Battle Through the Heavens

“Bang!”

The rolling thunder-like explosion that caused mountains to collapse and the land to split suddenly resounded in the distant sky. At that instant, countless people had their ears temporarily deafened under this thunderous sound.

A tornado-like energy ripple erupted from the point of contact between the green-colored energy pillar and the blood-colored energy under the clear sky before sweeping through the entire place as a countless number of shocked gazes watched.

The space became unbearably distorted at the point where the energy came into contact. Deep folds could be clearly seen. This collision of the full forced attack between Xiao Yan and Fan Lao had even caused space itself to be blasted apart. The collision between Dou Huangs was actually this frightening.

The energy storm that was filled with green-colored flame and blood-colored energy was hundreds of feet wide. It appeared like an enormous person that stood between the heavens and earth. As the storm churned violently, the destructive force it emitted also caused the expressions of the numerous strong people in the sky to involuntarily change.

The bottom of the energy storm was connected to the Inner Academy. Countless numbers of buildings were completely destroyed at this moment. Other than the dark-black ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’, all the buildings and even the trees in the surrounding few hundred meters were completely turned into ruins as the storm swept past! That frightening destructive strength caused those students who were hiding from the chaos in the distance to be stunned.

The storm had arrived quickly and disappeared just as quickly. After destroying a corner of the Inner Academy until it was a complete mess, the storm that had swept over gradually weakened before completely disappearing.

The disappearance of the storm caused the somewhat dark, solemn sky to once again recover its cool and bright self. All that was left was a complete mess.

The numerous Elders in the sky looked at the Inner Academy below after the storm had scattered. The corner of their mouths involuntarily twitched a little. If they were to fight a couple more times, it was likely that the Inner Academy would be completely destroyed in this intense battle and would not need the eruption of the ‘Fallen Heart Flame’ to do so.

Compared to the heartache that the Elders felt at the miserable state of the Inner Academy after the destruction, those strong people from the ‘Black-Corner Region’ were eyeing the black-robed, young man in the distance with shocked faces. None of them expected Xiao Yan to actually be able to come out unscathed from such a powerful attack by Fan Lao.

“The Dou Technique that this young fellow had used earlier was at least that of the Di class. Otherwise, it would not have been able to completely block Fan Lao’s ‘Great Blood Bodhisattva Devourer’.” Everyone’s heart came to a sudden understanding as they recalled the powerful aura of the ruler glow that appeared intent on tearing space itself. They quietly but immediately felt an additional seriousness when facing the young man in the distance. At this class of theirs, an ordinary Xuan class Dou Technique no longer had much of an impact if one wanted to hurt or kill an opponent who had similar strength. Only Di class Dou Techniques could achieve such a miracle. Hence, a Di class Dou Technique was something that truly possessed a threat toward these Dou Wang or even Dou Huang class experts.

However, a Di class Dou Technique was mostly created and left behind by ancient people who possessed great intelligence and opportunity. After all, if one wanted to create a Dou Technique, one would need some luck on top of the harsh requirement of one’s strength. Therefore, the experts who had the qualification to create Dou Techniques were all renowned people on the continent, and those who could create Di class Dou Techniques were existences which were as rare as the phoenix feather and unicorn’s horn.

Hence, the Di class Dou Technique was a rare item even in the entire continent. If an ordinary second-rate faction were to even obtain one, they would treat it like the greatest treasure of their faction.

Moreover, some of those experts who only knew how to focus on training did not have many Dou Techniques that they could take out on top of their powerful Dou Qi. These kinds of person was extremely common on the continent. It would be fine if they were to fight with others whose strengths were much weaker than them. All they needed was to randomly use Dou Qi attacks to scatter the Dou Techniques that the opponent used. However, if they were to meet an expert whose strength was near theirs, it was likely that they would end up in a miserable state of allowing their opponent finish them off despite being weaker.

One’s surface strength was merely a deterrent. The most decisive factor was one’s fighting strength. This kind of fighting strength relied on three key factors: one’s class and strength, one’s Qi Method, and the Dou Techniques one possessed.

If one possessed all three conditions, it was not difficult to leap across levels or even across class to challenge one’s opponent… Xiao Yan was such a person. Throughout his journey, most of the opponents whom he had met were stronger than him at the time. However, most of these experts were defeated by him. What he relied on to do this was the ‘Flame Mantra’ Qi Method and his powerful Dou Techniques.

Therefore, a Di class Dou Technique was viewed with greater importance by these experts who were of the Dou Wang class and above compared to any other class. Hence, it was unavoidable that their hearts would feel an envy and even jealousy when they saw that at his young age, Xiao Yan had already mastered a powerful Dou Technique that was sufficient to match the ‘Great Blood Bodhisattva Devourer’ of Fan Lao.

A pale-whiteness had surfaced onto Fan Lao savage face in the distant sky. Clearly, the powerful ‘Great Blood Bodhisattva Devourer’ that he had used earlier exhausted him greatly. However, he did not obtain much effect despite using such a powerful Dou Technique. Fan Lao involuntarily felt a kind of desire to vomit blood as he watched the black-robed, young man who was still standing on the opposite side.

