Mo Chen; their positions were different, and so were their responsibilities.
Wang Meng and the Holy Hall had to deliver a performance that would convince the masses. And now, Brother Mo’s words had been proven true. All his worries
had been for nothing.
Three years ago, Mo Chen had come to him, saying he needed to secure these three crucial years for the Holy Hall. Yuu Kunlun had been hesitant at the time because three years wasn’t a long time, and it seemed unnecessary to go to such extremes, which also consumed a great deal of the Taiyin Sect’s resources.
But Mo Chen had just shaken his head, insisting that three years were all they needed.
’What on earth made Brother Mo so certain?’
Yuu Kunlun knew Brother Mo was definitely not acting for personal gain. What exactly had he seen that day in the Land of Reversing Heaven and Earth?
As the Taiyin Sect Leader, Yuu Kunlun’s heart was also filled with boundless curiosity.
What could possibly render a Great Perfection Tier Three master speechless?
Yuu Kunlun simply couldn’t guess.
Ji Guang clearly couldn’t guess either. The leader of the Pure Land Knight Order appeared calm, but his expression was incredibly grim, because this Wang Meng would be one of Mingren’s most powerful opponents.
’This was a battle of verification. But even if he inherited the Dragon Emperor’s power, he’s still no match for the Holy Light Demon Collapse Body. Still, I must admit, Wang Meng is a decent Human Cultivator. No wonder the Dragon Emperor chose him.’
"Grandpa Sect Leader, is that big brother really strong?" Cheng Cheng suddenly asked. Having watched the battle, she was unexpectedly calm.
Yuu Kunlun stroked Cheng Cheng’s head. "Very strong. Perhaps unimaginably so. What, does Cheng Cheng want to make surpassing him her goal?"
Cheng Cheng tilted her head and beamed. "You’re so silly, Grandpa. I can just make him one of my own people, can’t I?"
Yuu Kunlun stared blankly for a moment, then couldn’t help but burst out laughing. "Nonsense!"
Wang Meng’s battle had completely changed the tone. Immediately after, the fifth battle began.
Suo Ming of the Holy Hall versus Zou Kai of the Ghost Sect.
Before this, many people had favored Zou Kai, because many of the Ghost Sect’s moves could indeed counter Suo Ming’s Forbidden Hammer.
But even though it was the same matchup with the same two opponents, the atmosphere was different. No one dared to underestimate the Holy Hall anymore.
The pressure and low morale from Yang Ying’s narrow loss and Li Tianyi’s crushing defeat had been instantly swept away by Wang Meng’s kingly dominance.
And now, Suo Ming could unleash one hundred percent of his power.
Zou Kai was, of course, terrified of Wang Meng. ’I’m so lucky,’ he thought, ’I didn’t run into any Dragons or Demons, or powerful opponents like Wang Meng and Ling Fei. As for this Suo Ming, he’ll be much easier to deal with.’
As a Talisman Cultivator, Zou Kai should have been completely countered by the Forbidden Hammer. However, he was an unusual Talisman Cultivator who specialized in Array Techniques. Of course, Array Techniques would still be suppressed by the Forbidden Hammer, but the hammer couldn’t suppress his Life Artifact.
Zou Kai didn’t waste any time at the start of the battle. He had no intention of giving Suo Ming a chance to get going. After all, the memory of him hammering down a Great Perfection cultivator was still fresh. It was better to use wits against a brute force type like him.
Anyone who made it this far obviously had a unique ultimate move, and Zou Kai’s Life Artifact was just as unique. It was even of a higher grade than the Forbidden Hammer.
His Life Artifact was a gate. A massive black gate materialized out of thin air, flanked by two ghostly heads. Zou Kai revealed a sinister smile. "Let the feast begin!"
When the Ghost Gate appeared, the sky was instantly shrouded in dark clouds, and a mournful howling enveloped the Dueling Platform.
Some Life Artifacts were more terrifying than Holy Statues, and Zou Kai’s Ghost Gate was one of them.
This famous artifact seemed to be a gateway to another space. The Life Artifact itself was beyond its wielder’s control; Zou Kai was merely responsible for opening it, and whatever came out would automatically eliminate all opponents.
As long as he possessed the Ghost Gate, he would be protected.
