Chapter 222: Infinite Purgatory and the First Sixth Heavenly Realm Cultivator to Die (I)
Chapter 222: Infinite Purgatory and the First Sixth Heavenly Realm Cultivator to Die (I)
A five meter long streak of red blade qi exploded, causing the earth to collapse. Like a materialized object, the blade qi tore apart a huge rift that stretched ten meters long and half a meter wide.
In the midst of the swirling dust, the red blade light surged again, sweeping across a dozen meters and shattering trees. The frantic energy pushed the figure in white back by ten meters.
Amid the raging winds, the burly-looking Qin Tianhu held a saber over two meters long. His eyes were filled with anger as he looked at the youth in the white robe, who was standing on the tree branch around ten meters away. With a deep voice, he asked, "My friend, we have nothing against each other. Is it not a bit despicable to suddenly attack like this?"
Qin Tianhu was filled with anger, as anyone would be when suddenly attacked during meditation. The blue scales on his armor emanated a halo. Then, with Boiling True Power, he compressed the surrounding air into a violent wind to create an astonishing aura.
The white-robed youth stood with his hands behind his back, and he responded lightly, "Firstly, I am not your friend. Secondly, I launched a direct attack, so it's not considered a sneak attack."
"Not a friend? Then are you a member of the military?" Qin Tianhu frowned.
Due to the special circumstances of the mutated beast battlefield, he hadn’t immediately thought anything of the newcomer's identity. On top of that, Zuo Jing had a very youthful appearance, looking about eighteen or nineteen years old, so Qin Tianhu had assumed him to be a student from another school.
Zuo Jing replied casually, "Identity doesn't matter. The fact that you've reached the peak of the Fifth Heavenly Realm at your age shows that you have good talent. Now, it’s my move."
Before Qin Tianhu could respond, a majestic image of the sun appeared in Zuo Jing's eyes. The world changed colors in an instant as a sun rose behind him.
Qin Tianhu exclaimed in shock, "How is this possible?! How has his will reached such an advanced level to allow powerful manipulations like this?!"
Transcendent energy within a range of a dozen meters surged together to form a burning sun. With Zuo Jing’s palm strike, the scorching ball of energy erupted forward, instantly turning every tree it passed by into ashes, as if it was heralding doomsday.
Qin Tianhu cried out in anger, his powerful will bursting forth, and a tiger formed behind him from the green and gold gleam.
Compared to someone like Zuo Jing, however, whose will had reached a level where he could consolidate transcendent energy without using any true power, the tiger formed by Qin Tianhu’s combined will and true power was merely an illusion.
Roar!
The white tiger illusion roared as it grew to twenty meters, resembling a level 6 Sky-splitting Tyrant Tiger and holding a blade of white light in its mouth. It pounced toward Zuo Jing’s sun.
The sword-wielding white tiger was instantly destroyed by the sun, and the violent explosion of true power formed a strong gust of wind that swept across dozens of meters. The sun wasn’t even slowed down as it descended from the sky to engulf Qin Tianhu, who was wielding his blade toward the heavens.
The earth shook and the ground around him shattered, throwing smoke and dust into the air. Multiple large trees collapsed in all directions under the shockwave of the sun's explosion.
When the dust settled, a vast open space had formed in the middle of the forest.
In the center was a large pit with a diameter of twenty meters, surrounded by gears.
The glow on Qin Tianhu’s armor dimmed, and it was covered with cracks all over. It almost looked as if he’d been crushed by countless sharp gears. The armguards and most of his face mask had shattered, revealing bloodied flesh and a face filled with disbelief.
He, the top student of the southern battlefield, ranking first on the Achievement List, had actually been defeated by a young man with an aura that was only in the late stage of the Fifth Heavenly Realm.
"I thought you were a worthy human genius, but it turns out you're so weak," the white-robed youth said, withdrawing his hand with some disappointment.
