Immortal of the Nine Realms

The battle concluded not long after it began. Unsurprisingly, Fang Chen secured another victory.

Seeing this scene, the Southern God Race Saint could not help but laugh out loud. The God Race Saint was not angry either. He merely glanced at Fang Chen with a half-smile before his gaze shifted toward Fang Lie.

Meanwhile, inside Half Saint Zangling's Inner Domain, every single gaze turned exceptionally solemn. Everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound. It was only when Fang Chen clinched that battle and killed the divine ability user from the God Race that everyone let out sighs of relief.

"Half Saint Zangling, has Old Fang entered the top one hundred?" Wang Chongsong could not help but ask aloud.

Everyone's eyes snapped toward the Half Saint Zangling. They were filled with utter disbelief. They had watched match after match, assuming every single time that Fang Chen was about to be eliminated. However, Fang Chen would always erupt with more strength after each battle, fighting his way through to the top one hundred.

Even though it was only the top one hundred, the sheer difficulty of reaching it was suffocating. None of them had ever imagined that the human race could produce such a supreme genius. He had managed to fight through the incredibly outstanding divine ability users of the various powerful races to break into the top one hundred.

Half Saint Zangling fell silent for a brief moment, then gave a gentle nod. "He has entered the top one hundred."

"He really made the top one hundred!"

"Fantastic!"

Whether they were divine ability users from the Fang Clan or the Wandao Alliance, everyone cheered. They were not just cheering for Fang Chen but also cheering for themselves. As fellow humans, Fang Chen's ability to achieve this feat meant that they, too, had hope!

"Supreme bones... are indeed not the sole criteria limiting one's strength," muttered Wang Chongsong to himself. "He only possesses nine supreme bones, yet he can kill a God Race divine ability user whose entire body is made of supreme bones. This proves that our Human Race's strength is by no means limited by it. This is excellent news..."

***

After slaying that God Race divine ability user, Fang Chen grew thoughtful.

The boost to strength provided by supreme bones... doesn't seem to be as overpowering as I imagined. In that case, does its purpose... actually represent one's upper limit?

Ever since the Battle of the Saint Tower began, he had fought his way through, slaying countless divine ability users of various races. During the occasional deathmatch, he would have to kill dozens or even up to a hundred opponents at once.

Different races possessed varying numbers of supreme bones, and there were indeed gaps in strength. However, in reality, those gaps did not seem very large to Fang Chen. For instance, the God Race divine ability user whom he had killed supposedly had a body composed entirely of supreme bones. Fang Chen had even verified this was true using his Primordial Immortal Eyes. Even so, that opponent's immortal essence was merely a little over six times that of an ordinary human.

If supreme bones represent the upper limit, then everything makes sense. When the human race of the Nine Realms era lost their supreme bones, it was equivalent to limiting their upper ceiling. During the Nether Ruins era, the human race only possessed ten supreme bones as well.

***

"Without an explosive surge in the number of Saints, it would take countless years to raise the upper limit bit by bit gradually. The much higher probability would be encountering a calamity during this process, resulting directly in the destruction of the clan and the race."

Thinking up to this point, a bitter smile involuntarily surfaced in Fang Chen's heart.

Looking back at the Nine Realms era, the human race had certainly met disaster, yet the God Race seemed to have suffered an even more tragic fate than the humans.

"The God Race possessed a Realm Lord. According to Gu Yueling, a Realm Lord's strength is roughly on par with the Heavenly Dao, but without its numerous restrictions, making them stronger. To suffer a calamity even with the protection of such an existence is equivalent to falling from the clouds straight into the abyss—truly tragic."

Amid his contemplation, the sky doom behind him began to shrink once more. Fang Chen continued flying toward the core area to avoid being directly eliminated by it.

***

Inside a city that resembled ruins, dust and smoke permeated the air. Two figures stood on opposite sides of a massive crater, confronting one another from a distance.

Nearby, dozens of other figures quietly watched the two, making the scene exceptionally still.

Fang Chen arrived soundlessly. Sensing that a battle had seemingly just concluded here, and noting that dozens of divine ability users from the Top Twelve Races were already gathered nearby, he chose not to show his face.

The divine ability users before him were already far stronger than Xie Aman had been when she was at the same rank. While they were no match for him in a one-on-one fight, Fang Chen felt that if they were to swarm him all at once, he would run a genuine risk of elimination, unless he boundlessly squandered his lifespan to unleash the Seventh Sword of the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture.

On one side of the crater stood a God Race divine ability user. His stature was as imposing as a mountain peak. Despite having just emerged from a deathmatch, he remained calm and collected, his breathing steady and deep.

On the other side was a petite female. However, she looked rather unique. Half her body was metal, and the other half was flesh. The metal looked no different from flesh. It was not rigid or blocky, but vibrantly alive, even giving the impression of being soft and delicate enough to break at a touch.

"The Gold Essence Race, also one of the Top Twelve Races..."

Information regarding the race behind this woman surfaced in Fang Chen's mind. These were all pieces of intelligence he had gathered from surviving so many death matches.

The Gold Essence Race was highly peculiar. Their uniqueness lay precisely in that metal half of their bodies. At first glance, they looked somewhat similar to the Vajra Race, though the Vajra Race appeared more uniform, looking entirely as though they were cast from metal. Yet, within the Divine Realm, the metallic half of the Gold Essence Race's body was known as the hardest substance in the universe. This point had been verified by time and was by no means an exaggeration. Even if a divine ability user of the Gold Essence Race perished, the half-body they left behind could hardly be destroyed by anyone. They were one of the finest materials for forging spiritual treasures.

"Zhao Xiaomei, your brother and I have something of a friendship, so let us not engage in a life-and-death fight. Now that we have entered the top one hundred matches, no Deathmatch Tokens will drop. Why don't you just admit defeat once the time is up?" said the God Race divine ability user, a trace of helplessness in his tone.

It seemed he had absolutely no desire to fight this female divine ability user of the Gold Essence Race.

"My brother's strength was lacking, so he was eliminated too early. Now, as his sister, I must win a beautiful battle for my family. Big Brother Dai, stop trying to persuade me. Fight me fair and square; bring forth your strongest power, and even if I die here, I will have no regrets!"

A fanatical battle intent erupted from the eyes of the Gold Essence female divine ability user. Without waiting for the God Race divine ability user to reply, she vanished from her spot in an instant, swinging her metallic fist as she blasted toward him.

At that split second, she seemed to transform into a celestial meteor, carrying a vast, crushing pressure capable of destroying heaven and earth.

Seeing this, the God Race divine ability user could only reluctantly engage in battle.

The moment the two clashed, a terrifying shockwave swept out in all directions. Every single nearby spectator had to prop up an immortal essence protective barrier just to withstand the residual impact.

Fang Chen watched their battle with interest. These two likely possess the strength to cross ranks and battle a seventh-transformation Ancient Immortal.

He had witnessed the techniques of many seventh-transformation Ancient Immortals back in the Nine Realms. They might not even be much stronger than the two. Compared to ordinary sixth transformations, these two could utterly crush them.

Unsurprisingly, the sixth-transformation divine ability users in this final round would absolutely rank among the absolute pinnacle within their cultivation realm, whether in the Nether Ruins era or the Nine Realms era.