Chapter 698: Ancient Giant Bloodline
Cultivators from various sects stood on a small hill not far from the black barrier. The place was a boiling cauldron of voices as everyone idly chatted together.
When friends met, they chatted happily. Sometimes, enemies met and started fighting without saying a word.
Before Xiao Chen and the others arrived, they could already hear the sounds of intense fighting. Quintessence surged and winds howled.
Several cultivators had gathered around to watch the excitement. Occasionally, they would nod their heads. Clearly, this battle was of high caliber.
This was not an ordinary battle between minor characters. Otherwise, it would not attract so much attention.
On the Profound Sun Bird, Hu Hai’s eyes lit up. He exclaimed, “It’s Feng Xingsheng. He is dueling with someone!”
Xiao Chen had long since noticed that the bladesman in the duel was Feng Xingsheng whom he saw three days ago.
The other party was a stout man wielding a black staff. Xiao Chen did not know him, but based on his fighting style, he could easily tell that this man was a battle-realm cultivator.
That battle-realm cultivator’s style was wide and grand, full of power. As he swung his staff, a strong wind blew. An ancient giant image appeared behind him, holding a staff as well.
The stout man activated the ancient giant bloodline, his strength becoming very ferocious, forcing Feng Xingsheng to dodge.
“Feng Xingsheng, you dare to challenge my big brother even with your meager strength? You are too naive. Ha ha!” The stout man laughed, apparently very pleased with himself.
Nine battle-realm cultivators with vast auras stood behind the stout man. They were the famous ten battle-realm geniuses.
The man that Feng Xingsheng defeated in one move previously had scars on his face that had not healed yet. He laughed loudly and said, “Second Brother, beat him up ruthlessly. After that, I will carve a tortoise on his face. I will show him the might of battle-realm cultivators.”
[TL Note: The Chinese word for tortoise is also used to call someone a bastard. So by carving a tortoise on Feng Xingsheng’s face, he is essentially calling him a bastard.]
After Xiao Chen heard that, he understood the grudges behind this duel. Battle-realm cultivators frequently banded together. Previously, their Tenth Brother had gotten beaten miserably. So, now, when they met, they wanted to seek revenge.
However, in Xiao Chen’s opinion, getting revenge would still be difficult for the second-ranked battle-realm genius. He was definitely not a match for Feng Xingsheng and would suffer an abject defeat.
When saber intent supported a bladesman, he would not fear a head-on clash. Feng Xingsheng had a Great Perfection saber intent but was dodging.
Clearly, he was looking for a weak point, intending to finish the match in one blow without wasting his energy or revealing any trump cards. All this was to keep his guard up against the top battle-realm genius who had not made a move yet.
Furthermore, there would be more intense fights after entering the Savage Battlefield. This was only an appetizer. If Feng Xingsheng could save his Quintessence, he would; if he could hide his trump cards, he would.
Indeed, it was as Xiao Chen expected. After the stout man forced Feng Xingsheng back, he fought very uninhibitedly and carefreely.
When the stout man saw that he could push the famous Feng Xingsheng into such a miserable situation before so many outstanding talents, he could not help getting complacent and carried away.
A small opening appeared in the stout man’s chain of attacks. This fumble was almost negligible for it was truly minor. Furthermore, it was fleeting.
The moment this opening appeared, the stout man reacted quickly to cover it up. He made full use of his rich combat experience; he was clearly not a mediocre fighter.
However, it was still too late!
Feng Xingsheng noticed the opening and smiled coldly. Suddenly, he burst forth from his defensive stance with an unrivaled saber light.
When the light flared on the extremely plain saber, its aura underwent a remarkable change instantly as if it had transformed.
A strong wind blew, and everyone’s clothes fluttered. Feng Xingsheng thrust his saber forward and promptly seized that opening, catching the stout man, who was trying to recover from his fumble, unprepared.
“Dang! Dang! Dang!”
The saber and staff clashed, giving off sparks. The stout man’s stance immediately broke.
After gaining the upper hand, Feng Xingsheng did not back down. He took seven steps forward and made use of the original opening to push the stout man towards defeat.
Furthermore, Feng Xingsheng did not increase his usage of Quintessence or saber intent; neither did he use a Martial Technique. He continued to rely on the force he initially showed and his exquisite saber skills.
Everything happened so fast. By the time the other battle-realm geniuses reacted, Feng Xingsheng had already knocked away the stout man’s staff; the situation was dire.
“Boom!”
A strong aura flared up suddenly as someone jumped in front of the stout man. This person immediately used his gloved right hand to block the saber slashing down.
Despite catching Feng Xingsheng’s attack with only one hand, this person did not budge at all. The force contained in the saber burst forth and kicked up a gust of wind.
“Big Brother!” the stout man exclaimed with fear in his heart after surviving this attack.
The person who stepped up was the top genius of the ten great battle realms—Niu Deng. Even though he had only been in the Kunlun Realm for less than half a year, he had already defeated several renowned young experts.
