Chapter 846: Bodies at Your Level Are Quite Fragile

In the Yunlun Mountains, deep in the interior.

Beneath the ground, amid the molten lava, a bare-chested young man bathed in its fiery depths, holding a mysterious flame crystal stone in his hand, exuding an extraordinary aura.

His eyes were tightly shut, and with each breath of ling yuan, intense and scorching fire elements surged into his mouth and nose like writhing dragons and serpents.

The energy of the lava was overwhelmingly vast.

Soon, as the dao principles around him shifted, the fluctuations from the flame crystal stone spread out, causing a tidal surge in his qi sea and a profound sense of enlightenment that pierced through confusion.

He opened his eyes.

The young man was filled with joy.

“It's incredible!”

“The fire system source stone truly lives up to its reputation as a supreme treasure.”

“With the help of this serendipitous fire essence lava, in just half a day, I've broken through the bottleneck at the peak of Yin Yang realm and effortlessly entered the Xing Shi realm.”

“The stars of the Zhou Tian, drawn back to me—now, with the fire system source stone in hand, I can face anyone below the Wang Zuo level without fear!”

The young man's name was Xiao Jing, a successor from the Tai Xu lineage in the Eastern Domain.

In the earlier fierce struggle for the source stone in the interior of the Yunlun Mountains, he had fought his way out and claimed the supreme treasure, then hidden himself here.

In just half a day, he had completed his breakthrough, reaching the most difficult realm in the Zong Shi level—the Xing Shi realm.

“I should stabilize my realm and then head out.”

Having succeeded in his breakthrough, the injuries across his body had been healed by the abundant fire energy in the lava.

Xiao Jing gripped the source stone, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

Above ground, there were still far too many pursuers wandering and waiting to kill him.

After this secluded advancement, Xiao Jing was confident that, with the fire system source stone, he could wipe out every one of those over a hundred relentless Zong Shi pursuers.

“Where could he have gone?”

As Xiao Jing had suspected, above ground, over two hundred Zong Shi were conducting a thorough search.

After scouring every inch within a radius of about a mile—turning over every rock and checking every cave—they still couldn't find where Xiao Jing was hiding.

“Damn it, that kid's badly wounded, but he's really good at hiding... Where the hell could he have run off to?” someone grew anxious and cursed angrily.

Meanwhile, a fire system Zong Shi, after failing to find anything, carefully sensed the area and showed a look of surprise.

“Underground!”

“Deep below, it seems there's some kind of hidden treasure spot. I can vaguely sense fire elements—it might be a fire system mineral vein concealed by an array, or perhaps underground lava.”

“Xiao Jing uses fire elements, so he could be hiding underground!”

Someone else was skeptical: “Is that even possible? That guy was chased half to death by us. Going into the lava now would just be suicide, right?”

“He has the fire system source stone, and it's incredibly mystical. He might use the dense fire elements underground to break through!” The fire system Zong Shi clearly understood the unique properties of their element.

For ordinary people, lava was terrifying.

But if a fire system Zong Shi had a decently tough physical body and some secret techniques, it wasn't impossible to cultivate deep in the lava.

As a Tai Xu successor, Xiao Jing was very likely capable of it.

“Then let's go underground!”

“Smash it open!”

“Blast the ground to pieces and dig three hundred zhang deep—we have to find him!”

The group of Zong Shi quickly set a new target and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the mountain, like a frenzied bombardment.

“Rumble...”

“Rumble...”

The ground was torn apart layer by layer.

Everyone focused their full attention on the assault, completely unaware that, on a small hill in the distance, three figures had landed with a few faint whooshes.

“Xu Shao, we're here.”

On the hilltop, Liu Changqing held a trial jade pendant and gazed at the distant scene of over two hundred Zong Shi wildly attacking the ground, clearly astonished.

“People hiding underground?” Xin Gugu raised an eyebrow.

From the looks of it, this group of Zong Shi had failed to intercept the holder of the fire system source stone and had caught on that he was below ground, so they started this blanket bombardment.

Xu Xiao Shou used his “perception” to scan the area.

Within a ten-li radius, there were no signs of powerful fire energy on the surface.

But underground, a massive wave of pure fire attributes was hidden, concealed by dao principles.

This might fool others, but not Xu Xiao Shou.

“A familiar scent...”

Xu Xiao Shou smiled, recalling the scene where he had dug up the Jin Zhao primal seed in the Ling Rong Ze.

Back then, the pool of lava deep underground had emitted an aura far more terrifying than what he sensed now.

He directed his “perception” straight toward the source of the fire fluctuations.

Upon encountering the fire system dao principles, Xu Xiao Shou moved effortlessly, as if in his own domain, and instantly broke through the concealing array.

“What incredibly pure energy!”

The aura emanating from the underground lava was exhilarating.

But what surprised Xu Xiao Shou even more was that a young man sat there in meditation, holding a crystal stone with his eyes closed.

The most captivating fire system dao principles radiated from that crystal stone.

“So that's... the fire system source stone?”

Xu Xiao Shou realized it in an instant.

