"Cough, cough, cough... That guy is ruthless, and his reflexes are terrifying."
Covered in a thick layer of grey dust and sent flying through the air by the force of the explosive shockwave, Su Min barely managed to steady herself. The moment her Vermilion Bird Saint Avatar had detonated in that brilliant flash, her opponent had made the same brutal choice. He had self-destructed his own Dharma Body to counter her.
Normally, with her innate fire resistance and her connection to the Nanming Lihuo, the explosion of her own flames wouldn't have injured her too severely. But now, her condition was dire. She felt the heavy thrum of internal damage radiating from her chest, and her meridians felt as if they had been scorched by the sun itself.
As for the other combatant, he wasn't doing much better. Just moments ago, Su Min had seen one of his precious Earth-tier protective treasures shatter into a thousand useless shards before her eyes. Those kinds of treasures were extremely rare. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would struggle to refine such a sturdy defense from scratch.
"I have to take the pills now."
Assessing the turmoil swirling inside her body, Su Min muttered to herself. With a quick flick of her hand, two glowing pills appeared in her palm, smelling of bitter roots and sweet nectar.
[Bone-Melting Potential Pill (Fourth-tier, High-grade): Unleashes the user's full potential, maximizing combat power at the cost of damaging meridians.]
[Return from Death Pill (Fourth-tier, High-grade): Rapidly heals all injuries but leaves residual medicinal properties in the body, disrupting spiritual energy flow.]
She tossed both into her mouth without a moment of hesitation. Almost instantly, a wave of potent energy washed through her like a rising tide. Her injuries knitted themselves together completely, and her spiritual aura surged violently, pushing back the lingering smoke of the arena.
"Such powerful pills! A moment ago, she was half dead, and now she is fully recovered. That explosion cost both sides dearly."
The spectators in the stands were stunned. The effects of those two pills were unbelievably potent. Not only had they restored her body in a matter of seconds, they had even given her physical strength a temporary and visible boost. Without a doubt, both were rare, high-grade pills of immense value.
The only uncertainty lay in their long-term side effects. Still, one thing was obvious to everyone watching. A single pill of that caliber would cost most cultivators their entire fortune. And her opponent was not in much better shape either. His Earth-tier treasure was gone, and the two now stood on equal footing—or at least that was how it appeared to the casual observer.
"Hah, the Great Desolate Holy Body is at a huge loss. She is an alchemist. She can refine these pills as long as she has the materials. But that Earth-tier protective treasure? Not so easy to replace. Heh..."
"Ugh, alchemists are just ridiculously wealthy."
The crowd burst into a mix of laughter and murmurs. For anyone else, consuming two such high-tier pills in a row would be a devastating financial loss. But Su Min was a master alchemist. For her, replenishing such resources was far easier than it was for most.
"Brother Tian..."
A girl in fiery red robes nearby went pale as she gripped the armrests of her seat. That Earth-tier artifact had been Tian Hao's only life-saving trump card, obtained with great effort from the Great Desolate Secret Realm. Even among Golden Core cultivators or early Nascent Soul experts, very few could have destroyed it so decisively.
In other words, though both were only at the Golden Core Late Stage, the intensity of their battle was such that any ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator caught in the crossfire would have faced a certain death.
"Now, the two are back on equal footing..."
Yet Xie Yingying remained perfectly calm as she watched the stage. She knew Su Min had prepared three kinds of pills, and only two had been used so far. That meant she still had another card to play.
"Those two light and dark divine artifacts were attached to his Dharma Body. Since he hasn't refined them into his own body, he can't use them now that his Dharma Body is destroyed. Damn it, my Nanming Lihuo was also overused in defending earlier and is temporarily unusable."
Su Min quickly assessed her situation. Her opponent's self-destruction hadn't just taken out his Dharma Body; it had also destroyed the attached divine artifacts. The resulting explosion was devastating. She had only survived by using her own protective treasure at the very last second.