CREAK! The Ghost Gate swung open into a field of utter darkness. Suo Ming remained expressionless as, with a low growl, a pitch-black monster shot out from within.
It didn’t seem to be a creature from the Small Thousand Realm. The Cultivators present all looked bewildered; they had never seen anything like it. The monster was pitch-black, covered in scales, and had a short horn on its head.
One after another, more monsters poured out of the Ghost Gate. Before long, there were nine of them on the Dueling Platform.
"These aren’t puppets or Demon Statues. These are the fiends of my Ghost Sect! Have a taste! Go, kill him!"
The fiends paused for a moment, a cunning light flashing in their small eyes, then instantly charged toward Suo Ming.
Suo Ming’s Forbidden Hammer couldn’t affect the Ghost Gate, nor was it effective against the fiends. This was going to be a tough fight.
Three of the fiends rushed forward, while the remaining six loitered about, seemingly confused.
But just as the first three fiends were about to reach Suo Ming, their movements suddenly became incredibly swift. Their mouths abruptly widened, revealing sharp, chilling fangs.
Deep claw marks were gouged into the ground. As the three fiends attacked, the other six erupted into action at the same time!
Cunning!
Suo Ming made his move. The Forbidden Hammer smashed out without reservation. As a Body Cultivator, he had the strength to deal with this kind of fiend.
BOOM...
The foremost fiend actually took a direct hit from Suo Ming’s hammer, latching onto the Forbidden Hammer tightly with its four limbs and mouth, while the fiends behind it surged forward one after another.
The Cultivators were stunned. They hadn’t expected these unimpressive-looking creatures to be so powerful.
Pure Land’s Ji Guang and the No Illusion Demon Sect’s Demon Ba, however, frowned. They had clearly recognized these things.
They were creatures from the Purgatory Space—powerful beings that did not belong to the Small Thousand Realm. They had appeared before when spatial rifts opened but were later exterminated by a joint effort of Human Cultivators. Ji Guang and Demon Ba didn’t remember the specifics, only what was written in the ancient records. The things summoned by Zou Kai’s Ghost Gate looked very similar to them, or might even be them. These creatures were different from the Small Thousand Realm’s beasts... how to put it... they were like humans in monstrous bodies.
The fiends’ method of attack was chilling to watch. Zou Kai was quite smug. He had originally been an Array Master, but no matter how skilled he became, his status remained low. That was until he cultivated his Ghost Gate. It had been an agonizing process at first, and after all that effort to cultivate a Life Artifact, the result was just a broken, pitch-black door. As an Array Master, he had grown to detest things like arrays. What he needed was something with immense combat power. Only then could he establish himself in the rigidly hierarchical Ghost Sect.
Unexpectedly, the door could be opened, and the things that came out just so happened to possess immense combat power.
Zou Kai symbolically set up a barrier for himself. Suo Ming’s Dual Hammers were tied up by two fiends, while a pile of others were bombarding his Magical Artifact with a frenzied barrage of attacks.
ROAR...
Besieged, Suo Ming let out a furious roar and slammed his Forbidden Hammers together. The two fiends on them cunningly sprang away, while the others took turns attacking, seemingly intent on wearing him down to death.
Not only were these monsters powerful, they were also remarkably cunning.
The Cultivators were shocked by the fiends’ power and intelligence. Suo Ming seemed to be completely helpless. But the Holy Hall Beings remained calm.
Three years ago, facing a situation like this, Suo Ming certainly would have been helpless. He would have charged forward recklessly, but that would have left him wide open, a fatal mistake. The Suo Ming of today, however, was completely different.
As a Body Cultivator with a formidable physique, he wouldn’t be taken down so easily.
And during these past three years, Wang Meng’s training for Suo Ming had been focused on one thing: ferocity.
A Body Cultivator must be ferocious. Ferocity wasn’t necessarily about going berserk. Shouting loudly wouldn’t defeat an opponent; it was about having a fierce aura.
A fiend’s claws slashed at him. Suo Ming didn’t dodge, and the claws dug straight into his flesh. But the fiend suddenly realized something was wrong—it couldn’t pull its claws out.
Suo Ming’s Forbidden Hammer came crashing down. The blow was earth-shattering, smashing the fiend directly into the Dueling Platform.