Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Fierce Battle with Luo Long

Boom! Surging blood energy erupted from all around Luo Long, directly stirring fierce winds in his vicinity.

Seeing that terrifyingly dense blood energy, Ye Cheng’s brow furrowed. He couldn’t understand why Luo Long hadn’t immediately unleashed his elemental power, but had instead chosen to display a martial artist’s blood energy.

Though this blood energy surged like a vast sea, its might was still far inferior to the elemental force of heaven and earth. Could it be that Luo Long intended to deal with him using only this level of power?

Yet Ye Cheng’s confusion did not last long. Luo Long slowly raised his head. Because he had fully aroused the blood energy within him, crimson veins crept into his eyes, lending him a sinister air. He bared his lips in a wicked smile.

“Although that little girl of the Nangong family has already sent out a signal, I imagine it will take them some time to arrive. Since that’s the case, I’ll use only my blood energy realm to finish off the so-called future hope of the Ye family.

“I want to see just how capable the so-called genius of the Ye family really is.”

Luo Long’s foot suddenly stomped the ground. Blood energy surged, sending a terrifying shock straight into the earth. With a deafening crash like a boulder falling, a deep pit formed beneath his feet, and a wave of blood energy swept outward, sending countless shards of stone flying. With a casual wave of his sleeve, Luo Long precisely controlled his blood energy, sending the stones shooting toward Ye Cheng like a meteor shower.

Every movement was perfectly captured by Ye Cheng’s eyes. These simple techniques made flawless use of blood energy—Luo Long was worthy of being a consummate master of the elemental realm, having honed control over his own strength to its peak. Even a casual strike made perfect use of every ounce of blood energy, wasting not a single iota.

As the swarm of stones hurtled toward him like a horde of bees, Ye Cheng brushed his right hand across his belt’s storage pouch. The silver spirit spear appeared in his grasp. With both hands, he swept the weapon in a flurry of dozens of spear shadows. Each time the spearhead struck a stone, it was ground to powder and fell to the earth.

Now, with his strength having advanced yet again, Ye Cheng wielded the high-level martial art—Thousand Shadow Spear—more smoothly than ever. Before, with only peak blood energy realm strength, he could barely maintain such a technique for a moment. But now, his internal blood energy was several times greater than before. Waves of strength continuously surged from within him, as though inexhaustible. Prolonged use of the Thousand Shadow Spear was no longer an issue.

With a sweep of his right hand, Ye Cheng sent the spear shadows to clear away the last barrage of stones. But just as the final debris fell, Luo Long’s figure emerged from behind them. This time, there was no trace of a smile, only a hint of mocking amusement at the corner of his lips. Clearly, he still did not take Ye Cheng seriously, even without using his elemental power.

Luo Long’s five fingers curled into a fist, blood energy condensing visibly over his knuckles, enough to make the heart tremble. He swung straight at Ye Cheng, his voice laced with scorn:

“Mo San used this martial art on you once, didn’t he? But in his hands, it never reached its true potential. Allow me to show you what it really means.

‘Blood Burst Fist!’”

Ye Cheng watched as the blood energy on Luo Long’s right fist condensed to a horrifying degree. The immense, crimson-glowing fist expanded in his pupils, and he suddenly felt himself completely locked onto by Luo Long’s attack, unable to move a muscle. He hadn’t expected Luo Long to use such a powerful martial art right from the start.

Clenching his teeth, Ye Cheng summoned all his blood energy, pushing it to the limit. He drove his spirit spear hard into the ground, grasped the shaft with both hands, and bent his body low, bowing the weapon into a great arc. Then, suddenly releasing his grip, he used the rebound of the spear to propel himself into the air.

“Thunder Rush!”

A clear shout echoed in his mind. All his blood energy surged into his right leg, reaching a density equal to that of two peak blood energy cultivators. In an instant, a massive barrier formed around his right foot as he met the incoming blood-colored fist head-on.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At the point of impact, Luo Long’s blood-charged fist crashed brutally into Ye Cheng’s right leg. Explosions of blood energy erupted from his fist, pouring all their destructive force onto the protective barrier around Ye Cheng’s leg.

Ye Cheng’s right leg withstood the onslaught, layers of hidden force rippling forth. A visible wave of power radiated out from the point of collision, raising a storm of dust and debris.

The resounding crash thundered through the region, causing even the nearby battle between Nangong Xue and the six purple-robed figures to pause for an instant before resuming their clash.

Farther away, in the outskirts of the forest, the domain of the Demon Ape clan echoed with the roars of their chieftain. The noise from Ye Cheng and Luo Long’s duel had reached their territory, but the Demon Apes would not leave their domain without special cause. As long as no one set foot on their land, they would not attack, so Ye Cheng and the others had little fear of being swarmed by the Demon Ape clan.

Ye Cheng’s body shuddered from the force, but he used the recoil to withdraw, dragging his spirit spear and gouging a furrow dozens of meters long in the ground. He staggered back several dozen steps before regaining his footing. Looking up, he saw Luo Long had merely been forced back a few steps. The gap between them was clear at a glance.

Ye Cheng lightly tapped his right toes, feeling the pain coursing through his leg. His gaze toward Luo Long grew even graver. That attack had used one’s own blood energy as a fuse, detonating it to inflict massive damage—a technique Ye Cheng had once experienced at the hands of Mo San.

Yet, though the martial art was the same, the difference in power between the two was like night and day. In Luo Long’s grasp, the technique was terrifyingly potent. Even as a blood energy realm prodigy, using a high-level martial art and channeling three layers of Thunder Rush’s hidden force, Ye Cheng was still forced into a disadvantage. An ordinary master at the peak of blood energy would have been gravely wounded by such force.

And Luo Long had yet to draw upon his elemental power, relying solely on blood energy to contend with Ye Cheng. Ye Cheng could tell that, though Luo Long’s blood energy was not as dense as his own, his control over it was far superior. The disparity between them was stark—enough to draw a bitter smile from Ye Cheng’s lips.

“The elemental realm’s mastery over blood energy is truly formidable.”