Chapter 1318

Chapter 1318: True Combat Prowess

As Elder Qin landed, countless sharp wind blades suddenly flew out from above the steps.

Elder Qin pulled out a sword and quickly brandished it. Fiery light bloomed on the tip of the sword, appearing like the fire trails left behind by a meteor. This was the Meteor Sword Technique that he practiced.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

After one hundred moves, Elder Qin blocked all the wind blades. He was not hurt at all as he stood stably on the steps of the Emperor's Road.

Lan Chaofeng said softly, "Good. Many quasi-Emperors fall in the first stage even before they set foot on the Emperor's Road. Old Qin was able to clear the first stage without getting hurt at all. It looks like his foundations are very firm."

However, this was just the start. There were one thousand steps. Every step was a hurdle, each one a tribulation.

First, there would be wind; then there would be fire—three hundred types of wind and three hundred types of fire. Later, wind and fire would come together. The wind borrowed might from the fire and vice versa, completely burning the world.

The first step, cold wind taking form!

How cold was this cold, formless wind? The frigid temperature turned the wind into sharp "ice arrows." Nine hundred "ice arrows" were like raindrops falling in a torrent.

At just the first step, Elder Qin's Sage Body already sustained a hundred wounds of varying sizes.

When Xiao Chen saw this, he sucked in a breath of cold air. How strongly was the wind blowing for it to be cold enough to freeze into "ice arrows"?

The second step, a squall like a whip!

The wind that blew gathered and took the form of long whips, cracking as it struck the air. This sound made one tremble in fear of it. Elder Qin was a little slow and was whipped on his face. The horrifying wound was hair-raising.

Even Xiao Chen, whose mental state was terrifyingly strong, trembled somewhat. This was only the second step of a rather ordinary Great Tribulation of wind and fire.

Lan Chaofeng did not find this strange. He appeared cool and collected as he calmly analyzed, "Not bad. Although Old Qin has a lot of injuries on his body, they are not on any vital spots. He should not have any problem clearing this Great Tribulation of wind and fire."

One tribulation with every step. Elder Qin's body became covered in wounds. He gritted his teeth and silently walked on. That perseverance looked very moving, making others feel bad for him.

Xiao Chen now finally understood why so many people did not dare to take this Great Tribulation of wind and fire. It was too difficult, too miserable!

"I must clear it," Xiao Chen muttered to himself as he silently cheered Elder Qin on in his heart.

Just at this moment, Xiao Chen and Lan Chaofeng exchanged glances. Both of them sensed someone heading over in the void.

These people came really quickly; Elder Qin had not even taken ten steps yet.

"I'll go," Xiao Chen said indifferently. Then, his figure vanished, and six bolts of lightning descended from the sky.

The instant the lightning lit up the world, a vague white figure, which seemed to be throwing a palm strike at the void, appeared. This figure moved too fast, leaving only its afterimage and preventing others from being sure of what they saw.

"Hu chi!"

The instant the lightning vanished, six figures appeared at the same time, their faces slightly pale, looking somewhat horrified.

While these six traveled in the void, someone had used a strong force to force them out.

"Azure Dragon King, please do not misunderstand. We just felt something strange with the Spiritual Energy of the world and came over to take a look. We did not know that it was the Dragon's Gate's Elder Qin undergoing his tribulation."

A gray-robed old man from the group explained as he looked at the white-haired, frosty-faced Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen sized up the six. Then, he performed a cupped-fist salute and said, "I'll not bother with saying too much. Regardless of which faction you come from, please leave now. I, the Azure Dragon King Xiao Chen, will owe you a favor."

The six that rushed over were stunned, somewhat suspecting that they misheard.

The Azure Dragon King normally flaunted his sharpness. During the Dragon's Gate's reestablishment ceremony, he clashed against thirteen Greater Heavenly Martial Emperors and the Western Sea Dragon King. However, he was now so polite to these six Minor Heavenly Martial Emperors, softening his stance and saying that he would owe them a favor.

This turn of events felt completely incredible. The six reacted, saying quickly, "The Azure Dragon King is being too polite. This is just a small matter, not on the level of requiring a favor. Our group will leave. Congratulations to the Dragon's Gate's elder in advance for clearing his tribulation."

These six had rushed over from Heavenly Dragon City only to check out the situation. They just felt curious and did not have any other agenda. Since Xiao Chen was so polite about it, they naturally gave him face and did him a small favor.

Xiao Chen said sincerely, "Many thanks."

These six left as quickly as they arrived, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Chen heaved a sigh of relief. The most important thing was Elder Qin's tribulation. If he could avoid making a move, he would do so. That would be for the best.

After that, other groups arrived. They all rushed over from Heavenly Dragon City, and Xiao Chen persuaded them to go back.

Right now, Heavenly Dragon City was already the center of the Western Sea. Normally, many Martial Emperors gathered there, so it was not strange that these Martial Emperors rushed over at this moment.

However, it was fine. The name of the Azure Dragon King still held some prestige. The many Martial Emperors gave Xiao Chen some face.

Suddenly, Xiao Chen discovered ten scarlet-clad cultivators with strange auras above the sea. He had a bad feeling as his figure flashed and landed in front of the ten.

"Halt! The Dragon's Gate's elder is undergoing his tribulation in front. Please return."

The attire of the ten scarlet-clad men was like blood. There was no patterns or decorations. With the clothes draped over the men, it was like they were dyed in fresh blood.

Xiao Chen felt extremely uncomfortable looking at them. He possessed a sharp Spiritual Sense and could vaguely sense an evil baleful aura coming from the scarlet clothes, which seemed bizarre.

The even stranger thing was that he could not make out the cultivation of the scarlet-clad men, either.

