Whoever reached the Grand Historical level first would become the winner and fiercely trample on the loser.
This was the way of the heavens, the survival of the fittest.
Feng Feiyun and s.h.i.+ Yelai understood this rationale because both of them felt a potential slowly awakening within their bodies. The impurities within were being expelled while their flesh and bones were absorbing spirit energy. They issued an increasingly brighter and pure light.
This was the sign of their physiques strengthening!
The battle grew even more ferocious with both sides going berserk. Their hearts were beating like drums. There was only one ticket to enter the gate of Grand Historical Geniuses. The winner shall enter and become a peerless prodigy with the chance of embarking on the supreme grand dao.
And as for the loser, he might be stomped upon; death was a possibility as well.
“Ignite, my blood!” s.h.i.+ Yelai’s hair stood up. His handsome and young face suddenly turned red as if a fire was burning in his entire body.
He was using a forbidden law to burn the blood coursing through his flesh. From doing this, his battle prowess increased threefold like a cauldron incinerating the sky. His mighty aura emanated for 800 miles.
In order to reach the Grand Historical level, he was willing to risk his life.
“I have to swallow the phoenix bone and refine my body to fight this world-shattering battle.” Feng Feiyun took out the crimson phoenix bone with fire oozing from it. Its temperature could melt steel into molten iron instantly. This was a real phoenix bone.
Endless laws were woven on this phoenix bone for it was the culmination of the phoenix’s dao. Ordinary people would be killed instantly if they touched this bone; they would be incinerated into nothingness.
If Feng Feiyun didn’t have a phoenix soul in his body, the dao laws on this bone would attack him as well.
He initially wanted to go through Blood Transformation another time before swallowing this bone. At that time, his blood would have reached a level close to the blood of a phoenix, so it would completely accept the dao laws and their frightening temperature.
However, he couldn’t wait any longer because s.h.i.+ Yelai had ignited his blood to become several times stronger. Thus, he had to swallow the bone and borrow its power to suppress him.
s.h.i.+ Yelai wanted to use this battle to break through to the next level, but Feng Feiyun had the same idea as well.
“Rumble!” Feng Feiyun’s physique and blood was not back to the Origin level. Forcefully swallowing the phoenix bone was the same as gulping down a poisonous flame. He felt a chapped sting from his throat to his chest and further below. This hot flame seemed to be melting his entire body.
His organs were being burned as well along with the blood in his vein. The temperature increased beyond the boiling point just like magma from the earth surging through his body.
“Kill!” Feng Feiyun shouted and a flame ignited on his body as well. His hair turned crimson with many dancing embers around him. This flame gave him unlimited power.
s.h.i.+ Yelai was stained with blood while his bones were trembling. He frantically attacked Feng Feiyun without using any weapons, only his bare hands.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” Each collision of their fists sounded like two divine steels slamming into each other. Fiery sparks and electricity burst out with explosions that nearly shattered their eardrums.
The bone was roasting Feng Feiyun’s flesh as it penetrated further. Nevertheless, this temperature did not fall; he was like a huge piece of meat buried in a kitchen furnace. The dao laws were still moving on the bone. His body and the bone slowly fused together into one piece…
“Pluff!” Feng Feiyun had the power to flip over a mountain. His fingers directly latched onto s.h.i.+ Yelai’s shoulders. The fingertips ripped into his flesh as Feng Feiyun lifted him up high then slammed him ruthlessly onto the ground, creating a huge pit.
The ground quaked as s.h.i.+ Yelai sank into the earth.
“Arhhh!” A cry that resembled a wild beast came from below. s.h.i.+ Yelai rushed out. Although the flesh on his arm was crushed, he turned even more berserk and punched Feng Feiyun in the chest. Several crisp sounds of bones breaking came about.
The two of them looked ragged with disheveled hair and blood and injuries all over the place, but they felt nothing.
“Rumble!” This battle was truly too ruthless and caused the cultivators watching nearby to be frightened. Some felt their legs giving in and quivered uncontrollably. These were two madmen with terrorizing fighting potential.
No words could describe the ferocity of this battle. The forces involved were able to move mountains and flip over seas. Even cultivators who were more powerful than these two didn’t dare to come close, lest they get bitten in the crossfire.
“Platinum Metal Art!” Feng Feiyun unexpectedly and swiftly learned the fourth art during this crazy battle. He pointed forward. All of the ores with a metal affinity came out like young bamboo shoots sprouting after a rainfall.
Who knew how many ores actually came out due to the calling of the platinum art? Waves of light shot out with different colors, such as purple, white, yellow, and black.
These were the ores from a nearby mine. Some were only around the size of a fingernail and weighed only half an ounce while others were as big as a was.h.i.+ng basin and weighed several hundred pounds.
The Platinum Metal Art accounted for forty percent of the Minor Change Art and was four times as powerful as the Dark Water Art. After learning it, Feng Feiyun’s battle prowess soared; he a.s.saulted s.h.i.+ Yelai until b.l.o.o.d.y mists came out of his blazing body. Some metallic ores directly slammed into his body while others exploded inside, creating some visually traumatizing wounds.
