Shen Qingyun took a deep breath. Five thousand years. He had been cultivating for five thousand years. From an outer sect disciple mocked by his peers, he had walked step by step to his current position, enduring far too much ridicule along the way.
He thought he would no longer be angered by the contempt of others, but at this moment, he realized he was wrong. Qin Hao's indifferent gaze, his unwavering tone, and that posture of never once looking him straight in the eye from beginning to end.
This wasn't deliberate humiliation; it was a genuine, natural belief that he was incapable, as if in Qin Hao's eyes, he was nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust.
This arrogance carved into his very bones was more unacceptable to Shen Qingyun than all the mockery he had faced combined.
"Those who underestimate their opponents often pay a heavy price."
The moment his words fell, Shen Qingyun's aura reached its peak.
Seeing this, Qin Hao no longer hid his strength, and his Mahayana Realm cultivation erupted forth.
Sensing the cultivation fluctuations released by Qin Hao, Shen Qingyun was initially taken aback, but then the corners of his mouth slowly curled up into a meaningful smile.
The Mahayana Realm. So he was only at the Mahayana Realm. He himself was at the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, a full major realm higher than Qin Hao.
"Junior Brother, you are quite talented. To reach the Mahayana Realm at such a young age, no wonder you can be so arrogant. You indeed have the capital to be arrogant, but arrogance alone cannot bridge the gap between us!"
After speaking, Shen Qingyun brought his hands together. Spiritual energy transformed into a white fire dragon behind him, sweeping toward Qin Hao with terrifying, all-incinerating heat. Wherever the fire dragon passed, the air itself ignited, emitting ear-piercing explosive sounds.
"You should go back and temper yourself a bit more!" Shen Qingyun's voice exploded like thunder as the fire dragon opened its massive maw, biting down toward Qin Hao's head.
"Heavenly Phoenix Divine Body, open!" An ancient and vast aura violently erupted from Qin Hao's body. Golden Nirvana Holy Fire surfaced around him. This flame was a nearly transparent gold, warm but not scorching, sacred but not dazzling.
The moment the flame appeared, the temperature of the entire martial arts arena did not rise in the slightest; instead, it made people feel an indescribable sense of peace and serenity.
The fire dragon unleashed by Shen Qingyun let out a miserable shriek the instant it touched the Nirvana Holy Fire around Qin Hao. Its massive body trembled violently, disintegrating inch by inch starting from its head, ultimately turning into a wisp of green smoke that dissipated in the golden sunlight.
The entire venue fell dead silent. Shen Qingyun stood frozen in place, his hands still maintaining the hand seal. The confidence in his eyes completely solidified at this moment, replaced by profound shock.
He hadn't held back with this strike! He had intended to defeat Qin Hao with absolute crushing force, letting him know that there is always someone better out there.
Yet, it was his full-powered strike that Qin Hao had blocked so effortlessly.
"Mystic Heaven Sword Art!" As the leading figure of the previous generation of disciples in the Mystic Heaven Holy Land, Shen Qingyun quickly adjusted his mindset and unleashed his ultimate trump card.
Shen Qingyun gave a low shout. The pitch-black longsword in his hand let out a clear and melodious hum, followed by a massive black sword phantom condensing behind him.
"So strong! This sky-obscuring sword energy... Senior Brother Shen is truly worthy of being the leading figure among the previous generation of disciples in our Mystic Heaven Holy Land. The power of this sword is probably enough to rival an immortal!"
"That kid in the mask probably won't be able to block this sword. After all, he's only at the Mahayana Realm."
"Hard to say. Didn't you see how easily he blocked Senior Brother Shen's strike just now?"
"I feel that with this sword strike, Senior Brother Shen has won. He was only able to block earlier because the flame on that kid countered Senior Brother Shen's fire dragon. This sword art won't be so easily countered."
Just as the crowd was debating whether Qin Hao could block this sword, Qin Hao slowly raised his right hand. He didn't use a weapon. His weapons were all Extreme Dao Emperor Weapons, and he even had Supreme Dao Artifacts. Using them would be too much like bullying, so he chose to use his fingers as a sword.
Qin Hao brought his index and middle fingers together to form a sword and lightly pointed in Shen Qingyun's direction:
"Absolute Beginning, One Sword!"
The moment Qin Hao's voice fell, the world changed color. A boundless sword light shot out from Qin Hao's fingertips. Although this sword light was as thin as a strand of hair, it contained a power that made one's soul tremble.
The golden sword light collided with the black sword phantom slashed down by Shen Qingyun, and then the black sword phantom began to shatter.
Starting from the tip, cracks spread along the blade, like a sheet of ice being chiseled open from the inside. Through the gaps of every crack, the boundless sword light pierced out, disintegrating, devouring, and overwriting the black sword phantom from within.
Shen Qingyun's eyes widened, his face full of astonishment. He had considered the possibility that Qin Hao might block this strike, but he never expected it to be so effortless. There wasn't even the slightest sign of a stalemate; the instant their attacks touched, he was defeated.
In less than three breaths, the black sword phantom violently shattered. The residual power of the Absolute Beginning One Sword shot toward Shen Qingyun with unstoppable momentum.
The speed of the Absolute Beginning One Sword was too fast, so fast that even a peak Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivator like Shen Qingyun didn't have time to dodge.
"Bang!"
Shen Qingyun spat out a mouthful of blood. As if struck by a heavy blow, his body flew backward uncontrollably, crashing heavily against the defensive light barrier at the edge of the arena.
The entire venue fell dead silent. One strike. That masked guy had defeated the leading figure of the previous generation of disciples in the Mystic Heaven Holy Land with just a single strike.
"Senior Brother!" A few disciples who were on good terms with Shen Qingyun rushed forward, wanting to help him up. Shen Qingyun waved his hand, refusing their assistance.
Supporting himself on the ground with his hands, he struggled to his feet. He raised his head, his gaze landing on Qin Hao. As their eyes met and Shen Qingyun saw those tranquil eyes, he suddenly smiled.
In that smile, there was bitterness, unwillingness, and self-deprecation, but mostly, there was a sense of relief.
Shen Qingyun bowed to Qin Hao, then spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice:
"I have lost. Greetings, Lord Holy Son."
Qin Hao nodded slightly, acknowledging Shen Qingyun.
"Alright, is there anyone else who wishes to challenge?" Sect Master Yun Ya scanned the venue, unable to help but feel shocked at Qin Hao's strength in his heart. Defeating a peak Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivator at the Mahayana Realm was nothing; he himself had defeated many Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivators when he was in the Mahayana stage.
But the key point was, how old was he when he was in the Mahayana Realm? And how old was Qin Hao now? There was simply no comparison. The growth speed of this contemporary Emperor's Son of the Qin family was truly a bit too fast.
Even Shen Qingyun had lost, and he couldn't even withstand a single strike from Qin Hao. Naturally, the remaining people wouldn't ask for trouble by stepping forward to challenge Qin Hao.
"Since no one is challenging, then I announce that the position of the Holy Son is hereby decided. At the same time, I have one more thing to announce. The Jade Pool Secret Realm of the Jade Pool Holy Land will open tomorrow. This time, they have invited all the major Holy Lands to participate. Tomorrow, I will lead two Holy Sons to go there together."
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