Not being able to do so was highly unusual. Right now, with Xiao Chen's eyes, he could make out a Prime. Could it be that these people were even more incredible than Primes? That was impossible. He did not even sense the presence of a Heart of an Emperor in their bodies.

The leader of this group of Blood-Clad Soldiers looked like a middle-aged man. His complexion was pale, and there was an eye-catching black mark on his forehead.

These people ignored Xiao Chen's words, approaching the island, step by step. Soon, they reached within one hundred meters of him, an extremely dangerous distance.

A murderous intent already stirred up in Xiao Chen's heart. He said indifferently, "I'll say it one more time. The Dragon's Gate's elder is undergoing a tribulation. This is now a restricted zone. Please don't come any closer."

The corners of the middle-aged man's lips curled up into a cruel smile. "Others give you face because they consider you the Azure Dragon King. In my eyes, you are nothing. If you give way now, I will not seek trouble for you. If not, then you will suffer the consequences yourself."

Although the middle-aged man said that, he did not give Xiao Chen a chance to reply at all. As he spoke the last two words, he already started charging at Xiao Chen, displaying none of the etiquette of a cultivator.

When the middle-aged man threw his palm strike, there was no startling aura or horrifying Emperor's Might. It was just an ordinary palm strike with a hazy scarlet light along with a heavy baleful aura spreading into the surroundings.

Xiao Chen already had his guard up long ago. With his rich combat experience, he would not be flustered by small tricks like this.

He circulated all the Law Energy in his body. Then, in the time it took for a spark to fly, he countered with a palm chop accompanied by earsplitting thunder.

"Boom!" The two palms met, and Xiao Chen went flying back like a cannonball.

However, that middle-aged man did not move at all. Such a result was entirely unexpected.

Xiao Chen spun around in the air a few times before he managed to negate the force from the opponent's palm strike. Blood leaked out of a corner of his lips; he had clearly suffered a loss in the previous exchange.

The middle-aged man withdrew his palm and stood upright. He gently drifted over and said, "The Azure Dragon King is merely so-so. I did not even use half of my strength."

Xiao Chen calmly analyzed. That earlier palm strike was not supported by Primordial Energy. However, the attack was equivalent to that of a Second Heaven Martial Emperor. Furthermore, the other party had not even brought out half of his strength. In other words, the person before him was equal to a peak Third Heaven Martial Emperor.

"Whoosh!"

There was a sonic boom as the middle-aged man turned into a scarlet light, moving in an instant. Then, he launched an attack at Xiao Chen, who just landed.

A scarlet sword appeared in the middle-aged man's hand. As he waved it around, it sent out intense scarlet light in all directions.

The sound of rumbling water reverberated nonstop. That was a sea of blood churning in the air, its aura appearing very shocking. It forced Xiao Chen to step back, but there was still no Emperor's Might.

Even so, this person did indeed have the destructive power of a peak Third Heaven Martial Emperor, not just a pretense of it.

Xiao Chen could not help feeling even more shocked. Where did these people come from? They did not have Emperor's Might or a Heart of an Emperor. However, they possessed destructive powers equal to a Martial Emperor's.

Something like this was unprecedented!

The middle-aged man attacked too ferociously. Without using Primordial Energy, Xiao Chen was no match for him. After a hundred moves, he crossed his arms to block a kick from the other party and got sent flying once more.

As Xiao Chen was moving back, he slapped the ground with his palm. Then, he performed three flips in the air before standing stably again.

"This world has already changed. Don't think that just because people address you as the Azure Dragon King, you are really a king!"

As the middle-aged man kicked Xiao Chen away, he projected a strong aura. With just half of his strength, he could force Xiao Chen into such a sorry state—this made him feel very confident. He commanded, "Five of you, go and deal with Lan Chaofeng. Four of you, go and interfere with that old fool's tribulation. Leave this brat to me."

Xiao Chen wiped off the blood from his lips. Then, he smiled faintly and said, "Who gave you such strong confidence to deal with me alone? Let me tell you this: all of you can forget about getting past me."

The middle-aged man thought that by being able to reduce Xiao Chen into such a sorry state without even using half of his strength, his victory was certain.

However, from start to end, Xiao Chen had never used his Primordial Energy, nor had he taken out his Lunar Shadow Saber. While the middle-aged man had used only half of his strength, Xiao Chen was still far from bringing out a fourth of his own strength.

Xiao Chen split his Primordial Energy into two and made them chase each other continuously. The Taiji force field instantly formed!

The many Blood-Clad Soldiers flew forward, trying to bypass Xiao Chen. Suddenly, a suction pulled all of them back.

Everyone within one kilometer got stuck within Xiao Chen's Taiji force field; there was no way for them to escape at all.

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes at the middle-aged man in front. "With the tricks of the Evil Dao, it will be hard to truly climb to the higher circle. The path of cultivation never had any shortcuts. I will show you what the true combat prowess of a Martial Emperor is!"

Quick, Azure Dragon leaping out of the sea, clouds churning in all directions!

Suddenly, Xiao Chen's figure zoomed as fast as lightning. He was like an Azure Dragon leaping out of the sea, radiating a shocking aura.

The middle-aged man felt astonished. Before he could react, Xiao Chen already pressed over, forcing him to respond quickly to block this palm strike.

The middle-aged man used his full strength as he countered with a palm strike. His aura was no weaker than Xiao Chen's, and his destructive power was even more startling.

However, this was merely form without substance. It was the aura without the might. As the middle-aged man had not undergone the Great Tribulation of wind and fire, he had not condensed the Heart of an Emperor and did not possess Emperor's Might. No matter how strong the destructive force of this palm strike was, in a true clash, it would lose the upper hand.