He withdrew his “perception” and glanced at the synchronized movements of the hundreds of Zong Shi in the distance, smiling slightly. “The show is about to begin!”

Xin Gugu said eagerly, “Xu Shao, tell us—how do we take them out? Charge in for a all-out brawl, or just the three of us against all of them?”

Liu Changqing also turned his gaze, full of anticipation.

“Not yet.”

Xu Xiao Shou waved his hand casually, a smirk on his lips. “The guy underground still has some time before he meets those people on the surface. Let me set up a small array and catch them all in one go.”

“Set up an array?” Liu Changqing was startled, his lips twitching as he sent a voice transmission: “Xu Shao, you can't just use Tian Ji techniques recklessly...”

“Who said I only know Tian Ji techniques?” Xu Xiao Shou looked at him and chuckled. “For this bunch, a few nested ling arrays will do the trick. Why bother with Tian Ji techniques?”

Liu Changqing: “...”

Xu Xiao Shou raised his hands, recalling the “Thirty-Six Heavenly Sealing Arrays” he had seen in the Bai Ku.

Of course, he didn't need to deploy the full array for these opponents.

Besides, he couldn't replicate the exact array that Hong Yi had used in the Bai Ku.

He made a few modifications.

As long as it could trap them, that was enough.

“What a shame—why so few people? I thought we'd run into thousands this time!” Xu Xiao Shou murmured as he secretly set up the array.

He knew he had missed the first battlefield because of the Yu Ling drip's interference.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be trapping just this small group.

But it didn't matter.

This was like waiting for rabbits to come.

Once he had the fire system source stone, who knew how many more hearts it would stir to action?

Underground, Xiao Jing meditated with his eyes closed; above ground, the two hundred Zong Shi bombarded wildly; and in secret, Xu Xiao Shou laid his trap...

“This is the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind,” Xin Gugu thought as he watched Xu Xiao Shou's hands dance with seals, the endless mudras revealing a world of deceit and scheming.

“We've reached the bottom!”

“It's definitely a ling array. Damn it, Xiao Jing isn't a ling array master—this must be from one of his array disks.”

“What a massive array disk. It actually covers all this fire essence lava, sealing off every bit of the aura. No wonder we couldn't find him.”

“The Tai Xu successor is terrifying...”

“Heh, but what's the use? We've found him now, and that's the end for him!”

The two hundred or so Zong Shi had blasted through the ground in just a short while, creating a massive pit hundreds of zhang wide and deep, like an abyss carved straight into the mountain.

Such world-shaking power, if it happened in the mortal world, would surely be the stuff of myths like “Yu Gong Moving the Mountains.”

But no one found it remarkable now.

After all, for Zong Shi, moving mountains and seas was as easy as lifting a hand.

“Xiao Jing, your time is up. If you're smart, get out here and hand over the fire system source stone!” Outside the ling array, a burly man with a curved blade shouted loudly.

The ling array was of a high grade.

Everyone present was a genius refiner, but they were young and had focused all their time on cultivation, so none had studied ling arrays. Breaking it by force would take some effort.

But if they could lure him out, the outcome would be completely different.

It would save time and energy, and avoid any risks hidden in the lava.

A chorus of mockery and insults erupted.

All sorts of vulgar taunts filled the air.

They were just testing the waters, hoping to provoke the hidden Xiao Jing into coming out, though they didn't expect much.

To their surprise, after just a few words, the lava suddenly churned violently.

“As you wish!”

With a sharp shout, a bare-chested figure burst out from the underground lava.

Xiao Jing had a stern brow and beard, his black hair whipping in the wind. The flowing hot lava slid down his perfect muscular lines, dripping onto the ling array below with a sizzling sound.

“Xiao Jing!”

“It's Xiao Jing—he actually came out, damn it!”

“Look at his cultivation level...”

“Xing Shi realm!”

“He's broken through to Xing Shi realm!”

Among the two hundred Zong Shi, some saw through his true power and felt a wave of fear.

They were all geniuses who had suppressed their realms to enter the Yunlun Mountains, but after breaking through, some only reached Tian Xiang realm, others Yin Yang realm.

Yet, someone like Xiao Jing, who had directly shattered three realms in one go to enter Xing Shi, was extremely rare.

After all, how much innate potential did it take to accumulate so much, only to erupt and leap through three major realms straight to the peak of Zong Shi?

It was almost unthinkable!

But now, the Xiao Jing who had previously only shown mid-to-late Yin Yang realm cultivation had, with the help of the fire system source stone, surged to the peak of Zong Shi—Xing Shi realm!

Could one Xing Shi expert take on two hundred Tian Xiang and Yin Yang experts?

No!

That was common knowledge.

But if he was a fire system Zong Shi, holding the fire system source stone and a Tai Xu successor, the outcome was hard to predict.

At the very least, to defeat Xiao Jing, more than half of these two hundred or so Zong Shi would have to fall!

“It's over—how did he break through to Xing Shi realm? Is the fire system source stone that powerful? Just half a day... how did he do it?” Someone panicked.

No one wanted to be the first to charge at this enraged Xing Shi expert.