These victories made Niu Deng famous, spreading his name throughout the entire Tianwu Domain. He truly lived up to his title as the top genius of the battle realms.
Feng Xingsheng and Niu Deng both had reservations about each other’s strength. After pushing their weapons against each other for a while, they came to a tacit agreement and withdrew at the same time.
Niu Deng smiled coldly and said, “You best not run into me in the Savage Battlefield. Otherwise, no one can save you.”
Feng Xingsheng sheathed his saber and said calmly, “Do you think I fear you?”
The two exchanged extremely hostile looks before returning to their respective groups.
Smiling, Hu Hai said, “This is really intense. Even before entering the Savage Battlefield, they are already practically fighting to the bitter end. This opening of the Savage Battlefield will be even fiercer than the previous few.”
Shui Lingling nodded and said, “That is natural. This is the era of geniuses. Outstanding talents gather in large numbers. It would be hard for it not to be intense. Let’s go in first.”
Feeling doubtful, Jun Si asked, “We can go in already? The Demonic Barrier has not completely disappeared yet, and the others are still waiting.”
Shui Lingling merely smiled without replying. The Profound Sun Bird suddenly increased its speed and turned into a beam of azure light as it rushed at the Demonic Barrier.
When the group approached the Demonic Barrier, Shui Lingling’s expression turned somewhat serious as she sent out a palm strike. Her purple robes fluttered in the wind. Her surging dense Quintessence poured out and tore a hole in the Demonic Barrier that others even feared to look directly at.
An azure light flashed, and the Profound Sun Bird quickly rushed in before the hole mended.
Shui Lingling had not waited for the Demonic Barrier to weaken. Instead, she sent out a palm strike at the black wall of Demonic Qi and broke in.
This clearly demonstrated Shui Lingling’s strength. Although the outstanding talents outside were startled, they were not too surprised. This was because others of the seven giants who had arrived also forced their way in using the same method.
“The seven giants truly live up to their reputation. They are the only ones who have reached half-Sage and gained the strength needed to barge in.”
“During this opening of the Savage Battlefield, the Three Holy Lands have gone outside the domain for experiential training. These seven people will probably have the largest harvest.”
“That can’t be helped. Half-Sages have already started comprehending the natural laws. There is a world’s difference between their Quintessence and ours. The gap is too large.”
The various outstanding talents discussed as they watched the seven giants pierce the barrier. However, unable to do anything about it, they had accepted it.
Even experts like Feng Xingsheng, Niu Deng, or Hua Dao could do nothing to this Demonic Barrier that had not weakened completely.
One had to use strong Quintessence to break the Demonic Barrier; there was no other way. While these people were not much weaker in terms of combat prowess, the quality of their Quintessence was too deficient in the end.
After a while, the black wall of Demonic Qi visibly weakened.
The eyes of Feng Xingsheng and the others lit up as they rushed forward to force their way in. A few cultivators who had waited for a while could no longer wait and wanted to make use of this opportunity to break in.
Unfortunately, these people did not have enough Quintessence; they were weaker than Feng Xingsheng and the others. The moment they entered the Demonic Barrier, bone-chilling shrieks rang out, cooling the hot blood of the other restless cultivators so that they instantly behaved themselves.
Only when night fell did the Demonic Barrier weaken completely. Only then did everyone else make their way in, entering the Savage Battlefield.
At the same time, at several desolate spots, some sneaky figures took the opportunity to break through the Demonic Barrier, which spanned thousands of kilometers.
These were the loose cultivators who came because of the fame of the Savage Battlefield. They were mostly quite old already and had deep cultivations, having strength similar to that of Feng Xingsheng.
There was also a group that was on par with the seven giants.
The Savage Battlefield that opened once every three years had officially opened. Various powers and loose cultivators gathered to try their luck. Deep undercurrents flowed beneath the calm exterior. Who knew what could happen in there? How would things turn out?
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Ubiquitous dark clouds drifted in the scarlet sky. No sun could be seen, sinking the place in gloom.
When one looked up, the sky looked like it would fall at any moment, inducing a sense of pressure.
Strong winds howled for thousands of kilometers, and the ground was scarlet dirt that looked like blood mixed with soil.
This place was the famous Savage Battlefield. The Profound Sun Bird with the Immortal Beast bloodline appeared very jittery here; it was quite sensitive to the vibes in the air.
Shui Lingling did not push it hard, letting it turn into its palm-sized form and rest on her shoulder. Then, the group continued on foot.
When Xiao Chen felt the ancient aura of the Savage Battlefield, it reminded him of the mysterious map that he obtained after he killed Lone Wolf.
The aura on the map is no different from the aura here. Its geography seemed similar as well. Could that be a map of the Savage Battlefield? Xiao Chen’s heart thumped with excitement.
Not only could the mysterious map imprint images of the place in the mind, but it also indicated the danger of each forbidden land.
If Xiao Chen followed the directions on the map, they would not only avoid having to waste their time searching but could also avoid the perilous forbidden lands, improving their chances of survival.
“First Senior Sister, where do we go now?”