If she hadn't, she would have been killed instantly, forcing her to expend her second life. Still, the cost of survival was high. Her Nanming Lihuo was temporarily exhausted. She had used her protective treasure and kept her second life intact for one reason. She needed to buy time for her divine fire to recover its strength.
Fortunately, it wouldn't take long—only a few minutes.
That was the good news. Once the Nanming Lihuo regained its strength, her combat power would rise sharply. Though she couldn't summon the Vermilion Bird Saint Avatars again yet, her overall fighting capability would soon stabilize. Her opponent, however, wouldn't be able to use his Dharma Body again for days or maybe even months. As she thought that, a surge of cyan light flared across her body, and she swung her sword in a fierce, azure slash.
CLANG!!!
A crisp metallic clash reverberated across the battlefield as the Great Desolate Holy Body closed the distance.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The arena shook violently with every collision of their fists and blades. Their exchange was like a sudden storm, and each impact sent waves of shock through the watching crowd.
"They are already fighting at that level again? That explosion earlier could have killed most Nascent Soul cultivators, yet they both survived. This level of combat is insane! It's just as intense as before!"
"Indeed. These are the first generation prodigies of this era. Their physical bodies have reached terrifying levels. Even without their earlier techniques, the sheer force of their clashes would overwhelm most Nascent Soul cultivators."
Many spectators winced at the sight of the raw violence. These two were absolute monsters. It was clear that in this Golden Core Heavenly Ranking, Su Min, Tian Hao, and the Lunar Sovereign Body would stand far above the rest of their generation.
"Tsk..."
Han Chaoyan, in particular, sucked in a cold breath. He was grateful Su Min hadn't used these brutal methods against him during their match. Otherwise, his defeat would have been far more humiliating and painful.
"These two..."
Even Xie Yingying and Yao Xian'er looked serious. The battle was so fierce that it left them both uneasy. Xie Yingying's territorial instinct flared as she watched Su Min trade blows with Tian Hao. She hated seeing anyone else's hands touch Su Min, even in violence.
Yet compared to the anxious crowd, the two fighters were almost relaxed in their focus. After taking the body-enhancing pill, Su Min's physical strength was now on par with her opponent's. Every clash left them both heavily injured, and neither was willing to back down.
Su Min wasn't rushing. She was deliberately wearing her opponent down, waiting for the perfect moment to use her final trump card. She had prepared it specifically to counter his strength. Tian Hao's plan, on the other hand, was simple. He wanted to force her to force her to exhaust her pill's effects as quickly as possible. Once her Nanming Lihuo became unavailable, he was sure he could crush her.
BOOM!!!
Another brutal collision sent both of them flying thousands of meters apart, their boots dragging through the jade floor. In less than half a minute, the effects of Su Min's pill faded away. It happened much earlier than anyone had expected.
"It seems your pill's effects have faded. To fight my Great Desolate Holy Body to this extent, you are truly formidable. But now, victory is mine."
Tian Hao's icy voice rang out as he lunged forward again. His fist radiated a terrifying energy that distorted the air.
"Saint Fist!"
"Hmph."
But this time, Su Min's lips curled into a faint smirk. In an instant, a shimmering and flexible ribbon shot out from her sleeve. It intercepted Tian Hao's strike and completely disrupted his momentum.
[Soft Heart Silk (High Mystic-tier): Woven from special metallic threads, it's both flexible and resilient. When combined with certain spells, it produces unique effects. Its nature allows it to dissipate most physical force.]
This was her countermeasure against him. At his full strength, Tian Hao could have easily broken free. But now, battered and injured, he struggled against the binding. The ribbon's ghostly and twisting movements completely hindered his advance. In his current state, he couldn't break free immediately. Seizing the opportunity, Su Min retrieved another item from her storage ring—a simple-looking jade pendant.
[Five Elements Pendant (Mid Earth-tier): When activated, it unleashes the Five Elements Rotating Formation—a mysterious and devastating array. However, activating it requires mastery over all five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Legend claims it was forged by the Five Elements Great Emperor.]