“Heaven Sealing Ancient Beasts, come out!” s.h.i.+ Yelai used his final technique. Sixteen different souls of ancient beasts rushed out from his body. All were around 500 years old.
He actually managed to refine sixteen different souls into his body. Moreover, all of them were rare and wonderful. A few even had relatively strong fighting potentials.
These beast souls protected his body by knocking away the ores that had penetrated his defenses as s.h.i.+ Yelai was about to make his counter-attack.
His seal remained, so he was limited to being a peak G.o.d Base with seven divine intents.
“Dark Water Art, Sky Spiral!”
“Crimson Fire Art, Earth Incineration!”
“Verdant Wood Art, Mountain Demise!”
“Platinum Metal Art, Immortal Calamity!”
The four arts were unleashed in their entirety by Feng Feiyun. This area was channeled by his will. The air, temperature, vegetation, metals in the earth; everything was condensed in front of his finger. He seemed to be the center of the universe as all things rotated around him.
“Heaven and Earth Slaying Tribulation!” This power was no longer his own for they were the forces of nature.
The earth crazily trembled. People could no longer stand still like a small boat lost in a torrential sea. All things in nature were suppressing them.
“No, I will not lose! Aghh!” s.h.i.+ Yelai crazily screamed. The sixteen beast souls turned into sixteen primordial monsters. They lifted their heads and roared with a power capable of killing saints and immortals. However, this force was crushed. [1. I feel like I’m translating ED right now.]
“Pluff!” Even more blood spurted from his body. He flew like a kite that had its string cut and fell into the wasteland.
Feng Feiyun stood there motionlessly for a long time. His fingers were trembling and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Losing eight hundred men to kill one thousand enemies.
Even though he had defeated s.h.i.+ Yelai, he was grievously wounded as well.
“s.h.i.+ Yelai actually lost.” Mu Tantian bit his lips until blood came out for he was truly shocked.
“If a Grand Historical Genius doesn’t come out, no one will be able to defeat Feng Feiyun. He deserves to be called the king within the same realm!” No one felt that s.h.i.+ Yelai was weak. The fight from earlier made his strength apparent. Only Feng Feiyun would be able to suppress him at the same level.
“Swish, swish, swis.h.!.+” The noise of a knife carving wood came about. It was very quiet, but in this quiet dawn, even the sound of a fly couldn’t escape people’s ears, let alone this carving sound.
It carried a rhythm that contained an unspeakable dao law and order and came from a little gully over yonder. People felt that it was touching a barrier of the grand dao.
The cold moon shone down from above with clear springs flowing from the high mountain. The water crossed the cliffs and trickled down into the freezing pond before running down narrow and clear streams.
At this moment, s.h.i.+ Yelai was sitting in this gully. His b.l.o.o.d.y clothing contaminated the entire spring with a stench of blood as well. The spiritual golden fishes in the water were swimming towards him. They were attracted by a strange aura on his body.
With his three-inch knife in one hand and the other a root as long as an ivory horn, he began carving at a rapid rate. He revealed an unprecedented level of serenity as all of his focus was directed at carving.
His wounds were too grave so he didn’t even have the power to leave the water. All of his might was being used for holding and carving this wood piece.
“Whoos.h.!.+” A breeze blew by, causing the red autumn leaves to flutter down.
Feng Feiyun was standing next to this mountain stream without a care. He only stared at the leaves falling down in front of him.
“Even though I lost this battle, I have obtained what I wanted.” s.h.i.+ Yelai was focused on carving and didn’t glance at Feng Feiyun.
He seemed like an ordinary man sitting in the water. An invisible grand dao was gathered around his body, causing him to lose some flas.h.i.+ness while gaining a greater sense of simplicity.
“This only shows that your heart was determined enough.” Feng Feiyun felt the ground beginning to vibrate. A terrifying force was coming from underground. Anyone within a thousand mile radius could feel this monstrous energy below.
A red light soared into the sky from the earth. The temperature inexplicably rose as if magma was about to gush out.
The heavenly hymn of the grand dao echoed from s.h.i.+ Yelai’s body. An auspicious light jumped out from below and entered his body. He became increasingly unfathomable as if he could break the void and ascend at any moment.
“Finally done carving!” The little root in his hand was carved into a small figure in his shape. It contained an extremely profound dao inside.
“The Earth Tribulation is coming. If you can surpa.s.s it, then we will fight again in the future.” Feng Feiyun didn’t linger around. He turned and left.
s.h.i.+ Yelai had been at grand achievement G.o.d Base for a long time now. Although he lost the battle earlier, it had stimulated his potential so that he finally understood the grand path of the heavenly dao, heralding the coming of the Earth Tribulation.
The Earth Tribulation is coming, it is time to seize the Heaven’s Mandate! [2. This is the same word as Heaven’s Will, but Heaven’s Will doesn’t sound as good for a realm.]