"Experience Points remaining: a meager 75."
Luo Zhen swiped the holographic attribute panel away, letting it dissolve into the air before him. He leaned back, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. The cost of power was staggering.
Since his ascension to the late stage of the King Realm, he had been a hoarder of experience. He had methodically slaughtered his way through the wilderness, culminating in the slaying of the Ba Serpent—a Demon Emperor-level beast that had netted him a fortune. More than three million experience points had sat in his reserves, a war chest that made him feel invincible.
But that wealth was gone. It had evaporated in the blink of an eye.
He had spent it all learning a handful of secret manuals. The Hunyuan Punishment Astral Art alone had been a gluttonous beast, devouring two million points in a single transaction.
"The plan remains unchanged," Luo Zhen mused, staring at the stone ceiling of his cave abode. "I need to farm. I need to slaughter. I have the techniques and the blade mastery; now I just need the fuel to break through to the peak of the King Realm."
He closed his eyes, intending to meditate on his new techniques, but the silence of Juyang Peak was short-lived.
His eyes snapped open. The air in the cave shifted, vibrating with an intrusive frequency.
A powerful aura was tearing through the sky, originating from the far side of the mountain and locking onto his location with malicious intent. It wasn't just a passerby; this was a guided missile of spiritual pressure.
Luo Zhen frowned slightly. He was within the sanctuary of the Huadao Sect; danger was supposed to be minimal here, which was why he usually kept his spiritual defenses lowered. He expanded his consciousness outward, an invisible radar sweeping the perimeter.
The sensory feedback was immediate.
Hurtling toward him was a young man with a face like a thundercloud—gloomy, sharp, and radiating hostility. Trailing in his wake were two familiar figures: Hong Yue and Wang Lili.
Before Luo Zhen could even stand, the trio slammed onto the landing platform outside his cave.
"Luo Zhen! Get your ass out here!"
The roar was infused with spiritual energy, amplifying the voice until it rolled down the mountainside like an avalanche. It echoed across the middle reaches of the Huadao Sect, shaking the windows of the outer disciples' quarters.
Down below, the quiet routine of the sect was shattered. Disciples poured out of their residences, looking up toward the towering silhouette of Juyang Peak in bewilderment.
"Was that... a challenge?" someone muttered, squinting against the sun.
"It came from Juyang Peak. Definitely."
"Luo Zhen lives up there now. Who has the guts to scream at him like that? Is it Hong Yue again?"
"Don't be stupid. Hong Yue lost an arm to Luo Zhen. At his peak, he wasn't a match; now he's just a cripple. He wouldn't dare."
The gossip spread like wildfire. "Then who? The only other elites on Juyang Peak are Cai Xu and Xiao Yi. But Senior Brother Xiao Yi has been in a death seclusion for years—he swore not to emerge until he hit the Emperor Realm."
"Speculation is useless," a bold disciple shouted, summoning his flying sword. "Let's go see the show."
Like a flock of startled birds, dozens of outer disciples took to the air, streaming toward the upper atmosphere of Juyang Peak. They knew the rules—they couldn't set foot on the peak itself—but they could hover in the void, turning the sky into a massive amphitheater.
Inside the cave, Luo Zhen's expression darkened.
He walked to the door, his steps heavy with irritation. It seemed that humility was a foreign concept to some people. Today, regardless of who was banging on his door, Luo Zhen decided he would make the lesson stick.
He threw the heavy stone gates open.
Standing there was the gloomy youth, flanked by his sycophants. The man scanned Luo Zhen with a gaze that dripped with condescension.
"So, you're Luo Zhen?" The man let out a short, derisive scoff. "You don't look like much. Just a late-stage King Realm cultivator? That's it?"
"I am Luo Zhen," he replied, his voice cold. "Who are you, and why are you barking at my door?"
He didn't need a formal introduction to understand the dynamic. Hong Yue's presence made it obvious. This was an escalation. The gloomy youth was the hired muscle, the big brother brought in to settle a schoolyard grudge.
The youth puffed out his chest. "I am Cai Xu. Rank Two of the Outer Sect. I'm here to correct a mistake." He pointed a finger at Luo Zhen's nose. "If you're smart, you'll kneel right now and sever your own arms. Do that, and I'll turn around and leave. Make me do it, and you won't like the outcome."
Luo Zhen ignored him. He tilted his head back, watching the sky fill with spectators.
The outer disciples had arrived, forming a dense circle in the air. As they spotted the confrontation below, a ripple of recognition went through the crowd.
