Immortal Martial Emperor

"Zheng Tian, do you dare to fight?!"

Hong Yu roared.

Deep down, Hong Yu held a great deal of resentment for Zheng Tian, this self-proclaimed Celestial Pride Son.

Never mind that Zheng Tian had been the first to attack, trying to kill him the moment they entered the Celestial Essence Secret Realm. More importantly, in their many subsequent clashes, Zheng Tian had resorted to any means necessary, targeting and scheming against him time and time again. Each encounter had been fraught with peril.

If his luck hadn’t been a little better, he would have been dead many times over.

Hong Yu was never merciful to an enemy dead set on killing him!

Zheng Tian stood on the 993rd step of the Celestial Ladder. He glanced down at his fist, which was already a bruised, purplish mess. It felt as if the bones had been forcibly shattered; every time he tried to make a fist, a sharp, aching pain shot through his palm.

He slowly lifted his gaze, his narrowed eyes glinting with a frigid light as he stared up at Hong Yu. "You bastard, Hong Yu! You’ve gone too far!"

Zheng Tian growled.

A menacing aura erupted from his body, surging and coalescing into a suit of silver Combat Armor.

Stomping his feet, he leaped into the air and charged toward Hong Yu.

As he charged, Zheng Tian’s hands were far from idle. He condensed one silver Mercury Spear after another in his palms.

He swung his arms—each blow capable of shattering a meter-thick steel plate—and the Mercury Spears shot out like bolts of silver lightning. They tore through the air with a WHOOSH, their speed astonishing as they flew toward Hong Yu.

Hong Yu gave a cold smile. With a sweep of his hand, he conjured an Elemental Power Shield before him.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The sharp Mercury Spears were all deflected by the Elemental Power Shield.

Zheng Tian snorted and accelerated once more.

Hong Yu didn’t try to stop him, instead retreating a dozen meters. In that moment, Zheng Tian reached the top of the Celestial Ladder.

Once he landed on the Championship Arena, the oppressive gravity and the Spiritual Power assault instantly vanished. Zheng Tian leaped high, soaring thirty to forty meters into the air.

As he began to descend, Zheng Tian raised both hands high above his head.

Silver Elemental Power surged in his palms.

It condensed into a Mercury Long Saber, its shimmering blade extending over twenty meters. The weapon was coated in a layer of highly corrosive and toxic Mercury Elemental Power.

With overwhelming power, the void-rending slash finally came down.

BOOM!

A blinding silver light screamed toward him, like a Divine Blade sent down from the heavens by the Deities themselves.

The sheer force of the attack would have been enough to stun an ordinary Early-stage Celestial Soul Realm expert into terrified paralysis.

Hong Yu looked up slightly at the Mercury Divine Blade descending upon him, his eyes flashing with a deathly cold light. He took a deep breath, focused his mind, and pushed the Profound Skill within him to its absolute limit.

Elemental Power, as vast and turbulent as a great river, surged from his Dantian and flooded through his entire body.

Hong Yu’s hands suddenly swelled, and the muscles on his arms instantly bulged, growing visibly larger.

The powerful muscles rippled with explosive strength, each one clearly defined. Veins throbbed across their surface like living dragons stirring beneath his skin.

"Shatter!"

Bare-handed, Hong Yu shot both hands out in unison, reaching to grab the shimmering blade.

"You’re courting death!"

Zheng Tian laughed coldly, the sinister glint in his eyes growing even sharper.

Aside from its highly corrosive poison, the most important feature of the Mercury Elemental Vein was its practically unrivaled Mimic Attribute.

The Mimic Attribute was both mysterious and marvelous.

Under normal circumstances, its uniqueness might not be apparent. In a true battle, however, this innate attribute could be the deciding factor in a life-or-death duel.

For instance, the Mimic Attribute of Zheng Tian’s Mercury Elemental Vein allowed it to shift into any shape he willed. It wasn’t limited like other forms of Elemental Power; it could be as soft and yielding as spring water, yet also as hard as Profound Steel!

For this very reason, Zheng Tian was supremely confident in his abilities.

Hong Yu’s brow twitched. He took a deep breath and suddenly raised his hands. With a loud BANG, his fingers clamped down, and he actually caught the blade’s brilliant edge.

But...

Hong Yu didn’t even have a moment to feel triumphant before he realized, to his dismay, that the blade—impossibly hard just a second ago—had suddenly turned as fluid as water.

No matter how tightly he gripped, the Long Saber, condensed from Mercury Elemental Power, simply flowed like liquid through the gaps between his fingers.

The liquefied mercury clung to Hong Yu’s hands and began to spread up his arms toward his body, like a swarm of insidious termites.

In the blink of an eye, the Mercury Elemental Power reached his elbows and kept spreading.

Wherever the Mercury Elemental Power touched, Hong Yu lost all sensation, as if his arms no longer belonged to him.

"Hong Yu, I’ll be taking those hands of yours!"

Zheng Tian smirked coolly.

He landed lightly in front of Hong Yu.

He gazed at Hong Yu, whose hands were steadily being encased in Mercury Elemental Power, his eyes filled with mockery and triumph.

Hong Yu frowned slightly, but he showed no sign of panic. He stared intently at Zheng Tian, who stood a short distance away.

