Chapter Eighty: The Contest of Vital Force and Strength

After both men were forced back, Ye Cheng felt a surge of frustration. No sooner had he emerged from the stone cavern than he found himself blocked by a formidable expert from the Luo family. The opponent’s strength far surpassed his own; even if Ye Zhan were present, he might not dare say he could easily deal with this man. After all, Luo Long was one of the Luo family’s most powerful warriors, his cultivation in the Prime Realm fully matured. Although he had reached this realm later than Ye Zhan, his accomplishments were in no way inferior.

After their initial clash, Luo Long stared at Ye Cheng in shock. He had not expected this young man to be able to force him back in a contest of vital energy, and what’s more, to do so utterly unscathed. With his own mastery of the Prime Realm, Luo Long’s vital force had already been refined to a terrifying purity under the baptism of spirit energy. In terms of sheer quality, no martial artist in the Vital Blood Realm could compare with him. Yet, this prodigy of the Ye family, still at the Vital Blood Realm, had managed to repel him. There was only one possible explanation: Ye Cheng’s vital energy was even denser than his own, compensating for the difference in quality with sheer quantity. Luo Long understood well that someone with such reserves was truly terrifying; to possess such vast vital energy and still not have reached his limit spoke of boundless future potential.

With this realization, the shock in Luo Long’s eyes gradually faded, replaced by a sinister glare. His gaze reddened as he looked at Ye Cheng and said coldly, “I hadn’t expected your vital energy to be so formidable. What a surprise.”

“But let’s see if you can withstand what I do next.”

Luo Long charged forward, his vital force surging like a tidal wave, gathering around him to form a suit of blood-red armor. This was an advanced use of vital energy. As he neared Ye Cheng, his five fingers curled, their sharpened tips gleaming with a cold, crimson light—like the claws of death itself—aiming for Ye Cheng’s head.

Ye Cheng unleashed all his vital energy; a tremendous force erupted from him, forming his own suit of blood-colored armor. Unlike Luo Long’s, his armor was marbled with faint traces of green light. He threw a precise punch, meeting Luo Long’s claw head-on, forcing him back in a flurry of surging vital energy.

But unexpectedly, Luo Long’s claw, after being struck aside, twisted at an unnatural angle and tore through the blood armor Ye Cheng had formed, leaving several deep gashes across Ye Cheng’s outstretched right arm.

The two blood-colored figures separated only to collide again almost instantly, their bodies moving at blinding speeds. They fought in the most primal manner, trading blows directly to each other’s bodies—savage and brutal.

In this ferocious battle, Ye Cheng drew fully on the experience he had gained over two months fighting magical beasts in the Demon Forest. Every part of his body became a weapon, each strike leaving its mark on Luo Long. Yet Luo Long’s counterattacks also inflicted ever more wounds on Ye Cheng.

If not for those two months of bloody baptism, honing his skills against the beasts of the Demon Forest, Ye Cheng could never have stood toe-to-toe with a veteran like Luo Long. His talent for combat was astonishing—his technique improved with every moment, and even Elder Mu had been secretly amazed by the progress Ye Cheng made in just two months.

It was said that those with a Devouring Constitution needed extraordinary amounts of energy in the early stages of cultivation, and suffered many drawbacks—unique cultivation methods were extremely rare. Ye Cheng’s current Devouring Spirit Technique was likely the last of its kind, tailored specifically for his physique.

Yet heaven is fair. While those with the Devouring Constitution struggle on the path of cultivation, they are all born combat prodigies. This is the true dominance of the Devouring Constitution: the ability to challenge those far beyond one’s own level.

As Ye Cheng’s battle with Luo Long reached a fever pitch, not far from their battleground, Nangong Xue stood her ground against two purple-robed figures.

Six Luo family guards, all clad in purple, had each taken up positions to form an encirclement around Nangong Xue. Their hands wove complex seals, vital force swirling as they summoned a massive dome of blood-red energy to trap her. Under their combined control, the dome began to contract, threatening to crush her where she stood—a clear sign that they were executing a powerful martial technique, hoping to obliterate Nangong Xue within it.

But Nangong Xue had already mastered the Celestial Sword Art, a martial skill of the highest order. Its power was enough to leave all who witnessed it in awe, elevating her fighting strength by several tiers. Even six opponents would find it a challenge to bring her down.

Her sword flashed in her grasp, moving so quickly it blurred beyond the eye’s ability to follow. Countless sword-lights shot skyward, each one filled with a terrifying sharpness as if to slice apart the very air. Hundreds of sword-lights merged into one, forming a colossal blade of radiance dozens of feet long, which struck down upon the blood-colored energy dome above her. After a brief stalemate, the dome exploded with a thunderous sound, blasting Nangong Xue and the six purple-robed men apart.

After regaining their footing, the six guards found their strength greatly diminished, their appearances disheveled. Their combined technique had been shattered, and all had suffered significant injuries.

Now, as they looked at Nangong Xue, their eyes were filled with shock. Of the six, five had reached the peak of the Vital Blood Realm, and one stood at its very summit. Yet, not only had they merely fought her to a draw, they had actually been forced on the defensive.

Nangong Xue’s face was pale, a telltale sign of the backlash from forcing such a powerful martial art beyond her current realm. Despite the sheer dominance of the Celestial Sword Art, using it without sufficient cultivation brought its own penalties.

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with a jade-like hand, her cold gaze flickering toward the nearby battlefield—just in time to see Ye Cheng locked in fierce combat with Elder Luo Long. A look of astonishment flashed in her beautiful eyes.