“This little bastard is indeed very strong. It is likely that there would not be much effect if I continue to pester him.” A sharp blade-like fingernail drew past the space and carried a dense, cold luster. It was as dark as Fan Lao’s gaze which caused a person’s heart to feel a chill. “Although I don’t know what has happened, but the strength that had suddenly soared from this fellow shouldn’t belong to him. I think that it must be because he has used some strange Secret Technique. However, the increase from a Secret Technique has a time limit no matter how strange it is. Once that is over, his strength would return to his original class. At that time, killing him will definitely be as easy as flipping one’s hand!”

It must be said that Fan Lao was indeed worthy of being an expert who muddled along in the ‘Black-Corner Region’. He had managed to barely guess something after a couple of exchanges. However, Xiao Yan was also clearly aware of this point. He was not a fool, and would naturally not give Fan Lao any chance to delay time. Since Fan Lao already possessed an intention to kill him, he no longer would be merciful in any of his actions. The best action was to kill the old dog Fan Lao and eliminate any further trouble should he have the opportunity. After all, the effects of a wild, crazy vengeance by an expert Dou Huang would give one a great headache.

This thought flashed across Xiao Yan’s heart and he did not hesitate even a little. With a flip of his hand, he placed the Heavy Xuan Ruler into his storage ring. His speed suddenly soared after having lost the restraint of such a heavy weapon.

A silver-colored glow flashed under his feet emitting a faint thunder roar before his body shook and turned into a black line. It flickered before flashing toward Fan Lao.

Fan Lao, whose focus was on Xiao Yan, sensed something the moment the latter’s body moved. Having already decided to temporarily go into hiding, Fan Lao flipped his blood wings and swiftly shot back.

“You want to escape?”

A loud cold laugh sounded in the sky. Immediately, Xiao Yan’s body appeared like a ghost in front of Fan Lao as a faint thunderous roar sounded.

The speed that Xiao Yan had suddenly displayed also caused Fan Lao’s expression to change slightly. However, his reaction was quite quick. The moment that Xiao Yan appeared, a sharp nail became just like a blade that pierced toward Xiao Yan’s throat.

Xiao Yan did not withdraw but advanced in the face of Fan Lao’s sharp attack. The silver glow under his feet strangely flashed and entered a spot near Fan Lao’s chest. His five fingers were abruptly clenched as they immediately smashed out violently.

“Bang!”

A circular blood film surfaced as the fist heavily smashed into Fan Lao’s chest. The force that was contained in the fist was reduced by over half. Despite this, the remanent force still shook Fan Lao until he withdrew two steps in a miserable manner.

Xiao Yan did not rest or pause after his single attack made contact. His body once again advanced in a lightning-like manner. His arm shook as his fist left behind afterimages. Wind from his fist blew like sharp, cold wind.

Fan Lao completely descended into a disadvantaged state under this wild gale-like close range attack of Xiao Yan. He repeatedly dodged in a miserable manner. Occasionally, a fist from Xiao Yan would strike him heavily due to his carelessness, causing his face to become paler.

Countless number of students in the distance watched Xiao Yan who was showing his might and actually suppressing an expert Dou Huang until the latter had no means to retaliate. Those numerous bright eyes were filled with a wild passion that was difficult to hide.

If one’s gaze were shifted to the entire battleground in the sky, one would see human figures flashing and hear the repeated explosions that was created from Dou Qi clashing together. Occasionally, there would be a strong person who would fall away from the battleground. From the swaying appearance of that figure, it was clear that the person was quite badly injured. What caused everyone to feel a little comfort was that the experts who had left the battleground injured did not consist only of the Elders in the Jia Nan Academy. Some of those from the ‘Black-Corner Region’ were also wounded after receiving the combined attack of a couple of people in the chaotic battleground.

Of course, the battle circle which was the determining factor in this attempt at snatching the ‘Heavenly Flame’ was still the one between Su Qian and the Gold Silver Elders. Everyone’s gaze turned to the battle that was far away from the battleground, but could only hear the loud ‘bang’s’ from the collisions. It was difficult for one to sense any human figure with one’s naked eye. All they could do was vaguely see three human figures pestering one another repeatedly after narrowing their eyes.

This conflict with the ‘Black-Corner Region’ was the largest scale one in so many years with the most number of strong people participating. The energy ripples that basically blotted out the sun caused the hearts of those students watching below to feel a boiling fiery heat in their hearts. Was the reason why one lived and spent great effort training not because they wanted to stand at the peak of power and become the strong people others look up to?

While everyone placed their focus on the chaotic great battle in the sky, no one realized that the layer of black-colored energy film in the broken ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’ below had unknowingly and quietly become thinner once again. If one were to observe carefully, one would even be able to see a pair of enormous dark, cold triangular eyes under the energy film!

Those dark, cold serpent eyes slowly moved as it looked at the sky. Finally, they paused on Han Feng… and Xiao Yan. This was especially so when the ‘Heavenly Flame’ rose on the bodies of the two of them. The heat within that pair of snake eyes had also quietly soared greatly. An extremely human-like greed was also born within them…

It appeared that not only did Xiao Yan and Han Feng want to swallow the ‘Fallen Heart Flame’. The latter… seemed to have the same thought about them.