"It's Cai Xu!"
"Damn, Hong Yue actually pulled Cai Xu into this mess? What did he pay him?"
"It has to be a fortune. But the real question is, can Cai Xu actually win? Luo Zhen dismantled Hong Yue even when Hong Yue used every trick in the book. Logic says Luo Zhen should be able to handle Cai Xu."
"I don't know about that," another disciple argued. "Hong Yue is strong, but Cai Xu is a different beast entirely. It's going to be close."
Luo Zhen lowered his gaze back to his challenger. "You hear them, Cai Xu? The audience thinks you're walking into a trap. If you don't want to end up a cripple like your friend Hong Yue, I suggest you get lost."
Cai Xu threw his head back and laughed, a harsh, grating sound.
"Luo, if this were two weeks ago, I might have hesitated," Cai Xu sneered, stepping forward. "But you're out of luck. My cultivation bottleneck shattered ten days ago. My strength hasn't just increased; it has evolved."
He stopped laughing. His eyes went dead serious. "Handling you is no longer a challenge. It's a formality."
BOOM.
Cai Xu flared his aura. A terrifying pressure erupted from his core, sweeping across the peak like a gale. The wind howled, and the gravel on the ground began to vibrate.
Luo Zhen raised an eyebrow.
Hidden within the typical King Realm pressure was a distinct, sharper thread of power. It was the aura of an Emperor.
The crowd in the sky gasped in unison.
"My God... is that Emperor's Intent?"
"Cai Xu has touched the threshold! He's half a step into the Emperor Realm!"
"This changes everything. I thought Xiao Yi would be the first, but Cai Xu came out of nowhere. Luo Zhen is in trouble. A King cannot fight an Emperor, even a pseudo-one."
Basking in the awe of the crowd, Cai Xu's arrogance swelled. The lingering shame of his recent dual-cultivation sessions with Wang Lili—and the damage it had done to his body—felt like a distant memory. Hong Yue was right. In this world, strength was the only currency. No one cared how you got it; they only cared that you had it.
"Kid, last chance," Cai Xu said, his voice dripping with false mercy. "Cut off your arms. Don't make me destroy your cultivation foundation."
"Win first. Talk later."
Luo Zhen flicked his wrist. A flash of emerald light materialized into the Green Brilliance Blade. He held it loosely, the tip pointing at the ground.
"Have it your way. You chose death."
Cai Xu didn't move his feet. He simply whipped his arm forward. A blade of energy, pale gray and about half a meter long, detached from his hand and screamed through the air.
Luo Zhen's pupils contracted.
He recognized that energy signature immediately. It wasn't standard spiritual Qi. That pale gray hue, that density—it was Punishment Astral Blade Qi.
So, he also practices the Hunyuan Punishment Astral Art.
When Luo Zhen had mastered the manual, his internal energy had converted into a pure, dark gray Astral Qi. The manual stated clearly: the darker the shade, the purer the power. Cai Xu's energy was diluted, a washed-out pale gray. It likely held only half the destructive potential of Luo Zhen's own power.
But half the power of a legendary art was still dangerous.
Luo Zhen didn't dodge. He wanted to measure the threat.
He raised the Green Brilliance Blade.
"Hundred-Meter Blade Shadow: Tyrant Emperor Kill."
A massive phantom blade materialized above him. Simultaneously, he stomped his foot.
"Thunder World Descent."
Arcs of blue lightning exploded from the ground, weaving a net of high-voltage plasma around him.
The collision was instantaneous.
Cai Xu's small, pale gray projectile slammed into Luo Zhen's massive blade shadow. It was like a needle hitting a balloon. The massive construct shattered, shredded by the dense Astral energy. The gray beam continued, undeterred, plunging into Luo Zhen's lightning domain.
CRACK-BOOM!
The sound was deafening, like a grenade going off in a tunnel. The pale gray energy fought against the lightning, grinding and tearing at the defensive web. It took a full eight seconds for the lightning to dissolve the attack, consuming about twenty percent of Luo Zhen's defensive charge in the process.
Luo Zhen nodded, a hint of a smile touching his lips.
If his diluted trash version is this strong, my authentic Astral Qi is going to be catastrophic.
"You blocked it?" Cai Xu looked genuinely surprised.
He shook his hand, dissipating the recoil. "Not bad. You have some skill. But the warm-up is over."
He opened his palm, and orange light coalesced into a long, serrated saber.
"Now, you die."