In an instant, five-colored light flashed around her before converging into the pendant. A massive five-elemental wheel materialized in the center of the arena. Tian Hao was still struggling with the entangling silk. He could only watch helplessly as the brilliant formation enveloped him.
"Another Earth-tier treasure?! And one that requires mastery of all five elements?! Who besides the Five Elements Holy Body could even use this thing?!"
"Enough talk. Just watch. The stricter the requirements, the more powerful the effect. This battle is about to end."
Everyone understood the gravity of the situation. In a battle where both sides were evenly matched, victory depended on who had saved the more powerful trump cards. Sure enough, the Five Elements Formation erupted. In its normal form, the five elements nurtured all things. In its reversed form, they annihilated everything they touched. This was the true might of the Five Elements Holy Body. For the first time, it was on full display for all to see.
BOOM!
The reversed five elements engulfed Tian Hao's form. In an instant, his figure vanished from the arena, ejected by the Heavenly Ranking's protective power.
"The winner is decided!!!"
The audience erupted into deafening cheers. The Five Elements Holy Body's reputation was well deserved. It was the most mysterious of the five supreme physiques, and now everyone had witnessed why.
"Haah... haah..."
Su Min gasped for breath as she watched her opponent disappear. She had expended most of her trump cards. Only a few ultimate moves and her last resort—the activation of her Yin-Yang Body—remained unused.
Still, her condition was far from ideal. Moments later, she too was ejected from the arena. Without even bothering to disperse her divine sense, she immediately sat down in meditation. She needed to purge the residual medicinal energy in her body. Now that her Nanming Lihuo had recovered slightly, she could use it to carefully burn away the remnants and avoid affecting her future performance.
As Su Min left the stage, the arena fell into a stunned silence. Even the so-called geniuses from the various major sects were forced to acknowledge the sheer gap between themselves and these two. Neither Su Min nor Tian Hao had fully realized their physiques yet. That meant their innate physique strength wasn't the deciding factor. The difference lay in their own efforts, not just their gifts.
Moreover, Su Min hadn't even obtained the Five Elements Great Emperor's inheritance. No one knew how much stronger she would become once she did.
"Next up is the Lunar Sovereign Body. I wonder if she will give us another battle like this."
"Unlikely. It depends on the opponent. That Holy Son isn't weak, but the gap is too large."
"The Lunar Sovereign Body is going to win the next two matches easily. Su Min fought the Great Desolate Holy Body to the brink and used too many pills with heavy side effects. She won't recover in just three days."
Many had already predicted the outcome. The Holy Son had made it this far largely due to luck. The Golden Core Heavenly Ranking wasn't mindless. It was a transcendent treasure with its own will. It avoided pitting the strongest against each other too early.
But even so, luck played a role. This Holy Son had been fortunate to rank one spot higher than his peers. He had earned himself an extra three hundred years of lifespan. But this was as far as he would go. The other four in the top five were all beyond his level. As expected, Xie Yingying crushed him with little effort.
However...
"Heavenly Ranking, I forfeit the remaining matches."
After defeating her opponent, Xie Yingying declared this flatly to the sky.
"What?!"
The crowd erupted in shock. But before anyone could question her decision, Xie Yingying turned and vanished from the arena.
[The final battle will commence one week from now.]
With Xie Yingying's withdrawal, the Heavenly Ranking promptly announced the schedule for the last match. Silence returned to the battlefield. It left only bewildered spectators and an excited Yao Xian'er. The woman in white had sensed something unusual in that forfeit.
"So, that little girl thinks she can fight me? Interesting. Very interesting."
With a faint smirk, Yao Xian'er also disappeared. Today's battle had been thrilling. But in her eyes, Su Min had revealed most of her cards. If this was all the alchemist had, it still wouldn't be enough to win.
Had Su Min fully realized her physique, things might have been different. The perfect interplay of the five elements was something even Yao Xian'er would have had to tread carefully around.
But a half-formed Five Elements Holy Body? That wasn't enough.
Yet Xie Yingying's actions suggested there was more to this.
And that...
Was worth looking forward to.