Suddenly, Hong Yu’s lips curled into a devilish grin—a smile as smooth as fine wine, yet as chilling as blood-stained frost. "You want my hands? I’m afraid you can’t afford the price!"

The moment the words left his lips, Hong Yu took a deep breath, and a golden light erupted from his body.

Tendrils of golden flame began to spread across his arms.

This golden flame was a mutated form of Primordial Fire. It had been created through a fluke combination of factors: his Fire Spirit Body, and his accidental absorption of Rashomon’s power when he broke through to the Celestial Soul Realm.

Even a Spirit-Level Primordial Weapon would melt before it.

Let alone mere mercury?

The golden flames, their temperature rivaling the thousands of degrees at a volcano’s core, billowed and flickered.

Scorched by the golden flames, the rampaging Mercury Elemental Power retreated as if it had met its natural predator.

The Mercury Elemental Power that had encased both of Hong Yu’s arms rapidly receded, forced back until it condensed into two walnut-sized spheres of liquid metal in his palms.

"Take it back!"

With a flick of his wrists, he sent the two mercury spheres flying.

Zheng Tian opened his mouth and inhaled, drawing the two spheres of mercury back into his body. His expression was frigid as he stared at Hong Yu.

A flicker of shock, coldness, and gravity entered his eyes. "I never thought even my Mercury Elemental Power would be useless against you. You just keep getting more and more surprising. If you hadn’t offended people you shouldn’t have, I might have even wanted to recruit you into my Guiyuan Sect. But alas..."

He took a deep breath. "Qin Qin belongs to me. No one will ever take her from me. What’s more, before we entered the Celestial Essence Secret Realm, both Master and Senior Sister Wang Fei personally instructed me that they did not want to see you leave this place alive. Therefore, I have no choice but to kill you!"

As he spoke, Zheng Tian began to remove his outer robe.

The way he unfastened his clothes was strange; it looked like he was struggling, as if it required a great deal of effort.

Hong Yu’s eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed on Zheng Tian’s every move.

When he finally removed the outer robe, he let out a heavy sigh of relief and tossed it to the ground.

A strong wind was blowing across the Championship Platform—strong enough, in theory, to blow away a small child, let alone a piece of clothing.

Yet, the moment Zheng Tian’s robe left his hand, it was utterly unaffected by the howling wind. Instead, it plummeted straight to the ground.

THUD!

The robe landed with the impact of a massive boulder, making the very ground tremble.

Next came his boots, then his inner tunic...

Each item struck the ground with the heavy, metallic clang of Refined Iron.

Hong Yu’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the bare-chested Zheng Tian, now clad only in a pair of loose trousers. He took a deep breath, his expression growing complex. "As expected of the Guiyuan Sect’s Chief Disciple. To think even your daily clothes are inscribed with Gravity Runes."

"Hahaha! Now do you see why I told you that even after breaking through to the Celestial Soul Realm, you’re still no match for me?"

Zheng Tian roared with laughter, his voice dripping with arrogance, confidence, and glee. "My Master personally refined this set for me. While it’s not high-grade and can’t compare to true Primordial Weapon Armor, the Gravity Runes inscribed on it were developed by my Master from fragments of inscriptions from the Ancient Times. Wearing this outfit is equivalent to carrying a weight of thirty thousand jin!"

*Gasp!*

The three assassins from the Blood Killing Tower had finally reached the Championship Arena.

Exhausted, the three of them were sitting cross-legged at the edge of the arena, regulating their breathing. When they suddenly heard Zheng Tian’s words and saw the discarded clothing, they couldn’t help but stare at each other and gulp.

’To climb to the top of the Celestial Ladder second, all while wearing a weight of thirty thousand jin... And his normal combat power is already enough to look down on any expert at his level.’

’If they had considered Zheng Tian a genius before...’

’...then now, he was clearly on the level of a Demon Fiend.’

’A Late-Stage Earth Soul Realm Powerhouse might be able to exert that much force in a single burst, but that’s explosive strength. If you made one of them actually wear that outfit, the thirty-thousand-jin weight would have crushed their bones to dust long ago.’

’Not only could Zheng Tian endure that immense pressure, but he could also move freely and even fight opponents above his own realm!’

’What a monster!’

’Damn, thank goodness we never crossed him.’

’I’m afraid even Blood the First wouldn’t be a match for Zheng Tian, would he?’

The three of them stared at each other, utterly flabbergasted.

Meanwhile, Hong Yu...

He too was frowning deeply. He had known Zheng Tian was holding back, but he never imagined it was because of this incredibly heavy set of clothes.

’Now that he’s shed the restraints of that armor, Zheng Tian’s strength will at least double!’

Hong Yu took a deep breath.

Facing the unexpectedly powerful Zheng Tian, he felt no discouragement. On the contrary, he narrowed his eyes, and his jet-black, gem-like irises began to shine like brilliant stars.

Deep in his bones, a battle-hungry instinct began to burn—the instinct to grow stronger in the face of a powerful foe.

Hong Yu could feel his blood surging and his body heating up, his will to fight soaring.

The sharp light erupting from his eyes formed two bolts of lightning that clashed in the air with Zheng Tian’s own surging battle intent, creating a blinding flash.

The two roared in near-perfect unison...

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"