Cai Xu's aura spiked. The pale gray Astral Qi flooded out of his meridians, swirling around him and solidifying into phantom blades. Ten. Twenty. Thirty.
In seconds, over thirty distinct blade shadows hovered around him, humming with lethal intent.
"Hundred Shadow Wild Slash!"
Luo Zhen recognized the move immediately. It was a standard high-level technique, but powered by the Astral Qi, it was mutating into something far deadlier.
Up in the sky, Hong Yue watched with trembling excitement.
"Thirty shadows..." Hong Yue whispered, his face pale. "He's combined the Astral Qi with the Wild Slash. Even at my absolute peak, I wouldn't last ten seconds against this. Two of me would die."
His shock turned into a twisted grin. The stronger Cai Xu was, the more painful Luo Zhen's end would be.
The spectators were equally horrified.
"That's the Punishment Astral Art? I heard it's a suicide technique that eats your lifespan. How is Cai Xu spamming it like that?"
"Who cares how? Look at the power! That isn't normal Qi. It's denser than steel."
As the crowd buzzed, the number of blade shadows around Cai Xu ticked up again. Forty.
"Senior Brother Luo! Dodge it!" Gu Shi, floating near the front of the crowd, screamed in panic.
Luo Zhen glanced up and gave a dismissive wave. Relax.
"Luo!" Cai Xu shouted, his voice booming with the confidence of a god. "These shadows are forged from Astral Qi. They are unbreakable. Kneel!"
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you perish!"
Cai Xu swung his orange saber. The forty blade shadows responded like a firing squad, shrieking through the air in a converging formation aimed squarely at Luo Zhen's chest.
"He's dead," a disciple muttered. "Nobody thanks that."
"Game over."
Just as the collective breath of the crowd hitched, waiting for the inevitable spray of blood, Luo Zhen laughed.
"Hundred Shadow Wild Slash? Is that supposed to be impressive?"
Luo Zhen's eyes flashed with a cold, mocking light.
"Let me show you how it's actually done."
Luo Zhen blurred. He didn't retreat; he swung the Green Brilliance Blade in a wide, vicious arc.
The air around him didn't just ripple; it fractured.
Blade shadows erupted into existence. Not ten. Not forty.
Hundreds.
They swarmed out of the void, a dense, swirling vortex of dark gray steel. They buzzed like a plague of locusts, blotting out the sun. Each one was darker, sharper, and denser than anything Cai Xu had produced.
The sheer scale of it stunned the crowd into silence.
"What... what is that?"
"Is that the same move? How?!"
"Even Xiao Yi can only summon fifty shadows! Luo Zhen just summoned an army!"
Before the logic could catch up to the visual, the two attacks collided.
Cai Xu's forty pale blades met Luo Zhen's hundred dark ones.
BOOM!!!
The impact was cataclysmic. A shockwave visible to the naked eye expanded outward, hitting the disciples hovering in the sky and blowing them back like leaves in a hurricane. Dust geysered into the air, obscuring the entire peak.
"Who won?!"
Disciples fought to stabilize their flight, straining their eyes to pierce the dust cloud.
Slowly, the wind cleared the debris.
Two figures remained. One standing. One kneeling.
Luo Zhen stood tall, his robes barely ruffled, his face a mask of boredom.
Cai Xu was on his knees.
The silence that gripped the mountain was absolute.
Cai Xu was a ruin. Both of his arms were gone, severed cleanly at the shoulders. His legs were mangled, forcing him into a grotesque kneel. He stared up at Luo Zhen, his eyes wide, trembling with the inability to process his own destruction.
"I... I lost?" he wheezed, blood bubbling past his lips.
The crowd stared, mouths agape.
Cai Xu—the second strongest, the man who touched the Emperor Realm—hadn't just lost. He had been erased.
One move.
It hadn't been a duel. It had been an execution.
Luo Zhen looked down at the defeated man, his expression devoid of triumph. It was the look of a man who had stepped on a cockroach.
The onlookers felt a chill run down their spines. They wanted to scream, to demand a reaction. You just crushed a semi-Emperor! Show some emotion! Stop looking like you're waiting for a bus!
But Luo Zhen wasn't looking at Cai Xu anymore. He was looking at his hand.
CRACK.
The Green Brilliance Blade, a top-tier magic treasure coveted by thousands, suddenly disintegrated. It crumbled into a pile of fine green dust, slipping through Luo Zhen's fingers.
Luo Zhen dusted his hands off and sighed, the sound echoing in the terrified silence.
"Garbage," he muttered. "The blade couldn't even handle the Astral Qi."