"Being able to reach the peak of the Fifth Heavenly Realm at the age of eighteen indicates superior talent. However, you refined your armor with the scales of the Sky-splitting Tyrant Tiger and forged weapons from its bones to try to comprehend the dominance of its will and break through that way.
“How foolish. External objects are still external objects. Even if you temper your armor and weapon three stages in advance, the true power lies in them, not your own will.
"To manifest your will and break through to the Sixth Heavenly Realm, the most important thing is to have unwavering absolute belief. You are not a Tyrant Tiger. You are a human!"
The white-robed youth’s voice faded as he disappeared, leaving behind a severely injured, weakened, and shocked Qin Tianhu.
"My unwavering absolute belief... I am a human, not a Tyrant Tiger... So that's it? Have I been on the wrong path all along?"
As he muttered softly to himself, a strong will surged from Qin Tianhu, forming a faint figure. He began to exert a large amount of pressure, condensing that will into the shape of the tiger.
On his body, green flames ignited with a roar.
"Hahaha... I've broken through. I've broken through!" Despite his severe injuries, Qin Tianhu burst into laughter.
He was now the first in the southern battlefield to manifest his will and break through to the Sixth Heavenly Realm. He may have been defeated today, but that wasn’t going to affect his future reputation in the battlefield.
Just then, a silent, pitch-black blade appeared behind Qin Tianhu, emanating a dim aura, as if from the past yet also from the future.
Bleugh!
The silent blade pierced through his armor, and Qin Tianhu's smile froze as he looked at the blade protruding from his chest in disbelief.
Whoosh!
A layer of black flames ignited on the blade, consuming Qin Tianhu's true power, spirit, and will at a terrifying speed.
Bang!
Only when his withered body had collapsed did a black shadow slowly emerge from the ground, forming into a figure shrouded in a black robe. A hoarse voice emanated from beneath the mask. "All members of the Federation deserve to die."
The figure glanced at Qin Tianhu's body with cold eyes before disappearing into the nearby woods, blending into the shadows and vanishing without a sound.
As the figure darted out on the other side of the forest, a violent and scorching force descended from above him.
The earth shattered under the black and red destructive shockwave. Fierce winds howled, causing all of the trees within a radius of twenty meters to collapse.
Amid the roaring winds, the two figures, one black and one white, landed dozens of meters apart from each.
The calm figure dressed in a snow white robe was Zuo Jing, who had just left not long ago.
The other, shrouded in a black robe, had strange black energy swirling around it, resembling a shadow that could disappear at any moment.
Zuo Jing glanced at the figure in black and said calmly, "Agent of the Shadow Cult, have you not had enough of following me for the past few days?"
The hoarse voice from under the black robe said, "My shadow void has reached the advanced level, allowing me to merge into the surrounding shadows to hide all of my aura. How did you detect me?"
Zuo Jing responded lightly, "Do you think I would tell someone who has been secretly following me for days how I found them?"
Under his black robe, Kuer fell silent, realizing that his question was indeed somewhat foolish. "Zuo Jing, aren't you a member of the Alliance of Cults? Why didn't you kill that Federation genius just now? What are you looking for here?"
As Kuer finished his last sentence, an invisible chill enveloped him.
Zuo Jing replied calmly, "Sometimes, knowing too much leads to death."
Feeling the killing intent emanating from Zuo Jing, Kuer's peak Fifth Heavenly Realm aura exploded. His black energy burned and leaped as he instantly began to retreat, moving so fast that he almost reached the supersonic speed of four hundred meters per second. It was as if he was a black line cutting through space.
As Kuer made his escape, however, a round moon appeared behind Zuo Jing. His figure disappeared instantly, reappearing in front of Kuer like a reflection.
A blazing sun appeared in the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The forest collapsed, and trees exploded. Within the now burning and smoke-filled forest. Zuo Jing held a lifeless head in his hand, and calmly looked toward the depths of the mountains.
"How dare you send someone to follow me. You must want to die. Next time I see you, I'll oblige." Zuo Jing casually threw away the head and disappeared into the depths of the forest, leaving only a faint echo.