Yet, after cursing him out of the lava, the Zong Shi felt a chill of hesitation.

Meanwhile, Xiao Jing, burning with rage and seeking revenge, couldn't hold back his killing intent.

“Die!”

With a roar, he flipped his hand and grasped a great halberd.

Then, with agile footwork like a fish darting through water, he took a single step forward.

“Ling Ming Step!”

In an instant, Xiao Jing closed in on the burly man who had first hurled insults, the one with the curved blade.

He swung the halberd, fire yuan erupting.

Dao principles exploded, elements cleared the area.

“Angry Wave Scooping Sand!”

The strike swept across like ocean waves crashing on the shore, kicking up blinding sand, yet this wave carried both destructive force and searing fire.

The halberd's speed was so fast that the man opposite had no time to react.

Xing Shi versus Tian Xiang—a qualitative crush.

“Boom!”

With one strike, the perfectly executed Zong Shi spirit technique left the arrogant burly man's chest a bloody mess, his body flung backward.

Xiao Jing followed through, turning his momentum into a palm strike.

In midair, he clenched his fist toward the flying figure.

“Flame Burst!”

Fire poison infiltrated the body.

At that moment, it took control of the burly man's qi sea and ling yuan, then ignited it explosively.

A spray of blood and flesh filled the void, shocking everyone present.

“He exploded?”

“Xiao Jing's gone mad—he killed him outright?”

“The trial jade pendant can protect Zhang Hao's body and teleport him out of the Yunlun Mountains after taking the hit, but the pain to his soul in that instant could wipe out his consciousness!”

“This guy's for real...”

The two hundred or so Zong Shi were intimidated by this ruthless opponent.

Xiao Jing, gripping the fire system source stone and wielding his great halberd, burst from the lava like an enraged fire god, dominating the scene and overshadowing all.

“What's there to fear?”

“We're all offenders anyway. So what if he's a Tai Xu successor? In the Yunlun Mountains as trial participants, we're all equal.”

“Attack! He's a close-combat fighter— we'll hit him with ranged attacks!”

A few shouts rallied the group.

The Zong Shi regained their momentum, spreading out and launching a barrage of ling yuan attacks from a distance, filling the sky with various assaults.

“Not again!”

A flash of irritation crossed Xiao Jing's eyes.

As a close-combat specialist, facing this kind of indiscriminate ranged assault, his only option was to charge in and take them down one by one.

Fortunately, he had the fire system source stone to aid him.

Amid the onslaught, Xiao Jing lowered his eyelids and clenched his left hand, entering a state of sudden enlightenment.

When he opened his eyes again, joy flickered in them.

“There's a gap!”

In that fleeting moment of heavenly insight, he spotted three openings in the barrage.

His goal was to slip through one and instantly eliminate the group of a dozen or so in that direction.

“Ling Ming Step!”

He dodged and weaved.

Trapped in the onslaught, Xiao Jing moved like a ghost through an empty hall.

He brushed past the energy attacks, minimizing the cost as he closed in on the nearest group of over ten.

“Damn it!”

The ten or so were caught off guard by his sudden approach, their faces paling as they grabbed their spirit weapons.

But it was too late.

Xiao Jing gripped the fire system source stone, and time seemed to freeze. In that instant, he gained a crystal-clear grasp of the battlefield ahead.

“Dragon Serpent Flame Sweep!”

He stepped forward with the halberd, then lunged with crushing force.

His qi sea ling yuan transformed into frenzied fire dragons and serpents, and with one sweep of the halberd, scorching energy engulfed the dozen or so in front of him.

“It's over...”

Only then, facing Xiao Jing directly, did the dozen or so Zong Shi realize how terrifying a Xing Shi fire system Zong Shi with the fire system source stone truly was.

They couldn't hold him off!

As the fire energy invaded their qi seas, Xiao Jing flipped his palm and struck.

Another Tai Xu Xiao family secret technique: Exploding Fire Poison.

Another peak Zong Shi spirit technique: Flame Burst.

“Die!”

Xiao Jing roared fiercely, clenching his fist hard.

A soft pop echoed.

To Xiao Jing's horror, the dozen or so Zong Shi didn't die or explode.

Instead, a new figure appeared before him!

And in his palm, which had been about to crush them, was now a fist.

“Who is he?”

As that thought flashed through his mind, Xiao Jing felt an overwhelming force erupt from the fist he had tried to grip.

He couldn't resist it!

“Bang—”

With a massive explosion, Xiao Jing had only used a light grip.

But the moment he grasped this person's fist, the counterforce and cutting power from the man's hand directly severed and blasted away his five fingers!

Blood mist sprayed everywhere.

The entire scene fell silent!

The two hundred or so Zong Shi stared in shock.

Even Xu Xiao Shou was stunned, gazing dumbly at the young man in front of him, whose hand was now reduced to a wrist from gripping his fist.

For a moment, a look of regret crossed Xu Xiao Shou's face.

“Sorry about that. I don't often fight Zong Shi, so I forgot how fragile bodies at your level can be...”